General Articles

The Whole Story of the Bible is About Jesus, Part 8 :: By Sean Gooding

Published on: by RR10

Exodus 12:1-13

“Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 ‘This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. 3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: “On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats.

6 Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. 7 And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. 8 Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire—its head with its legs and its entrails. 10 You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. 11 And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So, you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.”

12 ‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. 13 Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.’”

Jesus is the central character of the whole Bible. This story of the Passover is one of the most famous stories of the Bible up there with David and Goliath, and of course Christmas as we celebrate at this time of the year. Movies like The Ten Commandments have burned this into the minds of millions of viewers over the years. We have worked to show Jesus through the Old Testament in our previous lessons. In Genesis, we saw Him with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We saw Him in the person of Joseph, and now we are hundreds of years later, and He is in the Passover. Let’s get caught up.

Joseph is dead, and the new Pharaoh, the new king of Egypt, does not know about him and his reputation. This new Pharaoh does not know what Joseph did and how the Jews are seen in the land. He just knows that they are having a lot of kids and soon they will outnumber the Egyptians. This new Pharaoh brings in new laws that allow the midwives to kill all of the Hebrew boys upon birth, but God intervenes, and as far as we can tell, none of the boys are killed.

Then we see the birth of Moses; he is hidden until he is 3 months old, then set in a little ark in the river. He is rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter, and he is fundamentally adopted and lives as an Egyptian prince until he is 40 years old.

One day, while out and about, he sees an Egyptian guard hurting one of his Hebrew brothers, and he kills the guard and hides his body, or so he thought. Soon, it is clear that his sin is known, and he runs to the land of Midian and ends up marrying a lady named Zipporah and becomes a shepherd for his father-in-law. Forty years later, Moses has an encounter with God that we all know as the ‘Burning Bush’ encounter, and God then sends him and his older brother Aaron back to Egypt to demand that Pharaoh let the Jews go.

While there in Egypt, God performs one miracle after another known as the Ten Plagues, each attacking one of the false deities that the Egyptians worshipped. The last plague, the one we will explore, is an attack on Pharaoh himself and his bloodline. The Egyptians worshipped Pharaoh as a god; the son of Ra, the sun god. As such, his son would also be a god and, of course, the next Pharaoh. God uses this belief of the Egyptians to attack one of the gods of Egypt and, at the same time, establish the Passover feast, one of the permanent feasts of Israel, as established in Leviticus 23.

In this Passover, a perfect lamb is killed in the evening, its blood is caught in a basin, and then the man of the household would paint the doorposts and the lintel at the top with the blood. The blood would drip and pool at the threshold, forming the sign of the cross in blood. That night, God himself would pass through the land and kill the firstborn of man and beast.

Exodus 12:12-13, “For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. 13 Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”

The blood is all that protected the people. If you obeyed, killed the Passover lamb and put the blood on your doors, then waited inside as the Lord had commanded, no one of your family or livestock died. No death. The blood of the lamb kept the people safe. Jesus, we are told, is our Passover lamb. He is the Lamb slain before the ‘foundation of the world.’ Revelation 13:8, “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

We are told in Hebrews that there is no remission of sins, no removal of sin without blood. Hebrews 9:22, “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” Jesus is our Passover lamb, killed at the Passover, that pure blood of the perfect Son of God that covers my sin and yours if you have put your trust in Him.

Colossians 1:20, “and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

Ephesians 1:7, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”

Hebrews 9:14, “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”

We can go on, but I hope that you get the point. The whole world is about to celebrate the Christmas season and Jesus’ birth, BUT He was born to die. Most love the babe in a manger; few love the Man on the Middle Cross. Rather, they avoid Him and deny Him, they accuse Him of all manner of evil, and choose to live in their sinfulness. Jesus is the Passover lamb that takes away the sins of the world. But He is also the Holy God who will come and judge those that rejected His free offer of salvation. They will die like the thousands did that fateful night back in Egypt; they will die an eternal death.

Jesus is the story of the whole Bible. Rejoice if you know Him and His blood is covering your sins and transgressions. Sing loud this Christmas, those of us who are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church
70 Victoria Street, Elora, Ontario

 

Israelis Have Yet to Embrace the Consolation of Israel :: Dr. Nathan E. Jones

Published on: by RR10

Note: Our guest contributing authors, Dan and Meg Price, are the husband-and-wife team behind Front Row Seat Ministries, serving the Lord in northern Israel.]

Years ago, in my (Meg’s) high school choir’s Christmas program, a fellow student was given a solo that had been written by our choir director, echoing the words of Simeon, who was described in Luke 2 as a righteous and devout man, “waiting for the Consolation of Israel” (ESV). When he beheld Jesus, Simeon said, “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation that You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel.” I still sing those powerful words each Christmas season.

After Simeon blessed the Lord, he blessed Joseph and Mary, who had brought Jesus to the Temple to present Him to the Lord (and isn’t that something to ponder – God the Son, having just been wrapped in human flesh, being brought to the Temple to be presented to God, His Father). We read in Luke 2:34-35, “And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, ‘Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed – and a sword will pierce even your own soul – to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.’”

As a woman living in 2025, I am struck by the fact that Simeon spoke directly “to Mary, His mother,” in a time when women were not culturally front and center. But how could the mother of the Messiah not be at least “stage right” on this occasion of presenting Jesus at the Temple?

I was also once a young mother, and loved reading that Mary – so very young to carry such an incredible burden, and blessing – “treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). I have to wonder how many times over her Son’s years on earth, and for all the years of her life, did the things she treasured up in her heart pierce, or console, her soul.

Mary’s song of praise during her stay with Elizabeth and Zechariah, recorded in Luke 1:46-55, shows a maturity beyond her years. Her words in verse 54, “He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy,” allude to the prophetic fulfillment of Psalm 98:3: “He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.” The world was being introduced to the Salvation of our God – Mary’s very own Son.

But let’s return for a moment to Simeon and how Scripture described him as “waiting for the Consolation of Israel.” The Hebrew root for “consolation” is “Naham,” as in the prophet Nehemiah, [which] can also mean “solace” and “redemption.” In English, we think of consoling as comforting someone after suffering.

Relief for the Suffering

In the years leading up to Jesus’ birth, the people of Israel were suffering under Roman rule. Simeon was not the only one waiting for Israel’s Consolation that was to come through the long-expected Messiah. We see that longing within the ranks of Jesus’ own disciples.

Whether we’re talking about ancient or more recent history, the Jewish people have suffered and continue to suffer. Some of their suffering has most certainly been self-inflicted (or self-imposed?) because of their disobedience and God’s remedial judgments. Many Jews are indeed looking for consolation, but as Johnny Lee sang, they’re looking for it “in all the wrong places.” Which is to say, anywhere and everywhere except in the only begotten Son of God. Immanuel, God with us, God the Son, who took on human flesh to pay our debt (another idea that rankles Jews – substitutionary atonement – but that is a topic for another time).

All Israel was indeed on the lookout for God’s promised Consolation. They watched for the Messiah’s deliverance, which the people inferred would be deliverance from their suffering under Roman rule, in the form of a military deliverer. Many were disappointed when Jesus did not fill that role according to their expectations.

All these years after the Messiah’s First Coming, there is not much true consolation to be found among secular Israelis today. It’s one of the reasons Dan and I find it depressing to be in the Land during Christmas. As I have written here previously, it isn’t very encouraging to be in the Land of the Savior’s birth only to see the day treated as a regular day. A day in which Dan and I have, in past years, gone to class and to work. Even Messianic believers downplay the celebration of the Savior’s birth. While I understand their frustration at our choosing to celebrate on December 25th – a date that most likely does not coincide with the actual date of Jesus’ birth – I think we should at least acknowledge His birth on a day, because without His birth, there would have been no death, burial, and resurrection.

As the years, the centuries, the millennia have passed, Jews have suffered. However, their suffering does not seem to motivate them to continue waiting for the Messiah. Instead, their years of suffering seem to have caused them to stop watching and waiting altogether. So I was surprised when, during a recent lesson with my Hebrew tutor, she made a statement I was not expecting.

The morning of my lesson, I learned the news that a dear American friend had passed away. I used my lesson as another opportunity to share with her the hope I have as a believer, even as I grieved the news I’d received. I explained that while I mourned for his wife and children in their loss, I rejoiced that our friend was with the Lord, whole and no longer suffering from the cancer that had ravaged his physical body.

My tutor is a very secular Israeli Jew, so it surprised me when she said that “all Israel is waiting for the Messiah.” I wasn’t sure I had heard her correctly; remember, we were speaking Hebrew. When I asked her for clarification as to whether or not she, a self-described secular Jew, was waiting for the Messiah’s coming, she said that she was not. She clarified that she had been speaking of religious Jews as those still waiting for the Messiah’s appearance.

What are You Looking For?

Since October 7, 2023, many Israelis have been seeking answers and even demanding them. Many, especially those who lost loved ones and those whose family members were taken hostage, have demanded answers from their governmental and military leaders. In the two millennia since the Messiah’s first appearing, very little has changed on this front. Back to the words of Mary’s song, God’s mercy has helped His servant Israel survive the worst the world has thrown at them over the years, but most Jews failed then, and still fail today, to recognize God’s mercy in sending His one and only Son. The vast majority refuse to see His “steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel.”

As believers, we “have seen the salvation of our God,” the “light for revelation to the Gentiles,” and we have been given the great privilege and responsibility to share with the people of Israel their Messiah, the Hope of the nations, the “Consolation of Israel,” for the glory of God’s people Israel.

Dan and I love living in Israel (every day except Christmas Day), and we know what an incredible blessing the Lord has given us in calling us here. We love the people of Israel, and our desire is for their consolation, remembering that one of the meanings of consolation is “redemption.” We strive to share with our friends and neighbors here in the “weary world” around us the thrill of hope that we celebrate during this Christmas season – the hope we so desire that they will know and the hope that came at our Savior’s birth. This is the hope that keeps us looking for and praying for the soon return of Immanuel, God with us.