“For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.” – Exodus 12:23
The Exodus is the central event of the Old Testament. It is the revelation of God to His people and His miraculous rescue of them from slavery and suffering in Egypt. The story is reiterated throughout the Old Testament and commanded to be re-told year after year, generation after generation. At the heart of it is the Passover, the 10th plague upon Egypt, the death of every firstborn. Though the Lord surely knew who His people were, He required each household to sacrifice a lamb and cover their doorframe with the blood of that lamb. Only those homes covered by the blood of the lamb would be spared from God’s wrath.
This was a powerful, vivid preparation for the coming work of Jesus, the Son AND Lamb of God. What God did in Egypt long ago illustrated what God was already planning to do for everyone centuries later. At the right time, God sent His eternal Son into our world to be the ultimate, final, perfect Passover sacrifice. Jesus was nailed to a cross to suffer and die at the time when the Passover lambs were sacrificed because it is His blood that protects His people from God’s righteous wrath for our sins. It’s only by placing our faith in Jesus that we are covered by His blood and shielded from the judgment we deserve for our sins.
Are you covered by the blood of the Lamb? Have you entrusted your life and salvation to Jesus, the Lamb of God? There’s no amount of personal righteousness, good deeds, generosity, or self-discipline that can provide the covering of perfect holiness required to avert God’s just judgment for what you’ve thought, said, and done in your life. But the righteousness, good deeds, generosity, and self-discipline of Jesus, the sinless Son of God, will freely cover you if you believe.
If you’re already covered by His blood, then who in your life remains uncovered? Who needs your prayers and your words of loving truth in order to get to know the Lamb for themselves? #FollowJesus