Last week, I shared about Easter and God’s love story, and we took a trip back to the beginning. If you still need to read it or refresh your memory, check it out here. Are you ready for the next part of the journey? Grab your Bible and your favorite beverage, get comfy, and join me in Genesis 3 and Exodus 12!
Buy me a coffeeWhen we left Adam and Eve, they had just taken a bite of the fruit, realized they were naked, felt ashamed, and tried to hide behind some leaves.
God is walking in the cool of the day through the garden and calls out to Adam, “Where are you?” Adam responds that they are afraid and hiding because they are naked.
After all these years, we are still hiding our shame from God. Sin pulls us away from God and promises things that look good, then we act on them, and it destroys us.
Then God asks Adam, “Who told you you were naked? Did you eat the fruit I told you not to eat?” Now came the blame game. Adam blames God and Eve, and Eve then blames the serpent. Sin wants us to blame others. That is just one of many tactics sin will use to divide us.
In Genesis 3:15, we find the first prophecy about Jesus. God’s love story is now in motion as part of His plan to bring His image bearers back into fellowship.
“I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel,” Gen 3:15
God plans that someday, through the woman, a Savior will come. He will be bruised and beaten and suffer death on the cross, but He will defeat death and deliver the fatal blow to Satan.
After God delivered judgment to Satan, He turned to Eve and then Adam and gave them their punishments, then He escorted them from the garden and closed the gate. God still loved them and provided for every need, but the close relationship they had at the beginning was now dead.
Years have now gone by. Adam and Eve’s descendants are now slaves in Egypt and are crying out for a savior. God hears their cry and meets Moses in the wilderness through a burning bush.
Through the bush, God tells Moses to return to Egypt and lead his people out. After some arguing (how often do we argue with God when He tells us to do something?!), Moses finally said yes and returned to Egypt.
Moses and his brother Aaron were to go to Pharaoh and tell him that God had heard the cry of the Israelites and that he was to free them. Now, of course, Pharaoh said no several times. The Israelites were Pharaoh’s slaves, and he didn’t want them to go anywhere, so God sent plagues to convince him to let them go.
Moses and Aaron would deliver the message to Pharaoh; then the plague would occur, and Pharaoh would say that the people could leave, but then change his mind, and the next plague would occur. There were ten plagues altogether.
But the last plague would set in motion the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt and the institution of the Lord’s Passover.
The last and final plague would bring death to the firstborn of the Egyptians. God gave Moses instructions for the Israelites to follow so that this plague would pass over them. In these instructions, God tells Moses and Aaron to let the people know they will start a new year.
On the tenth day, they were to choose an unblemished-year-old male lamb. Then, they were to observe it for defects and, after four days, kill it at twilight. This time would be between 3 and 5 pm. This Lamb had to be perfect.
After the Lamb was killed, the people were told to do two things.
God’s instructions were that the Israelites be dressed and ready to leave in haste, for it was the Lord’s Passover. That night, God would pass through Egypt and strike the firstborn of man and animal. When He would come to a home with blood on the doorposts, He would pass over, and those inside would be saved.
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.” Lev 17:11
“The next day, he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ” Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29
In a few weeks, we will celebrate Easter; this year, let’s study Passover, too, because they go together! I encourage us to read Exodus 12 about the Passover and ask God to show us His salvation plan through the Passover Lamb.
Today, we have God’s exact instructions that He gave to Moses and the Israelites. Our Lamb has already been slain for us, but we still need to place the Lamb’s Blood on the doorposts of our hearts. That is the only way we can be saved. Then we must be dressed and ready when Jesus returns to take us to the Promised Land in Eternity.
English: unfoldingWord® Open Bible Stories – 02. html. https://door43.org/u/unfoldingWord/en_obs/master/02.html
https://www.bible.com/bible/compare/GEN.3.15
Mathena, Gary. “The Romanian Church Musician: Biblical Foundations for Training Musicians to Serve the Romanian Evangelical Church.” 2017, https://core.ac.uk/download/83112373.pdf.
Willmington, Harold. “Jehovah-Jireh.” 2017, https://core.ac.uk/download/129594069.pdf.
