Passover – Pesach
Passover/Pesach is a beautiful and wonderful time of year. The moed teaches us about freedom from bondage, salvation, redemption, and YaHuWaH’s great love for His people. It is sometimes referred to as “the time of our joy” or “the time of life”.
As we examine what Scripture says about this special day, we find some specific commandments regarding the original event in Egypt and find other commandments regarding the annual remembrance of the event.
In addition to the commanded and traditional elements of Passover/Pesach we should never forget Who Passover/Pesach was given to picture: Yahusha, the Messiah of Yisra’El. We should always remember that “Yahusha our Passover/Pesach also has been sacrificed.” (1 Corinthians 5:7).
What Scripture Says About Pesach/Passover
The First Passover/Pesach
Who: All the congregation of Yisra’El. (Exodus 12:3)
The Hebrew word translated as “congregation” is עדה, (edah- Strong’s #5712) literally means “assembly” or “congregation”. This passage (Exodus 12:3) is the very first time in Scripture that the word is used. References to Yisra’El as a group are normally given as “the children [benei] of Yisra’El”. Why is edah used instead of benei? Perhaps because it wasn’t just the Hebrews that YaHuWaH brought out of Egypt. There was a mixed multitude that came out of Egypt with children of Yisra’El (see Exodus 12:38) and it was this entire group that comprised the “congregation” or edah.
What:
The day was given as a memorial of their exodus (Exodus 12:14)… even before they had left!
On the tenth day of the first month each member of the congregation of Yisra’El was to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household. (Exodus 12:3)
The lamb was to be an unblemished male a year old from among the sheep or goats (Exodus 12:5)
The lamb was to be kept until the fourteenth day of the first month and then killed at “twilight” (Exodus 12:6). The word translated as “twilight” is ערב (erev- Strong’s #6153).
Some of the blood of the lamb was to be taken and placed upon the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where the lamb was eaten (Exodus 12:7).
The flesh of the lamb should be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs (Exodus 12:8).
The flesh of the lamb should be roasted with fire (not boiled or raw) along with its head, its legs, and entrails and eaten that night (Exodus 12:9).
The flesh of the lamb should not be left over until morning but if it is then it should be burned with fire (Exodus 12:10).
The lamb should be eaten with their “loins girded”, sandals on their feet, and their staff in their hands. It was to be eaten in haste. It was YaHuWaH’s Passover/Pesach (Exodus 12:11).
Passover/Pesach is to be celebrated as a “feast” (Hebrew: חג, chag, Strong’s H2282) to YaHuWaH throughout their generations as a permanent ordinance (chukat olam) (Exodus 12:14).
The blood should be applied with a “bunch of hyssop” dipped in the blood which is caught in a basin (Exodus 12:22).
No one should go outside the door of his house until morning (Exodus 12:22).
Passover/Pesach is to be observed as an ordinance for those who were present and their descendants forever (Exodus 12:24).
Passover/Pesach is to be observed also once the Yisraelites enter the Land (Exodus 12:25).
No foreigner (בּן נכר, ben nekar) is to eat of the Passover/Pesach meal (Exodus 12:43) but every man’s slave, after he is circumcised, may eat of it (Exodus 12:44).
A sojourner (תּושׁב, toshav [literally a foreign resident]) or a hired servant (שׂכיר, sakir) shall not eat of the Passover/Pesach meal (Exodus 12:34).
All the congregation (edah) of Yisra’El are to celebrate the Passover/Pesach (Exodus 12:47).
If a stranger (גּר, ger [literally a stranger or resident alien]) resides with the Yisraelites and celebrates the Passover/Pesach to YaHuWaH then all his males should be circumcised and afterwards he can come near to celebrate Passover/Pesach and he shall be like the native of the land (Exodus 12:48).
No uncircumcised person may eat of the Pesach/Passover meal (Exodus 12:48).
The blood on the doorposts was to be a sign for the congregation of Yisra’El on the houses where they lived. When YaHuWaH saw the blood, He “passed over” those houses and did not slay the first born as He did the Egyptians.
When:
Passover/Pesach is a single day: the fourteenth day of the first month.
The events of this moed were to be performed at twilight.
The first month is sometimes called Nisan (e.g. Nehemiah 2:1, Esther 3:7) or Abib (e.g. Exodus 13:4, Deuteronomy 16:1, Ezekiel 3:15) in Scripture.
Although traditionally referenced as “eight days”, Passover/Pesach, itself, is only one day. The other seven days are actually the week of unleavened bread.
Where:
Egypt.
The original Passover/Pesach occurred while the Yisraelites were still in the land of Egypt.
The Annual Remembrance of Passover/Pesach
After the first Passover/Pesach in Egypt, the Yisraelites were commanded to have an annual remembrance of their exodus from Egypt. Here are the Scriptural requirements for that event:
Who:
Yisra’El, their slaves, and circumcised strangers.
The children (or sons) of Yisra’El are given this commandment (Leviticus 23:2).
A person who is unclean could not observe Passover/Pesach (Numbers 9:6).
No foreigner (בּן נכר, ben nekar) is to eat of the Passover/Pesach meal (Exodus 12:43) but every man’s slave, after he is circumcised, may eat of it (Exodus 12:44).
A sojourner (תּושׁב, toshav [literally a foreign resident]) or a hired servant (שׂכיר, sakir) shall not eat of the Passover/Pesach meal (Exodus 12:45).
All the congregation (edah) of Yisra’El are to celebrate Passover/Pesach (Exodus 12:47).
If a stranger (גּר, ger [literally a stranger or resident alien]) resides with the Yisraelites and celebrates Passover/Pesach to YaHuWaH then all his males should be circumcised and afterwards he can come near to celebrate Passover/Pesach and he shall be like the native of the land (Exodus 12:48).
What:
Passover/Pesach is to be celebrated as a “feast” (Hebrew: חג, chag, Strong’s H2282) to YaHuWaH throughout their generations as a permanent ordinance (chukat olam) (Exodus 12:14).
Passover/Pesach is to be observed as an ordinance for those who were present and their descendants forever (Exodus 12:24).
Passover/Pesach is to be observed also once the Yisraelites enter the Land (Exodus 12:25).
When the descendants of the congregation of Yisra’El ask their parents “What does this rite [Hebrew: avodah, literally “service”] mean to you?” the answer they should be given is “It is a Passover/Pesach sacrifice to YaHuWaH who passed over the houses of the sons of Yisra’El in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.” (Exodus 12:26-27)
No foreigner (בּן נכר, ben nekar) is to eat of the Passover/Pesach meal (Exodus 12:43) but every man’s slave, after he is circumcised, may eat of it (Exodus 12:44).
A sojourner (תּושׁב, toshav [literally a foreign resident]) or a hired servant (שׂכיר, sakir) shall not eat of the Passover/Pesach meal (Exodus 12:45).
The Passover/Pesach sacrifice should not be offered with leavened bread (Exodus 34:25).
The Passover/Pesach sacrifice should not be left over until morning (Exodus 34:25).
A person who is unclean could not observe Passover/Pesach (Numbers 9:6).
A second Passover/Pesach was instituted to allow those who were unclean or away on a journey during Passover/Pesach to enable them to observe the commandments. It was to occur on the fourteenth day of the second month at twilight (Numbers 9:10-11).
None of the bones of the Passover/Pesach lamb should be broken (Numbers 9:12).
The person who is clean and is not on a journey and neglects to observe the Passover/Pesach shall be cut off from his people (Numbers 9:13).
The Passover/Pesach sacrifice should be from the flock or the herd (Deuteronomy 16:2).
Once the Yisraelites entered the Land they were to sacrifice the Passover/Pesach “in the place where YaHuWaH chooses to establish His Name” (Deuteronomy 16:2)… i.e. the Temple in Jerusalem.
The Yisraelites were not allowed to sacrifice the Passover/Pesach lamb in any of their towns (Deuteronomy 16:5).
The Passover/Pesach sacrifice was to be cooked and eaten in the place YaHuWaH chose (Deuteronomy 16:7).
In the morning after Passover/Pesach the Yisraelites were to return to their tents (Deuteronomy 16:7).
The Yisraelites are to remember that they were slaves in Egypt and they are to be careful to observe these statutes (Deuteronomy 16:12).
When:
The fourteenth day of the first month at twilight (Leviticus 23:5).
Deuteronomy 16:6 specifies the Passover/Pesach sacrifice shall be in the evening (erev) at sunset (Hebrew: כבוא השׁמשׁ, kevo hashemesh, literally “going of the sun”).
Where:
In the Land or outside the Land.
The Yisraelites observed the Passover/Pesach for 40 years as they wandered in the wilderness and also once they had entered into the Land. The moed is not specific to the Land.
Once the Yisraelites entered the Land they were to sacrifice the Passover/Pesach lamb “in the place where YaHuWaH chooses to establish His Name” (Deuteronomy 16:2)… i.e. the Temple in Jerusalem (see 2 Kings 23:23).
The Yisraelites were not allowed to sacrifice the Passover/Pesach lamb in any of their towns (Deuteronomy 16:5).
The Passover/Pesach sacrifice was to be cooked and eaten in the place YaHuWaH chose (Deuteronomy 16:7).
In the morning after Passover/Pesach the Yisraelites were to return to their tents (Deuteronomy 16:7).
There are two reasons the children of Yisra’El went to Jerusalem at the time of Passover/Pesach:
The Yisraelites were not allowed to sacrifice the Passover/Pesach lamb in any of their towns (Deuteronomy 16:5) and the sacrifice was to be cooked and eaten in the place YaHuWaH chose (Deuteronomy 16:7), i.e. the Temple in Jerusalem.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread (HaMatzot) occurred the day after Passover/Pesach and all the males of Yisra’El were to appear before YaHuWaH in Jerusalem.
Other Observations
Pictures
Passover/Pesach is a picture of the physical salvation of the Yisraelites from YaHuWaH’s wrath during the death of the firstborn in Egypt. It is the blood of the lamb that turned away YaHuWaH’s wrath. Note that the blood was not placed on the Yisraelites themselves but on the doorposts of their homes. Passover/Pesach is also a picture of the spiritual salvation of believers from YaHuWaH’s wrath during the time of judgment. It is the blood of the Lamb (Messiah Yahusha) that turns away YaHuWaH’s wrath. The day of Passover/Pesach is not the Exodus from Egypt. The Exodus occurred on the following day after the death of the firstborn. Passover/Pesach does not symbolize redemption… only salvation. Just as the Yisraelites were spared from death while they were still in bondage in Egypt, so too, are believers spared from death while we are still in bondage to sin: “… while we were yet sinners, Messiah died for us.” (Romans 5:8).
Plagues mirrored in Revelation
The plagues in the book of Revelation mirror the plagues of the Exodus so we can see the connection between YaHuWaH’s judgment during the Exodus and YaHuWaH’s judgment during the end times.
Sabbath
Unlike the other moedim, Passover/Pesach is not a rest day or a Sabbath.
Passover/Pesach is never explicitly described as set-apart. In fact, the word set-apart is only mentioned in 2 of the 5 chapters where Passover/Pesach is referenced. Only in Exodus 12 is the Hebrew word for holy [qodesh] used (in reference to the week of unleavened bread) and in Leviticus 23 qodesh is used (in reference to the various “set-apart convocations”). In Exodus 34, Numbers 9, and Deuteronomy 16 “set-apart” is never used. Passover/Pesach is implicitly described as “set-apart” in Leviticus 23 when YaHuWaH says:
Speak to the sons of Yisra’El and say to them, ‘YaHuWaH’s appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations–My appointed times are these… (Leviticus 23:2)
Sacrifice
Since the Temple in Jerusalem (the place where YaHuWaH chose to place His Name) was destroyed in 70 AD, an actual Passover/Pesach lamb has not been offered since that time in order to conform to the commandments of Deuteronomy 16:5, 7 specifically forbidding such a sacrifice.
Finding Messiah in Passover
The Lamb of YaHuWaH
According to John 1:29, Messiah Yahusha is the Lamb of YaHuWaH who takes away the sins of the world. Revelation 7:14 declares that our robes have been washed white by the blood of the Lamb.
Every year, the Passover lamb was to be selected on the tenth day of the Hebrew month of Abib. On that very day Messiah entered Jerusalem in his “Triumphal Entry” as the spotless Lamb of YaHuWaH.
Just as the Passover/Pesach lamb was examined for four days before the sacrifice on the fourteenth of the month, so, too, Messiah was examined and questioned by the Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Herodians during those four days.
Just like the Passover/Pesach lamb was not to have a single bone broken (Numbers 9:12), Messiah did not have any of His bones broken during his beating or impalement (John 19:33, 36).
Removing Sin? Not This Lamb!
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 5:7 that Yahusha was our Passover/Pesach, however, in the Levitical sacrifices, what type of sin does the Passover/Pesach lamb serve to remove? None.
The Passover/Pesach lamb was purely a sacrifice to remember YaHuWaH’s redemption of Yisra’El from bondage in Egypt and His taking of Yisra’El as a nation to be His own treasured possession. As our Passover/Pesach, so too Yahusha reflects Yisra’El’s redemption from their bondage to sin (Ephesians 1:7, Hebrews 9:12).
The blood of the Passover/Pesach lamb in Egypt was used to mark those who belonged to YaHuWaH and keep them safe from YaHuWaH’s wrath. So, too, as our Passover/Pesach, Yahusha’s blood covers us and keeps us safe from YaHuWaH’s wrath (Romans 5:9).
Keep the Feast!
Paul exhorts the believers in Corinth to “celebrate the feast”, skip the leaven, and instead have the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Corinthians 5:8)
Rather than turning away from the appointed times of YaHuWaH, we find Paul affirming the Passover/Pesach to the believers in Asia Minor. And this is after the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of the Messiah.
He has indeed become our Yahusha—our deliverance—and as we celebrate the Passover/Pesach meal, we reflect on the life and work of our Passover/Pesach Lamb.
There are a lot of traditions that have been handed down from generation to generation on how to observe Passover/Pesach. The instructions are pretty simple and not burdensome at all. The meal itself has only the lamb, bitter herbs and unleavened bread that are commanded in scripture. There is no such thing as a seder plate and four cups of wine!
The Seder Plate
The Four Cups of Wine
These are traditions and not scriptural in any way!
A word of caution also – those of you who make use of a Passover/Pesach Haggadah – please read it through first. Most of these booklets are based upon traditions that come from the Talmud. One example I will cite is the custom of hiding the Afikomen for a year on the highest shelf! When keeping Passover/Pesach, we are to tell the story of the first Passover/Pesach to our children and family who are present at the meal. Stick to Scripture and steer away from the man made trinkets and ‘nice to haves’ so that you do not defile yourselves with traditions that YaHuWaH never gave you to keep.