Freedom

Key Phrase:  you will continue to celebrate this festival [Passover]

Intro

In the last plague, the Israelites are protected by obeying God's instruction to place the blood of a lamb on the top and sides of their doorway. God spares the life of the firstborn son where the lamb’s blood covers the doorposts. This event marks the beginning of Passover, a festival the Jews still observe. Jesus, the Lamb of God, will be crucified at the time of Passover about 1500 years later.

In many ways Israel’s freedom from slavery in Egypt is a picture of the Christian’s freedom from slavery to sin. Just as God sent Moses to deliver Israel from slavery, so too God sent Christ to deliver the believer from sin. Just as God spares the firstborn where the lamb’s blood covers the doorposts, so too, God spares the life of believers when the Lamb of God’s blood covers their sin. And just as the Passover doorway led to freedom for the Israelites, so too the cross of Christ is a doorway to a new life of freedom and abundance.

Freedom

Exodus 4:29 . . . Moses and Aaron returned to Egypt and called all the elders of Israel together. 30Aaron told them everything the Lord had told Moses, and Moses performed the miraculous signs as they watched.

 Exodus 5:1 After this presentation to Israel’s leaders, Moses and Aaron went and spoke to Pharaoh. They told him, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go so they may hold a festival in my honor in the wilderness.”

 2 “Is that so?” retorted Pharaoh. “And who is the Lord? Why should I listen to him and let Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.” . . .

 Exodus 7:20 So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them. As Pharaoh and all of his officials watched, Aaron raised his staff and struck the water of the Nile. Suddenly, the whole river turned to blood! . . .

22 But again the magicians of Egypt used their magic, and they, too, turned water into blood. So Pharaoh’s heart remained hard. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had predicted. . .

Exodus 8:6 So Aaron raised his hand over the waters of Egypt, and frogs came up and covered the whole land!

8 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and begged, “Plead with the

Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people. I will let your people go, so they can offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

13 And the Lord did just what Moses had predicted. The frogs in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields all died. 

15 But when Pharaoh saw that relief had come, he became stubborn.[1] He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had predicted. . .

17 So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded them. When Aaron raised his hand and struck the ground with his staff, gnats infested the entire land, covering the Egyptians and their animals. All the dust in the land of Egypt turned into gnats. . .

 19 “This is the finger of God!” the magicians exclaimed to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard. He wouldn’t listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted. . .

 24 And the Lord did just as he had said. A thick swarm of flies filled Pharaoh’s palace and the houses of his officials. The whole land of Egypt was thrown into chaos by the flies. . .

32 But Pharaoh again became stubborn and refused to let the people go...

 Exodus 9:6 And the Lord did just as he had said. The next morning all the livestock of the Egyptians died, but the Israelites didn’t lose a single animal. 7 Pharaoh sent his officials to investigate, and they discovered that the Israelites had not lost a single animal! But even so, Pharaoh’s heart remained stubborn,[2] and he still refused to let the people go. . .

 10 So they took soot from a brick kiln and went and stood before Pharaoh. As Pharaoh watched, Moses threw the soot into the air, and boils broke out on people and animals alike. . .

12 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and just as the Lord had predicted to Moses, Pharaoh refused to listen. . .

 23 So Moses lifted his staff toward the sky, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed toward the earth. The Lord sent a tremendous hailstorm against all the land of Egypt. . .

34 But when Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had stopped, Pharaoh again became stubborn. . .

35 Because his heart was hard, Pharaoh refused to let the people leave, just as the Lord had predicted through Moses. . .

Exodus 10:14 And the locusts swarmed over the whole land of Egypt, settling in dense swarms from one end of the country to the other. It was the worst locust plague in Egyptian history, and there has never been another one like it. . .

20 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart again, so he refused to let the people go. . .

22 So Moses lifted his hand to the sky, and a deep darkness covered the entire land of Egypt for three days. . .

 27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart once more, and he would not let them go. . .

 Exodus 11:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will strike Pharaoh and the land of Egypt with one more blow. After that, Pharaoh will let you leave this country. In fact, he will be so eager to get rid of you that he will force you all to leave. . .

 4 Moses had announced to Pharaoh, “This is what the Lord says: At midnight tonight I will pass through the heart of Egypt. 5 All the firstborn sons will die in every family in Egypt, from the oldest son of Pharaoh, who sits on his throne, to the oldest son of his lowliest servant girl who grinds the flour. Even the firstborn of all the livestock will die...

 Exodus 12:1 While the Israelites were still in the land of Egypt, the Lord gave the following instructions to Moses and Aaron: . .

 14 “This is a day to remember. Each year, from generation to generation, you must celebrate it as a special festival to the Lord. This is a law for all time. . .

 21 Then Moses called all the elders of Israel together and said to them, “Go, pick out a lamb or young goat for each of your families, and slaughter the Passover animal. 22 Drain the blood into a basin. Then take a bundle of hyssop branches and dip it into the blood. Brush the hyssop across the top and sides of the doorframes of your houses. And no one may go out through the door until morning. 23 For the Lord will pass through the land to strike down the Egyptians. But when he sees the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe, the Lord will pass over your home. He will not permit his death angel to enter your house and strike you down. . .

29 And that night at midnight, the Lord struck down all the firstborn sons in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn son of the prisoner in the dungeon. Even the firstborn of their livestock were killed. . .

 31 Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron during the night. “Get out!” he ordered. “Leave my people—and take the rest of the Israelites with you! Go and worship the Lord as you have requested. . .

 37 That night the people of Israel left Rameses and started for Succoth. There were about 600,000 men,[3] plus all the women and children. . .

Exodus 13:21 The Lord went ahead of them. He guided them during the day with a pillar of cloud, and he provided light at night with a pillar of fire. This allowed them to travel by day or by night. . .

 Exodus 14:5 When word reached the king of Egypt that the Israelites had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds. . .

8 The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, so he chased after the people of Israel, who had left with fists raised in defiance. . .

 10 As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the Lord. . .

 13 But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. . .

 21 Then Moses raised his hand over the sea, and the Lord opened up a path through the water with a strong east wind. The wind blew all that night, turning the seabed into dry land. 22 So the people of Israel walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on each side! . . .

27 So as the sun began to rise, Moses raised his hand over the sea, and the water rushed back into its usual place. The Egyptians tried to escape, but the Lord swept them into the sea. 28 Then the waters returned and covered all the chariots and charioteers—the entire army of Pharaoh. Of all the Egyptians who had chased the Israelites into the sea, not a single one survived.

 29 But the people of Israel had walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, as the water stood up like a wall on both sides.

Connect

Now that a million or so Israelites have crossed the Red Sea, they need some structure for living. God introduces this structure through His commandments. These rules for living ultimately show our inability to obey God and make clear our need for a Savior.

Footnotes

[1] Exodus 8:15 Hebrew made his heart heavy; also in 8:32 and 9:34

[2] Exodus 9:7 Hebrew heavy.

[3] Exodus 12:37 Or fighting men; Hebrew reads men on foot.