That you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’
Exodus 12:27
Despite all of the evil that Egypt inflicted on the people of Israel, we have to keep in mind that it wasn’t always like that. It’s important to remember that in the beginning Egypt was the place that ushered in the birth of Israel as a nation, and it served as a place of refuge and protection.
God also declared to His people to remember that while they dwelt in Egypt, they were blessed there, but that the time would come for them to leave it and move on to the Promised Land, according to the plans of God.
When we look at Passover, we see a miracle in the way that God was able to evacuate the people of Israel out of Egypt in only one day when the time of their exodus arrived. He did this in an awesome way that would impress upon Egypt and the surrounding nations for generations to come, that the God of Israel is almighty and stands alone as the one, true God of all.
The judgment over Egypt wasn’t only against Egypt itself, but against the idols and gods of Egypt, against the temples and altars where their vile sacrifices were made. God showed His power in such a mighty way, that He commanded Passover to be remembered and celebrated for all generations. We are to commemorate and know that He is the Lord!
After nine judgments, God told the people of Israel that it was time to depart from Egypt. He was preparing Egypt for His final and most severe judgment, through which the people of Israel would experience the greatest miracle of all — the miracle of redemption. When God announced He would be striking Egypt one last time, He said to Israel: “ani kaniti ot’cha” — I purchased (redeemed) you!
Then He proceeded to give very clear and specific instructions on how they were to take a lamb, sacrifice it, and eat it along with their family. It was to be the lamb of the covenant, and its blood was to be applied on the doorposts of the entrances to each family’s home. The angel of death would then PASS OVER (pasach) that family’s house. When he would move to a house and witness the blood covering their doorposts, he would pass them over, and destruction would not fall on that household.
God instructed the people of Israel to only eat the sacrificial lamb, matzot (unleavened bread), and bitter herbs (maror) on that Passover night. That tradition remains until this very day, as families sit around their Seder meal on Passover night, sing songs, and pray as follows: “We were slaves, but You oh, God, delivered us from Egypt. You took us out of the hands of those that were stronger than us, and because of Your hand, power, faithfulness, goodness, and promises, we were blessed enough to be taken out of darkness into light, from slavery to freedom.”
That is also Yeshua’s redeeming message, which is why it says in 1 Corinthians 5:7 – “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” The entire story of Passover was a prophetic foreshadowing of the Lamb of God that would be sacrificed for our eternal redemption 1200 years after the first Passover and the exodus of the people of Israel from Egypt. Passover reveals how God would redeem us, and purchase us for a costly price — the blood of His own Son, the Lamb of God.
When the angel of death passed through Egypt and struck each unprotected household, the people of Israel were under God’s supernatural protection, because of the blood of the lamb. That is a message for us today as followers of Yeshua, who live in the new covenant, with Yeshua becoming our protection, and His blood cleansing us from our sins. We also see herein how Passover clearly points to Yeshua’s crucifixion in Jerusalem when His blood was shed for our redemption.
Filming in this very special location, by a river flowing in the middle of the desert, I can’t help but think about how God led the Israelites out of Egypt through the desert, from one place to another, never forsaking them even in the harshest wilderness conditions, and always leading them to living water. Once again, everything points to Yeshua in the story of Passover and the Exodus, because God led us also to Yeshua — our living water in the wilderness of our lives.
