The fourteenth day of the first lunar month in the biblical calendar is the biblical Passover. Jews to this day still celebrate the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread in honor of the Exodus from Egypt. Christians today also celebrate the Passover, in a variety of ways and names, sometimes calling it The Lord’s Supper, in honor of the sacrifice that Jesus Christ paid for the price for our sins. Did the Passover have any meaning or significance before the Exodus though? Did the Holy Days have some meaning before God delivered the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt? If so, would that not mean that the Holy Days show aspects of God’s plan apart from Moses and would also be added reason why they remain important for Christians today?

An Important Clue

The Bible contains some clues about the importance of the holy days, particularly Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread, before the Exodus. Let us uncover the clues that the Bible gives and understand them as best as we can. We know for certain that Passover was important to God before the Exodus from a little-noticed clue that takes place in the Exodus account itself. Let us begin our search in the Bible for Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread before the Exodus by looking at Exodus 12:40-41. Exodus 12:40-41 gives us a very intriguing detail about the Passover: “Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years—on that very same day—it came to pass that all the armies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.”

What does this tell us? It tells us that Israel came into Egypt on the day of Passover itself, a fact that was important enough to be recorded in scripture. If the very day of Passover and the Days of Unleavened was not important, it would not have been mentioned in a passage that commands the observance of this festival from generation to generation. So, let us ask ourselves the question: which day did Israel enter into Egypt? This question has two possible answers, both of which are supported by ancient tradition, and it is difficult to be precisely clear about what exactly is meant. The ancient translators of the Septuagint and Samaritan Pentateuch thought what was meant was that the children of Israel had been in Egypt and Canaan for exactly four hundred and thirty years from the time that Abraham entered Canaan, told in Genesis 15. We will go there shortly. Nonetheless, it is not precisely clear from the Bible that this was the case.

Therefore, some people think that the people of Israel went into the land of Egypt only when Jacob and his family went into Egypt in Genesis 46. This is possible as well, although the Bible never gives enough generations within scripture to show four hundred and thirty years worth of people between Jacob and his sons and the very large group of men, women, and children that leave in the time of the Exodus, even though 400 years in Egypt would be more than enough time for the Israelites to have grown from a small band of 70 or so relatives and their armed servants to a large army of two to three million people. Since we cannot be sure which incident was exactly 430 years before the Exodus, let us look at both of them. Both incidents are very similar in their language, and it is possible that both of them could have taken place on the fourteenth day of the first month, one of the two incidents being exactly 430 years before the people of Israel left Egypt.

An Ambiguous Beginning

Let us first turn to Genesis 15:12-16, which talks about the specific prophecy that is fulfilled when the children of Israel left Egypt in the time of the Exodus. Genesis 15:12-16 reads: “Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fellow upon him. Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

What does this prophecy mean? On the one hand, the fourth generation is far too little time to make up 400 years, even with the long generations that were more common in biblical times. Abraham had a child at the age of 100, but none of his descendents had to wait that long to bear children, and even as long as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph lived, 400 years is too much time for only three generations after the 400 years begins to fill it. Nonetheless, we only have evidence of three or four generations within the Bible from the time when Jacob and his family entered Israel to their Exodus, which means that unless there are more generations than the Bible gives for this period of time, there was not 430 years between the time when Jacob entered Israel as a family and when his descendents left as a nation, because there is simply too much time that needs to be accounted for.
On the other hand, this prophecy seems very clearly to refer to 400 years of affliction as well as a clear reference to both the plagues of Egypt that would judge Egypt for their cruelty to God’s people as well as the possessions that Israel would take for their back wages. Both of these came to pass literally in the Exodus when Israel took gold and silver from their Egyptian neighbors and left Egypt with a high hand. This affliction did not take place until after Jacob and his family went to Egypt, for though the family of Abraham were sojourners and resident aliens in Canaan, they were not oppressed by the Canaanites, but were in fact treated with a great deal of respect, making treaties as equal partners with the local kings around.

So again, we are left with the need to determine when this 430 years begins. Since there is too much time, even with the longer lifespans of people, to consider the fourth generation sufficient to fill 430 years, and since three or four generations is all we are given between Jacob and Moses, we are left with a bit of a dilemma between the years and the generations, as well as not understanding precisely when the period of 430 years begins, whether it begins with Abraham or at the end of Jacob’s life about 200 years later.

Let us therefore turn to the second event which may mark the beginning of the 430 years referred to in Exodus 12. This event takes place in Genesis 46:1-7. Genesis 46:1-7 reads: “So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. Then God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” And he said, “Here I am.” So He said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes.” Then Jacob arose from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones, and their wives, In the carts which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. So they took their livestock and their goods, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to Egypt, Jacob and all his descendants with him. His sons and his sons’ sons, his daughters and his son’s daughters, and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt.”
Here we see a similar scene to that of Abraham. God speaks to Jacob in a night vision, as he did to Abraham, after Jacob (like Abraham) had given sacrifices to God. He also tells Jacob, like He told Abraham, that He would bring Israel up from Egypt as a great nation to the promised land. All of this would happen in the time of Moses. However, God here did not talk to Jacob about the affliction and bondage that had already been promised to the people of Israel. Perhaps that is one reason why Jacob would have been reluctant to go to Isarel without the direct command of God, as was given.

Since You Have Not Withheld Your Son, Your Only Son, From Me

So far we have discussed the possible beginning of Israel’s 430 years in either Egypt or Egypt and Canaan, before God blessed them with their freedom and made them a free nation under His covenant and laws. So far it would appear that the relationship between the Passover and the Bible refers mainly to the Exodus. There are, however, two stories in Genesis that relate to the New Covenant Passover that we keep here and around the world [1]. I therefore think it is worthwhile to discuss these stories to show how the time of the patriarchs points far beyond the Exodus to the Passover of Christ that we keep today.

First, let us turn to a significant incident that shows the symbols of the New Covenant Passover nearly two thousand years before Jesus Christ given by a priest who the books of Psalms and Hebrews strongly compares to Jesus Christ. We find this story in Genesis 14:18-20. Genesis 14:18-20 reads: “Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possesser of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all.”

This is a very mysterious passage. The identity of this Melchizedek is very obscure, but he is undoubtedly a very important person, if obscure, and he is so important that Jesus Christ, our High Priest, is Himself a high priest in the order of Melchizedek. It is, of course, possible that Jesus Christ Himself was Melchizedek, especially given the hints in Hebrews 5 and 7. At any rate, given the close connection between Jesus Christ and Melchizedek, it is significant that this high priest Melchizedek, who is higher than Abraham, gives bread and wine to Abraham and blesses him.

After all, bread and wine are the symbols of the New Covenant Passover. The bread is symbolic of Christ’s body, broken for our sins. The wine is symbolic of the blood of Christ, shed for our sins. Not coincidentally, the Spring of the year was the time that kings went out to fight, and that is exactly what had happened before this blessing, so it is entirely possible that Abraham had defeated the kings of the Elamites, Hittites, as well as Mesopotamia just before Passover and was given the symbols of the New Covenant Passover without being fully aware of the future significance of these very symbols. Since we are aware, though, of this connection, let us think about this matter and the deep meaning of these symbols for our own lives.

There is in addition one more story before the Exodus that shows a clear connection with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, also from the life of Abraham. We find this story in Genesis 22:1-14. Genesis 22:1-14 reads: “Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abrhaam said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together. Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram ccaught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place, “The-Lord-Will-Provide [Yahweh Yireh]; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

It is impossible for a Christian to read the story of Isaac’s sacrifice without thinking of the connection to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Just as God the Father had to sacrifice His “only begotten son,” Jesus Christ, so Abraham was called to sacrifice his only begotten son Isaac, knowing that God would resurrect him so that they would return, because Isaac was the promised seed of Abraham, just as Christ was. The nitnoy- [near-] sacrifice of Isaac took place on Mount Moriah, in Jerusalem, which is where Jesus Christ was sacrificed. Isaac willingly carried the wood for the sacrifice, let himself be tied up to that wood, and was prepared to give up his life. Jesus Christ willingly let himself be imprisoned, carried the cross on his back, was willingly nailed to that wood, and did give up His life for us as a sacrifice for sin. Abraham told Isaac that God would provide the lamb for the burnt offering. In the end, Jesus Christ was the promised Passover lamb.

We cannot be sure that this particular sacrifice took place on the Passover, because the Bible does not strictly give the timing of the sacrifice. Nonetheless, the sacrifice very well could have happened on the Passover, and it was certainly symbolic of the New Testament Passover we all celebrate today. Therefore, let us recognize that the pattern of the New Covenant Passover was also first introduced here in the book of Genesis. The pattern of our Christian worship today springs from the very heart and soul of the Law of God.

Conclusion

Given the evidence from Genesis, Passover was important to God long before the Exodus. After all, the people of Israel marched out of Egypt 430 years to the day after they entered Egypt. The day was remembered as important even before the Exodus. Likewise, the symbols of the bread and wine and the sacrifice of the only begotten son serve to remind us that not only the Old Testament Passover but also the New Covenant Passover both sprang from Genesis, from the time of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We ought to be aware that by keeping the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread we not only obey the laws given to Moses, but we also follow the practice of the biblical patriarchs long before the Law was given at Mount Sinai. They remain, therefore, as symbols for us to follow as Christians. Let us therefore keep the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread with these truths in mind.

[1] A third story from the very beginning of Genesis, in Genesis 3:15-16, if one wishes to explore it, shows that Satan will bruise the heel of the Seed of Eve, as Christ’s heel was bruised during the crucifixion, demonstrating that the origins of the New Covenant Passover goes back all the way to Eden.