I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Exodus 12:1-13
Exodus
12:1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2 “This month is to be for you
the first month, the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of
Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb[a] for
his family, one for each household. 4 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. 5 The animals you choose
must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or
the goats. 6 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. 7 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. 8 That same night they are
to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made
without yeast. 9 Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over
a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. 10 Do not leave any of it till
morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. 11 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.
12
“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. 13 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.
-- I had a call from my insurance
company this week -- they said nothing was wrong, but they were calling to let
me know that they were going to lower my insurance costs for the next six
months because of COVID-19 -- it seems that there have been fewer vehicle
accidents and claims since the pandemic hit, and so they were adjusting all the
rates
-- the representative then suggested
that since she had me on the phone, now was the perfect time to go over our
coverages to make sure we had the protection our family needed -- she talked
about the insurance we have for our vehicles and the coverages we had for them
-- she asked about adding other
protections -- medical, health, life insurance -- coverages for our home and
for our property -- and, after a few minutes, I thanked her for her call and
hung up
-- insurance is one of those things
that you really need in our day -- it’s something I never thought of before I
became an adult, but discussions about insurance and coverages and the amount
of protection our family has is part of my weekly conversations with friends
and coworkers more than I ever imagined it would be
-- along those lines, this morning
we are going to talk about coverages and protections -- not of our vehicles or
our material possessions -- but spiritual coverage and protection
-- as we have been following the
story of God and His promises through scripture over the last several weeks, we
ended up last week with the sons of Jacob having moved to Egypt because of the
famine -- Jacob’s son Joseph had been elevated to second-in-command in Egypt,
right below the Pharaoh -- and under his leadership, the Egyptians had not only
survived the famine but thrived, becoming an even more powerful and wealthy
nation
-- at the same time, the tribe of
Israel also thrived -- growing in numbers and wealth and prosperity as the
descendants of the sons of Jacob lived and worked in Egypt in the land of Goshen
-- eventually, Joseph and all the
other patriarchs of Israel died -- and over time, many pharaohs had come and
gone and the name of Joseph and his accomplishments on behalf of Egypt were
forgotten -- the pharaohs became concerned over the size and the wealth of the
tribe of Israel -- they feared their influence and their power, so they bound
them in slavery -- forcing them to work for the Egyptians in the fields and in
the building of their cities
-- for over 400 years, the nation of
Israel was bound in chains and enslaved by the Egyptians -- eventually, their
cries for redemption and salvation reached the ears of the Lord -- and He moved
His hand to free them under the leadership of Moses
-- we all know the story of Moses
and the burning bush and how he carried the Lord’s message, “Let My people go,”
to Pharaoh -- how Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and how he refused to release
the Israelites from bondage, despite the many signs and wonders and plagues the
Lord worked in Egypt
-- as we open here in Exodus Chapter
12, we find ourselves at the climax of the encounter between God and Pharaoh,
as the last plague -- the death of all the first-born in Egypt -- has been
promised if Pharaoh would not let God’s people go
-- once again, Pharaoh’s heart has hardened
against the word of the Lord, and Moses and Aaron left his presence warning
that the last plague was imminent
-- which brings us to verse 1,
Exodus Chapter 12
II. The Passover (Exodus 12:1-13)
-- verse 1
Exodus
12:1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2 “This month is to be for you
the first month, the first month of your year.
-- we have a tendency to jump ahead in
the story when we read or study the Bible or hear a sermon -- for most of us,
we know the story of Scripture so well, that when we turn to well-known
passages such as this, we move ahead in our minds -- we jump to the end without
stopping to truly understand or experience what is going on in a particular
passage and what the people who were living in that story were experiencing
-- let me encourage you to not do
that today -- but to experience the story as it unfolds and put yourself in the
place of an Israelite living in Egypt on this day -- it will make the story so
much more extraordinary
-- as this chapter opens, Moses and
Aaron have gone to see Pharaoh one last time to issue God’s demand to let His people
go -- and, as expected, Pharaoh has thrown them out of his court -- they head
back to Goshen -- the community where the Israelites live -- to let them know
that nothing has changed
-- at that moment, God speaks to
Moses and Aaron again -- He tells them that this month is now to be the first
month on their calendar -- the first month of their whole year -- so, what does
that mean?
-- that means that God is about to
do something so extraordinary -- so miraculous -- so breath-taking -- that from
this moment on, time will begin again -- from this moment on, the entire
calendar -- the entire history -- of the Israelites will begin again -- this
will be the seminal moment in their lives and in the life of the nation of
Israel
-- this moment in the history of the
nation of Israel is very much like the birth of Christ for us -- the coming of
Jesus to this world -- the incarnation of God in man -- and the salvation given
through the cross and the empty tomb -- were such momentous and extraordinary
events that our calendars were reset to zero at that moment -- we now refer to
history as times “Before Christ” and “After Christ” -- technically, A.D. -- anno
domini -- the year of the Lord
-- that is what is about to happen
here in Egypt -- Moses and Aaron have left Pharaoh’s presence dejected and
worried about the future -- and God stops them and says, “It’s not over -- it’s
just beginning -- because what I am going to do is going to be so
extraordinary, I am resetting time -- from this moment on, this will be your
beginning -- this will be the first month of your calendar, so that you will
never forget what I have done for you”
-- God likes to reset time in our
lives just like He’s doing here -- when the nation of Israel crossed over into
the Promised Land, He had each tribe pick up a stone from the middle of the
Jordan River as a reminder of what He had done in their lives -- as a marker of
a historic moment that changed their lives forever
-- He puts memorial stones in our
lives, too -- the moment we first received Jesus as our Lord and Savior -- the
moment of our baptism -- the moment He rescued us or delivered us from a trial
-- these moves of God reset time in our lives and reminded us of who God is and
what He has done for us -- remember them, so you will not lose heart if you
find yourself in the middle of a story and unsure of the future, like Moses and
Aaron at this moment
-- verse 3
Exodus
12:3 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. 4 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. 5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you
may take them from the sheep or the goats. 6 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.
-- note here that Moses and Aaron
were told to tell the whole community of Israelites of what God was going to do
-- the promise of deliverance was not just for Moses and Aaron -- the promise
of deliverance was for the whole community -- it is for the whole nation of
Israel -- just as the salvation of Jesus is offered for the whole community,
and not just a select few
-- the people are told that on the
tenth day of their new first month in the calendar, they are to select a lamb
without defect -- the Hebrew used here for lamb can either mean a baby sheep or
a baby goat -- either a lamb or a kid -- and they are take it into their
household and take care of it until the fourteenth day
-- according to later rabbinic law,
a lamb was presumed to be able to provide food for ten people -- so, if there
were fewer than ten people in a household, the Lord tells Moses and Aaron to
have the people share with their neighbors -- a reminder to us that we should
always share with those in need, and to accept help when we need it
-- so, the people are to select a
lamb without blemish on the tenth day and to bring it into their households and
to protect it and guard it for four days -- why?
-- now here’s where we have a
tendency to jump ahead -- we all know what’s going to happen to the lamb,
right? -- it’s going to be killed as a sacrifice and the blood placed on the
lintels of the doorpost -- but we’re not there yet -- don’t jump ahead
-- instead, ask yourself this
question -- why four days?
-- wouldn’t it have been easier for
the people to just go down, select a lamb on the fourteenth day, take it home,
and sacrifice it? -- why have them bring the lamb into their home on the tenth
day and then keep it there with them until the fourteenth?
-- we know that the lamb of this
first Passover pointed to Jesus -- it was a symbol of His sacrifice, with His blood
being offered in our place so that we might not experience the first death but
enjoy eternal life through Him
-- so, what’s going on with the four
days? -- it’s hard to find a clear answer among commentators or theologians --
but it’s obviously important, or it would not be mentioned specifically in the
scriptures
-- the four days within the home
could reference Jesus’ ministry -- following His baptism by John, Jesus
ministered to the nation of Israel for over three years, before He was killed
on the cross -- the three days for the lamb to be in the home with the family,
living with them before being sacrificed on the fourth day, could point to the
fact that the Messiah would be with the nation of Israel for three years,
ministering to them and showing them the way, before finally being sacrificed
at Calvary
-- others have compared the four
days to the time between Jesus’ triumphal entry on Palm Sunday to the day of
His arrest and trial by the Sanhedrin -- the Jewish Council -- a time of four
days -- others have compared it to Jesus’ time from arrest on Thursday until the
resurrection on Sunday
-- we don’t really know the reason for
the four days nor what it represents in the life of Christ -- but we do know
how keeping the lamb with them for four days would have impacted the Israelites
in the story -- the act of caring for the lamb for four days would have made
the sacrifice more personal -- more intimate
-- when you care for something in
this way, you come to know it in a way that you wouldn’t have otherwise -- it
becomes a part of your life
-- that means the sacrifice was not
just of a random lamb that you just picked out of a feedlot and carried
straight to the altar, but a lamb that you had come to know -- the sacrifice
would be like giving up a part of your family
-- because of the four days, the sacrifice
would mean more -- the sacrifice would be more costly -- a reminder of the cost
of our salvation and the price that God paid for our forgiveness by having His
only Son die in our place
-- verse 7
Exodus
12:7 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. 8 That same night
they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and
bread made without yeast. 9 Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but
roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. 10 Do not leave
any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. 11 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.
-- after the lamb was slaughtered,
the people were to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of
the doorframes of the houses where they were -- as we will see in a moment, it
was to be a sign to God that the sacrifice had been made
-- then they were to roast the lamb
on the fire, and to eat it along with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast
-- this was not normal -- this was
not how the Israelites usually offered up sacrifices to God
-- first, sacrifices were not done
inside an individual’s home -- they would have been done in a communal area --
on an altar that was set aside for that purpose -- and the sacrifice would have
been made by the priests and the spiritual leaders in their community -- it
wouldn’t have been done directly by the ones who brought the lamb
-- secondly, they had never been
told to take the blood and put on their doorposts -- the blood would usually be
splashed on the altar where the sacrifice was made -- but it was never carried
anywhere else nor used in any other fashion
-- and, third, they were told to eat
the lamb with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast
-- this is a sacrifice unlike any
other ever made -- so, why the difference?
-- remember the context -- the
Israelites are living in bondage -- they are living as slaves -- they are
suffering injustice and evil -- they are crying out for deliverance -- not just
as a nation, but also as individuals -- for every man, woman, and child living
there under Pharaoh’s hand
-- so, this sacrifice was not normal
-- it was not communal -- in this case, each family must offer the sacrifice on
their own, in their own home -- on behalf of themselves and their family --
this is a personal sacrifice -- and it points to the face that salvation and
deliverance is personal for all of us
-- we aren’t saved by coming to
church with other Christians -- we aren’t saved by the communal sacrifices of
others -- instead, we must come to God through Jesus on our own in order to be
delivered from our sins -- we are only saved by receiving Jesus as our Lord and
Savior individually and personally
-- as we’ll see in a moment, the
blood was on the doorpost as a sign of the sacrifice -- it marked the homes and
the individuals within the homes -- it’s important to note that as God is about
to deliver the Israelites and lead them out of Egypt, they path out goes
through the blood
-- the bitter herbs represent the
suffering of the people -- yeast always represents evil or sin in the Bible, so
bread without yeast would have pointed to a changed life -- lives without evil
or sin or suffering -- holy lives -- a holy people
-- they were to eat the sacrificed
lamb and the bread with their cloak tucked into their belts, their sandals on
their feet, and the staff in their hand -- ready to move -- ready for God’s
deliverance to come at any moment -- the sacrifice was made -- God’s hand was
about to move
-- as I was studying this, I
couldn’t help but think of our current position as believers in Christ -- for those
of us who have received Jesus as our Lord and Savior -- for those of us who
have come unto God through the blood of Jesus -- the sacrifice has also been
made -- and God is about to do something new -- something great
-- we should be living as the
Israelites -- with our cloaks tucked into our belts, our sandals on our feet,
and our staffs in our hand -- ready for the Lord’s return -- ready to be called
out of this place and into the presence of the Lord -- it could happen at any
moment -- as Adrian Rogers once said, there is nothing left on the prophetic
calendar before the Bible says Jesus will return -- so, live light and live in
expectation of being called home at any moment
-- verse 12
Exodus
12:12 “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. 13 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.
-- and here we see the promised
deliverance -- nothing that had come before would shake Pharaoh or soften his
heart -- not the command of the Lord or the miracles or the plagues that had
come against him and all of Egypt
-- but now, God is moving finally
and decisively -- the angel of death is going to pass through Egypt and all of
the firstborn are going to be killed -- both men and animals
-- the only people who will be saved
are those people who had sacrificed the Passover Lamb and been marked with the
blood
-- the same is true for us -- when
sin entered into this land and into the hearts of men during the fall in the
Garden of Eden, it bound us in chains so strong we had no hope of ever breaking
them -- no matter what we did -- no matter what acts of good we claimed to do
-- we could never escape the sin within nor the consequences of our actions
-- it took the sacrifice of a pure,
unblemished Lamb to atone for our sins and to remove the chains of the sin
nature from within -- the very blood of Jesus has marked us for deliverance and
protection and ensures our redemption
III. Closing
-- In the city of Werden, Germany,
there is a large Catholic Church -- a tourist was passing by one day and
noticed that there was a stone lamb on the top of the church -- he asked why
the lamb was there
-- he was told that when the Church
was being built, a stone-carving mason fell from a high scaffold all the way to
the ground -- His coworkers rushed down, expecting to find him dead
-- But to their surprise and joy, he
was alive and only slightly injured -- How was this possible? -- how could he
have survived such a fall?
-- it turns out a flock of sheep was
passing beneath the tower at the very moment he fell, and instead of landing on
the ground, he landed on top of a lamb -- The lamb broke his fall and was
crushed to death, but the man was saved.
-- To commemorate that miraculous
escape, he carved a lamb in stone and placed it on the tower of the church in
gratitude for the lamb that saved his life -- at the very spot he was standing
at when he lost his balance and fell
-- this passage from Exodus is the
story of another lamb who died so that others might live -- the blood from the
sacrificed lamb was put on the lintels of the doorpost in faith -- in belief in
the promise of God for protection and deliverance from the plague that was
going to come against the nation of Egypt on that night
-- and this lamb -- this Passover
event -- points to the ultimate Passover Lamb and continues the promise given
by God in the Old Testament -- the promise of a Messiah -- the promise of
deliverance and protection for us -- the
promise that the blood of Jesus will cover our sins and atone for our
trespasses, so that we might receive forgiveness and eternal life through Him
-- so, as we close, let me ask you
this question -- have you been covered with the blood of Christ in your life
for protection and deliverance from your sins? -- do you have the right
insurance against sin and death?
-- I know that most of us have
received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, but have you checked your coverage
lately? -- is the blood still there? -- are you still relying on it? -- or have
you drifted from God in your life?
-- if so, today is the day to
recommit yourself to Jesus -- to repent of your sins -- to turn back from
wrong-doing and back to Him -- to walk again in His light so that you might be
delivered from the unrighteousness of this place
-- let us pray
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