Exodus 12 | The God Who Passes Over

The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:13)

Moses recorded for us, in Exodus, Chapter 12, one of the most amazing moments in human history. Pharaoh had refused to let Israel go after 430 years in bondage. But God came with a series of judgments to show Pharaoh and the whole nation and the Israelites that there was only one true God. A God who should be bowed down to and served.

A final judgment came in one night as God took every firstborn son from the Egyptian households in death. But among the 1 million+ Israelites, not a single child died.

WHY?

THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB

God had told them to kill an unblemished lamb and place its blood on the doorposts of their homes. When the death angel came, if there was blood he “passed over” this house.

This sober moment was to be memorialized and remembered by the Israelites every single year (they observe it to this day). But it was a remembrance of what happened and a reminder of what was coming. God was going to send a Lamb who would be slain. His sacrifice, when applied to our lives, would cause God to forgive our sins and Passover—with His righteous judgments—our lives. His blood would save us and redeem us.

And that Lamb was named Jesus.

OUR FAITH

But there was something else that this moment required: the Israelites had to believe in the lamb and its shed blood and act accordingly. They could not trust in themselves or their good works or their human abilities to save them. They had to believe in the lamb. Nothing else would work.

And so now, the only thing that saves us is the blood of Jesus Christ. But the requirement for this to be applied to our lives is faith. We must turn from trusting in ourselves, our human goodness and ability, and believe in Jesus Christ and what HE DID ON THE CROSS, as our only path to forgiveness and salvation.

Hallelujah for the God who provides the Lamb for our salvation!

Father, thank You for sending the Lamb! For Christ who took our place on the cross, bearing our sins so that we could be forgiven. Thank you for helping us to believe in You and turn from trusting in ourselves and our good works to trust in Christ and His sacrifice as our only hope to be forgiven from all our sin. And thank You, Lord, for saving us … for all eternity!