Introduction: Have you heard Christians who say that they
only study the New Testament? For those who think the New
Testament stands on its own, our study this week demolishes
that view. What we study this week is the historic and
prophetic platform on which our salvation by grace alone
rests. This week creates the practice that looks forward to
Jesus’ crucifixion and the defeat of sin and Satan. Let’s
turn our study to this amazing series of chapters in Exodus!
I. Thank You, Please Leave!
A. Read Exodus 11:1. What major breakthrough will
come from this last plague? (Pharaoh will drive
the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt. No longer is he
reluctant to have them go.)
B. Read Exodus 11:2-3. Are these gifts voluntary?
(The text says that they are. God gave the Hebrews
“favor.”)
1. The text also says that Moses “was very great
in the land of Egypt?” How do you think that
could be true? Imagine someone claiming,
“Whoever developed the COVID strain in the
laboratory is very great in the eyes of the
world.” (Like COVID, the Egyptians suffered
from the plagues. But unlike COVID they saw
that the plagues were intentional and promoted
the release of the Hebrew slaves. The logical
conclusion I reach is that the average
Egyptian either sided with the Hebrews on the
slavery question, or could not wait for them
to leave. Whichever is true, these Egyptians
agreed with Moses that the Hebrews should go
and gave the Hebrews valuables to facilitate
them leaving.)
C. Read Exodus 11:4-6. Who is going to die? (All
firstborn in the land, even of cattle.)
1. Why must all firstborn die? It appears from
our discussion of the gifts, that some of the
Egyptians favored releasing the Hebrews.
Clearly, they did not have a vote on the
issue. (The battle between good and evil is
not fair. There is collateral damage. This
event forecast the death of Jesus, which was
absolutely unfair.)
2. Is there a lesson for each of us who, like
Pharaoh, resist the word of God? (The conflict
between good and evil is not just personal,
your decisions impact others for good or for
evil. People can die because of your
rebellion.)
II. The Lamb
A. Read Exodus 12:3-10. There is a lot of detail in
these instructions, some of which might not have
made sense to the listening Hebrews. Is there a
lesson in this for us? (We should never second
guess God. We know, with the benefit of hindsight,
that the requirement that the lamb be perfect, be
a male, and that the blood be smeared over the
door makes perfect sense in light of this event
pointing to Jesus.)
B. Read Exodus 12:11-13. How do you understand the
statement “It is the Lord’s Passover?” (God will
literally pass over all people to see if they have
blood smeared on their door. This is not a
relaxing meal. This is God’s judgment.)
1. Let’s revisit the fairness issue again. Verse
12 tells that “judgments” are being executed
on, among others “all the gods of Egypt.” This
judgment involves the death of all firstborn
who do not have blood smeared on their door.
Is it is fair to spare the Hebrew firstborn
whose parents followed God’s instructions?
What have these firstborn done to live while
others die?
C. Let’s skip down and read Exodus 12:24-27. What is
the lesson in the Passover rite for the children
when they enter the land promised to them by God?
(Whether you live or die depends on which God you
follow, and to which God you give your
allegiance.)
1. Is it fair to base the decision on life or
death on whether you rely on the life, death,
and resurrection of Jesus?
2. When the “destroyer” (Exodus 12:23) spares the
firstborn son of a household, does he evaluate
whether that is a good boy or a bad boy?
III. The Leaven
A. We skipped over Exodus 12:15-20. This describes
the future celebration of the Feast of Unleavened
Bread. Read Exodus 12:17-19. What point is God
making? Is this about diet and health? Why is what
someone eats the basis for (verse 19) being “cut
off from the congregation of Israel?”
B. Read Matthew 16:5-8. Is this discussion of leaven
about diet and health? (It is only about diet for
those “of little faith.”)
C. Read Matthew 16:11-12. What is Jesus really
talking about when He refers to leaven? (The
teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.)
1. How would you read Jesus’ discussion of leaven
in Matthew 16 into the discussion of leaven in
Exodus 12? (In Exodus 12 the sons were saved
by grace alone. They followed God’s
instructions and the firstborn son was saved
regardless of the merits of his life. But in
celebrating salvation by faith alone, God
requires us to make sure our teaching is
correct. Our influence must be positive.)
2. What would you say is the modern equivalent of
Exodus 12:19, cutting off the person “from the
congregation of Israel?” (We should toss out
of our church (at least out of church
leadership)those whose teachings do not align
with the Bible. This does not say they are
eternally lost. It simply says that they
should not be allowed to create a bad
influence in the house of God.)
IV. The Judgment
A. Read Exodus 12:29-30. Was Pharaoh warned of this?
(Read Exodus 10:28-29. Pharaoh told Moses that he
would kill him if Moses came again. Pharaoh is
responsible for not being specifically warned. But
read Exodus 4:21-23. We see that at the very
beginning of the dialog between Moses and Pharaoh
God instructed Moses to warn of the death of the
firstborn.)
B. Read Exodus 1:22. Is God just in His judgment? (He
is doing to the Egyptians what they were doing to
the Hebrews, but to a more limited extent. All the
Hebrew boys were to be killed, not just the
firstborn.)
C. Read Exodus 12:29 and Exodus 11:5. Do you think
that the poor are more righteous than the rich?
Are slaves and prisoners more favored by God? (The
attitude on this seems to change with time.
Sometimes the rich think they are more righteous
than the poor and sometimes the poor think they
are more righteous. What this shows is that the
key to being saved is choosing the true God.)
1. Read Jeremiah 9:24. This tells us that God is
just, loving, and righteous. But this does not
mean that He favors people based on their
relative privilege in life. Rather, God favors
those who understand and know Him.
D. Read Exodus 12:31-32. Is Pharaoh driving the
Hebrews out of his country? (Yes, this is exactly
what God predicted in Exodus 11:1.)
1. Consider two things. Pharaoh warned Moses in
Exodus 10:28 that if he saw him again he would
kill him. We also know from Exodus 12:29 that
Pharaoh’s firstborn son had been killed that
night. If you were Moses, would you fear being
summoned by Pharaoh?
2. Notice in Exodus 12:32 Pharaoh asks for a
blessing from the great God of Heaven! What
does this tell us about his attitude? (He
fears God. Moses’ life is not in danger.)
E. Read Exodus 12:33. What is the concern of the
average Egyptian? (If this continues they will all
die.)
F. Read Exodus 12:37 and compare it with Exodus 1:5.
The Hebrews numbered 70 when they entered Egypt and
600,000 men when they departed. With women and
children one commentary estimates two million
Hebrews left Egypt. Is this a blessing or a
tragedy?
1. Read Genesis 37:23-28. There were a number of
errors that lead to this point. What does this
tell us about the importance of obedience to
God? (We never know how large an impact our
decisions can have on the future. We learn in
Exodus 12:40 that Israel lived in Egypt 430
years.)
2. If you know this story, tell me all of the
points in time where a different decision
would have avoided this slavery?
a. Amid all of these bad decisions, what do
we know about God? (That He rescued His
people.)
G. Friend, you may have made bad decisions that harmed
you and others. But this story tells us that God
can rescue us from unfortunate circumstances on
earth. His ultimate rescue is sending Himself to
save those who claim the protection of His blood.
For them, Jesus gives us an eternal rescue. Will
you claim the protection of His blood right now?
Why wait?
V. Next week: Through the Red Sea.
Copr. 2025, Bruce N. Cameron, J.D. Scripture quotations are
from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version ), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing
ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All
rights reserved. Suggested answers are found within
parentheses. If you normally receive this lesson by e-mail,
but it is lost one week, you can find it by clicking on this
link: http://www.GoBible.org. Pray for the guidance of the
Holy Spirit as you study.
