Moments With God

Exodus 12-13:16

How often do we meditate on the wonder of God’s gift of salvation to us? How often do we remember and contemplate all the other blessings the Lord has given to us in our lives? Finally how often do we talk to our children and grandchildren about all that the Lord has done for us?

In our Scripture passage God’s Old Testament people, the Israelites, had just been freed from slavery in Egypt. After ten terrible plagues Pharaoh, ancient king of Egypt, had finally consented to let God’s Old Testament people leave Egypt. God’s Old Testament people had lived in Egypt for 430 years, and at last they were leaving Egypt and slavery. (Exodus 12:40-41) They were free from Pharaoh and free from slavery, and they were on the way to the promised land.

This is a beautiful picture of God’s children of all ages being freed from the slavery of sin. The night before God’s Old Testament people left Egypt they, at God’s command, killed a lamb and sprinkled the blood on their houses. When the Lord God went through the land of Egypt and saw the blood on their houses, He passed over their houses. The plague which killed all the first born sons of the Egyptian families did not come on God’s Old Testament people. This was because of the blood of the lamb on their houses. We also are saved from God’s wrath and just punishment for our sins by the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus Christ’s blood shed on the cross, we are free from the slavery of sin! Because of Jesus Christ’s blood on the cross, God in His grace "passes over" our sin just as He passed over the houses of His ancient Old Testament people. The Lord God washed away our sin and made us stand pure in His sight. May we never forget and cease to be thankful for the awesome gift that we have been given in our salvation!

The Israelites, God’s Old Testament people, were instructed to commemorate and remember forever their wonderful exodus from Egypt and slavery. God said to them, "This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord-a lasting ordinance." (Exodus 12:14) They were to yearly commemorate this awesome day in their history when God Himself brought them out of slavery "with a mighty hand." (Exodus 13:3) They were to tell their ancestors for generations to come what the Lord had done for them that day. Annually as they celebrated this event they were to tell their children, "I do this because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt. (Exodus 13:8b)

May we also often contemplate and be eternally thankful for our Lord God’s salvation provided for us. May we also remember and be thankful for all the other daily blessings He has given to us. May we further be passionate about passing on the faith to our children and grandchildren. May we be unafraid to tell them about the Lord’s salvation and what He has done in our lives. The Lord has "passed over" our sins through the blood of the Lamb, our Lord Jesus Christ, and He has showered us with overflowing blessings. Hence let us be diligent to "pass on" the faith to our children and grandchildren by our words and the example of our lives!