God called Moses to be the deliverer of His people. When Moses complained that he could not speak eloquently, God sent Aaron, his brother, to go with him and do the speaking. God told Moses and Aaron to go to Pharaoh and say to him,

"Thus says the LORD, Israel is My son, even My firstborn: and I say unto you, 'Let My son go, that he may serve Me: and if you refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay your son, even your firstborn.'" Exodus 4:22-23

Moses and Aaron delivered God's message to Pharaoh, but Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go." (Exodus 5:2)

God sent nine great plagues on the land of Egypt to cause Pharaoh to let Israel go. Each time Pharaoh would seem to change his mind and promise to let Israel go if the LORD would take away the plague. But when the plague was removed, Pharaoh would harden his heart and refuse to let the people of Israel go.

Finally God said to Moses, "Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go." The final plague on the land of Egypt was that the Lord would pass through the land at midnight, and the firstborn son in every family would be killed.

The children of Israel had been exempt from the other plagues, but this one applied to them as well as the Egyptians. All have sinned, therefore all must die. But God provided for Israel's salvation.

On the tenth day of the month each household was to take a lamb, a male of the first year. The lamb had to be perfect. The lamb was kept until the fourteenth day to be sure it was perfect.

On the evening of the fourteenth day, the lamb was to be killed and its blood collected in a bowl. Using a branch of a bush, they were to put the blood on the two sides of their doorway and on the top of the doorway. God said, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you." (Exodus 12:13)

At midnight, the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. There was not a house among the Egyptians where there was not a dead son. Even Pharaoh's eldest son was killed. But in the homes of the children of Israel, the firstborn sons were spared.

The night that God delivered His people from Egypt was a time never to be forgotten. It happened exactly as God had said. The Bible says,

"And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon…and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead." Exodus 12:29-30

What was it that saved Israel's firstborn sons on that awful night? It was the blood of the lamb. What is it that saves us? It is the blood of Christ, the Lamb of God. Any religion that leaves out the blood of Christ is false and is a sure ticket to hell.

The Bible says,

"You were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold…But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." 1 Peter 1:18-19

Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and told them to leave Egypt and to serve the LORD as He had told them. The Egyptian people also begged the Israelites to leave and they gave them silver, gold, precious stones, and fine clothes. They gave the children of Israel anything they wanted for they said, "If you don't leave, we will all be dead."

So the children of Israel went out of Egypt with great wealth. There were about 600,000 men, besides the women and children. They took their flocks and many herds of cattle.

God told the children of Israel that this day, the day of their great deliverance, was to be remembered and kept as a memorial feast each year forever. This memorial feast is called "the Passover" because the death angel "passed over" them. God wanted His people to remember forever their great deliverance by the blood of the lamb.

God also told the people of Israel, "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you." Their deliverance was the beginning of a new life for them. So it is with us; when we are saved, we begin our new life in Christ.

The great thought of the Passover was God taking His people out of Egypt that He might have them for Himself. This is what God is doing now. He is taking out of this evil world a people for Himself.

A beloved servant of the Lord said, "Whenever God means to put His people into motion, He always feeds them first!" The Israelites not only had the blood of the lamb to protect them from God's judgment, but they also had the roast lamb to eat in preparation for their long journey to "the promised land."

So it is with us. We have Christ, the Lamb of God, to feed our souls on as we travel through this world to our "promised land."

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