Turn to Exodus chapter 12. Please, Exodus chapter 12. This week's topic is the Feast of Passover. And there's one item I want to touch on last week as a point of segue into this week. I subscribe to a number of different emails that I receive during the week. One is from Orthodox Jewish people who don't believe that Jesus is the Messiah. So I get the perspective from that perspective kind of locked in the Old Testament and Paul indicates in Romans that partial hardening has come and the veil is over the face of the Jewish people who still are under the law. The other email I get is from a Messianic Jewish organization, and this week I got a great email about the feasts. And in that email, they touched on the Nicene Creed, which is very interesting. So I learned something this week about the Nicene Creed that I want to pass along to you guys about the feasts. So Leviticus 23, you stay in Exodus 12, but Leviticus 23, I want to reiterate something from last week. God says to Moses, speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them concerning the feasts of the Lord, Moad, which ye shall proclaim to be holy communications. These are my feasts. God set up appointed times that he was going to meet with his people. And as opposed, we looked last week at the type of holidays we have, which are civil and religious, but they happen after the events. So for example, we celebrate the 4th of July looking back on our day of independence. So we set that day up to remember something that happened in the past. But God said, I'm setting up these times in advance, except for Passover and unleavened bread. I'm setting this up in advance because on those dates, I will physically meet with you. God is going to meet with you. We are going to come in contact. So I just wanted to reiterate that. So, The seven Passover appointed, I'm sorry, the seven appointed times are times that are a prophetic calendar from cross to kingdom of what God is going to accomplish redemptively to secure for his son, a people. if that makes sense. So, this week, I'm gonna try to read quickly through this portion of the Nicene Creed. Does anybody know what the Nicene Creed is? Controversy arose in the early church. About the fourth century, Constantine, convened a council to address heresy that had entered the church. Now Constantine himself was not a believer, but he wanted to make sure that there was no dissension in his kingdom. He was the emperor. So he convened all the religious people, he funded their trip so that they could address doctrinal issues that had entered the church. Now that in and of itself is a good thing. Our adversary is always seeking to find a point of entry to introduce heresy, and we have to be vigilant. It's not necessarily the outside that we have to be worried about. It's the subtle nuances that our adversary, from the beginning of time, he's been a liar and a murderer. So to that end, Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea to address some heresy. In that council, one of the things he addressed was the celebration of Easter, which I did not know. We are far removed as a body, not Berean, but as a believing group of people, we're far removed from our Jewish history. And that started very early in the church's history. The church, at its outset, was called the Way, made up of Jewish believers. And the Gentiles were grafted in very quickly. But soon after, that division arose. And most of our history has been putting distance between us and the Jewish believers. Constantine Augustus to the churches, The great grace of God's power has constantly been increasing, as is evident in the general prosperity of the empire. I therefore decided to make it my aim, above all else, that one faith, sincere love, and unvarying devotion to Almighty God be maintained among the most blessed assemblies of the Catholic Church. Catholic just means universal. But I perceived that this could only be established firmly and permanently when all of the bishops, or at least the greatest part, were convened in the same place for a council where they could discuss every point of our most holy religion. So we assembled as many as possible, and I myself was also present as one of you. For I will not deny what I especially rejoice in, that I am your fellow servant. All points were then minutely investigated until a decision was brought to light which was found acceptable to him who is the inspector of all things and brought a unified agreement leaving nothing which could cause dissension or controversy in matters of faith. At the council, we also considered the issue of our holiest day, Easter, and it was determined by common consent that everyone everywhere should celebrate it on one and the same day. For what can be more appropriate or what more solemn than that this feast from which we have received the hope of immortality should be kept by all without variation using the same order and queer arrangement. And in the first place, it seemed very worthy for us to keep this most sacred feast following the custom of the Jews, a people who have soiled their hands in a most terrible outrage and have thus polluted their souls and are now deservedly blind. Since we have cast aside their way of calculating the date of the festival, we can ensure that future generations can celebrate this observance at the more accurate time which we have kept from the first day of the Passion until this present time. Therefore, have nothing in common with that most hostile people. the Jews. We have rejoiced another way from the Savior. In our holy religion, we have set before us a course which is both valid and accurate. Let us unanimously pursue this. Let us, most honored brothers, withdraw ourselves from this detestable association. with the Jewish people. It is truly most absurd for them to boast that we are incapable of rightly observing these things without their instruction. On what subject are they competent to form a correct judgment who after that murder of their Lord and patricide lost their senses and are not led anymore by rational motive? Now I could go on but, The whole point of this portion of the Nicene Creed was to put aside the Passover as a legitimate observance of the resurrection of our Savior and instead, under perhaps political expediency, to quell controversy. One of the items discussed was we're gonna celebrate Easter on thus and such date. Now the Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar, so the date kind of fluctuates. So they wanna put distance between themselves and the people who murdered the Savior and are rightfully blind now for that. So God set aside dates in which he was gonna meet with us. Man creates its own dates. I want to present that to you for your thought. I am not advocating that we begin celebrating Passover. We can redeem Easter just like we can redeem Christmas. We can work through that as far as witnessing to people. That's not an issue. I just want to bring to our attention where in our history we've kind of moved away from our Jewish roots. So, any questions or comments to that end? Did I muddy the waters? So, for today's discussion, have you heard the expression regarding the Bible? The new is in the old concealed. The old is in the new revealed. Have you heard that expression? Do you remember who said that? It was Saint Augustine. He was one of the early church fathers. Now a pastor has mentioned several times in the past that there's a pastor in the south who has kind of put distance between us and the older covenant. And I think that's to our detriment. The old covenant is foundational to what we believe today. So I'm gonna go through a series of, oh I forgot, I guess I'm not, I forgot my phone at home, I was gonna use that as, rather than writing all these verses and putting on display how lazy I am. So for example, if you go through, if you go through scripture and you type in a search engine like Blue Letter Bible, which is a, it's an app you can use to study scripture, and you type in the word scriptures, In the New Testament, Jesus and Paul make many references to the scriptures. One example was after Jesus rose from the dead, he went through the scriptures, starting with the law and the prophets, and explained to them how they revealed him. So Paul, when he wrote, for example, I passed unto you that which I also received in the scriptures that Christ was crucified, buried, raised from the dead. All that to say what scriptures were being referred to when Jesus was speaking, when Paul was writing his letters, when Peter was writing his letters, what scriptures were being referred to at that time? The older covenant. That's all they had. Now, just because Paul put pen to paper didn't mean that that all of a sudden became God's word. That was always God's word. But at the time of the writing of the letters, Paul and Jesus were referring, like, Timothy, you were born again, you were raised under these scriptures. I'm not quoting it properly, because I was gonna rely on my mobile device, but I think you understand the point. The Old Testament, the new, is in the old, concealed. The New Testament is in the Old Testament, concealed. And the Old Testament is in the new, revealed. So together they tell the story. One of the scriptures was Jesus was talking to the Pharisees and he said, search the scriptures. It is them that testify of me. So all that to say, starting with Exodus chapter 12, Try to teach like my hair is not on fire, but I just gotta slow down and calm down. We'll read Exodus chapter 12, one through 14. And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt. saying, this month shall be unto you the beginning of months. Even though it wasn't the first month of the year, because of what was about to take place, this was going to be the start of the religious calendar. Verse three, speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, in the 10th of this month, they shall take to them, every man, a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for in house, God bless you, and if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls. Every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish a male of or within the first year. you shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats, a kid of the goats. And you shall keep it up until the 14th day of the same month. And the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood with hyssop and strike the door Strike it on the two side posts and the upper door post. So if you can picture that in your head, we are very far removed, unless you hunt, and I've never hunted, and I've never slaughtered a pig. I've never butchered meat. I think meat comes from the grocery store to, you know what I mean, at the egg factory or whatever, right? So as a people, unless you hunt, we're kind of removed from what's being, what's being described here right now. If we could, we're gonna try to slow this story down and move ourselves back to the other side of Revelation because they're hearing this for the very first time, the Jewish people. and try to bring the story much closer. They kill the lamb, they capture the blood, and then they take the blood in a bowl with the hyssop, and they slap the side, and they slap the side, and they slap the top, which looks like, what does that look like? For sure. So we'll stop with verse seven. So when I say the word slaves, How long have they been slaves? I don't want to hear from Nat Rumbaugh the whole service. 400 years. What is the scope of existence of a slave? Put yourself in their shoes for a second. What does that look like? What would your life look like as opposed to what your life looks like now? All right, Nat. Okay, good. What else? To serve, it's all you're there to do. Take orders, yes, excellent. Marty? How many of us in here can't be told? Bob, no, I'm just kidding. We don't like to take orders, but that's the scope of your existence. Is anybody in here getting an education? You're not going to school tomorrow. The scope of your existence is anybody enjoys free time and leisure time, that's gone. The difference for the Jewish people Now, God said to Abraham, your descendants are gonna go down to Egypt where they're gonna be slaves. I am sure that Abraham passed Isaac the covenant, and Isaac passed to Jacob, but who after that understood what was gonna happen, I don't know. All that to say there was at least four generations of people You grew up as slaves, and just like you said, Nat, your existence shrinks to almost nothing. You wake up in the morning, before the sun probably, you bake bricks all day, you stack them, you eat, and you go back to bed seven days a week. What kind of education are you getting? You're not. You're getting taught by your parents how to do that, generation after generation, at least for four generations, maybe five, maybe six. All that to say by this time, what do they know about Yahweh? I'm not sure. But we know that when God called Moses from the bush, Moses said, What should I tell the people? Who should I tell them is sending me? Give me a name. Because in Egypt for the last 400 years, five or six generations, they've lived in a society that worships multiple gods. So who are you different than what they know? So we're, as a people right now, we're trying to transport ourselves back as slaves to here for the first time. on the 10th day of the month, you're gonna be liberated. Well, not the 10th day, 14th day. So, God Almighty is gonna demonstrate one more time. how he is superior to all the gods that you've been living under for the past 400 years. And he demonstrated that with the first nine plagues. So this plague, the 10th plague, he's going to demonstrate his superiority over the last god of the land, who Pharaoh was considered a god. He was revered and worshiped and honored as a god. So God Almighty is gonna go into his house and take his son. And if you did not want to have your firstborn son taken, I have provided a way of escape. I have provided a means for your firstborn son not to be killed in this plague. So what I'd like to do, just for teaching's sake, is for us to go through quickly If you're a first-born son or you have a first-born son, say that. So I'm a first-born son. Jake is my first-born son. If you are a first-born son, I want you to say that I'm the first-born son. So we'll start with you, or Doug, we'll start with you. Are you first-born son? Do you have a first-born son? Okay, so Spencer. Jerry? Okay. You weren't, okay. Nat? And so on. You have a firstborn son? Who is it? Okay. Yep, good. Okay. You're the firstborn son? Marty? Connor? Marty? Okay. Sam was your firstborn, good. You have a firstborn son? Brother in the back? Okay, good. Swamp creature? Good. You're the firstborn. Do you have a son? Okay. Okay, good. Okay, good. Ray? Mr. Holt? Okay. No son? Okay, good. So, I just want us... Oh, sorry, go ahead. Oh, good. Okay, good. So, God is saying to all the firstborn, all the fathers in this room who have firstborn sons, and you're interested, and you're interested, and anybody else who's a firstborn is interested that Dad gets about what God is about to tell him. Make sure you get this right, Dad. So on the 10th day, I don't know who in here owns goats, because we're far removed from that. I have goats. I have sheep. I love my goats. I love them. We have horses. I don't love the horses. We have chickens. I love the chicken, but not like I love my goats. The rabbis indicated that the lamb would be no less than 10 days old and no older than a year. No fewer than 10 people could share a goat and no more than 20. So on the 10th day of the month, I could imagine the conversation would be like this. I'm sitting at the breakfast table in my house today. So and so, we're going to go out to the goat lot and we're going to find a goat. We're going to name that goat. We're going to bring that goat into our house. We're going to live with that goat for five days. What's being accomplished here? Two things are happening. You're establishing a relationship with that goat. What else? Yeah, Nat? For sure. Make sure that the goat is healthy and Not sickly, no broken bones. So for 10 days, I could imagine Tanner or Jessica naming that goat or dressing that goat up or taking turns sleeping with that goat. Then guess what? On day 14, five days into it, guess what dear old dad gets to do? Absolutely. I have to take that maybe 15-day-old goat or six-month-old goat, and I have to put that thing between my legs, and I have to take a knife, and I have to... Dad, what are you doing to that goat? That's my goat. That's... Stone Crusher. That was one of the names that Tanner gave to the goats when it was born. Why are you killing my goat? And you would be standing there saying, well, there's a very good reason why Dad's killing that goat. It's because it's either that goat or it's... That's right. So, we have a lot of crying in the house and we have other people who are very interested in making sure that dear old dad collects all the blood that's necessary so that when the angel of death comes to demonstrate his superiority, he doesn't take that firstborn son and instead takes the goat. So, How did Jesus and his disciples eat the Passover as opposed to the Israelites in Egypt? Jesus and his disciples were reclining, right? They weren't slaves. They had since been liberated. The Jewish people stood because slaves either sat or stood. Because if you were my slave, Doug, and I suddenly reclined at the table and I said, oh, Doug, would you go get my drink? You would hop up from that chair because you don't recline. I want service now. So slaves sat, deliberated, reclined. So the Jewish people at this time were still slaves. They were to eat it with their staff in their hand and their clothes tucked up under their belt. The first Passover is called the Egyptian Passover. Later in Deuteronomy 16.2, a provision was made for a permanent location where the Passover lambs would be taken to be sacrificed. So for example, in the temple, when the temple stood, if the temple was at my back, I would be standing right here on the front porch. Off to my right would be the altar. Over on the other side would be the place where you would bring your lamb, to the priest, the priest would cut the lamb's throat, capture the blood, take it over to the altar and pour it out on the altar, skin your lamb, and you would take your lamb home and roast it. That's how it was observed when the temple stood. In Jesus' time, There were, let's see, Josephus indicates the number of slain lambs at Passover was 256,000. 256,000 lambs. Can you imagine all that blood? Now, how many people would that be in Jerusalem at that time? So if at least 10 people, no more than 20, were to a lamb, how many people were in Jerusalem? Well, I'm not good at math unless it's calculating my commission. All that to say, that's why Jesus' parents didn't find a whole lot of room at the end because there was over two million, two and a half million people there celebrating Passover. I have a short video I want to show. It's pretty graphic. So I'm warning you now, if you don't want to watch it, don't watch it. But it took place a week after I was in Israel, which was probably about 18 years ago, in which and they capture the blood. So if you don't wanna watch it, don't watch it. I encourage you to watch it because as a people, we're kind of far removed from the price of sin. So if you don't mind, cue that. Are you sure everything is ok? When he opened his mouth, you can see it. Now he didn't open his mouth. It's a little difficult to check it. So the front part was very good for the victim if he didn't have the problem in his ear. Now we're getting to the point of destruction. I'm very sorry. I committed to the court that all the public should respect him, and also for the water, so that... Do you know him? Is he a drinker? No, he's a drunkard. A drunkard? I think he's a drunkard. Good. Mr. Officer, can we start the work? No, no, no, don't come closer. I asked you not to come closer. Excuse me, move back, please. Move back, please. Good, good. Gentlemen, I'm asking, no one will meet me. All of you will go up. All of you will go up. We want, wait, wait. We want... Ah, because they won't be in the place of the Temple. The Temple is for priests. Okay. I think we can start. Mr. Treinar, is there anyone to start? Okay, the lieutenant, is there anyone who wants to start? Please. So I would like to shorten the matter as much as possible, the pain of the wound. The injection is supposed to take three seconds. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, Baruch ata Adonai, Elohenu, Melech ha'olam, Esher Kiddushanu, mitzvotam tzivanu, aleh sh'nita. Amen. We tried as little as we could to revive him. We removed his hair from the place where he was shot. It was either that lamb or it was us. Correct? How was Jesus like the lamb? Anyone? Correct. Isaiah 53 reads, He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. I don't particularly care to watch that lamb get killed, but that's what happened to our Savior when he hung on the cross. Jesus was innocent. That lamb is innocent. Now how is Jesus not like the lamb? Anybody, yes? Yeah, that's true. Sure. Good point. Absolutely, absolutely. Did everybody hear that? The lamb is not aware. The lamb is an unwitting participant. But a great picture of someone who has no guile. Sheep are not like pigs. Pigs are destructive and smart, and you try to do that to a pig, you probably lose. But a sheep doesn't know whether it's getting wool sheared or its throat slit. But Jesus went knowingly and willingly and like the sheep was innocent, no guile. And when John, his cousin, introduced Jesus in his gospel, how did he introduce him? This is God's lamb. God's lamb. who is going to be sacrificed for the sin of the world. So it was either that lamb or it was going to be us. The last week of Jesus' life, let's look at Matthew chapter 21. This is where we'll kind of finish the Passover. Matthew chapter 21. Remember, this is the last week of Jesus' life. Matthew 21, starting at verse 23. And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching and said, by what authority doest thou these things, and who gave thee this authority? So the chief priests and the elders came and did what? They questioned him, but what else? Challenging him? Keep coming up with words for that. They tested him. Chapter 22, verse 15. Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk, and they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth. Neither carest thou for any man, for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us, therefore, what thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar or not? So the Pharisees sent their disciples and the Herodians to do what? Correct. Test them. They gotta test. Test question. Just like you said, they're trying to trap him. So first it was the Pharisee. Yeah, go ahead. They were also trying to get him to say something against either of the Romans. Sure. Either way, had he answered toward either side, they would have had evidence to probably execute him at that time. Sure. Matthew 22 verses 22 through 29. When the Pharisees, disciples, and the Herodians had heard this Jesus' answer, they marveled and left him and went that day. The same day came to him the Sadducees. So to this point now, we have every religious leader represented who came the last week of Jesus' life and did what? They tested God's lamb. And he was found to be without spot, without blemish, and then they executed him, murdered him. Jesus did exactly as God said in Leviticus and fulfilled at the same time He visited his people. God's lamb visited his people on the day he said he would. He met with his people. All those years in the past, they had practiced on a type, on a shadow. But then when Jesus appeared at his appointed time to show up and meet with us, he fulfilled that date. So the next date will be unleavened bread. So next week we'll look at unleavened bread and first fruits and I'll try to squeeze in 49 days later was the Feast of Weeks. So God set up his appointed dates. He said, I am going to take the firstborn, but if you don't want your firstborn son taken, What you're gonna do is you're gonna take a lamb into your house, and for five days, you're gonna develop a relationship with that lamb and test it. And at the end of five days, you're gonna take that lamb's life so that God passes over and doesn't take your life, pointing towards, just like John introduced him, behold, God's lamb who takes away the sin of the world. In the last week of Jesus' life, They unwittingly, unwittingly tested the lamb for that week and found him to be without spot or without blemish and then they executed him. So God did exactly what he said he did. Any questions or comments or thoughts about that? Yeah. and they practiced hundreds of years of doing exactly what was said and it just was even more mind-boggling to me that they still turn just like that. Marty, did you have something? Sure, that's right. All you firstborn sons, do you think you slept that night? That's right, you would lose your nerve. That's right. The other thing that it says in the scripture is that every year Jesus would go with his parents, where? to the feast of Passover. And on his 12th birthday, before he became a bar mitzvah, a son of the law, he sat with the teachers and they were astounded at this kid, what he knew about the law. Now in my mind, how old were those guys? I'm just thinking through, how old do you think those particular teachers of the law were who were sitting in awe of a 12 year old talking about God's word? How old do you think they were? I'm just curious. 40 and above? So Jesus was 12, if we subtract from that, we subtract 12 from 33, what do we have? How old? Pardon? 21 years. I wonder how many of those same guys, 21 years later, so if they entered service at age 40, and how long could you stay in service? Was it where you required to come out of the service of the temple at 60? How many of those same guys were around and said crucify that one? Because Jesus didn't grow up in a vacuum. His cousin was born miraculous. His uncle was someone who burned incense in the temple. They knew this one, they knew this one. He didn't just appear, yeah, go ahead. Sure, wow, that's awesome. Yeah, go ahead. I'll have to get back in, that's a good question. Anybody have that answer? I'll have to come back with an answer on that one. So, that's always been something that interested me, is who of that group who were sat in awe of his teaching 21 years later around when it came time to, that one, when they stood before Pilate and said, Caesar's our king. Not that guy. Caesar, we worship Caesar, not that one. Which brings closer when Jesus is coming into Jerusalem and he's weeping over the city and he's saying if you had only known that today, today was the day I set aside for your redemption. But you will see me no more until you say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And they will look on him, they will look on him whom they've pierced. Well, they weren't there when they pierced him. But sure enough, if we had the opportunity, we would have said crucify him. If Jesus didn't do a work in our heart. So at some point in the future, they will look on him and mourn as one who mourns for an only child because if they had been there, I would have crucified him. Yes, I would have done that. Let's pray. Thank you so much, dear Father, for this graphic picture of redemption. We don't think about what it actually looks like to develop a relationship with a being that is near helpless, gentle, and then sacrifice that one so that we could live. But that's exactly what you did. And you came on the day that you said you would, and you met with us and brought us near. Thank you so much, dear Father. We pray all this in Jesus' name, amen.