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[0:00] I apologize for my voice sounding like this. My kids were wrestling with some kind of cold this week, and I thought I was doing really well, fighting it off.

[0:11] And we've gotten the kids tested. I got a negative PCR test on Friday and a negative rapid test this morning. But obviously it doesn't sound good.

[0:22] I sound pretty pitiable, but trust me, it's not as bad as it sounds. And it's kind of when I was getting trained to be a pastor, what they teach you primarily is unless you're dying, you're supposed to show up on Sunday morning and preach.

[0:42] And because someone has to preach, that's, I think, changed a little bit with COVID. People were being a little more careful. So I hope you guys understand. And I'll keep my mask on when I'm not preaching.

[0:54] Please turn with me to Exodus 12, 29 to 13, 16. Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's word.

[1:11] Lord, we are your servants. And your servants, as servants, we are here listening to your word.

[1:22] Lord, we want you to govern us by your word. Teach us by your word. Draw us near to yourself.

[1:37] Make us more like your son through your word. Impress upon us deeply this morning, Lord, the privilege and joy of being a people who have been set free from the bondage to sin and death.

[2:03] Renew our joy of salvation this morning. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Exodus 12, 29.

[2:15] I'll go to 13, 16. At midnight, the Lord struck down 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 the livestock.

[2:33] And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, Up, go up from among my people, both you and the people of Israel, and go serve the Lord as you have said.

[2:53] Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone and bless me also. The Egyptians were urging with the people to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, We shall all be dead.

[3:09] So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their netting bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders. The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing.

[3:22] And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth, about 600,000 men on foot, besides women and children.

[3:39] A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds. And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.

[3:56] The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.

[4:09] It was a night of watching by the Lord to bring them out of the land of Egypt. So this same night is a night of watching kept to the Lord by all the people of Israel throughout their generations.

[4:21] And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, This is the statute of the Passover. No foreigner shall eat of it, but every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him.

[4:33] No foreigner or hired worker may eat of it. It shall be eaten in one house. You shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones. All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.

[4:46] If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover of the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it. He shall be as a native of the land, but no uncircumcised person shall eat of it.

[5:01] There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you. All the people of Israel did just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. And on that very day, the Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.

[5:16] The Lord said to Moses, Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine. Then Moses said to the people, Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

[5:33] For by a strong hand the Lord brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. Today in the month of Abib you are going out. And when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he soared to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this service in this month.

[5:55] Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord. Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days. No leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leavened shall be seen with you in all your territory.

[6:09] You shall tell your son on that day, It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt. And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand, and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth.

[6:24] For with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt. You shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year. When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb.

[6:43] All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord's. Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it, you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.

[6:57] And when it's time to come, your son asks you, what does this mean? You shall say to him, by a strong hand, the Lord brought us out of Egypt from the house of slavery.

[7:09] For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first opened the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.

[7:24] It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontless between your eyes, for by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt. This is God's holy and authoritative word.

[7:37] We are finally at the long-anticipated moment where the actual exodus of the Israelites from Egypt happens. And I've titled my sermon, Out of the House of Slavery, which is the phrase used here in Exodus 13, 14.

[7:54] And it's often repeated throughout the Old Testament to refer to Israel's slavery in Egypt. Although we didn't intentionally plan it this way, this passage is particularly fitting for today for two different reasons.

[8:08] First, today is the third Sunday in June, which means it's Father's Day. And we're going to see in our passage, God, the Father's zeal to redeem his son, the nation of Israel, from slavery.

[8:21] And then secondly, today is, as Matt mentioned earlier, also Juneteenth. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation declared all slaves free in 1863, it could not be enforced in the southern states because they were actively warring against North or in the Civil War.

[8:40] And so because of that, until June 19, 1865, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, that the news didn't reach the African Americans in Galveston, Texas, that slavery had been abolished and that they were in fact free.

[8:56] And so when they were finally notified on Juneteenth, the freed slaves immediately started celebrating with prayer and worship, song and dance. And since then, it has been celebrated by African Americans throughout the country.

[9:09] It became a state holiday in Texas in 1980 and a federal holiday in 2021, last year. I think most of you guys probably didn't celebrate it because it was passed the week before.

[9:21] You don't have to be a political liberal to celebrate this. The end of racist, kidnap-sourced, chattel slavery where black people suffered involuntary, permanent, and absolute subjugation is something that every Christian can celebrate regardless of his or her political persuasion.

[9:44] If Juneteenth is Black Independence Day, then Passover is Jewish Independence Day. It's also the day many years later that Jesus died on the cross to free us from our slavery to sin and death.

[9:59] This passage teaches us that God gave his son to ransom his people from slavery and death so that they might serve him.

[10:10] And we're gonna first see the redemption of God's firstborn son, which is Israel in this case, and the redemption of Israel's firstborn sons after that in chapter 13. So in Exodus 4, 22 to 23, the Lord declared to Pharaoh, Israel is my firstborn son.

[10:27] And I told you, let my son go so he may worship me. But you refuse to let him go, so I will kill your firstborn son.

[10:38] This is what God had threatened to Pharaoh at that time. And now God makes good on that threat. It says in verses 29 to 30 of chapter 11, chapter 12, sorry. At midnight, the Lord struck down 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 the livestock.

[10:58] And Pharaoh rose up in the night. He had all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. So this is a divine retribution.

[11:10] Thanks, I don't think it's gonna help, but I'll try it. I tried so hard this morning to get rid of it.

[11:24] And thank you, yeah. Because Pharaoh and the Egyptians struck Israel, God's firstborn son, God is now striking down the firstborn sons in the land of Egypt.

[11:40] Formerly in Exodus 3, Pharaoh so opposed, or so oppressed the Israelites, that it said that their cry went up to God. And now another cry goes up to the heavens, but it's not the cry of the Israelites.

[11:54] It's a great cry of the Egyptians. And the final strike of the Lord is so severe that it says in verses 31 to 32, Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel, and go serve the Lord as you have said.

[12:13] Take your flocks and your herds as you have said, and be gone and bless me also. So finally, Pharaoh is giving up. He had recently told Moses, if you remember from a few weeks ago in chapter 10, Get out of my sight.

[12:27] Make sure you do not appear before me again. The day you see my face, you will die. That's what Pharaoh had said to Moses. But he's having to eat his words again. And he summons Moses himself.

[12:39] And the situation is so urgent, Pharaoh can't even wait till sunrise. In the middle of the night, he summons Moses. And earlier, if you remember, in Exodus 5.18, when the Israelites were complaining to the Egyptians for being beaten, for not meeting the quota of brick that they were required by Pharaoh to produce, they complained to him saying, Well, your Egyptians are not giving us a straw that we need for the brick.

[13:06] So it's their fault. Why are you beating us for it? And this is how Pharaoh responded to them. You are idle. You are idle. That is why you say, Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.

[13:18] Go now and work. The word work is the same Hebrew word that's translated in this passage as serve. So then there's a contrast here in verse 31 of our passage where Pharaoh, who once said to the Israelites, Go and serve me, now says, Go serve the Lord.

[13:41] Previously, Pharaoh kept seeking concessions from God. He initially said that he would not let any of them go. And then he would say, Yes, I'll let the adults go, but not the children.

[13:52] And then he said, Fine, I'll let the children go too, but not the animals. But now he says, Go serve the Lord as you have said. Take your flocks and your herds as you have said and be gone.

[14:04] And bless me also. So he now has no qualifications, has no seeking, no concessions, and totally surrendering and saying, You may go as you wish.

[14:16] And Hebrews 7, 7 tells us that it's the lesser who is blessed by the greater. So Pharaoh, by asking Moses to bless him, is acknowledging his state of humiliation, that he's not this son of Ra, the so-called divine king of Egypt, but that he's been exposed and now he's pitiably seeking a blessing from the Lord who is the true king of the universe.

[14:43] So the rest of the Egyptians share Pharaoh's sense of urgency. He says in verse 33, The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, We shall all be dead.

[14:57] The word urgent is a translation of the Hebrew word that's elsewhere translated as strengthen, strengthen or harden. Previously, Pharaoh hardened his heart, strengthened his resolve not to let Israel go, but now the Egyptians are strong in their resolve and urgency to let Israel leave as soon as possible.

[15:19] In fact, they're in such a hurry that Israelites don't even have time to wait for their bread to rise, to incorporate leaven into their bread. And how did this radical change come about?

[15:30] It tells us in chapter 13, verse 14, By a strong hand, the Lord brought us out of Egypt from the house of slavery. You hear the same word again, strong.

[15:41] The strong hand of the Lord has broken the strong will of Pharaoh and has made the Egyptians strongly urge the Israelites to leave Egypt.

[15:52] God's brought about a great reversal. And the Israelites don't leave empty-handed. And this is shocking. As the Lord had instructed them, they asked the Egyptians as they're leaving for their silver and gold jewelry and for clothing.

[16:08] And to their astonishment, they say yes. They say take it. Go leave with it. And why would they do that? It says in verse 36, Because the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians so that they let them have what they asked.

[16:25] Thus, they plundered the Egyptians. This passage intentionally uses language that evokes warfare. The Israelites, it says, plundered the Egyptians.

[16:37] Verse 37 says, The people of Israel journeyed from Remses to Sukkoth, about 600,000 men on foot. That expression, on foot, is typically used in military contexts to describe the infantry.

[16:51] Furthermore, it says in verse 41 that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. The word hosts refers to military divisions or armies.

[17:03] So Lord of hosts means that God is the Lord of the armies. So in this passage, there are armies, foot soldiers, and plundering of war. But incredibly, the Israelites never give battle to the Egyptians.

[17:17] Not even once. There's never a clashing of swords, shields, or chariots. Even in the plundering, there is no violent force.

[17:29] The Israelites simply ask the Egyptians and they give them their jewelry and clothing. Why? Because the Lord is fighting their battles for them.

[17:41] This point is highlighted in the phrasing of verses 29 and 36. Usually in Hebrew sentence structure, the subject comes after the verb. But in verses 29 and 36, the subject of the sentence, which is the Lord, Yehovah, is fronted.

[17:58] It comes before the verb for emphasis. So why were the Egyptians so urgent in sending the Israelites out of Egypt? Not because Israel's army struck them down in battle, but because the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt.

[18:15] Why did the Egyptians give the Israelites their own silver and gold jewelry and clothing? Why were they able to plunder the Egyptians? Not because of their superior force, but because the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians.

[18:30] Again, again, Lord, the Lord. It's the Lord who fights Israel's battles on their behalf. He is their champion. That's why verse 42 says, it was a night of watching by the Lord to bring them out of the land of Egypt.

[18:48] So this same night is a night of watching kept to the Lord by all the people of Israel throughout their generations. It's a wonderful image. Can you imagine God up all night like a century to watch over and guard his people?

[19:04] That's what he did on the night of the Passover. And so to commemorate that, they have a night of watching to celebrate the Passover for generation after generation because it's the Lord who fought on their behalf.

[19:20] This truth that the Lord fights for his people applies to us as Christians as well. Hebrews 2, 14 to 15 teaches us that Christ by his death destroyed the one who has the power of death.

[19:33] That is the devil. And delivered all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. We did not break the power of the devil but Christ did.

[19:45] Christ bound the strong man and he plundered his house taking for himself those who were enslaved by the enemy. As Yahweh rescued Israel and brought them out of their house of slavery in Egypt to serve the living God, so Yahweh has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of his son whom he loves.

[20:10] Let me ask you, which of you, which of us has the power to stand up to the devil apart from God? Which of us has a righteousness that can withstand the vicious and ceaseless accusations of Satan?

[20:27] when he points out all our sins, our guilt, and demands our condemnation and damnation, can any of us protest that he is wrong?

[20:40] No, we can't. But Christ is our champion. We cannot destroy the devil, but Christ has.

[20:52] Christ, by dying on the cross for our trespasses and rising from the dead, canceled the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands and he nailed them to the cross, thereby disarming the rulers and authorities and putting them to open shame.

[21:08] He's talking about evil spiritual authorities. And he triumphed over them. When Satan points to our sin and says, guilty as charged, it's Jesus who points to the cross and says, paid in full.

[21:27] When Satan tries to claim us as his own, when he tries to be our slave master, pointing to our debt of sin, Jesus, our champion, claims us as his own, saying, mine.

[21:41] Purchased with the blood, the son of God. The Lord fights for us. If you belong to the Lord, then you are free.

[21:54] We're no longer slaves of Pharaoh. We're slaves of the Lord. But how do we know that we belong to the Lord? For the Israelites, the sign of their covenant relationship with God was circumcision.

[22:05] that's why verses 43 to 51 excludes foreigners from partaking in the Passover meal. The foreigner is like a, I guess, an immigrant or traveler just passing through, a visitor in the country, a person who doesn't belong to God's people.

[22:24] That's why they can't eat the Passover, which commemorates God's deliverance of his people. However, the stranger mentioned in verses 48 to 49 refers to someone who has a more extended sojourn in the land of Israel.

[22:37] We might call them in the U.S. resident aliens or green card holders. Such a person, that kind of stranger, he says, may partake in the Lord's supper provided that they first convert to the worship of the Lord and acknowledge their covenant loyalty to him by getting circumcised.

[22:55] So already here in the book of Exodus, we see that God's plan ultimately isn't only to save ethnic Israel, but his plan is to save all nations.

[23:08] And it says in verse 38, a mixed multitude also went up with them. The mass exodus from Egypt included not only ethnic Jews, but also others.

[23:19] It was a mixed multitude. And even the strangers among them may join themselves to God's people by getting circumcised and eat the Passover. The reason why God takes circumcision so seriously is that it is the sign of the covenant that God made with Abraham, the agreement, the binding agreement that he's made with Abraham, Israel's forefather.

[23:43] In Genesis 17, he made that the sign between him and the Israelites. And he said, any circumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people.

[23:54] He has broken my covenant. Circumcision was a sign that God had ordained to mark Israel as his chosen people, his special possession. In a limited sense, it's similar to how a logo or a brand functions in distinguishing or setting apart a product from others.

[24:15] Can you imagine a Nike product that doesn't have the iconic swoosh logo emblazoned on it? The logo, it's the logo that makes it special.

[24:25] It's the logo that sets it apart from other generic sneakers in the market. It's the logo that makes it cost twice as much as the other shoes. Similarly, God's people are set apart by the sign of circumcision.

[24:42] Circumcision is a particularly appropriate sign of covenant because it represents Israel's identity as God's son, God's heir. And also because it represents well the curse of the covenant that those who break the covenant shall be caught off from his people.

[25:00] I think the pun is intentional. God takes the sign of the covenant so seriously that he almost killed Moses when Moses approached Egypt without circumcising one of his own sons in Exodus 15.

[25:14] Because if Moses is to lead the nation of Israel in keeping their covenant relationship with God, he must set an example in keeping it himself. And today, because Jesus came and established a new covenant for the people of God, we also have a new sign of the covenant.

[25:30] It says in Colossians 2, 11 to 13, in him also you were circumcised with the circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you also, you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God who raised him from the dead.

[25:57] And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him having forgiven us all our trespasses. So then, baptism, which is an outward profession of an inward faith, has now superseded circumcision as a new sign of our covenant relationship with God.

[26:17] the sign of the old covenant was circumcision made in the flesh by hands, but the sign of the new covenant is baptism, which is the circumcision of Christ made without hands, a spiritual circumcision, being forgiven of the trespasses of the flesh and being made alive together with Christ.

[26:40] Just as it's only those who are circumcised who could partake in the Passover, it's only those who have been born again through faith in Jesus Christ and who's made a public profession of faith by getting baptized that can now take on the sign of the covenant as belonging to God's people and partake in the Lord's Supper.

[26:58] So have you taken a stand for Christ? Have you taken on the sign of the covenant by putting your faith in Jesus and getting baptized?

[27:10] Baptism is a line in the sand. It's a flag planted on the ground saying, I have renounced all other lords to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. I renounce the world to the flesh and the devil and pledge allegiance to Jesus.

[27:25] I'm taking on the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit declaring to the world that I belong to him. You don't need to remain a stranger and a foreigner among the people of God.

[27:37] You too can believe in Jesus and get baptized in his name and partake in the family supper. that's because of the redemption of God's firstborn son.

[27:49] Having seen God's redemption of his firstborn son, I'm sorry for, I'm finding that it's very hard to emphasize anything when my voice is like this so everything sounds the same.

[28:02] You guys are being very patient. We now see Israel's redemption of the firstborn sons, of their own sons in chapter 13.

[28:14] The Lord says to Moses in verse 2, consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.

[28:25] This consecration of every firstborn male is mentioned many times throughout the Old Testament and it's directly linked to how the Lord delivered Israel's firstborn males from the death of the firstborn during Passover.

[28:43] In verses 12 to 15 of chapter 13, Moses explains the significance of the redemption of the firstborn. He says, you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb, all the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord's.

[28:58] Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem and when in time to come your son asks you what does this mean?

[29:12] You shall say to him by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt from the house of slavery. For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals.

[29:26] Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first opened the womb but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem. Similar to the way that you know if someone were to rescue you from deadly peril you might say to the rescuer I owe you my life because the Lord has passed over the firstborn males of Israel they literally owe him their lives.

[29:56] They belong to him in a special way. We as Christians also are God's consecrated people. God's only begotten son Jesus Christ says in John 17 19 that he consecrated himself that we also may be sanctified or it's the same word consecrated in truth.

[30:18] Jesus is evoking the idea of the consecration of the firstborn. Jesus was consecrated set apart for God's special purposes to die for our sins and rise again to save us from sin and death and we as those people who have been united to Jesus Christ through faith are also therefore consecrated to God.

[30:38] That's the purpose for which God gave his son to consecrate us to himself. When the people of this world look at your life would they say that your life is in a real way set apart from theirs?

[30:58] We no longer follow the pattern of this world the course of this world. We're no longer to serve the evil ruler Satan. We're no longer to indulge the desires of our sinful flesh.

[31:11] Why? Because we are a consecrated people set apart for God special for God because we have been redeemed from our slavery to sin and we've been redeemed to serve the living God.

[31:26] Ask yourselves in what area of your life is the Holy Spirit convicting you this morning to be set apart for him? This passage repeatedly states the fact that Israel went out of Egypt on this very day.

[31:43] He says in 1241 on that very day all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. 1251 says on that very day the Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

[31:57] 13 3 to 4 says remember this day in which you came out from Egypt out of the house of slavery. Today in the month of Habib you are going out.

[32:09] Again and again today this day you're going out you've been brought out you went out. This is similar to how Jesus says in Luke 19 9 in Zacchaeus' house today salvation has come to this house.

[32:27] Luke especially emphasizes that theme he uses the word today repeatedly to teach us that the window of opportunity the hour of salvation is not tomorrow but it's today now this very moment if you have not put your trust in Jesus today is the day of salvation you can give your life to him today today is an opportunity to submit your life to Christ and be free from your slavery to sin don't say I'll consider Jesus following him one day but not today or I'll think about that stuff when I'm less busy or I'll follow after Jesus after I've had some time to myself to enjoy the things I want to do you may not have a tomorrow why would you linger one day longer in your slavery to sin and death when Christ offers us freedom and life forevermore and if you have already entrusted your life to

[33:33] Jesus then you should remember that you have already come out of Egypt out of the house of slavery you're not a slave to sin anymore you have been indwelled by the spirit of God and the spirit of God will not be bound he says in 2nd Corinthians 317 where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom Paul exhorts as in Romans 6 18 to 19 having been set free from sin you become slaves of righteousness just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness so now present your members as slaves to righteousness are you going back to your old chains like they still have power over you have you forgotten that you are no longer slaves we are now dead to sin but alive to God in Christ

[34:35] Jesus we need to ever be reminded of the redemption that we have in Jesus Christ the word redeem is a key word in this passage and is repeated four times in verses 11 to 15 we encountered the same word earlier in Exodus 6 6 but that was a different Hebrew word there the word redeem referred primarily to the role of the kinsman redeemer the family protector the nearest relative who is responsible for defending the rights of his extended family members so for example when a relative became poor and was forced to sell his ancestral land or to sell himself as a slave it was the responsibility of the kinsman redeemer to go and repay the debt and redeem the property and redeem his relative but the word redeem used here in our text has a slightly different nuance it's used most frequently to refer to rescue from death or from some kind of deadly threat in

[35:38] Exodus 21 30 the same word is used to refer to the ransom price of a person's life so here it's referring directly to how God ransomed Israel from death on the night of the Passover it is the price the literal price of their life and because the Lord has paid the ransom for the firstborn of Israel their lives belong to him this is why all the firstborn males have to be sacrificed the ceremonially clean animals like cow sheep and goats they have to be sacrificed to the Lord as Numbers 18 17 says however ceremonially unclean animals could not be sacrificed to God so they had to be either killed or redeemed that's why verse 13 says that every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck a donkey was a ceremonially unclean animal according to

[36:39] Leviticus 11 26 because it parts the hoof but it does not chew the cud so the firstborn male donkey could have to be killed and not offered as a sacrifice likewise since the Lord explicitly forbids child sacrifice in Leviticus 20 and many other places in scripture that firstborn male children obviously could not be sacrificed or killed so God commands them to be redeemed he says in verse 13 every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem the ransom is the price you pay for the life of someone else and God's ransoming of Israel on Passover night ultimately points to the ransom that God pays with his son's life Jesus Christ the Passover lamb remember what Jesus says of himself in Matthew 20 28 the son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many first

[37:42] Timothy 2 5 to 6 says for there is one God and there is one mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus who gave himself as a ransom for all we all as sinners had the sentence of death just imagine for a moment having that sentence of death pronounced over you and you have no means to pay the ransom but God sent his only son Jesus Christ as a ransom price to save us to give us eternal life and freedom in the spirit that's why the Bible says over and over again that we were bought with a price that's why we belong to God that's why we belong to his kingdom I don't know if you're aware but there are still people being sold as slaves today according to 2021 federal human trafficking report released three days ago there were 449 human trafficking victims last year right here in the

[38:54] United States and that's only counting those who are caught can you imagine how much worse it must be in more impoverished countries where the rule of law is not as strong 64% were victims of sex trafficking 36% were victims of forced labor over half of the new victims identified in 2021 were minors over half most of whom were used as sex slaves since they're no good for forced labor 93% of the new victims of forced labor were foreign nationals how's that any different from slavery of the past ages meaning they're recruited from foreign countries with a fraudulent job offer or a false promise of a visa and then they're transported to the U.S.

[39:50] where they're forced into a job that they didn't sign up for and held bonded with violence intimidation and manipulation just two months ago a 15 year old Texas girl was trafficked at a Dallas Mavericks basketball game and then repeatedly sexually assaulted before she was rescued by law enforcement these are hundreds of cases but there are millions billions of spiritual slaves all throughout the world and they are serving their cruel master Satan and they're believing his lie that there can be no other life for them that this is all the happiness that they will know that they will never know the joy of salvation that they will never know the love of

[40:50] God the father that he will never come for them but we know better than that we know the great emancipator our savior Jesus Christ who gave his life to redeem his people from slavery to sin he is our champion he is our advocate and he has the authority and power to break every chain of the enemy so remember that we are his servants we are the freedom riders his messengers heralding the good news of freedom and salvation to the end of the earth let's pray together father we lament the fact that there are so many lost people in this world and most of them don't even know that they are lost most of them don't even know that what they have been reduced to is in fact slavery because they have known nothing else because they haven't tasted and seen that the

[42:14]  Lord is good but Lord we have tasted and seen that you are good and we want to take that good news of Jesus Christ to the end of the earth help us ever to remember to be mindful of the redemption we have in Jesus and help us to boldly and unashamedly declare that good news to our neighbors our friends and our family members in Jesus name we pray amen