"The Passover and Salvation"(Exodus 12:4-8)

Exodus 12:4-8

 

From the Old Testament, the story of the Passover best foreshadows the salvation that is later to be experienced through followers of Christ. Some of the foreshadowing in Exodus 12, is shown in the regulations of food. These same food restrictions for the Passover feast are significant to Christians and carry deep meaning.

 

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

John 1:29 ESV

 

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.

Exodus 12:13 ESV

 

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

James 1:22 ESV

 

Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,

Acts 3:19 ESV

 

Genuine repentance is not just confessing our sins, but making the efforts to avoid sin and change our behavior. We also need a genuine heart that calls us to return to God.

 

Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

Exodus 14:12 ESV

 

Bitter herbs and unleavened bread were food which God also commanded to be eaten with the lamb. The bitter herbs represented the bitter labour experienced through slavery.

 

How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”  Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Matthew 16:11-12 ESV

 

The false teachings of the Pharisees were their wrong interpretations of the scriptures. Unleavened bread or bread without yeast is pure bread. It is God's word that has not been tainted, or corrupted. Our interpretation of God's word needs to be pure and free of foreign contamination, or we will be like the Pharisees.

 

The Israelites were blessed to know God just as we are blessed to know God. However, many of us have probably come to a dreadful conclusion when we reflect on ourselves. We see just how terrible our sins are and then how far we are from God. There may be a temptation not to know ourselves or even avoid God, yet John Calvin tells us that,

"Without knowledge of self, there is no knowledge of God Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid Wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But as these are connected together by many ties, it is not easy to determine which of the two precedes and gives birth to the other."

Yes, we need to know ourselves no matter how ugly and detestable that might be. Although this knowledge of self and how sinful we are might be too much to bear, this same knowledge is needed to have knowledge of God. When we try to deal with our own sin, we fail. Our sin is great, but God is greater than all our sins.

 

Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats,

Exodus 12:5 ESV

 

A lamb is a sheep that is under one-year old. The lamb chosen would have been the biggest and the best that was under a year old. The lamb would never reach its full potential, and this in itself is a worthy sacrifice to God. To take what would be best, what would be most valuable and then use it completely for God's kingdom is a profound payment without equal. It was also meant to be shared with all whose hearts were prepared for the Lord.

 

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.

Exodus 12:4 ESV

 

If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it.

Exodus 12:48 ESV

 

The lamb, of course, is Jesus and we need to feast of his message of salvation and share the gospel with others.

 

“For   God so loved   the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not   perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16 ESV

 

We are saved by the grace of Jesus. It is only the grace of Jesus which can and does save us. His Grace is more than enough to save us and cleanse away our sins.

Because He Lives

Because He Lives 
CCLI Song # 16880 Gloria Gaither | William J. Gaither         

Verse 1 

God sent His Son, they called Him Jesus 

He came to love, heal and forgive; 

He bled and died to buy my pardon 

An empty grave is there to prove 

My Savior lives! 

Chorus 

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow 

Because He lives, all fear is gone; 

Because I know He holds the future 

And life is worth the living 

Just because He lives 

Verse 2 

How sweet to hold our newborn baby 

And feel the pride and joy he gives 

But greater still the calm assurance 

This child can face uncertain days 

Because Christ lives! 

 

Chorus 

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow 

Because He lives, all fear is gone 

Because I know He holds the future 

And life is worth the living 

Just because He lives 

Verse 3 

And then one day I'll cross that river 

I'll fight life's final war with pain 

And then as death gives way to vict'ry 

I'll see the lights of glory 

And I'll know He reigns 

Chorus 

Because He lives I can face tomorrow 

Because He lives all fear is gone 

Because I know He holds the future 

And life is worth the living 

Just because He lives 

 

Ending 

And life is worth the living 

Just because He lives 

살아계신 주 (주 하나님 독생자 예수)

CCLI Song # 6305196 Gloria Gaither | William J. Gaither 

Verse 1 주 하나님 독생자 예수 날 위하여 오시었네 내 모든 죄 다 사하시고 죽음에서 부활하신 나의 구세주 Chorus 살아계신 주 나의 참된 소망 걱정 근심 전혀없네 사랑의 주 내 갈길 인도하니 내 모든 삶의 기쁨 늘 충만하네 Verse 2 주 안에서 거듭난 생명 도우시는 주의 사랑 참 기쁨과 확신가지고 예수님의 도우심을 믿으며 살리 Chorus 살아계신 주 나의 참된 소망 걱정 근심 전혀없네 사랑의 주 내 갈길 인도하니 내 모든 삶의 기쁨 늘 충만하네 Verse 3 그 언젠가 주 뵐 때까지 주를 위해 싸우리라 승리의 길 멀고 험해도 주님께서 나의 앞길 지켜주시리 Chorus 살아계신 주 나의 참된 소망 걱정 근심 전혀없네 사랑의 주 내 갈길 인도하니 내 모든 삶의 기쁨 늘 충만하네 (Repeat)

"Compromises of the Pharaoh"(Exodus 5:3)

 Exodus 5:3

 The wilderness is a place where you can experience God. When we think of the wilderness, it is a place that is free from cultural crutches and comforts, but the wilderness is also free of distractions. God calls us to come worship him today and that means going into the wilderness so we can worship him free and wholly. It is in the wilderness we can worship God with pure hearts.

 

Egypt is subjected to plagues because Pharaoh will not submit to God fully. We see a pattern of God hardening Pharaoh’s heart or Pharaoh hardening his own heart and then Pharaoh asking Moses to remove the plagues. In some ways Pharaoh wanted to submit to God, but more importantly Pharaoh wanted to submit to God on his own terms. He did not want to fully follow God's commands. This is unfortunate for the Egyptians because the only way to worship God is truly and completely.

 

Moses and Aaron demonstrate the need for the complete worship of God by not giving into the comprises of Pharaoh but also in their request to travel for three days to make sacrifice to God.

 

Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” Exodus 5:3 ESV

 

Three days of journey means getting away from sinfulness completely. In the Bible, three represents a perfect number for completion. Just like the Israelites, we, too, need to separate ourselves from sin. Not for an instant or a short time, but completely.

 

We must go three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as he tells us.”

Exodus 8:27 ESV

 

In the New Testament, Jesus warns of the problem of serving two masters or trying to serve God and your sinful desires. Later in Ephesians, it is declared that those living sinful lives cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Yes, Jesus takes away our sins, but we must also serve Jesus as He is our only master. Otherwise, we risk rejecting Jesus and following another master to our doom.

 

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Matthew 6:24 ESV

 

For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Ephesians 5:5 ESV

 

We must allow all members to join and worship God. Another one of the compromises that Pharaoh wanted was to only allow the men to go and worship God. This would never work because the men would return to Egypt and be slaves again. We cannot partially worship God or leave behind our loved ones. We must fully commit ourselves and families to God or risk going back to our old ways and older masters.

 

No! Go, the men among you, and serve the Lord, for that is what you are asking.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

Exodus 10:11 ESV

 

As Jesus tells us, salvation is for everyone. It is for every man, woman and child who believes and accepts Jesus. Not only that, but we are also to worship God together as a unified community of individuals and families.

 

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

John 7:37 ESV

 

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

Matthew 18:20 ESV

 

so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

Romans 12:5 ESV

 

The truth is that each of us has a Pharaoh inside. The Pharaoh in us wants us to put ourselves first and have control over our lives. This spirit wants us to serve ourselves even if it means putting down others. Eventually, we will start to despise others because of our inflated self-esteem. The only way to defeat this inner Pharaoh is to submit to a higher power.

 

Worshipping God requires sacrifice. We need to give to God and give with genuine hearts. We cannot go to worship without bringing something.

 

Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, “Go, serve the Lord; your little ones also may go with you; only let your flocks and your herds remain behind.” But Moses said, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.

Exodus 10:24-25 ESV

 

For many people, this can create a problem because their financial situation or resources may be lacking. However, Jesus tells us that it is not the amount that is important but the genuine and sincere heart.

 

And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.  And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box.  For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Mark 12:41-44 ESV

  

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Luke 12:34 ESV

 

The Pharaoh in us wants to just do the service but without any heart. We can go through the motions and look righteous. We may fool others and even ourselves, but we will not fool God. It is the Pharaoh in us that makes idols in our hearts because it his nature to find other ways to worship.

The good news is that Jesus has defeated sin and given us the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit which has been given to us that will defeat the sin that we still desire and displace the Pharaoh in us so Jesus may rule supreme in our lives.

Worship Songs;

What A Beautiful Name

O Praise The Name (Anástasis)

Because He lives