Read Exodus 11
Highlights:
Israel's salvation was through the blood from the Passover lamb. In terrifying contrast was the death of all the Egyptian firstborn. The Exodus is the central event of the Old Testament as the Blood of Christ is in the New.
Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats (Ex. 12:5).
A Holy God does not ignore sin. The Egyptians and the Israelites alike were sinners by nature. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). According to God's purpose the death sentence was passed upon all the firstborn in the land of Egypt (Ex. 11:5) where Israelites and Egyptians both dwelt. However, God provided a way of deliverance for the Israelites because of His Covenant with Abraham. But it was surely not by works of their righteousness — they had none. The sentence of death must be executed, but for all who believed in the One True God, a substitute was offered. It's blood was applied as God had directed.
Some might have said: “I have no need for the blood; I'm a descendant of Abraham. Furthermore, I was circumcised on the eighth day and am now recognized as a true Jew. Also, everybody knows I'm a good moral person.” But none of these reasons would have kept the death angel from executing the death sentence upon the firstborn. It was personal faith in God and the sacrificial blood of the lamb that made the difference between life and death. When the angel of God's judgment saw the blood upon the houses of the Israelites, he passed over as promised: When I see the blood, I will pass over you (Ex. 12:13). This was because death had already taken place; the innocent had died in the place of the guilty. Christians are not only to recognize the Passover sacrifice by Christ, but also it is their own responsibility to keep the feast by living a sincere and godly life (12:13-14; 1 Cor. 5:6-8).
The old life and all that it meant in Egypt was gone. This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you (Ex. 12:2). The same is true for a believer today: Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2 Cor. 5:17). All that attracted our attention in the old life — the honors, the riches, the pleasures, the so-called attractions of life — are contrary to spiritual values and cannot bring eternal life. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life (John 3:36).
The lamb was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Passover sacrificed for us: Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1 Cor. 5:7-8).
Thought for Today:
“Are you washed in the blood, in the soul cleansing blood of the Lamb?”
Christ Revealed:
Through the sacrifice of lambs without blemish. Not one of the lambs' bones was to be broken (Ex. 12:5,46). We were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot (I Pet. 1:19). It was foretold of Christ: He keepeth all His bones: not one of them is broken (Ps. 34:20; John 19:36).
Word Studies:
11:2 borrow, ask, accept; 12:9 sodden, boiled; purtenance thereof, inner organs of an animal; 12:11 loins girded, dressed for a journey; 13:2 Sanctify, Dedicate, Set apart; 13:12 matrix, womb; 13:18 harnessed, armed, equipped.
Prayer Suggestion: Ask that the will of God be done in your life (Luke 22:42).
Optional Reading: Matthew 21
Memory Verse for the Week: Psalms 100:4