Exodus 9 (Read Here)
Exodus 10 (Read Here)
Exodus 11 (Read Here)
Exodus 12:1-28 (Read Here)
Exodus 8:29-51 (Read Here)
“The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are.
And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.”
Exodus 12:13
What is something you have seen recently that delighted your soul? Maybe it was a meal prepared for you that you knew would hit the spot. Maybe it was a person you really enjoy whom you were really glad to see. Maybe it was something in nature or even manmade that led you to pause and take in its wonder. As I write this, I’m eating breakfast at a Mcdonald’s in Atlanta, GA. It’s raining outside, and I’m enjoying the sight of the overcast clouds and pouring rain. Rainy days are pretty relaxing, right?! I’m enjoying watching different kinds of people going about their day. Construction workers are picking up a meal on their way to work. An elderly couple beside me enjoys sweet tea and playing video games on their laptops. All of this brings a unique delight to my soul.
This week, you read through the final five plagues and the persistence of Pharaoh’s hard heart in not listening to God. All of this tension crescendos into a final plague that serves as a HUGE landmark in the story of God. In Exodus 12, we come to the first Passover meal, which points to something so much bigger than just an order of well-done lamb with a side of bread and bitter herbs. The Israelites were to take a spotless lamb, slaughter it, spread its blood on their doorposts, and eat all of its cooked flesh by twilight. The destroyer would come as an instrument of God’s holy wrath upon every home to take the firstborn of those who did not apply the blood of the lamb on their door frame. Israel was spared, Egypt was not. What made the difference? The blood applied.
But what does this mean for us? The Lord sees all things (Genesis 16:13, Proverbs 15:3, Psalm 33:14, Hebrews 4:13). He sees things that delight Him (Genesis 1, 2 Chronicles 16:9, ) and He sees things that provoke His just anger (Exodus 32:9, Jeremiah 13:27, 16:7, Deuteronomy 9:13). As a follower of Jesus, there are things about you that God sees with delight. He delights in how he made you, your personality, the way you laugh, the beautiful ways you contribute to the world, your love, your kindness, and all the many ways that you reflect His image in the world. There are also things in your life he sees that displease him, such as that sin you keep going back to, your prideful comparison of yourself with others, the way you put yourself down as if you are the judge of your life, and the way you boast in yourself as if you’re not a recipient of grace. But the driving question in all God’s seeing is: what is His overall disposition toward you as he sees you now? I see things in my kids that delight me and I also see things that make me want to explode. And yet, because they’re my kids I always see them with the eyes of a father who loves his kids and would do anything for their good.
What makes the difference in how God sees you right now? Answer: the blood applied. For hundreds of years, the Israelites would feast and remember the day that God’s holy wrath passed over their homes simply because of the blood of the lamb on their doorposts. God did not look at the blood and something else in addition. It was simply the blood. The blood served as a sign of substitutionary sacrifice on their behalf. Though Israel deserved the same judgment for sin as the Egyptians, what made the difference was that a substitute stood in their place. Judgment came upon the substitute so they could be passed over.
What a cause for annual remembrance and worship (Exodus 12:27)! And yet, something truer and better would come as John the Baptist proclaims toward the man coming toward him, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29)! Then the Lamb of God, Jesus, at Passover, on the evening before his death, during supper with his followers, “…he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And likewise, the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood’” (Luke 22:19–20). What Jesus is telling you and I is that His blood makes all the difference! All of God’s holy wrath passes over those who trust in this Lamb, in His broken body, and shed blood. What does God see in your life that gives Him a disposition of steadfast love and unwavering grace toward you right now? What makes the difference? The blood applied. Nothing in addition. Thank you, Jesus!!!
Further Worship in Reading and Listening: