The Passover Lamb ~ Past and Present

"The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith,

Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."

~ John 1:29

"But oh! how shall we, how shall any, escape this righteous, this awful judgment (of God)? How can God's justice and His mercy be reconciled in His dealings with us poor sinners? How can guilt be punished, and yet the guilty be spared? This is the great mystery of our redemption — the mystery which Divine Wisdom alone could solve. The just shall live by faith (Romans 1:17): the whole gospel scheme of salvation rests on this solemn truth. That we may understand something of its meaning, let us proceed to consider the last of the ten judgments upon Egypt — the destruction of the first-born — and behold by what marvellous means God's people were preserved from sharing the fate of His foes. Here we may behold as in a picture the way — the only way — by which we can escape eternal destruction. Oh, may the Spirit of God open the eyes of our understanding, that in the Passover Lamb devoted to death we may see a type of the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29); that in the blood which, sprinkled on the door-posts, made the destroying angel pass, we may behold foreshadowed the blood of Jesus Christ, which cleanseth us from all sin! 

Moses said, Thus saith the Lord,  About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt, and all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die. In that land dwelt the children of Israel, even as God's people now dwell in the midst of a guilty and sentenced world. The Israelites could have devised no means of keeping the destroying angel from their homes. God himself provided a remedy: all that was needed on the part of His redeemed ones was faith and obedience to apply that remedy. Moses commanded the congregation on the tenth day of the month Abib — which corresponds to our March and April — to take a lamb for each household, a lamb without blemish or spot, and slay it on the fourteenth day of the month. They were to eat that lamb in the night ; roast with fire, with bitter herbs and unleavened bread should they eat it: and take of the blood, and strike it on the two side-posts and on the upper door-post of each house wherein the holy feast should be prepared. It is the Lord's passover — such was the message from the Most High — for I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt… I am the Lord: and the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are ; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you (Exodus 12:11-13).

We are not left in any doubt as to the typical meaning of this passover, this solemn feast and blood of sprinkling. I need but refer you to the inspired words of the Apostle Paul in reference to the death of the Saviour: Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us, therefore let us keep the feast ; not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1 Corinthians 5:7-8). It was not without the special ordering of God that the time of the yearly celebration of the passover should be chosen for that on which the Son of God shall suffer. "In the same month, on the same day, and at the same hour in which the Israelites were ordered to kill the Lamb," the Lamb of God expired on the cross! His blood, sprinkled through faith on the heart, is to the soul what the blood sprinkled on the door-posts was to the body — it saves, and it alone can save.

Thus is it with us, my friends. Our Christian name, our Christian privileges, nay, our works of charity and love, cannot save us in the great day of wrath. There is but one appointed means of salvation — faith in the atoning blood of the Lord.

And again, see how faith wrought obedience. Had the Israelites said that they believed the word of Moses, yet had neglected or delayed to obey his directions, - where had been the use of such lifeless faith? With them faith and obedience were closely united; as it is written in the Scriptures — The people bowed the head and worshipped; and the children of Israel went away, and did as the Lord had commanded (Exodus 12:27-28)."

~ by A.L.O.E., Excerpt from Rescued From Egypt, 1866