The week leading up to the death of Jesus on the cross was Passover week. Passover is a festival the Lord commanded the Jews to celebrate in remembrance of what He did when bringing His people out of Egypt—the land of slavery. Each family had to sacrifice a one-year old lamb without blemish and paint its blood on the door frame of their houses so that the Lord would pass over the Israelite houses, and only strike the Egyptian firstborn.
It is strange to me that the Lord commanded the Jews to eat the Passover meal “in haste.” This meant that they had to tuck their cloaks into their belts (so they could run easily), have their sandals on (which was not customary in the house), and have a walking staff in hand.
The Lord struck down the Egyptian firstborn—men and animals—around midnight. Pharaoh immediately summoned Moses and told him to take his people and go. So the official start of the exodus was sometime in the middle of the night. The Jews were ready for this, because of the Lord’s instructions.
Still, it seems to me that the Lord could work His miracles anyway He wanted. The Jews did not have to leave in the middle of the night. God could have worked it out that Pharaoh gave them an escort to the city gates in the morning. But this is not what the Lord wanted. Since that time, every year in March-April, the Jews celebrate the feast of Passover in the same manner. They tell their children the story of how God rescued them from slavery in Egypt, being sure to pass it on from one generation to the next.
As believers, ours is a story of the Passover fulfilled. When you were saved, you were “marked in Him with a seal—the promised Holy Spirit.” (Eph 1:13). You have become the temple of the Lord. The blood of Jesus Christ already covers you. The Holy Spirit is your “head”—that is, your Counselor, Teacher, and Guide—making it known among the authorities and rulers in the heavenly realms that you are the Lord’s possession. Death has passed over you, never to return.
Though the Jews had to mark their doorframes and “eat in haste” with the cloaks tucked into their belts, no such instruction is necessary for us. We dwell in a permanent Passover! The work is finished.6
He called in a loud voice to the four angels… “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” (Rev 7:2-3)
“And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth, they were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.” (Rev 9:3-4).
These verses tell how God ensures that the work of marking His people is done (by the Holy Spirit) and that this mark always saves us from the judgment the world faces. Remember, the Holy Spirit is your Guarantor, sent to you to ensure your safe passage from here to heaven.
The difference between us and the Old Testament Jews is faith. They did not have it. Though they obeyed the command to paint blood on their doorframes, they never believed in the blood of the Lord’s Lamb.
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