Jos 5:10 And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.
The feasts and festivals of the Jewish nation were scheduled at specific times in the annual calendar and they were both civil and religious in nature. Some marked the beginning or the end of the agricultural year, while others commemorated historic events in the life of the nation. All of the feasts were marked by thanksgiving and joyous feasting.
Meat, a scarce item in the daily fare of the Hebrews, was eaten at these affairs, and wine was also consumed. The fat and the blood of the animals were reserved for sacrifice to God as a burnt offering. The libation (or offering) of wine may have been drunk by the worshipers as part of the meal ceremony. First the blood and the fat were offered to God; then the worshiper ate the meal.
The feasts and festivals of Israel were community observances. The poor, the widow, the orphan, the Levite, and the sojourner or foreigner were invited to most of the feasts. The accounts of these feasts suggest a potluck type of meal, with some parts of the meal reserved for the priests and the rest given to those who gathered at the Temple or the altar for worship. One of the feasts, Passover, originated in the home and later was transferred to the Temple. The rest were apparently observed at specific times during the year and in designated places.
The Passover and the Feast of the Unleavened Bread have references to the Exodus. The Passover was the first of three great festivals of the Hebrew people. It referred to the sacrifice of a lamb in Egypt when the people of Israel were slaves. The Hebrews smeared the blood of the lamb on their doorposts as a signal to God that He should “pass over” their houses when He destroyed the entire first born of Egypt to persuade Pharaoh to let His people go.
Pecach and Matstsoth:
The Passover was the annual Hebrew festival on the evening of the 14th day of the month of ‘Abhibh (Abib) or Nisan, as it was called in later time, with the service beginning in the evening. It was on the evening of this day that Israel left Egypt. Passover commemorated this departure from Egypt in haste.
It was followed by, and closely connected with, a 7 days’ festival of matstsoth, or unleavened bread, to which the name Passover was also applied by extension (Le 23:5). Both were distinctly connected with the Exodus, which, according to tradition, they commemorate; the Passover being in imitation of the last meal in Egypt, eaten in preparation for the journey, while Yahweh, passing over the houses of the Hebrews, was slaying the firstborn of Egypt (Ex 12:12 f; 13:2,12 ); the matstsoth festival being in memory of the first days of the journey during which this bread of haste was eaten (Ex 12:14-20).
Unleavened bread was used in the celebration because this showed that the people had no time to put leaven in their bread as they ate their final meal as slaves in Egypt.
Several regulations were given concerning the observance of Passover. Passover was to be observed “in the place which the Lord your God will choose.” This implied the sanctuary of the tabernacle or the Temple in Jerusalem.
Pecach mitsrayim:
The ordinance of pecach mitsrayim, the last meal in Egypt, included the following provisions:
(1) the taking of a lamb, or kid without blemish, for each household on the 10th of the month;
(2) the killing of the lamb on the 14th at even;
(3) the sprinkling of the blood on doorposts and lintels of the houses in which it was to be eaten;
(4) the roasting of the lamb with fire, its head with its legs and inwards—the lamb was not to be eaten raw nor sodden (bashal) with water;
(5) the eating of unleavened bread and bitter herbs;
(6) eating in haste, with loins girded, shoes on the feet, and staff in hand;
(7) and remaining in the house until the morning;
(8) the burning of all that remained; the Passover could be eaten only during the night (Ex 12:1-23).
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