Mensa Otabil - The Feast of Passover
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Exodus 12:14: «So this day shall be to you a memorial, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast of an everlasting ordinance.»
God decides enough is enough, and He comes out to deliver Israel. He gives them the Feast of the Passover, which includes observing a certain feast, eating a certain lamb in a particular way, and applying the blood to their doors for their deliverance. God understands human beings; when we are in crisis and we pray, we are desperate for deliverance. But when deliverance comes, we forget everything that led to our crisis. So He says to Israel, «I don’t want you to forget this. I want what has happened to be a memorial.» He says, «This day shall be a memorial to you.» This is something you must never forget, something you keep in your memory. God wants us to always remember the story of our lives, how He took us out and where He has brought us to. Because very often we easily forget ourselves.
Then He says, «As a memorial, you are going to keep this as a feast.» So this is not going to be a dark memorial service; this is going to be a feast. This is going to be a time of celebration; it’s going to be a time when we commemorate God’s new beginning with us. You know, many of us do that all the time. On our birthday, we remember that our lives are beginning again; a new year has dawned on us, and we have cakes and balloons. We do all of that, but that’s not the only thing God wants us to celebrate.
It’s good to celebrate your birthday, to recognize how far God has brought you, but it’s also good to remember God’s work in your life. If you’re a Christian, you know that apart from your natural birthday, there’s also your spiritual birthday- the day you gave your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, the day you surrendered your life to Him. You have to remember that, and not only that, but also all the many things that God has done for you. If there has been a remarkable testimony in your life, mark that day out, make it a memorial, and celebrate the goodness of the Lord on those days. That’s what God is teaching Israel-not to forget His benefits, because we easily forget His benefits.
Then He tells them this is going to be an everlasting ordinance. In other words, you don’t celebrate it today and forget about it tomorrow, but you are going to celebrate it throughout your existence as a nation. Of course, in the New Testament, this whole thing takes on a new meaning for us as Christians. It was on a Passover day that Jesus took the elements of the Passover and reestablished and reinterpreted it. He said, «I am now the Passover. When you were in Egypt, you ate a lamb; I am the Lamb of God, and I am the bread of life. It is My blood that is being shed.» So when Christians partake of communion, we are constantly reminding ourselves of this Passover as well as what Jesus Christ did for us. That’s why it’s important for Christians to honor communion. As we come into God’s presence, as we come to celebrate communion, we come with faith because it’s a memorial and everlasting ordinance that God has established for us.
I pray that the newness of life that God has given you will be remembered by you, that you can pass on what God has given you from one generation to the next. Let’s pray. Say with me: «Heavenly Father, thank You for saving me from my sin. I’m eternally grateful for Your gift of salvation. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.»