Understanding the culture and atmosphere that existed in Egypt at the time of the Exodus makes it easier to understand why G-d was so specific about the many details of the Passover. Of particular importance was the fact that Egypt believed itself to be the foremost political and intellectual power in the world. The constellation Aries (which is the first or foremost sign of the zodiac) was considered to be its guiding force. Egyptians worshiped the lamb or ram which they believed was the earthly representation of their heavenly guide, Aries. Moreover, Egyptians believed that all first-born were guided by Aries because it is the firstborn of the constellations (i.e. the first sign of the Zodiac). The constellation Aries is the constellation through which the "sun passes" during the Hebrew month of NISAN. The 14th & 15th of NISAN marked the height or apex of Aries power (at the full moon) according to tradition.
Therefore, G-d chose the month of NISAN to prove His dominion and sovereignty in the world by ordering the Israelites to kill the earthly sign of Egypt's god---the lamb or ram. G-d Himself would kill all of Egypt's first-born who were supposedly guided by the force of Aries. All of this was done during the height of Aries' power, in the late afternoon of the 14th of Nisan when the full moon of Aries was about to appear in the heavens. G-d told the Israelites that from then on, NISAN would be the first or foremost month of the year for them! This would 'announce' to the world (Egypt) that the Israelites were His firstborn (Exodus 4:22), guided by G-d who lives in the Heavens and created all that is in them.
G-d said that He placed the stars, the moon and the sun in the heavens for signs and seasons. Psalm 19 implies that the stars 'speak'. It says they 'utter speech', 'show knowledge' and 'declare the glory of G-d' to the whole world. The constellations of 'Mazzeroth' (the zodiac) actually tell the story of the redemption of mankind. The word zodiac (Mazzeroth) and the names of many stars and constellations are mentioned in the Bible, for example in Isaiah, Job, 2 Kings, Psalms, Amos and the Book of Acts. Isaiah said that G-d calls all the stars by name (40:26). The names of the constellations are said to go back to Adam, Seth and Enoch. This is NOT to be confused with astrology which is an evil perversion used as divination by worshipers of the creation rather than the CREATOR.
The Hebrew sages taught that G-d instructed Moses to tell the Israelites to select a lamb on the Sabbath (Saturday) of the 10th of Nisan, and to inspect it for three days to be sure it was perfect in every way (it being a type of Egypt's god).
In following the Gospel accounts, it can be determined that Yeshua, being the fulfillment of the ritual to which the first Passover pointed, was 'chosen' on the 10th of Nisan which was a Sabbath during the year He was crucified.
Then on the 14th, the fourth day, between 3:00 and 5:00 p.m. (according to the Jewish historian Josephus), they were to slay the lamb, the Egyptian deity, and sprinkle its blood on their doorposts in full view of the Egyptians. (The doorposts of Egyptian homes and many Israelites were engraved with symbols of Aires the ram.) This bold act of defiance signified that the people within that house acknowledged G-d's power and protection rather than that of Aries.
The Gospel accounts of Yeshua's crucifixion testify that He died at the ninth hour (i.e. 3:00 p.m.Matthew 27:46) making Him the first lamb to be slain that year on Passover which is the Preparation Day for the Feast of Unleavened Bread that follows. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is today called The Feast of Passover or Pesach.
The word Pesach comes from a Hebrew root meaning "to protect, guard or defend". When G-d saw the blood on their doors, He knew that the idolatrous Egyptian beliefs had been eradicated from their lives and He protected them from the angel of death that passed through Egypt that night. Further, the lamb had to be roasted so that the smell would permeate the land, letting all Egypt know that Aries' power had failed to protect and guide them.
Long before the symbolic slaying of Egypt's heavenly guide, Aries, though, G-d demonstrated to Abraham how He would redeem mankind from the power of sin. The slaying of Aries and the slaying of Yeshua to which it pointed were both prefigured in the story known in Hebrew as the AkeidaAbraham's sacrifice of Isaac as recorded in Genesis 22.
In that sacrifice, Abraham took his firstborn son on a three day journey to the place of which G-d told him. He and Isaac ascended Mt. Moriah the next day or 4th day. He laid his son on an altar and was about to slay him as G-d had instructed when a messenger of the L-rd spoke to him from heaven and prevented him from carrying out the sacrifice. G-d provided a substitute, a ram caught by his horns in a thicketa picture of Yeshua the substitute Ram, wearing a crown of thorns on His head at His crucifixion. The Akeida prefigured the selection of the lamb (both Aries and Yeshua) on the 10th and its slaughter on the 14th.
To clearly understand what was happening one must go back to the beginning. In the Garden of Eden, G-d gave man dominion over the earth; and because Adam and Eve were sinless, G-d had dominion over them. But G-d did not want to have fellowship with robots; so He gave man the choice to worship and obey Him or not.
To do this, He put two trees in the Garden: The Tree of Life, type of Yeshua, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, a type of Satan. Then G-d gave Adam His Law: THE MAN WHO SINS WILL DIE. The only rule they could break in order to sin was the rule not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. When Adam and Eve disobeyed that rule, the Law of Sin and Death entered into them.
Spiritual beings have access to the earth only through man. Therefore, when Adam and Eve chose to obey Satan rather than trusting G-d, Satan gained dominion over mankind. When sin entered in, they had to leave the place of fellowship with G-d, the Garden of Eden, or Paradise.
It was then that G-d established the sacrificial system. As a temporary solution, G-d himself killed two animals in their stead, so that Adam and Eve did not have to die eternally. When He looked at them, G-d saw them clothed in the skins of the animals whose blood was shed on their behalf because of their disobedience. Through animal sacrifices, G-d protected them from the death they deserved. Animal sacrifices, however, had to be repeated over and over until G-d would bring the man who would die once for the sins of all mankind.
Just as Aries is a heavenly body, the archangel Satan or Lucifer (Morning Star) is a heavenly body, an angel. Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 both describe him as the foremost of angelshe excelled in beauty and power in every way until sin was found in him. The New Testament, in fact, calls him THE MAN OF SIN or simply SIN.
The apostle Paul says that Yeshua, who knew no sin became SIN for us. In the Garden of Gethsemane (meaning 'olive press'), before His crucifixion, the 'sins of the world' were literally 'pressed into Him'.
This event was also prefigured in the Old Testament: The Israelites were dying when bitten by venomous snakes in the wilderness (Numbers 21:8-9). G-d told Moses to put a brass snake (brass symbolizes judgment) on a pole and tell the Israelites that when they looked at it they would live and not die. This was a foreshadowing of the crucifixion, Yeshua becoming THE SERPENT, bringing judgment on the power of sin and death.
To put it in New Testament terms:
To become a believer in Yeshua, an individual must first repent of having obeyed and trusted THE MAN OF SIN rather than G-D. There is no salvation without repentance. Figuratively, the sinner places his hand on Yeshua's head while confessing his sins. Yeshua's righteousness is imparted to the repentant individual and the sinner's sinfulness is transferred to Yeshua. In this symbolic act, the individual slays himself in proxy, just as Yeshua was slain in proxy for SIN.
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of G-d, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)
After dying as SIN or THE MAN OF SIN, Yeshua was resurrected as the CONQUERING KING! When a believer acknowledges his part in Yeshua's death, he too is resurrected, reborn spiritually with Yeshua, THE BRIGHT MORNING STAR, the only true heavenly GUIDE.
When G-d looks at a believer, He sees him/her 'wearing' the blood of Yeshua on the doorpost of his/her heart, out in the open, where the world can see that sin has been crucified in his/her life. This proves that they have been resurrected and that Yeshua lives in them.