gods lamb

Blood is important in redemption.

Blood is important in redemption.

God promises that when he sees the blood on the doorposts, he will pass over the Israelites (v 7).

Exodus 12:1-14

What can we learn about God’s Lamb?

God’s Lamb is a Changing Lamb

v 2

The lamb the Israelites were to get would change them forever.

The lamb the Israelites were to get would change them forever. “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall

be the first month of the year for you” (v 2, ESV).

The lamb the Israelites were to get would change them forever. “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall

be the first month of the year for you” (v 2, ESV). The Israelite calendar would be forever tied up with this lamb.

There are two important theological concepts from this.

One: God, with his sacrificial lamb, is making everything new.

One: God, with his sacrificial lamb, is making everything new. For 400 years, the Israelites had been in Egyptian bondage.

One: God, with his sacrificial lamb, is making everything new. For 400 years, the Israelites had been in Egyptian bondage. Now, God was going to give them a new life of freedom.

One: God, with his sacrificial lamb, is making everything new. For 400 years, the Israelites had been in Egyptian bondage. Now, God was going to give them a new life of freedom.

God continues to make all things new.

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor 5:17, ESV).

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor 5:17, ESV).

“According to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet 3:13, ESV).

Second concept: Time is centered around the activity of God.

Second concept: Time is centered around the activity of God. Every time the Israelites heard what year it was, they would be

reminded of God’s activity in Egypt.

Second concept: Time is centered around the activity of God. Every time the Israelites heard what year it was, they would be

reminded of God’s activity in Egypt. All time is centered around what God has done.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (Eccl 3:1, ESV).

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (Eccl 3:1, ESV).

The Israelites were to keep a weekly Sabbath, for God created the world in 6 days & rested on the 7th.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (Eccl 3:1, ESV).

The Israelites were to keep a weekly Sabbath, for God created the world in 6 days & rested on the 7th.

When meet on Sunday, for God raised his Son on the first day of the week.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (Eccl 3:1, ESV).

The Israelites were to keep a weekly Sabbath, for God created the world in 6 days & rested on the 7th.

When meet on Sunday, for God raised his Son on the first day of the week.

All history is moving toward the final consummation when God judges the world.

God’s Lamb is a Community Lamb

vv 3-4

“Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb” (vv 3-4, ESV).

This is a beautiful picture of community.

Instead of wasting lambs, neighbors were to come together & help one another.

Instead of wasting lambs, neighbors were to come together & help one another.

Even in the Old Testament, God expected his people to help one another.

Instead of wasting lambs, neighbors were to come together & help one another.

Even in the Old Testament, God expected his people to help one another. “If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you,

you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you. Take no interest from him or profit, but fear your God, that your brother may live beside you. You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God” (Lev 25:35-38, ESV).

“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house;when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?  Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard” (Is 58:6-8, ESV).

Is there a true spirit of community among us?

“There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need” (Acts 4:34-35, ESV).

Acts 4:34-35. “If anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need,

yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth” (1 Jn 3:17-18, ESV).

“We have the sign out front, but do we have the heart inside?”

“We have the sign out front, but do we have the heart inside?”

Do we really have the heart on the inside?

God’s Lamb is a Crowning Lamb

v 5

“Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats” (v 5, ESV).

“Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats” (v 5, ESV).

The Israelites were not to get just any lamb, but they were to get the best.

God has always required the best from man.

God has always required the best from man. When Abel brought “the firstborn of his flock and of their fat

portions” God was pleased (Gn 4:4, ESV).

God has always required the best from man. When Abel brought “the firstborn of his flock and of their fat

portions” God was pleased (Gn 4:4, ESV). “Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with

my whole heart” (Ps 119:34, ESV).

Are we giving our crowning worship to God?

God’s Lamb is a Crimson Lamb

vv 7, 13

“Then [the children of Israel] shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. . . . 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” (vv 7, 13, ESV).

God has long required blood sacrifices.

God has long required blood sacrifices. Here, God promises that when he sees the blood, he will pass over the

Israelites’ homes.

God has long required blood sacrifices. Here, God promises that when he sees the blood, he will pass over the

Israelites’ homes. Blood was required to consecrate the priests as holy (Ex 29:19-21).

God has long required blood sacrifices. Here, God promises that when he sees the blood, he will pass over the

Israelites’ homes. Blood was required to consecrate the priests as holy (Ex 29:19-21). Once a year, Aaron was to make atonement with blood (Lev 16).

God’s Lamb is a Clothed Lamb

v 11

“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” (v 11, ESV).

Why?

Because when God went through Egypt—as he was about to do—the Egyptians would throw out the Israelites faster than you could blink an eye.

Because when God went through Egypt—as he was about to do—the Egyptians would throw out the Israelites faster than you could blink an eye. In fact, that’s exactly the way it happened.

Because when God went through Egypt—as he was about to do—the Egyptians would throw out the Israelites faster than you could blink an eye. In fact, that’s exactly the way it happened. When Pharaoh woke up in the middle of the night to find his son

dead, he said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as you have said. Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!” (Ex 12:31-32, ESV).

The symbolic point for the Israelites was that God was about to act in a BIG way!

God’s Lamb is a Conviction Lamb

v 12

“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” (v 12, ESV).

God’s lamb had two sides:

God’s lamb had two sides: For the Israelites, it was a lamb for their pardon, their escape from the

judgment God was about to bring upon the Egyptians.

God’s lamb had two sides: For the Israelites, it was a lamb for their pardon, their escape from the

judgment God was about to bring upon the Egyptians. Yet, for the Egyptians, God’s lamb was their lamb of judgment—

without the lamb, they would suffer greatly.

That night, God went through Egypt & executed great judgment.

That night, God went through Egypt & executed great judgment. “At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of

Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock” (Ex 12:29, ESV).

That night, God went through Egypt & executed great judgment. “At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of

Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock” (Ex 12:29, ESV).

Judgment came because the Egyptians did not have the blood of God’s lamb.

Jesus Christ is our Passover Lamb