Last time we talked about Yahveh's justice which is simultaneously frightening and comforting. Frightening because it demonstrates that Yahveh is a god far beyond our control who is capable of wreaking devastation on a massive scale. It reminds us just how powerful Yahveh is and that it would behoove us to stay on his good side.
But also comforting for the exact same reasons. We serve a god who isn't impotent to act against the injustices of the world. We serve a god who acts on behalf of the downtrodden and oppressed and a god who does not let injustice go unpunished. And that is a comforting thought.
This time we are going to talk about the other side of the coin: Yahveh's mercy. This is a much more popular topic because it is nicer to talk about, though it is often done at the expense of Yahveh's sovereignty and justice. But it is no less crucial to our understanding who Yahveh.
There are three anchor points in the Bible that everything else comes back to: Creation, Cross, and (second) Coming. I call them the three C's. Creation is the ideal that Yahveh intended when he created this world as outlined in the first couple chapters of Genesis. The Cross is the plan of redemption fulfilled with Christ taking our place as sinners before Yahveh. Finally, the Second Coming is the earth restored to the way it was supposed to be. Sin and sinners are destroyed and the redeemed live forever in paradise before Yahveh's throne.
The plagues refer us to the Second Coming. They speak of a just god who comes to the rescue of his people, just as Christ will at the end of the age. But tucked in the plagues is one of the five central feasts in the ancient Israelite calendar known as the Passover. And this festival, which commemorates the Exodus from Egypt, comes back to the Cross.
The context is the dreadful 10th plague, the execution of the firstborn throughout Egypt. In Exodus 11, Yahveh outlines what is about to happen to Moses, telling him specifically that, "About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne to the firstborn son of the slave girl, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well."
Aside from the chilling sense that this punishment brings, notice something interesting about this plague that sets it apart from the others. In plagues 4-9, the Land of Goshen where the Israelites lived had been separated out as special. They were "smart" plagues as some have called it. But in Plague 10, no such stipulation is made. This plague is going to hit everyone.
Well, that's strange. I thought Yahveh was meeting out justice on the Egyptians. Why would he target the Israelites too? For that, we hop over to chapter 12.
On the Passover, the Israelites were to take a perfect lamb about a year old and slaughter it. Then they were to take the blood of the lamb and paint it on the doorframes of their houses because, "The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt."
Yahveh was offering an out, one that applied to everyone. Now it is true that following this there were restrictions on who could eat the Passover meal that excluded foreigners (as in people into town for the holidays, not resident aliens in Israel), but there is nothing in all of this that excluded the Egyptians from putting blood on their doorposts to protect themselves. That's the beauty of Yahveh. Yes, he is a god of justice who punishes the guilty but his justice is always mixed with mercy. He gives us an out.
Let's think back through the plagues. They would've stopped at any time had Pharaoh simply caved. Before each plague, Moses gave the king of Egypt a warning, giving him the chance to give in and save his people. Of course each time Pharaoh refused, but the point is that Yahveh gave him the option of ending everything. Yahveh offered to extend mercy.
More than that, Yahveh held back as much as he could. In chapter 9 of Exodus, Yahveh points out that he, "could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you of the earth." And with what Egypt had done to the Israelites, they would've deserved it. But Yahveh didn't.
Even in that particular plague, the hail, Yahveh left the Egyptians with hope. He destroyed the flax and barely, but left the wheat and spelt (whatever that is) intact. The Egyptians were completely ruined.
The point is that Yahveh always gives us an out. According to Romans, we've all sinned, badly. We are all under Yahveh's judgment and deserving of death. But Yahveh still has offered us an out, a Passover lamb: Jesus Christ.
Ultimately that's who the Passover is all about. It was a symbol to the Israelites that even though we all have a judgment of death hanging over our heads, Yahveh has provided us an escape, an Exodus if you will. We merely have to put the blood of Christ on the doorposts of our hearts and minds.
That may sound trite and simple, but that's all there is to it. I'm certain the Israelites, with much consternation, thought the same thing 3500 years ago. I can imagine them saying, "That's it? All I have to do to protect my son is put some lamb's blood on the doorposts? And that will keep my family safe?" I sincerely doubt that many got a lot of sleep that night.
But really that's all there is to it. The blood was marker that said then, "This person belongs to Yahveh." Today, the out from under the judgment of the world is the same thing. It is allowing Christ to mark us with his blood, saying, "This person is mine."
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life."
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