God gives some detailed instructions to the Israelites what are they to do on the night of the final and worst of the plagues so that their firstborn would be spared death. God also gives instruction of how the Passover holiday and the Feast of the Unleavened Bread are to be celebrated going forward by the Israelites. Why was God into these details? He established the Passover traditions so that the people would remember. So that they would remember the great scheme of things: that their God delivered them from bondage in Egypt: “On that day tell your son, 'I do this because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.' This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the law of the LORD is to be on your lips. For the LORD brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand. You must keep this ordinance at the appointed time year after year.” (Exodus 13:8-10)
But we could also see in the Passover event a message which is prophetic in nature. God is teaching people about His deliverance according to His grace through a sacrifice. God saved every firstborn of the Hebrews that night because of His grace, and as a price he requested a symbolic sacrifice of a slain lamb from the Hebrews. Fast forward in history, Jesus himself would become the ultimate sacrifice for salvation according to God’s grace: this salvation is offered to all people and is salvation from all sin. Every sin had to be paid so that God and human could be reconciled. A price is giving something of value to you, something you hold dear. God paid the price for us. What more valuable to God than His Son, and what other price could be enough for every sin of every human being? Because He was sacrificed, Christ is being called the Lamb of God: "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)
When the Israelites marked their doors with the blood of the Passover lamb, it was an expression of their faith showing that they believe in God’s promise that He would deliver them from Egypt, which God did do. Today, when we accept the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and believe in His resurrection, we also act in faith and receive salvation according to God’s grace from our every sin and we become reconciled with God.
Like the Israelites we too should express our faith and trust in God: through the way we respond to Him, the way we live and the way we love.
What is God speaking to you today?
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