The Passover story of the deliverance of the nation of Israel from Pharaoh’s slavery is filled with practical and spiritual lessons for us in our walk with the Lord, our battles with sin and Satan, and our relationships with other believers who are joined with us in our adventure of faith. To grasp the importance of this story, we must first understand how central and foundational Passover is in the redemptive history that God is unfolding as He deals with humanity. We must understand that the God of Israel oversees, controls, and redeems history. The historic events that God orchestrates (i.e., those that are working according to His redemptive purposes) are full of revelation about the nature of God’s person and His ways of fulfilling His intentions. They are all part of God’s continually – unfolding plan of redemption.

Just as God is working in and overseeing historical events in order to accomplish His purposes for humanity, so He is also crafting together the events of our lives as individuals to achieve His purposes for us personally. The favorite verse of so many believers, "All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28), is based squarely upon the biblical revelation that God is working in history to fulfill His ultimate intentions, which will be manifested when Jesus returns, believers are glorified with him, and "the glory of the Lord covers all the earth as the waters cover the sea."

As we study our Jewish roots, we gain greater understanding of the "ways of the Lord," realizing that those ways, like the Lord, Himself, never change. The way in which He dealt with ancient Israel is the way He deals with the modern church. As we allow the Holy Spirit to re-graft us into those roots, we are more effectively able to partake of that authentic "faith once delivered to the saints." As that authentic biblical faith becomes more and more a personal reality for us, we experience our own individual "Passovers" and "Exoduses," in which we are delivered from false religious doctrines, systems, and traditions, which, like the gods of Egypt, seek to hold us in various spiritual, emotional, psychological, relational, or financial bondages.

PASSOVER – DELIVERANCE TO WORSHIP GOD

The Passover story reveals to us God’s way of deliverance from bondage and oppression and His reasons for it. The principles and patterns revealed to us in the original Passover never vary, as God effects all future deliverances from each bondage in which we may find ourselves. The apostle Paul understood how God who never changes, laid out for us a "road map," showing us how He would fulfill His plans and purposes for our lives, if we would understand the instruction available to us by studying God’s dealings with ancient Israel.

There is one primary and fundamental reason for divine deliverance from bondage that is portrayed by the Passover. God determined to deliver his people from captivity for only one reason – so that they could worship Him (Exodus 4:23). This is the most important issue for God in our lives. Jesus said that the Father seeks those who will worship Him in Spirit and in truth (John 4:23). As we grow in our understanding of worship, so that it is in "truth" and in "Spirit," we will have the kind of relationship with God that will allow Him to accomplish His purposes in our lives. He continually sets us free from every "Pharaoh" in our lives, so that we can constantly grow in intimacy with Him and fulfill the cry of Jesus’ heart, even as He prayed for us that "…we would know God…" (John 17:3). A life of worship in "Spirit and truth" is the foundation upon which all the other spiritual building blocks of our lives can be built.

WHEN GOOD BECOMES BAD

Israel entered into the land of Egypt when it was a place of sanctuary during a time of famine. God raised up Joseph (a type of Jesus), to be "savior" for them and to open the door of safety and provision. In time, a new Pharaoh came to power who "knew not Joseph," and because of jealousy and insecurity he brought the nation of Israel into slavery and bondage.

Sometimes a good situation can turn bad. Don’t despair! Learn the lesson of Passover. There is a season to enjoy the prosperity of a certain time and place. But if things change, don’t give up hope and reject your faith. Learn the lesson of Passover. God never expects you to remain in bondage. He always provides a way of escape. Sometimes, because of weaknesses like insecurity, jealousy, pride, or greed, people change. They become someone you never knew before, or they act like someone who never knew you before. A new Pharaoh arose "who knew not Joseph." Again, learn the lessor of Passover. Cry out to God, and He will, in His own time, send you deliverance. By whose hand it comes you may not know, but God will hear your cry.

God has His own time for effecting your deliverance. You can try to escape by your own means or devices, but you will not arrive in God’s appointed destination, the "promised land" where His purposes for your life are fulfilled. You must wait for your time of deliverance and for the appointed deliverer to come. Moses could not be the deliverer God intended him to be until he was ready. God wanted to be sure that it would be His Passover that would fulfill His purposes, and not anyone else’s. Your deliverer might be a person, or it might be a particular set of circumstances, or it might even be you, yourself. But the point is that the person or set of circumstances has to be made ready by God in order to accomplish His purposes.

As Israel’s bondage grew worse (sometimes things get worse before they get better), they cried out to God. This is another important lesson. God responds to passionate cries for His deliverance and for His will to be done. God told Moses out of the burning bush (It is interesting to recognize just who it was that was speaking out of the burning bush!), that the cries of His people had come up to Him. There is tremendous power in passionate prayer. All through the Bible – particularly in the ministry of the Messiah – we see how passionate people and passionate prayers mover God to action.

"I WILL BE WITH YOU"

When Moses was ready, He had a life-changing revelation and was given a divine commission. Revelation always brings with it a commission. God always reveals Himself for a purpose. Everybody has a particular calling to fulfill, a mission to accomplish. Your assignment will probably sound to you like Moses’ sounded to him – impossible! You will probably respond – or may already have – like Moses did, making excuses about your inabilities, weaknesses, and insecurities. God will then respond to you as He did to Moses, "I will be with you." If God gave you a mission to fulfill that you could do in your natural strength, you would not need God, and that wouldn’t be much fun for God. (Perhaps you never thought of it like that!) God always calls us according to His purposes, which always have to do with building intimacy with Him. If we didn’t need God, we would not build a relationship with Him. This, by the way, is the major difference between religion and biblical faith. Biblical faith always stretches us and brings us to greater and greater levels of intimacy with God. Religion doesn’t need God in a personal way. As a matter of fact, it prefers that God not get too involved, lest He disrupt its own plans.

When God was ready, Moses appeared before Pharaoh. We are not told in the narrative how that was arranged. Pharaoh was arguably the most powerful man in the world at that time. Anyone could not just walk in and talk to him, let alone demand that he set his slaves free! Don’t you just love God’s chutzpah, his audacity! I believe the reason we are not told about how this meeting was arranged is because God doesn’t necessarily tell us how He is going to work out the details of our deliverance in whatever situation we find ourselves. The lesson is clear: Listen to what God says, and leave the details to Him.

When Pharaoh refused to listen to Moses, God intervened according to His promises. That which the Lord has promised you will come to pass. It might take suffering through some difficulties and a period of waiting, but the days will come when God rises up and says to the Pharaohs in your life, "Set them free so that they might worship me."

It is very important to understand at this point in the Passover story that the ten plagues that God sent upon Egypt were a direct assault upon the gods that the Egyptians worshipped. The God of Israel was showing Pharaoh and all the Egyptians that He alone was God, as He sent judgment upon their gods. (See chart for details of Egypt’s gods and Yahweh’s judgment that came upon their worshippers in Egypt.)

POWER IN THE BLOOD

On the night of Israel’s deliverance, God passed over the homes of everyone who had placed blood upon the doorposts of their homes. The blood was to be placed upon the lintel (the top of the doorway) and upon the doorposts. As the blood from the lintel dripped down to the floor, we see the outline of a cross upon the doorway – blood on the left post, on the right post, on the top, dripping to the bottom. The blood of the Messiah was prefigured on this most awesome night, the blood that protected the homes from the judgment of death. God already knew where the Jews lived. He had protected them from the nine previous plagues, but He wanted to see the blood of the lamb applied to the entranceway of their homes. The blood that protected them is that same blood that protects you and me today. Let me encourage you to learn more about the power in the blood of Jesus.

From this display of power, we learn how God shows His victory over Satan and all of His emissaries, whom Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt represent. Satan might claim to control all the natural influences around you, tell you that he has the money and the power, and try to put fear into your heart. The devil might say to you, as Pharaoh said to Moses, "Who is Yahweh the Lord that I should obey His voice and let you go?" As we celebrate the feast of Passover, it is a good time to remember how God answered Pharaoh: "Against all the gods of Egypt will I execute judgment." God says to you, especially during Passover, "I will judge all the false gods that seek to control your life." As you see the Lord in repentance, prayer, and study of the Word, the Holy Spirit will quicken His Word to you and God’s faith will be born in your heart. Stand upon the word that God speaks to you. His Word will never fail. "All of the promises of God are yea and amen in Messiah Yeshua."

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