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Through the blood of Jesus Christ, we are saved. But now we have a problem. As believers, we are like newborn babes. Sometimes we are well, and sometimes we are not well. Sometimes we rise, and sometimes we fall. What is the reason for this? Does it mean that salvation is not complete? No, it is simply that we have only done the first half — the striking of the blood. There is still a second half, which we have not followed through with immediately. The result is that we still become weak and fail. This second half of the work should be done once the blood has been applied. Now let us consider this second half of the work.
"In that night" means on the night the blood was struck. After the blood is struck, one should go on to eat the flesh of the lamb. The blood was struck on the lintel and the side posts; this is outward. The eating is to take care of the inward need. The blood of the Lord is objective, while the eating of the flesh is subjective. The striking of the blood is for God to see, while the eating of the flesh is for the nourishment of one's own body. Because the blood has been struck, God passes over us. At the same time, God has given the Lord Jesus to us to eat. In this way we are strengthened.
Salvation, on the one hand, satisfies God, and on the other hand, changes us. Striking the blood satisfies God, while eating the flesh changes us. The blood has been struck, but I have to ask whether you have eaten the flesh yet. What is the meaning of the flesh being in the stomach? It means that it has been digested and has become you; it has become your flesh and your bone. If you have only struck the blood outside, but have not eaten the flesh of the lamb, you will not see much change in your life, and you will remain too weak and powerless to be a victorious believer. You must eat the flesh of the lamb the same night that you strike the blood.
Today there is one mistake which men make in preaching the gospel. They preach only one side of the story. Christ's work is of two sides. On the one hand, He works outside of us so that God may be pleased with us. On the other hand, He works inside of us so that we may be satisfied in life. Today men pay attention only to Christ's dying for them and neglect His being life to them. We exhort men only to believe that His blood was shed for them; we seldom exhort men to receive Him into their heart to be their inward Savior and deliver them from all the inward sins and weaknesses. Hence, our result reflects our preaching — we gain many believers who are correct in their faith but who are weak in life and who are fluctuating all the time.
The people had to eat the flesh of the lamb, for the next day they had to move and make their journey. How long a journey did they have to make? They had to make the long journey from Egypt to Canaan. Today we have to be well fed before we can have the strength to make our journey. Why is it that many people are not making the wilderness journey? It is because they have not yet been fed.
Striking the blood is for God's satisfaction. However, if you do not eat the flesh of the lamb, you will not have satisfaction because you have not yet received Christ as your life. Since you have received Jesus as your Savior, you also have to receive Him as Lord.
"And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire."
"Roast with fire." Fire signifies the Holy Spirit or God's love. The flesh must be roasted with fire. This means that we cannot use our natural strength to receive Christ as our life; neither can we use any human methods. We have to receive Christ as our life through the Holy Spirit. John 6:51 says, "I am the living bread which came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread which I will give is My flesh, given for the life of the world." Verse 63 says, "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life." We should pay attention to the fact that John 6:51-59 is on the bread of life; it is on the question of life. After the disciples heard these words, they could not understand. Some thought about giving up their discipleship. For this reason the Lord told them that "the flesh profits nothing."
It is true that we need to eat, but what is the way to eat? The disciples were trying to eat the flesh raw. Hence, the Lord told them that they have to roast it with fire. Fire is the Spirit in John 6:63. When we receive Him as Savior, we have eternal life, but we must also receive Him as Lord before we can have eternal victory.
"And unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it." Leaven refers to sin. To be unleavened is to remove all sins. Every person who has received Jesus as his Savior, according to the Bible, has to eat the flesh the same night. Some of us are abnormal and subnormal Christians because although we are saved, we wait a long time before we receive Him as our Lord! However, the Bible says that the night the blood was struck, they ate the flesh of the lamb. In other words, the same night that the blood was struck they removed sin.
Christ gives to us two gifts. One is justification, and the other is sanctification. We may only want to have one of them, but Christ will not give us one only. If we do not remove our sins, we cannot obtain God's forgiveness. If we do not hate our sins and desire holiness, Christ cannot justify us. We must strike the blood and also eat the flesh. But at the same time, we must have the unleavened bread; we must hate sin. If any man eats the flesh with leavened bread, this man has not applied the blood yet; he is still unsaved. It is true that a Christian can afterward sin or crave sin, but if he has never once hated sin since the day he believed in Jesus as his Savior, he must not be saved yet.
The "bitter herbs," according to the original language, do not refer to any herbs in particular; they merely refer to any herbs that are bitter. The bitter herbs imply a contrite heart. If a person wants to be saved yet does not hate sin, he cannot eat the flesh, for he does not have a contrite heart. Second Corinthians 7:10-11 says, "For sorrow according to God works repentance unto salvation, which is without regret...For behold this very thing, your being made sorrowful according to God, what earnestness it has worked out in you, indeed what defense, indeed what indignation, indeed what fear, indeed what longing, indeed what zeal, indeed what punishment! In everything you have commended yourselves to be pure in the matter." These are the bitter herbs. The bitter herbs mean that one rebukes and hates himself. God will not despise a contrite and repentant heart.
"Eat not of it raw." To eat it raw means to eat according to natural strength. One must not eat the flesh of the lamb raw, which means that it is futile to hold onto Christ with natural strength.
"Nor sodden at all with water." To be sodden with water is to use human methods. The flesh of the lamb cannot be sodden with water. This means that it is futile to hold onto Christ with human methods.
"And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire." This means that by the next morning one can no longer eat it even if he wished to. What is the meaning of morning? Morning is the time of resurrection; it is the time when one truly leaves Egypt, the time of rapture from Egypt. Hence, to eat the flesh of the lamb, one must do so before the morning. After that, if anyone wanted to eat the flesh of the Lamb and receive Jesus as his Lord and his life, it would be too late.
"And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord's passover."
The previous passage tells us how to eat; this verse tells us what one should do besides eating. "With your loins girded." The Jewish dress is loose and has no buttons. When one is walking around casually, he does not gird himself up, but when he works, he will have to gird up his loins. From Luke 17:8; 12:35, and Acts 12:8, we can see the meaning of girded loins. To gird the loins means to be ready to work.
"Your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand." The purpose of this is to prepare oneself to take the journey. Once the Israelites were filled in their stomachs, they had to leave Egypt immediately to take their sojourning way. Once the blood is struck and the flesh eaten, one becomes a sojourner, and he has to leave Egypt immediately. Our life is the life of a sojourner; therefore, we have to be ready to leave Egypt. Once we have struck the blood and eaten the flesh, God will not allow us to remain in Egypt anymore.
"Your shoes on your feet." According to Ephesians 6:15, which says, "And having shod your feet with the firm foundation of the gospel of peace," we know that to put on the shoes means to be prepared to journey. In Acts 12 the angels told Peter to tie on his sandals because he was about to take a journey. The Jews did not wear shoes when they were at home; they only put on their shoes when they were ready to walk outside. To walk is to take up our sojourning.
"Your staff." According to Genesis 32:10, which says, "With my staff I passed over this Jordan," we see that the staff is for traveling outdoors. Hebrews 11:21 says, "By faith Jacob, while he was dying...worshipped God, while leaning on the top of his staff." God paid attention to Jacob's staff. Whether in his going out, on his return, or during his time in Egypt, Jacob never gave up his staff. This means that his whole life was a life of sojourning. This is why God was pleased with him. Henceforth, we should live a sojourning life; we should no longer live in the world. Once the Israelites struck the blood and ate the flesh, they left Egypt. Let me ask, are we still living on this earth? Which book of the Bible mentions the expression living on earth the most? It is the book of Revelation. Those who live on the earth are those who live in Egypt, not only physically but spiritually as well. Do we have a staff in our hand? Is our hope in Egypt, or is it to cross the wilderness to enter Canaan? The world, the place where we are, should only be a way to pass by while we live and a grave to us after we die. It should bear no relationship to us other than being our way and our grave.
If we dwell in the world, we will not be able to reign with Christ; we will have no share in the millennium. Philippians 3 says that our commonwealth exists in the heavens, while 1 Peter 2 says that we are strangers and sojourners. Our government, homeland, and inheritance are not here. If we think these things are here, we are mistaken. Why did the Israelites think of Egypt when they were already journeying in the wilderness? They had forgotten Pharaoh's oppression. They remembered the leeks and garlic and all the other food. We were under Satan's oppression. But sometimes we think back on the little favors he gave us and what we were like before we were saved. Oh, if God left us in Egypt, what would have become of us? We would not have been any better than we are now!
"Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses; for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel...Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land. Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread."
This matter is somewhat serious! A believer has to remove the leaven. Leaven is the yeast for the flour dough; it is what makes a dough rise. The Bible tells us that from the day we eat the Passover lamb, we have to remove all leaven, and we have to eat unleavened bread for seven days.
What is the meaning of leaven? It is malice and evil. To be unleavened is to be sincere and without sin (1 Cor. 5:8).
To strike the blood is to be justified, saved, and delivered from the harm of the Egyptians. To remove the leaven is to be sanctified and have a share among God's people. The striking of blood is Christ's work, while the removing of the leaven is what every saved person should do. It is something that we should do daily from the first coming of the Lord until His second coming. We have to remove the leaven for seven days.
Without striking the blood, one cannot be saved even if the leaven is removed. If one strikes the blood but does not remove the leaven, he cannot be sanctified either. It is very pitiful that today many Christians have struck the blood, but few have removed the leaven!
It is said that during one Jewish Passover a carpenter examined carefully every item when the Feast of Unleavened Bread was approaching. Every place was cleansed and readied for the feast. On the night of the feast, he suddenly discovered that one of the sacks had molded bread. He dared not touch it even with his hands, but had to lift it up with two sticks and throw it into the fire. He had to keep this feast with such reverence. Brothers and sisters, how much time have we spent in dealing with sins?
If the leaven is not removed, there will surely be losses. All those who will not remove their leaven will be cut off from Israel. Please note that they are to be cut off from Israel; they are not to perish with the Egyptians in Egypt. They are driven from the people of God and are not punished with perdition together with those in the world. Without removing the leaven, one cannot fellowship with God's people. We should note that they are cut off from the congregation of the Israelites. Without striking the blood, there is no salvation. Without removing the leaven, one cannot meet together with the people of God. One becomes separated from the holy people of God and will not be able to enter Canaan with them.
If one does not remove the leaven, he will not perish in Egypt, but he will have no share in the millennium (Canaan). Striking the blood gives one eternal life, while removing the leaven gives one the kingdom. Once a person is saved, he cannot perish anymore. However, if he does not remove the leaven, he will not be able to reign with the Lord. Based on what can we say this?
Removing the leaven in 1 Corinthians 5 is done by removing the evil man from among them (v. 13). This means that we should remove the sinning ones from the church of God, as one would remove leaven from the dough of flour. What are the sins that warrant a removing? They are the ones mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5:11: "A fornicator or a covetous man or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or a rapacious man." Those who are involved with these six kinds of sins are the ones to be removed. This is the meaning of being cut off from the congregation of Israel in Exodus 12.
What will those who are involved with these six kinds of sins suffer? First Corinthians 6:9-10 says, "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be led astray; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate nor homosexuals nor thieves nor the covetous, not drunkards, not revilers, not the rapacious will inherit the kingdom of God." From this we see that those who are cut off from the church in chapter five will be cut off from the kingdom of God. A legal cutting off is one which is a cutting off from the millennium. To be cut off from the congregation of Israel is to be cut off from Canaan. Canaan is not a type of heaven but a type of the kingdom.
Although there were many Israelites who left Egypt, only four entered Canaan! Two of them were living — Joshua and Caleb, while two of them were dead — Jacob and Joseph. This signifies that some are raptured alive, while some are resurrected from the dead. Oh, there are indeed many today who are saved through the striking of the blood. But how many will enter the kingdom through the removing of the leaven?
Brothers and sisters, the Passover is to lead us to the Feast of Unleavened Bread. After striking the blood, there must also be the removing of leaven. One has to trust in the blood and also in the work of the Holy Spirit. We cannot be too passive concerning the blood, and we cannot be too active concerning the leaven. Since we are saved through the blood apart from our work, we should now strive to remove the leaven and pursue holiness.
"For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord."
God will not only destroy all the sinners; He will also destroy all the false gods of Egypt. He will not only deliver us from death, but will save us from all of Satan's power (Heb. 2:14; Rev. 12:11).
"And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine."
Exodus 13:1 tells us one thing, that henceforth every firstborn of Israel belongs to Jehovah. Hence, everyone who is purchased by the blood belongs to God. We are purchased by Him and do not have our own freedom. How many of us can say, "God, I belong to You. I am Your slave"? "For you have been bought with a price. So then glorify God in your body" (1 Cor. 6:20). The day that a person is saved is the day that he is sold. A slave is bought with a price, while a servant is hired with money. Those who are sold do not have any freedom of their own, while those who are hired still have their own freedom. We are God's slaves; we are not His servants. Every time the Bible mentions this matter, in the original language, the word slave is used. We are slaves purchased by God.
