Message 23
(1)
Scripture Reading: Exo. 12:1-10, 13, 23, 46; 13:4; Luke 22:7-8, 14-15; John 19:33, 36; 1 Cor. 5:7
God’s revelation in the Bible is presented in a practical way, not in the way of doctrinal understanding. Because the divine revelation comes in a practical way, it is always living. However, if it were given in a way of doctrine, the result would be death. In particular, the Passover is presented not as a doctrine, but in relation to a practical need. The Passover portrayed in Exodus 12 is a clear, adequate, and even all-inclusive type of the redemption of Christ. Nowhere else in the Scriptures is the redemption of Christ presented in such a full way.
All Christians know that Christ is the Lamb of God who accomplished redemption for us (John 1:29). However, not many have seen a clear picture of Christ as the redeeming Lamb of God. This picture is presented in Exodus 12.
You may not understand the significance of certain details in this picture. For example, why was the blood put on the lintel and the doorposts (12:22) rather than on the roof? Why did God tell the children of Israel to use a bunch of hyssop to sprinkle the blood on the lintel and doorposts? What was the reason for eating bitter herbs along with the flesh of the lamb? We could ask question upon question. Few Christians are able to answer questions such as these.
We all need to see a clear picture of Christ’s redemption. Although the New Testament reveals the various aspects of redemption, these aspects are not systematized in a doctrinal way. John 1:29 says that Christ is the Lamb of God, and in 1 Corinthians 5:7 Paul speaks of Christ as the Passover. Here and there in the New Testament we see aspects of Christ’s redemption. In Exodus 12, however, we have a complete picture. We need to consider this picture carefully; then to interpret it properly, we need to turn to other portions of the Word, especially to the New Testament.
The Passover is a type of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 5:7 Paul says that “Our Passover, Christ, has been sacrificed.” Here Paul does not say that Christ is our lamb; he says that Christ is our Passover. But how could the Passover be sacrificed? The answer is that Christ is not only the Passover lamb, but also every aspect of the Passover. The lamb, the bread, and the bitter herbs are all related to Christ. In principle, therefore, Christ is not only the lamb of the Passover, but the very Passover itself.
The word Passover means that the judgment of God passes over us. In Exodus 12:13 the Lord says, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” Eventually, the Passover became a proper noun in English. The proper noun Passover has its source in the words “pass over” in 12:13.
But why is Christ called our Passover? According to Exodus 12, God passed over the children of Israel because the blood of the Passover lamb had been sprinkled on the lintel and the doorposts of their houses. The children of Israel had been commanded to eat the flesh of the lamb in their houses. This indicates that the house was to be their covering under which and in which they could eat the flesh of the Passover lamb. The house that covered them was to have blood sprinkled on the lintel and the doorposts. When God saw the blood, He passed over the children of Israel. Hence, this passing over was due to the sprinkled blood.
With Paul, however, we see that the Passover is related not only to the blood, but to Christ Himself. Are we today under the blood, or are we in Christ? Strictly speaking, to say that we are under the blood is not scriptural. This phrase is not found in the New Testament. But the New Testament says repeatedly that we are in Christ. According to 1 Corinthians 1:30, it is of God that we are in Christ. Because we are in Christ, He Himself becomes our Passover. This means that before Christ can be our Passover, He must first be our covering. Our covering today is not the blood; it is Christ. In Exodus 12 the Passover was based on the blood. But today our Passover is based on Christ. This is the reason Paul could say that Christ is our Passover.
If you were asked to list the items of the Passover in Exodus 12, you would probably mention the lamb, the flesh, the blood, the unleavened bread, and the herbs. But probably you would not include the house. The house in Exodus 12 is a type of Christ. At the end of Genesis 3, we see that God used skins to cover Adam and Eve (v. 21). In Genesis 4 Abel “brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof” and presented them to the Lord (v. 4). Through this offering, Abel was accepted by God. Later we read that Noah was charged to build an ark, which may be regarded as a floating house. This ark was a type of Christ into whom we have been placed by God. Noah and his family entered into the ark and in it they were saved from the flood. These instances indicate that the revelation in the Bible is progressive. In Genesis 3:21 we have the coats of skins; in Genesis 4:4, the offering of the firstlings of the flock; and in Genesis 6 and 7, the ark made by Noah.
In the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob we do not have a clear record of redemption. For this, we must go to the experience of the children of Israel recorded in Exodus 12. Here is the full development of God’s redemption that is first indicated in Genesis 3. In Genesis 3 we have the skins, in Genesis 4 we have the offering, and in Genesis 6 and 7 we have the ark. Now in Exodus 12 we have set before us the full development of God’s redemption. Here the ark becomes the house, a type of Christ, in which and by which the children of Israel were covered. This is the reason that no verse in the New Testament says that we are under the covering of the blood of Christ. However, a number of verses, especially in the Epistles, indicate that we are in Christ. According to Galatians 3, God has put us into Christ, and we are now in Christ. Because Christ is the house that covers us, He is our Passover. He is not only the lamb, the unleavened bread, and the herbs; He is also the house whose lintel and doorposts have been sprinkled with the redeeming blood.
The time of the Passover is related to a certain month and a certain date. The Hebrew people had two calendars, a sacred calendar and a civil calendar. The civil calendar was common, whereas the sacred calendar was related to the experience of God’s salvation. We who believe in Christ also have two calendars, a civil calendar and a sacred calendar. Anyone who does not have a sacred age as well as a civil age is not a genuine believer in Christ and cannot share in Christ as the Passover. As God’s redeemed ones, we have had two births, two beginnings: a physical birth with a physical beginning and a spiritual birth with a spiritual beginning. I can testify that I have had a second beginning, the beginning in the divine life. On the day we believed in the Lord Jesus, our age according to the sacred calendar began. On that day we had a new birth and a new beginning.
Exodus 12:2 speaks of the month of the Passover: “This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.” This verse indicates that the Passover was held during the first month of the sacred year. Originally, this month was the seventh month of the civil year. According to Genesis 8:4, Noah’s ark landed on the mountains of Ararat on the seventeenth day of the seventh month. Many Bible teachers believe that this seventh month was the first month of Exodus 12. The Passover was on the fourteenth day of this month. This means it was held three days before the day that marked the landing of the ark on the mountains of Ararat. This landing of the ark was a type of the resurrection of Christ. Christ was killed on the fourteenth day, and He was resurrected on the seventeenth day.
Exodus 13:4 says, “This day came ye out in the month Abib.” The word Abib means sprouting, budding, tender, and green, and it refers to green ears of wheat. After the Babylonian captivity, this month was called Nisan (Neh. 2:1; Esth. 3:7). Sprouting and budding signify the beginning of life’s energy. Our experience confirms this. On the day we first called on the name of the Lord, believed in Him, and were saved, life began to bud and sprout from within us. Anyone who has not experienced this is not a genuine believer. We all can testify that after we believed in the Lord Jesus, something began to bud and sprout from within us. Eventually, this sprouting produced tender green ears of grain, the issue of the inner life. This indicates that the divine life within us is productive. It is a budding, sprouting, producing life. This began the day we were saved, and it is still going on today.
According to 12:3, in the tenth day of the month the children of Israel were to take “to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers,” and prepare it for a period of four days. Then on the fourteenth day of the month, the actual date of the Passover, the lamb was killed (v. 6). The Lord Jesus was killed on the same day of the month (Luke 22:7-8, 14-15; John 18:28).
Fourteen days make up two weeks. In the Bible a week means a life, and the end of a week denotes the end of life. The Seventh-Day Adventists observe the seventh day, the end of the week. However, we enjoy the eighth day, the first day of the week, the beginning of a new week, a new beginning in resurrection (John 20:1). The fact that the Passover was held on the fourteenth day of the month means that it was held at the end of two complete weeks. This indicates that the Passover ends the course of the old life. This means that Christ’s death terminates the entire history of our old life.
We have pointed out that the children of Israel took the lamb on the tenth day of the month. After a lamb had been selected, it was examined for four days to test it, to find out whether or not it had blemishes. If you read the Gospels carefully, you will see that the Lord Jesus also was tested for four days. Like the lamb in Exodus 12, He had to be without blemish. During those four days, the Lord Jesus was examined by the congregation of Israel, as represented by the priests, elders, scribes, and Pharisees. Praise the Lord that He passed the test and was found to be without blemish! Therefore, at the end of those days, when the Passover had come, He was put to death.
The Lord Jesus was arrested on the first day of the feast of unleavened bread. This day was also the day of the Passover. The feast of Passover takes place on the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, which lasts a total of seven days. This means that when the Passover began, the feast of unleavened bread began also. However, the Passover lasted for one day, whereas the feast of unleavened bread continued for another six days. This is the reason that the feast of Passover could also be called the feast of unleavened bread. Hence, Luke 22:7 says, “And the day of Unleavened Bread came, on which the Passover must be sacrificed.” The Lord Jesus was arrested during the night that preceded the day of the Passover feast. (The Jewish calendar counts from night to day rather than from day to night, just as Genesis 1 does.) Then Christ was crucified on the very day of the Passover. Therefore, His death was the exact fulfillment of the type. Furthermore, as we have pointed out, He was resurrected on the seventeenth day of the month, in fulfillment of the type of the ark resting on the mountains of Ararat on the seventeenth day of the same month.
In 12:3 the children of Israel were commanded to “take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house.” The crucial point here is that the Passover lamb was not for every individual, but for every house. The unit of God’s salvation is not the individual; it is the house, the family. For example, in Joshua 2 and 6 Rahab was saved with all her father’s household. In Luke 19, the Lord Jesus said to Zaccheus the publican, “Today salvation has come to this house” (v. 9). According to Acts 11:14, the promise was made to Cornelius that he and all his house would be saved (v. 14). Furthermore, when the jailer asked what he must do to be saved, Paul and Silas told him, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:30-31). These cases indicate that the unit of God’s salvation is the house, not the individual.
Exodus 12:4 is a verse that is difficult to understand. “And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take one according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb” (Heb.). The households differed in size. If a man’s house was too small for the lamb, he and his neighbor were to come together to take one lamb according to the number of the souls. Verse 4 indicates that the lamb was both according to the number of the souls and according to every man’s eating. The lamb remained the same, but the houses differed in size. The lamb could not be too small for a house, but the house could be too small for the lamb.
It may seem that Moses’ composition in verse 4 is awkward. Actually, he wrote in a very meaningful way. If we would understand this verse, we must pay attention to three things: that a household could be too small for the lamb and would need to come together with another household; that the lamb was taken according to the number of the souls; and that the count for the lamb was made according to the eating of every man. If we put these three points together, we shall see that Christ is always sufficient. With Him there is no scarcity. The extent to which He can be enjoyed is both according to the number of people and according to our capacity to eat Him. If our capacity is large, Christ is adequate to supply us. If our capacity is limited, He can still meet our need. As the Passover lamb, Christ is all-sufficient. The very Christ typified by the Passover lamb has no scarcity. In every situation He can fully meet our need. It does not matter whether our family is large or small or whether it is joined together with another family. It does not matter how many souls there are or how large our appetite may be. Christ is sufficient to meet all our need.
Exodus 12:5 says, “Your lamb shall be without blemish.” To be without blemish is to be perfect. This signifies that Christ is perfect, without fault (John 8:46).
Exodus 12:5 goes on to say that the lamb had to be “a male of the first year,” taken either “out from the sheep, or from the goats.” What does it mean that the lamb was to be a male of the first year? To be of the first year is to be fresh and not to be used for any other purpose. In the eyes of God, when the Lord Jesus was put on the cross, He was of the first year. He was fresh, never having been used for another purpose.
By the time we were saved, we had all been used for some other purpose. Some of us had been used for several different purposes. We were not at all fresh. I was saved at the age of nineteen and a half. However, in the eyes of God, I was much older, for I had already been used for other purposes. The Lord Jesus, on the contrary, was fresh and not used for another purpose.
Exodus 12:5 indicates that the lamb could be either of the sheep or of the goats. According to Matthew 25, sheep signify those who are good, and goats those who are bad. When Christ was on the cross, was He good or bad? In a very real sense He was both. At the time of His crucifixion, He was both a sheep and a goat, depending from what angle His crucifixion is considered. In Himself Christ was altogether good. However, as our substitute, He was sinful. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:21, He who knew no sin was made sin on our behalf.
Just as the Passover lamb was examined for four days (12:3, 6), so Christ was examined for the same period of time. After He was arrested, the Lord was subject to six examinations, three at the hands of the priests who examined Him according to the law of God, and three under the Roman rulers, who tested Him according to Roman law. Eventually, Pilate had to declare that he could not find fault in Him. In fact, Pilate declared three times that he found no fault whatever in Him (John 18:38; 19:4, 6). Christ as the Passover lamb was faultless, without blemish.
Speaking of the Passover lamb, 12:6 says, “The whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.” Do you know who killed the Lord Jesus? He was killed by the congregation of God’s people. This means that we all had a part in killing Him.
Years ago, I read an article describing how the children of Israel slew the lamb during the Passover. According to this article, the lamb was put on a cross. The children of Israel took two wooden bars and formed a cross. They tied two legs of the lamb at the foot of the cross and fastened the other outstretched legs to the crossbar. Then they slew the lamb so that all its blood was shed, for they needed all of the blood to sprinkle on their door frames. We all know that the Roman Empire used the death penalty of the cross to crucify criminals, but the children of Israel used this method long before the time of the Roman Empire to slay the lamb at their Passover. The way the lamb was killed affords a picture of Christ’s crucifixion. Therefore, the type of the Passover foreshadowed both the date and the way Christ would be put to death for our redemption.
Exodus 12:7 says, “And they shall take of the blood, and put it on the two side posts and on the upper doorpost of the houses, wherein they shall eat it” (Heb.). The blood put on the lintel and the doorposts was for redemption. This blood typifies the redeeming blood of Christ (Matt. 26:28; John 19:34; 1 Pet. 1:18-19). As the children of Israel applied the Passover lamb, they were in houses that had been sprinkled with the blood of the lamb. This indicates that redemption is based on union. The blood of Christ cannot redeem us unless we are in union with Christ. Only by being in Christ can we be redeemed with the blood of Christ. If we are outside of Christ, His blood cannot redeem us. But once we are in Christ as the house, we are redeemed by the blood that has been sprinkled upon the lintel and doorposts of the house. Because redemption is based on union, we must be in union with Christ, identified with Christ. Then, because we are one with Him, we can be redeemed by His blood.
The ark built by Noah also illustrates this matter of union. Noah and his family entered into the ark. In this way they were in union with the ark, identified with the ark. Through this union, this identification, they were saved and redeemed by the ark. In the same principle, in order to be redeemed by the blood of the Passover lamb, the children of Israel had to be in the house that had been sprinkled with the blood. Furthermore, any who would apply the redemption of Christ must be in union with Him.
The flesh of the Passover lamb was to be eaten for life supply (12:8-10). The same is true of the Lord Jesus as the fulfillment of the type. Each of the Gospels speaks of the blood of Christ. The Gospel of John, however, goes on to say that the flesh of Christ is edible. In John 6:53 the Lord Jesus says that we must eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and in verse 55 He declares, “My flesh is true food.” Flesh here signifies the life of Christ. The life of Christ is edible; it is our life supply. This is mentioned in the Gospel of John because this Gospel, in contrast to the others, is focused on life. Therefore, this Gospel reveals that the blood of Christ redeems and that the life of Christ supplies. Hallelujah, we have the blood of the Lamb for redemption and the flesh of the Lamb for the supply of life!
In 12:8 the children of Israel were given the proper way to eat the flesh of the Passover lamb: roasted with fire. Fire here signifies God’s holy wrath exercised in judgment. When Christ was on the cross, the holy fire of God judged Him and consumed Him. Psalm 22:14 and 15 say, “My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws.” Then He cried, “I thirst” (John 19:28), because He was being burned by the holy fire of God’s judgment.
In 12:9 the children of Israel were charged not to eat of the lamb raw. Today those who do not believe in Christ’s redemption attempt to eat Him “raw.” This means that they regard Christ as a model or example of human living for them to imitate. In effect, to do this is to eat the Passover lamb raw.
Furthermore, the children of Israel were not to eat the lamb boiled with water (12:9). To eat of Christ as if He were “boiled with water” is to regard His death on the cross not as death for redemption, but as martyrdom. Many today do not believe that Christ died as the Redeemer. According to their concept, He was persecuted by man and died as a martyr, having sacrificed Himself for His teachings. To apply Christ’s death in this way is to eat the lamb boiled with water. To be boiled in water is to undergo suffering, but not the suffering of holy fire. Rather, this suffering is simply the suffering of persecution.
Today people try to use three ways to take Christ. As fundamental Christians, we believe that on the cross Christ suffered for us under God’s judgment. He was burned and “roasted” by the holy fire of God’s wrath. As our Redeemer, He was judged for us. This is to take Christ roasted with fire. This is the proper way ordained by God. A second way, advocated by modernists, is to take Christ “raw.” This is to take Christ as an example and to imitate the way He behaved. The third way is to take Christ “boiled.” This is to regard Christ’s death on the cross as persecution and martyrdom, not as death for our redemption. How do you take Christ — roasted, raw, or boiled? If you believe that Christ died on the cross as a martyr because of man’s persecution, then you eat the Passover lamb by boiling it in water. However, if you believe that He died as our Redeemer, being roasted by the holy fire of God, then you eat Him as the Passover lamb roasted in fire.
The children of Israel were to eat the lamb with its head, legs, and inwards (12:9, Heb.). The head signifies wisdom, the legs signify activity and move, and the inwards signify the various inward parts of Christ’s being. To eat the Passover lamb with the head, legs, and inwards is to take Christ as a whole, in His entirety. As we eat Him, we take His wisdom, activities, move, and inward parts.
According to 12:8, the children of Israel were to eat the flesh of the lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. To eat with unleavened bread means to eliminate all sinful things. When we enjoy Christ as our Passover, we must purge away everything sinful. At the same time, we need to eat bitter herbs. This means that we need to regret and repent, to experience a bitter taste regarding sinful things. When we believed in the Lord Jesus, many of us received Him as our life supply and also gave up everything sinful. At the same time, we experienced regret and repentance. This indicates that we ate Christ with bitter herbs.
We should not take the lamb without the unleavened bread and the bitter herbs. Whenever you receive Christ as your supply, you receive a life without sin, without leaven, that gives you a bitter feeling when you sin, that repents when you make a mistake. This life is sensitive to sin, to any kind of wrongdoing, to anything of the self. To keep yourself unleavened, you have to repent.
Exodus 12:10 says, “And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.” Nothing of the Passover lamb was to be left until morning. This indicates that we are to receive Christ in a full way, not partially. Do not allow anything of Christ to be left over. Rather, take Him in full.
Exodus 12:46 says that the children of Israel were not to break any of the bones of the Passover lamb. When Christ was crucified as our Passover lamb, His legs were not broken (John 19:33, 36). The fact that Christ’s legs were not broken signifies that in Christ, the Passover lamb, there is something unbreakable and indestructible. This unbreakable and indestructible element is His eternal life. The Roman soldiers and Jewish people could come together to put Christ on the cross, but they could not break His eternal life.
We can prove from the Scriptures that the bone signifies life. According to Genesis 2:21, the Lord took a bone, a rib, out of Adam and built it into a woman. The woman, Eve, was produced from a bone taken out of Adam. Hence, a bone signifies life that imparts life. The bone taken out of Adam imparted Adam’s life into Eve. In the same principle, Christ’s unbroken bone signifies His unbreakable and indestructible eternal life that imparts His life into us. In Christ as our Passover lamb there is such an unbreakable and indestructible life that can impart life into us.
