God -- The Protector of His People
Notes
Transcript
Handout
This morning we will be celebrating the Lord’s Supper at the end of this message. If you are watching this at home, and are a believer in Jesus Christ, I encourage you to pause the video and collect some form of bread and juice. It is best to use unleavened bread for this celebration — a potato chip might work — better yet a flake of bran cereal is bread without leaven in it. Any kind of juice is fine since these things are symbolic — and of course, a sip of wine would also be appropriate.
Please turn in your Bible to Exodus 12:1-13 as we look at GOD — THE PROTECTOR OF HIS PEOPLE.
For those who regularly follow my preaching, you will remember that I made a promise last November to return to our study of the Ten Words or Ten Commandments in January. And, if you are at all familiar with the Bible you might be saying — right book, wrong chapter. And, of course that is true. Next week, Lord willing, we will return to Exodus 20 and begin the last leg of our journey through the Ten Commandments. So, why not start that today?
For some time now I have been feeling like I haven’t given enough attention to the importance of the Lord’s Supper. It seems to have become an add on at the end of a message once a month. And I believe that it is more important than that. So, my goal for this year is to spend the first Sunday of each month, the one in which we typically celebrate Communion, with a focus on communion. And since the Lord’s Supper was instituted during the Passover meal celebration, and it is distinctly tied to the Passover, I’ve decided to begin by looking at the Passover. At present my plan (which is always subject to change) is to spend the first couple of first Sunday’s studying Exodus 12. Then, beginning in March we will look at each of the Gospel writers accounts of the institution of the Lord’s Supper. And we will eventually dig into 1 Corinthians 11 where Paul writes about the Lord’s Supper.
My goal for this year, other than for the first Sunday’s, is to work through some of the prophetic portions of Scripture. I would like to study Daniel and Revelation for sure, and perhaps some other passages as well. But I don’t have that all figured out just yet. You can pray for me as I seek to finalize my preaching schedule for this year (something I should have already done!).
The subject of our passage for this morning is God’s victory over His foes. As we look at this passage we will consider God’s past victories, present instructions, and future deliverance.
Let’s read our passage together.
Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
“This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you.
Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household.
‘Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; according to what each man should eat, you are to divide the lamb.
Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.
You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight.
Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.
They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails.
And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire.
Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, 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 go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against 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 live; 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.
Let’s begin by looking at
God’s Past Victories
God’s Past Victories
Note that,
Faith is Based on the Prior Workings of God
Consider for a moment the history of the nation of Israel. Their history began in the early part of the Book of Genesis, in the Garden of Eden when God made a promise to the Serpent that the Seed of the woman would strike the head of the Serpent. And the Serpent would strike the Seed on the heel.
The history continued with the protection of Noah and his family from whom would come the Promised Redeemer.
The history continues with the call of Abram to leave his home and journey to the place which God promised to give him as a possession.
The history continues with the birth of Isaac, the son of promise, who pictured the greater Son of Promise.
The history continues with the choosing of Jacob over his brother Esau.
And then the book of Genesis concludes with Jacob moving his entire family away from the land of Promise to dwell in Egypt under the protection of his son, Joseph.
The Book of Exodus picks up the narrative several hundred years later. By this time the Hebrew children had grown larger and potentially powerful. Out of fear that they would ascend to power in the nation, the present Pharoah, who did not know about Joseph’s position in Egypt, subjected the children of Israel to forced labor. The whole nation of Israel was treated as slaves, and they were treated harshly.
The children of Israel had dwelt in the land of Egypt for 430 years. And while there they had, by and large, forgotten the God of their fathers, and had become worshipers of the panoply of gods which were worshiped by the Egyptians.
In the Book of Exodus we learn that Yawheh called Moses to lead His people out of slavery in Egypt, and to journey to the land of Canaan which God had promised to give to Abraham and his descendants. Yawheh sent Moses and Aaron to Pharoah with the demand that he let Yahweh's people go. But Pharaoh had never heard of this God named Yahweh. As a matter of fact, Pharoah thought that his gods were superior to the God of Israel. Thus Yawheh sent plague after plague on Egypt to prove His superiority over the gods of Egypt.
Each of the plagues which Yawheh sent seems to have target a different deity within the Egyptian panoply of gods.
Blood — targeted the river gods of the Nile — Khnum, Altapi, Osiris
Frogs — targeted the frog goddess, Heqt, the wife of Khnum (she was a symbol of resurrection)
Gnats — targeted Hathor & Nut
Flies — targeted Shuie & Isis
Cattle — targeted the bull god of Apis
Boils — targeted the lion-headed goddess, Sackmet and her power over epidemics, and Sarapis, the god of healing
Hail — targeted Geb, a sky god; Nut, a sky goddess; and Isis, who was responsible for protecting the crops
Locusts — targeted Sarapis, the field god of harvest
Darkness — targeted RE, the main god of Egypt, the god of the sun & sky
During the time of these plagues ( we don’t know how long of a period it took for these to fall upon Egypt), the children of Israel were witnessing the power of their God in action. It appears that they had to live through the first three plagues, but the last six they were spared from. In each of these Yahweh was demonstrating His power over all so-called gods. And the people were given evidence upon which to build their faith in Him. Without faith it is impossible to please God!
We’ve been considering God’s past victories, let’s move on to consider
God’s Present Instructions
God’s Present Instructions
There are many instructions given to the children of Israel in this passage. They fall into the categories of new beginnings and passover preparation. Let’s begin with
New Beginnings
New Beginnings
The first instruction in our text relates to calendar issues. The children of Israel, having seen God’s work which He performed before their very eyes, were in the infant stages of faith in Yahweh as the One and Only true God. Their faith was not blind faith. Though they had not seen God, they had seen the work in which He performed. And they had seen that He spared them from many of the plagues which were inflicted the Egyptians.
It is quite possible that the instructions given in the first several verses of chapter 12 were given during the time of the ninth plague, the plague of darkness. If you will recall, it was dark everywhere in the land of Egypt, except for in the land of Goshen where the children of Israel lived. The people God had chosen to be His people were living in light, while the nation of Egypt was living in darkness. There is certainly a spiritual analogy to this as well. For only those who are in Christ are living in spiritual light. Everyone else is living in spiritual darkness.
Note that,
Faith Brings with it a New Beginning
Look at the first two verses of our text.
Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you.
We are so used to the calendar which we follow, that we probably never think about others calendar concepts. We follow the Gregorian calendar which was developed under Pope Gregory in A.D. 1582. In other words, it is relatively new, when you consider that man has lived on planet earth for about 6,000 years.
In Ancient times different people groups followed different calendars. But Yawheh informed His people that their calendar would be based on the month of their redemption from Israel.
Can you note a date on a calendar as to when you came to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? I can. It was Monday, June 10, 1968. Ironically enough, sixteen years later to that very date was my first date with Gail. I’m not sure if I knew that date at the time. I remember the occasion, but I think it was when I was looking through my mother’s Bible after she died that I learned the specific date.
But was June 10, 1968 the date of my redemption from sin? I will argue that it was not. I was redeemed from sin at the cross of Christ, the exact date of which I cannot fix with true exactness. But it was His death on the cross which purchased my redemption, even though that was nearly 2,000 years before I was even born.
Let’s move on to look at the instructions for the
Passover Preparation
Passover Preparation
There are several instructions in this regards.
The first instruction has to do with the selection of a lamb. Look at verses 3-4.
Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household.
‘Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; according to what each man should eat, you are to divide the lamb.
The first passover instruction regarded
How Much Meat?
How Much Meat?
Note that,
There Could Be No Leftovers of this Meal
The first thing they had to figure out is if each persons household could consume the meat from a lamb in one meal. If they could not then they were to join together with a neighboring household in sharing the lamb and the meal. It is possible that this sharing of a lamb could help bring reconciliation between households which were at odds with one another — although that is mere speculation.
The second instruction regarded
The Lamb
The Lamb
Note that,
The Chosen Lamb Could Have No Physical Blemish
Look at verse 5.
Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.
Douglas Stewart wrote: “The reason for demanding perfection rested not in the quality of the meal but in the symbolic purpose: the animal served as a reminder of the eventual deliverance that a perfect God perfectly provided for his people as part of the process of making them holy like himself. Proper relating to God requires perfection.
How, then, could an animal help provide perfection for those who consumed it so that they could become acceptable to God? The answer is that it could not, except to the extent that the whole process of eating the animal in obedience to the Passover regulations was an act of faith and obedience, involving faith in God’s gracious provision of the holiness that no human could himself or herself provide and obedience to a process that showed confidence in the true God’s true promises and requirements.” (Douglas K. Stuart, Exodus, vol. 2, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2006), 275.)
The next instruction related to the temporary care for the lamb. Look at the first part of verse 6.
Exodus 12:6 (NASB 95)
You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month,
Remember that they selected the lamb on the 10th day of the month. It appears to me that they actually took the lamb into their home and treated it like a household pet. This would cause a bond to be established between the lamb and the people in each home, which in turn would make the sacrifice more costly.
The next instruction related to the death of the lamb. Look at verses 6-7.
You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight.
Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.
First, the lamb of each household was to be killed at twilight. Twilight literally means “between the two evenings.” By the time of the first century the Passover lamb was slain around 3 p.m., which is the time of day in which Jesus died. And Jesus in the Christian’s Passover Lamb.
Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.
Second, some of the blood had to be painted on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the individual houses. God will later explain the reasoning for this.
The next instruction regarded the eating of the lamb. Look at verses 8-10.
They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails.
And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire.
The meat of the lamb was to be eaten the same night in which it was slain. It was to be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
Often in the Bible leaven is associated with sin and its spread. While that is not inherent in this text, we should keep it in mind. The basic reason for bread being made without leaven was that it could be quickly made. This whole meal was to be one of haste, and not leisure. Why the haste? Because God was going to deliver them from bondage to Egypt that very night. They had to hurry and get away before Egypt had a chance to change their minds and try to prevent them from leaving.
John Hannah wrote that, “Bitter herbs (probably endive, chicory, dandelions) symbolized sorrow or grief (cf. Lam. 3:15) for past sin, or the Israelites’ bitter experience of oppression in Egypt.” (John D. Hannah, “Exodus,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 128.)
Instead of chestnuts roasted on an open fire, in this instance it was to be a lamb roasted on an open fire. The lamb would be field dressed like a deer hunter might do with a deer. It would have to be skinned as well. But it would not be butchered into various cuts of meat. The carcass would be roasted as a whole. This was the quickest way to cook the large amount of meat.
In verse 11 God explains the manner in which the meal was to be eaten.
Here is how you must eat it: You must be dressed for travel, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in a hurry; it is the Lord’s Passover.
I put it on the screen in the CSB translation because it helps to explain what the NASB refers to as “your loins girded.” We don’t gird our loins today — well, at least we men do not wear a dress-like garment in which we need to gird our loins in order to not hinder our travel.
When my family travels, there often a sense of hurry — especially when we are making the long drive to Maine to see our family. So we hurry to get packed and loaded, hoping that we don’t forget anything important. And we get out the door as quickly as we can. It is that sense of haste which God is directing the children of Israel to be in when they eat the passover lamb.
I believe that there should be a similar sense of haste when we obey any directive from God. Shouldn’t we make haste to share the news of the gospel of Jesus Christ with those who need to hear it? We don’t know how much longer the Lord will tarry before calling His church to meet Him in the air. And so we must share the message of the cross and the empty tomb with a sense of urgency.
So far we’ve looked at God’s past victories, and present instructions. Let’s move on to consider
God’s Future Deliverance
God’s Future Deliverance
Note that,
Faith Requires Obedience and Obedience Requires Faith
The children of Israel were required to obey God’s directives in faith. They were not required to understand them, but to obey them.
God closes this section by informing the children of Israel about what He was going to do in the immediate future. Look at verse 12.
‘For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am the Lord.
I wonder if any of the firstborn of Israel, in their haste, took time to consider that the lamb which they slaughtered died in their place? There is a definite inference of substitution in the Passover lamb. The firstborn of every household in Egypt were about to die. But the firstborn of every household of Israel would be saved — if their families, in faith, obeyed the Lord’s directive.
Not only was God judging Egypt for enslaving His people. He was judging their false gods for duping the people of Egypt into worshiping them instead of the Creator who is blessed forever, Amen!
Understand that there is more to idol worship than merely worshiping an object of wood, stone, or metal. Often there is demonic activity involved with these so-called deities. They are real beings — but they are not God. Only Yahweh has the right to claim to be God.
Interesting enough, today, Egypt, to the best of my knowledge, doesn’t worship a panoply of deities. They worship one god — but it is still a false god by the name of Allah. And there is coming a day when they will once again be judged by Yahweh for failing to worship Him, even though He has revealed Himself to them time and again.
Notice the protection which God provided for His people on the night of the original Passover. Look at verse 13.
The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; 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.
As wonderful and dramatic as this deliverance was, it fails in comparison to the deliverance the believer has in Christ, who, as our Passover Lamb, has been slain — slain from the foundation of the world. On the one hand, a select group of people were delivered from physical enslavement — an enslavement which had little to do with their eternal destiny. On the other hand, a select group of people are being delivered from spiritual enslavement — an enslavement which had everything to do with our eternal destiny.
On the one hand, the lamb which died for the people, died, never to live again. On the other hand, the Lamb which was slain was raised from the dead never to die again! Hallelujah! Praise the Lamb.
I stated earlier that faith requires obedience, and obedience requires faith. Have you experienced the obedience of faith? Have you placed your faith in the Lamb of God who was slain in order to pay the penalty for your sin? If so, praise God. Furthermore, obey God’s directive to put to death the things which belong to our old manner of life outside of Christ. And to put on the things which belong to our new way of life in Christ.
If you have not come to the obedience of faith, why not? Can you not see God’s hand at work in this world? He has revealed Himself to mankind in nature. He has revealed Himself to mankind in His Word. And He has revealed Himself to mankind in His Son, the Living Word of God. Jesus, the Precious Lamb of Glory, died to pay the penalty for the sins of all who trust in Him. Won’t you trust Him today and become a blood bought member of the family of God?
Let’s pray.
Dear Father,
I bow before You thanking You for the provision of our Passover Lamb. I thank for the resurrection of our Passover Lamb — that He ever lives to make intercession for His own.
Lord I pray that we would rid our lives of the old leaven that is a part of our sinful nature. And that we may be a new lump of unleavened dough.
Father, I pray for any hearing this message who are still enslaved to sin, that they would put their faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and become a new creation in Him.
In Jesus name, Amen.
Closing Songs: #109-110
Lamb of Glory/Hallelujah! Praise the Lamb
Hear the story from God’s Word that kings and priests and prophets heard: There would be a sacrifice, and blood would flow to pay sin’s price.
Precious Lamb of Glory, love’s most wondrous story, Heart of God’s redemption of man — Worship the Lamb of glory.
On the cross God loved the world while all the pow’rs of hell were hurled; no one there could understand the One they saw was Christ, the Lamb.
Precious Lamb of Glory, love’s most wondrous story, Heart of God’s redemption of man — Worship the Lamb of glory.
Instrumental Transition
Hallelujah! Praise the Lamb! Hallelujah! Praise the Lamb! My heart sings this song again: Hallelujah! Praise the Lamb!
Hallelujah! Praise the Lamb! Hallelujah! Praise the Lamb! My heart sings this song again: Hallelujah! Praise the Lamb!
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The Lord’s Supper
The Lord’s Supper
I truly hope that you see the connection between the Passover and the Lord’s Supper. If you don’t stick with us, and it will get clearer as the months progress.
Paul writes about this celebration to the Corinthians. He had to write to them about it, because they were practicing it in an unworthy manner. He wrote:
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;
and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
The wafer that we eat represents the body of Christ, which was represented by the body of the lamb which was sacrificed. The people of old ate of the lamb which was slain to protect them from the outpouring of God’s wrath. We eat of the bread which represents the body of Christ which was slain to protect us from the outpouring of God’s wrath.
Let’s give thanks for the bread.
1 Corinthians 11:24 “and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.””
Let’s eat this bread together in remembrance of Christ.
The cup of juice of which we partake represents the blood of Christ which was shed for the remission of sins. This blood was represented by the blood which was applied to the doorframes of the the homes of the people of God. All who dwelt in a home in which the blood was applied were under the protection of God, and spared from His wrath. And Christ death on the cross is what signifies that we also are under the protection of God.
Let’s give thanks for the cup.
1 Corinthians 11:25 “In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.””
Let’s drink the cup together in remembrance of Christ.
1 Corinthians 11:26 “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
“May the Lord bless you and protect you; may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’