Introduction
The Passover is, of course, a Jewish feast and
has profound significance for Jews (as, indeed, do all seven feasts
in Leviticus 23: 4-44) because it provided the basis on which they
could be in relationship with God—just as the Day of Atonement will
be used of God in the future to restore the nation in that
relationship (see Lev. 23: 27; Zech. 12: 10 etc.). However, the
Passover also has a deep significance for Christians, for as Paul
reminds us in 1 Cor. 5: 7, “our Passover, Christ, has
been sacrificed” (my emphasis). For the Christian, the Passover
cannot be viewed in a merely abstract way, or simply as an
historical event but must be contemplated as a matter of profound
personal significance. If Israel’s history as a nation in
relationship with God really began with the Passover, in a similar
way, God begins with you and I in the death of Christ.
The Need for Blood
The background to the
Passover is the judgement of God seen in the ten plagues,
culminating in the death of the firstborn. Now the passage of the
Red Sea which follows shortly afterwards pictures the believer
delivered by the death of Christ from the power of Satan,
the god of this world, but the Passover sets out that same death as
deliverance from the judgment of God. Thus the wrath
of God must be met before the enemy can be, and redemption must be
by blood before it can be in power.
However, God is no
respecter of persons, and if the Egyptians were sinners passing on
to judgment, the children of Israel were in heart and practice no
better than their oppressors. Indeed, hear what God says about them:
“In the day when I chose Israel … in that day I lifted up my hand
unto them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt … and I said unto
them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and
defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt … But they rebelled
against me … Then I thought to pour out my fury upon them, so as to
accomplish mine anger against them in the midst of the land of
Egypt. But I wrought for my name’s sake … And I caused them to go
forth out of the land of Egypt” (Ezek. 20: 5-10). How then could God
say, “And there shall be a great cry throughout the land of Egypt,
such as there hath been none like it, nor shall be like it any more.
But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move
his tongue, against man or beast; that ye may know that Jehovah
distinguisheth between the Egyptians and Israel” (Exod. 11:
6, 7, my emphasis)? The answer lies simply and only in the death of
the Passover lamb, for the application of its blood to the
door-posts and lintel was the deliverance from the wrath to be
poured out on Egypt. In other words, God’s righteousness must be as
much displayed in the salvation of Israel as it is in the judgement
of Egypt. In the same way, the death of Christ was essential if
there was to be deliverance for any in this world from God’s
righteous judgement against sin. Hence, “God so loved the world,
that he gave his only-begotten Son”. Why? “That whosoever believes
on him may not perish, but have life eternal” (John 3:
16, my emphasis).
Why, in the type,
was the judgement specifically against the firstborn,
for God had said, “About midnight I will go out into the midst of
Egypt. And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die” (Exod.
11: 4, 5)? Psalm 78 provides the answer, for it tells us that God
“smote all the first-born in Egypt, the first-fruits of their
vigour” (v51; see also Ps. 105: 36)—for the firstborn represents
everything that man glories and hopes in, the best that nature can
provide. God has nothing for such but judgement. Hence, “our
old man has been crucified with [him]” (Rom. 6: 6, my
emphasis) and “I am crucified with Christ, and no longer live,
I, but Christ lives in me; but [in] that I now live in
flesh, I live by faith, the [faith] of the Son of God, who has loved
me and given himself for me” (Gal. 2: 20, my emphasis).
A New Beginning
The first thing that divine revelation declares
in relation to the Passover is that it is a new beginning: “And
Jehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This
month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the
first month of the year to you” (Exod. 12: 1, 2). Previously, they
would have been under the Egyptian calendar—now they were under
God’s calendar. So far as Jehovah was concerned, this was the month
when His people began to live before Him and entered in upon His
service. It is the same with the Christian—once he lays hold of the
death of Christ as being on his behalf, then his past is laid aside,
and he commences in life, a life that is with the Christ in God (see
Col. 3: 3). Hence: “He that has the Son has life: he that has not
the Son of God has not life” (1 John 5: 12). Again, “He that
believes on the Son has life eternal, and he that is not subject to
the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides upon him”
(John 3: 36).
So many who claim
to be ‘Christian’ appear very unsure and vague about their faith,
but the Passover was marked by definiteness: “Speak unto all the
assembly of Israel, saying, On the tenth of this month let them take
themselves each a lamb, for a father’s house, a lamb for a house”
(Exod. 12: 3). Yes, they believed in God (see Exod. 4: 31) but that
was not enough. They had to take for themselves a lamb—and so the
true Christian must have that living link with Christ. Again, when
Moses relays the divine message to the people, he “said to them,
Seize and take yourselves lambs for your families, and kill the
passover” (Exod. 12: 21). Nothing indefinite there: “seize … and
kill”. The death of Christ must be made our own.
But the year does not begin exactly with the
Passover itself—why the tenth
day and not the first day of that first month? In Scripture, ten
is the number of God’s order for man, and man’s responsibility to
meet that order (as in the ten commandments—see Exod. 20: 1-17). The
number ten had already been expressed in relation to Egypt,
for there had been nine plagues, and the tenth was now imminent. In
the fact that the children of Israel were to take up the lamb on the
tenth day, there is surely a connection with John the Baptist’s
declaration of “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of
the world” (John 1: 29) and “that he might be manifested to Israel,
therefore have I come baptising with water” (v31). Up until Christ,
man had demonstrated his failure to meet his responsibility, and so
Christ is brought in, not only to meet every claim of God to divine
satisfaction but also to bring salvation to men. Hence man is now
not only responsible as a sinner but made doubly accountable on
hearing the Gospel—in taking to themselves the lamb “On the tenth”
day (Exod. 12: 3) the children of Israel answer to that heightened
accountability.
Of course, from
God’s standpoint, He had Christ in mind from before
the first day—“a lamb without blemish and without spot, [the blood]
of Christ, foreknown indeed before [the] foundation of [the] world”
(1 Pet. 1: 19, 20) but He “has been manifested at the end of times
for your sakes” (v20). Furthermore, not only was Christ manifested,
but He moved among men in public testimony for three and a half
years (or part of four calendar years)—perhaps answering to the four
days of the lamb’s confinement (“ye shall keep it until the
fourteenth day of this month”—Exod. 12: 6).
Thus if the death of Christ blots out our
sinful past it is also just as true that His blessed course on earth
of perfect obedience is not forgotten in heaven.
God’s assessment of His Son before He
commenced His public service was “This is my beloved Son, in whom I
have found my delight” (Matt. 3: 17)—Christ’s public ministry was
not proving Christ before God, but before men. Just as
the children of Israel would be reminded every day of their lamb’s
perfection until the day they killed it, so the Lord’s public
ministry was a witness to men that “He does all things
well” (Mark 7: 37) and “Never man spoke thus, as this man [speaks]”
(John 7: 46). Even the “fourteenth day” (Exod. 12: 6) testifies to
this perfection, for the number fourteen is in effect a
double portion of seven, the number of spiritual
completeness. But fourteen in Hebrew is two words, literally four
plus ten (fourteen), and since four speaks of what
is universal in relation to man (as in “four corners of the
earth”—Rev. 20: 8), there is also the idea of the
responsibility of all men contained in the number.
A Household for a Lamb
The next thing that comes
before us is that the lamb was to be taken up by a household:
“each a lamb, for a father’s house, a lamb for a house” (Exod. 12:
3). Why a household? I think the answer is that while we come into
the good of Christ’s sacrifice as individuals, God never intended us
to be isolated units but to be in companionship with
one another. “They shall eat the flesh in that night”
(v8, my emphasis)—that is, not alone, but together. Is
it not instructive how many times that the Scriptures speak of an
assembly being located in a house (see Rom. 16: 5; 1
Cor. 16: 19; Col 4: 15; Philemon v2)? Homely conditions are
conducive to fellowship. And what more fitting than to share a
meal—not only share an interest in the death of Christ, but feed on
Him in a spiritual sense, so that what we take in becomes part of
us, and makes us more like Christ? God does not just want to save
us—He wants us to become like His own blessed Son. Of course, our
eating depends on our capacity for these things, and so “if the
household be too small for a lamb, let him and his neighbour next
unto his house take [it] according to the number of the souls; each
according to [the measure] of his eating shall ye count for the
lamb” (Exod. 12: 4). Note that while a household might be too little
for a lamb, we never read of the lamb being too little for the
house!
Of course, in reality
there were many lambs (“Seize and take yourselves lambs for your
families”—v21), but from God’s perspective there was but one:
“and the whole congregation of the assembly of Israel shall kill
it between the two evenings” (v6, my emphasis). That one
lamb signified that Israel was one whole, just as “we, [being] many,
are one loaf, one body; for we all partake of that one loaf” (1 Cor.
10: 17).
What sort of lamb
was to be taken up? “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a yearling
male; ye shall take [it] from the sheep, or from the goats” (Exod.
12: 5). “Without blemish” refers to its absolute perfection and, as
already noted, “ye shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this
month” (v6), testifies to that perfection as proven by
a testing period. A “yearling male” (v5)—between one and two years
old—no doubt corresponds to the Lord as a relatively young man. What
of “from the sheep, or from the goats” (v5)? These were readily
available animals, indicating that God would not have anyone have
difficulty in finding the necessary sacrifice. Thus “The word is
near thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart” (Rom. 10: 8)—Christ has
come within our reach. The pattern is: Peter cried out “Lord, save
me. And immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught hold of
him” (Matt. 14: 30, 31).
The
Slaying of the Lamb
The children of Israel were to keep the Passover
lamb until the fourteenth day, and then “the whole congregation of
the assembly of Israel shall kill it between the two evenings”
(Exod. 12: 6). The lamb must die. No doubt there were some in the
household that would have grown quite attached to it during the four
days when it was kept with them. Many, similarly, are attracted to
the life of Christ as portrayed in the Gospels, but unless the lamb
die, all is in vain. And even the death of Christ is of no use
unless the blood is applied to my case.
Hence, “And they shall take of the blood, and put [it] on the two
door-posts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it”
(v7). Later, we learn a little more: “And take a bunch of hyssop,
and dip [it] in the blood that is in the bason, and smear the lintel
and the two door-posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none
of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning”
(v22). The slain lamb by itself could not have ensured
the protection of the Israelites from judgment. The divine testimony
was “when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and
the plague shall not be among you for destruction, when I smite the
land of Egypt” (v13, my emphasis). Had the people rested merely in
the fact the lamb was killed, the destroyer would have found no bar
to his entrance into their houses. The blood must be applied. All
this ought to reinforce in our minds the absolute necessity of
knowing, not only that Christ has died and His blood has been shed,
but that it was for me. Thus each household needed to
strike the blood to the door-post and the lintel of the house in
which they were sheltering.
Why was the
blood sprinkled on the two door-posts and the lintel but not the
threshold? Certainly, we later read of those who had “trodden under
foot the Son of God, and esteemed the blood of the covenant …
common” (Heb. 10: 29) and thus removed from themselves all hope of
salvation. However, there is another way of looking at it: the
threshold of the door was the only part unexposed to the judgement
coming down from above, for God’s relative position to
man is always above and whether to judge or deliver He comes
down (see Gen. 11: 7; Exod. 3: 8 etc.). Therefore, the blood
was sprinkled where there was exposure to God’s judgment passing
over. By contrast, the assaults of the enemy come from
beneath (comp. John 8: 23) to which the blood provides no
protection. Hence while the believer “does not come into judgment”
(John 5: 24) he is not spared from tribulation in this world (see
John 16: 33; Phil. 1: 29 etc.).
Eating the Flesh of the
Sacrifice
It perhaps bears
emphasising that if God’s eye was upon the blood, His judgment could
not be on the people. Whether those sheltering under the blood were
good or bad, calm or frightened, was irrelevant. Nor was there
safety in men looking at the blood. All turned upon God,
and His view: “and when he sees the blood on the
lintel, and on the two door-posts, Jehovah will pass over the door”
(Exod. 12: 23). The word was “when I see the
blood, I will pass over you” (v13, my emphasis). However, if
on the outside of the house, God was to look on the blood, on the
inside, the inhabitants were to “eat the flesh in that night” (v8).
The believer is not merely under the shelter of the blood of the
lamb but is to feed by faith on Christ.
Eating the flesh of
the Passover lamb typifies how each believing soul is to appropriate
Christ’s death for himself (put simply, what we take in as food
becomes part of our own bodies). However, this eating was to be done
in a very prescribed way: “And they shall eat the flesh in that
night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; with bitter [herbs]
shall they eat it. Ye shall eat none of it raw, nor boiled at all
with water, but roast with fire; its head with its legs and with its
inwards” (Exod. 12: 8, 9). “Roast with fire” reminds us that Christ
died under the judgment of God—not for His own sins (for He had
none) but for ours. It was not to be eaten “raw”—as if the death of
Christ could be understood or be a blessing apart from the judgment
of God. No, the fire must do its work. Then it was not to be “boiled
at all with water”—no diminution of the sense that Christ was made
sin (see 2 Cor. 5: 21) and made a curse (see Gal. 3: 13) for the
water would hinder the direct action of
the fire. This latter point brings in the “bitter herbs”—a chastened
spirit surely becomes us in the presence of Christ’s great
sacrifice, the One who “suffered for us in [the] flesh” (1 Pet. 4:
1), being “wounded for our transgressions” and “bruised for our
iniquities” (Is. 53: 5). Again, “ye shall
let none of it remain until the morning; and what remaineth of it
until the morning ye shall burn with fire” (Exod. 12: 10). To eat
the sacrifice the next day would be to dissociate it from its death.
They were to “eat the flesh in that night” (v8, my
emphasis). Furthermore, this solemn contemplation of the sacrifice
was to take in some very specific details. First, “its head”
(v9)—the perfection of “this mind … which [was] also in Christ
Jesus” (Phil. 2: 5). Second, “its legs” (Exod. 12: 9)—the walk of
the One who testified that “I am come down from heaven, not that I
should do my will, but the will of him that has sent me”
(John 6: 38). Third, “its inwards” (Exod. 12: 9)—those unique
affections within, for “No one has greater love than this, that one
should lay down his life for his friends” (John 15: 13).
Furthermore, all was to be eaten in perfect balance (as witnessed by
the twice repeated word “with”). It is therefore not knowledge of
salvation that will sustain us, but occupation with Christ
Himself—His death is the food of our life (see John 6:
27-58).
Moral Character
The
Passover was also to eaten with “unleavened bread” (Exod. 12: 8)—and
indeed, followed up by the seven days of the feast unleavened bread,
the two feasts being so closely identified that these are referred
to “the feast of unleavened bread, which
[is] called the passover” (Luke 22: 1). Leaven is a picture of the
insidious working of sin, and thus “unleavened bread” is a picture
of the necessary moral character that accompanies
feeding on the death of Christ. The Israelite did not put away
leaven to be saved but because he was saved—it was a
practical separation from evil. The fact that this eating of
unleavened bread was extended over a whole week suggests that our
whole lives are to be marked by holiness. The instruction was:
“Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread:
on the very first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses …
Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses … Ye shall
eat nothing leavened: in all your dwellings shall ye eat unleavened
bread” (Exod. 12: 15, 19, 20). Paul touches on this when addressing
the immorality of the Corinthian brethren: “For also our Passover,
Christ, has been sacrificed; so that let us celebrate the feast, not
with old leaven, nor with leaven of malice and wickedness, but with
unleavened [bread] of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor. 5: 7, 8). Hence,
if I am truly in the good of Christ’s death as the Passover, there
will be a corresponding reaction against sin in my life. This is not
merely passive in the sense that some things will certainly drop
away on account of the new nature, but proactive—the word is “ye
shall put away leaven out of your houses” (Exod. 12:
15, my emphasis).
Other things were to mark
those eating the Passover: “And thus shall ye eat it: your loins
shall be girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your
hand; and ye shall eat it in haste; it is Jehovah’s passover” (Exod.
12: 11). It does not say that those sheltering under
the blood were to be dressed in a particular way but those
eating the Passover. Both things are, of course, perfectly
true and necessary, but it is only as feeding on the sacrifice that
I am ready to leave Egypt in my spirit. It is the antidote to
worldliness. The flesh of the sacrifice is the food that is going to
sustain me on the journey, while the “staff in your hand” is what
supports me on the way—I am to lean on Scripture. “Your loins” being
“girded” speaks of freeing ourselves from “every weight, and sin
which so easily entangles us” (Heb. 12: 1), while “ye shall eat it
in haste” reminds us that expectancy and hope is the mark of a true
pilgrim. All speaks of preparedness to depart. For Israel it was
departure from Egypt into the wilderness; for the Christian it is
ultimately an exodus from this scene altogether—but while waiting,
to adopt a pilgrim character in this world through which we are
passing.
Conclusion
Of course there was only one literal Passover,
but God insisted that “this day shall be unto you for a memorial;
and ye shall celebrate it [as] a feast to Jehovah; throughout your
generations [as] an ordinance for ever shall ye celebrate it” (Exod.
12: 14). That is why when we come to the instructions in Deut. 16:
1-8 there is no mention of the application of the blood because that
was once for all. The eating, however, is something that goes on
ever afterwards. We are not to forget what God can never forget.
