Passover 2021
will be from sundown on March 27, to sundown on April 4.
The birth and
raising of Moses
After
Jacob’s family (about 70 people) moved to Egypt and were taken care of by their
son Joseph – second in command in all the land – the Hebrew people began to
multiply over and over again until a new Egyptian Pharaoh, who did not remember
the work of Joseph, wanted to slow down their population growth before they
became more numerous and could take over the Egyptians.
He
ordered Midwives (Shiphrah & Puah) to kill every Hebrew male baby when they
are born. They were God fearing and would not do it. When Pharaoh grilled them
about it – they said: Ex 1:19 "Hebrew women
are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the
midwives arrive."
Angry
Pharaoh ordered every Hebrew born male to be thrown into the Nile River and
drowned.
One
mother (she and her husband both of the Levite tribe) outwitted this order when
her baby was 3 mo, old and could no longer be hidden, fashioned a basket
covering it with tar and pitch to make it water tight, placed her baby in it
and set it among the reeds along the banks of the Nile.
A
servant girl found it and brought the baby to Pharaoh’s daughter. The baby’s
sister had been watching and asked if she would like her to find a nursing
Hebrew mother and she said yes. She was able to take the baby back to his own
mother to be fed until he was weened and then gave him back to Pharaoh’s
daughter where she named him Moses because he was ‘drawn out of the
water’. Psalm 18:16 He reached down from on high and took hold
of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He was raised 40 years in the Palace.
Moses
saw an Egyptian badly mistreating a Hebrew and killed him. The next day he saw
two Hebrews fighting and when he went to intervene they said, “are you going to
kill us as well?”
Fearful that this news was
spreading Moses fled to the land of Midian where he eventually found a woman
and married her and become a shepherd for his father-in-law Jethro.
The
next part of the story is about God’s calling Moses from a burning bush and
telling him to go to Pharaoh to make him let God’s people go. We will Pass Over
that part of the story and come back to it in a few moments.
Moses
goes to Egypt and confronts the Pharaoh - Ex 5:1-2 "This is what
the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'Let my people go, so that they may hold
a festival to me in the desert.'"
Pharaoh said, "Who is the
Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I
will not let Israel go."
Moses warns of plagues and Pharaoh
makes it harder on the Hebrews.
After that last
plague when all the first born of every household including children and
animals throughout Egypt were killed, Pharaoh finally let God’s people go. Then
he changed his mind and pursued them as far as the Red Sea where God sent His
people through on dry ground and the waters flooded back when the Egyptian
armies tried to cross. This allowed God’s people to wander toward the promised
land.
Prior to that
last plague God gave this instruction through Moses: Ex 12:21-23
Then Moses summoned all the elders of
Israel and said to them, "Go at once and select the animals for your
families and slaughter the Passover lamb. 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 (they had to quarantine). 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.
Death passed
over the houses covered with the blood of a spotless lamb.
When Moses was
born, his destiny was death, but God made it so death Passed Over him. When
Moses Murdered the Egyptian, he should have been put to death, but God made it
so death Passed Over him. When Moses returned to the Palace, Pharaoh, after any
plague could have murdered Moses, but God made it so death Passed Over him.
When death killed the first born of everyone in Egypt, the children of God were
spared, and death passed over them because they were safe in homes that had
been covered with the blood of a spotless lamb. Looking through the window of
the Bible we see clearly that God is a God who provides a way from death to
life. And it all pivoted on whether or not Moses would respond to God’s call.
Let us now return to the part we passed over – the call of Moses by God. And
listen to the end, and see if God is calling you, just as He called Moses.
MOSES by Ken Medema (Jeff, Mark & Teresa)
Old Moses, 'way back there in the wilderness,
saw some smoke, came to the bush, and the bush was burnin'.
God said,
"Take off your shoes, Moses, you're on holy ground.
Moses, I've chosen you to be my man,
Moses, 'way down in Egypt's land.
Moses, I've chosen you to work for me,
Moses, I've chosen you to set my people free!"
"Not me, Lord!
Don't you know I can't talk so good;
I stutter all the time.
Do you know my brother, Aaron?
He can sing like an angel,
Talk like a preacher.
Not me, Lord!
I can't talk so good.
And another thing,
How will they know that I've been here with you?
How will they know what you've sent me to do?
Don't you know that in Egypt, they want little Moses' head?
Don't you know that in Egypt, they want little Moses dead?
Don't you know they'll never hear a single word I'll say!
Maybe you'd get your dirty work done another way!
Not me, Lord!
"What's that in your hand, Moses?"
"It's just a rod."
"Throw it down, Moses."
"Do you mean, like, on the ground?"
"Yes, I said, throw it down, Moses."
"Lord, don't take my rod away from me,
Don't you know it's my only security?
Don't you know when you live here all alone,
A man's gotta have something he can call his own;
Not me, Lord!"
"Throw it down, Moses."
"But, Lord, I ..."
"Throw it down, Moses."
"But ..."
"Throw it down, Moses."
Moses throw the rod on the ground
And the rod became a hissing snake!
Well, Moses started runnin'.
Well, maybe you'd run.
You'd run.
Well, maybe I'd run.
I'd run.
He was a-runnin' from a hot rod!
Runnin' from a hissing snake!
Runnin' scared of what God's gonna do!
Runnin' scared He'll get a hold of you!
And the Lord said,
"Stop,
Pick it up, Moses, by the tail!"
"Lord, you have not lived here very long!
Lord, you've got the whole thing wrong!
Don't you know that you never pick up a hissing snake by his ..."
"Pick it up, Moses!"
Oh, God, it's a rod again, it's a rod again, it's a rod again!
"Do you know what it means, Moses?
Do you know what I'm trying to say, Moses?
The rod of Moses became the rod of God!
With the rod of God, strike the rock and the water will come;
With the rod of God, part the waters of the sea;
With the rod of God, you can strike old Pharaoh dead;
With the rod of God, you can set the people free."
What do you hold in your hand today?
To what or to whom are yo bound?
Are you willing to give it to God right now?
Give it up, Give it up, let it go, let it go,
Throw it down.
COMMUNION PREPARATION
Luke 22:14-20
When the hour
came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I
suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in
the kingdom of God." After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said,
"Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you
I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."
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." 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.”
Jesus on the
cross – his blood covered the frame hefore he was nailed to the cross, his
blood nearly covered it all, from his head and back Then his hands and feet
splattered blood when they nailed him to the cross – it was completely covered…and
when we quarantine/shelter in him, death will pass us over and we will be
welcomed into eternal life.
COMMUNION Benediction
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