November 16, 2025 - The First Passover and the Tenth Plague (Exodus 12:21-36)

The First Passover and the Tenth Plague (Exodus 12:21-36)

Rev. Myung-Sin Choi

21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. 22 And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. 23 For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. 24 And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. 25 It will come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. 26 And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 that you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’ ” So the people bowed their heads and worshiped. 28 Then the children of Israel went away and did so; just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn 29 And it came to pass at midnight that the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock. 30 So Pharaoh rose in the night, he, all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead. The Exodus 31 Then he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise, go out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel. And go, serve the Lord as you have said. 32 Also take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also.” 33 And the Egyptians urged the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” 34 So the people took their dough before it was leavened, having their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes on their shoulders. 35 Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. 36 And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.

Introduction

Just like we saw in the video clip, it was the day where the blood of the young lamb was spread on the door posts. I am not sure if that was what the angel of death looked like during the passover in this video clip but I am sure it looked very similar. But it did happen. What we must hold onto from here is the 10th plague and the passover. God is wanting to give us an important message and we must hold onto five things today. We must hold onto the message behind the passover. The message that God has given is the posture that we must have to have success. 

1. The First Passover

(1) Preparation for Passover

Verses 21-23 - I told you last week but for each lamb, 10 family members can be fed. This means that there were 600,000 soldiers which means that about 2.5 millions Israelites including the family members. This means about 250,000 families which means approximately 250,000 lambs were sacrificed during the passover. Back then, lambs were considered valuable assets but they would take these valuable lambs to sacrifice means that this was not a simple act for a family. This means that salvation is not given to you by you just standing there. Those who were blessed during the Passover were those who obeyed God’s word and had resolution towards God’s commandment. When we live our walk of faith, the most important thing is that we must have a resolution in faith. 

Verse 22 - God was telling them exactly what to do here. Since hyssop has a lot of flowers, God was telling to take the flowers off it. Hyssop had a meaning of repentance, cleansing, and humility. Those who held onto faith, the most important posture to have is humility and the heart for repentance. God commanded the Israelites not to go outside which means this does not mean not to go out of their homes because the angel of death will be going around. This basically had the same meaning as those who were in Noah's ark and those who were outside of Noah’s ark. Everyone who was outside of Noah’s ark faced God’s judgment and died. What was the meaning of the ark? It is Jesus Christ. Those who are within Christ will live. This was the same thing, God was commanding them not to go outside of their homes. Those who did this, they lived. Those who are within Christ, they will live. We have to be inside of Christ. 

Verse 23 - During God’s judgment of the passover, God directly commanded the angel of death to go. This was actually God directly going to see and confirm those who had the blood of the young lamb on the doorpost or not. The reason why the Israelites were saved was not just because of all of their suffering and hard work but it was because they spread the blood of the young lamb. How we receive salvation is based on whether or not we possess the blood of Jesus Christ or not.

(2) The Eternal Ordinance

Verse 24-25 - The eternal ordinance, God was commanding them to imprint this within their lives forever. Why was that? There was the law of eternal life and we must keep that.   

Verses 26-27 - God commanded them to relay this to your future generations. How do we relay it? The covenant and word of God that we must relay to our future generations was the blood of the young lamb. This represented Jesus Christ who would die on the cross for us. 

Today we had the communion today and the important Scripture regarding this is Luke 22:15, 19, 20 “Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.” - When Jesus Christ was doing His earthly ministry, He never said anything like this. But He talked about this before His death on the cross. 

Luke 22:19 - During the Passover, the body represented the body of Jesus Christ. This represented how Jesus Christ would die on the cross for us. 

Luke 22:20 - The blood of Jesus Christ was shed on the cross for us. The blood of Jesus Christ represented new life. Salvation is giving us new life and a new beginning. We are becoming a new creation. 

Numbers 15:7 “And as a drink offering you shall offer one-third of a hin of wine as a sweet aroma to the Lord.” - When they would give blood sacrifice, they would take the wine and pour it over the blood sacrifice. Each time they would do a blood sacrifice, they would pour wine over it. This represented the blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ will cleanse and be the one who takes our sins. This is the eternal covenant that we must hold onto. This shows the great power of the blood of Jesus Christ. We must hold onto the fact that if we have the blood of Jesus Christ, the angel of death will Passover us. 

Each 250,000 family participated in the passover and spread the blood of the young lamb on their doorpost. This represented that anyone who participated in this, they were saved. It was not only the Israelites who were only saved. But those who were not an Israelite, they were saved as well. This was because they also participated in the Passover. This is so important. When we hold onto the blood of Jesus Christ, we will be saved. 

2. The Tenth Plague

(1) The Death of the Firstborn

Verses 29-34 - There were many Egyptian families and Egyptians but not one Egyptian family that was not affected by the passover. Every single firstborn and family experienced death. Last week we spoke about how important firstborns were back then. Back then, their lifeline would be on the firstborn. Even if you died then your inheritance and generations would continue through the firstborn. Their family lifeline would continue and carry through the firstborn. But God killed their firstborns. This means that God will not allow their lifeline to continue. God was showing that only through the covenant of the blood of the young lamb can you receive eternal life. You do not receive eternal life through your firstborn but only through the blood of Jesus Christ. Your salvation does not come from your firstborn but through the blood of the young lamb alone. This will guarantee you eternal blessings. 

Verse 32 - After Pharaoh saw his firstborn die, he decided to let go of everything now. He decided to allow the Israelites to go and do everything that they wanted to do. Then, Pharaoh asked Moses and Aaron to bless him. We can see that pharaoh was in fear and was pleading with them to bless him. Now, pharaoh realized that God was in complete control over death and life. Pharaoh realized this after his firstborn died. Pharaoh was pleading with Moses and Aaron to spare his life and to save him. What about the Egyptians?

Verse 33 - The Egyptians were fearful for their lives after seeing their firstborns dying. The Egyptians were completely in fear of dying now. This shows God was showing the power of salvation. We can see that the pharaoh was in the captivity of Satan and the Egyptians were in complete darkness. Only by the blood of Jesus Christ, they were able to see the power of God and the power of darkness being broken down. That is why when we see shamans, we can see shamans become fearful and in complete shutdown when they see the cross and true believers of God. This was the same thing for the Egyptians, they were commanding for pharaoh to let the Israelites go. They became fearful of the Israelites. This shows that darkness cannot dwell where there is light and people of God. 

Verse 34 - The Israelites were no longer slaves of Egypt but now they are able to start a new beginning. Because of the blood of Jesus Christ, they were able to start anew. 

(2) God's favor to Israel

Verses 35-36 - This shows the Biblical and financial aspects here. God was victorious through the 10 plagues and through each plague, we could see the triumph of God spreading through. Whatever the Israelite asked for, pharaoh and the Egyptians gave them. If we become saved by Jesus Christ, then all financial doors will open for you. Blessings to your future generations will be opened as well. 

But the important message here is seen in verse 36 - The Israelites would go to the Egyptians and ask them to give them money. But this shows that God opened the heart of the Egyptians and the Egyptians did so. As an Egyptian, it would be normal for them not to give their money or belongings to the Israelites but the Egyptians would respond that it was God who opened their heart to do so. They also did this because they were fearful of God and thought that if they didn't give their stuff to the Israelites then they would die. We could see all doors of blessings, authority, status, and financial doors were opened and restored for the Israelites. God will allow the same doors to be opened for us. May we hold onto this covenant. 

Only those who win in war, they are able to take articles of gold, silver, and clothing. But the Israelites were able to take these articles of gold and silver, and clothing. This shows the principle of the gospel. Because God was victorious, the Israelites were able to reap the benefits and blessings. All of the things that we have, it was not because we did to deserve it. But God allowed all of the things in our life, whether it is our identity and status. All we did was hold onto the blood of Jesus Christ and we received all of the benefits. 

Exodus 25:2 “Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering. From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering.” - God asked for only one thing in return from the Israelites and that was for them to build the tabernacle. It says here, “willingly” which shows those who will be blessed and those who are not. There are those who built the tabernacle and gave blood sacrifice and those who built the golden calf. Those who pleased God, God answered them and gave them blessings. This is the new financial blessing that we must receive. 

3. How to Receive Answers to Prayer

(1) Those who know how to pray

Matthew 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” - All of our prayer topics need to be centered on God’s kingdom. We must receive an answer regarding this. Pray for God’s kingdom to be restored through you. 

(2) Those who know answers

Acts 16:9 “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ ” - The answer is that we must receive the work of the kingdom of God. When we move for the kingdom of God, then true answers will come to us. We must receive God’s answer and go out into our journeys. 

(3) Those Who Know Power

Acts 16:15 “And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.’ So she persuaded us.” -  Lydia asked for her house to be raised up as a regional church after she and her household was baptized. This allowed the new guidepost to be established. Enjoy this within the name of Jesus Christ. 

Conclusion

Verse 28 - The reason why the Israelites were blessed was because they acted according to God’s command. That was all. When we hold onto God’s word and believe in it, then we will receive blessings and all doors will be opened for us.