JEWISH HOLIDAY | SARAH WEINER our shared heritage
And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘This is done because of what the LORD did for me when I came up from Egypt.’
...for with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt. You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.
—Exodus 13:9-10, 14
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Te second chapter of Ephesians reminds non-Jewish Believers that they were once without hope and without God—they were called aliens and strangers. Tey could not participate in the celebration of Passover unless circumcised (Exodus 12:48-49).
Yet now, through Messiah Yeshua, the promise to Abram has been realized, and those who once were far off have been brought near as the wall separating the Gentiles from the worship of the God of Israel has been broken down through the blood of the [Passover] Lamb of God (Ephesians 2:13-19).
Promise & Expectation Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are two of the seven biblical Feasts found in Leviticus 23. Te Hebrew word is mo’ed, which means “appointed time” [with God]. Tese important spring Feasts begin the biblical calendar and reveal prophetic truth about the nature of God, and His redemptive plan for the world.
The “Telling”—Generation to Generation While the traditional Seder, or “meal,” has changed a bit over the past 2,000 years, the purpose remains the same—“the telling.” Tis is not unique to Passover. Deuteronomy 6:7 gives wise instruction: “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk
by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.”
From time immemorial the Jewish People have taught their children the Torah, and this helped to preserve them as a People. Trough the plagues of Europe, by living according to biblical command- ments, Jewish People by and large did not contract these terrible diseases. Trough near two millennia suffering persecu- tions, pogroms, and the Holocaust, with no country to call their own, the Word of God bound them together and to their God . . . gave hope, promise, and purpose . . . generation to generation. Believers understand that there is also an intangible spiritual benefit to learning and doing the Word and the Will of the Lord. Tis isn’t legalism—this is life.
A major part of the Seder is called the Maggid, which is the retelling of the Pass- over story from the Exodus Scriptures and the recital of the “Four Questions” from the youngest son. It is a dramatic story that unfolds throughout the eve- ning, with tears and laughter and warmth.
Tere is always a hush among the chil- dren as the account is read of the Angel of Death moving throughout the homes of Egypt, taking the lives of the firstborn of man and beast. To think that it is the blood of a lamb applied to the doorposts of the Hebrew slaves that saved them, prophetically pointing to Revelation 12:11: “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of
their testimony” !
In this we rejoice and testify—God’s enduring faithfulness to Israel and those who trust in His salvation—from that first Passover lamb in Egypt to Yeshua (Jesus), the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
“I will pass over you . . .” A milestone event, Passover is considered foundational to the establishment of the Hebrew People. Te term Passover, or Pesach in Hebrew, originates with Exodus 12. In order to compel Pharaoh to release the Hebrew slaves, God would execute the tenth and most terrifying plague to af- flict Egypt—the death of every firstborn. However, God told Moses to instruct the Hebrews to take a lamb, sacrifice it, and apply its blood to the lintel and the doorposts of their homes. By doing so, the Jewish People would be saved.
“For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”
—Exodus 12:12-13.
(continued on page 23) Jewish Voice Today 17
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