The Passover
Pastor Chad A. Miller
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· 6 viewsGod’s saving power and grace are on full display from generation to generation from the first Passover to the Lord’s Supper today.
Notes
Transcript
REFLECTION: 1 Peter 1:13-19
SERMON: Exodus 12
BENEDICTION: 1 Peter 5:10-11
asdfINTRO
How forgetful are you? Do you ever walk into a room in your house and think, “wait, what did I come in for?”
Today is Sunday. It’s a day set aside for the gathering of local churches all across the globe for worship. We gather on the first day of the week to commemorate that we are on this side of the resurrection...
(Now, if this is the first you’re realizing what day it is…let’s meet afterwards and pray more about this forgetful thing…) :)
It’s the first Sunday of the month. We have set that apart to stop…take a moment…and come to the Communion Table together to take the Lord’s Supper. We will do that today, as we have faithfully done for decades in the life and ministry of this church family.
Each week, as a church the table is set for you to come and feast on the Word of God by multiple means. We try to maximize your time since most of us don’t live in the SouthEnd to make Sunday School available to you. You CANNOT GET ALL YOU NEED FOR YOUR GROWTH AS A DISCIPLE FROM THE SUNDAY MORNING WORSHIP GATHERING.
Show up for Sunday School. Something for the whole family…all ages. Single, Married, Divorced, Widowed, Covenant Member, Guest…young, old, and all points in between. It’s time to dive back in to studying and growing together.
The Curriculum the whole church is using is The Gospel Project. If you’re plugged into that, you know that just 2 weeks ago, we covered THE LORD’S SUPPER in Luke 22. It was available to you in an on-site gathering at 9am or online at 6pm.
It was a magnificent study. For those of us gathered online, we were deeply moved to see a richer meaning and shake loose some of the baggage we all had from past experiences:
Some had made more of the Lord’s Supper than Scripture allows.
Some had made less of it.
For some, it represented a weapon of legalism.
For others, it was sacred…but took on richer hues as we studied together.
I think for many modern-day Jewish families, the Passover carries similar degrees of baggage.
It’s so easy to FORGET…it’s why the LORD says REMEMBER so often to His people throughout the ages.
Feasts, Festivals, Memorials call us to REMEMBER (to bring to the front of our minds) the substance of the symbol.
As we work through the text this morning,
The 10th and Final plague that we spoke of last week prophetically is finally upon us.
What God did to the Egyptians was no surprise, but what may seem surprising is the way he treated his people Israel.
Just like the Egyptians, the Israelites were under a sentence of death. The same night that God brought death to every house in Egypt, he also visited the home of every Israelite (Exod. 12:13, 23), with the purpose of killing their firstborn sons. In his mercy, of course, God provided his people with a way to escape his wrath.
Before our first point, let’s take note of big picture elements to help us navigate our text. The first comes in verse 2.
2 “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you.
GOD IS ESTABLISHING THEIR CALENDAR BASED ON THEOLOGY! The very first thing, at the beginning of every year, they would remember God’s grand salvation! Wow!
God desires that kind of place in your life…first!
He is not interested in being your copilot.
He is not applying for the position of your life coach.
He sits on throne of glory…and longs for your surrender to His absolute rule and reign in your life!
Your relationship with God Almighty, His Church…Your Witness and Worship take absolute priority over all other matters in life!
Your view of GOD affects your priorities.
YOUR CALENDAR IS ALSO BASED ON YOUR THEOLOGY in a manner of speaking.
It’s also worth noting that we see the instructions for the Passover here twice in Chapter 12. They are separated by the instruction for the Feast of Unleavened Bread (which will go on and on).
The first time its mentioned, the LORD is laying out for Moses.
The second time - Moses is telling the Elders
1. REMEMBER THE SUBSTITUTE/SACRIFICE
1. REMEMBER THE SUBSTITUTE/SACRIFICE
Exodus 12:1-28
Last week we concluded with the realization that there is NO EXODUS, NO DELIVERANCE, NO SALVATION without blood.
I’d like to bring your attention to a few specifics concerning this substitute that we find represented in these lambs.
5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats,
Notice this little lamb in verses 3-6.
Exalting Jesus in Exodus The Passover
The lamb served as a substitute. However, the lamb was only acceptable if it was a one-year old male without blemish (v. 5). It was selected on the tenth day and kept until the fourteenth day. These qualifications were very important. In Deuteronomy 17:1 God said that a blemished animal used for a sacrifice was an abomination. Israel needed a perfect substitute, a perfect sacrifice.
In verses 6-7 the lambs are killed at twilight. It’s a vivid reminder that all deserve judgment.
a lamb without blemish - points to the fact that a blameless life was required in the place of the guitly who needed salvation.
The blood of the lamb was applied to the doorposts (v. 7).
Doing this demonstrated that a person believed God would keep His word.
Israel escaped judgment through this sacrifice, and salvation was accomplished by faith in the substitute.
11 In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.
THIS IS THE LORD’S PASSOVER…not your experience to be innovative with.
Eat…ready to GO!
They ate the first Passover standing up, ready to leave Egypt at a moment’s notice.
And there were no leftovers. Once it was roasted, the entire lamb had to be consumed. The Bible does not explain why, but presumably it was too sacred to be used for any other purpose.
REGARDING THE PASSOVER MEAL AND THE MEMORIAL FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD Phil Ryken summarizes it beautifully:
Passover is about getting saved. It reminds us that we have been delivered from death by a perfect substitute whose blood was shed as a sacrifice for our sins. The Feast of Unleavened Bread reminds us what God wants us to do once we’ve been saved, and that is to live a sanctified life, becoming more and more free from sin. (ibid.)
WE ARE “SAVED” IN ORDER TO BE “SANCTIFIED”!
Israel should never forget the SACRIFICE of the unblemished lamb…the SUBSTITUTE for their death.
2. REMEMBER THE SEVERE JUDGMENT & MERCY
2. REMEMBER THE SEVERE JUDGMENT & MERCY
Exodus 12:29-32
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.
In Moses day, the firstborn had many privileges and great responsibilities.
In that day, losing any child would have been difficult (as it is today), but losing the firstborn would have been devastating to all that family held dear as well as their future security and stability.
This plague demonstrates the seriousness of their sin. The negotiations are over. It’s judgment day.
All of Egypt was judged without distinction from the rich in their palaces to the one in the deepest dungeon.
A Pharaoh had executed a barbaric unrighteous judgment on the Hebrew boys by throwing them into the Nile
God is enacting righteous judgment on all that Egypt holds dear…all it had left as a hope of escape.
The sweeping nature of this 10th Plague on Egypt requiring so much! It was probably tempting for Israel to believe that they were more righteous than the Egyptians.
But the truth was that they deserved to die just as much as their enemies.
IF God had not provided a means for their salvation, they would have suffered the loss of every last one of their firstborn sons. The Israelites were as guilty as the Egyptians! In this final plague God is teaching them about THEIR sin and HIS salvation.
It’s pathetic to see Pharaoh play this out in verse 31-32.
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!”
How ironic as well for Pharaoh to command the Israelites to leave Egypt.
He was not just letting them go; he was ordering them to depart! Pharaoh barked three short commands: “Up.… Leave.… Go.”
Here is a man who swore that he would never give in…but now is doing exactly what God wanted him to do.
Pharaoh gave in to all of Moses’ demands, granting Israel’s unconditional release. God’s people could go. Their women and children could go. Their flocks and herds could go too, with no conditions set for the time of their return.
His concession speech flashes bright yellow, like a traffic sign that reads “YIELD” to anyone who chooses to resist God’s will.
For all his hardness of heart—all the times he told God no and all the times he said yes but never followed through—Pharaoh gained nothing. In the end he had to accept everything on God’s terms anyway.
How about you? How are your negotiations with God going? You better YIELD…give way! ...surrender to God right now on HIS TERMS! It is much better not to resist his claim on your life but simply to accept his plan and his purpose. It’s what you were made for!
3. REMEMBER THE SALVATION
3. REMEMBER THE SALVATION
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.
The Exodus begins!
The Children of Israel are leaving Egypt.
Egypt is running them out…and giving them all their nice things!
Let’s mark a couple items of note: I’ll post about this week in the Digging Deeper post online:
v37 600,000 men? that would conservatively put the crowd at around 2 million+. This has been a point of contention for historians.
v38 “a mixed multitude” There were more than the Israelites here in the crowd leaving…I’ll comment on that in a moment.
Big picture: GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES!
From Genesis 15.14. God promised that the people would be rich upon leaving the land
14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
2. From Genesis 12.2. God promised that they would be a great multplying nation!
2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
3. From Genesis 12:3. Other nations were beginning to be blessed through the seed of Abraham.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Exalting Jesus in Exodus The Passover
“An ethnically diverse crowd also went up with them.” This means that many who were not descendants from Abraham or Israel joined the Israelites as they left Egypt
430 years! But God kept His promise.
>> Believe God, though the lightning is flashing!
Believe God, though the thunder is crashing!
Resist the temptation to behave like a practical atheist in the waiting!
Instead, stand on the Word of God…let your strength be renewed while you wait on the LORD!
Our GOD HE IS INDEED THE WAYMAKER, THE PROMISE KEEPER, THE LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS! Even when you don’t feel Him, you can’t see Him, HE NEVER STOPS WORKING FOR HIS GLORY WHICH IS FOR OUR GOOD!
In the Passover and the Feast, we remember:
the substitute - sacrifice of a lamb
the severe judgment and mercy
the salvation of God’s people
and lastly as we peek over into Chapter 13 and we’re called to
4. REMEMBER THE STRONG HAND OF THE LORD
4. REMEMBER THE STRONG HAND OF THE LORD
Exodus 13:1-16
3 Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by a strong hand the Lord brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten.
This meal, with all of its nuanced rules and formalities, was intended to remind God’s people of the details of their deliverance. You may say, surely…they wouldn’t forget such an incredible, spectacular, miraculous series of events…surely?
We are a forgetful people.
When we forget, we tend to fill in the gaps and blanks with our own version.
The LORD would tell this same people just a bit later:
11 “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today,
17 Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’
Church historian Clair Davis describes the Christian life as “a combination of amnesia and déja vu.” He says, “I know I’ve forgotten this before.”
In other words, as we follow Christ we keep needing to learn the same lessons over and over because we keep forgetting them. And each time it happens, we suddenly remember that we have had to relearn these very same lessons before.
In the remaining verses we see another dimension here, we see how this is transmitted from generation to generation…the substance of the symbols are unpacked at home at the family table.
8 You shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’
9 And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt.
GOD’S LAW IN THE MOUTH OF THE FATHERS TELLING THEIR CHILDREN OF GOD’S SUBSTITUTE, SEVERITY, SALVATION, AND STRONG HAND!
IT WAS ALSO WHY THE ISRAELITES WERE TO DEDICATE THEIR FIRSTBORNS TO THE LORD - not just their flocks!
13 Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.
14 And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.
15 For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’
16 It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”
Honoring the LORD costs us something…precious costly things. But HE IS WORTH IT!
Conclusion
Amazingly, God offered up His own firstborn Son, the LORD Jesus Christ, to redeem us!
32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
There is an obvious progression here with this imagery of the lamb serving as a substitute:
At first God provided one lamb for one person. Thus Abraham offered a ram in place of his son Isaac.
Next God provided one lamb for one household. This happened at the first Passover, when every family in the covenant community offered its own lamb to God.
Then God provided one sacrifice for the whole nation. On the Day of Atonement, a single animal atoned for the sins of all Israel.
Finally the day came when John the Baptist “saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’ ” (John 1:29; cf. John 11:50–52). God was planning this all along: one Lamb to die for one world. By his grace he has provided a lamb—“the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world” (Rev. 13:8).
OH, what a SUBSTITUTE…WHAT A SACRIFICE!
We cannot call to our minds the Substitute of Christ without acknowledging the severity of the Father’s judgment…both were necessary for our salvation:
We believe in the doctrine of the substitutionary atonement: Jesus shed his own blood for our sins. We believe this is not a doctrine of man but of God - it isn’t hidden in the subtext, it leaps off the pages of the Scriptures.
When the New Testament explains the meaning of the crucifixion, it constantly draws attention to the blood of Jesus:
“We have now been justified by his blood” (Rom. 5:9).
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Eph. 1:7).
“Jesus also suffered … to make the people holy through his own blood” (Heb. 13:12).
“You were redeemed … with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Pet. 1:18, 19).
“The blood of Jesus … purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
Spurgeon would write:
We do not subscribe to the lax theology which teaches that the Lord Jesus did something or other which, in some way or other, is in some degree or other, connected with the salvation of men.… We firmly believe … the doctrine of the atoning death of our great Substitute.… We stand to the literal substitution of Jesus Christ in the place of his people, and his real endurance of suffering and death in their stead, and from this distinct and definite ground we will not move an inch.”
On this side of the atoning work of the LORD Jesus Christ and His resurrection; when we come to the Communion Table we too call to our minds:
This great substitute
This great severity of judgment
This great salvation
and we pause to contemplate the STRONG HAND OF THE LORD!
If you are wondering, “How can a sinner come into the presence of a holy God?” Look to the Lamb! Russell Moore says,
Does it remind you that the death angel is coming for us too? . . . If the Lord waits . . . we will all be placed in the ground. We aren’t gods! But what the gospel reminds us of is that we’re passed over . . . so even as we eat and drink in this life, we keep our shoes on, we recognize the people we belong to, and when we finally stand in judgment we don’t come cowering in fear, we come marching triumphantly to Zion right through that door, that narrow little door that everybody great or small must pass through if we would be redeemed. And it’s the one with blood all over it—that’s the Gospel! (“The Blood-Splattered Welcome Mat”)
LET’S PRAY!