Christ, Our Passover (Exodus 12:1-13, 21-27)

For Abel. Would you please stand for the

reading of God's word? This morning, I'll be reading

from Exodus chapter 12 beginning in verse 1.

Exodus 12 · chapter mention

This is the story of the Passover.

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, this month

shall be for you the beginning of months, it shall be the first

month of the year for you to all the congregation of Israel that

on the tenth day of this month, every man shall take a lamb

according to their fathers houses, a lamb for a household

and if the household is too small for a lamb than he and his

nearest neighbors. So take, according to the number

of persons, According to which each of you Shall make your

count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without

blemish. A male a year old.

You may take it from the sheep or from the goats and you shall

keep it until the 14th day of this month.

When the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall

kill their lambs at Twilight. Then they shall take some of the

blood and put it on the to doorposts and the lintel of the

houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that

night roasted on the fire with unleavened bread and bitter

herbs. They shall eat it.

Do not eat any of it raw or boiled and water.

But roasted its head with its legs and its inner parts and you

shall let none of it. Remain until the morning,

anything that shall remain until the morning you shall let burn

and this man, are you shall eat it with your belt, fastened your

sandals on your feet, and your staff and your hand and you

shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover for.

I will pass through the land of Egypt that night.

And I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt.

Both man and Beast, and all the gods of Egypt, I will execute

judgments. I am the Lord, the blood shall

be a sign for you on the houses where you are.

And when I see the blood, I will pass over you and no plague will

befall you to destroy you. When I strike the land of Egypt,

this day shall be for you a Memorial Day.

And you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your

Generations as a statute forever.

You shall keep it as a feast verse 21, then Moses called all

the Elders of Israel and said to them go and select Lambs for

yourselves according to your Clans and kill the Passover

Lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop and dip

it in the blood that is in the Basin and touched a lentil in a

two-door post with the blood that is in the Basin.

None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the

morning for the The Lord will pass through to strike the

Egyptians. And when he sees Blood on the

lintel and on the two-door post, the Lord will pass over the door

and will not allow the Destroyer to enter your house has to

strike you. You shall observe this, right?

As a statute for you, and for your son's forever, and when you

come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has

promised, he should, you shall keep this service.

And when your children say to you, what do you mean by the

service? You shall say?

It is the sacrifice of the Lord's.

Passover for passed over the houses of the people of Israel

in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians, but spared our houses

and the people bowed their heads.

And worshiped, this is the word of the Lord.

You may be seated. Two of the most fundamental

questions of person. Can ask and life are this, is

there a God? And what is he like?

And of course, the questions underneath those questions are,

how do you know And so this morning, if you do not believe

in God will the question of course is well, how do you know

what face do you have to be certain that God does not exist

and if you do believe in God and the question is well then what

is he like? And how do you know what he is?

Like where do you get your vision?

Your understanding of God? Do you know, God but according

to what he has described himself to be in his word.

Or have you made God in your own image?

Theologians when they talk about God and what he's like, they

describe his attributes, these qualities, these characteristics

of who he is, and what he is, like things like his

omnipotence. His omniscience, his goodness

and his Mercy. But of all of his Divine

attributes, perhaps the most foundational and often the most

controversial Is his sovereignty.

And for many people, they consider the sovereignty of God.

They assumed that his sovereignty makes him out to be

cold to be calloused. To be harsh to be lacking in

love. But when we open up the

scriptures, And we read about God and what he is like when we

get to know him, for who he really is and who he's revealed

himself to be. We see that the sovereignty of

God does not make him to be cold and harsh and lacking in love,

but it's the sovereignty of God that is not only the foundation

of his judgment. But it's the sovereignty of God.

That's the foundation of his grace.

And then the story of the Passover.

We see judgment and Grace collide.

See, as we think of God as attributes.

It's easy for us to think of each of these qualities, as

these separate parts of who he is.

But you see God is personal. And each of these

characteristics are intermingled together.

And it's at the Passover that we see judgement and Grace woven

together by the sovereignty of God. and so this morning, I want

you to see God for who he is and I want you to get to know his

Sovereign Grace for you. I want you to see Jesus as our

Passover Lamb, and I want you to see why both his judgment and

his grace, why? That is good news for us this

morning. Want to look at this in just two

ways. First thing I want you to see I

want you to see The Sovereign Grace of God in his judgment.

The story of the Passover begins, right?

Where we left off last week so before we get to our passage in

Exodus 12, I want you to turn in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 4.

Exodus 4 · chapter mention

If you don't have a Bible, you can use the blue Pew Bible in

front of you. If you don't have a Bible at

all, that's our gift to you. We'd love for you to take it

home with you. So you can get to know the

character of God for yourself. This is Exodus 4 verse 22.

Exodus 4:22

This is what we've been looking at the last couple weeks.

God comes to Moses as he calls him to go to pharaoh to redeem

his people with a mighty hand and outstretched arm.

And this is what he says to Moses first 22.

He says, you shall say to Pharaoh, thus says the Lord,

Israel is my firstborn son and I will say to you, let my son go

that he may serve me. If you refuse to let him go

behold, I will kill your first Barnes.

Son. As God calls, Moses to go to

pharaoh and order to redeem his people.

We see his judgment and we see his grace We see his grace and

identifying the people of Israel as his firstborn son.

This is his chosen people. His prized possession and God

will stop at nothing to get his first born, son back for

himself. But we don't just see his grace.

We see his judgment. And a declaration that God makes

to Pharaoh through Moses. If you refuse to let my people

go behold, I will kill your firstborn son.

The grace of God requires judgment.

But I also want you to know that the Judgment of God can never be

separated from his grace. Let me show you what I mean.

Did you turn a few chapters ahead to Exodus 7?

Exodus 7 verse 2. Again, God says to Moses, you

Exodus 7:2

shall speak all that. I command you and your brother,

Aaron shall tell pharaoh to let the people of Israel, go out of

this land. So again, God is commanding,

Moses to go to pharaoh. And to say to Pharaoh, let my

people go release them, so they would be free from slavery and

oppression, but I want you to notice What God Says.

Next verse 3, Exodus 7 verse 3 but I will harden Pharaoh's

Exodus 7:3

heart and though I multiply my son my signs and wonders in the

land of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you, then I will lay

my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts.

My people, the children. Turn of Israel.

Out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.

Did you see it? I will by grace and mercy.

Bring my people out of the slavery of Egypt.

How Through great acts of judgment.

God is going to save his people. Through judgement.

And there's two ways that I want you to see his judgment In this

passage. The first is we see God's

Sovereign judgement poured out on pharaoh.

Look again, at verse 3, but I will harden, Pharaoh's heart.

I will harden Pharaoh's heart. And no, I'll multiply my signs

and wonders and land of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you.

In other words Moses I'm sending you on a Fool's errand.

I'm asking you to go into Pharaoh's court and go before

pharaoh and I'm asking you to tell him to let my people go and

he's not going to listen. I'm going to send great acts of

judgment and even still Pharaoh will not listen because I am

going to harden his heart and these words should serve as a

warning for us. I will harden Pharaoh's heart,

you see? Because there are two sides to

Pharaoh's hard hard in the story of Exodus.

Here, we see an exodus 73 that God says that he will be the one

to harden, Pharaoh's heart. Later in Exodus chapter 7 verse

Exodus 7:14

14. It says that Pharaoh's heart was

already hard. And then one chapter over in

Exodus, 8 verse 15, it says that Pharaoh hardened, his own heart.

Exodus 8:15

So in one verse God says, he's going to harden.

Pharaoh's Heart. Another verse it says, Pharaoh's

heart was already hard. And another verse it says that

Pharaoh, was the one who hardened his own heart and so,

which is it? Did God hardened Pharaoh's

heart? And Pharaoh hardened, Pharaoh's

heart. The answer that question should

sober us. Because the answer is both.

The greatest act of judgment that God could give us as his

created people. Is to leave us alone and the

hardness of our own hearts and allow our hearts to become

harder and harder and more calloused, day by day.

Apostle, Paul. Put it this way in Romans,

Romans 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1, Romans 1 verse 24. Therefore, God gave them up in

Romans 1:24

the lusts of their hearts to impurity to the dishonoring of

their bodies among themselves because they exchanged the truth

about God, for a lie. What is Paul saying?

That people were already idolatrous, they had already

exchanged, the truth of God, for a lie and in judgment, he gave

them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity.

In judgment. God gave Pharaoh up to the lusts

of his own heart. A lust for power, a lust, for

control. A lust for sovereignty over his

own Nation. And God allowed him.

To be consumed with himself. And in this way.

Pharaoh's hard heart was hardened by our Sovereign God.

He refused to acknowledge God's sovereignty and with each plague

that God sent his heart became harder.

So God sent great acts of judgment plagues one by one that

served as judgment first over Pharaoh, why?

To declare that he alone is The Sovereign one that God Alone is

Lord of the world that he is Sovereign over every government,

in every nation. He was displaying his power over

the most powerful King of the most powerful Earthly Kingdom.

All to remind, not only pharaoh. But his people. and all of us

Generations, later of who's in charge, Because it is so easy to

forget. And in this way, we're beginning

to see that. As God poured out his judgment,

it was also a Grace, a Grace for his people, in a Grace for you.

And me, the second thing we see here in his judgment is in the

plagues themselves as God, sends ten plagues of judgment.

These great acts of judgment to redeem.

His whole people to display his sovereignty to the whole world.

Once you turn to Exodus 9 verse 14, Notice what it says.

Exodus 9:14

For this time, I will send all my plagues on you yourself and

on your servants and your people.

So that you may know that there is none like me in all the

Earth. Why did God send 10 plagues?

Why do it this way? Why display his power and his

judgment in this specific way because God sent ten plagues to

show his softy. Not only over the nation and

government of Egypt, but to display his power and

sovereignty over their false gods as well.

You see each plague corresponds with one of the Egyptian gods

And so as God turned the Nile River into blood, he was

displaying his Sovereign power over the Egyptian god of the

Nile. As God sent frogs, he was

displaying his power over the Egyptian god of fertility, who

had the head of a frog as he sent Nats and turned dust into

knots. He was displaying his power of

the Egyptian god of the Earth. As he sent flies, it was to

display his Sovereign. Power of the Egyptian.

Fly God as he killed all of the livestock in, Egypt is

displaying his power over the Egyptian bull God, as he sent

boils display his Sovereign. Power of the Egyptian goddess of

epidemics, as he sent hail to display a sovereign power of the

Egyptian, god, of storms, as he sent locusts to display a

sovereign power of the Egyptian, god of Cops.

And as he sent Darkness, to cover the land to display, his

Sovereign power of the Egyptian, god of the sun.

To save his people, he sent great acts of judgment and this

is the question I want you to ask.

As he sent each plague. What was the purpose of these

great acts of judgment? As one commentator, put it.

False gods aren't real. So who is he actually judging

what's the point who is all of this for You see there is Grace

woven into God's judgement. Why send 10 plagues?

Because he was showing his own people that he alone is the one

true. God.

That he alone can be trusted that he alone is powerful.

And mighty, you see, because during their captivity, all of

this false worship have begin to seep into their own Hearts as

well. And while they had been enslaved

to Pharaoh, that also become enslaved to false worship.

So God by his grace is pouring out judgment on false gods that

don't exist to show his own people that I am the one true

God and I'm pouring out my judgement to bring you back to

bring you back for myself. He is showing the world that he

is the one true God who will stop at nothing to redeem, his

people for himself. And so now, I want you to turn

to our passage Exodus chapter 12, again, you can turn their

Exodus 12 · chapter mention

Bible, you can use the bulletin, Exodus 12, and I want you to

turn to verse 12. All of these plagues led up to

the tenth and final plague, the death of the firstborn son.

It's described many ways and many times, Exodus for and

exodus 11 and exodus 12. But I want you to see the way

it's summarized in Exodus 12 verse 12, God says, for I will

Exodus 12:12

pass through the land of Egypt that night and I will strike all

the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both, man and Beast.

Notice what it says next, and on the gods of Egypt, I will

execute judgments. I and the Lord.

With this final plague, God executed judgment over false

worship once and for all. To declare that he alone is the

Holy One. And he alone is worthy of

praise. You see, in the midst of

judgment is Grace so even Generations.

Later we would hear this story once again and we too would see

that he alone is the Holy One. They would not be tempted to bow

down to Earthly Kings and Earthly kingdoms like Pharaoh,

nor to worship false gods. Like all of the Egyptian gods,

but we would be reminded through judgment and by grace that God

Alone can be trusted so the second thing, the last thing I

want you to see this morning not only want you see The Sovereign

Grace of God through judgment, but I want you to see The

Sovereign Grace of God, through our salvation, What is so

startling about this last plague?

That God would kill all of the firstborn sons in the land of

Egypt, is that death was sent to every house in Egypt every

house. Did you see it?

Look again at verse 12 for, I will pass through the land of

Egypt that night. I will strike all of the

firstborn and the land of Egypt. If you're not paying attention,

you might miss it. He is sending death to every

house. That is every Egyptian house And

every Israeli house. Every house and the land will be

struck with death everyone. And it's only and those houses

where they have sacrificed a lamb and sprinkled the blood

over the door. Only in those houses, will the

people inside be spared. Look with me.

Verse 13, Exodus 12 verse 13. The blood shall be a sign for

Exodus 12:13

you on the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will

pass over you and no play will befall you to destroy you. when

I strike the land of Egypt, Again, I want this to sink into

you, particularly, if you are somewhat familiar with the

story. Because it could be a part of

the story that you've never really paid much attention to.

Death came to every house. And it was only by the blood of

the sacrifice lamb that the people of Israel were saved.

I want you to ask. Why would God do it that way?

Why do it that way? I mean, couldn't the angel of

death been more precise. Couldn't God no and what house

or people who are Egyptian and people are who are his own, the

Hebrews. Why do it this way?

What are we to make of this? well, I think we are to make of

this that judgment comes for us all For all of us.

We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Judgment was coming to every family and Egypt weather Hebrew

origin. Because judgment comes to us

all. Every one of us, regardless of

your background, your nationality, where you come

from? Everyone of us, have sinned and

fall short of the glory of God. Every one of us have committed

treason against the high King. Every one of us, goes our own

way of every one of us says no, my way is better.

Every one of us, has rejected the authority and sovereignty

and Majesty of God and judgment comes to us all Judgment came to

every house in Egypt that night and yet in this great Act of

judgment. God is also a god of Grace.

And to his own people. The people of Israel.

Though, in so many ways they were idolatrous too.

He provided a way of salvation. A way of Grace, he provided a

substitute to take on the Judgment that was coming to

their land. Look at verse 21.

Then Moses called all the Elders of Israel and said to them go

and select lamb through yourselves according to your

Clans and kill the Passover Lamb.

Each Hebrew household chose its own lamb.

It had to be perfect spotless and without blemish because the

only acceptable sacrifice for sin must be perfect.

And once they selected a lamb, they kept it until a time that

there was to be killed as a sacrifice.

Look at verse 22. Take a bunch of hyssop and dip

it in the blood that is in the Basin and touched a lentil and

two-door post with the blood that is in the Basin.

None of you will go out of the door of his house until the

morning for the Lord will pass through to a strike the

Egyptians, but when he sees the blood on the lentil and on the

two-door post, the Lord will pass over the door, will not

allow the Destroyer to enter your houses and strike you.

They were instructed to take the blood of the lamb and put it

over the door post, so that when judgment came judgment would

pass over them. This is the story of the first

Passover. God, sending judgment for sin.

And God passing over his own people, not because of them.

But because of a substitutionary sacrifice made for them so that

judgment would pass over them. You hear that?

And you think seems so strange if we take it at face value, And

in some ways it even seems barbaric to kill an innocent

lamb. And to shed its blood and to

Painted over a door. And yet, for Generations, this

story was told over and over and over again.

Every year they kept the Feast of Passover because they were so

prone to forget that, God is who he says, he is that he is The

Sovereign one full of both judgment and of Grace that it is

by his grace and Sovereign judgment alone that we are

saved. And so, every year, they would

keep the feast. Look at verse 24.

You shall observe this, right? As a statute for you, and for

your son's forever. And when you come to the land

that the Lord will give you his promise, you shall keep the

service and your children will say, what do you mean by this?

And verse 27, you shall say? It is the sacrifice of the

Lord's Passover free passed over the houses and the people of

Israel and Egypt when he struck the Egyptians, but Spirit our

houses, Every year they would kill.

An innocent Passover Lamb. And every year they would keep

the feast. So much so that it became part

of who they were. Pirate part of their own faith

and even their Consciousness about who God is and what he had

done for them. Part of their understanding of

what it really meant to be part of the Hebrew people.

One of God's chosen ones that they were, they had been

declared Israel, they had been declared God's firstborn son

because of his grace And because of his judgment.

So much, so that many years later, when John, the Baptist

saw Jesus coming towards him, the Jordan River.

He only saw one thing. And he said, behold.

The Lamb of God has come to take away the sin of the world.

What did John see? He saw God's judgment and Grace

once again and he saw a substitute walking towards him.

you see, there were generations of passover's that were

celebrated Until one day Jesus gathered with his disciples in

the upper room to celebrate the Passover again.

The gospels tell us that as they made preparations to celebrate

the Passover, Jesus sent his disciples out to go and gather

everything. And as they gathered everything,

they were needed, they met a man who led them through the city

and prepared a place for them in the upper room.

So they could celebrate the Passover meal together.

The gospel of Mark tells us that as they were eating together

that Jesus Took bread, and after he blessed it, he broke it.

And he said, take this is my body and then he took a cup.

And when he had given, thanks, he gave it to them a drink.

And he said, this is the blood of my Covenant, which is poured

out for many and all of the gospels give us every detail of

that Passover meal. What they ate and what they

drank and what Jesus said Ed every element of the Passover is

there, except for one crucial piece, what is it?

Where's the lamb? They don't have a lamb.

Where's the lamb? But when Jesus said, this is my

body given for you. This is my blood poured out for

you. Jesus was saying I am the

Passover Lamb. I have given my own body for you

and I have shed my own blood. So as judgment comes, it will

pass over you once and for all Jesus is the true and greater

Passover Lamb. The one God has given to us as

our substitute. Because friends judgment is

coming. Judgments coming to us all and

every one of us has fallen short of the glory of God because

every one of us has sinned. But thanks be to God to the

midst of his judgment. He has given us Grace in his

son. He has given us the true

Passover Lamb Jesus Christ, who shed his blood for you.

And for me so that death would pass over us.

This is why the Apostle Paul said Christ, Our Passover has

been sacrificed for us. And so, I wonder.

If you were there at that first Passover, what would you have

done? You heard Moses giving you these

instructions. We thought that sounds strange

Moses. Are, would you have listened and

obeyed and seen death pass over your household?

And the same way. Also, I wonder, how will you

respond to John? The Baptist's declaration,

Behold, the Lamb of God who's come to take away the sin of the

world. Will you behold Jesus as your

Passover Lamb? And this morning, will you claim

his blood alone? It's that judgment would pass

over you. How will you respond?

because this morning, we once again have been invited to keep

the feast, And just, as Jesus is the true and greater Passover

Lamb the Lord's Supper. This communion is the true and

greater Passover. The feast where we come together

once again to remember and Proclaim that Christ has died.

Christ is risen and Christ will come again.

He is our Passover and we come now into his presence, according

to his judgment falling on his own son because of his grace.

Let's pray Our Father in heaven. Would you now prepare our

hearts? To keep the feast.

And that in keeping the feast that we would remember once

again. The great hope that we have and

you Jesus Christ as our Passover Lamb.

As we come to this table, we bring the so many ways that we

are. Just like the people of Israel

prone to forget who you are and what you have done for us and

prone to wander and worship other gods.

And so n coming forward this morning to your table.

Help us to come by grace. Help us to calm knowing that

your blood has covered us and help us to come and Proclamation

that you are The Sovereign one, the Holy One, the mighty one,

And that by your Sovereign, Grace, you have come and

judgment for our salvation. Be with us.

Now as we come together, as your people at the table of the king

in Jesus name, amen. Be with us.

Now as we come together, as your people at the table of the king

in Jesus name, amen.