Episode #51: The Lamb, the Cross, and the Fire

We trace Passover from Exodus to the resurrection of Jesus, showing how the blood of a spotless lamb points to the blood of Christ for salvation. We also talk about repentance, being ready for Christ’s return, and how the Holy Spirit empowers us after we are saved. 

• Pharaoh’s refusal and the plagues in Egypt 
• The Passover lamb without blemish and blood on the doorposts 
• God’s deliverance of Israel and why it matters for faith today 
• Jesus keeping Passover and the foundation of communion 
• The crucifixion and resurrection as the way sins are forgiven 
• Repentance and readiness to meet God through Jesus 
• The promise of the Holy Spirit in Acts 1 
• Pentecost in Acts 2 and the power of the Holy Spirit 

If you enjoyed this message and you learned so much from this message, share it with a friend or family member. 
If you have not accepted Jesus into your life, say this salvation prayer with me. 
Make sure that you plug yourself into a spirit filled church and read the word of God. 

Transcript

Welcome And Why Passover Matters

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hello, my name is Stephanie. Welcome to the All Is Well Podcast. My mission is to teach people the Word of God and emphasize its importance in their daily lives. I'm glad you decided to join me today. Let's get started. Hello, welcome to episode 51. In this episode, I'm going to discuss with you the Passover. We need to learn more about it. So I'm going to start in Exodus. We're going to work our way through Matthew and through Acts. So let's get started. So, what I would recommend for you to do today is to get out your Bible. We're going to do a lot of reading today, a lot of studying, and a lot of diving into the Word of God. Because it's important to remember and to know these things. Easter is more than just doing fun activities. There's more to it. It's about the Passover, the resurrection, and everything else that is in it. So we're going to start off in Exodus. So at the beginning of Exodus, Israel wanted to leave. So Pharaoh would not let him go. And so they went to talk to Pharaoh, and in chapter 5 in Exodus, it says, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, let my people go that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go. So they said, The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go three days journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword. And Pharaoh wouldn't let him leave, because just as he said in the beginning, he said, I do not know the Lord. And then if we turn to chapter seven, verse eight, it says, Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, Show a miracle for yourselves, then you shall say to Aaron, Take your rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent. So Moses and Aaron went into Pharaoh, and they did so, just as the Lord commanded, and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers, so the magicians of Egypt they also did in like manner with their enchantments. For every man threw down his rod and they became serpents, but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods, and Pharaoh's heart grew hard, and he did not heed them as the Lord had said. So since he refused to let the people go, there were many plagues that they experienced, and it also affected the children of Israel. So there was about ten plagues, and these plagues consisted of waters become blood, frogs also that was a second plague, the third plague was lice, the fourth plague was flies, the fifth plague was livestock diseased, the sixth boiled, seventh hill, eighth locust, ninth darkness. So Pharaoh still did not let the people of God go. So he had one more plague, and this one for sure will let them go. And it was the death of the firstborn announced. So and the Lord said to Moses, I will bring more and more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. Afterward, he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out of here altogether. Speak now in the hearing of the people and let every man ask from his neighbor, and every woman from her neighbor, articles of silver and articles of gold. And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants and in the sight of the people. Then Moses said, Thus says the Lord, about midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt, and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die. From the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals. Then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as was not like it before, nor shall it be like it again. But against none of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue against man or beast, that you may know that the Lord does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel, and all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, Get out and all the people who follow you, and that I will go out. Then he went out from Pharaoh in great anger. But the Lord said to Moses, Pharaoh will not heed you, so that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt. So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land. In chapter twelve. 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 tenth 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 count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a mill 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 doorpost and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night, roast it 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 roast it in fire. Its head with its legs and its entrels. You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. And thus you shall lead 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. Verse twelve. For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all their 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. So what this is saying is that since Pharaoh didn't let the people of Israel go, God gave him a warning, and he didn't listen. God instructed the people of Israel to get a lamb without blemish. They were using that lamb to sacrifice and they would put it on their doorpost. So that way when the angel of death was going around and getting the firstborn of the Egyptians, the Israelites would be saved. They would be free from that. And so all their people would be saved. So then the tenth plague was of the death of the firstborn. And it came to pass at midnight that the Lord stroke all their firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne, on the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and of the firstborn of livestock. So it didn't matter if you were a helper, if you had a high position in Egypt, if you were on the Egyptian side and you had a firstborn son, that son got killed. And then verse 31 then he called for Moses and Aaron by night and said, Rise, go out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel, and go serve the Lord as you have said. And so that was Pharaoh. Now Pharaoh let him go. And God had all of these plagues land on Egypt, but Pharaoh still wouldn't let the people of Israel go. And so with this tenth plague, God said for sure that they'll let my people go. And so it was. So on this, with Passover, it's about God's people, the Israelites, they were saved. God delivered them, He delivered them from Pharaoh's hand, and He delivered them by having the blood of the Lamb. Jesus wasn't crucified or anything during that time. So Jesus couldn't save them in that manner. So they needed a lamb without blemish to sacrifice. And so when they would use that, they would put that on the doorpost, and so they would be saved. They wouldn't be touched. And so with that, God's children, the Israelites, were saved and they could move on and they could move out of Israel. So that is how God delivered the Israelites from Pharaoh's hand. And so if we connect that to Jesus' resurrection, we can see the similarities and how it's the same. And so now let's go to the book of Matthew. So now when we go to the book of Matthew, Matthew chapter 26. And so now we're gonna start here. And so at this point, Jesus is here. And so he's fighting against those things. What is the reason why Jesus came to this earth? He came to save us from our sins. And so the only way that we could be saved is for God to send Jesus his only son. If we connect that to the Israelites from earlier, the only way that the Israelites could be saved from the hand of Pharaoh was to have the blood of the lamb. And that's how they could be removed and they could be freed, and God delivered them. Let's go and start to read in Matthew 26. Now it came to pass when Jesus had finished all these things that he said to his disciples, You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified. Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill him. But they said, Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people. And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to him, having an alabaster flask, a very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table. But when his disciples saw it, they didn't like it, saying, Why was this waste? Why this waste? For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor. But when Jesus was aware of it, he said to them, Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for me, for you have the poor with you always, but me you do not have always. For in pouring the fragrant oil on my body, she did it for my burial. Assuredly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorable to her. So let's continue in verse seventeen of chapter twenty six. Now on the first day of the feast of the unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus, saying to him, Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover? And he said, Go to the city to a certain man and say to him, The teacher says, My time is at hand, I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples. So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover. When evening had come, he sat down with the twelve. Now as they were eating, he said, Asurely I say to you, one of you will betray me. And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to him, Lord, is it I? He answered and said, He who dipped his hand with me in the dish will betray me. The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been good for that man if he had not been born. Then Judas, who was betraying him, answered and said, Rabbi, is it I? He said to him, You have said it. Verse twenty six And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broken, and gave it to the disciples and said, Take, eat, this is my body. And so what are they talking about here? This is communion. This is where we get communion. Then he took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. So when we take communion, it's a remembrance. We're remembering what Jesus did for us. So then shortly after this time, Jesus was betrayed by Judas and he was arrested. And so he knew what was coming because he was doing it for God's people. There was a purpose why Jesus came down to the earth, not so he could be like one of us, but so that he could save us. So now they have crucified Jesus, they twisted a crown of thorns and put it on his head, they beat him, they bruised him, they mocked him, they struck him on the head, they crucified him. And so they took him to the cross and in verse thirty-three, and when they had come to a place called Galgotha, this is to say place of a school, they gave him sour wine mingled with gal to drink, but when he had tasted it he would not drink. Then they crucified him, and divided his garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet. They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. Sitting down, they kept watch over him there, and they put up over his head the accusation written against him. This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. They called that an accusation, but that was the love that Jesus had for us. And he dies on the cross, and as he was telling the people beforehand that after three days that he will rise, they put him in the tomb, and they were careful we want to guard the tomb because we don't want his disciples to get him out of there and say, Look, he rose after three days. But he rose anyways, an angel was there, and he rose again. So in chapter twenty eight, now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb, and behold, there was a great earthquake. For an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow, and the guard shook for fear of him and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the woman, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen. As he said, Come seek the place where the Lord lay, and go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead, and indeed he is going before you into Galilee. There you will see him. Behold, I have told you. So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples' word. So let's think about it. What was a reason for Jesus being crucified on the cross? There was a reason for the blood. Without his blood, there's no remission of sins. So when he died on the cross, he's dying on the cross for us. Because we cannot go see God the way that we are now. We can't. So in order for us to see God and to be delivered, Jesus needed to come down here on this earth. He needed to die for our sins, and then his blood, the blood of Jesus, all the bruising that he went through. You see in Isaiah or in 1 Peter 2.24, where it says, By the blood of Jesus stripes I'm healed. It's what he went through when he was crucified and when they carried him on that cross. And so when we ask Jesus into our lives and we want him to be a part of our lives, and we say the sinner's prayer, then he washes us from all sin and he washes us from all unrighteousness. And then, therefore, we are clean, we are made new, and we can appear before God, because we cannot appear before God the way that we are without Jesus. There is no way. Even if you are so good on the earth, you are very kind, do you obey the law, you've never committed a crime, you won't be able to see the face of God because the only way you'll be able to be near God is if Jesus stood on your behalf, died for your sins, you have to accept it. Say, yes, Lord, I want you. Then the blood of Jesus just falls over you and cleanses you. And if we connect that to Exodus, in order for the Israelites to be saved from the angel of death, they had to have the blood of the lamb. And it wasn't just any lamb, it was the an unblemished lamb without spot or wrinkle. That's what Jesus was. He was a lamb without blemish. And just like with the Israelites, that blood on the doorpost saved them. It delivered them. So just like the blood of Jesus saves us, it delivers us during this time. So we need to think about Easter differently. So Passover is on the first. So during that time, we're celebrating it. So just like what he did for the Israelites, and just like what Jesus did on the cross for us, we need to know that whatever we're going through, God can deliver us from that. Any bondages that we're still carrying or that are still part of our lives, that's a time when we're expecting God to take those away from us. And also, too, if you haven't accepted Jesus into your life, this is a time to accept him into your life. People always say that when you hear the news, oh, there's so many bad things are happening. It seems like the end is coming. It may seem like that, and we don't know when Jesus is going to come. He can come tonight, next week, and five years from now, ten. We don't know. But what we do know is that each of us needs to be prepared. Because if we're not prepared and we're not saved, and we haven't asked Jesus to come into our lives, and his blood hasn't washed us clean and made us new, we haven't repented, then we can't meet God. We would be like the Egyptians, where they got left behind because they didn't have the blood of Jesus, and they had to suffer that thing where the firstborn son of each family was killed. And the Israelites didn't have to go through that because they had the blood. And that's not to scare you, but that's just to see the importance of Jesus and the crucification and what he did for you and I, and not to forget that. And anytime that we have sinned, we can repent. Repent means to ask for forgiveness. And once we ask for forgiveness, is to repent and to stop doing the thing that we were doing that was causing us to backslide to sin. And so this is a a remembrance. At the end of this episode, there is a salvation prayer. So I encourage you if you haven't accepted Jesus into your life and you want to be made new in righteousness and have the Blood of Jesus just wash over you and cleans you, then I highly suggest for you to say that salvation prayer at the end. Now I want to read a little bit more. So when Jesus was here and talking to the disciples, he told them, I'm going to have to go away for a while, but I'm not going to leave you alone. I'm going to give you a helper. Not only did he give the disciples a helper, he gave a helper to you and I. And that helper is the Holy Spirit. So now I want to turn to Acts chapter one, verse four. Verse four. And being assembled together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, You have heard from me, for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him, saying, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And he said to them, It is not for you to know times or season which the Father has put in his own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. Now when he had spoken these things, while they watched, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight, and while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood up by them in white apparel, who also said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven. So now they're going to pray. Now we're leading into Pentecost. And so what is Pentecost? Pentecost is the Christian festival celebrating the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Jesus after his ascension, held on the seventh Sunday after Easter. So now let's hop on over to chapter two in Acts. When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. So here you have all the disciples, all the disciples were there. And then it says in verse two, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues as a fire, and one sat upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. So that is the Holy Spirit. That is how the Holy Spirit moves when you let it move. So here, this is the first time that they were experiencing the coming of the Holy Spirit, and it came down as a mighty rushing. There appeared to them divided tongues. They started to speak in tongues, the heavenly language. And then verse 5, and they were dwelling in Jerusalem, Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear each in our own language in which we were born? And then in verse eleven, we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God. So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, Whatever could this mean? Others mocking said they are full of new wine. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and heed my words, for these are not drunk as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. It shall come to pass in the last day, says God, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams, and on my maid servants I will pour out my spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke, the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord, and it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. So as we look here, we see what is the power of the Holy Spirit. It causes us to see visions, dream dreams, and to speak in the Holy Spirit and to prophesy. That's what the Holy Spirit does. It moves in our lives. So as we go back from the beginning, it started with God's people wanting to be free. And so with that lamb, it's that deliverance. And then with Jesus coming to the earth to become crucified, and he was dying for our sins. And so, in order for us to get to heaven, we need his blood. We need him. And so he delivers us from where we're at, from those bondages and anything that we are experiencing that is not of him. And so he's saving us, he's delivering us. And then so after that, we're not left alone. The Holy Spirit is here. The Holy Spirit is leading us, guiding us, and protecting us. All this to say is that when we accept Jesus into our lives, he washes us clean and makes us new. And then he just doesn't leave us alone just to figure it out. He gives us the word of God, and then the Holy Spirit also comes within us. And just like it says here, that the Holy Spirit shall lead us, the Holy Spirit will cause us to prophesy. We shall see visions, we shall dream dreams, and we shall see the move of God. That's what you should see in your life. That's what the Holy Spirit does. So, what I would recommend for you to do is to go throughout all the scriptures that we went over in Exodus, in Matthew, and in Acts, and to study this, because this is a very important area that we all need to be aware of and to understand. And if you haven't received Jesus into your life, stay tuned for the end of the episode because there is a salvation prayer for you to accept Jesus into your life. Well, if you enjoyed this message and you learned so much from this message, share it with a friend or family member. And thank you for tuning in. If you have not accepted Jesus into your life, say this salvation prayer with me. Heavenly Father, I admit that I have sinned. I repent. I believe in my heart you raised Jesus from the dead. I confess with my mouth, Jesus is Lord and my Savior. Right now, I receive forgiveness by the blood of Jesus. Come into my life. I am saved. In Jesus' name. Amen. I'm glad you pray that salvation prayer. Make sure that you plug yourself into a spirit filled church and read the word of God. Well, I hope you enjoy the message and thank you for tuning in.