Remembering His miracle

The miraculous story of the Exodus is close to the hearts of Jews and Gentiles alike as God demonstrates His unfettered grace toward His people.

In the reigning years before Christ, the Pharaoh of Egypt was a very proud and stubborn man. It took ten plagues sent from God to break him of his tyrannical hold upon the subjected Israelites of whom he was envious as well as fearful. At God’s final instruction, the blood of a slaughtered lamb was to be sprinkled on the doorposts and lintels of every Jewish home. This was to guarantee that death should pass over these homes and they be preserved against the imminent death destined upon the first born of all of Egypt.

When Pharaoh eventually let the Israelites go after the tenth and final plague amid Moses’ continual pleading, the day of their departure still looked dicey when they came upon a roadblock in their path. The waters of the Red Sea stood before them with the Egyptian army hot on their heels. At God’s command, Moses raised his staff and the waters miraculously parted by the strong winds. In faith, the people stepped across on the dry sea bed and escaped the forces of their foes.

The Passover seder is a family dinner where the story of the Jews’ liberation from slavery in ancient Egypt is remembered. The children of Israel are commanded to observe the anniversary of the exodus from Egypt by removing all leaven from their homes for seven days and sharing the story of their redemption to their children. The seder itself is based on the biblical verse, “You shall tell your child on that day, saying, ‘It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.'” (Exodus 13:8).