Exodus 12/Jeremiah15
(3 sections, 17 vs.7 in each section)
From a slave to a soldier of Jesus
–by washing in the blood of the Lamb and eat its meat
Ex. 12:1-7/Jer.15:1-3
God asked Moses and Aaron to give instructions to the whole community of Israel. Each man was to take a one-year-old lamb without any defects. Then the whole community must kill the lambs. They were to take some of the blood and put it on the door-posts and above. The main message in Exodus 12 is that it is only by the atonement of precious blood of our Lord can our sins be forgiven. By his blood, Jesus has redeemed us from judgment. Jesus comes to deliver us from sins and transgressions.
If we do not confess our own sins to the Lord and ask Jesus to blot our sins by His precious blood, we can never reconcile with God. Even if Moses and Samuel are to intercede faithfully for us before God, God cannot show His mercy to us unless He sees the blood of the Lamb. Wherever sins are, curses are. He who sins gets his own punishment.
Ex.12:8-10/Jer.15:4
“That night you must eat the meat.” That means as soon as our sins have been blotted out by the blood, we must start to read God’s word. Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life.” He said, “If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in yourselves. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him to life on the last day. For my flesh is the real food; my blood is the real drink…The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.”(John 6:35, 53-55 & 63)
“You must roast it and eat it.” It means we must fervently accept God’s word into our hearts. Whenever we think of the great love of Jesus dying for us, our hearts is on fire for Jesus.
“Eat it with bitter herbs” means we are ready to suffer physically in order to obey God’s word. From now on we will not live the rest of our earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.
“Do not eat any of it raw.” When we read Bible, we must listen carefully and take to heart all the word God speaks to us. Never go through the Scriptures on the surface.
“Never cook the meat in water to eat.” Never change the original meaning of God’s word according to our own ideas. That is to say we must correctly handle the word of truth. Do not twist God’s word or distort its meaning.
“Eat it roasted whole, including the head, the legs, and the internal organs.” If we want to understand thoroughly the whole truth, we must read the whole book of Bible comprehensively. Never ignore any part of the book of Bible. Nor focus on partial truth. Moreover, we must seek to understand what God means in His heart from beginning. For example, Moses’ law permits divorce, but it is not this way from beginning.
“You must not leave any of it until morning.” Whatever we read today, we must put it into practice today. Do not delay it until next day.
King Manasseh did not eat God’s word or drink His blood. He ignored God’s word and never obeyed God’s word. Therefore, God laid hands on them and attacked them. They would be tossed here and there among all nations. No one would show mercy to them.
If we eat the flesh of the Son of Man according to God’s instruction, we will be delivered from bondage of sins. And we will become noble instruments of God. We can bring glory to God and help other to believe in God. All nations will be blessed by us.
A testimony: Sister Rebekah was brought to Jesus Christ by her elder brother. He went to America to study Theology because he wanted to serve God. But later he fell into sins and refused to confess his sins to God. He got worse and worse. He has ended up as a humiliation of church. Though sister Rebekah failed the Lord during Cultural Revolution, she has repented completely by the blood. Since then, she has turned her heart to eat God’s word fervently. God has changed her into a noble instrument. God is still using her mightily even now.
Ex. 12:11-15/Jer. 15:5-6
You are to eat it quickly, for you are to travel. It is the Lord’s Passover. On that night God will go through the land of Egypt, killing every first-born male, both human and animal. This disaster will not harm those who put blood on their door-posts. Celebrate this day as a festival to remind you what God has done. Celebrate it as a lasting law. If we do not do it, we may lose our first love to God.
But God’s people rejected Him and turned their back on God. They refused to eat His word quickly. They had not celebrated Passover as a lasting law for generations. Though the ancestors kept it by washing themselves in the blood and removing all yeast in their houses, the young generations did not keep it in this way. They refused to wash their sins in the blood of lamb. As a result, they did not even know what they had done wrong from God’s eye. Therefore, God would lay hands on them to destroy them. Not one would show pity to them or mourn for them. My younger sister kept on backsliding in this way. When she was first called by God to serve Him full-time, she focused on washing her sins in the blood. She loved God’s words and kept them by faith. Later she loved the world so much that she could hardly admit her own sins to God. Finally, she stopped keeping Passover, and she returned to follow the world.
Ex. 15:16-20/Jer. 15:7-8
“Eat bread without yeast for 7 days. Get rid of all the yeast in your houses.” Yeast stands for sins and evil, sinful nature, evil teachings, cult, other gospel, or a spirit of confusion. During those 7 days, do no work except preparing food for everyone to eat. To remove all the yeast from your houses according to God’s words is much more important than to serve God. Because it is on this very day that God brought out His army from Egypt. Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread as a lasting law for the generations to come. Eat only bread without yeast. Only accept sound and pure teaching of truth. Whoever eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of the Israel.
God would get rid of some of His people because they did not stop their evil ways. They took God lightly. They did not care to remove all yeast of sins before they came to serve God. They did not bother to eat Unleavened Bread. Nor did they keep it as a lasting festival. Therefore, God would make their widows more than grains of sand by the sea. God would kill the mothers of their young men at midday. It was because they did not pay attention to remove yeast of sins when they were successful in their service to God. As a result of it, they became proud. They accepted man’s admiration as idols. Or they were led to admire others as idols. Some regarded money or fame as idols. Therefore, God would bring them sudden terror and sorrow. For example, when King Solomon was led astray to love his foreign wives, he faced enemies all around him suddenly.
Ex. 12:21-29/Jer. 15:9-12
Then Moses told the people whatever God had told him. They were to celebrate the feast of Passover for generations to come. If they atoned for their sins by the Lord’s blood, and then they would not be harmed by the disaster.
But when they disobeyed God and refused to atone for their sins by blood, the mother of seven would grow faint and be ashamed.
In Jer. 15:10, Jeremiah faced such disaster that he seemed to be under curse. But what happened to him was not caused by his sins. It was for the sake of righteousness, for God’s truth. Though he was so hated by people, he would be delivered by God for a good purpose in times of troubles. God would make his enemies plead with him.
Men’s hearts was as stubborn as iron and bronze. It was just like Pharaoh, no one could escape from his complete controlling. But our Lord is almighty God. He killed all the first-born sons in Egypt at midnight. The Egyptian urged the Israel to hurry and leave the country.
Ex. 12:30-36/Jer. 15:13-15
That night Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and asked them to leave Egypt with their people, sheep, goats, and cattle. God made the Egyptians respect the people and give them those articles of silver and gold they asked for. In this way, the Israel carried away the wealth of the Egyptians.
God’s people were as stubborn as Pharaoh. They did not obey God’s words after they entered the Promised Land. They sinned against God and did evil thing. They kept on turning their back on God. God would give their treasures as plunder to their enemies without charge. But God knew how Jeremiah had been persecuted for Him. God would vindicate him and revenge for him because he had suffered long for God. God would remember him and care for him.
Ex. 12:37-39/Jer. 15/16
The Israel baked unleavened bread from the dough that they had brought out of Egypt. It was because they were driven out of Egypt so suddenly that they did not have time to prepare leavened dough.
Jeremiah had always listened carefully to every word that God spoke to him. God’s word filled his heart with joy and happiness. God’s word are true unleavened bread. His word can make us holy if we really accept them by faith. Bible says, “Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”(Deuteronomy 8:3) We must regard God’s word more important than food or anything else.
Ex. 12:40-46/Jer. 15:17-19
On the day the 430 years ended, all the army of the Lord left Egypt. Therefore, they must dedicate this day to the Lord as Passover for generations to come. Whenever a person is willing to atone for his sins by the blood and accept God’s word, at once he becomes a good soldier in the Lord’s army.
Jeremiah was a good soldier in God’s kingdom. He concerned what God concerned. He had never spent time laughing with other people or having a good time for himself. In this ways, Jeremiah kept the spirit of Passover according to the laws.
“Do not break any of the lamb’s bones.” What does it mean by that? You see not a bone of the Lamb of God has been broken. How Jesus has suffered for our sins and kept God’s every word till the very end. He has left us a perfect example of true Passover. When he was insulted, Jesus did not answer back with an insult. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but placed his hopes in God. When he was asked whether he was the Son of God, he answered yes without fear of death.
Jeremiah had suffered long for the Lord. He prayed to God to obey His word to the end just like our Lord without breaking any of the bones. He was a servant of character. He did not bow down to suffering or compromise with sins. Samson failed to keep God’s word to the end because he bowed down to women. His bones have been crushed by sins and he lost his strength.
Jeremiah did not take the meat outside. He remained faithful to God in suffering. But Samson was a defeated soldier. He regarded the prostitute Delilah as his happiness. Samson did not eat the whole meat to remain in the Lord. He brought it outside—he released the mystery of gospel to his enemies. Samson had never asked God to give him strength to overcome sins.
God only wants us to turn to Him. It is by the redemption of the cross that our hearts are circumcised. Then we can be sanctified. If we keep on obeying God’s word, we will be sanctified to be God’s spokesmen. We become noble instruments of God. God will use us to declare His word. We will be counted as good soldiers of heavenly kingdom. Though people attack us, God is with us and He will deliver us from our enemies. No one can overcome us.