“AND THEY shall take the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.”
The slain lamb in itself would not have protected an Israelite household. If the people had rested only in the fact that the lamb had been slain, the death angel would have entered their dwellings just as it did the Egyptians. It was the sprinkling of the blood that secured their safety. Are there not those who seem to rest in the fact that Christ has died, yet who have never put themselves under the shelter of His precious blood. They can speak of Him as our Saviour, but know not the language of faith of the one who can call Him “my Saviour.” The death of Christ will not save a soul apart from faith in Himself. Christ in His death has so glorified God in all that He is that God can offer par-, don and everlasting salvation to the sinner that comes to Him through faith in the value of that death. But if there be not personal identification with the blood through faith, as far as that one is concerned, it is shed in vain.
God placed immense value on the blood of the lamb as it spoke of the blood of His own dear Son, who would shed His blood for the remission of sins. The blood was to be employed in strict obedience to His word if they were to have its value applied to their own need.
The death of the firstborn would be required at every house in the land, Egyptian and Israelite alike. It would take the firstborn of all who were unprotected, but the sprinkled blood outside the door would mean escape from death, for it would tell of the death of the substitute lamb as having already satisfied God’s judgment. Thus those obedient to God’s word could await the midnight hour free from fear and in peace, knowing that whereas the blood spoke of death having taken place, death would not strike again.
As the life of the innocent lamb was taken, its blood was put in a basin. Then a bunch of hyssop was dipped in the blood and the blood sprinkled “on the two side posts and on the upper door post.” It was not to be sprinkled on the threshold. God will not have man trample underfoot that which spoke of the blood of His dear Son.
The blood then on the doorposts was a witness that those within had accepted God’s provision of safety from the coming judgment. God had said: “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” This was the ground of their peace. Any doubts as to their safety on the part of those sheltered there would have been dishonoring to God. Yet had they been in fear and trembling they would not have been any less secure. Furthermore, it was not a question of personal worthiness, or of feelings. The believer’s part now is faith, not feelings. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:11Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: (Romans 5:1).
ML-02/09/1969