Young Lincoln of New Salem:A Historical Novel, Wonderfully Heavy on Fact

Young Lincoln of New Salem: Abraham Lincoln’s spiritual journey during his time at New Salem and beyond

Author: Sam Rawlins

Publisher: Yorkshire Publishing, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 2019

A Historical Novel, Wonderfully Heavy on Fact

Full disclosure: I love America and Abraham Lincoln. I have always thought of Lincoln as a man of faith, a regular reader of the Bible, and one who had a personal relationship with the Creator. However, I was lacking two pieces of the puzzle that portrayed the full life of the 16^thPresident of the United States.  First, I had no idea about his childhood experiences.  Second, I had no idea of how it was he became such a spiritual person.  Sam Rawlins’ book provided me those two pieces.

The author’s research is extensive, spanning three years of focusing on 121 different sources available to him.  From these, he paints for us a powerful image of what life was like for ‘young Lincoln’ and those who knew him best.

The story starts off with his arrival in New Salem where he catches a glimpse of the young woman who becomes the love of his life while she lived and the angel that guided him after she died. From there, through Lincoln’s memory, we are allowed to share his childhood, living with a man who had no right to be called a ‘father’ as he treated his son like a slave, or perhaps worse.

There are several themes throughout the book that Rawlins uses to drive home some key ideas about Lincoln: his devotion to Ann Rutledge; his honesty; his commitment to his friends; his losses; and his desire to do God’s will.

Lincoln became the man he ultimately was after he faced and conquered his past growing up under a drunken tyrant. He had to deal with his enemies slowly turning each one of them into a valued friend that stood by him to the very end.

Rawlins gives us a very intimate look into life for American settlers in the early 1830s. It wasn’t pretty in many respects.  Only the strong and the faithful could handle it. Lincoln seemed a natural for it.

He had to learn to accept opportunities to lead others in very difficult circumstances, when he felt he didn’t deserve them. He cared and attended to the needs of weaker or ill neighbors during the ‘Winter of the Deep Snow’ which hit the community hard. And then he enlisted in the great War against Chief Blackhawk who had had enough of the maltreatment that his people were receiving from white Americans. Through that he saw death and war like he had never imagined it before.  Many were lost including young men close to him. He hated war. And this experience served to mold his character into what was needed for him to later end slavery in the United States.

Another theme that Rawlins drives home is Abe’s thirst for knowledge. He devoured whatever book he could get his hands on. And soon, a dream emerged that was supported not only by his true love, but also some of the older, wiser men who came to see him as a young man of promise or a true brother, and also one who came to see him as his own ‘son’. Young Lincoln, who could hardly read or write his name when he arrived in New Salem, now wanted to become a lawyer someday.  And what a journey that was.

But as fate would have it, the loss of his mother as a young child, the loss of his sister, the loss of his friends in battle, was soon to be followed by the loss of his beloved. Could fate have served him a more bitter pill? Abe now had to fight extreme depression, no appetite, and a desire to end it all. But God had other plans for young Lincoln, and the friends He had arranged for Abe to have, helped him survive.

Resolving to do all he had promised his love before she died, Abraham Lincoln put his life together with the help of others and embarked on the necessary steps to accomplish their joint dream. How all of this came about makes this historically based account an incredible read.

Eventually, Lincoln becomes a famous attorney and through an unfortunate event ends up marrying someone who could never be what he had lost in losing his fiancée many years earlier. You’ll have to read about that for yourselves. Suffice it to say that his legal partner, William (Billy) Herndon wrote a book entitled, “Lincoln and Ann Rutledge and the Pioneers of New Salem” which positively exposes Abe’s true and only love for Ann, to the unending opposition of his wife, Mary Todd and her family. 

Rawlins uses real names of people and places as well as their accounts of what actually took place from other historical sources. The skill with which he does this, is alone worth the ‘price of admission’ to his book.  At the back of the volume, Sam Rawlins shares how the book came about, his sources, his appreciation of those that remained true to their word in writing about Abraham Lincoln as they knew him, and what today’s readers could actually experience themselves by visiting the actual sites that provide the setting for the book.

Personally, this is a book I wish many would read. It helps us understand Abraham Lincoln who was born just ten years after George Washington died (210 years ago). It helps us grasp how his life experiences made him who he was and enabled him to achieve what he did. It makes us reflect on what may be missing in the lives of our modern leaders – and perhaps our own.  It certainly made me more aware of the difference God can make in the lives of people and their life’s accomplishments for the good of others. Even ordinary folks like you, and me, and a mistreated young man, who felt he would be better off dead, named Abraham Lincoln.

Highly recommended for those who love history, those who enjoy a great romance story, and those who want to be challenged about how to live a productive life for God and for others. I intend to take it with me when I visit Springfield, Illinois, and Lincoln’s New Salem Historic State Park in Menard County, Illinois.

-->

n  Ken B. Godevenos, President, Accord Resolutions Services Inc., Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, April 13, 2019, www.accordconsulting.com

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

God Says You’re Traveling Alone For Now

Exodus 33:1-3: Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your descendants, I will give it’: “And I will send an angel before you and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite – to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are an obstinate people, lest I destroy you on the way.”

The Israelites were given instructions to move camp and head towards Canaan to the land that God reminds Moses He had sworn to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  We are reminded again that He promised it to their “descendants” and not specifically even these generations. God was basically implying, “Look, I’ll keep My promise even though these people have sinned again me.”

Here’s the good news. God promises that He will send an angel before them for their physical protection.  He promised them that they will have no problems with those they meet on the way or in the land of Canaan and names all the various tribes He will drive out to facilitate their travels. The Israelites as a whole (but perhaps not individually) are guaranteed safe passage to the land of milk and honey.

Now here’s the bad news. God tells them that He will not go with them as before when in Exodus 13:21 we read, “The Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.” Now, I believe this was a really big deal for the Israelites. They had always counted on God’s accompaniment. Now they have to go it alone. Perhaps the best way to relay this feeling is to think of a young child who has been disobedient and their parents say, “Sorry, you’ve blown it. Now you have to do it alone.” We’ll see how the Children of Israel react in the next section of the chapter. Right now, we note God’s rationale for His decision.

In the last part of this text, God tells His People that He won’t go up with them to Canaan – He won’t be in their midst. First of all, we need to consider how much that decision hurt or caused sorrow to God Himself. I remember when our young children had defiantly disobeyed one of their parents and I had to spank them (yes, that was okay in my days and, in my books, still is). I would always end up saying, “Now this is going to hurt me more than it does you.” And I’d end up with just as many tears in my eyes. I’m sure God felt somewhat like that when He was sharing this news.

And His reason for taking such action is that they are an “obstinate” people. Try looking up some synonyms for that word. You get stubborn, pigheaded, inflexible, adamant, unmoved, persistent, and tenacious among other possible substitutes. Can you imagine feeling that way about your own children? God was so angry with them that He realized if He joined them on their journey, He may have come to the point of destroying them along the way.

We do not very often think of this but this passage indicates that God knows Himself well. It’s almost as if God has to fight His own emotions at times in order to stick with His promises. He withdraws temporarily to save His children and get them to their destination.

It hit me as I studied this that God also remains silent and at the sidelines of our lives today when we too are obstinate in one fashion or another. He certainly holds back His anger from us and He remains patient with us because He loves us to no end.

In this world of ours today, it is very difficult for many to imagine what I call a “real relationship with the one and only real God”.  And yet, for those of us who are believers, that’s exactly what you and I have – a “real” relationship with the “real” GOD. And it’s a love relationship – certainly on His part.  But that’s all the more reason why we can’t just keep on being obstinate – being lukewarm, being apathetic towards Him. We have a choice – call it quits or see it as the greatest investment for our eternity. My prayer is that you and I will find ourselves on the same side of the line having chosen to love Him back dearly.

Thanks for dropping by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Also, I’ve read some good books and make some great recommendations for you at http://astore.amazon.com/accorconsu-20  which you can purchase right from there.  Finally, check us out at Accord Consulting.  And while you’re here, why not check out some more of our recent blogs shown in the right hand column.  Ken.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

Moses: "I Don't Make the Rules, God Does."

Godly Leaders Are Willing To Die For Their People

Exodus 32:30-35: And it came about on the next day that Moses said to the people, “You yourselves have committed a great sin; and now I am going up to the Lord, perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” Then Moses returned to the Lord, and said, “Alas, this people has committed a great sin, and they have made a god of gold for themselves. But now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin – and if not, please blot me out from Thy book which Thou has written!” And the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.  But go now, lead the people where I told you.  Behold, My angel shall go before you; nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.” Then the Lord smote the people, because of what they did with the calf which Aaron had made.

Three thousand Israelites had just been killed in the camp and Moses had instructed the Levites to dedicate themselves to the Lord in order to gain a greater blessing. That is something we need to notice here – greater blessings come with greater dedication to God. When you think about it, there’s no other just way to have it. Sometimes it seems that God blesses those that are not dedicated to Him more than He does those that are. Two things to keep in mind: First, we don’t have the inside scoop on who really is or is not sincerely and deeply dedicated to God. Second, we may often mistake what appear to be temporal advantages in life as God’s blessings when in actual fact they may simply be things that He allows in the lives of others for His own reasons. I always used to wonder why several of my cousins always had more than me when I knew that they dropped out of school at the earliest legal age and also were not followers of Christ. Fast forward forty years later and I know that I would never change my blessings in life (especially in my loving family) with any one of them. But it took me a while to accept what I thought was unfair treatment.  Do not let yourself fall into that trap.

So it was that Moses now “on the next day” knew he had more work to do with respect to this situation. He could have stopped worrying about it ‘yesterday’ but he didn’t.  He knew that a leader’s job was to be thorough in the execution of the strategy. So Moses went to those who managed to survive the previous day’s massacre (for that is what it was) and told them outright that they weren’t off the hook – they too, regardless of not being killed the day before, were still guilty of having committed a great sin before God.

And now Moses puts his own life at risk. He first tells the people that he is going up to the Lord again with the intention of personally making an atonement for their sin. And that is exactly what he did. He went the extra metaphorical and to a point, literal, mile up the mountain, to seek forgiveness for someone else’s sin. That’s what true leaders do.

Look at how he approaches God this time. First, he tells God what He already knew. The people had committed a great sin, he admitted. Sometimes it is important to verbally confess what we have done and even to confess what our family has done. We have the right to go before God on our behalf and also on their behalf. Unfortunately, we do not avail ourselves of that as often as we can or should.

And then, that short three-letter word used often in Scripture to indicate what God did or what, as in this case, He could do if He wanted to shows up in the text.  Moses says to God, “But You can forgive their sin.” Moses understood clearly and believed what many deny today – God can indeed forgive our sins.  Have you gone to God lately on behalf of your loved ones?

And look at what else he said. “God, if you don’t forgive them (note: not if you can’t, but if you don’t), then please blot me out of your book of life.”  Wow. That’s a leader for you. Moses was basically saying he didn’t need the benefits and the perks if his people could not participate in them. How many CEO’s do you know that actually say that to their Chairman of the Board? That takes guts and Moses certainly had that. But I believe that everything he said to God at this time, he sincerely did so because he truly not only understood his people, but also deeply cared for them. At the same time, he realized that sin had been committed and only God could forgive it.  Moses could not do it, the Levite priests could not do it. Only God can forgive the sins of people.

[And yes, there is a book of life and God does write in it.  This is not the book of the law, but rather a place where God records those that He grants salvation to. We hear about this book again in Psalms, Daniel, and Malachi in the Old Testament.  In the New Testament, we read about it in Philippians 4:3, and again in the last book of the Bible, Revelations in chapter 3, verse 5.]

So how does God react to Moses’ plea on behalf of his people and his willingness to give up having his name in the book of life? God basically says, “Look it is not your call as to who I keep in the book and who I take out. I will only blot out those who have ‘sinned against Me.’” Moses was nicely being told he was going beyond his jurisdiction as leader as admirable as his desire may have been. What’s the lesson for us? As a father and a grandfather, I believe it is simply this: We have a responsibility to bring our sins before the Lord, as well as those of our family, and to ask Him to forgive them. We may also want to convey to Him how important that is to us, but we overstep our bounds when we start negotiating about who gets saved and who does not – that is strictly God’s domain. [For me, it is not unlike my position on abortion or euthanasia – we are not here to replace God’s sole authority in those matters.]

And lovingly, God does not punish Moses for his efforts, but instead God points him to his continued responsibility – “go now, do your job, lead the people how and where I told/tell you to lead them”. And furthermore, God sends His angel to go before Moses as He sends His angels to go before us when we are following His instructions and calling. That is incredible reassurance from the Commander in Chief.

At this point God distinguishes between Moses and those that committed the great sin against Him. He says, “nevertheless there will come a day when I choose to do my punishing in this regard, then they will be punished for their sin.”

Some versions of the text talk about God “plaguing” the people somehow as compared to fully “smiting” them at a later date.  Which account you adopt will depend on whether you see God doing this right away or in His own good time. Robert Jamieson says about this last verse, “No immediate judgments were inflicted, but this early lapse into idolatry was always mentioned as an aggravation of their subsequent apostasies.”

Finally, we turn to Matthew Henry, on this troublesome last verse, who writes,

For the present, the Lord plagued the people, probably by the pestilence, or some other infectious disease, which was a messenger of God's wrath, and an earnest of worse. Aaron made the calf, and yet it is said the people made it, because they worshipped it. Deos qui rogat, ille facit-He who asks for gods makes them. Aaron was not plagued, but the people; for his was a sin of infirmity, theirs a presumptuous sin, between which there is a great difference, not always discernable to us, but evident to God, whose judgment therefore, we are sure, is according to truth. Thus Moses prevailed for a reprieve and a mitigation of the punishment, but could not wholly turn away the wrath of God. This (some think) bespeaks the inability of the law of Moses to reconcile men to God and to perfect our peace with him, which was reserved for Christ to do, in whom alone it is that God so pardons sin as to remember it no more.

I will leave to you to ponder on what you believe happened. What we do know is that people were not immediately smitten right after this and that indeed the Israelites had their difficulties in the wilderness for years to come. And some would say, still do. The lesson for us is not to take lightly the fact that sin against God has to be addressed – either forgiven through Christ or punished. As one police officer of New York City implies in the book Humans of New York, “I don’t make the rules, I just have to communicate them to those that break them and see that justice is done. I don’t like them any more than you do. Don’t take it personally.” Perhaps, someone else said it better when they said, “Please, don’t shoot the messenger.”

Thanks for dropping by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Also, I’ve read some good books and make some great recommendations for you at http://astore.amazon.com/accorconsu-20  which you can purchase right from there.  Finally, check us out at Accord Consulting.  And while you’re here, why not check out some more of our recent blogs shown in the right hand column.  Ken.

 

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

A Process by which to Determine if a Specific Promise of God's is Meant for You

Who is the Angel God Sends To Guard the Israelites On Their Way?

Exodus 23:20-21: “Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Be on your guard before him and obey his voice; do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression, since My name is in him.”

I do not know about you, but whenever I read a promise of God’s like this one, the Enemy starts working on me: “This is not for you; it’s only meant for the people of Israel at that time. So don’t count on it.” There are several courses of action one could take with that kind of taunting.

1.     You can disregard the taunting, claim the promise, while merrily singing the old chorus you learned as a child, “Every promise in the book is mine!”

2.     You can believe the taunting, never thinking any more about the promise, and go on doing life as you normally do – wondering whether or not you are forced to fend for yourself.

3.     You can agree with some Bible scholars that believe certain promises were made to certain individuals or groups and are not to be taken as being for us, but this will require an investigation as to whether or not this is one of them.

You can weigh the likelihood of any of the three choices being correct or incorrect against your:

a.     Understanding of God based on the rest of Scripture,

b.     Ability to reason it out,

c.     Knowledge of what believers have traditionally believed, and

d.     Personal experience.

Using these four criteria, you can then examine each of the three options:

1.     Disregarding the taunting and claiming the promise may satisfy criteria a., c., and possibly d. above, but b. may present some problems especially as you may tend to agree with the rationale that certainly God makes promises to specific people at specific times and since He was talking to the Israelites in this passage, that may not include me.

2.     Believing the taunting and not claiming the promise, for the Christian, will likely not satisfy criteria a., c., and perhaps d.

3.     Investigating the promise has the potential of satisfying all four criteria – a., b., c., and d.

To take that course of action, i.e. investigating the promise before we can claim it for ourselves, we need to first examine the context of the promise. Was it made to someone or a group as a particular promise for a specific one-time response to an explicit circumstance?  Or is there enough generality in it that could apply to many of us in most aspects of, and during our entire, life? Secondly, we would ask ourselves as to whether or not this promise is in keeping with other parts of Scripture that repeat similar concepts to other believers? Thirdly, does it make sense that God, assuming Him to be what we believe He is, would make this kind of promise to all His children? Fourth, what do other true believers, for the most part, believe? And finally, what is my personal experience with regard to the content of this assurance?

In this particular case, my personal investigation of this promise, leads me to believe that it is one that I can claim.  Keep in mind that the Israelites were going to spend forty years in the desert and God knew that.  This is clearly not a promise in return for a one-time action required on their part – it is to become a way of life for them. There is enough generality in it so as to be applicable to many. For example, it speaks of “guarding us along our way” until He brings us to a place He has “prepared for us” and it speaks to “obedience”, our “rebellion”, and our “pardon from sin”. All of which are spoken of elsewhere in Scripture.

In addition, the promise is in keeping with our understanding of God as we know and believe Him to be. It is a promise that has been widely accepted by many believers.  And finally, for me at least, it is a promise I have seen fulfilled time and time again in my own life, my own experience.

Having hopefully established that, we can look more closely at the promise God is making here.  To begin with, He is “sending” an “angel”. God is the mastermind here. He has delegated this most important task to someone else in which He has great confidence. But this is no ordinary angel but rather one that has God’s name in Him.  It is an angel that must be obeyed.  It is an angle capable of freeing us from our bondage (Egypt for the Israelites) and delivering us to the Promised Land (Canaan for the Israelites and Heaven for us). And this angel has the power to pardon our sins and those of the Israelites. It is no wonder that the majority of biblical commentators agree that this is the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

Jesus was given this task by God His Father and as the Son, God’s name was in Him. This was a real task, not just a make-work project but at the same time, it was a proto-type of what Jesus would do for all mankind.

Our job is to be on our guard before Him and to obey His voice throughout our journey in the wilderness of life.  The entire New Testament tells us how. But the bottom line is this: we are not to rebel against Him, for He will not pardon our transgression.

I hope you can claim this promise with me.  But I also pray you understand its consequences should we fail to claim it and choose to obey.

Thanks for dropping by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Ken Godevenos, Church and Management Consultant, Accord Consulting.  And while you’re here, why not check out some more of our recent blogs shown in the right hand column.  Ken.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

God’s Protection Services -- Exodus 14:19-20

And the angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them.  So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it gave light at night.  Thus the one did not come near the other all night.


Whenever I read these two verses lately, I cannot help but think of all the bodyguards that today’s politicians, celebrities, and senior businesspersons have.  Millions and millions of dollars are spent annually protecting these people from harm, kidnapping, and even assassination.  Yet the best protection for our lives is totally free of charge.  God’s protection services come with only two requirements.  Follow the path He has laid out for you as His child and rely totally on Him.

But let’s look closer at His methods.  He employs angels who strategically place themselves between the perils we fear and us.  Sometimes they go before us to lead us and sometimes they go behind us to protect us from surprise attacks.  He is in full control of His armies.  And when the world entraps us into utter despair, God is there.

While the angels’ primary concern was to protect the children of Israel, the pillar of cloud was more of a physical barrier to the Egyptians preventing them from attacking.  Although it is often too hard for us to understand it in our times of trouble, the fact is that God’s protection services are twofold – they take care of us while at the same time dealing with our enemies.

The angels moved from being in front to being behind the Israelites.  The pillar of cloud had provided light for them.  Together they had led them under God’s direction to the Red Sea.  The path to be followed at this point forward was clear – difficult, requiring great faith, but clear.  Put another way, they could not get lost.  Thus, it was totally safe for the angels to move behind them.  And the light from the pillar of cloud, once it moved to being behind them as well, could now shine from behind to provide some light, but also be utilized as a “blinding light” to the enemy, preventing them from being able to see the children of God.  Finally, as one commentator stated, that same pillar that was preventing the Egyptians from striking the Israelites could also have saved them had they, even at that point, heeded God’s warning to let His people go.

The passage ends by stating that “one did not come near the other all night” – the parties did not interact all night.  God’s angel and His pillar of cloud kept them apart.  They were safe.  All they had to do was stay on the path He identified for them and trust Him.

Hidden in all of this is a very difficult lesson for Christians to learn and accept.  It is this:  God is at work for our good even though He may choose for a time to keep from us the kind of evidence we would prefer to see of His presence -- blessings, joy, peace, etc.  It is when we are deeply troubled and distressed – mentally, socially, physically; when we see no way out; when the path ahead of us seems to be nothing but utter destruction and ruin – it is then we need to realize that God’s Protection Services are working overtime for us.  Stay the course.  Look up.

________________________________________________________________________

[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

Thanks for dropping by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Ken Godevenos, Church and Management Consultant, Accord Consulting.  And while you’re here, why not check out some more of our recent blogs shown in the right hand column.  Ken.

________________________________________________________________________

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

Instructions on How To Use the Blood and How To Eat the Passover Lamb -- Exodus 12:7-11

“Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.  And they shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.  Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails.  And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire.  Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste – it is the Lord’s Passover.”
 

So the Israelites have been told what they need to do in advance to prepare for that night of physical deliverance and salvation.  Now God proceeds to tell them (through Moses) on what exactly they are to do with the blood of the lamb they kill in each household and how to eat it the night of the actual deliverance.  I think the first thing to consider here if we have never done so before is the idea that God cares about how we do things.  He is a God of detail.  We need to be careful when we casually say, “Oh God does not care about the details, only the end result.”  Well, this section of Scripture clearly points to the contrary.  When it comes to obedience and salvation, God cares about the details.  It’s His Plan of Salvation.  It does not belong to the Israelites, or Moses, or you, or me.  We tend to forget that.  We have access to it, but it is His plan, not ours.

The first bit of instruction in this regard is that the Israelites are to take some of the blood from the slain lamb and put it on the two vertical doorposts – left and right frames which hold the door of their dwelling in place, and also on the lintel – the horizontal piece at the top which connects to the two vertical doorposts.  It is important to note that the dwelling that matters is the one in which they will be partaking of the lamb together as a family or household, not just any of their buildings.  This is very symbolic in the sense that the family inside that dwelling, celebrating their deliverance, will be “covered by the blood of the lamb” sprinkled on the doorposts.

The next thing we note is that no blood is to be put on the threshold of the frame – the horizontal part at the bottom which connects to the two vertical doorposts and on which people trod on when entering or leaving a room through that door.  Commentator Chuck Smith suggests that this is because the blood of this lamb is actually symbolic of the blood of Jesus Christ, which is never to be trampled under foot.  We also need to remember that while some of the Israelites may have lived in actual buildings, others may well have still dwelt in tents. Certainly had any moved closer to the center of the activity during those days, they would have lived in more temporary housing which would have meant tents.

The purpose for this sprinkling of blood on the doorposts was to ensure the ‘destroying angel’ that was going to go through Egypt that night would distinguish their homes from those of the Egyptians.  It was a way of protecting and covering those inside the home, those inside with a family that were part of God’s people, His children.  It seems to be the case that somehow God’s own people to be distinguished from those that are not His.  This will also be the case now and in the end days.  For starters, we need to have been covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Then God tells the Israelites how He wants them to prepare the lamb for consumption.  It had to be roasted on a fire.  It was to be enjoyed with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.  Did these detailed instructions matter?  I believe they did.  The unleavened bread was symbolic of the fact that they had to take this meal in haste and had no time to allow the bread to rise.  It was the bread of ‘affliction’.  The bitter herbs were symbolic of the ‘bitterness of Egyptian slavery’.  Those were their Old Testament meanings.  However, they also have New Testament meanings as well.  There’s an excellent article on the Internet that goes into this in a very creative and informative way.  You can check it out here: http://eatingedenblog.blogspot.ca/2012/04/passover-food-lamb-unleavened-bread.html .

The Israelites were also not to eat any of the meat raw or even boiled in water.  Many have tried to explain this instruction – both in a physical sense and in a symbolic one.  You can research that further on the Internet by searching for the following – {"commentary"+"exodus 12:9"} exactly as shown including quotation marks but excluding the parenthesis, on Google.  What I believe the emphasis here is to be is that God wanted this meal prepared in a way that was special as the Israelites most commonly boiled their meat and other dishes.  This was a special ceremony, one that was about salvation.  It was also about a new beginning, and a new calendar.  Secondly, it was to be prepared whole, not in parts.  That preparation was to include the head, the legs and the entrails – innards or internal organs of the animal.

[I must admit one of the memories I have of growing up in a Greek home, was the fact that my mom cooked the entrails of the various meat sources we prepared for meals.  There is nothing like a tasty liver or even a heart of a chicken.  Indulge me for a moment though. Recently I tried to reproduce a day from my youth by buying some fresh smelts at the fish market and deep-frying them.  They were delicious.  My only regret was that the fishmonger, to sell more fish to his North American clientele, had chopped their heads off.  But I digress.]

In fact, if this meal were grouped with the other sacrifices – one would note that all of them except this one involved only parts of the animal, not the whole of the animal.  For this one, God wanted the whole of the animal prepared in this special way.  The parallelism to the preparation of Christ and all his death meant for our salvation is evident.

And then God says “You are to eat it all tonight; don’t leave anything until the morning.”  There are several possibilities for this.  The first being that they needed to eat well this night because their next meal would not be a while as the journey out of Egypt that would follow would be long.  The second is that God wanted them to be totally dependent on Him for their daily needs.  This is, of course, a theme that God wants to drive home to His children, throughout the Bible.  From Genesis to Revelations we see this requirement to be totally dependent on Him if we are to have total access to His best blessings.  Another possibility may be that this meal was to be a “complete” act.  They were not to enter it half-heartedly or put in modern terms, just to “play with their food” leaving much of it uneaten.  And even though God gives that instruction, He knows them well enough to know that some will not comply.  And He gives them another chance, in the morning, to obey Him by then burning anything left over in a fire.  What an amazing and understanding God.

And then God gave them the final instructions in this regard; instructions as to how the Israelites should dress and be equipped when eating this meal.  They had to be fully dressed for action – no hanging around in their sleepwear or less.  And they had to be wearing their sandals for when the time came, they had to rush out the door.  They had to have their staffs in their hands ready to tackle the difficulties of the road and to provide their bodies the support needed, as they tired.  This was going to be no doubt an “eat and run” event.  It reminds me of the meals that some children have in the summertime when they know their friends are waiting outside to play.

Much can be said about the “eat it in haste” part but suffice it to say, that this was a meal with a purpose.  It was the “Lord’s Passover” and whether eaten in Egypt that night, eaten by Christ’s Disciples about a thousand years later, or partaken of by us today – it is a meal that has meaning – in all cases pointing to a time when our “salvation is near”.  For us, it points to a time when Christ will return and we will be redeemed for eternity because of what He did for us on the cross.  The blood had been sprinkled on the doorposts of the homes of the Israelites.  The Son of God has shed His blood for us on the cross of Calvary.  Our sins can be forgiven; we can be sure of our salvation.  I pray that is so with you.

________________________________________________________________________

[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

Thanks for dropping by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Ken Godevenos, Church and Management Consultant, Accord Consulting.  And while you’re here, why not check out some more of our recent blogs shown in the right hand column.  Ken.

________________________________________________________________________

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.