Yeshua is everything to us: our salvation, our hope, our future, to name a few. It is important to get to know Him as well as possible. We can do this by interacting with Him and also by reading the Bible. It is the word of Yehovah and Yeshua is the living Word of Yehovah. This series, entitled “Who Is Yeshua?” will consist of twenty-one articles. Each article will explore a different section of the Bible to discover different titles and roles of Yeshua and our response to each role. In the second article in the series, Yeshua is the perfect Lamb.
In Exodus, we learn about the Passover Lamb.
Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,“This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year for you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are, each one, to take a lamb for themselves, according to the fathers’ households, a lamb for each household. Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; in proportion to what each one should eat, you are to divide the lamb.Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to slaughter it at twilight. Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails. And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall completely burn with fire (Ex 12:1-10).
Many of us, at one time or another in our lives, think that we can improve ourselves if we try hard enough. That may be true to some extent, but the kind of improvement that is most essential to us is not attainable by our efforts. No matter how well we clean up our act, we still owe an enormous debt, one that we cannot repay on our own. If all humanity could come into agreement and try to pay the debt collectively for all of us, it would still be impossible. The kind of debt we owe cannot be paid back with money or good deeds. Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (Heb 9:22). It takes the blood of an innocent person willing to sacrifice himself for us. None of us fits the bill of “innocent person” no matter how good we think we are. “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23).
It is the blood of the lamb that saved the first born in Egypt from death. It is the blood of our Passover Lamb that saves us from the second death. The life is in the blood. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life (Lev 17:11).
How do we know for sure that the Passover Lamb in Exodus is a representative of Yeshua? There are many other Scriptures that explain this to us. For example, in 1 Corinthians 5:7, we read, “Get rid of the old hametz [leaven], so that you can be a new batch of dough, because in reality you are unleavened. For our Pesach [Passover] lamb, the Messiah, has been sacrificed.
In John 1:29, John the Baptist identifies Yeshua as the Lamb of God. The next day, Yochanan saw Yeshua coming toward him and said, “Look! God’s lamb! The one who is taking away the sin of the world! There are many other passages that identify Yeshua as the ultimate Passover Lamb, such as Isaiah 53:7; 1 Pet 1:19, Matt 26:2, and Matt. 26:26.
According to the instructions given in Exodus, the lamb was to be selected from the flock on the 10th day of the first month, Aviv. The lamb was to be taken into the household much as a family pet becomes part of the household today. The lamb was being inspected to make sure there were no flaws or imperfections, but the lamb was now a dear part of the family. This is a foreshadowing of Yeshua being born among and living with His chosen people. Many embraced Him and loved Him, especially during His ministry.
When He took upon Himself the sins of the world, He opened Himself up to the rejection and condemnation of His people. They put Him to death as one reviled. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not (Is 53:3). They did not realize that He was dying in their place, just as the Passover lamb died in their place each year, so that they would be covered. Only this time, they would be more than covered for a year; their sin debt would be permanently removed. Surely, he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him (Is 53:4-5) and by his wounds we are healed.
Furthermore, the yearly Passover lamb was put to death and remained dead. Our true Passover Lamb, Yeshua, was raised from the dead after three days and three nights in the grave! The Author of life took on a new life, a new body, so that we could do the same! Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live (John 11:25). Not only are our sins forgiven, but our debt is paid and we are given new life, eternal life. We no longer have to fear when our mortal bodies die, for we will have new bodies that will live forever and have no defects, no blemishes. Yeshua not only pays a debt we could never pay and removes our condemnation, but He gives us immortality and glory! A new life forever with Him! We can now take on immortality because we wear His robe of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. (Rom 8:11)
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