Passover Meal AKA Liberation Meal

Lamb shanks with bitter herb salad and unleavened biscuit

From Exodus 12

Passover meal from Exodus 12

Imagine that you are at the very edge of a Cliff, but you realize, instead of falling into the abyss below, you are going to start soaring like an eagle. To great heights with greater strength, your eyes will see the wonders of this earth. You will be doing everything you are destined to do. Imagine. This story happens at such a moment.

People who have been enslaved and crushed for generations have finally been told that tomorrow, by dawn, they are going to be liberated. People who thought that they too would die as slaves, have hope that not only would they be free, they would also find their promised land. Now, in such a 'can't wait for tomorrow' moment, you are asked to eat a very particular meal along with a very particular action and a new calendar!

Though this story has been told and retold many times for generations as we all know, there are multiple layers to every occasion in the Bible. Let's see what we have here.

Exodus 12: 1-4

‘The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are.’

Notice the detail? A new year calendar. God doesn't do anything 'just because' .There is a reason, motive, significance for every single action of God. God is starting their lives over. It's a new beginning. They are no longer subject to their old lives and old ways. He is going to press a reset button in their lives and it's going to be a new one!

Notice another detail? If any household is too small for a whole lamb then they must share one with their neighbor and they also have to take into account the number of people there are in that family. Notice now? God cares about the details. Many of us think God is all about the big picture and that he doesn't care about the small things. I disagree with that opinion. The Bible is very clear to us in that God very much cares about the littlest things in our lives. How we carry on with it is up to our own free, will but He does care. We often try to reason God with our limited brain capacity, forgetting that He is GOD for a reason. God cares for even the smallest detail….sometimes, even our heart's condition behind that detail. In this story, almost entirely, God gives instructions down to the smallest detail.

Exodus 12:5,6

‘The animals you chose must be year old males without defects, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.’

Ok, odd detail here…you have to choose the animal and set it aside on the tenth day of the month and for the next four days you have to take care of it, like feeding it well, making sure it doesn't get sick or injured and only then you can slaughter it. Why?

What possible reason could there be for such a detail? I can only think of two possible reasons.

One would be, you can keep a close eye on the animal's dietary options. You can feed it well to fatten it up as it is a one year old male. This way you can make sure of its quality. The second reason makes more sense to me. The minute you bring the animal into your home, it is no longer a farm animal. It becomes a pet. For the next four days, that animal becomes an integral part of your life. And then when the time comes to slaughter that animal, the value of that animal in your eyes is exponentially higher than what it would have been if you picked it from the butcher's or from the farm.

Later when the time comes, Jesus becomes the ultimate sacrifice, shedding His blood to save us, so this part of slaughtering the animal shouldn't be an insignificant moment. It has to have a value, though for now it's only a lamb.

See, God cares about the details. 'God is in this story, God is in the details' song comes to my mind while thinking about this detail in this story. Thank you Lord for being the God of details.

Exodus 12:7

Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.

Exodus 12:13

The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

They were to take some blood and apply it on the doorframes of their houses for the destroyer to not enter their houses. God could have easily done it in another way. Why go through this elaborate act of smearing blood from the lamb - the animal they took good care of the last 4 days- on the door frames and then wait for the destruction to pass them? Sometimes, we need to do some action in order to demonstrate our obedience in faith. Faith becomes active when it is accompanied by some action.

James 2: 21,22 says,

Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? you see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.

For an Israelite, to sit under the blood stained door frames, inside their homes, hearing the loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead that day, would have been an unworldly moment. They would have felt the shield and protection from God on a whole other level.

Psalms 18: 2 says,

The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer:

Psalms 27: 2,3 says,

When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. Though an army besieges me, my heart will not feat, though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.

How true are these verses!

If not for the salvation of God, where would we be?

If not for the protection and mercy of God, where would we be?

If not for the blood of Jesus Christ, where would we be?

Exodus 12: 8,

‘That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast.’

Exodus 12:19

‘For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses.’

Again… details. They were instructed by the Lord to eat all the meat by twilight with their cloaks tucked under their belt- ready to leave anytime - and to eat bread without leaven for seven days before the Passover. On the day of Passover they have to eat the meat with bitter herbs and unleavened bread.

God doesn't want the Israelites to carry their leaven - a sign of their past sins - or a sign of their previous life - back to their promised land. Remember, a fresh new beginning - a restart!

Though this Passover style liberation meal recipe has my take on it, the menu is from God! How amazing is that!!!

In their faith, they will do the act of obedience, they will do exactly what Moses instructed them from God. They will slaughter the Lamb, apply the blood on their doorway, make the special meal and be ready to leave any minute. The next day all the Israelites were saved and the Pharoah would let them go as the Egyptians would have lost their first born in every household, including their livestock.The rest is the Historic Journey that took forty years to reach their promised land.

From that time on, to this day, the Israelites celebrate Passover every year just as the Lord commanded, to commemorate for the generations to come!

Recipe :

According to the instructions, the lamb has to be roasted in direct fire- with the head, legs and internal organs intact and none of the bones should be broken. Though I would very much like to try this method once, for practical reasons I am going to make this recipe with just Lamb Shanks on a bed of mashed potatoes and not the whole animal.

I will also make a romaine lettuce, radish and kale salad for the bitter herbs section and fried Honey biscuit (unleavened bread) to go with the side.

Lamb Shanks on a bed of mashed potatoes, honey biscuits and bitter herb salad from Exodus 12

Lamb Shanks Recipe :

Ingredients:

6 individual sized pieces of Lamb shanks

3 large finely chopped onions

3 Tbsp. of finely chopped garlic and ginger

4 Tbsp. tomato paste

3 bay leaves

2 cinnamon sticks

3 cloves

1 Tsp. paprika or red chilli powder

1/2 Tsp. pepper powder

1/2 Tsp. fennel seeds

1/2 Tsp. cumin seeds

1 cup chopped cilantro

1/2 cup of chopped mint leaves

1 tsp. salt or as needed

1/2 stick of butter

Oil - as needed

Method:

1. Wash the meat well and marinate it using salt, 1/4 teaspoons of pepper, 1/2 teaspoons of paprika and let it sit in the fridge for 1 hr.

2. In a wide thick bottomed pan, melt the butter. Fry the meat for 3 minutes each side and take it out. This will brown the meat and keep it juicy.

3. In the same pan, with the leftover butter, add 2 tablespoons of oil and add the bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, fennel seeds and cumin seeds.

4. After 30 seconds, add the chopped onions and cook it till it turns translucent.

5. Now mix in the chopped ginger and garlic and cook it for 1 minute.

6. Once it's cooked, add in the tomato paste and add the chopped cilantro and mint leaves with it. add 1/2 cup of water now as it will tend to burn quickly.

7. Let everything simmer till the tomatoes are cooked well. In this paste, add the remaining paprika, pepper and salt and add the lamb in this mixture.

8. Add 2 cups of water and keep this in simmer for 40 minutes or until the Shanks are tender to cut.

9. Add more water if needed in between and stir the pot every 5 to 7 minutes so that the gravy doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Cook till the meat falls off the bones. Serve it hot on a bed of mashed potatoes.

Lamb Shanks

Salad Recipe:

Romaine Lettuce, Red Radish, kale, apples, onions, crushed almonds, shaved parmesan cheese.

For the Dressing: Combine 5 tablespoons of Olive oil, pinch of crushed red peppers. 2 cloves of garlic(crushed), 1 teaspoon of chopped cilantro stems , salt and lemon juice( if needed)

Chop everything and drizzle it with the dressing

Bitter herb salad

Mashed potatoes Recipe:

Ingredients:

3 lbs. russet potatoes

2 bay leaves

5 garlic cloves

1/4 cup of milk

1/4 cup of heavy cream

1 stick of butter

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Handful of chopped scallions

Method:

1. Peel and cut the potatoes in cubes ad let it boil with bay leaves, some salt and garlic cloves

2. Once it is cooked through, drain well. Discard the garlic peel (Leave the cooked garlic with the potatoes) and bay leaf.

3. In a separate pan, melt the butter, add the milk, cream with salt and pepper. 4. Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes well and mix it with the milk butter mixture until creamy. sprinkle it with the chopped scallions.

Lamb Shanks are served on top of mashed potatoes

Unleavened Bread - Honey Biscuits

Honey Biscuit recipe:

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

1 Tbsp. of baking soda

1/8 Tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. honey

1/2 cup of butter

Cold Milk - if needed

Oil to fry

Method:

1. Combine all purpose flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

2. Shred the cold butter (frozen butter is better) and mix it with the flour mixture along with the honey.

3, Mix everything well, if it's dry, add a sprinkle of milk. don't knead it, mixing it just enough to form a dough is enough.

4. Roll the dough, it won't be a smooth dough, the top layer will be a bit dry and flakey but that is exactly what we need. Let the dough not be more than 1/2 an inch thick. any thicker, the biscuit wont cook thru when frying.

5. Using a cookie cutter, cut the dough and make the biscuits in medium size.

6. Heat Vegetable oil in a pan, it shouldn't be smoking but heat it in a medium flame.

7. Fry the biscuits in the medium flame until it turns golden brown. Place it on a paper towel for the oil to be drained. Eat warm.

Honey Biscuits