Suggested reading: it would be helpful to read Exodus chapter 12 verses 1-42, prior to the following meditations.

We continue with our meditations on well-known portions of Scripture that point us to Christ, by considering an annual event in the calendar of the children of Israel: THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER Exodus chapter 12.

The children of Israel became slaves in Egypt; therefore, God pronounced judgment on the Egyptians, who had made them such He declared, ‘All the firstborn in the land of Egypt will die . . . there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as was not like it before’ Exodus chapter 11 verses 5-6. However, He made a promise to the Israelites: ‘But against none of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue’ verse 7. We might wonder how this could possibly come about, if God was to remain just and righteous. It was not based on the fact that the children of Israel were better than the Egyptians. It was a result of God’s grace and mercy, which was revealed in the provision of the shed blood of a LAMB that was without blemish, verse 5. God had already said to Israel, ‘It shall be the first month of the year to you’ verse 2 – in a sense, time began here for them.

Christians can express the same sentiment. Time both stopped and began anew for us at the cross, when we trusted Christ as our Saviour – the Lamb of God died and shed His precious blood to cleanse us from our sins and our lives took a different direction. We were not any better than others. It was the grace and mercy of God that delivered us from a life of slavery to sin and Satan’s power and gave us the gift of eternal life. Paul expressed this truth succinctly, when he wrote, ‘In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace’ Ephesians chapter 1 verse 7.

To be continued