November 23, 2025 - Those Who Participate in the Passover Feast (Exodus 12:37-51)

Those Who Participate in the Passover Feast (Exodus 12:37-51)

Rev. Myung-Sin Choi

37 Then the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children. 38 A mixed multitude went up with them also, and flocks and herds—a great deal of livestock. 39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought out of Egypt; for it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves. 40 Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. 41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years—on that very same day—it came to pass that all the armies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. 42 It is a night of solemn observance to the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is that night of the Lord, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generations. Passover Regulations 43 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat it. 44 But every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then he may eat it. 45 A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat it. 46 In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house, nor shall you break one of its bones. 47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. 48 And when a stranger dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it. 49 One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you.” 50 Thus all the children of Israel did; as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. 51 And it came to pass, on that very same day, that the Lord brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt according to their armies.

Introduction

I read a news article about a grandmother and it was titled, “Happy Grandma.” The content of this article of where this grandmother went to his second daughter-in-law’s house and felt her warm heart. This was because the key passcode to her house was the same as my house’s key code. The eldest son lives behind my house building and my eldest daughter-in-law also has the same key code. This means that I am welcomed anytime to my daughter-in-laws’ houses. That was why this grandmother was very happy. When I read this article, I thought that there were people like that. But I feel like that people don’t know what true happiness is. We are able to move heaven's door and the key code is 7-7-7. This is the key code where we can access any blessing of God. We need to utilize this at all times and any time. Today’s sermon is very important. 

1. The Fulfillment of the Exodus

(1) The Beginning of the Exodus

Verses 37-39 - Finally the Israelites were able to come out of Egypt and they were able to start their journey from the destination of Rameses. The location Rameses was the place where the persecution was the most for the Israelites where most of the Israeli sons were killed. Because the Israelites remembered their persecution, they started their journey here. Also the location of Succoth was the first camp site for the Israelites and this place was not too far from Goshen. Succoth was a location where they could hold many meetings. Many men and livestock gathered, and flocks and multitudes were there too. As we know that God blessed the Israelites tremendously to the point where people saw how blessed the Israelites were so they followed the Israelites out of Egypt. This was the mixed multitude mentioned here. There were not only Israelites there but also some Egyptians and other people there who were coming out of Egypt. There were also flocks and livestock too coming out of Egypt with the Israelites. God blessed the Israelites to the point that there was an abundance to the livestock of the Israelites. They had so much livestock that they were surprised by the number and abundance that they had. 

But this was all promised from God to Abraham as seen in Genesis 15:14 “And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.” - Even though the Israelites lived as slaves in Egypt, they were able to come out of Egypt with great possessions. Just as God promised Abraham, the Israelites were able to come out of Egypt with great possessions and as victors. 

The first meal that the Israelites had coming out of Egypt is seen in verse 39 - The first meal that they had was unleavened cakes and bread. This means that they were able to feast on these breads and cakes not as slaves of Egypt but as free men with much joy and happiness. This was the first feast that they had as free men. 

(2) The Night of the Lord

Verses 40-42 - After 430 years passed, the Israelites were able to come out of Egypt. This was a historical day and event. This was the day where God’s covenant was fulfilled. 

Genesis 15:13 “Then He said to Abram: ‘Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.’ ” - This was the day where it was finished, where the Israelites were finally freed. In order for God to fulfill His covenant with Abraham, we can see many events happening. This shows how important God’s covenant is. In order to fulfill this covenant after 430 years, we can see God used many people. As we know very well that God used Jacob and Joseph. We can see that Joseph was hated by his brothers and he lived his life without a mother. But even without a mother, Joseph continued to pray to God and God gave him a dream. That dream was where people and the moons bowed down to him. Because Joseph shared his dream to his brothers, his brothers hated him even more and sold him to slavery. Joseph was taken as a slave but even as a slave, God continued His plan to Joseph by preparing him for the people, Potiphar. Joseph was a slave in Potiphar’s house but Joseph was taken into prison because of Potiphar’s wife. In order to fulfill God’s plan, God placed pharaoh into Joseph’s life. No one was there to interpret the pharaoh’s dream, Joseph was there to interpret it. Through this, Joseph was able to become a prime minister of Egypt. This was all part of God’s plan. This all happened so that God can fulfill His plan and covenant. From there on, there was a famine that happened so many people had to come to Egypt. But when the brothers found out that Joseph was in Egypt, Joseph ended up taking care of his brothers. God allowed all of this to happen so that Joseph could meet his brothers. We can see that God has a covenant and plan, and God will use people to fulfill His covenant and plan. Now it was time for the Israelites to come out of Egypt so that God used Moses. Through Moses, God didn’t just use Moses but God made it where the Egyptians persecuted the Israelites. If the Israelites didn’t have a problem, there was no reason for Jochebed to prepare a basket for Moses to escape. But it happened that the princess of Egypt found Moses and took Moses as her own son. Because of that Moses was able to become the prince of Egypt. We can think through the princess of Egypt that Moses became the prince of Egypt but it all happened because of God. After the time schedule ended for Moses in the palace, God made it where Moses ended up murdering an Egyptian. Because he murdered an Egyptian, he ran away and became a fugitive. In the wilderness, Moses was able to meet Jethro. Under Jethro, Moses received spiritual training for 40 years in Midian. We can see the progress of God’s plans being fulfilled. Why did God have His people live as slaves in Egypt? If the Israelites lived comfortably in Egypt then they had no reason to come out of Egypt. Because Egypt was full of food and comfort that the Israelites had no reason to come out of Egypt but this was not part of God’s covenant. But God led the Israelites out of Egypt through prayer and His word. God gave the Israelites a problem so that they could pray to Him and look up to Him. God answered their prayers through the 10 plagues  and through the 10 plagues, the Israelites were able to come out of Egypt. The people in the Bible, some of them, lived and just perished. But we need to see God in all events. It took 630 years for God to fulfill His covenant He made with Abraham. To fulfill His covenant, God used many people. We can see that God used people like Joseph, Moses, the pharaoh, and many other people. But why did God allow them to live on this earth and just die? They were all part of His time schedule. You may think that these people seem to leave behind a huge footprint in this world but they were all just puzzle pieces of God’s covenant and plan. Why do you live on this earth? What is your purpose on this earth? Who do you live for? 

We must hold onto this. God emphasized in verse 42 - In order to fulfill His covenant, God used many people. This was the night of the Lord which means that God was showing the blood of the covenant. The blood of the torch covenant was finally being fulfilled. This was showing the blood of Jesus Christ. You must hold onto once again what time schedule of God are you holding onto and riding? Are you living where God is your master of your life so that He can fulfill His covenant through you or are you just living as an extra on this earth? We must understand this. This is only possible through the blood of the covenant. We can see the mystery where we can be liberated. 

2. Salvation of the Passover

(1) Salvation of the foreigners

Verses 43-49 - There was a problem because it wasn’t just the Israelites leaving Egypt. Can the foreigners eat the unleavened bread and be part of the passover? God was saying who can participate in the passover or not. God said that no foreigners eat during the passover in this passage. But the Bible says that anyone can be saved. So what is this passage saying? 

God was showing how a foreigner can be saved in verse 44 - If a foreigner is circumcised then they can participate in the passover. As slaves, they were treated like animals and objects. But if they were circumcised, then their status would change before God. 

Verse 48 - God gave them a condition where they had to be circumcised to participate in the Passover. A foreigner could receive the same status as an Israelite. God’s condition was not if you are an Israelite or not but whether you are circumcised or not. In other words, if you are an Israelite but not circumcised, you could not participate in the passover. So as long as you are circumcised, you can participate in the passover. What is circumcision? It is cutting your skin and there is bleeding. This is showing the testament of your faith. This shows your resolution of faith where you are discarding your old self. God was giving them new life. This is the same example of baptism. If anyone accepts Jesus Christ, you can become children of God. If you are baptized, you can participate in the communion. If you are not baptized, you cannot participate in the communion. What is baptism? It is the testament of your faith. You are confessing your faith. 

Verse 49 - Whoever believes and accepts Jesus, you will be saved. This was the covenant that God gave to Abraham in Genesis 12:3 “I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”. Whoever comes before God, you will receive the blessing to be saved. 

(2) Fulfillment by Jesus

Verse 46 - This was the most important message during the passover. When they ate meat, they were told not to carry any of the meat outside of the house. Even if you have leftovers, you are told not to trash or discard it outside. Because this meat represented the body of Jesus Christ. They were also told not to break the bones as well. This was because the body of Jesus Christ will resurrect so they were told not to break the bones. This was because Jesus Christ was going to resurrect with His complete body. 

John 19:36 “For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, ‘Not one of His bones shall be broken.’ ” - As we know that Jesus Christ passed away at 3PM. When Jesus died, the soldiers came to Jesus and poked at His bones and realized that He died. Usually when a person is crucified, they would break all of their bones if they didn’t die yet. We can see that the passover showed what Jesus Christ would do. The blood of the young lamb showed what the gospel is. Through the death of Jesus Christ, the pharaoh surrendered. Through the blood of the young lamb, Pharaoh surrendered which shows Satan's power being broken down. And, the Israelites were liberated from Egypt. They were liberated from darkness. This all had a spiritual meaning. This all showed Jesus Christ. This was all showing Jesus’ baptism and the start of His earthly ministry. The Israelites waited until the 13th day which represented the start of Jesus’ earthly ministry. The passover was representing the body of Jesus Christ and Jesus died on the cross at 3PM. The passover represented every detail of what Jesus Christ would do. In order to show this, God completed the torch covenant with Abraham 600 years ago from the passover. Why did God do that? This was the only way for God’s people to live. The only way to solve our problems is through Jesus Christ. This is the only way for us to live. That was why God made the three feasts. 

3. The Three Feasts

(1) The Passover

Verse 39 - On the day of the passover, the Israelites were brought out of Egypt. No enslaved nation was never driven out by the controlled nation. This means that salvation cannot be taken away by Satan. Satan has no choice but to fear salvation. We are completely freed by our problems. 

(2) The Pentecost

Joel 2:29-30 “And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. 30 And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.” - Only those chosen by God will receive signs from heaven above. 

(3) The Ingathering

Revelation 22:12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.” - God has prepared great prizes and rewards for us in heaven. It depends on where our lives are within God’s time schedule? Are you living just an extra but are you within God’s time schedule for His covenant? 

Conclusion

Mark 16:20 “And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.” - The mystery to enter into God’s time schedule is seen here. In order to fulfill this, God is running and fulfilling His time schedule. May we be blessed in the name of Jesus Christ.