GOD COMMANDS REMEMBRANCE BEFORE MOVEMENT
Before Israel took a single step into the wilderness, God gave them a command. Not a suggestion. Not an option. A command.
Remember.
“And the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, ‘Let the people of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time. On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and all its rules you shall keep it.'” — Numbers 9:1-3 (ESV)
One year had passed since the Exodus. The blood on the doorposts. The angel of death passing over. The deliverance from four hundred years of bondage. And now, before God would move them forward, He required them to look back.
Why?
Because you cannot move forward authentically if you’ve forgotten where you came from.
THE BLOOD THAT DELIVERED YOU
The Passover wasn’t a religious tradition. It was a blood covenant. A lamb died so Israel could live. Blood on the doorposts meant the difference between life and death.
“When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” — Exodus 12:13 (ESV)
Not when I see your good intentions. Not when I see your religious effort. Not when I see your sincerity. When I see the blood.
But here’s what we must not miss: the blood was applied while Israel was still in bondage.
They didn’t clean themselves up first. They didn’t escape Egypt on their own strength and then celebrate with a lamb dinner. They were still slaves when God commanded them to kill the lamb and apply the blood. Still in chains. Still under Pharaoh’s authority. Still surrounded by the gods of Egypt.
The blood came before the deliverance, not after.
This is the pattern. This is the truth counterfeit Christianity inverts. You don’t get better and then come to God. You come to God in your bondage, and the blood delivers you.
David understood this:
“For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight… Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” — Psalm 51:3-4, 7 (ESV)
Hyssop. The same instrument used to apply the blood to the doorposts in Egypt (Exodus 12:22). David wasn’t asking for a new method. He was crying out for the same blood—applied to a heart that finally recognized its need.
Before you can receive the Savior, you must recognize your slavery.
You must see your sin as David saw his—ever before you, an offense against God Himself. Not a mistake to minimize. Not a struggle to manage. Sin that requires blood.
Israel couldn’t deliver themselves from Egypt. Four hundred years of bondage proved that. And you cannot deliver yourself from sin. All your religious effort, all your self-improvement, all your good intentions—none of it breaks the chains.
Only the blood breaks the chains.
And the blood is applied through repentance. Through coming to God as you truly are—still in bondage, still enslaved, still unable to save yourself—and crying out for mercy.
For believers in Jesus Christ, this points directly to a greater Passover Lamb:
“For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” — 1 Corinthians 5:7 (ESV)
THEN: The lamb’s blood on the doorpost protected Israel FROM death—while they were still slaves. NOW: The blood of Jesus Christ brings us TO God—while we are still sinners.
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” — Romans 5:8 (ESV)
While we were still sinners. Still in bondage. Still enslaved to sin. The blood was provided before we cleaned ourselves up—because we never could.
The Old Covenant Passover was physical deliverance from slavery. The New Covenant Passover is spiritual deliverance from sin. But both required blood. Both required the recognition of bondage. Both required receiving what we could never earn.
WHAT THE BLOOD PURCHASED
Here’s what counterfeit Christianity misses: the blood didn’t just purchase your ticket out of judgment. It purchased your access to God’s presence.
The Tabernacle had five different names. Each one reveals something the blood purchased:
The Dwelling Place (Mishkan) — THEN: God WITH them (external). NOW: God IN us (1 Corinthians 6:19)
The Tent of Testimony (Ohel Ha-Edut) — THEN: Law on tablets as God’s testimony. NOW: Christ IS the testimony (1 John 5:11)
The Tent of Meeting (Ohel Moed) — THEN: They came TO meet God. NOW: We have direct access (Hebrews 4:16)
The Sanctuary (Miqdash) — THEN: A separated, holy place. NOW: We are sanctified in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:2)
The House of the LORD — THEN: A physical building. NOW: We are God’s household (Ephesians 2:19)
The blood purchased all of this. Not just forgiveness. Access. Presence. Intimacy. Belonging.
BUT WHAT IF YOU MISSED IT?
The blood was available. The command was clear. The appointed time had come.
But not everyone was ready.
In Numbers 9, certain men came to Moses with a problem. They had been made unclean by touching a dead body. They couldn’t participate in the Passover at the appointed time. Through no fault of their own, circumstances had disqualified them.
They had missed it.
Maybe you know that feeling. Years consumed by things that weren’t supposed to be yours. Seasons lost. Opportunities passed. The appointed time came and went, and you weren’t ready.
TOMORROW: A CRITICAL QUESTION
What does God do with people who missed it?
ABOUT THIS SERIES: “Assassins Among Us” explores the Book of Numbers to expose the forces that seek to destroy authentic faith. This teaching uses the Damascus Road framework to call believers from counterfeit Christianity to authentic faith in Jesus Christ.
Most ministries stay in the safe middle. We bring marginalized truth back to the center.
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ONE TRUE LIGHT MINISTRIES Damascus Road Journey: STOP. LOOK. LISTEN. LIVE. www.onetrulight.org