Not Just for Jews: Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread

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Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread | FromHisPresence.com

Did you know that Passover begins today? It’s Holy Week–the week when Jesus made His last triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The week when He carried out His last tasks in preparation for His death.

It’s a holy time.

But you know what? God’s Word calls this week–Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread–a party!

And to tell you all about this holy party that God throws every year, I’ve asked my friend Dan Brown, Director of Outreach with this ministry and former humanitarian worker in Israel–to tell you the marvelous story of Passover.

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    So without further ado, give it up for Pastor Dan!

    Welcome to the story of Passover, and the setting in which it is told every single year!

    Do you like to hear a good story? Better yet, do you like to hear a good story while seated at a dining table, awaiting a scrumptious meal? If so, then …

    Without a doubt, one of the greatest stories recorded in the Bible is the account of Moses and the Israelites and their deliverance from slavery in Egypt, as recorded in the Book of Exodus (chapters 1-15). Very few are unfamiliar with this amazing story that includes:

    • Moses hearing the voice of God from a burning bush that was not consumed;
    • Aaron coming alongside his brother, Moses, who kept questioning why God would choose him to deliver the Israelites;
    • Pharaoh maintaining a hard heart and refusing to let the Israelites leave Egypt, in spite of a series of ten horrific plagues that were visited upon the Egyptians through the hands of Moses;
    • Israelite families being instructed to sacrifice a lamb and place some of its blood on the doorposts of their homes, while the death angel passed over Egypt;
    • The parting of the Red Sea and the Israelites passing through it on dry ground, while Pharaoh and his army were drowned in the water as they pursued God’s people.

    This is the story of Passover, known in Hebrew as Pesach (פסח) and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

    Passover is a story of love and deliverance that even the finest novelist or Hollywood writer could not conceive on their own!

    It is also the historical event that established the Hebrew people—the Israelites, the descendants of Abraham—as God’s chosen people; the ones who would forever inherit the Promised Land, the land of Israel.

    Passover was so momentous that God commanded His people to reflect on it annually throughout all of their future generations (Exodus 12:14). The events of Passover are as important to the Jews as the death and resurrection of Jesus is to Christians. And the truth is, both of these acts of God were indispensable for the salvation of the world.

    If God had not intervened in Egypt, the Hebrew people might never have survived, and the future Messiah and Savior of the world might not have come!

    And without the coming of the long-awaited Messiah, the entire world would have remained in their prison of sin!

    With all of this in mind, let us reflect a bit longer on the ramifications of God’s mighty intervention in the history of an oppressed people and a sin-hardened world …

    • It is the 14th of Nisan in about the year 1,440 B.C.

    • It was the culmination of some of the most amazing miracles ever performed–utterly devastating one nation while ushering in the birth of another; a nation specially chosen by God and for whom He fought in extraordinary ways.

    • It was a dramatic beginning for a people who had lived under slavery and oppression for over 400 years—a people who cried out to their God, a God they barely knew, and watched Him raise up an initially tentative leader who challenged a powerful ruler and was used by God to unleash unheard-of miracles that led to their release and deliverance.

    • It is a true story involving the plundering of a people (the Egyptians) who willingly gave of their belongings and treasures. It is also the story of how the Israelites had to slaughter young, spotless lambs to obtain the blood they needed to place on the door posts of their homes, so that the Angel of Death would leave the Israelites untouched while he killed all the firstborn of men and animals in the land of Egypt.

    • It is the story of how more than a million people left Egypt at once and passed through a thin corridor of dry ground, with walls of water on either side, as if they were in an aquarium! Every single Israelite passed through this miracle highway unharmed, but the pursuing Egyptians all drowned!

    Almost 3500 years later, this historic event is still remembered and celebrated.

    Passover is still the central event in the lives of the Israelites’ descendants! To this very day, these descendants re-enact the baking of bread without leaven, reminding them of the haste with which they left Egypt, and of the need to rid their lives of sin and of the bondage of Egypt that had held them for so long.

    Passover—and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which starts on Nisan 15 and continues for seven days—is the first of the two bookends of God’s redemptive work in the world.

    These two events show God dramatically revealing Himself to a defeated, downtrodden people–and also to a ruthless, power-hungry ruler and his subjects. It was an event that foreshadowed God’s imminent unveiling to a sin-sick, war-weary modern world.

    And for Jewish descendants and those God grafted in:

    Some of you reading this are the flesh-and-blood descendants of those who saw and experienced the very first Passover. The rest of us, if we have given our lives to Jesus and made Him our Lord and Savior, have been grafted into this historical event (Romans 11) that lives on to this very day!
    We, too, have experienced Passover!

    That means:

    • We, too, were oppressed and held as slaves by an enemy far greater than Pharaoh—an enemy that used us, abused us, and would not let us go. An enemy that relentlessly pursued us until we made our way through the waters of baptism into the Promised Land of eternal life and freedom!

    • We, too, need to remember the bitterness and oppression of sin; to remember the lengths to which God went to deliver us from the clutches of Lucifer, Satan, the serpent of old.

    • And we must daily remember the Sacrificial Lamb who came to give us life, and to cover us with His life-saving blood. Death has passed over us and has passed us by! WE now have life eternal!

    Because the sacrifice of the Passover lamb foreshadowed the sacrifice of the Lamb of God.

    Who would have known that the young, spotless lambs—lambs that lived for a few days with each family and then were sacrificed for their blood—would foreshadow a human lamb: the Incarnate Son of God who was the Lamb of God? The Lamb of God who would dwell among His people for a few years, then willingly sacrifice Himself so that death would be defeated and would no longer have a hold on those who are covered by His blood?

    “Christ, our Passover,” as Paul told us in 1 Corinthians 5:7, provided the way of deliverance for multitudes around the world who would place their faith in Him! Christ, our Passover Lamb, was slain before the foundation of the world!

    Do you see why Passover is an event every Christian should celebrate with joy, right along with the Jewish people?

    The greatest events that we as believers can celebrate are the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. However,  celebrating such momentous events as Passover brings us closer to our spiritual forefathers, giving us a greater appreciation for the work of redemption that God has done for His people through the ages!

    Out of all the Jewish feasts that are celebrated throughout the year, this is the one in which every Christian should be encouraged to participate!

    Is it required that we celebrate Passover and participate in a Seder in order to be a “good Christian”? No, of course not! Again, the proper way to respond to the annual feasts is, “we get to,” not “we have to.” We don’t have to, but celebrating God’s work and His feasts is a privilege we can enjoy!

    And celebrating a Passover Seder is so much fun!

    If you have never participated in a Passover Seder (pronounced “say-der”), make it a priority to find one hosted by a church or a family you know! From the Hebrew word for “order,” a Seder is a ceremonial dinner held on the first evening of Passover (April 10 in 2017) in commemoration of the exodus from Egypt.

    Using a printed order of service, called a haggadah, the Passover story is retold using Scripture, songs, and summaries of all that God did, interspersed with special blessings, prayers, and the eating of foods that represent the events of Passover.

    The Passover Seder is so much fun–and it’s a wonderful time with the Lord! It takes awhile to go through the whole ceremony, too. If you attend one, be sure and allow yourself at least three hours for the feasting and celebrating!

    “Therefore, let us celebrate the feast,” as 1 Corinthians 5:8 says, “not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

    As Christians, we celebrate Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread because Messiah, our Passover, has been slain. Messiah, our Passover, is risen!

    Hallelujah!

    Have you ever celebrated Passover? If so, please leave a comment below and tell us about your experience! And if you never have noticed this wonderful holiday, why not start this year? You’ll be glad you did.

    Dan Brown
    Clovis, New Mexico

    Pastor Dan Brown

    Dan Brown has been in full-time ministry for 41 years as a pastor, church planter, missionary and teacher. He and his wife, Jan, have served numerous ministries and missions organizations, and he is currently on staff with From His Presence® as well as a board member.

    Dan graduated from Golden Gate Seminary in Mill Valley, CA (now Gateway Seminary in the L.A. Area) with an Master of Divinity in 1986. He received a strong call to Israel in 2007 and he and Jan served for two years in Jerusalem with Bridges for Peace.

    Dan’s passion is still for Israel and for the Jewish people. Dan and Jan have one daughter and three young grandsons.

    7 Comments

    1. armstrong mangvwat says:

      Last year i celebrated the pass over here in Nigeria with Rabbi Gerald Young a Jew serving as a missionary in Plateau state Nigeria.we observed the Jewish rites by eating the lamb quickly with some bitter herbs,we ate the unleavened bread with the wine of the holy communion and every thing we ate symbolically had a meaning.Afterwards the holy spirit started moving in the meeting and words of prophecy were released to individuals we were not more than 15 in number at that meeting.I have been invited again tomorrow by rabbi friend and i look forward to the experience it brings me accept the reality of the finished work of Jesus on the cross when he said it is finished.Happy Passover to all presence seekers

      1. Minnie Shields says:

        I am happy that you got to go must of been a thrill to be able to do that.

    2. Susan Jones says:

      Yes I have! I was not very old in the Lord and celebrating the Passover in the Christian way was a very spiritual experience! Deepened the meaning of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

    3. Laura Renee says:

      Yes! We just went to our first Passover seder tonight! It was at a messianic jewish church and it was wonderful! We learned so much!!

      Thank you!

    4. CHARITY DELL says:

      As an African-American Pentecostal believer who has celebrated Passover since 1985, I have been privileged to share my own Passover Seder with believers. I first developed the seder as a way to teach the young choristers in the churches in which I worked as a children’s and youth
      choir director. I believe that the reason Passover celebrations have proliferated in all kinds of
      churches and fellowships–and in Christian homes–has to do with the worship-at-the-table
      format of the Passover Seder. One of the most enduring–and endearing!–qualities of Passover is
      the fact that, at our kitchen/dining room tables, we can slow down, suspend time, talk, sing and
      fellowship with family, relatives, friends and strangers; all while we explore the biblical events
      of God’s “mighty acts” (Psalm 150:2) and “His wonderful works to the children of men.” (Psalm 107:8)

      1. Passover observance can have a transformative effect upon those who participate. As our God is the ultimate audio-visual Instructor, we literally EAT our way through the Exodus and Passion narratives, walking through the Bible through the use of our five senses. We HEAR the biblical stories; we SEE and SMELL the various aromas of the Paschal foods; we TOUCH and TASTE the matzah, the lamb, the bitter herbs, the charoset and the parsley. Eating roasted lamb meat drives home the fact that the deliverance from Egypt AND our own deliverance from sin and
      eternal destruction WAS WON AT THE COST OF THOUSANDS OF LAMBS, and AT THE
      GREAT COST OF THE LAMB OF GOD, Who died for lost humanity during the Passover. I
      remember the first time I ate lamb meat and prepared it for my young choristers–it was truly
      an epiphany! Watching my young choristers understand what Passover was about, and how
      it linked to the Passover of the Resurrection, was a special joy I will never forget.

      2. Passover also teaches other important lessons about the character and heart of YAHWEH
      ELOHIM, Who provided liberation from slavery for THOUSANDS or MILLIONS of Gentile
      slaves who were oppressed by Egypt. God’s design for the Exodus including breaking the
      Egyptian economy which was built upon slavery) and destroying the polytheistic worship
      system of Egypt. YAHWEH demonstrated His power over creation, and by the use of Ten
      Plagues, converted THOUSANDS of Gentiles to the worship of the God of the Hebrews.
      By the time Egypt had been hit by several plagues, the Egyptians and others who respected
      Moses sheltered themselves and their cattle before the terrific hailstorm.

      3. Passover also shows us how God delivered ALL the slaves of Egypt–everyone had to place
      the blood of the lamb/goat kid on their doorposts and lintels. This demonstrates God’s determination to liberate ALL oppressed people from the degradation of slavery and its power
      to destroy and break the human spirit. ALL WHO LEFT EGYPT WITH THE HEBREWS HAD
      TO PERFORM THE SAME RITUALS TO ESCAPE THE DESTROYER OF THE FIRSTBORN.
      This also foreshadows what YAHWEH will do in Yeshua during Passover–provide a way for
      ALL humans to be delivered from death unto life through the blood of the Lamb of God. The
      God Who delivered slaves from bondage is ALSO the God Who demands JUSTICE and
      RIGHTEOUSNESS from all nations.

      For these reasons and many others, Passover celebration provides a richness of themes
      and an enriching, transformative experience for all who participate in its festive observance.

    5. Elizabeth Tuinidau says:

      Praise the Lord!Thank you so much Sis Jamie and Pst Dan for sharing the great message about the Passover celebration.Was reading all these comnents above,i wished i was attending that celebration.My country is different,the way you guys shared is so touching when you have that kind of food to eat on that day.It is really important and you people are so blessed to celebrate the real way of celebrating Passover.It is really a lovely story to hear.Amen!!Touches my heart.I hope that the Good LORD will acccept what i have here with me to celebrate Passover too.I need your love Lord Jesus towards us also.

    6. Annanson John says:

      Hallelujah!! Prophetess Jamie, and God bless you Pastor Daniel, for this revealing and insightful account of the passover festival. I am grateful and I going to keep especially 1Cor5:7,8(vr8) in my heart and my mind. I have never celebrated the passover, but I believe God will make a way in this life for me to experience this emancipatory festival of deliverance and Love.
      ANNANSON JOHN.

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