Who is Jesus Chapter 3

 

Who is Jesus Chapter 3

 

Today, we will back up a bit and take another look at the Children of Israel while they were captives in Egypt.  Moses was sent by God to set them free, but the Pharaoh would not let the people go, because they were valuable slaves working hard for him.  Moses warned Pharaoh that if he did not allow the people to go, that terrible things would happen. 

 

Pharaoh was not impressed, and paid no attention to Moses, so in tandem there occurred ten plagues: The children of Israel who dwelled in the land of Goshen, were not effected and were kept safe:  (The plagues are listed for background - - the last one is the clinker.)

 

Each time of a plague, Pharaoh said okay, I will let the people go, but when the plague went away, he changed his mind and said, "NO - they stay here."

 

1. Water was turned into blood - Exodus 7:19 And the Lord spoke unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take your rod, and stretch out your hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone.

 

2. FROGS everywhere: Exodus 8:3 And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into your ovens, and into thy kneading troughs:

 

3. Lice:  Exodus 8:16 And the Lord said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out your rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

 

4. Flies: Exodus 8:21 Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are.

 

5.  Livestock diseased: Exodus 9:3 Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.

 

6.  Boils on man and beast: Exodus 9:8, 9 And the Lord said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt.

7. Thunder and Hail: Exodus 9:18 The seventh plague brought torrential rains, thunder, and hail that killed people, animals, and crops. Despite the fact that Pharaoh admitted his sin, once the storm calmed he again refused freedom to the Hebrews.

8. Locust:  If Pharaoh thought frogs and lice were bad, the locusts of the eighth plague would prove to be the most devastating. These insects ate every green plant they could find. Afterwards, Pharaoh admitted to Moses that he had sinned - -

9. Darkness: Three days of complete darkness stretched over the lands of Egypt—not those of the Hebrews, who enjoyed light by day—in the ninth plague. It was so dark that the Egyptians could not see each other.  After this plague, the Pharaoh attempted to negotiate the freedom of the Hebrews. His bargain that they could leave if their flocks were left behind was not accepted.

The tenth and most terrible plague was now coming:  The Angel of Death was being charged to visit that night and slay all the first born son's in the homes of the Un-Protected. 

Exodus 11:4, 5  And Moses said, Thus says the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:  And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first born of Pharaoh that sits upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts.

God gave Moses detailed instructions for the Children of Israel; How to be protected and it involved a lasting ceremony that is still celebrated today:  "The Passover Feast."

The children of Israel had been in Egypt for 430 years, so you will realize they were now a large crowd of six hundred thousand men, (600,000) not counting children (or women.)  Each household was approximately 12 to 15 persons.  (A LOT of lambs were needed for this happening.)

They were being instructed to select a perfect lamb for each household and to prepare a meal where they were to eat the roasted lamb, and burn anything left over.  They were to be packed up and ready to leave in the morning.

They were to kill the lamb and collect the blood in a clean basin.  To protect each dwelling from the angel of death, they were to use hyssop and dip it into the blood and sprinkle the blood on each door post and on the lentil (top) of the door.  This was important, because when the "Death Angel passed by that night, and saw the blood on the doors, the angel would PASS OVER those homes and not slay the first born male child.

The blood was a picture of Christ Jesus' shed blood that is available to save us from our sins.  Today when we partake of "communion" as Jesus asked us; we remember his broken body and shed blood.

Luke 22:19, 20 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.