Today I was watching my favorite news show when they did a quiz about Easter/Passover. One of the questions that stood out to me was this one:
“What does the Passover celebrate?”
A. the Jew’s exodus out of Egypt
B. something blablabla
C. something blablabla
D. none of the above
They reported the correct answer to be A – the Jew’s exodus out of Egypt. They said the Passover celebrates the Israelite’s triumph over oppression. Really people?? Really??? If you don’t want to get ‘religious’ on public television, at least don’t talk about it at all.
Of course the passover is part of the story of the exodus out of slavery in Egypt but it is not the celebration of that alone. It is a feast of remembrance. It is observed to serve as a memorial of the final plague that God sent on the Egyptians and as a picture of the salvation of the Lord. Salvation that was not only sparing the firstborn of every house who marked their door with the blood of a lamb, but also a foretelling of a coming Lamb whose blood would save us.
There were ten plagues sent to Egypt that showcased God’s power and freed Israel. The first was turning the water of the land to blood, the second was frogs, the third was lice, the forth was flies, fifth came the death of cattle, the sixth was boils on their bodies, seventh came the hail, the eighth was locusts, the ninth was darkness and then finally, the tenth was the death of every firstborn.
The only way of escape from the tenth plague was to kill a spotless lamb and mark your door posts with its blood. Then, the death angel would passover your family if the blood marked your home. After this plague made its way throughout the land and even to the house of the Pharaoh, Pharaoh finally chose to let the children of Israel go. The story goes on with Pharaoh’s heart being hardened again and then the awesome parting of the red sea, but the Passover is a feast of remembrance of the tenth and final plague and God’s mercy.
I am not Jewish and I do not plan to celebrate the feast and observe all the traditions that go with it. However, I do celebrate the story because it is a beautiful picture of the later coming of Christ.
You see, Jesus is my passover lamb. Jesus came down in the form of a man and lived a perfect, sinless life until he offered up His life as a substitute for my sin debt. He gave his life on the cross so that I would be passed over in the punishment of my sins if I accept Him as Savior and ask His forgiveness. His blood now lies on the doorposts of my heart as a sign that I can escape the punishment of hell for my sin. When the time comes that I die and God looks on my life, He will see the blood of the perfect lamb and not my sin.
Because of my Passover Lamb, I have no fear of death. Heaven is my future!! Praise 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…And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God…And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!”
John 1:29, 34, 36, KJV“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: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,”
1 Peter 1:18-20, KJV
Well said, Holly. You know, an interesting observation about Passover is that God required the firstborn of all those who DIDN’T follow His way. Years later, HE offered HIS Firstborn to all those who WOULD follow His way. The scripture is full of “types” and examples so we can see God’s salvation. Isn’t it amazing how the eyes of the unbelieving have been blinded to the truth?