The Passover

Intro

Situation where you needed help.

Genesis 32:1-20

Main Idea: God is the great rescuer

Promise to Abraham. Genesis 15:13-14, “Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.”

Your people will be in a land not their own for 400 years. I will bring judgment and rescue them. Pharaoh didn’t like them multiplying. Made Israelites slaves and killed firstborn sons. Story of Moses being rescued. God had a sovereign plan and he would execute that plan. This plan involved Moses and 10 Plagues. Each plague getting increasingly worse. Two reasons for the plagues:

Disprove pantheistic views. Egypt = Pharaoh is god-king. Exodus 12:12. Judgment on “gods of Egypt.” Since false, this is judgment on faith in gods. Exodus 9:14.

Retribution on first-born. Exodus 1, Pharaoh kills first-borns in Israel. Exodus 4:22-23.

God would rescue his people. He calls them to respond in faith and remember what he has done.

Imperative #1: We respond in faith

Exp. God is going to call the Israelites to trust in what he is doing. The tenth plague is going to be brutal. Verses 12-13. Moses passes this along, Verses 21-23. God said 1-year old spotless lamb, and you would feast on it. Kill the lamb together and paint the blood on the doorpost. “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” Just like “when I see the bow in the sky.” To respond in faith is a call to action.

Ill. Child jumping in the pool. You tell them you’ll catch them. The only way they know is to jump. God is calling them to this level of faith.

Christ - God is calling us to faith. Faith in Jesus. The true, sacrificial lamb. 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!” He is the sacrificial lamb, and the passover event points to him. His death brought salvation for us. What we know: The blood is enough. It is not the strength of our faith, but the blood that stays the judgment of God.

Exp. End of 27-28. Their response was to worship and obey.

App. God may be asking you to do something.

Ministry

Share Christ with a neighbor

Forgive

Give your life to Christ

How are you responding?

Imperative #2: We remember what God has done

Exp. Not only does God bring salvation, he sets up the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Verses 14-20. Week long celebration. Passover Feast was a part of this. Still celebrate this. Focus on eating together. Eating the lamb completely. Represents the completion of salvation. This was important for future generations to know what God did here.

Ill. July 4th. Thanksgiving. These aren’t just random things, but events that we celebrate. Have national significance. While none of us were there, these events help us not to forget.

Exp. Nation of Israel would forget this. Need to be reminded of this for future generations. So do we. Our Passover event is Jesus on the cross.

Christ - The blood of Christ that was shed was the fulfillment and better lamb’s blood. Our moment where God’s judgment and salvation met was on the cross of Christ. The faithfulness of God is dually noted in the Old Testament, and his faithfulness didn’t run out on the cross.

To forget what God has done is to deny faith altogether. You will either do it all yourself or deny his works.

We can look back on:

Blood of the lamb

Moments of deliverance

Blessings

How to remember?

Stop and reflect

Thank him along the way

Be in his Word and in community

App. Communion.