Samaritans sacrifice animals on PassoverPDFPrintE-mail
Israel
Written by Chris Perver  
Tuesday, 01 May 2007 17:00
The sect of the Samaritans has marked the Feast of the Passover yesterday, slaughtering sheep and eating the meat in a style similar to that recounted in the Old Testament. The sect apparently numbers just around 700 individuals, and lives predominantly in Shechem (Nablus), ancient Samaria. The sacrifice was carried out during the night, around the time the Angel of Death passed over the houses of the Israelites that had the lamb's blood on the doorposts, and killed the first born of those that didn't, which was the Egyptian houses. I heard recently that the Egyptians venerated the lamb as a god (much like India revere cows), and do so would be an abomination to them.

Quote: "The sect's high priest opened the ceremony with a prayer in the Samaritan tongue, a dialect of ancient Hebrew. Then ritual slaughterers killed sheep, skinned them, and roasted them in large ovens. According to tradition, the meat must be ready in the middle of the night - the time that the Angel of Death killed the Egyptian firstborn in the biblical story - and the Samaritans eat it in haste along with unleavened bread, emulating the ancient Israelites.

According to the article, the sect of the Samaritans were made famous through the telling of Jesus Christ's parable on the good Samaritan. Even in Jesus' day, the Jews and Samaritans would have nothing to do with each other, and Jews travelling to Galilee would often walk around Samaria rather than pass through it. This is what makes the story of John 4 and the woman at Sychar's well all the more remarkable, for it says that "He must needs go through Samaria", and of course we know the reason why. During the Lord's conversation with the woman she says, "Our Fathers worshipped in this mountain, and Ye say that Jerusalem is the place were men ought to worship?", John 4:20. The article states that Mount Gerizim is revered by the Samaritan sect. The Lord's reply was prophetic...

John 4:21, 23
Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father... But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

As born again Christians, we can rejoice in that we have the privilege of being indwelled by God's Holy Spirit, and the privilege of being able to worship Him in our hearts, anywhere and at any time. The Lord's conversation with the woman resulted in her salvation and many others in Samaria that day.

Source Haaretz

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