By Bruce K. Waltke
[Bruce Waltke is Distinguished Professor of Old Testament at Knox Theological Seminary, Fort Lauderdale, and professor emeritus of biblical studies at Regent College, Vancouver. During his professional career he also held professorships in Old Testament at Dallas Theological Seminary, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, and Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando. Both the editor and associate editor had Bruce as a professor at Dallas, and we are delighted to welcome him to the pages of The Emmaus Journal.
This is article one in a three-part series on the Passover ritual. In their original form the articles were a series of evangelistic radio addresses delivered in the 1960s on “Heritage,” a radio program produced by Haddon W. Robinson for Dallas Seminary. They are published here for the first time by permission of Bruce K. Waltke. The original sermonic form has been retained.]
Introduction
In this series of articles I wish to discuss the Passover ritual. We usually associate this ritual with the religious holiday of our Jewish friends. They are celebrating a ritual that was given to them over three thousand years ago. According to this ritual the children of Israel were instructed to take a lamb, slay it, catch the blood of the lamb in a basin, take a shrub called hyssop and sprinkle it on their doors, and then after charring the lamb black, they were to eat it along with massahs and bitter herbs.
God Chose The Jewish People To Bless The Earth
This ancient ritual has significant meaning and relevance for us today. First, we must understand that God had set apart the nation of Israel, or the Jewish people, to bless the earth. That is why you will sometimes hear that the Jewish people or the nation of Israel are a chosen people. By that we mean that God chose the Jewish people to bless the earth.
God Set Apart Abraham, A Man Of Faith
Now let us establish this important point from the Bible. The crucial passage in this respect is Genesis 12:1–3. In this passage God gives a brief sketch of his program, or plan, for saving every family on this earth. This program has three phases. In the first phase of his program to bless the earth God set apart a man of faith. He took this man from the midst of a world which knew there was a God, yet refused to acknowledge him or to thank him for what he is or does. That man’s name was Abraham. Abraham lived about two thousand years before Jesus Christ. Thus we read in Genesis 12:1, “And the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you.’” That was the first phase in God’s program of salvation for this earth. He set apart Abraham, a man of faith.
God Promised To Create A Nation From Abraham’s Descendants
In the second phase of his program to bless the earth, God promised to create a nation from the descendants of Abraham. In Genesis 12:2 God said to Abraham, “And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing.” Abraham had a grandson whose name was Jacob. Jacob’s name was later changed to Israel. Of this man’s children, the great-grandchildren of Abraham, God created the nation of Israel. The first phase of his program of salvation for this earth then was to set apart Abraham, a man of faith. The second phase of his program of salvation for this earth was to create a nation from the descendants of Abraham.
God Determined To Bless The Earth Through The Jewish People
In the third phase of his program God purposed to bless the entire earth through this nation, or the Jewish people. At the end of verse 2, God said to Abraham, “And so you shall be a blessing.” In reality the original text has an imperative here, and we should read: “And you Abraham, be a blessing.” Undoubtedly this command was not only given to Abraham but also to the nation that God purposed to form from his descendants. The nation of Israel then had the commission to bless the entire earth. In Exodus 19:5–6 God repeated his purpose for the nation of Israel. In that passage God said to his nation, “‘Now then, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.” Finally, in Genesis 12:3 God concluded with the promise that he would bless every family of the earth through Abraham and, by implication, through the nation which God would form from Abraham’s descendants. “And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
God’s Chosen People Were Stained With Sin
Abraham, Isaac, And Jacob Maintained A Walk With God
The second thing we must understand if we wish to see the relevance of this Passover ritual to us is not only that God purposed to bless the earth through the descendants of Abraham, or the Jewish people, but in addition that these descendants had become stained with sin when God instructed them to slay the Passover lamb. Abraham, his son Isaac, and his son Israel maintained a fairly close walk with God. They seemed to have had a clear concept of their family destiny and vocation, because they separated themselves from the sinful Canaanites in whose midst they were living. These Canaanites, who inhabited the land which we today call Palestine or Israel, worshipped gods and goddesses who killed, and stole, and committed acts of adultery and other sexual perversions. In fact prostitution was a normal concomitant of Canaanite worship. Abraham studiously kept his son Isaac from marrying the daughters of Canaan, who were past repentance. Isaac, in turn, saw to it that his son Jacob did not marry these Canaanite women. Instead, both Isaac and Jacob secured wives from the Arameans who lived hundreds of miles away. In addition, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob built altars in the midst of the Canaanites and testified concerning their faith in one righteous God who created heaven and earth. They not only built altars and separated themselves from the defiled Canaanites, but they also maintained a close family loyalty and solidarity. In other words, they seemed to have had a clear concept of their family’s vocation—they were called upon to sanctify the earth.
Abraham’s Great-Grandchildren Sinfully Forgot Their Divine Calling
Abraham’s twelve great-grandchildren, the children of Israel, seemingly forgot their divine calling, however. Never once do we read that these twelve sons of Israel built an altar or prayed to God. Instead we read that they fought amongst themselves. This is seen in the well-known story about Joseph and his brothers—how the eleven brothers plotted the death of their brother Joseph, but finally sold him into Egypt. The point of that story is to show the breakdown of the family unity. They had become like Cain and Abel. Not only did they fail to build altars, and not only did they begin to fight amongst themselves, but they began to marry and to become like these polluted Canaanites in whose midst they were living. One of the most sordid chapters in the entire Bible is Genesis 38. In this chapter we learn that Judah, one of Israel’s twelve sons, having separated himself from his brothers, had relations with the Canaanite prostitutes, believed in their superstitions, and married a Canaanite woman. Indeed the children from that unholy marriage committed despicable, immoral acts. In other words this chosen family became stained with sin and was in danger of losing its identity and mission. Therefore, in order to preserve the descendants of Abraham as a unique people for its chosen destiny, God led the twelve children of Israel into the country of Egypt.
Abraham’s Descendants Forgot Their God And Became Oppressed In Egypt
But their sojourn in Egypt did not change them or cleanse them from their sins. It is true that they remained a separated family, but that was probably because the Egyptians would have nothing to do with them. The Egyptians despised the Israelites. They not only refused to marry them, but they even refused to eat with them. But that did not cleanse the Israelites from their sins. For 430 years Abraham’s family sojourned in Egypt. But in all this time we never once read that they built an altar to God. Instead, we learn that they had completely forgotten about the God of their fathers, so that when God once again revealed himself to them, they had to ask God his name (cf. Exodus 3:13–16). Abraham circumcised Isaac to indicate that his seed was set apart unto God, but even Moses failed to circumcise his own son. The children of Israel were far from God and deeply stained with sin when God instituted the Passover ritual.
God Cleansed The Jewish People That They Might Bless The Earth
A Defiled People Could Not Bless Or Cleanse The Earth
Now the third thing we must know if we wish to understand the relevance of the ceremony of the Passover lamb today is this: at the time God instituted the Passover ritual, he was about to take Israel’s children out of Egypt and form them into his chosen nation. After he delivered them from Egypt, God would give them his law and give them the land of Canaan as their possession.
God could not use a dirty, defiled people to bless the earth, however. You can’t clean a house with dirty water and dirty washrags. The first instruction on any box or a can of cleansing agent is that the rag and water you plan to use be clean. Likewise, before God could use the children of Israel to cleanse the earth, they themselves must first be cleansed.
God Cleansed The People Of Israel With The Blood Of The Passover Lamb
Now, how does God cleanse a nation or a man from sin? We all know that soap and water cleans the skin, but what cleans the soul of a man? God says, “the blood of Jesus Christ.” For example, we read in both the book of Leviticus and the book of Hebrews of the New Testament that “the life of the flesh is in the blood,” and “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Lev. 17:11; Heb. 9:22). It takes life which is in the blood to cleanse your soul, your life. Moreover it takes a sinless soul to cleanse your sinful soul. That life, that blood, is the blood, or life, of Jesus Christ. Prior to the birth of Jesus Christ, God used a perfect lamb to foreshadow or to picture the death of Christ. Therefore God instructed his chosen people to shed the blood of the Passover lamb to cleanse them from their sin. It was but a precursor of the blood of Jesus Christ. This is the first instruction given to the congregation of Israel by God. After they had applied the blood to their lives and had been cleansed from their sin, God gave them his law and then gave them the land of Canaan.
Today God Is Using The Church, Not Israel, To Bless The Earth
Years later, however, Israel once again lapsed back into horrible sin. God pleaded with them to repent, but they refused. Finally God temporarily put them on the shelf and refused to use them as his nation of blessing. Instead, today he is forming his church to be a blessing upon the earth. Don’t misunderstand me, the church will not utterly save the world—Israel will one day still do that. But until that day the church is a restraining influence against sin on the earth. In this sense, the church is the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
Just as he used the nation of Israel long ago to sanctify the earth and will use them again in the future, today God is using his church to bless the earth. Today God is calling out individuals, including you and me, from this wicked and perverse generation. Today he is using his church to be a blessing upon this earth. Today he invites you to be a member of his universal, triumphant church in bringing salvation to the earth. He desires to use you, whoever you may be to be a blessing upon this earth. But like Israel, before he can use you, you too must first be cleansed from your own sins. Just as the homes of the Israelites needed the blood of the lamb to cleanse them from their sin, so God says we need the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse us from our sins. The beloved apostle John wrote in 1 John 1:7, “The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” Jesus Christ has done the work. He died for your sins. Now it only remains for you to apply his blood to your life to cleanse your soul from sin. Will you trust in the blood of Jesus Christ to wash away your sins just as the Israelites of long ago trusted in a lamb? If you will say in your heart, Lord Jesus I trust in you to cleanse me from my sins, he will first wash your soul, which is stained with sin, so that it will become whiter than the whitest snow, and then he can use you to bless others.
Outline Of The Passover Ritual
Introduction: The ritual of the Passover was observed in two parts (Exodus 12: 3–11).
1. The sacrifice of the lamb, verses 3–7
2. The supper of the lamb, verses 8–11
I. The Sacrifice of the Lamb—Salvation, Exodus 12:3–7; (cf.1 Cor. 5:7)
A. The Supply of the Lamb, verses 3–4
1. A sufficient supply for all, verse 3
2. A precious supply—not to be wasted, verse 4
B. The Standard of the Lamb, verses 5–6
1. A perfect lamb, verse 5 (cf. 1 Peter 1:18–19)
2. A proven lamb, verse 6 (cf. 2 Cor. 5:21)
C. The Slaying of the Lamb, verse 6
1. The manner of its death (the whole assembly of the congregation responsible)
2. The time of its death (“at twilight,” NASB)
3. The instructions for its death (no bones to be broken), 12:46 (cf. Ps. 34:19–20; John 19:33, 36)
D. The Sprinkling of the Lamb, verse 7 (It must be applied)
II. The Supper of the Lamb—Sanctification Exodus 12:8–11; cf. 1 Cor. 5:8)
A. The Feeding Upon the Lamb, verses 8–11 (cf. John 6:50–69; esp. verse 63)
B. The Feeding Upon the Unleavened Bread, verse 8 (cf. 2 Cor. 6:17–18)
Note: Exodus 12:31 (haste in leaving the old life)
C. The Feeding Upon the Bitter Herbs, verse 8 (suffering)
1. Sufferings in the Christian life (cf. Rom. 8:17; Phil. 1:29; 3:10)
2. A “payday” for sufferings (cf. Rom. 8:18; 2 Cor. 4:17; 2 Tim. 2:12; 3:12)
D. The Dress During the Eating, verse 11—Typical of Someone in Haste
(They were to be pilgrims. Cf. Heb. 11:13–16; 1 Peter 2:11–12)
1. Girded loins (cf. Eph. 6:13–14a)
2. Sandaled feet (cf. Eph. 6:15)
3. Staffed hand (cf. Ps. 23:4—protection, deliverance, and guidance)
Summary:
1. Future: A Memorial, Exodus 12:14, 25–27, 42, (cf. Luke 22:19–20; 1 Cor. 11: 23–29)
2. Past: A New Beginning, Exodus12:1–2, (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17)
3. Present: An Assurance, Exodus 12:13, (cf. John 5:24; Heb. 13:5; Rom. 5:1–11)
Chapter One: A New Beginning
Introduction
Most of us like the idea of a new start, a new beginning. I remember when I was a boy growing up in New Jersey how I would love to tromp through fields of freshly fallen snow. One of our favorite games in the snow was fox and goose. We would track out a large figure eight in the snow and then play tag along the curves of the figure eight. Naturally we slipped and fell trying to round those curves at full speed. Sometimes it was fun just making new tracks and new patterns in the snow. But one of the most enjoyable experiences came when we would move from one field of snow to another. Often a gate would separate the two fields. As you paused at the gate you could look behind you over the field of snow you had just messed up. You could see where you had run and played, where you had slipped and fallen down, or where you had wandered. But there lying ahead of you was a field of snow no one had touched. And it was a challenge to make your new tracks just as straight and clean as possible.
Perhaps as you look back upon your life you realize that it is all messed up. You have wandered, you have slipped and fallen, and somehow or another you wish you could start your life all over again. If that’s your situation, my friend, I have good news for you. You can start your life all over again. Let me tell you what this new beginning can be for you.
Passover: A New Beginning For Israel
In this series of articles we are considering the Passover ritual, a ritual celebrated by the Israelites centuries ago. The Passover ritual reminded them of their new beginning, their new start. Because the Passover ritual reminded them of their new start, their new life, it marked the beginning of their new year. Thus we read in Exodus 12:2, “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you.” In other words, what New Year’s Day is to us, the Passover day was to Israel in Old Testament times.
According to Exodus 13:4, the name of the month in which the Passover was celebrated had the Hebrew name Abib. The name Abib means “young sprouts of grain.” It was the time of the year when the young, green plants were first pushing their sprouts out of the ground. All of nature suggested a new year, a new start, a new beginning. Last year’s crop was forgotten and behind them; ahead lay the promise of a new crop, a new harvest. These young sprouts formed a fitting surrounding for the celebration of the Passover, for it reminded the Israelites of their new beginning, their new start in life. It also reminded them of that which made their new life possible. From this ritual we too can learn about our new start in Jesus Christ.
First of all, we must have clearly in mind that at the center of this ritual was the slaying of a lamb and the sprinkling of the blood of the lamb upon their homes. It was the blood of this Passover lamb that made their new life possible. As we shall demonstrate in a later article, that lamb is a picture of Jesus Christ. It is by our faith in the blood of Jesus Christ, our Passover lamb, that our new lives are possible.
Four Similarities Between Israel’s Passover And The Christian Believer’s Conversion
There Is Cleansing Through The Blood Of The Lamb
Now there are four similarities between their new beginning through the blood of the Passover lamb and our new beginning through the blood of Jesus Christ. The first similarity is this: they were cleansed from their sin by the blood of the lamb. In the introduction above we saw that the Israelites were stained with sin and that God could not use them to be his nation of blessing upon the earth until they were cleansed from their sin. God’s agent for cleansing from sin is blood. Just as water and soap can clean our skin, so the Bible teaches that blood cleanses the soul of a man. I have no idea why God made blood his cleansing agent from sin, but the Bible says very clearly this is the case. The writer of Hebrews, quoting the Old Testament, says in Hebrews 9:22: “Without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness [of sins].” So likewise today, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all of our sins. While there are many statements to this effect in the New Testament, the clearest one is found in 1 John 1:7, “The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” When you place your faith in Jesus Christ as your Passover Lamb, all your past sins are washed away.
There Is Deliverance From The Bondage Of Sin
But there is a second similarity: not only is there cleansing from sin when we place our faith in the blood of Jesus Christ, but there is also deliverance from the bondage of sin. Before the Israelites applied the blood of their Passover lamb to their homes, they were in bondage in the land of Egypt. Prior to that night in which they shed the blood of the Passover lamb, there were 430 years of exile and slavery in the land of Egypt. The Bible pictures this period as a period of horror, of great darkness. They were slaves of the Egyptians, and the reward for their service was death. That evening in which the Israelites sprinkled the blood of the Passover lamb on their doors demarcated an exodus, a deliverance from the bondage and death of Egypt. Likewise, when we place our faith in our lamb, Jesus Christ, we experience an exodus, a deliverance from the bondage of sin and death. Prior to that act of faith in Jesus Christ, we are the slaves of sin: slaves to our passions, slaves to our pride. Our old inherited sin nature and Satan are our masters.
But exactly how are we delivered from this bondage by placing our faith in Jesus Christ? In the sixth chapter of his epistle to the Romans, the apostle Paul tells us how this exodus, this emancipation from sin and death, is accomplished for the believer in Jesus Christ. In the third verse he tells us that the believer has been baptized into Jesus Christ, for he says, “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death?” The word baptism means “to immerse, to place into”—in other words, when we place our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are placed into his body. In his letter to the Corinthians the apostle tells us that this baptism is accomplished by the Spirit of God. In 1 Corinthians 12:13 we read, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.” When we believe in Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God places us into the body of Christ. When we are placed into the body of Christ, we become participants in the whole history of his body. For example, biologists tell us that new cells are constantly being added to our bodies. These new cells become completely identified with the whole history of our body. Likewise, because we have become one with Christ, we have become completely identified with his entire life. Because we are now in his body we have become identified with his death. Therefore the apostle says in Romans 6:3 and 4 that we have shared in his death. We are dead and buried with him because we have been immersed into his body. In verse 6 he continues, “Knowing this, that our old self—that is, our old sinful nature, the inborn tendency to sin—was crucified with Him [on the cross], that the tyranny of sin over us might be broken.” He concludes, “For a dead man can be safely said to be immune to the power of sin.” Therefore we are freed from sin, and need serve sin no longer.
There Is A Summons To A New Life Of Holiness
The first similarity then is that there is cleansing from sin; the second similarity is that there is deliverance from the bondage of sin; the third similarity is that now we are summoned to a new life of holiness. After the children of Israel sprinkled the blood of the Passover lamb on their houses they were not only cleansed from their sins and delivered from the bondage of Egypt, but God now gave them his law that they might become his precious treasure among all the nations of the earth. They were now to be his holy nation, a nation of priests dressed in white linen. So likewise after we place our faith in Jesus Christ, we are summoned to live as priests dressed in white garments. When we are placed into the body of Christ by the Spirit of God, we not only take part in his death, we also take part in his resurrection. Thus the apostle writes in Romans 6:4, “Just as he was raised from the dead so we, too, might rise to life on a new plane altogether.” We are raised with him to a new life. The outward symbol of this new beginning is pictured by immersion. When the believer allows his body to be placed under the water in baptism, he is signifying to the world that he died to his old life in Jesus Christ; and when he is raised out of the water, he is signifying to the world that he is being raised to a new life in Jesus Christ. Indeed, as the apostle points out in the remainder of his letter to the Romans, we are able to live this life because we have been given a new nature and we have been given the Spirit of God, the same Spirit that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead (Rom. 8:11).
Although Cleansed, The Believer Retains A Sinful Nature
Finally, there is a fourth similarity. When the Israelites of old placed their faith in the Passover lamb, they were not only cleansed from their sin, delivered from the bondage of Egypt, and summoned to a new life of holiness, but they also took with them their old hearts. We would like to think that they had achieved perfection at this point, but they hadn’t. In fact only two out of the two-and-a-half million people reached the Promised Land, which is a picture of a perfect spiritual life. The truth is that though they were positionally out of Egypt, they still had their old hearts. Passages such as Exodus 16:2–3 rankle us, for there we read: “The whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The sons of Israel said to them, ‘Would that we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full.’” Likewise in our experience after our salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, we discover that we still have our old hearts with us. We like to think that Christians attain perfection in this life, but we don’t. The apostle John says of Christians, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). That old nature continues with us until the day we die. Don’t misunderstand me; there is a new nature, and positionally we are in Jesus Christ and need not serve sin, but the old nature is still with us. Therefore, don’t think after you have made your new start and you have new life in Jesus Christ, you will not sin. You will, but God will cleanse you from your sin and will ever be with you to help you to overcome sin. But the Christian must learn to look to God to help him to overcome sin.
Conclusion
Is your life a mess, my friend? Would you like to experience a new life, a new start? You can, by placing your faith in Jesus Christ. I cannot promise you that you will achieve perfection in this body, but I can assure you that the slate will be wiped clean and that you will share with Christ in his death and resurrection so that you need no longer serve sin, but can live by his power. As the hymn writer expressed it: “He breaks the power of cancelled sin, He sets the prisoner free, His blood can make the foulest clean, His blood availed for me.” May God give you the grace to trust his blood to save you.
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