Paeschen
The Shadow of the Angel
The speaker reflects on the historical deliverance of the Passover and the Red Sea, only to realize that the threat of judgment remains present in the soul's current struggle.
The angel has passed by: the horrifying night of the firstborn has gone by without our blood. Our doors have been spared; so they were marked with holy Passover blood, so that the unleashed power that brought down Pharaoh's children and Pharaoh—terrifying as always—was terrified before the sign.1 We’ve escaped slavery through the Red Sea, beyond Egypt’s reach. Is everything finished? Is the ship in the harbor? Oh! We’re mid-wave in the billows—the billows of our own blood, far deeper than that Sea.2 The angel comes again, and the flaming sword threatens a new downfall.3 Lord, bid him pass over.
The Mark of the Lamb
A final petition to the Lion of Judah to seal the heart and cultivate a holy fear of the Lamb.
Guard the door of our hearts, O Lion of the tribe of Judah, and teach us, while we still have time, to tremble before a Lamb.✦✦4
Read the original Latin
Den Engel is voorby: de grouwelicke nacht Der eerst-geborenen is bloedeloos verstreken: Ons' deuren sijn verschoont; soo warense bestreken Met heyligh Paeschen-bloed, dat d'uytgelaten macht, Die Pharâos kinderen en Pharâo t'onderbracht; Doorgaens verschrickelijck, verschrickt heeft voor het teeken. Wy zijn door 't Roode-Meer de slaverny ontweken, AEgypten buytens reicks. Is alle dingh volbracht? Is 't Schip ter haven in? Oh! midden in de baren, De baeren van ons bloed, veel holler dan dat Meer. Den Engel komt weerom, en 't vlammige geweer Dreight niewen ondergang. Heer, heet hem overvaren.
Merckt onser herten deur, O Leew van Iudas Stamm, En leert ons tijdelijk verschricken voor een Lamm.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Rev.5.5 — And one of the elders said to me, 'Do not weep. Behold, the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so as to open the scroll and its seven seals.'
- ↩Rev.5.6-Rev.5.12 — And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Rev.5.7 — And he came and took the scroll from the right hand of the one seated on the throne. Rev.5.8 — And when he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. Rev.5.9 — And they sing a new song, saying: 'You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed for God people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.' Rev.5.10 — and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign on the earth Rev.5.11 — And I saw, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands. Rev.5.12 — saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!"
Notes
- 1 ↩bloedeloos verstreken: the death-night of Egypt's firstborn has run its course without shedding the blood of those marked by the Passover sign.
- 2 ↩baren/baeren: billows/waves; holler: deeper/hollower. The Red Sea deliverance is outdone by the deeper storm of our own blood (sin, guilt, or mortal danger).
- 3 ↩vlammige geweer: early modern Dutch for a flaming weapon/arms; rendered as flaming sword for the biblical judgment image (cf. the destroyer and Gen 3:24).
- 4 ↩tijdelijk can mean 'for a time / in this temporal life' or 'in due season'; rendered as 'while we still have time' to keep the petition urgent without archaism. Merckt continues the Passover door-marking image from HeilDagh.1.6.1.
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