lamb the name and representation of Christ’s first advent and symbolic of His death. The lamb was foreknown to God as it had been slain before the foundations of the world. Revelation says: “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev 13:8 NKJ). Also: “And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth” (Rev 5:6). Abel’s acceptable offering to God was a lamb. “Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats” (Ex 12:5).
“Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. ‘They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs” (Ex 12:7-8). The blood over the doorposts is symbolic of the saving blood of Christ which He shed on the cross for our deliverance and salvation. The bitter herbs were to remind the Israelites of the bitterness of their slavery in Egypt and of the bitterness of the sufferings of Christ on the cross to come. It shall be roasted to represent the fact that Christ comes with fire. It is to be eaten that night, with none left over, as we are to partake of all of the provision Christ, not just a partial portion. “Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails. ‘And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire” (Ex 12:9-10). Whatever is left is worthless because as a provision it had to be entirely consumed in the night. Many miss the full provision of Christ by partaking of only a part of what He has to offer.
“Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste—it is the Lord’s Passover” (Ex 12:11). They were leaving Egypt in a hurry, in the middle of the night, so they had to be dressed in readiness (loins girded-clothes on, sandals on feet and staff in hand)—they had a long journey before them. Similarly God is a right now God. We must be prepared at all times for His moving, ready to follow him quickly. They didn’t even have time to leaven their bread so they ate it unleavened. This was also to remove the leaven of Egypt from their houses as they were starting anew. “Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel” (Ex 12:15). Paul, speaking of Passover in the New testament, said: “Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7).
“For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am the Lord. ‘The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt” (Ex 12:12-13). Thus the name “Feast of Passover” means when the death angel “passed over” Israel if they had their houses protected with the blood of the lamb.
“And you shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever.“When you enter the land which the Lord will give you, as He has promised, you shall observe this rite. “And when your children say to you, ‘What does this rite mean to you?’ you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.’ ” And the people bowed low and worshiped” (Ex 12:24-27). Passover was to be a permanent ordinance (eternal) to be celebrated from that day forward. It should be noted that after the Israelites settled into the Promised Land the rite was forgotten until the time of King Josiah. After that it was forgotten until the time of Ezra and Nehemiah as they rebuilt the temple after the exile. Perceptive Christians celebrate the Passover, instead of some other holiday (Easter) because the Passover is meant by God to be celebrated forever and not altered by time or current customs.
“Then the sons of Israel went and did so; just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. Now it came about at midnight that the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle”. (see above where the son of Thutmose II never had a first born heir to the throne because his son was killed during this last plague). “Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead. Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, “Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, worship the Lord, as you have said. “Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and bless me also.” The Egyptians urged the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, “We will all be dead.” So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls bound up in the clothes on their shoulders. Now the sons of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, for they had requested from the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have their request. Thus they plundered the Egyptians” (Ex 12:28-37). God’s judgments when they come are swift and thorough. We should never be in a waiting mode with God but always in an action mode because we do not know the day or the hour.
Israel Leaves Egypt
“Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near; for God said, “The people might change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.” Hence God led the people around by the way of the wilderness to the Red Sea; [Heb. “Sea of Reeds”] and the sons of Israel went up in martial array from the land of Egypt. Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones from here with you.” Then they set out from Succoth and camped in Etham on the edge of the wilderness” (Ex 13:17-20).
There is some controversy over which sea Moses led his people to. The original Hebrew word for the sea is Yam Suph which means in Hebrew ‘Reed’ or ‘Marsh Sea’. The change in terminology may be traced back to the Greek Version of the Old Testament (LXX) and to the Latin Vulgate which changed the Hebrew to mean “Red Sea”. No satisfactory explanation has been offered for the change. The translation of this name as “Red Sea” comes from the sea’s Greek name in the LXX and elsewhere. The Red Sea on today’s maps is farther south, below the Sinai Peninsula. But the title Red Sea in ancient times may very well have covered both the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba (see Deut 1:1; 1 Kgs 9:26). The name “Sea of Reeds” in various English versions (usually in the form of a marginal note) and commentaries, reflect the correct meaning of the Hebrew word סוּף Yam Suph as “Reed Sea”a word for reedy water plants (Exod 2:3, 5; Isa 19:6; Jonah 2:6) This may have a connection with an Egyptian word used for papyrus and other marsh plants. On this basis some have taken the term Yam Suph as perhaps referring to Lake Menzaleh or Lake Ballah, which have abundant reeds, north of the extension of the Red Sea on the western side of Sinai. Whatever exact body of water is meant, it was not merely a marshy swamp that the people waded through, but a body of water large enough to make passage impossible without divine intervention, and deep enough to drown the Egyptian army. Lake
