Well, we had our Passover Seder on the 29th of March. It turned out to be really great. We went through all the symbols of the Seder the best I knew how. I do see some areas I will change next year but the great thing about doing this is learning so much from it.
Blow The Trumpets
First thing we did was blow our Shofar to call the assembly together to begin our feast.
(Stewart blowing the shofar)
- Num 10:8-10 And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations. And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God.
Remove the Leaven
Then we searched for the leaven but since we know that the leaven we are suppose to remove is the leaven of sin, we prayed.
1Co 5:6-8 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Lighting the Candles
We lit the candles symbolizing the presence of GOD because JESUS is the light of the world.- Joh 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
The First Cup - Sanctification
We drank the first cup, the cup of sanctification, remembering GOD took the Israelites out of Egypt and made them HIS people just as HE chose for us to be HIS people.
(drinking the fruit of the vine which for us is Welch's 100% grape juice)
- Exo 6:7 And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
- Joh 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Foot Washing
We washed feet, a symbol of humility.
(foot washing bowl with Wisteria blossoms)
John 13:12-16 So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
Hand Washing
We do a little hand washing, symbolizing the purity of heart and hands we are called to exhibit as GOD's people.
(hand washing & foot washing bowls)
Psa 24:3-5 Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Bitter Herbs - Parsley & Salt Water
The first bitter herb was parsley, symbolizing the hyssop that was used to apply the blood to the door posts. It represents life, created and sustained by the Lord our God. We are filled with joy at the goodness of God in loving us and caring for us, and bringing into our lives all good things. And yet as good as God intended life to be, it is often mixed with tears. The salt water symbolizes the tears. The Israelites life was full of suffering while they were under the bondage of the Egyptians much as our life is full of suffering when we are bound by the sin in our life. We cannot forget that life is often filled with suffering and tears but we know that GOD is there to sustain us through life and there will be joy everlasting in Heaven.
- Exo 3:7 And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
- Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
- Joh 16:20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.
Appetizer
At this point I serve a nice appetizer bowl of broccoli and cheese soup.
Breaking Bread
Now we return to the Passover. Three pieces of bread represented the people, priests, & GOD. Custom is to take the middle one of the three pieces of bread, the piece that stood for the priest, the mediator between God and the people, and break it.We, knowing truth, break it to represent Jesus’ body that was broken, wrap half in a linen napkin as HE was wrapped in linen for burial, hidden it as HE was buried, brought back as HE was resurrected, and distributed to everyone, as He gives life to all who believe.
1Co 11:23-24 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
The Story
The Telling of the story of the Exodus from Egypt is the focal point of the traditional Passover Seder. I try to liven it up for the kids so I have them guess the plagues in order and I do a few "extra" things so they will have more interaction.
The Ten Plagues
Water turned to blood...
Sand turned to lice...
Disease of livestock...
Hail stones...
(Austin catching my "ice cube" hail stones)
Three days of darkness...
Frogs...
(Jonathan catching the plastic frog invasion I threw)
Swarms...
(Swarms of flying plastic bugs take flight across the room)
Boils...
Locusts....
Death to the first born...
(After we had this years Passover, I started wondering with all the symbols in this, what did the plagues symbolise... I will do a blog later when I finish studying it out more)
Salad Served
I let everyone enjoy either a veggie salad or fruits from the salad bar. It helps settle the kids back down and keeps everyone from being to hungry to focus.
We go to the Seder plate and along with other symbolic foods, the tradition is to have a lamb shank bone on the plate to represent the lamb that was sacrificed on Passover. I decided to go "out of the box" here and I put a cross on the plate instead. I feel like the cross is our symbol as CHRISTians that we relate the best with our Passover Lamb who is JESUS.
- 1Pe 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
The Second Cup - Deliverance
The Second Cup of fruit of the vine is the cup of Deliverance.
Just as GOD brought HIS people out of Egypt; JESUS delivered us from our sins and from the evil of the world when HE gave HIM-self to be crucified on the cross.
Gal 1:4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
The Second Bitter Herb
Then we ate unleavened bread because GOD commanded for HIS people to eat it in remembrance of the haste in which they left Egypt.
Deu 16:3 Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life.
Twice during the feast two elements representing a mixture of positive and negative experiences or emotions are incorporated into the service. The first was where we ate parsley with salt water and now when we ate
the bitter herb (horseradish). With bitter herbs, we remembered how bitter slavery was in the land of Egypt. We are to allow the bitter taste to bring tears of compassion for the pain that the Israelites felt long ago. But let us also weep for those who are still enslaved and have not yet experienced the deliverance that our gracious God brings.
Bitter Sweet
Then we ate the sweet fruit mix(apples, nuts, & honey, it is made to look like the mixture of clay and straw that the Israelites used to make bricks for the cities of Pharaoh) with the bitter herb. For the slaves in Egypt, hope in a future with God sweetened the misery of their slavery. The contrasting elements serve to remind us that life is often a confusing mixture of joy and sorrow, of bitter endings and sweet new beginnings. It is not our goal to eliminate the negative experiences, rather our goal is to rejoice in the fact that God works in all of the circumstances of life. We know with God, what sweetness that He can bring into the most bitter of our circumstances.
(Brenda laughing at David's reaction to the bitter herb)
Exo 12:8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
Joh 16:22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.
Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Dinner Time
At this point of the Passover we now sit down and have a meal and discuss what all we have learned so far. After we eat and clear the dishes we continue with the last part of the Passover.
(My Pretty Table)
Hidden Matza
Now is was time to reveal that which has been hidden. We will find the hidden matza (remember from when we broke the bread) so that we may conclude our meal. Traditionally the bread symbolized hope for the future, a symbol of redemption. For us the broken bread of redemption reminds us of the body of our Lord Jesus Christ that was broken for us. Take and eat this, remembering that Jesus died for us, and in so doing accept the grace of God that brings freedom from bondage to sin. We celebrate the fact that our long hoped for Messiah has come, and is our redeemer.
Luk 22:19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
The Third Cup: Redemption
This cup reminds us of the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ that was spilled because of us and on our behalf. Drink this, remembering that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, and in so doing accept the grace that transforms us and brings us from darkness into His marvelous light, and allows us to be people of God.
Luk 22:20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.
The Fourth Cup: Thanksgiving
Our Seder is now complete, just as our redemption is complete. We rejoice with thanksgiving, and yet are humbled by God’s love!
The traditional conclusion of the Seder is a hope for the future expressed by Jews throughout history: "Next year in Jerusalem." We will conclude our Seder with the same expression of hope and faith in God, as we await the coming of a new Jerusalem.
Next year in the New Jerusalem!
I am fully aware that my Passover is not like the Jewish Passover but then again I am not Jewish. And I know many people could tell me how I did this or that wrong but I am doing this as a learning process. I am the only person I knew that observed the Passover except for my Messianic Jewish History teacher from high school and he lives a little far away for me to be able to ask him to show me what to do and teach me Hebrew real quick.
GOD is showing me so much stuff by having me observe Passover that I only hit highlights in this blog. There are so many more scriptures I could have put and better explanations for the symbols and such but I just wanted to share my Passover with you all in a "nutshell". I have observed Passover twice now and this Passover was better than the last and I feel that the next one will be even better. GOD bless you all... leave me a comment. I welcome suggestions and advice.
I used the following link the most in putting together my Passover but I rewrote some of it
I also read and used some ideas from these following sources...
