WEBVTT 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:02.080 Good morning, church. 00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:05.200 Today's reading is from Exodus chapter twelve. 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:11.199 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, This month shall be for you the beginning of months. 00:00:11.359 --> 00:00:13.599 It shall be the first month of the year for you. 00:00:13.839 --> 00:00:32.560 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their father's houses, a lamb for a household, and if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons, according to what each can eat, you shall make your count for the lamb. 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:36.159 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:46.960 You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. 00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:54.880 Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the doorposts and the and the inlet of the houses in which they eat. 00:00:55.039 --> 00:01:01.039 They shall eat the flesh that night, roast it on the fire, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, they shall eat it. 00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:07.280 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted its head with its legs and its inner parts. 00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:12.719 And you shall let none of it remain until the morning. 00:01:12.879 --> 00:01:15.439 Anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:22.799 In this manner you shall eat it, with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste. 00:01:22.959 --> 00:01:24.400 It is the Lord's Passover. 00:01:24.560 --> 00:01:31.200 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. 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:36.079 And on all and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments. 00:01:36.239 --> 00:01:37.040 I am the Lord. 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:47.599 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 be will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:55.359 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. 00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:57.840 You shall keep it as a feast. 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:00.560 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:03.920 On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses. 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:10.639 For if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. 00:02:10.879 --> 00:02:15.520 On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:21.599 No work shall be done on those days, but what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared for you. 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:24.319 And you shall observe the feast of unleavened bread. 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:28.560 For on this day I brought out I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:33.199 Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a statute forever. 00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:41.840 In the first month from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty first day of the month at evening. 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:45.039 For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:52.479 If any one eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. 00:02:52.639 --> 00:02:57.680 You shall eat nothing leavened in all your dwelling places, you shall eat unleavened bread. 00:02:57.919 --> 00:03:05.599 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. 00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:14.319 Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:17.919 None of you shall go out of the door of this house until the morning. 00:03:18.080 --> 00:03:30.560 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 will not allow the destroyer to enter your house to strike you. 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:34.960 You shall observe this right as a statute for you and for your sons forever. 00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:40.479 And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. 00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:44.080 And when your children say to you, What do you mean by this service? 00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:47.439 You shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover. 00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:54.159 For he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians, but spared our houses. 00:03:54.319 --> 00:03:56.479 And the people bowed their heads and worshipped. 00:03:56.639 --> 00:04:01.199 Then the people of Israel went and did so, as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:02.000 So they did. 00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:03.280 This is the word of the Lord. 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:04.400 Please be seated. 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:05.599 Thanks. 00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:09.919 Oh, yeah. 00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:11.840 We've got rug problems. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:12.879 Thanks, Zach. 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:14.080 Good morning. 00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:16.319 Thank you for joining us this morning. 00:04:16.399 --> 00:04:17.600 My name is James Rathman. 00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:19.920 I'm the pastor here at Redemption Church Denver. 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:23.439 It's great to gather together with you all to worship this morning. 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:30.879 Before we enter our text today, on the Passover instructions, let's pray. 00:04:35.920 --> 00:04:40.560 Our Father, all things are in your hands. 00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:45.199 And you work everything according to the counsel of your will. 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:55.519 Lord, every detail of our lives, all the problems that we're facing, all the issues that stand before us, Lord, they all belong to you. 00:04:56.319 --> 00:04:59.439 And they are perfectly ordered for your glory, Lord. 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:04.800 Father, I pray that you would equip our church with faith in you. 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:15.120 Lord, we pray that like you laid your hand upon Ezra and Nehemiah for their rebuilding of your city, Lord, that you would lay your hands upon us as a church. 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:19.360 Lord, that we might see the rebuilding of our city. 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:24.480 Lord, that your name might be proclaimed and made great. 00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:29.439 That people would be drawn to the wonder of your gospel, Lord. 00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:36.240 Lord, I pray that consciences would be pricked with the reality of sin. 00:05:38.319 --> 00:05:48.720 And that the absolute freedom of your grace, Lord, would shine brightly in the hearts of the people in our church, Lord, and in our community. 00:05:50.240 --> 00:05:54.480 Lord, all the things we desire to see can only be done by your Spirit. 00:05:55.439 --> 00:06:04.560 Lord, we pray that your Spirit would work in our hearts today, to see your word, this right that you have given to your people to be passed down for generations, Lord. 00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:10.079 I pray that you would equip us as a church to pass it down to the next generation that you have given us. 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:27.439 Lord, I pray for our children, that they might know your word, and that they might see the wonder of it, that they might hold fast to you, Lord, and that they might be faithful to you, that we would see generations of faithful believers come from our church, Lord. 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:31.920 We pray that we would see that, that you would equip us to do that, Holy Father. 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:36.480 We praise you for your love towards us, for your loving kindness towards us as a people. 00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:38.160 We lift this up in Jesus' name. 00:06:38.480 --> 00:06:39.120 Amen. 00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:47.680 So last week we saw that the threat was made to Pharaoh regarding the final plague. 00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:52.800 And the final plague is the killing of the firstborn sons in Egypt. 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:56.720 Now, this final plague was threatened by Moses to Pharaoh. 00:06:57.120 --> 00:07:02.959 But Pharaoh, of course, his heart was hardened, and so he did not receive the threat that was given. 00:07:03.120 --> 00:07:06.160 Instead, his heart was hardened, he turned Moses away. 00:07:06.480 --> 00:07:10.639 But the rest of Egypt, they're starting to piece things together. 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:20.800 And so Moses instructed the Israelites to go to their neighbors, to their Egyptian neighbors, and to ask for an offering of gold and silver jewelry. 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:22.399 And it works. 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:26.959 Now the reason it works is because they're nine plagues in. 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:34.319 And when they were looking to see, when they're assessing, you know, who's who seems to have the real power here? 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:35.920 Who seems to have the real authority here? 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:38.160 Is it Pharaoh or is it Moses? 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:45.199 The Egyptians are plainly able to see that it's Moses because Pharaoh couldn't stop all the frogs. 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:47.199 Remember the frogs? 00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:53.040 When your leader can't stop all the frogs, then you go with the other guy. 00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:54.639 And so that's what happened. 00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:59.120 So they went and they plundered the Egyptians and they hadn't heard the warning. 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:08.319 But now is the time for the Israelites to be prepared for this final plague, the killing of the firstborn sons. 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:14.720 Now, how is it that the Israelites will be spared from this terrible final plague? 00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:19.439 That's the instruction that they are given this morning, that we're looking at this morning. 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:26.160 And the instruction is the instructions for a meal, for the Passover meal. 00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:28.720 This is the first instantiation of it. 00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:45.360 So Egypt is warned and Israel is prepared, and they will see, not to bury the lead, they will see that the way that they will be spared from this terrifying terrifying Passover of the Lord is by the blood of a lamb. 00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:49.440 And that is the very same message that we proclaim here today. 00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:55.600 That the wrath of God is coming, and the only hope of being spared is by the blood of the Lamb of God. 00:08:55.919 --> 00:09:05.919 We know that this points towards Jesus Christ, the true Lamb of God, who died for our sins, so that by his blood we might be spared from the wrath of God. 00:09:06.159 --> 00:09:10.879 So let's look at the instructions for this important Passover meal. 00:09:11.039 --> 00:09:16.720 Now, if you're a child or if you think of yourself as a child, I'm going to quiz you after this. 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:17.840 You guys ready? 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:20.639 Especially that pack of strays right in the middle. 00:09:25.519 --> 00:09:27.519 All right, so here's gonna be the quiz. 00:09:27.759 --> 00:09:29.519 My son just went, whoa. 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:32.799 So here's gonna be the quiz. 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:38.480 What are the four steps of the Passover meal? 00:09:38.639 --> 00:09:41.039 The Passover meal has four steps. 00:09:41.840 --> 00:09:44.399 What are the four steps of the Passover meal? 00:09:44.559 --> 00:09:46.799 That's what you're gonna, that's what the quiz will be on afterwards. 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:47.519 You guys ready? 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:49.120 Think you can figure these out? 00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:50.159 All right. 00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:52.399 Well, listen for it. 00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:54.240 Exodus 12, 1 through 2. 00:09:54.399 --> 00:10:01.279 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, this month shall be for you the beginning of months. 00:10:01.519 --> 00:10:04.720 It shall be the first month of the year for you. 00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:08.000 So Moses and Aaron, they come into the land of Egypt. 00:10:08.080 --> 00:10:12.240 They come to the Israelites to prepare them with for the what the Passover meal will be. 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:16.720 And the first thing that they say is, Now this is the first month. 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:19.200 This is month one of the year. 00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:21.360 It's about March or April when this is happening. 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:23.759 It's springtime, great time for a new year. 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:26.159 Now this is the new year. 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:27.679 Day one. 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:32.720 Everything about the Passover meal is lurching forward. 00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:35.840 It's all it's just tearing out of the gate. 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:38.320 It's about, it's it's all about looking forward. 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:41.360 There's nothing about the Passover meal which is about looking back. 00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:44.320 And so this is the last meal in Egypt. 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:47.759 But we're not here to commemorate the last meal in Egypt. 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:50.399 This is the first meal of a new year. 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:52.320 It's like Ralphie 7. 00:10:52.879 --> 00:10:54.799 It's not like Ralphie 6. 00:10:55.600 --> 00:10:56.480 Passover meal. 00:10:56.559 --> 00:11:02.960 That's uh for the buffaloes in the congregation, in the herd. 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:09.120 So everything about the meal is looking forward to. 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:09.919 This is day one. 00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:13.120 This is what you orient your year around. 00:11:14.159 --> 00:11:17.360 We we also did this again for our Passover lamb. 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:21.600 Our Passover lamb, we we still count. 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:27.279 From this, I'm preaching this in the year of our Lord, 2025. 00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:32.240 Now they can try to retcon that into common era. 00:11:32.879 --> 00:11:33.840 Ah, gosh. 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:38.399 Whenever I'm reading something and they cite common era, I'm like, I'm not gonna agree with this person. 00:11:39.679 --> 00:11:41.440 They're just trying to fit in. 00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:42.799 We know what you mean. 00:11:42.960 --> 00:11:44.960 You can't retcon Jesus. 00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:48.559 What made it common? 00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:49.679 What makes it common? 00:11:49.840 --> 00:11:51.519 What happened then that makes it common? 00:11:51.679 --> 00:11:58.000 You ask to, I don't know, the Chicago Terrabian people. 00:11:58.320 --> 00:11:58.879 I don't know. 00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:00.240 The APA. 00:12:00.879 --> 00:12:02.399 All right, that's enough. 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:06.720 Step one, here come the instructions. 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:07.440 It's day one. 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:18.480 Step one, verse three, tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month, every man shall take a lamb according to their father's houses, a lamb for a household. 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:21.279 So the step one, the first step of this Passover meal. 00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:23.519 Remember, they aren't told why they're doing this yet. 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:24.720 God often does this. 00:12:24.879 --> 00:12:28.480 He gives you instruction, and the why comes later. 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:30.480 But first obey. 00:12:30.799 --> 00:12:36.720 So the first part of this instruction is to organize families around a lamb. 00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:45.840 That's step one of the Passover meal, is to organize families around the lamb. 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:54.320 So if your family is too small to eat a whole lamb, raise your hands. 00:12:56.080 --> 00:12:57.039 Yeah, yeah. 00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:03.679 Then you'd have to call your neighbors and say, hey, we got we, you know, Moses' instruction, the lamb thing. 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:05.600 Our family, we can't eat a whole lamb. 00:13:05.679 --> 00:13:07.039 So we're gonna have all this extra lamb. 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:10.639 Why don't we get together and we'll go to your house and we'll eat the lamb together? 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:11.840 And so, yeah, that makes sense. 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:18.080 So you organize families by father's houses according to the lamb. 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:20.879 So the organizing principle is what? 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:23.360 The lamb. 00:13:23.600 --> 00:13:28.559 And then the the second feature of the organizing principle is fathers' houses. 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:40.960 Now there's an instruction here, which is to the fathers, which is that it is your responsibility to organize your family around the lamb. 00:13:42.799 --> 00:13:44.879 That's your responsibility. 00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:50.159 To train up your households so that they are organized under the blood of the Lamb. 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:53.600 That this is the central gathering feature of your homes. 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:56.720 You do this, fathers, by teaching your children the word. 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:00.799 You do this by leading family worship. 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:05.039 You do this by praying together with your family. 00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:07.279 It's the first step in the Passover meal. 00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:11.440 Second step, Exodus 12, 5 through 6. 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:17.519 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:27.919 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. 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:29.519 So here's step two. 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:32.960 Pick a good lamb, kill it at twilight. 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:37.759 The lamb has to be without blemish. 00:14:38.879 --> 00:14:45.360 It's a lamb that you're proud of, and it's a male, it's a year old, because it's a representative lamb. 00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:48.159 The lamb represents the firstborn sons. 00:14:48.240 --> 00:15:05.600 Because here's the reality of that next morning, the morning of the 15th, in Egypt, is that in every household there will be either a dead lamb or a dead firstborn son when everyone wakes up in the morning. 00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:10.159 So pick a good lamb. 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:12.720 How good? 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:22.879 Well, it's a it's the type of lamb that's so good as an offering that you would you would want it to stand in the place of your firstborn son. 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:29.120 That's a good metric for lamb picking. 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:31.440 I don't know how to actually do that. 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:45.759 I've been to the Western Stock Show, and I've seen people compete on picking lambs and goats and things, and uh I they all looked pretty good to me. 00:15:47.039 --> 00:15:51.840 But I understand that if you know what you're looking for, you you can tell when you see it. 00:15:52.799 --> 00:15:56.799 So step two, pick a good lamb, kill it at twilight on the fourteenth. 00:15:57.039 --> 00:16:02.240 So you picked the lamb and you organized your families on the tenth, on the fourteenth, you killed the lamb at twilight. 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:03.440 Step three. 00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:06.960 Exodus twelve, seven. 00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:13.360 Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lentil of the houses in which they eat it. 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:26.399 So step three is you take some of the blood of the lamb and you put it on the doorposts and the lintels of the house in which you're going to eat the lamb. 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:30.799 So you cover the doorposts and the lintels. 00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:34.559 It was all pretty normal up till now. 00:16:35.360 --> 00:16:41.759 The instructions were like you're gonna have a feast together with your families, and you're and you're gonna get together like we do with turkeys. 00:16:41.919 --> 00:16:43.759 You know, yeah, of course we'll have extra. 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:48.559 You couldn't fly home to your family, you're sticking around this year, have Thanksgiving with us. 00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:49.919 You know, it's all very normal. 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:52.559 It's very ordinary what a festival is like. 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:55.840 Now take the blood of the turkey and put it on your door. 00:16:57.679 --> 00:16:58.000 Okay. 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:02.399 That one was a little weird thing to do. 00:17:02.480 --> 00:17:04.480 Well, what is it, what is being represented here? 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:06.240 Why is the blood on the doorpost? 00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:21.839 You know, doorways and the the uh lintel in the in the doorposts, there's you you should think of a doorway as a sign of a new birth. 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:24.480 That's what you should see. 00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:27.519 This is common in doorways throughout scripture. 00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:31.599 And there's a new birth that's taking place at the door. 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:39.920 The people of Israel are going to be, in a sense, born again because of the grace that's going to be shown to them. 00:17:41.359 --> 00:17:43.440 But the blood will mean even more than that. 00:17:43.599 --> 00:17:51.759 But for this, I want you to see the door as a sign of the new birth by the blood. 00:17:53.680 --> 00:17:54.960 Step four. 00:17:57.279 --> 00:17:59.680 Eat it all, eat it fast, no leaven. 00:18:01.200 --> 00:18:02.640 That's step four. 00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:11.839 Exodus twelve, eight says, They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, they shall eat it. 00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:24.000 Exodus twelve, eleven says, in this manner you shall eat it, with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste. 00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:26.240 It is the Lord's Passover. 00:18:26.559 --> 00:18:34.400 So you put your belt on, you put your you you you know, gird up your robe so that's fastened in the belt. 00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:36.640 That way when you're running, you don't trip on your robe. 00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:38.880 You know when you're running and you trip on your robe? 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:43.039 Well, it's because you got to fasten it into your belt. 00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:56.240 And when you're wanting to make sure that you've got your your staff for to control your herd, to demonstrate your power and your authority, so you eat with the with your staff in your hand. 00:18:58.160 --> 00:18:59.599 And you eat it fast. 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:02.799 I had older sisters. 00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:05.759 So I never learned to eat fast. 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:09.599 But then I eat with friends that only had older brothers. 00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:11.759 It's just it's insane. 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:13.839 It's like they're it's crazy. 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:16.880 It's like watching a horse eat. 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:20.480 So you should eat it like you have older brothers. 00:19:22.319 --> 00:19:24.799 That's the type of haste that you gotta eat it, eat it with. 00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:28.799 Eat it fast, eat it prepared, ready to go. 00:19:29.279 --> 00:19:36.799 This is your last meal in the place that you've called home for 430 years. 00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:44.400 That's about how long Europeans have been in on this continent. 00:19:48.319 --> 00:19:49.839 That's a pretty long time. 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:55.599 This is your last meal on this continent. 00:19:58.400 --> 00:19:59.839 Do not reminisce. 00:20:01.839 --> 00:20:03.759 That's not what this meal is for. 00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:06.480 Do not look back. 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:12.720 Don't take a deep breath and look around at Egypt and take it all in. 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:16.079 Look forward. 00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:20.079 You're going somewhere brand new. 00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:22.400 That's what this meal is about. 00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:24.799 This meal is lunging forward. 00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:26.720 It's breaking out of the gates. 00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:28.880 This meal is not looking back. 00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:30.400 There's no looking back. 00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:33.599 And that's because this meal is an act of faith. 00:20:33.759 --> 00:20:35.920 Eat it all, eat it fast, no leaven. 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:36.960 Be dressed for action. 00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:38.720 It is a meal of departure. 00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:40.480 Here's the news of this meal. 00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:43.200 If we stay here, we will die. 00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:47.519 If we leave, we will live. 00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:51.359 God is calling them into a new life. 00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:58.880 He's calling his people into a place that none of them have been before, into a place that is brand new. 00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:05.200 And what this shows us is that faith always requires action into the unknown. 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:10.079 That's what it means for God to be calling you into a new life. 00:21:10.640 --> 00:21:14.319 He's calling you into action into the unknown. 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:18.960 This means new ways of thinking, new ways of understanding. 00:21:19.119 --> 00:21:20.799 The old ways are gone. 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:23.519 You're going to a new place. 00:21:23.759 --> 00:21:26.799 If you want to stick around in Egypt, that means you love death. 00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:32.000 If you want to go where God is taking you, that means you love life. 00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:35.200 Newness is life. 00:21:35.759 --> 00:21:38.160 He's taking you into someplace new. 00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:46.480 So they got instructions for this meal, and there are parts that are unexplained and they're bizarre. 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:50.400 You know, we're going to take the blood of the lamb, we're going to put it on the doorposts and the lentils. 00:21:50.559 --> 00:21:54.559 We've got to eat the whole lamb and we've got to eat it fast. 00:21:55.359 --> 00:22:01.680 We've got to dress not for a meal, but dress for action as though we're We're running out the door right after this. 00:22:01.759 --> 00:22:05.599 This is a strange feast that the Lord is drawing us together for. 00:22:05.839 --> 00:22:07.920 Well, let him explain the purpose. 00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:13.440 In Exodus 12, 12, the Lord finally says, For, okay, that's a good sign. 00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:14.720 Here's why. 00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:28.160 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 on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments. 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:30.079 I am the Lord. 00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:39.599 From the gods of Egypt to the beasts of Egypt, there will be judgment from the Lord. 00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:46.319 That is, you can think of this as the as the highest principles. 00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:50.960 That's a more accessible way for us to understand the gods of Egypt. 00:22:51.119 --> 00:22:55.839 That there were principles which governed their society. 00:22:57.839 --> 00:23:00.400 And you can, you know, we say principles. 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:02.640 The Bible says principalities. 00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:07.920 You can see, we mean, you do you do you hear how they're they rhyme? 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:28.559 So think the highest principles that governed Egyptian society, the values which they shared, which held them together as a nation, will be judged in the face of God, by the face of God, and they will be found wanting. 00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:31.680 To the people of Egypt. 00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:37.599 They will be judged by the ideals that they adhered to. 00:23:40.240 --> 00:23:42.160 The gods that they served. 00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:44.960 They will be judged. 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:47.839 The beasts of Egypt. 00:23:48.880 --> 00:23:54.319 You can think of that as we don't think your dog. 00:23:55.279 --> 00:23:56.720 Think your job. 00:24:01.119 --> 00:24:04.160 Think your 401k. 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:13.200 Think whatever what think all your investments in the in what you th what you in your home, you know. 00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:20.559 Those things that you hope, okay, this will provide some security in the future. 00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:22.480 They will be judged. 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:24.640 The future will be cut off. 00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:27.839 There is no future in Egypt. 00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:30.880 The sons which would have carried on the name are gone. 00:24:31.119 --> 00:24:34.480 The principles which held them together, they will be judged by God. 00:24:34.960 --> 00:24:38.799 And he will prove that he is the God over Egypt. 00:24:40.480 --> 00:24:42.559 Well, what gives him the right? 00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:54.240 Someone might step up and ask, to judge the gods of Egypt, to judge the sons of Egypt, to judge the economy of Egypt. 00:24:55.599 --> 00:24:58.160 Well, he says it right there at the end of verse 12. 00:24:58.799 --> 00:25:00.240 I am the Lord. 00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:03.440 He is the Lord. 00:25:03.599 --> 00:25:04.640 There is no other. 00:25:06.480 --> 00:25:07.839 There is no higher God. 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:09.039 He is the one. 00:25:10.319 --> 00:25:18.400 All glory and worship and honor, all principles and principalities must come in submission and subjection to him. 00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:20.640 That is the hope of his people. 00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:28.160 So God is bringing this great judgment on all of Egypt, and that includes the Israelites. 00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:31.200 Why is it that the Israelites would be spared? 00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:47.920 In verse 13, 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. 00:25:49.759 --> 00:25:56.640 They will be spared, because the blood will be on the doorposts of their households. 00:25:58.559 --> 00:26:04.079 And all that are in those homes, the Lord will see the blood, and he will pass over them. 00:26:06.079 --> 00:26:09.839 They are protected by the blood of the lamb. 00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:11.119 Why? 00:26:13.119 --> 00:26:15.920 What does the blood of a lamb mean? 00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:24.160 Why is it that the blood of the lamb would be sufficient so that they would be spared from the wrath of God? 00:26:24.400 --> 00:26:36.880 Why is it that that lamb's blood on the doorposts would be sufficient so that when they wake up in the morning, their sons are alive, while when the other Egyptians wake up in the morning, their sons are dead? 00:26:38.720 --> 00:26:43.599 They'd walk out and say, It's just because I had the blood. 00:26:47.279 --> 00:26:49.599 It was just the blood on the doorposts. 00:26:50.160 --> 00:26:52.079 Who's the blood a sign for? 00:26:53.440 --> 00:26:57.200 Do you think God can't tell the difference between his people and the Egyptians? 00:26:58.319 --> 00:27:00.319 He can tell all kinds of things. 00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:07.839 It says the blood shall be a sign for you. 00:27:09.359 --> 00:27:10.640 It's pedagogical. 00:27:11.599 --> 00:27:12.880 It's teaching. 00:27:13.839 --> 00:27:15.759 He's showing you something. 00:27:16.079 --> 00:27:20.000 He's showing you that you are spared because of the blood. 00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:22.480 That's why you're being spared. 00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:24.640 Because of the blood of the lamb. 00:27:24.880 --> 00:27:26.640 But it's an odd thing, isn't it? 00:27:26.960 --> 00:27:29.440 Why would the blood of a lamb be sufficient? 00:27:31.519 --> 00:27:33.119 So that's why. 00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:35.119 Why have this Passover meal? 00:27:35.200 --> 00:27:55.519 It is because the Lord will pass through the land, and he has given the people this meal so that they might be drawn together in worship of the Lord, that they might see the deliverance that the Lord has given to them has been because they were under the blood of the Lamb. 00:27:57.200 --> 00:28:13.759 And finally, now that we've seen what the instructions are and then what the purpose is, we see that the Lord instantiates this as a rite for all of Israel, for the rest of the nation of Israel. 00:28:14.559 --> 00:28:16.640 This is to be repeated annually. 00:28:16.880 --> 00:28:20.720 He makes this the center of Israelite culture. 00:28:21.279 --> 00:28:23.839 Is this celebration, this event? 00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:35.039 Exodus 12, 14 says, 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. 00:28:35.279 --> 00:28:37.200 You shall keep it as a feast. 00:28:37.440 --> 00:28:40.000 Now he makes this a statute forever. 00:28:40.079 --> 00:28:53.359 It's this communal memorial day, the Passover day, where you'll gather together and you'll perform this rite together with your household and with the families that you've gone together with as you've organized yourselves under the Lamb. 00:28:54.079 --> 00:28:56.799 And you'll do this so that you will remember. 00:28:57.039 --> 00:28:59.440 It's a statute, a memorial. 00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:02.960 Because otherwise you'll forget. 00:29:04.960 --> 00:29:08.079 You'll forget that the Lord drew you out of Egypt. 00:29:09.039 --> 00:29:16.960 You'll forget that it was by his grace alone that you were spared and that the Egyptians were destroyed. 00:29:17.759 --> 00:29:23.039 And you might start to think that it was because of something special within you or something special about you. 00:29:23.759 --> 00:29:29.359 And you will neglect to remember that it is by the grace of God alone that you were spared. 00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:30.640 Why? 00:29:30.799 --> 00:29:31.839 What's the difference? 00:29:32.079 --> 00:29:34.960 There was blood on the doorposts. 00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:36.559 That's the difference. 00:29:36.799 --> 00:29:38.240 Why were we spared? 00:29:38.400 --> 00:29:40.480 Why were we drawn out as a nation? 00:29:40.640 --> 00:29:42.960 Because there was blood on the doorposts. 00:29:43.119 --> 00:29:45.200 You know, it was a terrifying night. 00:29:45.359 --> 00:29:50.160 The shrieks and cries were going up throughout all the land of Egypt. 00:29:50.400 --> 00:29:58.720 And you know that there were many Israelites who were gathered together in their homes, terrified of what they might see as the night went on. 00:29:58.880 --> 00:30:01.599 But their terror did not matter. 00:30:02.240 --> 00:30:07.119 It didn't matter how they felt when they were inside that house, as they heard the shrieks. 00:30:11.680 --> 00:30:17.039 What mattered was that there was blood on their doorposts. 00:30:18.799 --> 00:30:20.240 That's all that mattered. 00:30:21.839 --> 00:30:25.200 So this shall be a memorial feast for you because you forget. 00:30:26.079 --> 00:30:30.240 You forget that you live because of the grace of God alone. 00:30:31.680 --> 00:30:32.880 We forget. 00:30:34.640 --> 00:30:37.440 We think that there's something that we contribute to our rescue. 00:30:37.599 --> 00:30:42.160 We think that there's something that we've some element of our salvation that we've earned. 00:30:42.319 --> 00:30:48.720 We we think that there's we think that we just ought to be saved. 00:30:50.480 --> 00:30:57.200 But we remember, no, it was just by the grace of God, by the blood of the Lamb by which we were saved. 00:30:57.359 --> 00:30:58.799 And then where does our praise go? 00:30:58.880 --> 00:31:03.359 It goes to the praise of his glory, to the wonder of his name. 00:31:06.240 --> 00:31:10.000 And so the feast is not just this one day, it's a weeklong feast. 00:31:10.240 --> 00:31:16.720 We are, you know, we're a culture in decline because our feasts are like a day. 00:31:17.920 --> 00:31:24.160 You know, like we get like one day, or like two for Thanksgiving, it's on a Thursday. 00:31:24.319 --> 00:31:27.519 So then the you get Friday off. 00:31:28.400 --> 00:31:30.799 But most of the time it's like one day. 00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:34.000 This is not, this is no way to celebrate. 00:31:34.720 --> 00:31:36.480 So here's the the feast is a week. 00:31:36.559 --> 00:31:41.039 You'll do no ordinary work on this week, except for what it takes to make the food. 00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:44.240 And it's the feast of unleavened bread. 00:31:45.200 --> 00:31:47.519