Sabbath School Lesson for July 26-August 1, 2025
You might want to read more about these plagues here:
https://www.outlookmag.org/our-god-of-order/
Introduction of Lesson 5, Passover
Memory Text: ” ‘And it shall be, when your children say to you, “What do you mean by this service?” 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.” ‘ ” Exodus 12:26-27 NKJV
Moses dutifully revealed to Pharaoh the deadly nature of the final plague upon Egypt, but the stubborn king still refused to heed Moses’ multiple warnings. Three days of darkness during the ninth plague had provided the Egyptians ample time to contemplate their fateful choices.
This final plague would not only prove deadly for individuals, namely their firstborn sons, but it would indirectly affect the prosperity of the whole Egyptian nation. Just as a previous pharaoh had decreed the death of all Hebrew sons, in order to weaken them and reduce their population, they would likewise be weakened by the final plague they had chosen to suffer.
It was a moment of reckoning that illustrated the dreadful nature of sin. Due to one person’s unwise course (in this case, Pharaoh and other heads of households), many innocents were forced to die, leaving their families in a state of intense mourning and grief.
- Sunday: One More Plague
- Monday: Healing the Body
- Tuesday: Pesach
- Wednesday: Passing the Torch
- Thursday: The Divine Judgment
Sunday: One More Plague
Amos 3:7 tells us that the Lord does nothing without revealing it to His prophets, and thus to the people involved. Moses was used to convey the deadly outcome of the tenth plague to the Egyptians, even though he knew most of them would fail to comply with God’s requirement to avoid it.
The Egyptians were in the grip of idolatrous worship practices that had caused their hearts to be filled with pride and selfishness. It had led to actions of cruel exploitation of others, which surely saddened and angered the Creator, as well as Moses (Exodus 11:8).
God is the perfect blend of mercy and justice (Jeremiah 9:24 and Psalm 89:14). His justice may seem severe to us, as in these plagues, but it is always motivated by love for the suffering and at times is the only way to diminish injustice and prevent further pain.
We struggle to get the perfect balance when it comes to love and justice in our lives. God understands how we often bend to one extreme or the other. Micah 6:8 sums up what God expects of us though. He tells us to “do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God”. Humbling ourselves before God is key to getting the perfect balance.
Verses and questions:
Exodus 11:1-10
- Why do you think Moses was angry when he left Pharaoh this time, as it says in verse 8?
Jeremiah 9:24, Psalm 89:14, and James 2:13
- Why do you think, as humans, it might be better to err on the side of mercy? Or is it?
Monday: Healing the Body
Much needed to be done in organizing for the Hebrews’ departure from Egypt. But God had other things to tell Moses that would impact their lives for generations to come. Sacrificing a lamb in a very specific manner and putting some of its blood on their doorposts on the eve of the final plague was so significant to their survival that its story must be repeated annually in what would become known as the Passover celebration.
The commemoration of this event would keep their freedom from slavery fresh in the minds of every Israelite, thus securing their national identity. It would also seal their relationship with the God who had wrought so many miracles on their behalf.
Not only would their children be educated about God’s saving grace, but the older generations would feel their faith renewed and their convictions made stronger by the annual Passover feast. It would be an event to heal both soul and body by encouraging contemplation the blood of the Lamb, their future Messiah.
Verses and questions:
Exodus 12:1-20
- Why was the celebration of the Passover so important to God?
- What would the annual feast do for the Israelites, both young and old?
Tuesday: Pesach
The Hebrew word for Passover is pesach, which means “to pass over” or “to skip”. Many allusions of the Messiah were included in the Passover rituals. It was meant to be more than a retelling of the deliverance of their firstborn sons back in Egypt. It was associated with the whole gospel message, because it included the merits of the sinless Lamb of God being applied to all who were covered with His blood.
The lamb’s blood was applied to their doorposts in Egypt using a stalk of the hyssop plant, an herb that was later used in cleansing and purification rituals (Psalm 51:7).
The requirement that the lamb be without blemish alluded to the perfect Lamb of God, who takes away our sins (John 1:29). Yeast was associated with sin (1 Corinthians 5:6-8). It caused dough to rise and expand, similar to the nature of sin. Therefore, only unleavened bread without yeast was to be served during the Passover week that God instituted on the eve of the tenth and final plague in Egypt.
Also, taking less time to prepare, the unleavened bread enabled them to make a quick exit from their land of bondage. We are reminded that our deliverance from this world of sin will happen unexpectedly. So we, too, must have sin removed from our hearts so we are ready for our trip to heavenly Canaan.
Verses and questions:
Exodus 12:17-23, John 1:29, 1 Corinthians 5:6-9, and Psalm 51:7
- What was to be the significance of the blood of the lamb, the hyssop, and the unleavened bread in the Passover ritual?
- What do these symbols teach us about the nature of sin?
- What are the ways we must apply God’s blood and be delivered from our sin today?
Wednesday: Passing the Torch
In order for the Passover story to impress the youth with God’s ability to save them, the older generations must include their own experiences with God’s saving grace. Stories of the past and recognition of His protection throughout our own lives tend to draw us closer to God.
The Lord had brought them out of Egypt through many signs and wonders which must be celebrated and remembered. But passing the torch of faith to their young ones included internalizing their own spiritual journey and sharing that as well. This personalization of faith would bless both the storyteller and those listening.
Psalm 145:4 reminds us: “One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts”–especially those acts they experienced personally.
Verses and questions:
Exodus 12:24-28
- Why was the Passover outlined so carefully by God?
- What was the expected outcome of celebrating the Passover every year?
Thursday: The Divine Judgment
There was no doubt that the tenth plague held the greatest consequence for the Egyptians. Firstborn sons were the pride of their families. The future of their country depended on these precious sons. But, the many gods of fertility who had provided them with children were powerless to keep their sons alive, when God’s sweeping judgment fell on them.
Every family who worshiped false gods felt the stabbing pain of this final, devastating plague. The firstborn of the lowliest citizen, including captives held in dungeons, all the way up the social scale to Pharaoh himself, were included in the divine judgment. Even their firstborn animals were slain by the hand of God’s avenging angel that dreadful night. See Exodus 12:29-30.
This tenth and final plague was a stinging reminder of the nature of sin. Our wrong actions almost always affect those around us. Innocents suffer when we aren’t fully surrendered to our Creator.
Verses and questions:
Exodus 12:29-30 and Hebrews 11:28
- Why were the firstborns the focus of this plague?
- What message did it hold concerning both past and future declarations of killings by earthly rulers?
Friday: Final Thoughts
The yearly keeping of the Passover Seder (or arrangement) in Jewish families literally goes back to their exodus from Egypt. Only their keeping of the seventh-day Sabbath goes further back into antiquity.
Christians, in talking about being covered by the blood of Jesus, should recognize where that expression comes from. Those families who had the blood of a lamb covering their doorposts were spared the loss of life that the idolatrous Egyptian had to suffer.
Christ, the Lamb of God, was the true Deliverer of His people–not Moses, as some might suggest. John the Baptist correctly identified our Deliverer when he called out, upon seeing his cousin, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). And Paul, of course, later referred to “Christ, our Passover” (1 Corinthians 5:7).
It was not by chance that Jesus’ death took place during the Passover week. Jesus had the authority to change that celebration, and He did so by instituting the Last Supper commemoration in its place. Only the symbols of the bread and wine (both without fermentation, symbolic of being without sin) were needed, and not a slain lamb. As stated in Romans 6:10, and many other verses, Christ died “once for all”. The animal sacrifices need not be continued after the Passover Lamb of God shed His blood for us once on Calvary’s cross.
Next Week: Through the Red Sea
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