When I See The Blood

When God delivered the Children of Israel from slavery in Egypt, He sent ten plagues on the Egyptians. The last plague was the most severe. Every firstborn in Egypt, both man and beast, were struck dead by the angel of The Lord. The plague was so severe that Pharaoh finally relented and let God’s people go. Israel had been under the yoke of bondage for over 400 years, and now, they were free. The Jewish feast of Passover now commemorates what God did for the nation of Israel on that night. As Christians, we do not observe Passover, but that does not mean the Passover has no significance. For us, the Passover is symbolic of the Cross, when God poured out His wrath on the Spotless Lamb.

The Promise
Abraham is called “a friend of God” (James 2:21), but there was nothing special about this man from Ur. Abraham was a nobody. He had no children, nor could he because his wife Sarah was well past the age of childbearing. But God called this 75-year-old nobody, and told him, “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great” (Gen. 12:2). Why would God call a 75-year-old man, with no children, and make him a great nation?

The answer is so Abraham, and his seed, would have absolutely no reason to boast in their ability or worthiness. If a nation were to come out of the loins of a childless 75-year-old man, only God would get the glory. God did not fulfill His promise of a son for another 25 years, when Abraham was 100. Even more of a miracle!

But why did God need a nation? That can be answered in the second part of this great promise. “I will make of you a great nation…” Why? “So that you will be a blessing…and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed,” (Gen 12:2, 3). God had ordained before the foundation of the world, that He would send His Son into the world, to redeem a sinful human race. He chose the seed of Abraham to be that nation, from which the Messiah would come. A nation needs land, so God bequeathed to Abraham’s offspring, the land of Canaan. The land would come later (470 years to be exact). Between the promise and the realization of that promise, Isaac and Jacob would be born, Israel would seek relief from a famine in Egypt, and Egypt would enslave and oppress them for 430 years.

Deliverance
There was nothing special about Moses either. He wasn’t even supposed to be alive. If Pharaoh had his way, he would’ve been dead. His mother hid him in order to keep Pharaoh’s wicked policy of killing all Hebrew males from being carried out. Then an unlikely figure (only if you know nothing of God’s providence) stepped in and ensured that he would live to see adulthood. Pharaoh’s own daughter discovered him down by the river and adopted him as her own. Later when he was grown, he should have been arrested for murder and executed, but God spared his life. Now, here was this man, who by any objective measure is not an impressive man. He was so poor at speaking, he needed his brother Aaron to do the talking for him. Yet he was God’s chosen vessel to lead His people out of Egypt. Time and time again, by the authority of Almighty God, he boldly demanded that Pharaoh let Israel go. Time and time again, Pharaoh hardened his heart and refused. For this defiance, God poured out his judgment on Egypt. Water was turned to blood. Crops were devastated. Livestock, decimated. Vegetation, obliterated. Hail and fire fell from the sky. Darkness so great, it blanketed the land. Yet after all this, pride gripped Pharaoh; he yet again refuses to let Israel go. God sent one final judgment on Egypt, and by far, this final plague was the most severe.

Salvation
Severe as the last plague may have been, God provides a way to escape His wrath. Each house is to take a lamb or goat without blemish, and kill it. They are to eat the lamb or goat with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They are to take some of the blood and put it on the doorposts and lintel of the house. This seems like a strange command, but God explains why Israel is to do this: 
“It is the Lord’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgements,” (Ex. 12:11b-12).

After all the years of slavery and oppression, God is finally going to save His people from the hand of the Egyptians. It was 430 years later, and God’s promise to Abraham is about to be realized.
 
“And when I see the blood, I will pass over you…” (Ex 12:13)

The blood had to be on the doorposts and lintels. Otherwise, the angel of God would not pass over that house, and the firstborn in that house would die. This no doubt took faith on the part of the individual families of Israel. They had to believe that the only thing standing in the way of death and life was the blood of the lamb. Their act of obedience is not what spared their lives. It was the faith in God that the blood would be enough.
 
Likewise, Satan has held us in slavery for our entire lives. Did you know that? If you are not in Christ, you are a slave to Satan, who keeps you in the yoke of sin. Jesus Christ is both our Deliverer, and our Spotless Lamb. When we are in bondage, Christ delivers us from the hand of our taskmaster. He overthrows his power in our lives, and sets us free from the bondage of sin, and gives us new freedom in Him. When we by faith cover the doorposts of our hearts with the blood of The Lamb, we are spared from the wrath of God. The only thing that separates us between damnation and eternal life is the blood of The Lamb. Jesus said that unless we eat His flesh, and drink His blood, that we have no life in us (Jn 6:53-58). His blood is the only way to be cleansed from our sins. It is by faith, and faith alone that we are able to eat and drink of His flesh and blood, whereby we are saved.

Friend, are you covered by the blood of The Lamb? I urge you to repent of your sins, recognize that your only hope is in the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Faith in Christ and only faith in Christ applies the blood to your heart. You can’t apply it any other way. Good works won’t do it. Church attendance won’t do it. Neither will church membership or taking communion. It is only the blood of Jesus. His promise to you is that when He sees the blood, He will pass over you.