The Plan of
Salvation (through a Passover Lamb) written into the stars is held
secure in the Heavenly Scroll.
Psalms 119
O Yahuah, your instructions endure; they
stand secure in heaven (shamayim - written in the
stars, untouched by human hands).
This Plan is not
only foretold in The Heavenly Scroll, but that scroll is a Divine clock by
which this Plan is rehearsed each year through the Ordained Times of Yahuah.
The Plan of Salvation is laid out in a cycle of two sets of rehearsals. The
Spring and the Fall Feasts of Yahuah.
The Spring Season of Passover includes 3 Ordained Times of Yahuah,
and is a celebration of the “Engagement.” Again, as with all things, we have
been taught errors and lies. Very few people understand these most important
moedim (rehearsals), how to rehearse them, or when they are to be
rehearsed. That is what we are going to figure out in this book:
1. What are we supposed to actually
“do” during the season of Passover?
2. What did Yahusha do by example
that we are to follow?
3. What are the Spiritual truths of
the Physical rehearsals?
4. When are we to rehearse them
each year?
In this book, I
am going to explore the Spiritual lessons that the Physical rehearsal of
Passover (defined in The Torah), and the Physical example (Yahusha
set on Passover) were designed to teach us. You see, Passover is far more
than we ever realized, and we (as the children of Yahuah) are falling
far short of our calling and responsibility on Passover. Just as Yahusha has a
role to play in the Wedding, so do we as his Bride!
The Christian
Church is in total denial (and disobedience) as is Judaism. Both have
ritualized and Hellenized Passover leaving The Messiah out of the celebration
altogether. Messianic Christians (Christians pretending to be Jews) have
simply adopted The Jewish Seder with a few changes. In this book, I am going to
clearly define the true meaning of the Passover Season:
·
The
Chagigah (Hebrew)
the end of the 13th day of Abib to begin the Preparation Day on the 14th of Abib with a meal of
“remembrance.”
·
The Passover or
Preparation Day on the 14th
day
of Abib when the lambs were slaughtered.
·
The Feast
of Unleavened Bread Abib
15-21 - 7 Days. At the close of the Passover at the end of the 14th of Abib and beginning of the 15th day of Abib when the Passover
Dinner is eaten and the Passover Lamb is served.
·
First
Fruits/The Wave Sheaf Offering –
beginning the 50-day count to Shav’uot
·
Shav’uot – The Engagement
The question “what do we do today to
celebrate the Passover Season?” is one we should all be asking. I will explain
each of these vital aspects of Passover teaching them from a Physical to
Spiritual parallel perspective of a Nazarene. Why? Because there is no other
perspective from which to view these mysteries of Yahuah. We are living now in
Covenant with Yahuah through Yahusha (The Yahushaic Covenant) and
we, by this time, should have learned the Spiritual lessons as they pertain to
His Kingdom. However, here we are 2000 years later still in bondage to
“self” and human ritualistic empty worship… keeping The Seder or Easter.
Hebrews 5
12 For even though by this time (of keeping the letter of the Law) you ought to be
teaching others (the Spiritual Intent of the Law),
you actually need someone to teach you over again the very first principles (behind the letter) of Yahuah’s Word. You have
come to need milk (physical adherence to the letter
of The Law), not solid food (Spiritual
Meat which is the intent behind the letter). 13 For everyone who
continues to feed on milk (requiring ritual
observance to the letter) is obviously inexperienced and unskilled
in the doctrine of righteousness (spiritual intent),
for he (who is stuck on the milk/letter of the Law)
is a mere infant (not ready for spiritual meat not
understanding intent) 14 But solid food (intent
behind the letter) is for full-grown men (mature sons/daughters), for those whose senses and mental
faculties (spiritual eyes/ears) are
trained by practice (keeping the letter)
to discriminate and distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what
is evil and contrary either to divine or human law.
Once I have fully
developed each of the vital aspects of the Passover Season (by explaining
the Physical examples set in The Torah and then elevating them to their
Spiritual truths in The Yahushaic Covenant), I will provide a very simple
“guide to keeping the Passover” … the way it should be kept today in
light of The Yahushaic Covenant. I will provide an introduction to
Yahuah’s Calendar whereby we set His Appointed Times. I will also provide a
very powerful look (back into history) at what actually occurred on that
Sabbatical Passover when Yahusha laid down his example. It is a revealing look
at how Yahusha gave his life to tear the Veil, and give us direct access to the
Altar and Mercy Seat of The Most High.
As with most of
my teaching, this one is going to require “eyes to see and ears to hear”, as I
am going to explain the mysteries of The Kingdom of Yahuah, as they pertain to
the annual Spring Festivals in The Kingdom of Yahuah within The Yahushaic
Covenant. I pray that Yahuah give us all Wisdom, Knowledge, and Understanding,
as we seek His Will for our lives and truly follow the example set by Yahusha
the Messiah… The Way.
1 John 2:6
whoever says he abides in (covenant with) him (Yahusha)
ought to walk in the same way in which he walked (follow
Yahusha’s example).
Yes, even following his example in offering ourselves as
Passover Lambs on Passover! In this book, we are going to examine the Jewish
Seder and then look back at how and what Yahusha the Messiah did during
Passover. Because it is his example, not the traditions
of men, that we are to follow.
What does it mean
to “abide in covenant with Yahusha?” Very few people truly understand the
covenant we are supposed to ‘enter into with Yahuah’ called The Yahushaic
Covenant or Renewed Covenant. I encourage everyone to read my book, The
Yahushaic Covenant Volume 1 – The Mediator carefully.
What is THE most central theme of The Renewed
Covenant? So fundamental to the Kingdom, that if you don't get it down solid,
Yahuah will not let you move on to more mature doctrines? Without this
foundation, you will be stuck sucking milk and never develop teeth for the
weightier matters in The Law? Keeping in mind that Sha’ul’s basic message was the
Passover Lamb sacrifice of Yahusha, and that message was
a stumbling block to the Jews and total foolishness to the Gentiles
(Greeks).
1 Corinthians 1 – The Passover
is The Point and it is VERY NARROW
20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe?
Where is the disputer of this age? Has not Yahuah made foolish the wisdom of
this world? 21 For since, in the Wisdom of Yahuah, the world (the pagan Roman Empire) through wisdom did not know
Yahuah, it pleased Yahuah through the foolishness of the message preached to
save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after
wisdom (through philosophy); 23 but we preach
the Passover sacrifice of Yahusha (THAT is the Gospel Message
that leads to The Kingdom of Yahuah), to the Jews a stumbling block and
to the Greeks foolishness,
In Hebrews 5, Sha’ul is trying to explain that Yahusha is
Melchizedek, then finally in Hebrews 6:1, Sha’ul spells it out, and STILL, we
don't see it! Below is what Hebrews 6:1 is talking about
Hebrews 6
1 Therefore let us move
forward and mature in our understanding about the things concerning Yahusha,
not laying again (having to relearn over and
over) the basic teaching about
Yahusha (everything mentioned below is
talking “about Yahusha”):
· About Yahusha's
foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death (referring to Yahusha’s Mikveh for repentance by John)
· and of Yahusha's faith
in YAHUAH (to wipe away his sin through
Mikveh Zachariah 3)
· 2
"instructions" about "cleansing rites" (i.e. we must know Torah requirements concerning Mikveh
to know the significance of what was happening to Yahusha)
· and (Torah requirements)
of washing and the laying on of hands (at
Yahusha's Mikveh, the ritual to transfer priestly authority and pass the sins
of the world on to Yahusha as the Passover Lamb Zachariah 3)
· How Yahusha was
resurrected from the dead by YAHUAH who heard his cries because of his piety
in life (Hebrews
5:7 and Zachariah 3) and how Yahuah promised to forgive the sins of the
world in one day, the day of his execution IF Yahusha would obey (Zachariah 3).
· and how Yahusha now
reigns as eternal judge over the House of YAHUAH (Zechariah 3:7)
3 And YAHUAH will only
permit us to move on to maturity (concerning
Yahusha) once we lay this foundation
firmly.
OK... let me summarize... THE
most pivotal event in the life of the Messiah, when he literally became The
High Priest of Israel consecrated by Yahuah Himself, when his sin was forgiven,
and he became "without sin and knew no
sin" in the eyes of Yahuah. The event where he entered into The Renewed
Covenant to serve us all as The Branch and offer his life for ours was...
This is
what Sha’ul was trying to tell everyone that no one understood. They had become
dull of hearing. This is what Sha’ul describes in Hebrews 6:1, to be so
fundamental, that if we don't get it right, we will never mature.
Yahusha described it in parables about the Good Shepherd and stated:
John 10:3-4
For I have given you an example (Spiritual Path), that you should do as I have done (offer our own lives as
living sacrificial lambs on Passover).
It is THE WAY; it is The Narrow Gate....
and it has never changed. The New Testament should be understood in context of
the Passover, because that is what he came to fulfill the first time:
·
That
which was written of him in the Heavenly Scroll
·
To
empty himself of his inherited position as King of Israel and take on the form of
the suffering servant, Messiah ben Joseph.
·
To
introduce The Mystery of the Ages, that Yahuah is begetting a family.
·
And
to walk in obedience to Yahuah, and show us The Way to our Father by example.
That is what the writers in the
NT were explaining. That is what the entire NT is written about… The Passover
is The Narrow Gate, and Yahusha "showed us The Way" on
Passover that we must follow and walk in his footsteps to be joined to “The
Commonwealth of Remnant Israel, the New Bride.
The Exodus and the Passover are
central themes of Salvation found in The Bible. In the Bible, there are 3
Physical “Passover” examples to help us understand the 4th Spiritual Passover:
1. Isaac is “Passed Over” by death
by a sacrificial ram.
2. The first born sons of the
Hebrews are “Passed Over” from the Angel of Death by the blood of a Lamb on
their doorposts
3. The
sins of the nation of Israel are “Passed Over” each year by the sacrifice of
the spotless
Passover
Lamb sacrifice
These 3 examples
in Scripture are Physical portraits that help us understand the meaning of the
Messiah’s Sacrifice, and how Faith in the blood of the Passover Lamb (Yahusha)
will save us from ultimate death (not the first death, we all still pay the
price of sin in our bodies). They are Physical to Spiritual parallels.
The Passover’s
central theme is The Mountain of Yahuah, called Mariah, as Yahuah
establishes His Throne on Earth. It was there that Abraham first
attempted to fulfill the secrets preserved in The Heavenly Scroll by
sacrificing his son Isaac. It would be there that Yahusha went to satisfy the
requirements for entry into the family of Yahuah.
The first “Passover” is found in the story of Abraham and
Isaac. Abraham is instructed to take Isaac, his only son, and build an Altar to
Yahuah on a specific mountain called Mount Mariah and sacrifice his first born
son by fire. A ram (male lamb) is provided to take Isaac’s place, and Isaac is
“passed over” death by fire. This is a Physical to Spiritual parallel; Abraham
is a shadow of Yahuah, Isaac, a shadow of the sons of Yahusha, the lamb a
shadow of Yahusha, and the fire, is a shadow of The Law of Yahuah that is an
“all-consuming fire” by which all will be judged.
Fire is a
Physical metaphor of The Law of Yahuah. The Word of Yahuah is the all-consuming
fire…
Jeremiah 23:29
"Is not My Word like fire," declares Yahuah”
Hebrews 12:29
for our "God is a Consuming
Fire."
Exodus 24:17
The sight of the Glory of Yahuah (giving His Law to Moses)
was like a Consuming Fire on the top of the mountain
in the eyes of the children of Israel.
Deuteronomy 4:24
For Yahuah your God is a Consuming Fire, a
jealous God.
Deuteronomy 9:3
Therefore, understand today that Yahuah your God is He who goes over
before you as a Consuming Fire.
The Israelites
later left that land and were taken into captivity in Egypt. Moses then
delivered the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery through the second Passover
and led the Israelites back into that same land they had left. King David later
conquered that same mountain called Mount Mariah. There Yahuah instructed
David’s son, Solomon, to build His Temple and erect His Altar. It was there, at
the Altar of Yahuah, that the Passover Lambs were sacrificed, up until the time
the Messiah came. It was on top of Mount Mariah that The Messiah
was crucified, as Yahusha gave his life as the Firstborn Son, fulfilling the
portrait of Abraham and Isaac.
In the first portrait of the Passover, Abraham obeyed
Yahuah’s instruction to sacrifice his firstborn son. This was a very specific
test of Faith, as the entire Promise of Yahuah to mankind relied on the life of
Isaac. Yahuah had Promised Abraham that he would be the father of many great
nations, and that all the people of the world would be blessed through
Abraham’s son (referring to the Messiah who would come from the
family of Abraham). So Yahuah literally put Abraham’s Faith to the
test asking him to sacrifice Isaac. Isaac was no ordinary boy… he was the very
Promise the entire blessing of Yahuah to mankind rested upon!
Just as he was about to slay his son Isaac, an
angel stopped him and Yahuah provided a “ram” in Isaac’s place, as we entered
the Age of Aries the Ram. This is the first “portrait” or “picture” of what
Yahuah would later do; Sacrifice His Firstborn son as the “Lamb” in our place,
and death would “Pass Over” us just like death passed over Isaac.
The next Physical example or
“portrait” given to us of the Passover is during Israel’s Exodus out of Egypt.
As the story unfolds; Moses is risen up by Yahuah to deliver His people Israel
out of Egyptian slavery. After performing many miracles and bringing on many
different plagues upon Egypt, the final plague Yahuah pronounces on Egypt is
the Angel of Death. This plague would come and strike down every first-born
male of every home, even every first born male animal would die. Moses
instructs the children of Israel to sacrifice a spotless lamb and put the blood
of that lamb on their doorpost the night the Angel of Death was coming to kill
the first-born male of every home. The homes with the blood of the lamb on
their door would be “Passed Over” by the Angel of Death and the first born
would be spared.
The story of the Exodus is a story of how Yahuah delivered His people
Israel out of the hands of the Egyptians and how His people were delivered out
of bondage to one nation and brought into the “Promise Land.” The Passover
Feast was instituted by Yahuah so that we would remember the first Exodus and
look forward to the Greater Exodus!
The third Passover found in the
Bible is The Commandment to ‘keep’ Passover and to sacrifice a spotless lamb of
about a year old every year for the sins of the nation of Israel. It is called
the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Hebrew hag hamatzot) in the Hebrew Bible;
The Commandment to keep Passover is recorded in the Book of Leviticus:
Leviticus 23:5
In the first month, on the fourteenth day of
the month between the two evenings is Yahuah’s
Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the
Feast of Unleavened Bread unto Yahuah; seven days ye shall eat unleavened
bread. In the first day ye shall have a Holy convocation; ye shall do no manner
of servile work. And ye shall bring an offering made by fire unto the Yahuah
seven days; in the seventh day is a Holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of
servile work. Israel was
instructed to keep Passover and sacrifice a spotless lamb as a “rehearsal” that
was designed to teach them a greater Spiritual Truth concerning the
coming Messiah. This rehearsal was designed to remind Israel that a debt was
still owed on Mount Mariah.
The Messiah was
the fourth and final fulfillment of The Passover. Yahusha would be to
Yahuah what Isaac was to Abraham, his Firstborn Son. He would be to Israel what
the Passover Lamb was… their sacrificial Lamb who would die in their place. The
blood of the Messiah on the hearts of believers, would serve as the final
Passover from Death to Life, just like the blood of the lamb saved Isaac and
the firstborn of every household in Egypt. By keeping the Festival of Passover,
those who believed were to recognize the true Messiah when he came and
fulfilled the Festival in detail. He kept the first Passover meal of
remembrance, (Chagigah), with his disciples on the eve of the 13/14th of Abib as Commanded
by Yahuah.
He then left and went to the Garden to pray and was arrested
on Passover (preparation day) the 14th.
He was tried early that morning of
Passover, the 14th
of Abib, and tortured; the Bible says that by the stripes on his skin from the
lashes he took… we are healed!
He was then
executed on a stake at the exact time the Passover Lambs were sacrificed in the
Temple the afternoon of the 14th.
There is an
event prophesied by Yahuah to occur at the end of 6,000 years known as The
Greater Exodus:
Jeremiah 23:7-8
"Therefore behold, days are
coming," declares Yahuah, "when it will no longer be said, ‘As Yahuah
lives, Who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' but, 'As
Yahuah lives, Who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north and
from all the countries where He had banished them.' For I will restore them to
their own land which I gave to their fathers."
Ezekiel speaks of this same event:
Ezekiel 20:33-38
"As I live," declares Yahuah,
"surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath
poured out, I shall be King over you. I will bring you out from the peoples and
gather you from the lands where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and with
an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out; and I will bring you into the
wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face
to face. As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the
land of Egypt, so I will enter into Judgment with you," declares Yahuah.
This final Exodus will begin just like the first… with the
Passover. Only those who ‘keep’ Passover will partake in the Greater Exodus.
The Final Passover
The Second Death has no power
Finally, on
Passover, we look ahead to the ultimate meaning of the Passover. The Bible
declares that those who have Faith in Yahusha (that he is The Messiah and
fulfillment of the Passover Lamb) will partake in the first resurrection of
the dead. And only those who have the blood of the Lamb on the “doorposts” of
their hearts (have Faith and keep Passover in light of Yahusha)
will be “passed over” by the Angel of Death at Judgment and not suffer
The Second Death.
Revelation 2:11
He who has an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the called out ones. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the
second death.
Revelation 20:6
Blessed and Holy are those who have part in
the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will
be priests of Yahuah and of Yahusha and will reign with him for a thousand
years.
Revelation 20:14
Then death and the grave were thrown into
the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire
Revelation 21:8
8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the
vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the
idolaters and all liars— they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning
sulfur. This is the second death.
