CHAPTER 1 Jesus Christ, Our Passover CONTINUES…

In the days supervening the Egyptian debut, God revealed this salvation mystery to Moses, precept upon precept, line upon line. Though they had benefited directly from the prototype, Israel still did not understand the mystery that had not only preserved them but also facilitated their departure or deliverance from Egypt.

Hence, in the ordinances, God laid down procedures for receiving forgiveness, cleansing, purging and covering. At all levels, blood was indispensable. Only bloodshed could bring atonement.

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” Lev 17:11.

“And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” Hebrews 9:22.

Throughout the various dispensations of scripture, we confront this vital truth. First, it was in sketchy shadows. It began with Man’s covering in Eden following the fall, Abel’s blood offering, Noah’s blood sacrifice, Abraham’s blood sacrifice, the Circumcision, the offering of Isaac, the Kid that ransomed Joseph in the luxuriant wilderness of Shechem which finally culminated in the first organized Passover in the land of Egypt.

From that time on, the prototype continued to be celebrated pending the original which would take place many years later. For the time being, while the wilderness wandering lasted, Israel revisited this very important feast in the Sinai plains – Numbers 9:5.

Next, as soon as they berthed at Gilgal the border of their inheritance, Israel once again kept the Passover in the plains of Jericho -Joshua 5:10.

At this juncture, God’s programme for the Gentiles began to be hinted. Accordingly, when Joshua sent spies to Jericho, it was a prostitute, the city’s social wretch of perhaps the vilest order, that accommodated and aided the spies. This was a professional so despised by the society of her days, she could only find accommodation on the city wall. She was not good enough to dwell within the polished social system that must have existed at the time. It was this social miscreant that believed the gospel in her days and was saved with her house. This, of course, is compatible with scripture.

“For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.” 1Corianthians 1:26-29

Now, how was Rahab’s salvation accomplished? It was through the instrumentality of the Passover.

“And the men said unto her, Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee. And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him. And she said, according unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.” Joshua 2:17-19,21. Emphasis added.

Look at this ‘outlaw’! Strangers get to this city to survey the place preparatory to an imminent invasion. She does not only believe that resistance is hopeless, she also believes the only prescription they offer for her safety. Then she promptly acts upon her belief: she ties one ridiculous looking scarlet thread in her window.

Surely enough, within a few days, the dreaded attack takes place. Now, what happens?

“And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword. But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot’s house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her. And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.” Joshua 6:2-22,25. Emphasis added.

The bloodline had gone right through Gentile lands and for good measure, it located a social and moral ‘reject’ for covering and salvation. God certainly had made the point. By the scarlet line, a symbol of the bloodline, even the Gentiles could be saved.

Click here for part 1

Click here for part 2

Click here for part 3

CHAPTER 1 Jesus Christ, Our Passover CONTINUED…

Abraham was the next stop on the blood chain. God had called him out from the familiarity of his neighborhood. In obedience Abraham departed, heading with his immediate household to a yet to be disclosed destination. In process of time, God’s plan began to be revealed in exceeding great and precious and sometimes even stupefying promises.

By Chapter15 of Genesis, Abraham could no longer contain his amazement.

“And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?” Genesis 15:8

In response, the Lord introduced him to a relationship that would thenceforth be consummated upon blood. God had Abraham offer a blood sacrifice. Then Abraham attempted futilely to sustain a spiritual mystery with physical ability. He waited upon his sacrifice of a heifer, a she-goat, a ram, a turtledove and young pigeon, chasing away fowls until sleep eventually overwhelmed him and he has left no choice but to entirely trust God (Genesis15:9-12). He had learned that this new relationship would not be dependent upon his power but upon the grace of God.

Finally, Jehovah arrived, explained His program to a sleeping Abraham and crowned His promises by walking in between the offering (Genesis 15:17). This sealed His promises to our covenant with the father of faith.

Furthermore, the Lord returned in chapter 17 and declared more deliberately to Abraham that this was a blood birthed relationship. He commanded male circumcision. This prepared Abraham sufficiently for God’s ultimate purpose. It apparently made him better acquainted with the imperativeness of blood in this relationship.

Consequently, when God returned to ask for Isaac in Genesis 22, Abraham was at a point in his walk with the Father where he could succumb to any demand or obey any command by God.

Indeed, the bloodline was running.

Through the instrumentality of the circumcision, the generations that followed were kept perpetually reminded of the fact that blood was imperative in their position as God’s elect.

Towards the fulfillment of the Egyptian bondage prophesy, we again step over the bloodline. Joseph’s elder brothers had to kill a kid out of the herds to explain his loss to Jacob their father. What they little understood was that they had through the death of the kid, ransomed Joseph from untimely death not only at their own hands but even the hands of his subsequent masters and adversaries. For instance, it was not only an act of natural mercy that rescued him from death in Potiphar’s house. The blood was talking.

This rather uncanny, circumstantial and evil motivated sacrifice of the kid, killed when Joseph was sold away, would later also become a covering for all Hebrews in the years of bondage to come. The Bible says once the Pharaoh that was well disposed towards the Jews because of Joseph died, the new King became very hostile to the survival of the entire Jewish nation in Egypt (Exodus 1:8-11). Noteworthy, however, is verse 12:
“But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew…”

Once Israel rode upon that one strange, unintentional and accidental sacrifice by Jacob’s sons in the verdant or lush wilderness of Shechem when they killed the kid instead of Joseph, the same preserving mystery went into operation on the behalf of all of them. Came the eve of their deliverance from Egyptian bondage and God unloaded the entire package. Jehovah ordained the Passover.

“And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying,… they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:… and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’s passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: 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 upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. 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 12:1-14. Emphasis added.

The Passover in Egypt was indeed, the prototype of our New Testament Passover. As it were, God had drawn the bloodline since the day of Adam and Eve when God had to shed blood to have them effectively covered.

Click here for part 1

Click here for part 2

Click here for part 4

CHAPTER 1: Jesus Christ, Our Passover.

“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” 1Corithians 5:7

“Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: … And ye shall … kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. …it is the LORD’s passover.” Exodus12:5 – 7, 11.

SINCE the day Adam and Eve mortgaged Man’s glory and awoke to the humiliating reality of their nakedness, the best man has ever attempted to find personal covering has been ridiculously inadequate. In Genesis Chapter 3:7, we find man desperately hiding behind fig leaves.

A gracious God arrives the garden and in verse 21, the first indication that one, man’s case is not beyond redemption and two, by bloodshed shall he be covered or rescued, is recorded. God slays an animal to produce a more permanent clothing or covering for man.

“Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” Genesis 3:21

In his time, Cain watched, green with envy and livid with anger as his effort-intensive-offering of the fruit of the ground was rejected while Abel’s effortless blood offering of livestock was accepted by God.

God was still making a point. Cain had heard God’s requirement but taken God for granted. Abel likewise heard the same requirement. It made little sense to either of them. Cain elected to use his sense. Abel chose to use his faith. The Hebrews account (Hebrews 11:4) says Abel’s offering was an act of faith. Since faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17), both Cain and Abel must have been preached to.

Anyway, whether they understand or not, God was making His point. Further relationship with God must be founded upon blood.

Then came Noah, another fellow who believed the Gospel in his days. After the flood, a surviving Noah and his household gave God what I suppose was an offering that surpassed Solomon’s. He offered one of every fourteen clean beasts and birds to God in sacrifice. This left Noah only thirteen of each species to start the repopulation of the whole earth. (Genesis 7:1-5, 8:17 – 22). No wonder, the Lord promptly removed the curse earlier placed upon the earth in the days of Adam.

“And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a sweet savor; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’ sake;… neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done.”

Genesis 8:20-21.

Again, Blood had won.

Click here for part 1

Click here for part 3

Click here for part 4

In the Times we live, individuals and nations alike have been forced to put SECURITY on the front burner. What with terrorism, kidnapping, murders, epidemics of sometimes, continental proportions, accidents, wars, genocides, chemical warfare, etc.!
Fear has gripped the 21st-century humanity. However, God has always made provision to keep His people safe no matter the threat.

In my Book ‘PASSOVER’, I reveal the Divine Safety Provision for God’s children in all ages. God has provided for our health, healing, and safety from every plague and every danger.

It is my pleasure to present you this all-conquering weapon for the saint as I run a serial on my most engaging book, ‘PASSOVER.’ May every evil Passover you and your loved ones, in Jesus Name. Amen.

INTRODUCTION
Return! Church Return!

“Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them. Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons forever. 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.” Exodus 12:21- 25.

From about the late 1900s till date, less and less is being heard, being taught, preached or said about the Passover. The reasons are multiple. For one, we are too engrossed in the celebration of our “Pentecostal” fad.

For another, the Church has become too civilized to emphasis a primitive bloody Gospel. The dynamics of Church administration is teaching that the Christian doctrine must be presented in a manner consistent with the diversity of traditions and cultures of the various cultural, social and academic values, worldwide. After all, didn’t our Lord Jesus command to ‘go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature’ Mark 16:15? Consequently, since there are different backgrounds of these creatures, we are now magnifying the simplicity that is the Gospel to accommodate their various pleasures. Paul the Apostle seems to have given us much justification when he said in 1Corinth. 9.20-23 that he had become all things to all men that he might, by all means, save some.

Therefore, we don’t want to scare away people from the faith with too much talk of Passover which translates into too much talk of blood. There are too many civilized people in the Pews now. No need to frighten them away with a bloody Gospel. No need to repulse all those high-class intellectuals and exact-cultured-special-breeds who after all pay the largest tithes and preside over multimillion Dollar projects, with too much talk on something as nauseous as blood. What with all those minutely manicured and pedicured high society looks.

Furthermore, there is too much computer age faith now to bother with blood. Sufficient is the mention of Passover once every year during the Easter celebration.

Like Israel of old, we have failed to understand that there could not possibly be any Pentecost without the Passover. Israel came out of Egypt through a mighty demonstration of God’s power manifested through the several plagues that culminated in the death of the Egyptian firstborn of both man and beast. Israel as a nation had been introduced to the efficacy of the Passover. They had witnessed firsthand, blood’s power to protect. However, either due to ignorance or lack of time, they did not seem to find anything to celebrate until the pursuing Pharaoh overtook them encamping beside Pihahiroth – Exodus.14:9. It was not until the Pharaoh and his army was overthrown in the Red Sea and Israel was once more preserved that even Moses remembered to lead a song of worship.

Perhaps, we could excuse Israel for lack of either the time or knowledge. Yet the same cannot be said of the Church today. We have both time and sufficient Biblical precedence. We can’t plead ignorance. Paul the Apostle wrote in the book of Colossians: “Giving thanks unto the father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear son: in whom we have redemption through his blood; even the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians. 1:12-14.

Of course, before we became qualified to partake of the blessings of the saints, we were first delivered from the servitude of the kingdom of darkness (the devil’s kingdom). We enjoyed redemption through His Blood.

This is the greatest miracle we should celebrate. Breakthrough and all other blessings must be appreciated and God praised for. Nevertheless, we must not put the cart before the horse.

How sad that many of God’s children are not celebrating the miracle of Passover today? Rather, we only bring thanksgiving when a new car is bought or some other promotion gained. Say, where would Israel be singing worship in Exodus Chapter 15 had there been no Passover in Chapter 12? Child of God, what would your joy over the new house, job, marriage, breakthrough, ministerial success amount to had there been no Passover?

Passover is the message of the Gospel. It is the reason for the Gospel. It is the power of the Gospel. Passover is the Gospel. All reasons for which Passover has been relegated to the background fall pitiably upon their faces if Passover is removed.

Click here for part 2

Click here for part 3

Click here for part 4