Death of the Firstborn Sons; Passover and Festival of Unleavened Bread

Today’s Reading:
• Exodus 12:14 - 13:18
  
• Proverbs 6:12 - 15

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Exodus 12:14 - 13:18
The first thing that I took notice of in my readings today were the annual festivals, namely the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened bread.  First of all I am having a little trouble distinguishing between the two. 

I know that the passover itself was when the Israelites slaughtered their livestock and spread the blood over the door jambs as a blood sacrifice to avoid the death of their firstborn sons.  So I am not sure the celebration of the passover would be relevant today because Jesus Christ is now our blood sacrifice. 

What interests me most is the Feast of Unleavened Bread because the bible states that it is a "law for all time" (12:14), not just a law until the new covenant is formed.  So as a Christian is this something my family and I should be celebrating today?  I will certainly need to do more research into this, but any comments and/or thoughts are greatly appreciated.

The final plague was carried out in Egypt and the bible said "there was not a single house where someone had not died" (12:30).  What a terrible night, I couldn't begin to imagine the grief felt throughout Egypt. 

The Pharaoh finally ordered Moses and his people to leave Egypt.  I found a few things interesting, first that there were 600,000 Israeli men in addition to all the women and children (12:37).  I knew that the Israelites had a very large population in Egypt but I didn't realize there were so many! 

The second thing I noticed was that the Israelites fled Egypt on the very last day of their 430th year in Egypt (12:40).  I didn't realize they had been in Egypt for so long.  That is a long time to wait for deliverance.  Of course I know that they weren't always as oppressed as they were in the days nearing the deliverance, but no wonder they had built up such a large population.  I look forward to reading the rest of the story with these new perspectives in mind. 

Proverbs 6:12 - 15
These three verses in Proverbs say that wicked people are constant liars with perverted hearts that plot evil and continually stir up trouble.  Thank God I'm not that wicked!  Even though I know I am a sinner at least I don't have a deceptive mind that continuously plots to harm.  There might be hope for me yet!

The 10 Plagues of Egypt; Laziness is Bad for the Soul

Today’s Reading:
• Exodus 10:1 - 12:13
  
• Proverbs 6:6 - 11
  

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Exodus 10:1 - 12:13
The plagues continue.  These were the plagues I previously read about:

1. A Plague of Blood
2. A Plague of Frogs
3. A Plague of Gnats (or some insect that was not a fly or a locust)
4. A Plague of Flies
5. A Plague Against Livestock
6. A Plague of Boils
7. A Plague of Hail

Today I read about the remaining three:

     8.    Plague of Locusts
     9.    Plague of Darkness
     10.  Death of the Firstborn Son

The reading stopped before the tenth plague was actually carried through. The Israelites were making the preparation by slaughtering the young male animals and smearing the blood over the door jambs. 

I knew animal sacrifices were required to cleanse the people from their sins.  What I'm just putting together is the fact that it truly does take blood to cleanse people of sins.  In the Old Testament that was the blood of animals but it was never really sufficient.  The people had to slaughter animals all of the time to atone for their sins. 

It wasn't until the blood of a sinless man -- Jesus Christ, Son of God Himself -- was shed that there could truly be salvation for the people.  For the sins of the Egyptians and the Israelites (because they had been living with the Egyptians for 400 years and didn't really know the Lord either) the Lord required a blood sacrifice.  The Lord had shielded the Israelites from the plagues of animals and insects and weather and darkness, but only blood could satisfy the Lord when it came time to take the firstborn sons.  

Proverbs 6:6 - 11
These verses from Proverbs talk about lazy people.  It says that we must work if we don't want to live in poverty.  God truly means for us to work.  It does our bodies and our souls no good to sit around and be idle all the time.  I enjoy my rest and my time off -- we all need R&R -- but I do know that if I spend too many days doing nothing but lying around I really begin to feel bad about myself.  I don't like being so busy that I don't have time for myself, but I enjoy the fulfillment of knowing that I did something productive with my day.  When I feel good about myself, I aspire to do better.  I aspire to lead a fulfilling life and the most fulfilling life I can live is a life for Jesus Christ.