Exodus by Elder Vernon Johnson

Exodus Chapter 12 Verses 21-23

:21 “Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. 22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. 23 For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.”

“Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them,” Notice the chain of command. It begins with God instructing Moses, who in turn instructed the elder of Israel and they were to instruct the individual families in Israel. Notice how similar this is to the messages the Lord gave unto the angels of the seven churches of Asia in the book of Revelation. Christ gave the messages to John, who in turn was to give it to the angel (pastor) of each church who in turn was to instruct the people. This pattern holds for us today in the delivering of messages to the Lord’s people. First, the Lord inspired the writers of the Old and New Testaments and from those writings the elders of the churches get the messages they are to deliver unto the congregations.

“Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.” Notice that the blood provided was the blood of the Lamb which was killed by the families of the children of Israel. Next, the blood was sprinkled upon the lintel and two side posts using a bunch of hyssop. Compare this to our redemption which is by the blood of the Lamb of God who of course is Jesus Christ. The blood is sprinkled according to Heb. 10:22 “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” When we are born of the Spirit of God, we have the blood of Christ applied to us by the sprinkling of the Holy Spirit.

“And none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.” When it comes to judgment, God does not need our help, thus we are not to go out for the purpose of assisting the Lord to bring about his judgment.

“For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.” The difference between the houses of the children of Israel and the houses of the Egyptians was the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts. Blood was only provided for the children of Israel, thus God in covenant favored the children of Israel, but not the Egyptians. The destroyer could not come into the houses of the children of Israel as the Lord withheld him from doing so.

Verses 24-28

:24 “And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. 25 And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. 26 And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? 27 That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped. 28 And the children of Israel went away, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.”

We make the following observations from the above passage of scripture:

1. The children of Israel were to observe the ordinance that the LORD gave them throughout their generations.

2. The ordinance was important to those who witnessed it in those days, but it was also important that each successive generation be told about the ordinance and what they were to do in observation of the ordinance.

3. The ordinance was designed to cause the children to ask why they observed that service. They to needed to be told what the LORD had done in delivering their fathers from the house of bondage and how that was accomplished.

4. The children needed to understand that God’s favoring them was based on the covenant promise the LORD made unto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and not because of their own self-worth.

5. The above is an example to us today. We need to be reminded what the Lord has done for us and delivered us from our sins by his covenant promise. We need to understand these things well enough that we can tell our children about these things as well.

Verses 29-33

:29 “And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. 30 And Pharaoh rose 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 there was not one dead. 31 And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said. 32 Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also. 33 And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.”

“And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.” This plague was like the previous nine plagues in that the Lord first promised what he would do and then he executed what he promised to do. Notice that all the firstborn of Pharaoh, and all the Egyptians and all the cattle died at midnight.

“And Pharaoh rose 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 there was not one dead.” Pharaoh had previously endured the first nine plagues upon the land of Egypt, but now he finds that the pressure from his own household as well as all the people of Egypt would come to bear upon him to let the children of Israel go.

“And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said. 32 Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also.” Pharaoh no longer tried to get Moses and Aaron to bargain with him but suddenly is urgent upon the children of Israel to be gone and to go serve the LORD, along with all their flocks and herds.

“And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.” After the death of the firstborn, the Egyptians knew that the firstborn represented the whole house, therefore they pronounced the sentence upon themselves by saying, “We be all dead men.” The pressure upon Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go, was coming from all the Egyptians as they were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste.