The Passover

by H. KING. | Category: General | May 1959

The exodus of the children of Israel from the land of Egypt is recorded in Exodus 12; the previous chapters tell of the birth and the call of Moses, and the various plagues which fell upon Egypt.

The words of chapter 12.2 are words of hope for the people in Egypt's bondage-" This month shall be unto you the beginning of months : it shall be the first month of the year to you." It is called the month of Abib, which means to sprout forth" or to shoot into the ear." How significant this is when we think of the children of Israel, so long suppressed and subdued, springing into life like nature through the working of Jehovah their God! (The word Nisan is used twice in the later writings of the Old Testament, Nehemiah 2.1, Esther 3.7; its meaning seems to be similar to that of Abib.)

It was not only the beginning of months in respect to a change in the arrangement of their calendar, but it was the beginning of a new life for Israel, the details of which were to be unfolded at a later time. The first necessity was that they should be called out from the land of Egypt.

They could not come out of themselves, for they were slaves, but

God brought them out. The plan and power of deliverance were His; He "took them by the hand to lead them forth out of the land of Egypt" (Hebrews 8.9).

Their coming out from Egypt was not merely an escape, it was a deliverance, and this required the work of another. The sacrifice of the passover was in effect the end of their old life in Egypt, and the embarking upon a new life with the LORD their God in the wilderness, and later in the promised land.

Although briefly mentioned in Leviticus 23. 5 and Numbers 28.16, full instructions as to the keeping of the passover are given in Exodus 12, Numbers 9, and Deuteronomy 16, and in each case there is a distinctive feature about the instructions.

In Exodus 12 the central point is the lamb, and much is said about it and about the blood. In the book of Numbers, the book of the wilderness, the instructions have to do with the condition of the people who are participating in the sacrifice. Then the book of Deuteronomy, which speaks so much about "when ye be come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee," deals mainly with the place where the passover was to be sacrificed, not in their own houses or tents, but at the place which the LORD shall choose to cause His Name to dwell there. All this has instruction for children of God today, for the deliverance of men and women from the power of Satan has an objective in their life on earth as well as an objective in heaven. It is good for a man who knows deliverance by the blood of the Lamb, to seek unto the Place where he may serve God in association with His gathered people.

In Exodus 12 those two matters are set forth clearly. There was safety or shelter under the blood, which was put upon the two side posts and upon the lintel.

There is also the eating of the flesh in the houses which were thus sheltered by the blood. Eating is typical of communion (see 1 Corinthians 10.18: "Have not they which eat the sacrifices communion with the altar?"), but communion can be a very changeable thing, and it is a good thing for us that our security and safety against the judgement of God depend alone upon the blood of the Lamb.

The LORD said, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you," not when I see you eating of the flesh. Who can estimate the value of the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed at Calvary? and who can estimate its value to a soul through a simple act of faith, in taking shelter under the blood? Salvation is apart from works and apart from feelings. It is by faith alone, for the value is in the blood. The judgement had fallen already upon the lamb, and it would not fall again upon those who took refuge under its blood.

The passover is a type of Christ, as we are told so clearly in 1 Corinthians 5.7... "for our Passover also hath been sacrificed, even Christ," and we may well let our thanksgivings abound unto God for giving Him up to death that we might go free. Israel were set free from the bondage of Egypt that they might be free to serve the LORD. So we also are set free from the bondage of sin that we might be free to serve Him. Let us not fall short of His just claims upon our service.

The night of the passover was a night of watching unto the LORD (Exodus 12.42, R.V.), and it behoves us to learn some important lessons from this. It points forward to the darkest night this world ever knew-the blackest night in its sordid history-when the Son of God from heaven spent a lonely night of watching in the place called Gethsemane. He had kept the passover in the upper room with his disciples, then Judas went out after the dipping of the sop, "and it was night" (John 13.30). After the Lord's discourse with the eleven, they went forth from the room and entered into the garden of Gethsemane.

There followed that hour of dreadful agony, when the blessed Son of God poured out His prayer with strong crying and tears, while He lay, a prostrate Suppliant, on the ground. He came back to His disciples and found them sleeping, and said, "What, could ye not watch with Me one hour?" The multitude came, led by Judas, and they rushed Him off to a mock trial and shameful handling, till finally they had Him nailed to a cross on that morning. Between the two evenings means on the going down of the sun (Deuteronomy 16.6). The Lord had kept the passover with His disciples in the upper room, but the Pharisees had not yet kept it (John 18. 28), and the Lord Himself was our Passover when He was sacrificed on the cross.

A night of watching," or "a night to be much observed," are striking expressions. Israel were commanded to observe it for a memorial throughout their generations for ever. It was to be a basic feature of their national life, and however much they might wander and stray in their thoughts and ways, the passover, if properly observed, should have had the necessary restorative effect in bringing them back to the LORD.

The two revivals, in Hezekiah's and Josiah's times, were marked by a return to the observance of the passover, and what joy and gladness marked those occasions, though in Josiah's time Judah returned only feignedly to the LORD (Jeremiah 3.10).

In the night of that last passover in the upper room, after the washing of the disciples' feet, when Judas had gone out, the Lord Jesus Christ instituted the breaking of the bread. For simplicity it can scarcely be surpassed, for the elements used consist only of bread and wine, yet what an effect it has on the hearts and lives of those who love the blessed Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, of whose body and blood those symbols speak. May the Lord give His people a deeper longing to observe it according to His word, "This do in remembrance of Me," so that it may effect in them the restoration of soul that they

so much need.

H. KING. | May 1959
General