EXODUS (Part 2): WHEN I SEE THE BLOOD

What can wash away my sin?  

Nothing but the blood of Jesus;  

What can make me whole again?  

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.  

Oh! precious is the flow  

That makes me white as snow;  

No other fount I know,  

Nothing but the blood of Jesus. 

From Nothing But the Blood of Jesus by Robert Lowry

Truly, there is nothing as precious as the blood of Jesus! By it we are redeemed, justified, sanctified, and purged from an evil conscience. The simple words of Robert Lowry's great hymn, "Nothing But The Blood," speak volumes about the effectiveness of our Savior's sacrifice. In the book of Exodus, we read how God was determined to set His people free from the bondage that the Egyptians had placed them in. He sent His servant Moses to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to demand this very thing; but Pharaoh refused, and hardened his heart against God and against the Hebrews. After bringing a series of plagues on the Egyptians, God saw that Pharaoh was still unwilling to release the Jews, so He brought one last plague on this proud nation. He told Moses that all of the firstborn of Egypt would die all in one night. Those of high and low estates alike would be affected, as well as all beasts. Moses told Pharaoh, "Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts." (Exodus 11:4, 5) Pharoahs at that time were considered to be gods, and therefore greatly reverenced. The comparison between Pharoah, the god of Egypt, and Satan, the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4), is unmistakable. Much like Pharoah, Satan has placed the whole human race in cruel bondage to sin, making them slaves to their own passions and lusts. He managed to sell mankind a bill of goods in the garden of Eden, and brought them into slavery to himself. God knew that if man would eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, it would place him under the sentence of death, so God warned Adam saying, "...in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Genesis 2:17) In Exodus, the firstborn represent the human race. From the low to the high, from the weak to the strong, from the foolish to the wise - we're all under the sentence of death in Adam. 

Because he sinned, and brought death on himself, he also brought death on every child that was born after him right down to you and me. Even the animals became subject to death. It was only after Adam's sin that animals were slain. It was not just the Egyptians whose firstborn were in jeopardy either. The Hebrews' firstborn were in danger as well. So, in order to preserve His people, God gave Moses very specific instructions for what they were to do. God told Moses, "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 bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you." (Exodus 12:21-23) Each family was to kill a lamb. The lamb had to be one that was without spot or blemish. (Exodus 12:5) The blood of the lamb was then smeared on the lintel and doorposts of the house, and the flesh of the lamb was eaten by the family. At midnight, when the destroyer passed through the land of Egypt, if the blood was not seen on the doorways, the firstborn inside that house would die. If the Lord saw the blood, however, the family was safe, and the destroyer passed over them. Of course, this is a picture of Jesus' sacrifice for all mankind. He is the Lamb without spot or blemish - the perfect Son of God. His one sacrifice provided a remedy for the dilemma that man was in. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." (1 Corinthians 15:22) 

The blood of Jesus Christ is the only thing that will satisfy God's holiness. Without the blood, there is no redemption. The blood washes away all sin. Big sins, small sins, black sins, white sins - they are all cleansed in the blood of Jesus. The destroyer no longer has any right to us because we are protected by the blood. We have been given life for death. If we choose to step outside the blood, we will be slain; but as long as we abide in faith, trusting in the power of the blood, we will be saved. Praise the Lord! The enemy may try to convince us that we've gone too far, or sinned too badly, and that God will not forgive us; but the blood is always good enough for God. This is why we can come boldly to the throne of grace, and receive mercy and help from God always. Satan may lie and accuse, but we must stand by faith on what God has said: "When I see the blood, I will pass over you." 

Many of the Jews in Jesus' day just didn't get it. In the sixth chapter of St. John, Jesus draws a clear correlation between Himself and the passover lamb. He said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you." (John 6:53) The Jews were offended by this, and even many of Jesus' disciples turned away from Him and wouldn't walk with Him anymore. He just wanted them to understand that without being partakers of Him - His death and life as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world - they could not receive light and life, but would continue to walk in darkness. They would all their lives be subject to the prince of darkness - in bondage to his lies and accusations. But trusting in the redemption that is in Jesus' blood, and partaking of His life and death by faith, we can receive the divine life, peace, and freedom that is in Christ. 

It is essential that we, as believers, know the working of Christ's cross as well as the effectiveness of His blood. God has provided that we not only can be forgiven for the sins that we have committed, but that we can also be delivered from the power that causes us to sin in the first place. We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners. We can't help ourselves, but thank God through our Lord Jesus Christ He can! In Christ we are born again with a new nature that, if nurtured on the promises of God, can live a life free from sin and condemnation. Praise God for the awesome gift that He has given to us! Oh, that we might live every day in this blessed communion! We will more closely explore the subject of the cross in part three of this series. 

"For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Hebrews 9:13-14)