None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. – Exodus 12:22-23
Scripture reading: Exodus 12:21-38
Now God is poised and ready to strike Egypt for her sins against the LORD and His people. The previous plagues left the land of Goshen like a shining light, unscathed and untouched, but now God is saying, “This is a judgment that shall strike all.”
In Genesis 7, Noah was commanded to enter the ark and not to leave it. We’re told that God sealed the doors of the ark before sending the waters of judgment. Now the LORD commands them to enter their homes and not to leave them. The Israelites’ very dwelling places became a way to pass through the judgment as their doors were sealed with the blood of the lamb – sealed up to pass through unscathed in the night of death in Egypt. One lamb’s life is shed and blood poured out for the many who gathered within and they are sealed into these vessels of deliverance from God’s wrath and just judgment of sin.
The destroyer went out and struck all the firstborn – see how specific verse 29 is. God showed no favouritism – the highest born to the lowliest. The only difference on this judgment day was whether they were covered by the blood of the lamb. Even before their Exodus from Egypt and the power of Pharaoh, they must pass through the judgment ordeal which God is sending by the hand of His destroyer. And who can stand when the angel of death appears? Only those who are sealed and covered by the blood of the Lamb!
Suggestions for prayer
Pray for our Heavenly Father to make us ready for the Day of Judgment and make us thankful for the way of escape He has provided to us. Ask Him to renew our confidence in His unfailing promises to deliver us from all harm and the judgment to come!
This daily devotional is available in a print edition you can buy at Nearer to God Devotional. Rev. Norman Van Eeden Petersman is the pastor of the Vancouver Associated Presbyterian Church in BC.
