Every year at the Passover Seder my husband recites the beautiful short story of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt.
“And it shall come to pass that your child will ask you, “What do you mean by this service?” And you shall tell him: “with a mighty hand, God took us out of Egypt...””
THE BIRTH OF MOSES
(Exodus 1:1-2:10)
The Second Section tells of
MOSES' LIFE IN MIDIAN
AND HIS ENCOUNTER WITH THE BURNING BUSH
(Exodus 2:11-4:17)
The Third Section tells of
MOSES RETURNING TO EGYPT TO TELL PHARAOH TO
"LET MY PEOPLE GO"
(Exodus 4:18-6:12)
We pause after the third section to sing a song. It is the song that Louis Armstrong made famous called
“Go Down Moses.” It tells of how the people left bondage and followed God.
Singing this song together, with Louis Armstrong carrying the tune for us, lifts our hearts and opens our ears to the rest of the story.
The Fourth Section tells of
THE 10 PLAGUES
(Exodus 6:28 – 11:10)
Moses told Pharaoh if he didn’t let the people go , great plagues would come upon Egypt. Pharoah did not listen and God did send 10 horrible plagues.
(We dip our fingers in the wine, putting a drop of wine on our napkins in our plates as each plague is recited)
We repeat the different plagues as we go:
1. Blood
2. Flies
3. Hail
4. Frogs
5. Blight
6. Locusts
7. Lice
8. Boils
9. Darkness
10. Death of The Firstborn Son
The Fifth Section of the story is about
THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB AND THE LORD'S PASSOVER
(Exodus 12:1-30)
After nine of the ten plagues, God told Moses to tell all the Hebrew people that each man was to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. These were very special lambs. They had to be one year old males without any sickness, disabilities, or blemishes. They were to kill the lambs and take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the door frames of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night they were to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with their cloaks tucked into their belts, their sandals on their feet and a staff in their hand. They were to eat in a hurry. God said that on that night He would pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn – both men and animals. When He saw the blood on the houses where His people were He would pass over them. He promised He would not harm anyone who had the blood on the doorpost that night while He struck Egypt. That night death came to all of Egypt’s firstborn.
The Sixth Section of The Story is about
THE EXODUS FROM EGYPT
(Exodus 12:31-13:16)
The sad and frightened Egyptians insisted that the Hebrew people hurry and leave the country. “For otherwise” they said “we will all die.” So the people took their dough before the yeast was added and carried it on their shoulders wrapped in clothing. The sun baked it into hard bread called Matzah. When Pharaoh let the people go, God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites left Egypt. By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.
The 7th Section of the Story is about
The 7th Section of the Story is about
CROSSING THE RED SEA
(Exodus 13:17 – 15:21)
Then God said to Moses “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and God swept them into the sea. The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen and the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.
The 8th Section of The Story tells about
The 8th Section of The Story tells about
THE JOURNEY FROM THE SEA TO MT. SINAI
(Exodus, Chapeter 16)
That day God saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians. And when the Israelites saw the great power that God displayed against the Egyptians the people feared the LORD and put their trust in Him and followed Moses, his servant. God said that Passover was a day to be celebrated for the generations to come. He said it was to be a festival to God every year, to remember that our fathers were once slaves in Egypt, but now we are free. Moses sang a song and Miriam lead the women in dancing!
At this point in the Seder we sing “The Song of Moses” along with Paul Wilbur.
(Again, you can find this on You-Tube)
Can you see the symbolism of the first Passover and how it relates to Jesus being our Messiah? When John the Baptist was baptizing people and He saw Jesus coming, he said, Behold! The Lamb of God” That was a very special thing to say.
And so we learned once more that the answer to the questions are always the same no matter how many times we tell the story: We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD our God brought us out from there by a mighty and outstretched arm.
Children of God, it is not enough to recall, in some abstract sense, the deliverance of the people in ancient Egypt, but each person is responsible to personally view Passover as a time to commemorate their own personal deliverance from the bondage of Pharaoh (sin). Therefore the sages teach that in each generation an individual should look upon him or herself as if he or she personally had left Egypt.
What has you in bondage?
Where is your own personal Egypt?
Who is your pharaoh?
There is deliverance in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!”
(Continued later in Part Five)
