October 27, 2006

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

Exodus 11-13

As I approach the passage before us this morning, I must admit that I do so with a storm of mixed emotions. On the one hand, this is a dreadful story, a very dark night, pierced with the awful screams and wailing of grieving parents holding the bodies of their firstborn sons. On the other hand, it is a story of triumph and victory, the story of freedom and emancipation from slavery, the story of the birth of a nation, as God’s people marched out of Egypt. I cannot seem to fully reconcile the contradictory pulls on my emotions that the events of these chapters elicit. One phrase, however, sticks in my mind. It is found in Exodus 12:43, as translated in the King James Version: This is a night to be much observed. This is truly a “night to remember.”

It is a night to remember for a number of reasons. First of all, it was a night of sacrifice. The evening began in Israelite homes all over Egypt, with the death of a yearling lamb. Each family, following God’s instructions through Moses, carefully selected a lamb without blemish. Then they cut its throat, collected the blood, and, using a branch from the hyssop plant, they splashed the blood on the door posts and cross beam over the door. Then they roasted the lamb and ate it along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They ate standing, with their cloaks tucked into their belts, sandals on their feet, staff held in one hand, ready for travel. The death of the lamb, and the blood on the door posts were both critical. That very night, the destroying angel passed through the entire land of Egypt. Whenever it came to a home with the blood on the door posts, it would “pass over” that home, leaving all those within the home safe. The sacrifice of the lamb protected the family from the loss of their firstborn son.

Secondly, it was a night of judgment against Pharaoh and the people of Egypt. This note of judgment is clearly declared in Scripture. We find it way back in Genesis 15:14: But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves…This is the final plague, the final punishment against the nation. We saw last week that many of the plagues were directly targeted against the false gods of Egypt. Let’s look at Exodus 12:12 again: On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn – both men and animals – and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am Yahweh. This final plague directly targeted the deity of Pharaoh. Remember, the Egyptians believed that the Pharaohs were divine, descended from Aman-Re or Ra, the sun god. In the ninth plague, God blotted out the sun, or the “father of Pharaoh.” Now in this final plague, the son of Pharaoh is slain, striking not only at their line of political succession, but also against their false theology. One of Egypt’s “gods” died that night!

As we continue to consider this night of judgment against Egypt, let us also remember the brutal reign of terror that Pharaoh and the Egyptians have carried out against the Israelites. Do you remember Pharaoh’s instructions in Exodus 1? First he commanded the midwives to kill every male child at birth. When they refused, he gave all other Egyptians the right and the responsibility to kill the infant boys of the Israelites: not just the firstborn sons, but every son! It is a night of judgment as God exacts his justice.

But there is an even deeper, symbolic meaning to this night of judgment. It is elaborated for us in Exodus 4:21-22. 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.’” The battle between Yahweh and Pharaoh is not just an academic struggle of power and authority. It is a very personal struggle. Pharaoh had 9 opportunities to repent, to change his mind, to let the Israelites go. Every time, he hardened his heart and refused. Finally, God says, “I am going to reach out and touch you where it hurts most. You have refused to let my firstborn son go, so now I will slay your firstborn son.” The time for judgment has come.

The account of the events is given with rather simple, spare language in Exodus 12:29-30. At midnight Yahweh 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. It was a night of judgment.

Third, it was a night of deliverance. This was God’s promise to the Israelites through Moses. Look at Exodus 11:1: Now Yahweh 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 he does, he will drive you out completely.” After more than 400 years in bondage, after nine plagues, after Pharaoh repeatedly refusing to let the Israelites go for even 3 days to worship God and hold a festival in the desert, God promised that they will not only be allowed to go, but they would be actually driven out completely. This promise was literally fulfilled. Look at Pharaoh’s words in Exodus 12: 31-32: During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship Yahweh as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds as you have said, and go… The grammatical forms are very telling here. His speech is made up of a series of commands or imperatives: Get up! Leave! Go! Worship! Take! Go! He is literally driving them out! These are not half-hearted statements of permission. These are commands to urgent action. “Get out!” he cries. What is more, his urgency is echoed by the Egyptian people. In verse 33, we read: The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!” Because of what happened on that final night, that awful tenth plague, the nation of Israel marched out of Egypt as free people. The summary statement is given in Exodus 12:51: And on that very day, Yahweh brought the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.” It happened, just as God had promised it would.

Fourth, it was a night of victory. Remember the image of the boxing match? In the first round, Moses presented God’s demands: Thus says Yahweh, “Let my people go!” And Pharaoh responded contemptuously, “Who is Yahweh? I don’t know Yahweh, and I will not let the Israelites go!” That is what the fight has been about. And round after round, Yahweh has been hammering Pharaoh and his nation with plague after plague. But after each round, the result has been the same. Pharaoh has hardened his heart and set his jaw and declared, “I will not let Israel go!” Finally, at the end of the 11^th round, Yahweh lands this one mighty blow to Pharaoh’s jaw. His eyes roll back in his head and he crumples to the floor. Yahweh has won the fight!

To see how complete, how overwhelming this victory is, let me point out two highly symbolic details in the text. The first is when God instructs the Israelites to ask for jewelry and other portable wealth from the Egyptians. This is a rather bizarre aspect of the story. We see it first in Exodus 11:2: Tell the people that men and women alike are to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold. The King James Version translates the word “ask” as “borrow”, but that is not a good translation. There is no implication of paying them back. The word simply means “ask for” We are told that the Israelites followed Moses’ instructions in Exodus 12:35: The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. Bizarre behavior, don’t you think? But here is the most amazing thing: the Egyptians gave them what they asked! And we are even told why in verse 36: Yahweh had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people and they gave them what they asked for. Then we are told why this is so significant at the end of the verse. So they plundered the Egyptians. Now, in the custom of the day, what did a conquering army do to its enemies when the battle was over? “To the victor belong the spoils!” They plundered the conquered enemy. It was deemed the natural right of conquest. Here we are told that Yahweh’s victory over the Egyptians was so total, so absolute, that the Israelites walked out with all the plunder they could carry. And they did it without striking a blow. They just asked, and the Egyptians gave it to them! After 30 years of slavery, they left Egypt like a conquering army. It was a night of victory.

But there is one more, subtle, but I believe very significant reference buried in the text. It is found in Pharaoh’s final words to Moses in Exodus 12:32. At the end of all those urgent imperatives, (“Get up, leave, go…”) we have this rather strange request by Pharaoh. And also bless me. Let’s unpack that request briefly. It is a self evident truth that the greater blesses the lesser. This is illustrated in the climactic event in Jacob’s life, when he wrestled all night with the angel of the Lord, and finally as dawn breaks, he hangs on with his remaining strength, and pleads, “I will not let you go until you bless me.” Jacob acknowledged the superiority of his opponent and begged for his blessing. I am not sure of what all is implied in Pharaoh’s request here. We know from his subsequent actions that he has not exercised any true faith. But I do know this: Pharaoh is acknowledging that Moses and the God he represents is greater than he is, greater than any of the gods of Egypt. His request is a gesture, a word of surrender. They are the words of a beaten man. Pharaoh is defeated. Yahweh has won. It was a night of victory.

Fifth, it was a night of faith. The element of faith is clearly stated in Hebrews 11:28.By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.  The faith is attributed to Moses, but the Israelites also displayed faith by their obedience in Exodus 12:28: The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. Without that faith, each home without the blood would have been judged just like the homes of the Egyptians. Each faithless home would also have risen during the night to find the firstborn son dead. Faith was the crucial ingredient that made the difference in the night being a night of judgment or a night of deliverance and victory.

Finally, it was a night to be remembered. The events of that long night represent, in many ways, the birth of the nation Israel as an independent entity on the world’s stage. It was vitally important that the Israelites should never lose sight of the circumstances of their “birth”. It is no accident that the vast majority of the text in these three chapters is actually given over to instructions to the Israelites on how they were to memorialize and celebrate these events throughout their history. In fact, they are told to rearrange their calendar, so that the month they became a nation would now become the first month in their calendar year. In addition, they are given instructions that actually fall into three categories of remembrance.

The first is the command to celebrate the feast of the Passover. Every year, even after they settled in the promised land, the Israelites were to celebrate on the 14^th day of the first month by slaughtering a lamb and then eating it just like the Israelites did on the night they left Egypt. The second command is to observe a seven day festival that began the night of the Passover, but continued for an entire week. This was known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread. During this week, they were not to eat anything made with leaven. In fact they were to search their homes and throw out any leaven that they found. This, too, was an act of remembrance, to recall that they left Egypt in such a hurry that there was no time even to bake bread and allow the leaven or yeast a chance to do its work. Third, God commanded that the firstborn male of every womb was to be consecrated to him. The logic behind this command was simple. The destroying angel had gone throughout the land of Egypt to claim the firstborn of every household and every animal. He passed over the homes where he saw the blood. But in sparing them, God also claimed them as his own. Now he was simply demanding his due. Every first born male animal was to be sacrificed to him. Every first born male child was to be redeemed by giving a sacrifice in his place. The reason for all of these three observances is the same. It is given in Exodus 13:14-16. In days to come, when your son asks you, “What does this mean?” say to him, “With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed every firstborn in Egypt, both man and animal. This is why I sacrifice to the LORD the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.” And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the LORD brought us out of Egypt with his might hand. Truly, as Exodus 12:42 says, this is a night to be much observed, a night to be remembered.

There is another night that is described in the Bible that raises in my heart and mind many of the same conflicting emotions that are raised by these events in Exodus. It is a night that fell, by no coincidence, on a Passover evening over 1400 years after the events we have been considering. It was the night that set in motion the events of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ. The link between these events is clearly made in Scripture. In I Corinthians 5:7, Paul writes these words: For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

Let me highlight six links between these two nights. First, it was a night of sacrifice. On the first Passover night, yearling lambs all over Egypt were sacrificed. These lambs were carefully selected. They had to be without blemish. On this second Passover night, another lamb was sacrificed. He also was carefully selected, even before the foundation of the earth. He was without blemish. This lamb, our Passover lamb, the Christ, was sacrificed.

Second, it was a night of judgment. On the first Passover night, the judgment fell on the land of Egypt and on every firstborn son. On the second Passover night, God’s judgment also fell. God’s wrath was poured out. But it fell, not on the guilty, but on the innocent. Isaiah 53:4-6 says it all. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Third, it was a night of deliverance. On the first Passover night, the nation of Israel was led to freedom. On the second Passover night, Jesus led his people to freedom from the penalty and bondage of sin. This was the promise given to Joseph in Matthew 1:21, when the birth of the Christ child was announced: You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. This is the deliverance that has been announced in the Gospel ever since. Listen to the confession of the slave in Paul’s words in Romans 7:24: What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? But now listen to the words of deliverance: Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Fourth, it was a night of victory. Actually, the seeds of victory were sown that night, but the reality and extent of the victory was not know until the third day when Jesus rose from the dead and declared his victory over sin, death and the Devil. This victory is declared is I Corinthians 15:55-56. “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

At the next one, though, we must pause. That first Passover night was a night of faith. Moses displayed faith. So did the Israelites when they slaughtered their lambs and sprinkled the blood on the doorposts. Now the critical question comes down to us. Do we have faith in Christ, the Passover lamb who was slain for us? Just as on that first Passover night, the ingredient of faith will determine whether this night will result for us in judgment, or in deliverance and victory. John 3:16 says it so clearly: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son (as the sacrificial Passover Lamb) that whoever believes (has faith) in him shall not perish (under God’s judgment, like the firstborn of Egypt did) but have eternal life. Have you put your faith in Jesus as the Messiah and as your Passover lamb? Have you trusted in him as your deliverer from sin and the judgment of God? Your eternal destiny is riding on the answer to that question.

Finally, that first Passover night was a night to remember. So was the night of the fulfilled Passover when Jesus Christ, our Passover lamb was sacrificed. But how shall we remember it? For the answer to that question, I invite you back to hear next week’s message.