rom the very beginning of human civilization God has used events in human history to foretell, illustrate, and explain the way of salvation. Salvation is only by faith, which simply means that people act upon the knowledge or revelation that they have received, without proof of the outcome. Faith is NOT acting on presumptions, or leaping into darkness without particular certainties. That is simple stupidity and God does not command us to act as idiots. God hasn’t made it easy to find Him, after all, He is invis- ible to us as a being. God doesn’t want superficial relationships, therefore only those who seek eagerly, sincerely, even desperately will find truth. The truth is plain to see for those with pure motives, but for the skeptic who is clinging onto his own ego as if it were the greatest prize, the signposts to salvation will flash past his eyes like a driver moving too fast to read them. If any person will humble themselves and ask God to open their eyes, He will do it; however, the Bible tells us repeatedly that He also actively opposes the proud.
The instructions for Passover can be found in Exodus chapter twelve. Throughout Scripture yeast is used as a symbol for sin. When yeast is used for bread making, it works through the entire lump of dough. When left uncooked the dough turns black. The Bible teaches that human beings have a sin nature, that is a capacity and inclination to do those things which are against the laws of God. Our entire beings are contaminated with this nature. Left unchecked, sin can lead the person into total darkness. God says we must turn away from sin and turn towards Him. This is the idea of repentance, to turn around. Only unleavened bread, that is, without yeast, was able to be used in any religious ceremony, as God was teaching the people that they must clean the sin out of their lives in order to have a relationship with a holy God. The Jews were instructed to clean all of the yeast out of their homes ten days prior to the Passover. They were not allowed to touch any food which contained yeast for this period of time. They had no idea why they were receiving these instructions, but they were warned that if they disobeyed, they would be cut off from the Jewish community forever. We will see why shortly.
The Jews were also ordered to prepare a lamb for a special meal. The lamb must be chosen exactly four days before it was killed. It must be in the prime of its life and perfect in every way. The lamb must be killed in the late afternoon. They were to take the blood of the lamb and place it on the top and sides of their doorposts. The lamb must then be attached to a forked piece of wood using metal, with its front legs apart, so that when it was cooked over a fire it could be turned. None of the bones of the animal were allowed to be broken. They must eat all of the meal inside and must not share the meal with any foreigner. They must eat the meal while dressed as if ready to leave at once. They must eat it with bitter herbs.
What do all of these things mean? For the Jews who were commanded to do these things, these instructions would have seemed very strange indeed. It is only when we come into the New Testament and the life of Jesus that we can understand the meanings. Of course, we have also many specific prophe- cies about Jesus’ life, death and resurrection to help us verify, but these we will see when we come to them. Let’s examine the Passover symbols. I have shown where in the New Testament these symbols are fulfilled some 1,300 years or so later.
1. The lamb was chosen four days before its death. Jesus entered Jerusalem, and was chosen by the people as ‘king of the Jews’ four days before His death. Luke 19.
2. The lamb must be in the prime of its life, perfect in every way. Jesus is called the ‘lamb of God’, the sacrificial lamb for sin. He was in the prime of His life and perfect in every way. 1 Peter 1:19, John 1:36.
3. The lamb must be killed in the late afternoon. Jesus was killed in the late afternoon. Mark 15.
4. They had to place the blood in the shape of a cross on their front doorposts. Jesus blood was shed on the cross. Gospels.
5. The lamb must be attached to a piece of forked wood with metal. Jesus was attached to a piece of forked wood, the cross, with metal spikes. Gospels.
6. None of the lamb’s bones were allowed to be broken. None of Jesus’ bones were broken. John 19: 31-37.
The New Testament teaches that when a person comes to God for salvation they must first turn away from their sins, be willing to live without sin. Thisis the first preparation and prerequisite to salvation. If a person refuses to do this, then they are cut off from God’s community forever, they cannot receive salvation. Such was the symbolism of the unleavened bread and the meaning of the penalty imposed about being cut off from the community of Israel. In order to be saved, each person must be willing to
offer God a sacrifice for their sin. This sacrifice is the perfect Lamb of God. Without a perfect sacrifice we cannot attain perfection, and without perfection we cannot ever enter the kingdom of God. When a person accepts that Jesus has died in their place as a sacrifice for sin, God declares that Christ’s perfec- tion is placed upon that person and their sins are totally forgiven. This is symbolized by the taking of communion, eating the bread and drinking the wine, and was symbolized at Passover with the Jews eating the lamb. The meal was eaten with bitter herbs, a symbol of the excruciating pain of Jesus death and the bitterness that sin can bring.
The Jews had to eat the Passover meal dressed and ready to leave. This symbolizes our readiness to leave behind our sinful life and start out on a new journey with God in control. And the meal could not be eaten with any foreigner, just as it is forbidden for any person who is not truly Christian to take communion in a Church, that is, eat the bread and drink the wine. Finally, several families could share one lamb together as God wanted all people, rich and poor to have the opportunity for salvation.
On the night of the Passover death came to Egypt. This was God’s judgment on unbelieving people. The firstborn of all who were not covered by the blood of the lamb died, from the poorest to the greatest, including the firstborn son of Pharaoh himself. There was great sorrow in that place and finally the king of Egypt let the Israelites go. In fear, the Egyptians gave them silver, gold and other riches. They begged their Jewish slaves to leave and God led His people into freedom and a new life. They came to God with nothing, slaves without the power to help themselves. Through the blood of the lamb they escaped the righteous judgment of God, they were freed from slavery, and then they received gifts in order to help them on their journey to the Promised Land, Canaan, that place which symbolizes heaven.
Passover is extremely clear in its message to us. We must be willing to leave our slavery to sin, to offer the blood of the Lamb in faith, in order for us to be forgiven and cleansed, and then we will escape the judgment of God against unbelief and faithlessness. We come with nothing, slaves to our sinful desires, and afterward, God gives us gifts, especially that of the Holy Spirit, in order that we can live this new life for Him, while on our journey to the Promised land. However, God never promises that the journey will be easy; indeed it will often seem very difficult. It will be a walk of faith and trust, a new life of learning to rely on Him, rather than solely on our own means. Such was the lesson the Jews were about to learn, lessons which also are given so that we may further understand this story of salvation.