The instructions for the Passover in Egypt give us a foundation for understanding this feast:
As this passage shows, the Passover lamb did much more than just provide blood - it was a distinctive meal. God begins with instructions to ensure that every person would have enough, but also that it would not be wasted. He continues with specific details, including when it should be eaten, how it should be prepared, what should be eaten with it, what should be done with the remains, and even how the Israelites should be dressed. The bulk of God's instructions concern the specially prepared lamb they were to eat. The repeated emphasis in both Old and New Testaments is on the eating of the Passover (Exodus 12:43, 48; 34:25; Numbers 9:11; II Chronicles 30:18; Ezra 6:21; Matthew 26:17, 26; Mark 14:12, 14, 22; Luke 22:8, 11, 15, 19; John 13:2; I Corinthians 11:23-26; see John 6:31-58), and this begins to set it apart from a sin offering, which was not generally available for eating.
There is a conspicuous absence of any mention of forgiveness or atonement within the context of any Old Testament Passover. Instead, the Scriptures speak frequently of the Exodus Passover in terms of purchase or redemption. Israel was not redeemed from sin through the Passover, but only purchased from Pharaoh (Exodus 6:6; 15:13, 16; Deuteronomy 7:7-8; 9:26-29; 13:5; 15:15; 21:8; 24:18; II Samuel 7:23-24; Psalm 74:2; 77:15; 78:42-43; Isaiah 43:3; 51:10; Micah 6:4).
God, through Moses, warned Israel that all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die (Exodus 11:5), and that would have included Israelite firstborn, too. The threat against the Israelites was real, and they had to prove to God, through the sign of the blood on the doorposts, that they wanted to be separate from the Egyptians. Without the blood, the Israelite firstborn would have shared in the same judgment as the Egyptian firstborn.
The blood on the doorposts represents the life of the lamb given to redeem those within each participating house (see Exodus 13:13-16; 34:19-20), not to symbolize forgiveness. God does not draw attention to the Israelites' sins in His Passover instructions, even though the Israelites were sinning - grievously, in fact. Through Ezekiel, God says that the Israelites as a whole were unabashed idolaters at this time, and God nearly destroyed them, then and there:
The Israelites not only had idols in Egypt, as this says, but other passages show that they were still carrying them in the wilderness. This means that some Israelites, maybe many of them, had idols in their homes even as they kept the Passover. That may be shocking, but what it shows is, first, God's incredible mercy, and second, that the Passover was not about cleansing Israel from sin, which requires repentance. The Passover had another purpose.
Now, why would God destroy one nation of idolaters (that is, Egypt) and yet deliver another nation of idolaters (that is, Israel)? God's displeasure in Ezekiel is obvious, and He gives no hint that the blood of the Passover lamb was for atonement. Israel's sins weren't being dealt with - God was overlooking them. This is why, according to Strong's, the Hebrew word for Passover (pesach) means, a pretermission; [that is, an] exemption. The word pretermission is hardly used today, but it basically means, an omission. To pretermit means to let pass without mention or notice. It is similar to mercy or grace (see Numbers 14:19; Romans 9:15-18). When Israel was in Egypt, God passed over them and their sins. Moses says this in Exodus 12:27:
This exemption - this sparing; this act of mercy rather than justice - is not the same as paying for or removing their sins. Instead, God overlooked their sins. Thus, the Passover is a demonstration of God's gracious acceptance rather than atonement.
Now, we will switch gears and consider the irreconcilable differences between the Passover instructions with the sin offering instructions. These differences are pretty … . . .
Notice in verse 3 that on the tenth day each person was to take a lamb for himself. In verse 5 we see that the lamb was to be without blemish, a male of the first year.
Think of Jesus when you look at these instructions. It could be either from the sheep or the goats. Jesus is a type of both sheep and goat. Remember in the atonement offering that one of the two goats typified Jesus. He was represented as a goat in that ceremony.
We are told that the lamb was to be kept until the 14th day of the same month and that it was then to have been killed at twilight. This was done by slitting its throat. They were then to take some of the blood and smear it on the doorposts and lintel of the houses where they would be eating the Passover.
So we see that the innocent lamb actually bled to death. This was how it died. Scripture says that the bones were not to be broken. It was to be roasted whole. Remember that Jesus' bones were not broken either.
We see in all these things that Jesus was the perfect antitype of this lamb that was slain at the Passover service. The blood was put on the lintel and on the doorpost as a sign for the death angel to pass over that house. And he was not to kill the firstborn who were inside. By means of the blood that was smeared on the lintel and the doorposts they were saved from the tenth plague—the plague of the death of the firstborn. It was the blood of the lamb that redeemed them. It bought back the firstborn of Israel. Otherwise, they would have been killed.
Jesus' ghastly death—the terrible scourging He endured—did the same thing for us. It bought us back. It redeemed us. The Protestants say He died of a broken heart. That is not true. Like the Passover lamb, He bled to death. His blood spilled onto the earth and He expired as an innocent and pure Man. He had never sinned—just like that lamb without blemish and without spot.
So they have the lamb that they are supposed to kill as a sacrifice, and they are told, then, to eat it on the same evening in which they killed it as the 14th day begins as we know it, and they were to roast it and eat it then that night.
Now, I find this, too, to be very clear. The instructions are just 1, 2, 3, 4, right down the line. The lamb or kid was to be slain on the 14th at twilight, and its blood was to be smeared on the lintel and the doorposts of the houses, and they were to eat it that night after it had been roasted.
The blood that was put on the lintel and doorposts was a sign to God that they had been set apart for deliverance, or we could say that they had accepted His sacrifice and salvation. And so they were passed over when the death angel went through the land.
The next thing that we established is that Passover is named for the passing over of the Israelites, who were still in their homes (not "going out" of Egypt) while the Death Angel was going through. We saw that verified by Josephus, who very clearly stated such.
The day is named for the passing over—not the sacrifice. The sacrifice came to be named because of the pass-over.
That word "through" is interesting. It appears in the Bible only a few times. That is not passed over. He definitely said pass through. It is applied in the Hebrew language as though a person is walking through a stream. God is saying that He personally will pass through.
In every Scripture in the Old Testament referring to the Passover itself, the Passover day is a memorial feast. It commemorates God's passing over—not Israel leaving Egypt! They are two distinct events.
