Plagues & Passover, Exodus 1-28

Rob Armstrong

Faithful & True • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

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When you read Exodus 1 and 2 you see the context of the events Moses records for us.

According to Exodus 1:1-5, the nation of Israel starts with Jacob, his sons, and their families. Altogether it was 70 people. After Joseph and all of his brothers generation died the people of Israel continued to multiply in Egypt until they were extremely numerous.

In verse 8 we see that a new King of Egypt who did not know Joseph came to power in Egypt and began to deal harshly with the Israelites. The new king was nervous about the about the number of Israelites and eventually told the Hebrew midwives to kill any son born to the Israelites. But, the midwives did not do as he said. When asked why, they said that the Hebrew women are strong and give birth before the midwives can get there. The people of Israel continued to grow as a result of the Midwives.

Pharaoh then told the people of Egypt to thrown every son born to a Hebrew into the Nile, but let the daughters live. It was during this time that Moses was born. When he was born his mother hid for 3 months, but then eventually she put him in a water tight basket and had him set in the river near where Pharaohs daughter would bathe. She found him and decided to raise him… Moses’ sister was sent to keep watch over him. She came over to Pharaohs daughter and offered to get a Hebrew woman to nurse the child… that woman ended up being Moses’ mother.

Moses was named by the Pharaoh’s daughter, and his name means “I drew him out of the water.” This name is significant because in the same way that Moses was delivered when Pharaoh’s daughter drew him out of the water, God was going to deliver the nation of Israel from Egypt.

We don’t have time to walk through every detail in our sermon, but I hope you have read through it. Moses grew older and one day he killed an Egyptian for striking one of his people. But, because he was a part of Pharaoh’s household the Hebrews didn’t trust him. When word got out of what Moses had done he fled into the desert to Midian

Exodus 2:23-25 says, “23 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. 24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.”

It was in Midian that Moses met Jethro, then married one of his daughters, Zipporah. It was in the plains of Midian that God spoke to Moses in a burning bush and called him to go back to Egypt.

Exodus 3:1–10 (ESV) says,

“Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. 7 Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

God was sending Moses back to Egypt to keep the promise he made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

God sent Moses to deliver the people of Israel from their bondage. God sent Moses, the one who was drawn out of the water to draw His people out of their slavery and into the promised relationship with Him.

As Matt Chandler points out, this is how God works with us through Christ today:

“God draws us out to draw us in.” - Matt Chandler

And, God delivers us from our bondage to sin in the same way that He freed the nation of Israel.

God saved Israel through a series of judgments on Egypt.

The judgments that God brought upon Egypt were in the form of 10 plagues.

God turned the waters of the Nile River to blood (Exodus 7:14-25)

God infested the land of Egypt with frogs (Exodus 8:1-15)

God infested the land of Egypt with gnats or mosquitos (Exodus 8:16-19)

God sent swarms of flies, potentially the biting kind, to fill the land of Egypt (Exodus 8:20-32)

God plagued the cattle of the Egyptians with a disease that had symptoms like Anthrax (Exodus 9:1-7)

God infected the Egyptians with boils all over their skin (Exodus 9:8-12)

God destroyed the crops of the Egyptians with Hail (Exodus 9:13-35)

God infested the land of Egypt with locusts that ate all the vegetation (Exodus 10:1-20)

God covered the land of Egypt in darkness for three days (Exodus 10:21-29)

God sent his angel to kill the first born of every Egyptian family (Exodus 11:1-12-30)

In between each plague there is a conversation between Moses and Pharaoh. In each instance Pharaoh grows increasingly stubborn and hard hearted and refuses to let God’s people go.

Each of these plagues is connected to one or more of the gods of Egypt. And in each instance God, Yahweh, the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and now the current generation of Israel declared his superiority over all imposters.

The plagues reveal the false religion of the Egyptians and establish God as the one and only true God.

Remember that the plagues were God’s judgment on the people of Egypt and in response to the cries of Israel for freedom. And, in each instance of judgment on the Egyptians the people of Israel are spared the consequences of God’s judgment.

In the same way that God delivered Noah and his family through the flood, God delivers the family of Abraham through the plagues.

The 10th plague, when the angel of the Lord kills the first-born of every Egyptian family is known as the Passover.

It’s called the Passover because God gave Moses very specific instructions back in Exodus 11. Exodus 11:1–9 (ESV) says,

“The Lord said to Moses, “Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely. 2 Speak now in the hearing of the people, that they ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, for silver and gold jewelry.” 3 And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people. 4 So Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, 5 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. 6 There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. 7 But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’ 8 And all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get out, you and all the people who follow you.’ And after that I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger. 9 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”

God instructed the people of Israel for every family to take an animal from their flock for a meal and sacrifice. The animal was to be unblemished, a year old, and male. They were to take in on the 10th day of the month and keep until the 14th day of the month. On that day they were to slaughter the animals at twilight. Then, they were to each take some of the blood and put it on the doorposts and the lintel of the houses where they ate them. They were to eat that night with the meat roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. When they ate that night God told them to be dressed for travel with their sandals on their feet and a staff in hand. They were to eat it in a hurry because it was the Lord’s Passover. God said he would pass through the land of Egypt and strike the first born of every home that did not have the blood of the lamb on the doorposts.

Before any of this had happened God told Moses and the Israelites that they would celebrate this night with this meal as a memorial every year. They celebrate the night that they passed through the judgment of God when the Lord passed over their homes. They would celebrate the night that a lamb died in the place of the first born of every Hebrew family.

Understanding the Passover is foundational to understanding the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Jesus is the lamb of God who has come to take away the sins of the world.

John 1:29 (ESV) says, “29 The next day he (John the Baptist) saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

God delivers those who cry out for salvation

Israel cried out in their oppression and God sent Moses to deliver them. God kept the promise He made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and now this generation of Israelite.

Those who need to be delivered know it. There is an awareness of oppression. God brings each one of us face to face with the bitterness of our situation and our sin before he frees us. As Charles Spurgeon said:

“I am thankful to hear that it is so, for when God is about to give a man a drink from the cup of salvation, he often first puts his taste right by washing out his mouth with a draught of bitters to take away the flavour of the accursed sweets of sin.” - Charles Spurgeon

Just like Israel before they were freed from their slavery God brings us today into the awareness of our sin and our need for salvation. He does so because He intends to save us. Again, I want to read what Spurgeon preached about the deliverance fo God:

“Those who are content to be in bondage will never be freed; but when they feel that they cannot and that they will not endure their captivity any longer, then the hour of freedom has struck. It is an untold blessing when the grace of God makes a man feel that what was once a pleasure has now become a servitude, and what he formerly found to be liberty has now become utter slavery for him.” - Charles Spurgeon

You will not be saved from sin that you are content with… but praise God when the conviction of the Holy Spirit stirs your soul and convicts you of your condition you can be saved! Just like the Israelites who cried out to God for salvation you too can cry out to God and be saved.

Romans 10:13 (ESV) says, 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

God delivers us from our sin and frees us to live with Him and for His glory

(Following Christ)

God delivered you from your sin to live faithful to His Word, not to chase the whims of the world or the dreams of your heart.

God delivered Israel from Egypt to establish them as a kingdom of priests to the nations. The same is true for us, He has saved us to be a kingdom of priests that represent Him and take the gospel of Jesus to the nations.

Today we are going to take the Lord’s supper together as a church family to remember what God has done for us in Christ…

(Make sure everyone has a cup to use… )

You need Jesus, not the bread and juice. He is the lamb who came to take away your sin, and your sin will be forgiven when you see it as bitter and Christ as sweet. Your sins will be forgiven and you will be saved when you cry out to God for mercy, ask for forgiveness, and give Him your life! The supper is a celebration, like the Passover, that we celebrate to remember that God is Faithful and True.

Celebrating the Lord’s supper as a way that we remember that we have been freed to follow Jesus

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