Pharaoh and the Egyptians, as well as Moses and the Israelites, would come to know the awesome power of the Lord through the events of the plagues

Transcription

1 Exodus 12:1-14, Saved by a Lamb 12/18/16-pm My last message, in this series from Exodus, came to us from chapter 3 - In it we heard of God calling Moses to the task of freeing the Hebrew people from bondage in Egypt God had given him signs to accomplish this task - A staff that would turn into a snake, a hand that would be leprous and then clean, and water that would turn to blood As chapter 4 closes, we find Moses before the people of Israel - The last verses, 30 and 31, tell us, Then he did the signs in the sight of the people. So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped. 1 In the next chapter, things do not go well with Pharaoh - He does not let the people go - Even worse, he increases the people s workload - Requiring the same number of bricks - But giving them no straw to make them Because of Pharaoh s hardness of heart, God would send plagues upon the Egyptians - The plagues resulted in Israel s freedom - They also revealed the power of God Pharaoh and the Egyptians, as well as Moses and the Israelites, would come to know the awesome power of the Lord through the events of the plagues According to W.A. Criswell, The plagues gave a public manifestation of the power of God; showing divine wrath upon Egypt for her cruel treatment of the Hebrews and for her idolatrous practices; and they demonstrated the superiority of God above all pagan deities. 1 Scripture quoted has been taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, 1979, 1980, 1982, (Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN) Page 1

2 (These terrible plagues) transmitted a warning to the nations that God would vindicate His people. 2 Notice that God did not begin with this terrible plague of death - God did not even begin with plagues - Moses was first sent with many signs When those signs were ignored - God was still determined to free the people from this unjust bondage - So each time the Pharaoh refused - That action triggered a more severe response from God Each plague got progressively worse and worse - Until they reached the tenth and last plague - The death of the firstborn - Which we hear about in tonight s reading Exodus 12:29 says, 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. It was a terrible event - The firstborn of those in Egypt, and even the firstborn of all the livestock, die - Only the Hebrews were spared - And of the Hebrews, only those who had been obedient to God s command and sacrificed a lamb the night before were saved The instructions for sacrificing this lamb are found in Exodus 12:5-8 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 2 The Believer s Study Bible, W. A. Criswell, editor, 1991 by the Criswell Center for Biblical Studies, (Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN) Page 2

3 It is an important passage - Because it is here that God established the Way of Salvation - In the days of the Exodus, faithfully following God s instructions saved the Hebrews from the wrath of God And in this sacrifice of a lamb, we have the Way to Salvation today - Because it is the picture of the sacrifice of Jesus - Our Lamb of God The lamb or goat sacrificed by the people was to be a male of the first year; in its prime - Christ offered up Himself in the prime of His days The lamb was to be without blemish - Our Lord Jesus was also a Lamb without defect 1 Peter 1:18-19, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. The lamb was to be set apart four days before - Christ was crucified at the Passover, so therefore he entered into Jerusalem four days before, the very day that the lamb was set apart The lamb was to be slain and roasted with fire - Indicative of the extreme sufferings of our Lord, even unto death on the cross The sprinkling of the blood is also a precursor of Christ s sacrifice for us - It was not enough that the blood of the lamb was shed, but it must be sprinkled on the doorposts The same goes for Jesus - It is not enough that Christ has died - Unless He died for us - We must place our trust in the fact that His death has freed us from sin The lamb s blood sprinkled upon the doorposts was the salvation of the Israelites, from the angel of death, that terrible night - Those marked doors are like the open profession of faith in Christ that we make Page 3

4 That faith in Christ will be our protection from the wrath of God, the curse of the law, and the condemnation of sin Even the eating of the lamb is a picture of our walk with Jesus - It was not just to be sacrificed, but was to be eaten and enjoyed Jesus likewise did not just die for us - But we should also enjoy our relationship with Him - His presence in our lives will bring us spiritual strength and nourishment Additionally, the lamb was to be entirely consumed - When we feed upon Christ s presence in our lives - We must feed upon a whole Christ To often, people will only focus on the Jesus love, our Lord s atoning death, or Christ s Lordship in our lives - Instead, in the words of John Wesley, We must take Christ and his yoke, Christ and his cross, as well as Christ and his crown. 3 This passage is the institution of the Passover feast - Exodus 12:14 So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. We too, who have received Jesus as our Savior, should feast - In 1 Corinthians we read, For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. 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. 4 Our walk with Jesus should be filled with joy - A feast of continual delight with our Savior - An unleavened feast too, without the leaven of malice and wickedness - Instead, rejoicing in sincerity and truth 3 Wesley's Notes on the Bible, John Wesley ( ), Public Domain, (Christian Classics Ethereal Library, Grand Rapids, MI) 4 1 Corinthians 5:7b-8 Page 4

5 Dwight L. Moody was a famous evangelist in the nineteenth century - He made a mistake on October 8, He preached to a very large audience in the city of Chicago - The text had been, What Will You Do Then with Jesus Who Is Called the Christ? He said something he had never said before and, frankly, never said again - He was very fatigued and because of that, he said to the audience after he presented the gospel, Now I give you a week to think that over. And when we come together again, you will have opportunity to accept Jesus as your Savior. Then Ira Sankey came and began to sing - Even before he finished the song, you could hear the blare of the siren in the streets of Chicago as that great fire broke out and left 100,000 homeless - Hundreds of people died in that fire Dwight L. Moody rose to the occasion a few months later and he said, I would give my right arm before I would ever give an audience another week to think over the message of the gospel. Some who heard it that night died in the fire. 5 John the Baptist testifies about Jesus, Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 6 The apostle Peter testifies about Jesus, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. 7 Our Scriptures also testify about Jesus, that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 8 5 Clarence Macartney, as quoted in: Swindoll's Ultimate Book of Illustrations, 1998 by Charles R. Swindoll, (Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN) 6 John 1:29 7 Matthew 16:16 8 Romans 10:9 Page 5

6 In the words of DL Moody, What will you do then with Jesus who is called the Christ? - I urge you to know Him as your Savior - Acts 4:12 says, Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Make today your day of Salvation - It is simple to do - You just need to recognize your sinfulness - And be willing to turn away from wrongdoing Then you just pray - Trusting that Jesus has paid the price for your forgiveness - You ask God to forgive you - You ask Jesus to be your Savior Through that moment of faith and trust, you will be transformed into a new creation through Christ Jesus - And you have the assurance of God s Word that, whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 9 Do not make the mistake that some made that night of the Chicago fire - Do not wait to call upon the Lord - In the words of 2 Corinthians 6:2, Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 9 Romans 10:13 and Joel 2:32 Page 6