Confronting for victory

Talk 

Quick recap of the last three weeks: 

1. Saved to be called - birth of Moses and his early upbringing 

2. Called to speak - God's call for him to go to back to Egypt so that the Children of Israel an be released. 3. Speaking to Confront - Confronting Pharaoh and the powers behind the throne that were holding the Children of Israel in slavery with all the suffering and cruelty it brought.

Today: Confronting for Victory -

 Exodus 11:4-8; 

Exodus 12:1-13 & 29-32

 Introduction

 I am leaving it to you to read the account of the plagues in full. Last week we left as the Nile was turned to blood, we noted that the court magicians backed off at the 4th plague, that of gnats and today we pick up at the last plague as the Lord hits hard and secures the release of his chosen people and prepares to put them on the path to the land of promise. 

We can also note now that from the 5th plague he only allows the Egyptians to be affected and not the area where the Israelites lived. 

This again shows more of the sovereignty of God. Egypt is being hit hard and paying a high price for the evil inflicted on the Israelites in their enforced slavery the stubborn and hard heart of the king who just keeps changing his mind and won't see the power of the Lord. 

Let's remember the Children of Israel are God's chosen people who are a people with a promise. They are also a nation formed through promise to Abram. 

They are also going to be called to be faithful to the promise and to sole allegiance the Lord. Failure will then put them in trouble and more! 

Perhaps Pharaoh symbolises many people through the ages right down until today whose minds are against seeing the hand of God and not least in and through the full ministry of Jesus. Much is said to try and destroy and rubbish the message. Christians are persecuted harshly in many parts of the world and more subtly in others. This has gone on for centuries. People still fail to see that the power of God, working through the gospel, moves on and cannot be overthrown or stopped. Don't lose heart when people accuse you, put down your Christian beliefs or belittle the message of the cross. It is to be expected.

Exodus 11:4-8 - The Lord announces the final plague [4] So Moses said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. [5] Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the female slave, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. [6] There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt—worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. [7] But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any person or animal.' Then you will know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. [8] All these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me and saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow you!' After that I will leave.” Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh.

Consider, before we see more: God judges sin and evil, and he rights wrongs - this is tough but how tough given what his chosen ones were going through? Think the cross - we shall look at it soon 

Exodus 12:1-13 & 29-32 - Preparation for the Children of Israel to leave including the Passover lamb, it's bloody and the terrible 10th plague on Egypt 

[12:1] The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, [2] “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. [3] Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. [4] If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbour, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. [5] The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. [6] Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. [7] Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. [8] That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. [9] Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. [10] Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. [11] This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the LORD's Passover. [12] “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 the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. [13] The blood will be a sign 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. [29] At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. [30] Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead. [31] During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested. [32] Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.” 

Observe: We are now at the critical moment of God's rescue plan that he announced he would accomplish when he spoke to Moses at the burning bush 

 Ex 3:7-8. Salvation is about to be delivered. It is accompanied by a solemn, and carefully planned, celebratory meal which involved a lamb to be eaten along with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast - a hasty meal. 

It is known as The Passover and the Children of Israel are told to celebrate it annually to remind them of the mighty way in which they were brought out of Egypt at the hand of the Lord - those details are later in this chapter. A serious injunction - the blood of the lambs, v7, is to be 'put on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs'. 

Why? Look at v 13, The blood will be a sign 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 Why is the Lord striking Egypt? 

The verse before, I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. The clear teaching of scripture is that there is but one true and living God - the Lord and all other so-called god's are nothing. As such they are powerless and unable to do anything - the Lord is showing what he can do, and, he hasn't finished yet! 

A matter of note too about the use of the blood - they are told / invited to do it, not made to. Not to do this would have had serious consequences in that they would suffer the same fate as the rest of Egypt! See also in the record of this terrible plague, vv 29-30, there is no gloating only a straight record of the horror of what happened! 

Finally, on this hear again the words of Pharaoh to Moses and Aaron having summoned their presence, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested. [32] Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.” 

And yes, the people up and off they go. There is a victory over the gods of Egypt and after this they are able to set off on the road to freedom - but Pharaoh isn't done yet but that's next week. 

I now hasten to remind us that Salvation, victory and the way to freedom comes at a high price and so we pass to our next, but not final, reading. 

Mark 15:15 & 33-39 - the agony of the cross 

[15] Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. 

[33] At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. [34] And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). [35] When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he's calling Elijah.” [36] Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said. [37] With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. [38] The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. [39] And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” 

The Price of Salvation, Victory and Freedom 

Very few details of the Passion of Jesus are given, they weren't needed, and again what we read includes extreme and cruel treatment. 

Flogging - this was the scourge and multi tailed whip with bone and metal on the flails. It could kill! Jesus was also mocked and spat upon as we see in other parts of the account. 

Crucifixion - one of the cruellest forms of execution. Anyone in the ancient Roman world would know what it was like because it was a common and public event aimed at creating fear. 

Jesus went through that out of God's love to rescue us from sin and death and it is guaranteed but, as the Israelites had to put the blood on their doorposts - they had to respond or suffer the same consequences as the Egyptians, each of us, and others who want the benefits of the cross, have to respond as it is not automatic. 

The benefits are being part of the Kingdom of God. His kingdom is breaking in, and, as part of it, we live under the sovereignty of God being surrounded by His saving love and being his servants to foster the growth and presence of that self-same kingdom. 

We are also headed for the promised land - more next week. 

I hope we understand that Jesus is not just the Good Shepherd but also the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world because that was laid on him and we hear that in his cry of dereliction - v 34, where he was totally abandoned by God. 

It is a quote from the opening of Psalm 22 and when you read, or reread it, it is amazing.

Isaiah 53 is also worth reading again, written centuries before Jesus, and I am limiting myself to sharing 2 verses- vv 4-5 [4] Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. [5] But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 

And because I mentioned lamb of God, I realised I ought to include v 7 as well: [7] He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 

So I want us to pause and reflect on our, yours and mine, encounter with Jesus at the cross. I want us to reflect on our response to it and so our personal commitment to the Lord Jesus - the personal relationship we have with him. 

Of course, the Passover was a shared meal because God's people belong together and in Christ, we are his body which is a corporate entity, so, we now look at the narrative of Luke 22:14-20 - the events of the night before the cross as Jesus celebrated the Passover with the 12 [14] 

When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. [15] And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. [16] For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” [17] After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. [18] For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” [19] And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” [20] In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. All Change, All New 

Remember, when Jesus has told his disciples he was to suffer, die and rise again, they really struggled. It didn't fit in with what they expected. In what Jesus says here, well, they must have been even more bewildered and as far as I can see this is the only place where Jesus spells out in some detail the significance of his suffering and the cross, which we have just looked at. 

There is something briefer in Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” But that's about it and here the significance of what he says is that the cross, next day, is the new and definitive rescue leading to salvation, victory and freedom. The start to the new exodus, the start to the road to the promised land, that is, the new heaven and earth which is the restoration after the fall, Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve said 'no' to God's only command and rejected him. Jesus is the second Adam who says 'yes' to God in the garden of Gethsemane just before he was betrayed and 'handed over' to the arresting party and so accepted the way to salvation, victory, freedom and life etc. When we share bread and wine, we participate in all of this . . . . 

And more! It is the meal where we recall, with deep thanksgiving, our salvation and recreation in the here and now which is finalised completely when Jesus returns. Again, a brief quiet to reflect as we come to share bread and wine in our Agape.