The first mention of the Passover is in Exodus 12. I'll give you a brief summary up to that point.
Moses used to live in Egypt, but he ran away and lived in Midian. He ran away because he killed an Egyptian that was beating a Hebrew. The Pharoah wanted to find Moses and kill him for this act.
Moses married this lady named Zipporah. The king of Egypt died while Moses was in Midian. The children of Israel were groaning and crying out to God to save them. God heard their cries and he sent Moses to save them. How God told Moses to go was peculiar. He, God, talked to Moses from a burning bush. The bush was not consumed! That would be a crazy sight to see!
Moses tried telling God that he couldn't be the spokesperson for Israel. He was afraid people wouldn't believe him, even after the signs that God performed for him. He also used the excuse that he was a bad speaker. God got angry at Moses and decided his brother Aaron could be the spokesperson. However, Moses would have to speak the words first.
Moses and Aaron go to Egypt to tell the Pharoah what God had told them, which was simply "Let My people go" (My is God). This was Pharoah's response, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go." (Exodus 5:2).
Moses was confused. He questioned why God sent him there if the Hebrews weren't going to be delivered. God responded, with assurance, that they will be delivered and Pharoah's strong hand will fail.
10 times Moses and Aaron went to the Pharoah with the same message. 10 times he, the Pharoah, said no. Because he hardened his heart, his country recieved 10 different plagues.
1. All water becomes blood
2. Frog infestation
3. Lice <-- This one is where the magicians recognize and tell Pharoah that the plagues were God's doings.
4. Flies, swarms of them
5. Livestock diseases
6. Boils
7. Hail
8. Locusts (grasshoppers and crickets)
9. Darkness for 3 days
10. Death of the firstborn child
The tenth plague is where the Passover comes into play. God told Moses He was going to kill all the firstborn at midnight, livestock included. The only way the Hebrews would be saved is if they killed a male lamb, without blemish of the first year, and smeared/painted the blood on 2 doorposts and on the lintel of the house. This sign let God know He could pass over them.
Does that help you understand Passover a little bit more now? I hope it did! God gave the Israelites rules on how, when, and why to celebrate it.
As Christians, we don't usually celebrate Passover, since it's intended for the Jews to remember that miracle from their past history. Jesus celebrated this though, and He commanded us to do something else instead. The Lord's Supper, or communion. I will dive into that deeper in another blog article that will be coming up very shortly.
Thank you for reading this! Good job if you read all the way through! 🙂
