Today we look at the Feast of Passover. It is the first of the seven feasts of the LORD. Bible teacher Joshua Typos looks at Exodus, Leviticus, and many other passages to help you understand this very important Moed (appointment) God has made with His people. Learn with us as we look at God’s planner of His Holy Appointments.
Like all the Old Testament Jewish Feasts, the Passover Feast was a foreshadowing of Christ’s atoning work on the cross. Colossians 2:16-17 tells us that we should “let no man, therefore, judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”
Origination of Passover
Moses had been instructed to lead God’s people out of Egypt and save them from the evil and ungodly Pharaoh. Because of Pharaoh’s disbelief in the power of the One True God, Yahweh sent a series of ten plagues upon the Egyptians: the Nile turned to blood, and at various times the land was filled with frogs, gnats, flies, hail, locusts, and darkness. In one awesome act of God’s ultimate authority, He sent one final devastating plague: every firstborn of every household would be annihilated.
In His mercy toward His people, God would shield the Israelites from such unmerciful judgment if they followed the instructions He gave Moses and Aaron. Exodus 12:1-11 outlines the specific instructions. In sum, each family was to take a lamb, and all households were to slaughter their lambs at the same time at twilight after a certain number of days. Then they were commanded to paint the sides and top of their doorways with some of this blood. Once this was done and all the meat of the lamb was eaten in accordance with God’s instructions, God would spare the Israelites from death. This is what the Lord said:
“On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn — both men and animals — and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come, you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord — a lasting ordinance” (Exodus 12:12-14).
