1938, a man in New England went into an Abercrombie and Fitch store and purchased a new barometer. He took it home and proudly placed it upon a window sill. He consulted it to see what the weather would be like that day. He couldn’t believe it. The barometer said, “hurricane.” Here he was in New England. Hurricanes are usually in Florida. He grabbed the barometer and took it back down to the store to return it. The store clerk asked him, “What’s the matter?” He said, “The barometer you sold me is defective. It’s reading “hurricane.” The store owner said, “Oh, well we will happily refund your money.” He got his money back and started home. By the time he got home, his house had been blown away by the hurricane that hit New England in 1938. The barometer wasn’t wrong at all.

God’s Word is the barometer for mankind. It is always accurate.  For people without Christ, it reads, “the storm of Judgement is coming.” You can tap it, say it is broken or wrong, but it is still accurate. The barometer for Egypt read, “Death of the First Born.” This was God’s warning, whether you were an Egyptian or Hebrew. As we will see, if God’s instructions were not followed, the firstborn in that house would die.

At this event, God would deliver His people.

Deliverance – the action of being rescued or set free.

This Passover chapter is a wonderful chapter because it continually points to the Lord Jesus Christ, as our deliverer, our Passover Lamb. He is “the Lamb of God that took away the sin of the world.”

Exodus 12 is also important because it is birth chapter of Israel as a NATION. They entered Egypt as a family and exit as a nation. Their national existence basically starts from this point. It was the month of Abib (April) which means “green ear month.” It is when the corn is in the ear. After the Babylonian captivity, Abib was called Nisan. The month of Tisri (October), which was the first month, is now changed to the seventh month of the calendar year. All of the other feasts of the year are based upon the Passover.

The Passover lamb begins the chronology of Israel as a nation. They have a new beginning, a new start. In the Lord Jesus Christ, we have the same new beginning! The Passover lamb is a picture of Jesus Christ. The birth of Christ changed our calendar just like the death of the Passover lamb. Anno Domini which means “year of the Lord.”

Christ will deliver His people and everything will change.  How does deliverance occur?

• Deliverance Requires a Spotless Lamb

The night of the first Passover was the night of the tenth plague. On that fateful night, God told the Israelites to sacrifice a spotless lamb and mark their doorposts and lintels with its blood (Exodus 12:21–22). Then, when the Lord passed through the nation, He would “pass over” the households that showed the blood (verse 23). In a very real way, the blood of the lamb saved the Israelites from death, as it kept the destroyer from entering their homes. The Israelites were saved from the plague, and their firstborn children stayed alive. From then on, every firstborn son of the Israelites belonged to the Lord and had to be redeemed with a sacrifice (Exodus 13:1–2, 12; cf. Luke 2:22–24).

The children of Israel in Egypt followed God’s command and kept the first Passover. However, none of the Egyptians did so. All through Egypt, behind the unmarked, bloodless doorways of the Egyptians, the firstborn children died at midnight (Exodus 12:21–29). “There was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead” (verse 30). This dire judgment finally changed the Egyptian king’s heart, and he released the Israelite slaves (verses 31–32).

• Deliverance Happens When we Follow God’s Instructions.

Along with the instruction to apply the Passover lamb’s blood to their doorposts and lintels, God instituted a commemorative meal: fire-roasted lamb, bitter herbs, and unleavened bread (Exodus 12:8). The Lord told the Israelites to “observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever” (Exodus 12:24, ESV), even when in a foreign land.

The Israelites were safe from the plague because they followed God’s instructions to sacrifice a lamb and paint its blood over their doors. In this way, God passed over their homes, and the Israelites’ firstborns were protected from the plague.

This is why the holiday is now called “Passover” because God passed over their homes. Out of their praise and thanks to God for protecting them as well as the freedom that He gave them through their exodus, the Israelites celebrated Passover in remembrance of God’s faithfulness.

Those within Judaism still celebrate Passover in remembrance of God bringing his children out of slavery. Christians today do not celebrate Passover because Jesus fulfilled Passover by His death on the cross.

We too must recognize that we are sinners needing deliverance from our slavery to sin. We must follow God’s instructions to repent, ask Jesus to be the Lord of our lives and be baptized.

Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38

When we follow God’s instructions we experience a day of deliverance as well—the day we were delivered from spiritual death and slavery to sin. The Lord’s Supper is our Passover remembrance of our new life and freedom from sin. The next time struggles and trials come, remember how God has delivered you in the past and focus on his promise of new life with him.

Deliverance from Death is found Only in Jesus.

The Apostle Paul tells us, “Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch — as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed.” The fulfillment of Passover is found in Christ.

Just as the blood of the lamb painted across the Israelites’ door spared their firstborn from death, the blood of Christ covers our sin and saves us from eternal condemnation. Out of pure joy, devotion, and thankfulness, we should worship Jesus always and forever.

The death Jesus experienced on the cross was the most painful death anyone has ever had to go through.  Not only did Jesus experience physical death, but he also experienced the pain of being separated from the Father as he shouted, “‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ (which means ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” (Matthew 27:46).

Jesus experienced the pain of separation from the Father on the cross in order for us to not have to suffer eternal separation from the Father. The Lord loves us so much that He willingly died on the cross in order to restore our relationship with Him.

Therefore, as Christians today, we still acknowledge the importance of Passover, yet Jesus fulfilled the Passover through His death.

There is no longer any need for us to offer sacrifices to cover our sins as the Israelites had to do in the Old Testament because our Passover Lamb has already been sacrificed for our sins.

Through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, all of our sins are forgiven, and we are granted salvation. This does not happen automatically or “by default.”

Rather, a person has to place faith in Jesus by believing that He died for their sins, was buried, and rose again (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Once a person does this, they are eternally forgiven of their sins and are given eternal life in Christ.

 Passover comes from the Old Testament, in which God led His people out of slavery in Egypt. The Israelites had been in slavery to Pharaohs for 400-430 years and the Passover marked the beginning of the Israelites’ freedom.

This freedom was only given to them because of God and His love. In the same way, Jesus’ death on the cross gives us the freedom to live the life God has planned for us. Freedom is only found in Christ and His ever-present love.

Passover celebrates Israel’s exodus out of Egypt, freedom from slavery, and the providence of God. Passover is still celebrated among Jewish circles in celebration of God bringing their people out of slavery.

As Christians, we don’t celebrate this holiday; however, we do celebrate Jesus every day because He is our Passover Lamb, who redeems us, gives us forgiveness, and blesses us with eternal life.

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Sources:

Rod Mattoon, Mattoon’s Treasures – Treasures from Exodus, Volume 1, (Springfield, IL: Lincoln Land Baptist Church, n.d.), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 244-245.

Life Application Study Bible, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1988), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 113-114.

https://www.christianity.com/wiki/holidays/what-does-passover-celebrate.html

https://www.gotquestions.org/what-is-Passover.html