This exposition of Exodus 12:29-42 by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, September 23, 2018.
Intro:
It was night like any other night. Moms had put their little ones to bed hours before, it was peaceful and quiet. But this was no ordinary night.
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That night, as the nation slept a visitor moved throughout the land, a dreadful, unwanted and unwelcome visitor. The quiet was shattered by a blood curdling scream. Wailing was heard throughout the land of Egypt as the angel of death moved with deadly precision from house to house. Soon there was not a house where someone was not dead! Yahweh, God of the Hebrews had come in horrifying judgment demonstrating that He is sovereign over all things and that He alone has the power of life and death. The Israelites had come to Egypt during a time of famine. They came seeking relief. God had sovereignly preserved the life of Joseph and had positioned him in Egypt to be a savior for his family. Jacob brought his family, 70 in all, to Egypt under the direction of his God. Eventually there arose a leader who “knew not Joseph.” That is a leader came to power who refused to recognize Joseph’s contribution to Egyptian life and culture and because the family had grown and thus he feared revolt, he enslaved the Israelites. For centuries they cried out to their God for deliverance. It seemed the heavens were brass, nothing happened. But God had heard their cry. He had come to deliver them. And tonight, after 430 years they would be free! Our text this morning is found in Exodus chapter 12 beginning with verse 29.
Text: Exodus 12:29-42
Pharaoh and the nation of Egypt had passed through 9 plagues.
9 blows declaring, the LORD is God.
Yet, Pharaoh stubbornly refused to obey the word and will of God.
This was the 10th and final blow.
It is critical to understand this is not some epic tale designed to teach some religious truth. This is history. This is God working out his plan in the real world. This is an actual deliverance of an actual people. Our faith is not built on myth or legend but on reality. Our God created this world. Our God chose to reveal himself in a personal, unique way to a specific people. The big picture in Exodus, in the whole of Scripture is that God is sovereignly at work, saving a special people for his own glory. The Exodus event is to the Old Testament what the cross is to the New Testament. The demonstration of God’s glory in salvation. The Passover/Exodus is a picture, a foreshadowing of the God’s ultimate deliverance of his people through the cross and resurrection. The Exodus is a gospel event. The gospel is not a New Testament doctrine it is a biblical doctrine. It runs from Genesis to Revelation.
As we consider our text this morning we will see that…
Thesis: The Passover/Exodus event reminds us of the necessity and the centrality of the gospel for the people of God.
There are three great gospel truths I want us to note in our text.
- Our sinful, stubborn defiance of God’s will calls forth His sovereign and righteous wrath and thus demands our faith and trust in His gracious provision. (12:29-30)
- Because God loves, he extends his tender mercies and gracious watch-care over those who humbly trust in him. (12:42)
- God sovereignly brings his enemies to a tragic end while blessing beyond measure those who believe. (12:31-41)
Conclusion:
I’ve said this before in this study - if you choose to fight this battle. If you choose to defy the will of God you will lose and there is a high price to pay for that loss. Pharaoh is broken and his nation is in mourning.
The wages of sin is death.
Look at Israel in contrast.
They are free!
After 430 years of slavery they are free.
They did not leave the land empty-handed - 12:36 - “They plundered the Egyptians.”
All by the grace and mercy of God.
They didn’t deserve this - they were “graced.”
So it is for all of us, For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
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