WHY IT MATTERS //
“This will be a day for you to always remember. I want you and all generations after you to commemorate this day with a festival to Me. Celebrate this feast as a perpetual ordinance, a permanent part of your life together” (Exodus 12:14). Passover is a traditional Jewish holiday that lasts for 7 days, remembering how God delivered the Israelites from Egypt and in particular, delivered them from the angel of death—the last of the ten plagues He brings upon the Egyptians. On the First Passover, God tells the Israelites to paint the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of their homes as a sign to the angel to “pass over” them and spare their firstborn child from death.
In observing Passover, we remember God’s faithfulness towards His people, and recognize the significance of Passover in preparation for Good Friday, where Jesus became the ultimate sacrificial Lamb for our sins so that God would spare us from His judgment.
WHAT IT'S TALKING ABOUT //
In the Book of Exodus, Moses recounts the story of God leading the Israelites out of Egypt and towards the promised land. Throughout these chapters, we see God’s incredible faithfulness to His people and to His Word, to bring deliverance and salvation to a people very much held captive by the Egyptians and by their own fear/idols. Despite the Israelites’ continual doubt and rebellion against God, God remembers His promise and continues to lead them towards the land he promised to them. In this particular passage, God calls Moses to be the primary leader of these Israelites, granting him assurance in who He is and what He has promised. These 4 “I will” statements are God’s promises to Israel to deliver them from Egypt; they are fulfilled in completion through the new covenant and ultimate salvation brought through Jesus. These statements also frame the Passover celebration as we consider what Jesus has done for us:
1-Sanctification – “I will bring you out from Egypt”
2-Deliverance – “I will deliver you from Egyptian bondage”
3-Redemption – “I will redeem you with My power”
4-Restoration – “I will acquire you as My people”
Exodus 6:1-8 NLT
1 Then the Lord told Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. When he feels the force of my strong hand, he will let the people go. In fact, he will force them to leave his land!”
2 And God said to Moses, “I am Yahweh—‘the Lord.’
3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty’—but I did not reveal my name, Yahweh, to them.
4 And I reaffirmed my covenant with them. Under its terms, I promised to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living as foreigners.
5 You can be sure that I have heard the groans of the people of Israel, who are now slaves to the Egyptians. And I am well aware of my covenant with them.
6 “Therefore, say to the people of Israel: ‘I am the Lord. I will free you from your oppression and will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment.
7 I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt.
8 I will bring you into the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as your very own possession. I am the Lord!’”