Pesach & Chag HaMatzot
Passover & The Feast of Unleavened Bread
Description
Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are among the most important holidays of the Jewish year. They commemorate God’s deliverance of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt through the Exodus.
Date
Begins at sunset April 22, 2024
Ends at sunset April 30, 2024
About Passover & The Feast of Unleavened Bread
Daily Devotionals
These eight daily devotionals will help you commemorate this important Jewish holiday.
6 Reasons Why Passover is So Important
Passover is one of the most important holy days of the Jewish year. Jewish families gather for a ritual meal called a Seder, during which specific elements recount the history of Israel and retell the story of God’s dramatic deliverance of our people. Here are six reasons why Passover is so important.
1. God delivered the Jewish people from 400 years of slavery
Hundreds of years before the first Passover, God saved the Jewish people from a deadly famine by bringing them to Egypt, the only nation prepared with storehouses of food. By God’s sovereignty, Joseph, one of Israel’s 12 sons who was sold as a slave by his brothers, had risen to second in command over Egypt. When the Israelites faced starvation, Pharaoh welcomed them into the land because of Joseph. But after Pharaoh died, his successor put the Jewish people to work as slaves. They lived in bondage until God called Moses as His instrument to deliver them 400 years later at Passover. “If God had not delivered us,” the Passover Seder says, “we would still be slaves.”
2. God showed His power through the miracles surrounding Passover
Pharaoh recoiled at the idea of letting the Hebrew slaves leave Egypt. If they departed, he would lose more than a million laborers. He refused to let them go and, in so doing, opened the door for God to reveal His power to all of Egypt. After each of Pharaoh’s obstinate denials, God brought a supernatural plague upon the nation of Egypt. From locusts to frogs to boils to water-turned-to-blood, God displayed His power throughout the whole land. All who endured the plagues recognized that the God of Israel was mighty and determined to liberate His people. Israel, too, observed the God of their fathers intervene for their rescue. The miracles continued after their departure. When Pharaoh’s armies pursued, the Israelites walked on dry ground right through the Red Sea with its waters restrained as a high wall on either side of them. Through the Passover and Exodus, the God of Israel was manifested and glorified for all to see.
3. God reaffirmed His covenant with Abraham and further set apart the Jewish people as His Chosen People
For generations, slavery was all the our ancestors knew. They were born into bondage and died in bondage. When God stepped in to extricate us as a people, He conveyed to us that He had not forgotten us. The God of Israel is faithful and would not forsake His covenant with our father Abraham. God’s intervention to free the Children of Israel told us that we were still His people, and He was still our God. He raised us up from a subjugated people and reminded us that we are a called and Chosen People – and it is a reminder to us still today.
4. God called the Jewish people out to give us a Land of our own
The Israelites didn’t know where they were going, but they knew our God had set them free and had promised to give them “a good and large land” in which to dwell as a nation (Exodus 3:8). No longer would they serve Pharaoh. They would live in the Land given to them directly by God. Israel was on her way to becoming a nation with a homeland of her own. The impact of that land grant reverberates through the centuries, standing strong and true despite various exiles over the years or dissenting opinions today. Passover opened the door to receiving the Promised Land.
5. God established a watershed event for the Jewish people and an inheritance of faith to pass on
Passover is known as the watershed event in Jewish history. It was a turning point, a defining moment for the Jewish people. Everything changed for us with Passover. God rescued, preserved, and called us out to be His people in our own land. Immediately upon our ancestor’s departure from Egypt, He instituted the Feast of Passover as an everlasting memorial to the astounding feat of their deliverance. God set an annual appointment for Israel to intentionally remember what He had done for us in the Passover and Exodus. Thousands of years later, we commemorate it and tell our children, passing on a legacy of faith in the one true God, just as He commanded us.
6. God revealed a prophetic glimpse of the promised Messiah’s sacrificial death
By God’s sovereign design, the Feasts of Israel established in Leviticus 23 contain a prophetic shadow of God’s redemptive plan for mankind. Within Passover is the picture of the Messiah’s death to deliver us from the bondage of sin.
The final plague in Egypt was the death of the firstborn of all households. God revealed to our ancestors, the Israelites, the one way they would be spared: They were to sacrifice an unblemished lamb and brush its blood on the doorframe of their homes. Only then would the Angel of Death pass over their homes and spare their firstborn.
1 Corinthians 5:7 tells us that “Messiah, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed.” Yeshua’s (Jesus’) shed blood covers our sin, and His sacrificial death on our behalf – when received in faith – delivers us from the bondage of sin.
As Jewish families come together at Passover, we remember and teach the next generation about the event that delivered us as God’s people. As Messianic Jews celebrate Passover, we also celebrate the eternal deliverance provided by Jesus the Messiah.
Get the Passover Infographic
Have you ever wanted to learn more about Passover? Jewish Voice Ministries has put together this informative infographic where you can discover the fascinating history and meaning of the holiday.
