IS THE BLOOD UPON THE LINTEL?
By Mrs. M. D. Mc Kee
“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.” Ex. 12: 23. When the man with the writer’s inkhorn was told to go through the city and set a mark on the righteous, the Scripture tells us (Ezekiel 9) that the Lord said to the destroying angels: “Go ye after him through the city, and smite; let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity. Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man on whom is the mark.” These solemn scriptures should impress all parents with the responsibility of knowing that all is well within their homes. Is the blood on the door-post of your own heart, and the hearts of your children? Has the cleansing power of the precious blood of Christ marked your children for eternal life? or will the destroying angel, when he passes through your city or town, see no mark to turn aside his avenging hand? O parents, work and pray for your own households. See to it that Christ shall find an entrance into the hearts and lives of your children, and that they, by faith in the atoning blood of Christ, our Saviour, may thus be found when the destroyer comes; that he may pass over your dwellings, and no soul be slain. The message is turning the hearts of the parents to their children, and the children to their parents. Mal. 4: 6. Then if we heed this message, we shall both save ourselves and them that hear us. 1 Tim. 4: 15, 16. Love in the hearts of parents will draw their children; and confession of harshness or injustice in authority, or of unchristian example in dress, eating, drinking, and other things, will soften the hardest hearts. Our children see our faults. Let us confess them (James 5: 16), and let the spirit of true repentance come in and move us to action. There are parents who, in anguish of spirit, plead for the salvation of their children. Oh that God would roll this burden upon every parent’s heart! Time is short, and work must be done before night falls. At midnight the destroying angel did his work. Preparation for safety had to be made before the night fell. The Scripture says that when the children of ancient Israel asked what was meant by the service of blood on the dwellings, the parents explained to them its meaning, thus conveying to them a personal sense of the saving power of the blood which was, by faith, a type of the blood of Christ. A story is told, descriptive of the time referred to in Ex. 12: 21–28, portraying the reality of the service, and its valuable lessons. The firstborn of Jewish parents, the pride of her father’s heart, the joy of his life, lay dangerously ill. It was Passover night, and the child was anxious to know if the blood was on the door-post. “Is it there, father?” she asked. “Yes, yes, my child, do not worry,” he replied. Tossing feverishly on her bed, she repeated her query. The answer was quietly and affirmatively given. The hour of midnight approached. Suddenly the child sprang up, and wildly clasping her arms about her father’s neck, cried out, “O father, do you know the blood is there? Take me in your arms, and let me see it on the door-post.” To quiet the anxious fears of his child, he carried her to the door to see the mark on his dwelling—when, lo! it was not there! He had left it to be done by other hands—and some one had forgotten: the sign of security had not been placed on his house. Horror-stricken, he hastened to slay a lamb, and with his own hand the blood was applied. The midnight hour passed by, and morning broke upon a saved and happy household. The child was well. While this story teaches that even near the midnight hour the work may be done, it is better to work while the day lasts, and know, before earth’s dark night of final doom shall fall, that all is well within our homes. The most important lesson of the story is that parents themselves should do the work of leading their children to Christ, and of teaching them the solemn importance of our precious truth. Let this be the motto of every parent, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Then the children will be anxious to know for themselves that the blood is there, that they are ready for the time of trouble, and for final acceptance when Jesus comes. The work of salvation begins with the applied blood to the individual soul; and as “parents stand in the place of God to their children,” they should see to it that the saving blood of the slain Sacrifice is made sure to these little ones of the flock. Work! work! live for souls about you. The day of God hasteth, and hasteth greatly. When the hearts of parents, filled with the love of Christ, are turned toward their children, the destroying angel will not smite; but angels of light and glory will soon gather all such families into the kingdom, to go no more out forever.