This evening, at sundown, Passover begins. Passover is the Jewish holiday for remembering the Israelite exodus from Egypt. The people of Israel had been slaves in Egypt for 430 years, before Moses gave Pharaoh the message from God that Pharaoh was to let the Israelites go. When Pharaoh refused, God sent ten plagues upon Egypt—frogs, gnats, hail, locusts, and more. The tenth and final plague was the death of the firstborn in every household throughout Egypt…except that the Israelites who put lamb’s blood on the doorposts and lintels of their houses would be passed over by the angel of death.
But God also gave them an instruction regarding the Passover, which Moses relayed to the people saying:
“23 For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. 24 You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. 25 And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. 26 And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.”
My question for you this morning: Why is it so important to have holidays of remembrance? Why, almost 3,500 years later, do the people of Israel all over the world still spend seven days remembering and celebrating how God liberated the Israelites from slavery in Egypt? Whether or not we celebrate the Passover in our own households, what can we learn from those who do about the importance of remembering?
Have a wonderful day.
