Faith in Keeping the Passover and Crossing the Red Sea

Opening:

It is a beautiful thing to open the Word of God on the Lord’s Day.

Introduction of the Passage:

This morning we will be in Hebrews 11:28-29. Last week we examined the faith of Moses. This week we are in a transitional passage. Here the Apostle Paul is moving on from the faith of Moses to the faith of Israel. Moses is still in view here at first, but it is more than just Moses. Paul is highlighting now the faith of the People in the keeping of the Passover and crossing of the Red Sea.

With this in mind I would ask that you stand with me for the reading of God’s Holy Word.

Reading of the Passage:

Hebrews 11:28–29“28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. 29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.”

Behold, the Word of God. Let’s pray.

Prayer:

Our Gracious Heavenly Father, we commit this time in Your Word to You. We pray that You would be honored this morning. Please sanctify us through Your Word. We pray this in Jesus name, amen.

Introduction:

Paul has now jumped from Moses returning to Egypt without fear all the way to the last plague on Egypt. It is a very familiar account. Moses and Aaron go before Pharaoh to speak the word of the Lord to him. God had commanded Pharaoh to let His people go, but God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. And God began to pour out plagues on Egypt. First there was the Nile being turned to blood. Then God sent frogs and then Gnats and then flies. God them killed the Egyptian livestock. He then sent boils on the people of Egypt. Then came great hail stones. Then there was the plague of locusts. Then God caused a darkness to fall on Egypt. No light shone in the sky.

Even after all nine of these plagues, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he refused to let God’s people go. These were catastrophic judgments on Egypt. God was judging Pharaoh, the evil of the people, and even the false gods of Egypt. But Paul picks up with the passover just before the final plague. In fact, the passover was the preparation for the final judgement.

And Paul is focusing on this preparation and judgement as well as the crossing of the Red Sea.

Text Idea:

The central idea of this passage is that it was by faith the passover was kept, and it was by faith that the Red Sea was crossed.

Sermon Idea:

And while there is much we can learn from this text, the central takeaway is this: As the Israelites were saved by faith alone through the blood of the lamb alone, so also we are saved by faith alone through the blood of the Lamb alone; as they went through the waters by faith alone so also we go through the waters by faith alone.

Transition:

So let’s begin with verse 28.

By Faith the Passover Was Kept.

Hebrews 11:28“28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.”

Explanation:

As I said in my opening, Paul still has Moses in view here. By faith Moses kept the Passover. But this is a transition. Moses is the main character of this verse but it involves the entire congregation. Yes, Moses, by faith recieved and gave the people the Passover instructions. But by faith, the people had to obey. But let’s start with some explanation.

What was Passover?

Passover was the central feast of the Old Covenant. This account is about the central act of redemption of the Old Covenant. They were to all kill a Lamb and smear the blood on the door posts. This way so that when the judgement of God came on Egypt to kill all the firstborn children, it might pass over the houses sprinkled with the blood of a lamb. There were other preparations as well. They were to prepare the Lamb by roasting it in a fire and then eat it. They were to make unleavened bread. They were to eat this meal with their shoes and belts on and walking staffs in hand. They were to be prepared to leave in an instant.

And this was to be observed every year. It was a yearly feast. God said this would be an everlasting ordinance for the people of God. Really, passover was one of the Old Testament sacraments. They had circumcision and passover. These were the Old Testament sacraments. And indeed it is everlasting. We still observe this to this day. You may be confused by this. But we do. Recall, when did Jesus give us the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper? At passover. As circumcision is fulfilled in baptism, so also passover is fulfilled at the Lord’s Tale.

But the central idea that Paul is giving here is that sacrifice of the lamb and the sprinkling of the blood. So let’s read that account.

Exodus 12:21-30 21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. 22 And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. 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 not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. 24 And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. 25 It will come to pass when you come to the land which the LORD will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. 26 And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 that you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the LORD, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’ ” So the people bowed their heads and worshiped. 28 Then the children of Israel went away and did so; just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

29 And it came to pass at midnight that the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock. 30 So Pharaoh rose in the night, he, all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.

This really is an incredible account. And there is so much we need to learn from this, but for the sake of the context of Hebrews 11, we must notice one thing first.

Passover Was Celebrated Before the Deliverance Came.

Remember our definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1 “1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Moses and the people display their faith by obeying even before they saw the deliverance. This demonstrates how Moses especially but also the people by extension trusted God’s Word. God spoke to Moses and told him what to do, and there was faith and obedience.

They had faith in the revealed Word of God. God told them what to do and in faith they obeyed. It may not have made sense to them, but still they obeyed. This is a great example of faith. God commands, they obey even before the benefit of obeying is given. They did not see God’s deliverance yet. But their faith was evidence of what they did not yet see.

Argumentation:

But this passage clearly points ahead to Christ. One early church father said, “If then the blood of a lamb preserved the Jews unhurt in the midst of the Egyptians, and under so great a destruction, much more will the blood of Christ save us, who have had it sprinkled not on the door-posts, but in our souls… Moses said, Smear, and they smeared, and were confident. And you, having the Blood of the Lamb Himself, are ye not confident?”

Everything that is happening here is pointing ahead to Christ. Moses points to Christ. Moses was the mediator of the Old Covenant. Jesus is the Mediator of the New as Hebrews 12:24 says. “24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.” The Israelites relied on the blood of the lamb to save them from God’s wrath. This is pointing ahead to Christ, the Lamb of God whose blood we rely on for salvation from the wrath of God.

Here is the central truth of this passage:

Christ is the Lamb.

As I said, Passover was the central act of redemption in the Old Testament. But all of this was pointing ahead to Christ and His death to pay for our sins. Christ is the Lamb. Remember the words of John the Baptist. in John 1:29 “29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Just as the lamb was slain to cover the Israelites, so Christ was slain to cover the true Israel, the church. And Paul explicitly makes this connection of Christ and Passover in 1 Corinthians 5:7–8. “7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

Christ is our Passover. The Passover was foreshadowing the substitutionary death of Christ. The Israelites were saved by faith in Christ. As they celebrated Passover they were actually looking ahead to Christ. Now as we celebrate the New Covenant Passover of the Lord’s Supper, we look back to Christ. But, There is now only one question we must ask.

Application:

Is Your Faith in the Lamb of God?

Are you trusting in Christ? This passage gives us such a good picture. Those who were washed in the blood of the Lamb escaped God’s judgement. There was a sacrifice in their place, the lamb. In the same way all those who are trusting in Christ have Christ, the Lamb of God, as their substitute. God’s wrath no longer rests on them.

But all those who were not covered by the blood of the lamb were still under God’s judgement. And indeed judgement came. In the same way, all those who are not trusting in Christ are not washed in His blood. If you are not trusting in Christ, you are still in your sins and the wrath of God is upon you. And judgement is coming. There is only one hope. That hope is to repent of your sins and trust in Christ, the Lamb of God.

All those who do not trust in Christ will face judgement. So turn from your sins and trust in Christ, the Lamb of God, who died the death you deserve so that your sins may be forgiven.

Transition:

And now Paul switches from the faith in keeping the passover to the account of the Red Sea crossing.

By Faith the Red Sea Was Crossed.

Hebrews 11:29“29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.”

Explanation:

This is closely tied to the account of the Passover. After the death of the firstborn, Pharaoh finally lets the Israelites go. And Egypt cannot wait to get rid of them. They actually give them tons of gold and jewels and valuables as they leave, fulfilling God’s prophesy to Moses that they would plunder Egypt as they left.

But after they left they come to the Red Sea. And God again hardens Pharaoh’s heart. And Pharaoh sends out his army to recapture Israel. And Israel finds themselves stuck with the Red Sea on one hand and Pharaoh’s army on the other hand. This seems like a hopeless situation. And the people despaired. But Moses tells them this: Exodus 14:13–14“13 And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.””

What incredible words! God will fight for you. And indeed this is exactly what happens. God was traveling before Israel as a pillar of cloud. And at this point, the pillar of cloud moves between the Egyptian army and Israel. It casts utter darkness on the army but radiates light on Israel. Listen to this. Exodus 14:19–20“19 And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. 20 So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night.”

And then we read the incredible account of the crossing.

Exodus 14:21-31 21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23 And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

24 Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that the LORD looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians. 25 And He took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians.”

26 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.” 27 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 28 Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained. 29 But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

30 So the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Thus Israel saw the great work which the LORD had done in Egypt; so the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD and His servant Moses.

This is an incredible account. It is filled with drama and intrigue. Israel has it back against the wall. They are between a rock and a hard place. But God dramatically delivers them. And Paul’s central point in our Hebrews passage is that Israel crossed in faith.

Israel Crossed in Faith.

This is the central point. Hebrews 11:29 “29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.” The people walked into the parted water on dry ground in faith. They had to trust in God to deliver them. And even when God delivered them by parting the water, they still had to walk through on the dry ground. And they trusted God. They trusted God would keep the waters held up while they crossed.

And while the Israelites trusted God in faith, the Egyptians were there for evil. And God crushed them. They rode in after Israel had crossed and then God closed the waters and crushed them. The army of Pharaoh was drowned in the sea. As the song of Moses said, the horse and the rider, He has thrown into the sea.

Argumentation:

But the point here is that:

God Did the Work, Israel Accepted it in Faith.

Who was it that parted the Red Sea? This may seem simple but it was God. Isaiah 51:10“10 Are You not the One who dried up the sea, The waters of the great deep; That made the depths of the sea a road For the redeemed to cross over?” God did this. Israel did nothing. They had to merely accept the work God had done. They had to in faith, cross the Red Sea. They did not part the waters. God did. They had faith in God’s work.

In the same way, God is the one who does the work in our salvation. God is the one who redeems us. We do nothing. Our justification is all the work of God. He even is the one who gives us faith. Now we must follow Him. Just as Israel followed God into the Red Sea, so we must now follow Christ. If our faith is in Him, we will obey Him. That is how it works.

Application:

But there is one thing we must notice about this. Just like with Israel at the Red Sea:

There Is Only One Way.

Chrysostom said on this passage, “For what else was left [for them]? They were unarmed, compassed about by the Egyptians and the sea; and they must either be drowned if they fled, or fall into the hands of the Egyptians.”

There was only one way out and that was trust in God. They had an armed military on one side, and water all around. They could not scatter or they would have drown. They could not turn back or Egypt would have slaughtered them. There was only one path to salvation, through the water.

It is the same for us. There is only one way. That one way is Jesus. Salvation is only found in Christ. He is the path through the water of God’s judgement. We are surrounded on all sides and if we abandon the faith, we are damned. Christ is the only hope.

If you are here and you are relying on anything other than Christ, you are without hope. But there is only one path to salvation and that is Christ. So I urge you today, trust in Christ. He is the only hope. Abandon all hope in your own works. Abandon being a good person, you aren’t actually that good. Outside of Christ you stand condemned. Trust in Christ. Turn from your sin and embrace Christ.

Closing Application:

But there is one final thing I want to address in this passage. It actually is not in the Exodus account. It is what happens next. In the account of Exodus we see God deliver Israel in an incredible way. But then almost instantly we see them change. They begin complaining and even worshipping idols. In fact, God curses these very same people who crossed the Red Sea to die in the wilderness. They never actually entered the promised land. Their children did, but they did not. I want to explain:

Covenant Curses and Apostasy.

We would be tempted to think that after witnessing the Passover and even the Red Sea crossing there would be nothing that could shake the faith of these Israelites. But as we keep reading we will see that isn’t true. In fact, many of them actually do abandon the faith. Apparently there were many unregenerate hearts in the group that crossed the Red Sea and ate the holy meal. And when push came to shove, not all, but many abandoned the faith.

To abandon the faith is called Apostasy. It is when someone abandons the faith to the very end. They abandon and walk away from faithfulness to the end. And many of these people did apostatize. Now to be clear I think the number that fully apostatized was fairly low. Many of the Israelites who fell into Idolatry did eventually come back. But even those who did return to faithfulness had to endure the curses of the covenant.

A covenant is a relationship with blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. We see God lay out these curses at Mount Sinai. And one of the curses God pronounced on this group of people for their idolatry and abandonment of Him was that they would not enter the promised land, but their children would. They would be damned to wander in the wilderness for forty years until they all died in the wilderness.

The reason I bring this up is because these were members of the covenant. They were in. They were the people of God. But many of them fell away. And it is the same today. All over the New Testament we see warnings against Apostasy. We see Paul and Peter and John address this. 1 John is written in part to attempt to comfort the church because so many people had abandoned the faith and apostatized. This is still a present reality. People will abandon the faith. Covenant members will walk away even today.

This is what Hebrews 10:26–31 is talking about. “26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

There are those who will walk away even after tasting of the goodness of God. These are people who have been baptized. They have taken the Lord’s Supper. They have eaten with us, prayed with us, worshipped with us. But they walk away from the Lord of all creation. And we attempt often to soften this by saying that no one who is truly saved will ever lose their salvation. This is true. But we cannot see the heart. I cannot look into your soul and examine if the Holy Spirit has regenerated you. Only God sees the soul.

As we close this morning, I want to remind you that what we have seen is far greater than what these Old Testament saints saw. We see now the fulfilment of this. Christ has come. We now have fellowship with Him in truth. But I want to challenge you. Are you faithful to Christ? Will you remain faithful to Christ?

Philippians 2:12 says “12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;” Remember what these people went through. They saw all the plagues in Egypt. They say God part the Red Sea. And yet some of them walked away. And we have seen the fullness of this in Christ. So examine yourself. Do you trust in Christ. Is He everything to you? Will you follow Him no matter how hard it gets?

It is becoming harder to follow Christ in our age. Will you walk away when it becomes even harder? These are questions we must wrestle through. Apostasy happens even to this day. We see it all the time. Members of the New Covenant abandoning their faith. We must examine our own hearts and ask if we will follow Christ to our end.

We are in a similar place to the Israelites in this passage. The Bible shows that Passover is fulfilled in the Lord’s Supper. The Bible also says the Red Sea was a type of Baptism. Beloved, we have eaten the Passover in the Lord’s Supper. We crossed the Red Sea in baptism. Will we remain faithful? I do not bring this up to cause us to doubt our faith. I want us to examine ourselves. We must ponder what Christ is to us. Is He your Lord? Is He your Savior? Will you follow Him to the end? We must determine right now that we will be faithful.

We Will Be Faithful.

This is my entire goal here as your pastor. My primary concern is that this church, that all of us, remain faithful to Christ. I will pour out my life for this. We must remain faithful to Christ. We will examine our lives and we will abandon all sin for the sake of Christ. We will not cave to the pressures of our age. We will not abandon our children to the World. We will not embrace fear or despair. We will not cave to the demands of our culture. We will stand firm on the Word of God. We will not cave.

In our day we are even seeing entire churches and denominations cave and apostatize. The church in the west seems to be falling. And we are facing the judgement of God because of this. But we must determine that we will remain faithful. No matter how hard it gets.

Each one of us must determine this today. Right now we must examine our own hearts. We must confess any sin in our lives. We must put that sin to death. And we must hold fast to Christ. That is what we must do.

And we must do this as a church. We must determine that as a church we will not bow to any but Christ. We will obey Him. We will follow His Word. We will stand on the truth and we will remain faithful to God. But we need the help of the Lord in this. So let us go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him for His aid in holding us faithful to Him.

Let’s pray.

Closing Prayer:

Pray and ask God:

To help us be faithful.

To cause us to confess our sin to Him.

To help us turn from our sin.

To give us strength for the times of doubt and pain.

To cause us to endure to the end and never walk away.

To give us comfort knowing that He will accomplish the Work He has begun in us.

Offering:

Offertory Prayer:

Benediction:

Hebrews 10:23“23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”