Getting Job-ed
Passover and Easter have a deep connection rooted in the Old Testament to the New Testament. As we are approaching Passover and Easter this week, I felt it necessary to post a reflection on that connection. The following is a paper I wrote for Belhaven University in the Old Testament Pentateuch course discussing the connection of the Passover in Exodus 12 and 13 to Jesus:
***
The Passover is an important topic for discussion with implications not only in the Old Testament of the Bible but also in the New Testament. The Passover was directly applicable to the lives of the people in Moses’ day, but then also was a foreshadowing of events to come with Jesus coming to earth. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Passover using Dr. Richard Pratt’s three-step method: 1.) Determine and explain the literary structure of the passage, 2.) determine and explain the original meaning of the passage, 3.) discuss the modern application of the Passover. The study of the Passover has been incredibly impactful for me and I feel will be a great help to those to whom I have the opportunity to minister.
When discussing the literary structure of the passage, we will begin by discussing a brief outline of the passage. Exodus 12:1-4 discusses who is involved with observing the Passover and when this takes place (also verses 43-49 give additional criteria). Exodus 12:5-20 gives the statutes to be observed and how this is to be completed both the first occurrence and yearly thereafter. This would include the lamb and unleavened bread. Exodus 12:21-28 shows Moses discussing this with the elders, how to explain this to the generations to come, and the costs of not observing the statutes correctly with all of this resulting in subsequent worship. In Exodus 12:29-42, the Passover event occurs with the death of the firstborn males in Egypt and the sparing of the Hebrew people, ultimately ending with Pharaoh ordering the Israelites to leave Egypt. The Passover event ends in Exodus 12:43-13:16 with Moses giving the instructions again and instructing that all firstborn males amongst the Israelites must be consecrated for the LORD.
As a literary structure, the Passover in Exodus 12:1-13:16 has two purposes: historical and instructional. The author provides the reader with an overview of historical information of events that occurred but also instructs the reader to never forget the events that happened and the duty to follow and adhere to the instructions given throughout the subsequent generations. (1)
Moses’ arrangement of the information had an intended purpose for the Israelites to never turn their back on this redeeming God that rescued them from the oppressive rule and from being in bondage to slavery, with the ultimate goal of moving them towards the Promised Land. (2) The underlying theme of observing the statutes yearly was for the purpose of remembering the LORD who rescued them from slavery. (3) We see in the Book of Deuteronomy, the Israelites are prone to forget and wander away from this God that delivered them. Even in Exodus 32, the Israelites built a golden calf to worship after such a short time after being delivered from Pharaoh’s hand. Moses intended to instill the repetition of dedicated rituals to never forget what this God had graciously done for His people by delivering them from the hand of oppression, purifying them, which will allow God to dwell with them, and finally, moving them towards the Promised Land. (4)
When discussing the original meaning of the passage, we will take aspects from the outline mentioned previously to discuss the major tenants of the Passover itself; we will be focusing on the lamb and the unleavened bread. The lamb or goat sacrifice in Exodus 12:5-13 is truly at the heart of the Passover. (5) This included slaying a year old male lamb or goat (Exodus 12: 5), smearing its blood on the doorpost, and then consuming its meat (Exodus 12: 7). There are criteria for how the meat is to be prepared (Exodus 12:8-9) , to be consumed without breaking its bones (Exodus 12:46), and discarding leftovers by burning them (Exodus 12:10).
The purpose of sacrificing the lamb and smearing its blood on the doorpost was twofold. In Exodus 12:13-14 Christian Standard Bible, we see that God says, “I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and strike every firstborn male in the land of Egypt… The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you…” Yet also, we have seen that even in Genesis chapter 2, a death has to occur to atone for the sins of mankind. The use of hyssop (vs. 22) to smear the blood echoed the purification rituals that we see in Leviticus 14:4, 6, 49, 51, 52; Numbers 8:6, 18. (6) This atonement began the process of the Israelites being able to be in the presence of an infinitely holy God and to have Him dwell among them, thus, purifying them on their route towards the Promised Land.
The unleavened bread is another aspect of Passover that needs to be discussed. The eating of the unleavened bread has two purposes as well. For one, the bread was unleavened because of their hasty and urgent exiting from Egypt (Exodus 12:33-34)᠆ the bread simply did not have time to leaven. Secondly, there is an apparent purification aspect to leaven as well that is seen in Exodus 12:15-20. Eating leaven bread within the specific time frame came with major ramifications, such as ex-communication from the community (vs. 19). Leavening being likened to impurity is seen elsewhere in Scripture, especially in the Gospels (for example, Mark 8:14-21).
We have observed that Moses’ original purpose in writing the Passover was to instruct the generations to stay faithful and to observe this ritual yearly in order to never forget this God that graciously rescued them. (7) Moses, on three separate occasions in the passage ( Exodus 12:26-27, 13:8, 13:14-15), instructs the Israelites to teach the future generations of the importance of Passover. Remembrance will result in future generations to remain faithful to God, ultimately resulting in the worship of God for His grace.
***
On Friday, we’ll look at how Passover was pointing forward to Jesus’ work at Easter.
Footnotes and Bibliography
- Desmond Alexander, From Paradise to the Promised Land: An Introduction to the Pentateuch, 3rd ed. (Michigan, Baker Publishing Group, 2012), 206.
- Richard Pratt Jr., Zoom Discussion, accessed November 29, 2021, https://belhaven.zoom.us/rec/play/uZM_ cXLkyol4Fqo-EdSlcvhwPYs-a4cs9gjG8YVYEiEtURGRFdFh_yPlIxIzbcTRYHtr830_6W6ozkFf.OAjolsvqlL0k3-TxcontinueMode=true&_x_zm_rtaid=WzQ8IfQcQrWHzdUdb7Wg4A.1638179957464.8d2939b81df96191025d199c599f255e&_x_zm_rhtaid=2
- T. Desmond Alexander, From Paradise to the Promised Land: An Introduction to the Pentateuch, 201.
- T. Desmond Alexander, From Paradise to the Promised Land: An Introduction to the Pentateuch, 205-206.
- T. Desmond Alexander, From Paradise to the Promised Land: An Introduction to the Pentateuch, 204.
- T. Desmond Alexander, From Paradise to the Promised Land: An Introduction to the Pentateuch, 204.
- T. Desmond Alexander, From Paradise to the Promised Land: An Introduction to the Pentateuch, 201.
Desmond Alexander, From Paradise to the Promised Land: An Introduction to the
Pentateuch, 3rd ed. (Michigan, Baker Publishing Group, 2012).
Richard Pratt Jr., Zoom Discussion, accessed November 29, 2021, https://belhaven.zoom.us/
rec/play/uZM_cXLkyol4Fqo-EdSlcvhwPYs a4cs9gjG8YVYEiEtURGRFdFh_yPlIxIzbcTRYHtr830_6W6ozkFf.
OAjolsvqlL0k3-Tx?continueMode=true&_x_zm_rtaid=WzQ8IfQcQrWHzdUdb7Wg4A.1638179957464.8d2939b8
1df96191025d199c599f255e&_x_zm_rhtaid=
Third Millenium Ministries, “Kingdom & Covenant of the New Testament: The Kingdom of
God,” accessed December 4, 2021, https://thirdmill.org/seminary/lesson.asp/vid/179
Tim Mackie, “The Passover,” The Bible Project, accessed November 20, 2021, https://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=a0xLsltEaQo
