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how God’s sovereignty and human responsibility work themselves out in Scripture and leave it at that.
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Perhaps the mystery will be solved when we are in eternity face-to-face with our Lord.

God’s exodus plan is an expansion of anything we read in Genesis. He is now working with thousands of
people. While we can assume his work in the events of each person’s life (just like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
and Joseph), we are witnessing his work for an entire
nation. He teaches them through the plagues about his
greatness. He also starts to teach them directly through
instruction. His first “lecture,” backed up by the “lab”
experience of the tenth plague, is instruction on Passover.
(See other legal instructions about the Passover in Lev.
23:5-8; Num. 28:16-25; Deut. 16:1-8; as well as the
historical observance of Passover in Num. 9:1-14; Josh
5:10-12; 2 Kings 23:21-23; 2 Chron. 30:1-27; 35:1-19; Ezra
6:19-22.)

The instructions are simple. YHWH will go throughout the land of Egypt and kill the firstborn son of
everyone in the land, including the cattle (11:1-10). The Israelites and anyone else were to sacrifice a lamb
at twilight. They were to put some of the blood on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses and
then, as a family, or a group of families if few in number, eat the lamb. The blood on the doorframes would
be a sign to God, and he would pass over that house. The sacrifice and meal would be a lasting ordinance
for generations to come. In future years, the Passover would be an eight-day event. The first seven days
would be the Festival of Unleavened Bread. They would eat nothing made with yeast. The eighth day would
be the Passover itself. Succeeding generations would, in this way, be taught about God’s great deliverance
and about his holy character. Connected with Passover is the consecration of the firstborn male, human or
livestock, to the LORD. They were to be redeemed with money. If not
redeemed, the animals were to be killed. (Exodus 12, 13)

God’s purpose in the Passover is more than judgment and salvation. He is
also teaching anyone who would listen about Himself. Here for the first
time, specific instructions are given for sacrifice. Every year, a lamb was
to die. Every year, blood was to be put on doorframes. Parents would be
passing on to their children a vivid reminder of the connection between judgment and salvation. The wages
of sin, in this case even the very basic sin of idolatry, are death. An understanding of the other part of the
equation is being revealed more deeply than ever before through the death of a lamb.

Without too much speculation, we can start adding together God’s revelation to this point. One special
seed of Eve would bruise the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15). Through one of Abraham’s descendants, “all
peoples on earth” would be blessed (Gen. 12:3). The form of the blessing would be a sacrifice of great
value, like Abraham’s only son (Gen. 22:1, 14). Now every year, the people would have a fresh reminder of
the cost of safely knowing God. A lamb “without defect” would die. Blood would be shed. God is gradually
revealing in greater and greater detail about his nature and especially about his Messiah.
The New Testament makes the link clear. Jesus is our Passover Lamb. His death changes us (1 Cor. 5:7). He
is a lamb without blemish or spot, a precious sacrifice calling for our deepest reverence (1 Pet. 1:19). Not
one of his bones was broken at his death, perfect fulfillment of the lesson of those hundreds of lambs in
Exodus (John 19:36).

50 Much of this paragraph comes from an excellent article by D.A. Carson, “Reflections on Assurance” in Still Sovereign,
ed. Schreiner and Ware (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000), pp. 269-273.
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