You know the older I get the more I find myself trying to find the “big-picture-purpose” for the events in my life. “Why did this happen? Why did that happen? Why didn’t this happen? What’s really going on here?” As we get older we better understand that there’s usually more going on than what’s in front of us. Our life events have ripple-effects on others.
[Parent’s divorce, typing class…my kid’s education, taxes examples.]
When looking at life’s events, zooming out to see the big picture helps us better understand and accept what’s going on in our lives.
So what I want to do tonight is look at the events surrounding the final plague on Egypt and then zoom out to see the big picture of what God is doing. Because He’s doing more than just punishing the Egyptians for not letting the Jews go. Through these events God is establishing things that will last forever!
Let’s remember what’s going on here. Nine plagues have been brought upon Egypt because Pharaoh wouldn’t let the Jews go. The last plague was the darkness that lasted for three days upon only the Egyptian territories. Pharaoh called for Moses, said he wouldn’t let the Jews go, and then threatened Moses’ life.
[Read Exodus 10:28-29.]
But this wasn’t the end of the conversation. Moses had a sobering message from the Lord to Pharaoh concerning the coming plague. Moses’ message for Pharaoh is recorded in 11:4 and following. Verses 1-3 of chapter eleven probably took place during the darkness over Egypt.
[Read Exodus 11:1-3.]
So 11:1-3 is kind of a parenthetical passage that helps the reader understand some background for how Moses would respond to Pharaoh’s refusal to let the Jews go and his threat to Moses’ life.
But Pharaoh’s threat would be met by God’s promise to end the lives of all the firstborn of Egypt. But as we zoom out on the tenth plague, we’re going to see that it’s more about:
I. God establishing His supremacy
[Read Exodus 11:4-10.]
Moses gave the message to Pharaoh which was basically, “After tonight there will be no doubt that I am the God of the universe! None of your Egyptian gods can save you now because I Myself am coming.” The Lord Himself would visit the land and establish once and for all that He alone is God. He expands upon this fact in 12:12.
[Read Exodus 12:12.]
Min, the Egyptian god of reproduction would be of no help.
Heqet, the Egyptian goddess who attended women at childbirth would be of no help.
Isis, the Egyptian goddess who protected children would be of no help.
And neither Pharaoh or his first born son, both considered to be gods, would be of no help either. The Jewish God would actually kill Pharaoh’s son - an Egyptian god.
This plague was more than just retribution for the way Pharaoh treated the Israelites. This was more than just a way to get His people freed from their bondage. This was God establishing the fact that He alone was God. Something that everyone would be able to see and understand for themselves.
The way that God went about this also served to show the world that He alone was God. He said, “I am going into the midst of Egypt.” Moses and Aaron had nothing to do with this event. They weren’t involved at all. As a matter of fact, we’re going to see that God even instructed the Jews to stay indoors all night while this was going on. This was a work of God alone and it couldn’t be excused away.
The Lord also did this in such a way that there was a blatant distinction between His people and Pharaoh’s people. His people would be totally unaffected and safe through the night. While Pharaoh’s people, and even Pharaoh himself, would all suffer.
When this night was over there’d be no doubt that God was God and no one else. God would establish His supremacy. While doing so, we also see:
II. God establishing a saving sacrifice
For His people to be safe during the night a sacrifice had to be made. So while God gave them instructions on what needed to be done to keep them alive through the night, something much bigger was going on here.
[Read Exodus 12:1-2.]
Now this is where a new religious calendar was begun for the Jewish people.
[Read Exodus 12:3-13.]
Now you and I know that the Passover meal was a beautiful picture of the Savior who would come one day to sacrifice Himself for the spiritual life of His people. Here the Israelites had no idea of that. They were just following the Lord’s instructions to be safe through the night. But big-picture, God is establishing a saving sacrifice ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
Let’s look at some of the dynamics of the dinner and compare them to Jesus.
Jewish Passover Jesus Christ
A lamb for each household personal, not corporate, salvation
Unblemished male II Corinthians 5:21, I Peter 1:18-19
Kill it at twilight, (3-5pm or sunset) Luke 23:44-46
(Josephus said 3pm in his day)
Blood of sacrifice on doorposts Jesus’ blood applied to us, Heb 9:22, Rom 5:9
Big picture - the Jewish Passover was used to establish humanity’s Passover lamb Jesus.
[Read I Corinthians 5:7.]
Now another beautiful aspect of the Passover meal, which we’ll study in more detail next week, was the fact that even though people were separated into their own homes and not doing this corporately, they were still unified in their worship because they were all doing the same thing. Because they were all obeying the Lord’s command, they were becoming God’s consecrated people. And that’s another big-picture thing we see here as God established the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Through this feast we see:
III. God establishing a consecrated people
[Read Exodus 12:14-20.]
This was a week long celebration that began at the same time of Passover. It began with a cleansing of everyone’s home of leaven or yeast which was a symbol of corruption and sin. If anyone was found eating bread with leaven in it during the week they were to be cut off from the nation of Israel. (Now the passage says that even an alien was to be cut off from the nation if found eating leaven, which means there were non-Jewish converts to Judaism.)
Now while the leaven was a symbol of sin, the unleavened bread was a symbol of God’s deliverance of them from the Egyptian bondage. As we’ll see next week, when the Egyptians realized what had happened in the middle of the night, they immediately told the Jews to leave the land right then. (That’s why the Lord had them eat the Passover dressed ready to travel.)
[Read Exodus 12:11.]
Later in the passage we’ll see how the Jews left in such a hurry that they took with them bread dough that wasn’t finished yet – it was unleavened. So every time they ate unleavened bread during this week long feast, it would remind them of how the Lord delivered them from their bondage.
On the first day and on the last day they held a solemn assembly of worship to the Lord for who He was and for what He had done. They also didn’t work during the week except to prepare the food. This was a week dedicated wholly to the Lord.
And through this feast God was establishing a consecrated people for Himself. A people who would remember who God is, what He’s done and that He deserved their allegiance. Everything about the feast focused people on the Lord. The way they prepared the food, the symbolism in what they ate, worship services, not working or being distracted. Through these times they were learning how to completely focus on the Lord.
And this was something that the Lord said that every generation of Jew was to do, and by doing so it would help keep the people focused and consecrated to the Lord. So how was God going to make sure that this continued to happen? Well, let’s look at:
IV. God establishing a means of legacy
[Read Exodus 12:21-28.]
God established a means of legacy through the elders of Israel. They were responsible to pass down to the younger generations the Passover Meal, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and their significance. And they were to do this first by living in obedience to God and second by teaching obedience to God. Walking it and then talking it.
1. The Elders were to be an example of obedience: 12:21-22a
2. The Elders were to be an example of faith: 12:22b
3. The Elders were to be an example of faithfulness: 12:24-25
4. The Elders were to teach faithfulness: 12:26-27
The legacy of the faith was the responsibility of the elders of the Jews. They weren’t just
to govern the people. They were to make sure that no one ever forgot how awesome and loving and graceful their God was and that they needed to remain His holy, consecrated people.
When a little kid came up to them preparing the Passover Lamb asking questions about this and that, they were to stop what they were doing, bend down getting on the kids level, and use it as an opportunity to create a godly legacy in the next generation. And then once that generation got it and matured, they would be the ones to pass it on, and the Truth of God would be handed down to every generation till kingdom come.
You and I must exemplify and teach the coming generations about all the wonders of God. We should take the time to explain why we do the things we do. Maybe they’re more ready to understand than we give them credit for?
So, the final plague that God brought upon the Egyptians wasn’t some isolated event in history. God was changing the world. He established His supremacy. He established a saving sacrifice. He established a consecrated people. And He established a means of legacy.
What big-picture things is God doing in your life? He is you know. He is.
