This week ends with the Passover celebration. It is certainly a time when many believers have a heavy heart, thinking ‘how come we will spend the greatest Christian celebration confined, not able to go to our church service to celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ?’
My brother, my sister let’s remember the first Passover that took place in Egypt. Where were the people of God? Confined in their homes at God’s command, waiting for God’s promise to be fulfilled. Let me recall the story of this Passover, but from the very beginning to get the whole meaning of it: Pharaoh was worried that the Jewish people in Egypt were going to outnumber his people, so he decided to enslave them and he decreed that every son born to the Hebrews should be drowned in the Nile. But, by God’s grace, Moses was saved and adopted by Pharaoh’s own daughter who was going to raise him as an Egyptian.
Later, once an adult, Moses was used by God to command Pharaoh to let His people go. But Pharaoh refused. Then started the Ten Plagues. When came the last plague, God decided to strike down every firstborn in every household in Egypt, except for the Jews who were told to mark their doors with the blood of the lamb they would have sacrificed. Thus, God passed over their homes!
What does this mean for us today? We don’t need to sacrifice any lamb anymore because our Lord and Saviour, Jesus, was offered to be the perfect Lamb for the entire humanity. So, those who have accepted Him already have the blood of the Lamb marked at their doors. Now, just as during the first Passover, today, we the believers of Christ are confined in our homes to let the spirit of death go pass! Therefore, we should not worry about the outcome or the future. We must keep our faith in God: “do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God” ((Isaiah 41:10.)
This year, God will fulfill His promises without fail. He is faithful. Instead of feeling the heaviness that this time may bring about because we can’t come together to celebrate our resurrected Lord, let’s instead take this time to reconnect with Him in prayer and fasting individually. Let’s put Him first in the areas our daily routines or activities have taken our time and energy before. Let’s stand face to face with the Lord, because in our assemblies that may not happen during corporate worshipping…
Looking into Isaiah 26:1-21, we can clearly see similarities with our world today as God Himself purposely established quarantine and Isaiah 26:20 specifically says: “Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by. See, the LORD is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will disclose the blood shed on it; the earth will conceal its slain no longer”. Whether today’s quarantine represents a warning, a command or a promise from God, nobody has a clear answer. However, what we know for certain is that, no matter how it ends, there is a gain for His people! Yes, after being confined in Egypt, the people of God were set free from slavery and not only their freedom meant the economy of Egypt was going to suffer a huge blow, God also transferred the wealth of the country to His people: “The LORD caused the Egyptians to look favorably on the Israelites, and they gave the Israelites whatever they asked for. So they stripped the Egyptians of their wealth!” (Exodus 12:36) The same, Apostle Peter and many were confined in prayer (Acts 1:13) and they came out only when the promised Comforter and Advocate came (Acts 2:41-42)! Definitely, as 1 Peter 4:7 says, “The end of all things is near. Therefore, be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray.”
Let’s, therefore, rejoice that God has a great plan for us and as we come out of this confinement, there is a gain for us, His children and those who would just turn from their wicked ways to believe in Christ!
Stay blessed in Jesus’ name.