Passover is a time of deliverance. It is an invitation to examine our hearts and lives and get the leaven (sin) out. It is also one of three appointed Feasts of the Lord. Passover is the story of the Hebrew people being delivered from bondage and the fulfillment of our redemption from sin through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

The Hebrews had to leave Egypt to cross over into the land God had promised. Jewish tradition says that four-fifths of the Israelites did not leave Egypt. Think about that! After seeing plagues and the protection in Goshen and experiencing the pass over, some people decided to stay in bondage instead of beginning their journey to freedom.

Before we begin looking down our noses at the Hebrews, think of what you are in bondage to, is it smoking, does anger bind you, do you tend to have one too many beers? Passover is an invitation to be delivered! The only question is will you take a step toward freedom?

Exodus 6:2-8 TLV “God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am Adonai. ³ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, as El Shaddai. Yet by My Name, Adonai, did I not make Myself known to them. ⁴ I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage where they journeyed. ⁵ Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of Bnei-Yisrael, whom the Egyptians are keeping in bondage. So I have remembered My covenant. ⁶ Therefore say to Bnei-Yisrael: I am Adonai, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. ⁷ I will take you to Myself as a people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am Adonai your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. ⁸ So I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, and give it to you as an inheritance. I am Adonai.”

Notice verse six says; bring you out, I will rescue you from bondage, and I will redeem you. Why convey the same thing in three different ways? They were, and we are, brought out of bondage at the time of salvation, but we still need to be rescued from our bondage, our lifestyle of sin. We need to be delivered from fear, doubt, shame, persistent thoughts of lack, and a host of other bondages. God also said He would redeem them. Bringing them out wasn’t saving them; it set the stage for redemption. When leaders declared the blessings and curses on the mountains, the people walked through the middle and were redeemed; complete salvation was entering the land promised to Abraham, Issac, and Jacob!

God fed the children of Israel in the wilderness with manna, but when it came time to cross over into the promised land, the manna ceased, and the provision of crops that had to be cultivated began. You and I have to develop in our freedom. Salvation is the doorway, and sanctification is the believer’s pathway, becoming more and more like our Lord Jesus.

Ephesians 4:20-22 AMPC “But you did not so learn Christ! 21 Assuming that you have really heard Him and been taught by Him, as [all] Truth is in Jesus [embodied and personified in Him], 22 Strip yourselves of your former nature [put off and discard your old unrenewed self] which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion; 23 And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude], 24 And put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God’s image, [Godlike] in true righteousness and holiness.”

We are to constantly be renewed in the spirit of our minds, having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude. That is deliverance. Listen, deliverance isn’t Hollywood. Deliverance isn’t saying you are full of demons. Deliverance happens through discipleship. Every time we repent, we are delivered. Every time we say no to the devil, we are delivered. 

Passover is an invitation to freedom and celebration. Do you have to celebrate the feast and partake of the meal? No. It’s not a salvation issue. But at some point, we believers must quit ordering our lives and beliefs on if something is a salvation issue. It’s time to move into sanctification. It’s time to grow up and see the blessings that God offers us through spiritual growth and understanding and walk in the deeper things of God.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to just make it to heaven. I want to be as close to Jesus as possible. It’s time we quit seeing how close to the world we can be while still holding onto Jesus with our pinky; it’s time to be delivered! It’s time to be delivered, and it’s time to prepare to cross over into a life of being sanctified by the Word of God.

Jesus paid for your deliverance; take hold of it. Don’t be satisfied with being saved out of slavery, be delivered from the mindset and actions of bondage. God provided wealth for Israel to enter into the promised land with, but they wasted their provision by making a cow because they didn’t get delivered from their enslaved perspective. Don’t waste your salvation here on earth by remaining bound in sin. Make the decision today; I’m not staying in sin. You may not know what things will look like moving forward but take a step and begin your freedom process.

Every year God offers us a unique opportunity during Passover to examine ourselves and shake off the weight and sin that besets us. He invites us to His table to partake in the cups of sanctification, deliverance, redemption, and hope. Jesus told His disciples that He wouldn’t drink of the fruit of the vine again until we were all in the Kingdom with Him; that is our cup of hope. We still have three other cups available to us here and now. Partake of those cups. Partake of the matzah, the symbol of His broken body. Remember how you have been redeemed and set free, and let this be a moment you decide to go from faith to faith and glory to glory. Leave Egypt behind and press forward to the land of promise.