The famous Passover story is about God delivering Israel from the bondages of Egyptian slavery. But more aspects of God's incredible mercy in this story are often missed or even completely overlooked because we don't consider God's actions from the perspective of the Egyptian culture. God himself says that one of the purposes of the Passover night was to bring judgment upon the gods of the Egyptians. So what did the Egyptians believe about their gods? And how can 10 plagues coming upon a nation be considered merciful? Let's find out.

Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob, has appeared to me saying, I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt. So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it. After that, he will let you go until the firstborn breathed the last breath.

Ten plagues came upon Egypt, culminating in the last and greatest plague, the death of the firstborn. Anyone who did not have blood on the doorpost of their home will have their firstborn suffer death. And anyone who does have blood on the doorpost will be saved. But the question is, why the firstborn? The firstborn represents Adam, the first man born on earth. And this is to remind Egypt and Israel and us all of what happened to Adam. In Genesis 2:16, we are reminded of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. God told Adam that you will not eat of it, for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die. Adam and Eve ate of the fruit and death entered the world. They were the first fruits of death. Under the curse of sin and death, those now born after Adam's line will also die, just as their father Adam did. That is why death still surrounds us to this day. But now think about it. The firstborn of Egypt who do not have blood on the doorpost, they die. But in reality, the firstborn in Egypt incurred the speedy execution of a death that was already in all of Egypt. All of Egyptian pagans who did not believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob or his salvation would suffer a permanent death one day. A death that God was warning them all about. For they desired to live forever, but they did not possess it. Rather, in the Egyptian religion and among their false gods, they had a counterfeit promise of salvation. Egypt was eating of the same tree that Adam ate of, falling for the same false promise of the snake where the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Egypt exalted Pharaoh as the one whose eyes have been opened to be like God. He was their God king who would allow them to not surely die. And their covenant with the snake was marked by the snake on the forehead of Pharaoh. And this is why God says specifically regarding the last plague of the death of the firstborn. Exodus 12:12. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And on all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgments. I am. The Lord God makes it clear that this is also a spiritual war against the gods of the Egyptians. Of course, there are no other true gods. There's only one true God but the demons. And Satan himself was deceiving the Egyptians. We see now that the Israelites weren't the only slaves in Egypt. These false gods are keeping the Egyptians in bondage and they don't even know it. And what is perhaps so tragic about all of this is that the Egyptians are most famous even today for their obsession with life after death. Through elaborate tombs, pyramids and rituals, they carved a fantasy out onto the walls of their tombs, telling the tales of how they will be saved from death into an afterlife. And the irony is that you can walk into museums today and find some of their bodies meticulously preserved. Their plans to live forever by mummification only documented their failure to live forever. For us all to see they're still dead. Their plans didn't work. They were so desperate to escape death, thinking that the works of their hands, through building monumental pyramids, their treasures and their gods can deliver them. And the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob sees both Israel's bitter oppression of slavery in Egypt and this desire of the Egyptians to live. And he doesn't strike the Egyptians with one blow to get Israel to be released. Rather, over many plagues and many days, he increases the plagues. Ten plagues, culminating with the death over the firstborn. An act of mercy to show his power to Israel and to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians, so that they all would become hopeful that he has the power to give them salvation and to bring them all out from under the hand of Pharaoh. And so suddenly, a light appears in Egypt. A way out. A merciful escape from death. A death that they all sought escape from before, but found. Not an escape that doesn't involve building a pyramid or burying a treasure with your body, but to paint the blood of a Lamb on your doorpost. Anyone of any tribe or tongue could do it, follow God and be saved from the death angel. And I can just imagine what the average Egyptian is thinking. You're telling me, Moses, that I need to take the life of an animal, substitute it for mine, take its blood and put it on a doorpost. I mean, seriously, what can I do? Would have been their question. The Egyptian culture was a pride driven culture of what you can do to atone, what you can do to appease the gods so that they may grant you immortality. But God comes and says, in truth, what you can do is atoned for your sins. You can be judged, you can suffer for the sins that you have committed, or you can let me atone for you. But that would require you to repent, to leave your idols, your ways, your ideas of splendor, and to follow me. To follow a king with no pyramid or elaborate worldly empire, no possessions of this world that can grab your attention. A king who called for a rich young ruler to give up his pyramids, and a king who exalted lowly poor fishermen to the greatest in heaven. But how can God save the firstborn? By the firstborn of heaven. His name is Yeshua. The firstborn who was born of heaven and yet lived a life on earth and have never sinned. He was unlike the firstborn of the earth, Adam who fell in the garden. He was unlike the offspring of the firstborn of Adam, the firstborn in Egypt and in Israel, and the firstborn today, in fact, all today who are now in that curse of sin and death. And because his likeness is perfect and he is crucified for that fact, he declares that I will die for you. I will come in your place. And he becomes the perfect lamb of God that takes away the sins of Egypt, of Israel and of the world. The blood of the lambs that Israel were commanded to put on their doorposts were symbolic of the blood of Christ who would die in the future and whose salvation is made available retroactively for them all to partake in. 1 Corinthians 15:47 says, the first man, Adam, was from the earth a man of dust. And the second man, Jesus is. Is from heaven, as was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust. And as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. All in the world born of the line of Adam are under judgment. And the only way to escape that judgment is to become reborn. You can become grafted into a new family line. The first Fruits of the resurrection, to be resurrected yourself and to receive a glorified body, to be members of a new kingdom that is coming. 1 Corinthians 15:52 tells us about this, where it's written in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet of God will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. When the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written. Death is swallowed up in victory. And God's plan to reach the Egyptians, it worked. It is written in Exodus 12 that a mixed multitude came out with Israel to receive the commandments of God from on high. His heart from the beginning was to receive Jew and Gentile unto himself. That is why you are sitting here believing him today. Yeshua exchanged his life for ours. But taking part in his new life for us means taking a hold with all of our being. Casting off our pharaohs, the pyramids that we are building and relying on and turning from our sin. Our pharaohs can even be when we become the pharaoh of our own lives, working out our salvation for ourselves instead of relying on his work as the Lamb, building our pyramids in how when we build our empires upon the earth, taking comfort in our material possessions, being distracted away from the kingdom of God, gathering possessions in the kingdom of heaven. And in terms of sin, we can be found leaving some sins behind, but neglecting to cleanse our homes of all the leaven, holding on to certain sins unto our death. Use the opportunity of Passover and unleavened bread to cleanse your life from the pride of Egypt, the mentality that caused many Egyptians to resist putting the blood on the doorpost. Today, the choice should be easy and clear for you, for the evidence is before you. Unlike the Pharaoh's tomb which has been excavated and wherein they found a body, Yeshua's tomb is empty and the world is changing yet again. The signs of the times are evident and one day the plagues, just as they were upon Egypt, many of them will be repeated upon this world as is written in Revelation 6 through 19. And when God starts the plagues, the question is, will you heed the warning and the season that we are living in? Moses was sent from the burning bush and within him was a fire itself. He became a light to Egypt and Israel and all with the message of the impeding plagues. And so today you have been called to be the light to the world, to warn this World of the impeding plagues, culminating in the plague of death that will come and sweep away everyone who do not have the blood of the Lamb on their doorposts. The day of the Lord will come as a thief and the heavens will pass away with a roar. And the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done in it will be exposed. And since this will occur, what sort of a people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness? And now, should we not grab ahold of that light that he has given us with all of our being, asking to be filled with the spirit more than ever before and asking to be bold more than ever before? Because today we are the closest to the end that we have ever been. And the clock is ticking. Dear brothers and sisters, the world is growing dimmer every day. We can see it everywhere. But your light should only be burning brighter and brighter and brighter. And that is my prayer for you in this time. Father, help us to be a holy people. Help us to cleanse our own homes of all leaven pride, envy, jealousies, wickedness, adulteries. Lord, help us, oh Father, to be a people truly set apart so that we can become a light, a virgin with her oil full. Help us, Father, to be bold like never before. And help us, Father, show us, Lord, what is? Is there a pyramid that we've been building? Is there a treasure that we've been heaping up? Is there something that we've been relying upon to be buried with us instead of recognizing that we go to the grave with nothing except the son who is our sole reliance to resurrect us in the last day. Yeshua, help us to purge our lives from any idols and any other gods and any other pharaoh. Help us to be free from all bondage so that we can live with you forever. Yeshua, we give our lives to you anew. We ask that you would save us. We ask that your blood of the lamb would cover our doorpost. We ask that you would save our families. We pray all this in the name of Yeshua. Amen. Thank you for joining me. This Passover, if our Passover teaches, is a blessing to you and your family. And the Holy Spirit lays it on your heart to bring a Passover offering. You can do so by going to riseonfire.com have an amazing Passover.