Sermon Tone Analysis

*The Lamb of God*

*February 21, 1999        Exodus 11-13*

 

*Introduction:*

 

A personal warning was given by Moses to Pharaoh beginning in 10:29 and continued in 11:4-8.

This final judgment was the first threatened (4:22-23) but the last executed.

God knew it would come this far, */and/* God intended it would go this far in order that his power be proclaimed on behalf of his people unto his own glory as their God, making a distinction between Egypt and Israel, protecting Israel even so far as to silence the small threat of a barking dog (11:7).

The overriding message of these three chapters is not about the last plague upon Egypt, but upon the provision that God made to come through it safely.

It is all about the Lamb of God.

The Passover marks the birth of the nation of Israel and its deliverance from bondage.

This great event also pictures the birth of the holy nation of the church of  Jesus Christ and its deliverance from the bondage of sin through His work on the cross (John 1:29; 1 Cor.

5:7-8; 1 Peter 1:18-20).

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

(John 1:29 NIVUS)

 

Illustration # 1.

 

 Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast-- as you really are.

For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.

(1 Corinthians 5:7-8 NIVUS)

 

 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

(1 Peter 1:18-19 NIVUS)

 

Illustration #2.

 

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*I.

The Lamb Needed (11)*

 

“One plague more!” God’s patience had run out and His final judgment—death to the firstborn male—was about to fall.

The designation of firstborn male would touch every extended family.

It would devastate the hopes and dreams of every family line – a picture of how sin touches every human fragment.

The hopes and dreams carried by and for the firstborn would be crushed.

How many of you men here today are firstborn in your family?

You would be a victim of this plague, except for the blood.

Note that death was to come to all (11:5-6; 12:12-13), unless they were protected by the blood of the lamb.

“All have sinned” (Rom.

3:23) and “the wages of sin is death” (Rom.

6:23).

God specifies that the “firstborn” will die, and this speaks of God’s rejection of our first birth.

All people are “firstborn” who have not been “twice-born.”

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh . . .

you must be born again” (John 3:6-7).

People cannot save themselves from the penalty of death; they need Christ, the Lamb of God.

From a human point of view, there was no difference between the firstborn of Egypt and the firstborn of Israel.

The difference was in the application of the blood (12:7).

All are sinners, but those who have trusted Christ are “under the blood” and saved.

This is the most important difference in the world!

For years, the Jews had slaved for the Egyptians without pay, so now God permits them to ask for (11:2), not borrow, their just wages.

The picture of the Jews plundering Egypt is that we seem to slave in this world without just reward.

The world will try to keep us from our reward, but God will see that we get it – and for eternity.

In reality, it is only so that we have something to give to him.

The Jews used their new-found riches to construct the tabernacle (Ex.

35:4-29).

The true riches of God to us is the spiritual life we shall reap in the eternal dwelling place of his heavenly temple.

Truly our lives in Christ shall be the ornaments of his grace there.

But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.

(Genesis 15:14 NIVUS)

 

 "And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed.

(Exodus 3:21 NIVUS)

 

 The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing.

The LORD had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.

(Exodus 12:35-36 NIVUS)

 

*II.

The Lamb Chosen (12:1-5)*

*A New Accounting Begins  (v.

2)*

 

The Jews have a religious and a civil calendar, and Passover marks the beginning of their religious year.

The death of the lamb makes a new beginning, just as the death of Christ makes a new beginning for the believing sinner.

*Chosen before it is slain  (v.

3, 6)*

Selected on the tenth day, and slain “between the evenings” of the fourteenth and fifteenth days, the lamb was set aside for death.

So Christ was the Lamb foreordained before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:20).

He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.

(1 Peter 1:20 NIVUS)

 

*Sufficient  (v.

4)*

 

Notice that the lamb is sufficient for each family, but if it is more that needed, it is to be shared.

Christ is sufficient for all and is to be shared with our neighbors.

Whatever they need of him we are to give.

*Singular (v. 5, 6)*

Even though each family is to take a lamb, these verses speak of only “it”, not “them” as in the NIV (lambs).

This looks toward the provision of only one Savior for all eternity, for to God there is but one Lamb—Jesus Christ.

*Without Defect (v.

5)*

The lamb was to be a male without blemish, a picture of the perfect Lamb of God in whom there was no spot or stain (1 Peter 1:19).

but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

(1 Peter 1:19 NIVUS)

 

*Tested or Examined (v. 5, 6)*

From the tenth to the fourteenth days, the people watched the lambs to make sure they were satisfactory; similarly, Christ was tested and watched during His earthly ministry, especially during the last week before He was crucified.

*Personal Association (v. 5, 6)*

 

The lamb lived with the family and became part of it.

Note the progress in the AV: “a lamb” (v.

3), “the lamb” (v.

4), “your lamb” (v.

5).

This parallels “a Savior” (Luke 2:11), “the Savior” (John 4:42), and “my Savior” (Luke 1:47).

It is not enough to call Christ “a Savior” (one among many), or “the Savior” (for somebody else).

Each of us must be able to say, “He is my Savior!”

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

(Luke 2:11 NIVUS)

 

 They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."

(John 4:42 NIVUS)

 

 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, (Luke 1:47 NIVUS)

 

*III.

The Lamb Slain (12:6-7)*

*Personal Death (v.

6)*

 

This lamb that has become a family pet must now die.

When sin entered the human soul, something also died.

Now another death must be our remedy.

A living lamb was a lovely thing, but it could not save!

We are not saved by Christ’s example or His life; we are saved by His death.

We can look at  Heb.