The Passover Lamb (Ex. 11-12)

Marcion is one of our more infamous historical church figures. He cut up the Bible, he took out certain parts that he didn't like, and he had a rule based upon how he did this. It wasn't like our friend Mr. Jefferson, who took out the miracles. He cut and pasted the Bible based upon something else. He saw there were two gods in scripture. He believed that the Old Testament had a god of wrath. A God of justice, a God who judged and the New Testament presented a God of love and mercy. And so he began looking at Scripture and taking out what was God's justice, the God of the Old Testament. This is one of those dangerous errors in church history. This is one of those dangerous mistakes we can do is to think that there's two different gods or that God acted differently in the old or the New Testament. Now, what we see throughout Scripture is progressive revelation. We see more of God. God's justice is progressively revealed. God's love is progressively revealed. There's not two gods. There's one holy, awesome God worthy of all worship. He is always just. He is always righteous. He is always merciful. Really, what happens in the New Testament, we see his love more clearly. We see the father's great love in that he sent his son to die for those who are his children. We also see his wrath more clearly. Because the father sent his son to die for sinners. God's wrath must be appeased. God's righteousness. Must be met his righteous rule, we see his wrath because he pours his wrath out on his son to die for us this morning, we're going to be looking at these two aspects, these two attributes of God that are in the one true God. He judges sin and he forgives sin. Really, the message is too full this morning because we have two different people groups for Egypt. The message is God destroys those who oppose and reject God. God destroys those who don't believe him, do not obey him. For Israel, for God's people, the message is this. He delivers us from slavery and judgment. If you're new with us, we've been going through the book of Exodus. God has sent Israel into Egypt there to grow, to expand, to multiply. Then Egypt enslaved them, gave them harsh treatment, even tried to kill them off. But God said, I'm going to keep you. I'm going to continue to multiply you. I am going to deliver you. And so he calls out Moses. Moses, who tries to get out of the call over and over again, finally is convinced that God is doing a good work. God is going to keep his word. God is going to deliver his people. So Moses goes and he tells the people and the people rejoice, and as soon as Pharaoh responds with harsher treatment, the people reject. They reject Moses, they reject God. God says, I will deliver you. Egypt will know that I am God because I'm going to send plagues upon them. I'm going to demonstrate to them that I am the one true God. And that's what we just finished over three sermons. We looked at the nine plagues and the different purposes of those plagues. The main purpose of those nine plagues is to demonstrate that Yahweh is the one God who is worthy of all worship. He is the only creator. This morning, we're going to focus on that tenth plague. The one that, yes, once again demonstrates that Yahweh is the one true God, the only God worthy of worship. But the Tenth Plague does more. It delivers Israel. It breaks Pharaoh. We're going to see that God delivers them. And as we look ahead, we're already going to see they're forgetful again. They're going to bow down and worship and they're going to be forgetful again. This morning, we're going to be looking at chapter 12 and 13, and we're only looking at parts of it. I'm going to focus on that one Passover event. But what I want to go and tell you is that there are feasts involved in this Passover event. Moses is retelling the story of what happened. with the instructions from God that you're supposed to continue to hold a Passover feast year after year after year. We're going to deal with those separately, the events and the feasts that remind us of the event. I in no way want to make you think that these should be handled separately because God is putting these feasts with the event so that Israel never forgets what he has done and who he has called them to. We're going to be looking at this event. This is the most important event in all of Israel's history. This is their cross and resurrection. This is what defines them the most. God delivering them through the Passover. And we're going to be looking at their cosmic, the cosmic and eternal implications of it. So turn with me to Exodus chapter 12. I'm sorry, we're going to begin in Exodus 11. And the Passover really has four stages, and we're going to be looking at these four stages in order. First, God warns Pharaoh that judgment is coming. That's chapter 11. Secondly, God instructs Moses about his deliverance. The chapter 11 is God warning Pharaoh. The second section, chapter 12, verses 1 through 13. This is where God instructs Moses about the Passover. Then the third section, Moses instructs Israel about God's deliverance. That's verses 21 through 28. And then finally, we see God keep his word. We see God act. We see him deliver his people. Now, if you notice, it's very redundant. This is so that we can remember better. This is to increase our remembrance of this great event. He tells Pharaoh, he tells Moses, then we hear Moses telling Israel, then we see it taking place. The repetition is so that it drives into our heads. God is the deliverer. God has delivered his people. Our first section, God warns Pharaoh that judgment is coming. Chapter 11. The Lord said to Moses. Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt afterward, he will let you go from here when he lets you go, he will drive you away completely. Speak now in the hearing of the people that they ask every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor for silver and gold jewelry. And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants, in the sight of the people. So Moses said, thus says the Lord about midnight, I will go out in the midst of Egypt and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die. From the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the hand mill and all the firstborn of the cattle. There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. And all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, Get out, you and all the people who follow you. And after that, I will go out. He went out from Pharaoh in hot anger. Then the Lord said to Moses, Pharaoh will not listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt. Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh. And the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land." First, we need to ask the question, when does this conversation take place? Because in chapter 10, Pharaoh says, you will not see my face again or you'll die. And so when does this conversation take place with Moses saying, again, thus says the Lord there in verse 4? Well, verses 1 and 3 need to be considered as a parenthetical. Because this conversation is still happening right after the ninth plague. Moses has not left the palace yet. After the plague of darkness falls, Pharaoh calls Moses in to plead with him. And. Well, we already know that the darkness is removed and Pharaoh is hardened again by God. Moses hasn't left yet. We're still in the palace after the plague of darkness. Verses one through three, either that was an immediate revelation there on the spot or Moses is simply giving you a parenthetical here. This is what God has already revealed to me. So verse four continues the conversation from the ninth plague. Pharaoh is still there. Moses is still there in the midst of Pharaoh. We see in verse four. A great declaration of judgment. Notice it's not a warning. There is no warning here in the sense that you can change your mind. God doesn't say, if you let the people go, I will not do this. He simply says, I am going to kill the firstborn. About midnight, I will go out. The final plague is the ultimate of destruction. If we look back to the nine plagues, they were really decreating. Darkness instead of light, they were creating chaos. It was God removing his hand of order and bringing about chaos. It's God proving that he is the one creator. And here, this 10th plague, it is the ultimate decreation. He's going to kill human beings. Human beings were the last people created. Human beings were the last part of creation, the climax of creation. Those were made in God's image. He's now saying, I'm going to destroy even man. The final plague is the ultimate decreation. It's the ultimate sign of God's judgment. Now, this was not new to Moses. Back in chapter 4, verses 21 through 23, God said, Israel is my firstborn. To deliver them, I'm going to kill Pharaoh's firstborn. Pharaoh didn't know this yet. Moses knew this. This is the first time Pharaoh has heard of this plague. Moses has been waiting to see when this plague was going to be used, and it is now. Notice there's no favoritism here with God. He's going to kill the firstborn of the prince. He's going to kill the firstborn of the serpent. He's going to nail the firstborn of the beast. It's all inclusive, it's holistic, it's total. Every Egyptian will lose their firstborn son. There is no favoritism from rich and poor. It's against the judgment is against the entire nation. Now, why is the beast? Why is the cow included? One is to show that it is a total judgment. It's a total destruction. But the Egyptians held a special place for cattle. They believe they represented the God of Ray. They're their chief God, the most ultimate God in their their pantheon. They've got is attacking the firstborn of the cow to show that he again is the one true God. Look at verse seven. Over and over again in the first nine plagues, we saw a distinction being made between Egypt and Israel. Here, this is the most important distinction because it's the most important plague. The Egyptians will all lose their firstborn sons. Israel will be protected. The Israelites will live. The Egyptians will die. Notice verse six. There will be a cry like there's never been before and there will ever be again. Our book, our story in Exodus, it began with the Israelites crying. They cried out for deliverance and God heard them. Here, the Egyptians will be crying out for deliverance. Get out! They will cry out. Get out of here! Because they have been struck by the judgment of God. The Egyptians themselves will drive the Israelites out. The Egyptians themselves will fulfill God's plan. Now, notice here the parenthetical verse eight, the verses one through three, that explains what God is going to, what God has already said to Moses. The main focus here is this message. But notice the ending here, really 8b through the end of 11. And he went out of Pharaoh in hot anger. Moses is angry. And the Lord said to Moses, Pharaoh will not listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied. Nine times Moses and Aaron have gone before Pharaoh and said, this is what God's going to do. And it happened. Moses and Aaron have warned him nine different times, Pharaoh should see a pattern. But his heart is hardened. He refuses God. God has hardened his heart. He cannot obey. He's now seen nine times. God is going to bring darkness. God is going to bring pestilence. God is going to bring swarms of flies. It's always happened. Now his son's life is on the line. And he cannot, he will not refuse. He's putting his son in imminent danger, as the Lord has said. He has a heart that is completely hardened and opposed to God to the point of even putting his life, his son's life Let's look at our second section. God instructs Moses about his deliverance. That was a word of warning, a word of declaration. This is what's going to happen. Now God is going to tell Moses what he needs to communicate to the Israelites. Chapter 12, verses 1 through 13, the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It should be the first month of the year for you. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month, every man shall take a lamb according to their father's house, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons, according to what each can eat. You shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male, a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the 14th day of this month when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts. and the lentils of the house in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that is that they shall eat the flesh that night roasted on the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, herbs that shall they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning. Anything that remains until the morning, you shall burn in this manner. You shall eat it. with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and on all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgments. I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. God now is instructing Moses and there's more revelation, there's more declaration as to what is going to happen and why God is calling for a lamb. Notice first, it says that this month is going to be a new beginning. This is the first month now he's rearranging the calendar, God is declaring this is a new beginning. There was a beginning, it was Genesis one in the beginning, God, and we failed. We rebelled. God is creating a new beginning here. The calendar has changed to again draw remembrance to this event. Very similar to how this is the Lord's day. This is the first day of the week. The calendar has been changed for Christians. The day of worship is today, not yesterday. Those Jews who first saw and realized who Christ was, they changed their day of worship. To remember the resurrection. Here we see a new beginning taking place. The deliverance, it will require a lamb. Each house was to choose an unblemished lamb if they could not finish the land themselves, they had to partner with another home. There was nothing, there was no part of the land that was to go to waste. The lamb is holy. The Lamb is sacred. The Lamb is set apart for the purpose of God. Therefore, none of it is to go to waste. It's important here to realize that the day, the Hebrews, they use a lunar calendar. Therefore, the day begins when the sun goes down. The day ends. I'm sorry, the day begins When the sun goes down and the day ends when the sun goes down, the days are when twilight happens. This is why the killing must take place before the sun goes down. The blood of the lamb will be sprinkled on the doorpost and the lentils will be sprinkled all around the door. You will go inside and you will eat of it. God gives very specific cooking instructions. You're to use bitter herbs. Now, there's maybe some correlation here with the bitter herbs. and the bitter treatment of Israel. There was harsh slavery, the same word used for the harsh treatment, the harsh slavery earlier is now being used here as bitter. It may be a remembrance of the harsh treatment, the unleavened bread. Here, at least it only explains it as it's done so quickly you don't have time for the leaven to set in. The instructions are all about how hastily Eat in haste. Have your staff in your hand, your sandals on, your belt fastened. It's all about expectancy. Be ready when God acts. Eat, waiting for God to act. Really, the focus of this section is in verses 11 through 13. God says, it is the Lord's Passover. It is the Lord's Passover. He's drawing attention to this, and there's three parts of the Lord's Passover. God's going to go, is going to pass through Egypt. He's going to judge the gods of Egypt, and he's going to pass over the homes of Israel. God will pass through the land of Egypt, striking every Egyptian home. Every home will lose the firstborn. Then he will judge the gods of Egypt and he will pass over the homes of Israel when he sees the blood of the Lamb. This is the Lord's Passover. Let's first look, this is the judgment on the gods. Again, the god Re is represented by the sun. We've already seen the darkness that has challenged the god of the sun. Re is also the god of life. Pharaoh is considered the firstborn of Ray. Here we see a challenge on the gods because God is going to kill the firstborn. He's already brought darkness. Now he's going to bring death. God is bringing the judgment on the gods, and it's not as if they're true gods or they're even true challenges. What God is saying is I'm the one true God. Worship me alone. Notice the end of verse 12. I'm going to pass through Egypt. I'm going to kill every firstborn as he has said. I am the Lord. Remember. All of these acts are about God's glory. All of these acts are about the name of God spreading, letting all the nations, especially Egypt, especially Israel, know that Yahweh alone is the true God. Verse 13. The blood of the Lamb will serve as a sign as he's passing through Egypt. He's going to pass over the homes of Israel. Wherever the blood of the Lamb has been sprinkled, he's going to pass over those homes. He will strike Egypt. He will pass over the faithful of Israel. Notice there are two deliverances going on here. First, he's going to deliver Israel from Egypt. He's going to deliver his people from slavery. He's going to take them out of Egypt by this plague. This is going to be the plague that breaks Pharaoh's back and finally has him release Israel. That's one deliverance. It's a deliverance of God's people from slavery. It's a deliverance of God's people to a new land with a new purpose and a new identity. But more so, the focus is on another deliverance. They are delivered from God's wrath. That is what's taking place here with the blood of the Lamb. God has delivered from God is delivering Israel from slavery, but the real emphasis, the real problem, the people of Israel have is God's wrath. God is delivering them from his own wrath. He's protecting them. By faith, they are to kill the lamb as God has instructed. By faith, they are to spread the blood around the doorpost. By faith, they are to go in where they will be protected. Because when the destroyer comes, he's going to pass through Egypt and every house he will enter and he will strike the firstborn dad. But when he sees the blood of the lamb, he will pass over them. Israel, they're all sinners. They all deserve justice. They all deserve wrath. But the blood of the Lamb, by faith, is a sign that God is to deliver them. We can look at verses 14 through 20. We'll look at those next week. Again, the feasts are intimately and necessarily connected with all these events so that we continue to remember. This morning, we're going to move on and look at this particular event. Moses now instructs Israel concerning God's deliverance. Look with me to verse 21. Then Moses called the elders of Israel and said to them, Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans and kill the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin and touch the lintel in the Hudor post with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of this house until the morning, for the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians. And when he sees the blood of the lentil on the doorpost, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. And you shall observe this right as a statute for you and your sons forever. And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep the service. And you, and when your children say to you, what do you mean by the service? You shall say, it is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover. For he passed over the houses of the people of Israel and Egypt when he struck the Egyptians, but spared our houses. And the people bowed their heads and worshiped. Then the people of Israel went and did so as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. So they did. Moses comes to the elders, go out, select a lamb, just as God had commanded him, kill the Passover lamb, the chosen inspected lamb, set aside for God's purposes and cover your doorpost, cover your lintel. This is God's protection so that God will pass over your homes. The instructions are repeated purposefully. Here we get that more particular verse 23. He will not let the destroyer come into your house to kill your firstborn. We also see here the people respond, verses 27 through 28, they bowed their heads and worshiped. This is the same language from chapter five. After Moses originally comes and says, God is going to deliver you. He has sent me to deliver you from the hand of Pharaoh. They bowed and worshiped. Then about 30 chapters later, they're putting their hand up to God and saying, why, God, what have you done? And Moses says, God, you have not delivered your people at all. Why have you intended this evil? Here, they're worshiping again, they're bowing before God, they're believing, and sadly, if we look over just a few chapters, they're going to start grumbling. Again. For that, just to show you, this is why there's always a constant call to remember. We forget so easily the mighty work of God. Finally, God acts, God delivers his people, look at verses twenty nine, beginning of verse twenty nine, God delivers his people. 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 is up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said up. Go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel, and go serve the Lord, as you have said. Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone. And bless me also." 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 dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders. The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus, they plundered the Egyptians. And the people of Israel journeyed from Ramesses to Succoth. About 600,000 men on foot, besides women and children, a mixed multitude also went up with them and very much livestock, both flocks and herds, and they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt. For it was not leavened because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provision for themselves. The time the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of four and thirty years on that very day, all the host of the Lord went from the land of Egypt. It was a night of watching by the Lord to bring them out of the land of Egypt. So the same night of the night of watching kept to the Lord by all the people of Israel throughout their generations. That four and thirty years was very intentional in pointing out to us they were there for four and thirty years. It's very purposeful because in Genesis 15, God told Abraham, your descendants will be many and I'm going to send them into a foreign land where they'll be put to slavery and they'll be there 400 years. Here, God is revealing that he has fulfilled his promise. He has done just as he says. Notice here the urgency, the haste, the expediency. Up, go out from among my people. Get out, Pharaoh says. And it's interesting, he says, go out from my people. Remember, this has been a battle between Pharaoh and God, whose people is Israel? Are they Pharaoh's people or God's people? Pharaoh has now clearly recognized Israel. They're God's people. They are to serve him. They're to serve God, not Pharaoh. There is a distinction that he now recognizes. The people move with haste. They leave at 11 in their bread. They leave very quickly. Now, there's a few things we need to look at to truly appreciate the story. Again, this story is about God passing over the sins of Israel as much as it is about God making or freeing Israel from slavery. See, when Exodus begins, the Ten Commandments completes. As we look at the bigger story of Exodus, we need to realize that what God is beginning here, he ends with the Ten Commandments. He's also ending the slavery. So from chapter one till here, he's got one section, he's got one chapter in Israel's life, the slavery years. He has ended those and this begins a new chapter. Begins a chapter where they're free, they're in a land, they've got a new identity. They're the holy nation, the chosen race, the royal priesthood. So we need to look at this as a chapter and we're beginning a new chapter. In order to appreciate the significance of the story, there's two main aspects, there's two phrases we need to focus on. First, the firstborn. The firstborn is a word, it's a catch word that draws our attention over and over again. It's repeated. The firstborn plays such a strong role in this chapter of Israel's life. And the second is the lamb. First, let's look at the firstborn, the role of the firstborn. God is going to save his people through killing the firstborn of Egypt. Now, if you look back to Exodus 4, God says, Israel is my firstborn son. God chose them by his grace to be his firstborn son. They are not by nature God's firstborn son, but God by grace declares them to be his firstborn son. He's going to deliver his firstborn son by killing the Egyptian firstborn son. So we see here there's some dynamic, there's some necessary connections between God's declaration of Israel and what he does to Egypt. Let's remember something, that Israel isn't by nature God's firstborn son. They are called the firstborn son, but God actually has a proper firstborn son. It's Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the proper, by nature, son of God the Father. Israel is the firstborn by God's grace. The son is by nature the firstborn son. Now notice why this is important. Israel, the chosen firstborn son, the one who is made the firstborn son, they need protection from God's wrath. They are by nature, not God's sons, because they don't reflect him. They don't obey him. They're rebellious against him. The chosen son, Israel, needs protection. Jesus Christ, the true firstborn son, he does not need protection from God's wrath. He's perfect. But this is where it gets quite good. Israel needs protection from God's wrath. Jesus does not need protection from God's wrath. But what's amazing here is that Jesus becomes sin. to protect Israel from God's wrath. He himself is treated as a sinner. Jesus Christ, the firstborn of Son, perfectly innocent, lived the perfect human life. He died as a sinner, as we read from Isaiah 53, because God poured out His wrath against all sin, against the sin of His children, Israel, on Jesus. so that he no longer would pour out his sin upon the firstborn. God kills the firstborn of Egypt in order to free Israel, but here God is going to kill his own proper firstborn to deliver Israel from their sin. This is why Jesus is called the firstborn among many brothers. We see this in 1 Corinthians 15 20 and Romans 8 29. He is the firstborn brother among whom are many other brothers who were adopted. We need to focus on here is the fact that the proper firstborn, he becomes the lamb to deliver Israel, the firstborn. So let's look at this lamb theme. Let's look at how the lamb is used in the Passover. God delivers Israel by killing the Passover lamb. God passes through Egypt, striking each home. with his wrath against their sin, with his judgment against how Egypt has treated Israel. Why is God destroying each firstborn? It's because each one is a sinner under his judgment. God's wrath is not poured out on the house of Israel because that blood of the Lamb was a sign. That blood of the Lamb was a sign committed by faith from the people of Israel where God saw it and said, I will not strike that home. The lamb was a mark. The lamb was a substitute for the firstborn of Israel. This isn't the first time that God's firstborn has been saved by an animal. We could go back to Genesis 22. Abraham waited 25 years to have a son, the precious chosen promised son. After the boy comes of age, God tells Abraham, you're to go to the mount. You just sacrifice your son. Abraham has walked many years with God and he knows God is good. He knows God is faithful. He knows God is trustworthy. So he takes Isaac to the Mount. The boy is carrying the wood. He looks around and he says to the father. Where's the lamb? The father responds, God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son. The firstborn of Abraham looks around and he realizes there's a sacrifice about to take place, but he sees no sacrificial animal. Because at this point in the story, he is a sacrifice. Abraham, by faith, puts his boy on the wood. He binds him. He lifts his knife about to kill him. As God has instructed, he is being faithful. And then, of course, God provides. There's a ram. Caught in the thicket. God has provided a sacrifice, a lamb dying in place of the sun. We can go back further. Adam and Eve, the very first sinners. After God finishes the curse, what does God do? He kills an innocent animal to cover their shame with the skins. In our story, the Passover lamb serves as a substitute. Instead of the firstborn of Egypt dying, I'm sorry, instead of the firstborn of Israel dying for their sin, the lamb died and the blood was assigned to God. He passed over those houses. Now, if we look at the feast year after year, a lamb had to die for a household. Hundreds of lambs died every year, year after year, a bloody mess as a sign that God was going to deliver his people. Year after year, lambs died as a substitute to cover the sins of Israel. They were all pointing to the one true Passover lamb. See, Israel should have known those Passover lambs, year after year, they didn't take away the sin. They covered the sin. They didn't take away the sin. The very fact that they had to be repeated, the book of Hebrews tells us, points to the fact that they were not perfect. See, the dying of this Passover lamb, it's a thread that goes throughout Scripture and it points us to Christ. Before we get to the Passover lamb that John has declared, let's look back at Isaiah 53. He was pierced. for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. And with his wounds, we are healed. We have gone astray. He was a land that was led to the slaughter. It was the will of the Lord to crush him. His soul makes an offering for our guilt. The Lamb of God came. John the Baptist declares when he sees Jesus Christ coming, this is the Lamb of God. This is the final perfect sacrifice. God himself, who has come in perfect humanity, lived the perfect life. And was led to die on the cross. He himself having no sin, but treating as treated as the greatest of sinners. It's interesting how clear it is that he is the Lamb of God. Remember that for preparing the lamb, you chose the lamb five days before Passover. Christ rode into Jerusalem five days before Passover. He was already being set aside as the Lamb of God. Then for those five days, he's inspected. He seemed to have no blemish. He is constantly questioned by the religious leaders. And amazingly, the one person that declares the truth, Pontius Pilate, I find no fault in him. He is the one true lamb without blemish. Matthew and Mark tell us that Christ died in the sixth hour, he breathed his last breath. This is the same time every family in Israel was supposed to be slaying the lamb. When Christ breathed his last breath, that's when every family was supposed to be killing the lamb for the Passover. And remember what happened when Christ breathed his last breath? An earthquake. They know what happened in Jerusalem. They should have been able to make the connection that this one who died innocently on the cross, he was the true Passover lamb. The lamb they were killing was simply pointing to him. See, those lambs that were killed year after year, they covered sin. They could not remove sin. They could not perfectly forgive sin. There were lambs. But God sent his own son to die for us as the perfect man. What is our application from this? Well, thankfully, Peter gives us a very clear application. Let me read from first Peter one. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. But as he who called you as holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. Since it is written, you shall be holy for I am holy. And if you call on him as father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers. Not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory so that your faith and hope are in God. This was God's plan all along, the one who was known before the foundation of the world, the one who was foreknown by God to be the true sacrifice, to be the true plan of salvation. He has now been sent. We don't trust the blood of lambs year after year. We trust the blood of the lamb. We have not been purchased by just any lamb. It's the precious blood of Christ. Not by silver, not by gold. We've been purchased by the precious blood of Christ, the holy blood of God. We are now his. That's why that command be holy for I am holy. God has poured out his holy blood for us. We are now his. He's purchased us to be his own. See, friends, we too often treat grace as if it's cheap grace. We too often look at the cross and see it as an excuse card for sin. The cross is the grace of God who has forgiven us for the sins that we have committed against him. Our sins are gross, our sins are offensive, our sins bring God's wrath against us because he is righteous. He is just. Grace is not cheap because the blood of Christ is not cheap. The blood of Christ is precious. If you're a believer in Jesus Christ today, the blood of Christ has set you free from hell, from wrath, from destruction. It has freed you to live a new life. He's purchased you and called you to a new beginning. Be holy for your God is holy. Be holy in all of your conduct. Be committed to loving Christ with all your heart, your strength and your mind. Be committed to living for the one who has poured out His precious blood. See, again, all the plagues are pointing us to one thing. Worship. We are called to worship the one true God. And the things that keep us from worship are thinking we don't need that precious blood, that blood is meant for somebody else, but not us, because we're good enough for God to like us. And then it keeps us from those that precious blood. The sins that entangle us. We've been in that moment where you thought, I can do this because God will forgive me. That's a dangerous place. Those sins that entangle us, those sins that trap us, those sins that tantalize us and seem like they're not that dangerous. We knowingly commit sin, believing Christ will forgive us. Friends, that's cheap grace. You're treating the blood of Christ as if it's a cheap price to pay for your sin. Friends, the Lamb of God has died on our behalf. If we believe in him, God's wrath is no longer against us. We're caught up to a new identity. We're caught up to a new beginning. Let us commit to be holy because our God who has died for us is holy. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, thank you for your forgiveness. We praise you because you are a holy God. You are worthy of our every affection, our every thought, our every deed, our every word. We thank You that You have forgiven us for going astray, each our own way, Almighty God. We thank You, Jesus, because You are the Lamb who died in our place. It is Your precious blood that forgives. It is your precious blood that not only causes God to skip over us, but he forgives us. He calls us to come and to know him. We thank you, Jesus, that you have removed our sin. You have not just covered it. We thank you, Jesus, that we can know you, the Lamb of God, and we can sing your praise. Help us Moving us, Holy Spirit, to truly worship the Lamb of God, who is slain for our iniquities. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.