What is Passover All About?

By Mia Kashat
Guest Contributor

CBN.com - "Your oldest son will die." These were the words Adonai (the Lord) told Moshe (Moses) and Aharon (Aaron) to speak to the Pharaoh of Egypt.

If I were Pharaoh, I would have chosen this moment to "cave-in". I would have said, "Your God has taken my water, filled my land with frogs, flies, gnats/lice; he's killed my cattle, put terrible sores all over my body, destroyed my crops – not my child! Take your God and go!"

God doesn't leave things incomplete though, He always finishes what He starts.

Egypt had a god that presided over animals, their health, children and fertility, the river, crops, life and even death. God was placing Himself higher than all of these gods with each plague He sent. He was also revealing His greatness to the Hebrews, Egyptians and all the nearby nations.

There was one plague left ... the death of the firstborn. With this final plague, God planned to show that He's the only God over life and death.

The final step in God's plan was set in motion. God called this last step Passover, "For I will 'pass over' the houses of anyone with the lamb's blood on their door-post".

Passover was to begin at sundown on the fourteenth night of the first month (on the Lunar Calendar) and last 24 hours.

This was a one day consecration feast. You read it right, only one day. Passover, which so many refer to as an eight night feast, truly only lasts from one evening to the next evening. The Feast of Unleavened Bread begins as Passover ends and lasts for the next 7 days.

For this feast each family was expected to keep a one year old male lamb in their home to make sure it was perfect, then sacrifice it to the Lord and spread it's blood on their door post. Though it may sound slightly strange, God told us later in Leviticus why this was. He said, "The life is in the blood". When an unblemished lamb is killed, God applies that justification to the human it dies for.

God's plan to save these firstborns laid a rich and intricate groundwork for the future. A few hundred years later God sent His Son Yeshua (Jesus) as the fulfillment of this prophesy.

Jesus came and dwelt among Israel. Just before Passover He moved into Jerusalem (the city where the Temple was built) along with the rest of Israel. Living in Jerusalem before Passover was like the lamb living in the family's house.

Once Jesus was found blameless, He became the slaughtered lamb. He chose, through sweating blood and fervent prayers, to be our Passover Lamb.

Jesus' death was the fulfillment of the original Passover night. His blood not only saves the first born son's life, but every person who trusts in Him. The Life, eternal life, is in Jesus' Blood.

God set apart this night as special. He created a celebration for every generation to enjoy from then through eternity. This celebration would remind us every year, on the fourteenth day of the first month of the Lunar calendar, that God is the One True God. He has set His followers apart from the rest of the world.

What a wonderful way to remember what God did in Egypt and in Jerusalem - many years later.

To celebrate this Feast of the Lord, here are a few tips:

1. Passover will be on Tuesday March 26th this year (2013)

2. Read Exodus 1:1-13:2, Leviticus 23:4-5, Numbers 9:1-14 & John 12:1-17:26

3. Read The Feasts of the Lord by: Kevin Howard & Marvin Rosenthal (specifically the chapter on Pesach - Passover)

4. Search out a Messianic Jewish family, Messianic Bible study or Messianic Synagogue in your area and ask if you can celebrate with them.

5. Borrow or Buy a Messianic Jewish Haggadah (Book of the meal order)

Enjoy your Passover! Chag Semeach (Happy Holiday) everyone!

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Mia Kashat is a Messianic aka Completed Jew and grew up celebrating all of the Biblical Feasts. She lives in the wonderfully Southern state of Georgia. Her family has a Bible-study dedicated to repairing the way between Jews and Gentiles. She is a member of the Epic Faith community in Duluth. She also spends her time ministering to girls thru teaching the Bible & dance in a mentoring fashion.