Happy Passover...Pesach Sameach...פסח שמח

Exodus 12:13

It's my FAVORITE time of year!!!

Passover is the beginning of the biblical year, a time of deliverance and renewal, and the anniversary of the greatest sacrifice anyone has ever made. Today marks the last day though, which is sad.
I meant to post this WAY earlier but  obviously I didn't, haha. So here we go!


What is Passover?
Passover is the story of how G-D delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt under Pharoah.
For 400 years they were enslaved and they cried out to G-D and He heard them. He raised up Moshe (Moses) and through him, G-D delivered them. He sent 10 plagues and it was the 10th, the death of the firstborn,  that Passover came into being.

"On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn--both men and animals--and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.  The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.  "This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD--a lasting ordinance. "  Exodus 12:13-15

On that night, the L-RD spared His people from His judgment and because of the lamb's innocent blood, He had mercy on those whose homes were covered by it.
This is how Passover began, but it didn't end here.
A lot of us think that Communion or the L-RD's Supper was just created one day by Yeshua, but no, no. It was all part of the Passover seder (which means "order")! Our own Messiah celebrated Passover, therefore He knew why it was time for the ultimate sacrifice. G-D knew what He was doing then, just as He does now. Yeshua was put on the cross to suffer and die for our sins, the lamb of G-D, during Passover because everyone in those days knew that Passover was all about receiving mercy because of the innocent blood of a sacrificed lamb. G-D ORDAINED His people to celebrate it because it was a celebration of His mercy in Egypt, but also of His ultimate act of mercy that was coming. Yeshua was that lamb to be slain, and when His blood is put over our heart, death passes us over.

So, why the unleavened bread?
That's what a lot of people ask me. The yeast, leaven, hametz, whatever you want to call it, represents the sin or bad junk in our lives. For 7 days we eat food without it as a time of searching our hearts for the things that we need to get out. Paul talks about it in 1 Corinthians 5:7-8...

"Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.  Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

Passover is the biblical new year, so it's the best time to "get rid of the old yeast" and prepare ourselves to be a new batch without sin before G-D. So this week has been full of fun seders and time together with friends and family, but it is also a time of soul-searching and being thankful for His mercy. What a beautiful G-D we've got!
There aren't many, but here are some of this year's Passover memories!

These are the Haggadahs (that word means "the telling") we used that tell the
story of Passover and guides us through the seder.

The first night of Passover we had a seder at our dear
friends Mikey and Joy's house. It was so fun!

It was also Shabbat, so it was a double blessing to celebrate :)

THIS kid made me cry because I was laughing so hard. He was approaching
adults, unbeknownst to them, and shooting them with various "guns"
That he had in his keeping. Toby made him surrender his guns from his pockets
but he tricked us and had more. Clever little cowboy...

This is the ULTIMATE Passover meal...Matzah Pizza!!!

That's all folks!

~B~