February 3 I Saturday

Exodus 31-33

Matthew 22:1-22

 

“The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you.”    —Exodus 12:13

 

The book of Exodus tells an important historical narrative about God intervening in history to liberate His people from 400 years of slavery in Egypt, but it also reflects another story. The best commentary on Scripture is Scripture itself, and several New Testament writers used language and events from the Exodus story to describe how God intervened once again to free us from our bondage to sin.

The first nine plagues of Egypt only hardened the hearts of Pharaoh and his officials, making them more resistant until the final plague where God sent the Angel of Death—that is, the agent of His wrath—to every Egyptian home. This plague claimed the life of every firstborn son, whether human or animal, but God offered His people a way out. They were to take a year-old lamb without defect or blemish and sacrifice it. The lamb’s blood is what bought their protection, for the angel would pass over any house where the blood had been smeared on the top and sides of their door frames. Having lost his firstborn son, Pharaoh finally conceded to letting the people go.

The sacrifice of the lambs is a foreshadowing of Christ. When John the Baptist first saw Jesus at the beginning of His ministry, he cried out, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). In the book of Revelation, the Apostle John describes Jesus as a Lamb “looking as if it had been slain,” and the blood of this Lamb has purchased for God “persons from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:6,9). Paul simply writes, “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7). 

This story of the Passover is given to us as a kind of master key to the rest of the Bible. The historical and physical deliverance of the Israelites is a picture of humanity’s deliverance from their bondage to sin. We are all born into a state of spiritual death inherited from Adam. Spiritual death is separation from God, which is why we desperately need Jesus. We cannot escape our sinful natures, and no amount of good deeds or human cunning will free us from the corruption of the human heart, which enslaves us to sin. Only Jesus can free us because He was the unblemished Lamb without defect who paid the price for our sin. All we have to offer is a repentant heart and a willingness to believe, knowing we can experience freedom and life because Jesus, our Passover Lamb, shed His blood for us.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for sacrificing Yourself so I could be freed from my slavery to sin and receive life in You. Grant me opportunities to share this message of grace with others. Thank You, Lord.


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