For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us (I Corinthians 5:7)

In the providence of God this year, the month of April announces several precious Holy Days in the Christian calendar. The great Passion Week of our Lord brings to mind the work of Christ on the Cross (our Passover) and the bonus God gave in the Resurrection (our Easter). It is most appropriate for us to draw aside this month to reflect upon these wonderful, historical events that brought life-changing power to "whosoever believeth."

Types and Shadows

The Old Testament is filled with what the New Testament calls "types" and "shadows." The word type (Greek, tupos) is mentioned some sixteen times in the New Testament. This word has the general idea of "likeness" or the type resembling something. God often used certain people, events, or things as types of real things. The things which this types represented can be called the "antitype." Hebrew 10:1 states, "for the law having a shadow of good things to come . . . ." This word shadow means a "sketch of something." There is also the word pattern found in Hebrews 9:23, which means a "representation" or a "copy" of things. Another word is figure found in Hebrews 9:9, which means a "parable" or "something that is thrown along side of something else" to assist us in our understanding of that thing.

There are three well-defined qualities that must be found in a type. (1) First it must be a true picture of the person or thing it represents. It must in some distinct way resemble its antitype. An example of this is Aaron the High Priest being a type of the antitype, Jesus Christ. (2) Secondly, a type must also be of a divine appointment. Both the type and the anti-type are preordained as constituent parts of the unfolding of redemption. It is often true that many centuries are found between the type and its accomplishment in the antitype. Therefore, Sovereignty can ordain the one to be the picture of the other. Only God can make types. (3) A third quality of a type is that it always prefigures something future. This is the difference between a symbol and a type: a symbol can represent something past, present or future; a type must always be looking to the future (thus including an element of prediction in it).

There are also various classifications of types: (1) Personal types are persons whose lives and experiences illustrate some principle or truth of redemption, such as Adam, Melchizedec, Abraham, Jonah, etc. (2) Historical types that are events under the providence of God which become foreshadowings of things to come. This is seen in the deliverance from Egypt, the wilderness wanderings, etc. (3) And there is also Ritual types such as the altar, the Tabernacle, the priesthood, offerings, feasts, etc.

A Classic Type Found In The Passover

One of the great types and shadows found in Scripture is that of the Passover as revealed in Exodus 12. The Passover falls under all three of the above categories of personal, historical, and ritual types. From one perspective the Bible is the story of redemption. The preface chapters of the Bible tell us that God made man in His own image, that man fell into sin, that iniquity abounded in man until there was no remedy which prompted God to send the Flood, and that man then religiously fell away from God leading up to the Tower of Babel, thus, bringing us to the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Genesis closes by informing us how Israel came to be sojourners in Egypt.

But as we open the book of Exodus we find that from being the honored guests of Pharaoh the Israelites had become slaves, oppressed by hard and cruel bondage. Their struggles for freedom only served to rivet their fetters into deeper slavery. To work out their destiny they had to be delivered from the Egyptian slavery; such deliverance was impossible save by the power of God. But before they could be redeemed by the power of God from Egypt they had to be redeemed by the power of the Blood. We now begin to see a precious type unfolding in this classic story of redemption. Because of their being in Egypt they came under Egypt's doom and judgment. In type, the firstborn represented the family; the divine decree of God was that all the firstborn of the land of Egypt were to die. There were to be no exceptions to this, even for Israel.

But God through Moses proclaimed a way of salvation for Israel. What was this way? A Pascal lamb was to be killed for every house and its blood was to be sprinkled upon the door. Exodus 12:23 states,

For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

Now in the light of the book of Hebrews the blood of slain beasts could neither take away sin nor even change a sinner's condition or destiny. But this incident in Exodus 12 foreshadows the death of Christ, the Great Passover, for our redemption. The blood here in this chapter is the type and shadow of death being applied, and that redemption will be by blood. However, it is only for those who by faith become one with Christ in His death.

We learn from the typology found in Exodus 12 as well as the expressed teachings of the New Testament that the Passover is but the first step in the full redemption of the people. It is but the foundation upon which all rests. Even the offerings of Leviticus presuppose the Passover.

Now some may wonder why the study of the Old Testament is beneficial, apart from simply gaining knowledge of the Scriptures. We have truly come to an hour in the history of the church where utter blindness rules and the apostasy is running deep. Religious leaders have boasted of a new enlightenment through Form Criticism and Existentialism; even the Charismatics have pressed their concept of the gifts, voices, and dreams along with their contemporary music. Their Gospel betrays their ignorance of the first principle of God's Word. Modern theology views sin as an inevitable defect in the progress of the human race toward perfection which they believe is man's natural destiny. Dear reader, in many churches today the most elementary truths of Scripture need to be restated: Man's utter ruin, his hopelessness, his spiritual depravity, and his only way to be redeemed is by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is still the only Passover man has!

The Meaning of Passover

But what does the word "Passover" mean? The term is mentioned three times in Exodus 12 (verses 13, 23, and 27). In the Hebrew "passover" is the word pesach, which means to "spread the wings over." This is different than the Hebrew word "a-bhor-ga-bhor," that simply means "to pass over something." The former word pesach is used in Isaiah 31:5:

As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.

This brings to clarity the words of the Lord Jesus in Luke 13:34-35:

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are set unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

This is what the Lord Jesus Christ wanted to be to His people Israel: a hen whose wings covered them and protected them from the coming judgment to the House. But they would not allow Him to be that winged protector! Therefore, their house was left unto them desolate; the judgment of God struck with death. Christ the pesach desired to be the Passover in order to hide them under the shadow of His great wings. This Passover is what He wants to be for us. When the Lord will pass through to smite with judgment, the blood of Christ's own death, will be the Protector, the Guard, and the Savior.

Christ, The Lamb of Our Passover

The individual lamb mentioned in Exodus 12:3,4,5 is a type of Christ as our Pascal lamb. The lamb was to be a male, which is a type of Christ's vigor and strength as our Savior. The lamb was to be without blemish, which notes Christ's absolute purity and perfection. The lamb was of a year old (Hebrew, "son of a year"), which is a shadow that Christ died while in His prime. This lamb was to be separated from the flock for four days (possibly a type of the four thousand years God waited to send His Son to earth for the Great Crucifixion). The Passover lamb was to be killed at the threshold (Hebrew, "basin") of the door. The time of the killing of the lamb was to be in the evening (the time of the evening sacrifice; Christ would die at 3:00 P.M.). The blood had to be applied to the door. Christ is shadowed as the Lamb, the Blood, and the Door (In John 10:7 Christ declared Himself to be the Door). In Hebrews 11 we read a final ingredient that was to be found: "By faith they kept the Passover."

As for the flesh, they were to roast it (12:8) signifying the inexpressible sufferings which Christ truly underwent in His dying and death. There was never a sorrow like His sorrow. Our eating of this Pascal lamb is by believing. Our faith feeds upon the dying Christ. This is to be a regular thing in our life. They ate the lamb with bitter herbs, which to us is the godly sorrow for sin, penitence, mourning for sin. (If we have believed and never mourned for our sins then there should be suspicion of our so-called faith.) The children of Israel were to eat with their loins girted, their staves in hand, and their shoes on their feet. We see here the posture of a servant, the posture of a pilgrim, and the fitting of us for the journey of life. The exodus would be one of haste (they left right after midnight), which is a shadow of the fact that the working of the new birth is one of a crisis. Paul tells us in I Corinthians 5:7, "For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us." This is truly a vicarious sacrifice! Christ cries out, "Let me be the sacrifice, and let them go their way." Christ, in type, became the firstborn for each home thus allowing the firstborn to go free.

In I Corinthians 5:8 we read, "Therefore let us keep the feast…" The feast here is the keeping of this feast throughout the whole concourse of our life in this world. We are to feed heartily, plentifully, and not sparingly upon this Lamb. We are to feast upon Him, upon His merit and righteousness, and upon His Word and promises. The word feast gives the understanding of sobriety and of holy mirth. This should be part of our keeping of it. The joy of the Lord is to be our strength.

The Ordinance Of The Passover

But continuing our reading in Exodus 12 we come to verses 43 through 48. These verses are so often overlooked when dealing with the Passover. They present the "ordinance of the Passover." This ordinance becomes the principles that must govern the Passover. We read in these verses that there are three classes of people that God bars from this Passover: (12:43) no stranger is to eat of this Passover—it is for Israel alone; (12:45) no hired servant was to partake of this Passover; and, (12:48) no uncircumcised person was to eat of this Passover. Circumcision was the sign or token of the covenant; it was God's sentence of death written upon nature. In Colossians 2:11,12, it is revealed that circumcision is to have its antitype in the Cross. These three characteristics mentioned in the ordinance of the Passover strongly indicate that God has appointed the truth of Biblical separation to be part of the Passover.

Yet we do read in Exodus 12:44 and 48, that although there was a wall erected to shut out enemies, there was a door open to receive those in sympathy with Israel's God. It is true that God forbade the "hired servant" to partake of the Passover. Yet we do read in 12:44 that a "bond servant" who was purchased, circumcised, and one of the household, could partake. Also, in 12:48 a foreigner who sojourned with Israel, provided he submitted to circumcision, could partake of it as well. This truth is seen in the New Testament in Ephesians 2:11,12, 18:

Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world….For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

Thank God we have been invited as Gentiles to partake of this Passover!

In Exodus 12:46 we are told that the Lamb was to be eaten under the shelter of the atoning blood and there alone. We are witnessing today so many who profess to be Christian in name and identification, such as the Roman Catholics, Mormons, and others. They speak of the Christ; they call Him "Lord." But they want Him apart from where the blood is. They desire the person of Christ but without the work of the Cross. There can be no Passover in another house outside of the covering of the blood of the Lamb. And, dear reader, the Bible forbids us taking the Lamb and eating of Him outside the house of where the blood was identified.

The New Testament Plea

"Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness" (I Corinthians 5:8). Paul makes allusion here with another appointment: there is to be no leaven in the bread. For the seven days a Jewish woman would search with candles throughout her house to get rid of all leaven. Here in I Corinthians Paul applies the leaven to a wicked person: the wicked are to be put out or all will be leaven. This would be that hired servant and that foreigner to the covenant. But this also applies to evil things, such as malice and wickedness. Those that call Christ their Passover must not be malicious and wicked. Malice is inveterate anger, wrath, or hatred towards others. Paul cries to such leaven, "Away with it!" Yes, it sours the spirit, and it sours the duties of life. Malice truly exposes man to many temptations, even to the point of murder in some situations. There is also the leaven of wickedness, a general word for all manner of allowed sin. Christ is not the minister of sin. Did He die to give us liberty to live in sin? God forbid! This leaven of malice and wickedness must go! It cannot be in the home of one who takes the Passover. But Paul goes on to state, "Therefore let us keep the feast . . . with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." Hypocrisy is one of the worst forms of leaven. Every Christian must search for it and must watch and pray against it! We must eat the Passover with sincerity of heart and truth of principle.

This month the world of Christendom will laud the story of Christ on the Cross. Yet hired servants and foreigners will portray it; the Passover message will be presented "outside the house" of the Blood. God calls us to come under the wings of His Son, but we must come according to His terms and ordinance. If we are to dare profess this Passover for our life, He calls us to put away all malice and wickedness. Otherwise, our life will be a sham and a shame.

May we rise in these last days, before the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, to declare accurately this Passover message with its accompanying ordinance of protection. For this too is part of being a Biblical Fundamentalist.