Passover is the account of how God delivered His people from an oppressive bondage to slavery, bringing them out under a blood covenant of protection. The sign of this covenant was provided by the slaying of the Passover lamb and applying its blood to the entrance of each household. Because of Pharaoh’s insistence in enslaving God’s people, the LORD passed through the land on assignment to slay every firstborn whose family was not protected by the sign of the covenant, the blood of the Passover lamb. When Israel finally went out of Egypt, they were led by Moses, the servant of the LORD until his death, at which point God spoke to Joshua, saying:
“Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses…No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.”
Joshua was a servant of the servant of the LORD. God chose as leader a man whose life was dedicated to serving. That service prepared him to continue in service to God Himself. Moses was dead, but God told Joshua to arise, to cross over, lead Israel armed for battle, pass over the land and take possession of it.
These themes of servanthood, leadership, death, rising up, crossing over and taking possession all speak of a larger plan at work behind the scenes, a plan that laid a foundation for the coming of the Servant of the LORD, whom the prophets foretold. Yeshua the Messiah spoke of His mission as the Son of Man to be one of service, “to seek and to save the lost.” He was called the Lamb of God by John, and just before Passover He entered Jerusalem along with the Passover lambs, also on His way to being sacrificed and to provide His blood as the sign of our eternal covenant of redemption.
K'vod Yisrael 