Last month,
my Men’s group looked at how the Israelites were instructed by the Lord to
practice the Passover. The ceremony is
steeped with symbolism. You know it’s always
easy to celebrate a successful outcome.
It’s an entirely different situation when one has to trust one’s fate to
an act of faith.
The 4th
of July is typically a pretty big deal in modern-day America – Flags, BBQs, and
fireworks are all commonplace. The
original 4th – back in 1776, was arguably a bigger deal. While the Declaration was bold, its ultimate outcome
was anything but certain. “Celebration”
was certainly not the “word of the day” that frozen winter at Valley Forge.
Conversely,
the Lord was so confident in the effectualness of His Passover program that the
inaugural instructions to Moses and Aaron, while they were still in slavery in
Egypt, included a provision to continue to practice it even after they’d passed
into the Promised Land. In fact, He
directed it be performed into perpetuity.
Specifically saying,
“Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for
you and your descendants. When you enter
the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. And when your children ask you, ‘What
does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the
Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in
Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’”
The
Patriots and Founders wrote the Constitution, not only to enshrine our
liberties and enumerate our God given rights, but to also list the limitations
placed upon the same government they’d conceived and fought for. The right that protects all others, “…the right of the people to keep and
bear arms shall not be infringed.” This argument
was made abundantly clear by the Father of our country:
“Firearms stand next in importance to the
constitution itself. They are the American people’s liberty teeth and keystone
under independence … from the hour the Pilgrims landed to the present day,
events, occurrences and tendencies prove that to ensure peace security and
happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable … the very atmosphere
of firearms anywhere restrains evil interference — they deserve a place of
honor with all that’s good.”
With the
Passover, the Lord prescribed a home protection process for His followers that prevented
the death angel from delivering destruction.
“ Tell the whole community
of Israel…each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household…The
animals you choose must be year-old males without defect…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. Then they are to take some of the
blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where
they eat the lambs… it is the Lord’s Passover”
The Lord thwarted
the original home-invasion with the blood of an innocent lamb. “On
that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of
both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I
am the Lord. 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. …When the Lord
goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on
the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will
not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.”
The same
firearms that purchased freedom from an oppressive king continue to provide
home protection today. However, that was
not the fundamental reason our founders wanted our right to bear arms to be uninfringed
-- they intended our arms to serve as a check on government tyranny. President Thomas Jefferson put it this way, “The strongest reason for the people
to retain the right to keep and bear arms is,
as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.”
Thomas
Paine, speaking of disarmament, described the likely outcome, “Horrid mischief
would ensue were one half the world deprived of the use of them ... the weak
will become prey to the strong."
Like it or not, it is often a weapon in the hand of a lamb that enables
him to become a lion.
Eventually,
in the fullness of time, God instituted a new program – a plan that involved a
different Lamb, but this time did not require a yearly renewal -- this was a
lifetime plan. John the Baptist, upon
seeing Jesus coming toward him said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the
sin of the world!” Clearly, not everyone
accepts the fact that the substitutionary death of the Son of God can protect
him or her from the death angel. Nor
that the Blood of the Lamb can wash away sin.
That can only come through faith.
The
author of the book of Hebrews looked back on both the Passover and the offering
of the Christ. Regarding animal
sacrifice, the writer rightly points out, “those sacrifices are an annual
reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take
away sins… Day after day, every priest
stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same
sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered
for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and
since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.” Imagine that, the Lamb that was sacrificed is
seated at the right hand of God, interceding for his followers and awaiting His
final assignment.
The other
day a friend of mine was alternately lamenting that the Church, the body of
Christ, had not risen up en masse to stop the onslaught of evil and immorality
overrunning our nation and the world – while yearning for the return of Christ
to set things right.
Friends, that
day is coming soon, and on that day the Lamb will become a Lion. The meek shall inherit the earth, and those
in opposition, only wrath. "These
shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord
of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, chosen, and
faithful." Finally, the Lion of the tribe of Judah will assert Himself to
set all things right.
In the meantime, this Fourth of July, celebrate the
Patriots’ courage, celebrate the Passover, and celebrate the right to keep and
bear arms, all while longing for the return of the Lion!
