March 23, 2018 - DELIVERANCE THROUGH BLOOD

Day 82 - (Today’s Bible readings: Exodus 12:1-30; Psalm 78:1-35; Romans 9:1–26)

Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the  lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin.  (Exodus 12:21-22 ESV)

Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, has resisted the first nine plagues sent by almighty God in order to encourage the freedom of the Israelites. The tenth plague is about to come upon the land of Egypt. But first God must protect His chosen people. He tells them to slaughter a perfect lamb, one per household. They are to make it their source of protein in the meal of haste. (There would not even be enough time to allow bread to rise.) But first they must use the blood of these lambs as a sign for the death angel to pass over their dwellings.

Every house in the entire land of Egypt that did not have lamb’s blood on their doors would lose their firstborn child that night, along with the firstborn of their livestock.

While there was wailing and mourning throughout the land because of so much death, in the homes covered with lamb’s blood, there was instead peace and a sense that God was working powerfully among His people. The blood had delivered them. The same is true for you and me today. The Lord delivers us from our enemies of sin, death and the devil by means of Jesus, the Lamb of God who shed His blood for us that first Good Friday.

Lord, I believe Thy precious blood,
Which at the mercy seat of God
Pleads for the captives' liberty,
Was also shed in love for me.
(Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness, The Lutheran Service Book, CPH 2006, #563-3)

Dear Lord Jesus, the precious Lamb of God, thank You for covering me in Your blood and thereby redeeming me, buying me back from sin, death and the devil. Please use me to share the story of Your love and mercy with someone else. Amen.

Pastor David Paape

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105 ), is the theme for this three-year journey through the entire Old Testament once (the Psalms - twice yearly), and the New Testament twice. There will be daily readings form the O.T., Psalms and the N.T. Special days on the church calendar will be highlighted with appropriate readings. This calendar has been compiled by representatives of the Lutheran Church of Canada, the North American Lutheran Church and the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. Please click this link for the daily reading calendar:
https://blogs.lcms.org/2017/lcms-lcc-and-nalc-compile-three-year-schedule-of-daily-bible-readings  
Then scroll down to 2018 Bible Reading Calendar and download it if you so wish. The “assigned” daily readings will appear on a daily basis in this blog. May the Lord bless you meditation upon His precious life-giving Word!