[Note: The following are the prepared notes for a sermonette given to the Portland, Oregon congregation of the United Church of God on Sabbath, April 12, 2025.]

Good afternoon brethren. Today is a rare situation where we have Sabbath services in between the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread, and so I feel it is important that in my brief message today that I speak about what happened on the Day of Passover in the Bible, and so that is what I will do, drawing parallels between the two best-recorded Passover days in the scriptures and noting what patterns we see there so we can understand what God was doing in the period in between the Passover and the beginning of the Days of Unleavened Bread.

The first of these two Days of Passover is, as we might expect, the day after the Passover of Exodus where the firstborn of the Egyptians were killed. We have the following record of what Israel did during this day–and it was a busy day–in Exodus 12:31-41. Exodus 12:31-41 reads: “‘ Then he [that is, the Pharaoh] called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise, go out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel. And go, serve the Lord as you have said. Also take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also.” And the Egyptians urged the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” So the people took their dough before it was leavened, having their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes on their shoulders. Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. Then the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children. A mixed multitude went up with them also, and flocks and herds—a great deal of livestock. And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought out of Egypt; for it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves. 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.”

Let’s notice a few things about this particular discussion, which gives the most important details of what happened after the tenth plague hit the Egyptians on the night of Passover. First, we see how the tenth plague broke the Egyptians, where the Pharaoh tells the Israelites to leave his country and where ordinary Egyptians paid the Israelites back wages for generations of servitude. We then see Israel leaving Egypt and leaving in such a hurry that the bread dough did not have a chance to rise naturally through the usual process of leavening from the yeast in the air as they marched from Ramses to Succoth. It is also worth noting that the people who departed Egypt did not only include the people of Israel but also a mixed multitude. From the beginning of God’s working to free humanity from oppression, it was of interest to those who were not physically descended from Israel but who identified with it and were counted as part of it. The last thing I would like to comment on is that this particular day of Passover was in the making for 430 years. On the exact day, the fourteenth day of the first month, that Israel left Egypt, their forefather had entered Egypt.

When did this happen, though? While it is hard to know the exact time that starts the timer–there are multiple possibilities–we do know that this departure was a fulfillment of a specific prophecy recorded in Genesis 15:12-16. Genesis 15:12-16 reads: “Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell 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 we read in Exodus 12 is the clear fulfillment of that, in that Israel spent 430 years in Egypt and left with great possessions after Egypt was judged for their oppression of the Israelites (and others). This indicates that God had a very long-term plan in mind for bringing Israel into captivity and then out of it again as a nation ready to receive the promised land.

Let us now turn our attention to the day of Passover that is most notable in the New Testament. As one might imagine, this is something we think about a lot when it comes to the context of Passover, regarding the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. There are quite a few scenes that we could discuss from that day, but let us focus on the aftermath of the death of Jesus Christ and what happened then. Let us turn to Matthew 27:50-54. Matthew 27:50-54 reads: “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!””

Let us briefly compare what happened in Exodus 12 that we read earlier with what happens here in Matthew 27. In both cases, we deal with the spoiling of an oppressive enemy. While the Israelites spoil the Egyptians and take the back wages of generations of slavery, Jesus Christ at His death spoils the grave of the lives of dead believers who return to life and go into the city. Just as a mixed multitude and not only people of Israel were present and active during this day in Exodus, so to we find Roman soldiers in a key role, namely recognizing the power of Jesus Christ from what happened at His death. (It must be acknowledged as well that there are some differences between the two accounts, in that while the children of Israel travel from Ramses to Succoth during the day of Passover, Jesus is relatively stationary through most of the day.) There is one other similarity that I wish to comment on directly, and that is that what happened on the Day of Passover at the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was not a random event but rather one that, like that of the Exodus, had a very long prophesied coming.

We find the corresponding prophecy that foretold the length of time until Jesus’ life and death in Daniel 9:24-27. Here, in solemn Hebrew poetry, we read the following in Daniel 9:24-27: ““Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.””

It is neither within my limited time nor inclination to go into this prophecy in detail. What I do wish to point out, though, is that just as God promised in Genesis 15 that the awaiting of freedom for Abraham’s descendants would involve 400 years (actually 430 to the day) of oppression, so to the sacrifice of the Messiah to bring about the reconciliation of people with God, the finishing of sin and transgression, and bringing in everlasting righteousness through our Lord and Savior, was 483 years off, given that it would be 49 years for the rebuilding of Jerusalem including its walls and then a further 434 years before the death of the Messiah, but not for Himself–for His death was reversed with resurrection after only three days and three nights in the grave, and His death was not for His own sins but for our sakes.

With this, let us conclude. The Bible does not have many examples where the day of Passover is discussed in great detail, but in the two examples we have briefly discussed today, those days are of great importance. In the first, God set Israel and over oppressed people free after having put to death the firstborn of Egypt, bringing them out of slavery and into a freedom that was to be lived according to His perfect and holy law, about which there is much to discuss. In doing so, He fulfilled a plan that had been promised more than 400 years before. In the second, the firstborn Son of God Himself was put to death for our sins, to open the way out of slavery to sin to a life of freedom in righteousness, not only for the people of Israel by blood but for all who would answer God’s calling and become part of the Israel of God. This too, was a plan whose detailed fulfillment had been promised more than 400 years before. Let us therefore celebrate the foresight and planning of God to bring freedom and salvation and to carry out His promises, even if they sometimes take a long time to accomplish.