Passover

Reading:

Exodus 12:12-13 “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. 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.”

Introduction:

The Lord revealed Himself to the world through His superiority and Lordship over all when He brought the plagues on Egypt.

His actions were on display for all to see and know that He is God and there is no other.

To the Egyptians:

He showed His superiority over the god’s Egypt believed in; which were fake idols.

Exodus 12:12 “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.”

Expound:

Each plague was a direct authoritative move to show God is the highest; there is none over Him or that has authority.

They are False gods made by man!

To the Israelites:

He is still God, He hears their cries and prayers, and He answered them by way of Moses, so follow Him!

His culmination of power by the hands of the Holy Spirit.

The firstborn in the land of Egypt would be killed, of man and beast.

The night of the passover:

It is called the passover because those who believed Him and did as He directed, their firstborn would be spared because they believed Him and did as He instructed.

It was by Faith they were saved.

Text:

Exodus 12:21-28

Transition:

The Lord gave reasons, and He provided the specific steps to follow.

He began with the:

The Elements.

Exodus 12:21-22 “Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.”

Who was it that received the message first?

Moses, and what was He supposed to do with that message?

He called the elders to himself, and he gave the instructions.

“...Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans,...”

Transition:

It began with:

The Lamb:

At Passover, the focus is all about the Lamb, not necessarily anything else; but the Lamb.

Crazy for us here today because it is easy to think that communion is all about us.

The extending of Grace for our redemption.

It isn’t, It is all about Jesus.

John said it best:

John 1:29 “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

In the O.T. we didn’t have THEE passover lamb, we only had a shadow for what the passover lamb would be like for the permanent sacrifice for sins.

So what are the details pertaining to choosing of the lamb?

There are rules; which can be found in Leviticus: The 3rd book in the law.

Leviticus 22:21-23 “And when anyone offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, to be accepted it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it. Animals blind or disabled or mutilated or having a discharge or an itch or scabs you shall not offer to the Lord or give them to the Lord as a food offering on the altar. You may present a bull or a lamb that has a part too long or too short for a freewill offering, but for a vow offering it cannot be accepted.”

The Typical process after choosing the lamb was for the lamb to be watched and inspected.

On the 10th day of the month, after carefully watching the lamb for 4 days to see if it met the specifications.

Exodus 12:6 “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.”

Was their an approval process for Jesus?

Jesus had to live up to the Jewish laws about the passover lamb.

God had instituted and given them for the lamb, how was He inspected and approved by the elders?

The Father was the only Elder who could give qualified approval, which He did in:

Matthew 3:17 “and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.””

God approved of Jesus as the passover lamb.

Then He was questioned by many in the days before His sacrifice, without failure or flaw.

He passed every test given to the Lamb:

He knew no sin:

II Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”

He did no sin:

1 Peter 2:22 “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.”

In Him there was no sin:

1 John 3:5 “You know that He appeared in order to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin.”

Jesus the perfect Lamb, chosen by the Father and approved; would be sacrificed.

Back to Egypt: The lamb was slain and had been given instructions for what’s next.

Connection:

The lambs blood was ineffective when based on knowledge alone!

if the blood is to be effective, It had to be applied to the doorposts.

Since God promised:

Exodus 12:13 “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.”

The effectiveness of Jesus’ blood is no different.

It isn’t sufficient for salvation that we “Know” Christ sacrificed Himself for our sins.

The appropriation of His sacrifice to ourselves allows us to say with Paul:

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

We cannot say that we are saved from our sins if it comes from the knowledge of Jesus, It must come from personally submitting to Him as Lord of our life.

Then we can truthfully say with conviction:

John 20:28 “Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!””

Transition:

How can the blood be applied to the doorposts?

They were instructed to take a flower that looked much like the lavender plant.

Refereed to as:

The Hyssop

“Hyssop is a small shrub about 27 inches high with small white flowers in bunches at the end of the stem.”- The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary

It was used here in Exodus for the application of blood on the doorposts.

It has been used to sprinkle a blood and water mixture on a person healed of leprosy or for a renovated house.

The plant became useful for purification rituals and also a key point in the new testament:

Matthew 27:48 “And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink.”

Hyssop became something that was well known and a prominent tool for rituals done by the Israelites.

Connection:

Many of the Jews would be right to say that the Hyssop plant plays an important role in their activities; But:

Here is the danger that takes place when the focus is on the car instead of driver.

Today many times people’s faith is placed on the Hyssop plant.

It isn’t the work being done that we trust, it is in the obedience by faith in what we should do!

Our faith isn’t in our faith, it is in the blood of Christ.

Transition:

They had the instructions for the elements of passover.

They were to eat the whole lamb and be prepped and ready for the long journey the next day.

The last thing for them to do, because they believed the Lord, was to stay in the house until the morning.

Wait on the Lord, your deliverer!

As we read the explanation for the last detail we can notice that it was:

A Command.

Exodus 12:23-25 “For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service.”

It begins with a promise that:

The Lord Will Come

Exodus 12:23 “For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.”

Our modern american culture, when speaking of God:

They like to focus on 1 part of who He is.

They want to highlight His love; but they fail to acknowledge that He is God and the Almighty Judge!

He reminded the world just who He is.

Israel was told: God is coming, and when He does He is going to kill all the firstborn of man and beast.

Illustration:

You have a big meal that you made and you realize that it is more food than your family could finish in one sitting.

What do you do? Considering the command to finish it all.

Invite the neighbors to help.

The Lord said earlier what to do if the lamb would be too much for some small families to eat by themselves:

Exodus 12 :3-4 “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. 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.”

Point:

The communion passover meal is intended for fellowship just as much as it is for obedience by faith.

Would it be weird to eat a cheeseburger while taking care of your cattle?

How about eating chicken in the chicken coop?

I’m asking this because they were eating with:

Livestock in the house.

The 1st born of the livestock would be in the home, since the Lord would kill all the firstborn.

Exodus 12:12 “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.”

Point:

It probably wasn’t a comfortable meal to eat.

Notice a lot of times that if we aren’t comfortable we don’t do it?

The Question: Knowing the uncomfortable position of passover would you have obeyed or justified disobedience?

Faith isn’t always comfortable; it is rarely comfortable.

Another part of the lack of comfort is that:

All of your belongings packed and ready for a move.

Exodus 12:11 “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.”

I’m not sure about you, but when Katie and I moved up from Florida we had a 35’ Penske truck filled, with a trailer pulling a car on back.

I’m guessing the average home in Egypt wasn’t 1500 sqft.

It would’ve been tight, cramped, and uncomfortable.

Bonus: Clean up would’ve been a breeze - They just needed to leave the next morning.

Transition:

Lets have a perspective: Your eating quickly, knowing the Lord is coming to kill the firstborn in all the land.

That would make me not want to eat.

You could eat peacefully knowing that faith in the blood being spread on your doorposts and lintel:

He would passover your house and all would live.

Because of faith in the blood it is the sufficient payment for the Destroyer to acknowledge and approve of.

They were told He would come and not to fear; but to have faith in Him.

Faith can be shown because of their:

Opportunity for Obedience

Exodus 12:24 “You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever.”

Do you hear what the Lord is stating here?

This is a moment in history that isn’t just a watermark for remembering.

This moment shifts to an calendar event.

Illustration:

Do you remember when dates on the calendar that are to be celebrated were actually real moments to celebrate.

Independence day

Christmas

Easter

Veterans Day

Memorial Day

While living in Florida I found out that there was actually a national flip flop day, maybe it isn’t valid for Michigan.

National doughnut day

I think those are days made up to celebrate for the sake of celebration.

This moment in History marked the day for all of Israel to celebrate the passover, each year.

Not just for a 5 year span; but forever.

Transition:

It was to be a:

Permanent Observation

Exodus 12:24 “You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever.”

The Lord makes a command:

Observe or remember in each generation the salvation that the Lord provided through the Lamb.

Make sure they all remember the Passover Lamb.

Point:

There were many reasons for each generation to know about the passover.

The praise of what God did - The salvation He brought them.

For the remembrance, to honor the Lord.

But ultimately it was purposeful and it foreshadowed the permanent sacrifice:

Jesus’ blood provided the means for salvation; but the faith of the recipient did exactly the same thing that the Hyssop did:

Faith in the blood for salvation, not the work of the person.

Transition:

The passover provided hope for future generations.

Hope through:

The Testimony.

Exodus 12:26-27 “And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’ ” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.”

Transition:

The observation of the passover meal was commanded to be remembered and observed.

The whole family and neighbors sit and eat the Lamb.

Talking and sharing stories about all that God did.

The most uninformed in the house are the kids and they make

The Inquiry

Exodus 12:26 “And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’”

Kids want to know the truths.

As they grow and learn they ask a lot of questions about everything.

Illustration:

Out of all our kids there was one who asked questions about everything.

I think the heavy and deep inquiries lasted about 2 years.

It was something that I would occasionally have to remind myself to be patient. They are asking because they don’t know and are curious about the truth.

Especially when the questions were at inconvenient times.

The kids want to learn and know the truth for the “Why”

It is part of the learning experience for the child and the duty for each parent to teach.

Transition:

With the passover the parents were provided a great opportunity to make:

The Proclamation

Exodus 12:27 “you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for He passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when He struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’ ” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.”

They could answer with conviction by faith that:

God spared them because of a sacrifice that was made.

The sacrifice was made because God told them exactly what to do for their firstborn’s to be spared.

And they believed Him and did it.

God acknowledged their faith as a sign He approved of.

Transition:

What is the correct reaction people should have when God provides for them?

- It would be correct for all the house to:

Worship.

Exodus 12:27 “you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’ ” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.”

To every generation the Lord revealed there is no bounds for His love to be extended to His creation.

What would worship have looked like at this moment?

Would worship be that everyone started singing praises to God?

Worship here is the prostrating of themselves to the ground.

“fell on the ground before the Lord” is a term that would best exemplify the actions.

Like in Exodus 11:8 “And all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get out, you and all the people who follow you.’ And after that I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger.”

How many times in your life have you worshipped God like that?

How about in your heart; have you bowed your pride and wisdom in your heart to His perfection?

Connection:

We aren’t perfect and we don’t know it all; we can’t do it all. If we are to measure ourselves against the Lord we don’t even register on the ruler.

Even though we are not worthy of Him, He still wants fellowship with us and deserves to be worshipped by us.

Conclusion:

Egypt’s false idols were revealed for the world to see and God’s authority was on full display; but the final action was that of an opportunity for Obedience because of faith.

He provided elements for Obedience, not a ritual but an opportunity to trust Him.

In a little bit we will take communion: think back to the first passover and the amazing salvation that was provided through a sacrifice, through faith.

- Remember the elements that He provided in Himself for us by His sacrifice.

- The blood for a covering and fulfilling the payment.

- The bread as a body willingly given to be broken for others, not selfish.

Accept the command that the Lord will come as He did when He promised Israel.

- He will come again as He told us.

- He will set up His kingdom and put things back to the perfect place He created.

Observe by faith the command to every generation - Forever.

Allow people to hear the testimony of what God has done and is doing in your life.

Tell people what was going on at the moments you accepted the salvation extended to you.

Tell people of what God is showing you currently.

He is always working.

In Exodus 12:28 we read:

Exodus 12:28 “Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.”

Go and do all that the Lord commanded you to do: Show your faith to all!

Pray!