Exodus 12:21-27
21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. 23 When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.
24“Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. 25 When you enter the land the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. 26 And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped.
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When you run into Moses in heaven some day (perhaps at the local Krispy Kreme where they serve up heavenly ho-ho-host Christmas do-nut holes and angel food cupcakes), there are a few things you’ll probably want to ask him.
– How did that little basket not leak, and did you meet any turtles or snakes before the pharaoh’s daughter fished you out of the Nile?
– What kind of pencil did you use to write the 10 commandments on the stone tablets?
– Did you consider stopping and asking for directions during the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness? (Just kidding. We know about the cloud and the pillar of fire. This is a 20th century joke women tell about men.)
– Did you realize that youth groups would still be singing “I will sing unto the Lord for He has triumphed gloriously, the horse and rider thrown into the sea” in 2024 — about your adventures leading the Israelites across the Red Sea?
– How well did you and your brother Aaron really get along?
– It’s a shame S’mores had not been invented at the time of the burning bush…. But, I digress.
– What was your favorite plague (of the first nine. The tenth is nothing to joke about.)
– Did you take a cat with you from Egypt?
– Did manna taste like chicken?
– How long did it take for your face to stop glowing after being in the Lord God’s presence? Or did you just continue to glow in the dark occasionally afterwards? Did this keep you awake at night?
– How long did it take you to realize that God can use reluctant leaders who doubt their qualifications to do what he calls us to do? (Some of us are still working on that one, by the way.)
– Most importantly, how do you view Jesus, the Son of God, the Savior of all Israel, the Gentiles, and everyone to walk to face of the earth forevermore? What foreshadowing of understanding did God the Father share with you about what was to come in the second half of the Bible?
In today’s passage, here we are again at #10, the plague of the firstborn. Our Jewish brothers and sisters still celebrate the Passover, when the angel of death passed over Hebrew families who did as God required and spread the blood of a sacrificed lamb on their doorposts. The Egyptians did not follow God’s command, and even the firstborn son of the pharoah was killed that night, along with all the other eldest who were unprotected by the blood. This was the final straw, and the Israelites were freed. Chased later, but set free, nonetheless.
Christians still sing a hymn called “Power in the Blood” because of this universal truth. There IS power in the sacrificial blood of Jesus, who took our place and died on a cross to free us from death and sin. Jesus has many names across the years of human existence: The Prince of Peace, the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings, Immanuel, the Lion of Judah, the Alpha and the Omega. But in Exodus, to God’s servant Moses, Jesus was the Passover Lamb. Praise God, he still saves us through the power of his blood, willingly shed for us on the cross! Hallelujah!
– Mrs. Nancy Cardwell Webster