Take of the Blood

 •  3 min. read  •  grade level: 9
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In Exodus 12:77And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. (Exodus 12:7), for the first time in Holy Scripture, we have blood mentioned in connection with man’s deliverance and blessing. In various passages in the book of Genesis, blood is spoken of as evidence of human guilt (notably in the story of Cain and Abel), and in the early chapters of Exodus blood is twice introduced as one of God’s judgments upon rebellious Egypt (Ex. 4:99And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land. (Exodus 4:9); Ex. 7:1717Thus saith the Lord, In this thou shalt know that I am the Lord: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. (Exodus 7:17)); now, in the ordinance of the Paschal lamb, it comes before us as the means whereby God’s believing people were sheltered from destruction. From this point onward to the close of the book of God the doctrine of atoning blood stands out in unmistakable characters. By blood, and by blood alone, can men be saved.
These were the instructions given to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “They shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side-posts and on the upper door-post of the houses wherein they shall eat it” (Ex. 12:77And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. (Exodus 12:7)). Further on in the chapter we hear Moses addressing the elders of Israel thus, “Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side-posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning” (Ex. 12:21-21). The various steps were thus made perfectly clear for God’s people. The dullest amongst them could not well misunderstand what was so essential to his salvation. First the lamb was to be selected for sacrifice; then it was to be brought into the house; four days later it was to be killed; and finally the blood was to be sprinkled upon the lintel and side-posts of the house of every man of Israel. It was not enough to kill the lamb, nor even to preserve the blood in a basin; it must be sprinkled in obedience to the word of Jehovah.
The meaning for us in this day is plain enough. Christ, the Lamb of God, has been slain; His precious blood has been shed; all that God requires from the sinner who would escape the wrath to come is to accept these mighty facts in simple-hearted faith. But just as in Egypt that night no man could help his neighbor, each being compelled to sprinkle the blood for himself, so now no man can shelter himself under the cloak of another’s faith; each must appropriate for himself Christ’s precious blood as the only safeguard of his soul. To those who have done this Peter writes thus, “Ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold.... but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot; who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by Him do believe in God, that raised Him up from the dead, and gave Him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God” (1 Pet. 1:18-2118Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. (1 Peter 1:18‑21)). The sentiments expressed in this passage manifestly go far beyond anything that was experienced in Egypt in Moses’ day. Then it was simply a matter of keeping God as Judge out of the house; now, on the righteous basis of the blood of Christ, every believer is brought to God, accepted and taken into favor in the risen One, and withal entitled to know it in the power of the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven.