Viewing the Cross from the Old Testament: Exodus 12

THE POWER IN THE BLOOD

 

We have often sung that dynamic chorus, “There is power in the blood, power in the blood, power in the blood of the Lamb.” If you have given some thought to those familiar lines, you will, as I have, mused on the meaning of blood as an agent of power. Why do we say there is “power in the blood”? 

            Blood is messy. Blood is sticky. Blood causes some people to faint at the sight of it. If a movie contains enough violence and blood, it is rated R for its graphic portrayals (think “Passion of the Christ”). Blood in a PS5 game garners a rating of M for Mature.

            And yet we celebrate the blood in Christian ceremony. Both in the Jewish Passover and the Christian celebration of communion, we focus on the blood of the sacrifice. In both, it is the blood which has the astonishing power to solve the problem of acceptance before God. Without the blood, all of Egypt suffered a small but frightful microcosm of the judgment of God. Having been marked by the blood, Israel was passed over and saved from this terrifying night. How can blood have that kind of effect? 

            What is it about the blood that saves us? This morning, I want to journey together with you into the unknown. There is a great mystery in Exodus 12 and the story of the blood. It is a mystery that defined the people of Israel in Moses’ day. But it is a mystery that permeates all of history to this very day as well and impacts us in our Christian faith. The mystery involves a story of emancipation, the liberation of those held in slavery. It is a story that foreshadows and leads to another story of significant importance. 

 

Let’s play the “Imagine” game. Imagine you are a Hebrew slave in the land of Egypt in 1400 BC. You are presently huddled in the darkness with your Jewish family. The coals of the fire that you roasted a lamb over have completely gone out and it is now pitch black, the type of darkness that you can almost reach out and touch. You and your family have eaten the meal of lamb and unleavened bread – Moses called it a Passover meal. Now you are waiting for something to happen. Though it is evening, and you normally put on your night clothes, you and your family are wearing traveling clothes. All your belongings are packed and ready to go; your hand is cramping up from holding your staff too tightly, waiting in anticipation for the moment. The kids are sleeping, but you are wide awake, waiting for that “thing” to happen. 

            Sometime in the middle of the night…it does. In the darkness, the only sound that you can hear are the screams coming from next door. The cries and the howls of anguish rise as your neighbors discover their firstborns dead. Now the kids are awake, and they are terrified, crying, asking, “What’s happening?” But you have no idea. You can’t see. You can’t explain it. All you can do is pray.

 

You remember that the Hebrews had been living in Egypt for over 400 years. They had traveled to Egypt to escape the worldwide famine. Under Joseph, things had been good. But after a time, Egypt forgot Joseph and enslaved the children of Israel. Yahweh heard the cries of his chosen people and began to move to rescue them. God was on the move. That’s when he chose Moses as a deliverer. Through Moses, Yahweh demanded that Pharaoh free his people. Pharaoh said “no.” So the Lord used nine plagues to convince Pharaoh to release the people. Frogs, gnats, flies, boils, and hail were among these plagues. And when they were at their worst, Pharaoh promised to let the people go; but when the plague ended, Pharaoh broke his promise. And God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. 

            Among the nine plagues that Yahweh sent, many were targeted against specific Egyptian gods. In the first plague, Moses took his staff and struck the waters of the Nile (7:17) so that they turned to blood. The Nile River was so important to Egypt’s agricultural industry that they practically worshiped it. They believed it was a gift of life from the gods. Now, Yahweh turned it into a river of death. 

The ninth plague, the plague of darkness was directed at the Egyptian god Ra. He was the sun god, one of their greatest deities. They believed that Ra would get in his boat of sorts and sail across the heavens descending at the end of day into the underworld only to emerge the next day. Moses stretched out his hand to the heavens where Ra lived and there was pitch darkness for three days. You could not see your hand in front of your face. In all of this, the plagues declared that the LORD, Yahweh, the God of Israel, was greater than the gods of Egypt. 

 

The tenth and final plague would be the clincher for Pharaoh. The tenth plague was horrible. Moses explained, “Thus says the LORD: About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on the throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill…” (11:4-5). It's going to hit every class of people in Egypt. From princes to paupers. 

But this time, not only are the Egyptians facing this horrific plague that kills every firstborn, but the Hebrews also need to prepare for this plague. If you read about plagues 4 through 9, you will notice that the Lord spares his people from the effects of each plague. The Lord does not need markers or signs to know where his people were to exclude them from the calamities. The flies avoided their land (8:22); Egyptian owned cattle died where Hebrew owned cattle did not (9:4, 6); hail did not fall on Hebrews (9:26). 

            BUT…and this is important…if the Lord showed favor to the children of Israel during the previous nine plagues, why did God now need blood on the door posts to spare the Israelites? 

            The need to mark the house with blood is emphasized three times in Exodus 12. First, they are told to mark their houses, “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it,” (7). Then the blood marking is explained, “The blood shall be a sign for you…when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt,” (13). And then finally in vv. 22-23, the instructions are repeated together with a warning not to go outside the house until morning. But here it says that the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow “the destroyer” to enter the house. The plague is personified; he’s given a personality of sorts. Call him the “angel of death” if you will, but he will not enter the house marked by the blood of a lamb. This is the only way to avoid this night of death.

            We must ask the question another way: If God showed his favor to the Israelites during the other nine plagues, why are they not exempt from the tenth that targets the firstborn? 

            

            It is easy to overlook a subtle clue to the answer. According to verses 29-30, “At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt…” Every family from Pharaoh to the man in prison, even the firstborn of all the cattle, died. “…there was not a house where someone was not dead…”

            The firstborn of EVERY family, Egyptian or Hebrew, was the object of the terror of the tenth plague. What we may not realize is that this plague hits the firstborn of every Egyptian family, but it also hits every person in every Israelite family. Any family that did not observe the Passover ritual Moses prescribed would die in this plague. How is that possible if it only targets the firstborn?

            We must remember God’s purpose in sending Moses into Egypt. From the beginning it was revealed as a contest of the firstborn, for the Lord tells Pharaoh, “Israel is my firstborn son…let my son go that he may serve me. If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son,” (4:22-23). Pharaoh’s firstborn son is an individual, but the Lord’s firstborn is a corporate entity called Israel. 

            Israel was faced with a choice: take their chances with the Egyptians and weather the storm of the coming plague, or put their faith in Yahweh’s plan of substitution. If they follow the directions outlined in 12:1-13, the lamb will act as a substitute for the firstborn and by its blood they will be saved. 

 

            How was this lamb chosen? It seems like a trivial thing. Take a lamb, any lamb, and sacrifice it. No, it’s not that simple. Precise instructions were given to cover every stage of the ritual of Passover to ensure that everything was done according to God’s will and purpose. 

            First, the instructions were given to all of Israel to follow in their households. No word is mentioned about whether the Egyptians were given fair warning to follow this ritual, but we do read that “a mixed multitude went up with them” in the exodus (12:38). So, who knows? 

            Then the lamb that is chosen must be proportionate to the size of the family. How much can you eat (3)? It seems very important that there are no leftovers. If you are a small family, join with another small family and share the lamb (4). There is a gracious provision from the Lord in this recognizing that some households might panic at the requirements. 

            The lamb itself must be without spot or blemish. It must be a male and only a year old. It is in the prime of life. The lamb is to be kept in the house from the tenth day of the month till the fourteenth day. It is presumed that this allows for inspection to make sure that it is as pure as one thought and that it will be the right size. Some writers speculate that it will become a cherished family pet in those four days and thus to kill it will be a true sacrifice. But I think this is sentimental hogwash and pretty cruel. Can you imagine forcing your children to eat what used to be “Lambert”? 

            On the fourteenth day, they drain the blood into a basin and roast the lamb. Boiling is not good enough. It must be grilled. And if there is any of the lamb leftover after the feast, the remains must be burned (10). This is a “now” moment. It is not something you can save for later. It couldn’t be passed on to someone else at another time. There is no other time. This is a one-time salvation event. 

            And as was mentioned earlier, those who partook in the Passover lamb ate it with traveling clothes on. It was eaten by those who were ready to leave the land of death and embark on the journey to freedom and life. They acted as if they were already set free. 

 

So, what do we see in this ancient ritual called Passover?

            Passover was a one-time event, but Moses instructed the Israelites to eat this feast as a remembrance of their escape from slavery. They ate it every year to remember and celebrate what God had done. 

In the year AD 29, Passover was being commemorated as it had been for centuries. But now something similarly profound was happening. A new mystery was being introduced as Jesus ate this Passover with his disciples.

Jesus brought the Passover into a new paradigm; it had the same meaning, but the theme of deliverance and rescue is transformed from the merely physical to the spiritual. When Passover was observed the first time, it was not enough to slaughter a lamb and eat it. You had to take the blood and apply it to the door. An act of faith was required. With Jesus’ death on the cross, the same could be said. Many people are aware of the historical Jesus, that a man, a good teacher, a prophet lived and died in first century Palestine. Some even confess that Jesus dies on a cross for our sins. But not everyone has applied the blood to their own lives. 

What does it mean to apply the blood to your own life? The blood of Jesus asks each of us to surrender to the truth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who has come to be our King. It means submitting to his lordship over our lives and choosing his ways over our own ways. It is a way of self-giving, of love, and of whole-hearted obedience to the Father God. 

Participation is required. You cannot watch someone else’s relationship to God and share their experience. You must make a conscious effort to apply the blood of Christ to your own life and go after Jesus. 

            The Passover that Jesus shared with his disciples bridged the OT Passover with the new covenant. It still spoke of deliverance from bondage and slavery, but now it took on a fuller meaning. Jesus broke the bread and shared it saying, eat, this is my body. He took the cup, and he gave thanks saying, drink it, this is the blood of the new covenant shed for you. He said, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God,” (Luke 22:15-16). 

            Do you see the connection? 

            In the Gospel according to John, Jesus is revealed as the Passover Lamb – the Lamb that was slain. Jesus is even crucified at the very moment that priests are slaughtering lambs for the Passover Feast (it was the day of preparation 19:31). He was as John the Baptist described him, “The Lamb of God.” 

Like the Passover Lamb…

            Jesus was a male in the prime of life

            Jesus was examined and found spotless (1 Pet. 1:18-19)

Jesus’ bones were not broken on the cross (Ex. 12:46; John 19:31-36)

            Jesus was slain for our sins (1 Cor. 15:3)

            From that supper in the upper room where Jesus shared the bread and the wine, his body and blood, the apostles understood the connection to the Passover. Peter would later write, “…knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but the with the precious blood of Christ, like a lamb without blemish or spot,” (1 Peter 1:18-19). 

             Peter uses the terminology of Passover to describe how we have been ransomed from our inherent slavery to tradition and sin. With the precious blood of Christ painted on the doorposts of our hearts, Christ has set us apart from the destruction that sin brings. 

            When we participate in communion, the sharing of the bread and juice, we see the gravity of the event more clearly. Just as the Hebrews acted in faith by painting their doorposts with blood, by faith we also receive the marking of Christ’s blood by sharing in the cup. 

And that’s what Paul means when he says that “Christ our Passover has been sacrificed,” (1 Cor. 5:7). Our salvation comes through his substitution. That’s why God can say to us, “When I see his blood, I will pass over you.” 

What is it about the blood of Christ that saves us? Why did God choose blood as the sign of our exemption from judgment? Why is there such power in the blood?

            I don’t know. It’s a mystery, a sacred mystery that needs no other answer than that the Lamb of God became my substitute. 

 

 

                                                            AMEN