Who is Jesus? Chapter 3 "There is Power in the Blood"

 

Who is Jesus? Chapter 3 "There is Power in the Blood"

To learn more about Jesus we will view some examples in the Old Testament that are pictures of Christ.  

For example, we will take another look at the Children of Israel while they were held captive in Egypt, as is recorded in the book of Exodus. Moses was sent by God to set them free, but Pharaoh would not let the people go, because they were valuable slaves working hard for him. Moses warned Pharaoh that if he did not allow the people to go, terrible plagues would happen. Pharaoh was not impressed, and paid no attention to Moses, so there were to occur ten plagues: The children of Israel who dwelt in the land of Goshen, were not effected and were kept safe: (The plagues are listed for background - - the last one is the clincher.)

The first nine plagues were:

1. Water turned into blood; everywhere. That would include wells, water storage, so there was no water to drink, to cook with, to bathe or to use for washing of anything that was dirty. Only where the children of Israel lived was there clean water.

2.  FROGS in abundance; invading the homes getting into the beds and into their food. Except in the land of Goshen.

3.  Lice over people and cattle. Lice is worse than fleas!! They hatch and multiply everywhere there is hair.

4. Flies swarming in houses and on the people. Not just a few, but hordes.

5.  Livestock were diseased with diverse infections so severe as to cause them to die. This plague affected the Egyptian by creating a huge economic disaster, in areas of food, transportation, military supplies, farming, and economic goods that were produced by these livestock. Still Pharaohs heart remained hard and when Moses prayed and the plague went away, the King refused to let the people go.

6.  Boils on man and beast:  So the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace, and let Moses scatter it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh; And it will become fine dust in all the land of Egypt, and it will cause boils that break out sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt." except in the land of Goshen. 

7.  Thunder and Hail so large and that it killed people, animals and crops. The Egyptians were superstitious and Thunder and hail was a bad omen. 

8.  Locust that ate every green plant devastating their food supply. 

9. Thick Darkness for three days. This plague of darkness brought upon Egypt was a dreadful plague. It was darkness so thick it could be felt. It astonished and terrified.

Each time a plague happened, Pharaoh said okay, I will let the people go, but when Moses prayed and the plague went away, the king would change his mind and said, "NO – the people must stay here. They are my valuable slaves."

10. The tenth and most terrible plague was about to come:

God was charging The Angel of Death to visit that night and slay all the first born in the homes of those not protected by the blood.

This would include Pharaoh's family, his servants and all the beasts. God gave Moses detailed instructions for the Children of Israel; How they would be protected and it involved a lasting ceremony that is still celebrated today: "The Passover Feast."

The children of Israel had been in Egypt for 430 years, so you will realize they were now a large crowd of six hundred thousand men, (600,000) not counting children (or women.) They were commanded to select a perfect lamb for each household and to prepare a meal; to eat the roasted lamb, and burn anything left over. Each household was approximately 12 to 15 persons. (So a LOT of lambs were needed.) They were to be packed up and ready to leave in the morning. God gave them instructions to borrow from the Egyptians, gold, silver, gems, and precious ointments, oils and expensive cloth.

Moses gave the people specific instructions on how to protect each household from the angel of death. They were to slay a perfect lamb and collect the blood in a clean basin. Using hyssop and dipping it into the blood they were to sprinkle the blood on each door post and on the lentil (top) of the door. This was important, because when the "Death Angel passed by that night, and saw the blood on the doors, the angel would PASS OVER those homes that were protected by the blood and not slay their first born  child.

The blood was a picture of Christ Jesus and his shed blood that is available to save us from our sins.

When we partake of "communion" as Jesus asked us to do; we remember his broken body, his shed blood and his resurrection. His body was broken (beaten with many stripes, and his blood was shed for our salvation.) I am so thankful that God's Word declares that by his stripes we are healed. 

The word healed means complete healing, spirit, soul and body.  Spiritually our sins are removed, we are healed in our soul (our mind, emotions and will) and healing is provided for our physical body.

We read in Luke 22:19, 20 And Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and distributed it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. Understand that there is power in the shed blood of Jesus to wash away all our sins. If you have not already done so, today is a good day to Confess to Jesus your need for salvation and invite him to come into your life and give you His eternal life.

This means that when it is your time to leave this earth, you now have a reservation to enter heaven to ever be with our Lord Christ.