The Scriptures tell us of the Exodus under Moses, whereby the Jews left their captivity and slavery in Egypt to enter into their inheritance in what is called the Promised Land. Of course, the people of God weren’t faithful to their Lord and Savior, so God sent them away from the land and dispersed them among the gentiles. Nevertheless, he promised that he would later bring them back into the land no matter how far away they had strayed or how dispersed they had become. This would be called the Second Exodus, but many in our modern era believe this points to the Jews returning to their literal land in the Middle East, in which both Jerusalem and its Temple would be rebuilt, but the New Testament speaks of a spiritual exodus out of the slavery of sin, and a spiritual Jerusalem, a spiritual Temple and a spiritual Land. What should we make of these things, as they relate to what many believers expect to see today?
The Passover was the tenth plague that the Egyptians had to endure, but it is the first plague, in which the Israelites were required to perform any act. To keep the Passover means to observe it for eight days, first the preparation day and then seven days of celebration, concerning which a Sabbath holy day marked their beginning and their end. In Hebrews 11:28 Paul is focused upon the first day of the Passover, the 14th day of the first month, the day in which the Passover lamb was slain. It was slain late in the evening, and eaten some time after sundown on the 15th. Hebrews 11:28 concerns the actual slaying of the lamb, dipping a branch of hyssop in its blood and striking the door posts and the lintel of each dwelling, where the people of Israel resided. Moses had promised that the destroying angel would enter Egypt and kill the firstborn of each family living in the land. Israel would be spared, provided they obeyed the Lord and struck the entrance of each of their dwellings with the blood of the Passover lamb. Performing this act and believing it made a difference between life and death required faith.
The religious practices of the Jews were shadows or types of a greater reality (cp. Colossians 2:16-17; Hebrews 8:5). Paul tells us that it was Christ, not a lamb, who was sacrificed for us and took away our sins (1Corinthians 5:7-8) and all this was ‘according to the Scriptures’ (1Corinthians 15:3-4; Isaiah 53:7-10; Acts 8:32-35). In Hebrews 11:28 Paul was calling for the Jews of his generation to follow the faith of Moses, as did the Jews of that day, and place their trust for their deliverance in the blood of the Lamb, i.e. their true Passover, Jesus. Keep the ‘feast’ in its spiritual significance (1Corinthains 5:8).
It took ancient Israel under Moses eight days to completely escape the hand of Pharaoh. In other words, the original Jews “kept the feast” for the full eight days, first to leave Egypt and finally to escape the wrath of Pharaoh, while letting the Lord judge his enemy in the Red Sea. By faith each Jew passed through the Red Sea on dry land, trusting the walls of water on either side of them wouldn’t fall upon them and destroy them (Hebrews 11:29; Psalm 106:9-11). The Passover season is representative of one’s life after trusting in Christ to save the believer. In the context of the first century AD the Passover season was representative of the whole time from Jesus’ ascension into heaven to his return to vindicate them and save them from their enemies – i.e. the Jewish authorities who sought to destroy them.
Faith is not the same as positive thinking. Faith is trust placed in another individual, in this case in God, himself. When the Egyptians followed Israel into the dry bottom of the Red Sea, it wasn’t because they trusted in God, but they believed whatever allowed Israel to pass through the sea would remain intact for them as well. Both took the risk, but while Israel placed their lives in the hands of God, the Egyptians trusted their lives to positive thinking. They thought: “just as Israel survives the sea, so shall we.” They were wrong and paid the price. In the context of the first century AD, believers placed their trust in Jesus as their Messiah and Savior. The unbelieving Jews thought God would raise up a savior among them, a messiah, who would save them from their Roman oppressor. This was positive thinking, not faith, because God had already sent the Messiah, but they rejected him. Positive thinking killed both the ancient Egyptian armies, and the first century AD Jewish nation with its Temple.
The Red Sea represents death. Ancient Israel died to their Egyptian oppressors and were baptized unto Moses, their deliverer (1Corinthians 10:1-2). The first believers in Christ were called to a second Exodus, to walk through death as it were, believing in Christ and trusting him to save them. They were called to keep the feast (1Corinthians 5:7-8), the whole feast—8 days. The full eight days typified one’s life or a generation. In other words, keeping the feast was a type of their walk with Christ from the time of their first trusting in his blood to the time he returned to vindicate them and destroy their enemies.
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