Praise the Lord Jesus for coming as the Lamb of God to die for our redemption and give Himself to us for our life supply! The Passover was to be a memorial for God’s people that they may remember and never forget; daily in our Christian life we need to enjoy Christ as our passover so that we may inwardly strengthened to fulfill God’s purpose.
In reading the account in Exodus 12 concerning God ordaining the Passover we see all the details regarding preparing the lamb, killing the lamb, roasting the lamb, eating the lamb with bitter herbs, a lamb for a house, applying the blood on the doorposts and lintel of the house, being inside the house when eating the lamb, and being ready to go as they eat the passover.
How detailed the passover is! How detailed is God in His work of redemption and organic salvation!
Today we are diving into two further matters regarding the passover: the blood of the lamb in a basin was applied by a bunch of hyssop, and the people being inside the house under the covering of the blood.
God ordained that the blood of the lamb in a basin was to be applied to the lintel and two doorposts of the house with a bunch of hyssop (Exo. 12:22). Hyssop is the smallest of the plants; the application of the Lord’s redemption and His blood requires the exercise of our faith, and even when our faith is small, He applies the blood and redeems us. When we simply say, Lord Jesus, forgive me of my sins! – we are forgiven and saved!
Christ’s redemption is so available and ready to be applied! Christ is the complete passover: both the lamb and the bitter herbs and the unleavened bread, and He is the house in which we remain to be saved from God’s judgement!
The children of Israel were not allowed to get outside the house as they ate the passover lamb, so that God’s judgement would not fall on them. Just as Noah and his family was in the ark and was saved by remaining in the ark, so the people of Israel were in the house sprinkled with blood and were saved from God’s judgement.
We need to remain in Christ, enjoying Him as the feast of passover, and God’s judgement will pass us over. We need to simply remain in the identification with Christ, constantly realizing we are nothing but He is everything.
Applying the Blood with a Bunch of Hyssop – Exercising our Faith to Apply the Blood of Christ
After sacrificing the passover lamb, the people of Israel had to save the blood into a basin and then use a bunch of hyssop to apply the blood to the two doorposts and the lintel of the house, on the outside (Exo. 12:22).
It is very interesting that God specifically commanded them to use a plant called “hyssop”, which, according to 1 Kings 4:33, is the smallest of the plants (just as the cedar is the biggest of the plants). Hyssop refers to our faith, which, even when it is as small as a mustard seed, it can work wonders (Matt. 17:20). Our faith is like a mustard seed, like a hyssop – small, but very effective.
We don’t need to be strong in faith to apply the blood of Christ; we simply need to respond in faith a little and tell the Lord, Lord Jesus, I repent: forgive me! The criminal crucified with Christ on the cross didn’t have much faith; all he said was, Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom! – and he was saved!
When the gospel is preached and we respond simply by, Lord Jesus, thank You for dying for me! – this causes us to apply the blood of Christ and be saved! Even by saying a simple, Thank You, Lord! we are saved and enter into the enjoyment of Christ, our passover.
We shouldn’t look at our feeling or environment; we should exercise our little faith to apply the blood of Christ. We may fail, sin, and transgress, but we can exercise our faith to confess and believe. The blood of the lamb was not in a large vessel but in a small basin – in our experience of conversion, the redeeming blood of Christ is made available to us in a way that is small and easy to apply.
The blood of Christ is so available and easy to apply! We don’t have to DO anything to be redeemed; we simply need to use our little faith and receive what Christ has done for us. Religion gives you demands and asks for a performance, but Christ’s salvation is available and simple: we simply need to exercise our faith, and we will be saved!
How easy it is to apply Christ’s redemption! Day by day we can come to the Lord and simply agree with His light by confessing our sins, and His blood washes us, cleanses us, and removes our sins from us (1 John 1:9).
Despite our failures, sins, and transgressions, if we take the small hyssop-like-faith and apply Christ’s redemption, we will enter into the enjoyment of Christ as our passover feast.
Lord Jesus, thank You for dying for us. Thank You for shedding Your blood on the cross for our sins. We exercise our little faith to receive Your wonderful redemption. Lord, we come to You as we are. In spite of our sins and failures, we believe into You and we receive Your complete salvation. Lord, thank You for Your precious blood applied to our being as we believe into You. Thank You, Lord.
The Blood was Applied to the Doorposts and Lintel of the House: Remaining in Christ as the House Protecting us from God’s Judgement
Christ is our passover: He is the lamb, the unleavened bread, and the bitter herbs; also, He is the house into which we need to stay as we enjoy the passover lamb. The children of Israel were commanded not to get outside the house during the night of the passover but enjoy the feast in the house.
Not many Christians have seen that Christ is the house in which we need to remain in order to both be spared from God’s judgement and we enjoy the passover feast.
The blood of the lamb was not applied to individual people to the house, whose lintel and doorposts were sprinkled with the redeeming blood; the lintel and the two doorposts are the entrance of the house. The blood is on the house; the house is Christ; the Lord’s blood covers the house, not us individually.
We need to enter into the house on whose entrance there is blood, and we are spared from God’s judgement and enter into the full enjoyment of Christ, our Passover. It is of God that we are in Christ Jesus, who became for us righteousness and sanctification and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30). As we are in Christ, we don’t see the blood, but we are saved from God’s judgement.
In Christ we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Eph. 1:7). We need to be identified with Christ, one with Him, and in Him in order to have the application of Christ’s redemption. What Christ has accomplished can be applied to us in our identification with Him; Christ was our substitute, and we are in Him.
Just as Noah was in the ark and whatever the ark passed through Noah benefited, so we are in Christ and, whatever He has passed through we also benefit of and enjoy.
The blood of Christ opens the way for us to get into Christ (typified by the house) and protects us from God’s judgement (see Heb. 10:19; Exo. 12:13, 23). We now have boldness to enter into the Holy of Holies through the blood of Christ; Christ initiated a new and living way through His blood.
Because of the blood and through the blood we can enjoy Christ in the house! We should therefore simply stay in the house: stay in Christ, don’t get out of Him but abide in Him all the time, and God sees the blood on Christ – we are spared from God’s judgement!
We should maintain our identification with Christ with a constant realization that we are nothing and that He is everything; we should abide in Christ and He will abide in us, and all His riches will be our enjoyment and constant supply (John 15:4-5).
All the negative things are outside of Christ as the house; we should just abide in Christ, stay in Him, and allow the blood of Christ to keep us in Christ to enjoy Him as the feast of the passover (1 John 1:7, 9).
Lord Jesus, thank You for initiating a new and living way for us to enter into the Holy of Holies through Your blood. We come forward with boldness to enjoy You and feast on You based on Your precious blood. Hallelujah, it is of God that we are in Christ Jesus, who Himself is our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption! Lord Jesus, in You we have redemption, the forgiveness of offenses. Keep us abiding in You so that Your blood may cover us and protect us from God’s judgement as we enjoy You in the house!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. James Lee’s sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Exodus, msg. 24, as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (1), week 5 / msg 5, The Passover (you can buy this morning revival book here via LSM and here via Amazon).
- Hymns on this topic:
# Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine; / Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine! / Heir of salvation, purchase of God, / Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. (Hymns #308)
# Son, in Your blood, the most precious of all, / I have been purchased and saved from the fall. / Your resurrection’s my reason to call, / Hallelujah, Hallelujah! (Song on the Precious Blood of Christ)
# Just to be in You as You’re in me. / Just abide in You, Lord, constantly. / Here I’m one with You, as You’re with me. / Here we’re joined as one, Lord, mutually. (Song on Abiding in Christ)
About aGodMan
Our entrance into Christ is through the door to which the blood has been applied. When we use hyssop to put the blood on the door, we are able to enter into Christ. After getting into Christ, we need to remain in Him….We should simply maintain our identification with Christ, with a constant realization that we are nothing and that He is everything. We need to see that we are in Him and that He is in us. As long as we abide in Him, He will abide in us. As the Lord Himself said in John 15:4, “Abide in Me and I in you.”
The redeeming blood keeps us in Christ….Let us remain in the place of redemption, in the house with the blood-sprinkled entrance….We should stay in the house where we participate in the Passover. (Witness Lee, Life-study of Exodus, pp. 265-270)