087 - Making a Memory With Matzo

You pick up your Bible and one is there 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 last week. Israel finally left the captivity of Egypt are not slaves when in the desert now is talk about how you survived the significance of unleavened bread.

So something just important happen and let's figure out what it is today.

On more than Inc. Dorothy Jim Emerson neared our dining room table and been talking about the Passover in Exodus chapters 12 and 13, and today working in a chapter 13 so I would like to review the Passover whole lot you can certainly go to website and listen to the.

The log shows there that's more than Inc.org but but suffice it to say Passover is the event of the Old Testament. What is the defining event of the nation of Israel. When God brought them out Egypt by passing over the blood on the doorway that protected them so I know that I have a lot more to say. Just glad here with us today and we need to talk today about 11 about the firstborn about redeeming the firstborn about the ceremony of remembering so all of that is packed into chapter 13 yeah, and before getting to the know if I was writing the nuts and bolts. The story like okay so you got 2 million people walking right does right do we have some logistic problems and where to go next. What shop to 14 between them before talk about all that necessary real-life kind of stuff. God is very very deliberate in this disabled guy. I want you all to understand the importance what just happened really important. So that's kind of what were looking at today was God's making a very deliberate point that this is something very, very important, very simple just happened and don't forget it before you get all wrapped up with so that's earlier today so you're starting a chapter 13 sure that first couple verses. Well it's interesting because he starts out talking with firstborn and then he jumps immediately into the feast of unleavened bread, and then circles back to the firstborn so here we go.

Chapter 13 verse one the Lord said to Moses, consecrate, to me, all the firstborn whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel. Both man and beast is mine.

Then Moses said to the people remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery. For by a strong hand. The Lord brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be not you want read on the list.

As he's opened all the boxes that he is interesting thing we know that on the last play that God took the firstborn as that template right now were bringing up this firstborn thing again, this is consecrate to meet all the firstborn, it sounds you know it seldom was threatening away, but this is not a threat to Israel what he saying is, is an important issue going on.

We talk about the firstborn that to some degree is lost on us. In modern culture, but with the firstborn is all or any right that's a really really big deal so let's just stop right there and he says consecrate to me all the firstborn and I was curious about that consecrate word. It's only been used once before in the Old Testament before this and that was during the creation account when God when God blesses the seventh day, and he made it holy. It's this work so is, is an idea of setting apart thing. This is different from everything else.

The seventh day was different from the other six so he saying here's what I want you to set apart is different, and holy and action dedicated to me your firstborn because the firstborn signifies something signify something super important and in ancient cultures, the firstborn was traditionally the one who carried on the business of the father right right so he was even as he became came of age, became an older adolescent than a young man, he could actually hold contract negotiations with people on the right of his father and he and his father were really one in terms of what their what was going on so you could say the firstborn is the one who perfectly carried forward the will of the father, so you could look at this and say from God's perspective. I want your firstborn to be my firstborn. I want them to carry on my will. I want them to be prominent in that role, and again when we look at the the 10th plague which was the death of the firstborn in Egypt. What God was saying through that very clearly was your next generation will not carry forward your will and I if I can death of the future. Indeed, there might not even next generation. If you only had one child write it exactly. In fact, every business is a small memory to go but I remember reading about a particular Pharaoh who there was an inscription in place about his son, saying this son will become king of Egypt, which is you know it. In normal Egyptian culture will, of course, he was always a firstborn, but in this particular case, the sun was not the firstborn. So in a way they had to write it down on the stone to guarantee that it would happen. A lot of people speculate that that was the Pharaoh that happened when the firstborn died. That's really true or not but the idea was that the firstborn would do this they would carry forward the will of the father seamlessly. So when he says here consecrate to me. A firstborn that's exactly saying this this nation and your firstborn will carry forward seamlessly.

My will is father so that's all been wrapped up with his entire thing this entire thing was sheerly biological point of view were talking about carrying on the next generation you life will go forward because now there is a guarantee of the next generation because the firstborn has opened the will write exactly no matter who follows were guaranteed of the next generation that continuing the continuity of the learning content father yeah and so and so when when Moses talks to Pharaoh and he says to him that God says that Israel was my first right back in chapter 4, Israel's my firstborn what he saying is that Israel is the one who will seamlessly carry forward my will in the world still represent what when I'm all about going on yourself that idea of inheriting the purpose and will father is total for the firstborn to this rule can well not just inheriting the purpose and whelming hearing this stuff yeah yeah exact firstborn inherits you, you being literally part of family so you know if you're listening, you can look up inherit inheritance firstborn and look for a connection between those two things it across the Scriptures you will find some interesting things you your concordance. I had someone come to me just this week and asked me after up after Bible study where headman stitches classic concordance. What is showing now and so I had the pleasure of pulling one off the shelf and showing her how it worked and she walked out to get these ice chest immediately saw the necessity of it as it is a good tool so if you don't have one. I would explain what it is. Well concordance were there. That is listing of all the terms all the word that everywhere in the Bible and exhaustive concordance will have every single word and then you can look up that word and all references were all references where it shows that that's where I was going and if you have a Strong's concordance.

It will give you a number that you can then look in the back and find the Hebrew to Greek definition for that word. So that is a powerful powerful to give you a one to one correspondence between English word and he brainwashed Greek with original works okay so now we need to press on that line.

Talk about so we just got cut short in his summary. No leavened bread shall be eaten okay so's move on from there we went to get there for okay so today in the month of a behavior going out, and when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and the women I lost my place, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you okay so all those peoples are named in Genesis 15 when God made the original promise date.

I have to Jebusites live in Jeb's Jack is its original name for Jerusalem okay so all those people which he swore to your fathers to give you a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this service in this month, seven days you shall eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day there shall be a feast of the Lord I'm leavened bread shall be eaten for seven days. No leavened bread shall be seen with no leavened shall be seen with you in all your territory you shall tell your son on that day. It's because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt and it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and his memorial between your eyes. That the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand. The Lord has brought you out of Egypt, you shall therefore keep this statute and its appointed time to hear okay. We got stopped there you have the Lord brought you our lives.

Are you at it's emphasized over and over and over in this feast of unleavened bread is meant for you to remember the details of what happened in Corsi leavening is just east so raised bread comes from Jesus what Levin is and and were so technically advanced.

We know that yeast multiplies Indo so a small amount of yeast putting the dough will multiply unleavened gold and everybody who deals with bread dough knows this. A notice right when they've known it from the very beginning. Put your 11 in the bread and it puffs addresses food science 101 okay so take your concordance and look up Levin and unleavened and you will turn up some fascinating things were not coming take a whole lot of time, but but look and see how the New Testament unpacks the meaning of this leavened Jesus used that phrase a whole lot.

He said now beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the scribes and Sadducees right it's hypocrisy is untruth, its wickedness, so you look that up and read this passage is slow yeah and if you find the ones in first Corinthians 5. Oh yes I have that opened in front of me ask how do you contact is interesting in that in the church in Corinth.

There was some of those guys right just nasties right.

In pulses you know you to take action against you just can't leave them there right because used as an example right and he says don't you know that a little leaven leavens the whole lot. This is in verse six of a first convinced by cleaning out the old leaven, that you may be a new lab just as you are in fact unleavened for Christ, our Passover has been sacrificed.

Let us therefore celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth is a lot of things time.

Oh my goodness yeah leaven if left unattended to will multiply. He's basically saying this particular guy you take action against him and get him out of the congregation because he'll infect the whole congregation grant at the big deal since, but then he ties into Passover Passover Passover for us. When they left Egypt and they were carrying unleavened dough because they were needed very quickly. Time to wait around for to puff up what is the connection here and is the connection the contamination of the culture of Egypt, that perhaps is don't take that with you so you could make. You can make a whole bunch of kind of connections are just camping that little bit, but in any case, they institute this seven day feast of unleavened bread, clean out the old leaven celebrate it now. It the first day of the feast. It's we learn from the New Testament, the first day of the feast is when the Passover lamb sacrifice and then there's the seven days of unleavened bread follow neatly fall that just like in the story it doesn't right right you have the Passover lamb ran.

You have so in effect to this very day are members of my Jewish neighbors they would do this the beginning of Passover. One of the one of the rituals they do is they go through the house ceremonially right and search for every bit of yeast that's there every yeast bread that's in there and they would even go to the degree that we clear out the cupboard to take all the loaves of bread out that all the kind of stuff and then and then just in case you minute chrome was left in the cupboards. They would get out of feather and use it like a duster and sweep out the insides of their cupboards just to make sure there was no leaven at all because it only takes a tiny pinch and would contaminate though so it's this is still done this very day every year Passover. It's interesting that the emphasis now is on the that cleaning the cupboards and the sweeping out the that dusty bits of flour instead of understanding the symbolism cleansed heart yes and this ruthlessness against the presence of strength even in its smallest amount that's what biblically were were talking about, but here we talk about leaving Egypt.

It's kind like I want to leave behind all the influences of Egypt and so many times. Read the story we say what was just a necessity didn't have time to every spread because they had to leave any second will that's true in the design of that story got saying, but there's a deeper truth about this, leaving behind all of leaven right because it's part of the picture of the remembering this in verse three Moses says now remember this day the Lord brought you out. The Lord brings you in the Lord brought you at the Lord will bring you in the Lord brought you have to learn to bring you and that that couplet occurs several times in this passage, so these is this is that this is a memorial a sign on your hand and a memorial between your eyes.

That the law of the Lord may be in your mouth… A very foreign idea okay but we ran into this idea in the Old Testament a lot that when something is on your hand. It has to do with what you do what you do and if something is between your eyes. It has to do, what are you focused on your head so you know we know by the time the New Testament than that had been pulled out to be actual, literal phylacteries worn on the hand and warn them remember Jesus and put them down because my phylacteries bigger than your flight that's exactly right illustrates the degree to which we get we get focused on trivia to get focused on the sign and not the reality to which it points. So Moses said you know do this as a memorial to remind you leaven is not a good thing. It's going to puff you up, leave it behind. In this this knowledge should change what you do with your hands exactly what you think about and dwell upon with you should live differently because, in fact, as Paul says in the New Testament we just read it in fact you are leavened in Christ. The Passover lamb, has been slain, and you are in him so live different live differently differently.

That's the consecrate to me in the right site Solis do this to a bonus point mark of the beast in Revelation, the mark of the beast is on the right hand and on the four head right so that sounds very similar.

So what's what in the time between what were saying right here. Well you now I know you just had this conversation as we grew up in the air. You and I did. When that was, you know, the implanting of a chap or that that was interpreted by you know from the overview of all of Scripture, it becomes very clear the mark of the beast is going to be shown by what you do what you do and how you think there you go. And that's the mark right and people with an un-renewed mind are going to continue to pursue the track of the beast right side and unless you demonstrate with your hands that you're in line with the culture and rights and demonstrate with what you think and what you say what you focus on is in line with the culture of the beast, the new not be able to buy yourself so you know we are urged in the New Testament, and several of the prayers of Paul say now.

I pray that you will walk in a manner worthy of the God because you walk in a manner were different calling walk different and then he unpacks that you can read that was. I would encourage especially to read on the beginning of Ephesians 4 beginning of Colossians.

I guess Colossians 192 about 13 walk in a manner worthy of the God calls you and that's and what that means. So we will take time for that now but but you go and look those prayers up and because God intends for us to walk differently right in what we think and what we do. This is is captured in the symbolism of what's on your hand what's in your hand right to do and then what you think of what's in your heart because of what the Lord has done for you are. Moses says here that that's the whole point here. Remember this and let it affect what you do and how you think everything in your life and every year commemorated because we forget we forget sooner than you do this every year. He says point, I've nearly always push on and will we got so Maria let all job with this. So when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites as he soared. You and your father's and shall give it to you. You shall set apart to the Lord all the first all that first opens the womb, all the firstborn of your animals that are male shall be the Lords every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb or if you will not redeem it. You shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem and when.

In time, and when in time to come. Your son asks you what is this mean you shall say to them all by a strong hand Lord brought us out of Egypt and from the house of slavery. For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go. The Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. Both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals, so therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem it shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes. For by a strong hand. The Lord brought us out of you is that.

I sing again. You know it.

Based on this memorial of what you do with drivers for the Lord has brought me out redeemed and delivered to me so I will live differently and everything I have belongs to him my whole future belong to him is the significance of the firstborn. We talked about that a minute ago yeah yeah so you show you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opened again were talking about letting go and sing this firstborn belongs to God. This force firstborn lives. The total will of God and not my will is a person so it's it's really symbolically. In reality, giving over the future saying your future is not wrapped up in my will. It's wrapped up in God's will.

So much so that we keep our firstborn so in the case of the annals they actually would sacrifice the first animals, but it says here now. I'm not sacrifice my sons. I will redeem them with a sacrifice that represents them all my goodness and send me what else is an echo of Jesus you are in their place at all for the Old Testament God says that I am your Redeemer. I'm the one right on the one who buys you and pays the price for you so so this redemption. This is a very powerful idea and why will because these ones belong to God. But there's something there something wrong with them effectively talks about that earlier. Here he talks about if there's there's basically an animal that's a firstborn that's your given to him a sacrifice, but if it's not presumptively that's not perfect. You need to break its neck. We need to Redeemer with a lamb so that there's a idea that God God owns this firstborn, but maybe if is a problem with that firstborn.

You need to redeem it another way so but again you don't sacrifice your own children.

You redeem them with the lamb instead I well I donkey because that's what it says in verse 13.

Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem the lamb so you are interpreting that to mean what the what you just said something that's not interpreting it that there's something wrong with the donkey. Oh, because it's not pure in that sense could sacrifice us to be pure there may not be true. I don't know I wouldn't I wouldn't make whole Lotta race that I'm just not sure of that. But the emphasis in this passage is all belongs to God, your future, your firstborn belongs to God. The next generation belongs to God and he has redeemed it right belongs to him. He has given a life for it. You know my extension is given his life given a life for you and God delivered you by his own strength in order to bring you in. He brought you out of there to take you in. So the long-term redemption idea to come straight out of Passover because after I was all right. Lambs died to redeem him to redeem them into new life so so that's all you say you need to continue understanding that you have been bought with a price. As Paul writes later you know you're not your grandma with a price and that price of the precious blood of Christ himself.

So that's what I'm the kind of redemption, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem I I purchased them in their mind so and and again because of all that firstborn stuff.

We just talked about it.

He is whole section talking about it. This is going to be a mark on your hand again frontlets between your eyes.

For by a strong hand.

The Lord brought us out of Egypt. That's what it's meant to remind you go through a Passover Seder celebration and they never get to the to the punch line. The punch line is we talk about all is because by a strong hand.

The Lord made this happen. The Lord brought us out of Egypt. And that's why God uses that punchline. All through the Old Testament the one who got you out of Egypt. So remember that it is not because of anything special you did right. I did this for you in order to bring you in to the land I promised your father Abraham right on the God who keeps his promises.

And I will deliver you, I will deliver.

But there is an expectation that you will live in a manner that is consistent with that. Just as were talking about this, I suddenly realized that Romans 12 wanted to says that exact thing. I urge you therefore program by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God which is your your translation might say spiritual service of worship. You are rational service of worship is the only rational thing to do in response to the grace of God and do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove out what the will of God is that which is good and acceptable and perfect so that we have the renewing of the mind and the surrendering of the self the body to live out what the renews the hands and the right thing and end frontlets yeah yeah it is a very consistent idea yeah and the whole idea about being firstborn about God's loved ones is also another theme that runs through the entire Old Testament were God says if you will be my people.

That's kind this mutual when we call it mutual, not ownership but something well that's an agreement to live in a particular way, what the theological buzzword for that is covenant is, I am for you and you are for me. We will do life together and it strongly is mirrored for our tutoring advantages in marriage where there is mutual giving of one another by God's design right and then and then on all of our little Valentine candidates is will you be my mind.

And so that's were talking about. Here's a God, God is establishing the nation of Israel, saying your mind now, will you let me be your right and that's that's what happens from this point on in the entire Exodus story and as they leave Egypt is a the their coming to a point where they realize it. God making a tremendous offer to them you know if you'll be my people. I will be your God, but to be my people and I 40 ransomed you ever dragging view of already brought you out of Egypt I brought you to this point but will you give your heart to me so that I can love you very shortly. I think by the time we get to chapter 19 of Exodus. The first really statement your God and you will be my plans for you if you live in relationship with me exactly. So here is just the be getting of the discovery in the nation of Israel, that they have a personal God who has not forgotten them in the four centuries of enslavement is in Egypt but a God who's making them a fundamental covenant offer that if don't be his people, and that discovery starts next week. So remember you then deliver by the blood of Jesus you been taken out of the demand of dark and brought to the kingdom of his beloved son and there's nothing as terrifying as living in darkness place where you don't understand why life does not work and is changed every effect is so new, it's like were reborn. See right here nation.

As always was a nation all the way back to Abraham. Now there's a new thing nation well you you will join us for this event you next week. It pushes on in the entire adventure is all about discovering wonderful situations from Jim Joyce for the production of mainstream church of Brigham city is solely responsible for its content.

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