The Attack

The First Passover

Picture: The First Passover 1TC 179.1

This chapter is based on Exodus 11; 12:1-32.

When Moses first presented the demand for Israel’s release to the king of Egypt, he gave warning of the most terrible of the plagues. “Thus says the Lord: ‘Israel is My son, My firstborn. So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn’” (Exodus 4:22, 23). 1TC 179.2

God has a tender care for the beings formed in His image. If the loss of their harvests and their flocks and herds had brought Egypt to repentance, the children would not have been harmed. But the nation had stubbornly resisted the divine command. Now the final blow was about to fall. 1TC 179.3

Moses had been forbidden, on pain of death, to appear again in Pharaoh’s presence; but again Moses came before him, with the terrible announcement: “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt; and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals. Then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as was not like it before, nor shall be like it again. But against none of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue, against man or beast, that you may know that the Lord does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.’” 1TC 179.4

Before executing this sentence the Lord gave direction through Moses to the children of Israel about leaving Egypt and how to be preserved from the coming judgment. Each family, alone or with others, was to slaughter a lamb or a kid “without blemish,” and with a bundle of hyssop sprinkle its blood on “the two doorposts and on the lintel” of the house, so that at midnight the destroying angel would not enter that dwelling. They were to eat the roasted flesh with unleavened bread and bitter herbs at night, as Moses said, “with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.” 1TC 180.1

The Lord declared, “I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. ... Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you.” 1TC 180.2

To remind them of this great deliverance, Israel was to observe a yearly feast in all future generations—“the Passover sacrifice of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when he struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.” 1TC 180.3

The Passover Points to Christ

The Passover was to be both commemorative and symbolic, not only pointing back to the deliverance from Egypt but forward to the greater deliverance that Christ was to accomplish in freeing His people from the bondage of sin. The sacrificial lamb represents “the Lamb of God,” in whom is our only hope of salvation. The apostle Paul wrote, “Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7). It was not enough that the Passover lamb be killed; its blood must be sprinkled on the doorposts. In a similar way, the merits of Christ’s blood must be applied to the soul. We must believe not only that He died for the world but that He died for us individually. 1TC 180.4

The hyssop symbolized purification. “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:7). 1TC 181.1

The lamb was to be prepared whole, with not a bone broken; so not a bone was to be broken of the Lamb of God, who was to die for us (see John 19:36). 1TC 181.2

The flesh was to be eaten. It is not enough that we believe on Christ for the forgiveness of sin; by faith we must be constantly receiving spiritual nourishment from Him through His Word. Christ said, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life.” “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:53, 54, 63). The followers of Christ must take the Word of God into themselves so that it will become the driving force of life and action. By the power of Christ they must be changed into His likeness and reflect the divine characteristics. 1TC 181.3

The lamb was to be eaten with bitter herbs, as pointing back to the bitterness of the bondage in Egypt. So when we feed upon Christ, it should be with repentance of heart, because of our sins. The use of unleavened bread—bread without yeast—was also significant. All who would receive life and nourishment from Christ must put away the leaven of sin. So Paul writes to the Corinthian church, “Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump. ... Let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:7, 8) 1TC 181.4

Before obtaining freedom, the slaves must show their faith in the great deliverance. They must place the blood on their houses, and they must separate themselves and their families from the Egyptians and gather together in their own homes. All who failed to follow the Lord’s directions would lose their firstborn by the hand of the destroyer. 1TC 181.5

How Faith Must Be Shown

The people were to give evidence of their faith by obedience. So all who hope to be saved by the blood of Christ should realize that they have something to do themselves in securing their salvation. We are to turn from sin to obedience. We are to be saved by faith, not by works; yet our faith must be shown by our works. We must appreciate and use the helps that God has provided, and we must believe and obey all the divine requirements. 1TC 182.1

As Moses told Israel about God’s plans for their deliverance, “the people bowed their heads and worshiped.” Many of the Egyptians had been led to acknowledge the God of the Hebrews as the only true God, and these now begged to find shelter in the homes of Israel when the destroying angel would pass through the land. They were welcomed gladly, and they pledged to serve God and go forth from Egypt with His people. 1TC 182.2

The Israelites obeyed the directions God had given. Their families were gathered, the Passover lamb killed, the flesh roasted with fire, the unleavened bread and bitter herbs prepared. The father and priest of the household sprinkled the blood on the doorpost. The people ate the Passover lamb quickly and in silence. Fathers and mothers clasped their loved firstborn in their arms, as they thought of the fearful stroke that was to fall that night. The sign of blood—the sign of a Savior’s protection—was on their doors, and the destroyer did not enter. 1TC 182.3

At midnight “there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.” All the firstborn in the land, “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 livestock,” had been struck. The pride of every household had been brought down. Shrieks and wails filled the air. King and officers trembled at the overwhelming horror. With his Heaven-daring pride humbled in the dust, Pharaoh “called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, ‘Rise, go out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel. And go, serve the Lord as you have said. ... Be gone, and bless me also.’.” 1TC 182.4