“We are Forerunners. Guardians of all that exists. The roots of the Galaxy have grown deep under our careful tending. Where there is life, the wisdom of our countless generations has saturated the soil. Our strength is a luminous sun, towards which all intelligence blossoms… And the impervious shelter, beneath which it has prospered.”

The Feast of Unleavened Bread

by | Apr 9, 2020 | Christianity | 6 comments

Our good friend and longtime reader The Male Brain suggested that I post up the passage from the Book of Exodus about the Passover for the upcoming Sunday Scripture. Now, being a Christian, I felt that it was more appropriate to devote this Sunday’s post to the resurrection of our Lord and King, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Son of God. But the Jews also have special claim to a relationship with the Lord – indeed, they got there first and are specially chosen.

So, out of respect for and in thanks to my Jewish readers, many of whom live in Israel and read this blog, here is the passage that Dawn Pine asked me to post up. I’ve chosen a slightly different translation, simply because I prefer the English Standard Version in general for its literary beauty and its fidelity to the original meaning of the primary texts (though the ESV is not without its controversies and problems). But I think you’ll see the point of this easily enough:

Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.



Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.



— Exodus 12:21-28, English Standard Version





The story of Passover has a lot of resonance for Christians as well as Jews – there is a reason why Jesus Christ is called the Lamb of God, and there is a reason why Easter takes place for Christians in the same time period as Pesach does for Jews.

That is all part of the long chain of connections and types and shadings within the Bible that maintain the internal consistency of the moral teachings, from Old Testament to New, from the oral traditions to the written ones, and from the ancient Mosaic laws to the new and eternal covenant of the Lord Jesus Christ.



The lesson for both the Jews and the rest of us is simple:

Trust in the Lord.

Every single Time of Testing eventually passes. And the Lord always gives glory – in HIS eyes, not the eyes of the world – to the individuals and the peoples who hold to His Commandments.

The Lord sent a plague to liberate His chosen people from their captors and masters, which has some rather interesting parallels to our situation here and now. Therefore, do not forget that lesson.

Love the Lord with all your heart. Pray as often as you feel is necessary. Trust in the Lord, that there is a plan, and that you are a soldier in a war that you cannot possibly fully understand. And look forward with humour and optimism to the future, as the Jews have for over five thousand years.

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6 Comments

  1. Kapios

    Do you follow any particular denomination or do you think denominations is a divide and conquer tactic?

    Also what do you make of the Easter and Christmas holidays in terms of ancient pagan customs?Is this a coincidence or some sort of myth to dismiss?

    Reply
    • Didact

      Excellent questions. I'll answer them via a Domain Query podcast later.

      Reply
    • Dire Badger

      Then I will make my own commentary to said domain query 🙂

      Reply
  2. MrUNIVAC

    I'm not Jewish, but you can't mention Passover without giving a shout-out to the all-time greatest Passover song!

    youtube.com/watch?v=Q0GPD6FHnOU

    Reply
    • Didact

      From back when METALLICA was actually sort of decent – and from when they'd stopped cribbing off of Dave Mustaine's music sheets.

      Reply
  3. Quartermain

    Amen!

    Reply

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