Passover

Last week we went through the first 10 chapters of Exodus and saw the pride of man in both Moses and Pharaoh.

The Pride of Man

Moses had pride and tried to do things on his own when he killed an Egyptian. Then, in his pride did not want to go back to Egypt.

Does that catch us by surprise to call it pride that Moses did not want to go back to Egypt?

Would we not call it ‘low self-esteem’ which caused Moses to not want to go back to Egypt?

What is pride? Thinking of self. Both pride and ‘low self-esteem’ are based upon thinking of self, and finding worth in appearance to others and what self can do.

Moses was worried about what others would think of him. Would they believe him? Would they respect him? That, though we often call it ‘low self-esteem’ is pride. Thinking of self.

What is the solution for pride a.k.a. low self-esteem? Focusing on the one who truly matters. As God said to Moses, I will be with you. It was not about Moses, how he would be accepted or rejected by others. It was not about Moses, whether he was a good communicator. It was about the LORD who was going to be doing the work to show everyone who He is.

Pharaoh was also very prideful. He was viewed as a god, and did not want to know an acknowledge the LORD. We saw how his heart was hardened each time the Lord showed his power, and also when he showed mercy and grace by removing a plague when requested by Pharaoh. Instead of knowing that the LORD alone is God, and that he should be obeyed, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened.

Pharaoh hardened his heart, and God was hardening his heart by showing his power and authority, and by showing his mercy and grace to a man so prideful that he would not acknowledge another as more powerful than he, nor would he gratefully receive the removal of the plagues.

This pride was coming to a head as we approached the final plague. The ninth plague really brought this out.

The Plague of Darkness

As mentioned last week, a number of the gods the Egyptians worshiped were tied to the Nile.

However, the highest gods were tied to the Sun.

Horus - god of the sunrise

Aten - god of the round, midday sun

Atum - god of the sunset

Amon-Re - supreme deity, “I am the great god who came into being of himself, he who created his names… he who has no opponent among the gods.”

Wow! Is that anti-YHWH or what?

Amon-Re was believed to be their creator.

They would sing to him:

Unique God, there is none besides him.

You mould the earth to your wish, you and you alone—

All people, herds and flocks,

All on earth that walk on legs,

All on high that fly with their wings.

Pharaoh was seen as the Son of Re, the embodiment of Amon-Re.

According to ancient texts, Pharaoh would pray,

Oh living Aten, who initiates life… Oh sole god, without another beside him! You created the Earth according to your wish… You are in my heart, and there is none who knows you except your son.

Other hymns of praise for Pharaoh state:

He is looked upon like Re when he rises,

like the shining of Aten,

like the rising of Khepri at the sight of his rays on high,

like Atum in the eastern sky.

Pharaoh was an anti-Christ.

Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005).

So the darkness God sent was showing that He was LORD and not Amon-Re. But more personally, God was showing Pharaoh that he was not god.

This struck Pharaoh at his core identity.

He summoned Moses, and told him to take the people but not the flocks and herds.

Moses said they needed the flocks and herds to worship the Lord, and...

Exodus 10:27–29 NIV

But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go. Pharaoh said to Moses, “Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die.” “Just as you say,” Moses replied. “I will never appear before you again.”

Exodus 11.1-3 is background information that God had revealed to Moses what was to come next, and that the Egyptians and Pharaoh’s officials had grown to regard Moses.

Moses continued to tell Pharaoh,

Exodus 11:4–8 NIV

So Moses said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the female slave, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt—worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any person or animal.’ Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. All these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me and saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will leave.” Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh.

What was this? It was a warning of what was to come next.

What does this show us about God?

God is merciful, not just sending the punishment right away.

God is gracious, giving a warning so that Pharaoh might repent.

But, instead, Pharaoh is hard-hearted.

Is is unfair that God would send death to all of the first-born of Egypt? Why not just Pharaoh?

All Egyptians were guilty before the Lord. Remember, it was not just Pharaoh against the Israelites. It was all Egyptians. They were all throwing Jewish babies into the river to exterminate the boys.

They all deserved to be punished.

But God gave them a warning. And, God gave a way out.

‘Passover’ given

God had said that every firstborn son would die in the final plague. Even the Israelites deserved to be punished.

Remember, they had turned against Moses after his first meeting with Pharaoh.

And, they were just as guilty as the Egyptians for worshiping false gods. In fact, when they left Egypt, many of them took these gods with them. It is recorded in Joshua 24:14 ““Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.”

The Israelites were guilty before the Lord and deserved to die, but God was giving them a way out.

But then he gave instructions for Moses to pass along in Exodus 12. The instructions were given so that if people believed what God said and acted accordingly—followed the intructions God gave—the Lord would Pass-over that household, and the firstborn would not die. In other words, God was giving a way out of the punishment of the final plague. That is God showing mercy and grace.

Let’s look at the instructions.

Exodus 12:1–13 NIV

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover. “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

Passover

10th day - select lamb without blemish

live with it

14th day at twilight - between 3 and 5 - kill the lamb

put the blood on the doorposts

stay inside, behind the blood of the sacrifice

Exodus 12:29–36 NIV

At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead. During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.” The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!” So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing. The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.

God brings Israel out of Slavery

What do we see about man?

++Pride

++Self-reliant and Impatient

++Disobedient to God

++Self-centered and self-gratifying

What do we see about God?

++Faithfulness

++Patience

++Mercy

++Grace

++Desires for everyone to know He is the LORD

Where is hope?

++God works all things for His purpose

++God always does what He says

++God shows people who He is so that they might know Him

++God provides a way to escape punishment

The Significance of Passover

Pride - something we all struggle with, whether we see it as arrogance, or low self-esteem.

We all think of ourselves way too much, and do not worship the LORD as God.

Exodus—Saved for God's Glory Sun Worshipers

Walt Whitman’s famous “Song of Myself”:

I celebrate myself, and sing myself …

the song of me rising from the bed and meeting the sun.…

Divine am I inside and out, and I make holy whatever I touch.…

If I worship one thing more than another it shall be … my own body.

My abilities

my job

my title

my accomplishments

my appearance

my success

my failures

my plans

my desires

my needs

my interests

my problems

It’s all about me!!

I am my own idol, my own god.

We dwell in darkness, trapped in our sin, in our pride.

It feels like there is no way out of the sin that traps and binds us.

But Christ came to set us free.

The punishment for our sin is death.

He came, as the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

The Passover points to Him.