The Passover and Exodus

Passover

On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. (Exodus 12:12-13)

Exodus

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. (Exodus 14:21-22)

Passover

The last of the plagues directed against Pharaoh and the Egyptians was the death of firstborn males. To protect the Hebrews, God prescribed a special ceremony: Each household was to kill a lamb and spread its blood on the door frame of the house. The Lord would then pass over those marked houses, sparing the Hebrew firstborn sheltered inside.

Exodus

After the final plague—the death of firstborn children—Pharaoh relented and released the Hebrews. However, as this great body of refugees reached the Red Sea, they discovered that the Egyptian army was in pursuit. God miraculously parted the sea, and the Israelites walked through it to the other side. When the Egyptians followed them onto the seabed, God collapsed the walls of water, killing them all. Thus the Israelites escaped.

Passover

Though the first nine plagues were catastrophic, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he would not let the Hebrews go. Then God told Moses He was sending the most heartbreaking plague of all, the death of firstborn males in every household that didn’t have the blood on the doorposts.

Exodus

Having come to Egypt to escape starvation, the children of Israel spent 430 years there, much of it in slavery. God heard their cries and sent deliverance in the person of Moses. Pharaoh resisted his request that he let God’s people go, so God sent a variety of plagues to force his hand. Finally, the most terrible plague occurred—the death of firstborn Egyptian children—and Pharaoh’s relented.

Passover

According to God’s instructions, Moses told each Israelite household to select a one-year-old, unblemished, male lamb and to kill it at twilight on the fourteenth day of the month of Nisan. Then, they were to put blood from the lamb on the doorframes of the houses as a sign to the Lord. When He moved through Egypt on His dreadful mission, killing all the firstborn, He would “pass over” the homes marked with blood. The Israelites were to roast the lamb and eat it in haste, as they remained dressed for quick departure.

At each point the Israelites obeyed the Lord’s commandments, and the event came to pass as had been foretold. The Lord passed over those homes that were covered by the blood, but took the lives of the firstborn in all of Egypt, including even the livestock. A great cry of lament went up from all those in Egypt, and Pharaoh finally agreed to let the Israelites go (Exodus 12:29–32).

Exodus

Newly freed, the children of Israel gathered their belongings as well as many items their Egyptian neighbors gave them and headed east. The column of God’s people was massive, made up of 600,000 men along with women and children, people of other nationalities, and livestock. God led them, using a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day. Instead of taking them up the coastal road, where they would meet foreign armies, God led them along the desert road toward the Red Sea.

Soon, Pharaoh had a change of heart. Indeed, God had hardened his heart so that he would pursue the Hebrews and attempt to bring them back into his service as slaves. When the Israelites caught sight of the Egyptians, they panicked and began to accuse Moses of ruining their lives. But God intervened miraculously. He moved the fire and cloud between the Egyptians and His people, instructed Moses to extend his staff and hands toward the sea, and then parted the waters. Thus the Hebrews were able to walk across on dry land and they arrived safe on the far side. All of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, horsemen and soldiers then ventured onto the seabed. When they were well into the sea, God released the waters on them, drowning them all (cf. Exodus 13:17–14:31).

Passover

When God gave the Israelites instructions for that first Passover meal, He stipulated that it would be an ongoing celebration in the life of the nation. Thus, the Old Testament contains many references to Passover directives and observances. For example, Joshua led the Israelites to observe their first Passover in Canaan on the plains near Jericho (Joshua 5:10–12), and long afterwards, Josiah restored its observance after years of neglect by Hebrew kings (2 Kings 23:21–23).

In the New Testament, Jesus’ events recording life and ministry took place during celebrations of the Passover on several occasions, most significantly at the Last Supper (a Passover observance), prior to His crucifixion (Matthew 26:17–20; John 13:1).

Exodus

In Exodus 15, a song of praise to God commemorates the event: “Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Red Sea” (Exodus 15:4). The Psalms refer repeatedly to the exodus (Psalm 66:6; 77:19; 106:9), as do the prophets. For example, Ezekiel conveyed God’s rationale for delivering the spiritually flawed Israelites: “for the sake of my name, I brought them out of Egypt. I did it to keep my name from being profaned in the eyes of the nations among whom they lived and in whose sight I had revealed myself to the Israelites” (Ezekiel 20:9). New Testament writers also used the exodus to teach spiritual lessons: In the opening verses of 1 Corinthians 10, Paul warns his readers against idolatry by recalling the fate of those who “passed through the sea” but who died in the wilderness.

Passover

Throughout the Old Testament, celebration of the Passover feast commemorated God’s protection and deliverance from Egypt. But there is a much deeper meaning to the Passover, revealed in the New Testament. As Paul proclaims in 1 Corinthians 5:7, “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” This is necessary to salvation, for as the writer of Hebrews explains, “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). So the application is clear: Those protected by the blood of Christ will be spared in the coming judgment. Jesus instructed His followers in Matthew 26:26–29 to commemorate His sacrificial death by eating unleavened bread and drinking wine, which, respectively, represent His broken body and spilled blood. There is no more need for lamb’s blood when the Lamb’s blood has been offered, once for all, for deliverance. “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

Exodus

Exodus foreshadows the gospel. Jesus is a “second Moses” in that He delivers His people (called “a holy nation” in 1 Peter 2:9) from bondage, namely the bondage to sin and its resulting condemnation. Though the New Testament describes the saving work of God with a variety of images, including healing (Luke 4:18–19), illumination (John 1:9), and adoption (Ephesians 1:5), the picture of deliverance is particularly strong. Hence, the apostle Paul speaks of deliverance or rescue from “deadly peril” (2 Corinthians 1:10), “the dominion of darkness” (Colossians 1:13), and “the coming wrath” (1 Thessalonians 1:10). Furthermore, Paul quotes deliverance language from the Old Testament (Isaiah 59:20) when he writes, “The deliverer will come from Zion” (Romans 11:26).