or Fourteen Days to Christmas
No one wants to be passed over: for a
job, a party, a team, an event, in relationship, etc. It can be emotionally painful and we may
think they don’t like us, that our skills aren’t up to par, that we’re no fun,
not worth much, or that no one wants us.
It is NOT pleasant to be passed over… usually. But there was one time in history when I’m
absolutely certain that everyone in a particular country was very glad to be
passed over.
Speak to all the congregation of Israel,
saying, In the tenth of this month they shall take to them each man a lamb for
a father's house, a lamb for a house.
And you 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 some
of the blood and strike on the two side posts and upon the upper door post of
the houses in which they shall eat
it. And they shall eat the flesh in that
night…
For I will pass through the land
of Egypt this night, and will smite
all the first-born in the land of Egypt,
both man and beast. … And when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And the
plague shall not be upon you for a destruction when I smite in the land
of Egypt. Ex. 12:3,6-8, 12,13
Is there
anything in the instruction of this chapter that we’d be willing to forgo,
adjust, change or be careless about? I
think not! When our lives depend on it,
we can obey- precisely. We’d check once,
twice, maybe more times to ensure we were doing everything just right… and then
we’d check again! Take the unblemished
lamb on the tenth day, watch, guard and care for it for four days, bring it to
the assembly on the fourteenth day to kill it, use the blood to mark three
spots on the door posts of the house, eat the meat and save our lives. Check 1, check 2, check 3… Do all this and we’ll be passed over.
Woohoo!!!
Who wouldn’t want to be passed over and stay alive?
This
fourteenth day of their new first month was to be called Passover because of
their salvation- the angel of death would pass them by if the blood was on the
doorposts. This is very symbolic of
salvation through Jesus. Only an
unblemished Lamb can be used as a sacrifice for salvation. His blood has to be applied to our
lives. (Three places like the work of
the Father, Son and Spirit.)
The assembly
came together to decide on Jesus’ future- at their hands. Jesus died just before the start of Sabbath,
not the normal Friday night to Saturday evening, but a High Sabbath, that was on
a feast day no matter what day of the week it fell on. The Jewish leaders did not want to be defiled
the morning of His death so that they could eat Passover (Jh. 18:28)
So on the fourteenth day, the Passover, the Lamb was killed by the
assembly. Salvation from death on the
fourteenth day.
I’m so glad I am passed over…