VI. THE STRIKING OF THE BLOOD
(EXODUS 12:7, 22-23)
"And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper doorpost of the houses, wherein they shall eat it."
"And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you."
The most important point is the striking of the blood. The Lord has died. But why is it that so many sinners are still perishing? There is only one reason; they have not struck the blood.
How do we strike the blood? The blood is to be struck on the lintel and on the two side posts and is to remain in the basin. This means there is blood on top, below, and on the two sides. The cross reaches all four directions; it reaches the top, the bottom, the left, and the right.
One can be saved only by passing through the blood. One can look up to heaven only by passing through the blood.
"Hyssop" is the smallest of all plants (1 Kings 4:33). The New Testament also mentions one thing as being the smallest, the mustard seed. The mustard seed symbolizes our faith. The blood must be applied with the hyssop. The blood must be received by faith. Although the faith is small, we have to strike the blood with this small and tiny hyssop.
What does God say about the blood? He said, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you" (Exo. 12:13). This is a very important word. The "I" here is God Himself. The meaning of Passover is that God passes over us when He sees the blood. The one who strikes the blood does not see the blood; it is God who sees the blood. You do not have to see the value of the blood. You are inside the door, and the blood is outside the door. The blood is not for you to see. God does not need you to see the blood. You only need to exercise your faith. Although you may not feel it or see it, you only need to believe. The important thing is for the blood to be applied. If the blood is applied, there is no need to worry.
Once Mr. Moody was preaching to a man. He told the man that if he would believe in the Lord Jesus, he would be saved. But that man continued to fear that he would still perish after he had believed. The two spoke for a long time. When they were about to part, Mr. Moody said to the man, "Imagine this: At the time of the flood, when Noah and his household of eight were in the ark, would they have trembled for fear that the ark would sink? If they had done this, it would have been the most foolish thing to do." He went on saying, "You are such a person." That man immediately understood and went away in joy.
It is God who saw the blood; the firstborn did not see the blood. When God sees the blood, He passes over us. He does not pass over us because we are good. Salvation depends on whether or not we have believed in Christ. When God sees the blood, He passes over us. No matter how good we are, even if we are as good as Christ, without the blood, God’s ordination is that we should die. Because the Lamb died, we do not have to die anymore. If the Lamb had not died, we would have to die. It does not matter how good we are. As long as we do not believe in the blood, we cannot be saved. God does not consider if we are good or bad; He only considers the blood of the Lamb. Other than the blood, nothing can save us.
The blood is placed between God and man. We are sinners and must die. If we do not want to die, we have to remove death. How do we remove death? It is by the Lamb’s dying for us. In this way we do not have to die anymore. A man can only die once; he cannot die twice. Death only visits men once; it does not visit men twice. If I have died once, death will not come to me anymore.
Either the lamb had to die, or the sons had to die. Either Christ has to die, or you have to die. Your sins have consummated in one death, the death of Christ. This is salvation! The basis of salvation is Christ’s death for us. Let us look unto Him!
(Collected Works of Watchman Nee, The (Set 1) Vol. 17: Notes on Scriptural Messages (1), Chapter 2, by Watchman Nee)
