Promise, Passover, Precision

Happy Sabbath, everyone! It is good to be together on this beautiful Sabbath day. I certainly appreciated the special music. Thank you, Courtney. Very beautiful. Really appreciate the seasons of our life. I mean, here we are. Springtime! What a blessing it is. You know, just have—well, I don't know, it keeps going from warm to freezing cold. So you never know what to expect. Somebody said the other day, it's the promise of spring. Yeah, it reminds me of broken promises, right?

I was reminded of a story about that, that there was a little boy who was acting up at school, and the teacher catches him acting up, and she says, listen, do you remember what you promised me?

The little boy says, yeah, I promised to behave. And the teacher said, well, do you remember what I promised if you didn't behave? He said, yeah, you promised to call my parents and take me to the principal's office. And the little boy said, but since I broke my promise, it's okay if you break yours. Sometimes that's the way it is, isn't it? We human beings, we make some promises.

Do you ever forget about those promises? Circumstances have changed. It's kind of different now.

Maybe it's, well, I'll get to that tomorrow. Tomorrow's a good time, and tomorrow somehow becomes very flexible, and maybe it just doesn't quite come to pass. But you know one thing we can count on? God's different. When God makes a promise, it is remarkable because He fulfills it. And He fulfills it exactly. It's not like, well, approximately or eventually. No. God does it precisely. In fact, one of the most important promises in the Bible was fulfilled in an amazing way. Not immediately, but hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years later, God fulfilled. In fact, on the exact same day that it was first given. I mean, think about that for a moment. Wow, hundreds years? A century later? Yeah, that's the way God does to the exact day.

And so as we begin to think about that, we could summarize the story in three words.

Promise, Passover, and Precision. Promise, Passover, and Precision. Because I'd like to take some time this afternoon to follow a promise that God gave all the way across the pages of the Bible. And at first, it was a promise that was given to Abraham. Secondly, the Passover, where it began to take shape in the Exodus. And then third, the fulfillment of that promise through Jesus Christ. And so as we take this little trip together, we'll see the remarkable precision that God works His plan. Now, to begin with, what if I told you that the night to be much observed is directly connected to that promise that God gave to Abraham centuries before that night? I mean, what comes to mind when you think of the night to be much observed?

Maybe you think, yeah, it's a nice little tradition, don't have to do much, it's not necessarily required, is it? Well, maybe we get together at a restaurant or somebody's house, have a nice dinner and go home. Well, is that what it's about? Or maybe you think, oh, that's the night that Israel left Egypt. Now, when we look back at Scripture, we discover that that night is part of a much, much bigger story. It's a part of a story that began with Abraham. And it continues all the way through the Exodus and leads directly to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and even beyond. It even takes us beyond to the Kingdom of God. And so, let's take a few moments to examine this story. The covenant promise God made to Abraham, the night God fulfilled that promise when the Israelites left Egypt, and then how does it actually point to Christ?

So, if we can think of maybe a string from the beginning of the Bible that's going to stretch, it's pretty elastic, and it's going to stretch all the way across the Word of God. And it's one of those promises that becomes very intricate. It becomes intricate because we see these parallels repeat throughout time. And it's interesting to note, each one of those, each one of them happened at a particular turning point. Do you know what the turning point is when those things occurred? They were all during the Passover season. And it brings a powerful lesson. It's such a good reminder because it tells us that the God who makes promises is the very same God that keeps them. And so, this story of promise, Passover, and precision is really an amazing story. And we can begin by going back to Genesis, all the way to the first book of the Bible. If you'll turn with me over to Genesis 15. And here's where we can begin our journey as we go through this amazing story. In fact, in Genesis 15, this is where God makes a promise to Abraham. Now, He'd already talked to him. He had already left his land. God had talked to him in a number of ways before this. But by the time we get to Genesis 15, we find one of the most dramatic covenant moments in all of Scripture. Because this is a point in Abraham's life where, well, God's already told him, you're going to have children. You're going to have children. You're going to have descendants. But at this time, how many children did Abraham have? None.

Didn't have any. None whatsoever. And so, interesting that Abraham speaks to God, and God answers. So if you notice Genesis 15, let's take a look at verse 2. Genesis 15, and if you notice verse 2, Abraham says, or Abram says to God, he says, Lord God, what will you give me seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus.

Then Abram said, look, you've given me no offspring. Indeed, one born in my house is my heir.

And so Abraham's in a sense reminding God, didn't you tell me before I'd have a descendant?

Well, notice what God does. Verse 4, Behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, this one shall not be your heir. No way, Eliezer is not the guy. But one who will come from your own body shall be your heir. Then he, God, brought him outside and said, look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you're able to number them. And he said to him, so shall your descendants be. Wow, can you picture that moment? Going outside in the dark on this beautiful, cloudless night, God takes him out there. Abraham's looking at all these stars. Just after saying, I've got nobody, God says, look at all these amazing stars. You can't even count them all. And he heard God's promise again, descendants, more than you could even imagine counting.

Well, that sounds like that'd be a very simple thing to believe, right?

I'm an old man, God, you're telling me that I'm going to have all these descendants?

I don't know. Mind, human nature would say, I don't think you get it, God. I don't think this is going to happen. But something remarkable in Abram's mind takes place. Notice in verse 6, after God tells him, you're going to have descendants as the stars, verse 6, Abram believed the Lord and he accounted to him for righteousness.

So we have this amazing promise that's given at night, and it is one of the most important passages in all of the Bible that deals with justification.

Justification is that very thing, being accounted righteous.

Abraham was accounted righteous. He was claimed or declared righteous in God's eyes.

Now, that's an awesome thing. We all love to be righteous in God's eyes, of course, of course. But how did it happen? What was the means by which God accounted him righteous? Well, it said right before this, he believed the Lord. That's faith. Belief is faith. He had faith in the promise of God. He absolutely had confidence in what God said he will do, no doubt.

And so God accounted that belief, that faith, as righteousness. And in advance, applying the righteousness of Christ to Abraham. And of course, when we fast forward through time to the New Testament, that's exactly how we're justified in God's eyes today, spiritually speaking, like Abraham, because he was, we know what the Scripture says, Abraham was the father of the doubtful, no, father of the faithful, father of the faithful. And so we are justified. We are brought into a right relationship with God. We're forgiven of sin. We are proclaimed right in God's eyes by faith, by faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And it began right here with Abraham being accounted righteous. Now, you think about that. The story doesn't end there because the next day, the next day, we're at the daylight part of the day now. It's still the same day. Day started at night, of course, in biblical accounting. Now it's the same day, but it's during the day of that day, daylight hours. Look what Abraham does. Genesis 15 verse 9. Genesis 15.9, God says to Abraham, bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon. Then he brought all these things to him and cut them in two, right down the middle, and placed each piece opposite of the other.

So you can imagine this row of cut pieces with a center aisle. And it says, well, he didn't cut the birds in two. Well, what begins to happen? Well, you've got these animals that are dead laying out there. And verse 11, the vultures came down on the carcasses, but a brom drove them away.

So if we can begin to picture this scene, what's the purpose of these animals?

Well, we certainly have some symbolism of a sacrifice. These animals were sacrificed and divided. And we can begin to sense this imagery of ultimately what would become the penalty for a broken covenant. The penalty for sin requires a sacrifice. The penalty of sin ultimately is death. And these animals take on that significance. Sacrifice, there's that symbolism there that ultimately would point to what? Well, now we're talking a thousand years later, ultimately that penalty would be borne by Jesus Christ Himself. By Jesus Christ Himself.

And the amazing part? To that very day. To that exact day. This is the same day that Christ would later be crucified. Same day. And it's very interesting when you see the picture at Abraham's time, the vultures are coming down trying to get the carcasses. Imagine the crucifixion. What were the people doing to Christ? They were picking at Him. They were condemning Him. Well, if you're the Son of God, come down from there. They were the vultures that this time of Abraham was already picturing, which is a phenomenal moment when you see this. The forces of evil were attempting to interfere with the covenant God was making with Abraham in the exact same way, symbolically, that they were interfering with what God was doing in the crucifixion of Christ. Now, of course, what Abraham's doing here is in keeping with how covenants were confirmed during Old Testament times. They would actually do something like this, where they would take animals, cut them apart, form an aisle down the middle, and then the two people that are making an agreement would walk together through those pieces to confirm their agreement, to say, yes, we've made a covenant. And in a sense, what they would be saying as they walk through—it sounds kind of disgusting, you know, doesn't it? A little bit. But that's kind of a weird way to make an agreement, isn't it? Well, what they were saying, in a sense, as they walk through the pieces, they should be thinking, what's happened to these animals should happen to me if I don't keep my promise. If I don't keep our agreement, if I break the covenant, this is what should happen to me. So that ceremony had an amazing significance in this. And so we begin to see connections that span across time in this experience that Abraham have. But it doesn't stop there. If we look down to verse 12, there's something more, something additional, something extraordinary that happens next. Genesis 1512. Now it says, as the daylight's going away, it says, When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram. And behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. Wow, that's interesting. The rest of the ceremony finds Abraham asleep.

Why would he be in a deep sleep? Well, evidently, God's going to take it from here.

God's going to be sure that this covenant depends completely on his actions, on God's actions, not Abraham's. And so verse 17 kind of completes the picture. It says, It came to pass when the sun went down, it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. Abraham doesn't walk between the pieces. And so, who does? Well, symbolically speaking, God appears as a smoking oven and a burning torch. So God walks through the pieces. And it certainly illustrates that fact that the covenant depends completely, entirely on God's faithfulness, that God will fulfill his promises. And of course, as you begin to consider this, think of the darkness that this occurred in, described as a horror, a great darkness. It was dark. Well, if you fast forward to Egypt, was there any period of great darkness that was surrounding that particular time? Absolutely. How about farther ahead than that? The crucifixion! Any darkness around the crucifixion? Absolutely. And when you see here, God appears as a smoking furnace and a burning torch. You might think, well, that's kind of odd. Why would he do that? Well, think about the Exodus. How did God lead Israel?

A pillar of cloud, like the smoke out of an oven, and a pillar of fire, like a burning torch.

And so we have that same symbolism appear centuries later. And I think we can look at what's written here in Genesis 15, and we can realize that it was on that night God wrote that promise into history. And if you recognize what's happening here in Genesis 15, what's the span of what we're talking about? How many nights, how many nights the evenings actually appear in Genesis 15? There's two of them. Two of them. Night one, Abraham looks at the stars, and God promises him descendants. The next day, the daylight portion, Abraham prepares the covenant sacrifice. Then the next night, night two, God passes between the pieces, and he confirms that covenant with Abram. So what's the pattern? Night, the promise is given, day, the sacrifice is prepared. The next night, the covenant is confirmed. That pattern is going to repeat a number of times throughout Israel's history, throughout the biblical history. Because certainly at that time, Abraham didn't have much of an idea. How is this going to happen? How is it possible? I'm going to have descendants as the stars. He couldn't see centuries ahead. He couldn't see Egypt. Yeah, God had intimated what would happen to his descendants. No doubt about that. But he couldn't see it. He couldn't see the Exodus. But who could? God. God could. And the promise that God made that night, okay, it's not going to be fulfilled the next day, not the next week, month, or even year, but it's hundreds of years later. And those hundreds of years later, remarkably, come to those same two nights. Those same two nights begin to appear in the Exodus. Night one, the Passover lamb was slain. The blood was on the doorpost. And we all know what happened. God passed over the Israelites' homes. That was night one. Night two is what becomes known as the night to be much observed when Israel actually left Egypt. And so this covenant promise that God made to Abraham and then the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt absolutely tied together by these same two nights. Imagine this promise that God gave to Abraham under the stars would one day lead to the deliverance of His people. And it's not something that just is in an isolated place in Scripture. If you hold your place here, head over to Galatians chapter 3. We can take a look in the New Testament, and here we see a reference to these events. Let's notice Galatians chapter 3 because it will help us to understand both the meaning and the timing of the promise that God made to Abraham. So if you look at Galatians chapter 3, we'll pick it up in verse 16.

Verse 16 of Galatians chapter 3, here the apostle Paul certainly had put these things together and understood this parallel way that God was working throughout time. And to the Galatians, to us, he writes as well, verse 16, now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. Now most of our translations get this right. He's not just talking about, you know, this little plant that's going to grow from something we plant. That's not the kind of seed that he's talking about. He's not talking about any old descendant of Abraham. He's being very specific. That word in your Bible, probably capitalized, right? It's capitalized. His seed, because it's referring to a very special descendant. It says to his seed, capitalized, were the promises made. He doesn't say, and to seeds, a whole bunch of seeds, as many, but as of one. And to be very sure we understand, he says, and to your seed, who is Christ? Who is Christ? The promise to Abraham and his descendants would result in the Messiah. It would result in the Messiah. And so we see very clearly it points to this same time, this same event. And then if we look just one verse later, verse 17, he says, and I say that the law which was 430 years later, can not annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ.

What was the covenant confirmed before by God in Christ? The Abrahamic covenant. And so we move 430 years from the Abrahamic covenant, and we come to the Exodus. We come to the giving of the covenant at Sinai, the Mosaic covenant, also known as the Old Covenant. Yeah, and so we see that connection here. And he says it's exactly 430 years. 430 years! And those 430 years stretch all the way back to that time of Abraham, which then begins to tell us that night that Israel left Egypt? Not random. Didn't just... Well, it just happened that way. Isn't that interesting? No, no, not at all. It was the exact anniversary of the night God confirmed the covenant with Abraham. And so imagine that covenant standing for 430 years before the Exodus, and yet centuries before that, God already foretold what would happen. He prophesied it. He predicted it. We can see that if we flip back to Genesis 15. Go back to Genesis 15, and we'll pick up the story there and see how God foretold that very future. Genesis 15. Notice verse 13. Here God is prophesying the future of Israel to Abram. Verse 13. He said to Abram, Know certainly that your descendants... That was the seeds that Paul referred to to the Galatians. They'll be strangers in the land that's not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them 400 years.

And of course, knowing the story of the Israelites, big problem, famine, head down to Egypt, we'll be safe there. What does Pharaoh do? After 30 years, he turns them into slaves, and they are enslaved in Egypt for 400 years. And so here's God predicting that centuries ahead of time. Verse 14, he says, and also the nation whom they serve, I will judge. In other words, you're not going to be stuck there forever. Afterward, he says, they shall come out with great possessions. So God predicts the Exodus to Abraham all those years before. And the Israelites, Abraham's descendants, recognizing this story, wow, you're wondering when is this going to happen? When is this going to happen? Is it ever going to come about? What happened to the people? The years went by, the slavery got harder and harder.

Most of the people forgot the promise. They forgot who they were.

God didn't forget. God never forgets his promise. And when that appointed time came, he fulfilled that promise with perfect precision, right on time. In fact, if we skip over to Exodus 12, we'll see the timing completed. We'll see that prediction that was given to Abraham come to pass. And it's interesting the way that it happens. When you turn to Exodus 12, this is a section that talks about the Passover. So we're at that very last plague God pours out on Israel. He's going to take the life of the firstborn. But the lamb had to be sacrificed. The blood had to be on the doorpost. God would then pass over those households. And then, of course, the next night is when they're going to leave. And when we look at verse 40 of Exodus 12, notice how it's recorded for us. It says, Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who left Egypt was 430 years. And it came to pass at the end of the 430 years, on that very same day, it came to pass that all the armies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.

Now what time is this? This is Passover time. And it happens with perfect precision. And he doesn't just randomly throw in that phrase on that very same day. No, he precisely says this, 430 years to the day, exactly fulfilled the way that God predicted it would. So he had promise, Passover, and precision all together. And it's so fascinating that it really tells us, we shouldn't overlook this. Because we remember back in Genesis, to Abraham it happened over two nights. Well, here in the time of the Exodus, how many nights are we talking about?

Two. Two nights. In fact, the very same. Two nights. The first night here in Exodus 12 is the Passover, when God passes over their homes. Then he strikes the firstborn. That's the time that Abraham's promise was given, when he was under the stars. Second night is the night to be much observed. The night that Israel actually left Egypt. That was the night of the pieces where God confirmed the covenant with Abraham. Where Abraham then was told that his descendants would be delivered. So the covenant that began with Abraham was fulfilled in a national sense, with Israel at the time they left Egypt. Of course, that then parallels to the future, when spiritually speaking, Christ becomes our Passover, and we can then have spiritual deliverance.

And so what would we see in all of this? Well, God fulfilled His promise, His covenants, exactly the way He said He would. Boy, think about me. I have trouble keeping an appointment at the dentist. It's like, oh, I forgot. But here's God. He doesn't forget. He does it exactly. And He does it to the precise day. You think that's accidental? No, I don't think so. That's not an accident. You can kind of think of it in terms of God is the ultimate spiritual master watchmaker. And if you've ever had an expensive watch that is just precisely tuned with all the amazing gears, just a multitude of gears inside this watch, all those tiny little things that all work together. And when it does, it's amazing. It keeps time so beautifully. But you get one tiny little gear out of place. What happens? It doesn't work. It doesn't work. You lose time.

It's nice to have a watch that keeps perfect time. And I recognize with mine, it didn't matter how much I shook it if it wasn't working. That wasn't going to fix it. Not going to work.

And it's amazing to think that in the same way, God's plan works to perfect precision. Even though these events are separated by hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years, they line up exactly the way that God said they would from Abraham to the Exodus to Christ, ultimately to the Kingdom of God. Every piece fits perfectly, absolutely perfectly. In fact, if we look back to Exodus 12, verse 42, here's where he explains that meaning of that second night. So go all the way back to Exodus. So we're at the time the Israelites are getting ready to go.

And here we have that description of that second night, Exodus 12. If we look down, where we left off the last time, on that very same day it came to pass, verse 41, that the armies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. Then verse 42, what does it tell us?

This is a night of solemn observance to the Lord, for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is the night of the Lord, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generations. And so Scripture is very specific. This is a night to be much observed. In fact, almost every translation of the Bible you can look at has that terminology, a night of much to be observed, a night to be observed in an intricate way. There's only one translation, this New Life translation says it's a night to be remembered. That's not a good translation. There's an observance that must take place. And if you look at this Hebrew word, it's the base word, Shemur. Shemur doesn't mean much to most of us. But when you literally break down that word, it means a night of watching, a night to be vigilant, a night to be on guard.

Because we recognize the scenario in which this watching takes place. And in fact, if you look at these two verses, in a way there's two watchings that are taking place here. Did you catch that as we read the verse? We're supposed to be observant. It's a night of solemn observance for us.

But we also see at the end of verse 42, this is that night of the Lord, a solemn observance.

So that tells us not only are we watching, but who else is watching? God is. God's watching as well. And so if you can imagine this scene at the Exodus, after what the Israelites had gone through on that Passover night, getting prepared to leave during the day, here we are that next night that must be much observed. The firstborn of the Israel...the Egyptians are dead. The families now are gathered together. Abraham...or not Abraham, Moses goes to Pharaoh. Finally, Pharaoh says, go, go. And the families had all their belongings ready. The parents trying to keep the kids in line. Don't get away. Get over here. We're waiting. We're going to get ready to go. Everybody's ready, dressed, outside. Nighttime, dark, probably pretty quiet, especially after all the events that had happened the night before.

But all those Israelites, they knew something amazing was about to happen. So they were vigilant. They were on guard. They were ready. They were watching because they were trusting God was about to act. And then suddenly the word comes. Pharaoh said, let's go. Moses announces, it's time for freedom. Freedom has arrived. And that night of watching and waiting now becomes this beginning of a journey, an amazing journey that has a remarkable pattern that's reflected throughout Scripture. Because leaving Egypt still was just the beginning. And as you begin to think about Israel leaving, God didn't deliver them just to bring them out. Was God just bringing them out of something? No. He brought them out so that he could bring them in to something.

God was going to bring them into something. What was it? What was that land that He promised Abraham? He promised Abraham. So on this journey, they instantaneously arrived at the Promised Land, didn't they? No, they didn't. It was a journey. It took 40 years. 40 years later, they're on the verge of entering the Promised Land. And there's an interesting parallel there.

If you turn with me over to Joshua, chapter 5. In Joshua, chapter 5, we have this account of the Israelites right there. They're right there at the Promised Land. And in chapter 5, we have the account where they're ready to go into the land. And amazingly enough, what time of the year is it? It's Passover time. So chapter 5 begins with this covenant people recognized through circumcision. And interestingly, the promise to Abraham is reiterated.

And as a result of this, notice what God inspired Joshua. What happens in verse 9?

Verse 9, Joshua 5, it says, The LORD said to Joshua, This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.

Boy, that's fulfilling that promise that God spoke to Abraham. Yes, your descendants will go into slavery, but they will be released. They will be delivered. And so here's God delivering them from the reproach of Egypt. It says, Therefore, the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day.

Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal. What did they do? There's the timing. Kept the Passover on the 14th day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho. That same night that Abraham looked up at the stars, that same night that God had passed over their homes back in Egypt. And it says, Then they ate of the produce of the land on the day after Passover, unleavened bread, parched grain on that very same day. And so as we notice this, this is an amazing occurrence. This is the day that reproach was rolled away. And they called that place what?

Gilgal. Gilgal. What does the Hebrew word Gilgal mean? Rolling. Rolling away. Rolling away. And an amazing connection to this particular word is a word that we see later in the New Testament. Anyone ever hear of Golgotha?

Same base word. Gilgal and Golgotha. What happened at Golgotha?

Christ was buried. And at the resurrection, what happened?

The stone was rolled away. So our reproach, our sins, could be rolled away, could be covered because of the Passover sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And so once again, the Passover marks this amazing moment throughout time, throughout time. And so amazing the deliverance that they got from Egypt marked the beginning of their inheritance from wandering to really inheriting the land. And so it was an amazing renewal for the people as they came into the land that God promised them. Now of course through time, well, the Israelites, well, they did good at times. They did terrible at other times. But if you notice some of the revivals throughout Israel's history, there's also a connection among those. One of the greatest revivals happened under the rulership of Hezekiah. People had gotten totally off track. They weren't worshiping God in the right way. Well, Hezekiah helped to get things back on track. There was this huge revival.

And when did it happen? At the Passover. At the Passover. There was also another amazing revival under the boy king Josiah. People had strayed from worshiping the true God. They were totally off track. Josiah institutes the Passover and we're told in Scripture there was none like that Passover all the way since the time of Samuel. Hundreds and hundreds of years before that. And so amazing to think that the Passover repeatedly throughout time pointed to the revival, pointed to the renewal of the covenant.

And of course we come together today and what do we do? We renew our covenant with God at the Passover. And so we recognize that deliverance from sin and God ultimately giving us the inheritance. And so Passover is such an amazingly important time throughout the history of the Bible. And certainly it reminded them that God had delivered them from Egypt. It reminded them of the covenant that God made with Abraham. But even all of those great Passover observances still pointed to something even greater still.

When you consider the story of promise, Passover, and precision, it didn't end here as they came into the promised land. Hundreds of years later, that same Passover season, that's when God ultimately fulfilled the most important part of His covenant promise. You can say the greatest stage of deliverance occurred when that promised seed of Abraham finally arrived. And we can read about that in the Gospels. If we turn over to Luke chapter 22, we come to the time just before the crucifixion. Just before the crucifixion, Christ has a very, very special evening with His disciples. In Luke chapter 22, it recounts that very story.

The story of promise and precision plays out beautifully here in what Christ institutes at this time. So in Luke chapter 15, if we skip down, we can recognize this very occurrence. If you're in, did I say chapter 15? Hopefully I said Luke 22, verse 15. So Luke 22, verse 15 is where we should start. And here they are observing the Passover. And Christ says to them, with fervent desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

For I say to you, I'll no longer eat of it until it's fulfilled in the kingdom of God. So this is the Passover where Christ institutes the symbols of the new covenant, the symbols of the bread and the wine, representing His body and His blood, a complete sacrifice for us. And so that night, that same Passover night, emphasizes that very fact, that Christ, our Passover, Paul said He was sacrificed for us, because certainly that day, not in the nighttime hours, but later that day in the daylight hours, what happened? Christ was crucified. And so when we put all of these amazing events side by side, there is this remarkable pattern that begins to become obvious, that same sequence of events happening over and over all across the pages of the Bible.

Because first comes the night, Genesis 15, the story when God gives Abraham the promises under the stars. In the Exodus, the pattern continues on the night of the Passover, when God passes over because the lamb was slain, the blood was on the doorpost. And then centuries later, here, when Jesus keeps the Passover with His disciples and institutes the new covenant. Now the next day, the daylight time, Genesis 15, animals sacrificed as part of the covenant ceremony. Exodus, Israel gets ready to depart, prepares to leave Egypt. This time of Christ, that same day, He was beaten and crucified and dies as the ultimate Passover lamb.

And then finally, night comes again. Genesis 15, God confirmed the covenant with Abraham when He passed through those pieces. Fast forward to the Exodus, Israel left Egypt on the night to be much observed. And then the time of Christ, that night, after His sacrifice, after His crucifixion, He rests in the tomb.

And so we recognize, all pointing to the sacrifice of Christ, Him confirming the new covenant and then ultimately opening a way that we can be delivered. We can be freed from sin. We can be declared righteous. We can go to before God in repentance. And when we do that, in true repentance, God forgives us. He applies the righteousness of Christ to us. We are declared righteous. We are forgiven of sin. We are now in a right relationship with God. We have the righteousness of Jesus Christ applied to us.

And how does that happen? By faith. By faith. It's not by commandment keeping. It's not by Sabbath as there isn't. It's not by any of those things. It's by faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We believe in the promise of God. Because I can never be good enough to keep all the commandments.

Now it doesn't mean that I don't have to, because once I'm declared righteous, once God has applied the sacrifice of Christ to me, can I do whatever I want? No.

Now is the time I continue to walk in righteousness. The Bible talks about walking justly. In fact, I exhibit the love of God. And what is the love of God? That we keep as commandments. So it's all beautifully, intricately tied together in such an amazing way. And it's no wonder Abraham then is called the father of the faithful. The father of the faithful. And so when we recognize that, okay, the story doesn't end even at the Passover that Christ kept with His disciples.

Because just as Abraham had to get out of his land, just as Israel had to leave Egypt, God's called us to leave our own personal Egypt. He called them out of slavery. He calls us out of sin. And as we imagine what it must have been like that night when Israel was going to leave Egypt, they were going to leave everything they knew, everything that was familiar, even though it wasn't great, even though there were difficult trials, they were in their routines. And this meant stepping out into something different, something new. Well, that's true for us too.

God's called us, not just out of the world, but into something so much greater. He's called us to be transformed, to be different people. He's called us out of sin, and that deliverance is just the beginning. Because ultimately, transformation is the goal, isn't it? And it doesn't happen instantaneously. How long will it take us?

Well, just the rest of our life. That's it, the rest of our life. It's a journey. God's called us to a journey. And in the same way He didn't deliver Israel immediately, He calls us on this journey of a spiritual life. And so when we recognize that, yes, we must be watchful. The night to be much observed takes on so much more significance that, yes, that specific night, we need to be on watch. We need to be vigilant. We need to make sure we're lining up our lives with Jesus Christ. But that's not just a one-night thing. We know that journey took 40 years for the Israelites. It's going to take the rest of our life. So we have to continue to be watchful. And when sin appears, we need to go to God, seek forgiveness, be repentant, and then He acquits us of sin. Then He declares us righteous. Then we're lined up again with God the Father and Jesus Christ. So that watchful theme is one that just continues to resonate throughout Scripture. In fact, just a couple pages over from here, if we look at Matthew 26. Notice verse 38. Matthew 26 verse 38. Here we are at that time of the crucifixion.

Christ has instituted that New Testament Passover with His disciples, and He went out to pray. Matthew 26, 38, that Passover night, notice what Jesus tells His disciples. And I think He's telling us as well. Matthew 26, 38. He said to them, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.

Stay here and watch with Me. Beyond God, be watchful. In fact, just a little further down, verse 41. 41, He says, Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. He says, The Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. And so what a great reminder, just as Israel watched all the way back at their Passover night, this Passover night, the disciples are encouraged to watch. For our journey, for our life, we too must continue to watch. And what a great reminder of this very time that we're in right now, the Passover season. Paul certainly had these similar things on his mind.

If we look at 2 Corinthians chapter 13, we see an application that has deep spiritual significance that connects with this entire storyline of the Passover and preparation. And really, precision ties into this as well. If you look at 2 Corinthians, notice this familiar passage in chapter 13.

2 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 5. Let's begin there. 2 Corinthians 13, 5. Here we're exhorted. Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the commandments. Oh, no, it doesn't say that. As to whether you're in the faith. The faith. Faith, front and center. Test yourselves. Don't you know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you unless indeed you're disqualified. But I trust that you will know we are not disqualified. We have Jesus Christ living in us and through us by the power of God's Holy Spirit. And so, yes, at this time we do this, but He's certainly intimating this is something we do all the time. Examine yourselves. Are we in the faith? And that examining word here is the scrutinizing word. Get out the magnifying glass. Really look, examine. Be sure you're with the program. And then He says, test yourself. That's a different word. That word has an entirely different meaning. That word means to look at, to determine if it's real.

It's what the bankers used to do in ancient Rome. They'd look at a coin to make sure nobody shaved down the edges. In other words, it wasn't counterfeit. So they would make sure of that. So are we a counterfeit Christian? Test yourself. Don't be a fake Christian. Don't be a phony Christian. Are you in it for the long haul? Examine yourself. Test yourself. And of course, when you test something, was every coin a fake? Was every coin tampered with? Was every coin? No!

They say, wow, this is beautiful. Full value. It's a full value coin. Are you a full value Christian?

And when we take a test, test isn't supposed to be to find out what you don't know. Yeah, you're going to find out some of those things. Yeah, I've got to improve. I've got to continue to grow and learn. But a test also shows you what you do know, what you have right, what is good.

And so we certainly don't want this time of the year to bring us down and discourage us and feel over-weighted with the challenges that are ahead of us. No. If we recognize the journey, we take those shortcomings to God. And in faith, what does He do? He wipes away the sin, removes it as far as east from west, and He applies the righteousness of Christ to us. And so what an amazing story that is consistent throughout the entire Bible.

It is a story of God's love and mercy that He sent ultimately Christ as the Passover Lamb to deliver us from the penalty of death, the penalty of sin. And so what amazing deliverance and transformation God brings us to. And it points us to the fact that, yes, that night to be that's coming, that Passover evening that's coming when we renew our covenant. And then we begin the days of unleavened bread, and we're on guard with our lives, reminding us we live differently. We are living Christ-like. And that then one day that same promise will finally reach the ultimate fulfillment when the kingdom of God is established on this earth. And that deliverance is then becoming a complete transformation. And that will be a finally beautiful world where suffering is over. God's promises completely realized. A world where every word that God has spoken will ultimately come to pass. And it means that every promise, it means every promise that God has made is absolutely certain. It's not maybe, it's not might be, it's not someday, it's exactly when God intends. Because when God makes a promise, He's the same God who always keeps them.