086 - The End of 430 Years

You pick up your Bible and one is more here than meets the is there something here for me. I mean it's just words printed on paper right it may look like just print on the page but it's more than Inc. join us for the next half hour, as we explore God's word together as we learn how to explore it on around as we ask God to meet us there in its pages welcome to more than talking that the planes and we today.

Today we come to the end of plate that they step out into a new life in Texas today finally realized on good morning to this is Jim and we are glad you've come back to our dining table. I actually do have coffee so we are ready to go and it's our delight that you have joined us as we take a walk to exes right now and as were going through Exodus were just making observations for you to follow with this.

We hope that you know if you're up to send novice Bible study or were hoping this is kind of making more courageous about just diving in just reading it and digesting what here and not worrying about the stuff that you don't get but catching what you can get because that's the way you grasp the story at first right and I think we underestimate the power of simple observation right a writer or an author tells a story a particular way because they want you to notice things and so that's hopefully what we are helping you do as you listen to asses notice what's actually there. And then were hoping to give you some some study helps us to how to pursue these things in a deeper level, you think you can pursue which is which is a large topic, but now because were both teachers. We tend to kind of want to just go off and talk about open so I found out we also to be intrigued and investigated for yourself yeah and and let you know the Bible was originally written to be read out right was an oral tradition kind of thing it's it's written down here for us which preservative thousands of years, but the story should be told in large gatherings around the campfire and the story itself. God has designed to communicate powerful truth. So if you can understand a story you have a huge leg up on understanding some gigantic truths that the stories helping you. Can't wait into so that's were looking at is the story the true story of the Exodus and dies. You recall Israel was is is in the process been sprung out of the captivity of Egypt.

He been there for four centuries. They turn into slaves of the Egyptians and gotchas.

I want you to serve me now, not the Egyptians, and he's gone through nine plagues and not today we come to the last plague that's going to free them from there And said that ninth plague was darkness.

Darkness that could be felt very, very dark and you all probably realize the darkness in the Scriptures often indicates separation from God, or that the darkened state of the human heart.

When rejecting God and so there's a picture in there that the entire nation of Egypt was subjected to this three days of dark darkness, the darkness could be felt.

We have so much artificial light weight to just so different in a particular sense yeah I was.

I was sure little bit later but Proverbs 4 gives you an understanding of what darkness is like Proverbs 419 the way of the wicked is like deep darkness they don't know over what they stumble right so really, darkness is being in a miserable condition and not be able to figure out why you don't know what's there. You don't know the state of reality can't see anything or understand it's terrifying. So today, speaking terrifying to the last of the well and remember that the Lord had said. Now this it will be the Lord's Passover and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. So remember that the last chapter had described he could memorize sassy right not only what was going to happen but then Moses writes this long segment of actual instruction.

Keep on doing this forever. Tell your children. This is the Lord's Passover. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This is very special is more than just another plate something really very special and something for which they had to prepare for tonight and so as we come into verse 29 chapter 12. They've done the preparation and the clock strikes 12 and the 10th plague you want to read for sure where verse 2929 and 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 captive who was in the dungeon and all the firstborn of the livestock and Pharaoh rose up in the night he and all his servants, and all the Egyptians and there was a great cry. Egypt, for there was not house where someone was not dead.

Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said go out from among my people both you and the people of Israel and go serve the Lord, as you said, take your flocks and your herds, as you said, and begun, and bless me also blessed me also so so remember got one. This is going to happen like this. And sure enough it does in the firstborn in the end, this judgment is no respecter of persons.

Right. That's why he says it not only happen to the person in the dungeon in the livestock. But even to Pharaoh himself right no respecter of persons and witches in a sense is almost the ultimate slight against the God system because Pharaoh himself was always considered to be a God. And so here's here's the living God himself being struck down by the real God. Hebrews no respecter of person so great and the small light.

So Pharaoh rose up in the night and he and he always servants and there was a great cry. There wasn't a single house or someone was actually were awake because a member they were in this darkness and had been in the starkness for three days and probably that the fear would be mounting right and if you remember back at the beginning of the plagues way back in chapter 4 when God first sent Moses to is to Pharaoh.

He had said now you say to Pharaoh. Israel is my firstborn. You let my firstborn go or I will kill your firstborn trait so that morning had been laid down at the very beginning of this whole plague process. Yet I was in chapter 4 verse 22 and 23 says you know, free my firstborn right my firstborn right or else I will take your firstborn right so that was a long time ago in the story. Not here. It's actually happened. Everybody was awake because look what happens in the next verse and 33 it says the Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land. In haste, for they said we shall all be dead so the people took their Dell before it was leavened needing balls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders. The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing and the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians said that they let them have what they asked us they plundered the Egyptian right and you realize that the plundering ideas. What happens when Army conquers another Army in the other stuff right in the stuff of their villages there defending presumably here Egyptians are plundered because not because of the war because it sort of given in to the power of God. Well, God has overwhelmed them exactly. And you know what occurred to me this week because I've been studying Genesis come concurrently with doing this is told Abraham hundreds of years before this.

Your people will be in bondage in Egypt but I will judge that nation, and when they come out they will come out. Rich Shea will plunder these options, rich or you might consider back pay for generation slaves working in these households. Who knows, but they do come out rich. There actually driven out. Remember the challenges for them to go and give you so you'll go right now God said in the previous chapter that when you let you go.

He's not just to let you drive you how was doing and the people here saying go away so everyone the green light is green light and the soul is going to 37 so the people of Israel journeyed from Ramses to suit to Sukkot about 600,000 men on output.

Besides the women and children.

A mixed multitude also went up with them and very much livestock both flocks and herds and baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt for was not leavened at least because they were thrust out of Egypt thrust out and could not wait nor have they prepared a provisions for themselves so they go from Ramses to Sukkot and Sukkot actions is generic term for just a tent covering it may not actually been a city, it might be that he's saying they went from the region, Ramses, and they just went out to where they pitch to pitch tents, so in effect to this day there's a there's a holiday in the Jewish calendar go Sukkot). It's about pitching tents is there isn't any. This place Sukkot is referred to here as if its actual geographical place has never actually been pinned to a map and severe variety of opinions about where this might exactly exactly, but they weren't living in hotels carrying everything without her carrying everything with him and and check out the size so 600,000 men on foot. Now if you multiply that Pharaoh had tousled right you talking about a wife and maybe one or two kids you're talking about. At least 2 million people million people. That's a lot of people.

How long does it take for 2 million people to walk by right right right and not only to me but even more people says this is a mixed multitude so this wasn't like they just snuck out of the middle of the night's massive massive exodus livestock in the flocks and herds.

I mean all of it. I'm carrying a lot of stuff because they were not only carrying their dough right for their next meal on their wrapped up on their heads or in their shawls, but they were carrying everything they had taken from the Egyptians right which will find out later in Exodus comes in very handy in the wilderness when the building the tablet.

Here is literally an entire nation that has that has everything that they own and there on the road and removing it is just you generally also got something to eat because the you know that the cakes they baked were unleavened had no yeast in them and will talk more about that second but that was just a necessity because God said get ready get set you're gonna leave tonight and so there was no time to wait. So this is a really important summary statement says they went out. Here's where they went.

Here's how many that when tears who all went that mixed multitude. There were Egyptians that when there were Egyptian, which doesn't become clear until the later in the book right there might also been other enslaved people right right carrying everything they owned and then the summary goes on in verse 40, and the time that the people in is of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of 430 years on that very day. All the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. It was a night of watching by the Lord to bring them out of the land of Egypt. So this same night is a night of watching To the Lord by all the people of Israel throughout all their generations so that we have again the instruction. Remember, this always brings it every year because this is massive redemption and I like the picture on night of watching God had told them. Be ready right ready be ready so that will always say go go and and what to do.

Is there there waiting in there watching for the Lord's action tallies and pictures inside their houses.

Remember they had put the blood on the doorway and gone in staying there until I tell you to go until I have passed over the judgment has passed by so so stay in stay behind that blood smeared doorway. So it's happened in there out and there on the move in there there truck them out of Egypt underwater across the sand so so again since is that this template is the Passover know after rep institution of the passive because God said I want you to commemorate this for a writer, and this is an important event and so it's exactly what he what he says to do so.

Need to verse 43 you see this whole idea of the institution. This memorizing evidence of the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, this is is this is the statute of the Passover.

No foreigner shall eat it. But every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him, but no foreigner or hired worker may eat it, it shall be in one house. You shall not take any of the flesh outside the house and you shall not break any of its bones time of this lamb now all the conjugation of Israel shall keep it if a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord. Let all his males be circumcised and then he may come near and keep it shall be as a native of the land, but no uncircumcised person.

Shelley, there shall be one law for the native and then for the stranger who sojourns among you.

So all the people of Israel did just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron and on that very day the Lord brought to the people of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.

So we get this really interesting intermix of narrative of the actual events that happened real people in a real place and time doing a real thing and this perpetual instruction that was to be repeated and remembered every year it's it's just an interesting way to prevent of presenting the story so that every year as you reading the passage you are also rereading the instruction remembering right right so it's kind of a retrospective.

In a sense PPO generations after this will read this is all that's why we do this Passover is all about.

It's about this true story of of our people being in the sense reborn as a nation.

When growing up and I didn't know a lot of Jewish people, but I knew enough to know that they celebrated Passover and it was kind of all one word mashed together Passover right thing, but it was not until many years later that I began to study the actual Passover and realize that the pass over was that whole idea of God raining judgment down on all who were in the dark and the only reason he passed over his people was because they had listens to him and sacrifice that lamb and put the blood on the doorway follows instructions that pass over passing by far since the passing out of judgment because of God's activity for our redemption is the big story you hear the big picture. Yeah, yeah, and it's like emphasizes a lot. The whole idea Passover is is going from one state of writing to another state right and and that at this point in the story actually all the Israelites have is God's promise of a land filled with my rent, I'm there stepping on in the desert is not like they can say well we have we found this really great place to live just on the coast or the dog later tonight will be pointless to know their stepping out into into the void. In a sense they came from the floor because that's the land that God had said to Abraham now. Right now give all this land to your descendents and so Abram lived there and] was from there that Isaac was born Jacob was born in the 12 so they can have the whole nation grew so they have some early experience right but it was for a cultural memory, sign our homeland denotes the right place, but in that time we don't know what is turned into him. It's really it's really a step of faith for them leave. But leaving one, one life entry into another life, let's talk about this this live and stuff LOL that's really the biggest the next that's next week. I know I now just a precursor is mentioned a couple times or many times you go past herein to say what that was. It was just the mechanics of the thing they did know when the leaves you have time for the bread rise but there's more going on than just that. Okay so you want to do want to wait out for next week you will have plenty here to talk about that box you okay well it's this talk about the bones in the bones yeah because if your reader of the old and the New Testament special New Testament something rings in the back of your head about the not break in relation to the sacrifice of Jesus the cross right as you remember it in the in the story.

If you read like in John 19 they went to hurry up the process of the death of the three guys in the cross visit go out there and break your legs and will die faster and when they get to Jesus.

He was already dead, so they did not break his legs and then and then John writes for snow that affects the fulfillment of prophecy right and it ties them together. Also with this Passover lamb. The lamb was sacrificed whose bones were not so, yes, so you are listening will just put this out here on the table. Every detail about this original Passover and every Passover sentence points to Jesus and but we sometimes that escapes us ingested over the top reading.

So as you go back and reread this passage. Pay attention now to things that sound familiar old or things that might be pointing to Jesus. If you remember I mentioned this, I think last week that John the Baptist, when he first saw Jesus, and behold, there is the Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world.

That was a pure Passover Passover reference and then Jesus himself said door.

I am the way and where that blood get smeared Passover on the door right passing from it.

Through a doorway is going inside to protection outside to to whatever your to do right so the picture here is going inside the blood of Jesus for protection from God's judgment and then going out through the blood of Jesus into a whole new life skill I have in front of me here because as I was about this.

I realize Jesus said this, but it might we might miss it in John 524. He said truly I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out past of death until I felt like Passover over right you have moved from one condition to another.

You moved out of death into life by believing in the sacrificial death of Jesus right so you know that's only one way that this passage points to Jesus yeah and there's a point where I forgot about this till just now were Jesus talks about the sheepfold being the good ship in John 10 and in the fact that he's the gate that goes into that right. If you think about the fact that many times he would they would sleep through sheep in a small small liquid was really closure is like a waist high wall in a circle that they would march through sheep into stay inside that, but there wasn't a real door right there, just an opening so often the shepherds would lay down themselves in that opening which kept wolves out from coming into that confined space so he not only protected the sheep, which is what happens here from the Passover. That door protects the ones inside the house. But then he also points to the doors away to come out from there to find pasture and right so that that imagery is really strong. So if you're listening that verse that were referring to is in John 10 verse nine I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he shall be saved is going through the door he saved, and shall go out and find pasture and find areas. So if you are listening and you have never read John 10 before where Jesus makes his repeated references to being the door in the way good Shepherd in John 14 recess.

I am the way the way the truth and the life: check those things out. Yeah, yeah. There is so much it's you we could go crazy. There's so much connection here, the images of who Jesus is that to this day. It sorta blows my mind that Jews were familiar with this story right don't automatically looking at say I see Jesus so right. There's a blindness it's there. Admittedly, that only God can, remove from them but I've talked to Jews who have come to Jesus afterwards and they said I don't know why didn't see this before. It's very strong so this is a so I'll put in my pitch for saying if your Bible reader. It's really a cool idea to simultaneously read New Testament and have signed gigantic links between them and you don't have to be a real scholar to discover them. You'll just be reading away a second leg reminds me it's more main page. I went there for us marinas passes all these little those light bulbs going off in her head because her read so many connections to these things, you know, shall not break my bones, you read in a couple of the Psalms on here that in the when John talks about prophecy being fulfilled enough break about Jesus. The only dog I have read that before I ever heard that. I know that this is this is a deliberate story connection that got together so that when Jesus comes, will go get it. Passover is a story of redemption. How God redeemed his people through no effort of their own. All they did was listen to what he told them and act on it at his word and do it and do it go in the door and stay there until the judgment has passed by. And then go out through the door just like he told you and so God continually through the rest of the Scriptures will say hey I'm the God who brought you out of Egypt. I'm the one who did that for you. You didn't do it for yourself right and there's that there's a very famous messianic prophecy in Isaiah 61 that I will really whole thing is that he will what has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners right and so I can work, pointing to Jesus. The story of redemption. The one who has set us free come to save us from yeah and that the passages in the Gospels is deliberately one of the first things we read past the one Jesus introduced himself and I went crazy reading in the synagogue in Nazareth where he had grown up.

That's right, his big public looked at Madeleine said today looking at right today. Yeah that's very famous very famous. That's his role and that's what God does here. Yeah I know, before week before we finish it. Just worth. It's just worth mentioning the very last line we read in verse 51 by the Lord brought the people out of the land of Egypt. Do you know how frequently that that phrase comes up in Old Testament sit on the God who brought you know I started to you. I don't really need to, because God just got reminds the nation over and over, the one that got you out of Egypt, when the pulled you out. It was a great undertaking of great power and the result of great love on his part for them. So every time a challenge would come up got asked to do something. It seems like bigger and crazier than ever before his the God who got you out of Egypt and that is actually a touchstone throughout the entirety of the Old Testament on the God who brought you out. So that's why don't you get past that line very close going verse four and 51 the Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt, out of the Lord brought the Lord so that's just this gigantic that if you want to look at themes in the Old Testament that something right there and something that God accomplishing up them, not them. Well, this actually will pertain to our discussion next week to Revelation 15 says to Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and released us from our sin by his blood series. Again, please from sin by his so could you say their captivity, Egypt is equivalent to our captivity arson will as the picture is that I gather right so you have asked free from captivity, but not of Egypt captivity to sin itself which you darkness and despair separation from God is that God is powerful and God is that wealth through the sacrifice were out of time and will continue to watch them is what happens after that. So join us next time will be starting the chapter 13 following the nation of Israel nation of Israel.

So I'm doing Joy's next mainstream church is solely responsible to contact us with your questions or comments report.