Preparation for Passover

The Passover is the time when the Lord delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt. The Passover is an example for us. It pointed to the first coming and crucifixion of Christ who is the Passover Lamb, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the earth. It points also to the second coming of Christ. It is at the second coming that all of the children of God will be delivered from this earth and will go into immortality. We must prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord, just like the children of Israel prepared themselves for their deliverance out of Egypt.

Let us remind ourselves of things that we surely know. The Passover Lamb was pointing to Christ. It is therefore his blood that is a token on the door posts of our houses. What are our houses, or dwelling places or tabernacles? It is ourselves, our body that we live in now. Peter described it in II Peter 1:13-15. What then is the door or the door posts of our house where the blood is applied? A door way is an entryway. The entryway to a person is their mind and their heart. Remember that the children of Israel were also told to write the law upon the doorposts of their house. Are we not told that God is going to write the law in our hearts? And are we not exhorted to study the law and to meditate on the word of God so that it is always in our minds? So if our house is our body, and the door post and lintel is our hearts and minds, what is the blood? It is the blood of the New Testament. It is a sign or token that we belong to God. What is the New Testament? It is the New Covenant. It is in fact the law written in our hearts, the forgiveness of sin and the promise of eternal life.

So, for the Passover, the lamb was already slain for us. The blood of the lamb is the blood of the New Testament. It is a token of his grace. The children of Israel were also told exactly how to cook and eat the Lamb. We know that the Lamb is Christ, and that he told us that his flesh is meat indeed. It is represented today as the unleavened bread that we eat during the Lord’s Supper. The children of Israel were also told “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.” Exodus 12:11.

We must prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord. All the things that the children of Israel did to prepare for the Passover, we must also do to spiritually prepare ourselves.

A staff is used for support. It helps keep us from falling, especially if the place we are walking is rough or difficult. Our lives are rough and difficult, and Satan places rocks and snares all over the road to trip us. The staff is the word of God which is our help and our support. So is the girdle for our loins. Our shoes must be on our feet to help us to walk and not to fall. The children of Israel had to eat it in haste, and we must not delay obeying God. We must not put off keeping the commandments. The children of Israel had to stand and eat, because they had to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice. We must also be ready; because we don’t know at what time our Lord will come. Christ spoke in certain parables about how we must be awake and ready for his coming.

The apostle Paul spoke about the preparation in a slightly different way. He spoke about the whole armor of God. Our enemy will never stop trying to destroy us. We must be constantly prepared and vigilant. Apostle Paul showed us how every part of our body must be armed against the devil. Our armor is the word of God.

Please read----About the preparation for the first Passover, Exodus 12:3-13, about the whole armor of God, Ephesians 6:10-18, Christ told us to watch and be ready, Luke 12:35-48, Matthew 25:1-13

(55 verses)