Covered by the blood
SERMON: COVERED BY THE BLOOD
READING: EXODUS 12:1-13
INTRO: Ever wondered why God told the Israelites to paint blood on the doorposts and lintel of their houses just prior to the tenth plague. It’s more than a sign for the angel to pass over.
Why the door frame? No one is kept in or out by the frame, so why not paint a cross or other symbol on the door? Egyptians archaeology provides an answer that can teach us a powerful lesson about salvation by faith in God’s action.
I) ISRAEL THE CONFORMISTS
A) Usually Known As Isolationists, A Distinct People
B) This Changed After Death Of Joseph, and at the burning bush Moses was concerned about their “blindness, ignorance and unbelief.”
C) Also, They Were No Longer Nomadic Not counterculture
II) EGYPTIANS BELIEVED IN THE AFTER LIFE
A) Their Buildings Reflected This Belief(Israel had borrowed)
1) All Egyptian houses(slaves to royalty) made of mud bricks because life on earth was temporary.
2) All temples and tombs were made of stone, reflective of their view of the afterlife. Material had to last forever.
3) Only exception to this rule was door posts and lintels.
(a) Whole house of mud, but with stone door frames.
(b) The reason will become clear.
B) Egyptians Believed In Five Parts Of The Human Being:
1) If any part ceased to exist, the person would cease.
2) This is why mummification was important.
C) The Five Parts Were:
1) The Body. It must survive for the person in afterlife.
2) The Shadow. They believed it told of a reality.
3) The Ka or “life force.” We call this “the breath of life”
4) The Ba or “character traits.”
5) The Name of the person.
III) THE NAME WAS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE
A) A very real part of the person
1) Modern visitors to Egypt will find names etched on statues
2) But, they also find names chiseled off statues. Removed!
(a) Hatchepsut[hat-shep-soot]ruled for 20 years after death of her husband.
(b) Later her name chiseled off.
(c) Perhaps due to some character flaw or practice.
3) Moses(Egyptian trained) did the same thing.
(a) Never used the name of Pharaoh but deliberately gave names of two Hebrew midwives who were loyal to God
(b) Find this in Ex. 1:15. They would live in the afterlife
(c) Pharaoh had rejected God(5:2)would not survive death
4) Royalty and Nobility built great stone monuments with their names inscribed in as many places as possible.
(a) This was to combat potential loss of their names.
(b) Common people could not do that so they built their homes with stone doorposts and lintels
(c) This is where we find their names scratched all over
(d) These have been found dating to time of the exodus.
(e) Also, here is where the blood was placed-over the name
IV) LESSONS UNLEARNED AND LEARNED
A) When Immigrating To Egypt, Israel Lived In Tents
1) As part of their labor duties, they learned to build houses
2) Their houses would be the same structure as Egypt
B) When Moses Returned To Egypt He Saw A Lesson to Be Unlearned.
1) The plagues were part of their learning process
2) They would have to learn God’s superiority over the gods of Egypt to which they had been exposed for 4 generations
3) After nine plagues they still had one more lesson to learn.
4) When God required the placing of Passover Lamb’s blood on the door frames, He was asking them to cover their names with the blood of the lamb.
5) This is one of the rudiments of salvation.
(a) Names on stone did not ensure life in hereafter
(b) But the blood of the Lamb does do that.
(c) One member of each family would not even survive the night without it.
C) We Learn Lessons Too:
1) It matters where our name is written- Rev. 20:15; 21:27
2) I Cor. 5:7
3) I Pet. 1:18-20
4) Rev.1:5
5) Rev. 5:9
V) CONCLUSION: Nothing But The Blood