Sermon Tone Analysis

The First Passover

In the First Passover, the Lord brought ten plagues against Egypt, demonstrating His own glory and power, proving the Egyptian gods were not gods in any sense, and delivering His people from bondage.

The tenth plague was significantly different, though.

So Moses said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle.

There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again.

So Moses said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle.

There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again.

God was going to bring death upon the land of Egypt.

Every family, every home, would be touched by death.

Notice that God doesn’t say, “every firstborn Egyptian shall die,” but “every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die.”

God was going to bring death upon the land of Egypt.

Every family, every home, would be touched by death.

Notice that God doesn’t say, “every firstborn Egyptian shall die,” but “every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die.”

So, how were the Hebrews spared this plague of death?

It wasn’t simply by being slaves, or by being descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

God gave specific instructions.

So, death touched every house in Egypt that night.

There was only one way to avoid the death of the firstborn, and that was through a substitute.

No one could say, “God loves us, and hates the Egyptians, and so He would never harm us.”

No one could say, “Well, MY God is a God of love, and a God of love would never put anyone to death.”

Judgment was coming against the land, and only those who accepted the substitute commanded by God would be spared.

Let’s be clear about this.

Death touched every house in the land of Egypt that night.

There was only one way to avoid the death of the firstborn, and that was through a substitute.

No Hebrew could say, “God loves us, and hates the Egyptians, and so He would never harm us.”

No Hebrew could say, “Well, MY God is a God of love, and a God of love would never put anyone to death.”

Judgment was coming against the land, and only those who accepted the substitute commanded by God would be spared.

Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.

They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it.

Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts.

And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn.

In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals 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 that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD.

The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are.

And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

The Passover Feast

Let’s be clear about this.

Death touched every house in the land of Egypt that night.

There was only one way to avoid the death of the firstborn, and that was through a substitute.

No Hebrew could say, “God loves us, and hates the Egyptians, and so He would never harm us.”

No Hebrew could say, “Well, MY God is a God of love, and a God of love would never put anyone to death.”

Judgment was coming against the land, and only those who accepted the substitute commanded by God would be spared.

God went on to command that Passover be observed as an annual feast, a memorial day, a remembrance of what He had done, and why and how He had done it.

What did God do?

He delivered His people from bondage in Egypt.

Why did God do it?

Because of His grace and mercy, and not because of any merit or worthiness on the part of the Hebrews.

How did He do it?

Through a substitutionary sacrifice.

They were to observe the feast of Passover every year.

In spite of this, we read in ,

This took place in the 18th year of Josiah’s reign, which was 622 B.C.

There had not been a national Passover observance since the days of the judges, which means 500-600 years, including during the 40 years of David’s reign.

And [king Josiah] commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.”

For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah.

This took place in the 18th year of Josiah’s reign, which was 622 B.C.

There had not been a national Passover observance since the days of the judges, which means 500-600 years, including during the 40 years of David’s reign.

Why had Passover been essentially ignored as a national feast for so long?

I think that it’s because Passover was a reminder that they had been slaves, something that the Jews wanted to forget.

Their attitude is very clear in :

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone.

How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

I think that they also neglected Passover because it was a reminder of their own sinfulness; they were not passed over because of their righteousness or worthiness, but because of a blood sacrifice that covered their sinfulness.

Passover was contrary to their national pride.

Their culture had become very much divided into classes of people: the poor, the well-off, the rich, the priesthood, royalty, and so on.

But Passover treated them all as equals, as slaves in bondage who needed rescue because they were powerless to rescue themselves.

In Passover the king and the leper sat at the same table, and the people would not do that.

The First Lord’s Supper

The night of Jesus’ betrayal and arrest, He observed Passover with His disciples.

And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him.

And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves.

For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.”

And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

As we’ve seen, Passover was the observance of God’s deliverance of Israel from bondage in Egypt.

Death came to every house in Egypt that night.

Those who believed God killed a lamb, a substitute for the firstborn.

They marked their homes with the blood of the lamb to show that death had already visited that home.

As the last supper proceeded, Jesus’ disciples thought back, as they had all their lives, to that night in Egypt when their people were set free.

Jesus and His disciples gathered to share the Passover meal that night.

They remembered, and told the story, of the plague of death God would bring on Egypt.

They told how He commanded their fathers to kill a lamb, a substitute for the firstborn of each house.

They told how the blood of that lamb was put on the doorposts and lintel of each house, showing that death had already visited that home.

And then Jesus changed everything.

And then Jesus says that it is HIS body which was given for them, and HIS blood which was shed for them.

He changed the meaning of their observance in just a moment or two.

Something new had transpired, and He commanded them to change the focus of their remembrance.

From that moment on their focus would no longer be their deliverance from Egypt, but their deliverance from sin and death.

The Passover remembered the physical deliverance of people from physical slavery.

Jesus’ body and blood were given to bring about the spiritual deliverance of God’s people from spiritual slavery to sin and the bondage of death.

He said that it was HIS body which was being given for them, and HIS blood which was being shed for them.

He shifted their attention from 1800 years before to that very moment.

It was His death that they were to remember, HIS death that would deliver them from THEIR death.

Passover recalled God physically delivering the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt.