Tonight, at evening, is Passover. We previously discussed why, as Christians, we should NOT be celebrating the pagan tradition of worshiping the little “g” god Easter. Now, let’s take a look at why YOU SHOULD be celebrating Passover.
Let’s take a look at Exodus 12, which gives us a good, clear picture of how the Israelites were to eat the Passover. I am using the KJV.
The Passover
Exodus 12 And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying,
2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.
3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:
4 And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.
5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
9 Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.
10 And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.
11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord‘s passover.
12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.
13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
I have bolded what I feel are the most important parts of this text that we need to pay attention to. First, “Tell all the congregation of Israel”. Who is Israel? YOU ARE ISRAEL! It’s not a place any longer. As a gentile, you have been grafted in to the olive tree. The church is Israel. The church is also not a place. “The church” is those who obey and follow the commandments of YHWH and believe Jesus/Yeshua was the Messiah who died on the cross as a ransom for our sins and to redeem us back to The Father.
Galatians 3
6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Romans 9:6 …For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
Romans 2
28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
I could go on with many more Scriptures regarding this, but I think you get the point. Jews are Jews inwardly. Those who are faithful to YHWH are Israel, the seed of Abraham, children of The Most High God. Adopted into the royal family. (Ephesians 1:5) Co-heirs with Christ. (Romans 8:17) A holy nation, a peculiar people, a royal priesthood. (1 Peter 2:9) That’s YOU. You are Israel.
No one can send the real Jews back to Irsael. You are a Jew inwardly. Israel is the faithful church. The Jews from Israel are not going to inherit the earth when Messiah returns and we become slaves to them for 1000 years. Nope. That’s ludicrous. Jesus said, “It is finished” and He will inherit the Earth FOREVER.
Revelation 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
I’m pretty sure when YHWH says “For Ever”, He means forever. Christ will reign forever when He returns. AND, we are commanded to keep the Passover as a feast forever. For ever means forever.
Now, every Christian you know always says, desires, and prays to be more Christ-like, to follow his example, to walk in his footsteps. Right? Let’s take a look at Christ’s example that He set for us.
Matthew 26
17 Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover?
18 And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples.
19 And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover.
Luke 22
15 And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:
16 For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
17 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:
18 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.
Yeshua kept the Passover.
He repeatedly says in John to keep His commandments.
John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
Not only did Yeshua keep the Passover, but He also broke bread, gave thanks, and said “this do in remembrance of me” – at Passover! That is what “communion” really is. Not to be taken every Sunday or once at the first of the month… Yeshua asked us to remember Him at the Passover from now on because it was on the Passover that He was delivered up. He is now our Passover Lamb.
Matthew 26:2 Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.
1 Corinthians 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
Even Christ’s apostles kept the Feasts.
1 Corinthians 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Acts 18 (Speaking of Paul)
20 When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not;
21 But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus.
Jesus told us to continue keeping the feast of Passover and to do it in remembrance of Him. That is the New Covenant of His blood shed for us, so that we may come boldly before the throne having a high priest at the right hand of God. He paid the ransom for our sins that whosoever believeth on Him will have eternal life. We no longer need to sacrifice a lamb to The Lord. He took no pleasure in it anyway.
Hebrews 10
4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
Christ is our Passover lamb and we are to celebrate Passover, giving thanks and remembering what He did for us.
Now, let’s circle back to Exodus 12:13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you.
The blood Yeshua shed for us covers us, delivers us from judgement. The lamb slain in Exodus was symbolic and a foreshadowing of the crucifixion of Yeshua.
John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Just like in Exodus, the blood of Yeshua will cover us during the tribulation. Yes, during the tribulation. No, you will not be taken out of here in a rapture. You will be covered and protected by the blood of Yeshua during the tribulation period.
Matthew 24
29Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Celebrate the covering of the blood of Yeshua over us. His sacrifice was great and is to be remembered, per His own instruction, at the Passover meal. Do this in remembrance of Him. Have a Passover meal with your family, give thanks, read Scripture regarding the Passover in Egypt and from the New Testament regarding Christ’s sacrifice for us.
The next day, begins the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This is a good time to reset yourselves and remove all sin from your lives, idols from your lifestyle, and idols from your home. Clean your house. Your physical house and your temple (your body). Get the leaven out! Feast on Unleavened Bread for seven days as YHWH has called you to do. Did He call you out of Egypt? This is a great time to reflect on that and to give thanks.
Exodus 12
15 Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
16 And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.
17 And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever.
18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.
19 Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land.
20 Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.
“for ever” means forever.
The third day is First Fruits. Read Deuteronomy 26. The Israelites were to deliver the first fruits of their land unto YHWH. They were to remember that they had been brought out of Egypt by the Lord, with great signs and wonders and brought into a land flowing with milk and honey.
That is what Christ did for us. Christ is now the firstfruits unto the Lord. He has delivered us out of spiritual Egypt (the bondage of sin) and into a land flowing with milk and honey – New Jerusalem with The Father! On this day, we celebrate the empty tomb. We celebrate the living hope we have sitting at the right hand of The Father. We celebrate our inheritance that we have waiting for us.
1 Corinthians 15
20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
We hope that you, too, will come out of spiritual Egypt, that your eyes will be opened to the pagan traditions of men. We pray you will celebrate the Feasts of The Lord that our heavenly Father has provided for us as a way to honor Him, forever – for even Yeshua and his apostles followed the commandments of Our Father and kept the holy feast days. May God Bless you and your family.