Passover

The Pentecost and the Promise of God

This is a day celebrated by both the ‘Jews’ and the ‘Christians’ only in different ways. This being one of the feasts ordained by God for the children of Israel to observe throughout their generations. It marks the fiftieth day (7 weeks plus one day) after the Passover or Exodus of Israel out of Egypt. It is in commemoration of the day Moses received the Tablets of the Law. This was to establish the Covenant between God and Israel. The Feast of Weeks or Shavuot and to bring in the firstfruits of the harvest.

By some, May 31, 2020 will be celebrated as the Pentecost (the Greek word for fifty). Is it just a day to go to church and pay your tithe or is there something else there hidden from view? What is the significance?

Others, from the evenings of May 28 to May 30 will be celebrating the “Feast of Weeks.” It also commemorates the Feast of the Firstfruits when the firstfruits of the wheat harvest were to be brought before God in thanksgiving. Is it just a harvest or tithe of wheat? Is it a time to eat cheese? Or is there something hidden from view? What is the significance?

Moses with the Tablets of the Law, the Ten Commandments, the Covenant between God and Israel

A Brief History of Easter and Passover

Passover vs. Easter

Most “Christians” today celebrate Easter as the day commemorating the resurrection of Jesus. However, early followers of Jesus would not have recognized or celebrated Easter. There is no reference in scripture to the observance of a holiday (Holy Day) to commemorate the “resurrection” of Jesus.

So, Where did Easter come from and how did it get incorporated into today’s “Christianity?”

Time of the Passover

Two major holidays are celebrated this April, Passover and Easter. One has to do with Y’hoshua (Jesus), while the other does not. But it’s not the one you think.

The Book Of Exodus

Passover is the time when Jews remember the “passing over” of the plague in Egypt on the night prior to their exodus out of Egypt. Easter and the associated “Maunday Thursday” and “Good Friday” are a Christian celebration of the death of Y’hoshua. Which one actually has something to do with Y’hoshua? Which one did he acknowledge?

The Firstfruits

God told Moses to speak to the children of Israel concerning His feasts:

In the fourteenth day of the first month at evening is the Lord’s Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days you must eat unleavened bread. … When you are come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest.”

Leviticus 23:5-10
parable of wheat
“…but gather the wheat into my barn…” Parable of the Wheat and the Tares” Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Does God require that you bring the first stalks of wheat that come out of your garden?  What if you can’t grow wheat?  Does that make you unacceptable? This seems silly.  There must be more to this than what’s on the surface.  Let’s take a look at other places in God’s word to see if we can gain a better understanding of what’s being said here…

Passed Over by the Plague

The Passover originates from a story in the Book of Exodus that took place when the people of Israel were living in captivity in the land of oppression, also known as Egypt.  God had told Moses that he would bring a plague on the land of oppression but that He would cover the people of Israel in order to make it known that God was making a difference between the Egyptians & the people of Israel.  This should sound awfully familiar as we are living in a land filled with oppression that currently has a plague sweeping through it.

Remember the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread

“You shall not be afraid of them, but shall well remember the Passover and what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt… whereby the LORD your God brought you out: so shall the LORD your God do to all the people of whom you are afraid… You shall not be frightened at them, for the LORD your God is among you. A mighty God and awesome!”

Deuteronomy 7
The Plagues of Egypt

What a striking coincidence that the world is experiencing the same tribulation and darkness the Egyptians did in the time of Moses and at the Passover! And it IS the time of Passover! Which comes as an end to what has been but also as the time of a new and better beginning of what will be.

The Passover Lamb

the passover lamb

“And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say to you, What do you mean by this service? That you shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD’S Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and paid homage to the LORD.”

Exodus 12:26-27

God commanded Moses to speak to Israel concerning the Passover. The night before the exodus of Israel, God executed judgement throughout the oppressive land of Egypt (Exodus 12:1-12). His instructions to Israel were for each household to take a lamb and eat the meat in haste. Let us delve into the meaning of this particular Law of the Passover in order that we might keep it in its exact interpretation.

What exactly about “Good Friday” is Good?

The Friday before “Easter” is celebrated in religious tradition as the day when Y’hoshua (Jesus) was crucified and placed in the tomb.  The day is called “Good Friday”.  It is difficult to imagine what sort of mindset would identify the day Y’hoshua was murdered as “Good.”  Some claim that the term “Good” simply means “pious” or “holy” but again, what is holy or pious about the day the “Son of God” was murdered?  Do you think that God considers the day his Son was killed to be Good?

Roman Catholic doctrine considers Jesus to be God incarnate.  It is even more absurd to think that men not only killed God but celebrate the deed.  What kind of god can be killed by his own creation?  Consider what happened to those who sought to kill God at the Tower of Babel.

"Good Friday"
The Murder of Y’hoshua – Good or Evil?

What does Passover have to do with Easter?

What does Easter have to do with Passover? In a word: nothing! Both “holy days” are celebrated in the Spring and both are described as “abomination” in God’s Word. These designations are all they have in common. Easter originated in ancient Babylon as the worship of the “god” Tammuz and his mother, Ishtar/Ashtoreth and while they say Passover originates in the Torah, when looked at closely there is little resemblance to what they do and what is contained in the Book of Exodus and all the Law. Hebrews 10:1, says “the Law is a shadow of good things to come and not the very image of the thing.”

The Laws of the Covenant
“You shall not make to yourselves any graven image… You shall not bow down to them nor serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God…”
Exo 20:4-5

Deliver Us from Evil

Vain Repetitious Prayers

While the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ continues to be mindlessly recited in congregations who gather in their ‘houses of worship,” not many know the origin or the meaning of the prayer. Jesus’ preliminary instruction on how to pray to our Father in Heaven is this:

“When you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray… that they may be seen of men… And don’t use vain repetition as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Don’t you be like them, for your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. Therefore you should pray in this manner: …

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