Exodus 12:21-24 (1st Portion)
This is a very short portion, yet a very powerful one. This portion shares about the very first Passover. You may recall that during the first Passover, Israel was still in Egypt and the land was experiencing a series of terrible plagues. How interesting that during the time of this writing, maybe the most depraved time known since the days of Noah, that we too are facing plagues, pandemics and pestilences. In this week's Torah portion, Moses calls all the elders of Israel and instructs them to obtain a sheep for their families. This sheep was to be slaughtered as a Passover sacrifice. Moses then instructs Israel to take hyssop (a small shrub in the mint family), dip it in blood and paint their doorposts with the blood. This marked their house and protected the household from the destroyer, a YHVH ordained pestilence. This angel of death, on the night of Passover, would not enter these "marked" houses. All those who did not do this would be smited.It was commanded that the children of Israel would keep and observe this Passover, as law, throughout their generations.The entire chapter of Exodus 12 gives a pretty detailed description of how the first Passover was observed, and give some clarity on how, we as believers, can observe it today. This year, Passover is on April 8 at sundown. If you would like to learn more about this subject, please read the blog, "How to Observe Passover". Click here or on the picture below to read more.
