Exodus chapter twelve records
the last of the ten plagues, which was the death of
all the firstborn in Egypt. In the case of the first
born of Israel justice was satisfied with every
claim of righteousness being fully met by the death
of the substitute Passover Lamb. The blood of the
Paschal lamb was a type of the Lamb of God--Christ
our Passover.
The word "Passover" (pasach)
means "to pass over; to spread the wings over, to
spare; preserve; protecting." It refers to a
specific time and place in the history of Israel
when God's judgment passed over and the Lord stood
guard protecting those who trusted in Him. The
Jewish Passover is a beautiful type of the salvation
God has provided. It was a profession of faith in
Yahweh to save His people from the avenging angel of
death.
In Christ's day, as in ours,
two days were required to celebrate the Passover.
Jesus, with His disciples, observed the Passover the
first night, and was Himself the Passover Lamb the
second night.
If "every shepherd was an
abomination to the Egyptians" what would a lamb in
the sacrifice at the Passover make them do? (Genesis
46:34). This subject is still an abomination to many
people.
Christ our Passover is
sacrificed for us. The Passover Lamb was a
substitutionary sacrifice. In each Jewish house in
Egypt the paschal lamb was to die in the place of
the firstborn. In the same way, Christ our Passover
was sacrificed for us.
Let's compare the
original Passover lamb with the God's Passover Lamb
who came to take away the sin of the world.
"Your lamb shall be an
unblemished male a year old; you may take it from
the sheep or from the goats" (Exodus 12:5). It was
to die in the fullness of its life.
Jesus Christ began His ministry
in the prime of live, around 30 years of age. "When
He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about
thirty years of age . . ." (Luke 3:23). Here is a
lamb who is in the prime of His life.
The Passover Lamb must be
perfect without any blemish or fault of any kind
(Ex. 12:5). Nothing but a perfect sacrifice could
satisfy the requirements of a holy and righteous God
(Lev. 22:21, 22). It has to be perfect to be
accepted.
The apostle Peter knew the
perfect Lamb in life and he wrote, "Knowing that you
were not redeemed with perishable things like silver
or gold from your futile way of life inherited from
your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a
lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ"
(1 Peter 1:18-19). We are told of the beginning of
His ministry that "when all the people were
baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was
praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit
descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a
voice came out of heaven, "You are My beloved Son,
in You I am well-pleased" (Luke 3:21-22). God the
Father testified to His sinlessness, and therefore
gave acceptance. Anyone who had sin in his life
could not make atonement for sins. God can only be
satisfied with a holy and pure sacrifice. The word
for "unblemished," or "without blemish" is used of a
sacrifice without spot or blemish and morally of a
person who is without blemish, faultless,
unblameable. Cf. Matthew 27:4, 19, 24; John 18:38;
Luke 23:41; Mark 15:39.
"You shall keep it until the
fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole
assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it
at twilight" (Exodus 12:6).
Luke 11:53-54 tells us the
scribes and Pharisees grew very hostile toward Jesus
and were "plotting against Him, to catch Him in
something He might say." Daily the Jewish leaders
scrutinized Jesus' teaching in the Temple and local
synagogues. What can we say about Jesus after all
that intense observation for three years? He "who
committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His
mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in
return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but
kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges
righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His
body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and
live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were
healed" (1 Peter 2:22-24; cf. Isaiah 5:9). Jesus
"committed no sin," either before or during His
suffering (cf. 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15; 1 John 3:5).
He was completely innocent in both deed and word
because "no deceit was found in His mouth."
"The whole assembly of the
congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight"
(12:6). Death must be inflicted on either the guilty
sinner or upon an innocent substitute. The victim's
blood was taken and sprinkled upon the door-posts
and lintel of the house where the Israelites
dwelled. Without the sprinkling of blood there was
no salvation that night. The lambs were slain
between 3 and 5 PM of the afternoon before the
Passover which began when the first ray of starlight
could be seen in the sky. The head of the household
stood for and acted on behalf of each family member.
At the trials of Jesus the
people shouted, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" That was
the common consent of the whole congregation of
Israel (Matt. 27:22-23). Representatively Jesus
stood in the place of every believing sinner. Jesus
died at the very time that the paschal lambs were
being slain in the temple in Jerusalem. Thousands of
lambs were slain that first Passover night in Egypt,
but it is interesting that throughout this chapter
the singular is used when referring to the Lamb.
Israel shall kill "it," not them. There was only one
Lamb in Yahweh's mind that night--the Lamb of God at
Calvary. "He [God] made Him [Jesus Christ] who knew
no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might
become the righteousness of God in Him" (2
Corinthians 5:21).
Jesus' scourging and death
accomplished spiritual "healing" or salvation of
every individual who trusts Him as his Savior. "And
according to the Law, one may almost say, all things
are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of
blood there is no forgiveness" (Hebrews 9:22; Cf.
Mark 15:6-15; John 1:29, 36; 12:24).
"Christ our Passover also has
been sacrificed" (1 Corinthians 5:7b). Jesus gave
Himself as a ransom for our sins. "For even the Son
of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and
to give His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).
The word "redeemed" means "to set free by the
payment of a ransom." It is a ransom for life as of
a slave, (Matt. 20:28), and therefore, to set free
by payment of ransom. The ransom is the precious
blood of Jesus. Jesus' blood is God's blood (Acts
20:28). Deity became incarnate in humanity. How
precious and costly is the redemption God provided
in the atoning sacrifice of His own Son. More
literally, we are redeemed "with costly blood,
highly honored, blood as of a lamb that is without
blemish and spotless, the blood of Christ." It was
by the blood of Christ that we are redeemed from
sin. It is an ugly picture of blood spilt because
sin is ugly. We are totally depraved and in the need
of God's perfect sacrifice for sin. "Redemption" is
a purchasing from the marketplace of sin with the
priceless blood of a perfect lamb. Cf. Hebrews
10:1-7, 10-14, 19-22, 29; 1 John 1:7; Luke 22:19-22.
"It is to be eaten in a single
house; you are not to bring forth any of the flesh
outside of the house, nor are you to break any bone
of it" (Exodus 12:46).
The Roman soldiers came "to
Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they
did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers
pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood
and water came out. And he who has seen has
testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows
that he is telling the truth, so that you also may
believe. For these things came to pass to fulfill
the Scripture, "Not a bone of Him shall be broken"
(John 19:33-36). Cf. Psalm 34:20, "He keeps all His
bones; not one of them is broken."
"Moreover, they shall take some
of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on
the lintel of the houses in which they eat it"
(Exodus 12:7).
We have to
appropriate by faith the death of Jesus for our
sins. John 3:36 says, "He who believes in the Son
has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son
will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on
him" (John 3:36). Cf. Romans 3:24-26; 2 Corinthians
5:21; Galatians 3:13-14; Hebrews 11:28.
"They shall eat the flesh that
same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it
with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat
any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but
rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs
along with its entrails. And you shall not leave any
of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it
until morning, you shall burn with fire. Now you
shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded,
your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your
hand; and you shall eat it in haste it is the Lord's
Passover" (Exodus 12:8-11; cf. 1 Corinthians 5:7-8).
The Holy Spirit awakens our
sinful, depraved heart, "dead in trespasses and
sins," to see Jesus Christ as the Lamb slain on our
behalf. God in His sovereign grace gives us faith to
receive Christ as our personal Savior. He "loved me
and gave Himself up for me" (Gal. 2:20). The Lamb of
God died as my substitute. He died instead of me. He
died on my behalf. I appropriate by faith the fact
He died for my sins. A Savior provided is not
sufficient; he must be received. There must be
"faith in His blood" (Rom. 3:25), and faith is a
personal thing. It is my personal responsibility to
exercise faith in Jesus Christ who died for me. I
must by faith take the blood and refuge beneath it.
I must place it between my sins and a Holy God. To
be saved by faith is to rely upon the Lamb of God as
the sole ground of my acceptance with Him. The
righteousness of a holy God demands acquittal of
every believer in Christ.
Not only did God provide for
their salvation from the death angel, but He also
provided nourishment for their travel. Jesus not
only saves us from sin, but He also provides daily
bread for our spiritual lives. We must come to Him
for our nourishment every day. What we ate for
spiritual food yesterday will not carry over for
today or tomorrow. It is a daily feasting on Christ.
Change the metaphor and the need for daily
sustenance becomes perfectly clear. "I am the vine,
you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in
him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can
do nothing" (John 15:5).
"For I will go through the land
of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the
firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast;
and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute
judgments. I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign
for you on the houses where you live; and when I see
the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will
befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of
Egypt" (Exodus 12:12-13). The death of the Lamb and
the sprinkling of its blood provided the only safe
refuge from the judgment of God. Every first born
who was not covered by the Passover lamb was slain
that night.
The apostle John recognized
this great truth when He wrote that Christ "Himself
is the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 2:2). "In
this is love, not that we loved God, but that He
loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for
our sins" (1 John 4:10). Romans 3:25 speaks of
Christ "whom God displayed publicly as a
propitiation in His blood through faith." Christ is
the means whereby our sin is covered and remitted.
Properly propitiation is the turning away of wrath
of a holy God by an offering. God's wrath is His
settled, controlled, holy antagonism against all
sin. Propitiation is the appeasement of the wrath of
God by the love of God through the gift of God's own
sacrifice. Christ is the Priest and the Sacrifice
for our sin (Romans 3:25). The initiative is taken
by God Himself in sheer unmerited love. He turns His
own wrath away by His own blood. God's justice has
now been satisfied. Our sin debt has been paid. His
holiness is satisfied and God's wrath is turned
away. John the Baptizer saw Jesus and he declared,
"Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of
the world!" (John 1:29, 36). "The blood of Jesus His
Son cleanses us from all sin" (I John 1:7). "By this
will we have been sanctified through the offering of
the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Hebrews
10:10). "He, having offered one sacrifice for sins
for all time, sat down at the right hand of God,
waiting from that time onward until His enemies be
made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering
He has perfected for all time those who are
sanctified" (Hebrews 10:12-14; cf. Heb. 9:27).
The death of Jesus Christ is
the propitiation for all of our sins. The sacrifice
of Himself turns away the wrath of God. It is God
who is propitiated by His own provision made in the
vicarious, substitutionary, expiatory sacrifice of
Christ. Man sinned. Christ annuls the power of sin
to separate God and man. Our Passover not only
covers our sins, but He turns back the wrath of God
which we deserve and God can look upon us with His
favor.
The Passover was to be
celebrated every year as a remembrance of what
Yahweh had done in delivering Israel out of Egypt
(Ex. 12:14, 42). Every year, every family would
concentrate on this meal and the meaning of each of
the elements of the meal. At least once a year every
family in Israel knew what God did at the Passover
in Egypt. It was a method of teaching the people
about redemption.
Jesus celebrated the Passover
with His disciples (Matthew 26:26-32: 1 Corinthians
11:23-34). At the last Passover the transition was
made to the memorial supper of the Lamb of God who
took away our sins. Properly officiated the
ordinance of the Lord's Supper is a reminder of what
Jesus accomplished on our behalf. It is a message of
the salvation of the family of God. "Do this in
memory of Me." We come to the communion table and
celebrate on the basis of redemption accomplished.
The atoning sacrifice of Christ has been
accomplished; now it is time to remember and
celebrate! It, too, is a great method of teaching
and preaching the meaning of the sacrificial death
of Jesus on the believer's behalf.
"For the Lord
will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when
He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two
doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will
not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to
smite you" (Exodus 12:23; cf. v. 7). The blood of
the lamb is not to be put on the threshold. It is
not to be trampled upon. Do not trample on the blood
of the Lamb of God. How tragic when men demean the
blood of God.
The beloved Greek scholar A. T.
Robertson writing on I John 1:7 enunciated: "Walking
in the light with God makes possible fellowship with
one another and is made possible also by the blood
of Jesus (real blood and no mere phantom, atoning
blood of the sinless Son of God for our sins). John
is not ashamed to use this word. It is not the mere
'example' of Jesus that 'cleanses' us from sin. It
does cleanse the conscience and life and nothing
else does (Heb. 9:13; Tit. 2:14). See in verse 9
both forgiveness and cleansing. Cf. 1 John 3:3"
(Word Pictures in the New Testament).
The great application that
comes out of the Passover sacrifice is the assurance
and security of our salvation through the Lamb of
God. The apostle Peter preached, "And there is
salvation in no one else; for there is no other name
under heaven that has been given among men by which
we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
The believer's security is to
be found only in the applied blood of the Lamb of
God. There can be no other basis for eternal
security. Feelings have nothing to do with our
security. Like the people of Israel long ago we must
rely upon the Lamb alone to cover all our sins. When
Jesus cried, "It is finished!" we were delivered
once and for all from all condemnation. Nothing but
the blood can cover your sins.
Have your put your trust in
Christ alone to save you for all eternity? It is
God's free gift to all who will call upon His name.
Title:
Exodus 12:1-51 Christ Our Passover is Slain for Us
Series:
Christ in the Old Testament
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Unless otherwise noted "Scripture quotations taken from the NASB."
"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE" © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://www.bible.org/. All rights reserved.
Wil is a graduate of William Carey University, B. A.; New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Th. M.; and Azusa Pacific University, M. A. He has pastored in Panama, Ecuador and the U. S, and served for over 20 years as missionary in Ecuador and Honduras. He had a daily expository Bible teaching ministry head in over 100 countries from 1972-2005. He continues to seek opportunities to be personally involved in world missions. Wil and his wife Ann have three grown daughters. He currently serves as a Baptist pastor and teaches seminary extension courses in Ecuador.
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Reports on what God is doing through Bible believing evangelical Christians in Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru, India and Ecuador. Jesus said, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you" (John 15:7).
Study the master theme of the Bible with these prophecies and types in the Old Testament of the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
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