The ‘Bestest’ lamb

By REV SEIK PITOI

SHMUEL looked up at his father quizzically. “What are you doing, dad?”
The four year old boy lay sprawled on the grass outside the house playing with his pet lamb. “Slikha”, the lamb, had been chosen from a flock and given to them by Shmuel’s uncle, Yochanan. Shmuel was fond of lambs and always wanted to have his own. This one was a year old, male, and had not even a scratch on its body. It was the most perfect and cutest lamb, which Shmuel called, “my bestest lamb”! Shmuel’s normal day evolved around his pet. He would feed it, play games with it, and even bathe it. His two year old younger baby sister, Ruth, was not even allowed to play with Slikha without his permission. Such was the boy’s love for his pet.
The Ben-Shalom household was a hive of activity that morning. Mother Esther took out the trash and cleaned inside and outside of their house while packing their bags and preparing some special food to be cooked that night. Father had stacked a pile of hyssop leaves near the door of the house and was preparing firewood to begin cooking. It was barely midday and it seemed like everyone in Goshen was busy. There was a sense of excitement, as if they were packing to go on a picnic. But Shmuel wasn’t quite sure why. Hugging his pet lamb close to him, he asked his father again: “Dad, what are you doing?” His father looked down at him with loving eyes. Blinking back a tear, he whispered. “We’re preparing things”.
Shmuel awoke from his afternoon nap. His mother had tucked him in after his midday meal, and he had dozed off with little Slikha snuggled up near him. Sitting up, he looked around but couldn’t see Slikha. He called, “Slikha, Slikha” Soon, his mother came running inside, sobbing. Shmuel stared wide eyed as his tearful mom sat down near him. “Why are you crying, mother”, he asked. “And where is Slikha?” Taking him in her arms, she hugged him and said, “Son, Slikha is dead”
Little Shmuel was mystified. He felt a lump in his throat. Slikha was perfect, had no sore or sickness of any kind. He was a healthy lamb. How did he die? Taking him by his hand, Esther led her son outside. Shmuel looked around and noticed blood everywhere. There were those hyssop leaves he had seen earlier. This time they were strewn on the floor, dripping with blood. He looked at the door. There were splatters of blood on the top and sides of the door. “Whose blood is this”?, he thought to himself.
Looking in the distance, he saw his father standing, knife in hand, with bloodied hands and clothes. At his feet lay a lamb with a red gash around its neck… Slikha … that cutest ‘bestest’ lamb … his best friend and pet, was dead! Breaking free from his mother’s hand, Shmuel ran towards Slikha’s blood-soaked lifeless body. “Slikha, Slikha”, he sobbed as he threw himself down near his pet. “Dad, why did you kill Slikha”? He yelled at his father as his mother came running up to restrain him. The little boy was weeping uncontrollably. His father, now also sobbing loudly, called out, “Son, it had to be Slikha…or it could have been you tonight”
It would take many years later for Shmuel to understand. As they were journeying through the desert on their way to Canaan, Shmuel, now an adult, began to think back to that fateful night in Goshen. He realised that his father was simply obeying a command from God. God’s deliverance would come, but an innocent animal had to die first. One lamb would save a household. Each father had a choice – to obey meant life in his home; to disobey meant the death of his first-born. Shmuel was the firstborn. Looking around at his children happily playing near him, he smiled. Yes, the decision was hard, but he was glad his father obeyed. Quietly, in his heart, Shmuel whispered a prayer: “Thank you Slikha, for dying for me”

“You may choose a sheep (lamb) … one-year-old male without any defects. Then, on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, the whole community of Israel will kill the animals. The people are to take some of the blood and put it on the doorposts and above the doors of the houses in which the animals are to be eaten. … “On that night I will go through the land of Egypt, killing every first-born male… punishing all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. The blood on the doorposts will be a sign to mark the houses in which you live. When I see the blood, I will pass over you and will not harm you …” (Exodus 12: 5-13)

Conclusion
The above fictitious story tells us of the events of the first Passover in Egypt (Ex 12). This is a picture of Jesus, our Passover Lamb, one without spot or blemish, dying for our sins. Have you been covered by the Blood of the Lamb of God (John 1: 29)? Have you received His forgiveness? Come to Jesus this Easter, and be saved.