All the firstborn in Egypt, whether Egyptians or Israelites, were sinners. Everyone should have been judged and put to death. However, Israel's firstborn escaped that judgment by being redeemed from God's condemnation through the blood shed by the slain lamb. This kind of redemption did not require power or strength. Through the blood the Israelites were immediately redeemed. All the firstborn of the Egyptians were killed, but the firstborn of Israel were redeemed from God's judgment and God's condemnation.

Nevertheless, they were still in Egypt, still under slavery and tyranny. To deliver them from that slavery required strength; it required an arm. The Israelites needed to be strengthened so that they could walk out of Egypt. To strengthen His people, God fed them with the lamb (vv. 8-9). After they killed the lamb and put the blood on the doorposts, they entered into their houses and ate the meat of the lamb. The eating of the lamb was not for redemption from God's condemnation. That was accomplished already by the blood. The eating of the lamb was to strengthen the Israelites to walk out of Egypt. The people ate the lamb with their loins girded, their shoes on their feet, and their staff in their hand (v. 11). Immediately after eating the lamb, they walked out of Egypt.

After leaving Egypt, the children of Israel came to the Red Sea. The Egyptian army was chasing them from behind, and in front of them was the sea. At that juncture, they did not need the blood; they needed the arm of Jehovah. In Exodus 14 the arm of Jehovah was called the Angel of Jehovah. It was that Angel who did a miracle to make the sea a highway. The Angel of Jehovah first took the lead in front of the army of Israel. But when Pharaoh's army came, the Angel of Jehovah turned to the rear to protect Israel (v. 19). That Angel of Jehovah was the arm of Jehovah. Thus, in chapter fifty-one Isaiah reminded the Lord by shouting, "Arise, arise! Put on strength, / O arm of Jehovah; / Arise as in the days of old." This is the all-inclusive Christ in the return of God's people.

Recently a number of Jews went back from Russia to their fatherland by airplane. In addition, a number of flights carried Jews to Israel from Ethiopia. The power by which these Jews returned to their homeland was not merely the power of an airplane; actually, that power was the arm of Jehovah operating in a hidden way. In a similar way, the power that overthrew Communism in Russia and put away the iron curtain was not an earthly power but the all-inclusive Christ as the arm of Jehovah. Recently, a group of brothers who went to Russia and distributed literature to the people there reported that the freedom to speak concerning the Lord Jesus is greater in Russia than in the United States. Today the people of Russia want the Bible. They also want to know God and to follow Christ. The One who did this is Christ as the arm of Jehovah.