When I see the blood, I will pass over you! (Exodus 11-12)

When I see the blood, I will pass over you!

Exodus 11:1-12:30

Key verse 12:12-13*

Introduction: Today’s passage is about the final plague that God inflicted on Egypt. It was striking down all the Egyptian firstborn babies. By sending this plague, God delivered the ultimate force against Egypt and fulfilled His promise to Israel (i.e. freeing  His people from their slavery in Egypt).

What might be the significance of this event for us today? Does God speak something through this historical event? If He does, what might it be? I pray that, at the end of this message, we may come to clearly understand what God is saying to us today.

Without any warning, God delivered the ninth plague against Egypt, complete darkness lasting for three days. Soon after this darkness came upon Egypt, Pharaoh called  Moses and Aaron in and expressed his willingness to let Israel go, including the women and children, but he was not willing to let them go with their animals. When Moses said that the livestock must go with them, Pharaoh got upset and refused to let them go.

It was clear that, though he had experienced God’s mighty power, Pharaoh was not willing to submit fully to His authority.

Before he left Pharaoh’s presence, Moses delivered a final warning, the death of all the firstborns in Egypt,  including that of the livestock.

1.       Moses delivered the message of judgment on Egypt (Exodus 11:1-10)

Pharaoh was filled with anger and shouted "Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die" (Exodus 10:28). It was a tense moment. In Exodus 11:4-8, Moses delivered this message:

God personally would come to Egypt and bring death to all the firstborns. This would include Pharaoh’s son and the firstborn males among his slaves and  animals as well. Neither men nor livestock were exempt from God’s judgment, but He would spare Israel and all their livestock in Goshen, where no wailing, mourning, or even the barking of dogs, would be heard.   

After delivering this message, Moses left Pharaoh’s presence,  hot with anger. Would Pharaoh heed  God’s warning and release Israel?

According to what God said in Exodus 11:9-10, it was certain that Pharaoh would neither acknowledge this warning  nor release Israel before midnight, when the plague was to take place. This meant that the plague of darkness would continue through to  midnight, when the death of all the firstborns would come upon Egypt. Pharaoh was given warning and had the opportunity to escape from this judgment, but he ignored it.

What about Israel? Did God give them a warning? How did they respond to that warning?

2.       God prepares Israel for the Passover (Exodus 12:1-13)

God prepared Israel for  the time when He would personally  go through Egypt so that they might be exempt from His judgment.

Read Exodus 12:1-11. The Israelites were to prepare and kill a sheep on the fourteenth day, apply its blood to their doors, and then roast the sheep and eat it.

Exodus 12:12 "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”.

God would strike down all the firstborns of Egypt and bring judgment on all of their gods. While God’s angel of death struck down all the firstborns, He would take care of Israel differently.

 Exodus 12:13. “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”.

When God saw the blood, He would take it as an indication that Israel had killed a sheep and  eaten it, as He had told them to do, and would not destroy the firstborns of  that house. It also implies that, if they did not kill the sheep,   apply the blood on the door, or failed to eat them, then their firstborns would have been killed as well.

As God gave these instructions, Moses called all the Israelite elders together and told them the same message:

Exodus 12:21-23.

Here Moses made sure that they would do what they were told:

Apply the blood and do not go outside until the next morning; the reason for this was that, when the Lord went through Egypt, He would not permit His destroyer to enter those houses.

So when the elders went back to the people, they did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. Israel saw what God did to the Egyptians, while sparing them from many plagues; they feared God and they did what He told them to do.

So what happened?

Exodus 12:29-30

Pharaoh’s firstborn son died,  the sons of his prisoners’  died, and even the firstborn of all of their livestock died; there was not a house without someone dead! God’s judgment affected every single house in Egypt. It was sudden and without any warning or sign of sickness; they all died. From all the houses came the loud sound of wailing and crying for the dead. How many  died in all? If there were 3-4 million people, and each family may have consisted of 10 people, then we can guesstimate that the total number of deaths would be about 300,000-400,000 people; it was an enormous number. God did this for what reason? Its impact on Egypt was beyond imagining, but it is good to make some sense out of this.

During this time, there wasn’t even a single barking dog in Goshen, where Israel lived.

What does this tell us about God? Why did He bring death of all these firstborns, even of the livestock?

1.       It was God’s judgment for their sin: the sin of Pharaoh was expressed overtly in defiance to God’s authority; He told Pharaoh to  let Israel, the first son of YHWH God, go free. God was patient and gave them nine  plagues as a warning, but Pharaoh was not willing to submit fully to His authority, as the Owner of Egypt, of the entire earth. . Some may argue that it was God who hardened Pharaoh’s heart, but He only delayed  judgment for the sake of His glory. This becomes clear when we examine what God said in Exodus 9:15-17; He had already determined that Pharaoh was worthy of  judgment.
Sin was expressed in ungodly acts; they subjected Israel to slavery and  killed many babies, just  to maintain their power. This was offensive to God’s eternal character out of which He had created  and sustained life through His love.
In His grace and mercy, God gave Pharaoh plenty of opportunities. When one persists in his rebellion against God, His judgment is sure to come.
His judgment was not only on Pharaoh, but also on  Egypt collectively. Their sin was clear; not only Pharaoh, but the whole nation, enslaved God’s people, Israel. They killed the sons of Israel by forcing all the male babies to be thrown into the Nile River, so God’s punishment was  on the entire kingdom. It was the kingdom as a whole that was ungodly and evil. Egypt was against God’s first son, His newly forming kingdom.

2.       God’s judgment was also to reveal His sovereignty as the Lord of heaven and  earth and over the whole human race; He alone is the judge and will surely take the lives of those who disobey His command and challenge His authority. God’s sovereignty speaks most powerfully in His control in our  lives.
God demonstrated His power over all creatures, all the gods of Egypt, and all of nature—including the wind, rain, snow,  sun, and moon. His sovereignty was not conceptual or ideological, but actual, based on its uncontestable display throughout human history. There are many miracles in the Bible. None of the miracles are as  systematic or all-encompassing  of creation, as the ten plagues on Egypt. The most commanding authority is that of God’s control over human lives. The other type of authority that is comparable to these mighty acts of God is what Jesus did while he was on the earth; Jesus demonstrated his control over the wind, rain, water, and trees, as well as  sickness and death . No other gods have displayed their power in history as God demonstrated in Egypt. In this regard, God YHWH stands alone among all other so-called gods (Luke 17).

3.       Thirdly, God’s authority was displayed in order to show His mercy to Israel, His firstborn son. Through this mercy, God expressed His will to establish a kingdom that would stand in opposition to the kingdom of this world.

Why did God save Israel? Were they better than the Egyptians? If that was the case, then Israel would not have had to do anything when the angel of death passed through Goshen; however, in order to save them from death and judgment, God showed them His mercy. This mercy was awarded to them when they obeyed God’s commands to kill and eat a sheep. Why did God demand that they kill a sheep and eat it in such a manner? As we review, let’s look again at the details of the Passover.

The Passover

Let’s go back and picture what they did with the sheep:

•                    On the tenth day of the month, a man would choose a sheep or goat, a one year-old male without defect. He had to consider the size of his family and the size of the sheep, so that it might be eaten completely. He took care of the sheep until the fourteenth day.

•                    On that day, at twilight, he would slaughter the sheep, take some of its blood, and put it on the top and down both sides of the doorpost of the house.

•                    They would then roast the meat over a fire, rather than raw or boiled, and eat it;  God commanded that it  be roasted on fire.

•                    They had to eat all of the roasted meat and could not leave any leftover until the next morning; if some was left over, they were to burn it up.

•                    They had to eat it whole, from head to leg; they were not allowed to  cut or chop the sheep.

•                    They had to eat along with bitter herbs and bread without yeast.

•                    They were also to eat this meal with their cloak tucked into their belt, their sandals on, and a staff in their hand, eating in haste.

We can note three things: first, this is all centered on three activities, killing and eating a lamb, and painting its blood along the doorposts..  Second, this concerns  the attitude they had in doing these activities. And third, this event was tied to a precise time of the year.

First, they were told to kill and eat a lamb.

As we noted here, the biggest concern with this was what and how to eat.

There were deliberate specifications for the sheep: it had to be one year-old, male, and without defect. It had to be sheep or goat, though lambs were preferred because of their innocence and purity. There also had to be  deliberate  directions on how the lamb was to be killed and  roasted in the fire. It could not be boiled or fried, but  roasted. Once, God judged the whole human race with a flood, at the end of which, He said He would never again destroy men with a flood. However, God later showed His judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah by raining fire from heaven. The most prominent characteristic of God’s presence is fire; He appeared to Moses through fire,  at Mountain Horeb in fire, and  led Israel at night by a pillar of fire. God was called a ‘consuming fire’, so  future judgment will also be by fire. Roasting the lamb over a fire was likely to be a picture of the judgment that all men would face.

Lastly, there was a special way to eat the lamb after it was roasted; it had to be whole,   eaten completely, and served with bitter herbs and unleavened bread. It also had to be eaten within the house on  which the blood was applied to the doorposts.

About 10 family members surrounded a sheep. It was killed and its blood was collected and applied to the door. The whole sheep, without  cutting or chopping it, was put over fire. Everyone was dressed for a long journey, with a staff in hand and their sandals on. After the sheep was well roasted, the family would surround it,  take pieces of it, and ate them. The implied message of eating this lamb was clear; Israel was taking upon themselves that sheep’s fate  as their own. Sin brought death to Adam and Eve, and   death by flood to all humankind  in Noah’s day. God’s injunction on sin was also clear; when you eat of it, you will surely die. Since then, no one has lived forever; all have died. Israel was as bad as the Egyptians in their sins; but the sheep roasted on the fire was what  Israel should go through. Instead the sheep went through this and Israel was taking that credit upon themselves by eating it and taking it into their hearts. So, as an explanation to their descendants, they should teach them this:

Exodus 12:26-7. “And when your children ask you, 'What does this ceremony mean to you?' then tell them, 'It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.'”

God accepted their sacrifice of the lamb in exchange for their own lives. God was, in His great mercy, willing to take the life of a sheep in place of the Israelites. So, it was because of God’s grace for them.

Exodus 12:27. This was the Passover sacrifice to the Lord,  to meet His righteous judgment. It is the same judgment that He had imposed upon the Egyptians, but they were not given such an opportunity because of their rebellion against God.  

Second, they were told what  attitude they were to have when  eating the lamb.

They were fully dressed  for a long journey; they had their clothes tucked under their belts and sandals on their feet,  with a staff in their hand.

This signifies their  readiness to take a journey. As soon as they had eaten, they would leave their life of slavery in Egypt for a place where they could worship God.

This food was a source of strength and renewal for this long journey to the place to which God was calling them, where they would worship Him.

The lamb was to be eaten with bitter herbs and unleavened bread. Bitter herb reflects the bitter life in Egypt as slaves. The unleavened bread symbolizes the new life, which was to be totally different from the life in Egypt. So this action, i.e. eating bitter herbs and unleavened bread, marks a new beginning, leaving the old and taking on the new. It is to remember the bitter days of old life and to give thanks for the new life of holiness.

Third, the time is tied to eating of the lamb

This makes a new beginning of year and time; this is an epochal event that turns to a new era of God’s blessing. (12:1-2)

The Israelites were to make the month of this Passover as the first month of their year; they were not to use the Egyptian calendar system, even though they had a good system for counting days and years.  Egyptian astronomy was one of the most superb; they knew months and seasons very well for an early civilization, but God still told the Israelites  not to use their way of counting months and years. Instead, they were to make this month  their first month, so that every year would start on the month of Passover. The Passover would set the tone, meaning, and significance, not only for the next year but also for their entire lives. The spirit, power, and meaning of the Passover should be the foundation of their lives.

It was creating a new era as a new nation in God.

I remember the celebrations during the Korean New Year’s Day; this holiday was set according to the lunar calendar. It usually comes in early February of the Gregorian calendar, which is based on the solar system. This calendar is much more accurate than the lunar calendar in regards to keeping track of exact dates and seasons. Actually, the entire Korean society runs on the Gregorian, rather than the lunar, calendar.

When it comes,  our whole family  dresses up in our old traditional clothes,  go to visit  our elders and other relatives, and greet them with respect and honor. They serve us  many delicious and exotic foods, and bless us with their wisdom,  even giving us some money.   As all of my schedules are usually set by the American solar calendar, I seldom get to celebrate the Chinese/Korean New Year; for instance, this year, I  did not even remember when the Korean New Year was. This is a change of culture and  itself for me.

What do we need to remember about the Passover? What is the spirit contained in the Passover? It represents God’s solemn authority to judge  sinners and His mercy to save His chosen. Their very existence was because of God’s grace. This should be the driving force in their lives, since each year begins on this first month;  they should  remember this throughout their lives.

God wanted the truth and significance of the Passover to be effective.

If this was meant solely for that generation, then it would not have been necessary to make the two injunctions on the Passover that were to be kept by generations to come. Here the significance of the Passover event also flows over to us. By making these two commands God wanted them to carry the meaning and significance of the Passover event  over to the generations that would come after them.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover reenactment.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread was also described in God’s instruction to Moses  as part of what they were to do on the night of the Passover (Exodus 12:14-20).  The second added instruction  was for the Passover reenactment, which was also included in Moses’ instruction to the Israelite elders. So these were not  retroactive applications, but rather they were given simultaneously, along with God’s command about what to do on that night. This makes these commemorations just as important as the first Passover, when God actually passed over Israel. Giving these ordinances at the same time as the instructions for the Passover makes these two injunctions  as important as the immediate application of the Passover itself.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exodus 12:14-17)

Exodus 12:14 reads "This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD--a lasting ordinance”. The following verses (Exodus 12:15-20) explains how they were to celebrate ‘a day’, i.e. the Passover;  the Passover must be celebrated for seven days, also known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

First, if we read carefully, it says ‘celebrate it as a festival to the Lord’, with ‘it’ meaning the Passover. The Passover was to be celebrated as a festival to the Lord, and  was to be a seven day celebration. Also, during this celebration, they were not to be happy about what they had become, such as being freed from slavery or winning against Egyptians; this was a festival to the Lord. When we celebrate something, we always celebrate with joyful music, and plenty of food and drinks, such as wine or alcoholic beverages.  These are all to make us happy and to fill our lives with good things. But here the celebration is not for them, but to the Lord. How could they celebrate to the Lord?

Second, they were to remove all the yeast from their houses and then, on the first day,  hold a sacred assembly. They should hold another assembly  on the seventh day, marking the closure of this celebration. So this festival started and ends with a sacred assembly. This means that the entire week was to be imbued with sacredness. Sacredness has to do with God and His character; Israel was to participate in God’s holiness in order to make this festival sacred. How should they do this? They must remove the yeast from their houses and eat only unleavened bread. Yeast is what makes dough rise and makes it softer and more edible. In Egypt, yeast was used commonly;  they had eaten it daily and added yeast to their bread all of their lives. Thus, it is possible that Israel had never eaten  bread without yeast before. But why should they remove yeast?

Leviticus 2:11 “No grain offering that you bring to the LORD shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey as a food offering to the LORD”.

As we noted here, God would not allow yeast in any of the food offered to Him; it was a symbol of the Egyptians’ ‘ungodly’ life. This is further clarified in Luke:

Luke 12:1 - “In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy”.

So, using yeast connotes the ungodly influences of Egypt, and removing yeast was a symbolic act to remove all of those influences that they had acquired in Egypt. It was God’s command for them to obey and follow in His Holiness. Practically speaking, isn’t it odd to eat hard and tasteless unleavened bread during a celebration? But this was what God meant when He said that ‘they are to celebrate it to the LORD’. The Festival symbolized participating with God in His holiness and righteousness.  Then, were they able to remove the yeast and  not eat leavened bread for a week? Surely they could, if they were willing. No one would face any trouble doing so because they could do it. Yet, if one would not do it, what would happen?

Exodus 12:15b “whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel”.

Here ‘cut off’ means either to be executed or to be removed from Israel. So removing yeast was not a trivial matter. If one did not remove yeast entirely, then it was a direct offense to God’s authority and a violation of His demand for holiness. That person was willfully refusing to celebrate the Passover to the Lord.

What is the implication here? Israel was just freed from slavery by God’s mighty works. They did nothing  to free themselves; God did everything in His grace. Here, in His grace, God was willing to take the lives of sheep in exchange for that of the Israelites. Now Godwas asking them to join with Him in His holiness by celebrating this festival to the Lord. If one is not willing to celebrate with this in mind, that person would be cut off from Israel. Though God saved them without imposing any conditions on them, they must at least be willing to honor Him in His holiness and righteousness. This will or spirit to follow God’s holiness must be expressed by observing the Feast of Unleavened Bread. If one refused to do so, then he was not worthy to be a part of God’s people and would be cut off. They had escaped God’s wrath. It was the most joyful and victorious of moments. Out of this joy, in victory and thankfulness, one was to express honor by joining with God’s Holiness. This had to be a voluntary and willing decision and action to follow God.

What does this mean for us? Jesus has saved us from our sins by shedding his own blood; it did not cost us anything.  Jesus paid it all for our sake. This must be followed by a ‘celebration of a feast to the Lord’, giving honor to the God of Holiness by joining with Him in His holiness. The true honor, respect, and celebration to God are our ‘decision, will, and act’ of removing all forms of yeast from our old way of living.

The Passover celebration

The descendants of Israel were to reenact the Passover annually, at the same time and with the same manner. They were to choose a one year-old lamb, without defect, and they were to eat it roasted with herbs and unleavened bread.

God made this a lasting ordinance for generations to come. Through these ordinances, God made it clear to them that their existence as God’s chosen was founded on the historical event of their deliverance, which happened solely by His grace, which overlooked their sins and was to be remembered and implemented in their lives. Over the course of history, it became clear that the Passover reenactment was not able to bring about a meaningful change in their hearts and was only a temporary provision of what God would later do in Christ.

Just before his arrest, Jesus said this to his disciples:

– “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body." Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you.  This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins”” (Matthew 26:26-28 NIV).

The image of Jesus as the lamb becomes more vivid in  the next passage:

“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.  For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them” (Joh 6:54-56 NIV).

The Israelites killed and ate a lamb. The lamb died  in their place. Likewise, Jesus took upon himself the death that we deserve when he died on the cross. If this is to be effective in our lives, we are to eat his flesh and drink his blood. This is the same thing that Israel did on the night of Passover. Through this, Israel was not only saved from God’s judgment, but they were also freed from their slavery in Egypt. So the first Passover was an expression of God’s will to save the world through His Son Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross.

What God did on the night of Passover was determinative  of His will and purpose to judge the ungodly and  save whom He chose, both then and now. God did this through Jesus’ blood, the true Lamb of God.