THE BLOODSTAINED DOORWAY

November 4, 2007
MF Blume

Scripture Text:

Exo 12:1-13 KJV And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, (2) This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. (3) 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: (4) 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. (5) Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: (6) 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. (7) 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. (8) And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. (9) 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. (10) 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. (11) 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. (12) 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. (13) 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.

Exo 12:22-23 KJV And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. (23) For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

Message:

Israel was held captive in Egypt for generations after having been taken there in Joseph's day when famine hit the land and Joseph was a leader in Egypt organizing the provision of food.

Exo 1:8-11 KJV Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. (9) And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: (10) Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. (11) Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.

God called Moses from a burning bush with a message that He would deliver Israel.

Exo 3:7-10 KJV And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; (8) And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. (9) Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. (10) Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.

And God informed Moses that He would work with Pharaoh and convince him to set Israel free.

And God gave Pharaoh a message.

Exo 4:22-23 KJV And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: (23) And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.

Way back in Exodus chapter 4, God had the message given that ISRAEL IS GOD'S FIRSTBORN SON, in God's eyes.

And if Pharaoh refused to let God's Son go free, God would take Pharaoh's firstborn son in death!

But the story continued and said that Pharoah refused to release Israel over and over again, after Moses spoke God's word over and over again.

When Pharaoh refused to comply, instead of God doing what He said He would do at the start -- that is, take Pharaoh's firstborn son -- God sent plagues.

   1. (Exodus 7:14-25) rivers and other water sources turned to blood ('Dam')
   2. (Exodus 8:1-8:15) amphibians (commonly believed to be frogs) ('Tsfardeia')
   3. (Exodus 8:16-19) lice or gnats ('Kinim')
   4. (Exodus 8:20-32) flies or beasts ('Arov')
   5. (Exodus 9:1-7) disease on livestock ('Dever')
   6. (Exodus 9:8-12) unhealable boils ('Shkhin')
   7. (Exodus 9:13-35) hail mixed with fire ('Barad')
   8. (Exodus 10:1-20) locusts ('Arbeh')
   9. (Exodus 10:21-29) darkness ('Choshech')

Finally, after all this time and all these plagues when Pharaoh refused to release the Hebrew slaves, God did what He warned Pharaoh He would do from the start.

Exo 12:29-33 KJV And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. (30) And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead. (31) And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said. (32) Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also. (33) And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.

The tenth plague was a plague of death.

Notice the details of this tenth and final plague that broke the back of Egypt, and saw Israel freed to travel to the promised land.

After waters turned to blood, frogs, live, flies, disease, boils, hail mixed with fire, locusts and darkness, -- with none of these setting Israel free -- the plague of death did the work.

A lamb was taken by each family.

It's blood was shed in its death, and spilled in a bason.
And a little plant called a HYSSOP was used to dip into the blood and sprinkle the doorway of each and every home the Israelites lived in.

Doorways are the parts of our houses and buildings that are very important and perform a function that no other part of the house performs.

People look through windows.
People climb up and down stairs.
Smoke and exhaust flow up and out chimneys.
People are protected from the elements by walls and roof.
But what is the purpose of a DOOR?

Blood was not put around the windows.

It was not put upon the roofs.
But specifically around the doors.

PEOPLE ENTER HOUSES BY DOORS.

The idea of ENTRANCE is what is emphasized by DOORS.

There is a powerful message that shows us the role that baptism and salvation plays in the life of a Christian.

To have the BLOOD OF A DEAD LAMB put around the doorways of a house, is the best way to relate a message that ENTRANCE INTO THE DEATH OF THE LAMB IS REQUIRED to be saved.

It was as though those people ENTERED the body of the DEAD LITTLE LAMB when they walked through the doors that were splattered with blood.
And there is a marvelous deep meaning in all of this which teaches us something about the death of Jesus Christ.

God said that when the death angel passed through Egypt to enter into every home and KILL the firstborn, when it approached a Hebrew home where blood was splattered around the doorway, GOD HIMSELF WOULD PASS OVER THE DOOR AND STOP THE DEATH ANGEL FROM ENTERING AND TAKING THE CHILD.

Ex 12:(23) For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

And then we read:

Exo 12:30 KJV And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.

How can it say EVERY HOUSE IN EGYPT ha done dead, if God passed over the doors of the Hebrews' and stopped the death angel from killing the firstborn son?

THE ONLY EXPLANATION CAN BE THAT THE DEATH OF THE LAMB AT EACH HEBREW HOUSE COUNTED AS THAT WHICH DIED THERE.

THE LAMB'S DEATH COUNTED AS THE DEATH that would otherwise have occurred with the firstborn.

When that firstborn son entered the bloodstained doorway, it was like actually entering into the body of the little dead lamb, and saying that lamb's death counts as his death, so that the death angel cannot touch him.

And when God stood over the doorway, God, Himself, rebuked the death angel and said, "There has already been a death here before you came! You cannot enter and slay the firstborn. The child walked through this doorway stained with the lamb's blood. That means that child ENTERED into the death of the Lamb, and the price has been paid."

AND WHAT DESTROYED THE EGYPTIANS AND BROKE THE POWER OF THE KINGDOM, ACTUALLY SAVED THE ISRAELITES!

1Pe 3:20-21 KJV Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. (21) The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

Notice that THE SAME WATER that killed the thousands of people in the earth when the flood occurred, is the water THAT SAVED THE 8 SOULS IN THE ARK OF NOAH.

Why did water SAVE Noah but KILL the others?
What was the difference between Noah's family and the others?
NOAH ENTERED THE ARK.

ENTRANCE is the all-important point, here.

"while the ark was a preparing"

Heb 10:4-5 KJV For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. (5) Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:

THE BODY of Jesus Christ is what GOD PREPARED for our salvation.

And what was JESUS, according to own words?

Joh 10:9 KJV I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

The door in Egypt represented Jesus Christ THROUGH WHOM people would be saved, as though by ENTRANCE INTO HIM.

But there were many doors in Egypt.
What made the difference between the doors in Egypt and the Hebrews' doors where the souls were saved from destruction?
THE HEBREWS' DOORS WERE SPLATTERED WITH A DEAD LAMB'S BLOOD.

Exo 12:22 KJV And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.

Isa 53:4 KJV Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

Jesus was STRICKEN like the doorposts of Egypt were STRUCK with the hyssop soaked in Lamb's blood.

Jesus is not only the DOOR, but also...

Joh 1:29 KJV The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

THE LAMB.

And this lamb had to be stricken in DEATH before we could ENTER INTO HIS DEATH and be saved.

Like entering into Noah's ark, and entering into the bloodstained doors, WE ARE SAVED BY ENTERING INTO JESUS' DEATH.

Rom 6:3-4 KJV Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? (4) Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

WE ENTER THE DEATH OF JESUS by baptism.

And God allowed all the plagues to occur, before ONE THING and ONE THING ONLY occurred to save Israel from Egypt, in order to show us that ONLY ENTRANCE INTO HIS DEATH will save us from a death of hell and damnation that none of us want to experience.

All of the bible stories of sacrifices and death and people saved through God's means, from the doorways in Egypt to Noah's ark, and EVEN MORE, all are meant to tell us of the greatest event that would ever occur in the world's history -- the death of Jesus on the cross so that we could be saved from eternal death through His death counting as OUR OWN!

No wonder we read:

2Co 5:14 KJV For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:

2Co 5:17 KJV Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

IN CHRIST.

Rom 3:24 KJV Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

Rom 8:1 KJV There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Rom 8:2 KJV For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

Rom 8:39 KJV Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Joh 15:4-5 KJV Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. (5) I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Act 2:38 KJV Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Ex 12:22 ...; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.

Get into Christ and STAY THERE UNTIL ONE GLAD MORNING!