Text: Exodus 11:1-10, Exodus 12:14-42, Hebrews 11:23-28, Psalm 105:37,38
Their deliverance was coming.
Centuries earlier God had promised to bring His people out of captivity. And now that promise was beginning to unfold. But freedom for the Israelites would come in a most unusual way—by faith in the blood of a Passover lamb.
Imagine how absurd those instructions detailed in Exodus 12 must have seemed to the Israelites who had been enslaved for 400 years. Slaves feasting together as a family? Dressing to travel? Preparing to leave in haste the cruel bondage of their Egyptian slave camp?
Even the possibility of freedom would have seemed ludicrous. After generations of captivity, far more than the Israelites’ physical bodies were enslaved. Their souls had become shackled with hopelessness.
But as each plague unfolded, their lack of faith came face to face with the faithfulness of their covenant-keeping God—the One who had promised not only to bring them out of captivity, but to judge the nation that had oppressed them (Genesis 15:13-14). Judgment was falling upon Egypt because of their unbelief.
But wait. Weren’t the Israelites also guilty of unbelief? Sure, they were the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But hadn’t they failed to believe that God would do what He’d promised to do?
Yes, the Israelites deserved judgment, too (Exodus 6:9). And so do we.
We’ve all walked in unbelief. We’ve all gone our own way and are deserving of God’s judgment for our sin (Isaiah 53:6). And that judgment is always death (Romans 6:23). But in spite of our sin, God has never left us without hope!
“The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”
-Exodus 12:12-13
The Israelites were delivered from the judgment of God by faith in the blood of a Passover lamb (Hebrews 11:28). Judgment could not fall upon the household marked with blood, because it had already fallen on the lamb.
But despite their obedience, no animal sacrifice would ever truly be sufficient to cover the Israelites’ sin—or ours. “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). Not until Calvary, when all the sins and all the sacrifices for all time were placed on Jesus, would our sin be put to death (1 Peter 3:18).
Thanks be to God, our Deliverer has come! The judgment for our sin has fallen upon Christ. Now, when the Father looks on us He sees Jesus, whose blood covers all our sin and reconciles us to God, making us “holy, faultless, and blameless before Him” (1 Corinthians 5:7; Colossians 1:22).
The Lamb of God was slaughtered on our behalf. Surely He is worthy of our worship, our adoration, our praise—our everything (Revelation 5:12).
“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
– Revelation 1:5-6
Carrie Gaul is a biblical correspondent for Revive Our Hearts. She and her husband Dennis have two married children and are enjoying grandchildren. Carrie has a deep love for God’s Word and a passion to see women grow in ever-increasing intimacy with Jesus through the study and application of His Word.
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43 thoughts on "The Exodus"
As I have struggled like several others over the last 6 months at times I have lost hope. When I feel I am at the end of my rope, the Lord continues to strengthen me to get though this season of my life.
We deserve God’s wrath, yet He shows us grace at Calvary and everyday. This gives me joy and a reason to get out of the bed!
Yes, this a constant reminder that God never leaves us and will bless us abundantly. I’ve had a lot to happen within this past year I know I began to deal with unbelief. I kept asking God why? Why is this happening? I am a single parent who needs a car after being in a car accident last summer. I need a new job to afford to support my daughter and I. Instead of asking why I’ve begun to accept in his time.
It is difficult not to just stay in our broken spirits. Hard horrible things happen in this world. Our senses are dulled – we can’t see or hear the freedom we have in Christ’s death and resurrection. But our burdens are lifted through faith. Jesus death frees us. Death freed the Israelites. Amazing even the Israelites had to act in faith. It’s always been about faith. Oh lord help me to be faithful to the end. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is a the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Eph 2:8
This is a great time to study Passover as it is celebrated this Friday I think it is!! I was t. Thinking about how the Israelites lost s sight of the promises God had given them generations before. I don’t ever want get so focused on my current situation that I forget what God has said to me. Deliverance IS coming, hard times are not forever! Praise to the Lamb who gave me his blood to cleanse and shield me!!
I just love SRT devotions and my time with my Savior. Today I felt like I truly got it for the first time. I understood that when God looks at me, He sees the blood of the Lamb covering me. I’m in awe! I couldn’t help but think of the song, At the Cross, and the lyrics. Where your love ran red and my sin washed white. Just wow! I’m so thankful that God loves me with an everlasting love!
Our path to deliverance may have come in the strangest way. That is part of our testimony. But the path always leads us to the Cross where the Deliverer hangs. But it doesn’t stop there. It proceeds to an empty tomb. There lies the hope, the proof of our completed deliverance. There lies the joy, even though the journey may have been fraught with hardships and obstacles. God’s ways are not our ways but it is always His desire to deliver us, that none should perish. Because He so loves…
These words were sweet to my soul today. Our family has been through a rough week and even this morning we are reminded it is not over. If you would lift up my brother-in-law, Tim, he has been on life support for a week now. We are praying with faith, knowing our God is able and not only sees us but hears us. They took him off sedation this morning and he has yet to wake. Thank you Jesus for what you are doing and what you are going to do, in Your sweet name…
Praying for your family! Your unwavering faith I’m sure is a sweet encouragement to the whole family.
Praying for your entire family today
Heavenly Father, please be with Kat & her entire family.
Thank you SRT family, your prayers are precious to me and my family. What a blessing to have sisters in Christ lift each other up before the throne without ever having met face to face.
Lord, please do what only you can. Lord, may your will be done. I ask in your name. Amen!
Praying for your precious family.
The Israelites “souls had become shackled with hopelessness.” I can relate. Following a year of rising and falling, rising and falling, again and again – I have become soul weary. My own soul has felt tethered to hopelessness. Nothing has come about as I expected, but mostly, I am not the woman I expected. Because after a year of chasing what I thought I wanted and all is stripped away, I was left hopelessly wondering ‘what am I doing here?’ I became chained to insecurity and uncertainty. Much like the Israelites, I had forgotten Whose I was in the midst of my own feelings of captivity.
But God. He is IN the midst of hopeless situations. When uncertainty and insecurity threaten to overwhelm me, it becomes a choice to believe Him and to have faith in Him for all that I cannot see (Hebrews 11:1). It becomes a necessity to cast ALL of my cares on Him so that He can sustain me (Psalm 55:22). Knowing that He will turn my despair into joy (Psalm 30:11). My path may continue to be winding and unknown. But I can keep walking secure, knowing that I never walk it alone (Deuteronomy 31:6). Because I have Christ, I can walk in faith in the midst of challenging circumstances (John 16:33). He is always working for my good and His glory (Romans 8:28).
At just the right time, God delivered the Israelites. I believe that He delivers us from our unwanted circumstances too – at just the right time. I know that He will guide me to and lead me on a life-giving, joyful path again (Acts 2:28). I am His, He is mine (Song of Solomon 2:16). And this is the core of my own journey through hopelessness – remembering Whose I am and allowing His Truth to sustain me above all else. I am the beloved daughter of the King. I will stand secure on His Truth. Trusting Him. Praising Him. While we walk through my own uncertainties and the unknowns (to me) together. Because He does know and He has a very good plan for my life, for our lives.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and this truth today, it hits near to home and speaks deeply to my heart!
Beverly, you describe what I have been going through for the last three or four years better than I can right now. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and for the reminder that He IS with me, and that He WILL deliver me…..when the time is right.
❤️
Holding on to hope this morning. I find myself often keeping expectations low so I’m not disappointed. It’s easy to fall into the trap then of having low expectations of God. How often I need reminded that He is a big generous loving God who always delivers on His promises and His Word is sure. Always. As in, He never lets me down. Holding on to Him. Thank you for your words, Beverly.
Beverly, thank you so much for sharing this. Need to hear the truth and being reminded of who God is!
Wow! Thank you! I so related to what you are speaking of, I’ve been in a similar place. Thank you for sharing and reminding me whose child I am!
This has been my life for the last 13 years – hoping a praying for a miracle – and then facing the outcome to be not what I wanted. I felt bereft of all hope and wondering what would become of me, of my life. How did I reconcile my faith to everything that’s happened in the last 13 years? I was reminded once again through this devotional and your words that I am HIS and that he is the one that I depend on for my future, not anyone else! Thank you
This is so good! Such a great reflection! I think we so often get torn down by things, people, situations, and just life in general. Sometimes we DO forget who we are in Christ. We forget who He is and what He has done! I call this Spiritual Amnesia. In moments of weakness or sadness or just plain ole tough days (or weeks or years) we sometimes just lose hope. But we have a Savior who is in control! We have a Father who loves us and comforts us. Living in His word daily reminds us of who He is and who we are in Him. We can rest in Him and trust that His timing IS perfect! Thank you for this reminder today!
http://www.littlelightonahill.com
I love how He always follows through with His promises, even when they are centuries later. The wait is so hard, but there is so much hope in our Promise-deliverer!
http://www.in-due-time.com
What stood out for me today was Heb 11… Moses choosing mistreatment with his people over a life of sin (fleeting pleasures) with the Egyptians. Made me think about the Egypt(s) of my life, times and places and even people I sometimes long to return to, because they were fun…(but, frankly, often sinful.) The Israelites had been enslaved for so long that even their souls were enslaved. Later on, they would long for Egypt…because of the luxury (compared to the difficult life of the wilderness). May I…may we…always remember that God’s best for us is always better than the world’s “best”. And may we be compassionate toward those still enslaved. They don’t realize they are enslaved, as they’ve been that way for so long. We were once in the same boat.
Rochelle, I never thought of people as being “Egypts” as well–I usually think of my own sin as my Egypt–but when I read that in your comment it jumped out to me. While we should show Christ’s love to everyone, there are some friendships that have to be left behind if we are to be holy–even though they were fun. Thank you for reminding me that I can be compassionate toward those enslaved without participating in their sins.
Amy, you’re so welcome. I’m still working on this! So many people I love, live differently, so it’s a balance being in their life but also being a good influence, as opposed to letting them influence me. (and, sometimes, having to love from a distance)
That great Egyptian cry of anguish, never was before, nor ever will be again. Much pause for thought in light of today’s times.
By faith: Moses was hidden, chose to suffer, persevered, and delivered God’s instructions by instituting the Passover memorial for Israelites, a permanent celebration as a festival to the Lord, because He brought them out of the land of Egypt. A night vigil for all Israelites throughout their generations.
We remember and we forget.
We forget we are to remember.
And then we remember we are not to forget.
Dear Lord, please keep my mind alive to remember what not to forget: to worship you always. Thank you for placing reminders in my life and teaching me to listen, by staying quietly calm.
My comment doesn’t really have to do with the reading today. When I saw that part of the scripture reading came from Hebrews 11, I got excited. I call this chapter, “The Hall of Faith.” I enjoy reading it from time to time to remember all of the people in the Old Testament that lived out their faith, and trusted God despite their circumstances. If you have extra time today or this week, I encourage you to read the entire chapter. I hope all of the people listed give you encourage and you enjoy reading about them as much as I do. Be blessed today SRT girls.
Love that, April! Thanks for joining us today, friend!
xoxo-Kaitlin
Oh, so many rich lessons in today’s reading. Thank you, SRT!
I find it so interesting, too, that the blood smeared atop the door frame and on either side would have been an early foreshadowing of not only Jesus’ blood sacrifice…but even somewhat the shape of a cross!
As I approach tech week of my final show this year I am weary. I am frightened of all that this week holds in the classroom and on the stage. Yet, I can hear my Savior telling me, “Anna, I am here. Do not be afraid. You are covered.” No amount of fear or exhaustion can stop our King from protecting us. He is not blind to our pain. He does not ignore our cries. He makes intercession for us and sends His spirit to strengthen us. May my heart take courage in the Passover Lamb!
Loved this encouragement, “no fear or exhaustion will stop God from protecting us” Thanks!
There was a night at the start of my middle daughter’s life that I can easily recall what I was feeling. She was still in the NICU and undergoing treatment for an easy to repair heart problem. What we were told was a sure fix not only worsened the problem but ended up causing internal bleeding and left our teeny baby on the cusp, again, in the first two weeks of her life. I sat, helpless, by her isolate waiting to see color come back to her body, to see more movement in her limbs, any real sign of life within her. I stayed for hours, praying. The part of me that worried I would lose her, refused to leave her side, as if my being there, my staring at her would keep her here. I prayed, friends prayed. I was fervent in my position over her, fearing death would come. Knowing my heart on this night has me wondering about the hearts of the Israelites and the hearts of the Egyptians. I can imagine the dread and concern that night, the untangled silence that waifed through the streets. Did the Israelites tuck their sweet first borns in bed and keep watch? Did they lie awake, fretting a failed sacrifice? or did they have such belief in God that there wasn’t an ounce of concern, but instead peace? Did any of the Egyptians sit bedside to their babes? Did the hold their sweet bodies, watching them breathe hoping that this plague was nothing? Did their nerves and fears have them so rattled or did they hold such disbelief that they kissed the foreheads of the kiddos good night and gave no other thought? I have no idea. I imagine myself, a mom of three, sitting idle, yet nervous, on a night that God promised death, prayerful over my family and over those without a bloodied doorway in the same way that I pray for those astray in my life now. The entrance to our home may not have the visible swipe of a scarlet atonement but it has been covered … our hearts are awash in the blood of the most perfect Lamb. I do not have to lie awake, in fear of what this life threatens because I know that I am redeemed, holy and righteous through the death of Christ. Covered and saved from a life wrought with fear and given a peace that assures me in even desperate seasons that death has lost, that no matter what life on earth brings, what may come in the dead of night or light of day that Christ has won, that I can smile knowing full well I am saved. Praise God that in human form, He stood in our place, He bought our lives and provided the ultimate sacrifice … He IS worthy to be praised! ~ B
Beautiful! Needed this today!!
Me too! Thanks, B!
Thanks for this, B. So on point.
Thank you so much B – your insight is always so powerful! Saying a prayer of thanks for you this morning, my friend!
B, how insightful…and inspiring.
Thank you for sharing this new perspective with us. I had not thought about what the Egyptian families might think. So, thankful, my sins are washed away by the perfect lamb!
Beautifully said. Thank you.
“… our hearts are awash in the blood of the most perfect Lamb.” Beautiful image, B. Grateful for your hope-filled perspective, friend! And smiling right along with you knowing that, no matter what we face in this life, we are saved for eternity.
Simply. Beautiful. Tears. Thank you, Tina. Thank you. For reminding me there is no need to fear because His blood has all covered.