Yes — the requirement that the Passover lamb be without blemish set apart a perfect sacrifice, and Les Feldick explains that it pictured Jesus Christ, who proved Himself sinless before His crucifixion.
Scripture plainly commands that the lamb be 'without blemish, a male of the first year' (Exodus 12:5). Les highlights that Israel kept the lamb from the tenth day to the fourteenth day — three full days of scrutiny — to ensure it was perfect. He then compares those three days to Jesus' three years of public ministry, in which He proved Himself without blemish and without spot.
Exodus 12:5 — The verse that explicitly requires the Passover lamb to be 'without blemish' — the foundation of the whole question.
Exodus 12:6 — Instructs Israel to keep the lamb until the fourteenth day, the period Les identifies as the three-day examination.
In Exodus 12, God gave Israel the instructions for the Passover on the night of the final plague in Egypt. On the tenth day of the month, every household was to take a lamb for its house (Exodus 12:3). Verse 5 sets the requirement: 'Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats.' Then, according to verse 6, the lamb was to be kept 'until the fourteenth day of the same month,' when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel killed it in the evening. The biblical text itself therefore establishes that the Passover sacrifice had to be a flawless animal of the first year, selected on the tenth day and kept until it was slain on the fourteenth.
Les Feldick focuses on what happened between the selection of the lamb and the sacrifice. He says the family was to 'pin it up' from the tenth until the fourteenth day — three full days — and examine the lamb daily. 'If there was the slightest thing wrong with it, they'd have to reject it for being their Passover lamb. But if after that three days of scrutiny they were satisfied it was perfect, it was without blemish, then they could offer it as their Passover lamb' (Clip 1). That examination, he teaches, was a picture: 'The three days were comparable to his three years of earthly ministry, where also he proved himself without blemish. As Paul says, He who knew no sin, he never sinned' (Clip 1). Les concludes: 'His three years was impeccable, and he proved himself worthy to be the Passover lamb. A lamb without blemish, and without spot' (Clip 3). In short, the unblemished lamb's significance is Jesus Himself — publicly observed and found flawless before His sacrifice.
Les teaches from Exodus 12 that the lamb was taken on the tenth day of the month and 'pinned up' until the fourteenth — three full days. During that time, the household examined it daily; if the slightest thing was wrong, it had to be rejected as the Passover lamb. Only after three days of scrutiny, if it was found perfect and without blemish, could it be offered (Clip 1; Clip 5).
Les draws the comparison directly: 'The three days were comparable to his three years of earthly ministry, where also he proved himself without blemish. As Paul says, He who knew no sin, he never sinned.' He adds that Jesus' three years were impeccable and that He proved Himself worthy to be the Passover lamb — 'a lamb without blemish, and without spot' (Clip 1; Clip 3). He also recalls that John called Jesus 'the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world' (Clip 4).
The command itself is explicit: the lamb was to be 'without blemish, a male of the first year' (Exodus 12:5). Les frames the Old Testament Passover as 'written for our learning,' citing Romans 15:4, so that the types enhance what we understand in the New Testament (Clip 4). He then applies it directly: 'Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us' (1 Corinthians 5:7, Clip 7). The perfect lamb of Exodus is applied by Les to the New Testament fulfillment in Christ.
Why God Separated Israel: The Meaning of the Blood on the Doorposts
at Antioch. And so when his fellow Jews came up from Jerusalem, Paul says, what about Peter? Hey, you withdrew. And Peter went right back to that old mentality that, after all, Jews could not fellowship with Gentiles. But, you see, that's the beauty of the church.
The Three-Day Examination
Les explains that Israel kept the lamb from the tenth to the fourteenth day, examining it daily for any blemish, and compares those three days to Christ's three years of ministry proving His sinlessness.
The Written Command
Les reads Exodus 12:3-6, grounding the answer in the scriptural command that the lamb be without blemish, a male of the first year, taken from the sheep or goats.
Worthy to Be the Passover Lamb
Les declares that Jesus' three years were impeccable, proving Him worthy to be the Passover lamb — 'a lamb without blemish, and without spot.'
The Lamb of God and Our Learning
Les sets the context: John called Jesus the Lamb of God, and the Old Testament pictures were written for our learning (Romans 15:4).
The Command Restated
Les recaps Exodus 12:5-6: the lamb was to be without blemish, a male of the first year, kept for three days until the fourteenth of the month.
Why Did the Disciples Not Know Jesus Would Die?
And consequently, the Passover, as we're going to be looking at it, could not have been a Saturday Passover because that would have flown in the face of everything that took place before. Now, this is going to probably shock a few of you, but I do these things to get people to dig. You go back in the Old Testament, you'll never find that the Jews offered animal sacrifice on the Sabbath.
Christ Our Passover
Les applies the Passover to believers: 'Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us,' and pictures the blood on the doorposts forming the outline of the cross.
Exodus 12:3: Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:
God's instruction to select the lamb on the tenth day begins the period in which the lamb's perfection would be confirmed.
Exodus 12:5: Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
The central, explicit requirement that the Passover lamb be flawless — the scriptural basis for the entire question.
Exodus 12:6: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
The lamb was kept for three days before being slain; Les identifies this as the time of scrutiny.
1 Corinthians 5:7: Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
Paul directly calls Christ 'our passover,' which Les cites as the New Testament fulfillment.
2 Corinthians 5:21: For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Les references Paul's phrase 'who knew no sin' to show the sinlessness the unblemished lamb pictured.
Romans 15:4: For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
Les explains why the Old Testament Passover details are instructive for New Testament believers.
John 1:29: The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
John's identification of Jesus as the Lamb of God, mentioned by Les as the New Testament counterpart to the Passover lamb.
It means the Passover lamb had to be physically perfect — a male of the first year with no defect. Les teaches that Israel examined the lamb daily from the tenth to the fourteenth day, and if the slightest thing was wrong, it was rejected as the Passover lamb (Clips 1, 5).
God commanded them to keep the lamb until the fourteenth day of the month (Exodus 12:6). Les explains that this three-day period was for scrutiny: the household watched the lamb to make sure it was without blemish before it could be offered as the Passover sacrifice (Clip 1).
Les compares the three days of examining the lamb to Jesus' three years of public ministry, during which He proved Himself without blemish — He never sinned. Jesus was found impeccable and worthy to be the Passover lamb, without spot or blemish (Clips 1, 3).
Yes — 1 Corinthians 5:7 says 'Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.' Les points to this as the New Testament application of the Passover lamb, and he pictures the blood on the doorposts forming the outline of the cross (Clip 7).
Watch the Teaching: Why God Separated Israel: The Meaning of the Blood on the Doorposts