Pastor Dave Martin ~ Cross Creek Community Church ~ July 11, 2010

“Sacrificial Lamb”

Exodus 12 and selected

• This morning we’ll going to look at the Sacrificial Lamb then celebrate the Lord’s Supper together…
• For 430 years 2M Israelites were under Egyptian bondage… God sees and calls Moses at burning bush
• Before Pharaoh… “let my people go…” blood, frogs, gnats, flies, disease, boils, hail, locust, darkness
• Pharaoh’s heart hardened… God instituted the Passover as a brand new special feast for Israel for all generations to come… the deliverance of His people to the Promised Land…
• The Passover sacrificial lamb is a beautiful picture/illustration of Jesus Christ some 1450 years later

I.   God’s PROVISION … the Sacrificial Lamb

Exodus 12:3-6a ³ “Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. ⁴ If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. ⁵ The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. ⁶ Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month…”

• First usage of the “whole community of Israel” speaks of a new beginning – the observance of Passover
• Carefully notice God’s precise instructions: the date – 10^th of Nisan, select a lamb for your family… (Rabbi’s allowed no less than 10 people and no more than 20 people per lamb)… share the meal with your neighbor/another family.
• Notice the Lamb MUST be year-old males without any observable blemishes or defects… not sickly, not crippled… Think about bringing a 1 year old lamb into your home for 4 days… I believe for two reasons
• To carefully observe the lamb for any sickness, defects… it needed to be perfect/proven as Jesus…
• I believe children, mom, dad… becomes “attached” to this lamb… grow fond and love the lamb… costly
• For 4 days the family loved and cared for each particular sacrificial lamb in their household…

II. Man’s PARTICIPATION … Personal Obedience

Exodus 12:6b-11 ⁶ Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. ⁷ Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. ⁸ That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. ⁹ Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roast it over the fire--head, legs and inner parts. ¹⁰ Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. ¹¹ This is how you are to eat it: 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.

Exodus 12:22 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.

• “Take care of them” for 4 days then you MUST slaughter/slay/kill/to flay them at twilight (3-5pm??)
• Sacrificial Lamb… innocent - no sin, no guilt of it’s own… God’s provision – shedding of blood for sin
• Lev 17:11 “It is the blood which makes an atonement for the soul”… the life blood flowing…
• I grew up around farms/animals… I’ve slaughtered animals… I’ve hunted many years… I’ve seen people die… I’ve seen a Jewish video of an actual sacrifice of a lamb – very, very moving, we ALL should see it… to get the gravity of what actually occurs… sin must be dealt with, yet in our modern culture we have sophisticated sin, we’ve lost touch with the seriousness & penalty of it… requirement of blood…
• Demonstrate how the slaughter took place… how God instructed… placing your hand on the head of the lamb symbolically transferring your sin/guilt/shame to an innocent perfect substitute.
• If we began showing the horror of abortions… they would stop… Understand the magnitude of an innocent sacrifice… take time and read Isaiah 53 prophesied 740 years before Christ…

Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth…

Isaiah 53:12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

• There are many “bloodless” religions today… calling Biblical Christianity a “gory” religion, even some mainline denominations removing songs about the blood from their hymnals… too bloody & gory

• Hyssop must have red buds on it, three branches bind together… “dip” plunge then strike violently… T

John 19:29-30 ²⁹ A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. ³⁰ When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

• The substitutionary sacrifice has been made, the price paid… it is finished, Jesus gave up His Spirit
• You CANNOT come to the Father EXCEPT through the blood of Christ, shed at Calvary for my sin
• Bitter herbs = suffering/sorrow & grief over past sins and without yeast = leave quickly & symbol of sin
• In faith slaughter the lamb, in faith apply the blood, roast and eat, make ready for your departure…

God’s Provision… Man’s Participation…

III. Eternal PROMISE … New Relationship (community of Israel, Promised Land, Intimacy with the Lord…)

Exodus 12:12-13 ¹² "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 the Lord. ¹³ 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.

• Pass over you… will see “Sign” of the blood – something greater is coming (God sending His only Son)
• God takes sin seriously, He gives a “death” penalty for it… wages of sin is death, Blood has to be shed…
• “When I see the blood, I will pass over you”… escaping the horrors of judgment and eternal death (Rev)

Hebrews 9:22b “…without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness [of sin].” (Under the protection…)

• The blood of animals the means of deliverance… covering of sin OT
• The blood of Jesus the means of redemption… removing of sin NT (new ratified covenant )

Exodus 12:23 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 that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.

• First born sons of Egyptians/Pharaoh were considered to have been divine, god-like, treated special…
• At midnight whoever was NOT under the blood, the firstborn male/cattle was struck down…
• Ps 78:49 speaks of a “band of destroying angels” thank God for the blood of Jesus, cleanses from all sin
• This 10^th plague is what finally broke Pharaoh allowing the Israelites to leave Egyptian bondage
• Christianity alone provides a sufficient sacrifice to take care of my sin problem… Jesus’ perfect sacrifice brings new life… a new relationship with God forever! What a Promise!

Are you under the blood? Have you been personally redeemed? Have you been spiritually born again?

IV. Application:

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

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  • God’s unconditional love for you is beyond measure… Allow His Son to be your sacrificial lamb

• Provision… God gave His Son – Grace

1 Corinthians 5:7b “…For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”

Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace

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  • My sin put Jesus on the cross, he was my substitute, he was my sacrificial Lamb, I killed Him
  • His blood was poured out for me, He was slaughtered for me, He drank from the cup for me

• Participation… Believe in Him – Faith

John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."

John 5:24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.

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  • Serious… has there been a moment in time that you repented of your sin and trusted Christ?
  • Do you know for sure that you have eternal life? Have you crossed over from death to life?

• Promise… Have eternal life – Deliverance

John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.

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  • When you stand before God someday, will He see the blood of His Son?
  • Delivered from judgment, wrath of God of eternal death in the lake of fire… Eternal LIFE!

1 Peter 1:18-19 “You were redeemed… with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”

• Sin MUST be dealt with… Are you under the blood? Opportunity to trust Him now…
• Remember Calvary… Great Cost… Who you are in Christ… Remember Jesus is coming again…

As the men come…

Luke 22:19-20 ¹⁹ And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." ²⁰ In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

“Do this in remembrance of me” ~ Jesus