Spiritual oppression is the direct result of sin that we have inherited, and when an individual refuses to acknowledge this slavery to sin and Satan, the downward spiral into oppression begins <see Rom.1:18-32>. Many attempts can be made to be free of this captivity, but unless something, or someone greater influences or controls our life, the captivity of Satan only worsens (see “The Empty House” <Matt.12:38-45> posted 8/17/2019). So, after many requests have been made for Pharaoh to allow the Israelites to make their “three-day journey” to worship their God, God Himself has to intervene, and His judgment is declared: “I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn — both men and animals — and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.” <Ex.12:12 (NIV)>. The judgment of God is for all the inhabitants of Egypt, including the Israelites, for all mankind is guilty of sin and is deserving of the penalty <see Rom.3:23; 6:23>; so God must now make a way of escape for the Israelites, and that way of escape is a picture of what Christ accomplished on the Cross at Calvary for all mankind – Jew and Gentile. The judgment of God on Egypt is also a representation of what is to come upon a world that has totally rejected God <see 2 Pet.2:9-21>, and that day of judgment is predetermined by God and will take place. It will be at the most unexpected time, when in a flash like lightening The Lord Jesus Christ will appear to execute His judgment <see 2 Thess.1:7-8>; and as it occurred in Egypt there will be a great cry of the people <Ex.12:30; cf Rev.6:16>, but it will be unfortunate for those that experience this judgment that their cry for relief will go unheeded for they refused to acknowledge God’s Salvation <see Prov.1:24-26, 28-29; Lk.17:26-30>.
To escape this calamity, God provided a way for the Israelites: “each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household…. all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight…. take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses. 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. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.” <Ex.12:3, 6, 7, 13 (NIV)>. For the Egyptians it was a night of judgment, but for the Israelites, God provided a ransom and deliverance for their first-born sons; “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn — both men and animals — and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.” <Ex.12:12 (NIV)>; and in these verses of Scripture we see an Old Testament illustration of God’s Redemption provided for all mankind – Salvation from sin and the escape from Satan’s captivity.
In these verses of Exodus 12 we see the institution of the Passover – still celebrated annually by the Jewish communities, which is a picture of God’s great salvation accomplished through the death, burial and resurrection of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The entire Old Testament and the New Testament proclaims one theme: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” <Rev.5:9 (NIV); see also Rev.1:5; Eph.1:7>, and we find today that many teach that our salvation can be obtained in “other ways” and not by the blood of Christ; what they preach is a blood-less religion, just what Pharaoh wanted of the Israelites, but not what God has established, and such teaching will only keep the individual under Satan’s captivity <see Acts 4:12; Heb.9:22>. We are certain that this Passover speaks specifically of Christ <see 1 Cor.5:7b>.
First, we see in the Passover; “The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect” <Ex.12:5 (NIV)>, and in this we see that Christ, as a lamb was led to the slaughter <Isa.53:7>, he was “without defect”, for if there was a defect, the animal could not be used as a sacrifice, so Christ was perfect or sinless <1 Pet.2:22; 2 Cor.5:21; 1 Jn.3:5>. Christ was perfect in all His life, and even at His trial Pilate could find no fault in Him <Jn.18:38b>. Next, we see the testing period for the purity of the animal; “Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month” <Ex.12:5 (NIV)>, for any defect would surely be seen during this time. Similarly, Christ was tested in every way by God, by demons, by Satan, by Pilate, the centurion at the cross <see Matt.3:17; 4:11; Mk.1:24; Lk.23:41, 47>, and found to be holy and righteous and without sin; for if there was any “defect” in Christ, He could not be an atoning sacrifice for our sins <1 Jn.2:2>. We also see that the animal was to be killed in the evening; “all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.” <Ex.12:6 (NIV)>; then God’s judgment came at midnight <Ex.12:12>; so today we live in the day of God’s grace but very soon the midnight hour will come, and God’s judgment will be poured out upon an unbelieving world. There will be no escape for every sinner was represented around the cross of Christ, there was human wisdom, mankind’s power, mankind’s religion, all seen in the inscription placed on His cross in Hebrew, Greek and Latin, all in agreement that The Son of God had to die, and in His death enemies became friends <Lk.23:12; Matt.27:36-37; Jn.19:19-20>.
Finally, we see that “they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.” <Ex.12:7 (NIV)>. The significance of this is very important to the entire Passover!
In this is seen a picture of salvation for the sinner; salvation, when accepted spares the individual from the judgment of God for all sin and sinners: “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. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.” <Ex.12:13 (NIV)>. It was the blood alone that secured salvation, then and now, for all sinners, nothing else delivers us from the captivity of sin and Satan, and that was the whole purpose of Christ’s death on the cross; His blood was shed there for our salvation and redemption <Rom.5:9; 3:25; 1 Thess.1:10>. There was nothing else that spared the Israelite people from God’s judgment; not Moses, not the slaughtered lamb, not the way they were dressed <Ex.12:11>, or the feast of the roasted lamb; nothing else but the blood, for God had said “when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you”, we are no longer under the condemnation of God or the Law, for we have been set free by Christ <Rom.8:1>.
How is it with you? Are you sheltered from God’s judgment by Christ’s shed blood? It should be noted from the text that none of the blood was applied to the doorstep or sprinkled on the floor, the blood was not to be trodden on, and so it should be in reference to the blood of Christ. Many today consider the shed blood of Christ to be worthless, corruption of the scriptures is rampant in our society by false teaching, and corrupt Christianity considers this as not appropriate for faith, only to be using Christ’s blood as a stepping stone to sure judgment <see Heb.10:29-31>.
So, an escape was provided for the Israelites from their captivity as slaves of Pharaoh; and likewise, salvation has been provided for all mankind who are slaves to sin and Satan.
I would like to say awesome blog!
Thank you!