lectio divina:: exodus 12

i’m going through exodus in my quiet time right now.
today i read chapter 12-
the last of the plagues-
the plague of the first-born.


God was finally going to get egypt’s attention for good-
by taking from them what they loved the most:
their children-
their first born sons.


God tells Israel to get ready for the destroyer to come-
He tells them to make preparations
so that the destroyer will pass over their homes.
as i read through the Passover story,
i couldn’t help but reminded
of Someone.


the Passover meal had to be a Lamb-
a male Lamb- that was perfect.
without defect.


“for He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us,
that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
(2 Cor. 5:21- nkjv)

“it was not with perishable things
such as silver or gold that you were redeemed …
but with the precious blood of Christ,
a lamb without blemish or defect.
He was chosen before the creation of the world,
but was revealed in these last times for your sake.”
(1 peter 1:18-20)

when the lamb was sacrificed,
the bones were not to be broken.


“they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead,
they did not break his legs.
Instead,
one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear,
bringing a sudden flow of blood and water…
These things happened
so that the scripture would be fulfilled:
"Not one of his bones will be broken,"
and, as another scripture says,
"They will look on the one they have pierced."


the blood of the lamb was taken,
and put on the doorposts.
it says this in exodus:


“take a bunch of hyssop,
dip it into the blood in the basin
and put some of the blood on the top
and on both sides of the doorframe…
When the LORD goes through the land
to strike down the Egyptians,
he will see the blood
on the top and sides of the doorframe
and will pass over that doorway,
and he will not permit the destroyer
to enter your houses and strike you down.”


if the bowl of blood was on the floor,
and they took a sponge and touched the top,
and then the sides of the door,
the destroyer would have seen something like this:





and would have chosen to pass-over.
crazy huh?


paul cuts to the chase and says this:
in 1 cor. 5:8 (nlt)
“christ, our Passover Lamb,
has been sacrificed for us.
So let us celebrate the festival,
not with the old bread of wickedness and evil,
but with the new bread of sincerity and truth.”

a final thought:
exodus 12:3 (the message)
says this:
“each man is to take a lamb for his family,
one lamb to a house.
If the family is too small for a lamb,
then share it with a close neighbor,
depending on the number of persons involved.”


our passover lamb is not just for us
and our families-
we need to share our lamb
with the families who have no lamb-
that they might be saved from destruction.


“then I looked and heard the voice of many angels,
numbering thousands upon thousands,
and ten thousand times ten thousand.
They encircled the throne
and the living creatures and the elders.
In a loud voice they sang:
"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth
and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!"

Then I heard every creature
in heaven and on earth
and under the earth and on the sea,
and all that is in them, singing:
"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!"
(rev. 5:11-13)