That night, "the LORD struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead" (Exodus 12:29-30). God is nowhere said to be passive in any of this. He did not pass over Egypt to save his people, but he passed over his people to kill the most prized members of Egypt's community, so that even the animals were not spared. He was on a mission to kill, and he did a thorough job of it, so that "there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead."

We have witnessed some great disasters in our lifetime in which many perished, and there was "loud wailing." Without considering the details of these events, the nature of the victims, and the applicable biblical principles, many people rule out the very possibility that God had anything to do with these tragedies other than that he "permitted" them. Rubbish! It is true that not every tragedy or violent death is a case of God's punishment against a person, but it is unbiblical to rule it out in every case. Are we ashamed of God? Those who worship him for who he is will boldly confess – nay, even boast – that he is one who seeks out and slaughters his enemies, and those he wishes to punish. Do you hate him for this? Or do you praise him for this? Your answer reveals whether your allegiance belongs to the God of your imagination or whether it belongs to the God of the Bible.

So the Passover was not a case where God abandoned the sinners and left them in judgment while he snatched his own people away from harm. No, he passes over his own people and gave the sinners all his attention, slaughtering all of their firstborns. But through Moses, he instructed the Israelites to smear some of the blood of the Passover lamb on the doorframes of their houses. He said, "The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt" (12:13).

All of this is a picture of what Christ has done for his people. When John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29). And Paul writes, "For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed" (1 Corinthians 5:7). The Passover is only a type and shadow of salvation. The reality is found in the atoning death of Christ. Accordingly, the blood of the Passover lamb is a type and shadow of the blood of Jesus Christ. The effect of the former is a picture of the effect of the latter.

The Passover also gives us a picture of the wrath of God against unbelievers. To differing degrees, and whether they are referring to reprobation, hardening, or judgment, some people often portray this aspect of the work of God as passive. But this is contrary to the picture that Scripture paints for us. If we believe the Bible as God's revelation, then we must affirm that he does not merely leave the unbelievers in their sins, as if they would then self-destruct, or as if they could create a hell, set it on fire, and cast themselves in there. No, God himself pursues them and throws them into the lake of fire.

Among other things, the value of Christ's atoning blood is at stake. A weak view of God's wrath betrays a weak view of the atonement, since it is the blood of Jesus that saves us from divine wrath. Corresponding to the blood of the Passover lamb, the blood of Jesus does not only remove us from judgment, but the picture given to us is that it hides us from the most terrible and destructive power in all of existence – the wrath of God manifested in all of its fierceness and violence.

Even now, we hear the "loud wailing" of the non-Christians coming from the distance. No, God has not left them alone, and that is precisely why they suffer so! We shudder when we think about what God is doing to them. But we are relieved, and tears of joy and gratitude are streaming down our faces because God has graciously given us the Passover. We find refuge from the Destroyer behind the blood of the lamb, and as we partake of the Passover Feast through faith in Jesus Christ, we receive life and strength for our journey.

(to be continued)

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