Story: The Passover
Passage: Exodus 12:1-28
Characters: God,
Israel
Summary:
The Lord told Israel what He was about to do and what they
had to do to be spared. Each household
was to take a lamb without blemish and keep it for four days and then kill
it. They were to smear the blood of the
lamb on their doorposts. Then they were to
eat the lamb along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They were to eat it
with their shoes on, their belt buckled, and their staff in hand. God would kill every firstborn in Egypt, but
when He saw the blood, He would pass over the Israelites. They were to celebrate tis with a feast every
year. For seven days, they would eat
unleavened bread. Now work would be done
for those seven days. Moses told the
elders what to do and they obeyed.
Notes: I have nowhere
near enough time to do Passover justice in this post, but here goes! The feast of unleavened bread is the first
celebration that God gives Israel, and it is the first aspect of the law that
we see. Since Christ fulfills the law,
every time we study part of the law, I will try to show the way that Christ
fulfilled it! The Passover was a time
when God showed mercy to Israel and delivered them from Egypt. Throughout the Bible, Egypt represents sin,
the flesh, and death. God was going to
deliver His people from sin and bring them to the Promised Land. Let’s look at how He is going to accomplish
this! First, every household is supposed
to find a lamb. This lamb needs to be perfect.
Interestingly, a lamb is needed for each household. (Spoiler alert: Jesus is the ultimate
Passover lamb) In order for Christ’s
sacrifice to cover us, we must become part of God’s household. Fortunately, we see this all throughout the
New Testament. We are adopted as heirs;
we are the sons of God. This lamb was
not just chosen and killed, it was kept for four days by the family. This lamb became a part of the family and
lived with them for a short time before they killed it. Likewise, Christ lived among us for a short
time before we killed Him. They were to
eat it while prepared to move. When we
are saved, we need to be ready to go.
Salvation is the beginning of a journey, not the end. God specifically says that He will execute judgment
on all the gods of Egypt. We have
already seen how the plagues were a direct attack on specific Egyptian
gods. Here God states that that is what
He is doing. Egypt worshipped these
false gods, so the true God attacked each one to prove that He is the only true
God worth worshipping! God is not happy
when we give the glory and worship that He deserves to something we create
ourselves. We see a taste of His wrath
in His treatment of Egypt. God has done
many many miracles already for Israel, but this is the first one that He wants
them to commemorate with a feast forever.
During this feast, there is to be no leaven present. Yeast is a leavening agent. Yeast is later referred to in the New
Testament. Yeast mixing through bread is
compared to sin working through our lives.
By having no leaven, the Israelites were symbolically keeping themselves
pure from sin. This was obviously
important, because twice God specifies that if anyone has leaven in their
possession, whether Israelite of foreigner, they are to be cut off from
Israel! This was a serious deal! Moses specifies that this is to be celebrated
even after Israel arrives in the Promised Land.
This is the most significant moment in history so far, and it is
possibly one of the most significant moments in history ever up to our current
place in history! The Passover laid the
groundwork for how God was going to redeem His people to Him. This was more than foreshadowing, this
established the structure and meaning of what Christ would later do for the
entire world! God is God and could have
saved us in a number of ways, but He chose to save us through innocent blood
taking His wrath in our place. This is
the first time we see this play out and this is the precedent for what Christ
did for us! Christ did not have to die
because the Passover happened, rather, the Passover had to happen and Christ
had to die, because that is how God decided to structure our redemption! The fact that many people died in the
Passover is tragic, but necessary! For
the Israelites to be saved, they had to be saved from something! For us to be saved, we must be saved from
something! The emphasis should not be on
the fact that God killed Egyptians, but rather that He spared the
Israelites! In fact, we see that that is
what the Feast of Unleavened Bread is for: to remind future generations of the
way that God spared them. The focus of
the Feast is not on the death of the Egyptians, but on the life of the
Israelites! Likewise, our focus should
not be on the fact that there are people who are not saved, but rather on the
fact that there are people who are saved!
Salvation makes no sense! Judgment
on the other hand is totally logical! We
are broken and have strayed from the purpose of our design and creation. We deserve death! When people die, they are getting what they
and we deserve! It is the right thing
for bad things to happen to us! The
illogical and strange thing that happens is that some are saved! Grace is by definition not deserved, and if
we feel we must question God, do not question His judgment, but rather His
grace! He has every right to judge us
and destroy us! If you think
differently, you do not understand His holiness! He had no conceivable reason though to judge
and destroy His own son so that we are passed over. Take some time and just worship God for His
mercy and grace which He has lavished on those of us who don’t even deserve
another breath!
Questions: Why was
the death of a lamb necessary? Who
exactly was going to pass over Egypt?
Lessons: The lessons
in this passage are somewhat apparent!
This story speaks volumes about God’s mercy and grace. Some see this as an example of a judgmental
God. I see this as a story of a merciful
God full of grace! In fact, how can
there be mercy without judgment? A life was taken in every house in Egypt, but
in Goshen, that life was not the one deserving of death. Keep in mind, that even though we have been
given life, a life was still taken: a life that was infinitely undeserving of
death. Keep this in perspective, and
never give in to the temptation of believing that our grace is deserved!
