The record of the Passover given in Exodus is very detailed. Nowhere else in the Scriptures do we find such a detailed account of Christ’s redemption The reason for all the details is that God wants us to know the redemption of Christ in such thorough way that we can never forget it. Twice the word memorial is used (12:14; 13:9). This indicates that it is God’s intention that we neither neglect the redemption of Christ nor forget it. Rather, we are to remember Christ’s redemption, not in a general way, but in a specific and detailed way.
One of the details in the account of the Passover concerns the eating of the flesh of the lamb. The flesh of the Passover lamb signifies Christ’s crucified and resurrected life that is our supply. In John 6:53 the Lord Jesus said that if we would have life, we must eat the flesh of the Son of Man. In verse 55 He went on to say, “My flesh is true food.” Through incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, Christ’s flesh has become our food.
Another detail is related to the bones of the Passover lamb. The children of Israel were told in 12:46 that none of the bones of the lamb used in the Passover were to be broken. This is of great significance. When the Lord Jesus was crucified, His bones were not broken (John 19:33, 36). This indicates that within Christ there is something unbreakable and indestructible. Christ’s unbroken bones signify the life that imparts life. This is typified by Eve being produced from Adam’s rib. Just as Adam’s bone could impart life into Eve to make her Adam’s counterpart, so Christ’s indestructible life has imparted life into us to make us His counterpart. Adam’s rib typifies Christ’s life that imparts life. In Christ there is a life signified by the unbroken bones of the Passover lamb. This life is Christ’s eternal, divine life that imparts life into us.
We need to be deeply impressed with all the details of the Passover. As we consider these details, we realize that the account of the Passover is not simple or easy to understand.
In this chapter we shall consider the way to apply the Passover lamb. The Passover lamb is wonderful, but if we do not know how to apply it, the lamb will have little meaning in our daily subjective experience. Therefore, our concern in this chapter is with the subjective experience of Christ as the Passover.
Exodus 12:11 says, “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 Jehovah’s passover” (Heb.). As the children of Israel were eating the Passover lamb, they were like an army. Exodus 12:51 says that the Lord brought the children of Israel “out of the land of Egypt by their armies.” Not many Christians today realize that they should be an army. On the contrary, the prevailing concept seems to be that anyone who believes in the Lord Jesus should be placed in a palanquin and carried away to heaven. However, according to the picture in the book of Exodus, the redeemed ones applied the Passover in such a way that they could become God’s army.
According to 12:11, the children of Israel ate with their loins girded. Before we were saved, we were somewhat loose; our being had not been girded up. To be girded is part of the preparation to be a soldier in the army. By girding ourselves we make ourselves ready to fight.
The gospel preached by many Christians today is not complete. When you heard the gospel, were you told to repent, believe in the Lord Jesus, receive Him, and then gird yourself up? Few of us were told that we needed to gird ourselves. However, the matter of being girded is here in Exodus 12. This record is complete. Only when we have girded up our loins are we qualified to apply the Passover. If we are still loose. we cannot partake of the Passover in a proper way.
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