Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/184

 The avenging  Justice  of  God. The  slaying  of  the  first-born  in Egypt  was  a punishment  sent  by  God  on  account  of  the  obstinate unbelief of  Pharao  and  his  people. This shows  the  justice  of  God. If Pharao had  been  converted  by  the  lesser  plagues,  he  would  have  been spared this  last  terrible  one. Many sinners,  who  care  nothing  about God, can  only  be  converted  by  means  of  some  severe  visitation. No one can  resist  God,  because  He  is  almighty. They who  defy  Him, must and  will  feel  the  weight  of  His  avenging  justice  either  in  this world or  in  the  next. “Thou art  Lord  of  all,  and  there  is  none  that can resist  Thy  majesty”  (Esth.  13,  11).

The Faithfulness  of  God.  All  those  promises  which  God  made about increasing  the  people  of  Israel,  and  delivering  them  from  Egypt, were faithfully  fulfilled.

God is  Lord  over  life  and  death.  By  the  first  plagues  God  proved that He  was  Lord  of  all  nature. By the  last  and  worst  plague,  He showed  that  He  was  Lord  over  life  and  death,  because  in  one  night He slew  the  first-born  in  every  Egyptian  house,  while  not  one  of  the Israelites was  touched.

The Paschal  Lamb, a type  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  paschal  lamb  was a sacrifice, for  it  is  expressly  said  (Ex.  12,  27)  that  it  was  “the  victim of the  passage  of  the  Lord”. As such,  it  was  pre-eminently  a type  of our  Lord,  and  principally  in  the  following  ways. The paschal  lamb was to  be  without  blemish:  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Most  Pure,  the  Most Holy, “a  lamb  unspotted  and  undefiled”  (1  Petr.  1,  19). The paschal lamb was  killed,  and  its  blood  spilt:  Jesus  Christ  was  slain  for  us  on the  altar  of  the  Cross,  and  shed  all  His  Blood  for  us. Of the  paschal lamb “no  bone  was  to  be  broken”:  contrary  to  the  usual  custom  with those crucified,  not  one  of  our  Lord’s  bones  was  broken. Through the blood of  the  paschal  lamb  the  Israelites  were  saved  from  temporal death: through  the  Precious  Blood  of  Jesus  Christ  we  are  saved  from the spiritual  death  of  sin,  and  the  eternal  death  of  hell. The paschal lamb, therefore,  foretold  that  the  future  Saviour  would  be  unspotted; that He  would  sacrifice  Himself  for  us;  that  He  would  give  His  Life and Blood  for  us;  that  not  one  of  His  bones  would  be  broken;  and that we,  through  His  sacrifice,  would  be  saved  from  death.

There is  no  salvation, except  through  Jesus  Christ. The  blood  of the  paschal  lamb  obtained  mercy  for  the  Israelites,  and  saved  them from death,  only  because  it  was  a type  of  the  Redeemer  of  the  world. Its atoning  and  saving  power  did  not  lie  in  itself,  but  came  from  the Blood of  Jesus  Christ  whose  sacrifice  and  death  were  pre-figured  by the  death  of  the  lamb. The Israelites,  because  they  sacrificed  the paschal lamb  and  sprinkled  their  houses  with  its  blood,  having  faith in the  future  Redeemer,  were  spared  by  reason  of  that  faith. Even in the  Old  Testament,  it  was  only  through  faith  in  the  future  Redeemer that men  could  obtain  pardon.