What does "a lasting ordinance" mean for Christians today?

Understanding the Phrase “a Lasting Ordinance”

• In Exodus 12:14 the Lord speaks of Passover: “This day is to be a memorial for you, and you are to celebrate it as a feast to the LORD; it is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.”

• The Hebrew word ḥuqqâ carries the sense of a perpetual statute—an instruction that endures.

• “Lasting” points to permanence; “ordinance” underscores something commanded, not optional.

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Why the Command Was Given

• To keep Israel’s deliverance fresh before every generation (Exodus 12:26-27).

• To spotlight substitutionary sacrifice—​the lamb’s blood that spared the firstborn (Exodus 12:13).

• To preserve national identity and covenant loyalty (Leviticus 23:21, 31).

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How Christ Fulfills the Ordinance

• John 1:29: “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

• 1 Corinthians 5:7-8: “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the feast…”

• Hebrews 9:12: “He entered the Most Holy Place once for all … having obtained eternal redemption.”

Because the substance is now realized in the Messiah, the shadow (the ritual) has served its preparatory purpose (Colossians 2:16-17).

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What “a Lasting Ordinance” Means for Christians Today

• The salvation it prefigures is irrevocable. Christ’s atonement is eternally effective (Hebrews 10:14).

• The memorial aspect continues, now centered in the Lord’s Supper: “Do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19).

• The moral call endures—​God still requires consecration, worship, and a people set apart (1 Peter 1:15-16).

• The narrative shapes our identity. We read Exodus not as distant history but as our own redemption story (1 Corinthians 10:1-4).

• The ordinance’s “lasting” character fuels hope: the same God who redeemed then will keep His promises until the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9).

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Practical Ways to Live Out the Principle

• Celebrate redemption regularly—​share testimonies of how the Lamb’s blood still delivers.

• Participate reverently in Communion, connecting the bread and cup to the Passover fulfilled in Christ.

• Teach children the Exodus account, linking it to the cross, so the memory stays vibrant “for the generations to come.”

• Walk in unleavened sincerity and truth (1 Corinthians 5:8), rooting out sin like Israel removed leaven.

• Rest in the permanence of God’s covenant love; what He ordains as lasting remains secure forever.