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Exodus 12:1-13, 29-42

Well, we’ve had two weeks of vacation from Exodus. A two-week hiatus – beginning with Palm Sunday and continuing with Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and then, last week, Easter Sunday. So, let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn back (now) to the Old Testament book of Exodus – chapter 12.

When you study world history, or American history, or church history – really any kind of history – you come to certain days and events that are so significant that it seems as though the world just shifts. Let me give you a couple of illustrations:

December 26, 1776 – when Gen. George Washington took his Continental Army on a clandestine maneuver across the Delaware River from Pennsylvania to Trenton, NJ, where they defeated British and German forces at The Battle of Trenton. It might not have been the complete turn of the American Revolution, but it was the beginning of the turn.

July 3, 1863 – when 15,000 men ran across an open field and the Confederate Army broke the Union line but could not sustain it and were pushed back. That was the day that Union forces new The Battle of Gettysburg would ultimately lead to victory in the Civil War – and from that moment on, Gen. Robert E. Lee never took the offensive again.

June 6, 1944 – a day upon which the history of the entire world turned, when roughly 160,000 American, British, Canadian, and Australian men landed on the beaches of Normandy, France and pushed back the German forces. And at the conclusion of Operation Overload, it seemed as though the entire Allied Army and, indeed, the world knew that WWII was over. It would take almost a year, from June 6, 1944 to May 8, 1945, but the war would come to an end.

These are just a few examples from our own history where times were marked – the world, itself, seemed to shift – and when we come to Exodus 12, we come to a single night upon which the history of all the world turns in an event known as The Passover. Follow along with me as I read verses 1-13, then we’ll skip down and read 29-42.

1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell 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. 4 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. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6 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.

7 “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. 10 And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11 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. It is the LORD’s Passover. 12 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: I am the LORD. 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.

29 At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. 30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. 31 Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as you have said. 32 Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”

33 The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” 34 So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders. 35 The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. 36 And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus, they plundered the Egyptians.

37 And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. 38 A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds. 39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.

40 The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. 41 At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. 42 It was a night of watching by the LORD, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so, this same night is a night of watching kept to the LORD by all the people of Israel throughout their generations.

“Father in heaven, we thank You for this time that You’ve brought us together. We believe that You have a message for us – not just principles, but a message for our hearts and lives – that we might apply and grow in our knowledge, obedience, and love for You. So, we pray, Lord, that You would reveal Your truth to us. I pray that we, like Peter says, would be “like newborn infants, long[ing] for the pure spiritual milk, that by it [we] may grow up into [our] salvation” (1 Peter 2:2). God, as we study, we study not only the Bible but we study the author of the Bible. We’re looking to find out who You are and what You’re like, and how we can respond to You. For it’s in Jesus’ name that we pray, amen.”

Let me begin, if I might, by just highlight some of the obvious differences that this final plague presents. First, Exodus 11-12 is actually best understood as one complete unit. What Moses is doing for us here, is what film makers do regularly. In the previous chapters and plagues, everything has been narrative. We’ve been reading it and following it like a story. But then, all of a sudden, after the plague of darkness, we get this little interlude where God and Moses and Aaron kind of have a personal meeting. God gives them the specific instructions about the Passover, then in chapter 12, Moses pans away from this little personal meeting to the larger encampment of the Jews. And we see Moses delivering the instructions to the Israelites, and it’s not until midway through the chapter that we get popped back into the narrative of the plague actually happening.

The second thing that’s a bit different is that this is an interactive plague. What I mean by that is that the previous nine plagues had all been carried out directly by God with only minimal involved, mostly by Moses and Aaron. This one involved the entire nation of Israel’s participation.

And the last thing that’s a bit different about this plague from the other nine is that it’s fairly repetitive. Beginning in chapter 11, we get the initial instructions. Then in chapter 12:1-13 Moses relays the instructions. Then in verses 14-28 we get a more detailed description of everything we’ve heard thus far. Then we actually see the plague being carried out (vss. 29-43), and finally (vss. 43-50) we get the formal institution of the Passover. So, it becomes quite clear that God has a message that He wants to get through to these people (and to us).

Interestingly enough, the message that God wants us to see is that the Messiah, the Promised One, God’s own Anointed – Jesus – is the only true hope of salvation from sin and death. And so, I want to highlight just a few key verses and phrases that point this out. The first is…

Jesus – Our Perfect Lamb

Now maybe you spotted this. I bet some of you did. There’s a progression that’s taking place and I don’t want you to miss it. It’s beautiful. These kinds of things when you find them in the bible, it’s like gold. If you’re in the habit of marking in your Bible or you take notes during sermons (that’s a novel idea), then I’m going to tell you want to note. Go back to verse 3, “Tell 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.” That’s the first progression. Now look at verse 4, “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.” That’s the second progression. The final progression is in verse 5, “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old.” So, you have “a lamb, the lamb, and your lamb.”

See, there was a time in my life where I heard about Jesus Christ. I was raised in a spiritual environment, in a Christian home, going to church. I heard enough stuff to know that Jesus Christ was “a lamb.” He was a religious leader. He was a good moral teacher. He was an incredible example. But that’s all Jesus was to me at that time. He was “a lamb.”

But then there came the day when the Spirit of God began to convict my own heart about my own spiritual need, and my own sin, and my need for “the lamb.” And I discovered He wasn’t just “a lamb,” He’s “the Lamb.” He’s the answer that I was looking for. He’s the only One that God sent out of heaven to take care of the sin of mankind. And I went from “a lamb” to “the lamb.”

But the glorious day, the graduation day (if you will), is when you go from recognizing Jesus as “a lamb,” to “the lamb,” to accepting Him as “your lamb.” It’s personalized. You personally received the Lamb to yourself. Like Peter says in Acts 4, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Listen what Paul says in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Yes, He’s “our savior,” but He’s also “mine” – a lamb, the lamb, your lamb.

Of all the Old Testament festivals, the Passover is the clearest and most striking foreshadowing of the cross. Let me jog your memory. Remember back in Genesis 22, Isaac and Abraham are walking up to Mount Moriah and Isaac says, “Hey pops, here’s the wood and here’s the fire but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” And Abraham says, “My son, God, Himself, will provide a lamb for the offering” (Genesis 22:7, paraphrased).

Isaiah 53:7, the prophet is speaking of the future Messiah and he says, “like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.” John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

Paul writes, in 1 Corinthians 5:7, “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” Or how about this from 1 Peter 1:18-19, “knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” Finally, John records the following in his apocalyptic vision, “I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain,” (Revelation 5:6) and chapter 13, “Jesus Christ the lamb that was sacrificed from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8, paraphrased).

All the way through, the Bible points to the lamb and the Passover lamb is where it begins in terms of the full foreshadowing of what the cross would do. Clearly, Jesus is our perfect Lamb. And that brings us to the second thing we notice about Jesus in the Passover and that’s His blood, His atonement on our behalf.

Jesus – Our Atonement

Maybe you’ve had someone ask you this before. Or, perhaps, you’ve had this question too. A few years back, Martha Canata asked me this question: Why was blood required to remedy sin? Why didn’t God use water or some other method? What’s the significance of blood? Over in Hebrews 9:22 we read this, “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” And that takes us back to Genesis 9:4 and Leviticus 17:11, where God gives Noah and Moses (respectively) the instructions on making sacrifices, and we read, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.”

You see, man’s sin is so offensive to God, so heinous that basically there’s no possible way that we could have any fellowship with a holy, perfect God unless blood was shed. A sacrifice was made to pay for the sin. In fact, if you go all the way back to Genesis 3, where Adam and Eve committed the first sin we read this, “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths” (Genesis 3:7).

Now follow me here. We know that the ultimate consequence of that first sin was death. But what was the immediate consequence? (Shame, guilt, nakedness). And how did Adam and Eve seek to remedy that initial consequence of sin? By sewing fig leaves together to hid or cover themselves. Now watch this. If you keep reading in Genesis 3, you’ll remember that God shows up looking for Adam and he’s hiding, right? That’s when God addresses Adam and Even and we get this blame game thing, right? Then God addresses the serpent and lays out his punishment, and God talks to Adam and Eve and lays out their punishment. You remember this, right? Then, listen to what Genesis 3:21 says, “And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.”

But wait a second, God. They already had something covering their nakedness. Yes, but their covering was insufficient to atone for their sin, and so God performed the first sacrifice in Genesis 3:21 by making them garments of skins. Listen to what the Cambridge Bible Commentary says, “The divine sentence of punishment is thus followed at once by a divine act of pity, as if to certify that chastisement is inflicted not in anger, but in affection.” So, you sinned, and the punishment is death, but then God says, “I’ll tell you what, if an innocent victim dies in your place, we can be together based upon that.” And so, in the Old Testament, it was primarily the blood of a perfect lamb that was sprinkled on the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant to atone for man’s sin. But that sacrifice, that atonement had to be repeated again and again and again, until the Perfect Lamb of God came to fully eradicate sin’s effect.

And there’s one more thing I want to highlight for you before we move to our final point, and that’s the sign that the Israelites were to paint on their doors. Exodus 12:7 says, “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat [the Passover lamb].” If you were to imagine the shape of the symbol, the shape of the sign, the marking on the door what would it look like to you? A box with no bottom, right? Now, if you’re a Jew and you’re making that sign do you know what might come to your mind? The Hebrew letter Tav. It’s the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. We have a saying that goes like this, “from A to Z” and what does that mean? Everything. Completeness. Whole. From beginning to end. Similarly, the Hebrews would say “from aleph to tav.”

When these Jewish people were putting the blood of the lamb on the doorposts there’s no doubt in my mind that some of them were thinking this is complete salvation, this is complete redemption, this is complete deliverance. In order for you and me to have complete salvation, complete redemption, complete deliverance we need to have the blood of Jesus applied to our hearts and lives, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

Jesus – Our Deliverance

This is the Exodus. This is the exit. They’re exiting the land. They’re “exodusing” the land. They’re leaving. This final plague, this Passover is what takes the children of Israel out across the wilderness into their own land. So, here’s the summary as we close.

The Passover was to commemorate past deliverance, but the Passover was also to predict future deliverance. It commemorated the past deliverance of Egypt, and it predicted the future deliverance of the cross of Jesus Christ. Some of you were with us on Good Friday. If you weren’t, we had a huge wooden cross leaning up across the altar and everyone was given a little piece of red paper and a nail. And we just took some time to write our sins on those pieces of paper and then nail them to the cross. And several folks said that was such a moving experience because it was tangible, it involved participation, it was concrete and physical.

Now, imagine standing in a doorway with a hyssop branch in your hand and you reached down and dipped it in a bowl of blood made by sacrificing a lamb and you were painting on the doorposts and lentil. What do you imagine that experience would provoke? It looks like another lamb who would hang on a cross in that very shape some thousands of years afterwards.

Okay, here’s the principle. A lamb changed the lives of the people of Israel. And the principle is still the same. A lamb can change the life of anyone. Either you’re going to die for your sin or you’re going to let a Lamb take your sin and die for you. Every Billy Graham Crusade, when he used to do crusades, concluded with the same song. “Just as I am without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me and that Thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God I come! I come.”

All of that is based Exodus 12. The only way come to God, the only way to meet with God is over the shed blood of His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s the only place where God will have fellowship with any person. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him would not perished but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

“Oh God, we thank You for this amazing truth, this amazing story, this amazing grace that our lives can be different because of a lamb. Our lives can be changed because of a lamb. Israel was able to be saved from physical death because a lamb’s blood was applied to their homes. Lord, we’ve come a step farther. We recognize that Your Son, Jesus, is the promised Messiah, the true Lamb of God, and that we can be saved – not only from physical death but spiritual separation from You – because of the blood of Jesus Christ being applied to our lives.

Father, if there’s anyone here today that has not personally, in their heart of hearts, accepted You as their sacrificial Lamb, I pray earnestly (in tears) that the Holy Spirit would move them to come forward as we sing our closing hymn. Father, for the rest of us, would You continue to apply the blood of Jesus to our hearts and lives, that we might be holy even as You are holy. For we ask this in Jesus’ name, amen.”