EXODUS: New Testament Passover Themes about Jesus • The greater Exodus | Messianic Passover Teaching

This Bible teaching from Founded in Truth Fellowship, likely presented by Matthew Vander Els, explores the profound connections between the Old Testament Passover story and the person and work of Jesus Christ, revealing a greater Exodus that transcends the physical liberation from Egypt. The teaching emphasizes that the biblical narrative is intentionally crafted to showcase God’s unified and uplifting plan of redemption through the Messiah Yeshua, inviting believers to actively participate in this epic story.

The Foundational Passover: Remembrance and Liberation

The original Passover, as described in the Bible, is a time of remembrance, commemorating the mighty deeds of God in Egypt. God freed the Israelites from the oppressive rule of Pharaoh, leading them out of slavery into the wilderness and towards the promised land. This event included miraculous acts such as the parting of the Red Sea, creating dry land for their passage, an event seen as an echo of the new creation. This exodus birthed a new humanity, a covenant people with the hope of becoming a light to all nations. The wilderness served as a crucial catalyst in their journey towards the promised land. Just as the waters were separated at the Red Sea, the Jordan River was also stopped, allowing the Israelites to cross into Canaan on dry land, mirroring events in Genesis and Exodus.

The Land of Rest and the Cycle of Disobedience

The entry into Canaan, described as the land of milk and honey, symbolized God’s rest, a reflection of the Garden of Eden. The major themes of the Passover story include redemption, rivers of life, and new creation brought forth by the blood of the Lamb. However, the narrative reveals that the Israelites did not live in perpetual faithfulness. Despite their liberation from Egyptian slavery and their growth as a nation, they eventually began to oppress others, focusing on military strength, wealth, and power instead of worshiping God and embodying His desired character. This reached its peak during the reign of King Solomon, where wealth became commonplace, and he engaged in activities like arms dealing and using slave labor, ironically to build the temple of the God who frees slaves.

The Prophets’ Warnings and the Need for a New Heart

Prophets like Amos, Hosea, and Jeremiah arose, warning Israel against becoming like the nations they were meant to be distinct from. Their disobedience led to consequences: the northern tribes were taken captive by Assyria, and Judah was exiled to Babylon for seventy years, with the temple and Jerusalem being destroyed. This exile marked a reset point in Israel’s story, a new period of enslavement in a foreign land where they cried out to God. Through these prophets, God revealed that the fundamental issue was not external oppressors but the human heart. God promised a new covenant where His law would be written on people’s hearts, a spiritual heart transplant replacing hearts of stone with hearts of flesh indwelt by His Spirit, as prophesied by Ezekiel.

A Greater Exodus and a Righteous Branch

Isaiah also spoke of this new exodus, envisioning a new heavens and a new earth as a result of God’s ultimate rescue mission for humanity. Jeremiah prophesied of an even greater Exodus that would surpass the memory of the exodus from Egypt. This new exodus would involve God raising up a righteous branch from the line of David, a king who would reign wisely and justly. This event would be so significant that people would no longer primarily identify God by the Exodus from Egypt but by His act of bringing the descendants of Israel back from the land of the north and all the countries where they were banished, restoring them to their own land. This return to their own land echoes the imagery of the Garden of Eden, signifying the end of exile from God. While the return from Babylon was a historical event, it did not fully realize this prophecy, indicating a deeper, spiritual redemption beyond physical land.

John the Baptist: A Voice in the Wilderness of the New Exodus

Isaiah’s prophecy in chapter 40 depicts a voice crying out in the wilderness, calling captives out of slavery into the wilderness. In the original Exodus, the wilderness was the place where Israel entered into a covenant with God and where His presence dwelt. This imagery is significant because all four Gospel accounts begin their portrayal of Jesus’ ministry with John the Baptist in the wilderness. John’s presence in the wilderness, as described in Luke 3, preaching baptism of repentance and forgiveness of sins, fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy. John’s role was not to call people back to the physical land of Israel but to call them out of their spiritual slavery and oppression, recognizing that Israel had become like a new Babylon.

Jesus Christ: The Embodiment of the New Exodus

Matthew and John particularly emphasize that the new Exodus has come through Jesus (Yeshua). This new liberation is not from a physical Pharaoh or Egypt but from the slavery of sin and death. Matthew’s Gospel deliberately draws parallels between the childhood of Jesus and the childhood of Moses, such as the evil king’s attempt to kill infants, the role of those who outsmarted the king (midwives/wise men), and the hiding of the child to escape death. Matthew also presents Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount on “the mountain” (referencing Sinai) as a new revelation of God’s Torah, revealing its true heart and purpose, contrasting the ten commandments given through Moses with ten miracles performed by Jesus after the sermon.

Application for Everyday Life

Participating in this new creation means living differently, reflecting the reality of God’s redemption in our daily lives. This involves:

• Letting go of the chains that bind you: This includes bitterness, unforgiveness, addictions, lust, gossiping, and judging others.
• Treating others as if we are living in the Garden of Eden: This means rejecting the pursuit of power over others and instead extending grace and mercy.
• Resisting the ways of the old creation: Choosing subversive resistance rooted in the values of the Kingdom of Heaven rather than engaging in worldly power struggles.
• Embracing the new life offered in Jesus: Recognizing that through Jesus, we have a new creation and the indwelling Holy Spirit empowers us to live out this new reality.
• Reflecting God’s grace and mercy to others: Basking in the bounty of God’s grace and extending that same grace to those around us.
• Living as citizens of heaven: Operating as God’s representatives in the world, no longer bound by the limitations of the old creation.

The invitation stands for everyone to breathe in the new life that God offers in Jesus, participating in the ongoing new creation and experiencing the presence of God, who promises never to leave.

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References

• Exodus 1
• Exodus 12
• Exodus 14
• Genesis 1
• John 20

Resources Mentioned

• The Bible