The Night that is Different
By Ernst Loewy
"Mah nishtanah halilah hazzeh meecol halaylot?"
What happy childhood memories are aroused by these words! The joyous anticipation of the festive season, the Spring cleaning of the home, the family reunion, the sumptuous meal with all the fun and frolic, the scrambling for the aphikomon, the recital of the madrigal of numbers and chad gadia. Yes, the night was different in many respects, making the Seder an occasion which is not easily forgotten.
Yet, those of us who were privileged at one time or another to read the "four questions," remember only too well that these outward ceremonies and celebrations were symbolical of something far greater. All of them but served to call to mind that Watchnight in Egypt, when God, long ago, delivered our people "by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors" (Deuteronomy 4:34).
A Deeper Significance
How much there was to be told! In fact, some of us must admit with a twinge of guilt that we found it difficult to remain attentive to the end of the first part of the evening, waiting eagerly for the meal to be served. However, with the passage of time we grasped the deeper significance and abiding verities of the account of the exodus given in God's Word. The servitude of Israel; the sighing of our forefathers under their burdens; the sending of Moses, the deliverer; the strokes of judgment visited upon the Egyptians and the sign of deliverance, concerning which God said: "And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt" (Exodus 12:13).
The trials of our forebears were very severe, hence their yearning to be freed from their hard taskmasters. How eagerly they listened to Moses as he reiterated to them the instructions which had been given to him. "And the people bowed the head and worshipped. And the children of Israel went away, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they" (Exodus 12:27,28).
Three Cardinal Symbols
Of the numerous emblems displayed on the Seder table, only three are of cardinal importance. It was Rabbi Gamaliel who said, "Whoever does not well consider the meaning of these three symbols: Pesach, Matzah and Maror, has not truly celebrated this Festival." The first is the Pascal Lamb, represented by the shank bone; it was slain and its blood was applied to the door posts and lintels of the Israelitish homes, so that the destroyer was not permitted to enter and smite their first-born. The second, called the bread of affliction, was their provision for the journey which lay before them and has been regarded as a symbol of Divine help. The bitter herb, the third, is reminiscent of the hard labour, which was a sore trial to our ancestors. Therefore this triad speaks of servitude, sustenance, and sacrifice, issuing forth in salvation, as it is written: "Thus the LORD saved Israel that day" (Exodus 14:30).
Having said all this, we must ask ourselves - what was the basic demand of that crucial hour? God had given clear indications as to the nature of the tenth judgment as well as to the fact that Israel would not be immune to it as in the case of the previous six. In His infinite wisdom He had ordained that the people might shelter safely under the blood of the Pascal lamb, slain in place of, and as substitute for, the first-born of the family. What, then, was the fundamental requirement? Their obedience? The actual application of the blood as demanded by God? These were indispensable, but they presupposed something else - FAITH - on the part of Israel; they believed God's Word.
The Necessity of Faith
True, what they had witnessed during the proceeding few months was conducive to faith. God's repeated interposition on their behalf would have encouraged implicit trust in Him; although this is not to be taken for granted. Subsequent testings in the course of the wilderness journey resulted not in confidence, but in complaints. So much so, that God exclaimed "all those men which have seen My glory, and My miracles which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted Me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to My voice; surely they shall not see the land which I swear unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked Me see it" (Numbers 14:22,23). The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, when commenting on this later development, observed: "So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief" (3:19).
God created man as an intelligent, moral being and endowed him with the faculty to believe. While faith can be extended in a number of directions, it is to be exercised primarily in the Person, Provision and Promise of God. We are impressed with the importance of this from the outset of our history as a nation, for it is beautifully illustrated in the life of our father Abraham. He was advanced in years, 86 to be precise, far from home in a strange country and childless. Yet, God promised him that very land as an abiding inheritance and a posterity as numerous as the stars. Impossible, we might be tempted to say, but Abraham's reaction was quite different: "And he believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness" (Genesis 15:6).
Some of our sages have stressed the fact repeatedly that faith is indispensable as the basis of our approach to and righteous standing before God. An interesting and thought-provoking comment is found in the Gemara Makkof. The writer starts off with the 613 commandments, ordinances, and statutes contained in the law of Moses and points out that these were condensed to 11 by David in Psalm 15:2-5. Isaiah continued the process, bringing them down to 6, in 33:15 of his prophecy. Micah went a step further, reducing them to 3, in 6:8 of his book. Habakkuk, however, epitomized the whole law in one single sentence: "the just shall live by his faith" (2:4).
Is Faith Still Valid?
This principle is as unchanging as the One who laid it down. It applied, as we have seen, to our father Abraham, to our forebears in Egypt when the Passover was instituted, and it is equally applicable to us today.
Do I hear an objection? Are there those who contend that we have outgrown faith in this era of scientific discovery? Far from it; the very opposite is the case. The "Space Age" impresses upon us more than ever how many reports we simply have to believe. Even if our intelligence were sufficient to grasp certain of the principles involved, the knowledge of the majority of us is too limited. No, we have to believe the accounts of many developments although we discuss their significance and possible consequences. Why should we hedge in believing the record of what God has accomplished? Because it transcends our ordinary experience? What, only decades ago, were the dreams of children, the subjects of comic strips, and grist for the science fiction writers is today's reality! But faith is not imagining the dimly possible or the slightly fantastic. We speak of God and what He has accomplished; of that which transcends not our imagination, but our comprehension; faith grasps that. Besides, we cannot state too emphatically that God's demands are not to be altered by man's devices or desires.
The Challenge of Faith Today
Thus we are faced with the challenge of faith, just as our ancestors in Egypt. First of all, in the Person of God, who has preserved us and privileged us to live in these momentous days. Then, in His Provision. As our forefathers believed that the shed blood of the Passover lamb afforded them protection from the judgment about to be visited, so we may shelter beneath "the blood of the everlasting covenant" offered by the Lord's Anointed. Paul, the brilliant pupil of the great Rabbi Gamaliel, reminds us that "Christ" - the Messiah - "our Passover is sacrificed for us," the One about whom the devout Philip declared, "Moses in the law and the prophets did write" (John 1:45).
Thirdly, we are called to faith in His Promise. The generation in Egypt was vouchsafed deliverance from judgment and servitude as well as liberty to worship and serve God. Listen to the words of the Messiah, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." (John 5:24) Also, "If ye continue in My word...ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John 8:31,32 & 36).
How calm the judgment hour shall pass To all who do obey The word of God, and trust the blood, And make that word their stay! |
What promises! Freedom from bondage, deliverance from judgment, liberty to worship and serve God through Messiah! By exercising faith in Messiah and what He has done for us, the atonement which He made, you will experience not merely a night that is different once a year, but a life that is different, satisfying to God and man. You will know a destiny which is different, an eternal destiny according to His promise. The decision is yours. Repent, believe, and live!
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