St Bart’s Anglican Church

Week 4: EXODUS – THE PASSOVER (Exodus 12) Discussion Questions

Connecting from last week: Last week we asked: How can you make worship a higher priority in your life? How have you gone with this over the last week?

1. Share with the group anything new you learned from Sunday’s sermon on the Passover.

2. Does it make any difference to your life that God is Lord over all spiritual authorities, all human authorities, and even life and death?

3. Why did God require a mark on the door? Didn’t he know where the Israelites lived? Explore the significance of it with reference to what was shared in the sermon.

4. What is the much more serious slavery, than the Israelites knew in Egypt. See Romans 6:11-18 (or the entire chapter).

Read Exodus 11:4-8 (and 4:22-23)

5. Why did God strike the firstborn in Egypt?

6. Every Israelite first born would be able say ‘I am alive because a lamb died’. And all the people of Israel could say ‘we are set free now because a lamb died’. Discuss the beautiful parallel with our own situation.

7. A friend asks you what Jesus’ death means to you. How do you answer simply and succinctly?

8. Why was this rescue to become such a defining moment for Israel?

9. Why was it to be remembered in the annual feast of the Passover?

10. Why were the Israelites to dedicate their firstborn Son to God? (13:1-2)

Read John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:6-8; and Revelation 5:6-15 11. In what ways was the Passover a sign to point forward to Jesus and our rescue?

What were the similarities and differences of the two rescues?

12. If someone was to ask you – “why do we have bread and wine regularly at church?”, how would you explain the Lord’s Supper?

13. What is one thing that the Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion cannot be? See Hebrews 7:27 and Hebrews 10:11-14.

For application this week: What daily rhythms can help you to give thanks to God for all that he has done for you through the Lord Jesus? How could that shape your days?

Talk 4/9 (Exodus Series): 7/8/16 “The Passover” by the Rev’d Dr Daniel Rouhead

Bible Passage: Exodus 11-12:32

INTRODUCTION \\ CHARACTERS AND PROMISES I grew up learning about the Exodus story from the famous movie, The Ten Commandments, starring Charlton Heston and Yul Brunner. From the film, it’s really easy to get the idea that the Exodus story is a clash between two powerful men. But, as we’ve heard over the last few weeks, this is far from the truth. To start with, Moses wasn’t that great or powerful. Moses acts like a prophet, bringing God’s message to Pharaoh and demonstrating God’s power through his actions. Pharaoh symbolizes everything about Egyptian culture and society, including a reliance on many gods and a willingness to exploit others for their own gain. God had made a promise to the Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and their descendants, that he would bless them and make their population and their name great. He brought the Israelites into Egypt through Joseph, saving them and the Egyptians from a terrible drought and possible famine. Despite this, the Egyptians forgot what the Israelites and their God had done for them, and exploited them. God heard their cries and remembered his promise, and sent Moses to deliver the people out of Egypt, not in his own strength, but through the signs and wonders God would perform through him. Last week Adam concentrated on the first 9 plagues or signs. This morning I’m concentrating on the last, the Passover. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals…The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12:12-13). The Passover is the dramatic conclusion to God’s plan to rescue his people from slavery and oppression. Pharaoh and his people are left in no doubt as to the identity and power of the God of Israel. Right at the beginning God said, “And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it (Exodus 7:5)”. God wants to rescue his people, but God also wants to be made known. The Passover tells us three important things about God. God is sovereign over all other gods, God is sovereign over Pharaoh and all human authorities and God is sovereign over life and death. Finally, as God calls his people to worship him in the wilderness, he provides the means for the people to worship him.

1. GOD IS LORD OVER ALL SPIRITUAL AUTHORITIES God had already demonstrated his superiority over the gods of Egypt. The wise men and sorcerers were able to copy the first two signs, water into blood and frogs, but couldn’t match God’s power after that. When God announced the Passover to Moses and Aaron, he said, “I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD

(Exodus 12:12).” In Numbers 33, which records the stages of Israel’s journey from Egypt, it is recorded that “the LORD executed judgments even against their gods” (33:4). God’s judgment wasn’t reserved for Pharaoh or the Egyptians as a whole, but included their gods as well. Remember what Pharaoh said back in chapter 5: “Who is the Lord….I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go” (Exodus 5:2). Pharaoh knows and relies on the gods of Egypt; but, through the Passover, God demonstrates to Pharaoh that God is living and powerful, not a mere idol or statue like the Egyptian gods. There are some who believe this “judgment executed upon the gods of Egypt” involved their actual destruction. Perhaps, the idols which the Egyptians worshipped were destroyed, those of metal melted, those of wood consumed, and those of stone broken to pieces. Jethro possibly infers this in Exodus 18:11 when he says, “the Lord is greater than all gods”. God is Lord, the gods of Egypt are not. In the New Testament, we see this sovereignty over other gods in Paul’s visit to Athens. Paul “was deeply distressed to see that the city was full of idols” (Acts 17:16). His response was to argue his case in the synagogue and the marketplace (Acts 17:17) – no plagues this time: “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. (Acts 17:22-23” Paul goes on to share the gospel with them. How do they respond? Some scoffed, some wanted to hear more, but some believed. Today it wouldn’t be hard to find a similar collection of gods or idols, though the objects and places of worship might have changed a little. The places of worship might be a sporting stadium, the stock exchange, a shopping mall or a concert venue. The objects of worship might be power, money, prestige, fame, or even other gods. The trap is that these so-called gods or idols promise the things that we think we need, but they can’t deliver and they don’t last. God shows us in the Passover that he alone is worthy of our worship.

2. GOD IS LORD OVER ALL HUMAN AUTHORITIES We see God’s sovereignty over Pharaoh in God’s initial instructions to Moses, before he has even returned to Egypt: “When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go” (Exodus 4:21). Last week, we heard that Pharaoh hardened his own heart on multiple occasions, but God’s sovereignty involves Pharaoh’s own heart. Pharaoh might be viewed by his people as some sort of demi-god, the offspring of the sun god, but he is no match for God. There is no doubt that the final sign is directed at Pharaoh in a more personal way than the other signs. When God announced the Passover, he said, “I will bring one more plague upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt” (Exodus 11:1. God is directing this final sign to the very top.) When the Passover occurred, no place and no family was spared, not even the Palace and Pharaoh’s family. The splendor of the palace and its defences could not keep God out. “At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn

in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon” (Exodus 12:29). God is making a very powerful statement to Pharaoh. It doesn’t matter who he thinks he is; it doesn’t matter how powerful Pharaoh thinks he is; and, it doesn’t matter how much he thinks he owns, Pharaoh cannot match God and none of this is possible without God. God gives, and God can take away. God is Lord, and Pharaoh isn’t. In the New Testament, we see this battle between God and earthly authorities in Jesus’ interaction with Pontius Pilate. When Pilate asks Jesus, ““Are you the King of the Jews?”, Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world”. Pilate then asks Jesus, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth”. Jesus finally tells Pilate, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above…” Pilate at least acknowledges that Jesus is innocent and doesn’t deserve the death sentence, but he is afraid of the crowd and afraid that news will reach Rome that he was incapable of maintaining peace and order in his territory and lose his job. It is ironic that Pilate authorizes the inscription which is placed on Jesus’ cross: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews”. Of course, Pilate is having a go at the Jewish religious leaders, but the truth goes much deeper. Jesus is not only the King of the Jews; he is the King of the universe. Jesus makes it absolutely clear that he is Lord, and Pontius Pilate and Caesar are not! How does that play out today? How do we respond when people in positions of authority over us want us to act in ways that conflict with our faith? How does God’s sovereignty over all human authorities work out in practice? When Jesus was asked if it was right to pay taxes to Rome, he said, “Whose head and whose title does it bear?” They said, “The emperor’s.” He said to them, “Then give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s”. The difference between money and us is that money bears the image of the human authority, but we as human beings bear the image of God, and so we owe our allegiance to God in all we do.

3. GOD IS LORD OVER LIFE AND DEATH The previous nine signs or plagues had shown God’s sovereignty over all aspects of creation: water, animals, illness, weather and even light and dark. In the Passover, God demonstrates his sovereignty over life and death, striking at the heart of the Egyptian’s spirituality. The Pharaohs believed they could live forever, but the Passover strikes this down, exposing these beliefs as false. “At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his officials and all the Egyptians; and there was a loud cry in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead” (Exodus 12:29-30). It might seem unfair and particularly cruel. What had these firstborns done to deserve a death sentence? In many ways, the Egyptians were reaping what they had

sown. The previous Pharaoh had ordered the Egyptians to throw Hebrew baby boys into the Nile. God’s response was delayed, but definitive: “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: Israel is my firstborn son. I said to you, “Let my son go that he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; now I will kill your firstborn son.’ (Exodus 4:22-23)” But God also shows his sovereignty over life. This was the only sign that required the Israelites to act. The Israelites were to sacrifice a lamb, a year old without blemish, and place blood on the doorway so that the Lord would pass over them and not bring destruction. God is solely responsible for their salvation, but God expects them to demonstrate their trust and obedience by responding to God’s instructions. In the place of the first born of the Israelites, it is the lambs who die. In the New Testament, Jesus is identified as the Passover Lamb. John the Baptist calls Jesus “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), while often in Revelation Jesus is called the Lamb. When his time comes, he does act like a lamb, meek and innocent, as he goes to the cross. It was to be without blemish (Exodus 12:5), denoting the purity of the Lord Jesus, a Lamb without spot (1 Peter 1:19). Remember Pontius Pilate, the judge that condemned him, pronounced him innocent. It was to be slain, and roasted with fire, reflected in the sufferings of the Lord Jesus, as he was beaten and mocked, even unto death, the death of the cross. Not a bone of it must be broken (Exod. 12:46), which is said to be fulfilled in Christ (John 19:33, 36), denoting the unbroken strength of the Lord Jesus. Reflected in the Passover story is God’s plan to rescue and save us through Jesus. Jesus has died, so we don’t. God offers us eternal relationship with him in Christ. Our response is our decision: do we continue on our path, or do we turn around and go Christ’s way, trusting in him and loving him with all we are and all we have.

CONCLUSION \\ WORSHIP & REMEMBRANCE God desires to be the God of the Israelites, and for the Israelites to be his people. God called Moses to lead his people out of Egypt so they could worship him. It should be no surprise then that, in the midst of God’s saving action, he provides for the Israelites a form of worship. In worship, the people were to proclaim the greatness of God and remember all that God had done for them. Worship would involve sacrifice, it would be costly, just as their rescue had been costly. Worship that is sacrificial demonstrates our dependence and trust in the God who saves us and provides for us, our God who is greater than we can ever imagine. Worship was also designed to help the Israelites remember what God had done. God said, “This day shall be a day of remembrance for you” (Exodus 12:14). It was to be passed down to their children and their children’s children: “And when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this observance?’ you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he struck down the Egyptians but spared our houses’ (Exodus 12:26)”. In the New Testament, Jesus gives us our primary form of worship by building on the Passover Meal tradition. Jesus transforms the meal so that those who share it remember and give thanks for Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, so that we might live.

Christ’s sacrifice was sufficient once and for all, so we respond with our sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11:23-25, “For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” Paul wrote further, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). Each time we gather and worship, we remember and proclaim all that Jesus has done for us. Let us pray…