A response to someone that wrote me that question.:
Thank you for the question regarding celebration of Passover, how to celebrate.
Before I start, let me explain that this post is longer than normal, even for me. This is due to the subject and its importance, had GOD(source) and the Hand of Moses(writing) not commanded multiple times, there would not be so many verses involved here. Notice that this particular event is placed near the top of GOD’s List of things we need to learn and do. In no other place have I seen so many commands, along with giving reasons for observing; definitions of who can observe, and exactly what is to be done. – On with the article -Yaakov
1) Passover starts at evening(end of day) on the 14th day of Abib(this is the HEBREW name for the first month, the current Jewish calendar uses the Babylonian name of NISSAN).
Exodus 12:27 “. . . .It is the sacrifice of the LORD’S passover, for that He passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses.’ And the people bowed the head and worshipped.”
2) We are to retell the story of our redemption from Egypt by the LORD our GOD.
3) We are not to work on the First day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which begins with the Passover Feast.
4) We are to answer “What do you mean by this rite?” when asked by children, “It is the Passover to the LORD, because HE passed over our houses {The Children Of Israel} in the land of Egypt when HE smote the Egyptians. but saved our houses.”(JPS 1999, Exodus 12:26)
5) The Deuteronomy 16 passage presents that a sacrifice is required, but only at the place GOD Places HIS NAME.
This was the House that King Solomon built for the NAME, there GOD placed HIS NAME. A great read for many reasons. It should also be noted that Anyone may create an alter of stone, by hand with no tools, as a place to sacrifice unto GOD, as was accomplished by all prior to the Temple. If you are going to do that, you must make sure that you find the laws of The ALMIGHTY GOD regarding the handling of all components of a sacrifice, if you wish The ALMIGHTY GOD to give it respect (Cain vs Able story.) This personal alter is not a LAW or requirement in the Torah, but a personal thing between you and GOD when there is no HOUSE OF GOD(as is the case now). Be aware that the Passover Sacrifice unto The LIVING GOD OF ISRAEL, is not to be had by an uncircumcised, none is to remain until morning, no bone is to be broken, take only what you can consume before morning. I believe that you will find commands regarding these in the texts below.
We turn to Torah(Written by the Hand of Moses) to discover:
A Hebrew/English JPS1917 translation online meaning that the Original Hebrew is also present, Yaakov
Exodus 12:
14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
15 Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; howbeit the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses; for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
16 And in the first day there shall be to you a holy convocation, and in the seventh day a holy convocation; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done by you.
17 And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore shall ye observe this day throughout your generations by an ordinance for ever.
18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.
19 Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses; for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a sojourner, or one that is born in the land.
20 Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.’
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24 And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever.
25 And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as He hath promised, that ye shall keep this service.
26 And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you: What mean ye by this service?
27 that ye shall say: It is the sacrifice of the LORD’S passover, for that He passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses.’ And the people bowed the head and worshipped.
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Next we see that ONLY the Children of Israel are allowed to Keep this ordinance.
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43 And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron: ‘This is the ordinance of the passover: there shall no alien eat thereof;
44 but every man’s servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof.
45 A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat thereof.
46 In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth aught of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof.
47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.
48 And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land; but no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.
49 One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.’
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We just read about becoming One Of The Children Of Israel
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3 And Moses said unto the people: ‘Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out from this place; there shall no leavened bread be eaten.
4 This day ye go forth in the month Abib.
5 And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which He swore unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month.
6 Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the LORD.
7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee, in all thy borders.
8 And thou shalt tell thy son in that day, saying: It is because of that which the LORD did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.
9 And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thy hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the law of the LORD may be in thy mouth; for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt.
10 Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.
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16 And it shall be for a sign upon thy hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes; for by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt.’
Exodus 13:16 And it shall be for a sign upon thy hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes; for by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt.’ (Why do we not hear about this pair of Laws? Has this too been over looked?)
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Now we check the Covenant(Contract) signed in blood at Mount Horeb on the plain of Sinai. Is this really that important?
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Exodus 23:
14 Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto Me in the year.
15 The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep; seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, at the time appointed in the month Abib–for in it thou camest out from Egypt; and none shall appear before Me empty;
16 and the feast of harvest, the first-fruits of thy labours, which thou sowest in the field; and the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year, when thou gatherest in thy labours out of the field.
17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.
18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of My feast remain all night until the morning.
19 The choicest first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother’s milk.
Following on the heels of Sacrifice Laws, commanded by GOD, Exodus 23:19
Exodus 34:
18 The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, at the time appointed in the month Abib, for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt.
. . . .
25 Thou shalt not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning.
26 The choicest first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother’s milk.’ (Kid in its Mother’s Milk–Seams to be something that was done to worship and idol and is not some random law.)
27 And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘Write thou these words, for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.’ (Just in case you have heard that this is nonsense. Know then that The LIVING GOD OF ISRAEL commanded it to be Written by Moses.)
Leviticus 23:
4 These are the appointed seasons of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their appointed season.
5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at dusk, is the LORD’S passover.
6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD; seven days ye shall eat unleavened bread.
7 In the first day ye shall have a holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of servile work.
8 And ye shall bring an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days; in the seventh day is a holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of servile work.
Numbers 9: (Keeping Passover even in the desert.)
1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying:
2 ‘Let the children of Israel keep the passover in its appointed season.
3 In the fourteenth day of this month, at dusk, ye shall keep it in its appointed season; according to all the statutes of it, and according to all the ordinances thereof, shall ye keep it.’
4 And Moses spoke unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the passover.
5 And they kept the passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at dusk, in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel.
(Those not able to keep Passover at the Appointed Time)
9 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
10 ‘Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: If any man of you or of your generations shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the LORD;
11 in the second month on the fourteenth day at dusk they shall keep it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs;
12 they shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break a bone thereof; according to all the statute of the passover they shall keep it..
13 But the man that is clean, and is not on a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, that soul shall be cut off from his people; because he brought not the offering of the LORD in its appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.
14 And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover unto the LORD: according to the statute of the passover, and according to the ordinance thereof, so shall he do; ye shall have one statute, both for the stranger, and for him that is born in the land.’
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Several important things have now been layed out for us.
1) What happens if you do not keep Passover according to the LAW?
2) We see the demonstration of the Law requiring Two or more to know the truth. “The Witness Of Two Or More“.
3) The stranger becomes born of the land(A Child of Israel) to offer the Passover Meal.
4) As a Child Of Israel, you are required to keep the Covenants. Most importantly THIS ONE.
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16 And in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, is the LORD’S passover.
17 And on the fifteenth day of this month shall be a feast; seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten.
18 In the first day shall be a holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of servile work;
Deuteronomy 16:
1 Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God; for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.
2 And thou shalt sacrifice the passover-offering unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to cause His name to dwell there.
3 Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for in haste didst thou come forth out of the land of Egypt; that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life.
4 And there shall be no leaven seen with thee in all they borders seven days; neither shall any of the flesh, which thou sacrificest the first day at even, remain all night until the morning.
5 Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover-offering within any of thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee;
6 but at the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to cause His name to dwell in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover-offering at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt.
7 And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose; and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents.
8 Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread; and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD thy God; thou shalt do no work therein.
So what can we deduce from all of this text, outside of it being a “celebration of leaving Egypt”? (That last I have seen recently in the Jewish writings.)
We see that this is something Special to The LORD our GOD. So important, that if you are not HIS under the Covenants, you are not to touch this.
How you can be under the Covenants and therefore HIS CHILD(Chosen).
How you can be cut off from the Blessings and protection, but not from the punishments.(Cut off from among the Nation. To know that the LORD IS GOD and then to turn against HIM is, . . . .stupid?, disastrous?, suicide of your soul? Really not a good choice!
How to know this is important and true –on the witness of two or more.
That The ALMIGHTY fulfilled the Covenant with Abram in
Genesis 15:13 And He said unto Abram: ‘Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
14 and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge; and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
Summary
1) Men must be circumcised to participate.
2) You must be of the Children Of Israel, to do Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread(a dual event).
3) Complete Rest days first and last(Shabbats)
4) Eat No Leavening or leavened products during time.
5) You must do this every year, at the appointed times, for ever.
6) Tell the Story to your children. Read it for yourself, so that you will know what the LORD did for you.
7) Have a Feast for the LORD, and give thanks to HIM.
Chag Sameach Pesach
IT is to our benefit to HEARKEN until the LIVING GOD OF ISRAEL, and to our pain and shame to do otherwise.
My prayer is that The LORD grant you eyes that see, ears that hear and an understanding heart, then you return unto HIM soon!(Isaiah 6: 9 And He said: ‘Go, and tell this people: hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they, seeing with their eyes, and hearing with their ears, and understanding with their heart, return, and be healed.’)
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Shalom,
Yaakov