Mighty Hand and Outstretched Arm…

Concerning the observance of the Passover Seder the Torah states, “When your child asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?’ then you shall say Avadim Hayinu: ‘We were slaves (עבדים היינו) to Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes” (Deut. 6:20-23). We are instructed to “remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out” (Deut. 7:19). As it is written in the Shema, “You shall teach them diligently to your children,” we ask, what do we teach? And we answer: Kulo! Everything – the whole story of our deliverance (הסיפור המלא).

The early sages taught that Hebrew word “Pesach” (פסח) can be read as peh (פֶּה), “mouth,” and sach (סַח), “speaks,” indicating that Passover is a confession of the truth of God’s redemption, testifying to the truth of the LORD’s faithful love. On Pesach we thank God for the revelation and the wonder of the great Lamb of God that was slain… Indeed, in light of the truth of the Scriptures – both in the Torah, the writings, the prophets, and the New Covenant Scriptures – how is it possible to honor the LORD God of Israel and to celebrate his redemption apart from the Messiah who came to earth to die as the great Lamb of God? Yeshua is the heart and central meaning of the Passover, and there is simply NO valid Passover Seder apart from the blood of the Lamb (Heb. 2:3; Heb 10:28-29).

 

Hebrew Lesson: