THE PASSOVER

The First of the Spring Feasts

The First Passover

Many Christians are familiar with the events of the first Passover, but we are confronted with some very intriguing facts when we study the particulars. When we read that God caused ten plagues to torment the Egyptians after the Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let the Jews leave Egypt, we are tempted to just absorb the story and move on to the next event. But God was doing much more to the Egyptians than just pressuring Pharaoh to release the Jews. He was teaching them about their many false gods and administering harsh judgment for their idolatry. As an example, when God turned the Nile to blood, He was attacking their worship of Khnum, their god of the river. Likewise, the plague of frogs that followed was an attack on Heqt, the frog-headed goddess of resurrection. She was the wife of Khnum. The other plagues also were attacks relating to other gods. Lice stopped the Egyptians' sacrifices because of cleanness issues, and swarms of flies were a sign against Beelzebub, prince of the air, because flies were always flying around his ears. Livestock suffered disease for punishment against Apis, the sacred bull, while boils were opposed to Imhotep, the god of medical cures. Hailstones showed the weakness of Nut, the sky goddess; locusts opposed Nepri, the grain god; darkness was an attack against Re, the sun god; and the death of the firstborn attacked all of the gods.

We read in Exodus 12:2–3: "This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you. 'Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, "On the tenth of this month, they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers' households, a lamb for each household.'"" The lamb was an attack on the Egyptian god Amon, the head of all their gods. He was presented in human form, but his animal was a ram. The month of the Passover was also in the month of Nisan, the month when the Egyptians celebrated the deity of Amon.

I wondered if there was also any significance to taking a lamb on the tenth day of the month for the household. I became more curious when I read further in the Exodus passage. It states in Exodus 12:6: "You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight." Why the fourteenth day? I discovered two very interesting answers. One, each day that the lamb was in captivity was to remind them of one hundred years of captivity in Egypt for a total of four hundred years. Two, for four days the lamb would become a pet to the family, so when it was sacrificed, they would know the gravity of the penalty of their sins. It is also important to note that the fourteenth was the full moon, which the Egyptians considered the pinnacle of Amon's power. Sacrificing the lamb demonstrated that Amon had no power at all.

We read further in Exodus 12:7: "Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it." Many of us have heard that if you were to connect the smears of blood on the doorway, it would form a cross. It is a legitimate observation, but it would seem if a smear of blood were also on the threshold, this would represent a more complete picture of the cross. However, when I stumbled upon Hebrews 10:29, it became clear to me why the blood of the lamb was not to be placed on the threshold. The author of Hebrews states, "How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace." While pondering this image, I surmised that there might be many more pictures that God had provided for us.

I visited with David Schiller, a teacher of the Torah at a messianic congregation, Eitz Chaim, in Richardson, Texas. He shared with me many fascinating things about the Passover lamb. He explained that there is historical evidence that the lamb was roasted upright on a pomegranate pole with a crossbar through its shoulders. This obviously would bring to mind the cross. The pomegranate pole was used, because as a dry wood it would not boil. Boiling was prohibited in preparing the lamb. Schiller mentioned another observation from tradition: the pomegranate is symbolic of royalty and the priesthood. Another notable point is that the entrails were tied around the head so everything could be roasted evenly without boiling. This resembles the crown of thorns. Other sources verified Schiller's descriptions. One very captivating article on this subject is "The Crucifixion of the Paschal Lamb," written by Joseph Tabory for Jewish Quarterly Review (see Bibliography for more information). Another good explanation of the parallels can be found in Alfred Edersheim's book The Temple: Its Ministry and Services (see chapter 12, "The Paschal Feast and the Lord's Supper").

We must remember that the feasts not only provide historical teachings and spiritual implications but also prophetic applications. When each Jewish family was choosing their lamb on the tenth day of Nisan for Passover, God was revealing His Lamb at the triumphant entry of Jesus, the fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9. Dr. Harold Hoehner, a professor of mine when I was at Dallas Theological Seminary, did extensive work on the dates and chronology of the life of Jesus Christ. Based on the most accurate historical evidences, he came to the conclusion that Jesus' triumphant entry was on the tenth day of Nisan, or March 30 AD 33. He wrote of his discoveries and analysis in the article "Daniel's Seventy Weeks and New Testament Chronology," which appeared on page 135 of the January-March 1975 edition of Bibliotheca Sacra (see Bibliography). Along with these observations, we must take note that on the fourteenth day, at the same hour the lamb was being sacrificed at the Temple, Jesus, the Lamb of God, was also being crucified on the cross. This is why the historical observation of the lamb sacrificed upright on a pole, as Christ was sacrificed upright on a cross, paints such a meaningful picture.

The Lamb

Let's take a closer look at the lamb. A number of years ago I heard Jimmy DeYoung, an outstanding news commentator and Bible teacher, make a presentation at a Bible prophecy conference. Since it was during the Christmas season, he was teaching about the birth of Jesus in the first chapter of Luke. He read to us Luke 2:8–12: "In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. And the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; for...