Exodus (Lesson 77)

Welcome to the Preaching the Cross Radio Podcast, featuring the radio ministry of Pastor James W.

Knox of the Bible Baptist Church of Delano, Florida.

Our prayer is that these half-hour Bible study programs will bring the lost to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and enable the saved to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Savior.

Now here's your host, Pastor James W.

Knox.

I'm Brother James, and I greet you one more time in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

This is the Preaching of the Cross Radio Broadcast.

We are wrapping up a series of studies on the book of Exodus that was begun a long, long time ago.

We've made our way through all 40 chapters, and what we're doing now is going back and just picking up some notes and some highlights and some items of interest that we did not take the time to look at as we made our way through the book.

We wanted to keep the narrative and uh flow with the theme of things as best we could, and now we're going back and just picking up a few notes here and there.

Uh we've done that for a couple of programs now, and I hope it's a blessing to you.

I just enjoy learning about the Lord from the Bible, and so that's what we do day after day, and glad to have you with us.

From Exodus number or chapter number 12, we want to consider uh the announcement of a new start.

You know, the children of Israel in chapter 12 are going to be brought out of bondage in Egypt by their faith in the Word of God, which compels them or moves them to put their faith in the blood of the Lamb.

That the Passover lambs slain in Egypt are a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ and his death on the cross is clearly seen from the New Testament.

John the Baptist, we've already quoted him, John 1.29, behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.

In John 19, 36, a bone of him should not be broken.

A reference to the Passover lamb in Exodus 12.46.

Jesus is seen in Revelation 5.6 as a lamb, as it had been slain.

In 1 Corinthians 5 7, Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

And in 1 Peter 1.19, we're redeemed with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb, without blemish and without spot.

In fact, if my if my count is correct, some form of the word Passover, found 49 times in the Old Testament and references in nine Old Testament books.

The death of the Lamb of God brought perfect rest and salvation to all those who trust him.

Now, God in chapter 12 has finished speaking with Pharaoh.

He now speaks to Israel.

Everything changes with redemption.

All things become new.

The announcement is of divine provision for the deliverance of Israel from the bondage under which they had suffered.

The first thing we want to note is where the announcement was made.

Verse 1, in the land of Egypt.

Now, why is this stated?

When anyone would would already understand that Moses was there, I believe it's to emphasize that there is truth associated with the fact that, well, let me say it this way.

Let me say it this way.

Of the seven feasts of the Lord, which Israel were instructed to keep each year, only the Passover took place first in Egypt.

This Passover is for those who need redemption.

In later years it had to be commemorated by those who had been redeemed.

There's no mention of an altar.

Before they can approach an altar in worship, they must know redemption by blood.

Before they can offer to God, they must receive from God.

Now this is a very important truth.

Every false religion, in some way or another, teaches that man approaches God with his worship, with his good deeds, with his works, with his sacrifices.

And then on the basis of those good deeds, on the basis of those human merits, God will redeem or justify a sinner.

But in the Bible, it's just the opposite.

It's just the opposite.

God, by his grace, redeems and justifies the repentant sinner, and then, and then we bring him the offering of our lives and other things in gratitude.

We don't earn salvation by our sacrifices.

We bring our sacrifices because God has given us the gift of everlasting life.

Now, that Passover night, when the blood was placed upon the two side posts and the upper post of the door, why was there no blood placed on the doorstep?

Well, Hebrews 10 29 says that there will be those who will trample or tread underfoot the blood of the covenant that God made when the Lord Jesus Christ shed his blood upon the cross.

If there was blood upon the threshold or the entry, the the uh the ground there at the door, that would have given type to treading underfoot the blood of the covenant.

And certainly, certainly, uh we're not going to do that.

Now, placing the blood on the lintel of the over the door and on the two doorposts was certainly not to let the Egyptians see it.

Some of them may have noticed and wondered what was the significance of this strange act, but this wasn't the chief purpose.

It was not a witness to them.

Enough had been done to them to testify to the power of God.

It was there at each house where the blood was found, that God might see it and pass over.

It was proof that those within the house had believed the word of God as it passed to them through Moses and Aaron.

They had selected the lamb, they had scrutinized the lamb, they had slain the lamb, and as the darkness stood over Egypt, as the Lord came through Egypt, what made the difference that night between life and death?

Faith in the Word of God proven by the blood of the Lamb.

My friend, the only thing that'll make a difference is not what the world sees in you, not what you see in yourself, but will God Almighty see the blood of the Lamb applied to your life, your soul, your sin.

If so, he'll pass over you.

If not, it's judgment and destruction.

The wages of sin is death.

Now, the Lamb on this Passover night was not to be divided.

The head, the legs, and the fat were not separated from the body.

If the lamb had to be subject to the flame, it must all be subject.

No part of it could be left aside or subject to less than was necessary to roast the flesh with fire.

Note the three parts, the Passover lamb.

In Hebrews 12 9, the head, the legs, and the pertinence, that's the inward, inner parts.

And of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bible says, Second Corinthians 5.21, who knew no sin.

1 Peter 2 22, who did no sin.

First John 3 5, in him is no sin.

Jesus Christ, our sinless sacrifice, and it's his blood and his sacrifice and nothing else, nothing else that can save the soul of a sinner.

You know it's interesting that the children of Israel had to be taught that their God was the Lord.

You read that in chapter 6, verse 6, verse 7, verse 8, verse 29, chapter 10, verse 2, chapter 12, verse 12, 16, 12, chapter 20, verses 2 and 5, chapter 29, verse 46, chapter 31, verse 13.

They they didn't know, they didn't believe.

Egypt had learned this also that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was the one true God.

Egypt uh is said to be in need of this lesson in 7.5, 717, 822, 12, 12, 14, 4, 14, 18.

Do you know it?

Do you understand that there's only one God, that he is Lord over all, that he is both Alpha and Omega, beginning and end, that he is everything the sinner needs, he's everything the saint needs.

No religion will suffice.

They're all but a cheap substitute for the true and living God.

Alright, what about this matter of God giving the quails to the children of Israel?

You remember manna was coming down from heaven every single morning and every single night on the sixth day, double, so they wouldn't gather on the Sabbath.

On the evening before the manna came for the first time, God gave them promise that they would eat flesh, and that promise was fulfilled.

Quails, a small bird, came in great numbers into the camp.

In fact, they covered the camp.

The lack of bread was for the purpose of creating in the people a desire for provision of food from heaven.

But it created instead a desire for that which is the flesh.

The giving of the quails is a warning to all.

The Lord may well allow us the desire of our hearts, but if that desire is fleshly, there will be no blessing in it.

Now the purpose of giving them flesh to eat, therefore, was that they would learn the difference between the food of the world, which cannot satisfy, and the bread that rained down from heaven, which would fill them and satisfy them.

And it's uh well, there's some marked differences between the two.

First, the quails looked attractive, but the mamma did not have the attractiveness appreciated by the flesh.

It was, well, the Bible says a small round thing.

Not much to that description, is there?

Second, the quails required much effort.

Not only in gathering them, but also in preparing them for eating.

Each bird yielded only a small portion of flesh.

I don't know if you've ever uh tried to turn a quail into a meal.

Uh it takes a lot of work and a lot of effort.

Uh you're not going to see Kentucky fried quail anytime soon, I promise you that.

But the carcass and the feathers had to be separated for disposal.

All that work for a little bit of meat.

The manna, in its entirety, could be eaten.

There was nothing unfit for consumption, all was of nutritious value.

And they would eat the quails, but be filled with bread.

Isn't the Bible an amazing book?

The flesh which they so desired could not satisfy them.

Only manna could satisfy them.

Now God may allow you to have a goodly portion of things that cannot satisfy, but he'll also give you all that you could ever desire of that which will satisfy.

And I hope, I hope that every one of us will quickly come to see the difference between the things of the flesh which only leave us hungry, and the things of God which satisfy our soul.

And hence that little light, white, fluffy cake is called angel's food cake.

Now these descriptions all confirm that this was heavenly given food.

It was beyond the ability of man to produce it, and this small round thing was also said to be like a coriander seed, the color of bedallium, verse 31 of Exodus 16, and also Numbers 11, verse 7.

Numbers 11:7

Now, bedelium is an aromatic gum, and production uh uh took place originally in the land of Avila, Genesis 2.12.

Some people suppose the word to mean the pearl or some other precious stone, but uh that won't fit at all.

As manna was likened to hoarfrost on the ground, it must have had the same luster as uh found on a pearl, but uh more than likely just a uh bright, shining, uh glittering of sunlight upon water, like the dew in the morning.

But the manna came down, colored white and lustrous as pearls, if you will.

The taste described as like wafers made with honey.

It was sweet, good to the taste.

So these wafers were thin, flat cakes of unleavened bread.

Mana didn't come in the same form as a wafer, but it tasted like it.

Whereas unleavened bread has little taste, the manna had the sweetness of honey, and God gave that to him every single day.

He's so merciful, he's so kind.

Now, in chapter 17, chapter 17, there's a controversy that arises.

The people are complaining because they lack water in verses one through three, and Moses responds in verse four, did for the people what they were unwilling to do for themselves.

He cried unto the Lord and asked the Lord to help.

Any of them could have done it, but they didn't.

Moses cried to the Lord many times in this book of Exodus, for the removal of the plague of the frogs afflicting Egypt in chapter 8, verse 12, when the Red Sea stood as a barrier to their escape in 1415, when the bitter waters of Marah were encountered in 1525.

Later he would cry to the Lord for the removal of Miriam's leprosy in Numbers twelve and verse thirteen.

But but right now, right now the people are ready to stone Moses, put him to death because they're thirsty.

That's all it took.

That's all it took.

And the Lord responds as follows.

He said to this uh prayer of Moses that there was to be a public display of God's grace in action.

Moses was told to take the elders of Israel, and with the rod of God in his hand, to go on before the people, leading them to the rock in Horab.

Now they had charged him with leading them into an impossible situation.

Now there'd be public vindication of his leadership.

The same Moses would lead them to blessing.

Oh the cloud would be in front, but Moses would be seen to be following the cloud just as he had always instructed them to do, and the people would be forced to confess that where Moses led them was where the Lord led them, and where Moses and the Lord led them, or I should say where the Lord and Moses led them, ample provision was waiting for their every need.

Oh, how frustrating it must have been to be Moses and to keep dealing with these people.

And yet how he loved them, how he desired to take them to the place where God could bless them to the full.

Same chapter, chapter 17, Amalek, the age-old enemy of God's people, comes to do battle.

Just as the people were enjoying the liberal supply of water, here comes the enemy.

The Bible says in 178, the enemy attacked.

Then, at the very point when the blessing of the Lord was being enjoyed to the full.

And we better be aware of that.

That's still the strategy of the devil.

Seemed like the better things get for God's people, the more it provokes that old adversary to move against them.

Now the Amalekites are first mentioned in connection with the invasion of Cheddarleomer and his allies back in Genesis 14 in the First World War.

This, however, has not well it was a quick appearance.

God helped Abraham and they whipped him, and Lot was set.

Free and the others they had taken captive.

Now Amalek was a son born to Esau's son in Eliphaz by Timnah, a concubine.

That's Genesis 36, 12.

And this is the first mention of Amalek since then, this uh Exodus 17.

A great nation has grown from this union, so great that Balaam spoke of them as being the chief of the nations in Numbers 24.20.

And so this is the first appearance of Amalek as a nation, and it is as an enemy of God's people.

And it's a character and a trait, a distinction they never lost.

They probably heard of the prosperity of the Israelites in Egypt, how they spoiled the Egyptians, and they would uh have been happy to overrun them and to conquer them and to rob them of this treasure.

It would appear before the battle took place that Amalek had been engaged in what would now be called guerrilla warfare.

Later, Israel was was not allowed to forget.

Listen to these words, Deuteronomy 25, 18.

God tells him not to forget how he met thee by the way and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary, and he feared not God.

So these little surprise sneak attacks, and that's that's again that's how the devil works.

He goes after the weakest of the saints, not the strongest.

He goes after those that are lagging behind, tries to pick them off one by one.

He wages war against those who are least prepared to fight against him.

And so I would say to you if you walk in the forefront with uh those that are sold out and dedicated to the Lord, you'll have your battles, but you'll be victorious, and you get tagging along at the end of the line, weak in faith, weak in desire, weak in hope, weak in understanding, and you're just liable to get picked off, as the devil seeks to weaken the entire nation of Israel, like he seeks to weaken the entire body of Christ by striking out at one member, knowing that if one member suffer, all the members suffer with it.

Now the blood relations of Israel, they are a picture of the flesh, Amalek is, in the New Testament.

The word flesh is sometimes used to denote the body in which we live, like 1 John 4, 2 and 3, and sometimes it's used of the sinful desires and lusts of the body, like in Galatians 5, 16 to 21.

Amalek's a picture of the second of these.

As such, he is utterly opposed to that which is spiritual.

The list the Holy Spirit gives us in writing to the Galatians, the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like.

All of these things war against the man or woman who is on their way to the promised land.

And we must be prepared to be attacked by the flesh and the lusts of our flesh, but we must also be prepared to be victorious.

No reason to lose, there's no reason to be defeated.

Why, here in this chapter, the outcome of the battle, um God wrought on behalf of the people, and Israel overwhelmed Amalek and won a great and mighty victory.

As Moses held up his hand, and Aaron support and uh and her supported them on either side, and the Lord wrought that day and delivered his people from their enemies and from their foes.

He'll do it for you.

Listen, listen.

He didn't say he would deliver us from having enemies.

He didn't say he would deliver us from having foes.

He didn't say he would prevent us from ever being attacked.

He didn't say no one ever would ever sneak up from behind and try and do us wrong.

Look, all of those things are parts of the Christian life.

Why else would the New Testament say things like war or good warfare and fight the good fight and put on the whole armor of God and be sober, be vigilant for your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour.

All of these things tell us that there will be opposition and there will be spiritual warfare to wage.

But we also see and we also learn that there will be, should be, God intends for there to be victory in Jesus, not just in the saving of our souls, and not just in one day taking our saved souls to heaven.

Oh no, oh no.

Every hour of every day, though we are often in trouble, though we are often beset by foes visible and invisible, though we are often tried by fightings and fears without and within, yet it is possible to live each and every day saying thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

There's no such thing as a Christian life without opposition, but we can live the Christian life without defeat.

There is no such thing as a Christian life without trials and hardships and difficulties, but our God can if we'll allow it.

Our God will, if we'll trust and obey, always cause us to triumph in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Praise be to his holy name.

Amen and amen.

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