Freed to Serve – Passover: Festival of a Twofold Liberation
When Passover is introduced in the Bible, God tells the Israelites: “On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day” (Exodus 12:16). Moreover, in Deuteronomy 16, the emphasis is specifically on this seventh day.
It is remarkable that Passover is the only Biblical feast in which this occurs. True, there is an eighth day marked following the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), but this day is completely separate from Sukkot itself, certainly in Jewish observance.
The question is: what is going on with these two days? I discussed this question with rabbi Chaim Eisen in Jerusalem. The following is a summary of our discussion.
What is taking place at the time of the exodus itself? “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I broughtyour divisions out of the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12:17). This is what God is saying to Moses in the establishment of Passover. In chapter 14,from verse 5 the king of Egypt is told that the people have fled, Pharaoh took six thousand chariots, and Egypt pursued the Israelites.
“Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I broughtyour divisions out of the land of Egypt.”
There is a nuance in the Hebrew text that is not evedient in most English translations. The Israelites left the land of Egypt! But in all of Exodus chapter 14, in describing the pursuit of Israel, it is always Egypt (Hebrew: Mitzrayim) pursuing them, and not ‘the Egyptians’ (Hebrew: Mitzrim). The Bible specifically refers to that pursuit as being Egypt, not Egyptians. Merely leaving the land of Egypt is explicitly not the end goal of the exodus as God expresses it to Moses: “I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt. When you have brought thepeople out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain” (Exodus 3:10 and 12).
It is precisely in this vein that we read in Deuteronomy: “This is the Torah Moses set before the Israelites. These are the stipulations, decrees and laws Moses gave them when they came out of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 4:44-45). The whole goal of the exodus, ultimately, is not merely some geographical movement from the land of Egypt to some place else, even the Holy Land. There is a prerequisite in order to enter into the land of Israel beyond merely leaving the land of Egypt. They need to leave Egypt! When you leave Egypt, you experience God’s revelation, receive His Word and receive the Torah. This is something of permanent significance, of everlasting consequence.
We noticed that there is an anomaly in Deuteronomy 16: the only holy congregation explicitly annunciated there, is the seventh day. Inasmuch asin verse 1 the whole identity of the holiday was expressed as: God brought you forth out of Egypt, not the land of Egypt, the focus is not going to be on the holiday that commemorates leaving the land of Egypt. Rather, on the seventh day there is to be a solemn assembly to the Lord your God,when everything is brought together to commemorate leaving Egypt, not just the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 16 is the last iteration of the cycle of the holidays specifically at the end of the forty years in the wilderness, as the prelude for entering into the holy land.
“Send My people forth that they may serve Me.”
That is the critical bottom-line. Liberation is never only liberation from a place. Ultimately, the essence of liberation is a mental state. Therefore,the rallying cry is not just: “Let My people go”. It is always: “Send My people forth that they may serve Me.” They have a mission, and their mission is to serve God, because serving God means serving that which transcends all of the mundane of this world. God represents—not only, but certainly—truth, righteousness, justice, goodness. Serving God means serving these purposes, as opposed to serving some human master. Freedom is not being free to do whatever you please. It is freedom to serve! But it is a different level of service. It is connecting with God. And by this, establishing God’s kingdom on earth.
From 12 to 20 April, the Jewish people celebrate Passover. Pray that they will be able to celebrate this in peace and have blessed holidays, despite the danger looming on all sides.
