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God commanded that on Nisan 10 (Shabbat HaGadol) each head of the household should set aside a young male lamb which should be examined for blemishes which might disqualify it as an offering. Interestingly, this period of time allowed time for each family to become personally attached to their lamb, so that it would no longer simply be "a lamb" (Ex. 12:3) but rather their lamb" (Ex. 12:5). On the afternoon of the Nisan 14 the lambs were to be publicly sacrificed by the "whole assembly" (Ex. 12:6). And even though the entire nation was responsible for the death of the lambs, each family was to apply the blood of their personal lamb upon the doorpost as a sign of their faith in the Lord's deliverance (Ex. 12:7).
The name Pesach (translated Passover) derives from the Hebrew word pasach (passed over) and refers to the sparing of the households of the faithful on account of the sacrificial blood of the lamb:
It is the sacrifice of the LORD's Passover (pesach), for he passed over (pasach) the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt (Exodus 12:27)
That night the meat of the sacrifice was to be roasted with unleavened bread and bitter herbs and eaten in haste, since the Jews were to be ready to begin their journey immediately after God smote the Egyptian firstborn sons. God "passed over" those homes whose doorposts were sprinkled with the blood of the passover lamb. God further commanded that Passover be observed annually as a permanent reminder of the deliverance from Egypt. Only unleavened bread is to be eaten for seven days, and the first and seventh days of Pesach are to be days of holy assembly on which all work is forbidden.
The Observance Of Passover
After the Mashiach Yeshua came, the Temple was destroyed (AD 70) and Rabbinical Judaism eventually assumed leadership of the Jewish people. According to the rabbis, the idea of blood sacrifice was changed to mean "prayer and the performance of mitzvot." The rabbis then decreed that Passover should be commemorated by means of the Passover Seder, held on Nisan 15.
Technically speaking, Passover is a one day holiday that recalls the deliverance of the LORD by means of the blood of the lambs, immediately followed by the seven day Feast of Unleavened Bread (Chag HaMatzot). Modern Judaism, however, considers Passover to be an eight day holiday that remembers the birth of the Jewish people as a nation (and thus conflates Passover proper with Chag HaMatzot). Today Jews celebrate Passover to commemorate the liberation of the descendants of Abraham from their prophesied slavery in Egypt (Gen. 15:13) under the leadership of Moses, but Christians and Messianic Jews also remember the sacrifice of Yeshua the Mashiach as the Lamb of God (seh Elohim) who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29, 36). This is the real meaning of Passover.
Passover is to be celebrated at the full moon in the first month of the year, namely on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan (in Spring). The English date varies from year to year, sometimes in March/April, based on the Jewish lunar calendar. Note that, like all other holidays, the day begins at sundown, so at twilight on Nisan 14 the holiday technically begins. This agrees with the commandment given in the Torah, "In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening" (Exodus 12:18).
A Second Chance for Passover
Note: A second chance for observing Passover, called Pesach Sheni, was provided for in the Torah (Numbers 9:9-12) to accommodate those who are ritually unclean for the seder. This second chance for the seder would occur one month later, on Iyyar 14.
In the Torah, Passover is also called:
- Chag Ha-Aviv - The Spring Festival (Deut 16:1)
- Chag HaMatzot - The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Ex. 12:17-20)
- Chag HaPesach - The Festival of the Pascal Lamb (Num 9:2)
Among Rabbinically observant Jews, the liberation of the Jewish people is the keynote of the Passover season, and indeed Passover is often called zeman cheruteinu, the "season of our liberation." Jews remember the redemption of Israel as the herald of the future redemption of all mankind. As such, Passover is a Messianic holiday since the Messiah is the Redeemer of all humanity.
For Messianic Jews, Passover marks the liberation of the entire world from the bondage to the evil one (a type of Pharaoh who enslaves humanity) by the hand of One greater than Moses. Like the original Passover in Egypt, the sacrifice of the Lamb causes the wrath of God to "pass over" those who are trusting in the LORD's provision for redemption, but in the case of the sacrifice of the Mashiach Yeshua, this redemption delivers us from the cruel bondage of Satan and causes the wrath of God to forever be put away from us (baruch HaShem!).
Jewish tradition prescribes a number of rituals associated with the observance of Pesach, including the mitzvah of removing chametz (and abstaining from eating chametz during the seven days of Pesach), the mitzvah of preparing a Seder and reading from the Haggadah (liturgy), the mitzvah of hearing the Song of Songs (Shir HaShirim) read during the Sabbath during Passover week, and the mitzvah of beginning the study of the Hebrew classic Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers), reading a chapter a week until the festival of Shavu'ot (Pentecost).
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