by Anne Marie Whitmore

Created on: May 14, 2009   Last Updated: May 15, 2009

In Christianity, Easter can be seen as the continuation and the culmination of the Jewish Passover. One sprang from the other, with gentiles or non-Jews at first considered outsiders.

In the earliest writings of the Jewish 'Torah,' also the first five books of the Christian Bible, God chose the Israelite people as His own: speaking to them and guiding them through his prophets, forgiving their sins time and time again, and promising them a messiah, a Savior who would free them from the bondage of sin and lead them to a better life.

A sign of God's covenant (agreement), the rainbow, greeted the patriarch Noah after most of t he world perished in the Great Flood. (Many cultures speak of this event.)

Abraham had such complete faith and trust in God that he was willing to offer his only son, Isaac, as a human sacrifice. Because of that, God gave him many descendants (as many as the stars in the sky) and he became the father of many nations.

Around 1200 BC the Israelites came to be slaves in Egypt for many centuries. God rescued them by sending ten plagues to the Pharaoh and his people so he would let them go, the last and most horrible of all being the death of the firstborn sons. God spared His people if they killed an unblemished lamb, finished eating it before sunrise, and smeared its blood on their doorposts so the Angel of Death would pass over their homes. They were also to eat unleavened bread, since there was no time for the yeast to rise before they would make their escape. This event was to be commemorated in perpetuity by future generations. And so it was ingrained in the national consciousness.

Moses, who led them out of the desert back to their homeland, played a key role in the development of Judaism and Christianity. With God's help, he parted the Red Sea, and the pursuing chariots were overcome by the ranging water. When the people were grumbling against God because there was no food or water, Moses struck a rock with his staff, and water flowed forth. Manna (bread) fell from heaven. Moses was also given the Ten Commandments, a legal and moral code for harmonious living with God and others, honored even to this day throughout the world.

Ten Commandments

1) You shall worship the Lord your God and have no other gods before Him.

2) Do not make idols of any kind or worship them.

3) You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

4) Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.

5) Honor your father and mother.

6) You

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