|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Triumphant Week
The PassoverUnderstanding the Passover is central to understanding what transpired during the Great Week of Jesus’ triumph over sin, Satan and death. The apostle Paul wrote, For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. This is the way New Testament writers treated the Tanach1: as scriptures written to teach us about God, life, salvation, and the gospel. When Paul explained the difference between being a Jew and being a Christian in Galatians 4:21-31, he used Hagar and Sarah as an allegory. Although Sarah, Abraham’s wife, was the physical mother of the Israelites, today she is also the spiritual mother of the Christians; whereas Hagar the slave girl is the spiritual mother of the unbelieving Jews. He used another allegory about oxen in I Corinthians 9:9 to explain that Deuteronomy 25:42 implies God’s intention for ministers of the gospel to paid for their ministry. Again, in I Corinthians 10:11, after reviewing the trials Israel experienced in the wilderness, Paul said, “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.” Thus, we see Paul’s principle that what was written in the Old Testament was written for our learning and instruction in New Testament times. The Passover story is presented in Exodus chapters 11-12. In order to punish Egyptians and free Israelites from slavery, bringing them to the promised homeland, God sent ten plagues on Egypt. The last and most devastating plague was the death of the firstborn of all humans, flocks and herds. An angel of death was sent by God throughout Egypt who would slay every firstborn child of those who would not obey God, as well as the firstborn of their flocks. However, the angel would pass over and not touch those who did obey God. The only people spared would be those people who obeyed God and put the blood of a sacrificed lamb or goat on their door posts and door top. God told Moses to tell the Israelites to sacrifice a sheep or goat, put its blood on the sides and top of their doorframe, cook and eat the animal, and then be ready to move out of Egypt immediately afterwards. The message was not for Israelites alone, but all – Israelite and Egyptian – who believed the message of God and put the blood on the sides and tops of their doorframes would be saved. This is an allegory for the salvation of mankind. The scriptures say in I Corinthians 5:8-9, For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth. Our salvation is obtained through a belief in God and a dependence on the blood of his lamb just as theirs was. Anybody, Israelite or Gentile, may be saved through the Messiah, who suffered as a sacrifice for our sins. This knowledge of salvation which spread throughout Egypt – of putting the blood on the doorframe – came from God through the Israelites. In the same way, the knowledge of Jesus Christ as the savior of the world came through the Jews. Because of the nature of what happened in Egypt, it was the Israelites who put blood on their doorframes and the Egyptians did not. But any Israelite who did not would also have been slain, and any Egyptian who did would have been spared. Salvation is not by birth or favor, but through belief and obedience to God. The lamb or goat was sacrificed in this way. Each household would take a year-old male without flaw or defect and tie it up within the house for four days. During those four days they would inspect the animal for any blemish. Upon the fourth day, if no flaw or defect was found3, they would sacrifice the animal at twilight, put its blood on the top and sides of the door frame, cook it, eat it, and be ready to leave Egypt that very night. Their salvation – freedom from Egypt and slavery – was obtained thet very night they ate the sacrifice. This event was commemorated annually as a feast called “Passover.” It is explained in Exodus 12, Exodus 34:25, Leviticus 23:5, Numbers 28:16, and Deuteronomy 16:1-8. The Passover marked the first day of the Israeli calendar year, although now they mark it as the first day of their religious year. It was the first day of the birth of the nation Israel, from which time Israelis, the children of Jacob, would mark their calendar. The Passover is a tremendous allegory of Jesus Christ - God’s promised Messiah to the world send through Abraham in whom all people would be blessed. To me, these points seem obvious, but perhaps they are not all apparent to some readers.
Click here to continue to The Sabbath 1 The Tanach is the Old Testament. (Return to text) 2 Deuteronomy 25:4, Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain. (Return to text) 3 If a defect was found, they would share the sacrifice belonging to their neighbor. (Return to text)
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
