The Bible is with me to Exodus
chapter 12. Exodus chapter 12. Tonight we're going to look at
verses 1 through 14 of Exodus 12. And Lord willing, I intend
to spend a good bit of time in this chapter. It is perhaps the
most important chapter in the entire book of Exodus. It clearly
is one of the most instructive. I want, if God will enable me,
to show you some of the spiritual lessons contained in verses 1
through 14 with regard to the Lord's Passover. I said some
of the spiritual lessons because I'm certain that I will see many
more when I get done here and you will as well. This 12th chapter
of Exodus describes the last night of Israel's bondage in
the land of Egypt. God's captives had suffered much
and they suffered long in the land of affliction. The fiery
furnace in which they suffered had been heated by the hatred
of Ishmael's seed against Isaac's seed just as it has been from
the beginning. It continues to this day and
will continue to the end. The seed of the serpent is always
at war with the woman seed. God's elect and this world never
are at peace with one another. But at God's appointed time,
deliverance must come. And that time had now come. Israel
had been in bondage for 400 years. For 400 years, they had been
in the land of Egypt. But God Almighty had purposed
and promised in a covenant he made with Abraham, the father
of the nation, that after 400 years he would bring them out. And now the time had come in
which God would fulfill his promise. That means that when the day
of deliverance had dawned, no power could hold God's chosen
captive. Mad opposition, whatever it may
be, no matter who brings it, was utterly helpless when the
time of deliverance had come. Jehovah's outstretched arm of
omnipotent mercy would and did prevail. The chosen people must
go free. I said that because I want you,
children of God, and I want me, I want myself to rest upon this
blessed rock. Rest your souls here in every
time of difficulty, in every time of darkness, in every time
of hardship, rest your soul upon this solid rock. The purposes
and promises of our God are sure. They are sure. The purposes and
promises of our God are sure. Can you get that? Can you get
that? They are as sure as God Himself. Immutable and dependable. Like the gifts and callings of
God, His purposes and His promises are without repentance. Nothing
can prevent God from fulfilling His purpose. Nothing can hinder
Him from fulfilling His promise. And soon, you and I, at God's
appointed time, shall go triumphantly out of this land and take possession
of the Canaan He has promised us. Soon. We shall leave this
land of darkness and trouble and affliction and heartache
and triumphantly possess heavenly glory forever. Let's look at
these first 14 verses of Exodus 12 line by line. I've chosen not to outline the
passage but rather I want us just to look at these verses
line by line. Verse 1, and the Lord spake unto
Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt saying, this month shall
be to you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of
the year to you. The Lord God commanded the children
of Israel to celebrate the Passover as a time of new beginnings.
Now this month, this first month of the year, is later called
Abib. That month came in what is equivalent
to our March or April. It was sometime in the spring
of the year, the month when life began to spring forth in the
earth. New life pops out in the springtime. Now, their political calendar,
their political dates didn't change at all. But this is the
day marking the month of their deliverance. It was a time of
new beginning. Hold your hands here and turn
to a very familiar passage. Second Corinthians five. How
blessed we are to know that there is a new beginning for our souls
in Christ. On that great day, when Christ
brought deliverance to our souls, all things are made new for us
forever. Second Corinthians five, 17.
Therefore, If any man be in Christ, in Christ,
by God's decree, in Christ, by that blessed union that God gave
us with his son from eternity in Christ, experimentally by
the gift of life and faith in him, in Christ, to be in him
is to be one with him, one with him. Are you in Christ? Do you draw life from him? Are you joined to him, one with
him? If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature. Yes, the word is a new creation. But for some reason, our King
James translators wisely, in my opinion, gave it to us this
way, a new creature, a new creature. Adam was created of God. The first man, Adam, created
by God Almighty and ruined in sin. And we were ruined in him
and lived as ruined creatures in this earth under the wrath
of God, consciously, sensibly, children of wrath, even as others,
knowing ourselves justly deserving of God's holy wrath. But now
in Christ, New creatures. New creatures. He put something
new in you. He put something new in you.
A new nature. A new heart. New hands with which
to serve Him. A new will with which to bow
before Him and worship Him. New feet with which to follow
Him. A new creature. Not only are we made new creatures
in Christ, old things are passed away. Jesus Christ, God's darling
son, put away all our sins, passed away. He blotted out our transgressions. He washed them away forever. Old things are passed away, never
to be remembered against us again forever. Blessed is the man unto
whom the Lord will not impute sin. These are two things with
which we live in this world. I can't forget my sins, and I
don't want to, not while I live here. And I won't forget them
even in eternity. And I pray for grace not to forget
this. God can't remember them. The blood of Christ has thoroughly
washed away my sins. Everything of this old man, past,
present, and future. Everything! Oh, sweet, blessed
declaration of grace. And behold, all things are become
new. Have a new name. A new name. My name by nature is Adam. That's
my name. Red earth. Adam. Man. Fallen. Corrupt. Depraved. Nothing but leaven. Nothing but corruption. Corruption
that can do nothing but corrupt. That's my name by nature. But
God declares my name to be Jehovah Siddiqui, one with Jesus Christ,
the Lord my righteousness. All things are become new. All
right, back to our text, verse 3. Speak ye unto the congregation
of Israel, saying, in the tenth day of this month, they shall
take to them every man, every man a lamb. according to the
house of their fathers, a lamb for a house. How fitting, how
proper that the first thing mentioned with regard to this new life,
this new beginning, this beginning of months, the first thing mentioned
and that which is most prominent in every connection with this
new month is the lamb. Who can miss the intent of this?
Throughout this book, Jesus Christ, God's darling son, who is the
propitiation for our sins, whose blood alone takes away sin, whose
blood alone cleanses us from all sin, whose blood alone satisfies
divine justice, who is alone our savior. He is prominent and
he is preeminent and he's set forth in just this way as the
lamb of God. He's described as the Lamb of
God from the beginning of this book to the end of this book.
He is that one who is provided in divine predestination, the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He is that one
who is pictured in all the sacrifices of lambs, both in the lamb and
in the scapegoat on the day of atonement. He is that one who
was sacrificed by type year after year after year after year, symbolizing
the one who should come the lamb of God. He is that lamb that
was prophesied of, who is led as a sheep to the slaughter and
as a sheep before her shearers is dumb and opens not his mouth.
He is that lamb. whom John saw when he came in
the fullness of time and said, behold, the Lamb of God, the
Lamb is he whom we proclaim to men. And he is the Lamb seated
on his throne. John saw him in Revelation five.
He saw the throne and he saw one ascending up out of the throne
as it had been a lamb slain. He who sits upon the throne of
sovereign dominion ruling over all things is the Lamb who was
slain for us, for our sins. The Lamb praised forever. Verse 4, And if the household
be too little for the Lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto
his house take it according to the number of their souls. Every
man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Every man, according to his eating,
shall make your count for the lamb. The lamb was sacrificed
for those who actually ate the sacrifice. And no lamb was sacrificed
for any who did not eat the sacrifice. And none ate the sacrifice except
they for whom the lamb was sacrificed. As one family, They did all eat
the same spiritual meat. The spirit of God tells us in
first Corinthians 10. And so it is to this day and
shall be forever. God's saints are one family feasting
upon one sacrifice, worshiping one savior of whom the whole
family in heaven and in earth is named. Verse five, your land
shall be without blemish. A male of the first year. You
shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats. Hmm. Reckon why he said that. Reckon why he said from the sheep
or from the goats. Certainly we have a clear picture
here of our Lord Jesus Christ, the lamb, as he was slain in
type and in picture that night in Egypt must be a lamb without
blemish, a male of the first year. And we have been redeemed
with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish
and without spot. Our Savior must be such a lamb. Our Savior, like the lamb sacrificed
in Egypt, was slain in the prime of his life when he was full
of strength and full of vigor, indicating clearly that he lays
down his life of himself. He died by his own voluntary
will. No man took his life from him.
But notice, too, The sacrificial lamb could be taken either from
among the lambs of the sheep or the kids of the goats. Now,
I have scratched my chin every time I've read that passage for
40 years until today. Why did God make that specific
declaration? Take the lamb either from among
the goats or from among the sheep. As a lamb of the sheep, Our Savior's
innocence as a spotless victim is set before us. He who dies
in our place as a sacrifice for our sins must be himself holy,
harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. He must be without
sin. He must know no sin. If he has
any sin of his own, he cannot atone for our sins. And yet our
Lord says he might also be taken from among the kids of the goats.
And John Trapp made this observation. He says, this is stated, to show
us plainly that Christ was made a sinner when he was sacrificed
as the lamb for us. He who knew no sin. was made sin for us for this
purpose, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. A friend of mine called me this
week. He said that word made a preacher. What is that word in second Corinthians
five? The word is the word that is
used to create. It means to cause to become. It's the very same word, if my
memory serves me well, that's used in John chapter one when
it says the word was made flesh. It's not a legal term at all.
We often talk about our redemption and justification as being a
forensic matter, a legal matter, and certainly it is that. But
when the scripture speaks of Christ being made sin, not one
time in this book is a legal term used. Not one time. Somebody
said, well, he was made sin by imputation. That's a legal term.
That's a legal term. No, no, no. He could never be
made sin by imputation except he be made sin. Law cannot impute
sin where there is none. Law cannot charge guilt where
there is none. Our Lord Jesus Christ was made
sin by God Almighty transferring our sin to His Son. And being made sin, He is charged
with our sins. Don't ever imagine that the Son
of God merely paid our sin debt. He took on Himself our sin. He was made sin for us. not made to look like it, not
made to appear as though he were a sinner, made sin for us. And when he was made sin for
us, justice slaughtered him who bore our transgressions and our
sins in his own body on the tree. Brother Duncan, can you explain
that? I gave up even trying to understand it. But in my soul,
I worship him who was made sin for me and adore him for his
sacrifice for me. And in exactly the same sense,
he has made us now the righteousness of God in him. Verse six, and
you shall keep it up until the 14th day of the same month. And
the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the
evening. Does that command seem strange
to you? Why did God command that the whole assembly kill the Lamb? The whole assembly of Israel
kills the Lamb. He shows us something that ought
to be obvious to us. It is God's intent that this
lamb from the beginning be set before the nation of Israel and
set before us as a picture of that one who is to come in such
detail that it can't be mistaken. The Lord Jesus Christ, if you
read the gospels, was sacrificed by the whole nation of Israel. All the Jews cried, crucify him,
crucify him. The priests and the scribes and
the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Herodians all together
joined together, crucify him. But that's not all. Not only
is it true that the nation of Israel, the whole nation's hands
dripped with his blood. You and I joined in the cry. The Romans were also numbered
there. And our sins, my sins, cried crucify him. My sins drove
the nail in his hands. My sins shoved the spear in his
side. My sins are that which pierced
him. And now it is done for the whole
nation because all the true nation of God, all the true Israel of
God, are made the beneficiaries of his sacrifice. As our Lord
Jesus must be killed in the evening, or as the lamb must be killed
in the evening back here in Exodus 12, so our Lord Jesus, the blessed
lamb of God, was sacrificed for us in the evening of the time. Now, in the end of the world,
hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Verse 7, and they shall take
of the blood and strike it on the two side post and on the
upper door post of the houses wherein they shall eat it. Now,
this is a clear picture of the sprinkling of the blood of Christ.
The Apostle Paul, writing by inspiration of Hebrews 12, 24,
says, to you who worship God by faith, to you who believe
on the Son of God, you are come to the blood of sprinkling. Why do you use that term? The
blood, you remember, was taken by the high priest on the Day
of Atonement into the Holy of Holies and was sprinkled upon
the mercy seat. covering the broken law of God,
speak picturing the blood of Christ that was shed for us as
he with his own blood entered in once into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption for us. We've come now to the
blood of sprinkling. We've come to the holy place
where God promised he would meet with us between the cherubim
on the mercy seat. Not only that, but it speaks
of Christ's precious blood being personally Applied to each of
those for whom it was shared turn to Romans chapter 5 Romans
chapter 5 Now this is a plain as nose on your face the blood
shed Gives hope to no one. I said that on purpose just the
way I intended the blood shed proclaims hope To sinners, but
it gives hope to no one the blood sprinkled is that which gives
hope Paul tells us in Romans 4, 25, that Christ was delivered
for our offenses, delivered because of our offenses, and raised again
for our justification, raised because of justification accomplished. And now, by faith, being justified,
by faith we have peace with God. How'd that happen? Look at verse
5. And hope maketh not ashamed. Because the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ
died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even
dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward
us. This is how God recommends his
love to us. This is how God commends his
love to us. This is how God shows his love
to us in that while we were yet sinners, considered as sinners,
being nothing but sinners with nothing to offer him, Christ
died for us much more than being now justified by his blood. We shall be saved from wrath
through him. For if when we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God by the death of his son. When we
were enemies, we were reconciled to him. Much more being reconciled,
now that we have been reconciled to God by the sacrifice of his
son, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we
joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, watch it now, by whom
we have now received the atonement. Again, folks who consider themselves
more brilliant than others say the word atonement is not a New
Testament word. And I grant the word that's translated atonement
here is the word reconciliation. That's what atonement is all
about. It is reconciliation. It is God being at one with his
own and his own being at one with him. It means at one with. Bob Ponce, through the blood
of Jesus Christ, we are at one with God. And God is at one with
us! And we know it for now, we have
received the atonement. When God, the Holy Spirit comes
in saving power and the mighty operations of his grace, do you
remember what our Lord said he would do? He said, when he, the
spirit of truth is come, he'll guide you into all truth. He
shall take the things of mine and shall show them to you. And
this is what the Spirit of God does when He gives us life and
faith in Christ. He shows us what Christ has done
for us. He shows us what Christ has accomplished
on our behalf. It is not that by Him revealing
Christ to us and giving us faith in Christ, Now we justify ourselves
or we redeem ourselves or we make atonement for ourselves.
But we come to the blessed experience of redemption and justification
and atonement when Christ is revealed in us and revealed to
us when the blood is sprinkled upon our hearts. giving us the
hyssop of faith, showing us what Christ has accomplished for us.
We are made to see that the righteousness of Christ is sufficient for our
souls. We're made to see that by his blood, we are justified
and cleansed from all sin. And it is by the application
of the blood that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. Back here in verse
eight, Exodus 12, verse eight. And they shall eat the flesh
in that night, roast with fire and unleavened bread, and with
bitter herbs shall they eat it. This is a picture of that faith
with which we live before God. Faith is eating the flesh and
drinking the blood of the Son of God. not eating the symbol
of his flesh and the symbol of his blood in the Lord's table.
That's not it. Those things are symbols by which
we remember his sacrifice and remember him. But faith is not
eating the bread and drinking the wine of the Lord's table.
Faith is eating his flesh and drinking his blood. What does
that mean? When you sit down at the table
and you Slice off a piece of steak and you put it in your
mouth and you consume it. Everything of value in that piece
of steak is yours permanently. It can't be taken from you. You
take a sip of a glass of wine with the steak that you've just
eaten. And as you do everything in that wine of any value, Yours
permanently it becomes part of you. It's just part of you It
is consumed in your body and becomes part of your life That's
what it is to believe on the son of God We take Him with the
hand of faith and eat the sacrifice, His righteousness, His obedience,
His blood, His death, His life, all of Him. And eating Him, He's
ours, really and truly ours. and everything of value that
He is, and everything He is, is of infinite value. That's beyond comprehension.
Christ is yours. Is that what the book says? Christ
is yours. Christ is yours. Christ is yours. You who eat his flesh and drink
his blood. And our savior said, if you don't
eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you. Oh,
what a picture this is of faith in him. The lamb had to be roasted
with fire. Our savior. Oh, how he was roasted. This is how he describes it.
Turn and look at it. Psalm 31 verse 10. When he was made sin for us and
endured all the fire of God's holy wrath due to our sins, he
was roasted with fire. Psalm 3110, for my life is spent
with grief and my years with stride, with sighing, my strength
faileth because of mine iniquity. Oh, thank you, blessed Redeemer. He who knew no sin, who did no
sin, who had no sin, so really and truly took our sins. He calls it his sin. My life
is spent with grief. My years with sighing. My strength
faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed, roasted
with fire, not broken, but roasted. Now, how were they to eat this
bread? Or how were they to eat this
lamb? They would eat the lamb with unleavened bread. Bread without any yeast in it. Bread without any corrupting
particle in it. And how is it that sinners eat
Christ Jesus the Lord? How is it that sinners believe
on the Son of God? It cannot be with the old leaven
of fallen man, but rather with a whole new nature. When God gives the sinner life,
gives the sinner new nature, that new man, believing the Son
of God, eats his flesh without the leaven of flesh and depravity
and sin. And he eats it with bitter herbs,
looking on him whom we have pierced, mourning for him as one mourns
for his own son. Verse nine, eat not of it raw,
nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire his head
with his legs and with the pertinence thereof. Eat the whole lamb. It takes the whole Christ to
save us, the whole Christ to meet our soul's needs, the whole
Christ to present us faultless before the presence of his glory.
But he says particularly this lamb must be eaten Not raw, nor
boiled with water, but roasted with fire. What's he talking
about? The lamb must be eaten not in
a cold, lukewarm, carnal manner, received rashly, without thought,
but rather with a heart full of life, deliberately eaten,
roasted with fire. And you shall let nothing of
it remain until the morning. Eat him all. And that which remaineth
until the morning, you shall burn with fire, nothing left
unconsumed. Verse 11. And thus shall you
eat it with your loins girted, your shoes on your feet, your
staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's
Passover. With your lawns girt about with
truth and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel
of peace, with the staff of faith in your hand, eating in haste,
eating the blood, eating the lamb and drinking the blood of
the sacrifice. We stand before God ready for
deliverance, being fully equipped to leave this world. and enter
into heavenly glory, washed in his blood, robed in his righteousness,
born of his spirit, made meat to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light. The blood had to be sprinkled
upon the door, not merely shed, but sprinkled upon the door.
Look at verse 12. For I will pass through the land
of Egypt this night, and will smite the firstborn in the land
of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt
will I execute judgment. I am the Lord, and the blood
shall be to you for a token. Watch now. Upon the houses where
you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the
plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the
land of Egypt. The blood was shed for me 2,000
years ago. And everything I needed was accomplished
for me altogether outside myself 2,000 years ago. All my righteousness
is the obedience of Christ, Christ himself. All my atonement is
the blood of Christ, Christ himself. All was accomplished 2,000 years
ago. I was justified and sanctified
by his blood. When he cried, it is finished,
it was finished. But there was no token of any
of that here. If there had been, I wouldn't
have lived all my life in despair. If there had been, I wouldn't
have dreaded the thought of seeing God. If there had been, I wouldn't
have spent my nights sleepless, tossing and turning on my bed,
terrified of divine judgment. If there was any token of redemption,
token of mercy, token of divine favor, token of God's infinite
love, any token at all, you would be at peace. But there was no
token until the blood is sprinkled on the door. Do you get what I'm saying? The
blood got to be sprinkled. Tom, I remember when you didn't
have any peace and God sprinkled the blood. It gives peace. That's what it's talking about. Thank God for that blood sprinkled. And this is the token. The blood
of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin. Look at verse
14. And this day shall be unto you
for memorial, and you shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout
your generations. You shall keep it a feast by
an ordinance forever. But Brother Don, we don't keep
the Passover. I beg your pardon. I'm keeping it right now. How
about you? No, we don't keep the carnal
feasts. To do so would be idolatry. And the Lord's Supper is not
the Passover. The Lord's Supper is the Lord's
Supper. It began on the day of the Passover, but it's not the
Passover. Oh, no, no, no. No, the Passover
is Christ, our Passover, who is sacrificed for us. And keeping
the ordinance throughout our generations, we keep it forever
until time shall be no more. And we will keep it even then
forever, feasting upon Christ, our Passover, who sacrificed
for us. Never was there such a display
of divine judgment. as that night when our Passover
was sacrificed. Never was there such a display
of mercy, grace, and love as that night when Christ, our Passover,
was sacrificed for us. And now there's no death, but
only life in the house sprinkled with his blood. My God, let there
be no fear in my soul, but only a holy, joyous feasting. because Christ's blood is a token
for good, a token of mercy, a token of grace. As Israel was ready
to go out of Egypt because of the blood sprinkled, so we who
trust the Son of God are ready to go out of this world. I don't pay any attention to
preachers on television, radio, recommend that you don't either.
I normally don't even stop while I'm flipping through the channels
to listen to them. But once in a while, you can't help it if
you turn the TV on. And I hear folks say, are you
ready? Once in a while, I'll see books.
Are you ready to meet the Lord? And preachers constantly terrifying
folks. Are you ready to meet the Lord?
Let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. Are
you listening? Oscar Bailey, if you trust the
son of God, you're ready to die. Just that simple, just that profound. If your heart is sprinkled with
the blood, you're ready to leave this world. If you feast upon
Christ by faith, life eternal is yours. We'll keep the feast
forever. Only the applied blood, however,
can heal. Only the applied blood can stand
as a token upon the door. Oh, may God give you faith now
in Christ the crucified lamb. Sprinkle your heart with the
blood that you may sprinkle your heart with the blood. Remember,
we're told in verse 12, this is the Lord's Passover. Everything
about the work of redemption and grace and salvation is the
Lord's work. He's the father of his house.
He chose the lamb to be slain. He slew the lamb. His is the
hyssop, the gift of faith by which the blood is sprinkled.
His is the application of the blood. He sees the blood. He passes over the blood-sprinkled
soul. And now where the blood is sprinkled,
the curse cannot come. Justice cannot drag you off to
condemnation. Vengeance cannot slay you. The
blood upon your soul cries away. Stand back. No foe can touch
where I protect. There's no condemnation here.
This is the Lord's Passover. This is the Lord's Passover.
His is the glory, both now and forever. And that's the way it
ought to be. Amen.