The Passover - Abraham, Isaac, Israel & Christ #1

Fred Coulter - January 9, 2002

The title of this sermon is The Passover - Abraham, Isaac, Israel, and Christ. Most people believe that the Passover began with the children of Israel in Egypt. However, we’re going to see that that is not true. It began long, long before then. And most people today believe that the Passover is only for the Jews. However, the Jews have it on the wrong day, and I’ve covered that very thoroughly in the book The Christian Passover. So let’s approach this from an entirely different point of view. That’s why I said, The Passover - Abraham, Isaac, Israel, and Christ.

Let’s first of all go to Galatians 3. Now I’m going to read to you from my translation. Here, Galatians 3:29, and I found in translating that God inspired the Greek in such a way that if you’re going to be honest in translating it, almost all the versions will be similar. And the reason being is because you can’t translate it any differently.

Now, Galatians 3:29 (AT), “Now then, if you are Christ’s, then are you Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Now we’ll take a look at that in detail here, in a little bit.

Let’s go to the book of Hebrews, and again I’m going to read from my translation. Let’s come to the sixth chapter. And I think if you go through and look at the writings of the New Testament you will be very surprised how much of the New Testament is keyed to Abraham, and then Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but more in particularly to Abraham.

Now let’s begin here in Hebrews 6:13. “For God, after promising Abraham, swore by Himself, since He could swear by none greater, saying, “In blessing I will surely bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply you.” Now after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men indeed swear by the greater, and confirmation by an oath puts an end to all disputes between them. In this way God, desiring more abundantly to show to the heirs of promise the unchangeable nature of His own resolve, confirmed it by an oath;…” (Heb. 6:13-17, AT). Now I want you to understand “the unchangeable nature of His own resolve”, because that does tie in with God’s plan, and God’s plan ties in with the Passover and the holy days, as well as the weekly Sabbath. So that’s important to understand.

“So that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to lay hold on the hope set before us; which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both secure and steadfast, and which enters into the sanctuary within the veil; where Jesus has entered for us as forerunner, having become a High Priest forever according to the order of Melchisedec” (vs. 18-20, AT).

Now also this tells us a very important thing. That we always have to have the hope that God gave to Abraham, the hope of eternal life. We need to have that as secure and steadfast for the anchor of our soul. That way we’re not going to be tossed to and fro by everything that comes along. And as we have been finding in the series in the book of Hebrews, as we’re coming to now, that the thing that is important is that we have a High Priest Who is in heaven at the right hand of God, and this is the greatest most supreme thing that God could do for us while we are in the flesh.

Now let’s come to Hebrews 13:8 (AT). And here is something that’s very important that we need to understand and remember. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday [that is, when He was the God of the Old Testament], and today [that is, under the New Covenant], and forever [that is in carrying out God’s plan into the ages of eternity].” So these things we really need to have as a preface before getting into the Passover concerning Abraham, Isaac, Israel, and Christ.

Now let’s come back to Galatians 3, and let’s see something that is important, something that is profound. Now let’s pick it up here in Galatians 3:6. “It is exactly as it is written: “Abraham believed God,…” Now that is a profound statement. He believed God. And that’s what we have to do in the New Covenant as well, see. He didn’t believe in just what God had told him. Well, he did, but he believed God. And this is what it needs to be for all of us, that we believe God. When God says something, we believe it because God said it. So therefore we believe God. Now notice, “…And it was reckoned to him for righteousness.” This is telling us then, when you believe God, wholly and completely, you are righteous before Him. Righteousness is imputed to you. Now we’ll see how this comes when we get back to the book of Genesis in just a minute. “Because of this, you should understand that they who are of faith, these are the true sons of Abraham” (Gal. 3:6-7, AT). That is, the spiritual sons. There were the physical sons through Isaac and Jacob, and Israel.

“Now the Scriptures seeing in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and God preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham,…” Now when have you heard that the gospel was preached to Abraham? There it is. And the gospel begins with what He said to Abraham, “…saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” It is for this reason [because Abraham believed] that those who are of faith are being blessed with the believing Abraham” (vs. 8-9, AT).

So let’s go back to the book of Genesis and see this. And we will see that the Passover did not begin with Israel, but rather it began with Abraham. And we’ll see that it’s the same day that God gave the Passover to Israel. And we will see the reason we keep the Passover today is because of Abraham. That’s what it says. “If you are Christ’s then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.” And so likewise, when we partake of the Passover, because we’re coming up to it very shortly here, we need to understand that the words that Jesus gave, the words of the New Covenant, we need to believe.

Now let’s come back to Genesis 12, KJV. Let’s begin here in verse 1. “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:…” Now just hold your place here, and let’s go to Luke 14, because I want to make something very clear. That what Abraham did fulfilled this requirement that Jesus gave in the gospel of Luke, beginning in verse 26. Let’s read verse 25 and then we’ll read verse 26. “And there went great multitudes with Him: and He turned, and said unto them,…” Now this is also important to understand. Multitudes of people like to use the name of Christ, like to claim that they are Christian, like to think of themselves as Christian, but they are the glad-handers just like the people who were here because they came because they were looking for the physical things. They remembered the feeding of the 4000, the feeding of the 5000, and so forth. So Jesus turned and He made a very important point here. He said, “If any man [one] come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.” So it is not like the Protestants say, “All you have to do is give your heart to the Lord.” No, you have to do the same thing as Abraham did. This is a requirement of Abraham, now detailed a little more closely for us. And where it says, “cannot be My disciple”, it means the impossibility of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. So we can tie that together. If you do not believe God, if you do not believe Christ, if you do not keep His commandments you are not of Christ. You may claim to be, you may think you are. You may even have some important people whom you look to in this world as your spiritual leaders, but unless you do what Jesus said here, you’re not His disciple.

Verse 27, “And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me,…” Meaning that you have to go through whatever trials and difficulties you go through and you bear your cross. “…Cannot be My disciple.” So remember what Jesus said, the broad way, the easy way. Many are going that way with the name of Christ, but it’s going to end in destruction. So then He gives a little more and He says, “For which of you, intending to build a tower,…” You can read the rest of it there. You calculate whether you have enough to finish it or not. And if you don’t, people are going to mock you and say, “You began but didn’t finish.” Or a king, going against another, he figures out whether he can come against 20,000 with his 10,000, and if he can win or not. And if not then he goes ahead and makes peace.

Now verse 33 says, “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple.” Now what is the hardest thing to give up? Many people have walked away from lands. Many people have walked away from countries. Many people have left families, but what is the hardest thing to give up? Self. You are to give up self to become a new creature in Christ.

Now let’s come back to Genesis 12. Let’s see how the gospel began. And what we read in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and all the New Testament is a detailed fulfilling and carrying out of this promise, which was given to Abraham by God directly in Genesis 12:2. “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Now that is a broad, broad promise, isn’t it? So therefore literally, the rest of the Bible from this point on shows how God fulfilled those promises and was carrying them out. And how that the carrying out of these promises are going to go clear on down through into the millennium, down into the Last Great Day, down into New Jerusalem coming on this earth, and on into all eternity. So that’s quite a thing. “So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him;…” (Gen. 12:2-4).

Now let’s come to Genesis 15. Let’s see where then, God then gives a little more understanding of what He promised him. Now he believed Him. He didn’t give him any details. He said, “Just go, I’ll bless you.” So he left. Now please understand this: that’s the same with us. Many times God has us do things that we don’t understand right away. Later, He reveals it to us. Here’s the later part that He revealed a little bit more to Abram, or Abraham. Now we’re going to look and see that there are two things here. We’re also going to see that this took place over a period of two days, and that these two days are the Passover, the 14^th of the first month, and the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the 15^th of the first month. Now, we’ll prove that after we get into it.

Let’s look at this now. So He gave the promise, beginning in verse 4. He said, “…Out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.” So there is a physical seed. First there is the physical, then there is the spiritual. That’s what Paul said. The first man, Adam, was of the flesh. The second Adam, Christ, was from heaven. There is a natural body, which is sown in the resurrection, and raised a spiritual body. So here we have the same thing. God is giving the promise of a physical heir - a son.

Now then we have a second promise given. Verse 5, “And He brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be.” Now that’s quite an awesome thing. And remember, at that time there was no smog around to obscure the vision of the stars. Now, you see the stars when? At night. What God is doing here, He is bringing the words of the covenant to Abraham. These are the words of the covenant that God gave to Abraham. Now, He expands upon that because there are two parts here: the physical seed and the spiritual seed.

Now, hold your place and let’s come to Matthew 13, and we will see the promise of spiritual seed is likened unto the stars. So He is giving two promises to Abraham here. One a physical seed from his own bowels. One of spiritual seed, which would come through Christ, as we now know, Galatians 3:29, that if you be Christ’s then are you Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.

Now let’s come to Matthew 13:43. “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

Now again let’s come to 1 John 3, and let’s see something very important here…how we will be when we are glorified spirit beings. 1 John 3:1, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:1-2).

Now let’s come to Revelation 1 so we can show that when God took Abraham out there and showed him the stars, he was literally showing him the glory of his coming spiritual seed through Christ. Now, Revelation 1:13, “And in the midst of the seven candlesticks [that should read, lampstands] one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the [chest] paps with a golden girdle. His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire; and His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and His voice as the sound of many waters. And He had in His right hand seven stars; and out of His mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and His countenance [now notice] was as the sun shineth in his strength” (Rev. 1:13-16). Now, what is a star? A star is a sun. We know that, don’t we? Yes. So when God told Abraham they’d be like the stars, so shall your seed be, this is talking about the spiritual seed.

Now let’s come to Philippians 3:20. “For our conversation [or that is, citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body [bodies],…” In the Greek you can use a plural subject in a singular antecedent, but here in English it should be plural. “…Who shall change our vile [bodies], that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body [and we just saw that in Revelation 1], according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself” (Phil. 3:20-21). So when God told Abraham that his seed was going to be as the stars of heaven for multitude, He’s not only showing the number, He’s also showing the kind of glory that they will be.

Now let’s come back to Genesis 15, and let’s read that again. Now some people may ask the question: “so shall your seed be”, does that not just refer to physical seed? Well, what is God’s plan overall for human beings? To become the sons of God.

Now let’s come back here to 1 John 3 then and I’ll answer the question. Because when we receive the begettal of the Holy Spirit, we receive the seed of eternal life. And in the Greek the seed is called sperma. Now unfortunately in 1 John 3:9 we have one of the worst translated verses in all the King James Version of the Bible, which reads, “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin;…” That’s an entirely incorrect translation. And incorrectly interpreted by the Protestants who say that if you are born again you cannot sin. That is, if you have a conversion experience you cannot sin. Now that is not true.

Come over here to chapter 5 and let’s show the contradiction right within the translation of the King James. Verse 16, “If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death,…” Does this not say that a person who is converted is capable of sin? Does it not? Is not a brother converted? Yes. And if he sins a sin not unto death, that means it’s a sin he can repent of. “…He shall ask [that is, you pray for him], and He [God] shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it” (1 John 5:16). This shows two things. Converted people can sin. Converted people, according to Protestants, are born again. But that is not a correct interpretation. No one is born again until the resurrection. However, with the proper translation of verse 9, which I’ll read the one that I have, which bears out in the Greek and should read this way: “Everyone who has been begotten by God [does not practice] is not practicing sin because His seed [that is from God the Father, which is the begettal, so I put in italics of begettal ] is dwelling within him, and he is not able to practice sin because he has been begotten [of] by God.” So when it talks about seed back here in Genesis 15, now we see that there’s physical seed, and we also see that there are spiritual seed. That’s why I started out that if you are Christ’s then are you Abraham’s seed (spiritual) and heirs according to the promise.

Ok, now let’s come back to Genesis 15 because we’re going to find how important this is. And I remember when we first understood this, what, about four years ago, three years ago, somewhere around there. It was really, really quite an eye-opener. So we’ll go through it and we will clarify it for you. Ok, now let’s come back here again to Genesis 15:5. “So shall thy seed be.” Now in both instance, physical and spiritual. Verse 6, “And he believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness.” Now, let’s understand something here. There was no work for Abraham to do because it’s impossible to count the stars, correct? He could not have children at this point, so there was no work for him to do. He believed God. It counted to him for righteousness.

Now then, God gives him an instruction here. “And He said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?” So God then, did a very profound thing. And this has to do with the very crucifixion of Christ and His death, and being put in the grave. “And He said unto him, Take Me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon” (Gen. 15:7-9). Now this means that they’re all mature.

“And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst [meaning he cut them down the middle], and laid each piece one against another:…” Meaning the spine was close to each other and there was a path down between these animals cut and laid out. Everything was there, the blood, the guts, everything. “…But the birds divided he not.” He probably put one bird on one side and one bird on the other side. Now what was the purpose of this? We’ll see what the purpose of this is. This is a special maledictory sacrifice and oath, that when one takes an oath such as this they cannot break it. Now verse 11, “And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away” (vs. 10-11).

“And when the sun was going down,…” That’s very interesting, isn’t it? First of all, back here in verse 5 we have a night, don’t we? Then in the day portion of the day, which was the 14^th of the first month as we will see, he did the sacrificing of the animals. Now notice there was no altar, there was no sprinkling of the blood, there was no burning of it by Abraham. Just laid out there. So much so that the fowl, which then would be the vultures and buzzards, were circling up overhead. And they came down upon the carcases, and Abram drove them away. “And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram;…” Now you can read in the Passover book how this is very likened to the time when Jesus died. He died at the third hour, and the sun was going down at the third hour, is it not? Yes. Then two things happened here. “…A deep sleep fell upon Abram;…” Now, a deep sleep. What is a person who dies in Christ? They are sleeping. So here’s a deep sleep. This is a type of death. A type of the death of Christ, perhaps precisely at the same time that Jesus died, when He was crucified on the 14^th day, the Passover, when He was crucified. “…And, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. And He said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full” (vs. 12-16).

Now then, notice verse 17. “And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down,…” Now we are into the second day, aren’t we? When do the days begin and end according to scripture? At sunset. So we have the sun going down, don’t we. Now remember, we started out at night in verse 4 and 5. Then we had the day portion with the sacrifice, and we’ll explain the sacrifice here in just a minute. Now, we come, the sun went down and it was dark. Then God did something very profound to give to Abraham the guarantee of the promises beginning in verse 4, carried on down through verses 13, 14, and 15. Then He did something very profound. “…Behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.” Now what happened when God went through those parts? It doesn’t tell us directly, but I would say from the context of it is here, when God walked between the parts of the sacrifice, those animals were consumed and there was nothing left but ashes.

Now verse 18. “In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenites, and the Kenizzites,…”, and so forth, all of the different tribes of Canaan. Now where else do we find a two day sequence? And how do we know this is the 14^th and 15^th? We can’t prove it from right here, because it doesn’t say 14^th day of the first month, here. And it doesn’t say the 15^th day of the first month, here. However, if we go to Exodus 12 we do have the days numbered, and we do have it told us exactly when it took place.

Now let’s come here to Exodus 12. Now again, I refer you to The Christian Passover book. You can go through in detail because we have great detailed explanation of everything that is here because there is great confusion over the Passover. And of course it’s only logical that Satan would confuse everything concerning the Passover, because if you keep the Christian Passover today the way that Christ wants you to, at the time that He says, and the manner that He says, then you belong to Christ. So Satan’s objective is to confuse it, to cause problems with it, to change the day if possible. And because the Jews today keep the Passover on the 15^th, which I fully explain in the book The Christian Passover, they do not recognize Christ at all. Because in order to truly recognize Christ you must understand the truth of the Passover, because Christ, as we will see later, died on the Passover day, the very time that the sacrifice took place that Abraham gave and fell into the deep sleep.

Now let’s read the instructions here for the children of Israel, concerning the Passover. Now we’re not going to go in great detail, but what I want to point out is this, ok? Let’s begin in verse 3. “Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: and if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish [because that’s a type of Christ], a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: and ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month:…” Which then is the first month because he said in verse 2, “This month is the beginning of months for you.” So it’s the first month. “…And the whole [congregation] assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening” (vs. 3-6). Which means between the two evenings, between sunset and dark, which is amply proved in the book, The Christian Passover.

Now then, they were to eat it in that night, after taking the blood and the so forth and roasting it, and so forth. Because He says, verse 12, “For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment:…” Then He said, “And the blood shall be to you for a token upon [your] the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you,…” (vs. 12-13). Now let’s understand something here very important. All of Israel was blessed because of the Passover, but the Passover spared whom? The firstborn, correct. Now there is a great parallel with that for today with God’s church who are the church of the firstborn, as we will see a little later, and also the rest of the world. So how important is the church of God to the world? Far more important than we have ever calculated. As important as the firstborn of Israel in relationship to the rest of the firstborn of Israel, so the church of the firstborn, which we are today, is as important to God as the rest of the world. So then, they were to keep that as a memorial.

Then we have this. Let’s understand something very important here, which I cover. Here is the Passover. Let’s come over here verse 21. “Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.” And that literally means sunrise. So they could not leave that night. We explain all of that in The Christian Passover book. “For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not [allow] suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as He hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD’S passover, Who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped. And the children of Israel went away, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they” (vs. 21-28). Then at midnight He smote all the firstborn.

Now let’s come here to Numbers 33:3 because we do want to get a little chronology here. Let’s begin in verse 1 and not 3. “These are the journeys of the children of Israel, which went forth out of the land of Egypt with their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron. And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the LORD: and these are their journeys according to their goings out. And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month;…” (Nu. 33:1-3). When does the 15^th begin? Right after sunset of the 14^th, correct? Yes. They went out by night, as we will see. They couldn’t have gone out on the night of the 14^th because they had to stay in their houses. And if they kept the Passover on the 15^th then they could not have left until morning. And if they left in the morning they could not leave at night. Now that’s as simple as can be. If you’re going to go to work at six in the morning, you don’t show up at six at night. It’s that simple, see. So they left on the morrow, or that is, the day after the Passover.

Now let’s come and see this. Let’s see what they did when they left their homes. Now where were the homes of the children of Israel? We’ll see a little later they lived in the area of Goshen. So it was in the northwest part of the delta, the very choicest part of Egypt, and they had their little villages scattered there. And so for them to leave Rameses means they had to assemble at Rameses and then leave there. So they assembled at Rameses on the day portion of the 14^th. And here’s what they did. Let’s go back to Exodus 12:33. “And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.”