Thursday, July 7, 2011
Read: Exodus 13
As the chapter suggests, this is a major event, a day to remember forever. God is delivering His people out of bondage. Being free from bondage is the first stage of Revolution. Hallelujah!
God emphasizes that the Israelites are to annually celebrate this day forever. This freedom is an enormous source of national rejoicing. Also, Passover foreshadows the coming of Jesus, the Lamb of God, and the celebrations which we can participate in as he delivers out of bondage to sin. We praise Yahweh (God) for Yeshua (Jesus), who poured out His blood so that we would be exempt from the punishment of our sins.
God describes the effects of the Passover celebration twice: ‘This ceremony will be like a mark branded on your hands or your forehead that the law of the Lord is to be on your lips. For the Lord brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand” (vv 9, 16).
The mark is a way of showing identity; it shows who you belong to, what you belong to, and what you’re about. For the Israelites, it showed that they belonged to the Lord. It showed that they lived by his Word, and that he had set them free. As we have seen, the result of following the Lord is freedom. In the book of Revelation, the mark 666 identifies those who strayed from the bleeding lamb and turned to follow the beast. What is the result of following the beast and receiving his mark?
“If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.” (Rev. 14:9-10)
The Salvation Army has a few symbols of its own, the most obvious being the uniform. It shows that we are saved to serve. They are a sign of covenant community, but they are also a sign to the people around us. And everywhere we go, whether we happen to be all Sallied up that day or not, people see us, recognize us as Salvos, and draw certain conclusions about us, take certain precautions around us, and interact with us in certain ways.
Process:
We want others to see Christ in us. But it can be easy to display religiosity instead. What is the difference? How can you share Christ with others without having a fake religious façade?
Think of this: Is it easier to live a Christian lifestyle with believers or unbelievers? What is a ‘Christian lifestyle’ anyway?