1-2-15. Exodus 12:2-6. The story of the Exodus was a community and family affair-my devotional
Exodus 12:2-6
Look at Exodus 12: 2-6, “2 “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. 4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. 5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. 6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.”
In these verses the whole community was called by God to celebrate this feast. Each man was to obtain a lamb for his own family. They were also supposed to be concerned with their neighbors, and their ability to procure a lamb for the feast. The whole community was to sacrifice their lamb or goat together. This warms my heart. Not the slaughtering or animals, for Jesus is now our “once and forever” sacrifice, but the community living, born out of faith. I see community and family unity in these words.
We are losing this in our society. We do have community, but we don’t know our neighbors very well. Family life has become like sharing space and resources under one roof. To have unity together is a distant dream for so many. But here, we see such unity and commitment to one another among the ancient Israelites. This is possible when God is present and faith is the glue. This is the glue that is keeping our family together. I thank God for this. Without the Gospel how easy it is for families to grow apart because they just “don’t like each other.” I see it again and again. Faith in Jesus and the willingness to celebrate the Gospel together is a blessing.
I learn here that I need to help my family to worship Jesus (the Lamb of God) and also think about the needs of my neighbors, both physically and spiritually. My hope and prayer is that my whole family and community may be united in their worship of Jesus.
Interact with us using Facebook