The world only knows one word “celebrate”—meaning, “party hardy”.  We celebrate the marriage of two people in love, new babies, job promotions, court settlements, new cars, graduations, etc.  But in God’s view of things the word has a sacred, eternal meaning along with consecrate and commemorate.  Remembering is a command of God so that we will never forget all He has done for us so that we won’t become proud or boastful thinking we are responsible—which we are not!  All we have is owned by God who created all and is in all He has created. 

God has done for us what we cannot do for ourselves—save us!

Let’s define the terms biblically and simply before we continue on with what God will do next in the lives of the Hebrews; His now redeemed people from the bondage of slavery to a new way of life holy set apart by God for their good and His glory!

• Consecrate:  Setting apart a person, as well as a building or object, for God, declaring sacred for God’s divine purpose.
• Commemorate:  The act of calling to remembrance with solemn respect for what God has done with specific acts included in retelling the Story of God.  To commemorate is to also to honor the memory of some person or event by solemn celebration—such as the feast of the Passover among the Israelites.  This is, was and always will be an annual commemoration of Israelites’ deliverance from Egypt.
• Celebrate: The word “celebrate” is the translation of the Hebrew verb hagag, which means to prepare, keep, or observe a feast or festival; the noun hag, which indicates a feast or festival; and the verb asaa which means to do, make, or celebrate.

These words are used to describe the celebration of the three main pilgrimage feasts-the Passover, the Feast of Firstfruits, and the Feast of Tabernacles-and other special events in the life of Israel. Passover was first instituted by Moses with God’s direction. The celebration of Passover is spelled out fully in Exodus 12:3-40.

Exodus 13

Consecration of the Firstborn

The Lord said to Moses, ² “Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.”

³ Then Moses said to the people, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast. ⁴ Today, in the month of Aviv, you are leaving. ⁵ When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites and Jebusites—the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey—you are to observe this ceremony in this month: ⁶ For seven days eat bread made without yeast and on the seventh day hold a festival to the Lord. ⁷ Eat unleavened bread during those seven days; nothing with yeast in it is to be seen among you, nor shall any yeast be seen anywhere within your borders. ⁸ On that day tell your son, ‘I do this because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ ⁹ This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that this law of the Lord is to be on your lips. For the Lord brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand. ¹⁰ You must keep this ordinance at the appointed time year after year.

¹¹ “After the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as he promised on oath to you and your ancestors, ¹² you are to give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the Lord. ¹³ Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem every firstborn among your sons.

¹⁴ “In days to come, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹⁵ When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed the firstborn of both people and animals in Egypt. This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.’ ¹⁶ And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.”

Crossing the Sea

¹⁷ When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” ¹⁸ So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle.

¹⁹ Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.”

²⁰ After leaving Sukkoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. ²¹ By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. ²² Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Passover marks the passing from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the promised land. Exodus 12:14 gives the guidelines: “This is a day you are to commemorate, for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord-a lasting ordinance.” It is also known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because “it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come” (Exodus 12:17).

The celebration of the Passover was for a perpetual remembrance, to keep alive for future generations what God had done for the Israelites in redeeming them from bondage in Egypt and guaranteeing freedom for subsequent generations.

Passover was an important aspect of the instruction of the children. When they asked, “What does this ceremony mean to you?” they were taught that “It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites … when he struck down the Egyptians” (Exodus 12:26-27). When the Israelites heard this, they worshiped. This celebration has been passed on from generation to generation, and the Haggada, the telling of the story, has become a vital part of the celebration. It is a constant reminder of what God has done with holy worship of God alone.

Consecration, commemoration, and celebration bonds people to God and to each other. The glue that holds us together is God’s perfect love for us. Our Passover remembrance today takes on even greater meaning for it is Jesus, God’s One and Only Son, who was set apart as the Lamb of God who would take away (remove as far as the east is from the west) the sins of the world!  Jesus did what His Father, Our Father, told him to do.  As a result, Jesus sacrifice for our sins opened the door to the throne room of God where forgiveness is freely given to all who believe and ask in the Name of Jesus!  We are redeemed by the Lamb—We, too must celebrate!  Don’t wait ‘til Sunday, celebrate daily what the Lord has done!

As we gather in our set apart, consecrated worship places, on any given day, may we commemorate together all that God has done, is doing, and will do in our lives as we celebrate the coming of the Lord, Jesus, “God in the flesh”.  Jesus is The One sent to earth by God.  Jesus, the living Word of God moved into the neighborhoods of humanity to seek and to save the lost—as a servant, set apart by God as “Son of Man” who felt all things human and as “Son of God” who was given the power to forgive and save us from our sins.  The holy sacrifice of Jesus secured for us who believe the gift of God of eternal life!  Celebrate! 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17

AND, Jesus is coming back—so we wait expectantly and reverently; because the best is yet to come!

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” John 14:1-3

Lord,

I believe.  I’m yours.  I’m listening, remembering, and celebrating all you have done, are doing and will do in my life. Thank you for setting me apart from the world to be called your child, joint heirs with you, dear Jesus, who saved me. Thank you for cleansing my heart, renewing my mind, transforming my being and behaviors, refreshing my soul daily with the continual flow of joy of your salvation at work within me—reminding me of who I belong to—You!  I give my life to you as an offering today.  Lead me, Lord.

In Jesus Name, Amen