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Day 20 – Thru the Bible
The plagues continue in Egypt, and God gives Moses a new purpose for these plagues: not only for gaining glory through the judgment upon Egypt, but also for teaching future Israelite generations “that I am the Lord.”
Exodus 10 – This chapter reveals plagues 8 and 9. Plague nine is interesting. Each of the plagues is a direct assault against an Egyptian god. Here is a direct demonstration of God’s power over Egypt: he humiliates Egypt’s main deity, Ra, the sun god; he distinguishes Egypt from Israel by granting his people light (v. 23); and he shadows forth what will next happen in darkness, the death of the firstborn (11:4–10).
The darkness lasts three days. Do you think this time period is significant? If so, why?
There’s another reminder here that points us to Jesus. When we experience darkness, we must remember that we serve a God who is light itself and who offers light in his Word. This is seen supremely in Jesus Christ, “the light of the world” (John 8:12).
Exodus 11 – The final plague is announced. God’s purpose for all of this was to gain glory for himself so that both Israel (6:7) and Egypt (7:5) would know that he is the Lord. It was in judgment and salvation—through the death of the firstborn in the Passover—that God would be known.
How does this point us to Jesus?
So it was at the cross. In the death of his one and only Son, in the judgment and salvation that occurred at the cross, God gained glory for Himself as the Lord.
Exodus 12 – The plagues culminate in this final one – the death of every firstborn.
The significance of God’s redemptive action is seen in several ways:
1) New era. God commands that Israel reorient their calendars around this new era that has begun with the Passover; this event creates a new year, a new way of telling time (12:2–3).
2) Particular substitution. The substitution of the lamb is given for particular people: “a lamb for a household” (vv. 3–4). The sacrificial lamb was not given for everyone, but for those families identifying themselves as God’s people. Thus, this substitution was particular and definite; that is, specific people were really delivered through the death of a spotless lamb.
3) Judgment and salvation. The Passover focuses on provision of both salvation and judgment—Egypt is punished and the lamb’s blood is shed (judgment); the lamb’s blood is applied to the doorposts of God’s people (the provision of v. 7); God himself will pass over those identified with the blood of the lamb (the salvation of vv. 13, 23).
4) New festival. Strictly speaking, there was only one Passover day, only one day of judgment and salvation. However, the Passover festival was to serve as “a memorial day” in which God’s people would remember the day of the Lord, in which salvation and judgment happened (v. 14).
All four of these things point to an aspect of the New Covenant that we have in Jesus. What are the four parallels?
Psalm 20 – Psalms 20 and 21 form a pair: one a prayer and the other praise for the answer to the prayer.
How does Psalm 20 encourage you?
What other thoughts or questions does today’s reading bring up?
Some of these notes are from the ESV Gospel Transformation Bible study notes. We highly recommend this study Bible.
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All links you need to be a part of this are here – Thru the Bible in 2018.