The Blood Redeems

Exodus 12:1–17 NKJV

1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. 3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. 7 And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. 8 Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire—its head with its legs and its entrails. 10 You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. 11 And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. 12 ‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. 13 Now 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 the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. 14 ‘So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. 15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat—that only may be prepared by you. 17 So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance.

Historical context

Plagues

This part of history is written while the Israelites are in Egypt. They were in bondage to the Egyptians for over 400 years. In the first chapters of the book we see how God takes control over the situation in Egypt. He calls Moses, a eighty year old fugitive to deliver His people from the hand of pharaoh. Pharaoh will not let that happen easily. He is going to resist and essentially go to war with Yahweh. God will fight against pharaoh and the Egyptian gods by striking Egypt with plagues. Now the passage we just read is the introduction to the final, tenth, plague, the killing of the firstborns. All the previous nine plagues were attacks on Egyptians gods and works of de-creation. Yahweh was superior to the Egyptian gods. All to come to the final plague, the death of the firstborns.

Firstborn and the role of the pharaoh

Why was this event so significant? In ancient times the firstborn was the second most important family member after the father. The firstborn had certain privileges and was heir of the family. When the father passed away, the firstborn became the head of the family. Furthermore it is interesting to note that pharaoh was the most important person in Egyptian society. The Egyptians believed that pharaoh was a god and the key to the nation’s relationship with all their other gods. While pharaoh ruled, he was considered the Son of Ra, the sun god, and the incarnation of the god Horus, the god of the heavens. He came from the gods with the divine responsibility to rule the land of Egypt. There were no laws, the pharaoh was responsible to maintain order and stability in the land and to speak justice. When a pharaoh died, the Egyptians believed that he became Osiris, the ruler of the underworld. And automatically the god of the heavens goes into the firstborn son of the pharaoh. He will then continue the unending, unbroken stream of the Egyptian god on earth.3

The tenth plague

Exodus 12:23–27 NKJV

23 For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. 24 And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. 25 It will come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. 26 And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 that you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’ ” So the people bowed their heads and worshiped.

The previous nine plagues were accomplished with mediation of either Moses or Aaron, but this time God Himself was going to destroy all of the firstborn in Egypt (Ex 12:13) and judge the Egypt. What does it mean to be destroyed? The word here, used for destroyed, is the same as the word used for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is complete destruction, no hope of restoration, with one exception. Israel’s problem was no longer how to escape pharaoh but how to be safe for a perfect and holy God.5 The ones with the blood of the lamb on the doorposts and who ate the flesh of the unblemished lamb will be passed over. When God saw the blood, He passed their houses. The lamb dies in place of people, and is therefore considered a substitutionary. The blood of the lamb does not protect the people, but it is God who sees the obedience of the people and His sovereign mercy that choses to pass those over who had the blood on the doorposts.5 The Egyptians were not more sinful than the Israelites, but the Israelites were covered by the blood. God accepted the blood and the life of the lamb as a substitutionary for their lives.1 In all of the houses in Egypt someone died, in the Egyptian homes it was the firstborn son, in the Israelites homes it was the lamb.5

The word used for Passover in Hebrew is pesach. This word means protection, which is deeper than passing over. God spared, had compassion, protected the firstborns of Israel. So it should be rendered more like a protective sacrifice than a passing over sacrifice.1

Jesus, our Passover Lamb

Now Paul links Jesus to the Passover Lamb in 1 Corinthians 5:7

1 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV

7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.

Jesus links well to the Passover Lamb if we look at characteristics. Jesus was unblemished, He was sinless and his death was a substitutionary death for you and me. His perfect being is the only thing acceptable to God. He died so that God spare, have compassion, and protect us. Not physically, as in the Exodus account, but spiritually. He hang on the cross for your sins, for your flaws, for your thoughts. Jesus death has to be substitutionary to be our Passover Lamb, there is no other possibility. First and foremost, His blood redeems us from death. His blood protects us. John the disciple, John the baptist and Peter all make other, more subtle, references to Jesus as our Passover Lamb. In John 1:28, 36, 19:36, 1 Peter 1:19 we can see these different references to Jesus the Passover Lamb. Another major connection between Jesus’ death and the Passover is the timing of Jesus’ death. This was during or short after the Passover celebration in Jerusalem. While they were sacrificing the Passover lamb in the temple, the real Passover lamb was hanging on the cross.2 Completely destroyed outside the city, killed in the evening. Jesus body and blood was given for us. We are spared if we eat from the Lamb and have His blood on our doorposts. This we celebrate during communion.

Communion as a Passover meal

The gospels present the last supper as a form of Passover meal. Jesus introduced the last supper during a Passover meal He shared with His disciples. He identifies himself with the lamb, at least the disciples would have understood this in that specific context. During a Passover meal, they typically ate unleavened bread with bitter herbs, drank four different types of wine and ate a roasted lamb. During the last supper, we see the unleavened bread, the wine, but we don’t get a mention of the roasted lamb. They eat the Passover meal without a physical lamb present, but with THE Lamb in their midsts.1

Able to remember

When we look back at the Exodus account, we see that after the Lord protected the firstborns of Israel, Pharaoh gives up. He is letting the Israelites go. His firstborn was hit by the final plague. Basically, Yahweh was attacking the main Egyptian god, pharaoh himself. This son of pharoh was supposed to inherit the throne. The Egyptian gods had set him up for that. Pharaoh is done with all these plagues, and letting the people of Israel go. This was major, because they were in bondage for over 400 years. To mark this event, and the protection that God gave to the Israelites, God orders Moses and Aaron to remember (Ex 13:3) this event. Note that the actual Passover was specifically in Egypt and once they left Egypt, the Passover could not be repeated, but only recalled and remembered.5

Exodus 12:43–51 NKJV

43 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat it. 44 But every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then he may eat it. 45 A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat it. 46 In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house, nor shall you break one of its bones. 47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. 48 And when a stranger dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it. 49 One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you.” 50 Thus all the children of Israel did; as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. 51 And it came to pass, on that very same day, that the Lord brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt according to their armies.

All the congregation of Israel shall keep this feast, and when you want to join into this Passover meal you have to be circumcised first. Thank God we are free to join His perfect Passover meal, due to the circumcision of the heart (Rom 2:25-29, Col 2:11)4 or being of the ‘born again nature’ (John 3:3-21). All could join the the festivities. It was not being a descendant of Abraham that counted, but the obedience and dedication to God. He send His own firstborn, while we were still in Egypt (Rom 5:8), who He let die willingly to be a substitutionary offering for you. Let’s follow the words of Jesus Himself in Luke 22:19–20 “19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.”. And remember His protective offer. Mark His Passover as a new start. Thank you Lord for Your redeeming blood!

Bibliography

Heiser, M. S., Naked Bible Podcast Ep 275

Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. Logos Research Systems, Inc.

Youngblood, R. F., Bruce, F. F., & Harrison, R. K., Thomas Nelson Publishers, eds. (1995). In Nelson’s new illustrated Bible dictionary. Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Hale, T. (2007). The Applied Old Testament Commentary. David C. Cook.

Motyer, A. (2005). The Message of Exodus: The Days of Our Pilgrimage (A. Motyer & D. Tidball, Eds.). Inter-Varsity Press.