Exodus 12:3-13
God’s method of dealing with the failure of mankind has always been by the shedding of blood of the innocent. He chose a lamb as His primary sacrifice, for the lamb is a follower from birth, and has no inclination to attack and no mechanism by which to defend.
The progression of God’s redemptive plan is remarkable through the Word; beginning with a lamb for a man with the sacrifice of Abel. Then, when God was to bring Israel out of Egyptian bondage it was “a lamb for a house” (Exodus 12:3). Once God had the children of Israel in the wilderness it became a lamb for the entire nation when the priest offered the sacrifice annually on the Day of Atonement. Finally, John the Baptist testified of Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). God started with the man, then moved to the house, then the nation, then the world. As sin progressed outward, God’s provision was always greater.
In the case of the “lamb for a house”, God was establishing what would come to be known as Passover. The Jews in Goshen were to kill a spotless lamb after 4 days of examination to determine that it was clean and pure. They were to kill it in the evening, a type of when Jesus would finally expire on the cross (at the time of the evening sacrifice), and then they were to mark the door posts of their house with its blood. This marking of the door with the blood was an act of faith which is typified by every believer placing their faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. When God came by, typical of the judgment of God, He saw the blood, showing Him that something had already died. Unwilling to kill twice, He would pass over that house, thus the name, Passover. When God sees the blood of Jesus on your heart, He passes judgment over you, for Christ has already bore your judgment.
The Israelites would then take the body of the lamb into the house and roast it with fire (Exodus 12:8). They were further instructed not to eat it raw or watered down. The fire that roasted the lamb was a type of the judgment of God which landed upon Jesus at the cross. The necessity of eating it only roasted, not raw or watered down, is because only the crucified Christ does us any good. To honor the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, or to try and emulate the life of Jesus is to consume Him without the sacrifice of the cross attached. There is no salvation to be found in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, though these are great things. Salvation is found only in the sacrificial death of Jesus; for it was there that He bore the punishment for our sins.
Finally, they were told to eat all of the lamb and “let nothing of it remain until the morning” (Exodus 12:10). As the blood was God’s provision for the sin of His people, the roasted lamb was His provision for their physical bodies upon beginning the long journey to the Promised Land. The Psalmist wrote of this event, when nearly 3 million Jews came out of Egypt, “He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes” (Psalms 105:37). Only the eating of the roasted lamb as a type of the crucified Christ can explain how slaves, who toil 6 days a week under the desert sun, could come out of slavery without one feeble person among their tribes. His body is supernatural, and was given for us!
When we are saved, we have the blood applied to our heart and we consume the Lamb of God. Now, we partake of the ceremony of communion; eating the bread as His body and drinking the wine as His blood, for we are remembering what He did for us. Partake by faith of the finished work of Jesus, and receive the blessing of “not one feeble among their tribes”.
God’s method of dealing with the failure of mankind has always been by the shedding of blood of the innocent. He chose a lamb as His primary sacrifice, for the lamb is a follower from birth, and has no inclination to attack and no mechanism by which to defend.
The progression of God’s redemptive plan is remarkable through the Word; beginning with a lamb for a man with the sacrifice of Abel. Then, when God was to bring Israel out of Egyptian bondage it was “a lamb for a house” (Exodus 12:3). Once God had the children of Israel in the wilderness it became a lamb for the entire nation when the priest offered the sacrifice annually on the Day of Atonement. Finally, John the Baptist testified of Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). God started with the man, then moved to the house, then the nation, then the world. As sin progressed outward, God’s provision was always greater.
In the case of the “lamb for a house”, God was establishing what would come to be known as Passover. The Jews in Goshen were to kill a spotless lamb after 4 days of examination to determine that it was clean and pure. They were to kill it in the evening, a type of when Jesus would finally expire on the cross (at the time of the evening sacrifice), and then they were to mark the door posts of their house with its blood. This marking of the door with the blood was an act of faith which is typified by every believer placing their faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. When God came by, typical of the judgment of God, He saw the blood, showing Him that something had already died. Unwilling to kill twice, He would pass over that house, thus the name, Passover. When God sees the blood of Jesus on your heart, He passes judgment over you, for Christ has already bore your judgment.
The Israelites would then take the body of the lamb into the house and roast it with fire (Exodus 12:8). They were further instructed not to eat it raw or watered down. The fire that roasted the lamb was a type of the judgment of God which landed upon Jesus at the cross. The necessity of eating it only roasted, not raw or watered down, is because only the crucified Christ does us any good. To honor the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, or to try and emulate the life of Jesus is to consume Him without the sacrifice of the cross attached. There is no salvation to be found in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, though these are great things. Salvation is found only in the sacrificial death of Jesus; for it was there that He bore the punishment for our sins.
Finally, they were told to eat all of the lamb and “let nothing of it remain until the morning” (Exodus 12:10). As the blood was God’s provision for the sin of His people, the roasted lamb was His provision for their physical bodies upon beginning the long journey to the Promised Land. The Psalmist wrote of this event, when nearly 3 million Jews came out of Egypt, “He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes” (Psalms 105:37). Only the eating of the roasted lamb as a type of the crucified Christ can explain how slaves, who toil 6 days a week under the desert sun, could come out of slavery without one feeble person among their tribes. His body is supernatural, and was given for us!
When we are saved, we have the blood applied to our heart and we consume the Lamb of God. Now, we partake of the ceremony of communion; eating the bread as His body and drinking the wine as His blood, for we are remembering what He did for us. Partake by faith of the finished work of Jesus, and receive the blessing of “not one feeble among their tribes”.
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