Faith’s Hall Of Fame: The Passover

Faith’s Hall Of Fame: The Passover

Hebrews 11:28

“By faith he kept the Passover...”

It may seem like we’re getting a little bogged down in our overview of the Hall of Fame of Faith, but that’s exactly what Hebrews 11 intends. It’s about faith—but that conversation begins and ends with the history of how God has intervened in the story of mankind.

I once had a theology professor ask me what the purpose of the Bible is. I immediately responded, “To teach us about God.”

His response shook me. He said, “If the purpose of the Bible is to teach us about God, it does a really horrible job, doesn’t it? How many questions do you still have about God?”

I didn’t know what to say, because he was absolutely right. I knew some things about God, but I didn’t really know all about Him. I had tons of questions.

Here was his answer: The purpose of the Bible is to teach us the story of redemption—from God’s point of view.

Now that made sense! He explained that if you approach the Bible from that perspective, everything falls into place. All those difficult passages of Scripture can be understood when you examine them by asking, “What is God trying to teach me about redemption here?”

The groundwork for the story of redemption is found in the Passover. There is the key to it all. Everything Jewish or Christian descends from this part of Scripture. The salvation of mankind hinges on the Passover.

The covering of sin, the removal of guilt, deliverance from bondage, life in place of death, the extraordinary love of God, His faithfulness to His people, His power over evil, the reliability of His Word, and the extreme depth and breadth of His grace and mercy—all foreshadow Christ and find their truth and meaning in the Passover.

If you don’t see yourself in that story, you’re not listening very well. The Passover is the story of salvation lived out by real people, in real bondage, who needed God.

And God would lead them straight to the shore of the Red Sea—fleeing a hostile army.