Genesis 8:4 – A Picture of the Passover Lamb Jesus Christ
4 Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.
Noah and his family have been floating around for some time now but the boat has finally come to rest on the mountain of Ararat. At first glance, all of these dates seem needful, only so that we can understand how long they were in the ark, but here we see something spectacular. Here we see the ark coming to a stop, we see the storm pass on the seventh month, and on the 17th day of the month. What does this point too? Well I am glad that you asked.
The nation of Israel celebrates the Passover on the seventh month of the year and on the 14th day of that month.
The Passover is a celebration in memory of the Jews delivery from Egypt, as commanded in the book of Exodus (Exodus 11-12)
Exodus 12
1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. 3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. 7 And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. 8 Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire—its head with its legs and its entrails. 10 You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. 11 And thus you shall eat it: 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.
12 ‘For 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: I am the LORD. 13 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 when I strike the land of Egypt.
14 ‘So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. 15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat—that only may be prepared by you. 17 So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance. 18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19 For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land. 20 You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’”
21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. 22 And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. 23 For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. 24 And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. 25 It will come to pass when you come to the land which the LORD will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. 26 And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 that you shall say, ‘It is 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.’” So the people bowed their heads and worshiped. 28 Then the children of Israel went away and did so; just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
On the tenth the month every man was to take for himself a lamb for his family. This lamb was to be a male without blemish, and they were to keep it with them from the tenth to the fourteenth day of the month. This would make this little animal a member of the house because they were to keep it with them. This would make it hard to sacrifice this precious little part of the family. At twilight they were to sacrifice this lamb and take the blood applied to a hyssop branch and place it on the two doorposts and the lintel. The angel of the Lord would see this blood and pass over the house.
What a beautiful picture of the price Jesus paid, right there in the Old Testament.
A lamb bone is placed on the Seder plate. This signifies the sacrificial lamb and blood that was put on the doorposts as commanded by God. The Passover lamb is a picture of Jesus Christ
John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God. Paul tell us that He is exactly the Passover Lamb. He was the sacrificial Lamb of God. He was placed upon the cross. He died in our place and now He covers us through His blood.
Notice that the men of the household applied the blood from the lamb upon the two doorposts and the lintel or the top of the doorway. This would form a perfect cross and we see how this pictures our being covered by the blood of Jesus through His death on the cross.
Jesus was crucified on the 14the day of Passover.
Luke 22
1Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover.
2And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him; for they feared the people.
3Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.
4And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them.
5And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money.
6And he promised, and sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude.
7Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed.
8And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat.
God sees us through the blood of Jesus and now the wrath of God passes over us because we have His righteousness. We have a right standing with the Lord. We find grace in the eyes of God just as Noah did and we are saved from judgment.
He was in the tomb for three days. Matthew 12:40 tells us that Jesus had to be in the earth for 3 days and 3 nights:
“For as Jonas was 3 days and 3 nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of Man be three days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth”.
The Jewish people have their day of rest on Saturday. They begin their Sabbath the night before on Friday evening. It was that way in Biblical times and is still that way today. Every Friday evening a candle is lit, prayers are said and no work is done till sundown Saturday evening. By Saturday evening the Sabbath is officially ended. The next day, Sunday, is called ” the 1st day of the week.”
Here is what Matthew 28:1 says:
“In the END of the Sabbath, AS IT BEGAN TO DAWN toward the first day of the week (Sunday), came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.”
John 19:31 tells us that the Sabbath immediately following Jesus death was the Sabbath of their High Holy Day, the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exodus 12:15-17), and that this was not to be confused with their 7th day Sabbath.
Luke 24:21 states “and besides all this, today is the third day since these things were done”. (Sunday Luke 24:1 and 24:13)
Jesus proved He was our Passover Lamb when He came from the Mt. Of Olives on a donkey on Palm Sunday , Nisan 10…..the day the lamb was to be identified as the Passover Lamb:
“In the 10th day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb…and ye shall keep it until the 14th day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.”
The lamb was to be separated, just as Jesus kept Himself at Jerusalem from that day on.
Jesus not only identified Himself on Nisan 10 (fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9), but He separated Himself to the confines of Jerusalem for the remainder of His days, as did the sacrificial Lamb of the Temple.
But wait there is more…
All this is done on the fourteen day of the Passover Seder, and three days later, we find rest, just as Noah did in the salvation of the ark.
THROUGH THE RESSURECTION OF JESUS CHRIST!!!!!!!!!!!
During the Seder (Passover Meal) a very interesting ceremony takes place.
Three matzot crackers (bread) are placed in a bag of fine cloth.
These 3 pieces of bread represent the Trinity….
the Father, His Son Yeshua, and Yeshua’s Holy Spirit.
The matzah-bread in the center—the one representing Yeshua-Jesus —is then broken in two.
The larger of the two pieces is called the “afikomen“.
Afikomen generally means “after supper”, connoting dessert — saving the best for last.
This dessert-bread—- this which is to be rewarded last— is now wrapped in excellent cloth and hidden away in the house to be found later, after the Passover Meal….after REDEMPTION.
The significance of this afikomen is clear for all to see.
“The Lord Jesus the same night in which He was betrayed took bread (matzah) And when He had given thanks, He brake it, and said:
Take, eat : this is My body, which IS broken for you.” 1 Corinthians 11:23, 24
MESSIAH IN THE PASSOVER
A story is told about a boy who returned from Sunday School class and his father asked him, “What did you learn today?” The son answered, “My teacher told us how Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt.”
“How?” asked the father.
“Moses was a big strong man and he beat Pharaoh up. Then while Pharaoh was down, Moses got all the people together and they ran towards the sea. When they got there, Moses had the corps of engineers build a huge pontoon bridge. Once the people got to the other side, they blew up the bridge while the Egyptians were trying to cross.”
Quite shocked, the father inquired, “Is that what you teacher really taught you?”
The son replied, “No. But you’d never believe the story that he really did tell us.”
There are truly some remarkable events associated with Passover. But more importantly, there are many symbolic elements of Passover that reveal the life and ministry of Yeshua the Messiah. In particular, the L-rd’s Supper or Communion is derived from a pivotal part of the observance of Passover. By considering these symbolic elements in their original context, we are able to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to participate in the L-rd’s Supper.
Afikomen—The Coming of Messiah
You might ask, “How close is the modern observance of Passover to what was done in biblical days?” The elements of the Passover service, known as the Seder, have changed somewhat over time, but most of the modern practices were in place back in late Second Temple times. In other words, the manner in which Passover is kept today is very much like the way it was kept in the day of Yeshua.
When Yeshua and his disciples gathered for their last Passover together, they would have retold G-d’s deliverance of Israel from bondage in Egypt. They would have recited the phrase, “Every person in every generation must regard himself as having been personally freed from Egypt.” They would have chanted the Hallel (Psalms 113-118), and said the blessings over four cups of wine. They would have eaten bitter herbs and lamb, although lamb is not commonly eaten today.
They would also have eaten matzah (meaning unleavened bread). Another of the symbolic rites practiced both today and in biblical times involves a special piece of matzah that is broken and hidden, called the afikomen.
Early in the Seder, three pieces of matzah are taken and the middle one is removed. It is then broken in two and the larger piece is hidden somewhere. The celebration continues with other ceremonial elements. Then toward the end of the Seder, the children search for the afikomen, and when it is discovered, they hold it for ransom. The leader then redeems it by paying an agreed upon price to the children. A piece is distributed to all participants who then eat their portion.
This custom of the afikomen is not well understood today and has lost its original meaning. The most common rabbinic explanation is that it represents dessert, or the end of festivity. Unfortunately, that is an explanation that neglects its linguistic meaning.
Oddly, in the midst of a ceremony that is based on the Hebrew language, afikomen is a Greek word that means, “I came.” That is the way it is used in Passover Seders all around the world today. But in the times of the Second Temple, the word was actually phrased slightly differently. In that day, the name was not in the past tense, it was phrased in the future: aphikomenos – “he is coming.”
The custom of naming objects and places is an important practice in the Jewish culture. For example, the gates of the city of Jerusalem were given names, as were the pillars of the Temple. And these names carried the meaning of the object or place. The name itself was a way of communicating a key spiritual concept.
He is coming? Now that kind of a name should prompt some very straightforward questions – who is He? And what is he coming to do?
Historically speaking, this word has direct messianic implications. During the Second Temple period the afikomen was a symbol of the expected Messiah. It became the custom at Passover that this special piece of matzah served as a reminder that the Messiah was coming. Each year, as the afikomen was redeemed and shared by everyone at the Seder, it was affirmed, “He is coming, he is coming.” It was a symbol that gave the people of ancient Israel a source of great hope.
And in a precise day ordained by G-d, Yeshua the Messiah did indeed come. Not everyone was willing to accept Him with open arms. But others were looking for Him to come.
An example of this kind of expectation is found in Matt. 11:3, where John the Baptist asks Yeshua: “Are You the Expected One (erchomenos), or shall we look for someone else?”
And again, as recorded in Matt. 21:9, on that day we know as Palm Sunday –
“And the multitudes going before Him, and those who followed after were crying out, saying, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the L-rd; Hosanna in the highest!’ “
The people were echoing the words of the 118th Psalm that were filled with messianic implications. Clearly, in biblical times, there was an expectation of the coming of Messiah, and it formed an important component in the celebration of Passover.
Incredibly, the custom of the afikomen is still part of the modern observance of Passover throughout Judaism. Each year, this emblem of messianic testimony is handled and eaten by Jews, but it is greatly misunderstood. Very few Jewish people are familiar with this history.
Undoubtedly, this background has been set aside as a response to the claim that Yeshua was the Messiah. When Messianic Jews and Gentile Christians continued with the practice of associating the Messiah with the afikomen, rabbinical Judaism shifted the meaning to that of dessert (since it was the last foot eaten during the seder). Ironically, it was a non-believing Jewish scholar from Oxford, David Daube, who completed the definitive work on the afikomen, both linguistically and historically, revealing its messianic origins.
However it is not just some Jewish people who misunderstand the identity of Yeshua. Many people around our world do not see him as the one who came to redeem them, and are looking for someone or something else.
The afikomen is a remarkable echo of the voice of Messiah, saying – “I came.” Did He come for you?
Matzah—The Sinlessness of Messiah
When G-d instructed the Israelites how to observer Passover, the people were told to eat only unleavened bread for seven days (Ex. 12:15).
You might be wondering, “Why is that bread called matzah?”
There is a simple answer to that question – because it is shaped like matzah. It has holes like matzah. It is dry like matzah. And it tastes like matzah. What else could it be but matzah?
Actually matzah is made from just flour and water. It has no yeast to make it rise. But it is not just ordinary flour; it is flour that has been carefully watched to insure that it never touches water until the time of baking. Then it is mixed and kneaded into dough quickly and baked within 18 minutes before any rising can take place. In addition to leaving out leavening, perforations are made with a sharp-toothed wheel to keep the dough from rising during baking.
All other foods made with ordinary grains are prohibited during the Passover holiday, such as wheat, rye, oats, and barley. Sephardic Jews (from the Mediterranean and the Middle East) limit the prohibition to the grains. Ashkenazi (European) Jews take it one step further and ban beans, peas, corn and rice. Basically the restriction refers to all grains that swell up when they come in contact with water.
There is a Second instruction regarding unleavened bread in Exod. 12:15. The people were to remove all leaven (chametz) from their homes before observing Passover. Because of this biblical ordinance, it has been customary to conduct major housecleaning projects just prior to the holiday. All rooms, especially the kitchen, are cleaned. So the search is made to remove leavened products prior to Passover—bread crumbs on the floor, tortilla chips behind the couch, forgotten peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in a backpack—all of these wayward foods are purged from homes.
As a final ceremonial act, the father of the house searches for the last remaining crumb of leaven. He scrapes it up using a feather and then destroys it, often in a bonfire. Finally the house is declared cleansed, and the family is ready to celebrate Passover.
In addition, many Jews will also use special pots, dishes, and utensils that have never come in contact with leaven. In Israel, large boiling pots are placed in neighborhoods for making kitchen items suitable for Passover. Grocery stores in Israel also set aside all leavened foods and cannot be purchased a week before Passover.
A few years ago, the drinking water of Jerusalem was declared not kosher for Passover because it primarily came from the Sea of Galilee, where fishermen used bread for bait. The Chief Rabbi, however, overturned the ruling and recommended filtering the water instead.
While some of the practices have changed, the basic concept of cleaning out leaven from homes dates back to biblical days.
It was this subject that the Apostle Paul used to convey the importance of spiritual purity in 1 Cor. 5:6-7, saying,
“Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened.”
What was he saying here? In Scripture, leaven is consistently used as a symbol for sin (cf. Lev. 6:17; Hosea 7:4). Leaven works by starting out in a small amount and then spreading throughout the dough. Likewise, when we allow sin to start in our lives, it typically spreads within us. In other words, if we give in to one sin, we are more likely to commit another one.
Paul was using the metaphor of matzah to convey the importance of keeping our lives free of sin. And he bases that admonition on a very sobering fact. Continuing in 1 Cor. 5:7, he reminds us – “For Messiah our Passover also has been sacrificed.”
It was this piece of matzah—the afikomen—that Yeshua took during that last Passover with His disciples and confirmed that He was the promised Messiah and redeemer of Israel. Just as every leader of every Seder was doing in Jerusalem in that day, Yeshua took the afikomen matzah and divided it into pieces for everyone to eat. As Matthew records,
“Yeshua took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples” (Matt. 26:26)
But unlike other families in that day, he alone was qualified to say that it represented himself. For he alone was without sin. Thus Matthew goes on to record Yeshua’s words in v. 26, saying, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
His body was sinless. His mind and His very being was sinless. This principle is depicted elsewhere in Scripture –
“And you know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.” (1 John 3:5)
Thus when we follow in His instructions to observe this memorial now known as the L-rd’s Supper, we are proclaiming the perfection of Christ. And as such, our symbol needs to represent that unique attribute of Christ. Not just any bread would suffice in the celebration of Passover. Likewise, when we celebrate the L-rd’s Supper, only unleavened bread accurately declares the sinless perfection of Christ.
Normally when people observe the L-rd’s Supper, there are some things that go unnoticed. Since Christians rarely receive the elements in the context of Passover, we don’t see the matzah being broken and hidden. We don’t notice that it was the second of three pieces of matzah, just as the Son is the second person of G-d’s tri-unity. Since the bread is usually broken into pieces for convenience, we miss out on the symbolism of the piercings and the stripes manifested on the whole wafers.
Yet the symbolism is powerful. As the prophet Isaiah recorded, “he was pierced through for our transgressions” (Is. 53:5). Both Isaiah and Peter observed that “by his stripes we are healed” (Is. 53:5; 1 Pet. 2:25). Like Messiah who was broken in death, the afikomen is broken during the Seder and later redeemed back by paying a price. And both the afikomen and the Messiah are hidden and then revealed. That is the way it is for all of us. At one point in our lives, we are unaware of who He truly is and what He has done for us. But a day comes when His true identity is revealed to us and through faith we become part of His everlasting kingdom.
The imagery is unmistakable – for us to be redeemed by G-d, sin must be removed from our lives. And ultimately the only way that can happen is through the forgiveness made possible by a Savior who gave His life for us, even though He Himself never sinned. The afikomen matzah is the symbol of that great gift.
The Cup—The Sacrifice of Messiah
So if the afikomen is the bread of the L-rd’s Supper, what is the connection between Passover and the Communion Cup?
During the Seder, the eating of the afikomen is followed by the drinking of the third cup of wine. It is traditionally called the Cup of Redemption. But in a broader sense, this was the cup, which Yeshua took and declared to represent the blood which he was about to shed, a sacrificial act that would allow our sins to be “passed over” in the Day of Judgment. According to Matt. 26:27-28,
“And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”
Cups are often symbolic of judgment in Scripture. The prophets spoke of them frequently in that sense (Isa. 51:17; Jer. 49:12; Hab. 2:16) as did John in the book of Revelation (Rev. 14:10). And on the eve of his crucifixion, Yeshua referred to his imminent death as a cup (Matt. 26:39).
Redemption literally means in the biblical sense, “to pay a ransom.” In the same way that G-d delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, Yeshua is able to deliver us from the slavery to sin. And quite literally, Yeshua paid the ransom with his very life.
Matt. 27:45 tells us Yeshua died between the 6th to 9th hour (in the way that time was reckoned in that day) which is 3:00-6:00 p.m. according to our measurement of time. What was happening at that time?
Thousands of his Jewish kinsmen were gathering in a designated area of the Temple in Jerusalem. Each one carried a lamb that was without spot or blemish—a visually perfect lamb. Each one laid his hands on the head of the animal, signifying his identification with it, and then sacrificed the animal and took it back to his home or where his family was staying to observe Passover. (Mishnah Pesahim 58a).
While this sacrificial ritual was taking place, a short distance away on another part of the same mountain top – a place called Golgotha, Yeshua was crucified. In other words, Yeshua’s death, in perfect divine timing, occurred at the very moment when the Passover lambs were being slaughtered in Jerusalem. Surely He was the ultimate Passover lamb. As one who lived a sinless life, he was the perfect “lamb without spot or blemish.”
Amazingly, the method of His death on the cross was foreshadowed in the commemoration of Passover. The final plague that came upon Egypt was the death of the firstborn. As the Angel of Death passed over the land of Egypt during the night, only those homes that had the blood of a lamb placed upon the doorway were spared the plague. The Israelites were called to follow some very specific instructions -
“And you shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts.” (Ex. 12:22)
As G-d required, the blood was placed over the entrance to the home in the shape of a cross. So when the Angel of Death passed over those homes, it was the mark of blood in the shape of a cross that resulted in the sparing of their lives. Likewise, our sins are passed over eternally when our lives are “marked” with the blood of “the Lamb of G-d who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
During Passover, Jewish people are taught to consider themselves as having personally come forth from Egypt and as being eyewitnesses to the works of G-d. It is not just some distant ancestor who was passed over by the angel of death, and then marched across the Red Sea and received the Torah on Mt. Sinai. Every Jewish person in every generation is called to identify with this extended community.
In a similar fashion, may all of us who believe in Yeshua the Messiah consider ourselves as having come forth from Calvary and as being eyewitnesses to the works of the Savior. When He died on the cross, He died for me and for you.
For believers, these are days of true celebration—because our sins are forgiven, and our Messiah reigns from heaven. Yet He is still calling people from every tribe and language to receive His redemption. There is room for all of us beneath the Cross.
Dr. Galen Peterson
© 2003 American Remnant Mission
Jesus himself died (broken), was buried (hidden), and rose again (found) on the 17th day and we find deliverance through the glory of His resurrection!!!!!
