Exodus 12:3–28

Notice here three matters of spiritual importance. First, every individual needs the lamb. Second, every house needs the lamb. Third, the lamb is large enough for others to share. Israel would sacrifice many lambs that night. Yet Scripture does not use the plural, "lambs," but only the singular — "the lamb" or "your lamb" (vv. 4-5). For the lamb above all speaks of Christ.

If the household was too small for the lamb, then he and his nearest neighbour were to take it together. Please notice there was no question that the lamb might be too little for the house. The Lamb of God is enough for all — even for the worst sinner.

Israel clearly kept the Passover family by family, on the principle of a lamb for each household. The blood sprinkled on their homes sheltered them, family by family. So the father's act — his obedience of faith — secured his household from the stroke of judgment that fell on the land of Egypt… The state of the household did not come into the question. The essential point was the sprinkling of the blood.

Every household had its own lamb, for every family had to be specifically under its shelter. On the other hand, "the assembly of the congregation" is seen as one whole. These two unities were always preserved… the families apart, and the congregation as a whole.

It is remarkable that God did not appoint the lamb to be killed on the first day of that month. From now on, this month was to be the first in Israel's year. One might almost have supposed that the LORD would begin the new reckoning with the great fact of redemption… Ten days had to run their course before the victim was taken from the flock for death.

For our present purpose it is enough to say that "ten" represents the full measure of human responsibility. So we have ten commandments in Exodus 20, ten virgins in Matthew 25:1-13, and ten pounds in Luke 19:13. So the ten days of Exodus 12:3 speak to us of the ages of responsibility (or probation). They ran their course before God sent out His beloved Son to be the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

Israel took the lamb on the tenth day and kept it until the fourteenth. This shows us Christ foreordained by God from eternity, but revealed for us in time. God's eternal purpose in Christ becomes the foundation of the believer's peace… This carries us back far beyond creation, beyond the bounds of time, beyond the entrance of sin, and beyond everything that could affect the groundwork of our peace.

On this view, the tenth day corresponds to Christ entering His public ministry. John the Baptist then marked Him out in a most striking way: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29). Ten is the number of responsibility Godward. So before our Lord was publicly owned as the Lamb of God, He had met every responsibility before God, and was proved without blemish — fit in Himself to be the sacrifice for sin.

The first few verses of Exodus 12 show a deepening and growing appreciation of the value of the "lamb" — "a lamb" (v. 3); "the lamb" (v. 4); "your lamb" (v. 5). As they kept the lamb in the intimacy of the home, their contemplation of it would grow during those four days from the tenth to the fourteenth.

On the tenth day of the month every man was to take a lamb, at least a lamb for a house. Yet if the house was too small to use the meat of a lamb, then it might be shared with a neighbouring house (vv. 2-3). Notice three matters of spiritual importance here. First, every individual needs the lamb. Second, every house needs the lamb. Third, the lamb is large enough for others to share. Israel would sacrifice many lambs that night. Yet Scripture does not use the plural, "lambs," but only the singular, "the lamb" or "your lamb" (vv. 4-5). For the lamb speaks above all of Christ.

The lamb is to be eaten — all of it. If the household were too little for the lamb — we read nothing of the lamb being too little for the house — then, says the Lord, let him and his neighbour next to his house take it. This blessed One is all-sufficient either as Saviour or as the Sustainer of His people.

Please notice there was no question that the lamb might be too little for the house. The Lamb of God is enough for all — even for the worst sinner.

The feast was of a family character. All shared in it according to their appetites. Throughout Scripture we often have eating presented as a symbol of communion... The Israelites shared, according to their eating, in the lamb, whose blood was their common salvation. But their security lay not in their feeding on the lamb, their communion concerning the sacrifice, but in the blood outside their doors. Communion with God about Christ follows our salvation by God's Christ; we are not saved by spiritual capacity. Our salvation lies in the value of the sacrificial blood on which God rests, just as His eye rested on the blood outside the houses of Israel. The order is first the shelter of the blood, then the joy of feasting on the Lamb whose blood has been shed for us.

The lamb is theirs to feed on, and God is bent on their enjoying this provision of His love. The lamb too must all of it be eaten. God would have Christ grasped by us. He would have our souls sustained, and He would have Christ honoured. We are to eat — to make our own what Christ is; and what we make our own becomes, in fact, part and parcel of ourselves. This laying hold of Christ by faith makes Christ real sustenance to us, and makes Himself to be reproduced in us.

The paschal feast was the first institution of divine fellowship in a corporate sense. The blood of atonement stood on that night between the Israelites and those who were outside their doors. Judgment was outside; but inside there was not peace only, but communion. No Israelite might eat the passover alone. Family association, founded on the divinely recognised unity of the house of Israel, was a marked feature of the ordinance.

Have we found the roast Lamb to be an inexhaustible feast, enough for me and my household, with unlimited supplies for my neighbour next to my house? Let us each share the roast Lamb with our neighbour in the house next to us. In time we may find, as our Lord pointed out to the lawyer, that "my neighbour" may be one of another nation. He may be one who for years has been despised and scorned and neglected.

First, the lamb. As already pointed out, the whole value of this Passover lamb springs from its being a type of Christ. Paul says, "For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed" (1 Corinthians 5:7). So we have God's own authority for seeing the Lamb of God pictured in this type. That is why every detail of this chapter is so full of interest... He was God's Lamb, and it is a great comfort that God Himself supplied the lamb. Man could never have known what sacrifice would be acceptable. So in His mercy and grace God provided a lamb whose blood would be enough to take away the sin of the world. There can never be any other way of cleansing from sin, and no other shelter from the just judgment of God.

During His three and a half years of ministry the Saviour lived in the fierce glare of hostile criticism. He did not live cut off from people, as John the Baptist did; the desert was not His home; He moved freely in and out among the people. All the facts of His life were therefore fully known. If His foes could have discovered a single flaw in Him, how it would have delighted their evil hearts! But He was God's holy One. The Passover lamb was to be "without blemish." Only such a lamb could picture Him who was holy in nature and stainless in all His ways. At the end His judge had to say, "I find no guilt in him" (John 19:6).

Today God is calling men and women out from the world and bringing them to Himself. We must make sure we have a perfect Saviour, one who is inwardly without blemish — in whom was no sin! Peter adds another thing. He says that believers are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb. That Lamb is not only "without blemish" inwardly, but also "without spot" outwardly. Our Lord Jesus Christ lived and passed through this sin-defiled world, and yet He stayed unspotted.

The lamb must be, first, "without blemish" — that is, the sacrifice must be pure enough to atone for sins... Secondly, it must be a male, the stronger of the sexes. The sacrifice must be strong enough. It is impossible that one mere creature, even if he had not sinned, could atone for the sins of countless numbers. But Christ is the eternal Son of God, in person infinite... Thirdly, the lamb must be "of the first year." This tells us of its tenderness.

Sentiment and imagination have combined to give us a completely wrong idea of this lamb. It was to be a mature animal. It was a type of that blessed One of whom we read, "Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age" (Luke 3:23).

Exodus 12 records the first time God dealt with sin publicly. There the people of Israel could take either from the sheep or from the goats (v. 5). In the sheep we have the willingness of the Lord to die for sin, and in the goat we have the ability of the Lord to die for sin.

The lamb is not called God's Lamb there. It is spoken of as "your lamb." Our lamb — yet that lamb in type is the same Lamb, the same Person who is God's Lamb, and it has, we are told, to be "without blemish."

The precious blood of Christ has redeemed us out of our old manner of life. He is the One pictured as the unblemished and spotless lamb of Exodus 12:3-6. Only He was ordained not a mere four days before the sacrifice, but from before the foundation of the world. Our redemption, therefore, was according to the eternal counsels of God.

Once the lamb is taken, sacrifice does not follow at once; it is kept for four days. Four speaks of testing. This comes straight after God announces His satisfaction and delight in Him. Until then He had lived under God's eye alone; now man and the devil are to test Him as they please... And this testing brought out only His perfection. The four Gospels show the result.

For four days it lived with them in the house its blood would shelter from the judgment. It was before their very eyes during that period. They might consider it and talk of it and say, "This is the lamb that is to suffer for us."... We behold Him as He walks, without spot or blemish. In this Gospel He could challenge His enemies: "Which one of you convicts me of sin?" Even the heartless pagan judge had to admit three times over that he could find no fault in Him.

Here we have the redemption of the people founded on the blood of the lamb, in line with God's eternal purpose. This gives it all its divine stability. Redemption was no afterthought with God. This was settled before the world was, or Satan, or sin. Before the voice of God ever broke the silence of eternity and called worlds into existence, He had His deep counsels of love.

"On the tenth day of this month they shall take every man a lamb... and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening." How wonderfully the Lord fulfilled all this. On the tenth day of the first month we see Him coming to Jerusalem. He stayed there (though sleeping outside the city) until the fourteenth day, and on the evening of that day He died.

The passover was to be sacrificed in the evening, at the going down of the sun. The daily evening sacrifice was offered up "between the evenings." So this phrase cannot mean what some have said — the time between the evening of one day and the evening of the next... "Between the two evenings" was a certain time on the fourteenth day of Nisan.

Learned men say between the two evenings means between three and six; but why? What is their authority? It is remarkable that the unleavened bread was to begin at evening... but the paschal lamb was to be slain between the two evenings. Might it not be between the beginning of Friday (our Thursday evening) and the beginning of Saturday (our Friday evening)? It was strictly fulfilled in our Lord.

All must be identified with the slain lamb. It was to be killed for the whole assembly. Every household had its own lamb, because every family had to be under its shelter. On the other hand, "the assembly of the congregation" is viewed as a whole... The passover brings the two together — the families apart, and the congregation as a whole.

The whole assembly was to kill the lamb in the evening. This reminds us that all believers are responsible for the death of Christ. Our sins caused Him His suffering and death.

In this verse, for the first time in Holy Scripture, blood is linked with man's deliverance and blessing. Several passages in Genesis speak of blood as evidence of human guilt — above all in the story of Cain and Abel. In the early chapters of Exodus, blood twice comes in as one of God's judgements on rebellious Egypt. Now, in the Passover lamb, it comes before us as the means by which God kept His believing people safe from destruction. From this point on to the end of the book of God, the teaching of atoning blood stands out unmistakably. By blood, and by blood alone, can men be saved. It was not enough to kill the lamb, or even to present the blood in a basin. They had to sprinkle it, in obedience to the word of Jehovah.

When they sprinkled the blood, those who did it were confessing that they themselves deserved nothing but death, and that they were sheltering under the death of another. To God, the blood was a witness that death had already entered every house it marked. That is what made it right for Him to tell His ministers of judgment to pass those houses by.

Notice the places where they were to sprinkle the blood — the lintel and the side posts of the doors. They had to lift it high and look up to it, which is just what everyone who truly values the blood of Christ does now. The Israelite had to put it between himself and God, and to know its protecting power on his right hand and on his left as well.

The question was the judgment of God, and where the blood had to be sprinkled to shelter them from it. Which direction was the blow coming from? Certainly not from below, but from above... The lower side was the only side that was never exposed while He passed over. And God did not say, I will pass under you, but over you.

What could show more clearly that the blood was for Jehovah's eye, and not for man to see or reason about? The lamb's blood went outside; inside they ate the flesh roasted with fire. What makes this even clearer is that it was night. There was no natural light for men to see the blood by. Only the divine eye could see the blood on the doorposts.

Do not look for a sign inside yourself; see it in the blood of Christ. Do not look at your feelings, but at His sufferings; not at your joy, but at His pain... Is the firstborn of the pale, downcast mother any less safe than the firstborn of a mother whose strong faith in Jehovah already welcomes the freedom God gives? No — the safety lies in the blood outside the door, not in the feelings of those inside the house.

The lamb was killed, and its blood put on the two side posts and the lintel, outside the house where the family lived. Inside the house they were to eat its flesh. The blood marks on the door were the outward witness that death had already taken place inside. Eating the flesh inside the house pictured how those sheltered by the blood took in the death of the lamb and made it their own.

With the blood on the lintel and doorposts the Israelites were safe. But at the Red Sea God told them to stand still and see "the salvation of the LORD." That was deliverance itself — He took them out of one place and put them into another.

Outside the house, the blood of atonement spoke to God, the One it was addressed to. Inside, He provided what would satisfy them and make them fit for the path with Him that they were soon to set out on. The lamb is theirs to feed on, and God is set on their enjoying this provision of His love.

The families fed on the lamb "roast with fire" (v. 8). But it was not their feeding on the lamb inside their houses that led the angel to pass over them. It was the blood outside their doors. We are not redeemed because of our communion with Christ, but because Christ died for us. True, they could not have eaten the lamb unless they had killed it for themselves. So no one can have communion about the sufferings of Christ unless he first truly receives Him in his heart as Saviour.

Men's thoughts are completely out of step with the mind of God when they speak of the death of Christ as only a martyr's death, with no reference to its atoning worth. But "roast with fire" ought to destroy the dangerous dreams and delusions that men's false theories produce about the sacrificial work of the Lord Jesus. Fire speaks of the holiness of God expressed in judgment. So in the lamb roast with fire we see a picture of the Lord Jesus. He was Himself free from sin and its penalty. Yet as our sinless, unblemished Substitute He was exposed to the full, intense and searching action of the fire — the judgment of God expressed in wrath against sin.

We are not merely under the eternal shelter of the blood of the Lamb, but we feed, by faith, upon the Person of the Lamb. Many of us come short here. We are apt to rest content with being saved by what Christ has done for us, and never grow in holy communion with Himself. His loving heart could never be satisfied with this. He has brought us near to Himself, that we might enjoy Him, that we might feed on Him, and delight in Him.

Leaven pictures evil in its tendency to spread by taking over whatever it touches. So this command means refusing and putting away all the evil that belongs to man in his fallen state.

We quite agree with you in thinking that self-judgment has its place in what the "bitter herbs" pointed forward to. These herbs always had to go with the passover. We do not consider it the only thing, but we do consider it one thing foreshadowed in these herbs... We think they set out the deep spiritual exercises that flow from really entering into the sufferings of Christ. If these things were better known, there would be less heartless lightness, less cold formality, less sinful indifference in our celebration of the Lord's Supper.

Leaven is a picture of sin, so the unleavened bread pictures sin fully judged and put away by the cross. "Bitter herbs" show how our hearts respond when we recognise that it was our own sins for which He was sacrificed. So the roasting speaks of Christ judged for us; the unleavened bread, of sin judged; and the bitter herbs, of self judged.

Nothing of the lamb was to remain until the morning. There were to be no "left overs." If they could not eat it all, they were to burn the remainder with fire (v. 10). God is glad to give us all that we can digest of Christ, but if any remains it must be offered by fire to God. If we do not appropriate everything concerning Christ, God does.

The command to burn all that remained of the lamb uneaten shows how precious Christ's worth is. On that night each fed upon it "according to his eating." There was much more than any Israelite could then understand, for it was a whole Christ pictured there. Was that to be wasted which man in Egypt could not understand? No — gather up the fragments so that nothing is lost. But "burnt with fire" also speaks of the unsparing judgment of God. The whole lamb was roasted with fire, and in the morning they burned all that was left. All that Christ was, was offered to God, for nothing less than a whole Christ could bear all God's judgment.

A similar direction is given about eating the sacrifices (see Lev. 7:15). It could be eaten only in connection with the judgment through which it had passed. As they ate the lamb "roast with fire" they were to remember that the lamb had taken their place, and its blood had sheltered them from the judgment of God. Given all that its sacrifice meant, how necessary these instructions about what was left: it must not be put aside and eaten later as ordinary food.

This command teaches us that the communion of the congregation could never be separated from the sacrifice on which that communion was founded. The heart must always keep the memory alive: all true fellowship is tied to a redemption already accomplished. To think of having communion with God on any other ground is to imagine that He could share in our evil. To think of fellowship with other people on any other ground is only to form an unholy club, and nothing can come from it but confusion and wickedness. In a word, everything must rest on the blood and stay linked to it. That is the simple meaning of eating the Passover lamb on the same night the blood was shed.

The rising sun was to see no trace of the slain lamb. In the same way the atoning work of Christ is not a work in progress, but a finished work. It is not still being carried out; it was accomplished once, definitely and for ever. Calvary's costly sacrifice stays with God and the redeemed for ever as a fragrant and holy memory, but the sacrifice itself is past and complete. It is so effective before God that nothing more could ever be required or accepted. For God's suffering Lamb the dark night of judgement is no more, and He lives on high in the eternal sunshine of divine favour and love.

None of that roast lamb was to remain until the morning. Exodus 12:10 tells us that true worship cannot be known apart from the death of Christ. True worship can never be stale: it must always be fresh.

The present moment of our soul's history with God is a most serious one, because our capacity becomes fixed here. Therefore we must go on, and grow by the truth. But note, it must be Christ, in all His fullness, and all His grace, that our souls feed upon.

They were to eat it as a people ready to leave behind the land of death and darkness, wrath and judgment. They were moving on toward the land of promise — the inheritance meant for them. The blood that had preserved them from the fate of Egypt's firstborn was also the foundation of their deliverance from Egypt's bondage. True, they had not yet crossed the Red Sea. Still they were, in principle, a redeemed people, a separated people, a pilgrim people, an expectant people, a dependent people. Their whole way of life was to match their present position and their future destiny. The girded loins spoke of intense separation from all around them. They also spoke of a readiness to serve. The shod feet declared they were ready to leave that scene. The staff was the vivid emblem of a pilgrim people, leaning on something outside themselves.

Could words or acts give us a more vivid picture? Here is a people screened from divine judgment, leaving the house of slavery in haste for a land flowing with milk and honey. In Luke 12:35 the Lord uses the same figure, with others, to impress on His disciples their pilgrim character while they wait for His coming. They are not to take their ease. They are to stay ready to do His will earnestly, and that is what girded loins mean. For hard work, people tucked up their garments instead of letting them hang loose, so nothing got in the way. So He would now have our hearts engaged without wandering affections or distraction of mind.

Travellers tell us that their shoes are cut to pieces in a short time in the desert Israel had to cross. Yet Israel, shod by the Lord, crossed that desert from end to end. For forty years their shoes did not wear out on their feet... This shoe stands for faithfulness to God. That faithfulness stays unchanged in a hostile world and resists everything that would break it down.

Finally, they were to eat the passover with "your staff in your hand." The staff is God's word that supports our steps in the way He leads us. His promises are our prop and stay. We have only one staff, but it is unfailing. "Scripture cannot be broken." Lean on it, fellow Christian; the more you do, the more you will find its strength.

They were now to start their journey. What was impossible before the passover is now at once commanded to them. The passover itself is to be eaten in haste, since they expect to leave right away. Judgment must roll over first. They must start with it behind them — not in front, where they would have to meet it. Then, and in that way, they must go out.

The name implies the complete passing over of all who have been sheltered by the precious blood of Christ... It is "the Lord's Passover" — that is, His own exclusive work of matchless grace. Only those who had been sheltered by blood, that is, Israel, could rightly keep the Passover.

Could a people waiting like that for the call to leave give their time and attention to the affairs of Egypt? Had they not heard that judgment was coming?... Is our position less solemn, less momentous? Are the commands to us less stringent? Is the judgment hanging over the world less real, less awful, or less certain? The commands are identical.

Now God announces that He (not an angel) would pass through the land that night (v. 12), striking dead all the firstborn in Egypt, both of people and animals, executing solemn judgment on all the idols of Egypt, for they would find their idols helpless to protect them.

Each act of divine judgment had made it more solemn to have to do with God in judgment. This last one deepens that solemnity beyond measure, for God deals in Person with the Ruler and the people of Egypt. Every instrument and agency is set aside. As He says in Exodus 11:4, "About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die."

The hand of the LORD was heavy also upon "all the gods of Egypt." He executed judgment on their deities — probably the living emblems of their gods — and that must have caused terror in every temple. Judgment falling on the gods of the land showed the LORD's supremacy over "all" the powers men worshipped. It also explains to the Christian the real meaning of the Egyptian religion. Every god in that land was opposed to the LORD. Every sacrifice and prayer offered in any temple, at any shrine, through any priest, went to a demon! King, priests, and people were all completely bewildered. Besides, the LORD's carefully aimed hand, striking only the firstborn, whether of people or of cattle, showed His power so plainly that all Egypt dreaded death. To save themselves, they begged Israel to go, in case everyone died as the firstborn had died.

Egyptologists tell us that a special goddess was supposed to watch over the frogs and keep the land safe from them. Her name was Heki, and the monuments sometimes picture her with the head of a frog. The Egyptians had to learn that Heki was nothing before the LORD. This illustrates the word, "on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments" (Exodus 12:12). Probably, too, when the first plague fell, Pharaoh was approaching the river to worship the god the Nile was supposed to stand for.

The firstborn stand for human excellence. They were the sons with a natural claim to the birthright, the place of honour and rule. "He struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, the firstfruits of their strength," says the psalmist. "Reuben," says the dying father, "you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power." Yet he had to add, "Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence."

But it is God as Judge that is the leading idea in the Passover. Every blessing flows from it. Still, on that night the word was "I will pass over" — not communion with God, but barring out judgment. God as Judge was going through the land, searching for sinners, not to save but to slay. Blood that He Himself appointed turns His eye away from the sinner. The Judge passes on as if there were no sinners in the house.

On the Passover night the question was how God could pass over the guilty, even when they were His people. The blood of the lamb sprinkled on Israel's doorposts declared this: God was judging in the open, yet He could not touch those sheltered by it. That blood held His truth and justice back, and satisfied them. It kept the destroyer from entering. Not one Israelite died within the blood-sprinkled doorframes.

The LORD, then, is the living, unchangeable God, acting from Himself, finding in Himself the reason for what He does. How suitable a name for the God of redemption — the covenant name!

When God reveals the judgment, He also reveals the way to escape it. The soul that fears God stays close to His word, and this raises the question between God and Israel. Could Israel stand if God came in judgment? The Egyptians were sinners, and God would surely judge them. But if God came down to judge, what were the children of Israel? Where were their sins? ... The destroying angel of the Lord passed through the land. Israelites might have been ever so honest, but without the blood on their doorposts he would have had to enter and kill. For God was under this sign judging sin, and sin levels all distinctions.

But must I not see the blood? asks many a distressed soul. It is good for me to value it rightly, and more and more; but no one could have solid peace on that ground. And that is not what God told His people. It was indeed a token to them. But their assurance rested on this: "when I [the Lord] see the blood, I will pass over you." The Israelite's business was not to look at it for his safety. He was to stay within the shelter of the sprinkled blood that God had pledged Himself to.

It is also important for us to remember that the blood of the lamb was outside, for the eye of God. The word was, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you." Once the blood was there, God would not fail to see it. They did not have to see the blood. Knowing it was there, they were to rest content with God's definite word that, since it was there, He would pass over them. The blood was for the eye of God; His word was for the ears and hearts of those within.

Is it a question of the believer's state, of his worthiness, of his feelings, of his experience, of his walk, of his love, of his devotedness, of his appreciation of Christ? Then there would be no force, no value, no truth in that glorious sentence, "When I see the blood, I will pass over." In that case the wording would have to change completely, and a dark, chilling shadow would fall over its heavenly brightness. It would then have to read, "When I see the blood, and … ."

We are told that the Hebrew word translated this way means to pass over with protection, like a bird stretching its wings over its young. It is not just the negative idea of failing to notice when it is a question of judgment. On that fateful night the Lord was going to strike the firstborn and execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. But wherever the token of death appeared on a house, He would spread His wings of protection over it, and the plague would not enter to destroy.

First, that the blood (notice, not their feelings, nor opinions, nor even prayers, but the blood), and the blood only, was to be the sign to them of their perfect safety. Whatever came, they were to think of the blood and be at peace, because they were sheltered by it. ... He did not say, when I see your feelings or your doings. Oh no; but "when I see the blood, I will pass over you." So the blood answers every claim of God, as well as meeting every need of our souls.

Blind indeed are the eyes that cannot see that chapter 12 sets before us the redemption blood of Christ. As the apostle says, "For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed" (1 Corinthians 5:7). ... And God kept His word. Not one person died that night who believed what He said about that blood. ... Think what God sees in the blood of Christ! It is not what you see. Our views of the value of the atoning death of Jesus are still very limited. But what does God see? The place of highest glory into which God has raised the once-bleeding Jesus is the answer.

Israel was to keep this day in memory forever (v. 14) with a yearly feast. Various names show how important it is: (1) "the LORD's Passover" (v. 11); (2) "a memorial" (v. 14); (3) "a feast" (v. 14); (4) "an ordinance" (v. 24); (5) "a service" (v. 25); and (6) "the sacrifice" (v. 27).

The grace of the LORD provided for Israel's wonderful redemption. The same grace provided the memorial of it, on the very night the Lamb was slain (v. 14). The Lord did the same thing. On "the night when He was betrayed" He "took bread" (1 Cor. 11:23), and set up the memorial of His dying love in direct connection with eternal redemption.

The people of Israel were to keep that night in Egypt in perpetual remembrance. So that it might never be forgotten, they were to hold the Passover every year as a feast to the LORD throughout their generations, "as a statute forever" (Ex. 12:14). There is a dangerous tendency in the human heart to forget, especially in matters relating to God. In Deuteronomy — the book that gives us Moses' final addresses to the people — we often meet warnings like "Beware lest you forget," and "Take care that you remember." … Year by year the Passover feast was to be kept in Israel. In this way the people would keep alive in their minds the goodness of God, and the mighty fact that He redeemed them from slavery in Egypt and brought them into relationship with Himself on the ground of the blood of the lamb.

It was God's way of vividly reminding them of their earlier slavery, and of His most marvellous way of delivering them. It was also a picture of a far greater deliverance, so it was fitting that it should have a lasting memorial. The Red Sea had none, although it was there that God openly displayed His power. The nations heard of the striking judgment on Pharaoh and his army. But did they hear of blood sprinkled on the doorpost? Did they hear how a sin-judging God stepped in to save His people from judgment? The blood on the doorpost is the foundation of everything; the Passover is God's feast, and its memorial is for ever.

One more thing is brought in here, and it is of great practical importance to us: the feast of unleavened bread. This feast was commanded right after the sprinkling of blood (Ex. 12:14-20). This was to show that the two things — shelter by blood, and the obligation to walk in moral agreement with that death — can never be separated.

The sense of redemption by blood was not to pass away with the event in Egypt. There was to be a memorial feast, kept every year "as a statute forever."

Here the word "everlasting" cannot mean a never-ending state. That is beyond dispute. The whole Jewish system under the law, with all its memorials, statutes and ordinances, has found its end in Christ.

Leaven is always used, throughout Scripture, as a symbol of evil. Neither in the Old nor in the New Testament is it ever used to set forth anything pure, holy, or good. So in this chapter, "the feast of unleavened bread" pictures practical separation from evil. That separation is the proper result of being washed from our sins in the blood of the Lamb, and it goes together with communion with His sufferings. Nothing but perfectly unleavened bread could suit a roasted lamb. A single grain of that marked symbol of evil would have ruined the moral character of the whole ordinance.

In Scripture, leaven always stands for evil — above all for evil that defiles quietly rather than by force. Sin may act either by cunning or by force... Of the two, corruption is easier to hide at work than violence. So leaven pictures it well: leaven corrupts what would otherwise be good and wholesome. The believers at Corinth were taught that even a little evil spreads its pollution through the whole assembly.

Then immediately — and there is nothing morally more remarkable in these feasts — follows the feast of Unleavened Bread. Indeed, the two are so bound together that both are sometimes called the Passover. Not one day is allowed to separate them. God will not let the forgiveness of our sins, brought in by the blood of the Lamb, stand apart even a little from our responsibility to holiness. The moment the Israelite came under the shelter of the blood of the Lamb, God forbade him to eat leavened bread. He could not keep leaven in any form inside his house.

To eat unleavened bread therefore will mean separation from evil — practical holiness. Notice too that the feast was to last for seven days — that is, a complete period of time. The lesson, then, is that God requires holiness of all who shelter under the blood of the Passover Lamb. He requires it for the whole of their lives on earth... If we are saved by the grace of God through the sprinkled blood of Christ, our wretched hearts might reason — we might indulge in sin so that grace may abound. "No!" says the Spirit of God, "as soon as you are under the value of the death of Christ, you are under the responsibility to be separate from evil."

The Israelite did not put away leaven to be saved, but because he was saved. If he failed to put away leaven, it did not raise the question of his security through the blood. It raised the question of his fellowship with the assembly... Cutting an Israelite off from the congregation matches the suspending of a Christian's fellowship, if he is indulging in what is contrary to the holiness of God's presence. God cannot tolerate evil. A single unholy thought will interrupt the soul's communion.

It is also of immense importance to see that the unleavened state of the houses of Israel secured the unleavened state of the nation. If the houses of the Lord's people are kept free from leavening influences, the unleavened state of the whole company is largely secured. Perhaps the two most subtle agents in leavening households today are the literature of the day, and the company invited into Christian houses.

It is a feast and not a fast. We must not be saying to ourselves all the time, "now I must not do this," and "don't do that." Our fellowship is not one long "don't" — that would be a fast. But this is a feast, the feast of unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Where do we find sincerity and truth? In Christ... and as we feed upon Christ in that character, you may be sure of this, we shall not need the "don'ts" and the "you mustn'ts."

It is worth noting here that this feast springs out of and is connected with the feast of the Passover. The usual introduction to a new subject — "the LORD spoke to Moses saying" — does not appear here. This feast, then, is the direct result of the Passover. It is the putting away of all evil because Christ has died to sin once. Romans 6:10. It is the answer inside us to the work Christ did outside us on the cross.

Some apply 1 Corinthians 5:8 to the question of having bread without yeast, or unfermented wine, at the Lord's Supper. That would be a strange and miserable use of it. We believe, dear friend, the feast refers to the whole of our Christian life in this world. From first to last it should be a feast of unleavened bread, resting on the great fact that "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us." It is a life of personal holiness that flows out of finished redemption, known and applied by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Leaven is a picture of evil — evil that spreads and makes the whole mass it spreads through like itself. So to eat unleavened bread means separation from evil — practical holiness. Note too that the feast was to last seven days — that is, a complete period of time… If we are saved by the grace of God through the sprinkled blood of Christ, our wretched hearts might reason — we might indulge in sin that grace may abound. "No!" says the Spirit of God, "but as soon as you are under the value of the death of Christ, you are under the responsibility to be separate from evil."

"Holy convocations" were to mark the first day and the last day, with the people gathered together to give glory to the God of Israel. They must do no work except what was needed to prepare the feast (v. 16).

No work and no leaven were the divine rules for the Passover week. No work, because this pictured the great Calvary work of Christ, and no human effort must stand beside it. Christ is not a mere helper of sinners, making up for their deficiencies; He is Saviour, doing all that is necessary to save us from eternal ruin.

There must be rest of heart for communion to exist… So let us look at the place "rest" was to have in the ordinances God set up for His redeemed people. Let us gather the teaching held in these days of "holy convocation," when all the people were to present themselves before God, and when every work of service was completely forbidden.

These negative things, important as they undoubtedly are, will not feed our souls. There is not only a putting off in Christianity, there is also a putting on… They were to eat unleavened bread. If we are to produce a feast to Jehovah of unleavened bread, we must take Christ daily as food for the soul. Only as we feed upon Him will we grow to be like Him.

That second claim is completely made up. Not a word suggests that the feast was set up at Succoth. Three important verses (17-19) separate the mention of Succoth from the end of everything that refers to the feast. Exodus 13 clearly adds something important to what Jehovah had commanded in Exodus 12, but it names no date and no place. It may well have been, and probably was, after the sons of Israel left Egypt, since all through it assumes the feast had already been set up.

God gave full instructions about this Feast of Unleavened Bread on the very day the Passover lamb was to be killed. That is significant. If this were only man's celebration, he would set it up after the event had already happened. From that day on, the Passover feast stood as a witness that Israel's deliverance from Egypt was real (v. 17).

To eat unleavened bread will therefore mean separation from evil — practical holiness. Note too that the feast was to last seven days — a complete period of time. So the lesson is that holiness is the duty of everyone sheltered by the blood of the Passover Lamb, right through their whole life on earth… If we are saved by the grace of God through the sprinkled blood of Christ, our wretched hearts might reason: we may indulge in sin so that grace may abound. "No!" says the Spirit of God. "As soon as you are under the value of the death of Christ, you are under the responsibility to be separate from evil."

Leaven always pictures evil throughout Scripture. Neither in the Old nor in the New Testament does it ever stand for anything pure, holy, or good… Even a single crumb of the thing that pictured evil would have destroyed the moral character of the whole ordinance. How could we connect any kind of evil with our fellowship with a suffering Christ? Impossible… "For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Corinthians 5:7-8).

Keeping the feast of "unleavened bread" pictures feeding on Christ, on Him in His spotless purity. Israel ate the bitter herbs with the lamb's body on the Passover night. Self-judgment went together with faith in God's mercy through the Lamb. But the unleavened bread was their food through all seven days. This involved and demanded keeping up personal holiness.

The charge was "to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt" (Ex. 6:13). And how did God bring these slaves out? As runaways? No — "by their hosts" (Ex. 6:26), with all the dignity of the Lord's army.

Here the word "everlasting" plainly cannot mean a never-ending condition. The whole Jewish system under the law, with all its memorials, statutes and ordinances, has found its end in Christ. We grant this fully. But we still deny the right to draw conclusions from these passages that could produce mistaken ideas about condemnation.

"All the congregation of Israel shall keep it" (v. 47). Put that with verse 24, "You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever." Together they teach us that every redeemed person who knows peace is called to the memorial feast, without exception. They also teach that this observance goes on until the moment comes when memorials are no longer needed. Forgetfulness and indifference to redeeming grace can never enter the Father's house, though we know all too well how they creep in here.

Notice that the time here is "at even," not "between the evenings," which is what verse 6 says. The lamb was slain between the evenings of the fourteenth. But the eating of unleavened bread was to begin "at even." That means sunset, when the fifteenth of Nisan was beginning. That this must be the meaning, a look at Leviticus 23:6 will show. Unleavened bread was to be eaten for seven days, ending with the twenty-first at evening. So the eating of unleavened bread must have begun with the start of the fifteenth of Nisan. Otherwise they would have eaten it for eight days, not seven.

It is remarkable that the unleavened bread was to begin at evening, that is, at 6 o'clock on our Thursday, their Friday, but the Passover lamb was to be killed between the two evenings.

It is significant that God gave full instructions about this Feast of Unleavened Bread on the very day when the Passover was to be killed. If this were merely man's celebration, he would set it up after the occasion for celebrating had already happened. From that day onwards the Passover feast remained a testimony to the reality of Israel's deliverance from Egypt (v. 17). Verse 18 gives the precise time: the 14th day to the 21st day of the first month.

Eating unleavened bread means separation from evil — practical holiness. Note too that the feast was to last for seven days — that is, a complete period of time. The lesson, then, is that God requires holiness from all who are sheltered by the blood of the Passover Lamb. It runs through the whole period of their lives on earth. This is the meaning of the feast's connection with the Passover. We are saved by the grace of God through the sprinkled blood of Christ. So our wretched hearts might reason that we may indulge in sin so that grace may abound. "No!" says the Spirit of God. "As soon as you are under the value of the death of Christ, you are under the responsibility to be separate from evil."

Leaven is always used throughout Scripture as a symbol of evil. Neither in the Old nor in the New Testament is it ever used to picture anything pure, holy, or good... Nothing but completely unleavened bread could match a roasted lamb. A single particle of what plainly stood for evil would have destroyed the moral character of the whole ordinance. How could we connect any kind of evil with our fellowship with a suffering Christ?

The Israelite did not put away leaven to be saved. He put it away because he was saved. And if he failed to put away leaven, it did not raise the question of his safety through the blood. It raised only the question of his fellowship with the assembly... Cutting an Israelite off from the congregation answers exactly to the suspension of a Christian's fellowship. That happens when he indulges in what is contrary to the holiness of God's presence.

Those who lead Christian households are responsible to keep evil out — pictured here by shutting out leaven — from the first moment they come under the shelter of the blood. Our God wants the homes of His redeemed people to be shelters on earth. They are to keep out the corrupting influence of everything that leavens outside. It also matters greatly that the unleavened state of Israel's houses secured the unleavened state of the whole nation... Perhaps two things leaven homes today more subtly than anything else: what people read, and the company they welcome into Christian houses.

There is no shadow of doubt about the symbolic force of leaven. It stands for corruption that spreads and contaminates, unless the context changes its meaning. This force is plain in the first and standing type of the Old Testament. Leaven was strictly excluded from the Passover and from the feast of unleavened bread that goes with it. In 1 Corinthians 5 the reference is direct, and the meaning of the type is certain. As leaven, even a little, taints the whole lump, so does known sin, if tolerated, taint the Christian assembly. Leaven here means evil in itself and wickedness in its effect. In Galatians 5:9 it stands for corrupt teaching: the demand for a ritual observance, which overturned grace in justifying by faith in Christ. God hates both, and neither fits our calling. If either gets in, we are bound to clear ourselves at any cost.

Leaven is a type of sin in its fermenting activity. So it was shut out completely from their bread for seven days. Here we have something that is applied to ourselves in 1 Corinthians 5:6-8. We are not of Israel, yet we know that Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. The seven days of unleavened bread picture the whole period in which we now live. In it we are bound to have done with the sin for which, and to which, Christ has died.

We must bear in mind that association with evil is leavening. No leaven was to be found in any of the houses of the Israelites. That tells us how far the feast reaches. All the surroundings and associations of the one who keeps it must line up with the truth and will of God. This principle is searching and far-reaching. Remember the warning the Spirit of God gave these same Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 15: "Do not be deceived: 'Bad company ruins good morals.'"

Leaven was to be banished from the house as well as from the individual. You may often find people who watch their own walk with care, yet take no notice of impurity in the church. The Lord calls us to beware of allowing leaven anywhere. But corporate purity is a worthless pretension without proper regard for personal holiness.

The Israelite did not put away leaven to be saved, but because he was saved. If he failed to put away leaven, it did not raise the question of security through the blood. It raised the question of fellowship with the assembly… The cutting off of an Israelite from the congregation matches the suspension of a Christian's fellowship, if he is indulging in what is contrary to the holiness of the divine presence. God cannot tolerate evil. A single sinful thought will interrupt the soul's communion. Confession, resting on the advocacy of Christ, must deal with the stain it leaves. Until then, communion cannot be restored.

This is just as true in the assembly of God today: there are to be no double standards. Anyone who is unwilling to submit to the order of the assembly is thereby disqualifying himself from fellowship with it.

Literal leaven is easy to look for, find, and throw away. To deal with what it stands for, you need an eye of spiritual discernment, an honest heart for God, and holy zeal that puts His great Name first at any cost. Anyone can search cupboards and corners for leaven, or clean the outside. But few are willing to examine themselves and search their own hearts in the light of God's word.

Leaven is always used throughout Scripture as a picture of evil. Neither in the Old nor in the New Testament is it ever used to set out anything pure, holy, or good. So in this chapter, "the feast of unleavened bread" pictures a practical separation from evil. That separation is the proper result of having our sins washed away in the blood of the Lamb. It is also what should go together with communion with His sufferings. Nothing but perfectly unleavened bread could go with a roasted lamb. Leaven was the marked picture of evil. A single particle of it would have destroyed the moral character of the whole ordinance. How could we connect any kind of evil with our fellowship with a suffering Christ? Impossible. All who enter into the meaning of the cross by the power of the Holy Spirit will certainly, by that same power, put away leaven from every part of their lives.

Leaven works like this. Add a small particle of it to a mass of pure dough, and it always passes its own character to the whole lump. This spreading action of leaven is automatic, and needs no human help. The subtle influence works silently and unnoticed. The hidden spreading and blending goes on until it is finished, and then the result shows.

Three things stand out here — the individual, the house, and the congregation of Israel. Every house had to be cleared of leaven. Anyone who ate leaven was to be cut off, and the removal was from the congregation. So, along with redemption by blood, three things are held together. First, the holiness of their Saviour-God. Second, individual responsibility, and with it the responsibility of the household. Third, the unity of Israel as one people. The congregation was responsible for the conduct of the people who made it up.

To eat unleavened bread will therefore mean separation from evil — practical holiness. Note, too, that the feast was to last for seven days — that is, a complete period of time. The lesson, then, is that God requires holiness of all who are sheltered by the blood of the Passover Lamb, right through the whole period of their lives on earth… If we are saved by the grace of God through the sprinkled blood of Christ, our wretched hearts might reason like this. We might indulge in sin so that grace may abound. "No!" says the Spirit of God, "as soon as you are under the value of the death of Christ, you are under the responsibility to be separate from evil."

It is quite impossible for me to enjoy the blood on my doorway while I keep leaven inside my house. This is a basic rule in the divine life. May it be written on our hearts! Practical holiness is not the basis of our salvation, but it is tied closely to our enjoyment of salvation. An Israelite was not saved by unleavened bread. He was saved by the blood. Yet leaven would have cut him off from communion.

To put away leaven is one side of this truth; to eat unleavened bread is the other side of this truth… "Sincerity" means letting the clear sunshine of God's light in His Word shine on our walk and ways. Then I judge whatever I find that is contrary to it. But who lets this clear sunshine of God's light shine into his ways and finds nothing but what is pure? Only One, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ… He is "the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

In verses 21 to 28 Moses gathers the elders to give them the directions already looked at. On hearing the message the people "bowed their heads and worshiped. Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did" (vv. 27, 28). One more interesting detail follows. The instructions provide for teaching the children the meaning of the passover (vv. 26, 27). So from generation to generation they were to hand on the account of the Lord's delivering grace and power when He struck the Egyptians.

God made every step plain for His people. Even the slowest among them could hardly misunderstand something so essential to his salvation. First they were to select the lamb for sacrifice. Then they were to bring it into the house. Four days later they were to kill it. Last, they were to sprinkle the blood on the lintel and side-posts of the house of every man of Israel. It was not enough to kill the lamb, or even to keep the blood in a basin. They had to sprinkle it in obedience to the word of the Lord.

Faith recognised God's testimony by trusting the effectiveness of the blood sprinkled on the door. So it could let God come in judgment in complete safety. God, seeing the blood, would pass over His believing people. By faith Moses kept the passover. Notice this. By putting the blood on the door, the people admitted they stood under God's righteous judgment just as much as the Egyptians. God had given them what preserved them from it; but it was because they were guilty and deserved it. No one can stand before God.

Clearly Israel kept the passover family by family, on the principle of a lamb for each household. Family by family, the blood sprinkled on their own homes sheltered them. So the father's act — his obedience of faith — kept his household safe from the stroke of judgment that fell on Egypt. Noah's faith led him to build the ark, and the ark sheltered his whole family from the flood. In the same way, the parent's faith at the passover in Egypt led to the sprinkling of the blood.

In Egypt that night no man could help his neighbour. Each had to sprinkle the blood for himself. So now no man can shelter under the cover of another's faith. Each must take Christ's precious blood for himself as the only safeguard of his soul.

The soldiers broke the legs of the two others to hasten their death. They broke no bone of our Lord, and so Scripture was fulfilled. The reference must be to Psalm 34:20, and to the instructions given about the Passover lamb in Exodus 12, repeated in Numbers 9. This is worth noting. It shows how closely the Spirit of God ties the lamb to the One it pictured: what is said of the picture is applied to Him. With this agree Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 5, "Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed."

The slain lamb would not have ensured the protection of a single household. If the people had rested in the fact that the lamb was killed, nothing would have stopped the destroyer from entering their houses. Every house in all their tribes would have had its dead, just like the houses of the Egyptians. No; it was not the death of the lamb, but the sprinkling of the blood, that secured their safety. Let the reader ponder it well. Is there no danger that he rests in the fact of Christ's death for protection? Does he never stop to ask whether he is under its blessed power and value before God?

It was simply and solely through the obedience of faith. They had nothing to do except believe and obey. It was not for them to discuss the method provided, whether it was reasonable or not, or what it might be worth. Everything depended upon the heed they gave to the word of God.

Solomon "spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall" (1 Kings 4:33) — that is, the greatest and the least of the plants. The hyssop was a little shrub that did not even take root in the ground, but came out between two stones in the wall. Have I any part in my own redemption? Yes. What is it? My sins, that is all. And of course, if I truly sense what my sins are, I will bow before God in repentance, in self-judgment, and in owning those sins. I believe the bunch of hyssop expresses what goes on in the soul of a sinner who has been brought to see his guilt. It is contrition before God, a sense of my sins and of what I am. My sins would have brought me into death and judgment before God, and nothing but the blood of the Substitute can meet the need of my case. So, in faith, and knowing my need, I put that blood between my soul and God, and I am safe.

God said, Put the blood upon the lintel and the two side posts, and that is where faith puts it — above me and around me. But where does modern criticism put it? I will tell you. These critics put it on the threshold; they trample the blood of Christ beneath their feet.

The blood was on the outside of the house. The people inside could not see it. The blood was for the eye of God alone. In the darkness of midnight His eye could tell whether there was blood on the door or not.

Because in both cases the blood was there, both were equally safe, equally secure. Both were not equally happy, both were not equally certain of their security. And why? Simply because they did not equally credit the testimony or word of God. The blood outside made both equally secure. But to be equally assured, they needed the testimony of God, carried inside and believed.

Those covered by the blood had to remain in the house until the morning. Judgment was falling on the Egyptian world. The firstborn were to stay safely housed beneath the blood. When the morning appeared their deliverance from Egypt became an accomplished fact. We pass through the night of this world to the brightness of the morning that is coming. Thanks be to God, the efficacy of the blood of Christ abides throughout the night. No fresh application of it is needed.

But the question decided that Passover night affected the Jew no less than the Egyptian. God was there as Judge, dealing with man's sin. How then could Israel escape? This is what had to be set out: a slain lamb becomes the only means of security — the sprinkled blood of the lamb. Other requirements on God's part showed that this had a different and infinitely more solemn character than the earlier plagues. It was a fact, but also a type — not a type of some earthly trouble, but of judgment before the eyes of God: the judgment of sin. So this was not merely insects, or natural forces turned against Egypt, but God employing a destroyer against the firstborn of man and beast.

The destroying angel passed through the land of Egypt and struck the firstborn in every house. Israel escaped by the death of the lamb, and by that alone. The blood sprinkled on the doorpost told the destroyer that the sentence of death had already been carried out, and so he passed over. So the blood marked off the houses of the Israelites from those of the Egyptians. When it was a question of life or death, the blood, and the blood alone, fixed the dividing line.

The slain lamb would not have secured the protection of a single household. Had the people rested in the fact that the lamb was killed, the destroyer would have found no barrier to his entrance into their houses. There would not have been a house in all their tribes without its dead, just like those of the Egyptians. No; it was not the death of the lamb, but the sprinkling of the blood, that secured their safety.

Jehovah "passing through" is one thing; Jehovah "passing over" is quite another. Isaiah 31:5 will help us here: "Like birds hovering, so the LORD of hosts will protect Jerusalem; He will protect and deliver it; He will spare and rescue it." The language of Isaiah 31 is very like that of Exodus 12, and its meaning is clear. It gives the idea of a mother bird hovering over her nest, watching it closely and mounting guard over her young. This is what Jehovah promised to do in Egypt for all who, obeying His word, sprinkled the blood on their houses. He would Himself be the protector of such people. He would Himself stand between them and all harm.

It is no question of what an Israelite was, or of what he felt. What God looked for as He passed through the land that night was the lintel sprinkled with the blood of the appointed lamb. Wherever that was before His eyes, God was satisfied, and they were secure… Suppose one Israelite obeys God's directions about the lamb and the blood in every detail, then spends that terrible night inside in fear and anxiety. Another obeys the same commands equally, sprinkles the lintel, and goes in to rest quietly, happy and assured… In both cases the blood was there, so both were equally safe. Both were not equally happy… simply because they did not equally believe the testimony or word of God.

And just so in God's dealings with us: the judgment that has passed on Christ because of sin is the security of every believer against judgment… God cannot pass over the blood of the Lord Jesus and charge to sinners the sins He has washed away. He cannot charge sin to a believer without condemning the value of His blood-shedding, and in effect denying that it works.

Israel was to remember this day for ever (v. 14) with a feast each year. Several different names show how important it is: (1) "the Lord's Passover" (v. 11); (2) "a memorial" (v. 14); (3) "a feast" (v. 14); (4) "an ordinance" (v. 24); (5) "a service" (v. 25); and (6) "the sacrifice" (v. 27).

They were to keep the Passover every year as a remembrance at a time when there was no passing over. They were in the land by then, as we are in heavenly places in Christ. They were celebrating a deliverance and redemption accomplished long ago… It was (v. 24) "a statute for you and for your sons forever."… It was a remembrance that never ends.

There is a dangerous tendency in the human heart to forget, particularly in matters relating to God. Think of Deuteronomy, the book that gives us Moses' final addresses to the people. Again and again we meet warnings there: beware in case you forget, be careful to remember.… Peter says one mark of a backslider is that he has "forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins" (2 Peter 1:9).

The Lord's Supper comes to mind here. Even One so unique as the Saviour, and a sacrifice so great as the sacrifice of Himself, would be in danger of being forgotten by His own. So He gave His disciples first the bread, and then the cup, saying, "Do this in remembrance of Me" (Luke 22:19-20). While He is away on high, the Lord's Supper stays with the Church as the memorial of her once-slain Lord and Saviour.

Notice too, "All the congregation of Israel shall keep it" (v. 47). Take that with verse 24, "You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever." Together they teach us that every redeemed one, knowing peace, is called to the memorial feast, without exception. They also teach that this observance goes on until the moment comes when memorials are needed no more. Forgetfulness and indifference toward redeeming grace can never enter the Father's house, though sadly we know all too well that they creep in here.

So much would depend on the way the Israelites looked forward to the Passover. If they were eager for it, and kept it with reverence and warmth, the children would surely be interested and ask, Why? If they treated it with indifference, or as a tiresome duty, they would not. But once their interest woke up, the parents had a gripping story to tell. They could tell of God's care for them, and how He delivered them from slavery and made them a free people. Their homes at those times would have a joyful ring about them. Songs of praise to their Redeemer-God would break out, and the children's voices would join in.

God had the children of Israel in His thoughts too. Parents were to teach them carefully what the Passover feast meant. The chapter pictures the children asking at a later time, "What do you mean by this service?" The parents were to answer, "It is the sacrifice of the LORD's Passover, for He passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when He struck the Egyptians but spared our houses." Let us in our day make sure that we are under the shelter of the blood of the Lamb ourselves. And let us make sure our children stand in the same place of safety with God. The wrath of God against all ungodliness is a tremendous reality. Nothing can screen us or our children from it but the Saviour's blood.

In the land the Passover took on another character still, and one that should also have its match for the believer now. To the Israelite it would clearly have a much fuller meaning across the Jordan than in the desert. It would now be to him the memorial, not simply of deliverance from Egypt and Egypt's slavery and power, but of accomplished salvation. His position in the land was to the glory of God's faithfulness and grace in performing all that He had promised. But in truth that position was the result of the shed blood. In other words, the blood of the Passover lamb laid the foundation for the carrying out of God's purposes.

Israel was to keep the Passover every year as a remembrance, at a time when there was no passing over. They were in the land then, as we are in heavenly places in Christ, and they celebrated a deliverance and redemption accomplished long ago… It was a perpetual remembrance. At this season of the Passover, which recalled Israel's deliverance from Egypt, the Lord set up the remembrance of a better sacrifice and a better deliverance.

Israel was to remember this day forever (v. 14) with a yearly feast. The various names given to it show its importance: (1) "the LORD's Passover" (v. 11); (2) "a memorial" (v. 14); (3) "a feast" (v. 14); (4) "an ordinance" (v. 24); (5) "a service" (v. 25); and (6) "the sacrifice" (v. 27).

So much would depend on the way the Israelites looked forward to the Passover. If they were eager for it, and kept it with reverence and warmth, the children would surely be interested and ask why. If the parents treated it with indifference, or as a tiresome duty, the children would not. But once their interest was awake, what a gripping story the parents would have to tell! They would tell of God's care for them, and how He delivered them from slavery and made them a free people.

The children of the Israelites came into the divine thought too. They were to be carefully taught the meaning of the Passover feast. Exodus 12:26-27 supposes the children asking at a later date, "What do you mean by this service?" The parents were to reply, "It is the sacrifice of the LORD's Passover, for He passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when He struck the Egyptians but spared our houses." Let us today make sure that we ourselves shelter under the blood of the Lamb. And let us make sure our children are in the same place of divine safety.

Israel's deliverance from Egypt was only a shadow of the greater deliverance God has worked for us. The Lord's Supper is the remembrance of how He has done it. So should not this "telling to the children" matter even more to us?… If the children see that the parents highly value the Lord's Supper and prepare for it, they will want to know what it means. And what a story the parents have to tell them! "This is My body, which is given for you… Do this in remembrance of Me." The whole story of the great love of our Lord and Saviour lies in those words, and each generation must tell it to the next.

Israel had to keep the anniversary of their deliverance in the same way they ate the Passover in Egypt. They wore belts fastened and sandals on, held a staff in hand, and ate in haste. "And when your children say to you, 'What do you mean by this service?' you shall say, 'It is the Lord's Passover.'" It was an unusual way to keep a feast. They stood and ate in a hurry. No wonder the children asked what it meant. But it was God's way of bringing their old slavery back to mind, and with it the wonderful way He rescued them. It was also a picture of a far greater deliverance, so a lasting memorial was fitting. The Red Sea had no memorial, though God's power was openly displayed there. The blood on the doorpost is the foundation of it all. The Passover is God's feast, and its memorial lasts forever.

Israel was to remember this day forever (v. 14) with a feast each year. The different titles given to it show how important it was: (1) "the Lord's Passover" (v. 11); (2) "a memorial" (v. 14); (3) "a feast" (v. 14); (4) "an ordinance" (v. 24); (5) "a service" (v. 25); and (6) "the sacrifice" (v. 27).

So much would depend on the way the Israelites looked forward to the Passover. If they were eager for it, and kept it with reverence and warmth, the children were sure to take an interest and ask why. If they treated it with indifference, or as a tiresome duty, the children would not ask. But once the children were interested, what a gripping story the parents had to tell! They spoke of God's care for them, how He freed them from slavery and made them a free people... The children's interest would come alive. It would stir up the parents too, and reawaken their gratitude to God.

Just before God set up the Passover in Egypt, Moses told the Israelites what to answer their children: "It is the Lord's Passover, who passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when He struck the Egyptians and spared our houses." And the people bowed their heads and worshipped. (Ex. 12:26-27.) This Scripture presents three things: salvation, judgment, and worship. Salvation for Israel, judgment for the Egyptians, and worship for God.

Israel was to keep the Passover every year as a remembrance, at a time when there was no passing over. They were in the land, as we are in heavenly places in Christ. We celebrate a deliverance and redemption accomplished long ago. "And when you come to the land which the Lord will give you, as He has promised, you shall keep this service."... It was a remembrance that lasts forever.

In our day, let us make sure that we ourselves are under the shelter of the blood of the Lamb. And let us make sure that our children are in the same place of safety with God. The wrath of God against all ungodliness is a tremendous reality. Nothing can shield us or our children from it except the Saviour's blood.

We should stir up questions in the minds of our children. Oh, that we could get them to ask questions about the things of God!... It is good for our children to often see the Lord's Supper, and for us to explain what it means. It shows the death of Christ in symbol. Put the Lord's Supper in view of the rising generation, so that they may ask us, "What do you mean by this?"

The children of the Israelites came into God's thoughts too. They were to be carefully taught what the Passover feast meant. ... Let us make sure today that we ourselves are under the shelter of the blood of the Lamb. Let us make sure our children are in the same place of divine safety. The wrath of God against all ungodliness is a tremendous reality. Nothing can screen us or our children from it but the Saviour's blood.

On the night of the Passover the question was how God could pass over the guilty, even if they were His people. God was carrying out judgment that night. Yet the blood of the lamb sprinkled on Israel's doorposts declared that He could not touch those the blood screened. His truth and justice were stayed and satisfied before that blood. The destroyer was kept from entering. Not one Israelite died within the blood-sprinkled doorframes.

God, when redeeming Israel out of Egypt, had the blood of the lamb sprinkled on the doorposts and said, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you"; and they ate the lamb. They were to keep up the memorial of this. If their children asked, they were to say "This is the Lord's Passover," even though He was not passing over then. They were celebrating the memorial of it. Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. Note that the apostle has no thought except the one sacrifice of Christ, accomplished long ago.

So much would depend on the way the Israelites looked forward to the Passover. If they were eager for it, and kept it with reverence and warmth, the children would surely be interested and ask, Why? If they treated it with indifference, or as a tiresome duty, the children would not ask. But once the children were interested, what a gripping story the parents had to tell! They could tell of God's care for them, and how He delivered them from slavery and made them a free people.

We should stir up questions in the minds of our children. Oh, that we could get them to ask about the things of God! ... It is good for our children to watch the Lord's Supper often, and for us to explain to them what it means, because it shows the death of Christ in symbol. The Lord's Supper should be placed in view of the rising generation, so that they may then ask us, "What do you mean by this?"

Israel worshipped when they bowed the head at God's revelation through Moses (Ex. 4:30-31; 12:27); as Moses did at another revelation (Ex. 34:8) ... What were all these acts but the thankful acknowledgment of God, according to what He had either done or spoken, and the acceptance of His mercy accordingly?

A few days before, "the people bowed their heads and worshiped" (Exodus 12:27). How different now! The moment danger appears they show their lack of faith and claim they had asked to be left alone to serve the Egyptians. Here at once we see the seed of that unbelief which finally left their bodies in the wilderness.

Moses gathered the elders to receive the directions described earlier (verses 21 to 28). When the people heard the message they "bowed their heads and worshiped. Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did." (vv. 27, 28.)

Verse 28 tells us that they rendered obedience to all the instructions that God had given. Obedience is always the way of blessing.

Moses did not only keep the Passover; he set it up, following the Lord's word. It was the one occasion when they sprinkled the blood. This was the real, though hidden, basis of the deliverance that followed, when Israel passed through the Red Sea as on dry land. But it would be too much to assume that anyone yet understood what it pictured — Christ's blood, death, and resurrection for those who believe. Yet the people as well as Moses did believe that God would, according to His word, shelter and deliver them. Notice that the last words of verse 28 prepare the way for verse 29. What the Egyptians did was wholly their own doing, with no reference to God's word and so without faith; and men perish now in the same way, even where the name of Christ is known.

In obedience — the obedience of faith, surely — they sprinkled the blood outside. Nothing else that night could have preserved their firstborn.

An Israelite who believed Moses about the plan of deliverance on that "night to be remembered" did not fold his arms quietly, as many do, and do nothing. No; he was up and doing, in "the obedience of faith" (Rom. 1:5; Rom. 16:26). He believed in his heart the good news Moses brought. He stood outside the door of his house, in sight of the world, confessing with his mouth that he accepted this message. In this way he took his personal share in the power of the blood of the lamb. It was truly humbling to go outside in front of a world of idolaters, whose sins he had sunk into. He was one of God's chosen people, yet he had to confess that he could claim no escape from judgment except the shelter of the blood of the lamb. He justified God and condemned himself.

What a picture of security we have here! The household waited behind closed doors for God to come. And what were they doing? Cowering in fear? Praying for deliverance? They were doing something very different. They were eating the lamb whose blood they had sprinkled on their doorposts… Notice that it was not their estimate of the blood which barred the destroyer's entrance. "When I see the blood," the Lord had said. Which of them could value it rightly? Who among them knew what it spoke of? If their safety had depended on how well they understood its worth, they would have been mourning their firstborn along with the Egyptians.

The children of the Israelites came into God's thoughts too. They were to be taught carefully what the Passover feast meant… Let us in our day make sure of two things. We must be sheltered under the blood of the Lamb ourselves, and our children must be in the same place of safety. The wrath of God against all ungodliness is a tremendous reality. Nothing can screen us or our children from it but the Saviour's blood.