MosesSýnishorn

The ten plagues listed from Exodus chapters 7 to 12 devastated Egypt on every level. The accompanying miracle to these plagues was that the Israelites were unaffected and protected from them. God simultaneously showed His curse on Pharaoh’s kingdom and His favor on His people. While the Egyptians believed Pharaoh controlled the elements of nature, God proved His complete control over all creation, including the sun.

If God had sent Moses to lead an opposing army and show military might, that would be speaking Pharaoh’s language and also be able to be explained in human terms. Even sending angels could be understood, but rather God harnessed and controlled nature as well as the elements. These methods delivered the message on God’s terms, spoken in His language, not Pharaoh’s. Animals that were normally little to no consequence to humans became a massive threat. Water that was a source of life turned into a symbol of death. Light disappeared and darkness reigned as it was in the beginning of time. Creation turned to chaos to fight the Egyptians.

And, now, in the end, God will show His power over life and death. Pharaoh had failed in his attempt to kill the Israelite first-born deliverer. Now God would not fail in His promised deliverance through His servant, not His soldier.

Watch today’s clip as God gives explicit instructions for the Passover, offering life over death. 

The sacrificial lamb from which each family had to gather blood for their doorpost is a foreshadowing of the blood of the final sacrificial Lamb—Jesus. The blood that Jesus shed on the cross, when allowed to be spread around the doorpost of our own hearts, offers for the salvation of our own souls. The “passing over” of the death that moved through the land that night was because of the blood-marked homes. The “passing over” of eternal death occurs when the blood of Christ marks our hearts. The lamb’s shed blood meant new life with a fresh start was about to come to the children of Israel. In Christ, the Lamb of God’s shed blood means new life with a fresh start that comes to the now-adopted child of God.

What does the Passover, connected to the death and Resurrection of Christ, mean to you? Have you accepted the shed blood of the Lamb of God to redeem your own heart, bringing you new life?