And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?
God appointed that in every later generation when children ask what the Passover service means, parents shall answer that it is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover who passed over the blood-marked houses when He smote the Egyptians and brought Israel out as an independent nation. It was given on the night of the last and most severe judgment on Egypt, when each household was to slay an unblemished lamb, put its blood on the doorposts, and eat it in haste with unleavened bread and bitter herbs while the firstborn were slain. The blood was the token that those inside belonged to God, and only those who in faith separated from the Egyptians, gathered their children within, and abode under its protection were spared. Its yearly ceremonies and solemn rehearsal of the sprinkled blood, the death-dealing angel, and the march from bondage were to make deliverance vivid to children, turn hearts from worldly concerns, and foster love, reverence, and trust in God. The slain lamb signified the death and blood of Christ which cleanses the believing sinner and shelters from coming wrath, so that after He died no lamb need be slain and the Lord's Supper continues the same memorial until His second coming, while the gathering of children into marked homes urges parents today to keep them under the bond of the covenant within sacred influences made possible through His redeeming blood.
Passover Night and Ordinance
The verse belongs to directions given through Moses to the children of Israel before the final judgment on Egypt, concerning their departure from Egypt and especially their preservation from the coming judgment. Each family, alone or joined with others, was to slay a lamb or a kid without blemish and with hyssop sprinkle its blood on the two side-posts and the upper door-post of the house, so that the destroying angel coming at midnight would not enter that dwelling. They were to eat the flesh roasted, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, at night with loins girded, shoes on feet and staff in hand, eating in haste, because it is the Lord's passover. That night the Lord would pass through the land of Egypt and smite all the first-born of man and beast and execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt, but the blood would be a token on the houses where they were, so that when it was seen He would pass over them and the plague would not destroy them when He smote the land of Egypt. The whole service is thus centered on the blood marked on the doorway, the Passover supper, and the first-born being slain.
The solemn ordinance of the Passover was instituted on the night of the last and most severe plague. Its nature and effect were told beforehand to Pharaoh and the people of Egypt and also to the Israelites. That night was terrible to the Egyptians and glorious to the people of God. It came after the dreadful plague of locusts was met with stubborn refusal to submit to God, and after darkness in which Egypt was deprived of light and suffered an oppressive atmosphere difficult to breathe, while the Hebrews had a pure atmosphere and light in their dwellings.
The blood on the doorposts was a sign that those inside belonged to God, and those who obeyed were spared while those who failed to obey suffered with the Egyptians. It required faith shown by works, for the blood had to be seen upon their houses to escape God's judgment. Families had to separate and gather themselves and their children from the Egyptians into their own houses and abide within under its protection for safety. When the destroying angel went forth in the night to slay the first-born of man and the first-born of beast, he passed over their houses, and not one Hebrew with the token of blood upon the door-posts was slain. The ordinance was therefore a memorial to preserve to children the remembrance of God's care and wonderful preservation in Egypt, answered when children asked what the service meant.
Memorial Teaching for Children
God commanded the Passover to be kept yearly beginning with the birth of the Hebrew nation on the last night of bondage, when families gathered within their dwellings with the blood of the slain lamb sprinkled on the doorposts and ate the roasted flesh with unleavened bread and bitter herbs in haste, after which at midnight all the Egyptian firstborn of man and beast were slain by the destroying angel and Israel went out an independent nation. It was ordained as a commemoration of deliverance from Egyptian bondage and as an ordinance and memorial, so that in every later generation when children ask what this service means parents shall answer that it is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, who passed over the houses marked with blood when He smote the Egyptians, and not one Hebrew with the token upon the doorposts was slain. The history of that wonderful deliverance and of God's care for His people was to be repeated to them so that it would be kept fresh in the minds of all, requiring faith shown by works, the blood seen upon their houses to escape judgment, and the separating and gathering of themselves and their children from the Egyptians into their own houses for safety. The same memorial purpose continues in the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, given to commemorate the great deliverance wrought by Christ's death and sacrifice and to be celebrated till He shall come the second time in power and great glory as the means by which His great work is kept fresh in mind.
Its ceremonies recalled deliverance from bondage and made the story vivid to impress the heart: the lamb, the unleavened bread, the bitter herbs, and the solemn rehearsal of the sprinkled blood, the death-dealing angel, and the march from Egypt. The children's question was answered by what they saw and heard on the journey to Jerusalem and at the feast itself. On the way parents recounted the experiences of the past to the children, sang the songs of the wilderness wandering, and chanted God's commandments, fixing them forever in the memory of many a child and youth through the blessed influences of nature and kindly human association. At Jerusalem the children witnessed the paschal night assembly, the men with girded loins, shoes on feet and staff in hand, the hasty meal of lamb, unleavened bread and bitter herbs, and heard in solemn silence the rehearsal of the sprinkled blood, the death-dealing angel, and the grand march from the land of bondage, all stirring the imagination and impressing the heart.
The service was to turn people from worldly concerns and remind them of God's works, mercy, and loving-kindness, fostering love, reverence, and trust in Him. God's acts of deliverance and provision were to be kept in memory, retold to children, and His commandments repeated often, so that the people would serve Him and keep His Sabbaths. Remembering and retelling that deliverance taught them that God would fulfill what He had undertaken.
Christ and Covenant Life
The slain lamb of the Passover service taught about the death of Christ, and its blood stood for the blood of Christ which cleanses the believing sinner from sin and shelters from coming wrath, a provision received only as it is acted upon in faith. Once Christ the Lamb of God had died for the sins of the world, no lamb any longer needed to be slain to represent that death. After rejection of Christ, continued keeping of the feast became a worthless form.
The same memorial purpose belongs to the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, which commemorates the great deliverance wrought by the death and sacrifice of Christ. It was given to be celebrated till He shall come the second time in power and great glory, as the means by which His great work is kept fresh in mind.
Given at the birth of Israel as a nation, the Passover was made an object-lesson to deeply impress all hearts and to teach children. Before the last terrible judgment in the death of the firstborn, the people were commanded to gather their children into their own homes, with the doorpost of every house marked with blood, and to abide within under the protection assured by that token. This urged upon Israel the importance of guarding the associations of children, with all arrangements of civil, religious, and social life made to preserve them from harmful companionship and to make them familiar from earliest years with the precepts and principles of the law. So today parents who love and fear God are to keep their children under the bond of the covenant, within the protection of those sacred influences made possible through the redeeming blood of Christ.
The question about the service points to deliverance of the people from Egypt by mighty power notwithstanding the opposition of Pharaoh, done that they might keep the law which had been given in Eden. He brought them to Sinai to hear the ten commandments proclaimed with His own voice, thereby demonstrating their importance. In awful grandeur He made known His majesty and authority as Ruler of the world, to impress the sacredness of His law and the importance of obeying it. The power and glory with which the law was given reveal its importance as the faith once delivered to the saints by the Redeemer speaking from Sinai.
God appointed that in every later generation when children ask what the Passover service means, parents shall answer that it is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover who passed over the blood-marked houses when He smote the Egyptians and brought Israel out as an independent nation. It was given on the night of the last and most severe judgment on Egypt, when each household was to slay an unblemished lamb, put its blood on the doorposts, and eat it in haste with unleavened bread and bitter herbs while the firstborn were slain. The blood was the token that those inside belonged to God, and only those who in faith separated from the Egyptians, gathered their children within, and abode under its protection were spared. Its yearly ceremonies and solemn rehearsal of the sprinkled blood, the death-dealing angel, and the march from bondage were to make deliverance vivid to children, turn hearts from worldly concerns, and foster love, reverence, and trust in God. The slain lamb signified the death and blood of Christ which cleanses the believing sinner and shelters from coming wrath, so that after He died no lamb need be slain and the Lord's Supper continues the same memorial until His second coming, while the gathering of children into marked homes urges parents today to keep them under the bond of the covenant within sacred influences made possible through His redeeming blood.
Passover Night and Ordinance
The verse belongs to directions given through Moses to the children of Israel before the final judgment on Egypt, concerning their departure from Egypt and especially their preservation from the coming judgment. Each family, alone or joined with others, was to slay a lamb or a kid without blemish and with hyssop sprinkle its blood on the two side-posts and the upper door-post of the house, so that the destroying angel coming at midnight would not enter that dwelling. They were to eat the flesh roasted, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, at night with loins girded, shoes on feet and staff in hand, eating in haste, because it is the Lord's passover. That night the Lord would pass through the land of Egypt and smite all the first-born of man and beast and execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt, but the blood would be a token on the houses where they were, so that when it was seen He would pass over them and the plague would not destroy them when He smote the land of Egypt. The whole service is thus centered on the blood marked on the doorway, the Passover supper, and the first-born being slain.
The solemn ordinance of the Passover was instituted on the night of the last and most severe plague. Its nature and effect were told beforehand to Pharaoh and the people of Egypt and also to the Israelites. That night was terrible to the Egyptians and glorious to the people of God. It came after the dreadful plague of locusts was met with stubborn refusal to submit to God, and after darkness in which Egypt was deprived of light and suffered an oppressive atmosphere difficult to breathe, while the Hebrews had a pure atmosphere and light in their dwellings.
The blood on the doorposts was a sign that those inside belonged to God, and those who obeyed were spared while those who failed to obey suffered with the Egyptians. It required faith shown by works, for the blood had to be seen upon their houses to escape God's judgment. Families had to separate and gather themselves and their children from the Egyptians into their own houses and abide within under its protection for safety. When the destroying angel went forth in the night to slay the first-born of man and the first-born of beast, he passed over their houses, and not one Hebrew with the token of blood upon the door-posts was slain. The ordinance was therefore a memorial to preserve to children the remembrance of God's care and wonderful preservation in Egypt, answered when children asked what the service meant.
Memorial Teaching for Children
God commanded the Passover to be kept yearly beginning with the birth of the Hebrew nation on the last night of bondage, when families gathered within their dwellings with the blood of the slain lamb sprinkled on the doorposts and ate the roasted flesh with unleavened bread and bitter herbs in haste, after which at midnight all the Egyptian firstborn of man and beast were slain by the destroying angel and Israel went out an independent nation. It was ordained as a commemoration of deliverance from Egyptian bondage and as an ordinance and memorial, so that in every later generation when children ask what this service means parents shall answer that it is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, who passed over the houses marked with blood when He smote the Egyptians, and not one Hebrew with the token upon the doorposts was slain. The history of that wonderful deliverance and of God's care for His people was to be repeated to them so that it would be kept fresh in the minds of all, requiring faith shown by works, the blood seen upon their houses to escape judgment, and the separating and gathering of themselves and their children from the Egyptians into their own houses for safety. The same memorial purpose continues in the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, given to commemorate the great deliverance wrought by Christ's death and sacrifice and to be celebrated till He shall come the second time in power and great glory as the means by which His great work is kept fresh in mind.
Its ceremonies recalled deliverance from bondage and made the story vivid to impress the heart: the lamb, the unleavened bread, the bitter herbs, and the solemn rehearsal of the sprinkled blood, the death-dealing angel, and the march from Egypt. The children's question was answered by what they saw and heard on the journey to Jerusalem and at the feast itself. On the way parents recounted the experiences of the past to the children, sang the songs of the wilderness wandering, and chanted God's commandments, fixing them forever in the memory of many a child and youth through the blessed influences of nature and kindly human association. At Jerusalem the children witnessed the paschal night assembly, the men with girded loins, shoes on feet and staff in hand, the hasty meal of lamb, unleavened bread and bitter herbs, and heard in solemn silence the rehearsal of the sprinkled blood, the death-dealing angel, and the grand march from the land of bondage, all stirring the imagination and impressing the heart.
The service was to turn people from worldly concerns and remind them of God's works, mercy, and loving-kindness, fostering love, reverence, and trust in Him. God's acts of deliverance and provision were to be kept in memory, retold to children, and His commandments repeated often, so that the people would serve Him and keep His Sabbaths. Remembering and retelling that deliverance taught them that God would fulfill what He had undertaken.
Christ and Covenant Life
The slain lamb of the Passover service taught about the death of Christ, and its blood stood for the blood of Christ which cleanses the believing sinner from sin and shelters from coming wrath, a provision received only as it is acted upon in faith. Once Christ the Lamb of God had died for the sins of the world, no lamb any longer needed to be slain to represent that death. After rejection of Christ, continued keeping of the feast became a worthless form.
The same memorial purpose belongs to the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, which commemorates the great deliverance wrought by the death and sacrifice of Christ. It was given to be celebrated till He shall come the second time in power and great glory, as the means by which His great work is kept fresh in mind.
Given at the birth of Israel as a nation, the Passover was made an object-lesson to deeply impress all hearts and to teach children. Before the last terrible judgment in the death of the firstborn, the people were commanded to gather their children into their own homes, with the doorpost of every house marked with blood, and to abide within under the protection assured by that token. This urged upon Israel the importance of guarding the associations of children, with all arrangements of civil, religious, and social life made to preserve them from harmful companionship and to make them familiar from earliest years with the precepts and principles of the law. So today parents who love and fear God are to keep their children under the bond of the covenant, within the protection of those sacred influences made possible through the redeeming blood of Christ.
The question about the service points to deliverance of the people from Egypt by mighty power notwithstanding the opposition of Pharaoh, done that they might keep the law which had been given in Eden. He brought them to Sinai to hear the ten commandments proclaimed with His own voice, thereby demonstrating their importance. In awful grandeur He made known His majesty and authority as Ruler of the world, to impress the sacredness of His law and the importance of obeying it. The power and glory with which the law was given reveal its importance as the faith once delivered to the saints by the Redeemer speaking from Sinai.