THE APPLICATION OF THE BLOOD AND THE EATING OF THE LAMB
Part 3
Exo. 12:5-10
Morning Meditation 11/3/16
Verses 5-10 say, “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.”
Yesterday I talked about the selection of the Lamb, putting it aside to make sure it was without blemish and the killing of it by the nation of Israel. In this meditation, I want us to see what they were to do with the blood and the eating of it.
Verse 7 says, “And they shall take of the blood . . .” This is God’s instruction to Moses and Aaron concerning the disposition of the Lamb. It is important to see that this is God’s Lamb and His way for their deliverance. Israel could have never gotten out of Egypt on their own. They were helplessly enslaved (just as guilty sinners are today). They were worked day after day as slave labor with little to say about their situation or their future. All they had to look forward to was cruelly imposed slave-labor. They were in the iron grip of a Pharaoh who knew not Joseph (Exo. 1:8). They could only dream and remember what they had been told of the promise God had made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Again, verse 7 says, “and they shall take of the blood . . .” The Hebrew word “take” means “lay hold of to seize.” It is a perfect tense and this is a completed action. This suggests that it is not enough to shed the blood. It must be applied. That is what this picture represents. They personally had to deal with the blood of the sacrificial animal. Again, the death of the lamb was not enough, the blood had to be applied.
Then God tells Moses and Aaron to say to them, “ . . . and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses . . .” It is a repulsive business to deal with blood. They were to “strike” it on both sides of the door and over the door. It is easy to see that this forms a cross. If they put it there, in the process, they will be unable to keep the blood from falling to the ground. All this happened when Jesus the Lamb of God was nailed to the cross.
Hatred was outside those houses as the Egyptians glared in scorn at the Jews. I can imagine the conversation that went on in the Egyptian community as they observed what was happening. “What do these stupid Jews think they are doing? Everyone has killed a lamb and they are taking its blood and putting it on the doors of their houses! It will stink tomorrow! We will just make them make extra bricks tomorrow. We’ll take away the joy of whatever celebration they are having tonight.” Well, they had no earthly idea what tomorrow would bring. This night will never be forgotten by the Egyptians. They have written this out of their history today and they try to deny it ever happened. But we are told, “And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; FOR THERE WAS NOT A HOUSE WHERE THERE WAS NOT ONE DEAD” (Exo. 12:30). When we enter the Book of Exodus the Jews are crying. When we come to chapter 12 the Egyptians are crying. God’s judgements sometimes seem slow in coming but they are sure to arrive. And when they do, it is no laughing matter.
God told Moses and Aaron that every father in the nation must associate himself with the blood. He must handle it. It must be applied. It is the only way that they will escape the death angel that will pass through the land of Egypt this night. It is not enough to become acquainted with Jesus in His birth and life. It is not enough to look him over in the three and one-half years of ministry. It is not enough to admit after you have examined Him carefully, that He is the best man (spotless, without blemish) that ever lived. You must get involved with the blood. Neither can you just view His death as an observer. You must realize that you were involved in His death, that you caused His death. Right here is where people balk. It is hard to realize that you, living two thousand years after Jesus lived on earth, were involved in His death. We do not want to believe that we are bad enough to cause a person’s death. Maybe we’re not perfect and maybe we give people problems at times, but, we are not guilty of the death of anyone.
Let me put it this way. The man who refused to shed the blood of the Passover lamb in Egypt brought swift judgment on his home. He didn’t have to kill the lamb and apply the blood, but he did have to suffer the judgment of God if he didn’t. You can say you didn’t have anything to do with the death of Jesus and refuse Him as Saviour, BUT YOU CAN’T SAY NO TO THE CONSEQUENCES OF THAT CHOICE. Jesus told the Jews in His day, “Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come” (John 8:21). Then again, “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins” (John 8:24).
There are those who see Jesus as a good man and one whose teaching should be practiced. But they will not handle the blood. They will not put it on the sides of the door and over the door. You see, if you handle the blood, you can’t do it without getting it on your hands. And the man who refuses to admit that he is guilty of the blood of Jesus, is the man who will not kill the Lamb and apply His blood. Men who do this worship another Jesus (2 Cor. 11:4). The True Jesus came to die and shed His blood for the sins of the whole world. And He will save anyone who accepts Him as He presents Himself in the Word of God. Who is the Bible Jesus? The One who is typified in the Old Testament Passover that we are studying.
The next thing I want to point out are the words “And they shall eat the flesh roast with fire . . .” The death of typical Lamb is not only going to be SEEN on the outside of the houses, He is going to be inside the houses and eaten by those within. What the Jews ate than night was the result of death and the burning flame applied. Fire is a definite type of God’s judgment. The death of the typical Lamb was God’s judgment upon Him in the place of the nation. When they ate and received nourishment for the journey out of bondage, they were partaking of the Lamb AFTER the fires of God’s judgment had been exercised upon it.
Jesus applies this truth His own death in John’s Gospel chapter 6: “Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: SO HE THAT EATETH ME, EVEN HE SHALL LIVE BY ME” (John 6:53-57). Emphasis mine. We are not through with the Lamb when we apply the blood. We must feast upon Him and allow His life to be ours the remainder of our pilgrim journey. He is not only the PRICE of deliverance but POWER for the journey.
May God bless these words to our hearts.
In Christ
Bro. White
