The Most Important Thing to Remember. (Exodus 12:29-50)
When we sent their kid off to university a few years ago we tried to give them instructions before they left. It seems for days before we tried to tell them all the things they needed to remember to do when the went away from home for the first time. I can’t remember exactly but I’m sure we said at one point, “There is one thing I want you to remember above everything else." Try and find other Christians and don’t get involved in dangerous things, like, drink, drugs or the party lifestyle, have fun but try and focus on the work and getting good grades. It seems to me that we say the Lord says something like that to people, on more than one occasion. In fact, the Bible is full of stuff like that. I mean, it is a big book. But it seems to me that there are a couple of things that he says above everything else, and effectively this I want you to remember this.
There’s something like that in the Old Testament, and it has a counterpart in the New Testament. So, what I want to do is tell you the Old Testament story, and then I want to show you the New Testament parallel and what it is the Lord wants them his people to remember, perhaps above everything else. With that in mind, Exodus Chapter 12, and look at verse 20.
29 And it came to pass at midnight that the Lord struck 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 livestock. 30 So Pharaoh rose in the night, he, all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.
(Exodus 12: 29-30)
I'm going to pause here, and there’s a lot more to the story. It goes all the way to the end of the chapter, but this is the beginning of it, and these two verses are simply telling us about the death that came upon Egypt. So, before we go any further, I wanted to get some of the things here clearly in focus. Now, if you have been with us thus far you will have seen there were 9 plagues, and the 10th plague. The death of the firstborn. Here God said to the Israelites, "If you take and kill a lamb and spread its blood on the doorpost, when the death happens that night, I will Passover your house."
That is what has been prophesied, and now comes the event, namely death occurs in all of Egypt. Notice it says it happened at midnight and that it affected everybody from people to prisoners to animals." So, the point of these opening verses is simply that the plague of the death of the firstborn has now taken place. So, what happens next?
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. 32 Also take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also.”
33 And the Egyptians urged the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.”
(Exodus 12: 31-33)
All right, the first thing that happens in this story is death occurs.
The second thing that happens is the decree from Pharaoh. He summons Moses and Aaron and says, "Get out of here now." What is interesting about what he says is that prior to this, he has said, "Get out," and wanted to compromise. Remember all those previous times when he tried to put in caveats like, "You can go, but not very far. You can go, but don’t take your children." No restrictions this time. Just get out of here, the quicker the better. In other words, he finally has had enough and says, "Get out." The other thing that’s very fascinating about what he does, and then adds, "And bless me, bless me also”.
What’s so fascinating about that is he was considered a god and he asks Moses and Aaron bless me, which means he is beginning perhaps to realise he’s not the sovereign that he thought he was. As for the people, they seconded the motion. They also said get them out of here as quickly as you possibly can. We’ve had enough, they said, get these people out of here. We’ve seen enough, good riddance, so long.
Next come the departure, the Exodus itself. Let’s pick up the story at verse 34.
34 So the people took their dough before it was leavened, having their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes on their shoulders. 35 Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. 36 And the Lord had given the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus, they plundered the Egyptians. 37 Then the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children. 38 A mixed multitude went up with them also, and flocks and herds—a great deal of livestock. 39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought out of Egypt; for it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves.
There’s no time to bake bread, so they took the unleavened bread, and they took it with them. God sometimes wants us to be patient. You wait and wait and wait and wait and wait and wait and wait for him to do something, like answer prayer. And then all of a sudden, when it does start coming, it just, bam, it happens really quickly. It just seems like this is one of the principal way God works. Sometimes there’s just a spark and things happen. I think that’s been my experience. We can go, and not a whole lot happens but we press on diligently and then all of a sudden, things happen so fast, I can’t keep up with it. It just seems like that happens a lot, it certainly has been the story of this podcast.
This is an illustration of that, keep pressing forward with Pharoah, let my people Go, let my people Go, nine times and then suddenly 10th time and it’s go, and get out of there quick. These verses tell us that the Lord gave them favour, and they took the gold and the silver and all the valuables that they’re going to do later to build the arc and the tabernacle. It is almost like this is payment for all the, the wages they got cheated out of while they were slaves in Egypt. At any rate, they left.
One other observation we need to make here is this: it says there were 600,000 men. Now, what do you do with that? If that is meant to be an accurate figure, then the population of Israel at this point was, according to the scholars that worked on this kind of stuff, close to 2 million. If that’s the men, it says, 'men on foot,' So I guess, if you had a wife, maybe some kids it might indeed add up to about 2 million people. Conservative scholars say it was 2 million, but there are some that say the figure wasn’t quite that high. So, I thought I would just mention that in passing.
The other thing that’s significant is it says there was a mixed multitude who went with them. We’re going to encounter this term later, not just in the Book of Exodus, but as they get into the wilderness, this mixed multitude causes Moses all kinds of grief. So, who were the mixed multitude? Some say this mixed multitude were the Egyptians, foreigners, all sorts of theories abound trying to explain who they were, but all we need to know is they weren’t 100% Israelites. At any rate, they left. Many say there should have been a chapter break here but be that as it may there is clearly a step change in the narrative here . We’ve seen the death that came to the Egyptians, the decree that came from Pharaoh, the departure of the Israelites. What’s left? And the answer is there are a bunch of, for lack of a better word, designations, qualifications, regulations of what they were to do. And it starts in verse 40.
40 Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. 41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years—on that very same day—it came to pass that all the armies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. 42 It is a [k]night of solemn observance to the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is that night of the Lord, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generations. 43 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat it. 44 But every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then he may eat it. 45 A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat it. 46 In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house, nor shall you break one of its bones. 47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. 48 And when a stranger dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it. 49 One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you.”
(Exodus 12: 40-49)
The subsequent verses (41-49) outline the regulations of the Passover.
The first regulation states that the Passover is strictly for the Jews and not for foreigners.
The second regulation allows a manservant to partake in the Passover meal after being circumcised. This requirement of circumcision goes back to Abraham and signifies faith in God's promise.
The third regulation states that sojourners and hired servants cannot eat the Passover meal. Furthermore, the lamb must be eaten in one house, and none of its flesh should be taken outside. It is also emphasized that none of the lamb's bones should be broken.
Verse 47 asserts that the entire congregation of Israel must observe the Passover. However, if a stranger wishes to keep the Passover, they can do so after the males in their household are circumcised. This verse suggests that faith is required for participation. Finally, verse 49 reiterates that one law applies to both the native-born and the stranger living among the Israelites. The chapter then concludes by stating that.
50 Thus all the children of Israel did; as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did 51 And it came to pass, on that very same day, that the Lord brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt according to their armies.
(Exodus 12: 50-51)
The passage closes by emphasizing that the Israelites obeyed God, and He fulfilled His promise of deliverance. For Jews the Passover symbolizes their escape from death through the death of the lamb. The content of their faith was the promise of God, and their salvation was based on faith in that promise. With that we can draw parallels to Christian salvation, emphasizing that salvation still today is always by faith, and the basis of salvation is the death of Christ. However, the understanding of the content of that faith differs between the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament, the Israelites trusted in God's promise of deliverance, while in the New Testament, the Lord wants every generation to remember the Lord passing over our debt of sin and we choose to do that at the Lord's Supper thereby the central message is still that all who have faith should remember that they are saved from death by the blood of the lamb. This act of remembrance helps believers stay connected and grounded in their faith and we do that still today by regularly thanking the Lord for salvation each day.
What was so significant about the Passover? It's that they escaped death. To say it simply: they escaped death by the death of the lamb. They escaped death, by the death of the lamb. But inserted here is that they had to believe in the promise of God that they would escape. And what did they do? They killed the lamb, following His instructions. Now, that brings up an issue that isn't talked about a lot, so I'm going to take a minute to address it.
How do we today get saved? What do we have to do? Alright, we know we get saved by faith. But faith in what? What's the object of our faith? Jesus, and what He did. We call that the gospel. Our salvation, it's grace through faith in Christ, who died and rose again. That's what I addressed a lot. I could ask this question once in a while, and the standard answer is, we get saved by remembering the cross. That's a standard answer to give, and it may be true but how did they get saved in the Old Testament?
Let me make some observations.
Salvation is always by faith, always. No exceptions. The basis of salvation is always the death of Christ. That's very clear. The blood of bulls and goats, according to figures, can never take away sins. Only the blood of Christ can take away sins. This much is certain: the basis of salvation in all ages is the death of Christ. The requirement for salvation is always the same: faith. The content of their faith is the Old Testament can seem a bit of a problem to some people. What I mean by that is, how much did they understand about Jesus? Well, the basis of their understanding here was that they were saved from death by the death. That's very, very important. That's how they escaped the death of the firstborn. I think a very, very important truth is that the content of their faith was the promise of God. God promised to pass over them if they put the blood on the doorposts.
The basis of salvation is always the need for sacrifice, the requirement of God, the requirement for salvation is always faith, and the content of that faith is the promise of God to provide a suitable sacrifice for sin. Some have suggested that the promise may have changed. But in this case, it was the promise that God would save them because of the death of the lamb. How much they understood about the coming Lamb of God, later, I don't know. But what I do know is that they got saved by faith, and they got delivered from death by the death of the lamb. That is very, very important. The basis, the requirement, and the content, of salvation has always been believing in the requirements and the promises of God. By the way, Romans 4 argues that Abraham got saved by believing in the promise that God would raise Isaac from the dead. So, there's an argument that they got saved by believing the promise of God. But they might not have understood all that we understand about the promise that comes and is fulfilled through Jesus Christ.
The other thing I would say is this: Now that Christ has come, there's no other name given whereby we must be saved but the name of Christ. You've and I have had disclosed to us the full revelation of God’s salvations plan through Jesus, but back then, they didn't know the name of Jesus. They didn't know there was a lamb. And they trusted God to supply the lamb that would, once and for all, take care of this. But they knew enough to know to look outside of themselves, they new enough to know that nothing they could do in and of themselves could make them right with God, but they did cast there eyes to the heavens and said, God is out there, there is one God most hight, and his salvation plane for me lies with him, not within myself.
One final thing He wants us to remember.
They were delivered from death by the promise of God. I think that says it as clearly as I can possibly say it. And He wants every generation to remember this. Throughout the Old Testament, the prophets reminded the Israelites of the Exodus as God's great saving act for them. And of course, the Exodus was the result of the Passover.
For the New Testament believers, the Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper so that all who have faith would constantly remember that they are saved from death by the blood of the lamb. What I want to do is, and that's what you should always remember, perhaps above everything else, is that Christ was here. He gave the apostles the power, the power to heal the sick, and to cast out demons, and they went out everywhere, and they had great power. But then in Luke chapter 10, verse 20, it says Jesus told them, 'Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.' You see with the power of God comes great responsibility utilize it, but don’t make it the central thing of your faith. Because the one thing, the central thing, the one thing I want you to remember, above all of things, is that your name is written in the Lamb's book of life. If you thank the Lord that He saved you every day, it will be hard for you to drift away.' Maybe that's why He wants us to remember this so much. Remember always that Gods people are saved by faith in the promise of God, and it was the death of the lamb that saved us and if we always make that the main thing it'll be hard for us to drift away.
He says it is the night of solemn observance to the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. That is the night of the Lord, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel.
(Exodus 12: 42)
Here is the key: throughout all generations we are to remember this, remember this as the template for everything to come. They observed the Passover. The Passover was a tool to remember always that the thing that enabled God to save his people by acknowledging the sacrifice and the sacrificial plan that God himself had ordained and supplied. So, the one thing the Lord wants us to remember, perhaps above everything, is that we are saved from death by faith in the promise of God, and that still today that the blood of the lamb in Jesus Christ will cause Him to pass over our house and not enact his judgement upon up. As I said throughout the Old Testament, the prophets, the New Testament, and then finally Christ himself us that God's great saving act for us has always been and remains his own salvation plan as seen and displayed for the whole world to see, on a cross at Calvary.