God is in Every Detail!
Exodus 12:26-27 And when your children say to you, ‘ What does this rite mean to you?’ you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.’” And the people bowed low and worshiped.
I still cringe when I think I told my teacher, pastor and mentor that in my opinion the Old Testament was “just” history.
I’m not a fan of history because there are so many details (do they really matter?) to memorize, besides the fact you had to BE THERE to understandable the minutia.
You get it, right? Will it really be worthwhile to use up my limited and therefore valuable brain real-estate for details I may never use nor a passion to understand? ESPECIALLY since I am a Gentile and NOT a Jew! (FYI, I might have I heard recently, the same rumblings from some rather star-quality preachers? Not that I listen to them either!)
But God…
I had the BEST pastor, teacher, and mentor in my new-born Christianity who believed the WHOLE of Scripture is God breathed! Johnny V. Miller, you know who you are!
Then God led my daughter to a Messianic Synagogue. A place that preaches and lives and loves the same Savior as me AND claims the unity Jesus brought to all of us.
Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “ Uncircumcision” by the so-called “ Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands— remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, (Ephesians 2:11-14)
Well, now we’re talking family not just the minutia of history!
Through Nicole’s journey, I was led to finally understand that there are NOT two separate and unequal possessions of God. There are NOT two separate and unequal messages of Old and New Salvation, only the TESTAMENT (true testimony) of God’s Will, containing all of the DETAILS God set into place from Creation to eternity to fulfill His Will.
Man divided God’s Word giving the impression that old and new are separate and separated from the promises and provisions (DETAIL!) God made in each. God never allows His details (the law and the prophets) He sets in place to be abolished… “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Matthew 5:17-18
God’s Testament is the WHOLE story (EVERY detail) of HIS family… OUR family… MY family (if indeed we “own” our position in the family of God)! If it was not a detail of unchanging importance it would not be a detail at all.
[Just a note about learning to understand God’s details: I was not born to be a Jew, but because of my Savior, who IS a Jew, I have been born-again to be an adopted Jew (Gentile who is now grafted into Israel). My task now, just as it is in any adoption, is to passionately pursue all things FAMILY. Because I have not been raised/immersed (from the age of 2) in Hebrew (the original language given to God’s nation), our Rabbi is a God-send! I can read a translation of the family’s beginnings and journeys and all things human, but without the original content and context, I will often fail at owning the identity nor will I fully understand that God’s Will from the days of creation, to the days of now, to all of the days to come, has NEVER changed.]
Take for example God’s DETAIL in His Testament about His first nation.
When Israel was enslaved by Egypt, though I was yet a twinkle of a twinkle of a twinkle of a twinkle in the eye… of these my forefathers, I was a slave, not just to Egypt, but like all of humanity, to the knowledge (the reality AND the choosing which to serve) of good and evil. I, as much as them, needed freedom from evil’s slavery. What began in the garden, our sin of giving evil access to God’s creation, brought forth God’s immediate judgement of sin (wages of sin is death) and the details to free His creation from evil. Every detail that God has put into place, puts into place, and will put into place, from beginning to end, in every life are His Word going forth for the purpose of life in the immediate life and life eternally.
Now you may think Passover (God’s details put into place to free Israel from Egypt) has nothing to do with you if you are not Jewish. After all, our detail is Easter Sunday! we celebrate the RESURRECTION (victory over death) and of course the Easter Bunny so the death on the cross of the Lamb of God is not so scary for the children.
But do you know that Passover is about the first lamb sacrificed to save the firstborn from the death. The whole of the details of this time in our family, were to bring God’s people out of slavery (Egypt) and into freedom so they might journey to the Promised Land – the land of milk and honey.
As with most of the TESTAMENT of our forefathers, EVERY DETAIL of their story is not only dealing with the current needs of the day but also looking ahead to the coming of MESSIAH that was promised for the salvation of God’s beloved people.
Passover is also the prequel to the last sacrifice that forever saves us from eternal death if indeed we cover the doorposts and lintel of our hearts with the blood of Jesus – our Savior – the Lamb of God.
His last meal before giving His body and blood to obtain the desire of God that none should perish, was the observance and remembrance of that first Passover.
Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household. Exodus 12:3
Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight. Exodus 12:5-6
Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Exodus 12:7-8
Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste—it is the Lord’s Passover. For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments— I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. Exodus 12:11-13
Jesus, at the Passover meal, what we sometimes call His last supper… While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. Matthew 26:26-28 The Passover of death to ETERNAL LIFE… the covenant of God to save His people!
The command in Exodus to our forefathers (Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance. Exodus 12:14)is as active and present to us… “Do this in memory of Me”
So… when your children or anyone else say to you, ‘What does this rite mean to you?’
What will you answer?
Will you say ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of God’s children when He smote EVIL, but spared our souls for eternity.’?
And the people bowed low and worshiped.
**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.