And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 

Exodus 12:8 

As God continued His instruction to His people to begin their year with the lamb, He moved on from their sacrifice of the lamb, and the application of the blood, to their consumption of the whole of it.  We perhaps find this strange, because the instructions of the ninth and tenth verses are very precise, even to the discussion of how to cook it and what to do with the leftovers.  The Israelites were to consume the lamb in its’ entirety.  If we consider the way in which this applies to us, we realize our great privilege.  God gives us a whole Christ.  We have tasted and seen that the Lord is good.  We have taken the Lamb, observed the Lamb, witnessed the sacrifice of the Lamb, and experienced the application of the Blood of the Lamb.  He is the Altogether Satisfying Savior.  We cannot get enough of Him.  When we read the Word, we are looking for Christ.  When we pray, we want to meet with Christ.  When we worship, we want the preacher to show us Christ.  All of our spiritual experience converges in this one Person and expands from Him.  Therefore we consume Him by all the means of grace He has afforded us.  Today dwell upon the Whole Christ that the Scripture presents to you.  Feed upon Christ and be forever satisfied.  

Our Wise and Generous God, 
we rejoice that You present unto us a Whole Christ. 
We praise You that as we feast upon Him,  
You satisfy us in every way. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

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:  And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor 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. 

Exodus 12: 3 & 4 

One of the matters of importance which God emphasized in His instructions to the people of Israel was their selection of the lamb.  At the outset of the process, He tells them to select a lamb, ‘according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.’  He further specifies that everyone was included, ‘according to the number of persons, according to each man’s need.’  This brings us to consider Christ as a very personal Savior.  We repeat the emphasis of the New Testament which makes the application to us when it says, ‘For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.’  Notice the, pronouns, ‘our’ and ‘for us.’  This is utterly consistent with Christ’s references to ‘all that the Father gives me shall come to me,’ and His constant references to ‘my people,’ ‘my sheep’ and ‘my flock.’  Christ is a very personal Savior.  We speak of Him as the Savior of the world and the Savior of sinners, but it is when He becomes ‘my Savior…my Lord and my God,’ that He becomes most valuable to us.  He is ‘the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world,’ but He is never more dear than when He bears away my sin and my iniquity.  Do not rest tonight before this has become your experience.  Make Christ your Lamb today. 

O, Lamb of God,  
we rejoice that You are our Savior,  
beside Whom we need no other. 
We praise you that You are very near and dear to us, 
because of Your personal, saving work. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats…. 

Exodus 12:5 

As God taught His people to begin their year with the lamb, He specified that not only was the lamb to be personal, but also that the lamb must be perfect.  To that end, He remarks in our text, ‘Your lamb shall be without blemish.’  What was to be, for the Israelites, the lamb who would deliver them from death by the shedding of his blood, must be perfect.  This lamb could have no deformity, defect, or disability in order to fulfill the God-satisfying requirement.  It is even so with Christ.  Christ is ‘the Lamb without blemish and without spot.’  He is the Lamb without deformity, defect, or disability.  It is for this reason, among others, that Christ is qualified to be ‘the Only Redeemer of God’s elect.’  No one else has this qualification in combination with all the others.  Not even the Father or the Spirit, have these qualifications as does Christ, the Lamb of God.  All of God’s intention is that we should fix our attention upon Christ, Who is the ‘Lamb…without blemish.’  As we meditate upon Christ today, let us fix our thoughts upon Him as the sinless, spotless Lamb of God, Who is perfect in every way, and therefore our Redeemer. 

 
O, sinless, spotless, Lamb of God, 
we rejoice that You are utterly perfect. 
We praise You that You occupy the place, 
that no one else can, to accomplish our redemption. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

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:  And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor 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. 

Exodus 12: 3 & 4 

One of the matters of importance which God emphasized in His instructions to the people of Israel was their selection of the lamb.  At the outset of the process, He tells them to select a lamb, ‘according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.’  He further specifies that everyone was included, ‘according to the number of persons, according to each man’s need.’  This brings us to consider Christ as a very personal Savior.  We repeat the emphasis of the New Testament which makes the application to us when it says, ‘For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.’  Notice the, pronouns, ‘our’ and ‘for us.’  This is utterly consistent with Christ’s references to ‘all that the Father gives me shall come to me,’ and His constant references to ‘my people,’ ‘my sheep’ and ‘my flock.’  Christ is a very personal Savior.  We speak of Him as the Savior of the world and the Savior of sinners, but it is when He becomes ‘my Savior…my Lord and my God,’ that He becomes most valuable to us.  He is ‘the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world,’ but He is never more dear than when He bears away my sin and my iniquity.  Do not rest tonight before this has become your experience.  Make Christ your Lamb today. 

O, Lamb of God,  
we rejoice that You are our Savior,  
beside Whom we need no other. 
We praise you that You are very near and dear to us, 
because of Your personal, saving work. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

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. 

Exodus 12:31 

After God had done all that He had done to instruct His people, He finished what He had started.  On the first Passover, the children of Israel did all that God required in the sacrifice of the lamb, the application of the blood, and the consumption of the sacrifice.  Jehovah Himself passed over on that night and destroyed the firstborn in the houses of all those where the blood was not in evidence.  It was only after the sacrifice of the lamb that the Israelites obtained their freedom.  We can offer this testimony as well.  Before the application of the Blood of Christ, we were in bondage to all the passions, the pride, and entrapments of the world, the flesh, and the Devil.  We could by no human means free ourselves.  We were slaves and had been slaves all our lives, like our fathers before us.  It has been only by the sacrifice of Christ, the Lamb of God, that we have become free.  He has made the difference for us between death and life.  He has made the difference for us between slavery and liberty.  We owe all that we have of true freedom to the saving Blood of Christ, to His Person, and His Work.  Therefore, we will make much of Him.  Therefore, we will preach His Gospel.  Therefore, we will shout to all from the rooftops, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world.’ 

Our Glorious, Liberating God. 
We rejoice that You have brought us out of the house of bondage. 
We praise You that the Son has made us free, 
and that we are free indeed. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning