God's Substitute, the Passover Lamb

Over these past several weeks, we have taken a look at what God’s Word has to say about this idea of Substitution. And more importantly how we are all in need of a substitute. In the very beginning Adam and Eve sinned, so God killed two animals to cover their shame, guilt and sin. Then last week we saw how God graciously provided Abraham a substitute so he didn’t have to kill his son Isaac. And just like the nation of Israel was in the Old Testament and both Jews and Gentiles during the time of Christ, we too today new a Substitute.

So, let me recap just exactly why we need a substitute by showing us the issue at hand. Here is how Paul puts it in his letter to the church at Ephesus.

Ephesians 2:1–3 ESV

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

There are many folks today who think we need saved from this world and all of it’s problems. No, we need saved from sin. So, this is the problem that we all face. We have a sin problem. Sin is disobeying what God says is wrong. But, there is good news. What’s the good news? Let’s keep reading.

Ephesians 2:4–5 ESV

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

But God! Because God is gracious and has mercy on us and has provided a substitute, we can be made alive. Has Christ changed your life today? Are you alive? Without Christ Paul tells us here you are dead.

Turn with me to Exodus Chapter 12. I want us to look at this wonderful truth about the Passover. I want you to see today that God Provided a Substitute in that of the Passover Lamb. These words that I am going to read here are God’s instructions for the Passover.

Exodus 12:1–20 ESV

1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. 7 “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. 10 And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11 In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. 14 “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. 15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you. 17 And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. 18 In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19 For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. 20 You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.”

What I want to do is for us to go back to verses 12 and 13 and zero in on these 4 I will statements about the Passover.

1. I will pass through the land of Egypt.

2. I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt.

3. I will execute judgments.

4. When I see the blood, I will pass over you.

So, let’s begin we this first statement, “I will pass through.” Why was God passing through the land of Egypt? We might ask why is God’s judgment happening here? In order for us to understand this we need to go back to chapter 7. So, turn with me there.

Exodus 7:4–5 ESV

4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. 5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.”

God’s judgment is poured out on Egypt by 10 plagues that God delivers to Egypt and it’s rulers and people. Notice the first reason in verse 4 of why God is passing through the land of Egypt. Remember that up to this point God’s people are in slavery, “But God” God hears the prayers and cries of His people and now He is ultimately removing His people from the bondage of slavery and taking them out of Egypt and to the promised land. (There are many folks who today find themselves just like Israel in bondage to sin and slavery. You desperately need to be delivered. Will you call out like the Israelites did? Will you trust in what God has provided for you?)

This is so important here because we know that this has future ramifications because eventually we know that God promised that through Israel there would come a Redeemer, someone to rescue people from their sin.

The second reason we see is in verse 5. Here, God shows Egypt and it’s rulers that Yaweh is the one true God, and not the thousands of God’s that Egypt worshiped. There is only one true God and so this phrase “so that Egypt shall know that I am the Lord” is repeated over and over again throughout the next several chapters. Egypt could not deny the direct involvement of the God of Israel and His power. And now God shows his power through the plagues. This is the third part of the I will statements. “I will execute judgments.”

We now begin to see all the judgments being poured out on Egypt.

The Water sources in Egypt are turned to blood. The Nile River and other water sources turn into blood and kill the fish and water creatures. Plus no one could drink from the water. This was a terrible and devastating plague. (7:14-25)

The Second Plague we see here is Frogs. Frogs covered the whole land. They were a terrible pesky problem. Eventually when they all died it created a terrible oder throughout the land. (8:1-15)

The Third Plague was Gnats. These were tiny flying insects that were plaguing the entire land. (8:16-19)

The Next Plague was Flies. Flies covered the entire land and because of this the land was ruined. (8:20-32)

The fifth Plague was the Egyptian livestock dies. This was horses, donkeys, camels, the herds and flocks. However not one of the Hebrew’s livestock died. (9:1-7)

Boils or Terrible Sores were the next plague. This was for both man and animal and caused severe pain for all. (9:8-12)

Severe Hail like has never been seen before was the 7th Plague. The hail was so heavy that it struck down the plants and crops in the fields. It killed animals out in the field as well as people who were caught outside. (9:13-35)

Locusts were the 8th Plague. Locusts covered the face of the land. They came along and ate whatever was leftover that the hail did not wipeout. (10:1-20)

Darkness over all the land for 3 entire days was the Ninth Plague. The Darkness was so severe that people could not see each other and sat in their homes. Again this did not effect the Hebrew people who lived in Goshen. (10:21-29)

And finally we come to the 10th Plague. We see this second I will statement. God will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. From the kings first born son all the way down to the slave girls first born son and even the cattle, God’s judgement would be poured out.

But I want us to see that there was a huge distinction on the judgment of God. Look at Exodus chapter 11 with me.

Exodus 11:4–7 ESV

4 So Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, 5 and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. 6 There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. 7 But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’

So, what was this distinction or difference? What exactly was so different for the Hebrew people? Why did they not receive the wrath and judgement of God? After all were they too not sinners? Yes, they were. But for the Hebrews God graciously provides a substitute, which leads us to this 4th I will statement.

“When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” What does this mean?

Here in Exodus we don’t have the place of God set up yet. What I mean by that, is that there is no tabernacle or temple at this point. The families gathered together in their homes on this first month of (Abib) which was March or April. This actually marked that start of Israel’s life as a nation. So, they gather together in the presence of God and around the sacrificial lamb which is the substitute for each member of that family.

The specific instructions are now to take a lamb on the 10th day. The lamb must be a one-year old male because it is taking the place of Israel’s firstborn males, who are young and full of strength and life. The lamb is to be without a blemish, because any flaw would make it unfit to give as a sacrifice to Yahweh. Then they are to kill the lamb on the 14th day and put the blood of the lamb on the sides and the top of their doors. The bitter herbs here really reflect or recall all the bitter years of service that the Hebrew people gave to Egypt. The unleavened bread here is a picture of making haste to get out of Egypt. Be ready to leave quickly. This is the Lord’s Passover, and this is how Israel is to eat it. (vs. 3-11)

Again we come to verse 12 and this is the main point of everything. God will pass over the homes that heed the Lord’s instruction. They have been given a wonderful substitute. How gracious is this? Without the substitute lamb and the lamb’s blood, the Passover for Israel would have been devastating death. On that night when God pours out his judgment and plagues on the nation of Egypt by killing all their first born sons he graciously passes over the homes or houses of Israel by sparing their first born sons. Passover forever changed the nation of Israel and from that moment on it became a memorial or special day for them to look back on and remember God’s unbelievable grace and mercy in that of a Substitution.

Closing: When Abraham was told to offer up his one and only Son Isaac on an altar, God himself supplied the substitute in that of a ram. At Passover, the substitute was a spotless lamb. In fact, the main staple of the sacrificial system under the law was the burnt offering. This could have been a young bull, a lamb, goat, turtledove, or pigeon depending on the finances of the worshiper. The bottom line is this, there was a substitution that was needed and whatever substitute that was offered, suffered for the sins of all the people. No matter how many sacrifices that were offered up, something more needed to be done to make a complete atonement.

There were basically two ways to figure this out, or two possible answers to the problem. First of all, you could adopt a system like the religious leaders of Jesus’ time did. The sinner would try to supplement the atoning significance of the animal sacrifices with several more layers of good works. We see this today with many religions. Just do enough good works and maybe you will get into heaven. The Pharisees during the time of Christ made up their own long list of rules and regulations that went way beyond what the law actually required.

The Second approach was the right approach. It acknowledged the person’s own inability to atone for sin, they embraced God’s wonderful promise of forgiveness and trusted Him to send a Redeemer who would provide a full and final atonement. We will look more at this next Lord’s Day. Spoiler Alert, we are going to be talking about Jesus. Jesus was born and came to this world to be our Redeemer, our Savior, our Atonement and Substitute.

May we forever be thankful for this precious gift. The only gift that will forever matter.

Romans 6:23 ESV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If you don’t know the Lord today, call out to Him and turn from your sin and trust in God’s provision of His Son Jesus.

If you know the Lord today may we be drawn to be more thankful than ever for God’s provision and to tell others about the good news of Jesus.