The Beauty Of The Passover Series

“THE BEAUTY OF THE PASSOVER” Exodus 12:1-13

FBCF – 5/9/21

Jon Daniels

INTRO – We all love beautiful things.

- Beauty of a sunrise or sunset

o “Nothing is more beautiful than the loveliness of the woods before sunrise.” (George Washington Carver)

- Beauty of a rose

- Beauty of a bride processing down the aisle to her groom who awaits her

- Beauty of music

- Beauty of the majestic mountains or the crashing waves on the beach

- Beauty of a new baby

- Beauty of good Christian fellowship & encouragement

o REFRESH – hearing people pray for one another

- Beauty of the Body of Christ

o “How beautiful the radiant bride

Who waits for her groom with his light in her eyes

How beautiful when humble hearts give

The fruit of pure lives so that others may live

How beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful

Is the body of Christ” (Twyla Paris)

Today, we are going to look at an event that, on the surface, may not seem to be very beautiful. But as we examine it closer, we will see that the beauty of our Savior is all throughout this event.

You see, Jesus is seen all throughout the pages of Scripture. We may think that we only see Him in the 4 Gospels in the NT – Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John. But He is found all through the OT, from the Protoevangelium that is pronounced in Genesis 3:15 in Garden of Eden to the “sun of righteousness” that is prophesied in the book of Malachi – the last book of the OT – all the way through the NT to Revelation 22:20 – “Come, Lord Jesus!” – Jesus is the subject of the entire Bible from beginning to end.

- Leviticus 16:21-22 – the Scapegoat who carried our sins away

- Joshua 5:14 – the Commander of the Lord’s army

- Job 19:25 – our Living Redeemer who stood upon the earth

- Psalm 22:16 – hands & feet pierced upon the cross

- Isaiah 53 – the Suffering Servant

- Daniel 3:25 – the 4th man in the fiery furnace w/ Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego

Today, we will see Him in our Scripture passage.

EXPLANATION – Exodus 12:1-13 – This past Sunday, we made 3 points about how God works in the midst of our times of heartbreak:

- See how He has worked in the past

- Trust that He’s working right now

- Look forward to His work in the future

He certainly worked that way in the lives of His people in this deliverance experience. Think about what has happened up to this point:

Timeline:

- Burning bush call & commission & equipping

- 1st confrontation w/ Pharaoh – result was heavier oppression of the people causing them to be more broken in spirit

- God speaks to Moses again & reminds him that He is the Lord & that He has promised to deliver His people. Sends him back to Pharaoh again.

- 2nd confrontation w/ Pharaoh – This time Moses uses the miraculous signs that God gave to him. Starts w/ staff becoming serpent. Then 10 plagues were sent by God upon the Egyptians. Here are the first 9 (Genesis 7-10):

o Turned Nile River to blood

o Frogs

o Gnats

o Flies

o Egyptian livestock die

o Boils

o Hail

o Locusts

o Darkness

God didn’t use these plagues just to punish Pharaoh, although His judgment was part of it. He used these plagues to prove & establish His complete authority over all of the false gods of the Egyptians as He worked to set His people free. “The plagues fall on areas supposedly protected by Egypt’s gods, thus demonstrating God’s power over the gods of the world’s mightiest nation.” (study note, ESV Study Bible, p. 156)

The 10th & final plague was the most severe. It caused massive fear, grief, & heartbreak in the lives of the Egyptians, from Pharaoh’s palace to the poorest, lowliest peasant in the land. On this fateful night, God gave very specific instructions for the children of Israel to follow. They were to take a spotless lamb & kill it. Then they were to take some of the blood of lamb & put it on the 2 doorposts & over the top of the door. Then when the Lord came & passed throughout the nation of Egypt, He would see the blood on the doorposts & would pass over those homes & “not allow the destroyer to enter [their] homes” (Exodus 12:23). That’s exactly what the children of Israel did, but the Egyptians did not. All throughout the nation, behind unmarked doors of homes, the firstborn children of the Egyptian families died, but the Israelites firstborn children lived. Look at the results of the Passover plague – Exodus 12:29-32.