The Passover event, as recorded in Exodus Chapters 11-12, took place 400 years beyond the birth of Abraham’s son, Isaac. At the time of this event, the Jewish people were slaves in the land of Egypt. Through Moses, God had spoken to the Egyptian king Pharaoh to let the Jewish people go free. Pharaoh refused this Word from the Lord and continued to harden his heart toward God by refusing to free the Israelite people. After many warnings and plagues on the Egyptians, God had decreed to Moses that the firstborn of both man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt must die. No firstborn throughout all the land of Egypt, including the animal kingdom, was excluded from this decree (Ex.11:4-6). During this time, God made a major distinction between the Israelites and the Egyptians. He provided the Hebrew people with a substitute (the Passover lamb) which could die in the place of the firstborn in each of their families (Exodus 11:7).
In Exodus Chapter 12, God is speaking to Moses and Aaron while they were in Egypt. Moses was commanded by God to speak this commandment concerning the Passover to the whole house of Israel. God established that on the 10th day of the month, each household was to select for themselves a lamb, one that was without spot and blemish and one that was a male of the first year. After the lamb was selected, they were to keep it separate until the 14th day of the same month in order to examine the lamb to make sure that it had no defects. A typical Jewish day began at sundown each day. It’s in perfect accord with what God said in Genesis Chapter 1 verse 5, “and the evening and the morning are the first day.” Now on the evening of the 14th day they were commanded by God to kill the lamb and sprinkle its blood on the doorposts and lintel of each of their houses. After that they were commanded to eat the entire lamb, roasted over fire, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Nothing was to remain until morning and if there was, it was to be burned with fire. Now, on the night of the Passover in Egypt, God looked for one thing and one thing only and that was the blood of the lamb. If He saw the blood had been applied on the doorposts and lintel of the house, then He knew that death had already occurred in that house through the shed blood of an innocent lamb. But, the absence of blood indicated that death had not occurred in that house and therefore the firstborn of that house had to die.
For centuries after the Exodus from Egypt, the Jewish people were commanded by God to celebrate the Passover as a dress rehearsal awaiting the arrival of their Messiah. Each year on the 14th day, after the lamb has been selected and examined for 4 days, the High Priest would take the lamb, slay it, and pronounce while looking up toward God, “it is finished.” In all 4 Gospel accounts, the event called the Triumphal Entry presents Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. The people are all shouting “Hosanna”, which is interpreted, “Oh save us!” During the next 4 days, just as the Israelites inspected the lamb for defects, Jesus was being inspected by the Jewish people in Jerusalem. This included the Scribes, Pharisees and Pilot himself. Not one in all of Jerusalem could find any fault in Him. He was spotless and without blame. But He was nonetheless crucified anyway, shedding His precious blood for us. This event was the exact fulfillment of what the Jewish people had been rehearsing year after year after year through the Passover celebration.
God, in His foreknowledge, knew that His Son, Jesus Christ (Yeshua Ha Mashiach), was going to be the perfect lamb slain for the sins of the whole world. There was a span of 4000 years from the first man Adam, until the second man Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was God’s lamb, His firstborn son (a male of the first year). He was the perfect sinless sacrifice, the lamb without spot or blemish. The Lord Jesus Christ is our Passover Lamb. He died on the cross of Calvary, some 2000 years ago, verifying a complete, perfect work. He was our substitute for death. He died in our stead. Death had occurred and blood was shed, the two things necessary for salvation.
However, for man’s sake, the cycle is not yet complete until the 3rd step is taken, which is the application of the blood. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, has already been slain and His blood has already been shed on our behalf. So the only thing left (the 3rd step) for us to do is to believe and to apply the blood. Paul said that our bodies represent God’s house in I Corinthians 6:19. “Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and who was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourselves but to God;(1 Corinthians 6:20) he bought you for a price. So use your bodies for God's glory.”
So by faith we must put our trust in Jesus Christ (Messiah Yeshua) and believe that He willingly died on the cross and shed His blood for our sins. Death has occurred in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and His blood has been shed for us. The blood then MUST be applied. How do we apply the blood? We apply the blood by faith, by believing that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. The good news is He did not stay dead but arose to new life. You can ask Him to forgive your sins and become the Lord of your life. Everything has already been done for us. We must just Believe and Receive His salvation! It’s that simple. He is waiting for you.
