April 5, 2019
The Precious Blood of the Lamb
Exodus 12:1-28
Hannah Beckwith
Central Truth
Just as God passed over the Israelites' households because of the blood painted on their doorposts, the blood of Christ—sacrificed on our behalf—allows us to pass from the judgment of death to eternal life when we trust in Him.
Key Verse | Exodus 12:12
"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 judgments: I am the LORD."
Exodus 12:1-28
The Passover
1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. 1 12:6 Hebrew between the two evenings
7 Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. 10 And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11 In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD's Passover. 12 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 judgments: I am the LORD. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.
14 This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. 15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you. 17 And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. 18 In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19 For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. 20 You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.”
21 Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. 23 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. 24 You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. 25 And when you come to the land that the LORD will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. 26 And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD's Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.
28 Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
Dive Deeper | Exodus 12:1-28
Not only did the Passover become an annual way for the Jews to reflect on their deliverance from slavery in Egypt, it also simultaneously pointed to God's intention for a greater future rescue. The Passover was a celebration of God making a provision for His people by allowing them to sacrifice a lamb instead of their firstborn sons.
Christ's death in the New Testament is a picture of the same idea (1 Corinthians 5:7) and provides a parallel demonstration of God's provision for His people. When we trust in the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ, the Lamb of God (John 1:29), God passes over us—sparing us from judgment—and instead offers us eternal life with Him and deliverance from slavery to sin.
I am struck by the fact that for the Israelites in Egypt, the blood of the lamb served as a vivid, outward expression that a life had to be sacrificed to protect those inside the home. The blood functioned as a sign and a seal—a sign that those inside were God's people and a seal that appropriated the Lord's protection from death. The blood of Christ similarly functions as our sign and seal.
The Israelites could not hide this striking reminder. Anyone who passed by their house would know the occupants belonged to God. Even though Christ's blood functions for us in the same way as the blood of the lambs did for the Jews, I am convicted that I do not always allow His blood to be painted over the doorposts of my life. I do not always live consecrated and set apart as one of God's people.
Would my neighbors know that I belonged to the God of the Passover because of the blood over my doorposts? Do I live in a way that indicates I trust that God acts on behalf of His people and that the blood of the Lamb is enough to satisfy Him? Do we live as people who have passed over from death and judgment to our new lives in Christ?
Discussion Questions
1. Do you have a hard time understanding why God would kill all the Egyptian firstborn sons? Look back at Exodus 1:15-16.
2. What are some ways the Passover anticipates the death of Christ?
3. In what ways are you tempted to hide that you belong to God and are sanctified by the blood of Christ?
4. Pray that the Lord would give you an opportunity and the boldness to share with someone today about the precious blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:17-19).