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Passover

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Sermon: The Great Passover
Today as we read chapter 12 from the book of Exodus, we will truly find the significance of the meaning of passover. The book of Exodus tells us how Moses was sent to Pharoah to be a deliverer of Israel to set the people of Israel free from persecution and slavery. The Pharoah appealed Moses’ request, thus as a result, setting the stage for a showdown for the God of Israel and the god of Egypt. Ten plagues upon the people of Egypt.The final plague was the death of the first born sons in all of the land of Egypt. God’s instruction were specific. God tells Moses’ on the 14th day of the month, to make sure all the families of Israel sacrifrice an umblemish lamb and smear its blood upon the door post of the house so God would “passed over” the Israelites and so they wouldn’t receive the impending wrath from heaven. (New International Version, Exodus 12: 6-7, 13).
We see in here that the Israelites are the exception. They believed in God’s promise of deliverance and who by faith did certain things. It was an act of faith that said "we believe that what God says is true and that God will spare those who trust Him." As part of the passover the Israelites were to eat the meat of the lamb with bitter herbs and unleavened bread (Exodus 12: 8). Now we ask, what is the soul purpose of doing this? The act of doing this was to display the bitterness of their bondage and slavery and unleavened bread representing the Israelites leaving the old leaven or life of Egypt behind. The plague of the first born devoured the Pharoah and Egypt into summoning all Israelites out of their land forever. It was the great “passover” that allowed the Israelites to gain their redemption and freedom and the almighty God was able to lead Israelites out of slavery.
Just like the Israelites, we all experience passovers. Let me take you back to year 2008 when my family and I experienced a passover. Although it was not quite like the passover story told in the book of Exodus, it was a passover story of our family’s faith and trust in God. On September 13th, 2008 my daughter was born prematurely and weighed only three pounds. We were told that she had a congenital heart defect and probably would not survive up to a week. She was admitted to ICU with multiple IV’s and tubes that just covered her little body. My husband and I were in a state of shock as we were expecting a healthy little premie baby. Unfortunatley, this was not the scenario. I remember just crying my eyes out with my husband next to me holding me as tears ran down his face. When in distress and lost, the habitual thing to do was to pray to the Lord for guidance and assistance, so that was what my husband and I did for several hours. We were not allowed to see our daughter as she was wheeled away. I felt so useless in bed while I couldn’t do anything for our new born daughter. My heart was barren as three nights passed. There was no news from the doctors and we didn’t know what to expect. I started to question the existence of God as my husband and I prayed and nothing seemed to be happening. Although, at one point we did feel like that, I knew that God was testing us, especially in this hard time that we were going through. We continued to pray hoping for a miracle from God. On the fourth day God had answered our prayers. Doctors came rushing into our room and asked for permission to perform an open heart surgery. It was a really hard call, but we were counting on God to help our little angel survive through all this chaos. We agreed to it and surgery proceedeed. Eight hours later, we were given clearance that the surgery was over. We were able to finally see her, but nobody really knew what would happen next. The doctor had told us that the blood to her heart seemed to be flowing better and at a regular pace. This was good news to start with.With our prayers to the Lord and our continued faith in God, our little daughter fought through the surgery. Today she is three years old and healthier than ever. I see this as passover in our lives. The faith and trust of God we held from the beginning, knowing God’s promise of deliverance, through times of death and life, all the way to the end, from darkness to light, God was right there with us. This was a true experience of God’s deliverance as he reigns above us all.
As we continued to reflect on the passover story of Exodus, it exhibits a powerful metaphor. The idea of moving from slavery to freedom and from exile to redemption. Through allegory of Exodus, it shows both our desire for change and our resistance. Moreover, it shows how life forces us to change, and how if we don’t continually change and grow, we die. Like the Israelites enslaved in Egypt, we are enslaved to sin. Today, the Passover is a moving and powerful portrait of our own lives of faith; encumbered by the bitterness of our sins, we must trust and wait, believing God’s promise of deliverance as he has continued to deliver through our prayers.

References
The Holy Bible: New international version. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1978.

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