Passover, one of the greatest of all Jewish holidays, is a time of remembrance when the angel of death passed over the Jewish firstborn in the last of the ten plagues visited upon Egypt by God. Passover was the true beginning of the exodus, the leaving, of the Israelites from Egypt and slavery, eventually to the Promised Land. This redemption of the people from Egypt was so important that time after time in the Old Testament God refers to Himself as "the God who led you out of Egypt".
Christ Our Passover
Just as the Jewish people were required to place the blood of a perfect lamb on their doorpost to escape the death angel, so too are we, as God's children, required to believe in the perfect Lamb of God, Jesus, and the sacrifice and shedding of His blood that He made for us. Our belief allows us to escape the punishment for sin that we so richly deserve. As Paul reminds us in I Corinthians 5:7(b),
"For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us."
The Ten Commandments
The Jewish people did not have to do anything to be freed from their slavery. God provided them a way of escape graciously and out of love. Only after their escape were they given the Ten Commandments. In Exodus 2:2 God begins His list of commandments by reminding them that it was He who brought them out of Egypt and bondage. This covenant, this mutual promise between God and His people, stated that if His people obeyed these commandments they would be His treasured possession, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:3-6).
We Too Were Enslaved
The Jewish people had been enslaved for 400 years at the time of the Exodus. You and I also were enslaved, but to sin. Some of us have been enslaved by addiction, some by sexual sins, some by pride, some by anger but whatever sin had us in its grasp the sacrifice of Christ on the cross was that perfect sacrifice. With His death and resurrection a New Covenant was made between God and man.
A New Covenant
This New Covenant was predicted in Jeremiah 31:31-33. This covenant would not be written on stone as the Ten Commandments were, but would be written in our hearts. At the Last Supper Jesus tells His disciples that the cup poured out for them would be the New Covenant in His blood that was shed for us. Christ offers us a Promised Land of Heaven with Him as the Jewish people were guaranteed their promised land of Israel. Also, as Ezekiel 36:28-30 foretold, the New Covenant would include a new spirit living within us, the Holy Spirit of God.
A Covenant of Grace
Hebrews 7:22 tells us this New Covenant is a better one because instead of being under the law we are under grace (Romans 6:14-15). Hebrews 9:15 calls Jesus the mediator, our intercessor, of a New Covenant which promises eternal life with Him since Jesus's death redeems us from sins committed under the Old Covenant. The death of Christ was a sin offering which established a New Covenant of grace.
Jesus - The Obedient Son
In Exodus 4:22 God calls Israel His first-born son. Where Israel failed to obey the Old Covenant time and time again; Jesus is the example of a complete Israel, an Israel who wholly obeyed God. Jesus is the obedient Son. Jesus is the model of a new Israel.
As Jesus escaped from Bethlehem to Egypt to flee from Herod's death sentence on all baby boys (Matthew 2:16), just so, Moses, the great deliverer of His people, escaped from the Pharoah's order to slaughter the young Jewish baby boys (Exodus 1:22).
After Jesus's return, we read in Matthew chapter 3 about His baptism in the river Jordan. Moses led his people through the Red Sea to safety which I Corinthians 10:2 refers to as a baptism.
The very next event in Jesus's life in Matthew chapter 4 was His temptation in the desert. There He stayed for 40 days. While in the desert Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 8:3 when He tells Satan that men don't live by bread alone but by every word from God's mouth. The Israelites crossed the Red Sea only to wander in the desert for 40 years.
In Luke 9:31 at the Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah speak of Jesus's departure which in Greek was "exodos" or way out. Jesus's death and resurrection provides us a way out of sin and death. In Hebrew, the book of Exodus is literally titled, "The Book of the Outgoing from Egypt."
Jesus Frees Us From The Sins That Bind
Jesus is the ultimate Israel. His life, His death and His resurrection is His departure, His exodus, from this world to prepare the perfect gift for us to find a way out of our own Egypt. Jesus frees us from the sin that binds us. Sin enslaves us and leads to death. We are as much bound by sin when we were not believers, as the Israelites were bound by the physical chains of slavery.
Be Steadfast
The generation of Jewish people who left Egypt never saw the promised land. They died in rebellion along the way. The author of Hebrews tells us in chapter 3 verse 14, "For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end," As Christians we must remain steadfast to the end unlike the Jews who left Egypt. I Corinthians 10:1-11 expresses the same idea.
Passing Into Life
Finally, I want to leave you with the words of Jesus from John 5:24,
"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life".
The Greek word for "passed out of death into life" is metabebēken, which means "to pass over" or "withdraw". Thanks be to Jesus that we have passed over into life by hearing and believing in God who sent Him!
Comments