The Miracle of Passover!

By Helen Jesze, 29th April 2016

“The blood shall be for a token or sign to you upon (the doorposts of) the houses where you are, (that) when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt.”

Exodus 12, 13 The Amplified Bible

“And they have overcome (conquered) him by means of the blood of the Lamb and by the utterance of their testimony…”

Revelation 12, 11 The Amplified Bible

“…Christ, our Passover (Lamb) has been sacrificed.”

1 Corinthians 5

This week, the Jews in Israel and all over the world have been celebrating the Feast of Pesach or Passover. Starting last Saturday, 23rd April, it ends today on 29th in Israel, but may continue for one more day in other countries. Because we read that Jesus was crucified at the time of the Passover Feast in Jerusalem, and Christians celebrate his death and resurrection at a time we call “Easter” or “Latin Easter”, we may unconsciously think that these two Jewish and Christian celebrations always take place at the same time of the year, and wonder why they have only just now had Passover!

The reason is because the Jewish calendar and the Western or Christian calendar (“Gregorian”, named after Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in October 1582 and internationally the most widely used civil calendar), are set up differently, giving different dates, although there are occasions when the two holidays overlap.

Brought to Egypt by Jacob’s son, Joseph, to escape the famine, the Jewish immigrants were welcomed by the Pharaoh and enjoyed a good life for a number of years. Then after Joseph died and a new man became the Pharaoh, all the Jews were taken captive and made his slaves. They endured hard labour, torture and cruelty, until their God heard their cries and brought them a deliverer, Moses, who was to lead them out of Egypt. Moses had been several times to the palace and demanded in God’s Name that the people should be allowed to leave: “Let my people go​!” but Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he would not allow this.

God punished Egypt and its people with nine plagues, but the Pharaoh still was not willing, so God instructed Moses to tell the Children of Israel to take a lamb, kill it, catch the blood in a basin and sprinkle it on the door ­lintels of each house. Every person was to eat the roasted lamb and remain in the house all night, then they would be safe. They did this, and that night God’s death­-angel flew over Egypt and killed the firstborn child or animal in every house where there was no blood on the doorway. God’s people were ‘passed over’ and were saved. After this plague, Pharaoh allowed the Hebrew slaves to leave. God said they must remember this mighty deliverance for “all generations” and celebrate this every year.

This happened many years ago and we might say: This is a Jewish feast and we are Christians what difference does it make to us today in 2016? Well, we may not celebrate the Jewish feasts (although there are Christians who do), still there are important parallels for us to see and learn here. Let’s look at some of them.

The Israelites were in bondage and slavery to the Egyptians, although this was temporary. Every one of us was in bondage and slavery to satan, a yoke much heavier, but this was permanent, for all eternity. God had a plan to free them and Moses to bring that to pass and take them to the Promised Land. God had a plan to free us, and this was through Jesus Christ, his Son. All who believe on him will be free for all eternity!

God’s secret weapon to win against Pharaoh was a lamb and its blood. God’s secret weapon against satan was Jesus, the Lamb of God, and his blood. The lamb was to be male and without any mark or blemish on its body. Jesus, God’s Lamb was a male and had no spiritual blemish or sin.

The lamb was to be kept in one piece; the legs must not be separated from the body, and no bones were to be broken. God’s Lamb gave the whole of himself to be crucified for us and not one bone was broken. If victims of crucifixion did not die quickly enough, their legs were broken. This happened to the thieves who died with Jesus, but he had already died, and even after death, none of his bones were broken (John 19, 36).

The blood of the lamb should be kept and then applied to the door frame of each house. Just having the blood in a basin was not enough. They had to obey God’s command. Just knowing about the Lamb of God and his redeeming blood is not enough. We must accept him and ask him to apply his blood to our hearts, to cleanse us from sin. John the Baptist proclaimed:

“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

John 1, 29

The blood of all the animals sacrificed on Jewish altars through the years could only cover the sins of the people, but the blood of Jesus does not only wash us clean, but we have been redeemed and justified by his blood – ‘just as if we had never sinned’. Satan hates the blood of Jesus, for it reminds him of the great complete victory which Jesus won over him at Calvary. Satan continually accuses Christians when they make mistakes or sin, but we can turn again to the Lord and ask for forgiveness. Our trust is in Jesus’ blood, so precious that no silver or gold could ever pay for it.

The blood was on the door lintels – at the top and sides – this was the place of entrance and exit, security, activities, and the people had to stay inside to be protected. It is good to apply the blood of Jesus to the door of our life, our heart, our ‘senses­-gates’ (ear-­gate, eye­-gate, etc.) to be protected daily; our families, our houses and everything that belongs to us. Obedience brought protection and maintained Life. They did this in faith, Hebrews 11, 27 tells us, and we must do the same.

As a small girl I often had nightmares, and when I cried out, my father would come and pray for me, then I could go to sleep again. Later, as I got older, I still had bad dreams sometimes, where I would be trying to run away and my legs could not move, or demonic forces with terrible faces would be coming at me, but now there was no Dad to come and pray! But later I noticed that even when I had a nightmare, in my dream I would shout out “Jesus!” or “The blood of Jesus!” and immediately the thing left and I was set free. I was growing in my Christian walk and discovering the power in the Name of Jesus and in his blood!

What about you today? Have you discovered this power in the blood of God’s Lamb – the Lord Jesus Christ? You can today!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for protecting your chosen people by the lamb at Passover. Thank you even more, for the Lamb of God, slain and risen again for all who will believe, and his precious blood. Teach us more about the power of that blood, that we might overcome satan and his attacks, and win mighty victories!

In the Name of Jesus we pray, Amen.