Biblical Hebrew Blog by ClassicalHebrew.com

The Festival of Passover
There exists a very strong and powerful Jewish tradition remembered and enacted every year, called the Festival of Passover. This Festival is bittersweet because by remembering it one recalls that as a nation they were enslaved, but also as a nation they were freed through the miracle of God!

The miracle of God is in fact the tenth plague sent against the Egyptians because Pharaoh would not release them from slavery (Exodus 12-13). This plague takes the form of God’s Destroyer, also referred to as the Angel of Death. At the prescribed time this judgment of the Lord swept through and destroyed all the first-born of man and animal in Egypt. Those who were spared were those who followed the orders of God to sacrifice a year-old sheep or goat and paint its blood on the doorposts and lintels of their homes.

These images have become powerful symbols for the Jewish nation today, which while not painting the blood on their doorposts do remember the event by coming together and eating a specially prepared meal. This meal commemorates God’s saving act.

You may ask yourself why is this miracle more important than other miracles- for example the splitting of the Reed Sea? The passing over of the angel of death taught the Hebrew slaves an important lesson that they had not yet learned- that their God was mighty to save, and was not restricted by geographical boundaries. In the heartland of Egypt with Pharaoh on his throne and a legion of powerful deities at his command- there was yet one more powerful than all, Yahweh.

So this April 19^th-26^th it is important to remember that Yahweh led his people out of captivity, but in addition, remember that he is all-powerful and can reach out to save, wherever his people dwell in slavery.