Transcription downloaded from https://sermons.highlandparkbaptist.net/sermons/95187/deliverance-from-death-part-2/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] Last week we saw in verses 21-22 that Moses now calls for the elders of Israel.

[0:29] But the elders in this respect represent the people of Israel. They come as heads of the families of the 12 tribes. And so they represent the people as such.

[0:43] Moses rehearses in their ears the major aspects of the Passover instructions that God gave to him. And that is the slaying of the lamb and the shedding of its blood to place upon the doorpost and the lintel of the doorway.

[1:03] And then, of course, the eating of the Passover feast as well. And so remember the reason for the blood upon the post and the lintel of the doorway was so that the angel of death, if you will, will pass over them when he sees the blood applied to their doorposts.

[1:28] So that brings us to verses 23-26 where we left off last week. This continuation of the instructions that Moses is giving to the elders.

[1:41] For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians. And when he seeth the blood upon the lintel and on the two sideposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

[1:58] Ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons forever. And it shall come to pass when ye be come to the land which the Lord will give you, according as he hath promised, that you shall keep this service.

[2:13] And it shall come to pass when your children shall say unto you what meaneth this service. And then we'll continue on there with that thought. We'll look at something else here in just a moment. Take notice with me, if you will.

[2:24] Here's something that I want you to keep in mind for this evening. The phrase that says, and ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons forever.

[2:37] And then later on, it speaks in the last part of the verses that when your children ask you, which would include the girls as well, when your children shall ask you what does all this mean, then you have this to tell them.

[2:53] All right. Now, notice again, also, he said, you shall observe this thing for an ordinance. This thing literally is translated the word, the word word.

[3:04] All right. This word, in other words, you will keep for an ordinance. That is the instructions I give you as the word from God. You keep that as an ordinance throughout the generations.

[3:20] And then when you come in to the land that God's going to give you, you are to explain the meanings of this service, notice, to your sons.

[3:36] All right. Again, rehearse them, tell them to your sons. Now, think about something just a moment. It's the idea of passing on from generation to generation to generation.

[3:51] The reality of what God has done and how important that is, not just to the people of Israel. In this case, because of their experience in the Passover or with the Passover, through the Passover.

[4:05] But all of the work that God has done, how important it is for us to share that with children, with our grandchildren, with our great-grandchildren, if we have that opportunity.

[4:17] To try our best to enable them to understand somewhat of what God has done.

[4:31] Because you realize from generation to generation to generation, how much is lost, even in just the personal history of the family, of the church, whatever, the people of God.

[4:45] So it's imperative that some way, somehow, we teach that to our kids and our grandkids and on down the line. And I think the key to that, and here's the difficult part.

[4:59] The key to that is to make that as real and as personal to them as you can. I can pick on Ted. He's my friend.

[5:18] And you won't misunderstand this, will you? You'll take this so well. You really will. With his fist raised, I see that. Ted, a lot of times when we play golf, which we play quite often, he likes to tell golf stories.

[5:37] Like a fisherman likes to tell his fish stories. You know, about the courses he's played through the years and how well he did then compared to how he does today.

[5:51] All of those things. And that's fine. That's good. And I'm thinking to myself, I'm glad he got to do that, but I don't care. I don't really mean that.

[6:01] I'm just using this as an example, Ted. I know that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But you see what I'm saying is, you teach your kids these things, your grandchildren. And unless we continue to do that, it just really doesn't mean a whole lot to them.

[6:20] Unless some way, somehow, we can make that personal to them. Now, how do we do that? How do we make those things personal to them? The things that God has done in our lives.

[6:31] How do we do that? How do we make it personal to them? You keep telling them. Repeating it. By living it.

[6:45] Oh. Say that again, Ted. By living it. Ooh. Yeah. Yeah. Through your own life.

[6:58] Okay. That they see. They see how important God is to you. And I can't stress that enough. What do we do in our lives?

[7:12] To show. Manifest the idea and the reality that God really is the most important aspect of our life. My fear is there are so many professed Christians that end up doing just the opposite.

[7:30] You know, their kids. There's no. Nobody knows the hypocrisy of a family like the kids do. Amen.

[7:41] Yeah. Yeah. They. Mom and dad talk a big talk. But look what they do. First thing comes along. Takes them away from. Worshiping God together.

[7:52] We're gone. You know. Faithfulness. And all of that stuff. It's vital. That they see us.

[8:03] Serving God. Loving God. Knowing God. And how important that is to life. I've told you before. But you've forgotten. About a story.

[8:16] Of. Of a missionary couple. There were missionaries to Haiti. When I was in North Carolina. We used to have them come. To our.

[8:27] To our church every once in a while. When they were back in the. In the states. Just to give us. You know. A report of what's been going on in the ministry there. He told the story one time.

[8:39] About his daughter. Young daughter. And how she came to know Christ. And they were. They were riding back from a meeting somewhere.

[8:50] In Haiti. She was in the back seat. And she started crying. And they wanted to find out what was going on. And she told them.

[9:02] She. Wants. To be saved. And so. They stopped. And they talked to her. And then they asked her. After she professed. Faith in Christ.

[9:13] They asked her. What is it? What is it? That brought you to this point? Most of anything at all. What brought you to this point? And here's what she said.

[9:25] She said. Because. I saw. You. And dad. Live the life. That you live. Trusting in God. Loving in God.

[9:36] In spite of everything. Now. This was in Haiti. Haiti is a very dark place. Spiritually. A lot of witchcraft.

[9:47] I mean. Jim would talk about. Meetings he was in. And there would be people out there. A witch doctor sitting out there. Just putting a curse on him. That kind of thing. But they trusted God through that.

[10:00] And what happened is. The girl saw. Not only the reality of it. But the fruit of it. She saw how God worked in their lives. Because of that.

[10:11] So it's vital. That we do that. And that's what. That's what God is intending here. When he tells. Moses and the elders here. That this is what you'll say.

[10:22] To your sons. And to your children. When they ask. What is this all about? All right. Now. In verse 27 to 28.

[10:34] This is what you'll say. It is the sacrifice. Of the Lord's Passover. Who passed over the house. Of the houses. Of the children of Israel. In Egypt.

[10:45] When he smote the Egyptians. And delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head. And worshipped. And the children of Israel. Went away and did. As the Lord commanded. Moses and Aaron. So did they.

[10:56] So here. This is. Of course. This is. This is the generation. That was present. There. You know. When he's talking here. Immediately. When your kids down the road.

[11:07] Ask you what this is all about. Remind them. This is what it is. How God delivered you. From death. And brought you out of Egypt. Because of the shed blood.

[11:19] All right. Now. The children of Israel. Then went away. And did. As the Lord commanded. Moses.

[11:29] And Aaron. So. Did. They. All right. What a difference. Huh. God. If I go to Israel.

[11:41] And tell them. Or your people. To tell them. That God sent me. To deliver them. Who shall I say. Sent me. Yeah. Who. Lord.

[11:51] They're not going to believe me. Who should I say. Sent me. Now. The people heard. The instructions. And they did. Exactly. What Moses and Aaron.

[12:02] Told them. To do. So. They executed. The command. So that. Through the obedience. Of faith. They might.

[12:13] Appropriate. The blessings of God. In this. There's a key. Here's what you're to do. All right. God didn't give us stuff to do.

[12:26] Just for the sake of giving us something to do. Right. Yeah. He has a purpose in it. They realize. That God is now going to take them out of Egypt.

[12:40] And here's. Here's. Here's. The instructions we have from him. That we're to do. In order for us. To come out. To survive the death.

[12:52] And then to come out. They did that. And when they did that. By doing that. Whatever blessings God has for them.

[13:05] Whatever that's going to be. Surely it's got to be better than Egypt. Right. Whatever that's going to be. I'm wanting to appropriate all those things to my life.

[13:20] And the way I do that. Is through obedience. That comes. Through faith in him. All right. And that's what.

[13:31] That's what. The picture is right there. Now. First Samuel chapter 15. You can go there if you want.

[13:41] First Samuel chapter 15. You remember Saul. King of Israel. That. Went and did battle. God told him.

[13:55] What to do. And he didn't do it completely. Because man comes through. And says. What's the bleeding of these sheep. That I hear. And he makes all kinds of excuses.

[14:06] And said. The people. That were with me. They are the ones. That took the animals. The cattle. And the sheep. All right. Now.

[14:17] Remember. What. God said. Through Samuel. He said. He said. In. Verse 22.

[14:29] Samuel said. And here's the key. Hath the Lord. As great delight. In burnt offerings. And sacrifices. In other words.

[14:39] The idea. They brought the sheep. To sacrifice. All right. Does God have. As much. Pleasure. In burnt offerings.

[14:50] And sacrifices. As he does. In obeying. The voice of the Lord. All right. Behold. To obey.

[15:01] Is better than sacrifice. And to hearken. Than the fat. Of rams. All right. Then he goes on. And says. Rebellion.

[15:13] Is as the sin. Of witchcraft. And stubbornness. Is as iniquity. And idolatry. Now. I'm going to say this. We can come.

[15:24] To worship services. And we can. Sing the songs. And we can be faithful. In coming. To every service. When the doors. Of the church. Are opened.

[15:36] And go through. All the motions. Of serving God. Or worshiping God. Rather. But if we're. Not. Obedient. In our lives.

[15:49] To him. All those times. Of singing hymns. Mean nothing. Even.

[16:04] Elsa. Think of this. Even. All. Of the money. That we drop. Well we don't drop it.

[16:14] In the offering plate anymore. All the money. That we give. To the church. Won't matter. Won't matter. Now.

[16:27] If we're not. Obedient. To the Lord. God. Wants. Obedience. What is. Here's a question.

[16:38] I'm going to get all kind of answers for. You're going to have to zero in on my telepathic. With your telepathic. Powers. And figure out what I want. What is it.

[16:49] What is it. That obedience. Comes from. Out of love. Out of love. Well that's a.

[17:00] That nails it right on the head. When we obey. Genuinely obey God. That means God's got our heart. All right. Because we long to serve him.

[17:13] We long to be faithful to him. We long to allow him to use us to whatever degree and however he wants to use us. So that is. That is the.

[17:24] The picture. I think that we have here. They wanted to appropriate the blessings of God. To their lives. Now. Look in Deuteronomy chapter five.

[17:36] I'll never forget this verse. This is a tremendous passage here. That gives us the idea of the mind and heart of God and all of this. When it comes to the matter of obedience. Now.

[17:48] He rehearses all of the things that God has done. With Israel. And to them. To manifest himself to them. And so.

[18:00] Verse 23. Deuteronomy 5. It came to pass. When you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness. For the mountain did burn with fire. That's at Mount Sinai.

[18:10] Remember. That you came near unto me. Even all the heads of your tribes. And your elders. And you said. Behold the Lord our God.

[18:22] Hath showed us his glory. And his greatness. Jesus. And we have heard his voice. Out of the midst of the fire. We have seen this day. That God doth talk with man.

[18:32] And he liveth. Now. Therefore. Why should we die? For this great fire. Will consume us. If we hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore. Then we shall die.

[18:44] Oh boy. Amen. Wouldn't you love to be in a church service that way? When the preaching was so strong. And so good. And God blessed it so powerfully. That we just couldn't take anymore. Yeah.

[18:56] Now. For. Who is there of all flesh. That have heard the voice of the living God. Speak out of the midst of the fire. As we have and lived.

[19:07] Go there. Go thou near. Talking to Moses. Go thou near. And hear all that the Lord. That Jehovah our God shall say. And speak thou unto us.

[19:17] All that Jehovah our God shall speak unto thee. Now look at this. And we will hear it. And we will do it. Oh wow. Yeah.

[19:28] Go get them. Yeah. We'll charge hell with a water pistol. If he tells us to. Now. Verse 28. The Lord heard the voice of your words.

[19:40] When you spake unto me. And the Lord said unto me. I have heard the voice of the words of this people. Which they have spoken unto thee. They have well said.

[19:51] All that they have spoken. Now look at verse 29. Oh. That there were such a heart in them. That they would fear me.

[20:03] And keep all my commandments always. That it might be well with them. And with their children forever. Oh.

[20:16] That they would fear me. That's to inspire reverence. And to stand in awe of him. Oh. Oh. If only they would do that. Think about that just a minute.

[20:28] Here they are. Camped at Sinai. And all the things that transpire there. They hear the voice of God. They hear the voice of God. And they quake in their boots.

[20:41] They are in awe. And fearful awe. Of who and what Jehovah God is. As much as they have discerned. And God says. Oh.

[20:52] If only. If only. They had the type of heart within them. God knew they didn't. If only they did. And I think the idea here is probably.

[21:06] If only they had that kind of heart. That would continue on forever and ever. Think of the things I could bless them with. Hmm. Yeah. Now. Same thing for us folks.

[21:16] Amen. That's why it always does us well. To give a good spiritual checkup to our heart. In our relationship to the Lord. Verses 29 and 30.

[21:28] Now. Came to pass that at night. Excuse me. At midnight. The Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. From the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne.

[21:41] Under the firstborn of the captivity. That was in the dungeon. All the firstborn of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night. He and all of his servants. And all the Egyptians.

[21:53] And there was a great cry in Egypt. For there was not a house. Where there was not one dead. Now. Again. Call your attention. Verse 29. At midnight.

[22:05] The Lord smote all the firstborn in the land. From the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne. All right. Talk about a son. All right.

[22:16] The son of Pharaoh. Keep that in mind. So. The last blow. Announced to Pharaoh. Took place at. The half of night. Or at midnight.

[22:28] As we've seen before. When all of Egypt. Was asleep. According to Matthew 25. That startled. The king was startled. Out of sleep.

[22:38] As well as his people. To find out. And discover. What took place here. Remember. The previous. All the previous plagues. Pretty much. Were brought upon Egypt.

[22:51] By Moses. Using his staff. And most of them. Had somewhat to do. With natural resources. If you will. But this time.

[23:01] Moses and Aaron. Did nothing. This time. This comes. Directly. From. The hand. Of God.

[23:14] Inflicted. By him. And him alone. So that. Pharaoh. And all of Egypt. Could recognize.

[23:28] How powerful God is. His omnipotence. All right. It's amazing to me. Truly amazing to me.

[23:43] How. Short a memory span. Pharaoh had to have. I mean. It's not just the fact.

[23:54] That his son died. But there wasn't a household. In Egypt. Where somebody. Didn't die. That night. He had to know.

[24:07] This was from God. From Jehovah. And he gives indication of that. But then what happens. After.

[24:18] Israel. Boogies out of Egypt. Yeah. He changes his mind. That old. Hardened. Heart. Is.

[24:29] An obstinate heart. Is saying. I. He can't get away with this. All right. Now. Let's. Move on here a minute. Now.

[24:41] Take note of something. Just a minute. Again. Every household. Had someone die. In it. That night. From the son of Pharaoh. Who will sit upon his throne. All right. Indication here.

[24:56] You know. We. Someone asked the question here. A while back. Was it. Boys. And girls. Males. And females. That died. Being first born.

[25:07] Or was it just the sons. It's not. Made completely clear. But this kind of gives us an indication. It was the sons. All right.

[25:19] The first born. Males. That died. Now. Can't say that for certain. But kind of get an indication here. And there's a reason for that.

[25:31] And it kind of. There's something that happens a little bit later. That kind of solidifies that. Now. And that's in Exodus chapter 13. Which we'll not get to.

[25:42] God tells Israel. In that. In that chapter. To sanctify. All the first born males. They're his.

[25:53] They're his. Because he spared them from death. They're his. All right. Now. Verse 31 and 32. Exodus 12. He called for Moses and Aaron by night.

[26:08] And said. Rise up and get you forth from among my people. Both you and your children of Israel. Go serve Jehovah. As you said. Also take your flocks and your herds. As you have said.

[26:18] And be gone. And bless me also. What a difference. Right. Two things here. Whatever happened to the mandate. Don't you ever come to me again.

[26:30] Or you'll die. I'll put you to death. Here. After midnight. He calls them. He calls for Aaron and Moses. Said.

[26:43] Get yourself out of here. Go serve your. Your God. Take your cattle. Your children. Your wives. Your. Every. Just get out.

[26:54] Get out completely. All right. Change of heart here. God. But. Look at that last little phrase here. This last little phrase gives us.

[27:09] True indication. That Pharaoh knew. This was Jehovah God. That caused this. Be gone.

[27:21] And bless me. Also. Go. Different circumstances here. He calls for Moses and Aaron. In spite of what he had said before.

[27:33] Tells them to get out. But his last words to them. Pharaoh's last words to Moses and Aaron. Go. And bless me.

[27:44] Also. The only other times. That he has asked. For them to intercede. For.

[27:55] For him. Before Jehovah. Was to have plagues removed. Now. Bless me. Also. As you go. This is kind of a.

[28:06] To bless here is the idea. It's kind of a. A. A. Fare thee well. Moment. All right. Adios amigos. You know. Sayonara. And all that.

[28:18] That's. That's the. The term here. That's used. As the idea of. You know. It's not really. Bidding them farewell. But it's. Kind of the same type thing. But the idea.

[28:29] Of bless me. Also. What do you think. That might be. That just seems. Strange there. Might be that. As you. I'm going to get rid of.

[28:41] All my problems. Now. You're going to be out of here. That's going to be. Blessing me. I got a. I got a. I got a. I got a. I got a. Okay. Okay. I think another thing. It could possibly be.

[28:52] Is that. They recognize. The power. Of this God. And. By blessing me. Give me a piece of that action. Kind of like in the New Testament times.

[29:02] Where they kept saying. I don't know how you did that. Paul. And Silas. But I want. What you have. But even more so. Think about it. Just a moment.

[29:12] Pharaoh. Pharaoh. I mean. All of Egypt has been devastated. Completely now. Not only the plagues that have come.

[29:23] But now this last blow from the hand of God. In the death of the firstborn. Weeping and wailing throughout the. Throughout the kingdom. Now.

[29:36] He wants to be sure. That that doesn't ever happen again. From the hand of Jehovah God. And that's the idea here. Bless me.

[29:49] With the blessing of your God. In other words. Bless me in such a way. That I can be certain. That this will never happen again. From the hand of Jehovah.

[30:00] Because he knows it can. Yeah. But. He's telling Moses. Because I mean after all. He knows that Moses and Aaron. Particularly Moses.

[30:11] Has a. Has a. A good rapport with Jehovah. All right. God listens to him. So. In Lyon's vernacular.

[30:23] Moses. Please. Again. Intercede here. In such a way. That God will not. Allow. This. To happen to us. Again. From his hand.

[30:34] Okay. He wants to be assured. Of that. Of that blessing. There again. What a. What a. What a change. That comes later.

[30:47] When. He pursues them again. All right. Now. Verse 33. The Egyptians were urgent upon the people. That they might send them out of their land in haste.

[31:00] For they said. We be all dead men. Urgent upon is literally. To press hard. To make haste. To send them out of the land. To make haste. To send them out of the land.

[31:10] So the idea here is. The Egyptians urged. The Israelites. To accelerate their departure. Because they said. We be all dead men.

[31:23] We're all exposed to death here. I mean. What makes them think. That they. The firstborn might be the only ones. Amen.

[31:33] That die. They know how obstinate Pharaoh's been. They know that. All right. What's to keep God from just wiping all of them out.

[31:46] So. Such great fear created in their hearts here now. Because of what God had done. With the firstborn. Verses 40. 34 through 36. And the people took their dough before it was leavened.

[32:03] Their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders. And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses. And they borrowed the Egyptians jewels of silver, of gold, and raiment.

[32:15] The Lord gave favor in the sight of the Egyptians so that they lent them. Again. This is King James rendering. Unto them such things as they required. Literally the idea to borrow is to ask for it or require it of them.

[32:30] All right. We've seen that again back in chapter 11. All right. I mean after all. You know God said they.

[32:42] They had found favor in the eyes of the Egyptians. They were good neighbors. Israel was. And they made friendships with some of them. And so. Now.

[32:54] Now. After what happened at midnight. They would do anything Israel as neighbors would ask them to do.

[33:08] Can I have all your jewelry? Yeah. Yeah. So they were willing to do that. All right. I think they would have been willing to do that without the death of the firstborn. But boy the death of the firstborn and the fear that came into them because of that.

[33:22] Just accelerated their gladness to do that. All right. So they left. With all the stuff they needed.

[33:34] To construct the tabernacle. All right. Now. We've seen that before. And. So. I think. What we ought to do.

[33:46] Is. Close right there. Because think of this. Just a moment. The picture prior to them borrowing stuff. Was the idea that they. I mean. They were going to leave in a hurry.

[33:57] Right. God told them to do that. When they. Got the instructions for the Passover. Shoes on your feet. Ready to go. And so.

[34:09] As. They get ready to go now. After the death of the firstborn. They just had to grab. Grab what they could. In particular. The dough. The dough. For the bread.

[34:21] For their journey. And their kneading troughs. And so forth. Utensils. To prepare all that stuff. It's all they could take.

[34:32] It's all they had time to take. To gather up. And that's what we see here. Even to the point. That they were so. Hurried. To do all of this.

[34:44] No doubt. They had already prepared dough. But they had not put in the leaven. That. They were going to put in there. That they naturally would.

[34:54] They were going to leaven the bread. To take on their journey. All right. But there wasn't time. So they grabbed the unleavened bread. And the stuff they needed.

[35:06] To need all of that. And then. Remember. After the exodus. God institutes. The. The feast of unleavened bread.

[35:18] That they were to. To observe. For seven days. Eating unleavened bread. And. And. That commemorating.

[35:29] The fact that God. Delivered them. And brought them out of Egypt. Okay. All right. So we'll kind of pick that up. Next week. Let's pray. Father. Thank you again. For your loving kindness.

[35:40] And your goodness and grace. And. Again. For the time you've given us together. In your word. Thank you for that. And Father. I thank you. That you've provided that for us. To enable us to see.

[35:50] So many things. Not only what you've done. But who you are. And how that translates. To our. Your love for us. And provisions for us. So Father. Thank you for that. And now.

[36:01] Thank you again. For these precious folks. That come week after week. To hear your word. And. Because they love you. And they love your word. And so. Continue to bless them. And feed them.

[36:12] Personally. In their lives. Through what you've shown them. And we'll thank you for it now. In Jesus name. Amen.

[36:23] Thank you.