Passover is one of the most anticipated and celebrated holidays in Jewish culture, but check out these lesser-known Passover facts!
Passover Fact #1: SPRING CLEANING
Yep, it’s that time of year! A time to declutter… and finally go through all the piles of papers at your home to find tax documents.
Most people are familiar with the concept of spring cleaning, but did you know it most likely comes from Passover?
Jewish people worldwide intensely clean their homes before Passover to make sure that there is no yeast left anywhere, just as God commanded (Exodus 12:15). They must remove all leaven and eat unleavened bread for seven days.
Well, it’s quite possible that all their Gentile neighbors thought this was a good idea, and the worldwide tradition of “spring cleaning” was born!
Passover Fact #2: MULTIPLE CALENDARS
What year is this? Most of us keep track of dates by counting the years from the estimated birth of Jesus.
However, God had the Jewish people record time according to a different, significant event— the Exodus from Egypt following the Passover.
In Exodus 13:3-4 and Deuteronomy 16:3-4 the Jewish people are commanded to always remember all the days of their lives the time God took them out of Egypt with a powerful hand.
Then, Numbers 1:1 starts to show that they are keeping count of their years according to the Exodus, “The LORD spoke to Moses…in the second year after they had come out of Egypt…”.
And they kept counting time in this way: | “in the fortieth year after the people of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt” (Numbers 33:38).
And even after hundreds of years, they still kept counting, “In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt...” (1 Kings 6:1).
Passover Fact #3: LAST SUPPER
Believe it or not, the oldest recorded account of a Passover Seder does not come from the Old Testament.
So, where can it be found? In the New Testament!
The “Last Supper” was actually the first formally documented Passover Seder. This recording of Jesus celebrating the Last Supper with His disciples is a text that scholars worldwide study as a template of how Passover was observed in the days of the Second Temple.
Passover Fact #4: NEW COVENANT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
At Jesus’ “Last Supper”, the Messiah holds up a cup and proclaims that this is the cup of the New Covenant (Matthew 26:28). But the New Covenant appears actually already in the Old Testament too.
In Jeremiah 31:31-40 God declares He will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, which promises that all of Israel will one day know Him! His law would now be written on their hearts!
It is common to celebrate the “Lord’s Supper” in such a way that we think only of our own salvation and our right standing with the Lord.
But when Jesus asked us to remember Him through the Passover, He also commanded us to look forward to the salvation of all of Israel! Just like how they were saved out of Egypt.
Passover Fact #5: STAYING VIGILANT
It is common for many Christian denominations to encourage followers to stay awake and pray on the night before Jesus was crucified. They do it because, in preparation for being the Passover Lamb, Jesus kept a holy vigil at Gethsemane.
However, once again, this NT-recorded event is not the first of its kind on this day.
In Exodus 12:42, the LORD commands the people of Israel to keep a vigil the night before death would pass them over in Egypt.
If you choose to stay awake and pray through the night of the Last Supper / Passover Seder, consider meditating over both the Old Testament and New Testament events from that night.
Passover Fact #6: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
Within the institution of the Lord’s Seder (hebr. order), there is not only the element of looking back to the Exodus from Egypt, but it also anticipates the future!
On the traditional night of the Passover Seder, there are four cups of wine that are raised throughout the evening. They each have a purpose and great meaning. First is the Cup of Sanctification, then of Deliverance, third is called Redemption, and finally, the fourth one is the Cup of Praise.
Jesus held up the last cup at Passover and said He would not drink of that cup again until He drinks it in His Father’s Kingdom (Matthew 26:29). The “Marriage Supper of the Lamb” will fulfill the promise Jesus made during the Passover!
Passover Fact #7: “NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM”
Passover is one of the three pilgrimage feasts, during which the Jewish people were required to come up to Jerusalem to celebrate.
For over 2,000 years the Jewish people dreamed of celebrating the Passover in their Holy City. That is why all Seders end with a communal promise: “next year in Jerusalem!”
Every year the Jewish people would pray they would be able to celebrate this feast as God had commanded. This dream finally became a reality – fully – in 1967, when the Jewish people were allowed into the Old City.
Passover Fact #8: WORLD’S LARGEST PASSOVER SEDER
One would think that Jerusalem holds the biggest gathering of Jewish people for Passover, right? Well, you would be surprised.
The annual site for the world’s largest Seder happens to be in Kathmandu, Nepal!
Why? Because hundreds of Israelis travel to India each year after their army service as a means of celebrating. And even there, they still choose to keep the Passover!
Passover Fact #9: SPECIAL GUEST
In Jewish tradition, the Passover Seder includes a Messianic expectation. Malachi 4:5-6 speaks of the prophet Elijah as the forerunner of the Messiah Son of David. Therefore, he is an anticipated and longed-for guest at the Seder.
Many people will save a seat at their table. And some even put out a cup with his name engraved on it in hopeful anticipation. What a creative illustration in the context of Passover!
This helps to awaken our expectation for the arrival of the Messiah Yeshua – the Lamb of God. He is our liberator from slavery to sin!
Truly the Passover is an excellent way to remember all that Jesus has fulfilled and done for us!
Happy Passover and Chag Sameach!
A Simple Guide Through the Biblical Holidays: Free PDF Download
You may know them as the “Jewish holidays,” but did you know the Bible calls them “Feasts of the LORD”?
We’ve put this guide together for you so that you have all you need to know about these holidays that God calls His own.
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