Exodus – “The story of God’s presence”
Part 6
“Can you hear me now?”
Exodus 11:1-12:51
This story fits me pretty well but it is not my story
Although some my believe it is about me
A man after being told for years by his wife that he could not hear
Finally relented and went to the doctor for a hearing test
The doctor put him through all the tests and he passed with flying colors
But
The man was confused
He was convinced that he did indeed have a hearing problem
So the doctor ran one more test
He took a small wind up alarm clock out of his desk drawer , you know the kind that still actually ticks
He wound it up and it began ticking
Tick – tick – tick
He asked the man
Can you hear the ticking?
Yes
I hear it
Go out into the hall
Can you hear the ticking?
Yes
I hear it
Go out into the lobby
Can you hear the ticking?
Yes
Ii hear it
Finally the doctor
Told the man
You don’t have a hearing problem
You have a listening problem
We are picking back up today in our study of Exodus in Chapter 11
Last week in our bible studies and in our sermon series we looked at the first 9 of 10 plagues that God sent on the land of Egypt
God had told Pharaoh over and over through Moses and Aaron to let his people the Hebrew go
Pharaoh heard God
But he was not listening
So God through a series of plagues had to get his attention
We studied last week how Pharaoh continually hardened his heart
How he remained blatantly disobedient
How he tried to make deals
How he acted with insincerity and how although he was convicted
He never fully committed
You see
He heard
But
Did not listen
So God in an effort to finally get his attention sent one last Plague
Let me remind those of you that come to our bible studies
Or inform those who don’t about the plagues
All of the plagues were a direct attack on the Egyptian religious system
God was showing who he was
And that these so called Egyptian gods had no power
That they were just worthless idols
Just chucks of wood and stone
Imaginary
But also remember that Pharaoh himself was considered to be the head “god”
And this final plague would disprove his claim of deity
In the first 3 plagues
Everyone in Egypt- Egyptians and Hebrews alike was affected
In the next 6 God made a distinction between his children and the ones who refused to listen to him
Only the Egyptians were affected by plagues 4-9
Let me read for you from God’s word the account of Plague number 10
Please open your bibles to Exodus 11
If you don’t have a bible
Or don’t have a bible that you can understand
Please come see us after service and we will get you your own copy of God’s word
Exodus 11 verse 1
“Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will strike Pharaoh and the land of Egypt with one more blow. After that, Pharaoh will let you leave this country. In fact, he will be so eager to get rid of you that he will force you all to leave.”
God had tried to get pharaoh to listen to him
Now he was fixing to get his attention
Skipping to Exodus 11:4-8
“Moses had announced to Pharaoh, “This is what the LORD says: At midnight tonight I will pass through the heart of Egypt. 5 All the firstborn sons will die in every family in Egypt, from the oldest son of Pharaoh, who sits on his throne, to the oldest son of his lowliest servant girl who grinds the flour. Even the firstborn of all the livestock will die. 6 Then a loud wail will rise throughout the land of Egypt, a wail like no one has heard before or will ever hear again. 7 But among the Israelites it will be so peaceful that not even a dog will bark. Then you will know that the LORD makes a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites. 8 All the officials of Egypt will run to me and fall to the ground before me. ‘Please leave!’ they will beg. ‘Hurry! And take all your followers with you.
As we discussed last week
Pharaoh had hardened his heart
He had refused to listen to God
Others had tried to convince him
But he would not be moved
Now God delivers one more powerful blow
The entire first born in Egypt from the highest official to the lowest servant
Including the first born of the animals
Would die
There would be no house in all of Egypt that was not affected
If this does not get you attention
Something is wrong with you
Chapter 12 starts out with the instructions to the Hebrews about the Passover meal
How it was to be prepared
Who could eat it?
And the like
But
Today
I want to move past that and pick back up in 12:21-23
21 Then Moses called all the elders of Israel together and said to them, “Go, pick out a lamb or young goat for each of your families, and slaughter the Passover animal. 22 Drain the blood into a basin. Then take a bundle of hyssop branches and dip it into the blood. Brush the hyssop across the top and sides of the doorframes of your houses. And no one may go out through the door until morning. 23 For the LORD will pass through the land to strike down the Egyptians. But when he sees the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe, the LORD will pass over your home. He will not permit his death angel to enter your house and strike you down.
In the first 3 plagues as I told you earlier everyone was affected
In the next 6 only the Egyptians were affected
Now in this final catastrophic blow
We will once again see a distinction between the people of God and the people of the darkness
Those who listened
And those who did not
In this final plague
Only the blood would protect
Only the blood would deliver
Only the blood would save
Only the blood of a spotless lamb
Only the blood applied
Could or would make a difference
This brings me to the place where we can apply God’s word to our lives
Please listen
Please pay attention
Please don’t be like Pharaoh
You don’t have to travel that road
No one is good enough to be delivered on their own
This tenth plague had no automatic exemption for the Hebrews.
Being a Jew had no being what so ever on deliverance
It was a great day of judgment for everyone for did not listen
Everyone who did not pay attention
Everyone who did not follow instructions?
It was the blood of the lamb that saved Israel.
Death came in judgment to every home without the blood of the Passover lamb on the doorposts.
I need you to understand that Israel was also guilty before God.
Israel was only saved from suffering from the same plague as the Egyptians by means of the sacrifice that had been provided.
The children of Israel were not saved because they were good.
The truth was that they too had worshipped the idol gods of Egypt
And in our further studies we will see that they often made that same mistake
No one is good enough
No one is clean enough
No one can do enough Good works
Going to church won’t save you
Reading your bible won’t save you
Tithing won’t save you
Baptism won’t save you
Listen
Even serving in ministry won’t save you
All of these things are important
All of these things are a sign of a softened heart
All of these things are necessary to live a life of obedience
But
Only applying the blood of the sinless
Spotless lamb
Jesus Christ
To our lives
Will save us
Not only is there no one good enough to escape God’s judgment
But
Deliverance comes through Faith
Faith is a key to our relationship with God
The bible says without faith it is impossible to please God
The writer of Hebrews in Chapter 11 tells us about faith
This passage is called the hall of fame in the area of faith
Applying this passage to today’s message
Hebrews 11:28-29
28 It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons.
29 It was by faith that the people of Israel went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground. But when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were all drowned.
Hebrews 11:1
“Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.”
Faith means we trust what we cannot see or understand
Like walking outside without an O2 sensor
Trusting that the air contains enough oxygen to sustain our lives
You see
Even though the Hebrew were saved by grace
Even though we are saved by grace
We receive grace through faith
The Hebrews I have no doubt did not understand what God through Moses was telling them to do
But in faith they did it
It was faith that made the difference.
It is always faith that makes the difference
The Hebrews had never done anything like this before.
They had never roasted a lamb in this specific way.
They had never killed a lamb and used the blood in this way.
What logical reason was there for doing this with the blood?
F.B. Meyer in his book The Life of Moses: The Servant of God
Says
“It seemed so utterly extraordinary for such a thing to be, as the deliverance of his people, because blood happened to be sprinkled on the outside of their doors. There was no precedent, no apparent reason to justify such a thing to ordinary common sense, no likelihood of obedience having any connection with deliverance.”
God in his great and infinite wisdom designed a plan that required only one thing,
Obedience.
God said, “Here’s my plan.
Listen
Pay attention
And Do it
Have Faith and I will deliver you
It was made very clear that nothing but the blood of the Passover lamb would save the firstborn from death.
No attempts to live a good life
No amount of good intentions would preserve the life of the firstborn children
Even among the Jewish families.
Thinking about the blood
Talking about the blood
Even praying about the blood would make no difference
Only applying the blood through faith would change the outcome
The sprinkling of the blood in Exodus is a sign of the Blood of Jesus
Just as the lamb was substituted for the firstborn
Protecting him from death
Jesus Christ the Lamb of God would someday die in the place of all sinners.
Jesus would come some fifteen hundred years later and offer a full and complete payment for the price of redemption
Hebrews 9:22b
Says
“For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.”
On the cross Jesus once and for all paid the penalty for the sins of all those who would receive his free gift of grace.
Those Israelites may have not felt like smearing lamb’s blood on the doorposts of their homes and I am sure they did not understand the Lord’s reasoning. But they just did it; they obeyed the instructions they had been given without under-standing all the “whys” and “wherefores.”
A few hours later they were very glad they did.
You see
Obedience always pays dividends.
Whether we understand or not
According to Exodus 12:13 the blood on the door was to be a sign.
But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt. “
The blood of Jesus applied through faith
Is our sign
When the judgment comes
And it is coming
Our debt is paid if we have accepted Jesus
And
We---- because of the blood will be passed over
Sins forgiven
Pasts erased
Our imperfections covered by grace
Though faith
By the blood of the lamb
Not only is there no one good enough to escape God’s judgment
And
Not only does deliverance come by faith
But
Sin demands a payment
The Bible teaches that sin has a price
A very huge price
The price of sin is death
Not physical death
But spiritual death
Eternal death
A life time of separation from God
Sin demands payment
There is no layaway plan
No payment plan
The wages of sin is death
Somebody has to pay
Blood is required
What did the Hebrew have to do to be saved?
What do you have to do today in order to be saved?
He asks you to realize and admit that you are a sinner in need of deliverance
He asks you to place your faith in him
For that deliverance
He asks us to accept the payment for our sins that he has provided
In order to be saved we must accept that Christ died on the cross, for our sins.
We must accept what Jesus has already done on the cross.
We must accept and apply the blood
You see
Not only is there no one good enough To Escape God’s judgment
Not only is faith required
Not only is payment required
But
Obedience to God always changes the outcome
Skip down to Exodus 12 verse 50-51
“So all the people of Israel followed all the LORD’s commands to Moses and Aaron. 51 On that very day the LORD brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt like an army. “
The Hebrews Listened
They paid attention
They did what they were told
Exactly as they were told
They acted on faith and they were delivered just as God had promised
I can tell you
I have no doubt that
When the Israelites stepped out of their homes that night to follow the Lord it was a matter of simple faith and obedience
They had no idea that they were making history
They had no idea they were changing the world
You may be struggling this morning with where God wants you to go
What he wants you to do
What he has for you
What his will for you is
‘I can tell you I don’t know
But
I do know he has a plan for you and your life
I do know that he loves you
I do know he cares about you
But I also know he demands obedience
The Hebrews could have just sat back and waited on God to deliver them from their mess
And they would have died in Egypt
Still enslaved
Still in bondage
Or some of them would have physically died from the lack of the application of the blood on that dark night
God demands obedience
And he blesses obedience
James- Jesus’ brother says in James 1:22-25
22 But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. 23 For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
I use this verse a lot
Because it is important
We must
If we want all God has for us do what he says
We cannot expect God to bless disobedience
We can’t sit on the couch waiting for God to deliver us from whatever mess we have made of our lives
While doing nothing
We must do what he says
Actively pursue a relationship with the Savior
I come back to the three legged stool every so often
Because
These are the keys to our relationship with Jesus
1St leg---Prayer
Talking to God
Daily
Hourly
Without ceasing
Not just when we are in a wreck
Not just when we need stuff
Or help
But praying in obedience to him
Seeking a relationship with him
Not just on Sunday
Not just on Wednesday
Not just when it is convenient
But
Constantly
Obediently
2Nd leg---Read your bible
God’s word is an instruction manual for our lives
In this great book are the answers to life
In these pages are the solutions to your problems
These precious words are how God speaks to us
You can’t understand God’s word
Or his plan
If you don’t read the instructions
If you don’t open the book how can you do what it says?
3 rd leg--Fellowship
Come to church
Surround yourself with other believers
Not perfect people
Hypocrites just like you
But hypocrites who have been where you are
Experienced what you are going through
Hypocrites who can help you through a hard time
Encourage you
Show you the love and the light of Jesus
I can tell you Old Pharaoh’s life would have turned out different had he listened to God
Had he paid attention
Had he acted on what he heard
Surrender in faith
The outcome could have been so much different
As I said last week Pharaoh had a choice to make
He heard but did not listen
He chose wrong
It cost him everything
His kingdom
His son
His life
His eternity
How will you choose?
In the area of your Christian walk for believers this morning
Will you step up?
And step out
Will you put aside your pride, your own desires and motives?
And apply the blood of Jesus to your life
Letting people see Jesus in you
Being set apart
Seen as different
Seen as A true follower of Jesus
Will you Listen and pay attention
Will you by faith get up?
Move
Act on your faith
And
Truly get all he has for you?
For those here this morning those that don’t know Jesus
Those who have never on purpose made a decision to accept the blood and apply the blood
Of Jesus
Will you choose life or death?
Heaven or Hell?
Will you admit your sins?
Admit your need for a savior
Ask for forgiveness?
Will you accept the blood sacrifice as payment?
For your sins
And receive the blessing that come from obediently surrendering to the Lordship of Jesus in your life
I have no doubt that most everyone here this morning has heard the good news of Jesus
But have you listened?
Here are the facts, we can keep it simple
You can’t be good enough, but you don’t have to be because Jesus is
You just need faith to receive grace—it is a gift
Sin requires payment and that payment has been made by Jesus – the spotless sinless Lamb of God
When you submit and you are obedient to his call you can be saved, changed and blessed
Close from the heart
Pray
