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Passover was from the beginning
buildontherock
2020-11-18

One of the things that Christians are surprised at is that the New Covenant is actually the older covenant. The covenant that was from Adam is the New Covenant. One of the steps towards that understanding is Passover. In reality there was the New Covenant then the Old Covenant and back to the New Covenant. It is pretty clear in the Bible But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: [20] Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 1 Peter 1:19-20 (KJV) and also And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, Revelation 13:8 (KJV).

So Passover was from the beginning when God originally planned this age and set up the Earth. You can go to this page to read more on the marvelous plan of God in Passover to Shavuot.

Passover from Adam and Eve

This incident occurred shortly after creation and is found in Genesis 3. Since we all know the story I will just highlight the key verses. It was before there were any children born to any human and there were no houses to put blood on. This Passover is different because several things are in reverse but we can still identify the fundamentals. On this occasion people would have died at the hands of the messengers of the Lord if not for His intervention. In contrast with the Exodus, people were already in the Promised Land and living in God's presence. The Garden of Eden was God's Garden. Man sinned and deserved immediate death but was temporarily spared. The angels of God, who protect his covenant, knew that they had sinned and would undoubtedly have destroyed Adam and Eve if they had not been restrained. The whole garden was the house and blood had never been spilled before but it appears that blood was now spilled in God's presence to cover Adam and Eve.

The time was in the cool of the day when He arrived.

Genesis 3:8 (KJV) And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

This time in the cool of the day is understood to mean afternoon. It seems to literally mean the windy part of the day or something like that. Then we have a long conversation between them and God which is concluded by assigning punishment to Adam, Eve and Satan. Some time during this period an animal was killed because when we come to v 21 this is what we see.

Genesis 3:21 (KJV) Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

Some time in the afternoon the blood was spilled and they were driven out, but their lives were temporarily spared because someone had covered them with this protection. We also learn (from Genesis 3:8) that it was Christ (YHWH or Yahweh) with whom they were interacting. The Hebrew says that it was Yahweh Elohim walking in the garden. Then the days' activities apparently concluded with what happens in v22-24.

Genesis 3:22-24 (KJV) And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

This would all have occurred before night-fall because God would have wanted them to see where they were going. What we are going to show is that this is consistent with all the other Passovers in the Bible.

Isaac a type of Passover

We saw that God gave a hint of things to come in the animal that was used to cover Adam and Eve. The death of that animal provided protection for them. That was before the flood and a lot had occurred since then. God now revisits that plan after the flood. These events begin in (Genesis 22:1-3) ,

Genesis 22:1-3 (KJV) And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. 2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. 3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.

Notice what is happening here. Abraham was probably told this a late evening. We see how eager Abraham was to do God's bidding in (v3) which suggests that if it was early then he would have responded the same day. I believe that it was after sunset. He immediately started to prepare for the three day journey so that one night had already gone when he started out. In (v2) we see that God has not changed the place (Moriah) where he chose to place His name and where the Passover is to be killed. Scholars quibble over the evidence claiming that Moriah in Genesis could be referring to any mountainous region while the mention in the book of Chronicles is a specific place but I choose not to enter into that debate and take the Bible at face value.

2 Chronicles 3:1 (KJV) Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
2 Samuel 24:16 (KJV) And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.
1 Chronicles 21:15 (KJV) And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
1 Chronicles 21:18 (KJV) Then the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.

So we see that Moriah and Jerusalem is the same place. Now we will see also that the timing arrangements were already in place.

Genesis 22:4-5 (KJV) Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.

On the third day Abraham saw the place afar off. During the third day Abraham saw the city far away. It was not around the corner. He still had a long way to go and Isaac was now allegorically dead for three nights and two days in his eyes.

When Abraham reached the place he had to build the altar

Genesis 22:5-9 (KJV) And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? 8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. 9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

He had already been walking some time on the third day when they saw the place for the first time in the distance. He walked for a long time then looked for rocks and built an altar. I am suggesting that by the time he was finished it was probably around the same time that Christ was crucified thousands of years later! We can assume that since there is no mention of another day that it is the same day.

Genesis 22:10-13 (KJV) And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

Notice that the sacrifice is taking place and he did not provide an ox or a deer or gazelle. It was a sheep/goat. This was the second Passover about 400 years after the flood. That is about 850 years before the Exodus. The Passover that we have in the New Covenant is the same as the original Passover while the one in Exodus called the Old Covenant is a temporary one. The New Covenant Passover is actually the oldest one.