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February 6, 2021 - Morning Worship Service Faith Bible Church - Sacramento, Californian Message - The Passover - Exodus 12:1-28
Good morning and welcome to Faith Bible Church. I consider it a Family and as you can tell from the conversation going on, we're just getting reacquainted again this morning. And so it's a real blessing from the Lord.
We are considered brothers and sisters in Christ and a close family. And I thank the Lord for that. We welcome you here today have just a couple of announcements we want to give to you and If you have the bulletin notice at the bottom left that we have the adult Sunday school at 930 and We'll be back into Psalms this coming week.
What chapter of Psalms we're going to be in 22 and so next week will be in Psalms 22. Glad to have you there join us for that and as usual of the 11 o 'clock service is each Sunday and tonight at Six o 'clock.
We have a prayer time. It's a real sweet time of fellowship. We do in the praying we pray a lot. Concerning what the Lord is to us and it's a real time of fellowship. If you want a time of fellowship, you'd come out and join us at that time also and note also that there's a men's Bible study on Saturday at 330 and We have a Elders meeting this week at Wednesday night at 630 and Next Sunday morning following the church service.
We're going to have our annual business meeting. We were usually have before I had but on the last Thursday of January, but we feel that Sunday morning is a little more convenient. So we'll have it just following the service next Sunday morning.
So remember that and also the 18th. The Saturday the 18th the women's Bible study again. And so remember that and put it on your calendar and come out To that you ladies and I know that they've enjoyed that time of fellowship together.
What chapter they in? Exodus 9. First Kings wrong book first Kings 9. And I think that's it for the announcements and you know, we usually like to prepare our hearts for the message at this time and Sometimes I do things that are I think Harold and pastor are going to say get that guy off of here.
So we're going to. You're going to join with me and sing a song that you may have not heard in preparation. Go down Moses. We had a Bible study and when we went through this a couple years ago, we learned this song.
I'm going to sing the first verse there's three verses you can remain seated and After I sing the first verse, you know it and so then we'll sing the first verse again and we'll do the three verses and that's preparing your heart for the message and Hopefully you'll remember what pastors been saying to us when you remember this song so you can remain seated.
I'll say also those of you know, you join me with me the first verse two I just stop and say as you might know. This is an African spiritual and probably the people singing it were in slavery and had some idea what we were talking about.
So now we'll sing you'll sing the first verse again now that you know it, okay, then we'll do the other two.
And let's pray.
Heavenly Father we come before your throne today. We thank you for the power and the glory that you show us even the Old Testament of what you're capable of doing. We pray Heavenly Father that this day together might be a day of rejoicing and a day of Praising you praising you.
And if there are those here Lord that are hurting We would pray Heavenly Father that you might comfort and touch them and we would thank you. We thank you for the state and the country where we have freedom to worship.
We pray Heavenly Father that that might continue and we would thank you for that be with pastor as he brings your word today May be a blessing to each one of us and we will thank you and pray in Jesus name. Amen.
Created me a clean heart Oh God and renew a right spirit within me and let's stand for.
Songs that we're gonna sing to the Lord. I should read for this morning is first Peter chapter 1.
Verses 17 through 21. First Peter chapter 1. Verses 17 through 21. And if I if he called the father who with with respect of persons Judges according to every man's work. Past the topic of your sojourning here in fear.
For as much as you know They eat. You were not redeemed with credible things like a silver and gold from your brain. Conversation received by tradition from your father's. Over the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot.
Who rarely was forwarding before the foundation of the world, but was manifested Manifest in the these last times for you. Who by him do believe in God? That raises him up from the dead and gave him glory.
Their faith and hope might be in God. And Lord I expected to be in his word. And may our faith and hope be in God. And let's stand and sing.
Please turn with me to Exodus chapter 12. Exodus chapter 12 verses 1 through 28 now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying This month shall be your beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you.
Speak to all the congregation of Israel saying on the 10th of this month Every man shall take for himself a lamb. According to the house of his father a lamb for a household and if the household is too small for the lamb Let him and his neighbor next to his house.
Take it according to the number of the persons. According to each man's need you shall make your make your count for the lamb. 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 14th day on 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 of on that night. Roasted in fire with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs. They shall eat it. Do not eat it raw nor boiled at all with water. But roasted in fire its head with its legs and its entrails you shall let none of it remain until the morning and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire and Thus you shall eat it with a belt on your waist your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand.
So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. Both man and beast and against all the gods of Egypt.
I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. Now the blood shall be assigned for you on the house where you are. And when I see the blood I will pass over you and the plague shall not be on You to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
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. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread on the first day.
You shall remove leaven from your houses for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day. The person shall be cut off from Israel on the first day. There shall be a holy convocation and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you.
No manner of work shall be done on them. But that which everyone must eat that only may be prepared by you. So you shall observe the feast of unleavened bread for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt.
Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting Ordinance in the first month on the 14th day of the month at evening. You shall eat unleavened bread until the 21st day of the month at evening.
For seven days. No leaven shall be found in your houses since whole whoever eats What is leavened that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel whether he is a stranger or a native of the land.
You shall eat nothing leavened in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread. Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them pick out and take lambs for yourselves and according to your families and kill the Passover lamb and you shall take a bunch of hyssop dip it in the blood that is in the basin and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin and None of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning for the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you.
And You shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. It will come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you just as he promised. That you shall keep the service and it shall be when your children say to you.
What do you mean by this service that you shall say it's the Passover sacrifice of the Lord Who passed over the house of the children of Israel in Egypt when he struck the Egyptians and delivered our households?
So the people bowed their heads and worshipped. Then the children of Israel went away and did so just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. Let us pray. Father we're thankful for who you are.
We're thankful that you are God. You're a God who is so merciful and gracious that you would provide a way to save your children. Father, thank you that none of your children will be lost and thank you that you take care of us no matter what happens.
Father we pray that you would help us trust you as these children of Israel did on the night of the Passover. Father, we pray that we would trust in the blood of the Lamb that cover their households and the judgment did not strike them.
In Jesus name. Amen. The Passover is a huge event in the redemptive history in the Bible and This is one of the reasons why we are going through the Old Testament right now. The Old Testament concepts and events and feasts are the foundation in which Jesus fulfills the promises of the past.
Without knowing the purpose of the Passover Lamb We lose the rich depth of knowing what it means to call Jesus the Lamb of God. Jesus is called the Lamb of God all throughout the New Testament. Even on the throne the heavenly throne.
He is called the Lamb of God the Lion of Judah and This text tells us the huge implication of knowing What it means to call Jesus the Lamb of God. The Passover Lamb is. The subject is the focus of this text.
The Passover Lamb is how God Will deliver his people from the judgment. The Passover Lamb is what differentiates God's people from the condemned and that's what we see today. And What we see today is How God's people need to respond? to this Passover Lamb.
So the main point of this text is the up. The appropriate response to the Lord's deliverance is Continual commemoration. The appropriate response to the Lord's deliverance is continual commemoration. First point.
The Lord protects his people from the judgment through the slaughtering of the Lamb. The Lord protects his people from the judgment through the slaughtering of the Lamb. Prior to the final judgment against Egypt the Lord prepares his people to leave Egypt for once and for all.
Unlike the prior plagues this final plague will not Automatically separate God's people from the Egyptians. For example Israel did not have to do anything during the hailstorm. Their fields were fine in Goshen.
Yet Egypt was devastated. Israel did not have to do anything for their livestock. The diseases only affected the livestock of Egypt. And of course When Egypt was totally dark There was light among the Israelites.
They did not have to do anything. But here for the final judgment God's people are called to act in faith to be protected from the coming judgment. God's people are called to act in faith. To be protected from the coming judgment even before the Lord.
Instructing what Israel must do he actually establishes a new order of life for his people in verse 2. This month shall be your beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. This is significant because the surrounding Canaanite cultures when they do get to the promised land.
Regarded the fall the season of autumn to be the beginning of the year as they celebrated their harvest however for God's people. Their year begins by commemorating the Lord's historical redemptive act.
What's important to them for God's people is not harvest but God's historical deliverance of them and This would set Israel apart from the surrounding pagan nations. What they are celebrating would be completely different from those of the pagan nations.
For God's people God's act of deliverance is the center of their lives. That's what? Establishes their time frame. That's what marks their calendar. Now after establishing the new order for his people the Lord instructs what his people must do in order to avoid the last plague.
Verse 3 to 4 tell us who will be involved. On the 10th of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb. According to the house of his father a lamb for a household and if the household is too small for the lamb Let him and his neighbor next to his house take it.
And according to the number of the persons. According to each man's need you shall make your count for the lamb when God saves. When God delivers his people He does not leave anyone out. There is no asterisk of God saved every Israelite asterisk except for the houses with too few to celebrate the Passover.
Or God saved every Israelite asterisk except for the houses that could not afford to eat of the lamb first. This instruction Shows us that God intends and does save every one of his people. Because that's what he's capable of and that's according to his gracious character.
He doesn't leave anyone out. He will provide for the exceptions. There are no outliers for God. Then verses 5 to 11 share how God's people must prepare the lamb. Again, this text is focused on the lamb.
Here the lamb is the means by which the Lord will protect his people from the coming judgment. Recall that this judgment is different from the other judgments this judgment. The Lord is directly involved.
The Lord will pass through the land of Egypt and When the Lord directly passes through the land of Egypt His presence his holy presence is not safe for Israelites. Because even the Israelites Were sinners like Egyptians.
Even the Israelites Were actually pagans. They had idols. They were not safe, but God here graciously gives them a Way out gives them a provision in which They could be delivered they could be safe despite the judgment that's coming on the land.
Verse 5 describes what kind of lamb is acceptable to the Lord. Your lamb shall be without blemish a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Why does the lamb have to be without blemish?
The Passover at its core is not about having a nice meal. After all any lamb of one year. Whether with blemish or not would taste the same. The Passover is about how? God's people can properly relate to the perfect and holy God.
To the perfect and holy God. Blemish was not acceptable. The perfect and holy God required a blemish free lamb a lamb of the highest quality. No defects, no spots. Pure and white unblemished. Verse 6 tells us when this lamb has to be slaughtered.
It has to be done on the 14th day of the first month and at twilight. This is extremely specific. But when God delivers his people his people must follow his way not theirs. When God saves his people his people must receive God's way not what they think is best.
I don't want to be up in twilight. Well, you don't have a choice. Verse 7 shows us how each family will be protected and They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two door posts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.
They were to paint the front of the house with the lamb's blood and That is the core of the Passover. In fact the blood smeared on. The front of the house comes before the Passover meal itself. It shows what's actually more important and this would not have made a lot of sense to Israel at first.
Because they have never done this before. But it's served as an act of faith. It's not actually that the lamb has the magical power to protect you if you eat it but rather the blood that you're not supposed to eat is going to protect you and God plants that concept in his people as early as Exodus a Blood of the lamb.
The blood of the lamb that protects his people. The blood of the lamb that protects his people from the coming judgment. The blood of the lamb that protects his people from death. And. With this act if they follow the Lord's instruction regarding the lambs blood.
Their firstborn babies would be spared. That was the promise of the Lord. It was a public demonstration of their trust in the Lord and. And this was the most important step of the Passover their outward faith.
Shown by the blood of the lamb. Set God's people apart from the condemned of Egypt. Even in the Old Testament we see God relating to his people of faith. Verses 8 to 11 tell us the quick manner of eating the Passover lamb.
Verse 8 through 10 tell us that the lamb must be cooked in the quickest manner possible and eaten with the least amount of preparation. Roasting would have been quicker than boiling the lamb, right? When you boil the lamb you have to boil the water.
So it's hot enough and then you put the lamb and then it cooks that way and after it you have to wash the cookware. Boiling would have taken too long. No, no, God says roast it over the fire. There's no cleanup.
It's quick. You don't have to wait for the water to boil after all you're gonna be leaving this land soon. Now bitter herbs kind of confusing. Why would you want to eat bitter herbs? Well bitter herbs were the simplest vegetable side dish to be prepared.
Right. They didn't have time to make a ratatouille. They didn't have time to steam the broccoli. No bitter herbs, you would just pick from the backyard and then eat it and it's bitter because it's raw uncooked unseasoned but that's the quickest meal you can have before you leave the land of Egypt and Verse 10 shows us that there was there was to be no leftover right packing the leftover Would have taken a long time.
This meal had to be quick. After all God's people had to leave Egypt. Egypt at a moment's notice. Verse 11 Shows us the table manner for Israel, right? Before it's how to cook and how to eat it now. How are you going to?
Celebrate this meal and Thus you shall eat it with a belt on your waist your sandals on your feet and the staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. The belt on their waist would keep their flowing robes Fastened tightly so that it does not hinder any moment any movement, right?
Some translation might have a tie your loincloths, right? Fasten your loincloths because they were their clothing. The type of clothing they were wearing was more Flowing than the pants we wear today or the shorts we wear today.
The belt would allow them to flee at any moment. Now, what about the shoes. Sandals on their feet signified the preparedness of Departure, right. In the ancient Israel culture. Similar to many Asian cultures today even my house.
We take our shoes off when we enter the house. We we do not eat with our shoes on because the dining room is after entering the house and In that regard Israelites did not normally wear shoes inside the house to eat.
However that night it would be different. They were they had to be ready to go. Make sure your shoes are on because you got to leave tonight. And why was this all necessary? Verses 12 through 13 tell us the reason for the whole meticulous preparation.
For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt Both man and beast and against all the gods of Egypt. I will execute judgment. I am the Lord now the blood shall be assigned for you on the houses where you are and When I see the blood I will pass over you and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt the Lord.
Passing through Egypt that night to strike all the firstborn was not just a judgment against Egypt. But their deities as well. The past nine plagues Showed over and over again the Lord's full control over every part of Egypt whether it's the Nile.
Whether it's the livestock whether it's the ground whether it's the air the Lord had full control over Egypt not their gods. This plague will show that the Lord had full authority to take even the lives of the firstborn of Egypt and their pagan gods are incapable of saving and Yet this is a gracious judgment.
Because the Lord could have easily taken out every other life Not just the firstborn. The goal here Wasn't a total annihilation but a total defeat for the fake gods of Egypt and total deliverance of his own people.
Nothing but the firstborn the lives of the firstborn of Egypt would have freed His people from enslavement. This final judgment would be a decisive victory for the Lord and reveal to the world that the Egyptians gods Are not divine at all.
They were in fact non gods fake gods idols. The first Passover was an act of faith. God's people were prepared to leave because they believed the Lord would deliver them that night. All of these steps were followed because they trusted in their God.
How will Israel avoid the final plague? By the blood of the lamb. The blood of the lamb had no magical property in itself but God used the blood of the lamb to protect his people from the wrath to come.
And Why was this an act of faith? Recall how Moses told Pharaoh of Egypt that Egyptians would stone them to death if they were to sacrifice their animals in the land of Egypt. Well here The Lord actually commands his people to slaughter their lambs not outside of Egypt but inside in Egypt itself and That will precisely be how the Lord will deliver his people out of Egypt.
The blood of the lamb was the outward sign of faith in the Lord instead of Pharaoh. It's to believe that it is not Pharaoh letting us go. But God himself when he judges for the last time the land of Egypt and Egyptians will have nothing to do with us and the Egyptians will not stone us to death despite the abominable blood of the lamb.
That's covering every household of Israel and as the Lord Passes by and sees the blood of the lamb his judgment will pass over and his faithful people would remain protected. The blood of the lamb was an outward expression of faith in the Lord.
Rather than anyone else. It didn't make sense, but that's why it was an act of faith. It was the faith in God's promise of deliverance. The Lord establishes the Passover lamb to Israel more than a thousand years before Jesus incarnation even 1500 at the first Passover God introduces the concept of an innocent unblemished male lamb.
Dying to protect God's people who trust in him through their judgment. This is significant because God will build upon this. Now he's not giving you a new instruction. Now you got to kill two lambs or a different type of lamb.
No, he's providing the lamb himself. His purpose for the first Passover was that he might set the groundwork for the greater Passover lamb. To avert a greater judgment. More than a thousand years later God's Passover lamb is not just unblemished and without defect.
But he is sinless and perfect. The blood of God's Passover lamb does not cover just one believing family But covers all faithful families of the earth. When God's Passover lamb shed his blood for us on the cross.
All the wrath that we deserved was poured on to him. So that those who are covered by the blood of the lamb may live. So that the judgment would pass over the first Passover ultimately Pointed to the greatest Passover by which God provided protection from judgment and deliverance for his people from a master greater than Egypt but sin itself and a judgment greater than just losing the firstborn but death of all.
The ultimate Passover lamb is of course Jesus Christ the Lamb of God who came to save the world. Saved precisely by being slaughtered on The behalf of the people he came to save. So that his people would remain untouched by sin and death once and for all.
We have to look back to the first Passover to understand and Appreciate the greatest Passover lamb. This is why we cannot skip over the Old Testament. For the early church that started in Jerusalem. This would have been a Shocking moment, but it would have made sense to them that Jesus fulfilled the Passover.
Now, how will God's people continue following him after the first Passover? The Lord's people must commemorate God's act of deliverance Continually. The Lord's people must commemorate God's act of deliverance continually.
The Passover is not meant to be just remembered but an event to be experienced and commemorated and This is the sad reality of humanity's sinful state despite God's merciful deliverance unless we intentionally Set aside time To remember what God has done for us.
We will soon forget. If you don't believe me remember the last time you're worried about something. Did you remember when God provided for you last? I often catch myself Worrying and then realize what God has been providing for me thus far.
How could I have forgotten that and this section is to prevent exactly that? According to verse 14 Israel had to keep the Passover as a feast to the Lord throughout the generations as an everlasting ordinance.
Verse 15 Begins with what they must be eating during the week of celebration. They're supposed to eat unleavened bread in fact. Starting on the first day. They're commanded to remove Leaven from their houses.
Now leaven is used in baking to make the bread rise. Think sourdough bread. That's what it would have been like The sourdough culture that's used to make the bread fluffy and tasty. Although the risen bread is tasty.
It takes a long time to make and During the first Passover time was not on Israel's side. They had to be ready to leave and quick right. One commentator estimates that an unleavened bread from kneading to cooking would take about 18 minutes to make.
That's pretty fast for someone who knows how to bake bread with the leaven. Hence after the first Passover The Israelites will reenact the original event to always remember God's great deliverance. It's more than to just have a moment of silence, but to actually live it for the whole week.
Knowing that that's how God delivered us. We had to leave quickly. Our ancestors had to leave quickly and in fact many Jewish people still celebrate the whole week today. They get rid of all the bread or any leavening agents and give it to their Gentile friends.
I've received some myself, but to bed my wife can't have gluten so we couldn't eat too much now. First 15 in fact lays out the consequence of Not following the feast. This is not just a recommendation for the Jews.
This is a command. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day That person shall be cut off from Israel. This religious commemoration was so serious that any person who does not participate Would be cut off from God's people.
They will no longer be a part of God's covenant community if They did not take the feast of unleavened bread seriously. Cut off means they will no longer be the recipients of God's blessings God's covenantal relationship and They will no longer have anything to do with the Lord or his people.
Now this may sound harsh but we have to consider that for Israel the Passover was the greatest act of Deliverance in their redemptive history thus far and even would Remain that way throughout the whole Old Testament to fail to commemorate to remember to appreciate that cataclysmic Redemptive event Would be to totally disregard God's awesome act of deliverance.
For Christians, it would be to spit on the cross or stomp on the cross. To not View God's redemptive act as we ought in remembrance. Now, how is it possible to have a relationship with God? If they disregarded his merciful and gracious deliverance and The fact is you can't.
That's why they're cut off. Verse 16 tells us that the two days that flank the week are to be treated extra carefully. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation and The seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you.
Now, how is it gonna be holy? No manner of work shall be done on them. But that which everyone must eat that only may be prepared by you now. You're not gonna starve on that day. You can you can make your own food.
But don't work on that day on those two days. They cannot work. The command to rest from work is to differentiate Those two special days the beginning and the end from any other day of that celebratory week and This is really important.
Because they did not get weekends. They did not get their maternity leave. Right. They did not get their New Year's off. They did not Get Christmas. They didn't get federal holidays. Why they were slaves.
Work was their way of life. But what does God do you got to make those two days special by not working. You can rest. He commanded them to rest in order that they may devote it to the Lord. That's special and That's what God intended.
He wanted the week to remember his deliverance to be more Special than any other week by providing rest for his people who were once enslaved. They got to taste something that they haven't tasted before and that's rest from work.
And verse 17 is a repetition of the command. To observe the feast of unleavened bread. They are to commemorate God's powerful deliverance of his people out of Egypt and they were to remember it forever.
Verse 18 reminds them again of the days that they need to celebrate and the repetition is to emphasize how important it is for Israel to observe this feast to the T. And verse 19 tells us that there is no geographical limits or racial distinctions for those who are celebrating God's deliverance.
Anyone who is Part of God's people. Whether you're a Jew or not, as long as you are in relationship with the Lord. You can join the feast. You're part of God's covenant people now. The question in our minds Is when was the last time we took a week like that and are we cut off because we failed to get rid of bread In our houses during the Passover week.
After all when was the last time we threw away or gave away perfectly good loaves of bread to our neighbors. For Christians. We celebrate the ultimate Passover the fulfillment of the first Passover by the Lamb of God.
This happened during the first Lord's Supper. The Last Supper for Jesus and it was done in remembrance of Christ. Paul repeats that multiple times in 1st Corinthians. It's the same way that the Jews commemorated their Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover in remembrance of the Lord's deliverance.
And the Lord's Supper's setting is in fact the Passover Supper. And Mark 14 12 tells us that the Last Supper occurred on the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread. When it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb.
It happened on the first day. Yet When you read the gospel accounts of the Last Supper There is no emphasis on a dead lamb on the table. Rather The emphasis is on the ultimate Passover lamb inaugurating the Lord's Supper.
The body that is given is not the lamb That was slaughtered. But the Lord Jesus who will be slaughtered. Who will be crucified? Who will shed his blood? That's the focus of the ultimate Passover. This is why Paul passes the Lord's Supper on to us in 1st Corinthians 11 and tells us we partake in communion in remembrance of Jesus in remembrance of Jesus.
Until he comes we proclaim his death. The focus is on the death of the lamb That provided a way out for us from the judgment to come. In fact the Lord's Supper is celebrated among believers only. Just as the Passover and the whole week was celebrated among the Old Testament believers only they had to be the covenant people and During the Lord's Supper we remember Jesus bloodshed for our sin on our behalf.
Remain. We remember Jesus body pierced for us on our behalf and That is how we celebrate the Passover. And we do celebrate it more often than just once a year, and I think that's a blessing. Because if we didn't We're bound to forget what Jesus had done for us lastly.
The Lord's people must celebrate God's deliverance intergenerationally. The Lord's people must celebrate God's deliverance intergenerationally. Verses 21 through 28 take us to Moses interaction with the people of Israel.
Here Moses tells Israel About the Passover which he heard from the Lord just a few verses back from verses 21 through 23. His focus is again on the Passover lamb and his blood. Verse 22 tells us more in detail how the lambs blood ought to be collected and Used and you shall take a bunch of hyssop dip it in the blood that is in the basin it was collected that way and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning.
A Hyssop is a type of plant That's woody yet very thin so wooden branches, but very thin. It's kind of flexible and it was often used in purification and During the Passover it will be used to brush the blood of the lamb onto the lintel and the two-door posts of the front door and This imagery gets picked up by none other than the Apostle John.
At the crucifixion in John 19 29 the Apostles tells us that the soldiers Fill the sponge with sour wine and put it on hyssop and raised it up to Christ. Of course Jesus did not drink it but John Gives us the detail That the what kind of plant was used and it just happened to be hyssop just like the ones they used for the Passover and The crucifixion happened during the Passover week.
The thread of the Passover blood Connects the crucifixion of the ultimate Passover lamb. And we can't miss that. And in this section The first half is devoted to the Passover lamb and the latter half is to ensure that the Israel Passes on this tradition to remember the Lord.
To the next generation it must go on. To Moses the Passover lamb is of the primary importance. It is precisely through the blood of the Passover lamb that God's people will avoid the Lord's final judgment in Egypt.
It is precisely through the blood of the Passover lamb that the Lord will protect his own from death. And Moses emphasizes the importance of passing down this historical event to the future generations of God's people.
They will be identified by it that's gonna be who they are that's gonna be what they do. It's gonna be what they know. And verse 24 reminds them again that this must be Observed continually and you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever.
Verse 25 tells us there is no geographical limitations as to where it must be observed. It will come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you just as he promised. That you shall keep this service even when you're nowhere near Egypt.
Even when you haven't seen an Egyptian Centuries you got to keep that. And next they must observe the Passover even when they're in the promised land and safe from the incitement and. And the next verse is 26 to 27 tell us there is no generational limitation.
The importance of the Passover lamb does not expire and it shall be when your children say to you. What do you mean by this service? That you shall say it is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when he struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.
So the people bowed their heads and worshipped. It does not matter. Whether the children of God's people were alive during the first Passover. It is the duty of God's people to teach God's great deliverance to the future generations.
That's what we ought to do. And Christians this is relevant to us because. Oftentimes the gospel the great act of God's deliverance the ultimate Passover Is often just assumed. Christians often treat the Gospels as the old news.
Oh, yeah, we've heard that before I know what you were talking about. People want something they have not heard of and Unfortunately, many pastors want to give that. Their eyes glaze over them when they hear about Jesus for the umpteenth time in Seminaries professors want to find new information to add to the gospel.
You would be surprised how many heretics are actually teaching under the name a professor. They have that passionate desire to publish something new under their name. To find new information to add to the gospel.
I've talked to New Testament professors. We didn't quite believe in the justification by faith. We didn't believe that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us that it's put on us that guts the gospel.
But not only that if you ask people who grew up in the churches and you ask them, what is the gospel? They often just say it isn't it to just so obey God. Isn't it to follow his rules? Love God with all your heart mind soul and strength missing is to crucified Christ Who died for our sin and has risen on the third day?
We cannot love our neighbor with all our heart mind strength and soul without Christ who made us new in the end. All of these perverted desires to stray from the gospel to not remember the gospel threaten our Stewardship of the gospel that we have been given to us.
We have received Since the early church since the New Testament and Our duty is to disciple our children in the way of Christ. And it is our obligation to share with our children does not mean blood related children, but just the next generation of the church.
We got to share with them Christ's sacrifice on the cross for our sin. And we have to show how lovely and wonderful he is it is our duty to hold Christ up in the way that represents Christ as the most remarkable and Christ's work on the cross as most Captivating that it is not something that we often lose our interest in we have to wet their appetite.
Get them to a safe. Please. Tell me the old old story. That's our duty to remember the cross and so that the gospel of Christ Does not seem rote or repetitive. But fresh and breathtaking each time it's shared.
Causing all the hearers to worship as the children of Israel did even before their first Passover. They heard it and they worshipped. They didn't even see it happen. They weren't even delivered but it caused them to worship because the news of God's deliverance for them was too great and For Christians, we are delivered in Christ already.
The ultimate Passover has happened. And we have more the reason to delight in and stand in awe Under the cross. Let us pray father. We are thankful that You are the ultimate provider of the greatest Passover lamb.
Father I Confess that I often Forget about the greatest Passover lamb when life gets hard or when life gets easy. Father help us remember to treasure the lamb of God Who was slaughtered for our sake? In Jesus name Amen.