Getting Passed Over - Part A

And so, as God's people, we are absolutely thrilled that God passed over us in judgment. Every believer in Christ is happy not to go to hell.

That's a good feeling. Today we're gonna look about being passed over as we study the Passover. Today on Connect with Skip Heitzig, Pastor Skip begins a teaching titled, Getting Passed Over, and shows you how in Christ you are passed over and spared from death and hell. Now here's more about this month's resource to give you biblical insight into the current war in Israel and where it fits in God's plan for His nation. Israel at War.

That's the title of a new book by Skip Heitzig. Modern Israel has been at war from its very first day of existence. As Skip points out, On the day after Israel became a nation, that was May 14, 1948. On May 15, virtually every Arab neighbor attacked Israel to destroy it. Israel had been a nation one day.

They didn't have an organized army. Israel at War is up to date concerning current events in the Mideast and includes Skip's comments during his December tour of the Gaza border and a video link to Skip's interview in Jerusalem. The new book, Israel at War, is our gift to you this month to anyone who encourages the growth of Connect with Skip with a gift of $50 or more. Make your financial vote of support at connectwithskip.com or by calling 1-800-922-1888. Israel at War will give you Skip's insight from over 40 trips to Israel and decades of Bible study.

Most Palestinians and other Arab nations, not all but many of them, deny the right of Israel to exist. Receive Israel at War by Skip Heitzig with your gift. Go to connectwithskip.com or call 1-800-922-1888. Great. Let's get started.

We'll be in Exodus 12 today as we hear Skip's teaching. In his 80s, he decides that he wanted to get a brand new Corvette. So, he goes to the dealership. He thought, you know, I'm going to live a little bit. Don't have a whole lot of time left. So, he goes and buys a brand new Corvette convertible.

Car lot. Zero to 60 in a couple seconds. And then he likes that. So, he goes from 60 to 70.

He likes that. Takes it up to 80 miles an hour. 90 miles an hour.

And he just loves the feeling of the wind blowing through whatever gray hairs left on his head. And goes up, takes it to 100 miles an hour. Now, he's doing 100 miles an hour. He suddenly looks in his rearview mirror and he sees police. It's the state trooper.

He's got his sirens blaring, his lights flashing. The old guy floors it. 105. 110.

Pushing a little bit over 110. Then it just dawns on him. He goes, what am I thinking?

I'm way too old for this nonsense. So, he slows it down. He pulls over. Waits for the policeman to catch up with him. Pulls his car over.

Police walks out of the car. Goes over to the Corvette. Looks down at the older gentleman. Says, sir, my shift ends in 30 minutes.

Today is Friday. If you can give me a good reason for speeding that I've never heard before, I'll let you go. The old man looks around. Thinks about it a minute. Looks up at the police officer and he says, years ago, my wife ran off with a state trooper.

I thought you were bringing her back. The police officer tilted his hat and said, have a good day, sir. Some people are really good at making excuses as to why they don't deserve a ticket, but you've got to know that old guy felt so relieved that he was, for whatever reason, passed over in terms of getting a citation. When I was younger, I didn't like getting passed over. In school, when the PE coach divided the class up into two sections and said, okay, you're the captain. You're the captain.

Pick teams. I didn't like that because I would get passed over until, you know, you're like the last guy standing and somebody's got to pick you for their team. I never liked getting passed over. If my parent would give a compliment to an older brother, but not to me, that's never a good feeling. We don't like it if we're passed over by our boss for a raise or a promotion or an advancement. Nobody liked the feeling when you were younger getting passed over by a potential boyfriend or girlfriend, somebody you like, because they like somebody else.

You don't like that feeling. However, there are other times we absolutely love being passed over. Like not getting a ticket when you deserve a citation.

Or if you disobey your parents and they don't spank you. You don't have a problem with that. You like getting passed over.

Or if you ditch class, or in my case, when you ditch class and the teacher doesn't dock your grade or keep you in detention. You don't mind getting passed over for that. And so as God's people, we are absolutely thrilled that God passed over us in judgment. Every believer in Christ is happy not to go to hell.

That's a good feeling. Today we're going to look about being passed over as we study the Passover in Exodus chapter 12. It's a long chapter.

You can notice by looking at it. Let's read some of the verses and then make some comments. Verse 1, Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be your beginning of months.

It shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, On the tenth day of this month, every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons. According to each man's need, you shall make your account for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats.

Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night, roasted in fire with unleavened bread with bitter herbs, they shall eat it.

Do not eat it raw, no problem there, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire, its head with its legs and its entrails. You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. And thus you shall eat it with a belt on your waist, with sandals on your feet, with a staff in your hand, so you shall eat it in haste.

It is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and will strike all the firstborn of the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. Now 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 the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

So this day shall be to you a memorial, you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations, you shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. Allow me to give you a little background, so we can understand where we are. 70 people follow Jacob from the land of Canaan into the land of Egypt, a few hundred years before this.

That small family of 70 has now grown to a population base of two million plus people, two to three million people. Not only have they grown in population, they have grown in prosperity, which made them a threat to the Egyptians. Their response, the Egyptians response to the Israelites getting so powerful and so large is to enslave them. And so God decided I'm going to deliver them from the slavery, give them their own land. So I'll send Moses to do that.

Moses comes to the Pharaoh, Pharaoh doesn't budge, so God needs to get Egypt's attention. He does so with 10 plagues, he gets their attention. This is the last plague, the final plague, the death of the firstborn plague. You'll also notice it's the longest chapter, more space is given to the death of the firstborn, the 10th plague than all previous nine.

Why is that? It's because the basis for a relationship with God will be the blood of an innocent victim. And that sets the story, that sets the tone for what we're about to study. So the story of the Passover tells us four things about how we get passed over. It tells us about our sin, it tells us about our substitute, it tells us about our salvation, and it tells something about ourselves.

Let's begin with the first. This Passover tells us about our sin. I wonder if you really know how expensive sin is. I want you to just notice some of the words, I'm going to read them to you without going through all of the text, we already read that. In chapter 12, God speaks of judgment, that's a big word for God to use because God can do it.

Judgment, I'm bringing judgment on you. He uses the term destructive plague, as well as the phrase death of the firstborn. And he uses the words strike down, he says I will strike down. So this is the final plague of the God of the Hebrews against the Egyptians. And the plague is the death of the firstborn.

Why? Because you know the principle in Romans 3, the wages of sin is death. Sin is expensive, it costs life, it takes life, it ends life. Now this judgment that God brings, this striking down for a couple of reasons. Reason number one, it's a judgment against the gods of Egypt, the false gods, the mythical gods that they had constructed, the false worship system. Did you notice that in verse 12, I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, I will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, watch it. And against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment, I am the Lord. So then, this plague is like the final face off between Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, the only God, and all of the false gods of the pantheon of the Egyptians. I read a little article about the worship system of Egypt and the list that I was reading had a 112 different gods of Egypt.

Who their names were, what they did, what their relationship was, the kind of the hierarchy. But that wasn't the end of it. The article went on to say of those gods that we enumerated, there are many more, there are over 2,000 or were over 2,000 different gods and goddesses that the Egyptians worshiped. So then, for God to step in and do this, this is like the showdown at the not okay corral.

God shows up, I am the true God, you're trusting in gods who cannot perform what I am about to do. Back in 1964, there was a commercial on television, I don't expect a lot of you to remember this unless you're my age. But there was a commercial for a dog food called kennel ration dog food. Any of you remember kennel ration dog food?

You do. Okay, so if you were around in that era, the commercial was black and white commercial. Little kids picked up their dogs and they sang the song. Do you remember the song?

You do? So, my dogs better, can you sing it? Then your dog, my dogs, oh my goodness. You sing it like it's an old hymn of the church or something. Shall we stand and sing the kennel ration song?

We won't. So this is kind of like that in the sense that it's like the ultimate commercial, my God's better than your God, my God's better than yours, my God's better because he brings indignation. My God's better than yours. God will do what all of those Egyptians gods couldn't do or could protect them from. So it's a judgment on the gods of Egypt. Second, it's a judgment on Pharaoh himself, who hardened his heart time and time again. Moses came to Pharaoh and said, let my people go. Thus says the Lord, let my people go. His response, Pharaoh's response is this, who is the Lord that I should obey him? Well, funny you ask, you're about to find out who the Lord is. This plague is designed to get Pharaoh's attention because he was so hardened time and time again against God.

Now, there's a note about this you have to know. The Egyptians believed that their Pharaoh was the embodiment of the god Horus. He was deity. The god Horus was the son of Hathor. Hathor was the son of Amun-Ra. If you remember back, if you studied Egyptology, you know that Amun-Ra was the chief supreme deity of the universe. So in effect, Pharaoh was like the physical earthly embodiment or the grandson of Amun-Ra.

So the plagues are designed to show Pharaoh as well as the Egyptians who is boss. Now, most of us have no problem with God judging the Egyptians or with Pharaoh. We do have a problem with the next group that God is judging here, his own people, the Israelites. Yes, the children of Israel were also under a death sentence and only blood could save them.

If the children of Israel said, well, I'm an Israelite, man, who I'm chosen, and they didn't apply the blood or stay inside that house, they would be a victim. Go down to verse 23. We didn't read it, so I want you to look at it without going through the whole chapter and other chapters around it to get the whole picture. There's enough here to indicate. For the Lord, verse 23, will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you.

Why? Why did they deserve punishment as much as the Egyptians? I'm glad you asked.

First of all, they were obstinate, obstinacy. Moses came and said, I'm your man. You've been praying for deliverance.

I'm the guy God sent. So he goes to the Pharaoh and says, let my people go. Pharaoh goes, you have too much time in your hands, and he makes it harder for the Israelites. The Israelites get so bummed out that they confront Moses, reject Moses, and say, this is all your fault. May God judge you, Moses. So they rejected God's messenger.

That's number one. Number two, idolatry. Did you know that some of the children of Israel were worshiping some of the false gods of Egypt? We don't get it in this chapter, but later on when Joshua stands up to speak to the descendants of this generation, in Joshua 24, Joshua says, put away the gods which your father served on the other side of the river and in Egypt.

Serve the Lord. So look, I know that your forefathers, while they were in Egypt, worshiped many of those Egyptian gods, put them away now and serve only the Lord. So, God's own people, the children of Israel, rejected God's word, rejected God's prophet, rejected God himself. And they were not protected by their race. They were not protected by their nationality. They couldn't say, we're Jews, we're exempt.

You get out of that house, you don't apply the blood, you are not exempt. Now I'm bringing all this to your attention because this paints the picture of the plight of all humanity. For the Bible says, Romans 3, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Now that might be news to some of you. Because maybe up to this point you say, no, no, no, I'm okay, I'm good, God and I, we're okay, no big deal. And perhaps you can't think of any particular sin that puts you in jeopardy.

All I can say is that's because you're misinformed. You're misinformed of your true condition and you're misinformed of what God's solution to fix your true condition is all about. So if all have sinned, it means you have sinned. And I have sinned. And therefore, in that condition, we can expect to die. So chapter 12, the Passover, tells us about our sins. Second, it tells us about our substitute. And that's all through the chapter.

So as an act of mercy, God provides an out, a substitute. He tells each family to take a lamb, a yearling, that is a lamb that's a year or younger. You ever seen a little lamb that age? So cute. Like a pet.

Little fluffy white, sweet little thing. It had to be pure, it had to be perfect, it had to be whole, it had to be sound. It was inspected to make sure that it was. And that little lamb was the substitute for the family. Stood in the place of that family.

Took its place. I mentioned it had to be perfect as far as humanly possible. Moses later will instruct in Leviticus 22, it must be perfect to be accepted. There shall be no defect in it. Those that are blind or broken or maimed or have an ulcer or eczema or scabs, God would not accept.

So get this picture. They selected the lamb on the 10th day of the month. They sacrificed it on the 14th day.

So day 10 of the month comes. Dad and the kids go down to where the lambs are. Picks one little one that's inspected that's perfect. Brings it home to live with the family for the next four or five days. Becomes part of the family. They feed it, they care for it. They love it, they pet it, they become attached to it.

Can you get the picture? So sweet, so cuddly. And then the 14th day comes and dad takes the lamb, raises its neck and slits its throat as the blood spills all over that white wool. It's a shock to anyone. But to a child, if you were the firstborn child in that family, you would not escape the significance of somebody standing in your place. But the children would have cried on this first Passover, Daddy, why?

Daddy, why? And the dad would have to explain that lamb is your substitute. A lamb is always what God required. Always what God required. Go back to the book of Genesis, at least in your minds.

You don't have to turn there. Adam and Eve sinned. They covered themselves up with fig leaves. Pretty itchy.

Not a good fashion statement. God, in turn, covers them up with animal skins. For that to happen, it requires death.

Right? And most scholars believe it was a lamb. Lamb skin feels really good, by the way. So in that case, it was one lamb for one person, one lamb for Adam, one lamb for Eve.

Follow? By the time we get to Exodus chapter 12, the Passover, now it's one lamb for a family. You take the blood, put it on the lentils and dorpos. Later on in Israel, God will establish what's called Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. A lamb is killed. This time it's one lamb for a nation. The blood of that lamb is sprinkled on the mercy seat in the tabernacle to atone, to cover for sin. So you have one lamb for one person, one lamb for one family, one lamb for one nation, but the best is yet to come when Jesus comes down to the Jordan River. His cousin John the Baptist said, Look, it's the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.

Now it's not one person or one family or one nation. It's for everyone. That's Skip Heitzig with biblical truth about the meaning of Passover for every believer. That message is from the series, Bloodline, tracing God's rescue mission from Eden to eternity. Find the full message as well as books, booklets and full teaching series at connectwithskip.com. We're glad you've joined us today. Connect with Skip Heitzig exists to bring more people into God's family and connect listeners like you to His unchanging truth. That's why we make teachings like this one today available to you and others on air and online.

If they've helped you connect with Christ today, would you consider giving a gift to help others around the world connect with Him in the same way? Just call 800-922-1888. That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. That's connectwithskip.com slash donate.

Thank you. Join us again tomorrow as Skip concludes his message, Getting Passed Over, and reminds you what exactly is required for you to enter heaven. If you think you can stand before God and say, I deserve to get into your heaven because I was a good person, God will simply ask, where's the lamb? Well, I'm here because my parents always went to church. They were, where's the lamb? Make a connection Make a connection At the foot of the crossing Cast all burdens on His word Make a connection A connection Connect with Skip Hyten is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.