Cover to Cover

Reading: Exodus 12:1-14:31

Focus: Exodus 12:21-23

Let’s get straight to the point. Half the time when we read the Old Testament, it’s hard to understand how everything fits. The stories are nice, but sometimes they just seem like myths and legends of an ancient peoples. Then there’s the laws and we are grateful for the foundations that they have set for much of the Western world, until you find weird laws about what you can eat and what do when there’s mould in your house…? Then you get into the mystical prophecies and people have tried to make weird events fit into these words. How do these stories, traditions and rituals, all fit into the greater scheme of things for us Christians living in the 21st century?

However, once in a while you come across gems which highlight the events of that day and its relevance to us today. One such gem is found within the first Passover narrative, with the instructions Moses gave the Israelites being our particular focus. Moses instructed the Israelites to find a lamb and kill it, then using a hyssop plant, paint the door-frames of one’s house the blood of the lamb. When “the destroyer” or an angel of death was to go through the land of Egypt, the blood would be a sign and the angel would go to the pass-over the house.

My immediate reaction was: JESUS! Around 2000 years ago, He came and He was chosen to be the final Passover Lamb for the people of, not just Israel but, the world. His blood was shed, it was taken and painted upon the hearts of those who received it freely. When the day of Judgment comes, His blood will be a testimony to the Lord God and He will pass-over us in His judgment where we will then proceed through the pearly gates of heaven into Paradise.

The Old Testament is full of stories, laws, prophecies, and they all point forward to a future time when God will redeem His people. The first instalment of the story ends with Jesus. He came and He opened the road ahead so that we might make our journey towards the celestial city and walk through its pearly gates. The second instalment of the story is still being written in each of our lives and will come to an end when Jesus returns a second time to gather all those on the journey and take us home.

Just as God sought to release the people from the slave bondage of Egypt, so too, today, does God seek to release people from the bondage of sin. Jesus was sent to shed His blood as the ultimate Passover Lamb, so that sin’s chains would no longer have its hold over us. Our response, rightfully, should be nothing short of absolute gratitude to the sacrifice that was made, accompanied by our utmost dedication and commitment to live a life worthy of His name and sacrifice.

Next Reading: Genesis 15:1-17:16