Exodus 12:1-14
God
declares that Passover shall be on the tenth day of the first month of the
year! Exodus
12:3
This makes Passover the first holy day of the New Year- a time of new
beginnings!
“And the people came up out of Jordan on
the tenth day of the first month and camped in Gilgal, in the east border of
Jericho.” Joshua 4:19
Type & Shadow: vs.4-5 Every head of house
was to take a one year old male lamb or goat without blemish. "And if the household be too little for the lamb,
let him... share with his nearest neighbor, based on how much each person will
eat. Don't you love the wording? The lamb isn't too little-ever-and sharing
with a neighbor came right at the start!
In
verse 6, the animal chosen was to be cared for by each family until the 14th of
the month, that's 5 days! This is where we see such a time of intimacy and deep
emotion if we look...but I missed it for 40 years! Have you seen the silly,
goose-y, soft adorableness of a one year old baby lamb? They are tiny, not much
bigger than a large cat or puppy. Keeping this little perfect lamb, feeding it, giving it a place to sleep,
caring for it for 5 days creates a bond! Especially if you have any
'kids' of your own! How tough to then sacrifice it!!!
Reality: This gives new
meaning to a longtime favorite verse of mine: "And the Word became flesh
and dwelt among us and we beheld His
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and
truth."Joh1:14 Having a
delightful baby lamb dwell with them for 5
days gave them the experience of seeing the perfect lamb
without blemish the way God views His Son Jesus, and now sees us!
[One
meaning of glory: the view & opinion of God, which is reality]
We have a small glimpse into the heart
of God and His feelings for His only Son, Jesus. "Behold, the
Lamb which takes away the sin of the world". John 1:29 Five days prior to Passover, John 12 Jesus visited the
temple daily and was examined thoroughly by the Pharisees and church leaders
for any "blemishes". They found none! 1Peter 1:19 The shadow
of Exodus 12:6 was made reality in John
1:14. Because
of God's desire and deep love for us, He chose to redeem us (buy us back from
the ravages of sin and restore us to purity and righteousness) by giving up His
Son---but the sacrifice was huge! John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only
son that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the
world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
Type & Shadow: In the first Passover
in Egypt, everyone was to kill their baby lamb at twilight or evening which
began at
3PM. The blood was applied to both sides and across the top of the door of the
house, creating a cross, where the family would eat the lamb. God gave them
"knowledge" [experience] of - His love and delight and emotional bond
in this type and shadow. This picture helps us feel the joy, the dread,
and the pain of the day; it gives me a sense of the emotions God felt.
Shadow AND Reality When our Messiah was
being tied and nailed on the cross at Golgotha; simultaneously a lamb without
blemish was being tied to a post in the temple - at 9:00am! Reality and
shadow were happening simultaneously.
At precisely 3:00 pm in the Temple, once the sacrificial lamb was killed; the
high priest would shout "it is finished" and blow the shofar horn,
announcing to all in the city that the sacrifice had been made for their
sins...prior to Passover, which began at 6:00 pm. On Golgotha, Christ cried
out, "It is finished" at
3:00 pm, and died. What a picture. God didn't allow his son to die unannounced,
just as he didn't allow him to be born unannounced! Luke 2:13-14
Type & Shadow: Numbers 21:8-9
(and I Kings 18:4)
In the
journeys thru the wilderness the people began to complain
and grumble against God and Moses,
saying that they had been brought out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, and
saying how they HATED the “light bread” (manna). The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people
and they bit the people and many died. Then they came to Moses and said they
had sinned because they had spoken against the LORD and
Moses. They asked Moses to pray to the LORD to take the serpents
from them. “And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it
upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he
looks upon it, shall live.”
Reality Joh 3:14-15 “And as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
Shadow: Verses 8-10 tell us
how they were to eat the Passover Lamb: roasted in fire! Fire speaks of God's judgment,
from Genesis 22:13 to Revelation 20:15. Nothing of the lamb was to remain until
morning; it must be completely eaten or burned with fire, and no
bones broken.
Reality
John 12:31-32: Jesus says that "he will draw all judgment unto himself as he is
lifted up" on
the cross. Jesus became all our sins -- completely gone/redeemed!
Wow! What reality when we choose Christ! Who would want to stay
in the shadow of the old covenant? [Vs. 31 is talking
about judgment, not men; ‘men’ was added] "Therefore since
we have been justified, made as we should be, in God's
sight by faith, we have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rom
5.1
Shadow: The blood on the outside doorposts: "When
I see the blood, I will pass over you..."
Reality:
"But only the high priest entered the Most Holy Place and that only once a
year, and never without blood (of
animals) which he offered..."Heb.9:7
"Since
we have now been justified, made righteous, by his
blood, how much more shall we be saved [sozo*] from God's wrath through him." *Sozo, the Greek word for "saved" means "saved,
healed, delivered, blessed, prospered, made whole, set apart..."
Shadow: Vs.11-14 describes the readiness they
were to be in as they ate the roasted lamb: “with loins girded, shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand”-READY-prepared
and anticipating change and deliverance. The Jewish people leaving Egypt the
next morning were "ready" to be saved*sozo, from slavery; ready for a
whole new life. Freed from slavery, whole, healthy, blessed according to Psalm
105:37: "Moses brought out Israel laden
with silver and gold and from among their tribes no one faltered." [No diseases, none lame, sick or too old
to walk!]
Reality: Let us also be Ready, as
we partake of this "Passover memorial. Ready to acknowledge, and walk
in, all that we have been given in Christ our Savior. "Herein is
our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment:
because as he is, so are we in this world." 1Jn 4:17
Today
when we partake of the blood of Christ as a memorial, communion, should we also
be ready? What are you ready for?
Shadow AND Reality "Jesus took
the bread, gave thanks and broke it,
saying, "Take, and eat; this is my body.
Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the
covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."
This is the ultimate shadow/type &
reality picture!
Hence
in Exodus 12:15-20 when it says “seven days you shall eat unleavened bread,” we find I Corinthians 5:7-8 talking about the
leaven representing malice and wickedness (iniquity) and unleavened bread
representing sincerity and truth.
May you BELIEVE the reality of the
abundant life, in Christ! Walk in the intimacy
and Reality of Passover, just as the Israelites walked out of Egypt and
through the Red Sea on dry ground. May you not doubt God's NEW Covenant, established with the
blood of God's only Son for you! We have soooo much more than Shadow and type! We have Christ - Reality.
_________________________________
He that believes on him is not condemned: but he
that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the
name of the only begotten Son of God.
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the
world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every
one that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. John3:17-19
