I have written on this theme of Passover before, but not specifically about how it relates to God bringing about a holy nation. I decided it would be a good venture, even though some scriptures are repeated.

Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, . . .

The very first thing God promised Abraham was that He would make him a great nation. Abraham begat Isaac and he begat Jacob who brought forth 12 sons. We are familiar with the life of Joseph and how he was sold and ended up in Egypt. Jacob and his sons were united with Joseph in Egypt in a time of famine and Israel grew in numbers during their stay there that spanned a period of over 400 years. It was at the end of that period that God sent Moses to Pharoah to tell him to "Let My people go." When God called Moses, it was because of His promise to Abraham:

Exodus 2:24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

We all know what happened after that. The Lord brought His promise to Abraham to fruition and it has been said that over 600,000 marched out of Egypt on the day of the exodus:

Dueteronomy 4:34 Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

One of the reasons God allowed Israel to be held in slavery in Egypt was that they might multiply, and multiply they did. God would bring them out of Egypt as a nation, and issued a call to this nation to be a holy nation peculiar to Himself:

Exodus 19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
7 And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him.
8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.

"All that the LORD hath spoken we will do." Sometimes they did, and sometimes they didn't. But God said He wanted a HOLY nation, and speaking of a future time, told Moses,

Dueteronomy 18:18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

When Jesus came, He fulfilled these words, but not all listened. Jesus said to the leaders of Israel in His time, "The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." The response to such statements was, "they sought to lay hands on him" (V. 46). Notice, too, in this same verse, "they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet."

He drew out of the nation formed by the physical seed of Abraham a nation purified by faith in Him. Just as Israel as a nation received the Old Covenant at Sinai, so did this nation, His Church, receive the New Covenant implemented through the feast of Passover. In a time of bondage under Rome, Jesus came to this nation that God had brought out of Egypt, and said,

Matthew 21:42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.
46 But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.

What "nation" is Jesus speaking of here? We know now He was speaking of the spiritual seed of Abraham, His Church, that stood within natural Israel and to which the Gentiles would be added. Through the centuries, God would then add Jews and Gentiles to this nation out of all the nations, all who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. This state of His Church would prevail until "all Israel should be saved" (Romans 11:25, 26), meaning a remnant He would preserve out of endtime-Israel. In a sense, when Jesus came, He took a nation out of a nation as He did with Egypt. That He did this is stated in 1 Peter:

1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

(See my series, "A Brief History Of The Redefined Abrahamic Covenant: The Church And Israel In The Last Days" on my web page.)

Part 1: Some Background On God's Nation
Part 2: Jesus' Passover And God's Nation
Part 3: The Final Gathering Of God's Nation
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