Consume the Whole Lamb

God Forced the Enemy to Let Them Go

(Exodus 3:19 NLT) “But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand forces him.”

God has always wanted his people free of slavery and abuse. In the Old Testament history—referred to in this passage—to achieve this, he needed to rescue them from Egypt and the cruel tyranny of Pharaoh. For us, the Old Testament Egypt and its brutal ruler represent Satan and his world system. The emancipation of God’s people in Exodus is a prophetic picture of how he wants to fully release us from all bondage today.

Note that in the exodus story, those in slavery to the enemy and his tyrannical system were already God’s people. So for us, this prophetic picture speaks not only of our initial salvation, but also of our coming into complete freedom after our new birth. Yes, it’s possible to be born anew into God’s family and yet still be in partial bondage to the enemy’s kingdom—along with the world, its system, and fleshly sins and habits. These tie us to Satan’s rule in some areas; these in turn render us outside God’s complete protective covering, exposed to the enemy’s pernicious and merciless brutality.

This double-mindedness is not what God wants for us. To lead us to his safety, he gives us instructions. They may seem harsh, daunting, or even demanding, but Jesus is both Lord and Shepherd; only through his directives can he lead us into his safe place for us:

(Hebrews 5:9 NKJV) And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.

(Psalm 23:1–2 NKJV) The LORD is my shepherd; … He leads me …

We need to be completely out of Satan’s rulership and his world system; we need, instead, to be entirely under the covering of God’s protective kingdom. Any part of our lives that is outside God’s covering is in peril any time the enemy wants to take advantage of it; he has his hooks in those areas.

Despite our upright desire to walk free of the counterfeit king and his deceptive kingdom; in our opening passage, God reveals that Satan will not let you go from his grip unless a “mighty hand forces him.” A different translation of the ancient Hebrew renders it thus:

(Exodus 3:19 GNT) I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless he is forced to do so.

In the New Testament, Jesus echoes this same use of force to advance God’s kingdom and thus free the enslaved pawns of Satan’s deceptive dominion. (Remember, Satan has blinded all of his hostages so they simply cannot see that they are being held in abject slavery (See: 2 Cor. 3:14, 4:4; Eph. 4:18).)

(Matthew 11:12 DKJV) “And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven forcefully advances and the forceful try to seize it back by force.”

Force is needed to rescue people and territory from the wicked overlord of this world and his system. In Pharaoh’s case, what forced him to free his enslaved workforce? The final plague, the death of the firstborn:

(Exodus 11:1 NKJV) And the LORD said to Moses, "I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out of here altogether.”

In parallel to the final plague, God instituted the first Passover. This was his way of keeping them safe from the death of the firstborn. They had to stay in their homes, sacrifice a lamb, and sprinkle its blood on their doors. God’s instructions to them give us some prophetic insights about what we should do to remain safe and in God’s freedom today:

EAT THE WHOLE LAMB

The Perfect Lamb Represents Jesus

(Exodus 12:3–5 NKJV) "Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: 'On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, … (5) Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. …’"

The perfect Lamb represents Jesus, the sacrificial Lamb of God. After they sacrificed it, God instructed them to apply the blood. This kept them protected from the force he was applying to the enemy and his kingdom. For us this represents repenting fully from our old life and the world’s system, receiving salvation, and walking fully in the Spirit; and it signifies God’s covenant with us along with all of its benefits:

(Exodus 12:6-7 NKJV) “Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. (7) And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.”

Roasted in Fire—Eat it All

(Exodus 12:8–10 NKJV) “’Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, … (10) You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire.’”

For God’s people’s safety and protection from the force he was applying to Pharaoh and his tyrannical enslavement system, God told them to eat the whole lamb; completely consume it all—even if you have to burn it. Since the sacrificial lamb represents Jesus in our covenant, God is telling us to buy completely into Jesus. Leave out nothing of his covenant with us.

Prophetically, this applies to us. For safety in these days and for what lies ahead of us, we need to be fully into the whole of Jesus: 100% for him, leaving no part of our lives independent from him and his kingdom at all; have nothing dangling within reach of the devouring crocodile’s deadly jaws. This means a lot of serious Bible exploration and soul searching to ensure that we are completely in the secret place with God—having no part of our understanding dark, and not allowing even the minutest part of us or our lives to be dependent on Satan’s system.

Today, I encourage you to get absolutely serious with your Lord Jesus; ask him to reveal any parts of you that are not fully under his covering. Is there anything that he has told you to do that is unresolved—anything you haven’t obeyed, fixed, surrendered, or that you have put into the hands of the enemy’s system? I urge you to put it right; either obediently fix it or get it under the blood.

Remember, for complete safety from the plague—God’s force on the enemy so he will utterly free you—you need to eat the whole lamb. Obey Jesus fully and make your abode in him and his secret place; this will be your means of comprehensive shelter:

(Psalm 91:1 NKJV) He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

This is your time; “Today is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).