OPENING/INTRODUCTION

As we’ve been going through the book of Exodus,

we have seen the loving hand of God caring and providing for his people,

even despite their suffering that they're going through.

Over the last few sermons we have seen God’s power displayed in the plagues.

God has given Pharaoh opportunity after opportunity to turn from sin but Pharaoh’s hard remains hard.

He has neglected to humble himself under God’s mighty hand,

but instead continues in his pride in his arrogance to exalt himself over and above God himself.

Because of this, God continues to bring judgement after judgement,

so that it is clear that He is greater than Pharaoh, and all his “gods”.

If God had just performed one wonder, the Egyptians may have been tempted to think it was just a one-off, a random time where their gods were defeated.

But God performs 10 miraculous wonders, completely decimating the Egyptians and everything they hold dear.

Through these plagues he attacks every aspect of their lives that their so-called gods were supposed to protect.

By doing this, God shows His power over and above their gods.

LEAD IN…

This morning we pick up in Exodus 11.

There is one final plague before God will lead His people out of Egypt in victory…

Because of their refusal to believe and trust God, all the Egyptian firstborn will die.

But the Israelites will be...

Saved by a Sacrifice

As we are going to see this morning,

this final judgement of God on the Egyptians is a reminder and warning to us of God’s coming final judgement on sin.

We must follow God’s plan of salvation, or else face His wrath.

The first thing see in our text this morning is that…

God Promises Judgement

Pharaoh in the Egyptian’s have been shown time and time again that God is the only true God and therefore worthy of their worship,

But they have refused to acknowledge this and turn to him.

Therefore God promises judgment.

HIGHLIGHT

Exodus 11:4–10 ESV

So Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, 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. There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. 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.’ 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. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.

EXPLAIN

There is no opportunity for Pharaoh to appease God now… the opportunity has passed.

God simply warns him what is to come.

God Himself will go out and kill every firstborn in all the land of Egypt…

from the greatest to the least.

man and animals

Noone is exempt from God’s judgement.

Though a passage like this can raise questions for us about the goodness of God…

We must remember that God has given Pharaoh plently of opportunities to listen to Him.

God has been increasing the severity of the plagues to show His power over Pharaoh and the “gods” of Egypt.

This final judgement is going to testify to God’s power, and finally deliver His people, the Israelites.

SUMMARY

God Promises His coming judgement on the Egyptians because of their refusal to humble themselves and believe His Word.

APPLY

In the NT, Jesus spoke a lot about the coming judgement of God.

He spoke more about hell, and described it in more detail than He did heaven.

Throughout the gospels…

Jesus taught that hell is:

a place of eternal torment…

a place of unquenchable fire…

a place where the worm does not die…

a place where people will gnash their teeth in anguish and regret…

a place from which noone can return…

a place of outer darkness…

Hell is God’s judgement for those who have sinned… which is all people!

No one is exempt.

ILLUSTRATION

One of the things I really enjoy doing is walking in nature and spending time in prayer.

I do not pray nearly often enough, which is a shame, because God really does bless those times we set aside for Him, enjoying His presence.

But usually, as I begin praying, I instinctively begin to think about my sin.

I think about the things that I did that were wrong… OR

I think about the things that I should have done…

No matter what it is, whenever I come into the presence of God, I am confronted with my sin.

If I compare myself to someone else, I can come up with a way to justify myself…

But when I measure myself by the perfect holiness of God… I have no defense! I’m guilty!

In his letter to the Romans, Paul points out the fact that we are all hypocrites.

We can easily see sin in other people’s lives, but we tend to overlook our own sin.

But the fact that we can point out others’ sins, proves that we too are guilty…

Romans 2:1–11 ESV

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.

When you are harsh and critical towards other people when they sin, you condemn yourself.

We are condemning ourselves because if we are honest we can think of ways where we have committed those very same sins.

In that moment, we should humble ourselves before God, recognizing our sin, and confess it.

Don’t wait! God’s judgement is coming, and we need to be ready.

God has promised His judgement on all mankind, because all mankind has sinned before a holy and righteous God!

In an article for The Gospel Coalition, Leslie Schmucker writes…

Contrary to popular belief, hell is not a place where God sends those who have been especially bad; it’s our default destination. We need a rescuer or we stand condemned.

Thankfully…

God Provides a Substitute

The Israelites were included in God’s promise of judgement, because they too were guilty of sin.

This is because, as we’ve seen, all have sinned, and therefore all are guilty before holy God.

But God graciously provides a way for the Israelites to escape the punishment of death.

HIGHLIGHT

Exodus 12:1–13 ESV

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 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. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 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. “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. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 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. 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.

EXPLAIN

God provides a substitute for the people of Israel.

They too are deserving of death because of their sin before Almighy, Holy God.

Through their obedience, they distinguish themselves from the Egyptians.

They do this through following God’s plan of substitution.

The lamb or goat dies in the place of the firstborn.

Tim Chester says:

In every home throughout Egypt and Goshen, the death count is the same. The following morning there is a corpse. The only question is: is it a lamb or is it a child? Who has died? The lamb is a substitute for the child. If the blood were simply marking out Israelite homes, then red paint would have done the job. But the blood is a sign that a sacrifice has been made, that a substitute has been offered.

Sin demands justice before a holy and righteous Judge, and that justice is death.

Since the very first sin in the garden of Eden, God has provided the death of a substitute in place of the guilty party.

God clothed Adam and Eve with animal skin, which tells us He had to kill an animal… this is the first animal sacrifice.

Hebrews 9:22 ESV

Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

SUMMARY

God promises judgement because of sin, but He also provides a way out… a substitute.

APPLY

Likewise we are all deserving of death because we have all sinned.

God has provided a substitute to die in our place… Jesus Christ.

We distinguish ourselves from those who are condemned to die by trusting in the sacrifice God has made available to us.

When we place our faith in Jesus, his death is the propitiation for our sins…

His righteousness is imputed to us.

Romans 3:21–24 ESV

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Romans 3:25–26 ESV

whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

RESPOND

If you HAVE NOT placed your faith in Jesus Christ, you are under God’s judgement.

Your own sins condemn you before a holy God.

You have not trusted in the substitution that God has provided for you.

God ushered in his judgement because of the Egyptian’s refusal to humble themselves before him…

This is meant to be a warning to us, because God has warned of his final future judgement…

It is coming.

Blood is required to pay our debt of sin. Are you going to trust in Christ’s sacrifice of blood, or give your own?

If you HAVE placed your faith in Christ, then you are holy…

washed clean…

God has satisfied the just requirement of His judgement in the death of Jesus Christ on your behalf.

Trust in that sacrifice

Once again, Tim Chester helpfully explains this…

Jesus is our Passover lamb. He was sacrificed as our substitute. We all deserve to die because of our rebellion against God. But Jesus has died in our place. His blood is, as it were, daubed over our lives so that God will “pass over” us when he comes in judgment.

God promises judgement because He is a holy and just judge…

but He does not leave us to ourselves… He Himself provides a substitute so that we can be spared from His wrath.

Lastly…

God Prepares a Celebration

God delivers His people from slavery… He has freed them!

But not so that could be free unto themselves…

Quote about: we think that freedom is being able to do whatever we want…

Rather so that they could be free to serve and worship God.

So God prepares a celebration that they will remember in honour of God’s salvation.

HIGHLIGHT

Exodus 12:14–20 ESV

“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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.”

EXPLAIN

God prepares a celebration that is meant to commemorate this day of liberation for the people of Israel.

They are to remember the salvation of God as He brings them out of Egypt to their own land.

This celebration has 3 purposes:

1. To remember and praise God for His salvation (12:17a)

Exodus 12:17 (ESV)

And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt.

Many times throughout the rest of the Bible, the exodus is going to be referenced.

This is THE major event in Israel’s history.

This celebration that God institutes is…

2. To teach the coming generations about the true God (12:17b)

Exodus 12:17 (ESV)

Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever.

This celebration is…

3. To distinguish those who truly believe in God (12:19)

Exodus 12:19 ESV

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.

If by faith you observe this day of celebration, you are saying that you believe the God who redeemed Israel out of Egypt.

Those who are unwilling to observe the festival, do not believe in the true God.

SUMMARY

By faith, the Israelites were saved from God’s judgement, by following His Word and trusting in His substitute.

AND… by faith, the Israelites would commemorate this event, through this yearly celebration, as they told the coming generations of God’s power, love, care, and faithfulness to fulfill His Word.

APPLY

Christ is the passover lamb that has been offered up for us. (Scripture passage mentioned in commentaries…)

1 Corinthians 5:7 ESV

Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

God has prepared the celebration of Communion for us to remember Christ’s sacrifice that has been made on our behalf.

Communion is an ordinance that must be obeyed… because Christ commanded it.

Luke 22:19–20 ESV

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

Communion is a way for us to remember Christ’s body sacrificed, and His blood poured out for us.

Communion is a way for us to teach the coming generations about the only way to be spared from God’s judgement.

Communion is a way for us to distinguish ourselves as those who have trusted in God’s sacrifice, and are therefore truly God’s children.

RESPOND

After telling the Israelites of God’s wonderful plan of a substitute in order to save them from his judgment… Exodus 12, the end of verse 27 tells us…

Exodus 12:27 (ESV)

And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.

They had been saved and set apart as gods holy people

T. Desmond Alexander explains God setting the Israelites apart…

The use of hyssop suggests that the blood has a cleansing or purifying role. The sprinkling of the blood on the door frames is probably intended to cleanse those who have passed through the door into the house from the defilement caused by their sins.

God redeemed them so that they might be his people, obeying and worshipping him,

living as a holy priesthood to the nations around them.

Likewise, God’s grace has been poured out on us through Jesus Christ…

We know that we are guilty before God, and yet He has provided a substitute for us.

Through our faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we are promised that God will pass over us.

He has cleansed us through Christ’s blood.

He is the door through which we must pass to enter eternal life.

What is our response to the incredible grace of God?

Paul asks this very question in Romans 6:1-4

Romans 6:1–4 ESV

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

We are God’s holy people…

Obeying his word…

Worshipping him…

Living as His ambassadors, bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to the world around us.

CLOSING

Speaking on what Christ accomplished on the cross…

Martin Luther wrote:

"All the prophets did foresee in Spirit that Christ should become the greatest transgressor, murderer, adulterer, thief, rebel, blasphemer, etc., that ever was or could be in all the world. For he, being made a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world is not now an innocent person and without sins...but a sinner.

Our most merciful Father...sent his only Son into the world and laid upon him...the sins of all men saying: Be thou Peter that denier; Paul that persecutor, blasphemer and cruel oppressor; David that adulterer; that sinner which did eat the apple in Paradise; that thief which hanged upon the cross; and briefly be thou the person which hath committed the sins of all men; see therefore that thou pay and satisfy for them.

Here now comes the law and saith: I find him a sinner...therefore let him die upon the cross. And so he setteth upon him and killeth him. By this means the whole world is purged and cleansed from all sins.

What a great and wonderful exchange! Was there ever such love?

What should our response be?

Learn to know Christ and him crucified. Learn to sing to him, and say, 'Lord Jesus, you are my righteousness, I am your sin. You have taken upon yourself what is mine and given me what is yours. You became what you were not, so that I might become what I was not.'"