Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb.” – Exodus 12:21

The Angel of Death was coming to kill the firstborn of every house-hold in Egypt. Only one thing could save the people of Israel from having it enter their homes – the blood of the Passover Lamb. It seems crazy that such a powerful being as an angel could be deterred from his task by a little blood spread in a doorway. And yet that blood, applied in faith, was the vessel of the power of God.

The significance of the lamb was likely not lost on God’s people. Their ancestor Isaac had been saved by the blood of a lamb. God had provided that lamb as a substitute for Isaac when his father Abraham was about to sacrifice him to the Lord (Gen. 22). At the last minute, the lamb took Isaac’s place on the altar.

In the same way, the lambs who were killed in Egypt that first Passover took the place of the firstborn sons, for those families who had applied the blood to their homes in faith. And the redemption of Israel that night, which set the whole nation free from their slavery in Egypt, was a foreshadowing of an even greater redemption to come.

John the Baptist called Jesus “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Jesus died on the cross in our place, giving us life. And His blood, applied to our hearts in faith, sets us free forever from our slavery to sin.

The devil wants to destroy you and your whole family. It seems crazy that such a powerful being as Satan could be deterred from his task by a little blood applied to your heart. And yet, that Blood of the Lamb is a vessel of the power of God.

Prayer: Father, thank you for sacrificing Your own Son in my place, and for the life and freedom I have in Him.

Daily Reading: Ephesians 5

– Contributed by Pastor Moser