You are the God who does wonders; You have declared Your strength among the peoples. You have with Your arm redeemed Your people. (Psalm 77:14-15)
Each year at Passover, the traditional meal eaten to remember Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage includes the shank bone of a lamb. This is to call attention to the fact that the blood of an innocent lamb was used to mark the doors of God’s people as He moved through the land striking down the firstborn of man and beast. In Hebrew this shank bone is called זרוע zeroah, literally interpreted as “arm.” This is the same word used in the verse above which says, “with Your arm (zeroah) You have redeemed Your people.”
God had promised Israel that He would rescue them from their bondage saying, “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm (zeroah) and with great judgments” (Exodus 6:6) meaning that He would apply immense pressure upon Egypt and wrest His people from their grasp. Simultaneously, He was extracting them from the web of deception into which they had fallen, willingly in some cases, becoming entangled in the customs and beliefs of the Egyptian idolaters. Thus He said, “I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians” (Exodus 6:7).
As we know, Egypt suffered ten plagues culminating with the death of the first born but let us not overlook that Israel’s redemption was not accomplished by their deaths. Redemption was attained when a spotless lamb was slain and its blood placed upon the homes of those who believed the Word of the Lord. Seeing the blood upon their doors, the Lord passed over those dwellings, sparing them from the plague that was sweeping the land. And so it is that every year, at Passover, we look upon the shank bone of a lamb — the zeroah — to remember that our wondrous God demonstrates His omnipotence to all people, striking them with fear and awe. As for His people: He has and continues to redeem with the strength of His arm, which is to say, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. As it is written:
My salvation has gone forth … and on My arm they will trust (Isaiah 51:5); He saw that there was no man, And wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore His own arm brought salvation (Isaiah 59:16).
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
Recent Comments