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 ometimes it seems that God is slow in answering our prayers. But often He is waiting to answer our prayers in a way that is unforgettable. This message highlights the remarkable way He set the Israelites free, with the Passover meal that was so unforgettable it is still celebrated 3,500 years later. This special message also includes a time of personal communion for you and the Lord. (Message: Eric Elder; Communion Song: "Peace" written and played by Guy Grimstead; Running time: 41:59) Lesson 10 - God FulFills His Promises In A Way That Is UnforgettableWatch The Video
Read The Transcript Hi; this is Eric Elder and welcome to The Ranch. Tonight we're going to be taking a look at the conclusion of Part One of this study of Exodus, and we're finally going to get the Israelites out of Egypt. They've been in captivity for over 400 years, and Moses has come to the rescue at God's bidding. And here they are, and finally we're going to see them get free. And so tonight's message is really the culmination of the previous lessons that we've looked at and the Israelites are finally going to get free. So it's a great time of victory. We're also going to be taking communion tonight during the message, and you'll have a chance to do that wherever you are as well. I'll just let you know a little about that as the time comes. But just as they go through the events that they go through, you'll see why that's a fitting time to do that and also just to sort of wrap up and close off our time tonight for this first portion of the study of Exodus. So I hope you'll join us in reading here and then talking about the Word of God, and then we'll have a little prayer time at the end. We're looking at Exodus Chapter 12 starting in Verse 1 through 14, and we're going to read it here in the room and you can follow along on your screen or in your own Bibles. Who would like to kick us off here tonight? Chapter 12 Verse 1 and we're going up through 14.
ERIC: Someone else?
ERIC: Great. This is the day, this final verse says, that you are to commemorate for the generations to come, you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord's everlasting ordinance. We talked in some lessons about how and why God sets people free, sort of why He does it the way He does. And if you remember, He sets people free in a way so the world will know that He is God. Another reason He sets people free is indicated in here. The reason He sets them free the way He does, is so that it will be so memorable that the people will not forget what has happened. So He could just come in and just set them free, open the gates, let them out of Egypt. But He does it in a way that's so memorable that people won't forget how He set them free and that He set them free. And this story took place, Moses was born, you know, about 1500 years before Christ appeared on the earth, so that would be about 3500 years ago. And the Passover that's described in here is still celebrated today in Jewish households around the world. And we even as Christians celebrate the Lord's supper as a reminder to us of the Passover as well when the Passover occurred, because this was the last supper that Jesus took. He was at the Passover table. And to me, it's remarkable that this is a tradition that has lasted not 35 days or 35 years or 350 years, but 3,500 years this tradition has been going on. In Verse 14 it says, 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. That's a pretty long lasting ordinance. 3500 years later we still remember how the Israelites were set free. I think sometimes we wait for God's answer and God's timing on issues in our life and we keep getting frustrated, don't we? Why doesn't it happen sooner? Why doesn't it happen the way we think it should? We keep praying that it will happen, and why isn't it then. Oftentimes I think God is waiting for the moments and the circumstances and the timing so that it will be memorable, so memorable that people won't be able to forget it for generations to come. I know as I was reading this verse even today again back in 12, Verse 2; Chapter 12, Verse 2, it reminded me of a story about me when God called me into ministry several years ago. And I remember the day very clearly and God spoke this verse to me. I was actually in the bathtub having quiet time; and I've told some of you guys this story before. And I was going down to Texas to pray for a woman who needed healing of cancer, and I was asking God what He was going to do, and He was telling me what would happen through the whole night. And I asked Him to confirm to me what He was telling me was going to happen. And He spoke to me two verses of scripture. I was just writing in my journal; I just had quiet time in the tub. It's a great place to get away from it, noises and everything going on. And I was writing in my journal about this whole event. I said "God, I need some scripture to confirm this to me, what you're telling me is going to happen." And all I heard in my mind was Exodus 12:2 and Genesis 2:3, those two verses. And so I flipped over to Genesis 2:3, looked at it and it was about the Sabbath day, God made the Sabbath day and declared it Holy. And then I flipped over here because I said "That doesn't really make sense, that doesn't relate at all." I flipped over here to Exodus 12:2 and it said "This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year." And it was talking about the Passover. And I wrote in my journal, "God, I don't get it." And before I could finish the sentence, God spoke into my mind again and I wrote down His words because they were so clear. And He said "Like the Sabbath and the Passover were markers of special days, so today will mark a special day for you." And so I wrote that down. And I was like, "God, what will it mark?" And God said, "The beginning of your ministry." And I just wept and wept and wept and I called Lana into the bathroom, I just started telling her what was going on. And that did mark the beginning of my ministry. And I quit my job two days later and went into full-time ministry. And this has been many years later now that God has had me on this path. And that day was like the Sabbath and the Passover for me. They were markers of special days. That was Valentine's Day, February 14th. And God sent me out to heal human hearts and heal people's hearts and bring them back into a relationship with Him. And it was so remarkable and so memorable, and I'd been calling out to God, "God, use me, please use me, use me to minister" and all these different things. And this was a terrible timing for it. I shared this story at other times in my life, but wasn't a good time for it. But it was hugely remarkable and memorable. And that just still sticks with me even as I read this passage again this morning, it came back to me again that God marks these special days and these special events sometimes in your lives so it will be so memorable, so that He won't forget. Are there some correlations you guys can think about what happened to the Israelites here during Passover and what happened with Christ and what He's done for us? ROB: Well, they were told to pick a lamb and Jesus is the Lamb of God. It was supposed to be a lamb without defect and Jesus was without sin. They were also supposed to take the blood of the lamb and put it over the doorpost, the doorframes of their house, and that's what protected them from death. And the blood of Christ being shed on the cross is what protects us from eternal death, spiritual death. ERIC: Exactly, yeah, those are good. Jesus is called the Lamb of God and He's our Passover lamb. I found a Scripture here in 1 Corinthians 5:7 where it says
It's pretty clear. Christ was called our Passover lamb. John the Baptist, he says this about Jesus in John 1, Verse 29.
So there are some very clear references in the New Testament to Jesus being our Passover lamb, Jesus being the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And when we take communion there's some more references here later in 1 Corinthians where this is exactly what Jesus said when He had His last supper, because they were also celebrating this Passover feast which had been a tradition at that time for already 1500 years. And they were celebrating the Passover feast and He was describing what was happening as He was passing the bread around and the wine around. And He was saying that "This is my body shed for you, this is my blood shed for you." And He very clearly makes a reference to how He was going to then become the sacrifice for the sins of the world. I think going back to the point that I get out of this and the lesson that I get out of this conclusion here to getting the Israelites out of Egypt, is that God fulfills his promises in a way that's so memorable that people will have a hard time forgetting just what He's done for them. And as we see here in the Passover, it's a celebration that's gone on for thousands of years as well. So tonight we're going to take communion as well and we're going to remember what Christ has done for us. I think that will be a special time. But before we get to that, I want to look at -- jump ahead just a little bit in this chapter. There's some other things I'd love for you to read on your own when this is over, but if you want to jump on ahead to Exodus Chapter 12 starting in Verse 24. We're just skipping a few portions here where it talks about specifically what to do and how to do this Passover. But in Verse 24 we'll pick up the story a little bit more. So if someone would want to start reading in Verse 24 and then we'll on through Verse 42.
ERIC: Someone else, Verse 29?
ERIC: Great. You know, sometimes we get to a passage like this and it's all sort of matter of fact. Okay, so it all happened just like God said it would and there it is, they got free, Pharaoh finally says okay, he doesn't have any conditions on them anymore. He doesn't say okay, you can only take the men, or okay, you can only go this far, or okay, you can only go but leave your herd. Finally he says back in Verse 31 and 32, "Leave my people, you and the Israelites, go worship the Lord as you have requested." Remember that lesson we did where we said God promises us something and we need to go for the full 100 percent of what He promises? Not to settle for a compromise, not to stop short of that, but to go the whole way and do the whole thing. And here he says go and worship the Lord as you have requested. He says all right, you got it, the whole ball of wax. Take your flocks and your herds as you have said and go and also bless me. And the next part we talked about in one of the lessons as well, how God fulfilled His promises here to give them all the stuff from the Egyptians. I still think this is really amazing, that here are these slaves, you know, I mean, how much stuff do you think they own, the slaves? Very little. What does it say in here they ask them for? What do they ask the Egyptians for? Silver and gold and clothing. They didn't even have clothes. I mean, they had whatever rags they were wearing, slaves back then. And here they're going to walk out of Egypt fully clothed with a few extra sets of clothing and their silver and their gold. Can you just picture them, just going? I mean, the favor that they must have had by this time after all these plagues that the Egyptians would willingly and freely and happily give them this stuff. And say "The hand of God must be with you guys." To picture these slaves who had never had anything. I mean, that generation had never had anything. They had never known freedom or the generation before or the generation before. This is over 400 years here they'd been in captivity. They had never known freedom ever before. And Moses said go and ask the Egyptians for silver and gold and clothing. Can you picture these guys and these women just going to their neighbor and saying -- I can't picture the scene, really. Can you? Can I have some of your silver and your gold and your clothing, and then they would give it to them. This is freedom to the max. DALE: They had been just devastated, though, with killing every one of the firstborn. Don't you think there was a little bit of a humbling experience there? ROB: They were in fear for their own lives. DALE: Finally, "Whatever you want." Have you ever been in that situation? ERIC: Whatever you want. SCOTT: Take it. ROB: Go. ERIC: They're like, "They took our firstborn, all of our flocks and herds and children." DALE: Am I remembering something that wasn't there, but wasn't there a prophetic word that Moses was to be given -- ERIC: Back at the beginning, God said -- DALE: Can you remember where that was at? But I think you mentioned it. ERIC: Right. Yeah, it's exactly what God promised him would happen. DALE: Now, that would seem strange if you really think about it for them to state that before it even happens and of course, it did happen and was prophetically true. ERIC: Yeah, let me find it. The one is Exodus 4, Verse 22 where God tells them,
So that was the first of these words that God said would happen even while Moses was at the burning bush and that's just happened, what we just read about, the firstborn did die. And second was that they would get all the plunder from the Egyptians. Do you see where that is? SCOTT: Chapter 3, Verse 21 and 22. ERIC: Do you want to read that, Scott?
ERIC: Can you imagine how ridiculous that would have sounded when Moses comes riding into town and saying this is what God told me is going to happen. Totally ridiculous. I'll tell people things about their life that I know, I know God can do for them and can work in their life. God can do this for you. And they'll look at me and say "That is totally ridiculous, there's no way that is going to happen in my life." Do people do that? Yeah. Yeah. People do this all the time. We do this; I do this. God will tell me something that's going to happen and I'll say "There is no way that's going to happen." I'll say that in my flesh, anyway, but in my spirit I'll say "God, I reserve final judgment for you though, whatever you want." But if I could believe that when He says it, if we could believe it when He says it, that'll carry us through the storms.
What's more interesting to me is that this wasn't just prophesied to Moses, but this was told to Abraham 500 years before Moses. Do you remember that? Go back to Genesis Chapter 15. Way back in Genesis Chapter 15 starting in Verse 13 and 14 -- let's go back to 12 all the way through 16. This is God's covenant with Abraham. Now, again, this is 500 some years before Moses lived. This is not many generations after Adam; we're not very far into the Biblical history here. Genesis 1 starts with Adam and Eve and then by 15 we're already up to Abraham. This is very early on in the history of the world. Chapter 15, Verse 12 says, "As the sun was setting, Abraham fell into a deep sleep." This is right after God promised him that he would have descendants that outnumbered the sand on the seashore, which in itself was ridiculous, wasn't it? Abraham was old; he and Sarah had no children. This is a totally ridiculous promise that God made. God said you're going to have not only a child, but you're going to have so many descendants it will outnumber the sand on the seashore, they will outnumber the stars in the sky, which was this whole generation of Israelites that we just looked at. And he also said this in Verse 12,
SCOTT: With great possessions. ERIC: With great possessions.
So here way back 4,000 years ago from us today in the year 2004, 4,000 years ago, God said this would happen! God said they would be enslaved for 400 years. God said they would come out and they would come out with great possessions. And when they did, they came out in such a memorable way that we still celebrate the Lord's supper. Tonight we're going to remember and celebrate that God does fulfill his promises. Because He's made another promise to us, and I want to read this. Let's take you over to 1 Corinthians Chapter 11, Because Jesus came once and I would say probably the biggest promise that we have still to look forward to is that Jesus will come again. Jesus said He will come again. I think sometimes we forget that, or we don't believe that, or we wonder if that's true. And if we could really believe it just like if the Israelites could have believed that yeah, God spoke to Abraham, said 400 years, that's it and you'll be free, they might have believed us a little more. But if we could believe that as well. Here in this passage where Jesus is having his Last Supper or the Lord's supper, it says Jesus is going to come again. Paul is writing these words and Paul the Apostle says in Verse 23 of Chapter 11,
So whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup, what are we doing? We're proclaiming the Lord's death until He comes. So this is not only a looking back to what Christ did for us, it's looking ahead as well. When we take communion, when we eat the Lord's supper, it's both a remembering back to what He did for us and also a looking forward to what He's going to do. And I think if we can keep that in our minds, at the forefront of our head and our brain and our heart, that that will keep us on the path of freedom and keep us living aboveboard, keep us with our eyes on looking forward to the day when God will fulfill His ultimate promise and brings us to be with Him in heaven forever. So I want to bring it down to a personal level now, though, as we take communion. And I'm going to put on a little music; I just want to take four or five minutes here sort of in silence to let you think about some of the things that may be going on in your life right now, some of the things that may be plaguing you or keeping you from being free. And I want you just to think about God's promises to you. They might be personal promises to you regarding your situation, or they might be God's promises in His Word about what He says he wants for your life, for your marriage, or for your children, or for your work, or for your future, or for your health, or for your finances. I want you to think about whatever situations you might be going through right now that you need to be renewed about God's promises and put your trust in Him again now, that He will be faithful to those promises, that He will be faithful to those promises. And in His timing He may just be waiting for something that's so memorable that you won't be able to forget it the rest of your life. And generations to come will remember it as well. Can we do that here with our communion time? If you're watching there at home or at work or wherever you are on your computer and you want to do this with us, I encourage you to. You can just pause the tape in a minute or two here, and if you want to find something there at your house or your work that would serve as communion. You know, we can get caught up in all kinds of things what makes the right communion bread or what makes the right juice or wine; is it supposed to be fermented or unfermented; is it supposed to be leavened or unleavened; is it supposed to be all these different things. We can get into all kind of issues about that, but mainly what I want to do with it tonight is to just have a time of communion with the Lord. That means to commune and fellowship with God. And, you know, you might not have a bread without yeast sitting around your house right now. I'm not going to worry about that. We don't here; we're just going to use a regular loaf of bread. We're going to use some grape juice; that's just what we happen to have here. You know, if it's potato chips and a Diet Coke, that doesn't bother me. If you can make it commu |
