The Mosaic Covenant, Passover, and Communion | A Sermon on Exodus 19:5-6

Introduction
In the Bible, God made 5 covenants with humanity.  I challenge you to memorize them because it will help you remember a simple outline of the Bible and God's plan to rescue humanity.  The 5 covenants are the covenants of:  1) Noah, 2) Abraham, 3) Moses, 4) David, and 5) Jesus.

Today we will explore God’s covenant with Israel through Moses, but first let's do a pop quiz as an overview of the biblical story leading up to the Mosaic covenant  You'll find the answers in the pictures at the end of this blog.
Abraham’s son was:  A. Tom  B. David  C. Isaac  D.  Israel

Isaac’s Son Was:  A. Jack  B. Harold  C. Jacob  D. Israel

How Many Sons Did Jacob (aka Israel) have?  A. Three B. Seven  C. Ten  D. Twelve

What was the name of Jacob’s Son Who Was Sold Into Slavery?  
A. Joseph  B. Judah  C. Benjamin  D. Joshua

How Long Were the Israelites in Slavery in Egypt?

A. 40 Years  B. 400 Years  C. 100 Years  D. 1000 Years

Who Did God Use to Deliver the Israelites from Slavery?

A. Jesus  B. Joseph  C. Moses  D. Jacob

How Many Plagues Did God Send on the Egyptians?

A. Three  B. Seven  C. Ten  D. Twelve

What Special Meal Did God Give the Israelites to Remember His Deliverance?

A. Thanksgiving  B. Hannukah  C. Yom Kippor  D. Passover

Now, let's read about the day God instructed the Israelites to remember His covenant with them by celebrating the Passover.

Exodus 12:17, 24-27
¹⁷ “Celebrate this Festival of Unleavened Bread, for it will remind you that I brought your forces out of the land of Egypt on this very day. This festival will be a permanent law for you; celebrate this day from generation to generation.

²⁴ “Remember, these instructions are a permanent law that you and your descendants must observe forever. ²⁵ When you enter the land the Lord has promised to give you, you will continue to observe this ceremony. ²⁶ Then your children will ask, ‘What does this ceremony mean?’ ²⁷ And you will reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. And though he struck the Egyptians, he spared our families.’” When Moses had finished speaking, all the people bowed down to the ground and worshiped.

God’s Covenant with Moses
As we remember the 5 covenants God made with people as part of His grand rescue plan to save the world from sin, we come to the covenant God made with Israel through Moses.  This should be a familiar story.  God saved Israel through a series of 10 plagues, culminating in the death of every first-born son in Egypt that was not sheltered in a house whose doorpost was painted with the blood of a sacrificial lamb. 

Afterward, God commanded Israel to observe the Passover feast every year to remember their deliverance from Egypt establishing them as His chosen people.  The Passover was both a celebration of freedom and a reminder of Israel’s covenant relationship with God—a commitment that would require obedience, holiness, and faithfulness.

The Passover is rich with covenant elements that point to God’s commitment and Israel’s role as His chosen people.  There are promises and obligations: God promised to delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt (and He did) and His promised to bless them, protect them, and provide for them.  If Israel was faithful, God would take care of them in every way.  Israel’s obligation was to obey God, live righteously, and worship Him alone.  The people of Israel were to be God’s holy priests—representing God to the whole world.

The celebration of Passover every year was one of the signs of God’s covenant.  The blood of the Passover lamb on the doorposts was a sign that distinguished Israel from Egypt, marking them as God’s protected people.  And every year Israel celebrated the Passover meal, it reminded them of their covenant with God as well witnessing to their non-Israelites neighbors.

Additionally, the many unique and (to us) odd ritual laws God gave Israel testified to non-Israelites that Israel was different.  No pork (in a world of subsistence farming…) Circumcision…

Israel’s covenant included blessings and curses.  If Israel was obedient, God would bless them.  If they neglected their call, they would be cut off from God’s favor and protection.

A summary of the covenant between God and Israel was written down on two stone tablets (the ten Commandments).  The tablets were kept in the Ark of the Covenant—which represented God’s throne on earth. The Ark, with the tablets inside, were kept in the most holy place—first in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple in Jerusalem.  The full covenant was written down in the Torah scrolls (the Law of Moses).  The full covenant was read publicly at least every seven years during the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). This practice reminded the people of God’s laws and renewed their commitment to the covenant.

Israel’s Role as God’s Royal Priests
God said of Israel, “...you will be my treasured possession...a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:5-6).  God didn’t just save Israel for Israel’s sake—He called them to be a light to the nations, a witness to His power, faithfulness, and love.  Their covenant relationship came with a mission: they were chosen, not to be exclusive, but to represent God’s holiness, justice, and mercy to the world. 

Some Foreigners God Included as His Chosen People
And we find again and again, God welcomed foreign people into the Kingdom of Israel as long as they were willing to give up their false God’s and worship the God of Israel alone.  Among these were Ruth (a Moabite), Rahab (a Canaanite prostitute), Uriah (a Hittite), Caleb (a Kenezzite), and Naaman (an Aramean).  There was even Egyptians who left Egypt with the Israeltes, adopting the practices of Israel and living among them as God’s chosen people (Exodus 12:38). 

The Church – The New Kingdom of God
God’s plan has always been for the whole world, but He started with one people—the Israelites.  As Christians, we recognize that the ancient covenant with Israel points toward the church’s mission today. While modern Israel is a nation with its own history and politics, it is not the same as biblical Israel. The Church now serves as God’s chosen people in a spiritual sense, called to be a “royal priesthood” and a “holy nation”.Listen to 1 Peter 2:9 – Speaking to Christians, Peter said, “You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”

Christians are not confined to just one country.  We are spread throughout the whole world.  There are Christians in America and in Pakistan, Africa, Guatemala, North & South Korea, China, Russia and Ukraine.  And like yeast in a loaf of dough, Christians are sometimes hidden or seem insignificant, but we make all the difference when we are faithful to our covenant to follow Christ and live as salt and light in a dark and unsavory world.

Just as ancient Israel was set apart, the Church is called to live in a way that honors God and draws others to Him, embodying the love, forgiveness, and justice that Christ demonstrated.

Choosing to Remember and Live in Covenant
The Passover was a reminder that Israel’s identity was grounded in God’s deliverance, not in their own efforts or accomplishments. Each year, they remembered the cost of their freedom and God’s ongoing commitment.

When Jesus gathered His disciples for the Last Supper, He celebrated Passover, but He gave it new meaning. He presented Himself as the Passover lamb, whose blood would bring deliverance—not just from physical slavery but from sin and death.  This New Covenant, sealed by Jesus’ sacrifice, fulfills and surpasses the covenant through Moses.  For Christians, Communion becomes the sign of this covenant, replacing Passover as our way of remembering God’s deliverance.

For Christians, remembering our identity in Christ helps us stay grounded. We are called to live in a way that reflects the reality of our deliverance from sin and death, continually reminding us that we belong to God.

Holy Communion
As we come to the Lord’s table today, we remember that we are part of a covenant sealed by Christ’s blood. Communion isn’t just a ritual; it’s a reminder that Christians have been delivered, chosen, and called to live as God’s people in this world.

In Communion, we remember Christ’s sacrifice and the deliverance He brings, committing ourselves once again to live as His covenant people—a people who love, serve, and witness to His goodness.

Just as God called Israel to remember their deliverance from Egypt, He calls us to remember our deliverance in Christ. As we celebrate Communion, we declare that we belong to God, saved by His grace, called to live in holiness and love.  And we also remember our commitment to follow Jesus—to be His royal ambassadors, to share His love with the world, to call people to repent of their sin, and to offer the Good News of Christ’s forgiveness and salvation to all who do.

So, let us come with grateful hearts today, remembering that God has brought us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Through the New Covenant in Christ, we are His holy, chosen people.

 

What is Consecration?

Introduction
Probably one of the best known verses of Scripture in the whole Bible—memorized by people all over the world—is John 3:16. Say it with me.

John 3:16 (NIV)
¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Jesus Himself, the one and only Son of God, spoke these beautiful words that summarize His mission.  If there was one verse that could sum up the whole story of the Bible, John 3:16 would probably do it best.  But most don’t know the full historical context of this verse.  It is grounded in the whole story of Scripture, going all the way back through Genesis.

In the wild and disturbing story of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22, God commands Abraham to sacrifice his one and only son, Isaac, on Mount Mariah.  Then, as Abraham’s knife is poised to slaughter his son, God stops Abraham and provides a ram to take Isaac’s place. 

In Exodus, we find the Israelites living in slavery in Egypt.  God sends Moses to deliver them, but Pharaoh refuses to let them go.  So God sends 10 plagues to torture the Egyptians and convince them to let God’s people go.  The was blood and frogs and gnats and flies.  All of Egypt’s livestock died.  Then there was boils, hail, locusts, and darkness.  And do you remember the last plague?  It was the most terrible of all…  Every firstborn son not sheltered in a home marked by the blood of a Passover lamb died in a single night.  Every male offspring, from the livestock to the servants and all the way up to Pharoah’s own son, died in that single night.  It was a costly sacrifice brought on by the hard hearted, stubborn Pharoah who would not submit to the God of Israel and let the Israelites go free.

A Day to Remember
It was a day to remember forever.  God does not take death lightly--even the death of those who would be called His enemies.  Jesus said Our Heavenly Father knows and cares if even a single sparrow dies.  How much more when the entire nation of Egypt—every family—loses their first born sons.  It’s devastating.  But that was the cost of that nation’s sin and the cost of Israel’s freedom.

So God wanted His people in Israel to remember that day forever.  He gave them a special way to remember and honor God for saving them. We read about it in Exodus 13:1-5

Exodus 13:1-5
¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “Dedicate to me every firstborn among the Israelites. The first offspring to be born, of both humans and animals, belongs to me.”

³ So Moses said to the people, “This is a day to remember forever—the day you left Egypt, the place of your slavery. Today the Lord has brought you out by the power of his mighty hand. (Remember, eat no food containing yeast.) ⁴ On this day in early spring, in the month of Abib, you have been set free. ⁵ You must celebrate this event in this month each year after the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites. (He swore to your ancestors that he would give you this land—a land flowing with milk and honey.)

Passover
This passage is the institution of the Passover Feast.  These instructions were given to the Israelites over 3,000 years ago and they have been celebrated by the Hebrew people every year since then as a way to honor God and thank Him for delivering them from slavery in Egypt.  It was a costly deliverance—the death of every Egyptian first born son.  In recognition, the Hebrew people were to eat a special Passover meal and dedicate back to God the first-born male of every Israelite family—both humans and animals.

The Pagan cultures all around Israel were known to practice human sacrifice.  Whereas God stopped Abraham and would not allow Abraham to actually sacrifice his son, Isaac, other non-Israelite people often did sacrifice their first-born sons (as well as other children).  Child/human sacrifice is one of the reasons the Bible says God drove other nations out of the Promised Land and gave it to the Israelites instead.  Those other nations sacrificed their children, thinking it would please and manipulate their gods into helping them.  But the one true God of the Bible abhors human sacrifice. He forbids anyone to do it.  And if you think how people made these evil sacrifice thinking they could manipulate their gods with them, you get an even deeper sense of how evil they are.  They do not trust God and think they should and can perform some type of magic to control their gods.  But the one true God is sovereign and we cannot and should not try to control Him--especially by taking the life of a child or any other person.

So God didn’t ask the Israelites to actually place their children on the Temple altar and sacrifice them.  Rather, God instructed them to “dedicate” or consecrate them to God.  Since God had purchased the Israelites at the cost of every first born son of Egypt, now the Israelites honored God by consecrating to Him their firstborn sons.

Consecrate
Consecrate is a special word for a special action.  To consecrate means to make or declare something sacred—dedicated formally to a religious or divine purpose.

When something is consecrated, it is dedicated for a holy purpose.  For instance, our altar is consecrated for use in religious services in our church.  It would be out of place to use this altar for just any old purpose.  Right?  We wouldn’t take it home and use it as a breakfast table in our house.  That would be disrespectful and sacrilegious.  That’s not what it was made for; it has been dedicated to be used for Christian worship services.  The only meal we place upon this table is a sacred meal—Holy Communion—dedicated to remember Jesus.  That is what it means to consecrate something.  It is to set it apart for God’s divine purpsoses.

We are here today on Consecration Sunday.  It is a day set aside to consecrate ourselves and our gifts to God for the coming year.  I have asked each of you to complete a Stewardship Survey and to indicate how you will serve God with your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service, and your witness.  You have had time to prayerfully consider what you will dedicate to the Lord.  We have not required you to dedicate any certain amount.  I’ve instructed you over the last several weeks about the biblical standards, but what you choose to give is a matter of prayer between you and God.  And today you have a chance to consecrate what you have chosen to give. 

In a moment, I will ask each of you to come forward and lay your survey upon the altar.  What you lay upon the altar, you consecrate to God.  It is set apart as holy for the Lord.  Therefore, it should only be used for His glory.  You shouldn’t take it back to use however you please.  It is for God.

John 3:16
But now we come back to John 3:16—that verse we love so much because it makes God’s Word in the Bible so simple.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Who is it who gave?  It is God.

What did He give?  Jesus, His one and only son.

Who did God give Jesus for?  For the whole world.  That includes you and me.

Why did God give us Jesus? 
So that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Just like the Israelites in Exodus, we have been delivered from slavery.
But our slavery wasn’t to a Pharoah in Egypt.  Our slavery was to sin and death.
Our sin separates us from God and corrupts our whole world.  We are spiritually dead.
But, praise God, through Jesus we can be delivered from our slavery.
When we repent of our sin and trust Jesus to save, He does and we have freedom and eternal life.

Won’t you repent and turn to Jesus today?  Ask Jesus to forgive you.  Trust Him to save you.
Dedicate your life to serve Him as Lord.  Please join me in the Wesley Covenant Prayer as a way to consecrate ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Closing – Wesley Covenant Prayer
“I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things
to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.”

When Life is Scary, God is Good

Introduction

As my church prepares for vacation Bible school coming July 8-12, I'm sharing a message series inspired by the themes for each day of VBS.  The overall theme is: Life is Wild, God is Good.  We learn that when life is unfair, or scary, or when it changes, or is sad, or when life is good, God is good.  God is good all the time and all the time, God is good.

Last week, I shared how God is good even when life is unfair.  The Israelites were forced to work as slaves in Egypt.  It wasn't fair, but God was still good to the Israelites and he sent Moses to help deliver them from Egypt.  However, things had to get worse before they could get better.  Today, we learn that when life is scary, God is good.

Psalm 23:4 – Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me.  Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.

Exodus 7:14, 19

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn, and he still refuses to let the people go…  ¹⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and raise your hand over the waters of Egypt—all its rivers, canals, ponds, and all the reservoirs. Turn all the water to blood. Everywhere in Egypt the water will turn to blood, even the water stored in wooden bowls and stone pots.’”

When Life is Scary, God is Good

Quite often, things have to get worse before they get better.  Thankfully, when life is unfair, God is good.  And today we learn that when life is scary, God is good.  God sent Moses to demand that Pharaoh let the Israelites go free, but Pharaoh said no.  So God sent ten plagues to bring Pharaoh and the Egyptians to their knees in submission.  You can read the full description of all the plagues in Exodus 7:14-12:32.  The first plague was turning all the water in Egypt into blood.  The second was a plague of frogs.  These were followed by an infestation of lice (or gnats), flies, the death of Egyptian livestock, boils covering the Egyptian's skin, destructive hail, locusts, and darkness.  In the final plague, God caused the death of every first born make child not residing in a house marked by the blood of a lamb.

God is Lord

One of the great themes of the Exodus story is the Lordship of God.  In fact, the book of Exodus is really when God reveals Himself as “the Lord”.  When God first appeared to Moses in a burning bush in Exodus 3:15 He tells Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh [The Lord], the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.  This is my eternal name, my name to remember for all generations.” 

In Egypt, Pharaoh was the lord.  Egyptians considered Pharaoh a god.  He rules with absolute authority.  He could command people to be put to death, even children.  But God showed the Egyptians and the Israelites and whole world that Pharaoh was just a man.  Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of the Israelites, the God of the Bible, our God is truly the Lord.  The ten plagues in Exodus prove that Yahweh has authority over all creation.  As a polytheistic society, the Egyptians probably believed in gods who ruled over all the various things like frogs and flies and the sun and weather.  However, Yahweh God is the only One who is in charge of frogs and flies, the sun, our health, and the weather.  The Lord made everything we see (and even things we can’t see).  He has the power to control everything.  And Yahweh God is all knowing and He knows that no one else has the right or ability to be Lord in His place because they will always misuse and abuse.  God will not let anyone else claim lordship over all the earth. 

But, sometimes things must get worse before they get better.  And sometimes, things will also get scary before they get better.  Yahweh God, the Great Lord of All, sent 10 plagues to prove to Pharaoh and the Egyptians and the Israelites and everyone in the whole world that only Yahweh is God and Lord of all.  And even thought The Lord was fighting for the Israelites, they had to live through the scary plagues right along side the Egyptians.  They had to learn as we do: when life is scary, God is good.  When things get scary, always remember, God is Lord; God is in control; and God loves you.  Remember that scary things often accompany the work of the Lord, but do not be dismayed because is good.

Use Your Fear

It’s OK to be afraid.  Sometimes, you just can’t help it when so many terrible and scary things are happening all around.  So often our fears make us think and act irrationally.  However, I want to suggest you let your fear lead to positive things.

First of all, let your fear turn your heart to God.  Don't be like Pharaoh who hardened his heart.  Pharaoh could have saved himself and his people great suffering if he'd simply submitted to The Lord.  Instead, Pharaoh was stubborn and arrogantly held onto the lie that he was greater than God.  If only he'd repented and turned to God, God would have blessed him and all the Egyptians.

So when life is scary, we need to soften our hearts and repent of any sin we become aware is in our lives.  If we have been living in opposition to God, we need to ask forgiveness and turn to Him.  God is faithful and just and quick to forgive us through His Son, Jesus Christ.  Forget your ego; let go of your pride.  Turn to God.  He is the Lord and you are not.

Second, let your fears lead you to trust God.  Trust that God loves you.  The last plague God brought in Exodus was the worst.  He sent the Angel of Death to wipe out the first born of every living thing--people and animals--in Egypt who didn't have the blood of a lamb on the doorpost of their house.  The Egyptians (and even Pharaoh) could have been spared the death of their firstborn children if only they'd humbled themselves, trusted in God, and put the blood of a lamb on their doorposts.  The Angel of death "passed over" all who had the blood of a lamb on their doorpost.  

The yearly celebration of Passover became the way for Israelites to always remember how God delivered them from slavery in Egypt.  Passover was also a foreshadowing of how God would save all humanity from slavery to sin.  For Jesus Christ is called the Lamb of God.  One day, John the Baptist say Jesus coming towards him and he declared, "Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29)  Jesus let the glory of heaven to die on the cross for our sins.  Though he was perfect in every way, with no sin in him, Jesus shed his blood as our Passover Lamb.  His blood covers our sins.  "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23)

Yet, we must still trust the Lord.  We must put our faith in Christ and figurative apply the blood of the Lamb to the doorpost of our life.  If we do, The Lord will deliver us from slavery to sin and give us new life, abundant life, eternal life.  The Angel of Death will pass over our life and we will live.  So when life is scary, let it lead you to trust in Christ and be save, because God is good.

Jesus, the Lamb of God, was celebrating the Passover with his disciples when he changed the ceremony.  He took the bread and broke it and gave it to his disciples and said, "This is my body, given for you."  Likewise, after the meal he took the cup of wine and asked the Lord to bless it and gave it to his disciples and said, "This is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.  As often as you drink it, do it in remembrance of me."

So now, put your faith in Jesus.  And receive Holy Communion and remember what Christ has done for you.  He is the Lamb of God who takes away your sin if you will trust him and follow him as your Savior and Lord.  Will you?