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Pesach: Festival of Freedom?  The Month of Nissan

Pesach Story    Chametz   Seder   Haggadah
Festival & Chol Hamoed Laws Omer   Pesach Temple Days

In the past our ancestors were worshippers of idols, but God
has since brought us near to serve him.

We were slaves unto Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord our God
brought us out with a strong hand and an outstretched arm.
 - The Haggadah.

The Jewish people traces its origins to Abraham who lived some
4000 years ago in the area of Ur, an ancient city on the
Euphrates in lower Mesopotania, in the midst of
idol-worshippers who believed that there were gods controlling
the various natural forces in the world.

Abraham was the first to understand that that there is only one
God who created and controls the entire universe, and was
commanded by God to leave his birthplace and to make his way to
Canaan, the land destined to become the Land of Israel.

Once in Canaan, God entered into covenants with Abraham,
still known by his former name Abram:

Your name shall be Abraham. I will make you the father of a
multitude of nations. I will maintain my covenant throughout
the ages to be God to you [and] I assign the land to you and
your offspring.  -  Genesis 17:3-8

Furthermore:
Know that your offspring shall be strangers in a land not
theirs, they shall be enslaved and oppressed for 400 years.

But I shall execute judgement on the nation that they shall
serve, and in the end they shall go free with great wealth..
Genesis 15:13-14

And, indeed, Abraham begets Isaac whose son Jacob, renamed
Israel fathers the twelve tribes, the Children of Israel.
Because of a famine in Canaan, Jacob and his sons go down to
Egypt where they confront Joseph, the long-lost child sold
into slavery who has risen to power in "a foreign land.

In Egypt
After Abraham fathers Isaac whose son Jacob, renamed Israel
fathers the twelve tribes, the Children of Israel, Jacob and
his sons go down to Egypt because of a famine in Canaan.
There, they confront Joseph, the long-lost child sold into
slavery who has risen to power in a foreign land.

Due to Joseph's prominence, Jacob and his family prosper in
Egypt and are treated with honor. However, a new Pharoah
arises after Joseph's death who is threatened by the
disproportionately high population growth of the Children of
Israel. The unfortunate visitors are now cruelly enslaved in
building the cities of Pithom and Ramses for over 200 hundred
years. Among other brutal restrictions, the order to have the
Hebrew baby boys thrown into the river at birth probably
capped them all.

Moses, the son of Amram and Yocheved, was spared since his
mother placed him in a floating basket on the Nile and he was
found by Pharoah's daughter who raised him in the royal palace.
When Moses had grown to manhood, God appeared to him in the
burning bush and commanded him to liberate the Israelites
and bring them to the Land of Israel.


The Struggle with Pharoah


    

Moses' first confrontation with Pharoah only led to a worsening
of conditions for the poor slaves whose trust in Moses was brought
into question. Pharoah continuously refused to aquiesce to the
demands of Moses and his brother Aaron, sent by God to request the
deliverance of the Israelites with the well-known phrase:
Let My People Go!

Ten plagues are visited upon Pharoah and his people that
demonstrate God's overwhelming control over all the natural
elements. But it is not until the first-born of Egypt are smitten
down that Pharoah finally agrees to release his slaves.

GOD HEARD OUR CRIES
Borrowing from the Bible, The Haggadah describes very poignantly
how the slaves cried to God for salvation and how these cries
were heard.  The Exodus did not take place, however, without the
slaves undergoing a a psychological transformation: They were to
make an offering of the lamb, the Egyptian deity, right under the
watchful eye of their previous taskmasters. The Israelites were
to sprinkle the lambs' blood on their doorposts so that the
angel of death would pass over their houses
(hence the name of the festival).

In family groups, and with loins girded, the Hebrews ate the
lamb, ready to depart. After Pharoah relents, they rush out:
there was not even time for their dough to rise. As a result
the people ate unleavened bread or matzah.

(My personal note:
The Jews ate the lamb. This Passover Lamb is a foreshadowing of
the Messiah, fulfilled in Jesus Christ.  The lamb became a part
of the people's physical body through eating it.  When we take
Jesus - Yeshua - into our heart and life, His will is to be
assimilated into our will.)

The EXODUS
Some 600,000 Children of Israel, besides women and children, left
Egypt. When they reached the shores of the Red Sea, they were
totally overwhelmed when they saw Pharoah's chariots in chasing
after them. But the waters miraculously parted and they crossed
over on dry land. As the pursuing Egyptians drew near; however,
the waters of the sea returned to drown Pharoah and his hosts.

Once on the other side and free, the Israelites recognized the
greatness of the miracle. Moses leads them in a song of praise:
Shirat Hayam, the Song of the Sea. The Midrash records how the
angels, too, wished to add their acclaim. But God refuses:

The work of my hands is drowning in the sea, and you want to
chant a song of victory before me!

God's covenant to Abraham was fulfilled. Now that physical
freedom had been achieved, it now remained for the Children of
Israel to march on to spiritual freedom and the Land of Israel.

A CIRCUITOUS JOURNEY
The slave mentality was ever prevalent as the Children of Israel
fled ancient Egypt. So much so that the Bible records:
God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines,
although it was nearer, for God said
'The people may have a change of heart.'
Nevertheless, despite their complaints, the Children of Israel
accepted the Torah at Mt. Sinai with a fierce loyalty expressed
in their declaration:
We shall do, and we shall listen.

Doing was more difficult than listening, however, as the Sin of
the Golden Calf revealed. Korach's revolt and the episode of the
untrusting spies did not help either: a whole generation
forfeited the right to enter the Promised Land.  Nevertheless,
a Holy Sanctuary was built, enemies were defeated and the tribes
were consolidated in preparation for the nation-building that was
to reach its climax years later under the Judges and Kings

With the momentous crossing of the River Jordan under Joshua's
command, the actual Exodus could be said to have been completed.

GOD's NEWS




THIS IS THE JUDGMENT
that the Light has come into the world, 
and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, 
for their deeds were evil.  

GOD so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
Eternal LIFE. For God did not send his Son into the world
to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

He who believes in Him is not judged;
he who does not believe has been judged already, 
because he has not believed in the name of the only 
begotten Son of God.  John 3:16-19





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