“They shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. 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” (Ex. 12:8-11).
In the observance of the Passover, God did not leave these people to do their own will, follow their own opinions, and live as they liked. He prescribed details for them in the memorial of the Passover. He set three things before them, all of which have a solemn voice of instruction to us.
Leaven
First, they were to put away all leaven out of their houses. Leaven in Scripture will always be found to represent what is evil. They were thus to separate themselves from all evil. They were to hold to nothing that was unsuitable to God. His word is, “Be ye holy; for I am holy.” So now, being purchased by the blood of Jesus, we are God’s to show forth the characteristics of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. We are to depart from iniquity, to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, and to perfect holiness in the fear of God. Whether we eat or drink or whatsoever we do, we are to do all for the glory of God.
The Lamb Roast With Fire
Second, they were to eat of the flesh of the lamb “roast with fire.” This was their happy occupation, and it vividly admonishes us as to the need of communion with Him who “loved us, and gave Himself for us.” Nothing can go right with us if communion is neglected. We are called unto the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. They might have remembered the sufferings, death and blood-shedding of the lamb, they might rejoice in their present safety, but they were to be occupied with and feed on the lamb that had been slain. Particular parts of the lamb were specially noticed as provided for them — ”his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof” (vs. 9). And we cannot fail to notice in these words of the Holy Spirit that it is our privilege to have communion with our blessed Lord as to His mind, as we understand “his head” teaches us. Thus should we be not ignorant, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. Intelligently entering into His counsels, purposes and thoughts, as revealed to us in the Word and by the Holy Spirit, is one of our highest present privileges. To be able to say, without fear of contradiction, that “we have the mind of Christ” and “know the things that are freely given to us of God,” because “the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God,” was what an apostle was accustomed unhesitatingly to pronounce as characterizing the saints of God. Oh the blessedness of thus having communion with the Lord as to His mind and will!
His Legs
By “his legs” we understand His walk. This also, by the Spirit and through the Word, is given for us to enter into; He has left us an example that we should follow His steps — walk as He walked. And I ask, Can any exercise exceed the blessedness of tracing the steps of the blessed Son of God while here? At one time we see Him in a solitary place or spending a whole night in prayer; at another, preaching early in the temple. Sometimes we behold Him disputing with doctors or in controversy with rationalistic Pharisees or infidel Sadducees. Again, He is found walking Jerusalem’s streets, exposed to the temptations of Satan or the hatred of wicked men; He is sitting down in a Pharisee’s house to meat or talking to a crowd of thousands, or sitting alone on Samaria’s well with an enquiring sinner. In public or in private, every step was obedience to the Father’s will; every word that escaped His holy lips the Father gave Him to say; every act was such a manifestation of the Father that He could say, “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.” Ah, this was true and perfect; all was fruit in due season. But to enter into it, enjoy it and gather comfort and strength from the believing contemplation of it is a privilege indeed!
The Inward Part
They were to feed on the “purtenance” also — the inward part. And so the affections of Christ are laid open to us in the precious Word of God, and the Spirit delights to take of the things of Christ and show unto us. We know that He did love indeed — that whom He loved when He was in the world, He loved them unto the end — that He loved the church and gave Himself for it. It was when we were enemies, ungodly sinners, that He so loved us as willingly to die for us. We know that His heart is so set upon us that He is always in spirit with us and will never leave nor forsake us — that the same loving heart, though now on the throne of God, is always and unceasingly occupied in ministering to us and caring for us. And so ardently does He long to have us in the glory with Him that He has not only promised to come again to receive us unto Himself, that where He is we may be also, but His heart still says, “Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory” (John 17:24). It is thus entering into the affections of Christ and enjoying His love that our hearts are lifted up in adoring worship and rise superior to all the distressing circumstances which may cross our path. Let us not fail to see, then, that during this present time, before the coming of our Lord, it is our happy privilege to be occupied with the thoughts, the walk, and the love of that Lamb who is now in the midst of the throne, as it had been slain.
In Haste
Third, there is also another point of deep practical importance. They were to eat it in haste, not as those who were settling down in Egypt. On the contrary, they were to be ready to move at the Lord’s command. Their position was to be one of entire subjection to the will of God, ready to go at His bidding. We read, “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” (vs. 11). They had to feed on the lamb with girded loins, staff in hand and shod feet. They were a distinct and practically separated people from the Egyptians, and they were to be in a position ready for whatever He pleased. True it is there was no singing in Egypt as there was afterwards on the other side of the Red Sea, nor was there fighting as when beyond Jordan, but there was conscious peace, shelter from judgment, separation from evil, feeding on the lamb, and the expectation of leaving Egypt forever and dwelling in the land flowing with milk and honey.
And how is it, dear fellow-Christians, with our souls? Are we peacefully enjoying the shelter of the blood and resting on the precious assurance of God’s unerring Word? And in the sweet comfort of this, is Christ everything to our hearts — our strength, our joy, our never-failing resource? Do we truly realize that because we are the redeemed of the Lord, we should be ready to go, to stay, to wait, to serve, to be wholly and unreservedly His? Oh the blessedness of this condition of soul — to be in the enjoyment of the thoughts, the love and the ways of Christ Himself! And though all our joys here are mixed with human elements of bitterness — bitter herbs — yet we must find Him to be the spring of joy, the strength of life and the true never-ending source of all that is pure and blissful. Thanks be unto God for “the precious blood of Christ”!
H. H. Snell, adapted