Church School Highlights - February 7, 2016

by Tonya J. Calhoun |  February 3, 2016

 
HOME DAILY BIBLE READINGS
 
Passover
Monday, February 1: “Jesus and the Passover” – Luke 2:41-49
Tuesday, February 2: “The ‘Last’ Passover” – Matthew 26:20-30
Wednesday, February 3:              “The Fourth Plague” – Exodus 8:20-29
Thursday, February 4:  “The Eighth Plague” – Exodus10:12-20
Friday, February 5:  “Detailed Instructions” – Numbers 9:1-4, 13
Saturday, February 6:  “When Your Children Ask” – Joshua 4:1-7
Sunday, February 7:  “Passover” – Exodus 12:1-14
   
WORD FOCUS
 
Exodus:            the Greek word for going out, or departure
 
Egypt:              the land of bondage, a type of world
 
Commemorate: to remember, honor, celebrate, observe
 
Passover:          the sparing of people of Isreal; a type of God's sparing of us through the work of Christ
                       
The blood:         
of the lamb:      the blood on the doorposts which caused the destroying angel to pass by; a type of
                           the atoning blood of Christ’s sacrifice which pays for our sins
 
Today’s lesson speaks to us about the Exodus which was the greatest of God’s act of deliverance in the Old Testament.  It reveals the liberation of the Israelites who had been trapped in a system of oppression for 420 years. God spoke to Moses and Aaron and told them that he had heard the cries of His people, and it was time for a new beginning. God gave very specific information on how this new beginning would happen. As we study these verses on The Passover, we also find that the same verses give us a picture of the death of Jesus, and we can associate their freedom from slavery to our Emancipation Proclamation which ended slavery and to the Civil Rights Act which brought an end to segregation. We can feel deep sympathy for a race of people who were held in bondage for more than 400 years. Celebrating deliverance from any situation that has held us in bondage is great!
 
The first thing we see is something very interesting. God changed their calendar (Exodus 12, verse2: “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.”). Instead of the first month beginning in the fall for the Israelites, a new start, a fresh beginning would now open in the month of Nisan (March-April) and go through to the month of Adar (February-March). Why did God do this? The answer is that He knows that everything begins with the Passover.  Jesus’ death on the cross is the beginning of the New Covenant of grace; it is the beginning of the New Creation, and it is, once a person places their faith in Jesus, the beginning of real life as God had intended it to be. A person’s life does not amount to anything until he or she gets to this point. They may have all the money, all the intelligence, all the beauty in the world, but if they have not come to believe in the death of Jesus for their sins, then they have not even left the starting line in this race. We have to believe that Christ died for our sins! He didn’t have any!  Notice, too, that this new calendar begins in the spring when everything is blooming, fresh and new. Notice that the calendar is aligned with the time when we celebrate Easter and the resurrection of our Lord who was tortured, crucified, but rose on that first Easter morning.
 
To prepare the Israelites for the Day of Remembrance, God gave instructions, preparation,
then deliverance.
 
INSTRUCTIONS
Beginning in Exodus 12, verses 3 through 7, the order for the Passover is outlined:

• On the 10^th day of the month, each man was to choose a lamb or goat for his family; if the family was small, the family was to share with another family; every Israelite family had to have a sacrificial animal.
• The lamb or goat had to be one year old, had to be a male, and had to be without spot or blemish.
• The Israelites were to keep the sacrificial animal until the 14^th day, inspect it, make sure it had no spots or blemishes, then kill it at twilight (between 3-5 p.m.). Some of the blood of the animal would then be placed over the door and on the door frames, and whenGod ( “the death angel”) passed through Egypt at midnight, every house “covered by the blood” would not lose its firstborn child or firstborn animal; instead, the house would be “passed over.”
   
  Notice the similarity between the Passover lamb in Exodus and Christ, our Passover Lamb. Christ was also without spot or blemish, male, sinless and perfect, and He was willing to die for our sins. (See Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23; John 1:29; Ephesians 1:7; 1John1:7). Think about the blood on the doorposts and how it saved them from death. They chose their perfect, spotless lamb. God chose our perfect lamb—His only begotten son, Jesus. His blood still covers us today, because “The blood that Jesus shed …. “it will never lose its power.” In order to follow Christ, we have to be willing to listen to and obey His instructions.
   
  PREPARATION
  God also required the Israelites to prepare the sacrificial lamb in a special way:
• They had to roast the lamb with fire; no broken bones; the head, legs and inner parts;
• eat it with unleavened bread (bread made without yeast), and bitter herbs; the bitter herbs would always remind them of the terrible life they suffered in Egypt while in slavery; it also helps us, too. When we think of the cross, we should always think of the bondage(s) that God brought us from;
• They could not leave any part of the meal. If something was left, it was to be burned;
• The Israelites had to eat quickly and fully clothed with their cloaks tucked in their belts, sandals on their feet, and staffs in hand (Exodus 12:8-11).
   
  Here is another comparison between the Israelite Passover Lamb and our Passover Lamb – none of Jesus’ bones were broken either.
   
  DELIVERANCE
  When a person has been set free from any situation, it is a memorable event. Just think about the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil Rights Movement.  The Israelites were to continue the Passover as a memorial to God forever. They put their trust in God and started a new journey, a new walk. In addition, when we partake in Communion, this is our memorial to the goodness of God in our lives.
   
  CONCLUSION
  In conclusion, if we follow and obey God’s instructions, he will deliver us from any situation that holds us in bondage. He has redeemed us from the penalty of sin. The blood is over our lives, and we have been declared righteous because of it. God has a journey for each of us, and He wants us to be ready to walk where he calls.
   
  This week’s highlights were submitted by Sis. Valerie Clemon, Church School Junior Department.
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