Pesach
To the faithful in Christ:
Greetings! I hope you all are well and have a measure of peace. I know the journey is, at times, wearisome, but I encourage you to continue in well-doing. Keep up the good fight, saints, and remember the Lord during this week. Passover, or Pesach, occurs during the days of unleavened bread. God instituted this holy memorial to remind His people of the miracles He performed when He delivered the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt.
“And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance forever.” (Exodus 12:16-18 KJV)
The backdrop to the first Passover was quite dire. The Egyptians had enslaved the children of Israel for over four hundred years before Pharaoh increased their burden, making it harder for them to complete their tasks. The Israelites cried to God, and He heard them and remembered the covenant He made with their fathers. And so, He sent Moses and his brother Aaron to tell Pharaoh to free the children of Israel so they could go and worship Him in the wilderness. Pharaoh refused, though, and God hardened his heart in order that He might demonstrate His power to all nations and make His name great. Nine plagues devasted the land of Egypt, yet Pharaoh stiffened his neck even more and defied God’s command to release the children of Israel. The tenth plague, however, brought Pharaoh to his knees.
The preparation for this plague merits solemn remembrance because it foreshadows the Lord’s sacrifice. The Bible says before the final plague occurred, God instructed Moses and Aaron to tell the children of Israel to have each household select a male lamb of the first year and take some of its blood to put on the lintel and doorposts of their homes. The Angel of the Lord would pass over every home that had the blood upon it but would kill the all the firstborn in Egypt where the blood was not.
“And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying,
This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. 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: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: 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. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite 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. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever.” (Exodus 12:1-14 KJV)
After the destroyer passed through Egypt and killed all the firstborn, including Pharaoh’s son, Pharaoh relented and let the Israelites go. From these events come the Passover, which is the true holy day that believers celebrate.
This year, Passover is Friday April 19 through Saturday April 27. However, many Christians abbreviate the holy week, celebrating only Good Friday as the day the Lord was crucified and buried and Easter Sunday as the day of the Lord’s resurrection – and this sequencing does not even agree with Scripture. In addition, many also incorporate bunnies and egg hunts into their Easter celebration. The Scripture tells us, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” (Colossians 2:16-17 KJV) However, this passage does not permit us to partake of pagan traditions. Let us lay aside such weights, Church, as these vain practices should not be included when we remember God’s Passover, and let us be mindful, then, not to sprinkle that which is holy with the blood of pigs.
Instead, let us reflect on the power of the Lord’s sacrifice during these days of unleavened bread. “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.” (Hebrews 10: 1-4) Hence, we know that the blood of the Lamb is the atonement that purifies and consecrates earthen vessels. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV) As such, let us commemorate God fulfilling His promise when the Lord died on the cross and was resurrected by the Holy Spirit. And let us not be silent when boldness is appropriate. “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1: 18 KJV) This is our grace, and we must always remember the way that we have come.