Redemption (Exodus 12)
This is where the journey begins: in Egypt.
Israel is enslaved (and has been for generations). They are completely unable to save themselves; God has to send Moses to force Pharaoh to let them go. The preceding few months have seen a trial of strength - not between Moses and Pharaoh, nor between the Israelites and their oppressors, but between two rival spiritual powers. One by one, nine plagues have undermined the credibility of Egyptian religion; the final plague, the death of the firstborn sons, will expose it as completely worthless. During the previous plagues, Israel have been spared automatically; but this time each individual household has to advertise their commitment to God by displaying the blood of a slaughtered lamb – signifying that a death has already taken place. (God doesn’t ‘need’ such a sign to recognise His own people, but they need to understand the mechanism by which they will be spared.)
In every house in Egypt, someone dies that night – either the firstborn son, or the lamb that has taken his place. At this catastrophic calamity, Pharaoh capitulates, and the Israelites are ordered to leave immediately. Those who sheltered behind the bloodstained door that first Passover night are able to go out the next morning and head for the Promised Land. Their new life of freedom has begun!
And this is also where our spiritual journey begins.
We too - all of us - are born in slavery. We are enslaved to idols (Galatians 4:8), to the fear of death (Hebrews 2:15), or simply to a life of emptiness and futility (I Peter 1:18). In one way or another, Satan holds us in his grip, and none of us can get free by our own efforts. God must intervene - and He has done so, by sending His Son on a rescue mission. “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)
Jesus is our Passover Lamb (I Corinthians 5:7), the sacrifice that satisfies God’s judgement against the whole rebellious world. He died in the place of all those who freely choose to put their trust in Him and shelter behind His blood. And when we do, we are immediately set free. But, like the Israelites, we are still inside ‘Egyptian’ territory. We have a long way to go…
This is where the journey begins: in Egypt.
Israel is enslaved (and has been for generations). They are completely unable to save themselves; God has to send Moses to force Pharaoh to let them go. The preceding few months have seen a trial of strength - not between Moses and Pharaoh, nor between the Israelites and their oppressors, but between two rival spiritual powers. One by one, nine plagues have undermined the credibility of Egyptian religion; the final plague, the death of the firstborn sons, will expose it as completely worthless. During the previous plagues, Israel have been spared automatically; but this time each individual household has to advertise their commitment to God by displaying the blood of a slaughtered lamb – signifying that a death has already taken place. (God doesn’t ‘need’ such a sign to recognise His own people, but they need to understand the mechanism by which they will be spared.)
In every house in Egypt, someone dies that night – either the firstborn son, or the lamb that has taken his place. At this catastrophic calamity, Pharaoh capitulates, and the Israelites are ordered to leave immediately. Those who sheltered behind the bloodstained door that first Passover night are able to go out the next morning and head for the Promised Land. Their new life of freedom has begun!
And this is also where our spiritual journey begins.
We too - all of us - are born in slavery. We are enslaved to idols (Galatians 4:8), to the fear of death (Hebrews 2:15), or simply to a life of emptiness and futility (I Peter 1:18). In one way or another, Satan holds us in his grip, and none of us can get free by our own efforts. God must intervene - and He has done so, by sending His Son on a rescue mission. “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)
Jesus is our Passover Lamb (I Corinthians 5:7), the sacrifice that satisfies God’s judgement against the whole rebellious world. He died in the place of all those who freely choose to put their trust in Him and shelter behind His blood. And when we do, we are immediately set free. But, like the Israelites, we are still inside ‘Egyptian’ territory. We have a long way to go…