It has come to the final plague, and the Lord told the people of Israel that at midnight, He will go through the land of Egypt and every firstborn in the land of Egypt will die regardless of your status. Whether you are the first born of Pharaoh or of the cattle, all will face the same judgement of death.

However, for the people of Israel, God gave them a set of instruction that was going to determine their life and death. Exodus 12:1-28 was a meticulous set of instructions on how to prevent that from happening. That night, when God came to their doorstep, He passed over their doors and no harm came upon the first born of any of the Israelites.

The secret to their success was recorded by the author in verse 28, as a conclusion to the instructions to the Passover. Verse 28 says, “Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.” The secret to their success was their obedience to God. He passed over them because of the blood that was stained on the post and lintels of their doors. They had seen the prowess of the Almighty God over the course of the 9 plagues, and they understood that the God they worshipped will deliver what He says. They obeyed because their lives depended on it. They obeyed and they were free from the yoke of slavery.

The theme of obedience is a key theme that runs through the book of Exodus. Throughout the story of the exodus of Israel, God gave them a series of instruction to ensure that they could be right with Him and could enjoy the life of freedom that God has already give to them. What they needed to do was to trust and obey God according to His will for them. The Israelites obeyed because their lives depended on the instructions that God gave to them. They were saved because they believed that the blood of the lamb could save them from the penalty of death.

In the same way, Jesus was the perfect Passover lamb that who shed His blood on the cross. His perfect blood came upon those who believed and obeyed Him, so that God’s wrath passed over us when He saw the blood of Christ on us. The blood of the perfect lamb, Jesus Christ took our sins on the cross. That is why John the Baptist proclaimed, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

As we believe and become the disciples of Christ to follow Him, we trust and obey His Word, even when they seem inconvenient, outrageous, or scary. Obey Him like our lives depend on it daily and trust that His instructions for our lives are always good simply because He is a good God who brought the Israelites our of Egypt. Would you take faith in your walk, and your circumstances today?

Dear God, sometimes it is so difficult for us to trust you when things become overwhelming in our lives. Would you keep working out our muscle to trust and obey you, and help us to do so as if our lives depend on you daily! In Jesus’ name, Amen!