What Is Passover, And What Is The Significance Of Marking The Doors With Lamb’s Blood?
Okay, so I am Christian but my teacher isn’t giving us homework tomorrow in honor of the beginning of Passover. I know what it is vaguely-The Angle of Death came to kill all the newborn sons and they were instructed to mark their doorsteps with lambs blood so the angle would “pass over”. But what is the significance of this blood? And I have heard that people fast in order to celebrate. Is this true, if so why?
Thanks so much! I love learning about things that are different from my beliefs!
- *Continuing the discussion from the original post found here.
The Rabbi’s teach that the Egyptians worshipped the lamb. Therefore in a way to prove our G-d’s power over the gods of the Egyptians we smeared the blood of ‘their god’ on the doorposts where everyone could see it.
Also, this was a very unusual act and it showed the faith in G-d by doing a public unusual act.
In fact, G-d Himself killed the firstborns not the angel of death which is what was so special about the redemtion – G-d did it Himself without sending angels.
Firstborns fast on the day before Passover as an act of mourning because had we been Egyptians, the firstborns would have been killed and this is a frightening thought so firstborns fast. During Passover, as a happy festival, we may not fast.
Re: Fasting
Only the firstborn child fasts the day before passover because his life was spared. Alternatively if he chooses to participate with the completion of a tractate (significant scholarly acheivement) he doesn’t have to fast in honor of the special occasion.
Re: Lamb Blood… I believe that question has been answered multiple times already.
The blood was from a slaughtered lamb, signifying a blood sacrifice made in faith and obedience by the Hebrew family within the household. The blood was smeared on the posts and the lintel overhead, not the steps.
The Angel of Death was sent to destroy the firstborn sons, yes. However, Jewish first-born sons now traditionally fast the day before Passover begins, but the rest of the family does not.
Passover begins with the Seder ritual meal and then a feast-like supper following the ritual meal. The Seder recounts the story of the enslaved Hebrews, the plagues and the liberation from slavery and idolatry. Once Passover begins, the firstborns can eat again.
We do not eat any leavened products during those eight days because it is commanded by G-d not to have it in our possession or to eat of it, in commemoration of the liberation from slavery into true nationhood.
It’s a pleasure to describe and explain Passover to someone genuinely interested for the sake of understanding! Shalom!
The bloods significance was just to spare the firstborn in any Jewish family. *** soon as they would see the lambs blood, they would pass over the house.
We don’t fast, we just refrain from anything with a leavening agent in it. A leavening agent is what makes anything rise. So, no bread, nothing with yeast, etc. This is because our ancestors didn’t have time for the bread to rise.
I´m glad i can add on to the previous answers.
The blood was to represent that the jews had just circumcised themselves and because of the merit of the circumcision they should be spared from death.
Also, it was not the angel of death who came to kill the firstborns (not newborns) rather G-d himself
So that the “death angel” would ‘pass over’ the door of the household and not kill the first born son.
Jews are required by direct commandment in the Torah to keep the Passover observance for an eternal memorial. Passover (Pesach in Hebrew) is the celebration of the deliverance of the eternal covenant nation Israel, the Hebrews, from the yolk of idolatry, superstition, and physical slavery in Egypt. It was a reaffirmation of their identity as a nation dedicated to God through Torah and our memorial reaffirms this for each generation. . The events we retell at Passover were demonstration to Egypt that their deities were false and their man/god Pharoah impotent to God’s power. There is a minor fast of the Firstborn that takes place the eve before Pesach.
It is a very important part of Judaism and many central aspects of our identity as an eternal covenant nation are embedded in it’s observance. It is an affirmation for each generation to embrace the truths of the Exodus and our emancipation both physically and spiritually. It has absolutely nothing to do with any form of Christian doctrine. Jesus is completely insignificant to it. Inserting Jesus into the Passover in fact INVALIDATES it as honoring the direct commandment in Torah.
Christians may wish to rethink their claim of Jesus as the Paschal lamb if they read in the Torah what the lamb represents and why the covenant people, Israel is commanded for eternity to remember it. The Paschal lamb is a direct representation of a false god of Egypt. If that’s what Christians insist on calling Jesus, so be it. God’s word is clear on the matter of the Paschal lamb. Read the entire story yourself in Exodus. Don’t take my word, it’s God’s word.
6:6 ‘Therefore say to the Israelites [in My name], ‘I am God. I will take you away from your forced labor in Egypt and free you from their slavery. I will liberate you with a demonstration of My power, and with great acts of judgment.
The Israelites had been subjugated to hundreds of years enslaved in a culture that dwelled on death, false animal and man gods and superstition. God was going to break both the physical and spiritual bonds of enslavement to the Israelites.
Through each one of the plagues God demonstrated to both the Egyptians and to Israel that the God of Israel was more powerful than the false gods of Egypt.
After one of the plagues Pharaoh said to Moses:
8:21 Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. ‘Go!’ he said. ‘[You have permission to] sacrifice to your God here in [our] land.’
8:22 ‘That would hardly be suitable,’ replied Moses. ‘What we will sacrifice to God our Lord is sacred to the Egyptians. Could we sacrifice the sacred animal of the Egyptians before their very eyes and not have them stone us?
This is a direct reference to the LAMB representing their false god to the Egyptians. The Hebrews were enslaved in fear to do something like that in front of the Egyptians!
8:23 What we must do is make a three day journey into the desert. There we will be able to sacrifice to God our Lord, just as He told us.
8:24 ‘I will let you leave,’ said Pharaoh, ‘as long as you do not go too far away. You can sacrifice to God your Lord in the desert. But pray for me!’
8:25 Moses answered, ‘When I leave your presence, I will pray to God. Tomorrow, the creatures will go away from Pharaoh, his servants, and his people. But let Pharaoh never again deceive us, refusing to let the people sacrifice to God.’
Pharaoh went back on his word again so God then killed much of the Egyptian livestock (representatives of their false gods by the way) and spared those of the Israelites. Then boils and then hail came and they were still not convinced of the power of God over their gods. But God wasn’t done with his demonstration to fully convince the Egyptians and those of Israel who still may have had doubts and fears.
10:2 You will then be able to confide to your children and grandchildren how I made fools of the Egyptians, and how I performed miraculous signs among them. You will then fully realize that I am God.’
Pharaoh was still obstinate so locusts and darkness came, then finally, after Pharaoh said Moses would see his face no more came the ultimate show of power and strength. It also gave Israel the opportunity to demonstrate to Egypt and to God their loyalty. Finally, their bonds of enslavement of both mind and spirit were now shattered.
11:4 Moses said [to Pharaoh] in God’s name, ‘Around midnight, I will go out in the midst of Egypt.
11:5 Every first-born in Egypt will die, from the first-born of Pharaoh sitting on his throne, to the first-born of the slave girl behind the millstones. Every first-born animal [will also die].
11:7 But among the Israelites, a dog will not even whine because of man or beast. You will then realize that God is making a miraculous distinction between Egypt and Israel.
11:8 ‘All your officials here will come and bow down to me. They will say, ‘Leave! You and all your followers!’ Only then will I leave.’ He left Pharaoh in great anger.
ONLY when Egypt is convinced of God’s power over their false gods will Israel depart with their freedom intact!
Now the command to the Passover sacrifice begins and read carefully to understand what the sacrifice represented. I will not type everything here I hope you will read ALL of Exodus yourself to gain a fuller understanding.
12:5 You must have a flawless young animal, a one-year-old male. You can take it from the sheep or from the goats.
So it could be a sheep or a goat. Egypt had deities as represented from BOTH animals. How convenient…Israel is to kill representatives of Egyptian deities in their presence and to dip hyssop, an herb used to purify the holy Egyptian temples and DIP it in the VERY LIFE ESSENCE (that’s what they believed blood to be) of their deity in their presence as an act of defiance and mark their doors with it in allegiance to the God of Israel who will demonstrate His power over their false gods. Then they were to roast and eat their false Egyptian god representation in the presence of the Egyptians without any recourse done to them, thus demonstrating the impotence of their man/god Pharaoh and their other false gods. In fact, they were “passed over” by the angel of death who instead punished the Egyptians for their idolatry and enslavement of mind and body. Pharoah had done this to God’s “first-born” ( You shall tell Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my son, my firstborn. Ex 4:22)
12:12 I will pass through Egypt on that night, and I will kill every first-born in Egypt, man and beast. I will perform acts of judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I [alone] am God.
That is a very important passage there..NOTE..**God will enact judgment against the false gods..plural now..of Egypt. That was the purpose of the Passover sacrifice.**
12:13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are staying. I will see the blood and pass you by (pasach). There will not be any deadly plague among you when I strike Egypt.
12:27 You must answer, ‘It is the Passover service to God. He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians, sparing our homes.’
The people bent their heads and prostrated themselves.
The Passover sacrifice, be it a sheep or a goat, was NEVER a sin sacrifice. The sacrifice serves to demonstrate the people’s courage, as they take the Egyptians’ object of worship and slaughter and eat it in the service of the God of Israel!
Torah is clear that the sacrifice and eating of the lamb at Pesach was the killing and eating of the false god of Egypt to show allegiance to the real God. The continuation of the Paschal lamb sacrifice is an eternal remembrance of that deliverance from idolatry and slavery. This is why no uncircumcised male or Gentile could partake of the Paschal lamb. Both before the days of the Temple and during both First and Second Temple periods and in between it was also clear it never represented a sin sacrifice to the Jewish people at any time because there are entirely different methods for sacrificing a lamb for a sin sacrifice and the lamb for the Passover! So, it should be clear after reading the Exodus from Torah and commandments forbidding human sacrifice that Jesus has nothing to do with the Passover lamb. If you insist on equating Jesus with the Pascal lamb, in truth you are equating him to a false god of Egypt. I sincerely doubt that is their intent as Christians view Jesus as a sin offering!
12:42 There was a night of vigil for God, [preparing] to bring them out of Egypt. This night remains for the Israelites a vigil to God for all generations
12:43 God said to Moses and Aaron, ‘This is the law of the Passover sacrifice:
‘No outsider may eat it.
12:44 If a man buys a slave for cash and circumcises him, then [the slave] can eat it.
12:45 [But if a gentile is] a temporary resident or a hired hand, he may not eat [the Passover sacrifice].
12:46 ‘It must be eaten by a single group. Do not bring any of its meat out of the group. Do not break any of its bones.
12:47 ‘The entire community of Israel must keep [this ritual].
12:48 When a proselyte joins you and wants to offer the Passover sacrifice to God, every male [in his household] must be circumcised. He may then join in the observance, and be like a native-born [Israelite]. But no uncircumcised man may eat [the sacrifice].
12:49 The same law shall apply both for the native-born [Israelite] and for the proselyte who joins you.’
Now, we have a bone representing the lamb on the plate. I have had non-Jewish friends attend many seders at my home in the past and they find that learning the Torah meaning is very powerful in its messages. Shalom