The First and Last Passover by Brother Duke Hansen

         The message this morning is not going to be the typical Easter morning message regarding the tomb being empty and the stone being rolled away. There are things in scripture laid out which man does not nor has not seen the connections pertaining to the larger picture. The separate parts fit together as a whole but very few men today have the clarity to recognize this fact. No man today has the ability to recognize their steps today because he never employ hindsight regarding the past or any foresight moving ahead. When it comes to reading about the story of Israel in Egypt and the journey out after being liberated, most people possess a small amount of knowledge because they saw the movie Ten Commandments on TV.

        Turn to Exodus the 12th chapter. The chapter is the instructions given to Moses and Aaron regarding the Passover that the Jewish people still follow to this day. A little background to set this up; God had stricken Egypt with 9 plagues previously and now is about to set into motion the 10th plague, which is the death of the firstborn. There are a lot of people who foolishly say that "God is vague in the Bible" or "His words are open to interpretation." Move forward in the book of Exodus to chapter 21 and on... there are explicit rules given to Moses regarding what to do and not to do. There are whole chapters dedicated to the building of the tabernacle where God would reside! Down to type of materials curtains should be made as well as how many curtains! God is hardly vague in speaking to man! Man just has a hard time accepting authority! More on that to come..

        Look at verse 2 of Exodus 12- This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. God is literally saying this is the first day of the beginning of the year. If you read the entire chapter you will see that God gives detailed instructions on how to raise and make the passover meal. With the last plague coming upon the land, God was giving the Israelites the steps to follow in order for death to pass over them.

        Man has placed systems in life to control time however he sees fit. We have regulations on health, on safety, on finance, our animals, on seed to plant and grow crops. All these things and more because man is trying to control everything he cannot control. 

        There were 7 days where the Israelites ate unleavened bread before the passover. On the 14th day they took the selected lamb, sacrifice it and put the blood on the two side posts and the upper post of the door. The reason the Jewish people are referred as God's chosen was that they obeyed his command and their life was spared because of it. 

        Now a little known fact which may blow some minds this morning. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are technically Old Testament. Luke chapter 23:43 gives the illustration of the cross to the reader. Jesus spoke of paradise while on the cross with the thief next to him. Where did paradise come from? It came from Abraham's bosom. Look at the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31. Jesus' parables are not fables nor flights of fancy, they're rooted in the truth.

        When Jesus died on the cross, the graves burst open, the curtain in the temple was rent in two places, that was the first day on the new calendar. One of Jesus last requests to his disciples was for them to tarry in the upper room for the comforter to come. As Israelites killed the lamb for the first passover, many generations later they would kill Jesus, the lamb for our sins. It brings this full circle. Matthew 27:16 speaks of Barabbas who was a "notorious prisoner" and a murderer. He would be the scapegoat that Israelites would use as written in Leviticus 16: 8-10. The blood is applied in water baptism. The path of humility and repentance is for you. Jesus came to earth to break the curse of sin brought by Adam and Eve.

        Man seeks to control time and God is exempt and does not care about time. Adam and Eve were equals when they were in the garden. Everything man tries to bring together and marshal into law, he had in the garden before sin.

        What truly concerns man is interesting because the root changes over age and time. Man thinks he knows authority, but is in constant rebellion influenced by the spirit of the world. Rebellion against authority is not wisdom. Man has an understanding of the underside regarding authority. If you truly understood authority, you would have a greater understanding the steps Jesus had taken from the Garden of Gethsemane all the way through to the cross. 

        We put so much effort into the lies and the image of what we desire that we get that confused with what the truth really is. There are people who don't like the image of Jesus being brutalized. We want to grasp an ideal of what we approve. Our flesh is awake, alive, and well but our spirit man has difficulty to speak to us. The catalyst in giving the spirit man a louder voice is when you start reading his word and following his commandments. Choice and decision are difference makers in man. The significance of the cross is not about failure or success, it is the relationships, the journey, taking off your sinful man and putting on the mind of Christ. We should all seek to have the mindset of Ruth, How powerful is it in life to be born into life one way and pass away into another life all together.