THURSDAY 21 October 2021 “That Night” Exodus 12:14-30

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Hello my ‘Walking with Jesus” friends all around the world.

When you look back over your lifetime so far, what have been the most significant 5 days of your life? Perhaps one was the day you were born, perhaps another was the day you were married, if you have been married. Maybe you’d identify other very important days as those days when your children were born, or maybe it was the day you received your driver’s license, or you survived major surgery or a terminal illness? Now… of all the VERY important days thus far in your life, which ONE day do you consider the absolute MOST important day of your life… why?

Today we’re going to look at one of the most important days in the history of planet earth and the human race! Yesterday I left you pondering the amazing, shocking, horrifying message God had given to Moses, and then Moses delivered to Pharaoh. It was the prediction that God would send an angel of death who would strike dead every firstborn son in Egypt! That horrifying announcement also made clear that there would be NO death among the Hebrew slaves, as God again drew a clear distinction between His dealing with the Egyptians and His dealing with His people, the Hebrews.

Yesterday we also saw that Moses had sent word out among the Hebrew slaves that while God was sending this one last plague of death throughout Egypt, the Hebrews would be spared IF, if I say, they did exactly as God instructed them to do. Now this is vital my friends. Please note… the lives of the firstborn son in every Hebrew family depended on two things: First, that their parents TRUSTED God to be true to His promise of protection for them, and second that they put the blood of the lamb on the outside of the doorposts of their homes exactly on the night God had instructed them, so the angel of death would see the blood and pass over their home. Do you see it my friends? Here’s a fundamental life principle!

The lives of their firstborn sons depended on the Hebrew adults fully TRUSTing in God and their full OBEDIENCE to God’s instructions! Now look around, at your world right now. Do you see this is a fundamental life principle that applies to all peoples, in all places, in all generations? The lives of our children depend on the TRUST their parents have in God and the OBEDIENCE of those parents to the instructions of God regarding how to live and raise a family in a God honoring way! Dysfunction in family life happens when anyone, anywhere disregards God and His instructions for life!

After Moses had given very clear instructions to the Hebrews about the one year old lamb each family was to take in on the 10th day of this first month, and then how to slaughter that lamb on the 14th day, and how to catch some of the blood and paint their house doorposts, Moses had much more to say, all of which is recorded in Exodus 12. Beginning in vs. 14, Moses gave instructions he had received from God about how to commemorate this unique night and deliverance event, for generations to come. “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD – a lasting ordinance. For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove from your house any yeast… On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another sacred assembly on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food to eat. Celebrate this “Feast of Unleavened Bread”, because it was on this very day that I, the LORD your God, brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come…” (Ex. 12:14-17)

Now in 2021 this matter of yeast may seem a bit ridiculous, but let’s understand that ‘yeast’ often represents sin or rebellion in the Bible. Yeast ferments, it’s actually bacteria which engages with bread dough to make it rise. Dough without yeast is what is often called Matza bread today and is sold in various forms around the world. So the removal of yeast from the home was symbolic of cleansing the home and those who live there, from anything which would defile their relationship with holy God. The ‘sacred assembly’ was a worship gathering, and you’ll notice they were to have one on day 1 of this week long festival, and another on day 7. Also, they were to abstain from work on those two days, and that would give them the time they needed to focus the entire day on worshiping the Almighty God who both killed Egyptian firstborn sons, and protected Hebrew firstborn sons on this Passover night. As you may know this weeklong festival is still observed by Jews all around the world in our day and is called PASSOVER.

Now perhaps you’re wondering how in the world Moses, one man, was able to communicate all this information to about 1 million Hebrew slaves without internet or radio or cell phones or television? Verse 21 gives us a glimpse into this communication marvel: “Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, ‘Go at once and select the animals for your families…” (Ex. 12:21) There it is! This nearly 1 million people was organized according to families and clans all of whom comprised the 12 tribes of Israel. Elders were recognized and respected leaders among these 12 tribes. Perhaps you remember that was God’s first instruction to Moses even before he left that burning bush way back at Mount Horeb: “Go assemble the elders of Israel and tell them…” (Ex.3:16). It’s amazing how fast word can spread, isn’t it? My guess is that it took only hours for this amazing Exodus 12 news to reach all the Hebrew slaves.

Now let me ask you something. If you have young children at home can you imagine bringing home a lamb on the 10th day of Nissan, for your kids to play with and care for. How long before they fall in love with that lamb? And then how do you break the news to your kids, four days later, that this lamb needs to be killed, both so you can eat the meat, but also so it’s blood can be spread on your doorposts to save the life of the eldest son in your family?! Moses had explained to them this way: “Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood and put some of the blood on the top and both sides of the doorframe of your house… When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, He will see the blood and He will pass over that doorway. He will not permit the destroyer to enter your house and strike you down.” (Ex. 12:22,23) Can you see parents all across the land explaining this very carefully to their children? Do you see the parallel to the cross upon which Jesus died, and His blood soaking into the timber from His thorn of crowns pierced head, and His two hands outstretched and nail driven into the cross beam?

Moses also told them how important it would be for generations to come that this night be remembered in the ceremony of the Passover. “And when your children ask you ‘what does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when He struck down the Egyptians.’ (Ex. 12:25-27) Do you see another very important family life principle here my friends? God calls us parents to be sure we carefully explain spiritual truths and the truth about God that we know and have experienced, to our children and grandchildren, making sure they understand. For if we don’t our children and grandchildren will drift spiritually away from God. Look around, do you see that has happened where you live, my friends?

Now as we close today, look carefully at the response of the people to these instructions given to them by Moses who had received them from God. “Then the people bowed down and worshiped. The Israelites did just what the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron. At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon… Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.” (Ex. 12:27-30)

While the record does not say so, we can conclude this: the only place in Goshen, among the Hebrew slaves where there would have been death and wailing would have been in a house where the parents did NOT trust in God’s promise and did NOT obey the instructions Moses gave, and they refused to put the lambs blood on their doorposts! Now think about that a moment, and think about your own extended family. Think about those who tend to rebel, to push back against instructions if they don’t like those instructions. Do you suppose there were parents and grandparents going to the houses of the Hebrew families of their kids and grandkids to be sure they painted blood on their doorposts? And can you imagine the arguments, the pleading conversations, even with tears, as Hebrew parents and grandparents begged their kids to believe and obey? And can you imagine the pain a few moments after midnight if some of those adult kids and grandkids showed up at their parents door holding the dead bodies of their firstborn sons, wailing in grief and agony that they had refused the warnings of God and the pleading of their parents!?

Again I leave you, at midnight on this fateful night, to ponder what was happening all across Egypt, and throughout Goshen where the Hebrew slaves lived. No night in history has ever been like this terrible night of despair as rebellion against God resulted in death, and obedience to God resulted in life and freedom. I urge us to take a few moments and consider how our world, even your family, have responded to God and His truth, His warnings and His promises. Most of all, how has our world, the people you and I know responded to God sending His Son Jesus, to be the Passover Lamb so you and I can escape eternal condemnation? Here’s a song to help you reflect…

Today’s Scripture is Exodus 12:14-30.

Choose below to read or listen.

Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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