God's Blood Covenant - Part 2 - How One Man's Obedience Led to Mankind's Deliverance

A single night changed everything. We revisit the Passover not as distant ritual but as a vivid picture of covenant—a people marked by the blood of a lamb, poised for freedom, and instructed to remember rescue with a meal eaten in haste. As we walk through Exodus 12, the instructions feel exacting for a reason: they anchor identity, obedience, and hope in a moment when dawn is still far off. That sign on the doorposts becomes the hinge between slavery and a future brimming with provision and purpose.

From there, we follow the ripple effects of deliverance: Egypt’s release, the surprising gift of wealth, and the striking claim that there was not one feeble person among the tribes. These aren’t random details; they’re the language of covenant blessing—health for the journey, resources for a new life, and a shared story carried in body and memory. But the deeper question rises: Why such favor? To answer it, we step back to Abraham on Moriah, where tested faith led to a sworn promise—descendants, victory, and blessing for all nations. That oath becomes the backdrop for Passover and the Exodus, revealing a God who binds Himself to His word and keeps it.

We connect that pattern forward to Jesus, the greater Lamb, whose sacrifice seals a new covenant and invites us into a life marked by trust. Faith here is not a soft feeling; it is courageous alignment with the promise—acting before proof arrives, shaping choices around God’s character rather than our fears. If you’re navigating grief, transition, or a crossroads, this story offers a map: remember what’s been promised, obey what you’ve been shown, and watch for deliverance that restores strength as well as freedom. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review to tell us how this message met you today.

Transcript

Welcome And Covenant Recap

Lynne 0:00

You are listening to Higher Up with Lynne Little. Our program of life's difficult strategies. Living through life's difficulties and finding your path to healing. We tackle issues particular to those who have experienced painful loss in any form. Lynne is the founder and president of Lynne Little Ministries and the author of Missing Lisa, A Parent Grieves, and Finding God in Death and Life, A Passage Through Grief. Now, here's Lynne. Hello and welcome to part two of God's Blood Covenant.

Israel’s Bondage And God’s Remembering

Lynne 0:36

Last week we discussed the definition of covenant, what it means to cut the covenant, and we also traced some of the history of God's covenants with his people. Today we will demonstrate how the Israelites were instructed in some of the terms of the covenant and the blessings they experienced. The previous episode concluded in Egypt, where the people of God had originally traveled to seek relief from a famine affecting their homeland. They had remained there and eventually ended up in servitude to the Egyptians under Pharaoh. Yet even though the Israelites had fallen into the error of worshiping the many gods of Egypt rather than the one true God, Yahweh was still mindful of his covenant. Exodus two verse seven describes the situation. "The Israelites were exceedingly fruitful. They multiplied greatly, increased in numbers, and became so numerous that the land was filled with them." When a new ruler came to power, he was alarmed at the size of the population, and concerned that they would rebel against their masters. He first increased their labor, and then ordered the death of their newborn sons. Verse twelve reads, "But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread." So the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. In Exodus chapter two, God heard the groanings of Israel in Egypt and remembered his covenant that he had made with Abraham and Abraham's descendants, Isaac and Jacob.

Confronting Pharaoh And The Plagues

Lynne 2:39

So God sent Moses down to Egypt to deliver Abraham's covenant descendants. God couldn't break the covenant, he would not forget it nor ignore it, because he had sworn to Abraham to uphold it. Through signs, wonders, and miraculous deeds, God, working through Moses and his brother Aaron, worked to try and persuade Pharaoh to release the people. Although great plagues were visited upon the land of Egypt, Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go. The remarkable story, and though lengthy, well worth the read, is found in Exodus chapters 2 through 11.

Passover Terms And The Blood Sign

Lynne 3:28

Now we're not going to cover the entire story because we want to emphasize several key points that are particular to our discussion of the blood covenant. As we progress, we'll see a pattern begin to take shape that has similar characteristics to the Stanley Livingston story in the first episode. And the pattern is this. Why? The blood symbolized that God was cutting the covenant anew with his people. When the angel of death passed by their house, all would be spared, because the blood of the sacrificial lamb was the sign that those within were under covenant. In addition to the ritualistic cutting of the covenant, there were also terms, and the terms were clearly spelled out by Moses before the covenant was cut on the night of Passover. The terms outlined were comprehensive and precisely defined, as stated in Exodus 12, verses 1 through 11. "The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, This month is to be for you, the first month of your year. 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. 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. The animals you choose must be year old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the

Unleavened Bread And Lasting Ordinance

Lynne 7:17

goats. 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 door frames of the houses where they eat the lamb. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire along with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast. Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire with the head, legs, and internal organs. Do not leave any of it till morning. If some is left until morning, you must burn it. This is how you are to eat it. With your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste, it is the Lord's Passover, and this is the day you are to commemorate. For generations to come, you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord, a lasting ordinance. For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day, remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. On the first day hold a sacred assembly and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat. That is all you may do. Wow! Exhaustive instructions, wouldn't you agree?" So the terms of the agreement were set. God would spare their firstborn, and they in turn would commemorate Passover. The bread without yeast would serve as a reminder of the Israelites' hasty departure from Egypt. They did not have time to let their bread rise, leading to the command to eat unleavened bread during the Passover. Thus began the institution of and required participation in Passover.

Exodus Wealth And Unusual Health

Lynne 9:51

Passover remains a major Jewish holiday that commemorates the night the angel of death passed over, and the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt began. The benefits of this covenant were soon realized, for not only were God's people rescued from death, but they experienced enormous blessings and prosperity. Pharaoh was finally letting them go. The Egyptians were traumatized and in such fear they gave gold, jewelry, and even clothing to the Israelites, and also let them leave with abundant livestock. Exodus twelve, thirty seven and thirty eight describes the company. The Israelites journeyed from Ramses to Sukkoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. Many other people went up with him and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. So servants, gold, jewelry, clothing, and flocks and herds. Everything was provided. And as if that was not enough, Psalm 100:5-7 records this. "He brought them forth also with silver and gold, and there was not one feeble person among their tribes." What? No feeble person? After four hundred years of hard labor, and the latter years being far worse, nobody was feeble? No backaches, sickness, arthritis, no injuries, no broken bones. This was evidence of an extraordinary covenant, wouldn't you agree? It could certainly be described as supernatural. Was that just for them? Well, we'll soon see. So to recap, the blessings of the covenant included deliverance from their enemies, rescue from death, robust fertility, wealth in the form of gold, jewelry, and raiment, sustenance through livestock, servants, and divine health? Not too shabby. So this raises a few questions.

Why The Favor Questioned

Lynne 12:33

What had Israel done to deserve such favor? Did God love the Hebrew nation above all others? Were they more deserving? Or was it something else?

Abraham’s Test And Foreshadowing

Lynne 12:49

To address these questions, let's examine an unusual event described in the book of Genesis. After God provided a son to Abraham by the miraculous occurrence of fertility in his old age and that of his wife, God gave Abraham a strange command. In Genesis chapter 22, God tested Abraham. "He said to him, Abraham, here I am, he replied. Then God said, Take your son, your only son whom you love, Isaac, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you." Wait what? Can any of us imagine being given a commandment such as this? The much anticipated son to be offered as a sacrifice? And yet what did Abraham know about the one true God that gave him the utmost confidence that all would be well regardless? The book of Hebrews 11: 17 through 19 refers to this. "By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son. Even though God had told him, Isaac is the son, through whom your descendants shall be counted. Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead." And so, in a manner of speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death. So to continue the story in Genesis, "early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When they had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship, and then we will come back to you. Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering, placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father, Father, yes, my son, the fire and wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Abraham answered, God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son. And the two of them went on together. When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, Abraham, Abraham, here I am, he replied, Do not lay a hand on the boy. Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son. The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you've done this and not have withheld your son, I will surely bless you, and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth

Oath, Promise, And Faith’s Reward

Lynne 17:23

will be blessed because you have obeyed me." This is of course an obvious foreshadowing of God sacrificing his only son to bless the nation. Remember, God had previously cut the covenant with Abraham and sealed it with a pledge and an oath. This is referred to in Hebrews 6: 13. "For when God made the promise to Abraham, he swore an oath by himself, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, saying, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply you. And so having patiently waited, he realized the promise and the miraculous birth of Isaac as a pledge of what was to come from God." What did Abraham know that gave him a steadfast confidence in the word of the Lord? He never seemed to question God's integrity or motives. How many of us would pass that severe test? So in summary, the reason the Israelites were given special favor was due to Abraham. The God of the universe valued faith and obedience so highly that he searched until he found someone who fit the bill. What set Abraham apart from all others was his steadfast belief that God said what he meant and meant what he said. Abraham was trusting in God's promise that he would be the father of many nations even when circumstances seemed impossible. He was a model of faith among men. And one man's obedience charted the entire course of history. It set an entire nation and ultimately the world on a path to redemption. Israel was blessed because God rewards faith. The God who never changes still values those traits in his followers.

Faith, Obedience, And Blessing Today

Lynne 19:54

Unwavering faith and obedience is the model to go by. That applies to all of us. And it is through faith that we receive the blessings, as we will clearly see as the series progresses. It takes faith to embrace God's plan of salvation for all of us. The word says, "For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life." It takes faith to accept God's provision for salvation for each one of us. And it begins with a simple prayer, acknowledging that Jesus came to bear the penalty for our sins and that God rose him from the dead on the third day. Will you pray with me right now, repeating these words?

Speaker 1 20:59

Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Jesus to die on the cross and pay the penalty for my sin. I believe

Invitation To Prayer And Resources

Speaker 1 21:13

that Jesus rose again on the third day. Jesus, come into my heart and into my life. Make me brand new. I confess you as my Lord and Savior.

Lynne 21:35

Amen. If you prayed that prayer, let us know. Lynnelittle Ministries @ gmail.com. God bless you today and throughout the week. Thank you so much for listening. Lynnelittle Ministries is a 501c3 whose mission is to assist those who have suffered loss and to help them discover hope, peace, and restoration. For books, resources, or to make a tax deductible donation, go to lynnelittle.org.