| INDEPENDENCE DAY |
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| with humility and praise; there is not room for pride. Later, when Pharaoh changed his mind and se this chariots loose upon the fleeing tribes, God came through again. Israelites stood trembling like cowards, already second-guessing their freedom. But God destroyed the great Egyptian army. For the Jews, independence from Egypt meant dependence on God. In fact, God came back to this event throughout the Bible as a way of describing himself: "I am the God who brought you out of Egypt." The pattern of dependence was to continue all through Exodus. When the wilderness wanderers ran out of water, God provided. When food supplies failed, God provided. When raiders attacked, God provided. Independence day merely set the tone for a national history that was an active movement of God. Passover's New Meaning Much later, Passover night would take on an even broader signigicance. During one particular Passover feast, as thousands of Jews were bringing their choice lambs to Jerusalem, one man was selected as the Passover Lamb for all humanity (1 Corinthians 5:7). The words "When I see the blood, I will pass over you" (12:13) came to convey a whole new meaning. Today, though Jewish people still celebrate passover, most Christians do not. Rather, that ceremony has been incorporated into a new one called the Eucharist, or the Lord's Supper, with Christ representing the Passover Lamb. Although much of the ceremony's content has changed, one thing has not. The Lord's Supper, too, memorializes a time of pain and of bloodshed, a time of freedom and deliverance. It, too, was God's act alone. He gets the credit. |
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