We are at present in the season of Passover, which for Christians foreshadows the total Redemption provided for us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There are many and varied lessons we can learn from studying the events surrounding that first Passover, as God delivered Israel supernaturally from bondage and slavery in Egypt. Each aspect of that first Passover carries a rich measure of symbolic significance as it points to some aspect of what Jesus accomplished for us in Redemption. In this article, I want to look at only three of those significant aspects of Passover from Exodus chapter 12. As we do, may God richly bless you, the reader, and increase your measure of faith in what has already been provided for us, and what is already our present possession legally “in Christ.”
First, Moses was commanded that there be “a lamb for an house.”
Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house… (Exodus 12:3 KJV)
We need to understand that God’s Mercy is extended to everyone. Jesus Blood is more than sufficient to provide total Redemption for every human being that has ever lived. However, that all sufficient provision must be personally appropriated by faith to become efficacious in an individual’s life. Everything we receive from God we receive on the same basis that we received the New Birth, “by Grace, through FAITH, and NOT of works” (Ephesians 2:8-9). None of us could ever earn or merit any of God’s blessed provisions on our own. Redemption is not about what WE do anyway. It is all about what was done FOR us through Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection!
Israel was instructed to take “a lamb for an house,” and that it was to be “according to the house of their fathers.” It is vitally important for us to recognize and align with the “fathers” that GOD has given us. The fullest development and release into the ultimate destiny of God for our lives is intrinsically connected to the “houses” that we are in covenant with. The dishonoring of or breaking of God-ordained covenant can hinder or even abort the fullest manifestation of God’s declared Purpose for our lives and ministries. At the least, such breaking of covenant can see us become “stuck” in one place spiritually, our ministries not able to expand beyond a monolithic “one-diminsionality,” seemingly beating our heads against a wall so to speak, and wondering just when our “breakthrough” will finally come. We cannot make our own “connections” merely based on popularity, hero-worship, or even friendship. To truly become all that God has called us to be we must be planted where God has planted us. Jesus sets the members in relationship in the Body as it pleases Him, NOT as it pleases us (I Corinthians 12:18).
Then we must recognize that, although the Lamb was provided for every house, and everyone had access to protection and provision by obeying God’s instructions, each individual must make the quality decision to get into the house and STAY in the house.
…none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. (Exodus 12:22b KJV)
As believers in Jesus Christ, we must get INTO the “household of faith,” and STAY there to reap the fullest benefits of God’s covenant provision. I am NOT talking only about “heaven or hell.” Many believers, though they have been Born Again at some point, have allowed themselves to be disconnected from the “house.” Never forget that Christianity was never envisioned as something to be lived out in isolation. God has no “Lone Rangers.” Christianity can only be fully experienced and expressed as it is lived out in process, in the context of Covenant Community!
Secondly, the ancient Israelites were commanded to kill the Passover Lamb and place its Blood over the doorposts of their houses. For houses that were “under the Blood,” the angel of death could not enter therein.
And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason… (Exodus 12:22a)
Of course, this foreshadows the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, who is the ultimate and final sacrifice for sin. Jesus is the Lamb of God. Because of the Blood of Jesus, not only has sin’s price been paid, but sin’s power has been broken!
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29 KJV)
We can never make too much of the Blood of Jesus! We must preach the Blood, teach the Blood, sing the Blood, and magnify the Blood! It is the Blood of Jesus Christ that stands in the Heavenly Holy of Holies as the eternal testimony that the enemy of our souls is forever defeated and that we are forever redeemed!
Thirdly, Israel was commanded to roast and eat the flesh of the Lamb.
And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire… (Exodus 12:8a KJV)
The Lamb, butchered and roasted, was to be eaten by all, and none was to be left (Exodus 12:10). It was to be fully consumed. God intends that everything provided for us in Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection be “fully consumed.” In other words, we are to discover, receive, and appropriate fully every blessing, every provision, AND every responsibility that is ours through union with Christ.
Significantly, Peter tells us of one precious benefit provided through the broken Body of the Lamb!
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (I Peter 2:24 KJV)
Notice the phrase [τῷ μώλωπι αὐτοῦ ἰάθητε.] translated “by whose stripes ye were healed” in the KJV. There are two significant points I want us to see here.
First, the word translated “stripes” [μώλωπι] is SINGULAR in Greek. Kenneth Wuest pointed out that this indicated that Jesus was so terribly beaten by the Romans that one could not count individual “stripes” on his raw and severely lacerated Body. According to Wuest, Jesus’s back was simply one raw bleeding “stripe” as muscles, tendons, and sinews were ripped open and exposed.
Second, we can see that “ye WERE healed” is translated as PAST TENSE in English (aorist in Greek). One of the greatest revelations any believer can begin to understand is the revelation of the “past tense” of Redemption! Jesus paid it ALL. There is no circumstance or situation of life that was not addressed at the Cross. We are not waiting on God to finally come down and do something about whatever problem we may be facing. God has already done all that is necessary through Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection. Redemption, and all that it includes, is a “done deal” so far as God is concerned. As we begin to view earthly situations from a Heavenly perspective, we will walk out of defeat and into Victory every single time!
He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes. (Psalm 105:37 KJV)
The Psalmist informs us that as Israel came out of Egypt in the Exodus, there was not “one feeble one among their tribes.” How could that be? They ate the butchered and roasted flesh of the Lamb (both the “butchering” and the “roasting in fire” are significant, but I will save that for another time). Many Pentecostal scholars affirm, as do I, that the Passover must have been one of the greatest “healing services” in all of human history. Because of the Blood of the Lamb, the angel of death could not enter. And because of the Flesh of the Lamb, healing and health came forth in God’s covenant people.
And so it is today. The Blood of Jesus has dealt with the sin issue. And the broken Body of Jesus, among other things, has dealt with the sickness issue. If you are “in Christ” not only has the power of sin been broken, but the authority of sickness to enter your body has been annulled. If we do sin, we can confess, repent, and receive God’s Forgiveness, all based upon what the Blood of Jesus has already accomplished on our behalf (I John 1:9). And if sickness or disease tries to come against us, we can appropriate by faith the Healing already provided in redemption through the broken Body of Jesus. You can receive BOTH forgiveness if needed, AND healing for your body, mind, and emotions TODAY, in Jesus’ Name! Be Blessed!
