Exodus chapter 12. We've come now to a very, very
well-known historical event. Men have been taught that there
was such a night when God smote the firstborn of the Egyptians.
and delivered the Israelites from bondage. But it's sad that
most only think of it as a part of history. Many fail to see
that it's one of the greatest types in the Old Testament of
the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 5 and
verse 7, the Apostle Paul wrote, for even Christ, our Passover,
is sacrificed for us. Let's read the first 12 verses
here. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
and Aaron, and the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto
you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of
the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation
of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall
take to them every man a lamb. according to the house of their
fathers, a lamb for an house. And if the household be too little
for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next under his house
take it according to the number of the souls. Every man according
to his eating shall make your account for the lamb. Your lamb
shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You shall
take it out from the sheep or from the goats, 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. If you notice there, between
the evenings, shall kill it in your margin, between the evenings. And they shall take of the blood
and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door posts
of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the
flesh, and that night roast with fire and unleavened bread, and
with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor
sodden it all with water, but roast with fire his head with
his legs, and with the pertinence thereof. And you shall let nothing
of it remain until the morning, and that which remaineth of it
until the morning you shall burn with fire. And thus shall you
eat it with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and
your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste. It
is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land
of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the
land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt
I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. I want to call our attention
tonight to these three truths about the Passover as it was
given to the nation of Israel, the ordinance here. First, the
first thing I want us to recognize is the Passover is the Lord's
Passover. If you notice that in verse 11
that we just read. And thus shall you eat it with
your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff
in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's
Passover. This is something that always
needs special emphasis. Jonah, remember Jonah in the
belly of the well, he cried, salvation is of the Lord. And salvation, redemption is
of the Lord. It's of the Lord in its planning,
it's of the Lord in its execution, man by sin and his disobedience. had dishonored God's law and
offended God's holy justice. And this must be the Lord's Passover. In other words, before the Lord
Jesus could do something for you, he had to do something for
God, his Father, first of all. Before he could show mercy to
you as a sinner, before he could wash your sins whiter than snow,
as we've already sung, He had to do something toward his Father,
that is, God Almighty. He had to obey God's law and
make it honorable. And he also had to suffer the
penalty. of our sins against God's justice
as a substitute, both to honor God's law and to satisfy his
justice. So that's the first thing that
we see here tonight or point out to us tonight is this was
the Lord's Passover. What they were doing was unto
the Lord in this ordinance. The second thing mentioned to
us is this Passover marked a new beginning. You notice that in
verse two, God told Moses, this month shall be unto you the beginning
of months. It shall be the first month of
the year to you. Now, the month, in which this
took place is given two names. It's called by two names in the
scripture. It's called by the name of Abib
and Nisan. Abib and Nisan. And this month
is part of our march in April. It's the springtime of the year. Most people believe that When
Adam was created, it was in the fall of the year, and that's
when the first of the year began. And the reason they believe that
is because when God put Adam in the garden, there was fruit,
there was plenty to eat, harvest time. But now, God tells Moses,
this is going to be a beginning of months for them. This is a
time of the year in which our Passover, the Lord Jesus Christ,
was sacrificed for us. We just recently had Sunday morning
service, especially recognizing the resurrection. I don't care
to call it Easter Sunday myself because you know where that came
from, but it is Resurrection Sunday. And he was crucified. three days before, which would
be at this time of the year, the springtime of the year. So this would be the beginning
of months to the nation of Israel with this Passover. And the point that I want to
make to all of us here tonight, it's a new beginning. It was
going to be a new beginning for the Israelites. Now, from here
on, they will actually observe two calendars. They will have
a civil calendar, which they had lived under in Egypt, and
the 12 months would begin with, I assume, our January and go
through December. But now they're going to have
a religious calendar also. And the sacrifices and the special
days, holy days under the law would all fall in under this
new calendar, like the Great Day of Atonement, it would come
to pass in the, I believe, the seventh month of the new calendar,
not the old calendar, not the civil calendar. But here's the
point. All of us, all of us tonight,
what blessed thought this is, who have the blood of Christ
sprinkled on us. Whenever that was, maybe you're
here tonight, it never has taken place in your life, but to this
point, to the point when the blood of Jesus Christ is sprinkled
upon you, all that life is gone. It's all past. It was all useless,
really, because during that time we lived under the the reign
of Satan. We were in a kingdom of darkness,
and as the scripture says, we were darkness. But then when
we come to know Christ as our Lord and Savior, the blood of
Christ is applied, we're washed in that fountain filled with
Emmanuel's veins. It's a new beginning. New beginning. New life. Everything is new.
We have a new heart. We have a new heart that's given
to us, new principles, new desires, a new home, a new family. Everything is new, a beginning,
a new beginning. I like to think of God when he
refers to himself as the God of Jacob. He's the God of everlasting
love. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. He's the God of everlasting election. He chose Jacob over Esau. And he's a God of new beginnings. Remember when Jacob wrestled
with the Lord there at that brook? And what happened? He got a new
name. He got a new name. He would no
longer be called Jacob, that subplanar, that trickster that
he had always been, working himself out of all kinds of situations,
using his wisdom, which was fallen wisdom. But now he would be called
Israel, a prince with God. A prince, new beginning. I love that, don't you? A new
beginning. Whenever that took place in your
life and you came to know the Lord Jesus Christ, you started
anew. That old is passed away. If any
man be in Christ, old things are passed away. Behold, all
things are become new. Now the third thing, and this
is going to be the bulk of the message tonight, I want to point
out to us pictures, seven pictures here of Christ, seven ways that
Christ is pictured here. First of all, it was to be a
lamb. Notice that in verse three. Speak
ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, in the tenth
day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb. Have you ever known of a lamb
hurting anyone? I don't think so. I don't think
so. A lamb is a very meek animal,
isn't it? In every petting zoo for small
children, there's sure to be a lamb. Why? Because a lamb is
so meek, it's so gentle. What a picture of the Lord Jesus
Christ. When he said, come unto me, all
ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take
my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in
heart. Meek, that's the first thing
we see. In the prophecy in Isaiah 53,
of course, the prophet said he was brought as a lamb to the
slaughter. And as a sheep before the shears
is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. Remember when they came
to arrest the Lord Jesus Christ that night in the Garden of Gethsemane,
that he went forth. He went to them. He stepped forward. And of course he said, Whom seek
ye? And they said, Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth. And he just said,
I am. And what happened? They all fell
backwards, didn't they? Why? Because he confessed himself
to be Jehovah. I am. I am that I am. Yes, man,
God manifest in the flesh, but still God. And then he asked
them again, whom seek ye? And he said, if you want to arrest
me, let these go. What a picture there of substitution,
isn't it? He went in the place of his disciples. They were allowed to go free.
He was arrested. But he went on his own will,
voluntarily went. Stephen Charnock, I want to read
you this quote I thought was so good. How strange was his
humility in entering into such a life. How much more stupendous
in submitting to such a death, as shameful as his life was miserable. for the Son of God to be counted
the vilest of men, the sovereign of angels to be made lower than
his creatures, the Lord of heaven to become a worm of the earth. for a creator to be spurned by
his creatures is an evidence of meekness not to be paralleled. Amen and amen. Yes, it's to be
a lamb, to show, to picture the meekness. No one should ever
fear to approach unto the Lord Jesus Christ. No one. When he
said, come unto me, Oh, no one should ever hold back or be afraid. People say, well, you don't know
what I've done. It doesn't matter what you've done. He said, come.
He said, come. No one should be afraid to come
to Christ. Any more than you would be afraid
or have fear to touch a lamb. No. The second thing we see,
it was to be a lamb without blemish. Notice that in verse five, the
first part, your lamb shall be without blemish. Now, we all
recognize what this was telling us about Christ. It was to be
perfect, perfect in all its parts and without any blemish or any
bruise. Animals, we know they can suffer
from a number of different diseases and afflictions. But this animal,
it had to be without blemish. It couldn't be blind, it couldn't
be lame, it couldn't be in any way not perfect. It had to be
perfect, that is, without blemish. And that's one reason that it
was taken on the 10th day of the month. On the 10th day of
the month, you go out there, God told the nation of Israel,
you look at your flock, Maybe you have several sheep, you pick
out one lamb, you think, well, this one looks good, this will
serve for this service, this Passover, and so you take it
to your house on the 10th day, you keep it up four days, and
during that four days, you're watching, you're looking, you're
examining to make sure it's without any blemish. The Lord Jesus Christ had no
blemish. He had no sin of his own. Even
his judge, so-called, Pilate, remember, he confessed, I find
no fault in this man. I find no fault in this man.
He said himself, which of you convinces me of sin? Nobody said
anything. He was without blemish. Now I said one reason. It was
kept from the 10th day to the 14th day, was to check it, look
at it, make sure it had no blemish. But this also pictures to us,
that pictures that Christ was perfect, no sin, no blemish,
but it also shows us because it was set apart on the 10th
day and slain on the 14th day, the Lord Jesus Christ, he was
set apart in old eternity. Yes, he was set apart from before
the foundation of the world and the covenant of grace to come
and to be the Passover for his people. That's pictured here
too in this time. And he was slain at God's appointed
time, wasn't it? This lamb, you couldn't slay
the lamb on the 10th day, the 11th, the 12th, no, on the 14th
day, that's the day. And how many times in the Gospel
of John are we told they picked up stones? Or in Luke's Gospel,
they wanted to push him over a cliff, and his time was not
yet come. Whose time? God's time. The time
that God had appointed. Just like this lamb was to be
slain on the day, the 14th day of the month that God had appointed. So Christ. The third thing, notice also
in verse five, it was to be a male of the first year. A male of
the first year. And this lamb would be in the
prime of its life. It would not be weak because
of its youth, and it would not be weak because of its age, its
old age. No, it was in the prime of its
life. Now the Lord Jesus Christ, when
he was crucified, we believe was 32 or 33 years of age. And we believe that because he
entered into his public ministry at his baptism. That's when he
became a prophet. And we know that in the Old Testament,
the priests, they were set apart to do the work when they were
30 years of age. But there's some doubt about, you know, if A.D.,
the first year, if he wasn't born in, I think, two or three
years B.C. And so there's some question
about his age when he was slain, but he was in the prime of his
life. I'd say 32, 33 years of age. Strong, physically strong. Number four, it was to be killed
in the evening. You notice I pointed that out
to us when we read in 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. But you look in your margin and
you see there between the evenings. And before I say anything about
that, between the evenings, how about the fact that it's in the
singular God's command, 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. How many lambs were
slain that day? 400,000 men were told walked
out of Egypt that night, not counting women and children.
So how many lambs do you think were slain? thousands, but it
speaks of one, doesn't it? It, it, pointing us to there's
one Lamb of God. There's one Savior. There's one
atonement that puts away sin, that propitiates God, and that
is the death of Jesus Christ. Now, between the evenings, this
is something you've got to hear, the Jews, At noon, the sun starts
going down. It starts going towards evening.
So that's noon is the first evening. At six o'clock, the sun is set. That's the second evening. Between the evenings, three o'clock,
the same time, the Lord Jesus Christ died at Calvary. after he had been upon the cross
since nine that morning at three o'clock is when he dismissed
his spirit into the hands of God. The fifth thing, notice
in verse eight, it was roasted with fire. This lamb was roasted
with fire. It could not be boiled in water,
could not be eaten raw. And it was a whole Christ. You
don't cut it up and cook part of it. No, you cook all of it.
And when a person comes to know Christ, you don't just receive
him as your Savior and not your Lord. No, he's Lord and Savior. You receive a whole Christ. And
this whole lamb had to be cooked or burnt, cooked, I should say,
roasted in the fire. And fire, what does it remind
us of? It reminds us of judgment, doesn't
it? The judgment of God. And while
he was upon the cross, he experienced the judgment of God for the sins
of his people. And what a fire that was. In
fact, in Psalm 22, which is called the Psalm of the Cross, we have
his words there saying, I am poured out like water. And all
my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted
in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like
a potsherd and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws. And thou hast brought
me into the dust of death. It had to be roasted with fire. Number six. And you look down
in verse 46, chapter 12, verse 46, we find, in one house shall
it be, thou shall not carry forth aught of the flesh abroad out
of the house, neither shall you break a bone thereof. Not a bone was to be broken,
not a bone broken of this Passover lamb. Remember, let's look in
John, keep your place here, but let's go over here and look at
this in John chapter 19. John chapter 19 and verse 32. Then came the soldiers and break
the legs of the first and of the other which was crucified
with him. But when they came to Jesus,
and their intention was to break his legs as well as they did
the two that were crucified alongside of him. And that was a mercy,
that was a mercy to break their bones because it sped up their
death. But when they come to Jesus,
when they came to Jesus and saw that he was dead already, and
Pilate was amazed, wasn't he? When Joseph of Arimathea begged
his body, Pilate was amazed that he was already dead. But he didn't
die a natural death. No, he dismissed his spirit. Into thy hands I commend my spirit. But when they came to him, Jesus,
and saw that he was dead already, they break not his legs. But
one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith
came thereout blood and water. And John says, He that saw it
bear record, and his record is true, and he knoweth that he
sayeth true, that you might believe. John said, I saw it. I know what
I'm saying here is true. I saw it. And I'm saying it that
you might believe and be saved. Okay. One other thing back here
in chapter 12 in verse 27, we say that it was a sacrifice. It was to be a sacrifice. In
verse 27, we read, and you shall say, it is the sacrifice of the
Lord's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of
Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians and delivered our
houses, and the people bowed the head and worshiped. John
Gill commented that the Passover lamb was a sacrifice in two ways. First of all, Eucharistical. Eucharistical. You've seen that
word, Eucharist. Many denominations, they refer
to the Lord's Supper as the Eucharist. The bread and the wine, the Eucharist,
it's a symbol. But John Gill said that his sacrifice,
the Passover sacrifice, could be considered two ways. First,
Eucharistical, or by way of thanksgiving. by way of thanksgiving for their
safety when the firstborn of the Egyptians were slain and
for their deliverance out of Egypt. But then second, propitiatory,
the blood of the lamb being a propitiation or atonement for all within the
house where it was sprinkled. For even Christ, our Passover,
is sacrificed for us. Christ is our Passover. Christ was sacrificed. And Christ was sacrificed, not
for himself, but for us. One last thing. The blood was
to be sprinkled upon the doorpost and the lentil, so that the firstborn
in that house would not die. Who did this? Who did this? Who sprinkled the blood on the
doorpost and the lentils? Who did that? Those who believed. Those who believed. They did
it. They believed the word of God.
They believed the gospel. They believed the blood would
exempt the firstborn in that house. They believed. Faith,
that's what is so beautiful about this particular type. It shows
the work of God for us, but it also shows us that we must apply,
we must believe for ourselves. I know faith is a gift of God,
but God doesn't believe for us. No, no. He gives us faith, but
we believe, just like these Israelites, those who believed, they put
the blood upon the doorpost. Arthur Pink, in his comments
here, he gives two examples. Let me see if I can remember
them and give them to us. Just a moment. In one house,
he said, here's a young man, the firstborn in the house. And
about, let's say about 10 o'clock, he's beginning to get anxious
and beginning to get nervous. And he tells his father, he said,
father, I know that Moses said, where the blood is not sprinkled
on the doorpost, the firstborn in that house is going to die.
And I'm the firstborn. And the father didn't believe
Moses. He had not sprinkled the blood, but he lied. He lied to his firstborn. He
said, son, don't be concerned about this. I took care of that. I put the blood of the Passover
lamb on the lentil. And so this young man is confident
a false a false confidence. He had believed a lie, and he
was slain. But in another house, same scenario,
young man, firstborn, tells his father, I'm concerned. I know what Moses said. The firstborn
in this house is going to die unless there's blood on the doorpost. And the father said, son, I took
care of that. You may be sure. Now they couldn't
see, neither one. Remember this. Both the son who
believed a lie and this son who believes his father who did sprinkle
the blood, but they couldn't see the blood. They were inside
the house. And so the one man took his father's
word and he was slain. He had a false hope. The other
young man, though he couldn't see the blood and though he was
anxious, he was safe. Why was he safe? Because of the
blood. Because of the blood. Are you
saved tonight? Are you safe? You are if the
blood, you're trusting in the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse
you, to wash you, to save you. If you're believing in Christ,
yes. You can't see, they couldn't
see the blood. I tell that story because I remember Brother Paul Mahan told this
story about a lady in his congregation, I believe it was. He said that
her memory started going and She got where she would forget
people. But she always remembered him. She was in a rest home and
he would go to visit her and he would call her by name and
say, do you remember me? Sure, you're my pastor, Paul.
Yeah. But after a while, after staying
there for a while, He went to visit her, and she said, no,
I don't know who you are. Do you know who Jesus is? Oh, yes. Oh, yes. I remember his name. But the
point is, you don't have to see the blood. God has to see the
blood. And all of us, we may come one
day that we can't remember our name even. But what is all important
is that God sees the blood, that the blood has been applied to
us. Well, let's sing a hymn and be
dismissed.