Today we start our series on the Feasts of Israel and their prophetic and applicational meaning. We are going to start by looking at Passover. Passover was the first feast in the Jewish calendar with Passover preparations beginning on the 10th of Nissan (about March or April) and the actual Passover occurring on the 14th of Nissan and then the Feast of unleavened Bread began on the 15th Nissan, the day after Passover.
Let us start by looking at the significance of the Passover and its preparations. The Passover was an annual celebration as a memorial of the Israelites escaping from slavery in Egypt. On the 10th Nissan each year they would set aside a lamb without spot or wrinkle or blemish and would observe him for seven days. If this lamb really did appear to be spotless and perfect in every way then it could become the sacrificial lamb on the 14th Nissan.
At 3pm on 14th Nissan the lamb would be sacrificed and prepared for the evening meal at 6pm which was really the start of the 15th Nissan, the feast of unleavened bread. Not a bone of the lamb was to be broken during this preparation and after its blood had been shed this blood was painted over the doorposts so that when the angel of death passed over in Egypt he would spare the first born sons of the Israelites who had put the blood over the door.
Jesus is our Passover Lamb as we are told in 1 Cor 5:7, we will look at this verse in more depth when we look at the Feast of Unleavened bread.
Like the Passover Lamb Jesus was found to be perfect and without fault (John 19:4, Mark 15:39 and Matt 27:4) and not one of His bones were broken on the cross as we are told John 19:31-33 “Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.”
In fact we are told that Jesus died at exactly 3pm which is when the lambs were slaughtered for the Passover festival.
Jesus perfectly fulfilled the requirements of the Passover Lamb and so became our Passover Lamb and we are to constantly remember how He led us out of slavery to sin and became our Righteousness for us.
In terms of application, the Passover symbolizes salvation in the Christian life. When we accept Christ’s sacrifice for our sins and His blood shed on the cross, we receive Salvation. This is the beginning point of our Christian journey and further feasts will describe more of our walk with God. For now we simply need to receive Jesus’ sacrifice as our Passover Lamb and accept His blood as forgiveness for our sins.
On Wednesday we will look at the feast of unleavened bread and it’s significance both in terms of the prophetic and also how this relates to sanctification in our own lives.
