THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’S passover. Leviticus 23:4, 5 KJV
The Passover is an historical event. It occurred in history in a land called Egypt. Let’s briefly review what happened about 3,500 years ago. You can read it in your Bibles at Exodus 12, 13, and 14.
Of the events of the Exodus, the LORD chose the Passover for a memorial. In this feast the children of Israel remembered His Salvation from the Last Plague by the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb. GOD commanded the people to remember it “forever in all their generations.” This salvation of the firstborn by the Blood of the Passover lamb is recorded in Exodus 11 – 12. The children of Israel were under the yoke of slavery for over four centuries when GOD intervened.
The Sons of Jacob were nomads, moving from one place to another in the land GOD promised to Abraham and his descendants, the land of Canaan. They sojourned in but never owned the land. The land was occupied by other tribes predominantly Philistines, but GOD gave the title to Abraham. In the sojourning period, there was a great famine in the land and GOD allowed them to take shelter in the Kingdom of Egypt with the condition they return to Canaan.
When Jacob found that there was severe famine in Canaan and his son Joseph was the ruler of Egypt, he decided to migrate to Egypt. GOD allowed him to go down to Egypt and promised to bring him back.
I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes. Genesis 41: 4.
Although they had a sure promise from GOD of their return to the Promised Land, the Israelite never wanted to leave Egypt after the famine. They settled there by choice and were enslaved by Pharaoh. This slavery was not just physical slavery, it was mental and spiritual bondage. It was a cultural war with the Egyptians and the Israelite lost. Despite their physical hardships they did not want to leave. They became slaves to the lifestyle of the new country.
The children of Israel first had to be redeemed before they could be freed from the burden of their physical slavery. After living in Egypt for centuries, they were at home and identified with the local culture. There were Israelites who were born there, lived all their lives there and died there. Despite all the hardships, they had no real desire to leave Egypt. All they wanted were civil rights and equality.
Even when they were freed and out of Egypt, they never left. At several points in the desert life of freedom, they wanted to go back to Egypt. Meanwhile their condition was remained that of slaves physically, mentally, and spiritually. They were trapped in Egypt although they were on their way to Canaan.
The theological term, “redemption,” is imported from the commercial world. It means to buy back. In the divine sense, the Creator of Israel must buy back the people of Israel from Pharaoh before they can belong to GOD. The consent of Pharaoh was necessary for real freedom, otherwise the children of Israel would be mere runaway slaves. This “fight” was done on an Egyptian battlefield with advantage given to Pharaoh. In addition, once out of Egypt, the binding forces of Egypt must be broken before they enter and occupy Canaan. Only two adults who left Egypt entered Canaan.
All men deserve to be punished with death, however, selfishness, tyranny of people, nations or kingdoms demand severe retribution. But GOD in his mercy delays or covers them. This was the principle of the Passover.
THE FIRST PASSOVER IN TYPE
And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead. Exodus 12:29-30 KJV.
The typological Kingdoms.
There are three typological kingdoms portrayed in the Bible:
Egypt – The Kingdom of Man (the world);
Canaan – Kingdom of GOD; and
Shinar (Babylon) – the Kingdom of Darkness.
GOD’s people exist both in human (Kingdom of man) and divine (Kingdom of GOD) dimensions. It was part of the sojourn to be in Egypt until they make their abode in Canaan. The LORD said:
Let my people go, so they may worship me outside of Egypt.
True freedom isn’t just a goal to be achieved, but a means to an end. True freedom allows us to do important and worthwhile responsibilities. When viewed as a gift, and dispensed indiscriminately, it can cause the demise of civilized society.
The Redemption of the children of Israel was a mighty act of GOD for a purpose: to serve Him and through them the world can be redeemed. The teaching today is redemption is for us to go to heaven, but your redemption is for others to go to heaven. Otherwise, you will die in the wilderness a mere runaway slave.
The account of the fulfilment of the Word of GOD spoken through Moses.
And the LORD spake unto 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. (Exodus 12:1-2 KJV)
GOD’s Redemption marked the beginning of their New Life.
The month of Nissan was made the beginning of the year and the following six feasts are based thereon. GOD gave specific instructions for the observance of the Feasts. The instructions in Exodus 12 were for the first Passover:
Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’S Passover. Exo. 12:3-11 KJV
The significance of this Feast was in the change of the Jewish religious calendar. The month referred to in the text was Nisan. Prior to becoming the first, Nisan was the seventh month in the lunar year.
At midnight of the 14th, all the Egyptian firstborn from the Pharaoh to the cattle was slain. The weeping and wailing were unlike any heard in the land before. All of Israel’s firstborn were safe. GOD’s promises are certain. Notice, judgment, and deliverance from judgment, took place at the same time, judgement of the Egyptians and deliverance of the Jews. All of Egypt was devastated by this plague. Not a home was without a dead person.
But GOD tells Moses that the Israelites should do something very specific to ‘protect’ themselves from this last judgement.
Each family should (or if they needed, several small families could combine) separate out a one-year male lamb from their flock on the 10th day of the month. Examine it for four days to ensure there was no spot or blemish. The lamb was perfect. On the 14th day of the month, the lamb was slain, its blood collected and pasted on the doorposts of their home, and the top of the door.
To escape judgment, to receive the benefits of the lamb’s death, the Israelites had to trust in its blood on the doorposts.
They were required to place their confidence in the Word of GOD as it came to them through Moses. They had to follow GOD’s instructions. If any Israelite ignored these instructions, he died if he was a firstborn and his firstborn also died, as did the Egyptians. It was the presence of the blood of the lamb on the doorpost which was a covering. His personal righteousness or good works could not save him. His identity as a Jew, a descendant of Abraham, could not save him. Only faith in GOD demonstrated by trust in the blood of the lamb saved him or his firstborn.
The Passover fell on the Full Moon (the 14th day of the lunar month). Therefore, the blood on the doorposts could be seen by all in the community. There were no secret believers in Egypt. No one could hide his or her affiliation under the light of the full moon. Either there was blood on your doorposts or there wasn’t. It was that simple.
THE PRACTICE IN BIBLICAL TIMES
“And without shedding of blood is no remission of sins” Hebrews 9:22.
Jesus said, “This is my blood which was shed for the remission of sins” Matthew 26:28.
Jesus “washed us from our sins in his own blood” Revelation 1:5.
Historically, the first Passover began the first Exodus from Egypt. After the Exodus it was a memorial feast where a lamb was sacrificed. Its purpose was to keep in remembrance GOD’s deliverance from their bondage in Egypt. Although the Lord’s Supper bears a close resemblance to the Passover meal, it was not a celebration of the Passover, and it was not a replacement.
Redemption and Substitution
The principle behind the Passover Sacrifice is redemption or the shedding of blood for the remission of sins. This principle is the root of salvation and was shown in the system of sacrifices in ancient Israel. Like every other ritual, this also came to be empty of substance by misuse.
There is progressive revelation of redemption in the Bible, which goes from individual to the world:
Genesis 3 – The blood of a lamb for a person, Abel.
Exodus 12 – The blood of a lamb for a family, an Israelite family.
Exodus 30 – The blood of a lamb for a nation, the nation of Israel.
John 1:29 – The blood of a lamb for the world, anyone who believes.
In the first century.
A lamb was chosen by the high priest outside of Jerusalem on the tenth of Nissan. Then the priest would lead this lamb into the city while crowds of Jews lined the streets waving palm branches and singing Psalm 118; “Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord.” On the fourteenth of Nissan, the lamb would be sacrificed at the Temple’s altar.
THE FULFILLMENT AND THE ANTITYPE OF PASSOVER
The Feast of Passover signifies Redemption.
The Passover is a type, or picture of something much greater– the redemption of GOD’s elect through the sacrifice of the sinless Son of GOD, the Lord Jesus. The antitype is the actual Redemption in Jesus’ sacrifice. The fulfilment of the Passover in Jesus’ crucifixion began the Second Exodus to the Kingdom of GOD just as the Passover began the First Exodus to the Promised Land.
Verse 3 tells us, “In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: ”
The antitype of the lamb is the Lord Jesus. He was identified by John the Baptist as the Lamb of GOD who took away the sin of the world (John 1:28-29). When Jesus appeared at John’s baptism, He was introduced by John as the “Lamb of GOD”:
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of GOD, which taketh away the sin of the world. John 1:29 KJV
The Jews present understood John reference of Jesus to be the Passover Lamb. The introduction pointed to Jesus’ destiny as the Lamb of GOD whose sacrifice was for the sin of the world. The first Passover Lamb prefigured GOD’s final Passover Lamb. GOD, Himself, gave a sacrifice so His blood would remove the sin of the world. All who believed in Him would be saved, not from the bondage of Egypt, but from the bondage of sin and delivered into the Kingdom of GOD.
Exodus 12:6 tells us they were to “kill the lamb.”
This was prophetic of the crucifixion of Jesus. The head of the house killed the lamb at Passover so to the head of Israel, the Chief Priests was responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus. The first Passover began the First Exodus to the promised Land of Canaan. Paul said,
“Christ, our Passover Lamb, was sacrificed for us.” (I Cor. 5:7).
Notice the past tense “was sacrificed”, indicating past accomplishment at the date of Paul’s epistle. This also showed the judgement of sin, and the redemption of man took place simultaneously at the cross. When Israel killed the Lamb of GOD, Jesus, this began the anti-type Second Exodus to the Kingdom of GOD from the Land of Canaan:
But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance (Kingdom of GOD). And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. Matthew 21:38-39 KJV.
The vineyard represented the Kingdom of GOD, the husbandmen were the Jews and the heir is Jesus. The rest was self-explanatory.
There are several points of interest in our next verse:
The lamb was the type and Jesus the antitype.
And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. Exodus 12:6
GOD commanded Israel to take a lamb (for the nation) on the tenth day of Nisan and set it aside until the fourteenth day. These four days were fulfilled by Jesus during the Passover week. Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (first day of the week) and went to the Temple, the house of GOD. He was displayed there for four days, from Nisan 10th to Nisan 13th inclusive. During this time, He was tried by many in fulfilling the Scripture; the chief priests and elders (Matthew 21:23); Pilate on behalf of the Gentiles (Matthew 27:1-2,11-14,17-26); Herod (Luke 23:6-12); Annas the high priest (Luke 3:2; John 18:13,24). No fault was found in Him.
Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. John 19:4 KJV.
The high priest inspected the lamb, and satisfied it was unblemished, would say: “I find no fault in him” (John 18:38, 19:4, 6).
And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. Mark 15:25 KJV
This is nine o’clock in the morning, it was the time of the morning sacrifice. Three incidents took place at this very same time; the priests were binding the Passover lamb to the horns of the altar in the temple, the Roman soldiers were binding Jesus to the cross and the congregation were singing the Hallel, Psalms 113-118:
GOD is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. Psalm 118:27 KJV
Our text says that the lamb is to be killed “at twilight”–the literal Hebrew reads: “between the two evenings.” The lamb was to be killed “between the evenings”. The phrase, “between (middle of) the evening” (Exodus 12:6), refers to the period from noon to 6:00 p.m., which the middle is exactly 3:00 p.m. This was the ninth hour of the day, counting from 6:00 a.m.
Jesus died at the ninth hour of the day. This would be 3:00 p.m.
Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My GOD, my GOD, why hast thou forsaken me? Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him. Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. Matthew 27:45-50 KJV.
In the evening of the fourteenth of Nisan, at 3:00 p.m., the Passover lamb was killed. And Jesus, our Lamb, was crucified on the same day, at the same time as the Passover lamb: the 14th of Nisan at 3:00 p.m.
The ninth hour was also an hour of prayer, and at this time they would sing the Hallel:
The LORD is my strength and song and is become my salvation. Psalms 118:14 KJV
The word for Salvation is “Jesus.” He is the final Lamb slain for the sin of the world.
Thousands of lambs were sacrificed on each Passover, beginning at 9:00am. The shofar would sound to announce the sacrifice of the last lamb, the lamb for the nation. This would be about 3:00pm, the very time Jesus gave up the Ghost.
The lamb sacrifice for the nation was made at the temple mount during Passover by the high priest after all the family lamb sacrifices. The time would be approximately 3:00pm (Our time). After the high priest offered up the last lamb he would say “I thirst.” He would then wet his lips with water and proclaim, “It is finished,” meaning the slaughtering of all the lambs for Passover was over. It was exactly 3:00pm when Jesus, our High Priest, gave up His Spirit and said His last words; “It is finished.”
Four cups were drunk in connection with the paschal feast. The first was drunk after the prayer of thanksgiving; the second, after the first part of the “Great Hallel” (Ps. 113, 114) was sung; the third, just after the eating of the paschal lamb; and the fourth, in connection with the second part of “Hallel” (Ps. 115-118).
This also fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, who wrote of Israel’s Saviour as a lamb:
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. (Isaiah 53:6-7 KJV).
This prophecy of Isaiah (Chapter 53), foretold the substitutionary death of Jesus, the Lamb of GOD:
Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: Exodus 12:5 KJV.
GOD told Moses this lamb should be unblemished. In the New Testament Jesus was the unblemished Lamb:
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 1Peter 1:18-19 KJV.
Peter called Jesus this lamb “without blemish and without spot.” Paul also spoke of Jesus’ sinlessness in
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of GOD in him. 2 Corinthians 5:21.
Another anti-typical prophecy fulfilled was:
In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof. Exodus 12:46 KJV.
John said:
Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. John 19:32-36 KJV.
John also said there was a plaque placed on the cross:
And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. John 19:19-20 KJV.
On a plaque above the cross, Pilate had four words inscribed. It read (right to left): Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. If you take the first letter (consonant) from each of the Hebrew word and use it as an acronym, it reads correctly “YHVH”, the name of GOD in the Tannakh. The Pharisees was upset at the sign and told Pilate to change the writing because it recognized Jesus as GOD.
The Paschal Lamb was the symbol of the Messiah.
Jesus the Messiah entered Jerusalem this same day, on a donkey, the vehicle of the kings during the festivals, right behind the High Priest’s procession of the Pascal Lambs. The crowds heralded the entrance of the sacrificial lamb and then heralded the entrance of the Lamb of GOD. Thus, Jesus identified himself with the real Passover sacrifice.
On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt. These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him. The people therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the dead, bare record. For this cause the people also met him, for that they heard that he had done this miracle. The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him. (John 12:12-19).
All Israel knew of Jesus’ claim to the title of Messiah, but they did not realize He also claimed to be the Passover Lamb – the Suffering Servant. Just as the lamb was kept within the temple for three and a half days Jesus remained within the temple teaching and preaching and healing until the Last Supper time.
The Passover primary emphasis is Redemption. The New Testament truth that “Christ died for our sins” is well demonstrated in the Passover. According to Exodus 12:7, the lamb’s blood was to be put on the two side posts and above the door. Why were they to kill this lamb and put its blood on the door? GOD answers this question in the next two verses:
For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the GODs of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. Exodus 12:12-13 KJV.
The lamb was a substitute. An Israelite wanting his household to escape death when the angel of GOD passed, had to kill an innocent creature. He had to show he had done it by smearing its blood on the doorway of his house. Then the Lord would accept the life of the animal in place of the life of his first-born child. In the same way, Christ gave His life as our substitute.
This idea of substitution
Christ was condemned, suffered, and died in our place, is fundamental to the Christian faith. This is central to the Gospel of Grace, of GOD’s unearned, undeserved, unmerited favour. We are forgiven, not because our “good” deeds outweigh our sinful deeds; or because we do our best to live up to a moral code. On the contrary, we know our good works are insufficient; we constantly fail to meet GOD’s standard of holiness; and we deserve, not acceptance and approval from GOD, but rather rejection and condemnation. Our salvation is not based on anything we have done, or could do, but entirely on GOD’s Grace of providing Jesus the Christ, the sinless Lamb of GOD, who gave His life in exchange for ours; by His blood, He paid the penalty for sin on our behalf. As Paul puts it:
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: Galatians 3:13 KJV.
Because of our sin, we owed a debt we could not pay. But Christ paid the debt (He did not owe anything Himself) by going to the cross and enduring the wrath of GOD in our place. He was, and is, our Passover Lamb. This is the Gospel, Christ died for us:
But GOD commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 KJV.
As a mark of respect for the memory of the temple sacrifices, the eating of a whole roasted lamb on Passover is forbidden by the code of Jewish law called Shulhan Arukh, which was first printed in Venice in 1565. Jews who strictly interpret this rule will not eat roasted meat or poultry of any kind for their seder.
CONCLUSION
The type of Salvation by the Grace of GOD in the Old Testament was the Passover Lamb. The typical significance of the Passover Lamb is clear in the New Testament writings. The first Passover was celebrated on the 14th of Nisan and two thousand years later Jesus of Nazareth was crucified on the 14th of Nisan. While Israel was celebrating their Passover, Jesus, the Lamb of GOD, was crucified. He was the antitype Lamb of GOD of which the ancient Passover lamb was a type. He delivered man from GOD’s judgments as the Passover Lamb died instead of the firstborn. Those ancient firstborns redeemed (bought) by the blood of the Passover Lamb belonged to GOD, so all redeemed through Christ are bought by and belong to Him.