Thursday, April 9, 2020

Passover's New Day


Thursday of Holy Week, April 9, 2020

While the Israelites were still in the land of Egypt, the Lord gave the following instructions to Moses and Aaron: “From now on, this month will be the first month of the year for you. Announce to the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each family must choose a lamb or a young goat for a sacrifice, one animal for each household. If a family is too small to eat a whole animal, let them share with another family in the neighborhood. Divide the animal according to the size of each family and how much they can eat.  Exodus 12:1-4

11 “These are your instructions for eating this meal: Be fully dressed,[a] wear your sandals, and carry your walking stick in your hand. Eat the meal with urgency, for this is the Lord’s Passover. 12 On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn son and firstborn male animal in the land of Egypt. I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt, for I am the Lord! 13 But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt.  14 “This is a day to remember. Each year, from generation to generation, you must celebrate it as a special festival to the Lord. This is a law for all time.  Exodus 12:11-14

Passover, the marking of the first day of freedom for the Israelites leaving Egypt, began last night, and ends with sundown this evening.  Jewish families will gather at the table and recite Scripture, explain their epic history of being God’s chosen people, joyful, worshipping people, disobedient, sinful people, and, like us, forgiven people; they will eat the meal of haste and remember.
As part of the remembering process they will think on the new order of things as God instructed them to consider this date as their New Year.  After 400 years of slavery they were getting a do-over, released from bondage to liberty.  This was their Fourth of July…a new, released-and-back-on-mission family of God.
I can’t help connecting this New Day feel to what we’re experiencing right now.  Of course our “bondage” to Coronavirus is only a few months old; hardly a four-century saga of suffering.  But I cannot help shaking the thought that we are on the cusp of a new normal that is game-changing.  And, if you’re asking exactly what that means, I have to demur speculation in favor of fuzzy.  I only have an impression something looms large for the human race. 
I will tell you what I hope, and that for which I pray: 

He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!”  Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!  Revelation 22:20

But, absent of that final prayer and promise of Scripture, the other possibility in my mind and heart is a regeneration of respect. 
·      Respect for our tongues and ears – where there is a kinder, gentler, more positive tone in daily speak in conversations, media, and any interaction between humans.
·      Respect for our stewardship of God’s resources
·      Respect for being what God created, not what our darkness imagined
·      Respect for God, Himself…a regeneration of refreshing revival
Our world has had enough of terrorism, plagues, and living in fear.  It’s time to get along and live the love of Passover’s New Day.
For You Today
The role of the church is not exhausted just because we’ve been locked out of our buildings.  Somehow, it seems, the church is reborn every time the pressure cooker of life starts to blow off steam.  This day is our new chance to get it right.

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You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!
Title Image:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
For other posts on Exodus 12 and the Passover see Ready to Travel and Seder; Meal of Haste and This Holy Week – Part 4

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