IT IS said that a great oil company was directed  to the discovery of oil in Egypt by a single verse  m the Bible story of Moses which says that the mother daubed the ark in which she laid her baby with slime and with pitch. In like manner a single verse ofttimes gives to the Bible student a clue which leads to the discovery of rich treasures of truth in other parts of God's Word.

Of such value is the statement of I Corinthians 5:7 which says, "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us." At once this verse furnishes a clear and satisfying interpretation of one of the Old Testament types and challenges the Bible student to investigate this type more closely, comparing it with its Antitype, in order to learn wherein the one prefigured the other. This leads to the discovery of a wealth of typical truth, many details of which might not be suspected but for the clear and inspired interpretation—"Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

We are well aware that many have trod this path before us and that many have already worked this mine. But let us not be turned aside by this consciousness, for it may be that we will be permitted in the gracious providence of God to unearth some nugget which others have passed by. If, however, this happy privilege is denied us, at least by a fresh discussion of an old familiar line of truth some may be helpfully re-minded of the riches of grace in Christ Jesus.

That the Passover lamb was a type of Christ the Scriptures plainly declare; but for the purpose of our present discussion, let us once more raise the question, "Wherein was
the Passover lamb a type of Christ?"

In order, if possible, to make the results of our investigation unmistakably plain, throughout our discussion let us first state the general truth which is set forth in the type, follow this with the proof in

Of such value is the statement of I Corinthians 5:7 which says, "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us." At once this verse furnishes a clear and satisfying interpretation of one of the Old Testament types and challenges the Bible student to investigate this type more closely, comparing it with its Antitype, in order to the form of an analogy, and then discuss, briefly, the force of the analogy which we have presented.

"The Lamb of God." How pregnant with meaning were those words as they fell from the lips of John the Baptist! They were first of all reminiscent. for they look back to all the sacrifices of the Old Testament beginning with the animal slain to clothe fallen Adam and continuing through the ordinances of the nation Israel. Doubtless there was in these words reference to many other sacrifices, but there was also a clear reference to that lamb of which we are studying—the lamb of Passover, and we cannot doubt that many of those who heard so understood them. But these words were also distinctive. They set apart the Lord Jesus Christ from all the sacrifices that had preceded Him. The others had been only a temporary and an imperfect provision for God's people but He was "The Lamb of God." At last that One had come, to Whom all other sacrifices pointed. In Him was to be fulfilled all the promises which those offerings had enfolded in themselves; and in Him was to be fulfilled the promise set forth in the Passover lamb. The other offerings were imperfect shadows, but His was the perfect substance of those shadows. Jesus was the Lamb of God Which taketh away the sin of the world.

The lamb used for the Passover must be without blemish. Instantly this reminds us of the New Testament description of the Lord Jesus Christ of Whom it is said that He was "in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin." In this we see the fulfilment of the type. Our Lord Jesus Christ was able to redeem us from our sins because He had no sin of His own. Mingling with sinners and ministering to them, yet He was "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners." Outward contact with sinners and with sin could not defile Him, for there was in Him no sinful nature. What wonder, then, that the Apostle Peter testified by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that we are redeemed "with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot"?

Surely, God's requirement of a lamb without blemish was fitting inasmuch as that Pass- over lamb was to become a type of Him Who was with out sin.

Surely it is more than a coincidence that both the slaying of the lamb and the death of Christ were pre- ceded by a period of supernatural darkness. In the one case it was three days of darkness, and in the other it was three hours; but in both cases the period was measured by three. The mere fact of the darkness preceding both is striking in itself, but when to it is added the correspondence in the threes the evidence becomes very convincing that in the Mind of the Spirit the one was a type of the other. We cannot here attempt to explain why there was a period of darkness preceding these incidents, but must content ourselves in calling attention to the correspondence.

Another point of striking correspondence is found in the fact stated above in the form of analogy. Both in the slaying of the typical Passover lamb and in the slaying of its Antitype, our blessed Lord Jesus Chi 1st, the whole house of Israel was involved. In this the one self-evidently becomes a prophecy of the other. Again we find it difficult to believe that this is a mere coincidence but must regard it rather as possessing prophetic significance, and again we will not attempt to explain it but will limit ourselves to pointing out the correspondence.

The picture is not perfect it is true, for many details are lacking. But what type is perfect? In the two facts to which we have called attention, however, the thoughtful Bible student will recognize that the circumstances attending the slaying of the Passover Iamb are suggestive of the circumstances which attended the death of Christ.

How clear was the type of the Cross of Christ presented in the Passover lamb will be appreciated when one sees the force of the simple fact to which we here call attention. The blood of the Passover lamb was sprinkled on the side posts and on the top of the door, making three cardinal points in the form of a cross. And if, as many Bible students believe, the bowl containing the blood was set on the door step to catch any blood which dripped from above, lest it be trampled under foot then a perfect cross was clearly formed. This in itself is most suggestive, inasmuch as it was on a Cross that the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ was shed.

We come to the very heart of the message of the Passover lamb when we read the words, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you." That was a night of awful judgment, hut the blood gave immunity from judgment. Let all who would substitute human works for the merits of Christ's shed blood mark this well: God said, "When I see the blood I will pass over you." None who were under the protection of that blood suffered God's judgment; but, on the other hand, none who were not protected by the blood escaped. It was the blood which secured from judgment. But notice, the shedding of the blood alone was not sufficient; it Jesus" (Romans 8:1). must be sprinkled on the side posts and upper door posts of the house. The shedding of Christ's blood, while providing salvation for all men, cannot avail until by faith it is applied to the individual soul. Though full provision was made for them, those words were not written of unbelievers, "We have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of our sins."

I think it was Northcote Deck who called attention to the beautiful thought in the meaning of the word "Passover." Says he, "In the 13th chapter of Exodus they were told; 'when I see the blood I will pass over you.' This did not mean pass by you and not smite the firstborn; but pass over you to cover and protect you. This comes out more clearly in verse 23, the word 'Passover' meaning to hover over you like a bird protecting its young." Surely this is consistent with the promise "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."

Many a soul has testified that he really began to live only when he had trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour. If this be true in time and with our present limited apprehension, how much more true will it appear in eternity when we shall see as we are seen and know as we are known. That man who is outside of Christ is dead in trespasses and sins. Unless, while he has the opportunity, he trusts the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour, he must perish miserably in God's judgment. But when a soul trusts Christ, that marks the beginning of all things to him. He is a new creature in Christ Jesus; he possesses a new life as the gift of His grace; a new nature has been begotten, in him by the operation of the Holy Spirit; he is brought into a new relationship with his Lord, for, from being a child of wrath, he becomes a child of God; and before him opens up a new path of holiness and usefulness for the Lord, in which it was impossible for him to walk before he trusted Christ. Truly for the soul who has accepted the Saviour, "Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new." This we believe was the typical teaching of the statement in connection with the Passover, "This month shall be unto you the beginning of all months. It shall be the first month of the year to you."

But lest, in considering associated truths, we lose sight of the central thought of this discussion, let us repeat: the security of those who rested under the protection of the Passover lamb pictures in wonderful fashion the salvation of that soul who trusts in the merits of Christ's shed blood. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1).

The immunity from judgment which the children of Israel enjoyed by the sprinkled blood of the lamb, was not the only blessing which was conferred upon them in this ordinance. They also received nourishment and strength for the journey before them by feeding on the body of the lamb. In this is suggested the strength which the believer receives by feeding on the Lord Jesus Christ. We are saved forever by once trusting Him as our Saviour; but for the trials and testings and tasks which li^ in the daily path we need strength, and our souls must be nourished lest we faint by the way. For this also God has provided in Christ, for we are nourished and strengthened by feeding daily on Him as He is revealed in the Word of God. It was He Who said, "I am the bread of life; he that Cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst." All who have tasted bear witness that "He satisfieth the longing soul and filleth the hungry soul with goodness" (Ps. 107:9).

It is to be noticed that the lamb must be roasted and eaten with bitter herbs, which is a testimony that apart from His sufferings the Lord Jesus Christ could not satisfy the needs of our souls. Away with all human philosophy that speaks flattering words about the man

Jesus yet denies the blood of His Cross. There is no satisfaction for the hungry soul in such vain delusions. It is only by virtue of His sufferings that our Lord can meet the needs of our souls and satisfy their longings. It is for this reason that the Scripture says, "It became Him, . . . by Whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings" (Heb. 2:10).

There is another blessing which comes to the soul who is walking in fellowship with Christ in addition to the strength which he receives by feeding on Him, and this is deliverance from the power of his soul's enemies. As the children of Israel were delivered from Egyptian bondage by the judgment from which they were protected by the blood of the Passover lamb, so the believer is freed from the enemies of his soul by the judgment which the Lord Jesus Christ suffered in our stead. Again and again the Scriptures declare that it was by the blood of His Cross that He freed us from the horrid dominion of these enemies. It was by death that He destroyed him that had the power of death, even the devil. It is by His Cross that the world is crucified unto us and we unto the world. It was on the Cross that He made a spoil of the demon principalities and powers with which we must wrestle. And we know that our old man is crucified with Him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin. That judgment in which the Passover lamb was substituted for the children of Israel and by which they were liberated from bondage in Egypt thus becomes a picture to us of the victory which our Lord Jesus Christ has wrought for us by the blood of His Cross.

Thus we see that the Passover lamb has a twofold message of blessing for the believer — a message of strength and nourishment through occupation in the Saviour, and a message of deliverance from the power of sin wrought through the shedding of His blood.

God wants His people to recognize that they are strangers and pilgrims in the earth. The children of Israel were not at home in Egypt. Canaan was the land promised to their fathers. As they ate the Passover lamb it was to be with loins girded for the journey which lay before them. So it is with the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not at home here; our citizenship is in heaven. We are but strangers and pilgrims on the earth, and God wants us always to bear in mind our pilgrim character. But if the reader is mindful of the fact that in its primary typical significance, Canaan is a picture of the yielded life, still we must insist the message is the same. We should recognize that God would not have us tarry in our present condition, but would have us to be growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. So long as He is in this life, the Christian is a pilgrim and a stranger from two points of view. First, he is a pilgrim and a stranger because he is looking for a heavenly home and is merely sojourning on earth ; and second, he is a pilgrim and a stranger because he has not yet fully attained to the high calling which is his in Christ Jesus. He needs to say with the Apostle Paul, "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:13-14)

Finally, the people of Israel were to eat the Passover lamb with unleavened bread, which is a message of separation, for leaven in the Scripture is a symbol of sin and wickedness, and God wants His people to be separated from these things. In this we come to the particular truth in connection with which the Holy Spirit gave us that wonderful interpretation which became the occasion for this stud)'. We can therefore do no better than to bring our study to a close by quoting His own words of admonition.

Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:

Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (I Cor. 5:7-8).