The Passover Meal. What Did it Include?

Vegetable (Karpas) – This element, usually parsley, is dipped in salt water and eaten. The karpas pictures the hyssop that was used to apply the blood of the Passover lamb to homes of the Israelites in Egypt. In the New Testament, hyssop was used to give the Lamb of God vinegar when Jesus said He thirsted (John 19:29). The salt water represents the tears shed during the bitter years of slavery and the Red Sea that God split during the exodus.

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I have never heard of this vegetable before. But I don't really consider myself a fan of raw leafy veggies anyway. However, as it states, parsley is usually used. 

I wonder how appetizing it sounds to you?

But then, am I missing the point?

I suppose so because it was important to the Israelite's that used in long ago days. And it's still used today in Seder Celebrations. So, if I were to participate in one myself, I would try it. 

It's an interesting part of the Jewish meal, at any rate.

Thanks for coming by today, Friends. 

God bless you for the rest of your day!

The Passover Meal: What Did it Include ?

Thinking back to several years ago when a relative had attended a Jewish meal at her non-Jewish church, during Easter, I wondered what the meal from the Old Testament might look like today. 

What did it mean for those that partook of it in scripture all those many many many years ago.? And how does the original meal in the OT point to Jesus in the NT? 

So I looked up some information on it and found some information about it, and also about the food and what it represented. Today I will tell you what about the unleavened bread.

The Seder is the traditional dinner that Jews partake of as part of Passover. The annual Passover commemoration is celebrated by nearly the entire Jewish community, bonding families and communities to their Jewish roots. Each year Jewish people, religious and nonreligious, celebrate the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by gathering and experiencing the Passover Seder.

The Hebrew word Seder means “order.” The Passover meal has a specific order in which food is eaten, prayers are recited, and songs are sung. Each item on the Passover plate has a specific historical meaning related to the exodus of the Jews from Egypt and their freedom from slavery. But 1 Corinthians 5:7 identifies Jesus Christ as our Passover; thus, the Seder carries a New Testament meaning related to Jesus the Messiah.

In the Seder, there are several strong symbols of Christ. One is the shank bone of a lamb, which reminds the participants of the feast of God’s salvation. During the tenth plague, God instructed the Israelites to daub their doorposts and lintels with the blood of a spotless lamb so that the Lord would “pass over” their homes and preserve the lives within (Exodus 12:1–13). This is a symbol of salvation in Egypt, but it is also a picture of Jesus who was and is the “Lamb of God” (John 1:29). His sacrifice preserves the lives of all who believe. The instructions for the original Passover specified that the lamb’s bones could not be broken (Exodus 12:46), another foreshadowing of Christ’s death (John 19:33).

Another symbol of Christ on the Seder plate is the matzoh, or unleavened bread. As the Jewish people left Egypt, they were in great haste and therefore had no time to allow their bread to rise. From then on, Passover was followed by the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread (Deuteronomy 16:3). There are some fascinating things about the matzoh that provide a remarkable picture of the Messiah:

For example, the matzoh is placed in a bag called an echad, which means “one” in Hebrew. But this one bag has three chambers. One piece of matzoh is placed into each chamber of the bag. The matzoh placed in the first chamber is never touched, never used, never seen. The second matzoh in the bag is broken in half at the beginning of the Seder; half of the broken matzoh is placed back in the echad, and the other half, called the Afikomen, is placed in a linen cloth. The third matzoh in the bag is used to eat the elements on the Seder plate.

The word echad is used in Genesis 2:24 (the man and his wife will become “echad,” or “one” flesh). The word also appears in Numbers 13:23 when the spies returned from Canaan with an echad cluster of grapes. In both cases, the word echad refers to a complex unity of one. Many Jews consider the three matzohs to represent Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But they cannot explain why they break “Isaac” in half or why they place half of the middle matzoh back in the echad and keep the other half out, wrapped in a cloth.

The meaning of the Seder’s ritual of the matzohs is understood with clues from the New Testament. The Trinity is pictured in the matzohs. The first matzoh that remains in the bag throughout the Seder represents Ha Av, the Father whom no man sees. The third matzoh represents the Ruach Ha Kodesh, the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. And the second matzoh, the broken one, represents Ha Ben, the Son. The reason the middle matzoh is broken is to picture the broken body of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:24). The half put back in the echad represents Jesus’ divine nature; the other half, wrapped in a linen cloth and separated from the echad represents Jesus’ humanity as He remained on earth.

The linen cloth that wraps half of the second piece of matzoh suggests Jesus’ burial cloth. During the Seder, this linen cloth with the Afikomen inside is hidden, and after the dinner the children present look for it. Once the Afikomen is found, it is held as a ransom. Again, we see that these rituals point to Christ: He was fully God yet fully human; He was broken for us; He was buried, sought for, and resurrected; and His life was given a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). Jesus is the completion of the New Covenant of Jeremiah 31:31, and the Passover Seder rituals bear that out.

Also, the matzoh used for the Passover Seder must be prepared a certain way. Of course, it must be unleavened—leaven is often equated with sin in the Scriptures, and Jesus is sinless. Second, the matzoh must be striped—Jesus’ “stripes” (His wounds) are what heal us spiritually (Isaiah 53:5). And, third, the matzoh must be pierced—Jesus was nailed to the cross (Psalm 22:16).

(credit: gotqurstions.org)

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I found it interesting that some Jews aren't religious, but many do still take part in this celebration. Understandable, I guess. They don't all believe that Jesus has already come to earth and are still waiting for Him. But they do believe in the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. 

There are those that do believe Jesus had come. They are called Messianic Jews. And I saw a video on YouTube not long ago that a Messianic Jew did. He talked about how some Jews as they grew up learning of their Jewish heritage and beliefs, have gotten away from teaching it to their own children. 

Sound familiar? We as Americans that were raised up to believe in God, have failed miserably to teach it to our own children as they grew. 

Is it any wonder that things are so wrong now?

Israel is waiting for their Messiah. And Jesus has promised to save them as they are His chosen people. 

But at that time in history, they-like us, will have to come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ because there is no remission of sin without His shed blood.  The blood that their ancestors applied to their doors all those years ago, will not save them. It will only come from believing in Jesus and accepting Him as their Lord and Savior.

The unleavened bread did have meaning during that time in history and it still does in the dinners of the Jews during this season. There are some recipes for making it posted in Pinterest, should you want to give it a try. And then on Monday, we will check out another food that was included in the Jewish meal. 

Thanks for coming by. God bless you and yours during this Easter Season.

What is the Jewish Passover?

 

I decided to head my post in a different direction during this Easter season. I want to dive into the Jewish Passover celebration and find out why it is celebrated. I do know some about it, but I have never studied it in depth, and so felt I should do this so that we can get a better understanding of it.

If you want information about it, you can find lots of it. From recipes to c crafts to its teaching in the Old Testament. 

And that later one, the teaching in the Old Testament is what I will be finding information on so that we can get to its roots. I will start off today with giving you a biblical answer from gotquestions.org. So here goes:

Passover (Pesach in Hebrew) is a Jewish festival celebrating the exodus from Egypt and the Israelites’ freedom from slavery to the Egyptians. The Feast of Passover, along with the Feast of Unleavened Bread, was the first of the festivals to be commanded by God for Israel to observe (see Exodus 12). Commemorations today involve a special meal called the Seder, featuring unleavened bread and other food items symbolic of various aspects of the exodus.

Passover is one of the most widely celebrated Jewish holidays. Along with Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost) and Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles), Passover is one of the three “pilgrimage” festivals in Scripture, during which the Jews were commanded to travel to Jerusalem and observe the feasts together. Passover takes place in the spring, during the Hebrew month of Nisan. In Western countries, Passover is celebrated in early- to mid-April and is always close to Easter.

The book of Exodus tells of the origin of Passover. God promised to redeem His people from the bondage of Pharaoh (Exodus 6:6). God sent Moses to the Egyptian king with the command that Pharaoh “let my people go” (Exodus 8:1). When Pharaoh refused, God brought ten plagues on the land of Egypt. The tenth and worst of the plagues was the death of all the firstborn in Egypt.

The night of the first Passover was the night of the tenth plague. On that fateful night, God told the Israelites to sacrifice a spotless lamb and mark their doorposts and lintels with its blood (Exodus 12:21–22). Then, when the Lord passed through the nation, He would “pass over” the households that showed the blood (verse 23). In a very real way, the blood of the lamb saved the Israelites from death, as it kept the destroyer from entering their homes. The Israelites were saved from the plague, and their firstborn children stayed alive. From then on, every firstborn son of the Israelites belonged to the Lord and had to be redeemed with a sacrifice (Exodus 13:1–2, 12; cf. Luke 2:22–24).

The children of Israel in Egypt followed God’s command and kept the first Passover. However, none of the Egyptians did so. All through Egypt, behind the unmarked, bloodless doorways of the Egyptians, the firstborn children died at midnight (Exodus 12:21–29). “There was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead” (verse 30). This dire judgment finally changed the Egyptian king’s heart, and he released the Israelite slaves (verses 31–32).

Along with the instruction to apply the Passover lamb’s blood to their doorposts and lintels, God instituted a commemorative meal: fire-roasted lamb, bitter herbs, and unleavened bread (Exodus 12:8). The Lord told the Israelites to “observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever” (Exodus 12:24, ESV), even when in a foreign land.

To this day, Jews all over the world celebrate the Passover in obedience to this command. Passover and the story of the exodus have great significance for Christians also, as Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law, including the symbolism of the Passover (Matthew 5:17). Jesus is our Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7; Revelation 5:12). He was killed at Passover time, and the Last Supper was a Passover meal (Luke 22:7–8). By (spiritually) applying His blood to our lives by faith, we trust Christ to save us from death. The Israelites who, in faith, applied the blood of the Paschal lamb to their homes become a model for us. It was not the Israelites’ ancestry or good standing or amiable nature that saved them; it was only the blood of the lamb that made them exempt from death (see John 1:29 and Revelation 5:9–10). (credit: gotquestions.org)

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Interestingly enough, some churches (that are not Jewish) observe the feast of Passover with those that attend, A relative of mine went to a church that did this a few years ago.  They included the Passover meal along with the teaching about it from the Old Testament. I believe they still do observe it.  She told me it was a very somber and moving service as they had a look at what it had meant back in Bible days. 

Jesus himself celebrated in Passover in Mathew 26h. In the next post, we will explore that text to see what actually took place so many years ago.

Thank you for coming by. May God bless you during this Easter Season!

What is Lent?

 

There are some religions that observe Lent during the Easter Season. But what is it and should we as Christians practice it?

I thought for today's devotion, we should take a look at it. To getting a better understanding of it and even perhaps to see if celebrating it, is for us. Please read on:

What is the meaning of Lent? How did it begin? Is it Biblical? And should we participate in it? gotquestions.org answers these questions:

Lent is a period of fasting, moderation, and self-denial traditionally observed by Catholics and some Protestant denominations. It begins with Ash Wednesday and ends with Easter Sunday. The length of the Lenten fast was established in the 4th century as 46 days (40 days, not counting Sundays). During Lent, participants eat sparingly or give up a particular food or habit. It’s not uncommon for people to give up smoking during Lent, or to swear off watching television or eating candy or telling lies. It’s six weeks of self-discipline.

Lent began as a way for Catholics to remind themselves of the value of repentance. The austerity of the Lenten season was seen as similar to how people in the Old Testament fasted and repented in sackcloth and ashes (Esther 4:1-3; Jeremiah 6:26; Daniel 9:3).

However, over the centuries Lenten observances have developed a much more "sacramental" value. Many Catholics believe that giving something up for Lent is a way to attain God’s blessing. But the Bible teaches that grace cannot be earned; grace is “the gift of righteousness” (Romans 5:17). Also, Jesus taught that fasting should be done discreetly: “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen” (Matthew 6:16-18). Jesus’ command to “wash your face” seems to conflict with the practice of rubbing ashes on one’s face on Ash Wednesday.

Fasting can be a good thing, and God is pleased when we repent of sinful habits. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with setting aside some time to focus on Jesus’ death and resurrection. However, repenting of sin is something we should be doing every day of the year, not just for the 46 days of Lent.

If a Christian wishes to observe Lent, he is free to do so. The key is to focus on repenting of sin and consecrating oneself to God. Lent should not be a time of boasting of one’s sacrifice or trying to earn God’s favor or increasing His love. God’s love for us could not be any greater than it already is.

(credit: gotquestions.org) 

My thoughts and opinions about Lent:

 It is a time of reflection and repentance. And while this is a good thing to do during Easter, shouldn't we be doing that more than one time a year? Maybe even every day?

Don't get me wrong and maybe I am missing the boat here, or a partial one at least. But I do feel it more necessary to try to always reflect on the sin in our lives and repentance for it.,while observing the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in our lives. After all, the the Easter celebration is not about ourselves, but is about what He did for us

However, neither do I reject this practice or endorse it. It is an induvial decision that we as believers make before God.

I do believe that if we observe it, it should be a very serious time before God, and not just another tradition that we celebrate to show others of our own "holiness." Because we have no holiness apart from God. 

Thanks for coming by today, Friends. I hope this has been helpful if you have never practiced Lent and wanted to learn more about it. Have a blessed day until next we meet.