NISAN 14
Pesach
“Observe the month of Aviv and keep the Passover to Adonai your God,
for in the month of Aviv Adonai your God brought you out from Egypt by night.” (Deu 16:1 TLV)
“This will be a day for you to remember and celebrate as a festival to Adonai; from generation to generation you are to celebrate it by a perpetual regulation.” (Ex 12:14 CJB)
At sundown on the day of Nisan 14, Jews and
Messianic believers worldwide will participate in the event known as The
Pesach, an event that commemorates the last of the plagues in ancient
Egypt, and the deliverance of the Hebrew nation. It is commanded in the Torah that we must never forget where we were, and the great deliverance
that was brought about by the hand of Elohim – taking us out from
slavery, bondage and suffering and into deliverance, redemption and
freedom.
Those of the Jewish faith believe that we must look at the Pesach experience as if we ourselves were actually there, going through what the forefathers experienced right alongside of them. And, in truth, we have all been there. Egypt – or Mitsrayim, in the Hebrew – has also been compared to an ‘iron furnace’ (see Deu 4:20), with the indication being that of a large vessel used for the refining of gold and precious metals. When a substance has been ‘refined’, it generally involves a process of intense pressure or intense heat, with the result being that impurities and other unwanted elements are easily removed.
When we choose to look in the rearview mirror, we can see our journey to reach where we are today. We can see the ‘pig pen’ where we lingered for too long (Luke 15:15-17) before finally realizing that it was not where Elohim desired for us to take up residence. And if we are truthful, we can recognize the refining process that Elohim allowed us to go through before He brought us to The Mountain where we would receive His Torah, His divine instructions in righteous and moral living. We have ALL had our own personal ‘Egypt’ that He has brought us out of, and He was the only One that could.
As we celebrate this amazing event, let us take the time to look back on our own lives, and rejoice at the deliverance given to us. And as we recite the Pesach Haggadah (the text that guides us through the rituals of the Seder, and the retelling of the Exodus story), let us see ourselves as the ones who are walking free from the bondage that is Egypt.
“I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. (Ex 20:2 TLV)
©2022
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