“If God had not delivered us, we would still be slaves.”
―Passover Seder

Without God’s intervention, the Jewish people in Egypt had no hope of freedom. They were powerless against their captivity. They would have remained in their oppression and continued to face the heartless disregard for their humanity, needs, and dreams. But God stepped in, declaring His love for His people, rescuing them out of their slavery to Pharaoh, and setting them free.

Likewise, God initiates our salvation. He is the One who saw our need and stretched out His hand to meet it. He sent Yeshua (Jesus), our Passover Lamb, to die in our place. God came to our rescue. If not for His intervention, we would remain in our sin, unable to have fellowship with God.

God is good. He is light, and He is love. If God had not delivered us, we would not know Him as these spirit-filling need-meeting, soul-quenching characteristics. We would still be slaves to sin, obeying its power to lead us away from our good God and into things that cannot satisfy our true and deepest needs. But God stepped in, declaring His love for us, rescuing us out of our slavery to sin, and setting us free.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Messiah died for us.

―Romans 5:8

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Messiah Yeshua. For the law of the Spirit of life in Messiah Yeshua has set you free from the law of sin and death.          

―Romans 8:1-2

Thank you, Father, for rescuing me out of slavery to sin so that I can know Your deep love. Thank You for wanting me to have life, which comes from reconciled fellowship with You. You are so good! Thank You, Yeshua, for dying to give me life!

Get the informative Passover Seder Plate Infographic!

Learn more about Passover, here: 

Yeshua, Our Passover Lamb – Passover Devotional 1

He Heard the Cry of Our Affliction – Passover Devotional 2

When I See the Blood – Passover Devotional 3

With Outstretched Arm – Passover Devotional 4

If God Had Not – Passover Devotional 5

Free Indeed – Passover Devotional 6

Freed to Serve A Good Master – Passover Devotional 7

Living Ready – Passover Devotional Day 8

I am Adonai, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you to Myself as a people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am Adonai your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. So I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and give it to you as an inheritance. I am Adonai.”

―Exodus 6:6-8

The Hebrew people endured hundreds of years as slaves to Pharaoh. They may have wondered if He even remembered them and His covenant to their forefathers. He must have seemed very far off. But then, He came to them. With an outstretched arm, He came to their rescue, delivering them out of slavery to Egypt. When they felt far off, He brought them near. It was the beginning of a new and deep relationship with Him.

And so it is with Yeshua (Jesus).

Sin separates us from God, but with an outstretched arm, God reached to us in Yeshua and calls us to Himself. Because He loves us, He calls us near. As we place our faith in Yeshua, He brings us near to be a people of His own. It is the beginning of a new relationship with Him. One that is deep and rich. Through Yeshua, we are able to know His love for us and walk in newness of life with God (Romans 6:4).

…our great God and Savior, Messiah Yeshua. He gave Himself for us so that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and so that He might purify for Himself a chosen people, zealous for good deeds.

―Titus 2:14

But now in Messiah Yeshua, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah.

―Ephesians 2:13

God, thank you for loving me enough to rescue me and bring me near. Thank You for the new relationship I have with you through Yeshua. Thank you for the countless ways you continue to reach out to me, calling me to Yourself each day. I can say with the psalmist, “As for me, the nearness of God is my good” (Psalm 73:8 NASB). Help me to daily see Your outstretched arm, draw near to You, and experience You drawing even nearer to me (James 4:8).

Get the informative Passover Seder Plate Infographic!

Learn more about Passover, here: 

Yeshua, Our Passover Lamb – Passover Devotional 1

He Heard the Cry of Our Affliction – Passover Devotional 2

When I See the Blood – Passover Devotional 3

With Outstretched Arm – Passover Devotional 4

If God Had Not – Passover Devotional 5

Free Indeed – Passover Devotional 6

Freed to Serve A Good Master – Passover Devotional 7

Living Ready – Passover Devotional Day 8

They are to take the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the crossbeam of the houses... I am Adonai… When I see the blood, I will pass over you. So there will be no plague among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

―Exodus 12: 7, 12-13

On that Passover night, it was the blood from the sacrifice of a perfect, innocent lamb that saved the Jewish people enslaved in the land of Egypt. The angel of death came over all the land that night, and when he saw the blood covering the doorposts of Jewish homes, he passed over, sparing them from the death of their firstborn.

God gave us a picture at Passover of what was to come when Yeshua (Jesus) shed His blood to save us from our sin and give us eternal life. Yeshua was without sin Himself – blameless, spotless, and innocent – but He took the punishment of death for our sin, for the sin of all of mankind. Now, when God looks at those who believe this and have placed their faith in Yeshua, He sees Yeshua’s shed blood covering their sin. And He passes over us, sparing us from the eternal penalty for sin, and giving us life.

For sin’s payment is death, but God’s gracious gift is eternal life in Messiah Yeshua our Lord.

―Romans 6:23

You know that you were redeemed …not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with precious blood like that of a lamb without defect or spot, the blood of Messiah.

―1 Peter 1:18-19

Thank You, God, You are so amazing to not only give us the gift of eternal life but for how You provided a picture of Your eternal plan for salvation through Yeshua long before He came to earth to die for us. Your Word always points us to Yeshua and Your loving, good plan to rescue us to become a people unto Yourself. Thank You, Yeshua, for being willing to suffer and die for me. Thank You for giving Your blood to cover my sins.

Get the informative Passover Seder Plate Infographic!

Learn more about Passover, here: 

Yeshua, Our Passover Lamb – Passover Devotional 1

He Heard the Cry of Our Affliction – Passover Devotional 2

When I See the Blood – Passover Devotional 3

With Outstretched Arm – Passover Devotional 4

If God Had Not – Passover Devotional 5

Free Indeed – Passover Devotional 6

Freed to Serve A Good Master – Passover Devotional 7

Living Ready – Passover Devotional Day 8

Then Adonai said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their slave masters, for I know their pains. So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, to bring them up out of that land into a good and large land, a land flowing with milk and honey…”

―Exodus 3:7-8

The Jewish people had been slaves to Egypt for hundreds of years. They were forced to labor for Pharaoh who had no regard for their own wellbeing. They didn’t matter to Pharaoh except as tools to accomplish his purposes and increase his fame.

We tend to think that slavery is a thing of the past, but the world is growing more aware of present day slavery enacted by evil militias and the human trafficking industry. The suffering of slavery is cruel, crushing, and life-draining. A slave has no power to free himself.

There’s another kind of slavery that is rarely mentioned. So stealthy is this enslavement that the world, for the most part, doesn’t even recognize it. Yet its affliction bears not only earthly suffering but eternal consequences.

Yeshua answered them, “Amen, amen I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”

―John 8:34

We may not often realize it, but before we came to faith in Yeshua (Jesus), we were slaves to sin. When sin entered the world through Adam, it became part of all of us. We became slaves to it, destined for an eternity apart from God. As slaves, we possessed no power to free ourselves from captivity to sin.

Just as God delivered the Jewish people from slavery to Pharaoh, Yeshua―through His sacrifice―offers deliverance from slavery to sin. By the sacrifice of His blood, He freed us from our sins to live an abundant and eternal life.

…Messiah Yeshua, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood.

―Revelation 1:5

Yeshua, how can I adequately thank You for freeing me from slavery to sin and its eternal consequences? Not only have you set me free from an eternal destiny apart from You, but You have freed me to live a godly life here and now through Your Spirit who You have given to dwell in me (Romans 8:11). I can live the life You intended for me – one of joy, peace, love, and light – because You freed me from slavery to sin. Thank You!

Get the informative Passover Seder Plate Infographic!

Learn more about Passover, here: 

Yeshua, Our Passover Lamb – Passover Devotional 1

He Heard the Cry of Our Affliction – Passover Devotional 2

When I See the Blood – Passover Devotional 3

With Outstretched Arm – Passover Devotional 4

If God Had Not – Passover Devotional 5

Free Indeed – Passover Devotional 6

Freed to Serve A Good Master – Passover Devotional 7

Living Ready – Passover Devotional Day 8

Yeshua, Our Passover Lamb – Passover Devotional 1

“Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month, each man is to take a lamb for his family…your lamb is to be without blemish. You must watch over it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then… slaughter it at twilight.”

―Exodus 12:3-6

God was preparing to rescue the people of Israel from centuries of slavery in Egypt. One final plague was to come over the land, and God prescribed the way that the Jewish people could be saved from the death about to come. A lamb must be sacrificed. The lamb was to be perfect, without spot or blemish. Innocent. Taking special care and keeping close watch over their selected lamb for four days must have made it difficult for the family to see it die for their sakes. There was no other reason for it to die but to spare the Hebrews from the judgment of death in the land of Egypt. There was no other way.

That Passover night foreshadowed a much bigger rescue to come and a more profound sacrifice on behalf of the object of God’s love: the children of Israel and all of mankind. Yeshua came to earth for one reason. He came to sacrifice His life to save ours. He was perfect, without sin, and through His sacrifice, He offers deliverance from the power of sin in our lives. There is no other way. Yeshua is our Passover Lamb.

God set forth Yeshua as an atonement, through faith in His blood, to show His righteousness in passing over sins already committed.

―Romans 3:25

…for Messiah, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed.

―1 Corinthians 5:7

Yeshua, thank You so much for making atonement for my sins! Thank You for willingly sacrificing Yourself so that I could be made clean and right before God. You, in Your innocence and perfection, died for my guilt and sin. You rescued me from “the wages” of my sin and gave me eternal life instead (Romans 3:23). Thank You so much for this profound miracle and gift!

Get the informative Passover Seder Plate Infographic!

Learn more about Passover, here: 

Yeshua, Our Passover Lamb – Passover Devotional 1

He Heard the Cry of Our Affliction – Passover Devotional 2

When I See the Blood – Passover Devotional 3

With Outstretched Arm – Passover Devotional 4

If God Had Not – Passover Devotional 5

Free Indeed – Passover Devotional 6

Freed to Serve A Good Master – Passover Devotional 7

Living Ready – Passover Devotional Day 8