“Remember the
Great Rescue?”
May 1, 2005
Dr. Rich
Peterson
Church
historian Clair Davis describes the Christian life as “a combination of amnesia
and déjà vu.”
The
follower of Christ is constantly saying,” I know I’ve forgotten this before.”
In
other words, as we follow Christ we keep needing to learn the same lessons over
and over because we keep forgetting them. We suffer from a kind of spiritual
amnesia in which we are continually forgetting what God has done on our behalf.
And yet this spiritual amnesia is combined with a spiritual déjà vu in which we
keep learning what we keep forgetting.
It
is because we are so forgetful that God so often commands us to remember:
“Remember the Lord who is great and awesome” (Neh. 4:14)
“Remember your Creator in the days of your youth” (Ecccles.
12:1)
“Remember…I am God, and there is no other” (Isa. 46:9)
“Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead” (2 Tim. 2:8).
And
of all the things that God wanted Israel to remember, the greatest, the most
significant, the most important was their rescue from Egypt. Of all the things
that were to be remembered, none was more essential then the Exodus.
Do
you remember the great rescue of God? Do you remember the exodus from Egypt?
Do
you remember the day of your salvation?
How could
they forget?
And
yet they did. As even early on in their journey from slavery to the land of
promise these same miraculously redeemed people cried out to Moses saying in
essence, “Take us back, take us back.”
Was
it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to
die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? It would have been
better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert! (Exodus 14: 11-12)
How quickly
God’s people forget.
But God never
does. YHWH is the God who remembers.
Specifically,
“he (God) remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.”
Because “the Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry
for help because of their slavery went up to God. So God looked on the
Israelites and was concerned about them” (Exodus 2:23-24).
More
specifically,
The
Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard
them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their
suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians
and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land
flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:7-8a).
God remembers
his promises and fulfills them by his mighty hand.
The Lord said to Moses, ‘When you return to Egypt, see that
you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do.
But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. Then say to
Pharaoh, This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told
you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; so I
will kill your firstborn son.’” (Exodus 4:21-23).
“Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your
God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm” (Deut.
5:15).
Remember the
great rescue!
No
longer a question, but instead a God-given decree. Remember these things. Teach
them to your children and grandchildren, and to all generations. Never forget
what God has done to secure your salvation.
Remember!
1.
Remember God’s righteous wrath upon the unrepentant
(Exodus 11,
12:29-30)
2.
Remember God’s lasting ritual of blood and bread
(Exodus
12:1-28)
3.
Remember God’s remarkable rescue from slavery and sin
(Exodus
12:31-42)
And
as we recall and remember these great events we are suddenly struck with an
awesome sense of déjà vu in which we learn again what we almost forgot:
GOD FULFILLS HIS PROMISES BECAUSE HE REMEMBERS HIS COVENANT
AND ACTS FOR THE SALVATION OF HIS PEOPLE.
Remember God’s righteous wrath upon the unrepentant
(Exodus
11, 12:29-30)
To
Hebrew thought ‘to remember’ is ‘ to act. So, to say that God ‘remembers’ is to
assert that He repeats His acts of saving grace towards his people again and
again, and in this way fulfills His promises. To say that God ‘remembers’ is
also to assert that God repeats His acts of righteous wrath towards those who
would continue to disregard His sovereign power.
What God
promises, he fulfills:
Now
the Lord had said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and
on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here, and when you he
does, he will drive you out completely. Tell the people that men and women
alike are to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold.” (The
Lord made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people and Moses himself
was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh’s officials and by the people). (Exodus
11:1-3)
So
Moses said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout
Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn
son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl
who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. There
will be loud wailing throughout Egypt – worse than there has ever been or
ever will be again. But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any man or
animal.’ Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt
and Israel. All these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down
before me and saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow you! After that I
will leave.” Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh. (Exodus 11:4-8)
What God
promises, he fulfills:
At
midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the
firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner,
who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. Pharaoh
and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there
was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.
(Exodus 12:29-30)
How
many times and in how many different ways does God need to communicate the same
thing to the unrepentant?
Nine
different times and in nine different ways God had communicated His will and
command to Pharaoh and the unrepentant people of Egypt. Nine different times
this leader refused to acknowledge that God was in control. Nine different
times Pharaoh refuses to change his mind and turn his heart toward God.
Despite
Nile river blood, despite, frogs, gnats, biting flies, dead livestock, horrible
boils, unprecedented hail, locusts and despite complete darkness Pharaoh’s
heart remained hard and unrepentant.
To
repent simply means to have a change of mind. This change of mind then leads to
a change of heart. But basically, to repent means to change one’s mind and
begin seeing things the way God sees things.
Nine
times God had sought to bring about this repentance in the mind and heart of
the leader of Egypt. Nine different times and in nine different ways God told
Pharaoh that there would be consequences for his lack of submission. Nine
different times, this leader of Egypt refuses to see things from God’s point of
view.
So
now God “will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt.” This last one
will bring this leader and his nation to their knees. They WILL do as the Lord
God has said. They will not only let the people of Israel go, Pharaoh will
drive them out completely.
All
of this will be for the ultimate purpose and glory of God.
Then
the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the
hearts of his officials so that I may perform these miraculous signs of mine
among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt
harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that
you may know that I am the Lord (Exodus 10:1-2).
With
terrible and righteous wrath God will exact judgment. “I will go throughout
Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die.”
Even
though you missed it before, you won’t miss it now – I am God, and Pharaoh –
you are not! My desire to bring about my people’s salvation WILL be done, and
there is nothing more you can say about that.
I
am the Lord, and I do not negotiate with terrorists! I will pass through Egypt
and strike down every firstborn – both men and animals. From the prince to the
prisoner, from the richest to the poorest, from the highest to the lowest – all
will be stuck down. I am the Lord, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of
Egypt. And then without compromise you will bow before me in full submission to
my sovereign will and purpose.
This
is my righteous wrath upon the unrepentant.
Dr.
Arthur Glasser quotes an anonymous rabbi who has said, "A time is coming
for all men when they will be either born again, or wish they had never been
born at all." “(Reach Out and Grow," Institute for American Church
Growth, 1974).
The
apostle Peter reveals the heart of God when it comes to repentance when he
writes, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand
slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone
to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a
thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed
by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare (2 Peter 2:9-10)
In
déjà vu language, the apostle John describes the wrath of God at the end of
time:
Then
I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out
the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth” (Rev. 16:1)
The
first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly and painful
sores broke out on the people… (Rev. 16:2)
The
second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood…
(Rev. 16: 3)
The
third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and
they became blood… (Rev. 16: 4)
The
fifth angel poured out his bowl… and his kingdom was plunged into darkness
(Rev. 16: 10)
The
seventh poured his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud
voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!” (Rev. 16:17)
The
great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God
remembered Babylon…and gave her the fury of his wrath. And they
cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible
(Rev. 16:19-20)
Then
I heard the angel of the waters say:
“You are just in these judgments, you
who are and who were, the Holy One.”
And
I heard the altar respond:
“Yes, Lord God Almighty,
true
and just are your judgments.” (Rev. 16:5, 7)
Remember
God’s righteous wrath upon the unrepentant.
Remember God’s lasting ritual of blood and bread
(Exodus
12:1-28)
To
make sure that his people would never forget their salvation, God gave them a
special memory aid: Passover, or the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This feast was
meant to be an annual celebration. Three times God told Moses that he wanted
Passover to become a permanent addition to Israel’s calendar:
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 (Exodus 12:14)
Celebrate
this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come (Exodus 12:17b)
Obey
these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants (Exodus
12:24)
The
Israelites celebrated their first Passover in Egypt. Numbers chapter nine tells
us that they continued to celebrate it during the forty years they spent
wandering in the desert (Num 9:1-5). Upon entrance into the Promised Land they
were to keep it for God said, “When you enter the land that the Lord will give
you as he promised, observe this ceremony” (Exodus 12:25). And no sooner had
Joshua led the people of God across the Jordan river than they celebrated
Passover in their new homeland (Josh. 5: 10,11).
Phillip
Ryken summarizes what this ritual was all about:
Passover
was a feast to remember. It was an annual reminder of God’s saving grace, in
which Israel’s deliverance from Egypt was commemorated and celebrated. The
exodus was not repeated, of course, but it was symbolically reenacted with
blood and with bread. The feast God’s people shared was something they could
see, taste, touch, and smell. By reliving their escape from Egypt, they
preserved the message of salvation in their collective memory. Passover was
given so that future generations would know the salvation of their God (Phillip
Ryken, Exodus, 2005, unpublished).
So
significant was this event that a new calendar was created. Because the exodus
marked a new beginning, the entire Israelite calendar would reflect its
importance.
In
contrast to the disobedience and the spirit of compromise of Pharaoh and the
Egyptians, the Israelites, as the covenant people of God would need to display
obedience even to the very finest detail.
Instructions
are given and are to be followed to the innth degree. On the first month of
YOUR calendar, on the tenth day, one lamb for each family, if your family is
too small share a lamb with your nearest neighbor, calculate carefully how much
each person will eat.
Select
a lamb (from either sheep or goats), not yet a year old, without any defect,
take care of it until the fourteenth day then slaughter it (all the community
at twilight), take the blood and smear it on the sides and tops of the
doorframes of the houses where you eat the lambs. Prepare it carefully by
roasting it over the fire – the whole thing – leave nothing uneaten, and if
there are leftovers – burn them!
Don’t
sit around and eat this meal in leisure – no, you must eat it in a hurry – with
your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in
your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.
On
the same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn – 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 (Exodus 12:12-13).
In
verses 21-23 these instructions are repeated in a slightly different form and
coming between these two sets of Passover instructions is a set of regulations
for the Feast of unleavened Bread (vv. 14-20) which was celebrated the week
that followed Passover.
Passover
and the Feast of Unleavened Bread go together. They are not two separate
holidays but one weeklong celebration. In the rest of the Old Testament this
festival is sometimes called Passover and sometimes called the Feast of
Unleavened Bread, either term can be used to refer to the whole celebration.
Today
we are tempted to look at all of this and wonder why all the details? Why would
all of this be so important? But look again at the need for extraordinary faith
on the part of the Israelites.
Faithful
obedience to these instructions was the only way in which a person was going to
be saved from death that fateful night.
Then
Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and
select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb.
Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the
blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. Not one of you shall go
out the door of his house until morning. When the Lord goes through the land
to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and
sides of the doorframe and will pass over the doorway, and he will not
permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down. Obey these
instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants (Exodus 12:21-24)
The
response of the people was a response of faith. “Then the people bowed down and
worshiped. The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded….” (Exodus 12:28).
“By
faith he (Moses) kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the
destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel” (Hebrews
11:28).
By
faith. By faith each family chose a perfect lamb, by faith they slaughtered it
and roasted it with bitter herbs, by faith they spread its blood on the
doorframe. By faith they trusted in the ability of the shed blood to save their
lives. They were (as all are) saved by grace through faith.
The only way to be saved
from sin and delivered from death was by trusting in the blood. This is what
the Israelites did that first Passover. And in so doing they were saved by
grace through faith. Grace because God had told them exactly what he was
planning to do, when he would do it and how. Their response was faith-filled
and faithful obedience.
In
the same way, we are saved by grace through faith. The only way to be saved
from sin and delivered from death is by Jesus Christ, the Passover Lamb,
“sacrificed for us” (1 Cor. 5:7b). We trust in the blood of Jesus poured out
for us on the Cross to cover our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.
Sometimes
we forget this. We too, even as Christ followers suffer at times from spiritual
amnesia. We forget that we are sinners in need of salvation. We forget that God
sent his one and only son to be our Savior. We forget that God’s Son shed his
own blood on the cross for our sins.
So,
God has given us a meal through which we will remember. We remember what the
Lord has done for us through the Lord’ Supper.
It
was no accident that Jesus was crucified during the Passover season. Jesus had come
to make all things new, and so when he celebrated Passover with his disciples
just before his arrest, he not only kept the feast of Passover, he initiated a
new ordinance – a ritual of blood and bread. He gave his disciples bread and
said, “This is my body” (Matt. 26:26). Then he gave them the cup and said,
“This is my blood of the covenant” (Matt. 26:28).
Jesus
was (and is) the Passover Lamb sacrificed to take away our sins.
Phillip
Ryken reminds us that:
We
remember his sacrifice every time we celebrate the (ordinance) of communion.
Passover was for the old covenant: It looked back to the exodus. The Lord’
Supper is for the new covenant: It looks to the cross. We celebrate it by
eating bread and drinking the cup. Why do we do this? Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance
of me” (Luke 22:19). The Lord’s Supper is a feast to remember. It helps
make sure that we never forget….
Remember
God’s lasting ritual of blood and bread.
Remember God’s remarkable rescue from slavery and sin
(Exodus
12:31-42)
It
was the dead of night. Most people were asleep in their beds. Some had been up
all night, while others slept soundly.
Then,
without warning, Cynthia interrupted my slumber with the news that “it is
time.” My stupid response was, “Time for what?”
It
was the night our first son was born.
It
was also the dead of night when most people were sleeping in their homes when
Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and announced, “It is time.”
“Up…leave…go!”
Worship the Lord as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, take it
all…just go – and go now!
And
as you do bless me.
Finally!
Finally, full surrender. Up…leave…go!
How
long Moses and the people of God had waited to hear these words. How much they
had seen their God do on their behalf to bring this great rescue about.
Finally, Pharaoh has had enough. Finally, he realizes that the great God of
heaven is all-powerful and that what he says, he will do. Finally, Pharaoh
comes to fully recognize his need for full submission.
He
asks for, he hopes for a blessing. And who is it that blesses, but the One who
is more powerful.
And
so hurriedly the people of Israel depart leaving behind over four hundred years
of slavery. Quickly they gather their possessions and they plunder their
neighbors. In rapid-fire succession they collect all they can carry, taking
their dough before the yeast was added and carried it on their shoulders.
Up…leave…go!
And
they did! Their exodus had come at last! They were FREE.
Take
up…your cross…follow!
Remember?
Remember!!!
Conclusion:
The
foreshadowing of the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, the perfect Lamb of
God; of the Lord’s Supper, the new ordinance spiritually commemorating and
celebrating with blood and bread; and the rescue from sin that is ours through
Jesus Christ – all these exciting New Testament implications – we have only
touched upon this morning.
We
will extend the privilege of fleshing these out more fully to our pastor as
next week he feeds us from this same text and we partake again (and further) of
the spiritual food served here.
And
as he shares we will feel that strange combination of amnesia and déjà vu,
which I hope leaves us thinking, “I know I’ve forgotten this before.”