Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - The Purpose of Passover | Torah | Exodus 12:1-32

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to 10-minute Bible talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jensen Holt McNair, and right now we're going through Exodus. Growing up, there were many days that my sister and I would be watching a movie and all of a sudden it would pause. One of us would yell, hey, and blame the other one for stopping the TV until we realized it was my mom with the remote. And apparently, she had been trying to talk to us. But we were so wrapped up in the TV that she had to pause it to get our attention. to make us focus on what she was saying because it was important. In today's passage, the author of Exodus is doing something like this for us.

Starting point is 00:00:45 We've been deep in the narrative of the plagues for the past five chapters. The last chapter left off with God warning Pharaoh that a terrible plague was coming if he didn't let the Israelites go, and Pharaoh, yet again, didn't relent. We're on the cusp of a huge moment in the story. It's the part of the movie where the music would become ominous and loud and you'd be glued to know what was going to happen next. And then the first 28 verses in chapter 12 lay out a very detailed description of how the Passover feast and the feast of unleavened bread should be carried out by the Israelites. There's a change in the pace of the story as we

Starting point is 00:01:26 slow way down to learn about how people should gather together and what kind of animal they should sacrifice and how they should cook the animal and how they should eat the animal and what they should wear while they eat the animal and what to do with the leftovers when they're done. It's a pause for the readers, but also for the Israelites living in the middle of the story. A pause to help them take a breath and focus on what God was saying to them because this part, it's important. And while all these details may not seem important at first, when we understand what they do, what they mean for the Israelites, I think we'll see just how important it is to pause and

Starting point is 00:02:09 remember what God is doing here in Chapter 12. Now remember, God has just promised to send a final plague and this plague is to kill every firstborn in the land of Egypt. And in the beginning part of chapter 12, God is laying out what the Israelites need to do in order to be safe from this plague. Like we said, they're given specific instructions on how to select the perfect one-year-old lamb, and all on the same day, they're to kill their lamb at twilight, make a feast with it, and spread its blood over their doorpost. Now, this might seem like an odd request, but God lays out exactly how and why they're being called to do this. On that same night, I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all

Starting point is 00:03:01 the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be assigned for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. We learn here that the Lord will be coming through the land of Egypt and striking down every firstborn of man and animal. And he is doing so as an act of holy judgment. We also learn that in order for judgment to not pass on the Israelites also, they have to take action. Only the houses that have the blood of the lamb on the doorpost will not face God's judgment. We're told that the blood is a sign, a sign that the people within have obeyed the instructions of the Lord, and that they are part of God's people. The first of the first

Starting point is 00:03:52 Passover is God's way of providing refuge and safety from his own divine judgment. This might seem counterproductive, but we have to remember who God is. He is perfect. He is holy. And while the Israelites are his chosen people, we know that they are a sinful, broken, and unholy people. We've already seen them shift their loyalties and grumble and reject Yahweh when things seem to go wrong. And we will continue to, continue to see this back and forth loyalty of God's people throughout the Book of Exodus. There's not a single person in the land of Egypt, Israelites or Egyptian, who does not deserve the judgment of the Holy God, Yahweh. And yet, this first Passover, God has made a way for

Starting point is 00:04:42 his people, those who obey his instructions and hide in his provision to be safe from his own divine judgment. The blood of the lamb substitutes for the blood of the guilty, and the Lord's judgment passes from the household of those who have placed themselves under the protection and instruction of Yahweh. And every Passover feast after this first one was a day to celebrate and remember who Yahweh is and what he has done for his people. The people of God would celebrate and remember this for years to come. Now, if you've read through Exodus before, you know, that the Israelites will continue to forget who their God is and reject him over and over again. But God is faithful to remind them of what he has already done for them, and to point them forward,

Starting point is 00:05:33 forward to a day when he would do the same for all of humanity. And he does so by coming down and living among his people as a man, a man named Jesus. See, Jesus celebrated Passover just like the Israelites around him. His last Passover meal happened on the night of his arrest, the same night that he implemented the First Communion, telling his disciples that his body would be broken and his blood spilled so that all of humanity could enter into a new covenant relationship with God. The significance of the timing of this event should not be lost on us. See, when Jesus is being baptized earlier in his life, John the Baptist calls him the Lamb of God who takes away. He takes away. the sin of the world. Later in 1 Corinthians, Paul makes it even clear by saying,

Starting point is 00:06:24 for Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. Just like the Israelites needed a sacrifice to take their place under God's judgment, we do too. But we don't have to go out and kill a lamb and spread its blood on our doorposts because Jesus was that sacrificial lamb for us. His blood was His body was broken as he took on the judgment of a holy God, the judgment that was meant for you and me. Jesus made a way so that when we stand before our holy, righteous God, guilty and deserving of his judgment, we can instead hide ourselves in Jesus

Starting point is 00:07:09 who stands before us, righteous and sinless. So just as the Israelites looked back to the Passover to remember, them of the goodness of their God. We too can look back at the cross and be reminded that we follow a holy God who provided a way for us to find refuge and safety when we deserve judgment. So today, wherever you are, spend time remembering what Jesus did for you. Go before the Lord and confess the ways that you forget, the ways that you continue to reject and run away from his care, his provision, his plan for your life. Then take time to thank God. Thank him for the way that he has provided protection for you from his judgment. You follow a holy God, a God who has made a way

Starting point is 00:08:04 in the darkness for you to live in safety with him. May we be a people who never forget that truth. Before you forget, sign up for the 10-minute Bible Talks newsletter. Hit the link in the show notes and you'll get an email every Wednesday that will help encourage you in the middle of the work week and bring you deeper in your walk with Jesus. Thanks for listening.

Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - The Purpose of Passover | Torah | Exodus 12:1-32

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