Have you heard of the Passover? Every year, in the Springtime, Jewish people around the world celebrate something known as the Passover. The Passover is a seven-day celebration of the children of Israel’s Exodus from Egypt. Exodus means a “mass departure of people”
In 1 Kings 6, the Bible literally tells us that the Exodus from Egypt took place approximately 1444 BCE, stating that the Exodus was 480 years before the fourth year of King Solomon’s reign (King of Israel). This is about 1500 years before Jesus.
“Historical evidence for the biblical account of the Exodus might be located at a site near the Jordan River, according to a recently announced discovery.”
What happened in the Exodus and why does it matter to us today? We mentioned in previous posts that God uses the physical world to teach us spiritual concepts. A great illustration of this is the Exodus. Exodus is actually the 2nd book of the Bible and details the Hebrew people’s incredible journey from slavery to freedom.
Just to set the stage. We have stated that God, our Creator, is a God of order and perfection. He first worked with one or two people, then a few more, later an entire nation, and finally..the world. God’s plan has always been to save all of mankind; however, He works in a particular order. God “chose” the Hebrew people out of the world to be the ones through whom He would give His Laws, precepts, commandments and most importantly through whom He would bring the Messiah, Savior of the entire world, Jesus the Christ. But, like all people, the Hebrew people were difficult and stubborn, a “stiff-necked people”. However, when they cried out to God, He heard their cries, and He rescued them.
During the time of the Exodus, the very rich and powerful Pharoah of Egypt had forced the Hebrew people into slavery. The people cried out to God and God heard their cries. God raised up a Hebrew man named Moses to lead them out of slavery and bondage. Moses wasn’t totally thrilled with the “job”, but he obediently did what God asked of him.
Perhaps you have heard of the 10 plagues of Egypt? God told Moses to go to Pharoah and demand that he set the Hebrew people free. If Pharoah refused, God would send a plague to Egypt to “convince” him to let God’s people go. As it turned out, Pharoah’s heart was hardened (aka he was very stubborn), and each time Moses made the request, Pharoah refused to set God’s people free. The Plagues started out kind of small, just annoying things like gnats and flies, but later, as Pharoah continued to refuse, they became more severe, like death of livestock, hail, and boils. When the plagues first began, they affected both the Israelites and the Egyptians; however, as they increased in severity, God made a distinction between those who belonged to (worshipped) Him, and those who did not. Remember, each time Pharoah was warned, but refused. The final plague would be the death of the firstborn. Sadly, the plagues had to get this bad before Pharoah would set the Hebrew people free!
At the time of the 10th and final plague, God told the Hebrews, through Moses, that each family was to select a lamb, without spot or blemish (flawless). They were to select this lamb, and after sunset, kill the lamb, cook it and eat every bit of it. I know this sounds kind of “foreign”, but they were to take the blood of the Lamb and spread some of it over the doorposts and lintels of their homes. They were to eat the lamb with their “loins girded and their sandals on” (fully clothed and ready to roll). This is because Pharoah was about to let them go, and their exodus would begin. When night fell, a plague of death came over the whole of Egypt, just as God had warned the Pharoah through Moses. The plague of death killed the firstborn of every household who did not have the blood of the lamb covering their doorposts. It was so terribly sad that it had to come to this! But, after this horrible plague, Pharoah finally relented and set the Hebrew people free. This began their Exodus out of Egypt.
Why does this matter to us, now? Because Jesus IS the Passover Lamb of God. He is even called the “Lamb of God” in the Bible. In about 30AD, Jesus, a Hebrew man and the only SINLESS person who ever lived (without spot or blemish), was arrested the night of the Passover. He was tried in an illegal trial through the night. His “crime” was claiming to be the Prophesied Messiah, even though He had proved it time and again through His Miracles of healing! All throughout the Old Testament (Torah), there was a prophecy (foretelling) of a Messiah, an Anointed One who would eventually come, take away the sin of Israel, rescue Israel, and ultimately be King of ALL Israel. But this “stiff-necked” people DID NOT recognize Jesus as the Prophesied Messiah! Do we?
Jesus was beaten and scourged the morning of the Passover and nailed to the cross at 9AM. By noon, the skies grew very dark (as black as night, like an unscheduled eclipse). The skies remained dark for 3 hours, and at 3PM, the moment that Jesus drew His last breath, there was a Great Earthquake. Jesus’ cried out “Forgive them Father for they know not what they do”. (Luke 22:33-34)
Because of sin, there is a plague of death💀 coming for every person who has drawn breath on this earth. We have sin embedded in our flesh, and therefore we cannot save ourselves. No amount of “good works” can ever be enough to expunge the sin in our flesh. Sadly, all people will eventually die a physical death. This is assured, and the consequence of sin. Although terrible, painful, and sad, earthly death is but a shadow of the REAL DEATH. The real death is a spiritual death, or permanent separation from our Creator. We cannot stress ENOUGH how serious this is. The ONLY way to escape this permanent death is to spread the blood of the lamb (Jesus the Christ) spiritually over the “doorposts and lintels” of our hearts. ✝️ When we do this, the plague of DEATH (PERMANENT SEPARATION) will PASS OVER us, and we will LIVE!
How do we apply the blood of Jesus over our hearts? This sounds impossible. No, it’s really very simple. This is not about literal blood. It is about FAITH. Just BELIEVE in JESUS the MESSIAH, the ONE who has set us FREE!
If we BELIEVE with our hearts
- that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah, Son of God),
- that He took our sins upon Himself and buried them in the grave, rising from the dead 3 days later,
- and we CONFESS with our mouths that Jesus is Lord (Creator, God, the One with Authority over us), then we will be SAVED!
The death plague will pass right over us and we will NOT be harmed! Yeshua, Jesus’ name in Hebrew, His “real” Name literally means “Yahweh [the Lord] is Salvation.”
See you back next time, when we see Jesus in the Old Testament prophecies.
