2026_05_31_Exodus

[0:00] The final plague. What was the final plague?! Not how was it? What was it?! The death of the firstborn.

[0:16] ! The firstborn what? Son? Animals? Now, to whom was it restricted? Or was it?

[0:34] I'm sorry? Okay, explain that please. You had to kill a lamb or a kid and you had to put the blood on the post and the lintel of your house and stay inside and...

[1:10] Okay, how did I have to cook it? This is a rehearsal to see if we remember what we went over.

[1:23] It had to be roasted. Okay, I couldn't stew it. And unleavened bread. In fact, I had to sweep the house, didn't I?

[1:36] Make sure there was no leavening in the house. All right. And? Yeah, okay.

[1:50] And bitter herbs, it had to be with bitter herbs. And that's all he says. I don't know if there was anything else. Roger. Is there an indication that maybe some of the Egyptians did that too?

[2:06] There's no statement about it. But, I think we may... He did not prohibit that.

[2:20] Or at least we don't see it. God did not reveal that part. But, when we look at the exit, we address that again.

[2:35] So, and then you've already mentioned it. Ready to go. I had to eat it with my coat on.

[2:46] My belt on girded. My shoes on my feet. Standing up. My staff in my hand. I had to be...

[2:58] God said, You be ready to go. Because when it's time to move, you've got to move now. Okay. So, that's where we are.

[3:09] And he's gone through... By the way, what do we call this? Passover. And he says, What about remembering it?

[3:26] Okay. Generation to generation. Teach your children. Every year at the same month, at the same day.

[3:38] Right. In fact, he's going to say that your calendar is going to start with this month as the new year.

[3:49] Now, they used a lunar calendar. It's not like ours. So, it doesn't really fall into a good pattern for us.

[3:59] Because the month always began at the new moon. So, anyway. And he said, This is an ordinance for you forever.

[4:12] For the children of Israel. Yes. Yes. Yeah.

[4:23] Go now. Go now. Flee. It's very like, in fact, the Apostle Paul will use it as a picture of our salvation, where he calls Christ our Passover.

[4:42] Now, what's the significance of the Passover? Remember again? God's going to move through the land, and he's going to kill, in this case, the firstborn, unless he sees the blood on the house.

[5:02] Now, by the way, God knows which house did the sacrifice correctly. Right? It's not like he has to actually look for it.

[5:12] But he gives that picture to us. When I see the blood, I will pass over your house. And he tells them, as Roger pointed out, don't go outside your house.

[5:25] So, it is with the Christian, our security is in Christ, not outside of Christ. In fact, outside of Christ, am I a Christian?

[5:37] What if I call myself a Christian? What if I go to that building somewhere, down your street, and they say it's a church?

[5:51] Doesn't matter? What if I go to Grace Bible Church? What? What? Okay.

[6:07] So, the point is, it's not what I say, it's who I am, in Christ. So, I'm only safe in the house, as it were, in Christ.

[6:19] So, let's begin with verse 29 then. Oh, one more thing. Yeah, I know, I said that twice already. Let's begin with. One more thing.

[6:31] Whose Passover is it? He says, this is the Lord's Passover. I need to remember that.

[6:43] Because, who is central in every aspect of the church? Christ. God is. God is.

[6:53] Who is central in every aspect in Israel? God is. When he told them, he will always refer this, this is the Lord's Passover.

[7:13] Yeah, I am redeemed, but I'm not redeemed because of me. I'm redeemed because of the grace of God. Because, he decided to be merciful.

[7:27] And, Jesus is the supreme sacrifice. Okay, now, we really will start. Now, God, what happened at midnight?

[7:40] God went through the land. He killed all the firstborn. All the firstborn of whom?

[7:55] That's right. He says, there was not one. He killed the firstborn of Pharaoh. And, he killed the firstborn of the lowest guy in the prison.

[8:08] It doesn't matter. And, of all the livestock, by the way. Yes. Did, okay.

[8:19] Now, what's Egypt's reaction to this? Every home had somebody dead.

[8:38] There was a great cry in Egypt. So, what's Pharaoh's reaction? Not only, what did Pharaoh do, but what did he say?

[8:56] Well, he calls for Moazes and Aaron the next morning, right? No, he called for them right away. bring those two to me.

[9:08] What's he say to them? Get out of here. And, take everything, just like you said.

[9:20] Take it all. Take everything. All your herds. All your little ones. Remember, all through this period, he was trying to negotiate. At first, he didn't want anything to go.

[9:34] Then, after a while, he said, well, the men can go. Then, he said, well, you can take the others, but you can't take the herds. And, when Moses said, no, every hoof goes with us.

[9:49] Everything goes. Pharaoh got angry, and he says, if you see me again, I'm going to kill you. And, Moses, in anger, is going to leave, the last time, and he's going to say, you're right, you're not going to see me again.

[10:08] So, Pharaoh does call for him, and say, get out of here. What's he say? Yeah. And, bless me.

[10:18] Bless me. He's a bit fickle, isn't he? I thought you didn't know the Lord.

[10:32] What did God say? Egypt's going to know that I am the Lord. That's what he said. And, by the way, just a spoiler alert, he's not done.

[10:49] So, what were the Egyptians thinking at this point?

[11:03] Yeah. Go, get them out of here. We're all going to be dead. All right. So, Israel left Egypt then, in haste, after the Passover, in haste, as God had said, with all their possessions and only their possessions.

[11:26] No. Okay. What's the correction? Yeah.

[11:46] Now, why would Egypt do that? Why would the Egyptians do that? Well, there may be fear.

[12:04] Well, what did God say just before, just a week or two ago? he said, I will give you favor with the Egyptians and you are to ask of them whatever, of gold and silver and clothes.

[12:26] You're, you're to ask for all this stuff and in this way you will plunder Egypt. Egypt. You're going to spoil Egypt without a fight.

[12:38] Now, another alert, you already know this, Israel is going to have to fight later but they're not going to fight Egypt, are they?

[12:49] All right. So, let's keep going. So, they ask everything of the Egyptians. They spoiled Egypt. They took with them not only their own possessions and their own people and their own herds but they also took much of the Egyptian wealth with them.

[13:10] Now, now we get to what you said, Roger. Look at verse 37 or so. How many Israelite men left Egypt?

[13:25] About 600,000. All right. Now, how many women and children? Oh, we don't know. We don't know.

[13:41] If it is the average and if it is the average there were more women and children than there were men. So, some have said up to a couple million but I, nevertheless, a lot of people went.

[14:05] A lot of people went. Now, we're only Israelites among them. a mixed multitude went with them.

[14:20] Now, some of those may have been other, may have been Israelite, slaves of the Israelites. I mean, Israel was slaves but it wasn't a slavery, it wasn't a slavery like in our history.

[14:38] That is, even in our history, some of the slaves were allowed to run their own businesses and they become prosperous enough to buy their freedom and there were free, there were freed slaves.

[14:55] And in fact, one of those very famously was a, if you owned a piece of furniture made by this guy, you'd have a very valuable piece.

[15:06] he was in South Carolina or something, he was a freed slave and he had his own slaves. So, but in, that was not the norm.

[15:19] That wasn't the norm in North America or Central and South America. But here, they had a period of time that they had to serve and then they had a period of time to farm and do their own thing and they, they could have acquired slaves.

[15:41] That may have been part of the mixed multitude and we don't know, we're not told, part of them may have been those Egyptians that said, we're on the wrong boat here, we're going to get with Israel.

[15:55] I don't know that, it's not said. So, and really, that isn't the point of what God's saying, is it? He's saying, you're leaving Egypt.

[16:08] So, a mixed multitude went. Now, what did they eat? Why?

[16:21] Why? They didn't have time for new, remember, they had just swept their house of all the leavening, so they didn't have, I don't know if they, I don't know how they leavened, whether it was the natural spores in the air that leavened it, or if it was they actually cultivated their leavening.

[16:51] Oh, this bread tasted good, I'm going to keep some dough from this and keep leavening, like sour dough. But, however it was, they didn't have time to redo it, did they?

[17:05] That's why they're eating unleavened bread. God did not prohibit Israel from eating leavened bread, except during Passover.

[17:17] Why? Why was it wrong at Passover and not the rest of the year? I mean, let's face it.

[17:29] They aren't any different than us. The leavened bread's a lot better tasting than what do they call it, matzo bread?

[17:41] It's a lot better tasting. So, why was it wrong at Passover and not, say, today? God said so, yes.

[17:59] And he said so for a reason. He said, you do this because you are reminding your children of what I did. See, this is a statement about what God did.

[18:14] and it's for his glory. It's his Passover. When we do not do it as a law because as Nathan points out every week here, we're not under, we are under.

[18:42] Okay. So, we're not under the law. But, many of us will celebrate Christmas. And we'll gather special, and we'll have a special service on a Sunday night.

[19:01] What are we celebrating? So, what? we are reminded of what God did.

[19:16] What is the significance of the birth of Christ? God became flesh and dwelt among us.

[19:34] And there's the point to become our Savior. you know, Christmas really doesn't mean anything without Easter, does it? God became flesh and dwelt among us so he could carry my sin to the cross.

[19:54] That's amazing. He became sin for us so that we could become the righteousness of God in him.

[20:10] That is grace. That's the gospel right there, isn't it? so it's wrong for them to eat leaven at Passover but not now.

[20:26] But they didn't eat leavened bread now because they didn't have time. All right. So how long?

[20:49] Okay, 430 years and we need to make, well, we don't have to but we'll make a note of that. now at the end of 430 years, what?

[21:06] They left the same day. They left Egypt. All right. Turn to Galatians chapter 3 if you would, please.

[21:19] Yes. Yes. Huh.

[21:40] Okay. You're at Galatians chapter 3. Now, you will be, you will remember what is, who's, God is speaking through whom in this letter?

[21:58] I'm sorry? Paul. He's speaking through Paul. And he's speaking to whom? To the Jews.

[22:10] To the Jews before in the law. No? Who's he speaking to? Okay, he's speaking to Galatian Christians regarding the Judaizers.

[22:31] Now, these men, and we get it, we get it both from Acts chapter 15, I think it is, the Jerusalem council. We get it from there, and we get it from here.

[22:44] These, in Galatians, it says, certain men came from James. Now, who was there? We need to be pretty quick here. Who was there that is a key player?

[22:58] He's from Jerusalem, and he's there. Peter. I'll help it. Peter's there. And what's Peter doing up to the time these people came from Jerusalem?

[23:16] What's Peter doing? Huh? No, he's not baptizing. He was fellowshipping with Gentiles.

[23:29] He was hanging out with the Gentiles. He was, what was he eating? Gentile food. Everything was cool.

[23:42] Now, certain men came from Jerusalem. Jerusalem. The letter will say they came from James, but in Acts chapter 15, you see what James said.

[23:53] When James stood up, he said, certain men came from here, but they said things that we didn't tell them to say. So, what things were these guys saying that they weren't supposed to be?

[24:07] These guys who later came from Jerusalem to this church in Galatia, what were they saying? you have to be circumcised.

[24:18] You have to follow the law. So, that even Peter, who knew better and was acting better before, what did Peter do?

[24:35] He stopped hanging out with those Gentiles. and he separated himself. So, that even Barnabas did that.

[24:47] Now, Barnabas' name, by the way, is son of encouragement. Who was the only believer who would bring the former Saul of Tarsus to the apostles?

[25:04] the only one that brought him. They all hid from him. Barnabas brought him. Even Barnabas was led back.

[25:16] Now, notice in that, in Galatians, that Paul, when Paul confronts Peter, Paul does not say, you made a mistake.

[25:29] mistake. He doesn't say that. He says, you're not telling the truth. Because you're saying something that you know isn't true.

[25:46] He did. Now, Peter repented of it, because you can read that in Acts chapter 15, when they went to the council, what Peter said. Peter repented of it.

[25:58] It's not going to be that way. The gospel is not the gospel of the kingdom, repent and be baptized for the remission of your sins, and God will send the kingdom.

[26:09] That's not the gospel anymore. The gospel now is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.

[26:23] Okay. So, we're in Galatia, and Paul the apostle to whom was given the revelation of what he will call the mystery of the gospel.

[26:37] Paul is speaking to this Galatian church, and he says, you can start early and take it in context. I'm going to just start at 17.

[26:51] He is showing them, he says, you seek to be justified by law, don't you listen to the law? That would be in your first verse, I think, of chapter three, isn't it?

[27:03] He said, what's it say? He said, and I'm going to roughly paraphrase it for speed. He says, Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.

[27:20] Therefore, therefore, you're saved by faith and not by works of the because the law cannot save you.

[27:32] It was never given to save you. It wasn't a mistake by God. God didn't intend to save everyone by the law.

[27:46] But the law does point us to Christ. Now I'm getting out of their context. But back to the context. So he says, look, this was given to Abraham.

[27:59] And then in verse 17, he said, therefore, followers of Abraham, that is, those who believe in Jesus, by faith, are, as it were, children of Abraham.

[28:10] They are saved the same way Abraham was, by faith. Now, look at what he says in verse 17. And this I say, that the covenant, which was, and this is hard for us to understand, but we're going to keep to the point of the timing.

[28:28] The covenant which was confirmed before God in Christ, which was, what covenant was that? No.

[28:42] What covenant was confirmed before? To Abraham. Salvation by faith. Yeah. And he calls it a promise.

[28:54] There, the covenant and the promise are equal. So, he says, the covenant which was confirmed before of God, before of God, in Christ.

[29:05] And here's how we know it was not the law. What's he say about it? The law which came when? 430 years later after that, cannot disannul it.

[29:22] Do you see that? So, what he's saying is, look, the promise that was made to Abraham cannot be changed by the law that was given to Moses.

[29:38] And he says, your salvation rests on that. That, that shows you your salvation. He's talking to Christians. Christians. He's not talking to Jews under the law.

[29:51] He's talking to Christians. So, the point of it is, the point of this, of the timing, see, the sojourning of the children of Israel, it says, when they left Egypt had been how long?

[30:10] 430 years. Remember Exodus, where we are. 430 years. What does Paul say about it? He counts, he reckons the sojourning from the date of Abraham's promise.

[30:25] You see that. You see the, because he says the law came how late? 430 years later. They haven't gone to Sinai yet.

[30:37] So, not that that's going to shake anyone's faith, but it helps us get a timeline down, that he is reckoning Israel's sojourn from the time of Abraham's promise, not necessarily, I kind of picture that the children of Israel are the children of Israel, the children of Jacob, and that's when Israel begins.

[31:09] But, Paul here is saying, you know, Israel really begins from the time that God gave the promise to Abraham, because he talks about the children's sojourn.

[31:21] Having said all that, yes? Yes? Yes.

[31:54] Yes.

[32:24] Yes.

[32:54] Yes.

[33:25] Okay. Okay. Not many.

[33:36] They do three. But nevertheless. Okay.

[34:04] What Paul is doing in Galatia is saying salvation is by grace. When I say by grace, that means whose grace? God's grace.

[34:17] It's not an abstract thing. It is the same word from which we also get gift and gifts.

[34:30] It's the same word. It is God. And we would probably better phrase it as unmerited favor.

[34:42] That is, nothing we earned, it was given because of the giver, not because of the recipient. It wasn't anything I did or anything that God is acknowledging.

[34:57] God is no respecter of persons. It's because God decided to give it. Now, that's grace.

[35:08] Faith is believing God. In Romans. Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. By the way, Abraham believed what God said.

[35:21] It doesn't mean that Abraham believed what God hasn't said. So, faith, it doesn't come. Faith is not a word of power.

[35:33] Where I call something into existence. I speak it into existence because I want to believe it. I don't get a new car because I say I do. That's not what it means.

[35:46] What it means is he simply believed what God had said. God said, look, leave Ur of the Chaldees. I'm going to make of you a great nation. All the nations of the earth will be blessed through you.

[35:59] It is that that Paul's referring to. And yes, it does have to do with faith and believing God. It does have to do with faith and believing God.

[36:11] And in this case, obeying him. Now, there is a metaphorical children of Abraham, which is what he's talking about to the Galatians.

[36:27] That is, all who believe are, as it were, children of Abraham. That is, we are offsprings of faith. It does not mean that there's no such thing as a child of Abraham through Isaac, shall your descendants be named.

[36:48] God did promise him descendants, and those are real. That's a real promise. The promise of the Messianic kingdom is a real promise, and God will bring it to pass.

[37:03] It's real. It doesn't mean that Christians have somehow are now named Israelites. We're not British Israelites.

[37:16] Israelites. Yeah, no matter. I may like the song, because I remember Chariots of Fire, that movie. Who's seen it? Okay?

[37:28] That hymn, if you will call it a hymn, it's not really a good hymn. That's a British Israelite hymn. And will Jerusalem, is Jerusalem builded here in England's dark satanic hills?

[37:42] And the answer is no. No. It's not. So, back to your point, yes, it does depend upon faith. And in that respect, there's a metaphorical child of Abraham, and then there is a genetic child of Abraham, a biological child of Abraham.

[38:07] in Galatians, yes.

[38:19] Yeah. In Galatians chapter 3, he does go through that. Now, but it is important to recount, recount, because he is telling Galatians, he's telling Christians, the church today, he's saying, look, your salvation, your eternal destiny, is based upon your faith in Christ.

[38:46] it's not based upon adherence to the law. Because, yeah, because you can't do it. Even in, and I'm going to have to stop.

[38:58] But, even in, even in the Jerusalem council, and they had a lot of people who were zealous for the law, those were the kind of guys that went to Galatia.

[39:09] Even there, Peter's going to stand up, and he's not going to say, you know, I was wrong back there in, back there in Antioch.

[39:19] I was, I, I goofed up. But what he is going to say is, look, this law of Moses is good.

[39:31] Well, he doesn't say it here, but we do see it elsewhere. It's good, and it's righteous, and it's necessary, and it points us to Christ. But, he said, it's a yoke that neither we, nor our forefathers, could bear.

[39:49] We couldn't, we couldn't do. The point of it is, not that God gave us something we couldn't do. The real point is, God gave us something to show us that we couldn't do it.

[40:02] Why? Because the glory belongs to God. Who's Passover? It's the Lord's Passover.

[40:13] Have a wonderful week. By the way, next week, you have a treat. You have a special speaker. I'm gone.

[40:24] I'm gone.