| INDEPENDENCE DAY |
| An unusual style of celebrating freedom. |
| "There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt - worse than there has ever been or ever will be again." 11:6 |
| The U. S. celebrates July 4 like no other day. The parades, the picnics, and the fireworks boisterously express national pride. We showed 'em, say the politicians in their speeches. With our own sweat and blood we created a nation. We're proud to be Americans. A Different Mood for the Jews Our style of celebration - noisy and flag-waving and proud - captures something of the original spirit that led a young nation to declare independence. A similar spirit surges up in France on Bastille Day and in many other nations on their birthdays. But these celebrations bear a striking unlikeness to the Jewish independence day, a day called Passover. The Jews trace their cultural birthday back to a dark, foreboding night - the Israelites' last in Egypt (Exodus 12). There are no blaring bands nor balloons nor fireworks to commemorate this event. Everything takes place inside a home, with a family or cluster of families gathered around a table. Participants taste morsels of food, pausing before each portion to hear Old Testament accounts of the history they are reliving. Their independence day resemples a worship service, not a party. A Work of God Alone More than anything else, the Jewish independence day expresses this one fact: God did it. No Israelite armies stood against the mighty Egyptians. Freedom came in the blackest night while Jewish families huddled around the Passover table, their bags packed, waiting for deliverance. When God's time came, the Egyptian captors not only released the Israelites, but begged them to go and showered them with gold and riches. The Jews remember that event |
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