Passing Over! (part 1)

When Israel left Egypt the Passover was instituted and the month was established as the first month of their sacred year. ( Exodus 12:2) On the tenth day a lamb was to be taken ( Exodus 12:3) and kept until the fourteenth day to be killed at twilight. ( Exodus 12:6) And the journey toward the promised land began. Forty years later the nation of Israel was ready to enter under the leadership of Joshua.

We read…
“(19) The people came up out of the Jordan ON THE TENTH DAY OF THE FIRST MONTH, and they encamped at Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. (20) And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. (21) And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ (22) then you shall let your children know, ‘ISRAEL PASSED OVER THIS JORDAN on dry ground.’ (23) For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you PASSED OVER, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we PASSED OVER, (24) so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.” ” ( Joshua 4:19-24 ESV)

As I read the above passage yesterday, the connection of the tenth day of the first month being associated with both the deliverance from Egypt and the crossing of the Jordan forty years later caught my attention. However, that was not the only similarity. With the departure from Egypt began the celebration of the Passover as a remembrance of the Lord ( Exodus 12:13) passing over the Jews who had placed the blood around their doors (sparing the firstborn from death) and their DELIVERANCE FROM BONDAGE. When the nation “passed over” the Jordan into the promised land, on the fourteenth day the Passover was celebrated for the first time in the land of Canaan and the people ate the fruit of the land. ( Joshua 5:10-12)

In association both with Israel’s DELIVERANCE FROM BONDAGE and their ENTRANCE INTO THE PROMISED LAND (their inheritance) there was a passing over. At the beginning of the journey and with the arrival of their destination there was “pass over” significance. This is also true with us. Not that we observe the Passover in the sense it was a significant part of Jewish history, but in the reality of our own DELIVERANCE FROM BONDAGE and journey toward our PROMISED LAND.

God’s great work is that of getting us from where we are to where He desires us to be. We see how He did that with the nation of Israel in spite of their struggle in believing. Do we recognize the significance of a “passing over” associated with our life in Christ? Lord willing we will consider this further tomorrow.

Have a great day TRUSTING THE GUIDANCE OF GOD!
Carl

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