Passover Defies Paganism, nothing more!
At the time of the Exodus, the children of Israel were told to bring a one year old male sheep or goat into their homes from the 10th day of the first month and then on the 14th day it was to be sacrificed in the evening. (Exodus 12). From the blood of this animal they were to paint the doorposts and the lintels of their houses.
One of the Egyptian gods was a Ram.
“The Ram represents the powerful god of sun and air Amun-Re, with Taharqa standing below. King Taharqa was the third in the line of Kushite rulers whose power extended from their native Nubia (northern Sudan) to the whole of Egypt, which they ruled as the pharaohs of the 25th Dynasty. Throughout his reign of Egypt Taharqa used the symbolic imagery of Amun-Re to evoke power and strength. Many depictions of King Taharqa show him with the ram’s head and sun disc, symbolic of Amun-Re, worn as earrings or an amulet around his neck.” Ashmolean Ram
Israel was to abominate the gods of Egypt and as a demonstration of this, they took the lamb right about the time of the 9th plague and tied it up on display to show their courage in defying that Egyptian god. Yes, Israel after so many years, oppressed by slavery in Egypt, finally showed their chutzpa in obeying this command.
So, here is an intriguing question:
If indeed the purpose of bringing the Passover goat or lamb was to defy an Egyptian god, then how does Christianity reestablish that god–by calling Jesus “lamb of God” at his baptism and later sacrifice him and resurrect him as their god? If the purpose of the Passover lamb sacrifice in Egypt was to abominate the gods of Egypt—thus becoming a symbol of Israel’s defiance of paganism, then why do Bible believing Christians purport that the crucifixion of the “lamb” was the sin offering for all-time, by their god who is symbolized by this lamb (male sheep) and not the defiance of the paganism from which Israel was being delivered? Somebody has it all messed up, don’t you think? How did this very clear symbol of paganism from which Israel was clearly being delivered, become the very god that Christians worship? Passover was not about a sin offering, that came later, and the instructions were given for that at Sinai (Leviticus 4, Exodus 29). In some cases the sin offering was not a lamb, but a bull.
So the original reason Israel was to sacrifice the Passover lamb or goat was for the purpose of defying the paganism of Egypt. It had nothing to do with a sin offering, it had nothing to do with a symbol of a future lamb of God that would be given as a sin offering to save the world! Passover is about coming out from the customs of paganism, about being a pure and holy, separated people. It also includes a reminder every year when we threw out the Hametz or leavening agents in our bread.
Matzah
“It is believed that the use of sourdough in bread leavening production developed in ancient Egypt in approximately 3000 BC and from there spread gradually to Europe, throughout ancient Greece and the Roman Empire until the present.
“The ancient Egyptians developed the art of cooking leavened doughs in molds the first loaf pans. The molds were heated and then filled with dough, covered and stacked in a heated chamber. These were perhaps the first mass-produced breads.” History of Food Processing
Bread is a symbol throughout the ages of sustenance. It is called “the staff of life.” Different cultures draw their bread from different grains, but the grain part of the diet is called “bread” and even in the Bible bread figures in the form of the sustanance of humanity. We remember the manna was called “bread from heaven” and
Deut 8:9-10:
“…a land (Israel) where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.
10. When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.”
Genesis 3:19: “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
So if bread is used as a symbol of sustenance for humanity, and the art of making raised bread was first introduced by Egypt whose religious customs included offering it to their gods… (see the following prayer)
“An offering given by the king (to) Osiris, the lord of Busiris, the great god, the lord of Abydos…’That he may give an invocation offering of bread, beer, oxen, birds, alabaster, clothing, and every good and pure thing upon which a god lives.'” Wikipedia
…then, do we not have another reason behind the Matzah—unleavened bread–which was eaten along with the lamb, in haste with the loins girded and sandals on their feet, ready to flee Egypt with all of it’s customs? It was in this moment that the people of Israel defied the customs of Egypt and readied themselves to return to the pure unadulterated customs (unleavened if you will) of their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and go back to the LAND which had been promised them.
Your’s for a leaven free Pesach!
Ariella Tiqvah Casey
If you enjoy this article, please like, share and comment! Thank you!
