The
History of the Passover - Easter Sunday (Resurrection Day )
Jesus
Lamb of God, Manna from Heaven, reason for communion
Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father to Jacob. Jacob was the father to 12 sons. Jacobs name was changed to Israel. So, his sons were the 12 tribes of Israel.
Which make up the Jewish Nation. One of
his sons was Joseph. Remember the story
of Joseph and the coat of many colors his father gave to him. Joseph’s brothers were jealous, so they sold
him into slavery, and told their father he was dead. But the Lord God had a plan for Joseph’s life and he ended up
ruling Egypt.
During his time ruling Egypt, there was a
great famine in the land, forcing Josephs brothers to come to Egypt for
food. At this time, Joseph was reunited
with his family and they all came to live in Egypt.
Genesis chapter 14 - 50
Long
after Joseph and his brothers died, the family continued to grow. As time
passed the Israelites or Hebrews as they were called became a great nation. The Pharaoh at that time, was afraid they
would war against him, so, he made
them slaves to Egypt. 400 years later, there were 600,000 Jewish
Israelites in Egypt.
The
Pharaoh made a law that all Israelite babies boys were to be killed. Pharaoh was very cruel and made life
miserable for them.
There
was one Israelite woman who gave birth to a baby boy who she kept hidden. She made a basket that would float and put
him in it, placing it in the Nile River.
The basket drifted to the daughter of the Pharaoh. The Princess claimed the child for herself
and called his name Moses. Moses grew up as one of the Princes of Egypt.
At this
Point if you like movies……Disney made a carton movie of this story called “The
Prince of Egypt”. There is also the
great classic film “The Ten Commandments” with Carlton Heston. Incredible 4-hour epic also showing the
parting of the red sea! This Bible
account is at Exodus 1-12
When
Moses grew up, he killed one of the Egyptians who was beating an
Israelite. He then had to leave Egypt
or he would be killed. 40 years later
God decided it was time to deliver his people out of the hands of Pharaoh. While Moses was on MT. Horeb ( which means
Mountain of God ) The Lord called to Moses from a burning bush saying “I have
seen the affliction of my people Israel, and I have heard their cries of
suffering. I have come to take them out
of Egypt to a land flowing with milk and honey”.
Moses
then returns to Egypt to confront Pharaoh, telling him to let Gods people go,
but Pharaohs heart was hardened against the Lord. To prove to Pharaoh his power and that he was the Lord God , the
Lord sent 10 plagues upon them, one by one.
After each disaster befell them, Pharaoh had the chance to let the
people go, but he would not. The Nile
River was turned to blood. Then the
land was filled with frogs, gnats, swarms of locust, swarms of flies, fire rained from heaven, 3 days of darkness,
and then the last Plague, which is where and how the first Passover Sader
celebration came to be.
To this
very day in 2007 the Jewish people all over the world, still come together to
celebrate this High Holy day, The Passover Feast and tell the story of their
bondage in Egypt and how the Lord delivered them. It is told to the
children from generation to generation.
This happen some 3488
years ago in the year 1446 BC ( BC
stands for Before Christ Era in time table of years) (after Christ was born time counted forward instead of backwards
and is called AD Anno Domini ) The Year of our Lord see.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anno_Domini
http://agards-bible- timeline.com/q4_ad_bc_ce.html
The 10th
and last plague was at midnight. The
angel of death would pass threw all of Egypt and the firstborn of every family
would die. Now the Lord gave Moses
instructions to give to the Israelites.
They were to take a young unblemished lamb, sacrifice it and put the
blood on their doorposts, this way when the angel of death came threw and saw
the blood of the lamb, he would pass over that house and all inside would be
spared. The Blood of the lamb having
the life in it, just as Jesus blood is what gives us eternal life in Christ.
The
Bible says they were to eat the Lamb, along with unleavened bread and bitter
herbs, to represent the years of bitter bondage to Egypt. The unleavened bread was to someday
represent Jesus body crucified for us and the blood of the Lamb on the doorposts
was to represent Jesus’ blood shed on the cross for our sins. The Bible in the book of John verse 1:29
says, John the Baptist seeing Jesus
come toward him, says” Behold the Lamb of God, which has taken away the sins of
the world.” John 1:36 says John looking
upon Jesus as he walked, said, behold the Lamb of God.
Lets jump ahead to the time of Jesus. I am sure most of you have seen the famous oil painting of Jesus
and his 12 disciples called The Last Supper - Leonardo da Vinci, being
the artist. If not click on link
above.
At John 6: 41-58 Jesus
tells the Jews, “he is the Manna from
heaven, the Bread of life.” ( Manna was a special food that fell from the sky. It feed the Israelites after they left Egypt.) Jesus went onto
say, “my body is the bread of life and my blood is the true drink of eternal
life.” Verse 53 Jesus says “unless you
eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life within yourselves.” This was not actually eating his body and
blood, but instead represented the unleavened bread and wine served at the
Passover dinner, and then the Holy Communion, with Jesus establishing a new
covenant as himself being the Passover Lamb of God!
At the last Passover dinner Jesus
ate with his 12 disciples in the upper room, in Luke 22:15-20 Jesus declares a
new covenant with the meaning of the bread and wine of the Passover feast. Jesus says “I have earnestly desired to eat
this Passover meal with you before I suffer.
I shall not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of
heaven. When he had taken some bread
and given thanks, He broke it, giving it to the 12 saying “This is my body,
which I have given for you, Do this is remembrance of me! And in the same way he took the cup saying,
This cup, which is pored out for you, is the new covenant in my blood. In the Bible at Mark 14: 22-25 it reads, Jesus took
the bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying,
"Take it; this is my body." Then he took the cup, gave thanks and
offered it to them, and they all drank from it. This is my blood of the
covenant, which is poured out for many," he said.
1 Corinthians 11: 23 –
26 says..Do this is remembrance of the
Lord Jesus. 1 Corn 11: 23- 26 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to
you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24and
when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is
for you; do this in remembrance of me." 25In the
same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new
covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of
me." 26For whenever you eat this bread and drink
this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
So Jesus is that Lamb of God, who died for us, that we might have
salvation and eternal life threw him and with him, just like the Passover lambs
in Egypt who gave their life blood that the angel of death might Passover the
people. The blood of the lamb is also
ours in Christ as our salvation!
So, with this knowledge we can appreciate Passover, the day the Jews were set free
from Egypt.
Good Friday ( the day Jesus was Crucified ) to wash us clean of
our sins
Easter Sunday ( the day Jesus rose again from the dead “The
Resurrection Day ) Revelation 1:17-18
Jesus says I am the first and the last, the Living One! I was dead, but am alive forever more and
hold the keys of death and Hades.
Many places in the book of
Revelation Jesus is called the Lamb of God.
Rev. 7:17 Rev. 14:10 Rev.
15:3 Rev. 19:9 Rev. 21:22 & 23 Rev. 22:1 & 3
I pray
if it is Easter, that you now understand its meaning better, that you take to
heart what this truly means. It’s not about bunnies, little chicks, colored
eggs and chocolate candy. It’s about opening
your heart and asking the Lord Jesus to come inside. To say Jesus, I understand what you did for me, and I want
eternal life with you. Come into my
heart Lord Jesus. If you have prayed
that prayer, get yourself a Bible, find a good church, read, and ask about our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! You are
on your way to one of the most exciting personal relationships you have ever
experienced! Hallelujah!
Palm Sunday is the week before, when Jesus rode a donkey into
Jerusalem and the people ran to meet him waving Palm Branches in their hand,
and crying out Hosanna, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord and is
King of the Jews.
For
Further research on any of these subjects,
Look up Passover, Israelites in Egypt, Moses, the 10 plagues, Abraham and Isaac, Jacob ruling Egypt, 12
tribes of Israel, Jesus last supper, Jesus and Passover, Jesus Lamb of God.
If you need a Bible on line to find verses, try Blue Letter Bible or Gateway Bible! If you are looking for a church ministry to ask more questions I recommend Charles Stanley Ministry, Chuck Swindol Ministry, Greg Laurie Harvest Ministries, and Billy Graham Ministries...These are great resources to educate you more on these subjects, and to be able to help you know how to find a Bible teaching church.
Blessings,
in the name of the Lord. Pass this
on! Copy it! Hand it out!
Happy Passover, Good Friday and Easter,
Resurrection Day and Holy Communion
written by Gloria Muscarella