The Passover

by Chris Simmons

An interesting discussion took place between Moses and Pharaoh after the ninth plague (darkness over all the land, Exodus 10:21ff) when Pharaoh once again changed his mind and refused to let the Israelites go. In Exodus 10:28-29 we read, “Then Pharaoh said to him, ‘Get away from me! Beware, do not see my face again, for in the day you see my face you shall die!’ And Moses said, ‘You are right; I shall never see your face again!’” By faith, Moses knew that the final plague was coming and that God’s promise of their deliverance was at hand. Moses knew he would never see Pharaoh again. God promised in Exodus 11:1, “Now the Lord said to Moses, ‘One more plague I will bring on Pharaoh and on Egypt; after that he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out from here completely.’”

Judgment was coming and God warned His people, “For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments – I am the Lord” (Exodus 12:12). As with all the other plagues, God planned to make a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites with this plague as well but it required action on their part. They were instructed to kill an unblemished, one year old male from their flocks, (either a sheep or a goat) (Exodus 12:3-5) and then “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). God explained the purpose for the need to put the blood on the doorposts, “And 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 12:13). Moses, like Noah, learned that judgment (unlike had ever been seen or would ever be seen again, Exodus 11:6) was coming and there was but one way of escape.

With haste, Moses spread the news of the means of their divine deliverance and salvation to all the elders of Israel (Exodus 12:21-22) that was to take place that very night. There was no time to delay in spreading the words they needed to hear and there was no time to put off obeying what they were told to do. We need to learn that there is urgency in the need to man to hear of God’s salvation and act upon that message in obedience. Saul of Tarsus was simply asked, “why do you delay?” (Acts 22:16). From the Israelites perspective, what would be the point in delaying to act upon what Moses had told them? There were no other visible and notable signs of the coming judgment other than their faith in what God had revealed to them. No looming storm clouds, no ominous sound of a trumpet, no approaching armies. Just God’s word that death would come to everyone’s house that did not have the blood of the Passover lamb on the doorposts and the lintel. They had heard the word of God, would they then respond in obedience? The scriptures clearly indicate that if they did not have the blood on their doorposts and if they did not remain in their houses (Exodus 12:22), they would suffer the same fate as the Egyptians.

It is undeniable that God extended His grace to the Israelites on this fateful day. But it is equally undeniable that the Israelites had to do something to access God’s grace. When Naaman (II Kings 5:1-14) was miraculously healed of his leprosy, was he healed by the grace of God? Absolutely! But was there something that Naaman had to do to obtain that grace? Most assuredly there was as his servants had to convince him that he should submit to Elisha’s directions to go and dip in the Jordan River seven times. Naaman’s faith, repentance and obedience are what stood between him and God’s gracious healing of him. The same could be said of the young man who was born blind in John chapter 9 and it’s true of any person and their sins today. Those who advocate salvation by “faith only” can’t (and won’t) answer the question as to whether the Israelites, Naaman and the blind man of John chapter 9 had to do anything to become recipients of the grace of God, because to answer is to acknowledge the same is true for us today. It is by faith that Moses and the rest of the Israelites fulfilled God’s requirements that notable evening. We read in Hebrews 11:28, “By faith he (Moses) kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that he who destroyed the first-born might not touch them.” Exodus 12:28 says “then the sons of Israel went and did so; just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.” They had the faith to do what God had commanded. Will we have such faith (Romans 10:17)?

This is perhaps the most significant event in the Israelites’ journey to become the great nation spoken of in the promises to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3), and it is recorded that the Israelites were to consider this month as the beginning of their year from now on (Genesis 12:2). I think it’s significant that God basically marked this moment as the beginning of time for their beginning as a nation of God’s people. Also, they were to perpetually remember this day in that the same day that God gave the commands for the blood on the doorpost, He also gave commands for the events of that evening to be commemorated in a yearly memorial. Exodus 12:14, “Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance.” This memorial was to be a teaching opportunity for each successive generation of the Israelites, especially after they entered the promised land, so that every generation would be reminded of the deliverance God had provided for them after their 430 years in Egypt (Exodus 12:40). We read in Exodus 12:26-27, “And it will come about when your children will say to you, ‘What does this rite mean to you?’ that you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes’” (cf. Exodus 13:14-15). What an opportunity for each generation to be taught of the love and salvation of God! How is it then that after they inherited the promised land that is said “there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel” (Judges 2:10)? That wouldn’t have happened if they had properly observed the Passover memorial each and every year as God had commanded.

In the New Testament, it is said in I Corinthians 5:7 that “Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.” In an article by Joe Price on this subject, he noted,

“As the Lord saw the blood of the Passover lamb and passed over that house, even so the blood of the Lamb of God is the sinner’s means of deliverance from God’s judgment against his sin (John 1:29; Romans 3:23-26; Ephesians 1:7).”

Jesus spoke of the fulfillment of the Passover feast while He partook of it one last time with His chosen apostles (Luke 22:16). The Passover is part of the Old Law that Jesus not only fulfilled (accomplished) (Matthew 5:17-18), but He took it out of the way by nailing it to the cross (Colossians 2:14). Joe Price went on to note in his article that,

“Israel ‘after the flesh’ ate the annual Passover feast, the blood of which recalled God’s powerful deliverance. Jesus promised to fulfill the Passover in the kingdom, and, by His blood-stained cross, He has done so (Luke 22:16; Ephesians 1:7). Jesus now partakes ‘of the fruit of the vine’ (i.e., the Lord’s Supper) in the ‘Israel of God,’ the church (Luke 22:18; Galatians 6:16). The shadow of Israel’s Passover lamb has been fulfilled in Christ (Luke 22:16). The sacrifice of our Passover Lamb, Jesus, delivers us from sin. Accordingly, we remember His death each week in the Lord’s Supper, a communion of the blood and body of Christ (Luke 22:18; I Corinthians 10:16).”

We need to be clear that the Lord’s Supper is not a new name for an old memorial and it is improper and unscriptural to refer to it as the “New Testament Passover” as some have wanted to do. Just because Jesus is referred to as “our Passover” does not make it the same as the Old Testament memorial that we have studied. Rather, Jesus “our Passover” is to remind us of our sins that have been forgiven (passed over) through the blood that He shed on the cross as a “lamb unblemished and spotless” (I Peter 1:19). As we scripturally observe the Lord’s Supper each first day of the week (Acts 20:7; I Corinthians 11:23ff), we are to call to mind His sacrifice and our salvation and deliverance from the bonds of sin just as the Israelites were to recall their deliverance and salvation in the observance of the Passover while the Old Covenant was still in effect.

May we ever thank God for His forgiveness through Jesus Christ and seek to submit to Him and obey Him in all that we do.