What Is Passover?
Passover is a Jewish holiday that commemorates when the death angel passed over the Israelites’ houses.
The Israelites were slaves in Egypt.
At God’s prompting, Moses went to the Pharaoh and asked him to let the people go.
The Pharaoh refused and as a result God sent several plagues.
The 10th one was that the death angel would pass over each house and strike dead the first born of each family as well as that of their cattle.
To spare His own people, God instructed the Israelites to kill a lamb and to smear its blood around the outer door frame of their home. When the angel passed by it would not kill anyone inside a home with these markings.
This plague finally convinced the Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. He even told them they could take with them whatever they wanted, which allowed them to gather needed supplies for their journey.
To commemorate this event, God called the Israelites to yearly observe this Passing Over with a 7-day festival.
During this time no one may eat anything with leavening (yeast) in it. They must remove all yeast from their house.
On the first and seventh day of the festival they are to hold a solemn assembly. No one is to work on these days except to make food for the people to eat. (Exodus 12:14-20)
This festival is to take place from the evening of the 14th day until the evening of the 21st day of the Hebrew month Nisan.
The Hebrew month of Nisan happens just after the Spring Equinox and is timed so that the 15th of the month falls on a full moon. Sometimes, though, due to an occasional leap month in their calendar, Nisan 15th lands on the second full moon after the Spring Equinox.
Also, Hebrew calendar months have fewer days in them than in the Gregorian months. This is what makes the Passover date vary. (The Hebrew calendar is based on the moon while the Gregorian calendar is based on the sun. Most of the world uses the Gregorian calendar).
Passover is to be celebrated every year for and by all future generations (Exodus 12:17).
The reason it was to be celebrated yearly is so that future generations would know and understand how God had rescued the Israelites and set them free from this captivity.
Moses instructed them:
24 “Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. 25 When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as He promised, observe this ceremony. 26 And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ 27 then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when He struck down the Egyptians.’” Exodus 12:24-27 NIV
Passover has been celebrated without fail from that first year until present day.
Israelites (Jewish people) all over the world have this holiday prominently marked in their yearly calendar.
They plan to continue to celebrate it as they seek to honor God.
To read the restrictions the Lord gave Moses and Aaron concerning the Passover meal, please read Exodus 12:43-50.
To read the entire Passover story, please read Exodus 11 and 12.
To learn more about the Easter Season, please visit my Easter page, a compilation of previous Easter and Lent posts.