YEAR 2, WEEK 2, Day 5, Friday, 10 January 2025

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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Friday, 10 January 2025:

Exodus 12:2 — This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you.

Two of God’s events have been so great that they have reset the calendar. The first event referenced in Exodus 12 began the Jewish religious calendar, but what marks the beginning of our current calendar? B.C. stands for Before Christ, and it means the number of years before the time of Jesus Christ. AD does not mean “After Death,” as many believe. It is an abbreviation for “Anno Domini,” which is a Latin phrase meaning “in the year of our Lord,” referring to the year of Christ’s birth. BC means before Christ. So, 2025 AD is intended to signify that it has been 2,025 years since Christ was born. Jesus Christ reset everything. Exodus 12 is a shadow, a representation of what Jesus would do for mankind.

Today, many institutions have sought to replace B.C. with B.C.E., which stands for “Before the Common Era,” and A.D. with B.C., with the justification that B.C.E. is more inclusive. This idea was first introduced by Jewish academics sometime in the 1700s but didn’t start to become a movement until the 1980s. Today, it is the standard in public schools and government institutions, though many refuse to accept this secularization. Regardless, one who have to ask what made the “common era” common. Ultimately, there is no escaping the fact that Jesus changed everything.

Exodus 12:12, 13 – I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you.

Nothing can save you but the blood of Jesus. Salvation isn’t about your sacrifices, it is about the perfect sacrifice of the Lamb of God on your behalf. When the Father sees the mark of the blood of Jesus on you, He will pass over you in judgment. As was foreshadowed with the Jews in the story of Exodus, there is only one way for salvation, and God defines the way, not people.

Exodus 12:24-27 – You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.

Religious celebrations are intended to be opportunities for parents to teach their children about God in a way that can be passed down from generation to generation.

Exodus 12:37 – …about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children.

Over a million Jews left Egypt, and God would provide for all of them in a desert for 40 years! How much faith did it take for all these people to pour into the desert with no plan for survival? Can you imagine how they must have felt, particularly the vulnerable, such as the elderly, pregnant mothers or mothers of enfants, etc., along with their patriarch providers? Often, Christians won’t escape the bondage of their current situation until they can envision a perfect plan and therefore never experience what God would have for them if they would only walk in faith. We don’t really experience to presence of God in our lives until we act obediently on what only He can do so we can see Him at work in our lives and not just ourselves and others at work.

• Hebrews 11:6 — And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Exodus 12:38 – A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds.

Some people who were not Jews also obeyed God’s commands and went with them. It starts with obedience. We grow in faith when we obey, even though we doubt, and see that God is true. We experience Truth when we act on Truth even though we cannot yet see the Truth. We place our faith in something or someone when we act as if what we believe about that something or someone is reliable to meet our expectations. For example, every day, people buy things online with confidence that they will actually receive what they purchased. However, if they don’t pay first, they receive nothing. You may not recall, but the first time you bought something online, you might have been a bit nervous about it, but if you are like most today, you hardly worry about most of your online purchases; in fact, you are probably grateful for your ability to buy things online. Similarly, it takes faith to obey, and if we act on faith by obeying God, we will see God fulfill His promises, and our faith will grow to greater obedience and greater faith.

• John 14:21 – “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

Exodus 12:47 – All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.

God exempted no one from remembrance and celebration.

Exodus 12:50-51 – All the people of Israel did just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. And on that very day the Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.

God did the miraculous things needed to bring His people safely out of Egypt. All God’s people were required to do was obey. Our role in God’s work is obedience to Him in love for Him.

• Ecclesiastes 12:11-14 — The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

The Passover, this day of salvation and distinction, was a new beginning for God’s people. When God executed His judgment over the land, He provided a way for people to escape His wrath and death – the mark of the blood of the unblemished, sacrificial, substitutional lamb. All were subject to God’s judgment, both Israelite and Egyptian, but when Judgment saw the blood of the lamb, it passed over, not because of any attributes of the persons – there was no distinction — only because of the blood of the lamb. There was only one way to be saved from God’s wrath and death, not many ways, and this one way defied human reason. Placing the lamb’s blood on the door was an act of faith done by those who trusted God and hoped in His salvation. The Passover lamb is a foreshadowing of The Lamb of God, Jesus.

• Matthew 26:2 — “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”
• Matthew 26:26 — Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”
• Luke 22:7 — Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.
• Romans 6:23 — For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
• 1 Peter 1:19 — But with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
• John 1:29 — Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
• John 19:36 — For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.”
• Revelation 1:5 — And from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.
• Ephesians 1:7 — In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.
• Romans 5:9 — Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
• Revelation 7:10 — And crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
• John 3:36 — Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
• Romans 3:25 — Whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

Those who have been saved by the blood of the Lamb by God’s grace have a new beginning in Christ, they are new creations.

• 2 Corinthians 5:17 — Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
• Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

With salvation comes the exodus, leaving the old life behind.

Upon placing the blood on the doors, the Israelites were told to remove the leaven from their houses. Leaven is a symbol for sin. The call for the believer, having been saved by grace through faith, not by works, is to now remove the sin from their lives, to live lives worthy of Christ. Sin, like leaven, is pervasive, just a little bit affects the whole batch. There can be no compromise with sin, accepting just a little bit of sin can corrupt the entire person, the family, the people, the church, and the nation. Salvation by grace alone brings with it the responsibility to live in purity and holiness, relying on the strength of the Holy Spirit. Glorify God by removing sin from your life.

• 1 Corinthians 5:7, 8 — Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
• Galatians 5:9 — A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 10 January 2025: Obey today. Simply focus on obedience; but when you inevitably fail to obey perfectly, repent, trust in God’s grace, examine the heart behind your disobedience, and pray for the right heart, while you continue to struggle in obedience until obedience is no longer a struggle but a joy.