The Feast of Passover
Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) spoke of the kingdom of
God as being composed of treasures new and old. Nowhere is this more
apparent than in the Passover story where there are spiritual treasures both
in the New Covenant and the Old Covenant.
The story of Passover begins four hundred years before the actual events
took place. The Lord had prophesied to Abraham that his descendants would be
in exile for four hundred years; after that God had promised to redeem His
people and bring them back to the Promised Land.
At the appointed time, God raised up Moses to deliver the Jewish People out
of Egypt. Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he refused to let the Jewish
People leave, thereby setting the stage for a showdown with the God of
Israel. Even after Egypt was hit with nine devastating plagues, Pharaoh
still refused to let the Jewish People go. God had one more plague left
which would reveal both His judgment and His mercy at the same time.
God would bring judgment against all the firstborn in the land of Egypt; all
of them would die, including Pharaoh's firstborn child. However, God would
redeem the firstborn among the Jewish People in a very special way. Every
family was instructed to take a lamb on the tenth day of the month and keep
it until the fourteenth day of the month. At twilight on the fourteenth,
they were to kill the lamb and spread the blood of that lamb on the
doorposts and on the lintel of their house. The reason is given in Exodus
12:13: "Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you
are. And when I see the blood I will pass over you; and the plague shall not
be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt."
At midnight all the firstborn of Egypt died, all those who had not placed
the blood of the lamb upon their door as the Lord had said. This last plague
moved Pharaoh to finally release the Jewish People from the harsh bondage
and slavery he had imposed upon them. The people of Israel left Egypt in
such haste that their bread did not have time to rise in their ovens; thus
they took unleavened bread with them.
These momentous events are commemorated yearly during the feast of Passover
by the Jewish People. This feast represents the birth of the nation of
Israel through redemption by the blood of the Passover lamb. God's plan for
the Jewish People was truly progressing.
Fifteen hundred years later, God marvelously fulfilled Passover, which
impacted the entire world. Now was the time for the promised Messiah to be
revealed and to give His life for the eternal redemption of both the nation
of Israel as well as every other tongue, tribe and nation.
Upon seeing Yeshua, the prophet Yohanan, (John the Baptist), cried out,
"Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John
1:29). Which lamb was he referring to? The very one which the Jewish People
commemorate each and every year during Passover -- the lamb whose blood was
applied to the door and the lintel of their houses in Egypt. This was the
lamb whose blood caused God's judgment of death to "pass over" their
firstborn child.
It is amazing that Yeshua was put to death during Passover in direct
fulfillment of the ancient Jewish feast inaugurated fifteen hundred years
earlier. As we apply His shed blood to our hearts and lives, God's eternal
judgment of death most certainly "passes over" us! The apostle Peter
confirms that we were redeemed, "with the precious blood of Messiah, as
of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1Peter 1:19).
To establish the veracity of these claims beyond any shadow of a doubt, God
raised Yeshua from the dead during Passover as the First fruits of all who
would believe and follow Him.
For believers in Yeshua, both Jew and Gentile, Passover is a treasure, new
and old. It reveals God's faithful love for His Covenant People Israel. He
promised to redeem us and He did. He promised to send the Messiah and He
did. It also reveals God's faithful love for the world. God had promised
that through Abraham's seed, (The Messiah) all the nations of the world
would be blessed. He who promised proved faithful so that, "the blessing
of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Messiah Yeshua…" (Gal.3: 14).
Truly, Yeshua, the Passover Lamb is a Treasure to us all!
Messianic Rabbi Jeffrey Forman
Friend of Answers2Prayer
Appearing in the Thursday, March 28, 2002 edition of Answers2Prayer newsletter