SEASONS - SPRING BEGINS WITH A FAMILY SEDER (PART FOUR)

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 first section tells of

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 7^th 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 8^th 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)

SEASONS - SPRING BEGINS WITH A FAMILY PASSOVER SEDER - PART THREE

The Afikkoman ritual has been a part of the Passover ceremony since Second Temple times.  

It would have been included in the Passover services during the days that Jesus walked the earth.  

Can you think of Him as a very young boy participating with Joseph and Mary and his brothers and sisters? 

The Greek word aphikomenos means  “He is coming,”  and clearly suggests Messianic overtones. 

Three matzot, one of which is broken, is an image of the triune nature of God – with the focus on the broken middle piece of matzah, which is a picture of the Suffering Servant of the LORD. 

Consider that this piece is taken, 

wrapped up, 

carefully hidden from view, 

only to be discovered at the end of the Seder by little children.  

This is an image of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.  
He was taken, pierced and crucified: at His death His body was wrapped in white linen cloth:  He was hidden away in a grave in a cave; the next morning He was found by His disciples, those who had learned to come with the heart of a child before Him; He was found resurrected!

Only after partaking of the Lamb of God who was slain for our transgressions do we understand and take hold of the reward given to those who seek for Him with the heart of a child.

Even though all four of our children are now grown, they, have in the past, enjoyed looking for where the matzot has been hidden by their Father.  Soon we will have grandchildren old enough to do this!  What joy it will be to see them find and discover the mysteries of Christ!  We always give a prize to the winner.  I have come to see this act as symbolic of Our Father in Heaven giving rewards to His children when they have found Christ and are safely inside The Kingdom of God forever. 

Here I might add a word of caution to anyone planning a Passover Seder in this age and time.  The ways of the world are all around us now, and even the church is full of false worship and deception.  Mankind has made his own traditions.  Not everyone will relate to your tradition and you may often find it a struggle to carry on against so many other worldly traditions. Jesus never said following HIm would be easy.   I urge you to go prayerfully on and do what you believe, in spite of this, but do not be legalistic or try to force others to believe what only God can open up their eyes to.  A Passover celebration is only valid when people come with open hearts truly desiring to worship God in the way He has shown us through His Son Jesus Christ and His people, Israel.  If people don't understand this, just pray for them and keep living your life before them.  With many it takes time for the real truth to seep into their hearts and minds.  Often our children, even though we have taught them well, get distracted by the things of the world and do not make time for the things most precious to us.  When this happens I remind myself that it is nothing compared to what our Heavenly Father has experienced from His children for ages.    The world has quite a sway especially for young adults these days.  We are not legalistic and we accept our children's answers when they decide not to participate, yet we still hold out the invitation each year.  They seem to go through stages, like all young people do.  When they come, we welcome them with open arms and happy hearts, and often when we know the family will be small that year, we invite others who are looking for a good place to celebrate the Passover.  Last year we only had one of our children who was able to be with us, but we had a house full of other good friends who are passionate about the things of Christ.  I often think of it as another example of coming out of Egypt.  When Moses first announced the plan many were hesitant and had to consider a long time before deciding to move with God's people.  Some hesitated before sprinkling the blood over their door post.  We live in the same type of world where people are bound up in things that will not allow them to be free, yet see those things as a false form of freedom.  I pray patiently and give these things to God and we extend hospitality to anyone who wants to join us.  Usually our own family begins to think and remember what they know in their hearts and they return to rejoice the next time.  

Life is a journey.  

Life is a learning process.  

We are forever thankful for those who chose to walk along beside us on the way!

With our minds focused on “The Lamb of God” represented by the Motzah, 

we often watch a musical video presentation of “WATCH THE LAMB”, which was beautifully acted out, and sung by Ray Boltz.   You may find it on You-Tube.

I've included it in this blog for your viewing:

There is usually not a dry eye at the table after this video.  I think it is one of the most touching video presentations ever.  You can find any of the video presentations mentioned in this blog on You Tube. 

THE FOUR QUESTIONS

God commands that children are to learn from the Passover experience.  Even us "grown" children have things to learn....  

Every year a child will learn a little more of the truth.  Life is nothing but a long learning process, and we are all always learning!  

We tell our grown children:  

“This is a tradition that you will be able to pass down to your children one day, the tradition of The Asking of The Four Questions.”  It was stated in hopes that we will one day have so many grandchildren that we will have to buy a bigger table!

A child should ask each question before we begin the telling of the story.  At most of our celebrations we have let each of our grown children read one question each, being that they are four and there are exactly four questions:  One day their children will follow in their footsteps and take over their readings.

1.     Why do we eat only unleavened bread on this night when all other nights we eat either leavened bread or matzah?

2.     Why do we eat only bitter herbs on this night when all other nights we eat all kinds of vegetables?

3.    Why do we dip our vegetables twice on this night when we do not dip our vegetables even once all other nights?

4.    Why do we eat our meals reclining or leaning on this night, when on all other nights we eat our meals sitting?

 The answers to all of these questions are found in the telling of the story. 

 (We pour the Second Cup at this point, but do not drink it yet.)

(To be continued in Part Four)

SEASONS - SPRING BEGINS WITH A FAMILY PASSOVER - PART TWO

Just before we began our Passover meal ,

We will show a video of a fabulous group of dancers called The Silhouettes.  They tell the story without a word, just dances that appear like shadows on the wall!   

Words could not describe the story better. 

Here is a photo of us watching a few years ago; under the photo I will post the video for  anyone who wishes to view.  You can find it on You-tube.

Everyone was spell bound by the awesome presentation of the silent story,told only through shadows that changed and formed new shadows. 

  

Isn't this an awesome way to tell the story?  Enjoy!
In many ways Passover was and is a SHADOW of  the things to come.

We always know every Passover that we will hear the same story we have heard  last year and a million times before; but in a million different little ways we have come to  realize that we will learn something new each time.  You think you know it all, then you hear the story again and God shows you something else that is totally amazing.  

It is a wonderful mystery!

We begin our meal after sunset with the lighting of the Passover Candles.  

I, as the eldest woman of our household, have the priviledge of saying the candle lighting prayer. 

"Blessed art Thou, Lord Our God, Master of the Universe, who sanctifies us with Your commandments and commands us to kindle the light of Passover."

My husband, as priest of our home, blesses the first cup - The Cup of Sanctificaton.  The cup that signifies God saying to His people, "I will take you out of Egypt."  

Sanctification here means, to set apart.

At this point there is a song we love to sing together, it is called  The Passover Song, and the You-Tube version of it is included below for your enjoyment too.  

(Written and performed by Shira)

Don't you love the words to the lyrics?  Here they are all spelled out for you to ponder:

He said this is my body as He held up the bread,

Each time you eat of it remember

That I was broken for you

Just like the bread

My body, broken……just for you.

This is my blood, He took the cup and said,

Each time you drink of it – remember –

That it is a token of the blood I shed,

Oh -

LYRICS TO THE PASSOVER SONG

  Take the cup I pour for you.

A new covenant I give to you,

Poured out my love so you could live new life,

Always remember that I died for you

When you eat of the bread and drink the wine.

He said this is my body as He held up the bread.

Each time you eat of it remember –

That I was broken for you

Just like the bread,

My body,

Broken,

Just For you.

This is my blood, He took the cup and said

Each time you drink of it remember

That it is a token of the blood I shed,

O take the cup I pour for you.

A new covenant I give to you

Poured out my blood so you could live new life

Always remember that I died for you

When you eat of the bread and drink the wine.

For I am the Passover Lamb.

The One prophesied.

I came to be the sin offering,

The final sacrifice.

A new covenant I give to you,

Poured out my love,

so that you could live my life.

Always remember that I died for you

When you eat of the bread and drink the wine.

My husband, as the priest of our home, says the blessing over the first cup and we drink together.  

We move on to the blessing of the children of the household:

This is the traditional prayer that we recite over each child, grown or not...

O Lord hear our prayer of blessing over our sons:

May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.

O Lord hear our prayer of blessing over our daughters:

May God make you like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah.

This year is special, in that we have a new granddaughter to join in this blessing!  It is my prayer that her Mom and Dad always say this prayer for her as she grows each day.  The prayer has been answered for us with the new life this daughter has brought into our family!  We will express our thanks to God for this during this time.

We perfom the ceremonial washing of the hands, 
then the dipping of the Karpas.  
We remember the last supper, when Jesus washed the disciples feet.  We remember that He has washed our sins away.  
When we eat the parsley dipped in the salt water we are reminded of the salty tears of slavery.  

My husband holds up the Matzot and breaks it.  

"This is the bread of afliction that our forefathers ate in the land of Egypt.  All who are hungry - let them come and eat.  All who are needy - let them come and celebrate the Passover with us."

The service has many more elements.  I will share them with you tomorrow.  
It is too rich for just one post!

SEASONS - SPRING BEGINS WITH A FAMILY PASSOVER SEDER (PART ONE)

 

 I want to share one of the most special parts of Spring for me - Our Family Passover Celebration.  Each Passover Seder helps us to better understand the full meaning of The Passion of Our Lord. 

 Every year the Church celebrates The Resurrection of Christ on Easter Morning (I prefer to use the words Resurrection Day instead of Easter), but you can't have a Resurrection until you've had a Passosver.   At our house, we drink in the whole season and this makes The Resurrection deeper and richer for us when we arrive in that place and time 

We join together for the Passover before we begin celebrating The Resurrection.  We celebrate Resurrection Day with our Church congregation, but we also observe The 7 Days of Unleavened Bread, and celebrate the second day of Unleavened Bread as Early Firstfruits that symbolizes the early grain harvest pointing to The Resurrection of Christ.  That was the day that the priest of ancient Israel waved the loaf of barley before the Lord as an offering.  This whole ritual process has so many elements of Resurrection, and I believe it was the actual day and pattern of the Resurrection of Christ.  I've written about that in another blog though, this article will speak of what happened before that Resurrection day - The Passover. 

These are our first decorations of Spring.   They come out and are recognized at our house days before any of the little bunnies and chicks and baskets and eggs.  Aren't they beautiful?   REAL TRUTH is always more beautiful, more special, more significant than our human imaginations.  There is nothing wrong with the silly typical fun decorations of  this spring season, but first we must know and practice what we believe and find to be real and true, and always make a firm distinction between the two, thus we bring out the Seder Plate and the Haggadah and place two pretty candles on the table with our finest china.  Special dishes are selected to be used during the service for certain times. 

 I like to design the Haggadah that we use each year.  Some years they are a new design, and some years we pull out one from the past.  It is basically the same service, but I might make new covers or rearrange a few things from year to year.  I place one at each plate on the table.  Sometimes I also print (as favors for each person to take home with them) an eight part beautifully illustrated devotional booklet that gives more of the details of the stories within the story with a reading for each day of the 7 Days of Unleavened Bread that follow immediately after Passover.

My family and I were not born Jewish.  We are Christians.  Our intent is not to imitate the Jews, but to follow the scriptures.  We hold the nation of Isreal and the people in the land close to our hearts.  We know this is the custom that Our Savior Jesus Christ taught and we only wish to imitate Him.  Through Him we feel we have been ADOPTED into the Kingdom of God.  We feel that Christ has made it possible for us to be added into that old, old olive tree with the deep, deep roots.  So we pray that our observance does not cast any disrespect to our Jewish brothers and sisters.  We simply stand in awe of the wonder of their amazing history as a nation.  We also feel our God is the same and the God of ALL nations.   So it is that we gather at the table of Our Father each year to keep His traditions and honor His Word. 

We have discovered that God's family gatherings always tell us another part of His great story!  This is the way we chose to pass our Christian heritage down to our children.  They must know Our Father's stories!  If not for the Nation of Israel observing the Passover and always keeping the torah alive, we would not have been able to know our Messiah! 

He is our Passover Lamb!

He is the True Meaning behind the Passover Celebration!

The Passover Story shadows His atonement for our sins.  Leaving Egypt and the bondage of slavery is the same as leaving a sin filled life and coming into the freedom of The Kingdom of Heaven.  It all ties together, but you will not see all the details until you observe the Passover in the same manner that the Israelites observed it, adding the full meaning of knowing that Our Deliverer has come, not only as Moses leading us out of slavery, but now as Jesus Christ, leading us away from the slavery of sin.  The outcome is our freedom!   In light of the fact that we are now free, I have added a song to our celebration this year that I feel is very appropriate.  I'll attach it below for you to listen to.  It is Matt Redman singing "We Are The Free."  You may find it on You-Tube later if you wish to use it in your celebration too this year:

It is perfectly okay to open the celebration with the joy of our freedom in this song!

Though we may add a few modern touches here and there, we do use the typical Messianic Seder, keeping it as Hebraic as possible, and we add music, dance, video stories and whatever else God puts on our hearts to emphasize in the season with His story. 

We tell the story in a million different ways each year.

  
We serve a full meal, but never until we've told the story!




Passover, and life in general, is simply all about telling the story.