Points for Passover

I want to share some beginner points to Passover. I love studying the feast of God and how very symbolic His teachings are. It’s important that we believe the whole Bible as God’s word and not just the parts we agree with.

Matthew 5:18  For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

As always I encourage you to read the book of Exodus for the facts of this God-appointed feast and the Exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt.

Believers in Jesus the Messiah, Yeshua His Hebrew name, have the freedom to celebrate the feast of God, and it’s time once again to take part in the remembrance of Passover.  However, we must observe it in accordance with the New and Old Covenant.  All of the Levitical laws must be fulfilled as we look forward to His second coming.  Passover is a powerful foreshadowing of Yeshua’s sacrificial death, burial and resurrection. Taking part in the Passover feast is a great way to teach our children their heritage and serve as a testimony to Jewish friends we are trying to reach.

Let’s look at the Old Covenant and New Covenant requirements together.

Exodus 13:7  Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory.

Under the Old Covenant the Jewish people ate unleavened bread to remember how hastily the Exodus was for their ancestors.

Exodus 12:39 39With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves.

New Covenant

1 Corinthians 5:8  Let us, therefore, celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

(Leaven was yeast, yeast in the New Testament represents sin.)

Yeshua celebrated all God commanded feast, He was without sin.  At Passover, Jesus told His disciples: 

Luke 22:15  And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”

During the meal He took the elements of the Passover, unleavened bread and the cup, and said they symbolized His sinless body and blood. He was referring to His death.

Passover is a seven-day celebration.

Leviticus 23:4-8 “These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, the holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. 5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight,[a] is the Lord's Passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. 8 But you shall present a food offering to the Lord for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work.”

Passover begins with the removal of leaven, again representing sin. 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? ⁷ Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. ⁸ Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

The meal shared during Passover is called the Seder, a ceremonial dinner that commemorates the Exodus from Egypt and includes the reading of the Haggadah and the eating of symbolic foods.

Below are some, not all of the traditions I have been a part of while celebrating with other believers.

Washing of Hands. A ceremonial cleansing that Yeshua also took part in but rather than wash just His hands, He got up from the table and washed the feet of His disciples, giving a profound lesson in humility. (John 13:2-17)

The family gathers around the table and the father tells the Haggadah. The Haggadah means “the telling” it is the telling of the story of Passover, the Exodus from Egypt.

Four Cups:

The First Cup. The seder begins with a blessing over the 4 cups, Jesus also blessed the first cup. Luke 22:17  And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves.

The 2nd Cup is to remind us of the Ten Plagues and the suffering of the Egyptians. In order not to rejoice over others suffering you spill a drop of the fruit of the vine, which is a symbol of joy.  

Proverbs 24:17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,

The seder meal is all symbolic. Karpas or parsley which symbolizes life is dipped in saltwater as a symbol of tears to remind us that life for our ancestors was immersed in tears.

Bitter herb usually horseradish is eaten with matzah to bring tears to your eyes in order to recognize we were once slaves to sin.

Charoset (chopped apples, nuts, honey) is a symbol of morta that Jews used to build bricks in the land of Egypt. It shows that even the bitterest of labor can be sweet when redemption draws near. It is a reminder to us that even when life is bitter we know our Lord is coming near one day.

Shankbone of a lamb. In Exodus, Jewish firstborns were spared from the angel of death by applying the blood of a spotless, innocent lamb to the doorpost of their homes. Today we believe Yeshua is the perfect Passover Lamb! When we apply His blood to the doorpost of our heart we too go from death into life, to being a redeemed child of God!

Third Cup. This cup is taken after the meal. It is the cup of redemption to serve as a reminder of the shed blood of the innocent Lamb. Jesus took the Third Cup:

Luke 22:20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

1 Corinthians 11:25  In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

Fourth Cup: Cup of Hallel. Hallel in Hebrew means “praise.” Yeshua had praise on His lips as He went to His death.

John 17:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

4th Elijah’s Cup: A place setting remains empty for Elijah the prophet, an honored guest at every Passover table. The Jewish people expect Elijah to come at Passover and announce the coming of the Messiah.

Malachi 4:5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes."

Those of us who believe in Yeshua know that He is the one the prophets spoke of. He is the spotless, unblemished Passover Lamb, whose body was broken for us and whose blood was shed, and who now LIVES in all who apply His blood on the doorpost of our hearts as we pass from death into His eternal life.

Matthew 26:29 "I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."

I look forward to drinking that 4th cup with Yeshua when he returns!

Of course in Jesus' time a number of the traditional observances were not a part of the celebration. But the 3 major component parts were in place: the lamb, the unleavened bread, and the bitter herbs. The washing and cups of wine were a part of the seder and the dipping of the bitter herbs in a bowl of saltwater.

Matthew 26:23 He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me.”

It will be a sweet intimate time with my Lord as I honor God's command to celebrate the feast. I encourage you to do the same. When did it happen?

John 19:31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away.

The Passover lamb was slain at twilight Wednesday as Thursday was beginning. Jewish days go from sunset to sunset. Thursday was the preparation for the Passover and that evening (the beginning of Friday) the Passover was eaten - including the Passover meal eaten by Yeshua and His disciples. Gethsemane was later that night. The arrest, trial by Annas and Caiphas went on late into the night.

The rooster crowd during Peter’s denial pointing out it was early in the morning, it was now Friday morning, still the day of Passover when Yeshua was taken to Pilate. 

Matthew 27:1 When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.

Jesus was taken to be crucified, and was dead and buried before the weekly Sabbath (Friday evening to Saturday sunset).

Again following the Laws of God as the perfect sacrifice..  

Exodus 125 Your [i]lamb shall be an unblemished male 

Jesus still fulfilled the law from Leviticus when He too was examined before the High Official before sacrifice. 

Leviticus 22:17 Adonai spoke to Moses saying: 18 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, and to all Bnei-Yisrael, and say to them: Whoever is from the house of Israel, or one of the outsiders in Israel who brings his offering, whether it be any of their vows or any of their freewill offerings that they present to Adonai for a burnt offering— 19 for you to be accepted—you are to offer a male without blemish, from the bulls, the sheep or the goats. 20 But whatever has a blemish you are not to present, for it will not be acceptable on your behalf. [a] 21 Whoever brings a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to Adonai to fulfill a vow or for a freewill offering, either from the herd or the flock, it must be unblemished to be accepted—there must be no defect on it.

(note or one of the outsiders above. Many non jews confessed Yahweh as the one true God and left with the Jewish people)

Luke 23:14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. 15 Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him.

Jesus was to be dead three days and three nights.

Matthew 12:40  For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Jesus spoke of rising from the dead on the 3rd day.

Luke 24:45  Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

THE IMPORTANT THING IS, HE  IS RISEN!

Exodus 12:14 This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.

Either we believe the whole book or we don’t.

Prayer Blocks

Have you ever thought about your prayer line getting blocked or clogged? 

Have you ever felt like you were praying and praying and God wasn't listening? There's a chance He wasn't?

We don't talk about it often but according to the Bible it is possible. 

1 Peter 3:7
You husbands, likewise, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker vessel, since she is a woman; and grant her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

 1 Peter 3:10-12

Let him who means to love life and see good days refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking guile. And let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears attend to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

 1 Peter 4:7

The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer (literally: for the sake of prayers.) 

What Peter is saying here is there is a way to live or think that can hinder our prayers. Notice I say “our” not your prayers.  The good news is there is a way we can think or live that can help our prayers as well.

These scriptures imply our prayers can be obstructed by how we treat our spouse, families, neighbors, anyone.

In these verses Peter is telling us we need to do something on our part so our prayers won’t be blocked.

Apparently, a constant open line to the Father is not automatic. Now more than ever we need to make sure our mind body and soul are lined up so our prayers can be heard and answered.

So you might be asking yourself why does this matter?

There are a lot of reasons, but I’ll start with the most obvious for me. It’s the feeling I’m not connecting with God and He starts to feel distant. For some He may begin to feel nonexistent.

If you are a person who has known the voice of God and truly loves Him if you have experienced the peace that only He can give you can only imagine what it would feel like if that relationship were hindered. There’s an instant perception of instability. Even as prayers are coming out of your mouth the words can seem insincere or empty.

I have listed some verses that teach us about this problem from God’s word, not my opinion.

Isaiah 1:15 ¹⁵When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood!

Psalm 66:17-19 ¹⁷I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue. ¹⁸If I had cherished sin in my heart, the LORD would not have listened; ¹⁹but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer.

Isaiah 59:2 ²But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

John 9:31 ³¹We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will.

Psalm 66:18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

Scriptures on what sin is:

1 John 3:4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.

James 1:¹⁴ but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. ¹⁵ Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

James 4:17  So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Matthew 6:14-15  ¹⁴ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Basically anytime we are deciding to do something we know is wrong we are sinning, however, there are times we are sinning, and we don’t know it. These sins are called unintentional sins. I ask forgiveness for sins I know about and the ones I’m unaware of. (example: I may offend someone and never know about it.)

Proverbs 28:13  Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

1 John 2:1  My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

James 5:16 Tell your sins to each other. And pray for each other so you may be healed. The prayer from the heart of a man right with God has much power.

2 Chronicles 7:14  If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

1 John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Not everyone is familiar with praying, so I want to encourage you, it’s a conversation with you and God. Like any conversation, you speak and then you're quiet to listen. Many people talk at God, giving their list of needs or concerns but they don't allow a time of waiting for the Lord to answer.

So to recap we know we have to repent of sin known or unknown before we have an open line of communication. Repenting means turning away from the sin you're committing.  It can be as simple or as intimate as you want it to be there are no rules on asking for forgiveness.
I have had long conversations with God and at times just whispered, “I’m sorry.” The key is the repentance part. 

Matthew 4:17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." 

James 4:8 Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you doubleminded.

Proverbs 28:13 Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.

The disciples that walked with Jesus learned the importance of prayer. They asked Him to show them how to pray.

Prayer

Matthew 6:⁵ “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷ And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:

"Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our trespasses,
    as we also have forgiven those who trespass against us.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one’

¹⁴ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

God knows what we need before we ask, we must put ourselves in a position to receive. We start that by making sure we have no prayer blocks.

Burden Carrier

I watched an interesting movie last night called The Farewell. It's the story of Billi a young Chinese woman and her unique family. They plan a fake wedding so the whole family can be in China to see her grandmother whose dying. Everyone knows the grandmother is dying but her.

Although Billie is Chinese, she grew up in America so the custom of the Chinese people not to tell the grandmother the truth of her condition is troubling her. She doesn’t think it's right, not to mention illegal in the States, to lie to her. 

Her mother tells her the Chinese believe if someone has a terminal disease, it’s not the disease that kills them but the fear of the unknown.

While she’s in China with her family she keeps bringing up her convictions of not telling the grandmother the truth.  She tells the family her grandmother might want to say goodbye.

In a conversation with her uncle, this is the part that hit me, he tells Billi that she wants to tell the grandmother because the guilt is too heavy for her (Billi) to carry. He goes on to say she’s thinking of only herself and the family is thinking of the grandmother as part of the entire family, as a whole community. He tells her that it is a big burden and it’s theirs to carry for the grandmother, so she doesn’t have to.

Let that sink in a minute.

Think of the times you have had to carry a large burden by yourself, how wonderful it would have been to have others carry it for you.  To carry it without you even knowing is even better yet!

We are all in unfamiliar territory right now. In a conversation with my son today he noted we have had difficult times as a Country before but never as an entire world.

The effects of this virus are truly effecting the whole world!

I think these circumstances fit what the uncle is telling Billi, this is a huge burden and we must carry it together as a family, a neighborhood, a city, state, Country, a WORLD.

I had no answers for my son, or myself for that matter, so I reminded him that we know the one who does. This is the time to hold onto God's word like we do our phones or TV's.  You don't have to be a Bible scholor, just google your emotion along with Bible verse and God's word will come up.

2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

Gems I am holding this verse close to my heart. We are ALL currently weak in one way or another but GOD promises to give us the power to rest on Him.

Rest is the last thing we would think about right now, especially if you’re a type A personality. I’m talking about a state of mind rest, we can do certain things, I have loved seeing all the ideas people are posting and how communities are coming together, but none of that can lift the burden or remove the unknown.

So I will share with you  some burden lifting promises.

Psalm 138:7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me.

Psalm 81:7 In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud

2 Corinthians 1:3-4  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

Zephaniah 3:17 The Lord your God among you is powerful— he will save and he will take joyful delight in you. In his love he will renew you with his love; he will celebrate with singing because of you.

Psalm 31:24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

Psalm 55:22 Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.

In some weird way it does give me comfort knowing I'm not in this alone, especially since I live by myself. Everyone, and I mean everyone around the world, understands totally how I feel. Everyone including God becasue of Jesus who understands all of our emotions.

Hebrews 4:15-16 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Gems it doesn't have to be a misery loves company kind of thing, it can be, there's hope for humanity.  God knows, He hears, He cares, rest on Him and together the whole wide world will watch His hand move and no-one will be able deny His power!

Spiritual Coronavirus

This was written by my friend Paige and is well worth the read!

I was walking this morning and I learned a few things I thought might be of interest to some of you. I don't claim to be any type of virus expert, but I do find it interesting the timing in history that the Coronavirus is in our world. This may be a little lengthy but stick with me.

First thing the Word Corona comes from the Latin word Crown.

 Corona - Medical Definition

"Anatomy The crownlike upper portion of a bodily part or structure, such as the top of the head. Botany A crown-shaped, funnel-shaped, or trumpet-shaped outgrowth or appendage of the perianth of certain flowers, such as a daffodil. In this sense also called crown."

 Daffodils have a crown of sorts and one little breath on the daffodil and it blows away.

 You may not be a believer in this but there is a spirit realm that is active daily. (Ephesians 6:12, NIV: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.")

 When things happen in our natural world many times if we will stop and ask the Lord what it means he will reveal what is going on in the Spirit realm. So with the constant barrage of Coronavirus news, this teacher I listened to today talked about how the enemy is working symbolically after the authority of your thoughts.  Corona means crown and the enemy is going after the mind. If the enemy can attack your thoughts with doubt, fear and panic, then you become paralyzed and struggle to think logically and rationally.

This is also the time of Purim. It is a time of deliverance from death. Purim happens before Passover and it is one of the most entertaining Jewish holidays. Purim commemorates the time when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved from extermination by the courage of a young Jewish woman called Esther.

Another thing happening now is a battle against the spirit of Pan. Pan was a Greek God that was worshipped, and it is where we get the word panic or pandemic from. God didn't want anyone to worship any other false gods and he still doesn't want us worshipping anyone but the One true God.

So one of the major battles is the mental spirit of fear

And we have to go into the courts of heaven and overthrow the Spirit of Pan.

 f you have never heard of teachings on The Courts of Heaven, look it up on YouTube. Robert Henderson explains it well.

So to wrap this all up with somewhat of a solution.

 1. Be sure to crown your head with the Helmet of Salvation (Ephesians 6:10-18) so you when fear, panic, worry and anxiety come at your thoughts you can cast them down with the truth.

 2. Do wash your hands of course and stay home if you are sick.  You know this already

 (James 4:8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. WASH YOUR HANDS, YOU SINNERS; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.)

 3. Just as a dandelion when it blows you only need one little seed of faith to plant in your heart to give you hope. Blow some hope on others as well instead of blowing this fear and your germs all over people.

4.Dont let the enemy "Corona" crown you with fear

Be crowned with God's word. Read or listen to it daily. Try reading God's word first and as much or more than you read or listen to the news.

 5. Pray Psalm 23 first then Pray Psalm 91.  The way to enter into the abiding place with God is by Faith not by fear and panic. Faith moves God Fear moves Satan.

 6. Of course be smart, be informed, be prepared and be aware. You all know this and you're doing it.

7. We are about to go through Passover. Plead the blood of Jesus over your home. Anoint it with oil and Pray the Words of Psalm 91 over your home.

God is moving as he always does; he is not surprised by all this and He truly is in control. You can trust Him. Even if your faith is as small as a mustard seed. Plant that seed in fertile soil and watch it grow.