A plague is going to strike Egypt but the Israelites will be spared from personal tragedy if they obey the Lord's instructions in a display of faith. During the previous plagues we saw the Lord sparing the Israelites from hardship because they are His covenant people and to show Pharaoh that He makes a "distinction" between those who believe in Him and those who are pagan idolaters. The Lord wanted Pharaoh to understand that His favor was upon the Israelites and that He intends to bring them out of Egypt. This presented a choice to Pharaoh. He could either let the people go peacefully and the plagues would stop and his land would heal, or he could continue to resist the Lord and experience continued plagues of judgment from the Lord.
The tenth plague requires action to be performed by the Israelites. Any household that does not have the faith to follow the Lord's instructions for the plague to "pass over" them will not be spared from the plague of the firstborn. The firstborn son will die. For the first time during the series of plagues the Israelites will have to make a statement of faith, if you will, instead of being spared because of their national identity. Each householder will have to decide for himself or herself whether they have the faith to trust the Lord, to follow His instructions, to believe He will spare them from the plague, and to believe He will rescue them from Egypt. Each householder will have to make the same type of decision that Joshua, the successor of Moses, made, saying: "As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15)
The Lord now begins to provide the instructions for observing what will become known as Passover. "The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 'This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.'" (Exodus 12:1-2) Passover, followed by the exodus, represents a new beginning for the people who will become the great nation of Israel. From now on the month in which Passover occurs will be the first month on their calendar. Every time a new year begins, the people will be reminded of the mighty works the Lord did on their behalf in Egypt. They will be reminded of His great mercy in passing over them when He saw the sign of their faith, and they will be reminded of the signs and wonders He performed, and they will be reminded of His power in rescuing them from their enemies.
The Lord continues, "Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat.'" (Exodus 12:3-4) The Lord is never wasteful with anything. There's no sense in taking more than they need, so a small household is to share with another small household. The lamb is going to serve the purpose of providing nourishment for the journey ahead and its blood is going to be used to make their statement of faith. Slaughtering more lambs than is needed for these purposes would be pointless and wasteful and that's why we find the Lord being quite specific about determining the amount of lambs needed.
They can't use just any lambs from among the flocks; these lambs must be the best of their flocks. "The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goat." (Exodus 12:5) The lamb has to be a year old so that any illnesses or handicaps have had time to become apparent. Severe birth defects or genetic illnesses would be likely to kill a lamb before it reached a year old and this is why it's important not to select a younger lamb. Even when selecting a year-old male the people will have to look it over carefully to make sure it doesn't have any sort of non life-threatening defect, and a number of things could fall into that category such as a lazy eye or a limp or a skin condition or anything that would mean it wasn't in tip-shop shape and wasn't a prime example of what a healthy and well-bred lamb should be.
After the lamb is selected it must be closely observed for four days in case it has a defect which wasn't immediately apparent when selected from the flock. "Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight." (Exodus 12:6) For four days each family lives with its lamb. Day and night they observe its behavior and interact with it. This way, any physical or mental problem it may have will come to light. Things that aren't readily apparent while it resides in the field will become apparent while it resides at the home.
The people are to use the meat for food but are to do something with the blood which constitutes an act of faith. "Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs." (Exodus 12:7) The Israelites have never done anything like this before. It must have seemed bizarre for them to apply blood to the doorframes of their homes. What is the purpose of such a thing? The purpose is that during the night, when the plague of the firstborn falls upon Egypt, the Lord will "pass over" the houses where the blood has been applied. He will say later in Chapter 12, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you." The judgment of the tenth and final plague will not strike any household where the blood has been applied.
How can we, who are weak in the flesh and who are prone to sin and failures, escape the judgment of God? Why would He "pass over" us when His wrath falls on all that is ungodly? There is only one way: by having the blood of the sinless and spotless Lamb of God (the lamb without defect) applied to the doors of our hearts! Christ came into the world to offer Himself in our place. He was examined by many during the years of His ministry and no sin was ever observed being committed by Him. He was scrutinized quite severely in Jerusalem during the final four days of His life and no defect was found in Him---and believe me, His enemies wanted so badly to find fault with Him that if any fault had existed they would have found it. His primary enemies were some of the religious elite at Jerusalem who knew the Scriptures and the laws and the commandments inside out. Yet they couldn't find a single religious law He had ever broken. Even the pagan governor Pontius Pilate was loathe to bring any punishment of any kind upon Jesus when He was brought before him on trumped-up charges, saying, "I find no fault in this man." (Luke 23:4, John 19:4) Did it really matter to Pilate (who openly hated the Jewish people and was known for going out of his way to offend them) if one more Jewish man was crucified? Probably not, but even a person like Pilate who cared nothing for a Jewish carpenter from Nazareth could find no reason to charge Him with anything. Pilate interviewed Jesus more than once during the day of His trial and did everything he could to avoid sending Him to his death because in his intense examination of Jesus he found nothing whatsoever wrong with Him. The Lord Jesus Christ is the sinless, spotless Lamb whose blood was shed for us. And only by accepting what He did on our behalf and by making him the Lord of our lives can we be "passed over" in the judgment.
On the night the tenth plague struck Egypt, the Lord passed over the homes where the blood was applied. The Lord knew everything about the inhabitants of those homes. But did He think about any mistakes they had made in the past? Did He think about anything wrong they might have been harboring in their hearts on the night of Passover? Did He look ahead to any sins they might commit in the future? Did He consider all these things and disqualify them for mercy? No, because He saw the blood! The blood was the evidence of their faith and trust in Him. He granted them mercy because of their faith.
In this same way, when God looks upon those who have accepted the sacrifice of His Son the Lamb, He sees the blood! He doesn't hold our sinful past against us. He doesn't hold our future faults and failures against us. If we've accepted His Son as our Savior, He looks at us and sees the blood. He grants us mercy when He sees the blood applied to our hearts and His judgment passes over us.
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