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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Ex. 10-11
I get the impression that God wasn’t simply revealing His power with these plagues. It seems to me like He was revealing specific things about Himself, though I can’t say I fully understand what. Some say that God targeted each plague against a specific Egyptian god. Thus, He would have been declaring His sovereignty over all that the Egyptians worshiped. That may be true, but still, I think there is more to it than that.
While I admittedly don’t understand the full depth of God’s message in these plaques, there are a couple things that I see in them. One is that there is a progression from mere inconvenience and discomfort to destruction, darkness, and finally death. Such are the consequences of hardening our hearts toward God. Another thing I see is that, though God’s people had to suffer some of the inconvenience and discomfort, God protected them from the destruction, darkness, and death. What all this tells me is that the only protection from God’s judgment is God Himself. We need Him. Thankfully, God is merciful and gives us every opportunity to humble ourselves before Him and turn from our hard-hearted ways.
Ex. 12
It is interesting to me that the people had to eat or burn every part of the sacrificed lamb. They were not to let any of it remain until morning or leave the house. I wonder why that was. The only thing that comes to mind is that coming to Christ is an all or nothing deal. If we don’t take Him ALL in, we don’t take Him in at all. There is no picking and choosing what parts of God’s Truth we want. Another implication of this is that there is no such thing as ‘Christ AND…’. It is all Christ and only Christ.
There are other interesting details about the Passover Lamb as well. The people were required to care for their chosen lamb for four days before slaughtering it. I have no idea what the significance of this detail might be. Also, they had to roast it over fire. Perhaps this is tied in with the baptism of fire that Jesus brought. The fact that the people were to eat the lamb dressed for their coming journey perhaps indicates the readiness that Christ calls us to in His teachings. And the requirement of circumcision prior to partaking in the Passover meal is indicative of our need to turn from our fleshly ways when we come to Christ. Finally, the blood on the door posts tells us that we must be clothed in the righteousness of Christ in order to escape God’s judgment.