Lamb of God/Deliverer--Day 31 of Through the Bible

                                      My grandmother and mother "pulled galax" and sold them
                                      in order to help provide for the basic needs of their families.


January 31

The gleanings from these studies are as personal as we are. At times they seem to flow while at other times it seems we must "pull" them. Through this study it is becoming more evident to me the extent that God is involved in our lives—more so than I have perhaps understood up until now. Throughout the Bible God reveals Himself to us by His names. He never changes--we continue to experience His hand of deliverance in our lives today. He offers deliverance to the world from sin just as He delivered the nation of Israel from Egypt. God reveals in Exodus how He knows who His people are and He can meticulously separate us out. His greatness is further revealed as He targeted the firstborn of people and animals in Egypt.

God’s ways are far above our ways—His ordinances and plans span eternity! More than fourteen hundred years before Jesus ate the Passover with His twelve disciples, God instituted this ordinance which is rich with spiritual symbolism. Jesus and His disciples would observe this 1400 year ordinance on the eve of His death with new meaning. He would institute a memorial of his death with symbols of unleavened bread and wine that represent His body and His blood given for the salvation of the world. The Lamb of God lived the perfect life without sin. The lamb that was chosen for each family in Egypt was also to be without blemish. Not a bone of the Passover lamb was to be broken—not a bone in Jesus’ body was broken during the unmerciful beating of His body and crucifixion. The door posts and lintels of Israel's houses had been smeared with blood by using hyssop as God instructed them. (Hyssop is an herb that was used for cleaning sacred places. The Israelites were instructed to dip hyssop in the lamb’s blood and smear it on their doors. In John 19:29, during Jesus’ crucifixion, hyssop is also mentioned, “and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it into his mouth”.)

After Moses instructed the elders in what they were to do in order to prevent the death of the firstborn in Israel, Exodus 12:27, says, “So the people bowed their heads & worshiped”. David also worshiped the Lord in Psalm 18, when God delivered him from Saul. He exalts God in this Psalm by saying, “The Lord is my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust”.  He spares our lives (we all have our stories), and God ultimately gives us the promise of eternal life. David’s despair in Psalms 18:1-6, was answered by God in one of the most passionately written passages in the Bible. David was facing death and called out to God in His distress. I love this part: “He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry came before Him, even to His ears”. God’s response to David is described as follows:

“Then the earth shook and trembled, the foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken, because He was angry. Smoke went up from His nostrils, and devouring fire from His mouth; coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down with darkness under His feet. And He rode upon a cherub, and flew; He flew upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness His secret place; His canopy around Him was dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. From the brightness before Him, His thick clouds passes with hailstones and coals of fire”. 

Oh, that we could get a glimpse of God’s passion when He rescues us—it would surely ignite our passion for Him!  No wonder Israel bowed their heads and worshiped! God was delivering them from four hundred and thirty years of captivity and had devastated Egypt during the process. God had His hand on them as they no doubt witnessed plague after plague that devastated Egypt. How thankful to God they must have been when God instructed them in what to do in order to be spared from the death of their firstborn.

The "Lamb of God^" atoned for the sins of the world. God provided this sacrifice for us from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8). He will never attempt to force us to accept His sacrifice for our sins, however, He does advise us in Deuteronomy 30:19, to choose life!