Have you ever been passed over for a job, a position, an opportunity, or even rejected in a relationship? It can make a person feel like their unimportant and insignificant. If you have been in an abusive relationship, you sometimes wish to be forgotten or passed over when the person is issuing their wrath. When we go through difficult times, it can feel like God has forgotten about us like he has passed over us, but nothing can be further from the truth.
Crying Out
This time each year marks the celebration of Passover. When the Israelites were slaves in ancient Egypt, they were forced into hard labor, beaten, starved, and treated cruelly. The Pharoah fought with God, resulting in ten Plagues being divvied out across the land; some of them included the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived. The Egyptians needed them for free labor; the Israelites needed to be free. Sometimes we are so tangled in our situation that there are many desperate steps to find our freedom. It was the same with the Israelites. When we have been enslaved to anything, walking away takes many steps, and we go through lots of stages on a lot of roads.
The Rocky Road of Deliverance
The final plague doled out to Pharoah was through death. We often find our deliverance through extreme circumstances. For Israel to be released from Egypt, the final act of the angel of death going through the streets and taking the firstborn of every family. Jesus is known as God’s firstborn; he came and lived perfectly to die for our sin. God always makes way for his people. He gave the Hebrew slaves specific instructions on how to be spared from death. They were instructed to put the blood of a perfect and spotless lamb on the post of their door. When the angel of death saw the blood, he passed over that house and saved the firstborn.
Judged by the Blood
We may be judged and passed over by the world, not living up to the expectations of people or organizations. Imagine fallible humans trying to live up to God’s perfect ideal. Although people pass us by not giving us second chances or helping us to step up, God provides a way for his people just like he’s done from the start of our time. He sent his son to live a perfect, unblemished life to die for our sins. When we apply the blood of Jesus’ sacrifice to cover our sins, God passes over our sins, and we don’t have to experience judgment. As we consider Passover, let’s thank God for his son, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
John 1:29
