The Passover
Exit/Entrance
The Lord has laid on me today the awesome task and responsibility to show how the blood of Christ has been the means of exit from bondage and the means of entrance to the freedom which God gives.
First, in the Book of Exodus the 12 chapter we are made aware of a new word called the Passover. Before now there was never any mention of this word.
The word is introduced by a dialoged or more precisely a monologue that God had with Moses.
The events leading up to this monologue is well rehearsed in religious circles and no doubt each of us is well aware of them. Briefly, though, we may summarize how God had heard the cries of the Israelites who were being oppressed by the Egyptians under a Pharaoh, who did not know Joseph and the contribution which he had made to the society. This Pharaoh had become afraid of the economic and the population growth among the Israelites and had become threatened by their growing influence, feeling that they would one day overthrow the Egyptian government. As a result he made the Children of Israel slaves. The children of Israel bore the excruciating burden of servitude for many years and theh burden had become more than they could bear. They therefore cried unto God for deliverance from this bondage. God in-turn raised up Moses and later Aaron to be the ones to deliver the Israelites from Egyptian bondage.
Moses was sent to Pharaoh, and requested that he let the children of Israel go that they may worship the Lord their God. This antagonized Pharaoh, and he stubbornly refused to accede to Moses’s request. As a result, his nation, was hit with several divinely inspired plaques; the final being the death of the entire first born in Egypt.
Our discourse finds its genesis here. Exodus 12:1 and the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying, this month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you….
Your lamb should be with out blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep or the goats…and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the house, wherein they shall eat it… For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the first born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.”
First we see God giving specific instructions:
“this shall be unto you the beginning of month: it shall be the first month of the year to you.”
Second, He instructs that each person do something: “In the tenth day of the month they shall take to them every man a lamb with out blemish from the sheep or the goats.
Third, he instructs what is to be done with the lamb: “And the whole congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening, and shall take the blood and strike it on the two sides of the posts and on the upper door of the house wherein they shall eat it…..
Fourth, He told them how the lamb was to be eaten: And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s Passover.
Fifth, He makes a promise: "For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the first born in the land of Egypt, both of man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord"
Sixth, He gives the purpose of the blood. “And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt."
It is important for us to note, that God is omniscience, omnipotent and omnipresence this means that he knows all things, he is every where at the same time and he is all powerful. therefore, we may conclude that he did not need the blood on the door post to know where the Israelites were; he may have used this as a means to test their faith, their obedience. We know that this whole episode pointed to the work which Christ would perform in the redemption of man kind by shedding his blood on Calvary; those who accept by faith Christ’s sacrifical death would be save from their sins and ultimatley death.
Today, we may observe that the children of Israel were in physical bondage; they were literally slaves. They had to give tribute or taxes to the Egyptian Government. This government had become tyrannical and abusive and held no regards for human rights. This kind of repressive behavior is likened to that which we experience before we accept what Jesus did for us on Calvary. Satan holds us captive; he is a rigid task master, he has no regards for our spiritual lives or our eternal salvation. He is hell bent on settling what is to him, a score between himself and God.
My friends, the blood that was applied to the post, represented the blood of Christ. The post represents our hearts; and each person must have the blood applied to himself in order to escape eternal death. Not even in Israel, could they have hidden to apply the blood. It must have been done in view of the congregation of the people.
The next thing which we must observe is that this event was a means by which God demonstrated that he has the power to eliminate the first born or the successor to the family structure. Once the male fist born is dead, it creates a situation in the lineage. The lineage is broken. Therefore by destroying the first born of Egypt God was actually freeing all people, the lineage of Sin and the hold of Satan on all class of people was being destroyed. Egypt represents satan’s domain and God had essentially destroyed the first born of Satan’s kingdom. Sin had no mre sway on the people.
Then we observed that this event was also a means by which God would judge the gods of Egypt. In other words he would hold court and show them that they were all guilty and would be punished. He also demonstrated to them that, they would no longer have control over Adam’s race and that their final destiny was now being decided even though it would be delayed.
Just as God had said he would do, he did.
It is also important to note that there would be no time for procrastination; the exit would be immediate and therefore, all must be in a state of readiness. There will be no time to make ready; when the clarion call is made all must gos go, all must be prepared to move.
It is recorded
And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the first born in the land of Egypt, from the first born of Pharaoh that sat on the throne unto the first born of all the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the first born of cattle.”
This was indeed a total deliverance for the entire heathen race. God used the death of the first born of the Israelite’s cattle to work their salvation and he used the death of the firstborn of the Egyptians to work their salvation from the scourge of Satan. It was indeed a grand entrance for one and a grand exit for the other.
My friends, it would seem that the death of the first born of Egypt was a punishment for Pharaoh, but in reality it was a show of strength that the gods of the Egyptians could not protect them from the God of the Hebrews. And even though the devil meant harm to the Israelites, God turned it around for good; even to the Egyptians for on this night salvation had come to the Egyptian’s house.
The bible further records:
“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 there was not a dead and he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel and go and serve the Lord as ye have said. Also take your flocks and your herds as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also.”
