An ancient picture of salvation!
Scripture reading for January 22nd: Exodus 10-12
My wife and I adopted two girls from Russia in 1999. They were 8 and 9 years of age and spoke no English when they came to America. We were eager to share our faith in Jesus with them and took them to church each week. We had to communicate in sign language most of the time. For Easter of 2000, I used an illustrated sermon with a live lamb, a knife, a basin of red paint, and a door frame. I explained the story of the Passover lamb. That day, one of our girls prayed to receive the Lord as her Savior! Our little girl grasped what Pharaoh failed to see!
God sent Moses to decree the plagues to attack the idols of Egypt. Scripture states that Pharaoh hardened his heart through the first few plagues. (Exodus 8:15, 32) After the plague of death on Pharaoh’s animals, it states that “the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart.” (Exodus 9:12) This hardening is what happens when truth is rejected and we refuse to hear God’s voice.
The last plague was the death of all the firstborn. The only way to prevent the death of a firstborn son or daughter or animal, was to obey God’s plan. A spotless lamb was to be brought into the house on the tenth day of the month. They were to keep it until the fourteenth day and slaughter it at twilight. The elder in the home was to take blood and sprinkle it on the doorpost and over the lentil. Every family member was to be inside. The lamb was to be roasted in the fire and eaten. At midnight, the death angel would visit each household. When he saw the blood on the door post of a house, he would pass over that home.
The lamb that was slain was a picture of Jesus Christ! God did for us what we could not do for ourselves! Praise Him today for this beautiful picture of our salvation!
“Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast–as you really are, for Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed.” (1st Corinthians 5:7)
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