Preached before
the Lord’s Supper at CBC, October 5, 2003
(Read Exodus 12:1-14)
1.
First we want to see the Background and the Symbolism of the Passover.
First,
lets notice the background of the story:
The nation of Israel was in bondage to Pharaoh and to the nation of Egypt. Egypt was a cruel taskmaster to God’s chosen nation. They make them serve with rigor. They were cruel, and placed hard and unnecessary burdens on God’s people. The children of Israel began to cry out by reason of their hard bondage. And God heard their cries. And God raised up the man Moses, who would deliver Israel out of bondage. At God’s appointed time, God sent Moses and Aaron His brother unto Pharaoh. By Moses and Aaron, God caused 10 great plagues to fall upon Pharaoh and all the land of Egypt.
The tenth and last of these plagues was the death of every firstborn Egyptian child. There was not one house of the Egyptians that was not affected. Even in Pharaoh’s house was the death of the firstborn. And the firstborn of all the cattle belonging to the Egyptians also died.
The next day after the death of the firstborn, Pharaoh and the nation of Egypt let the children of Israel go, and return to their own land that God gave to their fathers. The Egyptians also gave the Israelites gifts, so that Israel spoiled the Egyptians. Later, the wealth of Egypt was used to build the tabernacle of the Lord!
The very night before this great plague, and the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt the next day, the Israelites took the first Passover supper. The Passover supper protected Israel from this 10th and most grievous plague of all- the death of the firstborn.
Next
we want to see some of the symbolism of this true event in the history
of Israel:
Egypt is a type of the world and the bondage of sin. Pharaoh is a type of the devil, that cruel taskmaster over the souls of men. Israel is a type of the children of God in bondage to sin, Satan and the world. The Passover supper was precursor to the Lord’s Supper, which is also symbolic of Jesus Christ the true Passover. As such, the Passover lamb is a type of Christ our passover that was slain for us. The body of the spotless Pascal lamb is a type of the sinless body of Jesus. The blood of the Pascal lamb is a type of the blood of Christ that was shed for us. The placing of the blood upon the door posts and the lintel is a type of salvation through faith in the blood of Jesus. The plague of the death of the firstborn is a type of God’s wrath upon sinners. The deliverance of Israel from Egypt, is a type of salvation out of Satan’s kingdom. The crossing through the Red Sea is a type of Baptism (1 Cor. 10:2). The destruction of Pharaoh and his armies in the red sea, is a type of Satan and his power over God’s people destroyed by the work of Jesus on the cross. Moses, that great leader of Israel, is a type of Christ, the great leader over His house, which is His Church.
This gives us a brief background of this very important event in Israel’s history, and some of the typology that can be derived from this event.
2.
Secondly we want to see the Passover Lamb (verses 3-5).
Again, the Passover Lamb was a type of Jesus Christ our Passover, and therefore the Passover supper had the same significance as the Lord’s Supper.
The lamb must be without blemish, which pictured Jesus, the sinless Son of God. It couldn’t have any diseases, or sores, or any such thing, which are all a type of sin. Jesus was impeccable. That means that He was the sinless, pure, and holy, Son of God. There was not the least blemish to be found in all of His Person! And not only did He not sin, but He could not sin!
The lamb must be a male. Of course Jesus was a man. Modernists today want to make God neuter. But God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all in the masculine, and therefore are male.
The lamb must be of the first year. Jesus was of a tender age, full of vigor, and had the strength of His youth. And like a young Lamb, He is like tender food for the soul, to all who partake of Him by faith in His sacrifice.
It was to be kept up from the tenth day until the fourteenth day of the month. This was for the purpose of observation, that the whole house might observe the Lamb and its fitness and suitability for the sacrifice. They say that it was on the same day, the tenth of Nissan, Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, just four days before the Passover. There He would be observed by all those of His house, which would kill him, as the innocent sacrifice for the sins of His people.
It was to be killed in the evening. This could mean as some think, the evening of time for the nation Israel. After the first advent of Christ, Israel would go through a long night of darkness because they rejected their Messiah. It could also mean the evening of the day. It was customary to kill the Passover about the 9th hour, or 3:00 pm. This was the very time that Jesus died on the cross, thus fulfilling this beautiful type of the Lamb of God dying for His people.
3.
Thirdly we want to consider the observance of the Passover Supper:
There was to be a lamb for each house (vs. 3-4). All who would eat of the lamb must be in the same house. They could share a lamb, but they had to be in the same house. The lamb wasn’t to be eaten by anyone outside the house or in another house. So the Lord’s Supper is only to be taken by those of one local church. This also teaches the limited nature of the sacrifice. Each lamb was sacrificed only for that specific house. The lamb of God was only sacrificed for His house, or His elect. The Passover supper wasn’t to be carried outside the house, as the Catholics carry their “Mass” outside to their members in the community. The Lord’s Supper likewise is to be taken by the members of the in church capacity.
The Passover supper was to be a solemn feast. It was to be eaten with bitter herbs (vs. 8). This could signify the Israelites bitter bondage in Egypt, and therefore is typical of the lost sinner’s spiritual bondage before we are saved by our Passover Lamb. Bitter herbs could also typify the bitter suffering of the sacrificial Lamb, which is typical of the bitterest of all sufferings that our Passover Lamb suffered for us; from the garden of Gethsemane to the cross of Calvary!
The lamb was to be roasted with fire (vs. 8-9). It was not to be eaten raw (or half cooked), or sodden (boiled), but roasted with fire. This pictured the excruciating punishment and pain that Jesus suffered for us. Jesus way roasted, as it were, on the cross of Calvary, the alter of God’s sacrifice. Praise the Lord, we will never have to know the tremendous suffering that Jesus went through, when God poured out His wrath upon His Son for our sins!
They were to eat the Passover supper with unleavened bread (vs. 8). Leaven pictures sin, and they were not to have any leaven in the house for seven days prior to the Passover supper. If any leaven was found in a house during that time, that household was to be cut-off from the nation of Israel. Beloved, God takes sin very seriously!
Unleavened bread also pictured the spotless Pascal Lamb, and was a type of the spotless, sinless Son of God, as well as the purity of God’s people. For the same reason, unleavened bread must be used in the Lord’s Supper. And God’s people need to be pure from sin when taking the Lord’s Supper, of which the Passover was a type.
They were to eat all of the lamb, including to purtenance or entrails. Beloved, none of vicarious sacrifice of Jesus was wasted. None of it was left, or spoiled, or went to waste. It was all effectually used to pay the sin debt of God’s people. Anything left over of the Pascal Lamb was to be burnt was fire. Jesus likewise was totally consumed, as it were. The sacrifice of Jesus was completely used. He provided all that was needed to save His people from their sins- nothing more, nothing less.
The Passover supper was to be observed as a memorial (vs. 14). They were to observe it every year for a memorial for the Lord’s deliverance out of the land of Egypt. Likewise we are to observe the Lord’s Supper, as often as we take it, as a memorial of what Jesus did for His people on the cross.
When they ate the Passover supper, they were to be prepared to get out of Egypt. When we partake of Jesus Christ our Passover, we are to be ready to get out of Satan’s kingdom, and out of this old wicked world, and head for the land where God’s people dwell. We should head for the promised land by way of the Red Sea, that is, to the Lord’s Church where we can be Scripturally baptized with reference to Christ, and serve the Lord with His people in His Church in the land of Canaan, as it were.
4.
When I See the Blood (verse 13).
The blood must be applied! (vs. 7). God said, “when I see the blood, I will pass over you.” But what if there was no blood on the doorposts and the lintels when the destroyer came by a house? Well, I’m sure that the plague of death would have come to that house just as it did the Egyptians.
Like Moses, we preach the blood of Christ for deliverance from sin and hell. But what if the blood is not applied? Then lost sinners will perish in hell without a Passover sacrifice!
How was the blood applied? They used a hyssop branch to cover the doorposts and the lintel with blood. I believe that they really covered those doorposts and lintels with the blood of the lamb! They wouldn’t want there to be any doubt that there was blood on their houses. This act of placing the blood on the doorposts and lintel showed their faith in the blood, that it had power to deliver them from death.
How is the blood applied today? It is applied to the soul by faith in the lamb of God, and His blood that was shed for us on the cross of Calvary.
Conclusion:
As we partake of the Lord’s Supper this evening, let us think of it as a memorial of Jesus our Passover Lamb, Who was sacrificed for us.
Think of Him as our pure and spotless Lamb tonight.
Think of Him as effectively paying the price for all of your sins.
Think of His body that was roasted, as it were, on the alter of God’s sacrifice.
Think of His blood that was shed, and was applied to the door our heart and soul, as it were, by faith in His sacrifice on the cross.
Beloved tonight, because God sees the blood applied to our souls, He has passed over unto us.
Because the blood has been applied by faith, God’s eternal judgment will not come into our house, but as Jesus said, we “are passed from death unto life.”
Has the blood been applied to
you tonight?
If not, believe that Jesus died and shed His blood for you, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day for you.
In this way the blood of Jesus is applied to your heart and soul.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved!!!