I love reading the Old Testament and seeing Christ foreshadowed in the stories. This morning as I was reading about the ten plagues in Exodus, I got to see an amazing picture of Christ's death and how it relates to the Church today.
Let me outline the sequence of events for you.
Old Testament
9th Plague - Darkness covered Egypt for 3 days. (Exodus 10:22)
10th Plague - The 1st born children of Egypt are killed by the hand of God. (Exodus 12:29)
New Testament
Christ is called the first born of all creation (Colossians 1:15)
Christ is called God's only begotten Son (John 3:16)
Darkness fell on the earth for 3 hours (Luke 23:44)
Following the 3 hours of darkness, the death of Jesus Christ, the firstborn and only Son of God takes place. (Luke 23:46)
The connection doesn't stop there. In Exodus 9:16, God says that he has raised Pharaoh up for this purpose, that His name might be proclaimed in all the earth.
God's promise to Pharaoh to proclaim His name in all the earth has proven true. The result of the tenth plague was that the chosen nation of Israel was set free from slavery and bondage and to live in a land flowing with milk and honey. The result of Christ's death and resurrection was to free His chosen people, those who call on His name, from the slavery and bondage of their sins so that one day they would walk on streets of gold in the presence of their Savior. There is one massively large difference between the Old Testament deaths of the firstborns of Egypt and of Christ's death. Christ was not defeated by death. He conquered death and is sitting at the right hand of His Father waiting to bring his children home.
If you haven't been set free from the bondage of your sins, call on the name of Christ today! If you have, spread the message of the gospel, as Christ commands, to all the earth.
