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

This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. 

Exodus 12:2 

God gave His order to Israel’s calendar.  It is significant for us to consider where and how God wanted Israel to begin their year.  He began it with Passover.  It was at that season that they would select the lamb, observe the lamb, kill the lamb, and consume the lamb.  It was the blood of the lamb that would deliver them from death, for God said, ‘and when I see the blood, I will pass over you.’  It was because of the effects of the Passover, that the Israelites would gain their freedom from Egypt.  For us to understand this, we should consider the statement of the New Testament, ‘For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.’  God intended that His chosen people should begin their year by looking to the lamb.  It is even so with us.  We have come today to what is for us the, beginning of months.  If we want to begin well, continue well, and finish well, we must look to Christ.  He is, as John the Baptist described Him, ‘the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world.’  Now is the time for us to set our course for the incoming year.  Let us begin with Christ, His Person and His work.  Let us fix our eyes upon the Altogether Lovely One.  He has lived perfectly, died sacrificially, arisen powerfully, intercedes perpetually and is coming gloriously. 

Our Glorious, Living Savior, 
we rejoice in the privilege that we have 
  to begin our year, by looking to You. 
We praise You that You will lead us aright, 
in all our ways, throughout this new year. 

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

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.

Exodus 12:11

It is significant as to how the Israelites were attired on the night of the Passover.  God instructed them to be prepared to leave the land of their imprisonment.  They had been in Egypt for 430 years.  The Egyptians had made them slaves.  Now, they were to go free.  It is interesting to note that the lamb played a vital role in the accomplishment of their liberation.  It was the lamb and most specifically, the blood of the lamb, that would mean the difference between life and death.  In the homes where the blood appeared upon the lintel and posts, there was life.  In the homes where the blood was absent, there was certain death.  God showed His people the value of the lamb while they were still in bondage.  It is even so with us.  Herein lies the value of the preaching of the Gospel.  We preach it to all and sundry.  We make a full and free offer of the Gospel.  We set forth the virtue and value of Christ to those who are, as yet, ‘dead in trespasses and sins.’  It is up to the Holy Spirit to do the work of regeneration, to grant repentance, and to give faith to believe.  He can convince the natural unbeliever of the virtue and value of Christ the Lamb of God.  May the Holy Spirit show you Christ today. ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.’

Our Wise and Wonderful Savior,
we rejoice that Your Blood makes the difference
between life and death for us.
We praise You that You daily show us Yourself,
in the Word, and draw us out,
evermore thoroughly after You and unto freedom.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

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