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A Sermon by Dr. Bob Griffin, Teaching Elder at Sovereign Grace Church
I. INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE FIRST PASSOVER
A. PASSOVER LAMB
>>1. TAKE THE LAMB (Ex 12:1-3; also Ps 103:10)
YHWH said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 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.
>>2. SHARE THE LAMB (Ex 12:4)
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.
>>3. PURITY OF THE LAMB (Ex 12:5-6; also Mt 25:32)
Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at sunset.
B. PASSOVER MEAL
>>1. RULES FOR EATING (Ex 12:7-10)
Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn.
>>2. ATTITUDE WHILE EATING (Ex 12:11; also Heb 11:28)
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 YHWH’S Passover.
C. PASSOVER PROTECTION
>>1. PASS THROUGH EGYPT (Ex 12:12; also I Cor 5:7; Jn 1:29; I Pet 1:19)
For 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 YHWH.
>>2. PASS OVER YOU (Ex 12:13)
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.
II. INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL PASSOVERS TO COME
A. SEVEN DAY FEAST
>>1. ETERNAL ‘MEMORIAL DAY’ (Ex 12:14)
This day [14th] shall be for you a “memorial” day, and you shall keep it as a feast to YHWH throughout your generations. You shall keep this feast as an eternal ordinance.
>>2. FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD (Ex 12:15-17)
Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.
On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you.
And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as an eternal ordinance.
>>3. IMPORTANCE OF REMOVING LEAVEN (Ex 12:18-20)
In the first month, from the 14th day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the 21st day of the month at evening.
For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land.
You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.
B. FOUNDATION OF THE FEAST
>>1. REVIEW OF FIRST PASSOVER (Ex 12:21-23; also Lev 14:6; Num 19:6; Num 19:18; Ps 51:7; Jn 19:29)
Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. For YHWH will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, YHWH will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.
>>2. RAMIFICATIONS (Ex 12:24-27a; also Luke 22:14-20)
You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. And when you come to the land that YHWH will give you, as He has promised, you shall keep this service.
And when your children ask, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you’ll say, ‘It is the sacrifice of YHWH’s Passover, for He passed over the houses of the people of Israel when He struck the Egyptians, sparing us.’
>>3. REACTION (Ex 12:27b-28)
And the people bowed their heads and worshiped. Then the people of Israel went and did so; as YHWH had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
C. FOR NON-JEWS
>>1. REGULATIONS (Ex 12:43-46; also Jn 19:31-36)
And YHWH said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, but every slave that you bought may eat of it after you have circumcised him. No foreigner or hired worker may eat of it.
It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones.
>>2. INCLUSIONS (Ex 12:47-50; also I Cor 5:7-8; 6:19-20; 11:17-34; I Pet 2:16-24)
All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. If a stranger stays with you and desires to keep the Passover to YHWH, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. There shall be one rule for both the native and the stranger who sojourns among you.” All the people of Israel did just as YHWH commanded Moses and Aaron.