They Had to Get it Right

The Good News has changed since Moses‘ day. Back then this was the Gospel message:

“And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’S passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 12:1-13)

 

Of course most of us already know that this was just a picture (or type) of the Good News that was to come in Jesus Christ, but I wanted to focus on these two (2) things that jumped out at me in the Exodus narrative:

1) 600,000 Jewish men all received the same message.

2) They all believed it and obeyed.

The first point speaks to the evangelical and apostolic effort that was put forth — Moses received a precise message from God that needed to go out without any changes or alterations. Moses passed the message to the elders, and they passed it to men, who then passed it to other men, until all 600,000 families got the Good News. I haven’t researched it, but this may be the only time in Israel’s history that the entire nation was united for a singular cause and where all the men were perfectly compliant. We know they got it right because not one soul was lost.

We know they got it right because not one soul was lost.

The second point speaks to the first: everyone who heard the complex and intricate message obeyed it. Again, we know this to be true because not one Jew perished.

Outwardly, this ministered to me in that we [Christians] have a very precise, albeit simpler message to deliver. I took note that in the Exodus account there was not one man [who received the message] who said, “Okay, I will now pray for the Lord to give me an open door or a ‘Divine appointment’ to share this Good News.”

The notion of being sent out was implied in the urgency of the original message. If for some reason there was a man who could not go, I suspect he frantically searched for another man to go in his stead.

Inwardly, this ministered to me in that belief in the message was not sufficient to be saved. There was not one Jewish man who thought or said, “Moses, I totally believe you and this whole ‘slaughter a lamb’ thing, but I’m gonna do it my way. God knows my heart and He will understand.”

It was collectively understood that there was either going to be genuine, unwavering compliance or there was going to be death. On that day, Israel chose compliance.

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway , even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

Where does that leave us?

I believe in Jesus and therefore I follow Jesus. He has given us the directive to share the Gospel Message and our obedience is implied in the word “Go.”

We’re not to alter the message in any way, we’re just to pass it on in order that souls will not perish. We can (and should) pray for ‘open doors’ and ‘Divine appointments,’ but chances are we’re not going to see any of them unless or until we actually set out to deliver the message. Oh that’s not to say that God won’t send opportunities knocking upon your door (He does do that on occasion), but consider that if Israel had waited in this fashion there likely would have been a lot of dead Jewish people in Egypt on that first Passover.

You have the message and God has equipped you in some way to deliver it. Pray for your open door and then trust as you go out in obedience that you will see it clearly. If you’re a follower of Jesus, it’s only reasonable.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” (Romans 12:1)

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