Exodus (Program #24) – The Passover (2)

The record of the Passover given in Exodus is very detailed.  No where else in Scriptures do we find such a detailed account of Christ’s redemption.  For His redemption is the clear message of the Passover.  The reason for all the detail is that God wants us to know the redemption of Christ in a thorough way.  It’s God intention is that we neither neglect or forget this redemption, but that we remember and appreciate it at all time, even in its marvelous details.

Our message today continues the one we had yesterday, dealing with the institution of the Passover feast for the children of Israel.  When we read these verses in Exodus 12 and 13, we can’t help but be impressed by all the detail.  Why is there such detail given in the Scriptures to this Old Testament matter of the Passover?

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Exodus (Program #23) – The Passover (1)

Nearly all Christians know that Christ is the Lamb of God, who accomplished redemption for us.  John 1:29 says “the next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.  Though most of us may be familiar with Christ as the Lamb of God, we may not have seen all the rich and deep aspects presented in the details of His redemption. This picture is presented in Exodus chapter 12 and it is these details that will be our focus today, for in them are the deep and marvelous facet of this most blessed event.

We have the first of the two tremendous programs dealing with the passover in Egypt as a type of the redemption of Christ.

The New Testament speaks about redemption, where about Christ is our redeemer in many passages.  But this picture in Exodus 12 is marvelously complete and comprehensive.   Why is the passover depicted in Exodus such a good picture of redemption?

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Exodus (Program #22) – God’s Demand and Pharaoh’s Resistance (6)

A favorite topic of most believers is God’s love.  A second favorite could easily be God’s mercy.  But how about God’s sovereignty?  How often do we appreciate and praise Him for His sovereignty?  Actually, His mercy and His sovereignty very much go together.  For without seeing His sovereignty we can never fully appreciate His great mercy.  This is the lessons of God’s dealing with Pharaoh in the book of Exodus.

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Exodus (Program #21) -The Hardening of Pharaoh’s Heart

God’s people Israel spent hundreds of years in slavery and bondage in Egypt.  Ultimately, the Lord heard their cries and initiated through His called one Moses, a personal battle with Pharaoh.  During the course of this lengthy conflict, Pharaoh is repeatedly subdued only to have his heart harden again to resist the demand of Jehovah God to let His people go.  This is the stuff of great Sunday school lesson to be sure.  But does it hold a meaningful lesson for all of us?  For all serious believers?

We are considering a very difficult question that has been the source of theological debate over the centuries; that is the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart in Egypt.  During this long conflict between God and Pharaoh, at times we see God hardening Pharaoh’s heart and at other times Pharaoh harden his own heart.  more…

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Exodus (Program #20) -Pharaoh’s Subtle Bargaining

We may not think of ourselves as particularly crafty or skillful negotiators in a worldly sense.  But oh how we bargain with the Lord!  There are a lot examples of subtle bargaining with God in the Bible.  But the story of Pharaoh in Egypt found in the book of Exodus is a particularly striking one.  For Pharaoh can at one time represents Satan but also represents ourselves or even our family members.  There is a lot for us to relate to in today’s program.

Today we are coming back to this conflict that took place between God and Pharaoh.  Initially it seems that the Lord’s demand of Pharaoh was clear enough, very straightforward: “let My people go, that they may hold a feast unto Me in the wilderness.”  He tells him in Exodus 5:3, but it take 10 long chapters and 12 different encounters before this ultimately takes place…

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Exodus (Program #19) – God’s Demand and Pharaoh’s Resistance (5)

Bible scholars have long agreed that Egypt, the land that held God’s people, Israel in slavery for more than 400 years typifies the world, the system of commerce, culture, education and even entertainment is today’s Egypt, complete with its accompanying slavery and bondage.  God’s way with Israel was to change their view of the land they had grown to love.   He wants to do the same with us today.  When we see the world as God sees it, our heart like Israel’s heart will be changed.

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Exodus (Program #18) – God’s Demand and Pharaoh’s Resistance (4)

God’s desire is that His people will build Him a dwelling place on the earth. This was His intention for the children of Israel even as they were held in bondage under Pharaoh in the book of Exodus and it’s His intention for us today. In Exodus, a struggle ensued between God and Pharaoh whereby He manifested not only judgment upon the Egyptian world but also the real nature and issue of the life of the world – the life that usurps God’s people. If we receive mercy, we’ll take this warning given to all God’s people about the usurping worldly system.

It has been a tremendous journey thus far, as we just get into the book of Exodus.  We come to that portion in the last few days, we have been reviewing the conflict between God and Pharaoh.  It is a fairly well-known story to most Christians and believers.  But Witness Lee has been pointing out that we are going to see very directly today that these 10 plagues and these 10 encounters, actually a dozen encounters that took place over all between God and Pharaoh were not just God’s judgement on Pharaoh and on Egypt but are really intended as an exposure and a kind of education for God’s people as well, to realize the real situation that Egypt represents.  Why do we know that this is a picture to expose but not just a matter of God’s judgement on Egypt and Pharaoh?

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Exodus (Program #17) – God’s Demand and Pharaoh’s Resistance (3)

The book of Exodus reveals God’s desire to rescue His people from everything other than Himself.  After the Exodus from Egypt, God’s people saw a heavenly vision by which they came to know God Himself and to know the kind of living that’s in accordance with God.  This way they can be built up as God’s dwelling place on earth. This is the basic concept of the book of Exodus and it is also the basic concept of our Christian life.

We are going to continue to look at God’s demand and Pharaoh’s resistance on our broadcast today.  This conflict going on between God and Pharaoh that lasted 10 chapters in Exodus…

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Exodus (Program #16) – God’s Demand and Pharaoh’s Resistance (2)

The book of Exodus is a book of pictures, not a book of philosophy.  The pictures in the first part of Exodus present a portrait of life in the world under Satan’s usurpation.  God said to Pharaoh, “let My people go, that they may hold a feast unto Me in the wilderness.”  God’s people had fallen into a worldly life under Satan.  So God spoke and acted in a severe way to ultimately rescue His people.  How about God’s people today?  Many are still under the occupation of today’s Pharaoh and God is still demanding “let My people go”.  Please stay with us for this extraordinary life study of the Bible.

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Exodus (Program #15) – God’s Further Training of Moses

God’s calling of Moses is the most complete call in the Bible.  Moses took God’s word, and did all that God had charged him to do.  However, things did not turned out as Moses expected.  To his surprise, he was defeated, Pharaoh was victorious and the children of Israel suffered all the more.  For this reason, he complained to the Lord in Exodus chapter 5 saying “why is it that You sent me?  Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has mistreated this people, and You have not delivered Your people at all.”  Have you ever brought such a charge against the Lord?

We want to continue today to look at how God further trained Moses, His called one.  This is critical to us because we have been seeing the calling of Moses very much represent our own calling by God.  Yesterday, in fact we saw that the first two items that God brought to Moses in this further training were His name and His covenant.

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