March 21, 2010
Explore the Bible Sunday School Lesson
Amazing deliverance
Charles A. Collins, chaplain associate, Baptist Hospital, Little Rock
Jacob’s family had reluctantly gone to Egypt due to circumstances. Egypt was a land of plenty, a place of refuge and hope, a place where Jacob’s son, Joseph, was second in command. They entered with little and left wealthy (Gen. 47:11-12).
God had sent Moses and Aaron to attempt to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. He had refused. They tried some gentle (and not so gentle) attempts to persuade him to say yes to God. There was the sign of the water that had turned to blood (Ex. 7:14-28), frogs (8:1-14), gnats (8:16-19), flies (8:20-30), plague on livestock (9:1-7), boils (9:8-11), hail (9:13-35), locusts (10:1-20) and darkness (10:2-29).
There was to be one more (11:1) that was to be so severe even Pharaoh had to acquiesce. The firstborn was to die (11:5). This must have been hard for God (2 Pet. 3:9). No household would be immune. Everyone would suffer, from the noblest to the poorest. This would only happen to the Egyptians (11:7).
An elaborate but simple plan was quickly prepared and dissimulated throughout the land. Those who were obedient would sleep comfortably through the night. Those who disobeyed would suffer the consequences. A meal was to be prepared (12:3-5). Not just any animal would do. It had to be a lamb or goat, a one-year-old male without defect. The animal’s blood was to be splashed on the sides and top of the doorframes. Bread without yeast must be prepared.
The blood would become a sign for death to pass over the house. No one inside would die. But houses without this sign would experience death. This is exactly what happened. Exodus 12:30 indicates there was a “great cry” all over Egypt. Death was everywhere.
This was a new beginning. They had entered as victims of the famine. Now they left victoriously and in plenty. God had kept His word. Generation after generation would hear the story of deliverance. The event of “passing over” would become The Passover. It would be celebrated hundreds of years later, even by Jesus and His disciples. It would become The Lord’s Supper for the church. The escape of the Israelites would become symbolic of deliverance from the power of Satan and sin. It was their beginning. Now it is ours too.