Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1879-05-15

CONDUCTED By.
REV. ROBERT LATHAM.

CONDUCTED By
REV. ROBERT LATHAM.
THE PASSOVER.
By the command of God, the Jews cele.
brated three annual feasts-the Passover,
Pentecost and Tabernacles. In their nature
and design, these feasts we're retrospective and
prospective. In other words, they were de-
signed to commemorate remarkable past oc.
currences, and they were also typical Of IND
portant future events. The Passover was the
FIRST in point of time of these annual feasts,
and in some respects it was the most impor-
tant The time designated for its celebration
was the fourteenth day of the first month,
called sometimes Abid and sometimes Nissan.
The hour of the day was specified with con-
siderable exactness. "In the fourteenth day
of the 6rst month, at even is the Lords pass
over" Lev. xxiii:5. A literal rendering Of
the words of the original text require the
passage to be thus translated: "ln the four
teenth day of the first month bstsosen the t'0o
evenings is the passover of Jehovah"
The Hebrews, as well as many other Orien-
tai nations, divided the afternoon of the day
into two parts. The first part they called the
first evening and the second part they called
the last evening. The evening began at the
sixth hour, which corresponded with our
twelve o'clock and ended at sunset. The first
evening or first part of the evening extended
from the sixth hour, to the ninth, or to our
three o'clock in the afternoon. The second
evening or second part of the evening, began
at three o'clock and ended at sunset The
passover was killed between the ninth and
eleventh hours of the day, or between three
o'clock in the afternoon and sunset. Thus we
read that when Jesus Christ was cruci6ed the
darkness enveloped the earth from the sixth
to the ninth hour, and sometime between the
ninth and eleventh hour Jesus died. That is,
he died between three o'clock in the after
noon and sunset. Z. .5
The paschal sacrifice was lamb, either Of
the sheep or of the goats. 1t is probable,
however, that goat was seldom, if ever, OF
fered, although admissible. 1t was prescribed
that this paschal lamb should be male with
out any defect, and less than one year old.
The object and design Of this passover feast
was two-fold. The one was national, the 9th
er universal. More properly, the passover
was a commemorative feast and it was at the
same time typical ceremony. 1t was de-
signed in the first instance to perpetuate the
memory of the deliverance which God effect
ed in rescuing the Israelites from Egyptian
bondage. II am the Lord thy God which
brought thee out of the land Of Egypt and
out of the house of bondage" was, on the oc-
currence of this annual feast, brought vividly
to the recollection of every Israelite. The
other and more important design contem-
plated by God in giving to his ancient people
the passover feast was to pre6gure Saviour.
The paschal lamb was typical in that it sym.
bolized Jesus Christ the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world.
Four days previous to the departure of the
children of Israel from Egypt. they, by the
command of God, selected lamb for each
family and kept it up until the afternoon Of
the fourteenth day of the month Abid. At
the appointed hour the lamb was slain, and
its blood caught. With this blood the two
side posts of the doors of their houses, togeth.
er with the upper door post, was sprinkled.
At sunset, which was the beginning of the
fifteenth day, they began to eat the paschal
lamb. Their loins were girded, their staves
were in their hands and their shoes were on
their feet. They were ready for the exodus.
Together with the roasted lamb, they were
commanded to eat bitter herbs and unleaven.
ed bread. The bitter herbs, no doubt, were
designed to impress upon their minds the
hardness of the bondage to which they had
been subjected, and the slaves in their hands
and shoes on their feet indicated that they
must be in haste to accept the promised free
dom.
; AT midnight the Destroying Angel passed
through the land Of Egypt and destroyed
the first born of all the Egyptians. From the
6rstrborn of the humblest subject to the first
born of the king on the throne, none escaped.
The houses of the IsraeGtes were passed over.
The Lord saw the blood upon the door posts
and passed over the houses inAicting no in.
jury upon the inmates. This was most won.
derful deliverance. Pharoah was convicted.
His soul was filled with CONSERVATION. The
naughty monarch sent for Moses and Aaron
by night, and trembling and terrorstricken,
he told them to take the whole of the Hebrews
and all they possessed and be gone.
As the children of Israel, under the Old
Testament dispensation, were type Of all
Gods people during the present dispensation,
everything connected with the passover feast
was no doubt typical, and all thesetypes found
their anti-type in the incarnation, life, death,
resurrection and ascension of the son of God.
Whatever the paschal lamb was to the pious
Jew, the Lord Jesus Christ is to his people,
and far more.
The first passover feast was celebrated by
the Israelites in their own private families.
After they were settled in the promised land,
all the males were required to 60 up to Jeru'
salem, and there keep the passover. The
whole nation left their homes and went up.
In the 122nd Psalm we have the embodi-
ment of the national feeling on the annual
return of the passover. Every pious heart
was glad. The roads leading to Jerusalem,