11.26.23 Huddle
Opening Discussion
- Are you an introvert or extrovert?
- If you are an introvert, how do you handle being in community with other followers of Jesus?
- If you are an extrovert, how can you include and give space to introverts in your community?
Read & Discuss
Read Exodus 12:1-8,11
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month is to be the beginning of months for you; it is the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month they must each select an animal of the flock according to their fathers’ families, one animal per family. 4 If the household is too small for a whole animal, that person and the neighbor nearest his house are to select one based on the combined number of people; you should apportion the animal according to what each will eat. 5 You must have an unblemished animal, a year-old male; you may take it from either the sheep or the goats. 6 You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembly of the community of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight. 7 They must take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where they eat them. 8 They are to eat the meat that night; they should eat it, roasted over the fire along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
11 Here is how you must eat it: You must be dressed for travel, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in a hurry; it is the Lord’s Passover.
- Why was it important that the sacrifice was unblemished?
- What are some ways we may give God things that are blemished?
- Why did the Lord want the animal to live with the Israelites for four days before the slaughter?
- What was the purpose of having the whole community participate in the slaughter of the animals?
- Why did God want to start this tradition with the Israelites?
- What was it important for them to remember?
Read Exodus 12:12-27
12 “I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and strike every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, both people and animals. I am the Lord; I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt. 13 The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
14 “This day is to be a memorial for you, and you must celebrate it as a festival to the Lord. You are to celebrate it throughout your generations as a permanent statute.15 You must eat unleavened bread for seven days. On the first day you must remove yeast from your houses. Whoever eats what is leavened from the first day through the seventh day must be cut off from Israel. 16 You are to hold a sacred assembly on the first day and another sacred assembly on the seventh day. No work may be done on those days except for preparing what people need to eat—you may do only that.
17 “You are to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread because on this very day I brought your military divisions out of the land of Egypt.You must observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent statute. 18 You are to eat unleavened bread in the first month, from the evening of the fourteenth day of the month until the evening of the twenty-first day. 19 Yeast must not be found in your houses for seven days. If anyone eats something leavened, that person, whether a resident alien or native of the land, must be cut off from the community of Israel. 20 Do not eat anything leavened; eat unleavened bread in all your homes.”
21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go, select an animal from the flock according to your families, and slaughter the Passover animal. 22 Take a cluster of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and brush the lintel and the two doorposts with some of the blood in the basin. None of you may go out the door of his house until morning. 23 When the Lord passes through to strike Egypt and sees the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, he will pass over the door and not let the destroyer enter your houses to strike you.
24 “Keep this command permanently as a statute for you and your descendants. 25 When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, you are to observe this ceremony. 26 When your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ 27 you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when he struck the Egyptians, and he spared our homes.’” So the people knelt low and worshiped.
- Why was blood the distinguishing mark that kept the Israelites from death?
- What is the significance of yeast (leaven)?
- Why was eating something with leaven in it during the days of the festival, punishable by excommunication?
- What are some ways this ceremony points to Jesus?
- The Passover festival was a way for the Israelites to teach their kids about what the Lord had done for them. What traditions do you have that help you to pass the message of the Lord to the next generation?
Read 1 Corinthians 5:6-8
6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little leaven leavens the whole batch of dough? 7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new unleavened batch, as indeed you are. For Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore, let us observe the feast, not with old leaven or with the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Ephesians 1:7-8
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 8 that he richly poured out on us with all wisdom and understanding.
- How do these verses shed light on the Passover celebration?
- Often in the Bible, yeast was used as a way to represent sin because just a little leaven would permeate the whole batch of dough. What are some ways a little sin can infect a whole person?
- What are some ways the community of Christ-followers around you can help with the sin that entangles us?
- What are some practices you do to help fight against temptation?
- Who are some people in your community who you could meet with regularly for accountability?
Apply it!
- What is one way you can join in Christ-centered community with others this week?
Memorize it!
Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace…
Prayer TACOS
Thanksgiving- Thank God for providing the Passover Lamb (Jesus) for us
Adoration- Say a word or short phrase of some characteristics of God
Confess those times when you have let sin into your life
Others- Pray for someone who needs community. Ask the Lord to show you ways to get them involved
Self- Ask the Lord to help you resist temptation
Closing Thoughts
The idea behind Passover was to remind the Israelites where they had been, and remind them of their Rescuer. It was also a way to point to a future rescue and restoration through Jesus. The meal and week long celebration was rich with meaning (and still is), to remind the Israelites of God’s goodness. It was also a reminder to follow Him and not get entangled in sin.
As we enter the Christmas season which is rich with tradition and stories, think of ways to use those traditions to tell others, especially the next generation, about God’s goodness. Tell them about what Jesus has done for you, and how He continues to work in your life. When we do this, we remember God’s goodness, and help to make sure those stories continue on.