When I See the Blood
by Terry Wane Benton
The Israelites were instructed to be ready to travel because God was going to do one last plague upon Pharaoh and Egypt that would break Pharaoh down and cause him to release the Israelites from the bondage he held them in. It is recorded in Exodus 12 that “the Lord’s Passover” (Exodus 12:11) would involve killing a one year old lamb or goat, taking the blood of the lamb and dabbing the blood on the doorposts and lintel of their dwellings (Exodus 12:7), eating the lamb completely in their houses, the lamb roasted in fire (Exodus 12:8), letting nothing be left over till morning (Exodus 12:10), having belt and shoes and staff ready to be on the move (Exodus 12:11). That evening the Lord would pass over the land. If there were houses with no blood, that household would experience the death of their firstborn, and if blood were on the doorposts of the house, the Lord would pass over that house and no death would come to that household.
They were safe under the protective blood of the lamb. The Lord was doing this to depict the bigger plan to break the hold Satan has over us, create a means of release from bondage to sin, and create a means by which some are safe from death. In contrast, others would remain unprotected because they did not take the necessary steps to protect themselves and their household, namely, the actions mentioned above.
Paul draws the parallel to the greater redemptive plan and says, “Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed for us” (I Corinthians 5:7). Have you eaten this Lamb? Have you consumed Him in your heart and mind? Completely? Have you applied the blood to the doorposts of your heart? This Lamb is the energy by which you will travel away from the bondage of sin. This Lamb will provide the protective blood by which you will be safe from spiritual and eternal death.
When God “sees the blood” (did you apply it?) He will pass over you. Your only safety from spiritual and eternal death (separation from God) is to have the blood of the Lamb (Jesus) properly applied to your life. You must be in ready mode to exit Satan’s domain of influence and hold; you must have the Lamb roasted and consumed. Perhaps the spiritual counterpart here is that you have within you, because you took it into your heart, the fire-tested Jesus, the blood-given Jesus, the blood-applied Jesus, the spiritual energy-giving Jesus, and this is the means of breaking Satan’s power over us.
We should note that safety was not a result of the Israelites doing some meritorious or deserving act. Some of the Egyptians may have lived a good moral life, perhaps equal in merit to any Israelite, but the difference was that the Israelites had the “blood of the lamb” applied to them, while the Egyptians did not. So, it is now! The difference between the Christian and non-Christian may not be that one was better in righteous merit than the other, but that one wanted to leave bondage, applied the blood of the lamb, and the other did not.
We “overcame” the rule of Satan and his hold on us “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their (the apostle’s) testimony” and loving not our lives unto the death (Revelation 12:11). Without the blood of the Lamb (Jesus), death does not “pass over” us. Instead, it visits us with devastation!
How is it with you now? Will God see the blood covering your ways, your every move, and action in life? Are you protected from spiritual and eternal death? When God sees the blood, He will pass over us! We will not get the sentence of death! We will have the sentence of life eternal. Let’s consume the Lamb of God and apply His blood! That is our only hope!
