The Passover Reborn Series

Chico Alliance Church

Pastor David Welch

The Passover Reborn

Introduction

God first prepared his people for deliverance through hardship. They needed to realize how miserable it is to serve any other nation and god. Next God prepared a leader to lead them through the process of deliverance.

It took time bring about the level of humility needed for such an awesome task.

It took 40 years, but he got the job done.

By the time God was finished wit Moses he had a man who place no confidence n his own power and had absolute confidence in God’s promise. Finally, after over 400 years of increasingly difficult bondage, God initiates the events necessary to bring about not just a deliverance but a GREAT deliverance that would stand in history as the benchmark of all deliverances and serve as a most remarkable illustration of the final deliverance through Jesus.

Beginning in chapter 5 Moses recorded a series of twelve confrontations with Pharaoh and his gods. After a series of confrontations and national calamities, God delivered the final blow that would force Pharaoh to relinquish his hold on the Israelites. God would dispatch an angel to kill the first-born male of both man and beast. Escaping this vicious visitation of death would require absolute adherence to God’s instruction. The angel of death would PASSOVER Every family who followed God’s instructions. These instructions are found in Exodus 12-13. The instructions were not only prescribed for that point in time but to be celebrate yearly as a remembrance of that significant event when God “passed over” the families of Israel but struck every family in Egypt. By the time God was finished, there was no doubt who was in charge.

I. Passover Celebration Instituted

• Each household was to select an unblemished male lamb or goat and bring it into their homes for fourteen days.

• Passover celebration followed several days of avoiding leavened bread. (yeast symbolized sin).

• Passover could be celebrated only by those who where Hebrews or circumcised converts.

• Passover must be preceded by a time of personal cleansing.

• None of the bones of the sacrifice were to be broken.

• The blood of the sacrifice was to be applied with a hyssop branch (purity) to the top and sides of the entrance to the house.

• The Passover sacrifice was to be completely consumed along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

• Because God spared the first-born of Israel’s family, the first-born male was to be dedicated to God’s service or redeemed (payment of a price).

Out of these instructions has come a traditional ceremony still practiced today by Jewish families. The ceremony is pretty standardized but there are some variations.

II. The Passover Celebration formalized

A. Candle lighting

Preparations began with a ceremonial lighting of candles to search the house for any leavened bread.

B. 1st Cup (Sanctification)

With the first cup the family was encouraged to remember the fact that they were a people chosen of God. Out of all peoples, God chose them. This is probably the cup drunk by Jesus as He expressed His desire to eat this Passover before His suffering and that He would not celebrate it again with them until the Kingdom of God.

C. Wash

Again a ceremonial cleansing before eating.

D. Vegetables in salt water

At this time, onions or parsley were dipped in salt water to signify the tears of bondage.

E. Break the Bread

Three wafers of unleavened bread were laid out. (Trinity) The wafers appeared pierced and stripped. The middle wafer was taken and broke in two, hiding one of the wafers until later.

All in need were invited to celebrate.

F. Recount the great deliverance

At this point one of the children would ask four questions regarding the significance of it all.

It would be answered by recounting the story of the great deliverance. They would describe each plague as the head of the house would dip his finger in the second cup and touch the plate.

The plagues not only got the attention of the Egyptians but each plague undermined and humiliated some god venerated by the Egyptians. On a spiritual level, each of these gods also represented some demonic entity associated with them.

No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. 1 Cor. 10:20

The significance of the lamb and the unleavened bread and the bitter herbs is then discussed.

G. Washing

At this time there is another cleansing.

H. Bitter Herbs

Everyone eats strong horseradish with bread.

This is again the reminder of how bitter things were under the servitude of anyone other than God.

I. Broken bread

The bread once hidden will be found again.