This lesson is designed as a 10-minute talk about the celebration of Passover.
In this particular lesson I use the example of the Declaration of Independence to introduce the idea of freedom.
Another approach might be to talk about the 4th of July and how we celebrate freedom on the 4th of July with fireworks and hot dogs and the like. The last time I talked about Passover I used the 4th of July as the example and I think it worked out really well. In fact, I got to eat a hotdog while I talked about it. So it worked out pretty well for me!
enough with the chit chat….here it is:
Passover – what does it mean?
What does the word “Passover” mean to you?
Well, let me explain with another example…
What is this? (hold up the Declaration of Independence)
(Here’s the one I printed out)
As an American when you see the Declaration of Independence it makes you think about being….?
Free!
Free from English rule and free to live however we want as Americans.
That is what Passover means today for many Jews.
The yearly celebration of Passover is a celebration of freedom.
The Story of the First Passover
A few thousand years ago the Jews were slaves in Egypt under a powerful ruler named Pharaoh.
They had been slaves so long that many of the Jews had been born as slaves and died as slaves without knowing any other way of life.
One day while Moses was tending his father-in-law’s sheep on the side of a mountain God called to him through a burning bush.
Moses obeyed what God had told him in the burning bush and with the help of his brother Aaron went to talk to Pharaoh.
Moses and Aaron tell Pharaoh that God has said, ” let my people go.”
Pharaoh believes he is a God himself and he has no idea who this “Moses” and “Aaron” are so he doesn’t listen.
The next day when Pharaoh goes to take a bath in the Nile River he finds it has turned to blood.
This is the first of ten plagues that God sends on Egypt.
Some of the other plagues included:
- Frogs
- Flies
- Boils
- Hail and fire
- Locusts
- Darkness
Through all of this Pharaoh will not let his slaves go.
Through Moses and Aaron God warns all the people in Egypt that the only way to be safe from the final plague is to put blood on outside of their front door.
Pharaoh and most of the Egyptian people don’t listen to these instructions and the angel that delivers the plague strikes their house that night.
But all of the Jewish slaves house are saved because they apply the blood to their doors.
And this is where we get the term Passover from.
The angel that delivered the plague “passed over” the houses with blood on their doors.
The next morning Pharaoh wakes up and is extremely mad.
Pharaoh calls for Moses and Aaron and orders them to take all of the Jewish slaves and leave Egypt immediately.
For the first time in hundreds of years the Jewish people are free.
The yearly celebration of passover
This event is what the Jewish people celebrate every year at Passover.
Just like we think of freedom when we see the Declaration of Independence, The Jewish people think of freedom when they think of Passover.
Passover is the celebration of being free from slavery in Egypt.
But one last thing, what do you think the blood on the door was all about?
The blood was a symbol of something that was going to happen in the future. There is a big word for this called “foreshadowing”.
The blood foreshadowed someone else’s blood.
Years later Jesus would die on the cross and shed his blood so that we could be free from sin.
So today, Passover is not only a celebration for the Jewish people, but it is also a celebration for anyone who believes in Jesus.
Jesus has paid the price so that we could be free from our sins and go to heaven.
You too, can make your own Declaration of Independence!
Follow these simple instructions to amaze everyone around you!
