The first Festival of Leviticus 23 is YHWH’s Passover, which is different from the rest in several aspects. The Passover is a holy domestic event, not a public assembly, and only those of circumcised households could eat the meal (Exodus 12). For their protection, YHWH commanded the Israelites not to go out of the door of their houses until morning, yet He told them to dress for hasty travel. Carefully watching over Israel, YHWH did not allow the destroyer to
enter but delivered their households. The “order of service” YHWH commanded emerges for us “to guard over this act of worship,” observing it as an everlasting ordinance by teaching it to our children (Exo. 12:24-27).

Besides defining who could eat the Passover, YHWH’s Passover feast had detailed specifications for choosing the lamb, when to kill it, what to do with the blood, how to cook the meat and dispose of leftovers, where to eat it, and what to eat with it, bitter herbs and unleavened bread. Executing judgment against all the gods of Egypt, YHWH struck their firstborn at about midnight but passed over the houses of the children of Israel marked with the lamb’s blood. Protecting the nation, YHWH purchased Israel by His blood, redeeming her as a firstborn of nations. Giving His life for Israel, she became His treasured possession, betrothed to Him. An expression of covenant love (chesed), the marriage motif is a major aspect of Passover. The first feast is an everlasting ordinance because of what He did as the Lamb of God.

In the Passover instructions, there is no command to “do no customary work,” for the day was a preparation day. On the morning of Passover day, the Israelites left their houses to ask the Egyptians for spoils, articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. YHWH gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so they granted them what they requested, driving them out of Egypt. Plundering Egypt fulfilled YHWH’s promise to Moses that Israel would not leave Egypt empty-handed and they would worship Him on the same mountain as the burning bush (Exo. 3:12, 21-22).

After spoiling the Egyptians, Israel, with the unleavened dough in their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders, gathered at Rameses, where Moses organized them into army tribes, ready to leave by nightfall. And not even a dog barked against the commotion of Israel arranging to leave Egypt with their flocks (goats and sheep) and herds (cattle, Exo. 11:7).

On Passover, YHWH carried out justice against Israel’s Egyptian oppressors, making a name for Himself before the nations as the God of the Exodus. “I am the God who brought you out” is the name He revealed Himself to Israel more than any other. Without Passover’s victory, there would be no exodus. YHWH commanded observance of the Passover as a memorial feast that looks back and yet forward. The first of YHWH’s feasts memorializes ancient Israel’s historic event and also our individual exodus out of the bondage to sin and death through the Lamb of God’s Passover blood. At some point in time, people of all nations will celebrate YHWH as the God of their exodus.

Takeaway:
Passover is the underpinning of all YHWH’s Feasts. The Passover sacrifice opens the door to participation in seven following holy convocations. Because Passover’s appointed time is holy, the year’s appointed Feasts are also sacred. At Passover, YHWH identified Himself as the protecting God of justice.

Fun Factors:
Exodus 12:5 describes the Passover lamb chosen for each household to kill on Abib 14, a letter sum of 2758 or 14 (14² + 1²).
Fourteen in Hebrew, four and ten, has a letter sum of 848, 2⁴ × 53, or 28² + 8².
Exodus 12:7 is the command to put the lamb’s blood on the doorposts and lintel of the house. It has a letter sum of 4292, 2² × 29 × 37, or 56² + 34²
“Passover” has a numeric value of 148, 2² × 37, or 12² + 2²
“The Passover of YHWH” equals 216, 2³ × 3³, or 3³ + 4³ + 5³, 2160 miles is the moon’s diameter. The moon’s monthly cycles set in motion the appointed times of YHWH’s feasts.
Exodus 12 has 2836 letters, 4(22² + 15²), 751 words (the 133^rd prime, 133 = 7 × 19), and a letter sum of 199,295, 5 × 23 × 1733, or 115(38² + 17²).
Leviticus 23:5, the Passover command, has 40 letters, 9 words (9 is the number symbolic of the execution of righteousness and justice), and a letter sum of 2661, 3 × 887, 887 = the 154^th prime, 154 = 14 × 11.