When I see the blood

'For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. – Exodus 12.12-13

The last plague is the most tragic. God had given the Egyptians many chances to avoid His judgement. God wanted His people free and would free them, but the Egyptians just would not let them go despite God’s repeated warnings and signs of His power. All Pharaoh had to do was just let God’s people go free, but Pharaoh thought he was god and that he was more powerful than the Lord.

So God sent one last terrible judgement. All the first-born males in the land would die. God had shown His grace in His continued warnings but it was ignored. Now He had to show His righteous judgement.

But even now God is not done showing His grace. There was a way to avoid the judgement. If the people of a home would sacrifice a lamb and smear its blood on the doorposts they could avoid the judgement. ‘When I see the blood I will pass over you.’

The shedding of blood is required for the forgiving of sins. Sin is ugly and exacts a terrible price. There is only one thing today that will cover our sins. There is only one thing today what will allow judgement to pass over us.

God today still says ‘when I see the blood I will pass over you.’ It is not your good works or your religion or your spirituality, but only the blood of Christ. It is a price we cannot pay – but praise God Jesus paid it for us.