niv lesson 07-12-2009 (remembering and celebrating)

8/14/2019 NIV Lesson 07-12-2009 (Remembering and Celebrating)

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Call Sealed with PromiseUnit 2: Called to Be God's People

(Lessons 5-8)

REMEMBERING

AND CELEBRATING

TRODUCTION

CELEBRATING A]EWISH PASSOVER

I used to lead a group of Christian college students to work in the Newrk City area every year the week before Easter On e year our host coupled made friends with another couple who lived in an upscale apartment ony Ridge. Of that second couple, the husband was Jewish and the wife wasrotestant Christian. They were rearing their two daughters in theJewishh and heritage.My host couple and I were invited to that Bay Ridge apartment to helpt family celebrate the Jewish Passover. This was a special opportunity fornessing, for we, being Gentile and Christian, should not have been there.The modern Jewish Passover observance is an elaborate ceremony that been developed over the centuries. I t involves the children in the telling

the story of Israel's exodus from Egypt. All leaven is "looked for" and putthe trash. The meal is blessed, an d the first of four cups of wine ("the cupsanctification") is served. Greens are dipped in salt water and eaten. Threeeavened loaves of bread are presented-the middle one broken, with a

ger piece hidden for the children to find later for a treat. The second cup ofne is blessed and consumed. Then comes the recounting of the story of theodus from a certain booklet.At this point in our meal the Jewish father became frustrated because hes not familiar enough with the procedure to keep us all on track. As hes fumbling with the booklet, his wife turned to me and asked if I wouldplain how a Christian viewed the Jewish PassoverWhat an opportunity! With the husband's permission, I carefully and humproceeded to explain the original Passover meal- i ts simplicity of roasted

mb or goat, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs. Then I mentioned the adons of the four cups, greens dipped in salt water, a sweet-apple dish, and asted egg (to commemorate the destruction of the temple in AD 70).Then I said that the retrieving of the hidden piece of bread by the chiln signified payment of ransom. I explained the ransom the Messiah paiden he was broken, buried, and brought back to life. I noted thatJesus saidake, eat; this is my body" when breaking the bread.I then asked the two daughters to go to the door and open it to see if "Eli" would come and take his seat at the table where "Elijah's cup" was set.xplained that Christians understand John the Baptist to have been the oneo came in the spirit and power of Elijah (Matthew 11:10-15; 17:10-13) inparing the way for MessiahJesus.

DEVOTIONAL READING:1 CORINTHIANS 5:1-8BACKGROUND SCRIPTURE:DEUTERONOMY 16:1-8PRINTED TEXT:DEUTERONOMY 16:1-8

LESSON AIMS

Afterparticipating inthis lesson, each student willbe able to:

1. Describe how the Passover was to be celebrated inIsrael.

2. Tell what the Passovercelebrated and how Christians today can celebratesimilar things.

3. Plan a worship serviceofcelebration for God's grace.

, KEYVERSE

Observe the month ofAbiband celebrate the Passover ofthe LORD your God, becausein the month ofAbib hebrought you out of Egypt bynight. -Deuteronomy 16:1


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JULY 12, 2009 436 REMEMBERING:_AND CELEBRATING

LESSON 6 NOTES

WHAT Do You THINK?

Should Christians holdPassover celebrations or par-ticipate in modern Jewish cel-ebrations of Passover? Why,or why not?

WHAT Do You THINK?

The pain ofbeing passedover in a negative way-asin being passed overfor a job,a promotion, or a deserved

honor-can be very real.What was a time whenyouwere passed over in a posi-tive way? How did you seeGod's hand in this?

As part of the wrap-up, we sang a hymn; I suggested thatJesus' disciplesmay have sung Psalms 113, 114 at the beginning of the last supper and

, Psalm 115-118 at the close. In conclusion I noted that Christ is our PassoverLamb, and we celebrate this "new Passover" whenever we meet around theLord's Table (l Corinthians 5:7, 8; 11:23-26). To my knowledge, no onebecame a believer in Christ that evening. But I think I did what the wife andmother of the household wanted me to do. More importantly, I think I did

whatJesus wanted me to do. I t was a great privilege and opportunity.

B. LESSON BACKGROUND

As today's lesson opens, the 40 years of wilderness wandering were over,and the Israelites were ready to enter the promised land. But first, Moses(age 120) had many important reminders to offer. One of those remindersinvolved the issue of the Passover celebration.

The historical basis of the Passover celebration is the last plague on Pharaohand the land of Egypt. That involved the death of the firstborn, both humanand animal, in about 1446 Be (Exodus 11). To protect themselves from theplague, the Israelites had to slaughter either sheep or goats and smear a por-tion of the blood on the sides and tops of the doorposts where they lived.When Yahweh struck doWfl every firstborn in Egypt, he passed over (andthereby did not harm) the households where the blood protected the doorway

The original Passover feast is described in Exodus 12. The Feast of Unleav-ened Bread occurred right alongside the Passover (Exodus 13:3-10; 23:15;Leviticus 23:4-8; Numbers 28: 16-25; Mark 14: 1). Our lesson texdor todayis a general overview of these two feasts.

1. WHAT TO CELEBRATE (DEUTERONOMY 16:1)A. SPECIAL TIME (v. 1a)lao Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover of the LORD yourGod,

Abib, which means "ears of grain," is the old Hebrew name from an ag-ricultural calendar. Much later, the name of this particular month will bechanged to Nisan due to the influence of the Babylonian calendar (see Esther3: 7; Nehemiah 2: 1). This month is designated as Israel's first month of thereligious year (Exodus12:2); eventually it becomes the seventh month ofIsrael's civil year. It equates to late March and early April. The Passover obser-vance is to begin on the evening of the fourteenth day of this month, as established by God (Exodus 12:6, 18).

B. SPECIAL REASON (v. 1b)lb . . . . because in the month of Abib he broughtyou out of Egypt by night.

Darkness had become a plague for the Egyptians (Exodus 10:21,22).In the middle of the night God had begun the deliverance of his "firstborn"(Israel) by killing all the firstborn of Egypt (Exodus 11). The contrast thus isbetween the grief of the Egyptians because their firstborn died and the cel-ebration by the Hebrews because their firstborn were protected by the bloodof lambs. All subsequent generations of Old Testament Israelites are to ob-serve this festival. A continual emphasis throughout the exodus story is thatdeliverance comes about at night (see Exodus 11:4; 12:6,8,12,22,29,30,31,42).


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REMEMBERINGEvery nation has its memorials. America's great memorials canbe found in var

ious places around the country. They may be thesites of historic battles,such asGettysburg. Some are located where singular acts of human depravity were committed, such as the sixth-floormuseum at the former Texas School Book Depository, from which PresidentKennedywas shot. Others are at the sites of significanttriumphs of the human spirit, such as the Wright Brothers National Memorial at

Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.America's monuments primarily honor people who made important contri

butions to the progress of the nation. America's greatest collection of such monuments is to be found in Washington, D.C There one can find the WashingtonMonument, theLincoln Memorial, the JeffersonMemorial, and memorials to thosewho died fighting in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. (The list goes on.)

Passover was ancient Israel's unique memorial. But it was not a sign at theside of a road that called to mind the life of some outstanding political leader orthe place where a horrendous battle was fought. Rather, it commemorated thetime when God acted to save a nation. That memorial-a meal rather than astone monument or historic site-was the point of departure for another memo

rial that Christians have kept for two millennia: the Lord's Supper. May we keepthat memorial until Christ returns. - C R. B.

. HO W TO CELEBRATE (DEUTERONOMY 16:2-4)

. SPECIAL SACRIFICE (v. 2)Sacrifice as the Passover to the LORD your God an animal from your flock or

erd at the place the LORD will choose as a dwellingfor his Name.This verse takes for granted all the details of Exodus 12 :3-11 concerning

he Passover sacrifice. Each family is to select a lamb (the Hebrew refers eithero a young sheep or goat) on the tenth day of the first month. Guests are toe invited in order that the lamb may be eaten completely.

The instructions are clear. The lamb must be a year old, without defect; itto be slaughtered at twilight on the fourteenth of Nisan (Abib). The bloodto be smeared on the lintel and doorposts. The meat is to be roasted over

fire, not boiled. It is to be eaten along with unleavened bread and bittererbs. No meat is to remain; leftovers are to be burned before dawn. Theeople are to eat hastily. Their sandals are to be on their feet, clothing tuckedto belts, and staffs in their hand. Thus, everyone has the appearance of

eing ready to leave at a moment's notice.The Gospels present]esus' death as coinciding with the Feast of Passover

Luke 22: 13-15;]ohn 13:1; etc.). The fact thatJohn 19:36 refers to Psalm4:20 ("He protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken") indicateshat]esus becomes the world's Passover Lamb when we compare Exodus2:46 and Numbers 9:12. See also 1 Corinthians 5:7.

. SPECIAL BREAD (w. 3, 4a)4a. Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, butfor seven days eat unleav-

ned bread, the bread of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste-so that allhe days ofyour life you may remember the time ofyour departure from Egypt.et no yeast be found in your possession in all your land for seven days.The seven days at issue here occur between the fourteenth and twenty

rst days of the month (Exodus 12: 18). The only bread that may be eaten

. WHAT Do You THINK?What were the circum-

stances surrounding your per-sonal day of salvation, yourdeliverance from the bondageof sin? How does remem-bering those circumstancesstrengthen your faith?

Visual for Lesson 6. 1bucan use this poster wheneveryou teach a lesson that deals

. with one of the Jewish feastsI of the Old Testament.


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DAILY BIBLE READINGS for that week is bread made without yeast Qeaven). This kind of breadMonday, July 6 - serves to remind the people of their haste to leave Egypt (Exodus 12: 11) as

Rememberand Rejoice well as their slavery in Egypt; thus it is bread of affliction (see Exodus 3: 7,(Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:1) 17; 4:31).

Tuesday, July 7 - The word yeast is used here in its natural, literal sense. In time this wordRemember the Lord's Deeds comes to mean figuratively "things that influence, whether for good or bad."(Psalm 77:3-15) Using this idea in a negative sense, jesus cautions his disciples to "Be on your

Wednesday,July 8 - guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees" (Matthew 16:6; com-Remember and Give Thanks . pare 1 Corinthians 5:6-8; Galatians 5:7-9). The disciples misunderstand, but(Psalm 105:1-11) after further teaching byjesus, they comprehend thatJesus is talking about

Thursday, July 9 - "the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees" (Matthew 16: 12). Evil teach-Keeping the Covenant (2 ing corrupts the mind and heart persistently and thoroughly, just as yeastKings 23: 1-3,21-23) permeates dough.

Friday,July 1 0 - In a positive sense, jesus said "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast thatPreparing for the Passover a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all(Luke 22:7-13) through the dough" (Matthew 13:33). The principle of permeation is the im-

Saturday, July 1 1 - agery of yeast. But permeation takes t ime-and that 's exactly what the Israel-Christ, Our Passover Lamb . ites preparing to leave Egypt didn't have much of. They were to be prepared(l Corinthians 5: 1-8) to leave in haste (Exodus 12: 11).

Sunday, July 12-The The phrase let no yeast be found in your possession in all your land for sevenPassover Observance (Deuter- ! days stresses the special care that must be taken with regard to yeast. Reonomy 16:1-8) moval is to be done prior to eating the Passover meal (Exodus 12:15, 19;

: 13: 7). The modem jewish Passover ceremony ties the removal of yeast tothe necessity of ridding the home of any corruption or evil. But the biblical text simply says, '''I do this because of what the Lord did for me when Icame ou t of Egypt.' This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand

an d a reminder on your forehead that the law of the Lord is to be on yourlips. For the Lord brought you ou t of Egypt with his mighty hand" (Exodus13:8,9).

Unleavened bread is a key element in our observance of the Lord's Supper This element connects directly with the special bread of the Passover.

C. SPECIAL ABSENCE (v. 4b)4b. Do not let any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until morning.

Also, all leftover meat must be ceremonially burned up (Exodus 12: 10).Nothing from the sacrificial meat is to be kept past morning. Once the purpose of the meat is accomplished, nothing can remain. To honor this instruction requires a certain strength of faith. It's a human tendency to tr y topreserve unused food "just in case." We may compare the Israelites' disobedi

ence in trying to save manna in Exodus 16:20.

III. WHERE TO CELEBRATE (DEUTERONOMY 16:5-7)A. SPECIAL PLACE (w. 5, 6)

WHAT Do You THINK? 5, 6. You must not sacrifice the Passover in any town the LORD your God gives\Vhat aspects ofyour own you except in the place he will choose as a dwellingfor his Name. TItere you

"spiritual Egypt" hinder your must sacrifice the Passover in the evening, when the sun goes down, on the anfull enjoymentof the prom niversary ofyour departure from Egypt.ised land of Christ? How will Remember that Deuteronomy is a covenant renewal treaty given by Mosesyou correct this situation? to the people just before they enter the promised land. That fact means that


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V HO W LONG TO CELEBRATE (DEUTERONOMY 16:8)SPECIAL WEEK (V. 8a)

a. For six days eat unleavened breadThe six days does not include the day of the Passover observance itself.

When we add that day in, the total is seven days of eating unleavened breadee v. 3, above; Numbers 28:16-24). A full week of sacrifices, special rituals

f grain and drink offerings, and eating unleavened bread makes this a specialme. No Israelite, young or old, can (or should) forget the great salvationod has given to them. The Lord's Supper, which supersedes the Passover, isso a memory device ( l Corinthians 11:24,25).

. SPECIAL ASSEMBLY (v. 8b)b . . . . and on the seventh day hold an assembly to the LORDyour God and doowork.

The combination Passover and Unleavened Bread celebration begins andnds with an assembly and a day of no work. (Numbers 28:25 uses the phraseacred assembly") This involves the cessation of all normal activity (exceptod preparation). I t is to be a time of worship and reflection. What more canod do to impress on the minds of every Israelite generation that God had

efeated the "gods" of Egypt and had delivered Israel from a mighty Egyptianmy? Only the one true God could have won such a contest. Israel is to re-ember and live by that fact.

WHAT Do You THINK?How much time are you

willing to devote to worship-ing and remembering God?

, How do you deal with limits! on your time commitment?


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PRAYER

Gur Father, bind us to-gether as we remember andcelebrate the occasions ofyour great salvation for us.Help us as individuals andcorporately as the church torecall your actions of mercy,justice, and lovefor all people.May we be wise as we passour faith on to the next gen-eration and the generationbeyond that. In Jesus name.Amen.

11_0 J _ E M E M B E R I N C i - , ~ N D C E L E B R A T I

CELEBRATIONSThe most famous celebration ofthe year in New Orleans is Mardi Gras, which

means "fat Tuesday." This week of raunchy goings-on precedes the period of fasting and discipline ofLent, as much of the Christian world knowsit.

Ironic, isn't it? The idea seems to be something like, "Since we're going to haveto behave ourselvesfor many days, we'd better have a really good timebefore thatlong period of s e l f ~ d e n i a l ! " The idea of enforced self-disciplineflies in the face of

the Western world's attitude of "I want what I want when I want it."TheJewish Passoverweek wa.c;;the exactopposite ofMardi Gras in manyways. A

time of solemn assembly before the Lord was included. When Christians gathertoobserve the Lord's Supper, when we remember the sacrifice of our Passover Lamb,it too can be solemn. But it canalso be joyous. Slavery to sin and death has beenconquered by our living Lord! Whateverit is that is being celebratedat Mardi Grasis less than trivial comparedwith this. -e . R. B.

C O N C L U S I O N

A. PASSOVER IN THE OL D TESTAMENTCelebrations of the Passover (and the Feast of Unleavened Bread that go

along with it) are rarely recorded in the narrative of the Old Testament. Perhaps that is because its observance is taken for granted. But the few recordsof the celebrations are instructive and interesting: Joshua 5: 10-12 (secondgeneration of the exodus just before the conquest of the promised land,about 1406 Be); 2 Chronicles 30 (Hezekiah's refOlID, about 727 Be); 2 Kings23:21-23 as paralleled in 2 Chronicles 35:1-19 Oosiah's reform, about 622Be); and Ezra 6:19-22 (Ezra's reform after the exile, about 515 Be).

I t seems that when great reform swept over the people, they celebrated thePassover extravagantly. The Passover became the most important celebrationfor the Israelites, for it commemorated their origin as a people in God's greatdeliverance from slavery. The exodus event becomes the model for the idea of

. salvation throughout the Bible.

B. PASSOVER SUPERSEDEDThe church today should continue to remember and celebrate deliverance

from the bondage of sin no less than the ancient Israelites celebrated deliv: erance from their bondage of the flesh. Certainly Christmas is a great time

to celebrate the birth of our Lord. The greatest gift ever given is Jesus Oohn3: 16), and that is worthy to celebrate. Gift exchanges can enhance the celebration as long as Christians avoid the crass materialism and secularism ofthe season as practiced in America and many other places in the world.

The church often celebrates the resurrection of]esus in a nobler mannerthan his birth. Resurrection Day (Easter) recognizes the Sunday morningwhen death was swallowed up in victory! The resurrection is at the very heart

i of the Christian faith; it must not be forgotten in the collective mind of thechurch. Remembeling the resurrection means that Christians celebrate salvation from sin.

The Day of Pentecost (the Jewish Festival of Weeks) is a time for thechurch to remember her birth through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts2). Yet there seems to be no consistency in remembering and celebrating thisbirth in the church-at-Iarge today. More needs to be done. There is no reasonwhy we should allow such a day to pass without even a mention.


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LESSON 6__~ _

Those three are annual observances. Much more frequent should becelebrations of the Lord's Supper. Each time we celebrate we recall Christ'svictory over sin. "For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, youproclaim the Lord's death until he comes" (1 Corinthians 11:26). If we allow : THOUGHT TO REMEMBER

it to do so, the Lord's Supper can bind us together, keeping us close to God Remember to celebrate.and one another. Celebrate to remember:

Discovery LearningThe following is an alternative lesson plan emphasizing learning activities.

Classes desiring such student involvement will find these suggestions helpful. At theback of this book are reproducible student pages to further enhance activity learning.

INTO THE LESSON

Begin by saying, "Manycelebrations and holidays are designed to help people remember specific events. For example, adoptive parents mayhave a celebration to remember the day the childcame to the parents' home." Ask students to helpyou fill out an acrostic with special days they celebrate. National holidays may be included. Createthe acrostic using the letters of the word CEL-EBRATION vertically on the board. At the letter 0,write the word adOption across the word celebra-tion as an example.

Make the transition by saying, "Holiday celebrations have value for the persons involved andfor our culture. God gave a very special celebration to thejewish people that forms a vital part ofChristianity's background. Today's text unfolds thatobservance."

INTO THE WORD

Read today's printed text regarding celebrating the Feast of the Passover. Then say, "We needto explore what was being celebrated, how thefeast was to be celebrated, where it was to becelebrated, and how long the people were to celebrate. We will use four research teams to answerthese questions." Give each team a photocopy ofthe lesson commentary that is appropriate for theverses to be researched plus the following instructions. Team # 1 will also need a copy of the Lesson Background.

Team #1: Your task is to explore and report onwhat was being celebrated. Read Deuteronomy16: 1 and the lesson commentary for your answers.Verse 1a tells about the special time and verse 1b

tells about the special event. The copy of the Lesson Background will be helpful in preparing yourremarks about the reason for this event.

Team #2: Your task is to explore and report onhow the celebration was to take place. Read Deuteronomy 16:2-4 and the lesson commentary for youranswers. Be sure to report on the special sacrifice,special bread, and special ceremony.

Team #3: Your task is to explore and report onwhere the celebration was to take place. Read Deuteronomy 16 :5-7 and the lesson commentary foryour answers. Be sure to report on the special placeand the special conclusion to the ceremony.

Team #4: Your task is to explore and report onhow long the Passover was to be celebrated. ReadDeuteronomy 16:8 and the lesson commentary foryour answers. Be sure to report on the special weekand the solemn assembly.

As teams report, list abbreviated answers on theboard. Finish by making this observation: '1\ newspaper reporter typicallywants to know who, what,where, when, why, and how. " Write those six wordson the board as you speak them. Then ask, "Havewe left any of those out?" This will promote an extended discussion of the text. If your class is small,a whole-class discussion will work. If your classis large, small-group discussions will allow morepeople to participate.

INTO LIFE

Do both of these activities if your time permits.Do only the second activity if your time is limited.

Activity# 1: Remind the class that there areseveral opportunities for celebrations that teachand remind of Christian events. Fourof them are


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Christmas, Resurrection Sunday (Easter), Pentecost, and the Lord's Supper. For each of these celebrations it is appropriate to ask, "What do we dowell?" and "How can we improve the celebrations?"Assign one of the four observances ment ionedabove to each of the four study teams; have themdiscuss the two questions.

Activity #2: Say, "One of the great gifts of Godthat Christians should celebrate is his grace." Askthe class to design a worship service that helpsboth to celebrate God's grace and teach about thatgrace. Team # 1 will plan the music for the service.

442 REMEMBERING AND CELEBRATING

Team #2 will select appropriate Scripture passagesand decide how they will be presented. The Scripture presentations should include what will be saidin the offering and Communion meditations. Team#3 will decide the major points or concepts thesermon should address. Team # 4 will discuss special activities to include in the service. These may

include drama, choral readings, children's presentations, testimonials, etc. Conclude the class by singing one of the songs Team # 1 selected.

Distribute as take-home work one or both of thereproducible activities on page 505.

niv lesson 07-12-2009 (remembering and celebrating)

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