“SPEAK YE unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house.” Thus before ever the details of their deliverance from Egypt were made known to them, the children of Israel were directed to the provision of a lamb. God was about to deal in judgment with man’s sin, and the sprinkled blood of the slain lamb became the sole means of security. In the same way sinners now who seek safety from the judgment of God against sin, who would be set free from Satan’s toil and the bondage of sin have their attention directed to Jesus, “the Lamb of God,” for it is only through Him that salvation is offered and rests secure.
This was to be a very special lamb, and the message was to be delivered to “all the congregation.” No one would be denied the opportunity to avail himself of God’s way of escape. Furthermore it was necessary for every individual to personally act on the word of the Lord: “they shall take to them every man a lamb.” There must be the personal identification with the shed blood through faith, just as today God requires individual faith on the part of the sinner who hears the gospel message, otherwise as far as he is concerned, the blood will have been shed in vain. The belief or confessions of a congregation with which one may be identified, or the earnest faith of parents or members of one’s family will not suffice; there must be individual faith. “He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life.”
The lamb was to be taken on the tenth day of the month and kept up until the fourteenth day when it was sacrificed. This speaks to us of how Christ was set apart in the counsels of God in that past eternity, “foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.” 1 Peter 1:2020Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, (1 Peter 1:20). He who by the eternal Spirit offered up Himself to God, was the One who in the counsels of God was foreordained to be the means of redemption for sinful ruined man. The number ten speaks of responsibility God-ward, and teaches us that before our blessed Lord was publicly owned as the Lamb of God, He had met every responsibility before God, was proved to be without blemish, qualified by what He was in Himself to be the sacrifice for sin. He was God’s Lamb, and how precious to know that the lamb was of God’s providing.
In selecting the sacrificial lamb, it was not to be taken carelessly or at random from the flock. “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year.” This Passover lamb was to prefigure the perfect Lamb of God who in the appointed time would be offered up. A male of the first year speaks of strength and vigor, and so it was that the Lord Jesus was in the full strength of perfect manhood when He endured the Cross for us.
ML-01/26/1969