Devotional Gems by Jolene: Passover

PASSOVER

Part two of fourteen in Commanded “Holy Days” Importance Today series

Exodus12:8: “That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast.”

Enduring slavery for hundreds of years, we can imagine Moses and Aaron being nervous leading a million Hebrews across the desert. But first things first. God was specific. God is detail-oriented. Everything had to be perfect. The first-born lives were at stake. See the lesson, linked below.

“On the 10^th day of the month”…was today. Every family selected a one-year-old sheep they kept in house for four days. Tonight was the slaughter. Kids who bonded with a pet lost a friend tonight. Their wails were silenced by anxious parents who were preforming this ceremony for the first time.

The sheep was roasted over fire, prepared as Yahweh commanded. The bitter herbs and bread made without yeast is called matzah. The family gave thanks for everything, glancing into one corner where their belongings were piled. Bitter herbs reminded them that everything can be gone any moment.

They wanted to protect what they had.

We’ve all been taught, “Those who don’t remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Why were the Israelites commanded to eat bitter herbs along with the festive lamb and matzah? Both the lamb and matzah are symbols of redemption. The sheep’s blood would save them from death of the firstborn. Flat bread reminds them that there was no time to let the dough rise using yeast. Bitter herbs also reminded them of hundreds of years of Hebrew slavery—often at the hands of tough masters.

Even today, matzah is part of the Passover celebration. We would imagine that the Hebrew people are relieved to put their slavery past behind them.

Remembering is good. African-Americans never forget their roots of slavery—being stolen from a faraway homeland and forced into labor. Jewish people remember their leaving Egypt in daily prayers. Remembering joyous and hard times is both inspiring and educational. Often the best advice we can get in the present comes from voices ringing in our past.

Believers remember times when God helped earlier that encourages us in today’s trouble.

Take Home Nugget

Passover broke Pharaoh’s resolve. Being clueless about the protection of blood over the doorway signaling the angel of death to “pass over” that home, Pharaoh lost his son. Egypt was consumed with grief. In the middle of the night, Pharaoh ordered Moses, “Up! Leave my people, you and your Israelites!” (Exodus 12:31).

God knew that the Israelites must flee in a hurry. And they were prepared, thanks to His advice.

Thank You, Holy Father, for leading us every day in ways we’d never guess must fulfill Your will on Earth! Amen.

Adapted from “Remembering the Bitter and the Sweet” by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein. February 2, 2017. www.holylandmoments.com

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