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Scripture Reading: Exo. 12:1-11, 13, 15, 22; 13:1-2, 6-7; 14:26-30
According to Exodus, Pharaoh represents Satan, who continuously usurps God’s chosen people. Therefore, in chapters 7 through 11 God continually smites Pharaoh. God’s smiting of Pharaoh typifies His dealing with the people, matters, and things that usurp His people. God’s dealing with these things is to save His chosen ones out of the world. God’s salvation is not a simple matter. There are many accounts in Exodus that show God’s salvation.
In order for God to save us, He first had to accomplish redemption, because we fell not only into the world and under Satan’s authority but also into sin. If we had fallen merely into the world and under Satan’s authority, God could save us by smiting the things in our environment. However, because we fell into sin, God also needed to redeem us. There are two consequences of man’s fall: on the one hand, fallen man is in a situation that requires God’s salvation; on the other hand, fallen man has a record of sin before God that requires redemption. Therefore, we need both God’s salvation and redemption.
The children of Israel fell into Egypt and were under the authority of Pharaoh. This condition shows that all of God’s chosen ones have fallen into the world and are under Satan’s authority. Additionally, all of God’s chosen ones have a record of sin before God and are under His condemnation. On the one hand, God saves us from our fallen situation with His mighty hand, and on the other hand, He redeemed us to abolish the record of sin that we have before Him. Therefore, God’s salvation has two aspects. There is the aspect of saving us with His power to deliver us from our fallen situation, and there is the aspect of saving us through redemption to spare us from His condemnation and judgment and to abolish our record of sin before Him.
God’s purpose is to save us. However, we must first be redeemed. The children of Israel, who went down to Egypt, had a record of sin before God, and thus, they were condemned to death. Both the Egyptians and the children of Israel were sinful before God, and both deserved death. God is concerned about man’s affairs, and the first thing that He touches is man’s sin. Because man is sinful before God, he is not allowed to see God, and even more he is unable to see God. If he were to see God, he would fall down and die. God cannot remain in heaven and let man continue sinning, so He comes to man out of His concern. Both the Egyptians and the children of Israel were sinful and deserved death. Thus, God’s first step was to prepare a way for the children of Israel to receive forgiveness and redemption.
We do not see God’s redemption in the experience of Abraham. If the Bible had only the record of Genesis and not of Exodus, we would have a wrong understanding and think that those who are called by God do not need His redemption. Abraham was certainly called by God, but we do not see the history of redemption in the process of his calling. We see how God called Abraham and how God led him to serve Him in the land of Canaan, but we do not see redemption in his experience. Thus, Abraham typifies only the called aspect of God’s people, not the redeemed aspect.
Being redeemed and being called should occur simultaneously. Abraham was redeemed in Exodus, and the children of Israel were called in Abraham. These two groups of people are two halves of one person: one half received a calling, and the other half received redemption. These are two halves of a complete person. We do not see the history of redemption in the experience of Abraham, but Abraham was certainly redeemed. Genesis specifically shows the aspect of being called, and Exodus shows the aspect of being redeemed. In other words, Genesis shows how God calls man, and Exodus shows that those who are called by God are also redeemed. God calls man, and He also redeems man.
The content of redemption is Christ. The redemption that God prepared for the children of Israel was related to the passover lamb. Most readers of the Bible know that the passover lamb typifies Christ. First Corinthians 5:7 says, “Our Passover, Christ, also has been sacrificed.” This indicates that the passover lamb is Christ. When the Lord Jesus started His ministry, John the Baptist testified for Him, saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). The passover lamb slain by the children of Israel typifies Christ, who is the content of God’s redemption. The Lord Jesus was crucified on the same day that the passover lamb was slain. The Passover is on the fourteenth day of the first month of the Jewish calendar, and the Lord Jesus was crucified on the fourteenth day of the first month. Furthermore, the lamb was slain in the evening, and so was the Lord Jesus (Exo. 12:2, 6, 11; Matt. 26:2; 27:45). Hence, Christ is the content of redemption, which includes three things—death, blood, and life.
The first item in the content of redemption is death. The passover lamb had to die. In God’s redemption the first element is death. If there is no death, there can be no redemption or salvation. In God’s view man is corrupt and must die. The Chinese often say, “Death is the end of all things.” This is absolutely correct. The most severe punishment by law is to be put to death. No matter how great and deep a man’s sin is, once he is dead, it is the end of all things. Because of man’s sin, he deserves death. Man also deserves death because of his record of sin before God. Death is the only way to solve the problem of sin. Death is a termination, an end. After one dies, he can no longer commit sins.
The first item of the redemption that God prepared for us is death. On the day of the passover, there were three different kinds of death in Egypt. First, all the firstborn of the Egyptians were stricken by God; second, the children of Israel slew the lamb; and third, the death of the lamb typified the vicarious death of the Israelites’ firstborn (Exo. 12:6-7, 12-13). Most students of the Bible know that the firstborn signify man in Adam. The first man, Adam, was the reality of the firstborn (1 Cor. 15:45). Since Adam was the first man, the firstborn include all those who are in Adam. The secondborn are all those who are in Christ, for Christ is the second man (v. 47). Since both the Egyptians and the Israelites were sinful, why did God kill only the firstborn of the Egyptians? Were all the firstborn of the Egyptians bad and all the firstborn of the children of Israel good? No, this is not the significance; rather, the Bible uses the firstborn to typify everyone who is in Adam. Thus, everyone who is in Adam deserves death.
The children of Israel were in Adam, and they deserved death as much as the Egyptians. From our point of view, the children of Israel did not die, but from God’s point of view, they died, because the passover lamb died in their place. The death of the lamb represented the death of the children of Israel. On the day of the passover, the children of Israel were in houses upon which the blood had been applied. This typified their identification with the slain lamb. Hence, in God’s eyes blood was shed for them (Exo. 12:13). The blood was applied to the doors of the houses, and the children of Israel had to remain in their houses and could not come out. If one of them had come out of the house and encountered God, he would have been stricken by God. But as long as they stayed inside, they were not stricken by God. From God’s point of view, the blood signified that their death had already taken place, so there was no need for them to die again. On that day death was present in every Egyptian household as well as in every Israelite household. However, the death in the Egyptian households was an actual death, whereas the death in the Israelite households was a vicarious death. Nonetheless, it was the same death in God’s eyes. That night the Egyptians died, and the Israelites also died; one was an actual death, and the other was a death through the vicarious death of the lamb. Hence, on that day three deaths occurred in God’s eyes: the death of the Egyptians, the death of the lamb, and the death of the children of Israel.
The Lord’s vicarious death for us is applied through our identification with Him. If we do not identify ourselves with Him, we have no part in His death. When we identify ourselves with Him, His death is reckoned as ours. On the day of the passover the children of Israel were in the houses under the covering of the lamb’s blood, which typified their identification with the slain lamb. Eating the flesh of the lamb also points to their identification with the lamb (vv. 7-8). Christ’s dying in our place does not mean that we did not die. In God’s view Christ died, and we died in Him. Second Corinthians 5:14 says, “One died for all, therefore all died.” In God’s eyes we all died with Christ.
Just as the children of Israel died with the lamb, so we as God’s redeemed people also died with Christ. This is not according to our view but according to God’s view. For example, when the children of Israel were inside the house with the applied blood, they may not have felt dead. But objectively, in the eyes of God, they were dead. Therefore, we should not care about how we feel; how we feel does not matter. Only God’s view matters. If God considers us to be dead, we are surely dead. When we believed in Christ, we were identified with Christ. When Christ died, we also died. Thus, the first great element in God’s redemption is death. God saves us, terminates us, and releases us through death. Death is an important item of the content of God’s salvation.
The second item in God’s redemption is blood, which also indicates death. The blood settled our record of sin before God: “The blood shall be a sign for you upon the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and there will be no plague upon you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt” (Exo. 12:13). When God struck every firstborn of the Egyptian households and herds, they all died (v. 29). Nevertheless, when He saw the blood upon a house, He passed over it. This is the story of the passover. The blood was a sign declaring that the people in the house were dead. Since they were already dead, they did not need to die again. The blood redeemed the children of Israel so that they might escape God’s judgment and condemnation.
Every Egyptian household was condemned, whereas the Israelite households escaped condemnation. On that day the children of Israel slew the lamb and stayed inside the house under the applied blood. This signifies that we are not only identified with Christ but that we are also hiding under the blood of Christ. This is similar to a train conductor considering the validity of a ticket independently of who is holding the ticket. God looks only at the blood, not at us. We may consider ourselves to be perfect, having the highest morality, but without the sign of the blood upon our house, God will see us as a sinner, and we will be stricken. However, if we receive God’s salvation and have the sign of the blood upon us, God will pass over us. The importance of the blood is emphasized even more in the New Testament. Concerning the cup at the Lord’s table, the Lord said, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for forgiveness of sins” (Matt. 26:28). On the one hand, the Lord’s death saves us, for in His death we are terminated. On the other hand, the Lord’s blood redeems us so that His condemnation, judgment, and punishment might pass over us.
The third item in the content of God’s redemption is life. On the day of the passover the children of Israel not only killed the lamb and applied the blood, but they also ate the flesh of the lamb (Exo. 12:8). The flesh of the lamb signifies the life of Christ. The Lord Jesus said, “Work not for the food which perishes” (John 6:27). He also said, “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life...For My flesh is the true food, and My blood is the true drink” (vv. 54-55). This means that the Lord died and shed His blood for us so that He could become our food and be dispensed into us as life.
The children of Israel were to eat the passover lamb with its head, legs, and inward parts (Exo. 12:9). This typifies that the Lord died for us to become our food and that we need to eat all of Him. Every part of Christ should enter into us. When we receive Christ’s redemption, His blood redeems us outwardly from our sins, and He Himself enters into us. The head of the lamb signifies the wisdom of the Lord, the legs signify the Lord’s activity and move, and the inward parts signify the various parts of the Lord’s inward being. We need to receive all of Christ, including His wisdom, activity, move, and the various parts of His inward being (John 6:57; 1 Cor. 1:24; Rev. 4:4b; Phil. 1:8), and let Him enter into us to be our life. We cannot merely believe in Christ outwardly; we need to believe into Christ and receive Him into us.
If the passover lamb had not been killed, the children of Israel could not have eaten it. The lamb died so that it could be eaten. If Christ had not died, we would not be able to receive Him. Praise the Lord, He died so that we can receive Him, and He resurrected to enter into us as our life. When we believe that He died and shed His blood for us, we receive Him as our life, and He enters into us. In short, the content of redemption is Christ, including the three items of death, blood, and life.
Exodus 12 gives a detailed description of the Israelites’ keeping of the passover. This chapter shows how man receives God’s redemption. In other words, in the details of the children of Israel’s keeping of the passover, we see how man receives God’s salvation.
First, when a person receives salvation through repentance and faith in the Lord, he has a new beginning in life. In preparation of the children of Israel eating the lamb and leaving Egypt, God said, “This month will be the beginning of months for you; it shall be the first of the months of the year to you” (v. 2). The month when the children of Israel ate the lamb became the first month of the year. The first month was the month of Abib (13:4). The word Abib means “sprouting, budding, a fresh beginning.” Many believers have such an experience when they are first saved. They regret their past, realizing that their lives were dishonorable and shameful, and they have an expectation that they will have a new life, a new beginning from the day they are saved. This is a first month, a beginning of the year, and a beginning of a new life.
Second, we need to apply the blood. By applying the blood, we accept the fact that the Lord Jesus died for us and acknowledge that He shed His blood for us. The children of Israel were told to take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood, and apply it to the lintel and the two doorposts (12:22). According to 1 Kings 4:33, hyssop is among the smallest of plants. It signifies our small faith. When we see that the Lord Jesus died for us and shed His blood, we repent, turn to Him, and believe into Him. When we first believe, we may have only the thought that the Lord died for us. This is only a little faith, like a bunch of hyssop dipped in the blood of the Lord Jesus. But even with such little faith, the Lord’s blood is applied to us. God did not ask the children of Israel to apply the blood with large things, because He knows that our initial faith is small. Nevertheless, we have the sign of the blood upon us, and God’s judgment and condemnation passes over us.
Third, we need to eat the flesh of the lamb (Exo. 12:8), signifying that we need to receive Christ as our life. The children of Israel ate the flesh of the lamb and were ready to leave Egypt. The strength to walk out of Egypt came from eating the flesh of the lamb. Once we believe that the Lord shed His blood for us, spontaneously we receive Him into us. When the Lord’s life enters into us, we have the strength to walk a new way and begin a new life. Hence, not only do we receive the Lord’s death and the shedding of His blood, but we also receive Him into us as life.
Fourth, we need to eat the unleavened bread. Leaven in the Bible signifies sin (1 Cor. 5:8). Being unleavened means to be without sin. To eat the unleavened bread means to live a sanctified life, a life without sin. Once a person receives the redemption of the Lord, he will have a desire to live a sanctified life, a life without sin. However, man does not have the power in himself to live such a life. This power comes from the unleavened bread, which is the life of Christ.
Although the flesh of the lamb refers to Christ as life and the unleavened bread also refers to Christ as life, there is a difference in emphasis between the two. The flesh of the lamb indicates that Christ as life has been slain and has passed through death and resurrection before entering into us to be our life. The unleavened bread indicates that the life that enters into us is a life without sin. The bread becomes the power that enables us to live a sanctified life. Since the day that we ate the flesh of the Lamb, we have depended on the unleavened bread as the power for our living. After the children of Israel had the passover and ate the flesh of the lamb, they ate unleavened bread for seven days (Exo. 12:15). This means that from the day that a person receives Christ as life, he should depend on the life of Christ for his sanctified living.
Fifth, we need to eat bitter herbs, which signifies regret and repentance. Verse 8 says, “They shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread with bitter herbs.” Although the flesh of the lamb must have been delicious and the unleavened bread must have tasted good as well, the children of Israel also ate bitter herbs, which added bitterness to their taste. This speaks of our situation when we first received the Lord. On the one hand, we had a sweet feeling within when we received the Lord, and our dependence on the Lord was also sweet. On the other hand, however, we also regretted and repented because we saw that our being, our walk, and our living in the past were very corrupt. This is to eat the bitter herbs.
No one receives the Lord with a haughty attitude. Receiving the Lord may be likened to attending a great feast and yet eating everything with bitter herbs. While we are enjoying the Lord, we still have bitter feelings because we receive the Lord’s life and power with regret and repentance. Some may have experienced regret and repentance in a strong way. A co-worker, who has served the Lord for many years, testified that he received the Lord when he was recuperating in a hospital. He was so regretful and repentant that he wept bitterly on the floor. He did not know how long he prayed, but once he got up, he saw a puddle of water on the floor and realized that it was his tears. He said it was both the most remorseful and the happiest day of his life. When we receive salvation, we eat the flesh of the Lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs. When a person truly receives the Lord, his condition includes all these aspects.
Sixth, we need to walk. When the children of Israel ate the lamb, they ate standing up, not sitting down. The children of Israel were instructed to eat the lamb “with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste” (v. 11). As soon as they finished eating, they had to start walking out of Egypt. In other words, we need to leave the world immediately. Some brothers and sisters are saved, but they apply the blood of the lamb without eating its flesh, or they eat only a small amount. When we speak to someone with such an experience, we may not be sure that he has received the Lord’s life or that he has experienced repentance. However, when we speak to others, we know immediately that they are saved. When we talk to these ones, they weep regretfully, and we know that they have eaten the lamb with bitter herbs. We can also see that these ones have eaten the inward parts of the lamb because they say, “I am afraid of offending the Lord in my living from now on.” This shows that they have eaten the inward parts of the lamb. Such ones have experienced the Passover. Furthermore, when some brothers and sisters are saved, they are not ready to walk. Their loins are not girded, they do not wear sandals, and they do not have a staff in their hands. They want to stay in Egypt, that is, to stay in the world because they only have the thought of “going to heaven” when they die. Thus, they have no desire to leave the world when they receive salvation. Nevertheless, others, upon receiving salvation, say, “I do not want the world anymore. I want a new living, a new life, and I want to walk a new way. I am ready to live a sojourning life.” This is the meaning of leaving Egypt, of leaving the world.
In type, a full and complete salvation includes six conditions: having a new beginning, applying the blood, eating the lamb, eating the unleavened bread, eating bitter herbs, and walking out of Egypt. We need to experience a new beginning in our human life, to enjoy the Lord’s life, to live a sanctified life without sin, to have regret and repentance, and to leave the world in order to walk in the way that God has ordained. This is a complete salvation. When we receive the Lord, all six of these conditions should be present.
After the Feast of the Passover the children of Israel continued on to have the Feast of the Unleavened Bread and to sanctify all their firstborn unto God (vv. 11-17; 13:1-6). This speaks of two aspects of receiving redemption.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread comes after the Passover. Leaven denotes sin; being unleavened indicates that sin is removed. The first aspect of redemption is to remove sin. Most believers start to deal with their sins upon receiving the Lord. They confess before God the sins that have offended Him, and they confess before men the sins that have offended them. Everything improper and undesirable needs to be dealt with. Some may have mah-jongg boards, playing cards, wine bottles, things related to smoking or idol worship, or things that were acquired through improper means. These are leaven. Once we are saved, we need to purge out such things. We need the Lord’s mercy that we would have such an experience. In order to be a proper Christian following the Lord, we need to remove sin.
On the negative side, the result of redemption is the removal of sin. On the positive side, the result is sanctification unto God. Once the children of Israel received redemption, their firstborn had to be consecrated to God (vv. 1-2). This is consecration. The firstborn must be sanctified to God because the firstborn were purchased, redeemed, with the blood of the lamb. As those who have been redeemed and purchased with the Lord’s blood, we must give ourselves to God. We no longer belong to ourselves but are sanctified to God and belong to Him.
Redemption resolved the children of Israel’s record of sin before God. Because of the blood of the lamb, God could no longer condemn them. They had received forgiveness of sin. They had also eaten the flesh of the lamb and the unleavened bread. Their sins were removed, they were sanctified unto God, and they were ready to walk. Nevertheless, Pharaoh still wanted to exercise authority over them. When the children of Israel left, Pharaoh took his army and pursued after them (14:5-8). This indicates that when a person receives the Lord, Satan will use the power of the world to pursue after him. Therefore, man needs the Lord’s salvation. Redemption abolishes man’s record of sin before God, and salvation delivers man from Pharaoh’s hand.
God saved the children of Israel by two means. First, God’s power was able to part the Red Sea and to close it again. The power of God caused the children of Israel to cross the Red Sea and also caused the Egyptians to drown (vv. 21-31). Although we have received the blood of the Lamb, the flesh of the Lamb, the unleavened bread, and the bitter herbs, we also need the power of God.
Believing in the Lord and being baptized is typified by the children of Israel’s experience at the Red Sea. The world uses all its might to pursue after us, sometimes through our family and friends and, at other times, through our outward environment. It is common to hear others saying, “If you believe in Jesus, we will absolutely oppose you.” When the world is trying its best to drag us back, we need salvation through the power of God. There was a Muslim man who believed in the Lord and was ready to get baptized. Some other Muslims told him, “If you dare to be baptized, we will bury you alive.” This brother could only pray for the presence of the Spirit of God. He had the will and the strength to get baptized, and so he decided that he would proceed even if it cost him his life. Eventually, God stretched out His mighty hand to protect this brother and to bring him through this crisis.
Many brothers and sisters had such an experience when they first received the Lord. Pharaoh overtook the children of Israel at the Red Sea, which typifies the water of baptism. Crossing the Red Sea signifies baptism. When we receive the Lord and are ready to cross the Red Sea by being baptized, our family may oppose us. When a husband is about to be baptized, his wife may come and snatch away his clothes; when a daughter is about to be baptized, her father may punish her severely. Pharaoh persecuted the children of Israel the most when they were by the Red Sea. Before that, his worst treatment of them involved only hard labor. Once the children of Israel left Egypt, however, Pharaoh took his army to pursue after them, intending to capture them and bring them back to Egypt. Similarly, when we receive the Lord, our family may not hinder us much. But when we are about to be baptized and are ready to walk on the heavenly road, having consecrated our being to the Lord, our family will rise up and oppose strongly. Many saints have had such an experience. This is the Pharaoh who operates in our outward environment.
In addition to Pharaoh operating in our environment, Pharaoh operates within us. The Pharaoh within is much stronger. He may say, “If you are not baptized, you can still be free to do many things. Once you are baptized, you cannot play mah-jongg or watch movies.” Such words are like the army that Pharaoh used to pursue the children of Israel, intending to bring them back to Egypt. How much we need the power of God in such a situation! We should not think that it is easy to get into the baptistery; many people struggle before they are baptized. Someone may say to them, “It is good to believe in the Lord, but you only need to believe with your heart. It is not necessary to be baptized.” Pharaoh does not want us to cross the Red Sea. At such a time we need the power of God to work outwardly in our environment and inwardly in our heart so that we can be brought across the Red Sea, that is, into the water of baptism. We have a great need for the power of God before our baptism. Therefore, the church needs to pray strongly in the meetings for baptisms. If the church lacks prayer, there may not be much power, and in turn, some may not be baptized.
When God saved the children of Israel in their crossing of the Red Sea, He used water as well as power. Redemption involves blood, and salvation involves water. With blood there is the forgiveness of sins before God; with water there is deliverance from Egypt. Water is the Red Sea. If there had been only blood but no water, the children of Israel would have been delivered from the wrath of God but not from the authority of Pharaoh. If we had only the precious blood of Christ, we would be delivered from our sins before God but not from Satan’s bondage and dominion. The blood saved the children of Israel from the condemnation of God, whereas the water saved them from the bondage of Pharaoh. God’s salvation includes redemption through the blood and salvation through water. When we believe in the Lord, we should not think that it is sufficient to receive the Lord as our Savior; we also need to be baptized. It is not enough for us to merely keep the Passover; we also need to cross the Red Sea. Keeping the Passover signifies being delivered from the wrath of God. Crossing the Red Sea signifies being delivered from the bondage of Pharaoh. We need to formally pass through the water in order to separate our being from the power of the world. Many saints have the experience of being separated from the power of the world, the love of the world, and the usurpation of the world when they are baptized.
Pharaoh’s chariots and horsemen, that is, the power of the world and the bondage of the world, were buried in the Red Sea (v. 28). We were once under the bondage of mah-jongg, cigarettes, movies, and dancing; we were bound by these things. But when we were baptized, these things were buried in the water. When the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, they brought the Egyptians along with them. However, only the children of Israel came out of the Red Sea. The Egyptians were all drowned. I often tell others, “When you are getting baptized, you should have the confidence to say, ‘Let the world come! And let all those who once deceived me, lured me, and tempted me come! When I come out of the water, they will remain buried in the water.’” On that day there was water that divided the children of Israel from the Egyptians. Today when people are baptized, water divides them from the world. The power of baptism comes from the power of God’s salvation. We cannot depend merely on the physical water outside of us. The water of the Red Sea alone cannot save man. It is the water of the Red Sea with God’s power that saves man. Hence, we need to have strong prayers at every baptism. We need God’s power for people to be saved.
The children of Israel did not receive a full salvation until they crossed the Red Sea. They were delivered out of the bondage of Pharaoh, so they were truly free and were able to serve God. At this point they were one with Abraham. The called ones were the redeemed ones, and the redeemed ones were the called ones. They were not merely the redeemed Israelites, but they were also the called-out Israelites from Egypt. From that point on, they were able to walk the way before them.
