"The Passover"

1 Corinthians 5:6-8 Your glorying is not good, Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleaven. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness: but with the unleaven bread of sincerity and truth.

Acts 12:4 And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. In the earlier English versions “Easter” has been frequently used as the translation of “Pascha,” (Passover). In the Authorized Version Passover was substituted in all passages but this: and in the New Revision Passover is used here.

Passover, the first of the three great annual festivals of the Israelites, celebrated in the month Nisan (March-April), from the 14th to the 21st. Strictly speaking the Passover only applied to paschal supper, and the feast of unleavened bread followed, which was celebrated to the 21st. The following are the principal passages in the Pentateuch relating to the Passover: Exodus 12:1-51, Exodus 13:3-10, Exodus 23:14-19, Exodus 34:18-26, Leviticus 23:4-14, Numbers 9:1-14, Numbers 28:16-25, and Deuteronomy 16:1-6.

Why Instituted? The feast was instituted by God to commemorate the deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage and the sparing of their firstborn when the destroying angel smote the firstborn of the Egyptians. The deliverance from Egypt was regarded as the staring point of the Hebrew nation. The Israelites were then raised from the condition of bondmen under a foreign tyrant to that of a free people owning allegiance to no one but God. The prophet in a latter time age spoke of the event as a creation and a redemption of the nation. God declares Himself to be “the Creator of Israel.” The Exodus was thus looked upon as the birth of the nation: the Passover was its annual birthday feast. It was the yearly memorial of the dedication of the people to Him who had saved their firstborn from the destroyer, in order that they might be made holy to Himself.

First Celebration of the Passover. On the tenth day of the month, the head of each family was to select from the flock either a lamb or a kid, a male of the first year, without blemish. If his family was too small to eat the whole of the lamb, he was permitted to invite his nearest neighbor to join the party. On the fourteen day of the month he was to kill his lamb, while the sun was setting. He was then to take blood in a basin, and with a sprig of hyssop to sprinkle it on the two side posts and lintel of the door of the house. The lamb was then thoroughly roasted, whole. It was expressly forbidden that it should be boiled, or that a bone of it should be broken. Unleavened bread and bitter herbs were to be eaten with the flesh. No male who was uncircumcised was to join the company. Each one was to have his loins girt, to hold a staff in his hand, and to have shoes on his feet. He was to eat in haste, and it would seem that he was to stand during the meal. The number of the party was to be calculated as nearly as possible, so that all the flesh of the lamb might be eaten: but if any portion of it happen to remain, it was to be burned in the morning. No morsel of it was to be carried out of the house.

The lambs were selected on the fourteen, they were slain and the blood was sprinkled, and the following evening, after the fifteen day of the month had commenced, the first paschal meal was eaten. At midnight the firstborn of the Egyptians were smitten. The king and his people were now urgent that the Israelites should start immediately, and readily bestowed on them supplies for the journey. In such haste did the Israelites depart, on the very day, (Numbers 33:3 And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians.). That they packed up their kneading troughs containing the dough prepared for the morrow`s provisions, which was not yet leavened.

Observance of the Passover in latter times. As the original institution of the Passover in Egypt preceded the establishment of the priesthood and the regulation of the service of the tabernacle, it necessarily fell short in several particulars of the observance of the festival according to the fully developed ceremonial law. The head of the family slew the lamb in his own house, not in the holy place: the blood was sprinkled on the doorway, not on the altar. But when the law was perfected, certain particulars were altered in order to assimilate the Passover to the accustomed order of religious service.

In the 12th and 13th chapters of Exodus there are not only distinct references of the observance of the festival in future ages. Exodus 12:2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Exodus 12:14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. Exodus 12:17 And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever. Exodus 12:24-27 And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD’S passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped. Exodus 12:42 It is a night to be much observed unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the LORD to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations. Exodus 13:2-10 Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine. And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten. This day came ye out in the month Abib. And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the LORD. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters. And thou shalt show thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the LORD did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD’S law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt. Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year.

But there are several injunctions which were evidently not intended for the first Passover, and which indeed could not possibly have been observed. Beside the private family festival, there were public and national sacrifices offered each of the seven days of unleavened bread, (Numbers 28:18 In the first day shall be an holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of servile work therein: On the second day also the first fruits of the barley harvest were offered in the temple, (Leviticus 23:10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: Numbers 28:16-25 And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of the LORD. And in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten. In the first day shall be an holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of servile work therein: But ye shall offer a sacrifice made by fire for a burnt offering unto the LORD; two young bullocks, and one ram, and seven lambs of the first year: they shall be unto you without blemish: And their meat offering shall be of flour mingled with oil: three tenth deals shall ye offer for a bullock, and two tenth deals for a ram; A several tenth deal shalt thou offer for every lamb, throughout the seven lambs: And one goat for a sin offering, to make an atonement for you. Ye shall offer these beside the burnt offering in the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering. After this manner ye shall offer daily, throughout the seven days, the meat of the sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD: it shall be offered beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering. And on the seventh day ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work. Deuteronomy 16:1-6 Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night. Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there. Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life. And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coast seven days; neither shall there any thing of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the morning. Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee: But at the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt.). Hence it is not without reason that the Jewish writers have laid great stress on the distinction between “the Egyptian Passover,” and “the Perpetual Passover.”

Mode and order of the paschal meal. All work except that belonging to a few trades connected with daily life was suspended for some hours before the evening of the 14th Nisan. It was not lawful to eat any ordinary food after midday. No male was admitted to the table unless he was circumcised, even if he were of the seed of Israel, (Exodus 12:48 And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.).

It was customary for the number of a party to be not less than ten. When the meal was prepared, the family was placed around the table, the paterfamilias taking a place of honor, probably somewhat raised above the rest. When the party was arranged the first cup of wine filled, and a blessing was asked by the head of the family on the feast, as well as a special one on the cup. The bitter herbs was then placed on the table, and a portion of them were eaten, either with or without the sauce. The unleavened bread was handed around next, and afterward the lamb was placed on the table in front of the head of the family. The paschal lamb could be legally slain and the blood and fat offered only in the national sanctuary, (Deuteronomy 16:2 Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there.). Before the lamb was eaten the second cup of wine was filled, and the son, in accordance with Exodus 12:26, asked his father the meaning of the feast, (Exodus 12:26 And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?).

In the reply, an account was given of the suffering of the Israelites in Egypt and of their deliverance, with a particular explanation of (Deuteronomy 26:5 And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous: ). And the first part of the Hallel, (a contraction from Hallelujah), Psalm 113th and Psalm 114th, was sung.

This being gone through, the lamb was carved and eaten. The third cup of wine was poured out and drank, and soon afterward the fourth. The second part of the Hallel, Psalm 115th and Psalm 118th, was then sung. A fifth cup of wine appears to have been occasionally produced, but perhaps only on later times. What was termed, “the great Hallel,” Psalm 120th to Psalm 128, was sung on such occasions.

The Israelites who lived in the country appear to have been accommodated at the feast by the inhabitants of Jerusalem in their houses, so far as there was room for them, (Matthew 26:18 And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples. Luke 22:10-12 And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in. And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? And he shall show you a large upper room furnished: there make ready.). Those who could not be received into the city encamped without the walls in tents, as the pilgrims now do at Mecca.

The Passover as a type. The Passover was not only commemorative but also typical. “The deliverance which it commemorated was a type of the great salvation it foretold.” No other shadow of good things to come contained in the law can vie with the festival of the Passover in expressiveness.

(1). The paschal lamb must be of course be regarded as the leading feature in the ceremonial of the festival. The lamb slain typified Christ the “Lamb of God,” slain for the sins of the world. Christ “our Passover is sacrificed for us,” ( 1 Corinthians 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:). According to the Divine purpose, the true Lamb of God was slain at nearly the same time of the day, as the daily sacrifice at the temple. The crucifixion beginning at the hour of the morning sacrifice at the temple and ending at the hour of the evening sacrifice. That the lamb was to be roasted and not boiled has been supposed to commemorate the haste of the departure of the Israelites. It is not difficult to determine the reason of the command, “not a bone of him shall be broken.” The lamb was to be a symbol of unity, the unity of the family, the unity of the nation, the unity of God with His people whom He had taken into covenant with Himself.

(2). The unleavened bread ranks next importance to the paschal lamb. We are warranted in concluding that unleavened bread had a peculiar sacrificial character, according to the law. It seems more reasonable to accept Paul`s reference to the subject, (1 Corinthians 5:6-8 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.). As furnishing the true meaning of the symbol. Fermentation is decomposition, a dissolution of unity. The pure dry biscuit would be an emblem of unchanged

duration, and, in its freedom from foreign mixture, of purity also.

(3). The offering of the omer or first sheaf of the harvest, (Leviticus 23:10-14 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD. And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin. And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.). Signified deliverance from winter, the bondage of Egypt being well considered as a winter in the history of the nation.

(4). The consecration of the first fruits. The first born of the soil, is an easy type of the consecration of the first born of the Israelites, and of our own best selves, to God. Further than this, (1). The Passover is a type of deliverance from the slavery of sin. (2). It is the passing over of the doom we deserve for our sins, because the blood of Christ has been applied to us by faith. (3). The sprinkling of the blood upon the door posts was a symbol of open confession of our allegiance and love. (4). The Passover was useless unless eaten: as we live upon the Lord Jesus Christ. (5). It was eaten with bitter herbs, as we must eat our Passover with the bitter herbs of repentance and confession, which yet, like the bitter herbs of the Passover, are a fitting and natural companion. (6). As the Israelites ate the Passover all prepared for the journey, so do we with a readiness and desire to enter the active service of Christ, and to go on the journey towards heaven.

In the last supper the Lord was not instituting anything with view to the Secret (the Mystery to be yet revealed in the Prison Epistles): but was substituting bread and wine for the Paschal Lamb (the type being exhausted in the Antitype), because of the new meaning which the Passover should hence fore convey. It was to be the Memorial, not the Exodus which the Lord afterward accomplished in Jerusalem, according to the New Covenant made by His death, (Luke 9:31 Who appeared in glory, and spoke of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem).

It is because those who eat of that bread and drink of that cup, and do not discern or discriminate that one body, Christ`s mystical, that they are said to eat and drink to their own condemnation: for they witness to the fact of that great mystery, and yet are ignorant of its truth! And, hence they condemn themselves.

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