Exodus 12:29-51 - Redeemed and Rescued!
Notes
Transcript
The Word Read
The Word Read
Please remain standing for the reading of the Holy Scripture. Hear the Word of the Lord from:
33 The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” 34 So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders. 35 The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. 36 And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.
Behold, brothers and sisters, this is the Word of the Lord. Please be seated.
Exordium
Exordium
Beloved in Christ,
I invite you to open Holy Scripture to
No greater event in the Old Testament parallels the resurrection of our Lord and Savior than the Exodus. For 400 years, the people of Israel were under Egypt’s affliction. The oppression was fierce. Newborn male children were thrown into the Nile River. Hard, state-sponsored, barbaric labor was implemented against the people of Israel. However, Yahweh has warred against Pharaoh and the Egyptian gods over the past year or so. Yahweh brought a greater intensity to each plague. The final mighty sign arrived, and He will rescue and redeem His people. They will be delivered.
Thousands of years later, we sit here this morning and experience our spiritual exodus. We were held under the chains of sin’s power. Satan blinded us from seeing the glorious Gospel. The world had a stronghold around our hearts, pleading with us to worship its idols. We were dead in our trespasses without any earthly hope of being saved. We needed a liberator, deliverer, and redeemer to rescue us from our pitiful, darkened state. In fierce spiritual and fleshly opposition, the Lord opened our hearts, eyes, and minds to hear and see His redemptive plan. By His grace, this opening of our hearts caused us to be able to take hold of redemption by faith. By faith, we can boldly declare, “He is risen.” For if He is not risen, then, as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:14:
14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
Our redemption is secure because Christ rose from the dead after three days in the tomb. Our faith is not in vain because Christ has risen from the dead, and He now sovereignly rules in His session.
The sermon title this morning is “Rescued and Redeemed.” My thesis for these verses is that Jesus has rescued those who belong to Him, both in the Exodus and throughout all history.
Exodus 12:29-32 - The Tenth Mighty Sign
Exodus 12:29-32 - The Tenth Mighty Sign
29 At midnight the Lord struck down 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 the livestock. 30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. 31 Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. 32 Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”
The night of the Passover has arrived. The people of Israel have killed their lambs, placed the blood on the doorposts and lintel, and have had their Passover meal. Yahweh’s power and presence are made known as He strikes down the firstborn from Pharaoh to the captive in prison to the livestock. You can feel the dread of that night if you were an Egyptian. For months, or maybe even longer, you’ve watched every plague come just as Moses stated. You’ve seen the Nile turn to blood, frogs come up from the Nile, gnats come from the dust of the earth, swarms of flies fill the land, your livestock die, boils appear on your body, the locusts that ate vegetation, and you’ve experienced darkness unparalleled. Now, you wait for the final plague. Will this also come true? Will the Lord strike down my firstborn?
There probably wasn’t much sleep for the Egyptians this night. As a parent with young children, I’d certainly be on pins and needles waiting to see if the Lord would strike down our firstborn. As the middle of the night approaches, a great cry rises throughout Egypt. Pharaoh, his servants, and all the Egyptians, every home has someone who has died. At the beginning of the book of Exodus, the people of Israel cry out to the Lord for Him to rescue them. As Yahweh says in Exodus 3:9:
9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
Now it is the Egyptians who cry out.
Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and ordered them to leave Egypt, along with their families and livestock. The people of Israel would no longer endure the pangs of Pharaoh’s power. Yahweh will bring them out of Egypt’s tomb. At this moment, Egypt had become a tomb filled with the dead bodies of the firstborn. Yahweh will deliver His people out of this tomb, giving them life.
This tomb should remind us of the tomb that belonged to Joseph of Arimathea. This is where Jesus was buried after He died on the cross. Hear Peter’s words at Pentecost from Acts 2:22-24:
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
Death couldn’t hold Jesus in the tomb. On the third day, He rose from the dead, walked out of the tomb, showing He had power over sin and death. As the Scripture testifies in Mark 16:1-6:
1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.
Jesus is raised back to life by the Spirit of holiness. Death could not hold Him, nor did it even have a chance to keep Him. By God’s eternal decree, Jesus, the God-man, would die on the cross, be buried, and rise victoriously three days later from the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea.
Exodus 12:33-42 - The Exodus
Exodus 12:33-42 - The Exodus
33 The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” 34 So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders. 35 The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. 36 And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.
37 And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. 38 A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds. 39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.
40 The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. 41 At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. 42 It was a night of watching by the Lord, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a night of watching kept to the Lord by all the people of Israel throughout their generations.
Yahweh has proved His presence and power in Egypt, and Pharaoh is forced to release the people of Israel. Furthermore, the people of Egypt were anxious to get the people out of the land in haste, just as the Lord had said would happen in Exodus 12:11. These people were terrified that everyone would also be killed. An unknown God in their presence has made their gods look puny. He has made Pharaoh look foolish.
This fear of God was not just confined to the Egyptians. In Joshua 2, the spies are hidden by Rahab the prostitute. She says these words to those two spies in Joshua 2:9
9 and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you.
The fame of God’s name is going public due to the Exodus.
The people of Israel grabbed their unleavened dough, kneading bowls, and silver and gold from the Egyptians and began the trek out of Egypt from Rameses to Succoth. As we read in Exodus 12:37, 600,000 men, besides women and children, left on foot. Commentators place the total population of the Exodus between 2 and 3 million. This would be about the size of Chicago or Houston. A massive population traveling from Rameses to Succoth.
Did you notice who traveled in the Exodus? We often assume that only the Israelites left Egypt, but did you see what is in verse 38? “A mixed multitude also went up with them.” What does this mean? Some who were not ethnic Israelites also went with them out of Egypt. There were Gentiles in the Exodus. These individuals gave up their homeland to follow the Lord. They saw Yahweh’s mighty signs and said, “I’m willing to follow that God.” The promise of the Abrahamic Covenant is already becoming a reality—“in you all the nations shall be blessed.”
However, the Abrahamic Covenant does not find its fulfillment in Moses and the Exodus out of Egypt. As 2 Corinthians 1:20 states, “all the promises of God find their yes in Christ Jesus.” The Abrahamic Covenant will be fulfilled in Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ, both Jews and Gentiles find salvation. As Paul writes in Galatians 3:28-29:
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
We Gentiles are incredibly thankful that we have been grafted in as branches. God, in His phenomenal love, has been bringing Gentiles into His covenant family for thousands of years. We are thankful that He called us out of the nations into His holy nation, the Church. We find our hope and identity in God’s risen, resurrected Lamb.
The end of Exodus 12:39 is a treasure to my heart. How did the people of Israel leave Egypt? They left without any provisions for themselves. They take a little unleavened bread and the gold and silver from the Egyptians. Truly, they went in haste without any provisions. They are entirely dependent upon the Lord as the Exodus begins. What a terrifying place, yet isn’t this the best place? Is there no better place for us than to cling to Jesus and Jesus alone?
When we came to Christ in repentance, did we bring all our provisions with us? Of course not! We did not come to Jesus with arrogance, showing off all our provisions. “Hey Jesus, look at all these things I bring with me as I come to you. Isn’t it great that you get to work with all this now?” There is no room for the arrogant at the foot of the cross. However, there is always room for the humble. We came humbly with empty hands to the resurrected King. We declared, “Christ, I have nothing. I repent because I am a great sinner. I come with nothing in desperate need of your saving grace. I come trusting that you will provide everything for my life. I surrender to you.”
This is precisely our condition today as well. We come to Christ every day seeking spiritual provision. Some days, we come ready for a feast of spiritual provision. We sit with Him in the mornings, enjoying our Bible reading, Bible study, and prayer to the fullest. Before we know it, 45 minutes have passed, and we still desire a more lavish feast. Yet, there are some seasons when we can barely make it out of bed spiritually. We feel the barren wasteland of the desert. We climb and claw our way to Christ. We beg Him, “Please just give me an ounce, and it will be sufficient. Lord, just an ounce is all I can manage. The days have been long, and my heart is weary. Please, just a little drop of Heaven’s water, Jesus. I’m struggling to see You right now, but if you could just give me a drop of water, I’ll make it through the day.” Whether in a spiritual feast or famine, we seek our daily bread from Christ each day. Like the Exodus generation, we do not come with provisions but need His provisions.
As we come to the close of this section, we learn that the 430 years of affliction have ended on the very night of the Passover. Furthermore, this generation is to keep watch of the Passover in the future, because it is precisely on the Passover night that the Lord kept watch over them.
Exodus 12:43-51 - Passover Instructions for Non-Israelites
Exodus 12:43-51 - Passover Instructions for Non-Israelites
43 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, 44 but every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him. 45 No foreigner or hired worker may eat of it. 46 It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones. 47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. 48 If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. 49 There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.”
50 All the people of Israel did just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. 51 And on that very day the Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.
One might read this section and think, “Why is Moses writing down the Passover instructions again? This doesn’t make sense. It seems rather redundant.” However, this section is much more than Moses merely repeating himself.
We must ask why these instructions are seemingly given a second time. The answer is found in Exodus 12:38: “A mixed multitude also went up with them.” These instructions are provided here because non-Israelites left Egypt during the Exodus. For a foreigner and/or his family to be able to partake of the Passover, one must be circumcised.
Now, why would this be important? Why does it matter whether or not a foreigner is circumcised? Shouldn’t everyone who comes out of Egypt in the Exodus be allowed to partake of the Passover?
The rite of circumcision was much more than a removal of flesh. Circumcision was a sign of the covenant relationship between God and His people. Thus, being a covenant member was required to partake of the Passover feast. An uncircumcised foreigner had no claim to covenant membership or being one of God’s people. Becoming circumcised and then taking the Passover meant that a person, or family unit, declared that Yahweh is their God and they shared in the identity and destiny of His people.
The Lord’s Supper is the New Covenant sacrament that corresponds with the Passover in the Old Covenant. As we take the Lord’s Supper, we declare that Christ saved us and He is our Lord. Like Ruth in Ruth 1:16, we state, “Your people will be my people, and your God my God.” We also share in the identity and the destiny of His people. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11:26
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
When we take the Lord’s Supper, we proclaim His death, which is where our identity is found. We find our identity in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. The Scripture says we proclaim His death until He comes. This is our destiny—His glorious return, where He will conquer all His enemies, our bodies will be raised from the dead, glorified, and we will be made like Him. Our future is glorious!
In these last verses, the people did exactly as Yahweh commanded. Then the triumphant, final note - “the Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.”
The word for hosts is a military term. The Lord is bringing His army out of Egypt. Isn't it amazing that His army hasn’t fought a single battle in Egypt? They warred against the most powerful army in the world without lifting up a spear or sword. You do not need to war when the Lord is your Divine Warrior. The Lord saved them out of the land of Egypt.
From Scripture, we know that Jesus had at least two brothers: James, who authored the Book of James, and Jude, who authored the small epistle Jude. Jude pens these words in Jude 5
5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.
Let me read that portion again: “Jesus who saved a people out of the land of Egypt.” Who saved the people of Israel out of Egypt? It was Jesus.
It should be no surprise to us that Jesus in the One who saves the once captives out of Egypt, for He leads us out of the bondage of sin. He also led the captives out of the tombs on the day of His resurrection. Matthew 27:51-53
51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
This saving is not confined to the people of Israel, the captives in the tombs, or the people in the pages of Scripture. Jesus is still saving His people from the bondage of sin today. Jesus’ resurrection proves He has power over sin and death. If you have not repented of sin, repent this day and come to Jesus. He is able to save and willing to save you. He is more willing to save than to condemn. Come, taste, and see that the Lord is good.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Pharaoh has finally released the people of Israel. Yahweh has defeated the Egyptian gods. They have been rescued and redeemed. Jesus is everywhere in the Exodus.
Dear brothers and sisters, we have also been rescued and redeemed. Today we live and worship, not as those who have no hope, but as those who have tremendous hope. Christ has risen and our faith is not in vain. Jesus has saved us, and we worship the risen, resurrected Christ!
