Exodus - Lesson 11/12

• Having covered the nine plagues of judgment (9=judgment), we now turn to the tenth and most important plague of testimony (10=testimony)

  • Chapter 11 provides a description of the plague much in the same way as the earlier plagues

    • But the tenth plague is intended to stand apart from the rest

    • It doesn’t follow the patterns we’ve been tracking in the earlier plagues

  • Then following the brief description in chapter 11, the Lord gives Moses a new set of instructions centered around the tenth plague and its meaning for Israel

Ex. 11:1  Now the LORD said to Moses, “One more plague I will bring on Pharaoh and on Egypt; after that he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out from here completely.
Ex. 11:2 “Speak now in the hearing of the people that each man ask from his neighbor and each woman from her neighbor for articles of silver and articles of gold.”
Ex. 11:3 The LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Furthermore, the man Moses himself was greatly esteemed in the land of Egypt, both in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.

• Chapter 11 is both a continuation of the meeting depicted in chapter 10 and an introduction for what comes next

  • In chapter 10 we heard Pharaoh order Moses to leave and never return, and Moses agreed angrily

    • But before Moses departs from the presence of Pharaoh, he delivers this message concerning the tenth plague

    • So this chapter gives us additional information concerning what was spoken in that final meeting

    • And it sets up the arrival of the final plague

  • First, the Lord had informed Moses of the tenth and final plague before Moses had his final meeting with Pharaoh

    • This judgment would be the one to free Israel

    • In fact, the tenth will cause Egypt to drive Israel from the land

  • In preparation for that moment, God directs Israel to be prepared to ask their Egyptian neighbors for articles of gold and silver

    • The request must have sounded crazy at the time

    • But in v.3 Moses explains why the request isn’t so crazy after all

      • The Lord will cause the Egyptians to esteem the people of Israel and Moses and agree to the request

Ex. 11:4 Moses said, “Thus says the LORD, ‘About midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt,
Ex. 11:5 and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the millstones; all the firstborn of the cattle as well.
Ex. 11:6 ‘Moreover, there shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been before and such as shall never be again.
Ex. 11:7 ‘But against any of the sons of Israel a dog will not even bark, whether against man or beast, that you may understand how the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’
Ex. 11:8 “All these your servants will come down to me and bow themselves before me, saying, ‘Go out, you and all the people who follow you,’ and after that I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger.

• Moses delivers a warning to Pharaoh regarding this final plague

  • The Lord will personally go out into the land of Egypt causing all the firstborn in Egypt to die

    • Both man and animal will die

    • When we reach chapter 13, we learn why God is taking the lives of both man and beast in this judgment

    • When we hear “firstborn” we should remember that age is not a consideration in this judgment

      • A father or mother or grandfather or grandmother who is the firstborn would also die in this judgment

      • So there would be deaths from every generation, both of man and beast

  • Even Pharaoh himself might have died except that he wasn’t the first born son of Thutmose III

    • Amenhoptep II had an older brother born to a different mother

      • But before Thutmose III died, his wife and eldest son died

      • As a result, Thutmose III took a second wife and she bore Amenhotep II

• The result of this judgment would be grief beyond anything the nation had experienced thus far

  • Yet God would continue to show distinction between His people and those of Egypt

  • Notice that God is working to discriminate nations, not individuals

    • There is not attempt to tie these judgments to the behavior of individuals other than Pharaoh

    • God is judging one nation for the sake of another nation

    • This reminds us that God’s covenants with Israel operate on a national level, which is something we’ll see more later

  • Having delivered the full word of the Lord to Pharaoh, Moses leaves hot with anger

    • This moment is the same one depicted in Exodus 10:29

Ex. 11:9  Then the LORD said to Moses, “ Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that My wonders will be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”
Ex. 11:10 Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh; yet the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the sons of Israel go out of his land.

• The chapter ends with a two verse summary of all that has transpired leading into the tenth judgment

  • God set about to ensure Pharaoh wouldn’t listen to Moses

    • And this was done to ensure that all God’s wonders would be multiplied in the land of Egypt

  • Moses and Aaron performed these wonders as God instructed

    • And the Lord did as He promised, hardening the Pharaoh’s heart

• Now the Lord gives a series of instructions to Moses to prepare the nation of Israel for this tenth judgment

Ex. 12:1  Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
Ex. 12:2 “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you.

• By the nature of these instructions, it becomes clear that the tenth plague is intended to carry special meaning for the nation

  • The tenth plague will go by the name of Passover

  • The word comes from the nature of the plague itself, as we’ll see

• God’s first instruction concerning the Passover concerns the Jewish calendar

  • Remember that the eighth plague destroyed the wheat, which comes up in early March

    • And the ninth plague followed soon thereafter

• Now the tenth plague is set to happen during late March or April

  • God tells Moses that this month will now become the first month of the year for Israel

    • The Bible calls this month by two different names

    • At the time of Moses, the Jews called it Aviv as we’ll see later in chapter 13 of Exodus

      • The name Aviv means fresh young ears, as in the new stalks of grain

      • The month comes in the early Spring, and so the name  suggests the beginning of a new harvest

      • After the nation of Israel went into captivity in Babylon, the nation began using the Babylonian word Nisan instead of Aviv

    • Though the word changed, it is the same month on the calendar in early Spring

  • Prior to this change, the nation of Israel followed the same calendar as the Egyptians (and the rest of the ancient east)

    • The ancient east calendar was a lunar calendar with twelve months

      • The first month of each year occurred in the autumn, between September and October

      • The first month is called Tishri

      • So God changed the first month of the year from Tishri  to Aviv - a difference of six months

• Why did God direct this change?

  • The answer is found by looking more closely at the Egyptian calendar

  • The Egyptians saw great spiritual significance in each lunar period and with the astrological sign associated with each month

    • For example, the month of Tishri was began when the sun entered the constellation Libra, which occurs in Sept-Oct

    • Each new month was marked by the arrival of a new constellation in the sky

    • The 12 astrological signs we still have today come from the Egyptian occult religious system

      • If you read your horoscope, you are observing the same Egyptian calendar that existed in the day of Israel

  • Each month in the calendar carried significant spiritual meaning for the Egyptians, especially the first month of the year

    • Each month’s astrological sign taught an aspect of Egyptian spiritual beliefs

    • Collectively the twelve astrological signs taught Egyptian theology

    • For example, the first month of Tishri is associated with Libra,

      • The word Libra means scales or weights and the constellation resembles a pair of scales

      • Egyptian believed this sign taught that the gods would weigh a man’s deeds upon his death and assess his entry into the afterlife based on the weight of his deeds

    • If the man’s deeds could tip the scales in his favor, then he would pass the test of the gods and be granted entry into the after life

    • A poor judgment at the scales resulted in the Egyptian version of hell

    • So Egypt began each calendar year with a month that reminded them to recommitment to a year of good deeds

      • We many still make New Years resolutions today

  • While Israel didn’t share in the Egyptian’s religious views, it did use the same calendar

    • So until the Exodus, Tishri was the first month of the year for Israel as well

    • Interestingly, after God changed the first month to Aviv, the Jews still wanted to count the start of a new year in Tishri

      • They claim to have counted every year since the creation of Adam

      • By their reckoning, our current year is 5773

    • So to disrupting that count, the Jews continued waiting until Tishri to increase the count of the year

    • We call this the Jewish civic calendar

    • So the Jews number each month beginning with Aviv

      • Aviv is the first month, Tishri is the seventh month, etc.

      • This calendar dictates the observance of the feasts and festivals of the Law

    • But the count of years is incremented in the seventh month of Tishri

      • It would be like us calling January the first month but waiting for July before adding one to the year

• When God changes this practice in Exodus 12, He sets Israel apart from Egypt and the rest of the ancient world

  • While the rest of the ancient East would observe a new year in the month of Tishri, Israel would observe it in Aviv in the Spring

    • And they would observe it in connection with Passover, a memorial to their flight from Egypt

    • And as we’ll see later in the chapter, the defining moment in the Passover is the sacrifice of a lamb

    • This detail is the piece we needed to finally understand why God made this change

• While the month of Tishri corresponds to Libra, the scales, the month of Aviv begins when the sun moves into the constellation Aries

  • And the constellation Aries is pictured as a sacrificial ram

  • In Egyptian theology, the month of Aviv taught of the need for atoning sacrifice to appease the gods

  • So now we see the Lord purposes in taking the Egyptian symbology and repurposing it for Israel

    • The new calendar will be yet another way He causes Israel to become a distinct people

    • And the change counters the Egyptian theology by placing primary importance on the atoning sacrifice of the Passover rather than on personal works

• As we now look at the instructions of the Passover that God gives to Israel, we will also look for all the ways in which these details complete the picture of Christ

• The Passover is without a doubt the clearest picture of Christ found in the Old Testament

  • In fact, Paul calls Jesus our Passover in 1Cor 5:7

  • And the importance and uniqueness of the Passover is also reflected in the prominence of the feast in both the OT and NT

• The Passover is mentioned more than any other feast

  • Jesus isn’t just pictured by the Passover feast He becomes its fulfillment

    • Jesus dies on the day of Passover

Ex. 12:3 “Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household.
Ex. 12:4 ‘Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; according to what each man should eat, you are to divide the lamb.
Ex. 12:5 ‘Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.
Ex. 12:6 ‘You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight.

• On the tenth day of Aviv, each in family in the nation would take a lamb into their father’s house

  • Smaller families would combine to form a single family

  • The purpose in the combining was to ensure that the feast was celebrated corporately

    • The original Passover was a corporate event, one that involved the entire nation of Israel

    • The nation suffered in slavery as a single entity and so it earned its freedom as a single entity

    • If a family were only two or three, the sense of corporate involvement was lost, so smaller families combined to create larger groups

    • According to v.4 the combining continued until there were enough people to ensure the lamb was consumed

  • The sacrifice itself had to selected and kept in a certain way

    • According to v.5, they could sacrifice a male lamb (or a male goat )

    • The lamb had to be a male unblemished

      • A blemish meant any defect in his health or appearance

      • Only lambs that appeared to be perfect could be sacrificed

    • It must be one year old

      • The lamb must have reached adult age, yet still be in the prime of life

  • Finally, the lamb is brought into the father’s house on the tenth day of Aviv

    • The the lamb remains in the home until the day of the sacrifice

    • The day of the day of sacrifice was to be four days later, on the fourteenth of Aviv

    • Then v.6 says that all Israel was to collective sacrifice their lambs at twilight

      • In the Hebrew, the timing is not actually twilight

      • It reads literally “between the two evenings”

  • Jews understood the phrase to refer to the period from noon until nightfall

    • In other words, the phrase “between the two evenings” means “afternoon”

    • So the timing for the killing of the lambs in Israel must take place from 12:00 to 6:00 PM

    • In Jesus day, Josephus reports that the Pharisees customarily killed the national passover lamb exactly at 3:00 PM, since this time falls exactly between noon and 6:00 PM

• How do these details contribute to a picture of the Lord?

  • To understand the connection we need to jump forward to the finally week of Jesus life as recorded in the Gospels

    • On the tenth day of Aviv, Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey and promptly went to the Temple court

John 2:13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
John 2:14 And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.
John 2:15 And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables;
John 2:16 and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business.”
John 2:17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “ ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME.”

• Jesus entered the courts of the temple and found corruption and sin inside the walls

  • He reacts in righteous anger at what He finds and famously runs the money changers out of the temple

  • We’ll come back to this moment later in our study of the Passover

  • Then notice that Jesus, who is our Passover Paul says, calls the Temple His “Father’s house”

    • We noted a moment ago that the lamb must be taken into the father’s household on the tenth of Aviv

    • Here we see the Lamb of God entering His father’s house on the appointed day

  • Secondly, Passover was a corporate celebration, one that reminded the Jews of their collective exodus from slavery

  • Similarly, Jesus was a single sacrifice for all the sins of the people

    • Jesus was offered to the nation as Lamb of God given to take away the sin of Israel

    • Just as the nation was to come together and observe the Passover together, the nation as a whole was required to accept the sacrifice of the Messiah

    • Either the entire nation of Israel would embrace their Messiah or they would collectively reject him

    • As we know, the nation rejected their Messiah, and so they collectively remained in bondage to sin

  • Thirdly, the sacrifice itself had requirements

    • It must be an adult make in the prime of life and without blemish

    • Jesus fit this description exactly

  • We know He was male and at the strongest time in life

    • We also know He was without blemish

    • Paul says:

2Cor. 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

• We can find an even more specific parallel between Jesus and the Passover Lamb

  • While the lamb was living in the father’s house, the family would spend the four days inspecting the lamb for defects

    • If a defect was discovered, the lamb wouldn’t have been suitable for the sacrifice

    • The same pattern repeated itself in the case of Jesus

  • After Jesus entered the Temple, he began teaching the people

    • As He taught, the religious leaders conspired against Him in an attempt to discredit Jesus in the sight of the people

    • Luke reports:

Luke 19:47 And He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to destroy Him,
Luke 19:48 and they could not find anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging on to every word He said.

• Each day Jesus spent in the temple leading up to the Passover, He was confronted by a different group of Jewish leaders

  • First it was the chief priests and scribes and Pharisees

    • Then the Herodians

    • Finally the Sadducees

  • Each group tried to trick Jesus with questions designed to make Him look foolish

    • But in case, Jesus answered the charge successfully and turned the shame back on His accusers

    • This went on for four days and at the end, Jesus was found innocent and blameless

    • He was without blemish

• Finally, Jesus was placed on the cross exactly four days later, on the day of Passover

  • Jesus was hung on the cross at nine in the morning Mark tells us

    • And Mark also tells us that Jesus died at exactly 3:00 PM

    • Jesus died at exactly the same moment that the High Priest of Israel was sacrificing the national Passover lamb that day

    • There has never been such a useless animal sacrifice offered

  • So Jesus fit these requirements perfectly as the Lamb of God sacrificed

    • And remember that we’ve already noted how the Exodus itself is a picture

    • God frees Israel from slavery in Egypt and brings them to worship at a mountain

    • Ultimately He brings them to the doorstep of the Promised Land

    • This story pictures God’s future work of freeing Israel from the bondage of sin and unbelief

      • After the judgments of Tribulation, God will bring faith to the nation of Israel and lead them to worship at Mt Zion in the Kingdom

      • Then the nation will enter into the eternal Promised Land

  • And how does God accomplish this work of redemption on behalf of Israel?

    • It doesn’t come as a result of the judgments

    • They merely set up the ultimately event: the Passover

    • Because of the Passover, Israel finally gains its freedom

  • Likewise, at the end of Tribulation Israel will come to faith not because of the judgments of Tribulation

    • Rather, it will be by the grace of the Lamb of God, Jesus

    • By His sacrifice, the nation will be saved and receive their Lord

Ex. 12:7 ‘Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.
Ex. 12:8 ‘They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
Ex. 12:9 ‘Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails.
Ex. 12:10 ‘And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire.
Ex. 12:11 ‘Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste — it is the LORD’S Passover.
Ex. 12:12 ‘For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments — I am the LORD.
Ex. 12:13 ‘The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; 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.

• God continues with the instructions to Israel

  • The blood of the lamb was to be applied to the doorway of each house

    • The blood was to be applied with hyssop branch  (v.22)

    • It was applied to the top beam and the side beams but not the threshold

      • The threshold can be tread upon

      • The blood represented the life of the animal, since the blood poured out resulted in the death of the animal

  • Following this the animals was to be roasted by fire, not boiled or prepared in any other way

    • The animal was roasted whole with head and legs still attached to the body

    • My version mentions entrails, but that’s an unfortunate translation

    • The animal was gutted, but the carcass was left entirely intact

    • The intent was that the animal would still resemble an animal after cooking

      • It wasn’t sectioned into parts and made to appear simply as meat

    • Furthermore, the entire animal had to be consumed or else burned

    • The sacrifice was to be totally consumed as if it had disappeared

    • In the day of the Exodus, this it made sense that nothing was to be left after the meal

    • The nation was to leave in haste immediately afterward, and so there would be no way to preserve leftover meat

  • Next, the people were to eat the meal ready to leave in haste

    • They were dressed in a way that indicated they were ready to move on command

    • This is a requirement unique to the first Passover

    • In future observances of the Passover, this was no longer observed

      • Jesus Himself didn’t observe this command when He celebrated the meal with the disciples on the night before He died

  • Finally, the Lord tells Israel that the blood on the door will be their salvation when the judgment of death comes

    • The Lord is intent on going out into the land of Egypt and bringing death to the first born

    • Israel will escape this judgment through the application of this blood

      • In past judgments, the nation did nothing to escape the plagues

      • But now they must apply the blood to escape

      • This final judgment will come to Israel also unless they apply the blood

• We can easily see how these details are reflective of Jesus

  • The Bible tells us that the blood of Christ is the atonement for our sin

1John 1:7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

1Pet. 1:18 knowing that you were not   redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,
1Pet. 1:19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

• His blood stands between us and the judgment that comes upon all men for their sin, the Second Death

  • It covers us and when God looks upon us, He “sees” the blood of Christ and does not bring judgment against us

  • Furthermore, the blood was applied in a shape reminiscent of the cross

  • But the blood itself wouldn’t save the family unless it was applied in the manner God described

    • They had to apply it to the door in faith that God would keep His word

    • They knew God was bringing this judgment, and they had faith in His word that He would spare Israel by the blood

  • Speaking of Moses, the writer says

Heb. 11:28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.

• Next come more instructions concerning the observance of this feast in the future

Ex. 12:14 ‘Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance.
Ex. 12:15 ‘Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.
Ex. 12:16 ‘On the first day you shall have a holy assembly, and another holy assembly on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them, except what must be eaten by every person, that alone may be prepared by you.
Ex. 12:17 ‘You shall also observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent ordinance.
Ex. 12:18 ‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.
Ex. 12:19 ‘Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is an alien or a native of the land.
Ex. 12:20 ‘You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’”

• The Passover is commanded as a single-day memorial forever in Israel

  • It is a single day event, and it should be observed perpetually

    • This means we can expect to see the nation celebrating it even in the Kingdom

    • The Passover day may be the origin for the term “day of the Lord” among the Old Testament prophets

    • The term “day of the Lord” refers to the period of Tribulation in the last days

      • This is a time of judgment followed by blessing for Israel

      • Similarly, the day of Passover was a day of judgment followed by blessing for Israel

  • This event is to be combined with a second memorial that begins on the very next day

    • The Jews were to eat only unleavened bread for seven day

    • The leaven or yeast was to be removed from the house on the first day

    • After this, no may eat leavened bread

      • The penalty for eating leavened bread in v.15 is to be “cut off”

      • The word in Hebrew implies killed, so the penalty for eating leavened bread was to be put to death

  • The first and the seventh days of the feast are Sabbath days when no work may take place

    • Work may be done in between these days

    • But no leaven may be eaten during the entire seven days

  • At the time of the Exodus, this seven day period corresponded to the time between the killing of the first born and the nation’s arrival at the coast of the Red Sea

    • After seven days of literally constant traveling, they finally stopped

    • This constant travel prevented the nation from taking time to bake leavened bread, thus necessitating the unleavened bread

• These instructions continue to parallels between the Exodus and Jesus as the Passover Lamb

  • First, Passover feast is a permanent ordinance never to end

    • Similarly, the sacrifice of Jesus, our Passover Lamb, is a forever sacrifice that never ceases to be effective in atoning for sin

Heb. 7:27 who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.

• Having accepted the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf, believers now enter a new period of life

  • We are called to set aside sin and live a life set apart for the glory of God

  • We are called to a walk of sanctification in which we told not to sin but rather pursue holiness

    • In the Bible yeast or leaven is a picture of sin

    • So to remove yeast or leaven from the home was a picture of removing sin from our life

    • The seven days represent our life lead after our salvation in Christ when we are working to avoid sin

1Cor. 5:6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?
1Cor. 5:7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.
1Cor. 5:8 Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

• Our walk with Christ in faith is a time when we are working to put aside sin, but this period is sandwiched between two other moments where we do no work

  • On the day of our salvation, we are not working at all

  • Instead, our salvation comes by faith and not by works

  • Similarly, at the end of our life in Christ, we will see the final step of redemption take place when we will be glorified

    • And that day is also a day in which God does all the work and we do nothing but receive His grace

Rom. 8:30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

• Lastly, in the day of Israel’s redemption, this pattern repeats

  • The nation will be called to accept their sacrifice and those who do will be given the right to enter the Kingdom

    • But only the righteous can enter the Kingdom

1Cor. 6:9  Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals,
1Cor. 6:10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

• Therefore, the one in Israel who is not free of leaven (i.e., sin) will be cut off from the rest of Israel

  • This refers to how the unbelieving Jews will die at the coming of Christ at the end of Tribulation

  • Only those free of sin will enter the kingdom after the Tribulation

  • The rebels will be cut off

Ezek. 20:36 “As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you,” declares the Lord GOD.
Ezek. 20:37 “I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant;
Ezek. 20:38 and I will purge from you the rebels and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Thus you will know that I am the LORD.

• So with the instructions given and the memorial set, the time comes for the lambs to be sacrificed

  • The lamb has spent four days in the homes of the Jews

    • So the 14th of Aviv has arrived and the lambs are killed and sacrificed

Ex. 12:21  Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families, and slay the Passover lamb.
Ex. 12:22 “You shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning.
Ex. 12:23 “For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you.
Ex. 12:24 “And you shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever.
Ex. 12:25 “When you enter the land which the LORD will give you, as He has promised, you shall observe this rite.
Ex. 12:26 “And when your children say to you, ‘ What does this rite mean to you?’
Ex. 12:27 you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the LORD who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.’” And the people bowed low and worshiped.
Ex. 12:28  Then the sons of Israel went and did so; just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
Ex. 12:29  Now it came about 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 cattle.
Ex. 12:30 Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead.
Ex. 12:31 Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, “Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, worship the LORD, as you have said.
Ex. 12:32 “Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and bless me also.”
Ex. 12:33 The Egyptians urged the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, “We will all be dead.”
Ex. 12:34 So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls bound up in the clothes on their shoulders.

• The angel of the Lord goes throughout the land of Egypt taking the life of the first born at midnight

  • Every house experienced death of some kind

    • Every first born male human being and animal perished

    • The cries of Egypt were great that night and the Jews would have heard them

    • But not a single person died in Israel

  • Pharaoh loses his first born son, a boy whose identity has been lost to history

    • But we know his successor Thutmose IV was not the first born son

    • In fact, he invented a story that the Sphinx appeared to him in a dream and told him he would be king if he cleared the sand covering the Sphinx

    • It was a cover story to gain acceptance as the Pharaoh since he wasn’t the first born

• With this final plague, the Pharaoh relents entirely

  • He make no attempt to compromise

    • God is no longer hardening his heart

    • And the death of his son leaves him without the will to fight Israel any longer

  • He orders Moses and Aaron to see him in the middle of the night and then orders all Israel to leave

    • The people of Egypt also urged the Jews to leave, since they had no idea how far this was going

    • They feared that everyone would die soon

  • The opportunity to leave combined with the pressure from the people of Egypt created the need to leave in haste

    • Taking their time was simply not an option, which is why the Lord called for Israel to eat the Passover meal in haste

    • They would now begin a seven day journey into the wilderness during which time they would eat unleavened bread

Ex. 12:35 Now the sons of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, for they had requested from the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing;
Ex. 12:36 and the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have their request. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.
Ex. 12:37  Now the sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, aside from children.
Ex. 12:38 A mixed multitude also went up with them, along with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock.
Ex. 12:39 They baked the dough which they had brought out of Egypt into cakes of unleavened bread. For it had not become leavened, since they were driven out of Egypt and could not delay, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.

• As the Egyptians urged the Jews to leave, they remembered what Moses had instructed them to do earlier

  • They took advantage of the opportunity to request articles of gold and silver from their neighbors

    • Since the people were desperate to see Israel leave, they gladly gave the Jews whatever they wanted just to see them leave

    • In this way they plundered the Egyptians

      • After centuries of working for free, the nation left rich at the expense of the Egyptians

      • The wealth they collect here will be used to outfit the first tabernacle

  • Finally, the nation baked unleavened bread to eat during the exodus, since there was no time to back proper bread

    • Of course they was in keeping with God’s instructions as well

• When they left, the men alone number 600,000

  • Therefore, the nation was about 2 million strong

    • This is a huge army of people moving together through the desert

    • And they had a huge number of livestock as well

  • Supporting them in harsh circumstances will require a series of miracles

    • The first move is a short step away from their homes in Ramses to a point near the outskirts of Egypt in Succoth

    • From here they step into the Sinai peninsula and leave Egypt

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org