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Dead in the Night
Sermon 03
July 4th, 2010
Last week I learned that best selling Wisconsin author, Jacquelyn Mitchard, lost nearly everything in a Ponzi scheme. You’ll recall that Jacquelyn Mitchard is the author of The Deep End of the Ocean which later became a movie starring Michelle Pfeiffer. Hers is a rags to riches story. After 13 years of marriage and four children, her first husband died of colon cancer at the age of 45 in 1993. In 1996 she was a broke and terrified widow when Oprah chose her book, The Deep End of the Ocean as the first novel ever to be featured in Oprah’s Book Club. Overnight, Jacquelyn Mitchard became a bestselling author. Recently, though she was bilked out of her life’s savings by a shyster who ripped off investors to the tune of nearly $200 million. After all of her hard work, today Jacquelyn Mitchard finds herself struggling just to make ends meet.
Let me share a portion of her first-person account of the night that she learned all her money was gone. She writes: “I’m sure I thought we had our problems. With seven kids through birth and adoption, three of them in college, my husband, Chris, and I barely had time for each other. And despite how well I sometimes did as a writer, money was always spread thin. We had been focused all summer on one issue: whether to adopt two Ethiopian girls—beautiful, healthy, and bitterly deprived. We hadn’t planned on two more kids (who in our position would?), but the previous May, we’d fallen in love with a photo and a plight. At nearly 12, the older of the sisters was on the edge of remaining an orphan for life…Finally, two days earlier, we’d been approved for the adoption. Pictures of the daughters we would call Cosette and Arty held pride of place on the refrigerator. We were at peace.
When I answered the phone, Pamela, my part-time assistant for 12 years, said, ‘I have some bad news. And it’s really bad news.’ The taste of old coins filled my mouth. Pam’s nature is buoyant and reassuring. ‘What?’ I asked. ‘What?’ ‘The money,’ she said. ‘It’s all gone.’
Going weak in the knees is literal. Your circulatory system constricts; the brain is blood-deprived for a moment; you find it difficult to stand. I gripped the sink as Pam explained that she’d lain awake all night trying to find the words to tell me. We still had our bank accounts. But there was nothing in them.”
When you hear something like that, you think, “Where’s the justice?” Where’s the justice for Bernie Madoff investors, who stole $65 billion from his clients in probably the largest Ponzi scheme in history? The rest of his life in jail just isn’t enough to cover their losses and broken lives.
God is a God of justice! The courts of this world may fail but God’s justice will always prevail. We’re continuing our sermon series, Night Scenes from Scripture, with one of the most familiar night events in the Old Testament, the Passover when God freed His people from the evil hands of Pharaoh and Egypt. This is the Jewish 4th of July. Each year Americans set aside time to remember some of the important dates of our history. This practice didn’t start with us; it’s goes back to the pages of Scripture. In Exodus 11-13 God commands the Jews to have a yearly feast to remember His great works that He did in Egypt. Turn there (p. 47).
The Passover Story: We really don’t have a frame of reference for slavery. It’s hard for us to grasp its cruelty and degradation, yet millions throughout the world, mainly children, are in slavery today. And slavery, particularly child slavery, is on the rise. In 2006, Time Magazine reporter, Alex Perry, wrote of the sordid practice of child slavery and there’s no shortage of children for sale. Across Asia, tens of thousands of children are peddled into slavery each year. Some toil with their families as bonded laborers on farms. Others are sold by their parents—or tricked by agents—into servitude as camel jockeys, fisher boys, beggars…or worse. In Burma, some are kidnapped by the state and forced to become soldiers. Alongside the millionaires in Bangkok and Hong Kong, live two-thirds of the world’s extreme poor—790 million people earning less than $1 a day. In attempts to escape their deprivation, whole villages are sometimes complicit in the sale of their children. Perry reported seeing pickup trucks full of girls sold from a school house with a police officer often at the wheel. He writes, “This is a war…a war for our children.”
When the Civil War began there were four million slaves in the United States. When Egypt freed the Jews, some two and a half million Jews fled Egypt. Slavery in itself is a horrible thing, but the Jews didn’t just flee from slavery, they fled from an ancient Holocaust. Pharaoh, fearful of the Israelites' growing numbers, commanded that all newborn boys be drowned in the Nile. For nearly a century it had been illegal to spare a baby boy, though the Jews did. One wonders though how many babies were killed during that century. So the Jews were enslaved, brutalized and as much as possible, systematically being exterminated.
The next time you see a picture of the pyramids, remember that they were built with the flesh and blood of Jewish slaves. Jews were the economic backbone of Egypt. Can you imagine the horror of seeing your loved ones enslaved and brutalized, seeing your children auctioned off like livestock as soon as they were old enough to work, having your family broken apart for the profit of Pharaoh? The pain of slavery is deep and severe. But God had promised Abraham that his children would be a great nation, now this nation is enslaved so another prospers. For 400 years the Jews lived in harsh, debilitating conditions, their labor exploited by cruel taskmasters. And as they suffered, they cried out to God for mercy, begging Him to remember His promises to Abraham and to save them.
One Jewish couple ignores Pharaoh’s murderous edict. This young mother, Jochobed, saves her infant son by setting him adrift on the Nile in an ark of bulrushes. There Pharaoh's daughter finds the child, names him Moses, and brings him up as her own. Moses though is aware of his origins. One day, when grown, he kills an Egyptian overseer who is beating a Hebrew man. He ends up fleeing Egypt, escaping to Midian. There he marries the daughter of a shepherd named, Jethro. For forty years Moses tends sheep on the backside of the desert until he encounters God in a burning bush. God tells him to return to Egypt and lead the Hebrews out of Egypt into the land promised to Abraham. So Moses returns to Egypt and appears before Pharaoh with a message from God: “Let my people go!”
Pharaoh blows him off, so Moses comes back again and again and again with the same message from God. But Pharaoh has no intention of letting these slaves go free, so God devises a plan that will cause Pharaoh to beg the Jews to leave his land. He sends a series of terrible judgments (called Plagues) on Egypt. Each one represents a terrible natural disaster and each one shows God’s complete power over nature and at the same time, reveals the impotence of the false gods of Egypt: Water into blood; Frogs; Gnats; Flies; Disease upon the livestock; Boils; Hail; Locusts; Darkness. While these plagues inflicted severe suffering upon the people, Pharaoh hardened his heart against God. Instead of saying, “You can go” he tries to make deals. First he offered to let the Jews go a short distance into the desert if they’d promise to return. Then, he offered to let the men go if the women and children stayed behind. Finally, he offers to let them all go but leave their livestock behind. Obviously, none of these options was acceptable. America doesn’t negotiate with terrorists and God does not make deals with pagan rulers!
Finally, the moment had come for the 10th and final plague. God told Moses, “Don’t worry. When this one hits Egypt, Pharaoh will be in a hurry to let you go” (Exodus 11:1-2). At midnight on the designated night, the Lord would go through the land of Egypt and every firstborn son in Egypt would die at that instant. He specified that no family would be excluded–from Pharaoh’s household to the home of the lowest Egyptian slave. God would even include the firstborn cattle in his judgment. But God would spare the Israelites in order to make a distinction between God’s people and Pharaoh’s people if they obeyed His commands.
Exodus 12 then reveals God’s plan to spare the Israelites from the midnight massacre of the firstborn. He’d spare His people by using the blood of a lamb. When the blood of the lamb was sprinkled on the doorpost of each Jewish home, God would see the blood and would literally “pass over” that house. But if God didn’t see the blood, He’d take the life of the firstborn in judgment. It was the blood of the lamb that saved the people of God that night. Every year since then, for 3500 years, and continuing to this very year, the Jews have observed a Passover celebration as a solemn reminder of God’s amazing deliverance in Egypt.
The Passover animal was to be a male lamb, either a goat or a sheep (12:5). There was to be one sacrificial animal per household, unless the family was too small to consume one. Under such circumstances, two families could share one. The blood of the animal was to be put on the sides and tops of the door frames. This blood was to serve as a sign, which would protect the Israelites from the Death Angel.
The Exodus account does not sensationalize what happens next. In fact, it gives only the most cursory account of the fulfillment of the Word of the Lord, spoken through Moses. At midnight, the firstborn of the Egyptians were slain, from the king of Egypt to its cattle, from the firstborn of Pharaoh to that of the prisoner. The weeping and wailing that night was unlike anything ever heard in the land before. At the same time, none of Israel’s firstborn, whether man or animal, was killed. Midnight, according to Egyptian mythology, was the time when the gods fought. In this final blow God fights all of the idolatry of Egypt once for all and wins the resounding victory. This last plague was the final sound of the gavel from God as the Righteous Judge. God’s promises, whether for pleasure or pain, whether for of prosperity or peril, are certain.
Pharaoh lost his heir that night, according to Egyptian religion, the divine heir. In response to this national tragedy, Pharaoh and the people of Egypt beg – demand that the Hebrews leave that night without any restrictions.
The Israelites left Egypt so quickly that they didn’t even have time to bake the bread that they’d prepared. Exodus 12:34 records that they took the dough in the kneading troughs, carrying it out on their shoulders, as 2.5 million Jews left for Canaan. And the Egyptians gave them gold and jewels which ended up compensating them for their 400 years of slavery. When God has an escape plan, He not only gets everyone out – He gives them a lunch and travelling money.
There are some life and death lessons in this account.
1. In spite of what a relativistic world believes, God is holy and just. Hollywood continually makes remakes. Currently, a remake of the 1984 Karate Kid is in the theaters. One of the classic movies of all time was The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston as Moses and Yul Brynner as Pharaoh. That movie though will probably never be remade, at least there won’t be a remake that holds close to the Biblical account. Why is that? While a relativistic world thinks Pharaoh, like a Hitler or Stalin, gets what’s coming to him, our world can’t believe that God would also judge the other “innocent” Egyptians and kill their first born too.
Our world believes there are good guys and bad guys. The Bible teaches that there are no good guys, only bad and badder. The Israelites were not spared because they were good. Read the rest of the book of Exodus and you’ll see how bad they were: idolatry, immorality, hatred, anger, doubt, complaining – to name just a few of their many sins. They were spared because of the lamb’s blood on the door posts and the mercy of God. We think that there are big sins and little sins, all sin is big with God.
The Exodus account informs us that this slaughter was directed at the Egyptians without regard to social or economic status. This account brings us face to face with some tremendous moral issues. Not only is the slaughter of the Egyptian firstborn the means God used to release His people from slavery, it’s the Angel of the Lord who slays the firstborn. In other words, while we can refer to the deaths occasioned by the other plagues as “acts of God” (meaning that some natural disaster occurred), this 10th plague is very literally an “act of God” for God Himself killed the firstborn of Egypt. Let me further muddy your theological waters, the Angel of the Lord” was very likely the Pre-incarnate Christ. So how can we possibly justify God’s actions here? Not only are innocent children slaughtered by God, but the occasion is the basis for an annual celebration by Israel, one that is to be carried on forever. So why does God judge them? Because God is holy and just.
On Friday Jane and I celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary. I probably know Jane better than anyone else in this world. My wife is one of the easiest going, laid back people you’ll ever meet. There’s very little that bothers her. One thing though (and I have permission to share this) consistently bothers Jane. If we’re out to eat and if her silverware or glass is not spotless, she’ll ask for a replacement. You know, how men, when something drops on the floor, have a 10 second rule. Jane doesn’t believe in the 10 second rule. Now the silverware is sterile. No doubt it went through the dishwasher, but if it’s not spotless, Jane wants a replacement.
But it’s just a little spot, so what’s the big deal? For Jane, it’s a federal case! Most women I know are just like her and that’s the way sin is with God. There are no little sin spots with God. And we’re all that way, we just don’t know it. We all have our sense of justice in some area of our lives.
I love to fish though I don’t get many opportunities. Some years back when we were in Florida, I took our family on the dream of a lifetime. We went deep sea fishing. Here’s a picture of our catch. (slide of fish).
A few weeks ago the 52nd annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament was held off the coast of North Carolina. The grand prize was $1 million. Andy Thomossan on the Citation, caught what was by far the biggest fish: an 883-pound marlin, a tournament record. (Here’s a picture of this monster fish.) His team was the declared winner but there’s a post-event lie-detector test. And it came out that one of the crew members did not possess a valid fishing license. They’re available in North Carolina for just $15 or $30 for non-residents. Because it was a violation of the tournament rules, that little infringement cost Andy Thomossan and his crew a million big ones. No record. No money. No fish. No nothing. This one crew member told the others he had a license and he didn’t. I’d say Peter Wann's name is mud. According to the North Carolina fisheries division, he went out and bought a license after the catch of the monster marlin. He ended up being fined $35 and ordered to pay court costs totaling $125. The new winners caught the second-largest marlin, but it weighed a mere 528.3 lbs. If little rules matter in a fishing contest and can cost you a million bucks, is God really unfair when He holds us accountable when we violate His rules?
2. God is very patient. What plague was this? #10. What’s it going to take to get Pharaoh’s attention? God turned the water into blood, sent frogs and flies. Pharaoh was given opportunity after opportunity to repent and avoid the plague of death. He could have believed God and spared himself and the Egyptians all of this pain and suffering. Even with this last plague, God had warned him and given him time to repent. Though God is patient, when people continue to reject His Word, judgment is certain.
And God is more patient and compassionate toward sinners than we are. Because of modern news media, we see and hear more horrible things going on all over the world than any previous generation--murders, wars, child abuse, sexual perversity, and other atrocities. It disgusts us and we cry out, “Lord, how long before You judge the world?” But remember, God sees every evil deed, even those committed in secret; and not only that but He knows all the evil thoughts that never are carried out. We forget that if He were as swift in judging sinners as we desire, we ourselves might never have come to repentance! Are you pushing the envelope with God? Is His patience with you, waiting for your repentance coming to an end?
3. There must be a blood sacrifice for our sins. Christians everywhere recognize the lamb as a familiar biblical image. The Bible makes the connection between Jesus and lambs in several passages. Isaiah 53:7 compares the Messiah to a lamb going to be slaughtered. John the Baptist called Jesus the “Lamb of God” (John 1:29). Paul called Christ the “Passover Lamb” (I Cor. 5:7). Peter spoke of Christ’s blood as the blood of a lamb (1 Pet. 1:18-19). The book of Revelation explicitly calls Christ “the Lamb” 30 times. The Passover lamb was a picture of what Christ was going to do on the Cross, as God’s lamb.
When the blood of the lamb was sprinkled on the doorpost of each Jewish home, God would see the blood and would literally “pass over” that house. But if God didn’t see the blood, He’d take the life of the firstborn in judgment. It was the blood of the lamb that saved people that night. Even in the minutest details of the Passover, it points to Jesus Christ.
4. They were to pass God’s plan of salvation on to their children. Exodus 12:24-27 says, “Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as He promised, observe this ceremony. And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’” The Passover was a week long festival that they were to pass down to each generation. Are we passing down our faith generationally? It’s easy to sacrifice the best for the good. Sometimes we’re almost more concerned our kids get an education, that they are good kids, than that they have received Christ as their Lord and Savior. We’re more concerned that they don’t miss school or some sports event, than we are the teaching and preaching of God’s Word. Our first priority must be the spiritual.
Conclusion: There is no clearer example of salvation by grace in the Old Testament than the Passover. Every person in Egypt, whether an Israelite or an Egyptian, was worthy of God’s divine judgment. The reason some find the judgment of God in the slaying of the firstborn so difficult to justify is that they do not grasp the seriousness of their own sin.
Robert Deffinbaugh shares of overhearing a young woman ask, “Do I have to suffer the rest of my life for one little indiscretion?” Whatever her “indiscretion” was, I’d imagine it would better be labeled “sin.”
So the answer to her question should be, “For as much as one sin, God is just in condemning you, not only for time, but for all eternity.” The reason why we have so much difficulty with the subject of judgment is that we fail to comprehend the immensity of our sin to a holy God. The striking of the firstborn of Egypt should cause us to rethink the matter of sin.
Our attitude toward sin is very much shaped by our own perspectives and experiences. Drunks are people we can laugh at, until they get behind the wheel and kill one of our loved ones. Sex offenders are people who simply have a different sexual orientation or preferences, until they molest someone close to us. Idolatrous worship doesn’t seem very serious, until we view this evil from God’s perspective. Ignoring God does not seem so serious, until we understand the importance of trusting and obeying Him.
Once we’ve come to grips with the seriousness of sin, we need to focus on the solution. Just as the firstborn were worthy of divine judgment, and in danger of it, God’s solution must be believed and acted upon. The divinely provided protection from the Death Angel was the sacrifice of a lamb, with its blood applied to the door frame. All those who remained within the house which had blood applied to its door frame were spared.
Just as the firstborn in Egypt were in danger of being killed by the Death Angel, so today men, women, and children are in danger of living out eternity in Hell, enduring the eternal wrath of God (Rev. 20:11-15). The solution to the problem is, once again, the shed blood of a Lamb, the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, on whom our sins were laid. He died for our sins; He bore the wrath of God, so that all of us could escape from the coming wrath of God and participate in His promised blessings.
My friend, it’s my prayer that you will, even at this moment, accept the salvation which God offers to you through the sacrifice of His Son, who has been raised from the dead and who will return to the earth to execute judgment on all those who have rejected His sacrifice.
Just like Pharaoh, the ancient Egyptians and Israelites, the offer of salvation is before you. The question is: Will you accept Jesus Christ as your sacrifice for your sins? Will you apply by faith His shed blood to your heart’s door posts?