Beware Of Belittling The Blood - 1 Peter 1:17-21 Series

1 Peter 1:17 And if as father you call on the one who judges impartially according to the work of each, in fear conduct yourselves in the time of your sojourn. 18 having come to know that it was not with perishables, like silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty conduct you inherited from your fathers 19 but with precious blood, as a lamb, without blemish and spotless – of Christ. 20 having been foreknown from before the foundation of the world, but having been revealed in the last times for you, 21 who through Him are believers in God, the one having raised Him from the dead and having given Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Introduction: The Exodus

About 3700 years ago, a guy by the name of Israel packed up his stuff, gathered his children together and moved to Egypt. And his family stayed there for the next four hundred years. During that four hundred years that family became a nation (the nation of Israel), which made the Pharaoh nervous. So he made them slaves, and treated them brutally. They did not have status as citizens in Egypt. Even though the people of Israel had never lived anywhere else in their entire existence, they were considered strangers and aliens in Egypt (Acts 13:17). They were strangers and they were slaves. So they cried out to God to rescue them from their horrible bondage in Egypt.

God sent a man by the name of Moses to lead them out. So Moses comes to the Pharaoh and says, “I’ve got a message from God: ‘Let My people go – or else.’”

“Or else what?”

“You don’t want to know.

You don’t want to mess with Yahweh, Pharaoh – just let them go.”

“No – I’m not afraid of your God. I won’t do it, now get lost.”

That was a very dumb move on Pharaoh’s part. God started raining down judgments on Egypt. The Israelites were protected, but everyone else in Egypt suffered – judgment after judgment in the form of plagues – nine of them. But even after all those plagues, Pharaoh still would not let them go.

So God finally takes the gloves off. He is going to send one final judgment that will be so devastating, Pharaoh will break. This time He is going to send the angel of death to go throughout the entire land of Egypt to kill all the firstborn – animals and people. Raise your hand if you were the first born in your family. Add to that all the kids in the nursery or children’s church who are not in this room right now who are firstborn. All the firstborn of all the generations would die.

And here is the crux – the thing that is different about this judgment, is the people of Israel were not automatically protected from it like they were from the others. If the Israelites wanted to be protected from this judgment, they had to take some action. God explained to them exactly what to do, and if they did it, they would be safe. But if they didn’t do it, would wake up the next morning to find that all the firstborn in the house would be dead.

Here are the instructions God gave them: Four days before the judgment came they were to pick out a one year old male lamb that was perfect – without any blemish or defect of any kind. Then the night of the judgment, they were to kill that lamb and cook it and eat it, along with unleavened bread – bread with no yeast. And they were to take some of that lamb’s blood and smear it on the doorpost of their house. Then when the angel of death came to their house, when he saw the blood, he would just pass right over that house and move on to the next one. This meal was then called the Passover meal because the angel of death would pass over that house. So the very name of this meal was designed to give the people an image of God’s devastating, deadly judgment passing right over their heads.

After they smeared the blood on the doorpost, they were to have a special meal where they ate that lamb. And God gave them some very specific instructions on how to eat this meal. For one thing, they were required to eat it with their running shoes on. This is the first time in the Bible we see the phrase “gird up your loins” which means tuck your robes into your belt so you can run.

Exodus 12:11 This is how you are to eat it: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord's Passover.