Hi gang!  We’re leading up to Passover, the first of the major Jewish feasts.  If you missed previous posts, you can catch them here:

• Looking Toward the Spring Feasts
• Preparing for Passover

Passover begins on Nissan 15.  However, remember that a Jewish day begins at sundown, thus Passover actually begins (according to the common measure of time) at sundown on Nissan 14.  This year that is Friday evening (April 22).  This is known as Erev Pesach (Passover Eve).

The Hebrew word seder means “arrangement, order.”  Accordingly, the ceremony is orchestrated.  The Passover Seder is a ceremonial meal, including symbolic foods and reciting of the Haggadah (the “telling” of the story of Passover).

The Seder usually begins with women lighting candles and the father of the house leading family and guests through the meal, reciting blessings and reading the Haggadah.  The diners drink four cups of wine during the seder, representing the four promises God gave to Moses in Exodus 6:6-7:

I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

1. I will bring you out (Cup of Sanctification)
2. I will free you (Cup of Deliverance)
3. I will redeem you (Cup of Redemption)
4. I will take you as My own people (Cup of Restoration)

Christian friends, aren’t you glad that Jesus Himself has become our Sanctifier, our Deliverer, our Redeemer, and the One who restores us to Him forever?  Jesus is the fulfillment of the Passover!

Over the next two days we will take a look at the recited blessings that coincide with each cup.

A closing note:  The 14 parts (or 15, if you count the lighting of candles) of the Passover Seder are performed orderly and as planned, fulfilling the definition of seder (arrangement, order).  It is a joyous occasion for Jewish families and their guests, and is a great way to build relationship with Jewish friends.  If you are ever invited to a Passover Seder with a Jewish family, take them up on the offer!