"The Lord's Passover; or, The Beginning...Forever"
Exodus 12:1-28

“1 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. 3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: 4 And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.

5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: 6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. 7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. 8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. 10 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.

11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’S passover. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. 13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. 14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.

15 Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. 16 And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. 17 And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever. 18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. 19 Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land. 20 Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.

21 ¶ Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. 22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. 23 For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. 24 And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever.

25 And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. 26 And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? 27 That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD’S passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped. 28 And the children of Israel went away, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.” (Ex 12:1-28 )

A. The first 20 verses have to do with the perpetual observances of the Passover, which became part of the Law, although the sacrament of the Passover included a remembrance of the details of what happened that night and the law is mingled with the history. Today I will just deal with the formal history of the Passover that resumes at verse 21. The celebration of the yearly Passover included the Passover itself on the 14th day of the month and continued through the 21st day of the month with the feast of unleavened bread. That may, or may not, be a sermon for a later occasion. In this series I am dealing primarily with the history, although will comment on the law as it appears to be necessary.

B. The time. All of the years of Israel were to be numbered from this day. Just as the Christian era is numbered from the coming of Christ, the nation of Israel numbered their time from the Exodus from Egypt which coincided with the giving of the Passover. They went out of Egypt on the 14th day of the first month of their calendar.

C. The lamb. We pick up the narrative at verse 21.

1. Chosen according to the number in the family, and small families could be joined together, the lamb was killed in the evening and the blood collected in a basin.

2. Then, they were to take a bunch of hyssop, a plant that would be used for purification rites in the law of Moses, dip the sprigs in the blood and strike the blood over the top of the door frame and on both sides.

D. The promise: At midnight God would pass over the land of Egypt and the firstborn male of every household would die. The word “Passover” refers to God for when He saw the blood on the door of any house, He would pass over that house and the first born would not die.

1. Both things were necessary for the house to be spared the judgment of God: the killing of the lamb, and the application of the blood to the door.

2. In the law in verse 13 God promised “when I see the blood, I will pass over you.” It is the Lord’s Passover, and applies to God, not the people. This promise is repeated in vs. 23.

3. If the people did not follow the instructions and the blood was not applied, then the firstborn in that house died in the destruction that came upon Egypt.

A. 1 Cor. 5:7, 8 clearly ties the Passover to the sacrifice of Christ. 7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1Co 5:7, 8) The Feast of Unleavened Bread is to be distinguished from the Passover, though the Passover was the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. In the Passover, they ate the flesh of the Passover Lamb. In the Lord’s Supper we eat common bread and show the difference between the two. The unleavened bread represents the people, and all leaven of hypocrisy and error is to be put away. In the Lord’s Supper the bread is the body of Christ, not the people. As one body, we partake of the body and blood of Christ and that feast is of sincerity and truth. The bread is different, though related.

B. The sprinkling of the blood with the bunch of hyssop is given the following meaning by the New Testament writers. Let us look at these passages:

1. Ephesians 2:

a) 11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

b) By the blood of Christ we are united to the promises and the hope and to God. Hence, we do not perish with the world when God passes through to bring judgment.

2. Hebrews 9:

a) 22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. …

b) 27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

c) By the shedding blood is remission of sins, and the blood of the Passover removed the sins from the sight of God and they were secure in their houses.

d) When I see the blood, I will pass over you, is the promise to you and to me also.

3. 1 Peter 1:18ff

a) 18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. 22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: 23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

b) Just as the blood of the lamb on the door brought deliverance to all in that house, so the blood of Christ purifies the soul from the guilt of sin and the misery it brings.

4. John 6:54, 54

a) Joh 6:53, 53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

b) Without the sacrifice of the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world we have no life in us and we will not escape the destroyer.

III. Application

A. God did not destroy all the Egyptians. A great many of the elect of God were in the loins of those Egyptians and a great many would turn to Christ when the Gospel was preached to them. So this was only a token judgment—a most serious one. The judgment at the last day will be on all the ungodly.

B. In Israel all those in the house were under the blood and preserved. We know that a great many of them did not believe the promise and their carcasses later were to fall in the wilderness. But all wer under the blood and escaped the temporal judgment.

C. In the same way in the book of Acts when somebody confessed Christ, he and his house were baptized. There is not a single mention of adults being baptized without their families. Even Lydia was baptized with all her house and there is no mention of a male adult. If the blood of the lamb was a “token” –see Exodus 12:13 was a token of the grace of God in passing over that house, then certainly we ought to baptize all that are under our authority.

D. The blood was not applied to any individual but to the house. Baptism IS applied to individuals to show that we do not have to belong to a Christian house in order to receive the blessing. But Peter binds the promise to both individuals and their children in Acts 2:38, 39:

“38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” (Ac 2:38-39)

E. Although by our baptism, we are united to the visible people of God just as Israel was by the sprinkling of the blood on that first Passover, later baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea [1Cor 10], yet it is only by personal faith that each individual inherits the promise of God of eternal life. Jesus put it this way in John 6:53, 54: Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

F. You will not be saved by sprinkling blood on your head or on your door. You will be saved because you believe in Christ and His sacrifice for your sins. This is what will save your soul, and God will look only for that faith in the blood of Christ. If He sees that faith, He will pass over you in the day of judgment.