His Deliverance

Author: Joseph

Date: March 31, 2019

The feast of Passover began before Israel even left Egypt, when God commanded the Israelites to put the blood of a lamb upon the doorposts of their homes in order that they would not die when God struck down all the firstborn of the land. It was a feast that took place during the last plague that fell upon the land of Egypt. Passover was the final judgment of the land. The firstborns of the Israelites would live or die depending on if they believed in God and obeyed His command to observe the Passover.

God then moved across the land of Egypt and struck down all the firstborn of Egypt, finally breaking Pharaoh’s hardened heart to let the people of Israel go. The events that followed also showed God’s strength to deliver His people and the faithfulness He had to the promise He made to their ancestors: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Genesis 15:13-14). Israel was freed and God’s miraculous deeds to deliver them was to be remembered.

Israel prospered under the leadership of Joseph and the Pharaoh who ruled over him, but then were met with great hostility from the new Pharaoh who did not remember Joseph. Israel cried out to God and He answered them. God sent His servant, Moses, who had been saved from Pharaoh’s infanticide, and granted him authority to go before Pharaoh as God to Pharaoh (Exodus 7:1). God had a plan to deliver His people and completed it, bringing glory to His name and praise from His people (Exodus 15:1-20).

The Passover is a day set apart to remember God’s deliverance of Israel from the heavy bondage of Pharaoh. Just as it was then, now we have the opportunity to celebrate God’s deliverance through this feast.

If you find it difficult to relate to the story of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, remember that God has also delivered you from bondage when you came to faith in Him. Just as Israel was enslaved and then freed, so is each person now. The world is burdened and suffering under the weight of sin in this world. Living in a world like ours, in the current condition it is in, is burdensome even to the end of life when we die. This does not remain true for those who have been delivered by God. While the burdens of the world and its sin are still a reality, those who are faithful are freed from the path of sin and will find that at the end of their lives is life beyond death.

Just as Israel remembers God’s delivering power in the Passover, so can all people who remember this feast when we remember that God has provided deliverance that is available to all people.

Do you remember what it was like before God delivered you from the path of sin? Israel suffered hard labor in Egypt and great sufferings at the hands of Pharaoh. Everyone in this world also suffers under the weight of sin and sufferings that come from it. Remember God’s deliverance and hold onto the hope of where His deliverance leads. There is life even after death for those who have been delivered by God. How much greater is this than the deliverance from Egypt? If you celebrate the Passover, remember not just those events, but rather, remember the God who makes deliverance possible.

Bible Passage: Deuteronomy 16:1-8

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB). www.lockman.org