The Essentials Of The Bible: Part 36 -- God Delivers The People – Death Takes A Pass Over Israel

Truly God’s mighty hand was seen by the entire world, since Egypt was the crossroads of ancient times.  Their mighty wealth and strength was renowned as the center of commerce, knowledge and power.  To be devastated by an unknown god, the LORD God Almighty; the Eternal was seen by all as a witness of truth.

THE LAST PLAGUE WAS THE COUP DE GRAS FOR EGYPT

This last of ten plagues not only broke Pharaoh’s power; it broke Egypt and brought an end to the greatness of Egypt.  No country could ever sustain such a number of national disasters and not be significantly destroyed.  God broke Pharaoh and the Egyptian people; turning their gods against them; through the ten plagues..

Out of the rubble of a pagan nation, God introduces salvation through the blood of the Lamb of God.  There is a parallel to our world today being a type of Egypt and God calling His people out of the rubble of a dying world; called to salvation through the Lamb of God, Christ Jesus our LORD!

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE FIRST PASSOVER

The act of taking Communion; unites all Christian; with that first Passover supper, in Egypt.  Through that act, we come under the blood of the Lamb and our sinful lives are washed and reconciled to God.

THE TIME OF THE YEAR ESTABLISHED BY A HOLY DAY

Many don’t realize that when God talks about months in the Bible; that this is before the Roman calendar that we use today; which begins each day at midnight.  In contrast; God gave his people a calendar that begins each day at sunset and each month begins with a new moon.  The word month comes from the word moon, and the Hebrew word for month is new moon, by implication, a month.  The Roman calendar that we use today is based on the sun because the Romans were sun worshippers.  The days of the week are named after pagan gods.  God’s sacred calendar is based on the moon.  In the book of Exodus, God tells Moses and Aaron on the first day of the first month of the year, “This month shall be for you the beginning of months.”  We also know that it has to be on the first day of that month because God tells them to do something on the tenth day of the first month.  God established His year to begin with the most important event ever in the lives of Jews and Christians alike; which is, the sacrifice of the Passover; the Lamb of God.  On the tenth day of the month; the Passover Lamb was chosen and set aside.  Then on the fourteenth; the Passover Lamb was killed and the blood was put on the door’s side posts and header.  The Children of Israel then ate the Passover Lamb in their house.

Passover Lamb's Blood Put On The Lintel and Door Posts

God gave Moses and Aaron specific instructions about how to select the Passover Lamb, when to kill it, what to do with the blood, how to cook it and how to eat it.  Furthermore, this Passover was to become a annual Feast along with another; The Feast of Unleavened Bread; the seven days following the Passover.  These were to become annual festivals to be kept forever by command of the LORD.  Later, God would give Israel five more Feasts; a total of seven annual festivals to be kept forever.

THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PASSOVER

• The Passover Lamb was to be chosen and set aside on the tenth day of the first month of the year.  Exodus 12:3
  
• According to your eating, you may need more than one lamb.  Or if your house is too small; you may have to join with another household.  Exodus 12:3-4
  
• Must Be A Perfect Lamb without blemish, a male a year old.  Exodus 12:5

• The Passover Lamb was killed at twilight on the fourteenth, that time just after sunset.    Exodus 12:6

• Put the blood on the two door posts and lintel (header)  Exodus 12:7

• To be roasted with fire and eaten at night with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.   Exodus 12:8

• Not to be eaten raw or boiled; it must be roasted whole, with its head and legs and inner parts.  Exodus 12:9

• Any leftovers must be burned in the morning  Exodus 12:10

• Eat it in haste with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand because the LORD would pass through the land of Egypt that night, and would strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt the LORD would execute judgments.  Exodus 12:11-12

• The blood would be a sign; when God would see the blood, He would pass over that house and the death plague would not destroy anyone in the house; under the blood.  Exodus 12:13

• The day would be a memorial day; to be kept as a feast to the LORD; throughout their generations, as a statute forever, they were commanded to keep it as a feast.  Exodus 12:14

• Leaven was to be removed from their houses and not found on their property for seven days.  Exodus 12:15

• The first day of the Feast of Unleavened bread was to be a Holy Convocation; an annual Sabbath Day with a Holy Assembly (worship service).  Work was not permitted.  The Feast of Unleavened Bread (seven days)  was to be observed as a statute forever in their generations.  Exodus 12:16-17

• The Seven Days of Unleavened Bread would follow the Passover.  No leavened bread was to be eaten; only unleavened bread for the entire seven days; making the Feast of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, a total of eight days.  From the fourteenth day until the twenty first day. Exodus 12:15 & 18
  

Blood Applied With Hyssop To The Doors
Lintel and Side Posts

Exodus 12:1-20 ESV The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,  (2)  "This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you.  (3)  Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household.  (4)  And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb.  (5)  Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, (6)  and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.  (7)  "Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.  (8)  They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it.  (9)  Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts.  (10)  And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn.  (11)  In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD's Passover.  (12)  For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD.  (13)  The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. 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.  (14)  "This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.  (15)  Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.  (16)  On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you.  (17)  And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever.  (18)  In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.  (19)  For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land.  (20) You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread."

Remember each day begins at sunset, the evening before on God’s calendar.  Evening to evening makes one day.   The Jewish people have kept Passover and Unleavened Bread since they left Egypt; since the Exodus.  Today, they commonly call the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened bread merely by Passover.  The Passover occurs in the spring of the year.  In 2011, Passover falls on April 19 and goes through April 26.  For further details on the Jewish Holy Day Calendar, see the web site listed below:

http://www.calendarlabs.com/calendars/religious/jewish-calendar.php

Jesus Christ is our Passover Lamb.  He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

John 1:29 ESV The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

The Passover for the Christian Church was established by Jesus Christ when he ate the Passover for the last time; it was His “Last Supper.”  It has become referred to as the “The LORD’s Supper”, or “Communion.”  Jesus changed the meal from an actual Lamb, to the symbols of his body and blood; the bread and the wine.

Matthew 26:18, 26-28 ESV He said, "Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, 'The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.'" (26) Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body."  (27)  And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, (28) for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

                         

The Apostle Paul confirms this as he instructs the church at Corinth on how to observe the LORD’s Passover or the LORD’s Supper; Communion:

1 Corinthians 11:23-25 ESV For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,  (24)  and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me."  (25)  In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

Prayer:  Father in Heaven, thank you for your truth as revealed in your WORD the Bible.  Help me to understand the precious gift of your sacrifice.  Thank you for being the Passover Lamb; the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  Thank you for taking away my sin, sickness and pain; in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright © 2006, 2011  Thomas C. Blake