The Story of God: Remember Mercy

Do you remember what you were doing when your found out the US was under attack on September 11, 2001?  I was in an early morning prayer meeting with one of my elders in Langley, BC Canada. The phone rang, I picked it up, only to hear these words from my friend Carl: “The US is under attack.  They’ve already flown planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and there is a plane on route to the Capital. You’d better get home.”  Now my friend Carl is a Firefighter, and I could tell this was no joke.  So I quickly drove home and spent the rest of the day glued to my television struggling to wrap my mind around what was happening.  It is hard to believe that this past Tuesday was the 17^thanniversary of that day.  It is definitely a day most of us will ever forget.  And yet I remember thinking at the time – that even though everyone was so stunned and life as we knew it would forever be altered, there would come a time when we would go on living our lives as if nothing ever happened. So I for one am thankful that we now celebrate “Patriots Day.” That’s our generation’s Remembrance Day; like Pearl Harbor is the Remembrance Day of your parent’s generation.  And Veteran’s Day is the Remembrance Day for the generation before that.  So it’s good for us to have remembrance days. For even now we have a new generation about to graduate high school that have no personal experience of that day.

We need days like this to reflect and remember those who we’ve lost, those who’ve sacrificed, and to be thankful for our lives today.  Remembrance days are a good thing.  In fact, as we return to the story of God today, we’re going to take an in depth view of the very first remembrance day:  A Day of lasting significance for the nation of Israel, but also a day that has major implications for us.  So if you bought your Bible with you, let me encourage you to open them to Exodus 12, where we are going to see what made this day so meaningful to Israel thenand us today.

But before we do that, I want to set the stage by reminding us of what took place in Pharaoh’s court just prior to this day. If you were here last week, God had just covered Egypt with deep darkness for three days, judging Egypt’s sun gods, and humiliating Pharaoh who was considered the incarnation of the sun god Ra.  Yet, once again God hardened Pharaoh’s heart and Pharaoh refused to let God’s people go.

Up till now, everything God had said to Pharaoh through Moses had come true. Through nine plagues God had judged Egypt’s gods, ruined Egypt and humiliated Pharaoh.  But now God was about to strike Egypt with the worst plague of all, and so we read: The Lord had said to Moses,“I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here, and when he does, he will drive you out completely. Exodus 11:1  When this final plague comes Pharaoh will be defeated and Israel will be free. And this will their remembrance day: a day that will form them as God’s people, because this will be the day they will FOREVER REMEMBER GOD’S MERCY.  And this day all begins with these instructions for  A Meal to Remember

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.  Tell the whole communityof Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. Notice, God wants every Israelite to be included in this meal,no one is to be left out.

Then God gets very detailed with His instructions, saying, The animals you choose must be year-old maleswithout defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Exodus 12:5-6   Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. Exodus 12:7 Again, God wants every Israelite included in the slaughtering of the lambs at twilight.  This is sacrificial language – the language of worship.  God commands that all Israel to be included in this sacrifice, this worship.

Next comes the details of the actual meal:  That same nightthey are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover. Exodus 12:8-11

Everyone’s to eat this meal standing on their feet, like they are ready to run out the door at a moment’s notice.  Their deliverance is imminent.

Then God tells the significance of this meal: “On that same nightI will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.  Exodus 12:12-13

Up till now God had spared Israel from the devastating consequences of the previous plagues.  He did this to make a distinction between His people and Pharaoh’s people.  God spared Israel to show them they were His special people. They didn’t have to do anything other than experience God’s favor and watch Egypt suffer.  But now this is different.  Now in order to be spared the consequences of God’s judgment, they must OBEY God’s command to sacrifice an unblemished lamb and spread the blood of the lamb over their doorway of their home.  If they OBEY God will pass over them and they will be spared.   If they OBEY they will receive God’s mercy. This is what makes this a meal to remember.  It was to remind them that they were no better than the Egyptians.  If they were not willing to OBEY God, their fate would be the same as Egypt’s.

So eating this meal would be their moment of faith.  By OBEYING God’s Word, slaughtering an unblemished lamb and then daubing its blood on the doorposts of their homes they were acknowledging that they deserved to die every bit as much as their enemies… they were acknowledging their need for God’s mercy.  You see as they sat by and watched God destroy Egypt with the plagues, it would have been very easy for them to think that they were somehow better than the Egyptians.  But God’s command TO EAT THIS MEAL, IN THIS WAY told every Israelite that they were just as guilty as the Egyptians.  So this final plague was not simply judgment upon Egypt, but was meant to show every Israelite their need for mercy.  It was meant to show every Israelite THEIR NEED to be saved by the blood of the lamb.

Sound familiar? It should. For the Bible says we’re just like those Israelites. Apart from God providing a perfect substitute for us, we will all perish because of our sin.  The Bible declares: “The wages of sinis death but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.”Romans 6:23   Like Israel we need mercy. And God provided it by giving us a perfect substitute. God gave His Son to be YOUR sacrificial lamb. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. His blood was shed to cover your sins. And once you put your trust in the Lamb of God, His blood covers you and you will receive mercy. For His Word declares:  “There is now nocondemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” Romans 8:1  You want to be delivered from eternal death? You want God’s mercy? Then receive the gift God has provided:receive in the Lamb of God who was slaughtered for you, so you can be saved. That’s what makes this is A MEAL TO REMEMBER: Jesus, the Lamb of God, was sacrificed on the eve of Passover – so that every Jew might make this connection:that Jesus Christ is the true Passover Lamb.

So God gave Israel a meal to remember, but like I mentioned earlier God gave them  A Day To Remember “This is a day youare to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance. For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. Exodus 12:14-15 On the first day removethe yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat; that is all you may do.  Exodus 12:16 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very daythat I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.” Ex 12:17

In the first month you are to eat breadmade without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And anyone, whether foreigner or native-born, who eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel. Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread.” Exodus 12:18-20

The Feast of Unleavened Bread was to be celebrated every year so Israel would remember their day of deliverance.  God didn’t want them to forget, so He gave them a whole week to celebrate it.  And they were to celebrate by eating unleavened bread every day.  Why was this so significant? Why eat bread without yeast?

A couple of things:  First, that’s what they ate on the night of their deliverance.  So it was symbolic of their hasty departure. Second, yeast is seen as symbolic of sin.  Jesus himself used this image saying, “be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”Luke 12:1  So the eating unleavened bread was to remind them of their identity.  They were delivered out of Egypt to be God’s Holy people, a people different from the rest of the world, a people who would represent Him in the world.  God wanted to remind them of how He changed their identity through this deliverance: He didn’t just get them out of Egypt, but He got Egypt (the yeast of evil) out of them. And by eating the unleavened bread for seven days – He never wanted them to forget that they were His holy people!

We too are God’s holy people. And Paul uses this same image in the NT to remind us to live holy lives as God’s people.  Here’s his reminder: Your boasting is not good. Don’t youknow that a little yeast leavens the whole batch? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 1 Cor 5:6-8 Paul reminds us that we have a new identity as God’s redeemed.  We are a new batch without yeast.  The old is gone, so live as you really are – as God’s holy people.

Think about your day of Salvation, the day God delivered you from the realm of darkness and brought you into the kingdom of light.  Listen how Paul describes your change of identity in Ephesians 5.  He says, For you were once darkness,but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light  (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.   Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds ofdarkness, but rather expose them.  It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Ephesians 5:11-14

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. That’s what eating the unleavened bread symbolizes: we are children of light, we are vessels of God’s Spirit.  So have nothing to do with the deeds of darkness.  God delivered you out of that.  God brought you out of Egypt! Don’t go back to Egypt!

That’s why God gave A DAY TO REMEMBER – to remember God’s mercy: For on that day, He changed you. He made you holy, He made you His child.  He gave you have a new identity.  Never forget that. That’s a day to remember!

And of course along with that day to remember, God also gave A Ceremony to Remember And it all revolves around this meal to remember.  This meal they are about to eat is going to become a ceremony they are to repeat every year. Look at verse 21,  Then Moses summoned allthe 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. Exodus 12:21-22a None of you shall go out ofthe door of your house until morning.  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.Exodus 12:22b-23  “Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for youand your descendants. When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. Exodus 12:24-25

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.’”  Then the people bowed down and worshiped. The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. Exodus 12:26-28

This meal to remember will now be a ceremony to remind them every year of God’s mercy.  It is the Passover Meal. This meal was given so they could tell the story of God’s deliverance to their children.  But it was more than just looking back.  It was a ceremony that looked forward to the Promised Land.  This “ceremony to remember” was to remind them of God’s mercy in delivering them from Egypt but also of God’s grace of bringing them to the Promised Land.

And look at their response?  As soon as they heard these instructions – they bowed down and worshiped God.  At that very moment their prayers had been answered! Salvation had come! Freedom had come!  A New Day was dawning!  So they rejoiced because God was giving them SO MUCH MORE than they ever deserved.

That’s what the mercy and grace of God IGNITES:it reveals the goodness and love of God to us.  And when we EXPERIENCE His mercy and RECEIVE His grace – when we realize WE DESERVE NOTHING, but GOD gives us EVERYTHING– then we want to give Him praise. THAT IS WHY God gave them a ceremony to remember – so they would always worship God.

And that’s why Jesus gave us a NEW CEREMONY to remember in the midst of his final Passover Meal: the Lords’ Supper.Fornow when we eat the unleavened bread and drink the cup, we are reminded of God’s mercy and grace for us as undeserving sinners.  And we remember that before a Holy God we deserve nothing, but through Jesus, God has now given us everything.  So we are thankful and give worship to our great God.

That’s why this first Passover is so significant, so meaningful, and so full of hope.  For it reminds us that we HAVE a God of mercy.  Because the last thing we see in this passage is the biggest reminder of why all of us need God’s mercy.  For the last thing that God gave Israel and us to remember is this: A Judgment to Remember At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead. Exodus 12:29-30

There is nothing more final, more grievous, then the judgment of God.  For with this judgment of Egypt we see BOTH the severity and mercy of God.  The Severity of God’s wrath in His death blow to Egypt and His mercy in His passing over of Israel. On this night God brought justice down on Pharaoh’s head. On this night God struck down the gods’ of Egypt.  And on this night, God struck down Pharaoh’s son, telling Pharaoh once and for all that he is not God and neither is his son. There is only one true God.  This is a judgment to remember.

And this judgment was not just a reminder of God’s mercy to Israel; it is also a reminder to us.  For there are many today who live as if there is NO GOD OF JUSTICE, thinking that they will never be judged.  But the same God who told Moses He would bring judgment on the gods of Egypt and kill their firstborn, has also said this to us, “people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment” Hebrews 9:27

There will come a day of judgment when all stand before a Holy God.  And you will either stand before him on your own merit, or you will stand before Him covered by the blood of Jesus.

So this story reminds us that unless we look to God for mercy now, there will be no mercy then.  That is why today is the day of salvation.  For God gives mercy now, and His mercy is found in the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, who takes away the sin of the world.   And now God gives mercy to anyone who trusts in Him.  Have you received God’s offer of mercy?  Or are you going to take your chances against the coming day of judgment?  Let’s pray.