Ever have a significant event come up, but you couldn’t make it and you wished you could have a do-over? Well, there were times when some of Israelites had the same problem. Something had happened and they could not keep the Passover at the appointed time, but still wanted to keep it. Could they get a do-over? Well, yes. Numbers 9:1-15—1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying: 2 “Let the children of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time. 3 On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time. According to all its rites and ceremonies you shall keep it." 4 So Moses told the children of Israel that they should keep the Passover. 5 And they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, at twilight, in the Wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did.”
So they were in the first month, Nisan, on the 14th day of the month—little time has passed since Numbers 1—and therefore kept the Passover as God had commanded (Exodus 12). Just to refresh your memory, you can read the commands for the Feast in Exodus 12:1-51. The only change would be that they did not have to strike their doorposts with blood—since they did not have doorposts in the wilderness. There are some historians who posit that the blood was sprinkled around the Altar of Burnt Offering, while others reject that claim, seeing as how only Aaron, Eleazar and Ithamar remained of the priests, and only the priests could sprinkle the blood on or around the Altar. Now, I don’t think I have ever described all that was involved in the Passover feast, so let’s go ahead and do that.
First, they had to find a lamb (or goat) without spot or blemish. Exodus 12:3-5—3 “…On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man's need you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats.” This was not a time for “close enough”. You had to thoroughly inspect that animal to make sure there were no defects in it. You couldn’t just give it a quick once-over and say it was good enough. It wasn’t like buying a used car, “well, it’s got a bit of a misfire but it’ll do”. Because for the Passover lamb, God did not deal with “good enough” or “close enough”. It couldn’t be lame, couldn’t have any kind of physical defect, couldn’t have Mad Sheep Disease. Your job was not to bring just any sheep, it had to be perfect.
Just like the Lamb of God. God was pretty particular when He chose the Lamb whom He would offer on behalf of His people. John the Baptist cried out, in John 1:29—“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” This Lamb was of course, His Only Begotten Son. The only, ever, perfect Lamb of God, upon Whom God could lay all the guilt and all the sin of all of His Elect, who could carry His blood into the Holiest in the Heavens, and from Whom the Father could accept that Sacrifice, and say “Well Done! Sit at My right hand!” (Psalm 110:1). Who better than the Son of God to come as our Lamb, as our Passover (1st Corinthians 5:7). A perfect Lamb, "Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth" (1st Peter 2:22, quoting Isaiah 53:9). And keep in mind, this initial Passover was not to be eaten alone. It was to be consumed by the whole household. Just like Christ and the Church. Granted, we do not eat the actual flesh and drink the actual blood of Christ. And with that said, I want so badly to launch into the wrongness of the Romish doctrine of transubstantiation, but it will be better suited to a later text. Suffice it to say that for those of us who are in Christ, we are all one in Him. And we are not meant to be alone in this life. Which is why it says in Hebrews 10:24-25—24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. Just as the Israelites were to celebrate their deliverance from captivity to Egypt by the Lord on that first Passover, we are to celebrate, with other members of the Church, our being set free from our bondage to sin.
Now, after you found a perfect lamb, you had to keep it in the house for four days. Exodus 12:6(a)—Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. You got used to it being there. The kids got used to it being there. They might have even grown fond of it and given it a name. Probably not “Mutton”, since there might have been some fondness there. At any rate, this lamb had to be in your house for 4 days. Let’s do a little math here, shall we? Our Lord rode into Jerusalem on a Sunday (Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-44; John 12:12-19). He is there Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. And He is taken and arrested on Wednesday. Four days. Interesting, no? Almost like God has a perfect way of designing things. Then He was crucified on Thursday. Not Friday, but Thursday. I have talked about that previously here, you can read it if you like. Anyway.
Then what did you do on that fourth day? Exodus 12:6(b)—Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. After you had had this lamb in your house for 4 days, all your house gathered together and slit its throat, and drained all the blood from it until it was dead. You were not to eat anything that had blood remaining in it (Leviticus 17:10-11). You take this innocent lamb—this perfect, little, innocent lamb—this lamb that had done no wrong, you take it into your home, let the kinds grow fond of it, then four days later you kill it. Now, if you think about it, this whole thing is kind of odd, isn’t it? How do you celebrate being set free from 430 years of bondage? Kill a lamb and eat it. Doesn’t make sense to us, does it? But does it make sense to God? Absolutely. Because it pointed not only the Israelites in Egypt that night, but Israelites hundreds of years later, and even us today, to the day when God would send His son into the world, to preach deliverance from sin to the world, come into the city where God placed His name, and have His blood spilled by order of the High Priest four days later. Or rather, by the earthly High Priest. Who delivered our Great High Priest over to be slaughtered. Delivered over to the pagan Romans. Who did not know, or care, that they were nailing the Son of God to that tree. Which is why Jesus said "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." (Luke 23:34). And really, it was not the Romans’ idea to kill Him, or even the Jews’, but rather the Father’s. Isaiah 53:10—Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief.
You see, Adam’s sin did not take God by surprise. God did not have to whip up some plan to save men from their sins. It was done before the foundation of the world. If one thinks that God did not see it coming, one has a very low view of God. That is why He chose His people before He laid the first cornerstone of Creation. And He considers that death of His Son to have taken place at that time. How do you think the saints of the Old Covenant were saved? By the blood of bulls and goats and lambs and rams and turtledoves? No. They were saved as we are, by the blood of Jesus. But how, since they did not know Him? Because He was slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8).
And once they killed that first Passover lamb, they were to cook it. How were they to cook it? Exodus 12:8-9—8 Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire—its head with its legs and its entrails. This lamb was most likely roasted on a spit over an open fire. But why not boil it; wouldn’t that have been easier and quicker? Because the lamb was not to be cut up and divided. To boil it, and fit it in the boiling pot would have required the lamb to be cut into pieces, and possibly some of its bones to be broken. It was to be a whole lamb when it was cooked and eaten. Now, were they to eat with the Egyptians? Were they to share in the eating of the lamb with those who were not of Israel? No. Likewise, when we partake of the Lord’s Table, we are not to have unbelievers partake with us. 1st Corinthians 11:26-30—26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. 27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.
So what did the unleavened bread and the bitter herbs symbolize? Well, the unleavened bread (מַצָח, “matzah”) symbolized the haste with which the people of Israel had to flee Egypt. And they were to eat it for seven days, beginning on 15 Nisan, and have no leaven in their household. Exodus 12:15-20, 39—“15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat—that only may be prepared by you. 17 So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance. 18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19 For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land. 20 You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread'"… 39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought out of Egypt; for it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves. If you’ve ever made bread (as I have tried once and it turned out, well, let’s just say it wasn’t exactly Wonder Bread™) you know that when you add the yeast, you have to cover it and put it in a dark place to “proof”, that is, to rise. The people did not have the time to proof dough, and even if they thought they did, God said “Don’t”. There was no time. They were to roast the lamb, make bread with no leaven, eat the bitter herbs, then GO! Now, the command to eat unleavened bread for seven days probably came later, as the people had to make haste to vacate Egypt. Now, a little bit about leaven. When you add yeast to your dough, and it rises—what is it that makes it rise? Well, the yeast consumes the sugars found in the dough, and then expels carbon dioxide as a waste product. Which is why no offerings made to God were to contain leaven—because it is a waste product (Leviticus 2:11, Leviticus 6:17 and Leviticus 10:12).
Many times in the New Testament we are told to watch for Christ’s return, and that the Kingdom of God is near at hand. Matthew 24:42, 44—42 “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming…44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” 1st Peter 4:7—But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. We do not know when He will return. All of the appointed days and feats in the Law, the people knew when they would come, and they could be ready for them. But the Day of the Lord—that Day when Christ returns to bring in His people—we don’t know when that will be. Despite all the Doomsday prognosticators and all their “this is a sign of His return” bluster, no one—NO ONE—is able to say with truth “This is a sign, and it means He will return on such-and-such a day”. But know this—that when He does return, we want to be found doing well. Matthew 24:45-46—45 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.” Do we want to be found fornicating, or robbing, or committing some other shameful act when He calls us home? No. Therefore, let us always let our bread be unleavened, that we may not be ashamed at His coming (1st John 2:28).
Matthew 16:6 (also Mark 8:15)—Then Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees." 1st Corinthians 5:7-8—7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. In the New Testament, leaven is used to denote sin and unbelief. Jesus was warning the Apostles to watch for the leaven—the broken doctrine, the waste products of the beliefs—of the men who opposed Him, to be ready to answer it, and to show them the truth. Paul tells us to let us keep the Passover—not by taking a lamb into our home and roasting it, but by bringing to remembrance our Lamb of God who takes away our sins. And to not let the leaven of sin permeate the body of Christ, His beloved bride, and to not let it infect her with sin, but to get rid of it, to purge it, to cleanse the bride of it, that she may be a bride without spot or blemish. To not fettered to our old man, who is passing away, but to lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us (Hebrews 12:1). We cannot do that if we are waiting for our bread to rise, we must be always ready to go, ready to leave this world behind and go on to glory. Even as the women carried their kneading bowls bound up in their sacks on their shoulders (Exodus 12:34).
The bitter herbs (םִךןֹך, maror). These were to call to the people’s remembrance the 430 years of bitter bondage the people served in Egypt. And should we not feel the same about all our years serving sin and the flesh? How many times are we told to repent of our sins, to put off the old man, to put on the new man, that we are a new creation, etc. etc. Because that old man is ugly, and must not be allowed to rear his ugly head. Do you ever look back at the person you used to be? How do you feel about that person? Does that person make you proud? Or does your remembrance of that person make you grieve who you used to be? I, for one, don’t want to be the man I once was, because he was full of lust, greed, fornication, and almost any other sin you could think of. And I don’t want to be him again. I am much happier being a servant of the King, than to be the king of my own sinful domain. Albert Barnes—
If a drunkard becomes reformed, there is no impropriety in saying that he is a new man. If a man who was licentious becomes pure, there is no impropriety in saying that he is not the same man that he was before. Such expressions are common in all languages, and they are as proper as they are common. There is such a change as to make the language proper. And so in the conversion of a sinner. There is a change so deep, so clear, so entire, and so abiding, that it is proper to say, here is a new creation of God - a work of the divine power as decided and as glorious as when God created all things out of nothing. There is no other moral change that takes place on earth so deep, and radical, and thorough as the change at conversion. And there is no other where there is so much propriety in ascribing it to the mighty power of God.
Now, suppose a member of the “mixed multitude” wanted to keep the Passover. What would they do? Exodus 12:43-45, 48-49—43 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "This is the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat it. 44 But every man's servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then he may eat it. 45 A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat it…48 And when a stranger dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it. 49 One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you." Just as there was one lamb to be eaten that night, there is one Savior to be worshipped now. If one wanted to keep that Passover, they had to be circumcised outwardly and be brought in to the house of Israel. And today, there is one way to salvation—to be circumcised inwardly, that is to have your heart circumcised, and be brought in to the house of God. Romans 2:28-29—28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; 29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God. Colossians 2:11—In [Christ] you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ. Philippians 3:3—For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. At the time of the first Passover, to partake of it you had to be circumcised of your foreskin. Now, Christ circumcises our heart, that we may love Him and obey Him and seek to please Him. Many New Testament passages tell us of the better circumcision, that made by God of our hearts, rather than the circumcision mad of our foreskin by men (Romans 4:1-25; 1st Corinthians 7:19; Galatians 5:6, 6:15).
Suppose someone wanted to break off a leg and eat it by themselves. Could they do that? No. Exodus 12:46 (also Numbers 9:12)—…nor shall you break one of its bones. It was all to be consumed as a whole inside the house by the entire household. Again, a picture of the commonality of the house that they were under the protection of God, and that they were all of one accord. The people were to show that they all shared the table of God, that there was one source of life, and that source was not divided (Deuteronomy 6:3-5). When one sat down to eat in those times, they were basically saying “I agree with this person, and will partake of what they have provided, and show that we are of the same mind”. It is the reason David said in Psalm 1:1-2—1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. He was telling us not to partake of the table of those opposed to God. To not show support of them, nor to live in their way. But rather, we should delight in the one Source of all life and truth and righteousness, and live according to His way.
We find the fulfillment of this command in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as He hung upon His cross. John 19:33, 36—But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs…For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, "Not one of His bones shall be broken." These Roman soldiers were accustomed to crucified victims, and knew how they acted when they were running out of breath. Many times they would gasp loudly, trying to draw air into their lungs, and would cry out for mercy. And to the soldiers, this played upon their nerves, so they would break the legs of the victims, so they may more quickly expire, thus sparing the soldiers of having to hear their desperate cries. But they noticed something. This Man on the middle cross—the One who said we could come—was already dead. “How could this be?” they thought. “It has only been a few hours since we nailed Him here, and He is already dead! Interesting.” But this was no criminal they killed. It was not the loss of blood, or the inability to breathe, or even the shock of the pain of the nails that brought our Lord to death. He Himself said in John 10:17-18—17 "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again". Paul Kretzmann, once a faculty member of Concordia Theological Seminary and author of the “Popular Bible Commentary”, has this to say—
The laying down of His life was not due to His yielding to His foes and their cunning; it was an act of His will. He had the power to give His life, to lay it down in death; but He had the power also to take it again. No other man could dream of having such power; every other person succumbs to death, but Jesus differs from all other men in this respect, because He is Himself true God. The fact of His voluntary death gave to His sacrifice its real worth and value; without such free will His sacrifice would have been in vain. And herein He agrees with His Father, whose command He has received and now carries out for the salvation of mankind.
Christ did not die because they nailed Him to a cross. He laid down His life for His sheep, He gave up His life, He resigned Himself to the grave that He may offer to the Father a worthy sacrifice. And in doing so, fulfilled the Passover command that …nor shall you break one of its bones, that He may be a whole sacrifice, that We may all partake of Him as one Lord, that we may be all one body, that there should be no schism in the body (1st Corinthians 12:25), having one Lord, one faith, one baptism (Ephesians 4:5).
