I Will Pass, Will Pass Over You

I Will Pass, Will Pass Over You Exodus 12:1-28 Context • God warns Pharaoh of the final plague (11). • Worship is central: “That they might hold a feast” (5:1), “that they may sacrifice” (5:3; 8:8), “that they may serve me” (7:16), etc. • Moses prepares Israel for their first act of worship. 1 2 3 God introduces annual worship that symbolizes judgment, deliverance, and 5 identity. 4 God Introduces • “The LORD said” – verses 1-20 are direct words from the LORD; Moses describes 21-28 as commanded of the LORD. • “The LORD’s Passover” – 12:11; 27 • Notice the “I” commitments in 12:12-13 Annual Worship • 2 festivals back-to-back: Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread • Passover: spring event, kicks off the year at a full moon, community’s participation with a meal (Easter, New Years Day, and Independence Day rolled into one) • Unleavened Bread: weeklong festival bookended by special worship feasts and celebrations. • Lay-led family worship replete with anticipation, dress, ceremonies, and built-in teaching points. Symbolizing Judgment • Vocabulary of Death: strike-execute (12), plaguedestroy-strike (13), destroyer-strike (23), struck (27) • Death of a Substitute: heads of household had to kill the yearling at twilight (6); killing the lamb was nationwide and without exception (21) • Prominence of Blood: cross-shaped blood spatters (7); the blood is a sign on your behalf (13); the LORD will acknowledge the blood (13, 23); see Hebrews 9:22, “without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.” Symbolizing Deliverance • Deliverance from God’s certain judgement. • Deliverance from the bondage of Egypt – everything about the meal communicates a swift escape (roasting, leaving none, bitter herbs, unleavened bread, eating it dressed and ready) Symbolizing Identity • Leaven is a symbol of sin (1 Corinthians 5:7-8) • Unleavened bread symbolizes pilgrimage (1517); refusal to participate has grave consequences (19) • God wants Passover/Sojourn to define the whole, so He places it at the beginning (2-3). • Great significance that this worship is led by heads of household and not by priests. • Eating the entire lamb symbolizes total, personal acceptance. New Testament Applications • Christ, our Passover Lamb, offers His death as a substitute for the death to come (1 Peter 1:19). • Christ, our Passover Lamb, demands our full acceptance of His gift (John 6:53-54). • Christ, our Passover Lamb, demands that we cleanse our lives from the sinful leaven that caused His death in the first place (1 Corinthians 5:7).