December 10: Jesus in the Exodus

Your lamb shall be without blemish . . . Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it . . . The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. 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 12:5, 7, 13, ESV

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! - John 1:29, ESV

For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. - 1 Cor. 5:7, ESV

Jesus in Exodus:
Our Passover Lamb Has Saved Us from God's Wrath
and Delivered Us from Bondage

God's people were in bondage. They toiled under harsh taskmasters and had no freedom over their own destiny. This situation was not unique to the Egyptian enslavement of the Israelites before God led them out by the hand of Moses. This is the history of every one of God's people. We are born in bondage. Jesus said, "Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin." (John 8:34) Our bondage is deep and real, stronger than death and longer than our lives. 

When God's people were enslaved in Egypt, God delivered them in a particular way:

1. He sent a deliverer who would speak the truth and confront those in power oppressing God's people.

2. Through the message and actions of this deliverer, God would demonstrate His power over the forces holding His people in bondage.

3. God would send judgment on those enslaving His people and would protect His people from this judgment by the blood of a spotless lamb.

4. God would bring His people out of the house of bondage, giving them a new identity as His people, teaching them how to obey and worship Him.

5. After years of wandering in the wilderness, during which time God would provide for and protect His people, He would bring them into the Promised Land.

Moses was not a perfect deliverer, and the deliverance he brought God's people was temporary and merely physical and political. Still, God used the ministry of Moses and the exodus from Egypt as a pattern to teach His people about deliverance: 

• Deliverance comes with a proclamation from God calling people to honor Him. 
• Deliverance comes with judgment on the wicked who rebel against God. 
• Because God's people are also wicked and rebellious, they must be shielded from God's judgment by bloodshed. by one who died in their place. 
• Being delivered from bondage and judgment gives God's people a new identity and a new calling in life. 
• Being delivered from bondage begins a new life for God's people, which will eventually lead them all the way to their true home.

We all sin, and because of our bondage to sin, we are held in slavery by the devil who hates us, by our flesh that corrupts us and by the world that ensnares us. God breaks the chains on that bondage as He brings a message to us: Honor God and receive His deliverance. If we heed the message, we will see our need to come under the blood of the Lamb of God, the One who truly takes away sin. Coming under His blood, brings us from judgment to salvation, from death to life, from condemnation to liberation. Coming under His blood brings us a new identity with a new purpose in life: walk in obedience before God and worship Him in Spirit and in truth. Following after our true Deliverer, the better Moses, brings us through wilderness wanderings into the Promised Land, our true home.  

Over 2,000 years ago, God sent His Son to be the true and better Moses, to lead His people from the house of bondage to the Promised Land. Jesus came as the Passover Lamb who is also our Good Shepherd, as the One whose blood covers us and whose leadership brings us into true freedom, everlasting freedom. Will you receive Him as your Deliverer this Christmas? Will you rest in Him? Will you come under His blood? Will you take His new identity upon you? If you already have, will you walk with Him, obeying Him and worshiping Him, through the wilderness of this world?

Lord Jesus, You are our true and eternal Savior! You are the Deliverer our souls need to bring us out of the house of bondage, out of our slavery to sin and Satan. You shed Your blood to cover us. You call us as our Good Shepherd to follow You. Lead on, Good Shepherd! May we follow You all the way home! Amen.  

"Passover Us" is a brilliant song by Andrew Peterson from his Christmas album, Behold the Lamb of God: