p. 6 | THE PASSOVER

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Dec 11, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 50.

THE PASSOVER.

DURING the sojourn of Israel in Egypt, the plan of salvation was formally worked out. God had sent Joseph to Egypt to preserve life (Gen. 45:5, 7; 50:20). This was true not only in a temporal sense, but in a spiritual sense. Joseph proclaimed the true God, and illustrated the principles of the Gospel in his own life. He was the type of Christ, and manifested the character of Christ. In no other country, in ancient times, was the grace and mercy of God more clearly demonstrated than in Egypt. There, too, was the perversity of the human heart exemplified to a degree never yet exceeded. The Lord said it would be more tolerable for Sodom in the day of judgment than for the cities of Judah that rejected His Word, but He never said it would be more tolerable for Egypt.

When all overtures of mercy, even including that of chastisement, had failed, judgment must necessarily follow. The last act that was designed to convince the king of the power and wisdom and mercy of the God of heaven had resulted in a decree that the servants of God should be put to death if they came before the king again. Forbearance could have no further virtue; there was nothing further to do but to let sin have its wages, and deliver the people of God. Then came the directions to Israel how to escape the coming execution of the results of impenitence. They were not to be saved because of their righteousness, but through faith in the way which the Lord provided. They had cried to God in their distress, and He had heard their cry, and now came the final trial of their faith.

“Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. 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.” Ex. 12:21-23.

Here we have an object-lesson, practically illustrating the final rejection of the Gospel by the masses of the world's people, their hostile attitude toward the people of God, and the salvation of those who yield implicit obedience to the Gospel of Christ. Like all of God's designs, every part had a significance, and no part could be disregarded or neglected. For neglect is as fatal to the soul as wilful disobedience. “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” Heb. 2:3.

The Lamb represented the Son of God, whose blood was shed for the sin of the world, whose life was given in behalf of all whose lives are forfeited because of sin. But the slaying of the Passover lamb was not enough. That would not save Israel any more than it would save the Egyptians. The blood of the lamb must be sprinkled upon the side posts and lintels of the doors, or there would be no protection in that house against the angel of death. The lamb was to be roasted whole, not a bone broken, as typical of the complete sacrifice of Christ.

Sprinkling the blood with hyssop was emblematic of purification. The Lord does not save an impure people. The psalmist says, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Ps. 51:7. So the people, when they obeyed in detail the directions regarding the Passover, were justified by faith. They were made clean through faith in the blood of the Lamb of God. Their faith, as manifested in their obedience, saved them from the fate of the disobedient Egyptians.

The flesh of the lamb was to be eaten. The sacrifice was not enough; it must be partaken of by the individual, and become part of his life. Every one must eat of it; no one can partake of Christ for another. “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.” John 6:53. Eating the flesh of Christ is partaking of His Word. “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.” Ch. 1:14. “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” Ch. 6:63. To drink His blood is to imbibe His life; for “the life of the flesh is in the blood; . . . it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” Lev. 17:11. The one whose life is conformed to the life of Christ, who receives His Spirit, is drinking of His blood.

The bitter herbs to be eaten with the paschal lamb signified, or pointed back to, Israel’s bitter service in Egypt. The bitter herbs also signified a contrition of heart because of sin. The lamb was eaten also with unleavened bread, and on every recurrence of the feast everything of the nature of leaven was to be put away from the dwellings of the people. So all who would receive life from Christ must put away the leaven of sin. “Let us keep the feast, not with ‘old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and ‘wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” 1 Cor. 5:8.

Another requirement was that they must be separated from the Egyptians, and, with their families, gather themselves into their own dwellings. Of course those Egyptians who believed the Word of the Lord, and desired to be identified with Israel, were permitted to partake of their shelter and deliverance. As our paschal Lamb, our High Priest, is “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,” so we are exhorted by the apostle Paul: “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” 2 Cor. 6:17.