Exodus 12:25 And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service.
26 And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?
27 That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD’S passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.
28 And the children of Israel went away, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.
The LORD again reminded the nation of Israel that this service of the Passover and the days of unleavened bread was something they were to keep even when they entered the promised land. Israel needed a constant reminder of the faithfulness of the LORD. They also needed to be reminded of the holiness and justice of the LORD. As we study God’s Word we see that they kept the Passover for many years, but they lost the significance of it. It became a ritual, but the purpose of it was lost. The Priests became corrupt and thus the teaching was not there. The hearts of the people were not open to God’s truth either.
We need to be reminded often as well of the importance and the significance of the Lord’s sacrifice on our behalf. Jesus warned that few would find the narrow way.
Matthew 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Every person is born a lost sinner. Every person must respond to God’s mercy and His drawing. Jesus warned that many would choose not to listen to God. There is a great need for true churches that will teach the truth regardless of whether people want to hear it or not. Some are of the opinion that you need to give people what they want to hear. That is a philosophy that is rooted in the devil. Jesus Christ did not come to this earth because the people wanted Him to come. We see throughout the Gospels that the religious leaders rejected Him and hated Him. They convinced a large number of people to hate Him as well. The apostles were not that popular either. They kept doing what the Lord commanded them to do. There were many churches established, but over time most of them became corrupt. There have always been a few true churches in every generation. Those true churches did not ask the people what they wanted. They preached the truth in season and out of season. God is in charge of the results, not man. The godly pastor does not stop preaching because few are coming. He prays and studies and preaches the truth because that is his calling. He visits people and he encourages others to do the same. He desires to see others saved and serving God and reaching out to others as well. However, his desire to see others saved does not cause him to compromise God’s truth. People will not get saved through story telling and jokes. They will get saved through the faithful preaching of God’s Word.
In verse 26 we see that if children are exposed to the truth, they will ask questions about the truth. It is normal for children to ask questions. That is how they learn. The sad thing is that few children are exposed to the truth. Most are just entertained. The Sunday School teachers want to be seen as being “cool”. Parents focus in on fun more than on truth. Fun does not lead a person to Christ and Hell will not be a place of fun. There are times for fun and laughter and there are also times for honest Bible Study. Children need to be exposed to the truth so that their inquisitive minds can be instructed in that which is important.
In verse 27 parents need to see the significance of being able to teach their children the importance of the things that Christians ought to be doing. If parents do not read their Bible every day, they miss out on opportunities to show their children the importance of God’s Word. If parents are not faithful in attending a good church, they miss out on the opportunity to teach their children the importance of a true church. If parents are not saved, they of course have no way of teaching their children the truth. Teaching involves more than just what we say with our mouths.
Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
We do not have the space here to go into this passage in great detail, but God commanded the nation of Israel to remember that the LORD is one LORD. The Bible teaches that the godhead is three persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Those three are One. That is not polytheism. That is Who the true God is. The Egyptians were polytheists. Catholics are polytheists. In fact most of the world is polytheistic. They have mother nature and they have earth day and they have halloween and other pagan events where they worship their false gods. Christians need to be reminded that there is only One true God and Christians need to live according to that truth so that they can help others to see the importance of believing that.
The fathers of the nation of Israel were to teach their children the truth in every aspect of their daily lives. That is not a restrictive way of living. That is the way to help children to see the importance of knowing the true God and wanting to know Him for themselves. Many thousands of children have perished in large part because their parents rejected the truth and chose to worship self and the world.
In our text, God told Moses to remind the elders of the importance of believing the truth and of teaching the truth. We know the elders did not take this very seriously. They followed the instruction for this first Passover, but soon their selfish desires got in the way of following the true God.
In verse 28 we see that the people went away and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron. They had seen the mighty hand of God at work in Egypt. They saw how that land was devastated because they defied the true God. For the moment the Hebrews saw the importance of listening to the LORD.
God is gracious and He is merciful. He would deliver the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage. He would do so forcefully. He did not force the Hebrews to believe in Him. He would punish them for their unbelief, which is to be expected. The LORD does not force anyone to believe in Him today either. He shows us the truth through His Word. He works in the conscience and heart of every individual. However, each person must choose either to believe the truth and be saved or reject the truth and be lost for eternity.
Those who think the truth is not that important and just try to go through life with their own brand of truth will regret that one day. God is just and He will deal in righteousness with each person. The wise person heeds God’s warnings and His commands and submits to the LORD.
Pastor Bartel
