November 29, 2021
This week we read Exodus 9-19. Remember the Israelites had been in slavery for over 400 years. God asked Moses to talk with Pharoah and to set his people free. Moses was afraid to confront Pharoah, but God provided a lot of encouragement, along with Aaron, and Moses was able to talk with Pharoah. Moses asked Pharoah to set the Israelites free so they could worship God in the desert. Pharoah’s heart hardened, and he did not listen. This happened ten times. It is the 10th plague, and the Passover that we will be discussing more today (Exodus Chapter 11 and 12).
Exodus Chapter 11:1-8: “Now the Lord had said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here, and when he does, he will drive you out completely. 2 Tell the people that men and women alike are to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold.” 3 (The Lord made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh’s officials and by the people.)
4 So Moses said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. 5 Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the female slave, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. 6 There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt—worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. 7 But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any person or animal.’ Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. 8 All these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me and saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will leave.” Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh.”
As you can see, there will be the death of all the first-born children and animals in Egypt. In Chapter 12, we learn how the Israelites will escape this plague.
“The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2 “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb[a] for his family, one for each household. 4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. 5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. 6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. 7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. 8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. 9 Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. 10 Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. 11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.
12 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.”
As you can see, God had the Israelites choose a year-old lamb without blemish and slaughter it on the 14th day. They were to take the blood of the lamb and put it around the outside doorframe of the house. On that night, God struck down the first-born of all the Egyptians and there was wailing, but when He saw the blood on the doorframes of the Israelites, the Lord passed over that home and there was no death. Exodus 11:7 says it was so quiet and peaceful, that a dog would not even bark. The Israelites were completely protected.
The Israelites were slaves. Through the faith of the people, the blood of a perfect lamb, and God’s protection, the Israelites were saved from death.
Doesn’t this sound a lot like Jesus? John 1:29 says “… John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” 1 Corinthians 5:7 says, “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”
The Passover in the Old Testament points to the death of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins. There are many similarities. The Israelites were slaves to the Egyptians. All people are slaves to sin (Romans 6:16, 17). God had the Israelites pick a 1-year-old lamb. This lamb was in its prime. Jesus was in his prime as well. The lamb had to be male as was Jesus. The lamb had to be without blemish. Jesus was without blemish or sin (2 Cor 5:21). The lamb was sacrificed at twilight. This is the time between 3 and 5 pm. This is when Jesus died on the cross. The blood from the lamb was to be put around the doorframes and because of the blood, death passed over the household and all were saved. Through the blood of Christ dying on the cross, we are saved from eternal death and separation from God. Each Israelite had the choice to put the blood on the doorframe. We also have a choice to believe and have faith that Jesus died for our sins.
The Israelites were delivered from slavery from the blood of a perfect lamb. We are delivered from sin from the blood of Jesus Christ. But we are only delivered from sin if we have faith. We are only delivered because of the blood.
Brian Bill has a good example of how the blood of the lamb saves. During the time of Pharoah there was a righteous Egyptian man and an Israelite that was not so nice. They were talking and the Israelite told the Egyptian about what he was to do with the lamb’s blood. The Egyptian thought that was wasteful, and would not slaughter a lamb. It came to the night that the Israelite was to slaughter the lamb. He kept delaying the slaughter, but his wife kept saying he needed to do this to save them all. Finally, 11:30 pm came around and the man slaughtered the lamb and put the blood around the doorframe. At midnight, there was screaming from the Egyptian home where there was no blood around the doorframe, but quiet in the Israelite’s homes.
You see, it was not how well behaved the men were that saved them from death. It was the blood on the doorframe from a perfect lamb.
Romans 3:25 says, “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,[i] through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.”
Christ shed his blood for those who have faith, so we could have eternal life with Him. John 3:3 says, “Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
Where are you in your relationship with Christ? Are you seeking? Do you believe? Have you accepted the free gift of Jesus as Lord and Savior?
Next week we will read Exodus 20 through 30.
Diving into the Bible 