The Passover And Feast Of Unleavened Bread

by R. Hickling, Nottingham, England | Category: Christ In Type And Shadow | Apr 1989

A Night to Remember

By nature, children have enquiring minds. Parents, teachers and others are familiar with their questions of "how?" and "why?".

The sons and daughters of the people of Israel were obviously no exception for in relation to the Feast of the Passover, Moses told the people, "when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? ... ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S Passover" (Ex. 12:26,27). Later, this instruction was repeated in view of the "time to come" (Ex. 13:14,15). It is clear from the Scriptures that considerable importance was attached to parents teaching and explaining the ways of God to their children (Deut. 6:20-25; Joshua 4:6,7).

The Feast of the Passover was no mere ritual without significance and meaning. It was an ordinance, an authoritative arrangement to commemorate the time when the Lord redeemed His people Israel by a mighty hand. But why did Israel need to be redeemed, and how was this to be achieved? They needed to be redeemed because they had become slaves to Pharaoh; he had come to look upon them as his own people to use as he wished. The message to him from God was clear, "Let My people go, that they may serve Me" (Ex. 7:16). They were God's

people, not Pharaoh's.

The House of Bondage

The Pharaoh of Joseph's day was dead. Another had arisen "which knew not Joseph". The rapid expansion of the Israelites alarmed him (Ex. 1:7); he feared they would form a threat to his kingdom. So he issued a terrible edict that male Hebrew babies were to be killed at birth, while the people generally were forced to labour for him making bricks and building store cities. Not content with the affliction he had put on them, he made their task more difficult. Day after day, the hapless Israelites would labour under the most severe conditions, knowing the lash of the task masters. It was a bitter experience, yet God used this to chasten His people. There had been spiritual decline among the seed of Jacob. They had become defiled with the idols of Egypt (Ezek. 20:7,8) and certain aspects of Egyptian life had appealed to them (Ex. 16:3). Pharaoh was a mighty ruler, but the God of heaven is almighty, and He wrought for His Name's sake to bring them out of the land of Egypt, to redeem them unto

Himself that they might serve Him (Ex. 6:6,7).

Redemption

To redeem means to buy back. The thoughts of necessary power, and also of the price are involved. The people of Israel were powerless to free themselves from Pharaoh's bondage. Any emancipation must be brought about by another, and the power of God was to be displayed in the wonders He wrought in Egypt culminating in the slaying of the firstborn sons of the Egyptians from the greatest to the least. The price was paid in the giving of a life and the shedding of the blood of the passover lamb. Both these aspects are brought before us as we meditate upon the Feast of the Passover.

The Feast of the Passover

Exodus chapter 12 gives the divine instructions regarding this Feast. On the first day of the month, a lamb was to be taken. It was to be a male of the first year and without blemish, and to be kept up until the fourteenth day when it was to be slain (Ex. 12:3-6). As we picture in our minds the head of the household carefully selecting the lamb, we think in wonder of that time about which we sing in praise to our God:

Thou, ere the worlds were made, did'st plan

To seek and save poor ruined man.

We wonder afresh at that time when the One, like Isaiah, had said, "Here

am I send Me" stooped from His heavenly throne to come to a sin-spoiled earth to give Himself as the Lamb of God! The Hebrew word in Exodus 12:6 is translated "keep", meaning to "guard", so from the tenth to the fourteenth day, the household would be able to guard the purity of the lamb which they knew would soon be killed. During that time possibly a certain degree of affection for the young lamb would be formed by those in whose household it was.

In his address as recorded in Acts 1, Peter refers to the Lord Jesus Christ as One who "went in and out among us" (v.21). This aptly describes the time of the Lord's ministry, when He moved about among men, visiting their towns and villages, entering their homes and mingling with them to bring healing and mercy and speak the word of truth. This was the time when He was watched by many. Some sought to find faults in Him; others saw His sinlessness manifested, and, in the light of His holiness and purity, their own need and sinfulness was emphasized. Peter could say "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, 0 Lord"(Luke 5:8). But the One from heaven had not come to neglect sinners, but to save them.

In those early days of seclusion in the home at Nazareth, Mary would observe her Son with wonder, remembering those things that had been said about Him (Luke 2:51). Even Pilate could say, "I find no crime in Him" (John 19:6). In truth, as Peter who sojourned with Him during the time of His ministry could testify, He "did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth" (1 Pet. 2:22). This was the Lamb of God, without blemish, come to take away the sin of the world.

The taking of the Lamb was not sufficient in itself to save the firstborn son from the destroying angel. The lamb must die and its blood be shed. This was the price of their redemption. Further, the blood must be applied to the door posts and the lintel of each Israelite home. "When I see the blood, I will pass over you" declared the Lord (Ex. 12:13). The application of the blood was an act of faith: Israel believed the divine message, obeyed the word of the Lord, and were sheltered from the wrath of God. The slaying of the lamb no doubt gave rise to some sorrow in the hearts of those who had observed it for so long, but without the shedding of the blood there could be no deliverance; the price of redemption must be paid. Believers on the Lord Jesus Christ have known release from the bonds of sin, as the hymn writer expresses it:

And we have known redemption,Lord,

From bondage worse than theirs by far;

Sin held us with a stronger cord,

Yet by Thy mercy free we are.

But what of the cost? At what a price was our redemption wrought! "Ye were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold ... but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, even the blood of Christ" (1 Pet. 1:18,19). Who can measure the preciousness of the blood of Christ our Saviour? It is far beyond human comprehension; only God the Father can fully appreciate the worth of the Son!

In that night when the people of Israel were in their homes, sheltering under the blood of the lamb, they had to eat its flesh which was roasted by fife (Ex. 12:8). In this, we see firstly a type of Christ our Passover who suffered the fife of divine judgement, not for His sin for He had none, but for ours. Then the feasting on the roasted lamb would speak to us of communion, and of the importance of the believer having daily food as he walks with and, learns of Christ.

Following the application of the shed blood, the family would gather in the home, and we picture them there with loins girded, shoes on their feet and a staff in their hands, fully prepared for their long journey after their deliverance. The flesh of the lamb was to be eaten with bitter herbs, and, although they had much to which they could look forward, these would serve to remind them of their enslavement in Egypt.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread

The Feast of Unleavened Bread is closely associated with the Feast of the Passover. The latter was a one-day event, while the former was to be kept for seven days (Ex. 13:7). Leaven, in Scripture, is used mostly as a type of sin. The Israelites had to be taught that they must put away sin from their own individual lives, and as a people. They were to come into covenant relationship with God to serve Him, and sin must not be characteristic of them. In writing to the Corinthians Paul draws attention to one who is committing grievous sin, and exhorts them to put away the man from the assembly, writing, "Purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump" (1 Cor. 5:7). Sin has a corrupting influence both in a person's heart and in a church of God, as Paul expresses it, "Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?" (1 Cor. 5:6). Believers should be conscious of sin and failure in their lives, confessing it to God for forgiveness in the light of 1 John 1:6-10.

It is said that it was the ancient Egyptians who discovered that the addition of leaven to dough before baking produced a sweeter tasting, more palatable bread. No doubt the Israelites learned of this while in Egypt, and adopted the practice. Unleavened bread was somewhat insipid, with a tendency to bitterness. Exodus 12:34, 39, tells us that, on the night of Israel's deliverance, their dough was not leavened because "they were thrust out of

Egypt, and could not tarry". This seems to imply that, in spite of the divine command (Ex. 12:15), their intention was to leaven it, but they were prevented from doing so by the overruling of God in their hasty departure.

Eating this rather bitter bread would remind the Israelites of their sufferings in Egypt and the great deliverance wrought for them by the Lord. There is one sense in which a believer should never look back; that is, there should never be a lusting after the things of the world (1 John 2:15), but in a different sense it is spiritually stimulating to review all that God has done for us in bringing us under conviction of sin, in leading us to the Saviour and caring for us on the pilgrim way. "Thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God hath led thee" (Deut. 8:2).

In 1 Corinthians 5:8 we read of a feast or festival which is associated with Christ our Passover having been sacrificed for us. This is the New Testament answer to the Feast of Unleavened bread. It speaks to us of the day by day communion of the believer with his Lord. If the leaven of wickedness is introduced into our lives it will mar this communion, spoil our joy and ruin our service: "let us keep festival (RVM), not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth".

R. Hickling, Nottingham, England | Apr 1989
Christ In Type And Shadow