Dear Grace Bible Readers,
After nine substantial and damaging plagues -- over an indeterminate amount of time, but the context would suggest a period of months, not days -- Pharaoh has yet to relent and to release the Israelites to worship God. Moses's persistence and the people's plight have not changed Pharaoh's heart. Indeed, Pharaoh's heart has become even more hardened through the process. Indeed, this hardening of heart ultimately points to God's sovereign plan; by Pharaoh's stubborn rebellion against God, God demonstrated His power and glory.
As the passage opens, God instructs the Israelite people on how to prepare for the Passover, but the mechanism by which the Israelites will be saved is only revealed later in Chapter 12. The passage is rich with symbolism, and the Israelites will look back to the Passover as their great encounter with God. The Lord's grant of freedom from the Egyptian captivity will establish the new nation and bring them into a land of milk and honey.
The Lord indicates that the painting of the lamb's blood on the doorframes of the Israelite houses will cause the "destroyer" to pass over the firstborn of the Israelites. The Egyptians do not have this measure of protection, and both livestock and firstborn children perish in every home. After this event, the Israelites are called to offer their firstborn children in dedication to the Lord and the firstborn livestock as a sacrifice, remembering His faithfulness during the Passover. Please note that the blood over the doorframe did not "earn" the Lord's forgiveness for the Israelites; instead, He offered them the opportunity to participate in His grace ("unmerited favor").
The passage also clearly points ahead to the eternal Passover Lamb, our Lord Jesus Christ:
1. Christ's death came at the time of Passover, around the time that the ceremonial Passover lamb would have been slain.
2. This first Passover initiated the sacrificial system of the Hebrew people, while Christ's death brought the system to a conclusion.
3. By His blood painted over the doorframes of our heart, we have forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life.
Please take a look at the following Scriptures that highlight Jesus's role as our Passover Lamb. May we worship Him fully today!
1. Isaiah 53:5,7:
"But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
"He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth."
2. John 1:29: "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
3. 1 Corinthians 5:7: "Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed."
4. 1 Peter 1:18-21: "For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for our sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God."
5. Revelation 5:6: "Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth."
6. Revelation 5:12: "In a loud voice they [the saints] sang:
"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!"
7. Revelation 7:9,10: "After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:
"Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb."
In Christ,
Steve Edwards
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