A Modern Woman's Perspective On The Kingdom of God on Earth


Showing posts with label Passover. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Passover. Show all posts

April 14, 2022

The Importance Of Understanding Passover and Easter

 

As most of the Christian world prepares to celebrate Easter this weekend, I am excited to see more and more Christians in the Western Church acknowledge the Lord's Feast of Passover. According to the Messianic Sabbath website, the Feast of Passover begins at sundown this evening, April 14th. I would like to share with you why this Passover Festival should be important to you, as a Christian, and the significance the associated Feasts have with the crucifixion and Resurrection of our Lord. Additionally, I want you to understand what YHWH says about these Feasts, and just how the Enemy has worked to corrupt the celebration by introducing pagan elements into the Christian religion.

We often hear the Spring Feasts of Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of First Fruits described as the "Feasts of the Jews". But these are not only Jewish Holy Days, but apply to all followers of YHWH. In fact, Leviticus 23 says, "These are My appointed festivals, the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies... they shall be a permanent statute, throughout your generations, wherever you shall be."  They are the Lord's Feasts! And they are to be celebrated for everyone who is the seed of Abraham. And if you are doubting that we are the seed of Abraham, then let me present Galatians 3:29 ... And if you belong to Christ [if you are in Him], then you are Abraham’s descendants, and [spiritual] heirs according to [God’s] promise.

So, that is a very simple, but accurate, introduction to why Passover and the Lord's Spring Feasts have significance to Christians. Now, I'd like to quickly explain the meaning and sense of each of these Spring Feasts. and how they correspond with the Western Church's celebration of Easter.  

First of all, we need to comprehend how the dates of these feasts are determined. God calls the first day into existence in Genesis 1:5 ... And there was evening, and there was morning, the first day. So, on the Hebrew/Biblical calendar a day begins and ends at dusk. And God, instituted the new moon as appointed times to worship and make sacrifice for Him ... Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day (Psalm 81:3). So the Hebrew calendar is lunar-based and the dates for the Feasts are determined according to Leviticus 23, with the start of the Hebrew month on the new moon as it would be seen from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This year that date is at dusk on April 14th.

The eight days that make up the Festival of Passover are actually recorded in Exodus, Chapter 12. Here we find three separate Feasts, all under the umbrella of "the Feast of Passover". The first day of the Festival, and the first of the Feasts, is called Pesach, which means "spare" or "exempt" in Hebrew, and which our English Bibles translate as "pass over".  Therefore, it has become known as the Feast of Passover in our time. It is the foundation of all three Feasts, and commemorates the Lord's direction to the Israelites to sacrifice an unblemished and spotless lamb, applying it's blood to the side doorposts and top lentil of each home. [It is important to note, that this application made the motion of the Cross]. The Lord promised to pass over homes where the blood of the lamb had been applied.  The lambs were the substitutes for the people, sparing them [and saving them] from death and judgment by the Lord.

For us Christians, who are Abraham's seed of the New Covenant, the Feast of Passover is a call to remember the Redemption we have received through Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.  He is our Passover who takes away the sin of the world.  We are redeemed with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. Just as the first Passover proved to be the Power of God to release the children of Israel from their bondage in Egypt, Jesus is the Power of God to release us from the penalty of our sin into Repentance, His love, Life, Freedom, Liberty, AND into the Kingdom of God as Kingdom citizens. Jesus IS the manifestation of the Passover Lamb, and He was crucified on the Feast of Passover. 

The second feast of the Passover Festival is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which lasts seven days, from the evening of April 15th until the evening of April 22nd.  Historically, it is a call to remember the quick exodus from Egypt, when the Israelites were instructed to make bread without leaven (yeast) because they didn't have time to wait for it to rise. In addition, yeast, or leaven, in the Bible always referred to any corrupting influence (sin) in the nation of Israel.  In this instance, God was telling them to leave behind the unholy influences of Egypt -- the worship of false Egyptian gods, and the rituals and traditions that had corrupted Israel's relationship with their God during their 430 years of captivity.  

For today's Christian, this time is a Call to Purity, to an "Unleavened" life.  Jesus knew no sin, nor was any deceit found in Him.  He was unblemished and spotless.  He was made sin for us so that we could be made the righteousness of God in Him.  As we reflect on how Jesus has delivered us from sin, we can ask His help in removing any leaven from our life that is separating us from Him and ask Him to reconnect us back to our original relationship with God!

The third feast of this Holy Festival is the Feast of Firstfruits.  This feast occurs during the week of Unleavened Bread on the Sabbath after Passover.  In the Old Covenant, it acknowledged the Lord as the giver of the harvest, and commemorated Adam's son, Abel, bringing the first of his flock as an offering to the Lord. This Feast speaks volumes of Christ as the first of God's Harvest of souls and is a shadow of what Christ has done and the promises He has yet to do. And here is why it is important to Christians -- Jesus's resurrection occurred on the very day of the celebration of the Feast of First Fruits!  He is the offering presented to the Heavenly Father as the first fruit of the harvest of souls.  But just as important, He is the guarantee that more resurrections will follow.  In His first fruits offering, we see the blessing and the setting apart [or sanctifying] of the entire harvest to the Father, and a preview of what the resurrection will be like for every Believer.  Because He overcame death and lives today, every born-again follower of Christ is connected to Him and His power!

And now, I come to what may be the most difficult part of this post for you to understand... God did not appoint a celebration of a Holy Day called Easter! I know this will offend many religious Christians, but the only version of the Bible where I could find the word "Easter" mentioned is in Acts 12:1-5 of the King James Bible. Here is an important truth that the modern Church needs to understand ... the word Easter is never biblically associated with the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Read Matthew 26-28 and the account of the betrayal of Jesus, His death and resurrection, and you will find the references to the Passover week. He is crucified, buried, and raised from the dead during those Holy Feast days, and the Feasts are mentioned ... not Easter! 

So, how did the Western Church come to associate this unbiblical holiday with our Lord's death and resurrection?  Enter Roman Emperor Constantine, who sought to strengthen his empire by professing a conversion to Christianity. At the time, his empire was divided between Pagans and Believers. Before his supposed conversion, Emperor Constantine -- like many pagans -- celebrated various pagan gods.  These pagan religions often centered around moon goddesses and sun gods.  "Ishtar", which is another pagan name for  "Easter", was a day that commemorated the resurrection of one of their gods that they called "Tammuz", who was believed to be the only begotten son of the moon-goddess and the sun-god.    

In 325 A.D., Emperor Constantine, at the Nicean Council, ordered all Churches to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday, named for the Goddess of Spring [and moon] and his pagan Sun god. The early Church had celebrated the Resurrection during the Passover, beginning on the 14th day of the Hebrew month called Nisan, which could fall on any day of the week.  But the Churches near Rome had abandoned the practice because they hated the Jews, blaming them for the death of Jesus, so they fixed the date to the first Sunday after the first full moon of Spring, which coincided with the ancient Roman celebration called ‘Easter’, after the pagan goddess of Spring, Eostre, who was also known as Ishtar, Astarte, Ashtaroth, the Queen of Heaven, and Mother Nature. Constantine saw how his newfound faith could be united with his old pagan ways to unite his Empire. He couldn’t force pagans to believe in his new faith, but he could entice them by incorporating some familiar pagan themes, such as the goddess, Eostre/Easter, herself, seen as a goddess of fertility. [This is where we get Easter eggs from and the symbol of the Easter bunny, which is also a symbol of fertility].  He could replace the Feasts of the Lord, which were practiced by the Hebrew Believers, with familiar "sunrise" services and worship centered around the Spring Equinox.

As I said earlier, during the first couple hundred years of the Early Church, believers followed the Jewish traditions of the Lord's Feasts.  But Constantine's Satan-induced hatred of the Jews caused the Jewish influence (in the form of the Feasts) to be erased from the Church.  Here is a direct quote from Constantine himself:   “And truly, in the first place, it seems to everyone a most unworthy thing that we should follow the customs of the Jews in the celebration of this most holy solemnity, who, polluted wretches! having stained their hands with a nefarious crime, are justly blinded in their minds. It is fit, therefore, that rejecting the practice of this people, we should perpetuate to all future ages the celebration of this rite, in a more legitimate order, which we have kept from the first day of our "Lord's" passion even to the present times. Let us then have nothing in common with the most hostile rabble of the Jews.” (Council of Nicea, pg. 52.)

 The consequences of this hostility towards the Jews has meant that nearly 2000 years after its establishment, the Church has lost the truth about God's commandments as to how we are to celebrate His Son's resurrection.  But, thankfully, in this dawning of the Last Days, we have received Divine revelation, and are returning to the roots of our faith; celebrating the First Coming of our Lord, by observing His Feasts according to His calendar; the same calendar He gave to Moses.

Nearly 1400 years after the Exodus, the Roman government crucified Jesus, or Yeshua, on God's commanded Feast of Passover, and He became our sacrificial Passover Lamb.  By His blood, that covers us, we are saved from Death.  For over a thousand years, families had selected Passover lambs on the 10th day of Nisan, and observed them for 4 days before Passover.  On Nisan 10, the day they selected their lambs, Yeshua entered Jerusalem to the shouts of the multitudes, as they cried, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” (Matthew 21:9).  They saw Him as their conquering King of Israel; not as the Sacrificial Lamb. 

On the Morning of Nisan 14, which is Passover Preparation Day, Jews rushed their lambs to Jerusalem.  That same morning, the High Priest Caiaphas rushed to condemn Yeshua.  He was a Sadducee who denied the resurrection, and hated Jesus for teaching it.  He led other Sadducees in the Sanhedrin to convict Yeshua to death.  Yeshua was nailed to the cross at 9 a.m., at the time of the morning sacrifice and prayers at the Temple.

That afternoon, shortly before Yeshua died, priests blew the shofar, which signaled the opening of the Temple gates when men flooded into the courtyards to slaughter their Passover lambs.  As they hung their lambs on hooks with forearms spread for skinning and cleaning, Yeshua was hanging on the Cross in the same pose.  He died at 3 p.m., the time of the evening sacrifice and prayers.  

The blood of slaughtered lambs covered doorposts in ancient Egypt.  That was a picture of the Messiah ... He was a lamb led to slaughter ... He was the Lamb of God ... He was a Lamb without blemish (free of sin) ... He is the slain Lamb on the Throne ... He is the Lamb whose blood overcomes Satan and He died for the sins of the world. 

So, as you can see, through His commandments to observe His Feast Days, God gave us an exact picture of His plan to redeem mankind.  The Feast Days of Passover week point us to the First Coming of Christ in a very specific way that a holiday named Easter -- with its pagan roots -- can never do. And if you are saying to yourself, "But, that's not what Easter means to me ... I recognize the sacrifice that Jesus made for me". But what does it mean to God when He knows the origins and symbols of Easter?  I invite you to consider what the Lord says in Amos 5:21: I hate, I despise and reject your (sacred) feasts, and I do not take delight in your solemn assemblies.

 Just as the blood of Passover lambs in ancient Egypt covered the doorposts, the blood of the Messiah, our Passover Lamb, covers our hearts.  The Israelites were delivered from slavery in Egypt on these very days, just as we are delivered from slavery to sin! And Jesus died, was buried, and resurrected on these specific days.  That's why, beginning tonight at sundown, and for the next 8 days, I will be celebrating my freedom from sin's hold on me -- my victory in Yeshua -- and celebrating the hope that is my resurrection. 

1 Corinthians 5:7    Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

 

April 4, 2021

Passover and Resurrection Day: God's Holy Alignment in 2021!

I want to begin this post by saying that today, I unequivocally celebrate the resurrection of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, from Death into Life, and I praise Him for making that possible for me, too! And as you know, if you have followed this blog for any length of time, that I love researching the Word for historical and theological context. So, it is with awe and wonder that I find that our Christian celebration of Easter this year coincides with the last day of the Jewish faith's Passover celebration. Let me share with you how the two come together to show the glory and sovereignty of YHWH, the Creator of the Universe and the Most High God.

In our Christian faith, Easter has come to mean the celebration of the resurrection of Christ three days after His crucifixion. It is the oldest Christian holiday and the most important day of the church year because of what Christ did for us.  His willingness to pay the debt owed by all mankind throughout history, for the sins we have committed, culminates at the Cross.  He endured God's wrath so that we don't have to and could be forgiven our sins and reconciled with God, our Father in heaven.  Christ's crucifixion and resurrection constitutes the single most important event upon which Christianity is based.

I have written many posts about the corrupted history of Easter and how it came to be in the traditions of our faith and the Church. You can enter the word "Easter" in the search bar of this blog and peruse those, if you are interested. For the purpose of this post, here is a short summary of that history: In 325 AD, Emperor Constantine, at the Nicean Council, ordered all Churches to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday.  The early Church had celebrated the Resurrection during the Passover, beginning on the 14th day of the Hebrew month called Nisan, which could fall on any day of the week [being governed by the Jewish lunar year].  But the Churches near Rome had abandoned the practice because they hated the Jews, blaming them for the death of Jesus, so they fixed the date to the first Sunday after the first full moon of Spring, which coincided with the ancient Roman celebration called ‘Easter’, after the pagan goddess of Spring, Eostre. It helps to know that Constantine, before his self-professed conversion, was a pagan who worshiped the Sun God, hence his desire to move the celebration of Christ's resurrection to "Sunday". 

His Satan-induced hatred of the Jews caused the Jewish influence (in the form of the Feasts) to be erased from the Church.  Here is a direct quote from Constantine himself:   “And truly, in the first place, it seems to everyone a most unworthy thing that we should follow the customs of the Jews in the celebration of this most holy solemnity, who, polluted wretches! having stained their hands with a nefarious crime, are justly blinded in their minds. It is fit, therefore, that rejecting the practice of this people, we should perpetuate to all future ages the celebration of this rite, in a more legitimate order, which we have kept from the first day of our "Lord's" passion even to the present times. Let us then have nothing in common with the most hostile rabble of the Jews.” (Council of Nicea, pg. 52.)

Now that you have that background, I hope you can appreciate the importance of Christian acknowledgement of the Lord's Feasts (they are not "the Jewish feasts"), especially the celebration of the Feast of Passover, including the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of First Fruits. There is actually so much significance that ties the Jewish Passover celebration and the Christian celebration of Easter, or Resurrection Day, as it is becoming more popularly known.  And there is an interesting correlation between the two this year.

First of all, there are eight days assigned to the Feast of Passover by YHWH. And in the Christian tradition, there are eight days from Palm Sunday to Resurrection Day/Easter. The last day of Passover is celebrated in commemoration of the crossing of the Red Sea [or the Sea of Reeds, as some versions of the Bible call it].  Eighty years prior to this event, the infant Moses was delivered from the waters of the Nile River, after the Pharaoh of Egypt decreed that all Hebrew sons born to the Israelite slaves should be drowned. Eighty years later, this same man called Moses, would be instrumental in delivering the nation of Israel from the waters of the Red Sea. This experience is known in the Bible as the Exodus; when Israel is delivered out of their bondage of slavery in Egypt into a new birth, or existence, if you will. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 10:2 tells us that in crossing through the Red Sea "all Israel were baptized into Moses [into his safekeeping as their leader]... That event is what is being celebrated around the world today, on Resurrection Day, by millions of Jews. 

In a similar manner, today we Christians celebrate that we are baptized into Christ, united with Him in His death and burial [as our sins are crucified and buried through His sacrifice on the Cross] and in His resurrection [as the Forerunner of our own birth into a future resurrected life]. He is the First Fruit of the Harvest of believers into an eternal resurrected life. This year, the Feast of First Fruits falls on the same day as Resurrection Day/Easter! I do not believe this is a coincidence in 2021! This year, I believe YHWH is calling the attention of His faithful to His Holy calendar. I believe we are coming close to His ordained time when we will be united in the worship of our Redeemer, the Jewish King of the Universe. This year, whether Jew or Christian, we will all be celebrating our deliverance from bondage into God's Grace and His strong will and desire to save us all and transfer us into His Kingdom on earth. So, join me, in praising God for bringing our faiths into alignment this year, as we pray that His promise of dwelling with us on earth will soon come to pass. Happy Pesach and Happy Resurrection Day!

Romans 8:11    Yes, God raised Jesus to life! And since God’s Spirit of Resurrection lives in you, He will also raise your dying body to life by the same Spirit that breathes life into you!


 

March 26, 2021

Passover 2021

The evening of Saturday, March 27th begins the Passover feast days, which ends at nightfall on Sunday, April 4th, which happens to be the Christian celebration of Easter this year. But, as a Christian, I find the celebration of Passover and the Spring Feasts extremely meaningful because it shows us just how Jesus fulfills the Biblical prophecies of the Bible at His first coming, and how the Fall Feasts are a dress rehearsal for His second coming. 

Within these eight Holy days, God ordained the Feast of Pesach, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the Feast of Fruit Fruits -- all in commemoration of what He did in delivering the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt AND as a foreshadowing of the work He would do through His Son, Jesus Christ, in delivering us out of a life of bondage to sin. Within these eight days of Passover, Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected, and each Feast speaks of Him and His redemptive work on our behalf.

And yes, God ordained these Feast Days, and they are His Holy Days, not just Jewish holidays, as the Church has mistakenly believed. In Leviticus 23, God proclaimed them as My Feasts and that they would be a perpetual statute among all your generations in all your dwelling places.  And because we are the spiritual descendants of Abraham, these Feasts not only have meaning to us, but I believe that we are to celebrate them, too.  After all, Abraham is the "father" of our faith, and as Galatians 3:29 says, If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. 

The eight days that make up the Festival of Passover are actually recorded in Exodus, Chapter 12. Here we find three separate Feasts, all under the umbrella of "the Feast of Passover". The first day of the Festival, and the first of the Feasts, is called Pesach, which means "spare" or "exempt" in Hebrew, and which our English Bibles translate as "pass over".  Therefore, it has become known as the Feast of Passover in our time. 

It is the foundation of all three Feasts, and commemorates the Lord's direction to the Israelites to sacrifice an unblemished and spotless lamb, applying it's blood to the side doorposts and top lentil of each home. [It is important to note, that this application made the motion of the Cross]. The Lord promised that the Angel of Death would pass over homes where the blood of the lamb had been applied.  The lambs were the substitutes for the people, sparing them [and saving them] from death and judgment by the Lord. Each house marked by the blood of the lamb would be a haven of salvation, a place safe from the judgment that was about to come upon Egypt. Those Egyptian homes, where there was no application of the blood, would suffer the judgment of the Angel of Death at Midnight. NOTE: the Lord has recently shown me that those homes marked by the blood were more than just safe havens of salvation, but were under the spiritual jurisdiction of the Kingdom of God. The Egyptians' homes, which remained unmarked by the blood of a sacrificial lamb, belonged to the kingdom of darkness in the world, in which Satan was god.

We know the rest of this story... the Israelites were spared, while the first born in every Egyptian home died that night, causing Pharaoh to issue a decree that the Israelites be released and allowed to leave.  For the Jewish people, the focus of the Passover observance is remembering YHWH's deliverance of Israel out of Egypt. "Remember" -- that is the key word for this week of celebration.

For us Christians, who are Abraham's seed of the New Covenant, the Feast of Passover is a call to remember the Redemption we have received through Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.  He is our Passover who takes away the sin of the world.  We are redeemed with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. Just as the first Passover proved to be the Power of God to release the children of Israel from their bondage in Egypt, Jesus is the Power of God to release us from our bondage to the pleasures of the flesh in this world, and the penalty of our sins. We can now step into His Repentance, His Love, Life, Freedom, Liberty, AND into the Kingdom of God as Kingdom citizens. Jesus IS the manifestation of the Passover Lamb, and He was crucified on the Feast of Passover.

The second feast of the Passover Festival is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which lasts seven days, from sundown on Sunday, March 28th until sundown on April 4th.  Historically, it is a call to remember the quick exodus from Egypt, when the Israelites were instructed to make bread without leaven (yeast) because they didn't have time to wait for it to rise. In addition, yeast, or leaven, in the Bible always referred to any corrupting influence in the nation of Israel.  In this instance, God was telling them to leave behind the unholy influences of Egypt -- the worship of false Egyptian gods, and the rituals and traditions that had corrupted Israel's relationship with their God during their 430 years of captivity. They were to spend that week in worship and reflection for what God had done for them, and for their relationship with Him that they were privileged to experience. They were to remove any leaven [or sin] that was corrupting their present relationship; it was to be a time of absolute separation from leaven in any form.

I can't help but see the correlation to our present situation. In the midst of all that seems to be spiraling out of control in our country -- debates over vaccinations, continued isolation and forms of lockdown, rising inflation, food shortages, division and discord among the populace, escalating violence, and the crisis on our Southern border -- we need to spend this week in intentional worship and reflection for what God has done for us, and what He wants to accomplish in the midst of this national quagmire. Our country is at a crossroads and I don't have a lot of faith that we can get ourselves out of it. We are no different from the adulterous nation of Israel in 1451 B.C. As a nation, we have abandoned our relationship with the One True God in favor of following false prophets who are leading us into the corrupted belief systems of Socialism, Communism, Social Justice, Racism, Social Media, Debt, Universalism, and Ecumenicalism.  And it isn't hard to see that the Dark Side is pushing us ever further towards "absolute separation" from being a Godly nation. This Passover week is a perfect time to reflect on how things need to change in our world and how we, as Kingdom ambassadors and citizens, are to meet the challenges that seem to be unavoidable in the near future.

That is why our celebration of the third feast of Passover week, the Feast of First Fruits, should stir our spirits into action. It begins at sundown on April 3rd and ends at sundown on April 4th. In the Old Covenant, it acknowledged the Lord as the giver of the harvest, and commemorated Adam's son, Abel, bringing the first of his flock as an offering to the Lord. This Feast speaks volumes of Christ as the first of God's Harvest of souls and is a shadow of what Christ has done for us and the promises [of a greater harvest, as well as judgment] that He has yet to do. It is important to know that Jesus is the offering presented to the Heavenly Father as the first fruit of the harvest.  But just as important, He is the guarantee that more resurrections will follow.  In His first fruits offering, we see the blessing and the setting apart [or sanctifying] of the entire harvest to the Father, and a preview of what the resurrection will be like for every Believer.  Because He overcame death and lives today, every born-again follower of Christ is connected to Him and His power. 

Furthermore, that connection is real and it is needed today more than ever! God sent His Son to establish a Kingdom [and a family of sons] to rule His Kingdom for Him! Jesus didn't die and return to Heaven so that we would wait to join Him there. He came to restore to us our leadership authority that God gave us in Genesis 1 [dominion over the earth]. There is a fullness and expectancy of the Kingdom of God coming to earth that accompanies the celebration of the Festival of Passover.  It is Biblical and it is Holy.  It is a remembrance of things God has already accomplished for us and a hope of what we can accomplish for the Kingdom.

Ultimately, this season of Passover is a celebration and a remembrance; an acknowledgment of God's desire to restore us to our original design and the earth to His original purpose. Yes, Jesus came as a sacrificial lamb, but He is our King, who came to establish His Father's rulership and authority over the earth He created. In the Passover celebration God shows us His plan for the redemption of mankind. But we can't stop there. We weren't redeemed to continue to let the kingdom of Satan influence the earth. Fifty days after the feasts of Passover, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to dwell in us to help us walk out our authority as ambassadors of the Kingdom. Jesus's assignment is now our assignment!

So this Passover season, be thankful for your victory in Yeshua -- for the cancellation of your sins, and for your hope of resurrection. Then seek the Kingdom and a renewal of your mind as to your position as an Ambassador for the King of the Universe! Reconnect to that original relationship and authority and power you were made for. Yes, we have a rich heritage in the Feasts of the Lord, but our portion of the Lord goes back further than the Exodus story. It goes all the way back to Genesis 1 when God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over all the earth.  

Will we take advantage of this Holy season to emerge from the pandemic and our national trials with a new Kingdom mindset of how we want our families, our communities, our nation, and the world to look? Or will we continue to remain dormant, waiting for the world to go back to "business as usual" and return to our old ways. I pray that each of you will renew your mind and heart to receive God's desire for your life and His will for the earth. Let's show Evil that we will no longer remain idle in the face of its onslaught. We are sons and daughters of the King of the Universe, who have been delivered out of bondage by His Holy sacrifice. And in the spirit of praise and worship of my King and His Kingdom, I say "Pesach Same'ach (Happy Passover)! 

Exodus 12:13     The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

 

April 10, 2020

Here's Your Chance To Do Spiritual Warfare!

     I received this prophetic word from Jerusalem yesterday that I feel is extremely important for the Body of Christ. And I want you to know that I am very careful to discern whether such prophecies are coming from the Holy Spirit's counsel or the counsel of men and false prophets. Therefore, I believe that this word is a powerful weapon to defeat the strategy of the Evil One and bring down the mountain of Covid-19 and all that the Enemy is bringing against the world. Mark and I were obedient in joining other Believers across the world and we felt the power of it go out like an arrow into the spiritual realms!
     This prophetic word is to happen during this Passover season, and even though the exact timing may have passed (it was to be enacted at the beginning of Passover on Wednesday night), we know YHWH can compress and alter time to fit His plan. Trust Him to join your shouts with others around the world! Be blessed as you rejoice in the victory of the Lord! Here is the prophetic email.... 
 
Shalom Beloved!

It is in deep fear of the Lord that I send you this message. Very early this morning the Lord awakened me in my bed and began to pour His Holy Spirit through me. I became consumed in the language of prayer, but it was not intercession or petition. Decrees of prophetic spiritual warfare poured through me and out of me like a mighty river. I was in a spiritual conversation with the Lord that was so far beyond me, and yet a very real experience that totally consumed my total being in a strength and peace founded upon deep certainty.  I arose from my bed in the midst of the flood, and alone in the house, I began to walk in the midst of a fire, which I can only call the zeal of the Lord. For over an hour and a half, there was a powerful, passionate, and constant flow of my prayer language that originated in the deepest depths of my spirit. Following this time of prophetic exchange, I had a time of worship and adoration and then quiet came. After a while, I was compelled to sit and write what I had been told through the Holy Spirit.  With the fear of the Lord, and in a heart of humility, I share it with you now. I don’t want you to think anything of me other than that I am a servant of the Lord. YHVH will speak to whoever is listening. He has found me available and willing. It is now my responsibility to share with you what I was given. As always, test this rhema word against the Scripture and ask the Lord to confirm it as His voice.  After you read the message, I will share with you the outworking of His requests, which He has provided. Here is the word from the Lord:

“Awaken you sons of Issachar, My righteous remnant! Know the season and arise to its calling. The enemy is not at hand, as if it is still coming to your gates.  The enemy is HERE. How will you respond?  The voice of the enemy has been loud and intimidating. It has mocked your authority in Me, and sought to silence you through fear from its evil decrees and prognostications. It has legislated evil and punished those who would not comply. But in this hour, this enemy has its head up in a level of arrogance that I will no longer tolerate.

Behold, My Enemy has said, ‘I shall be sovereign over all the earth, and no one can thwart me. In my hand is the power of life and death. I declare what is my truth and no one can refute it. My servants, who do my bidding, are untouchable by the righteous. Their places are secure in me and in my power, for I have accepted their sacrifices of allegiance. The blood that has been poured out to give dominion to my own cannot be challenged, for in this hour the world is mine. It has fallen into my hands by the choice of human will.’

But behold, I say to you, Beloved, this is not so! For My power and authority remain, and will not be thwarted nor supplanted by the boasting or claims of the Evil One. I have not surrendered My human creation nor the physical world. Only, My ire increases with every act and word of his arrogant decrees. In this hour I am calling forth My armies upon the earth and in the heavens. My righteous children are hearing My call and they are uniting even now.  A great sorting has come upon the earth, and it has begun within My own house. WHO will stand with MY WORD? Who will recognize the sound of My voice over the sound of the Enemy and of the flesh?  I have called forth My army to arise and to engage against this great wickedness that continually seeks to pervert My way, will, and word.  I will prove, WHO IS SOVEREIGN! I will demonstrate WHOSE WORD IS THE LAW! I will certify, who is My own … My elect … My righteous ones.

A great mountain stands before you, yet it is not just a mountain of pestilence formulated in the minds of hell’s servants. It is a well-organized system with many tendrils and arms. Its members are well-coordinated and covenanted through the spilled and ingested blood of the innocent. The torment and the terror, suffered by My littles ones, brought about by those in blood covenant with the Great Deceiver, is about to be exposed. The price of this horror shall be demanded from those, who have committed this great wickedness. Those, who have profited by the spilling of innocent blood will pay the price that I demand of them. Those, who have enabled the shedding of innocent blood, by turning away their eyes and hiding behind social permissions will soon see the horrors of their error. I have heard the supplications of the righteous, even as I have heard the cries of the terrorized, tortured, and slain. Their blood has been exposed to Me, and I will not ignore it. I have waited to bring forth the weight of My judgments; allowing time for the balance scale to come down heavier on the side of sufficient repentance. In these last weeks, I have seen the scale moving in a righteous direction, but not quite enough yet. Therefore, I have called forth the sounding of My voice across this nation, and across this world, to add the necessary weight to bring forth My hand of judgment against the organized powers of wickedness.  If My voice is heard and heeded, I shall arise and act for My name’s sake, and for the sake of the righteous.

This mountain that stands before you can crumble as surely as the walls of Jericho once fell with a blast and a unified shout of My children in obedience.  For the wicked to be turned toward righteousness there must be a great downfall of this mountain … even a great humiliation of the Evil One and of his wicked operatives. For the unconvinced and uncommitted to choose Me and My truth, there must be a bold demonstration of My power upon the earth.  If you call it forth now, I will bring it. If you send forth the sound of war into the spiritual realm, followed with a shout of victory arising from the authority of My realm, I will manifest My armies upon the earth.

Are you ready for the temporary upheaval that this will bring?  Will you recognize the sorting and hold your footing of faith, as My armies make war? Will you stand forth to speak without fear and without compromise? Will you declare My reality, My law, and My love of redemption to those, who will be terrified and adrift in the turmoil? What would it benefit, if I tilled a fresh field, and you were too busy or preoccupied to plant it? What would benefit, if I gave you good, pure, seed, and you mingled it with adulterated seed upon the field?  What would benefit, if I brought forth a ripe and abundant harvest, but you chose to let it wait until you felt it was convenient or proper for you to gather it in?  Before I bring this mountain down before you, you must answer those questions. If I do My part, and you neglect to do yours, your state will be worse than before I acted.

Humble your hearts before Me. Count the cost. Set your faces as flint in advance of the victory, and move according to My instructions. I want to extend mercy and relief. I want your enemies to be scattered and crushed. If we are in agreement, then arise and undertake for the sake of My Kingdom and for the sake of your world. Arise to the battle for the sake of the little ones, who cannot fight for themselves.  Glorify My name through your victory, but do not glorify your own name, lest you fall into the temptation of pride that will open yet another door to destruction. Allow Me to clear the air of the threats against you. My servants will make a way for you so that your prayers and decrees can break through the barriers … so that they will be able to strip away the satanic protection that has been laid over the ones, who plot and enact evil upon the earth. Shout with one voice!  Worship Me with one heart.  Serve Me with one purpose. A fire has been kindled and is ready to be sent down to the earth from My Holy furnace. Call it forth and stand in complete faith in the middle of the burn. You shall come forth without harm. You shall emerge without the scent of smoke upon you. When you look for those, who have brought evil upon you, they will not be found. Arise and shout out the call for spiritual war. Blow the shofars and call forth the battle. I will bring the victory. Now is the hour to act.”

The Strategy
Now, for sharing the strategy that was entrusted to my husband and I a few days ago. After some time in prayer, the Lord impressed upon us that we are in a time of spiritual war and that in a time of war the shofar must be sounded.  When seeking the timing of this blowing of the shofar, the Lord indicated that it must be just before and as Passover begins. As a Jewess, I have never heard of blowing a shofar on, or around, that holy day. Within hours, confirmation came that in a time of war a shofar can be blown during Passover. So, with Passover beginning on Wednesday evening this week, we were given the timing as being this Wednesday … just barely prior to the beginning of Passover. We were told to blow shofars at 12:00 noon, US eastern time … just as Passover is beginning in Jerusalem, Israel (Passover in Jerusalem begins at 12:03 PM US eastern time … 7:03 PM Jerusalem time).  The Lord then showed us that my husband should stand on the rooftop of the hospital where he works, and blow from that high place, while I and others, who also have shofars, gather in the hospital parking lot below. As my husband blows the sound from above, we all will blow from the ground.

I thought that this was the whole of the strategy, but it was not. After the blowing of the shofars, the Lord has asked us to raise a shout, like the children of Israel did at the walls of Jericho to bring them down. In doing so, we will be calling down this mountain of evil that has risen up against the authority of YHVH, and against His people. This morning after the downloading I received from the Holy Spirit, the strategy began to be seen in its fullness. Not only are we to do this, but people all across this country, and even across the world are to join in sounding the shofar wherever they are … at the time that matches 7:00 PM this Wednesday in Jerusalem.  For those, who do not have shofars, they can go to sites on the internet that have the blowing of the shofar recorded (I will give you one below). At that time … whether they are in the home, at work, or wherever … they can go to the site, hit play, and hold up the phone to send forth the sound. The Lord has said He will link every shofar blast in every location sounding it, and send His Passover fire to the spot where it is being blown or broadcast. From there, it will spread.  People can gather (if allowable … and if 6 feet of social distance is maintained) for this event outside hospitals in their area … in areas near seats of government, media, justice, commerce, faith, etc.  Wherever evil has held power and expressed authority, we can take a stand.  For those, who are unfamiliar with prophetic acts, this may sound like total nonsense. However, I can assure you, if this is done in obedience and in faith, the Lord will act. We cannot know fully what the fruit will be, how it will manifest, or exactly when we will see it upon the earth.  However, after receiving the Rhema word that the Lord gave me this morning, I am completely confident that this is not a random, inconsequential thing. There will be a change in the spiritual climate. He is asking us to participate in His Kingdom strategies. We are blessed!!

So, I ask you to take this to prayer. If you receive agreement in the Spirit, ask the Lord how He would have you participate. Let others of faith, know about this, and possibly join with you. If you cannot personally participate, at noon this Wednesday eastern time, pray in support of what the Lord is accomplishing. After three minutes, send forth a shout of glory, praise, and power to His name, and then leave the rest to Him.

For those of you, who do not have a shofar, feel free to go to this site and project it from your phone.

Shofar Blast HERE

Let’s get the word out quickly, mobilize, act, and look expectantly for His response. This is about doing the will of the Lord!

In Him,
Tikkun


     For those of you who may be skeptical as to receiving this prophetic word, I know that God used prophets before the First Coming of Jesus, and He is the same, yesterday, today and tomorrow, and I believe He is speaking through His chosen ones before the Second Coming of Christ. It is incumbent upon us to listen to the Holy Spirit to discern if the message is from Him. And while we may have missed the Wednesday timeline, I believe the Lord will honor our obedience if we respond within this Passover season. May you be blessed in your obedience as you join the children of God and the heavenly host in battling in the heavenlies. 

Acts 2:17    In the last days I will pour out My spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy... 

 


    

April 7, 2020

Opposing Forces


     We are now heading into our third month of the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States, with a recorded number of 10,000 deaths as of yesterday. This national health emergency has changed our lives in ways that have effected us emotionally, financially, and spiritually. We find ourselves isolated from our families, our work, and our churches. And the Enemy is only too willing to take advantage of this crisis to separate us even more from our faith. And I've noticed that his two favorite tactics are Fear and Intimidation.
     He sends the spirit of fear to cause us to worry about whether we will be able to hang on to our job and pay the bills; whether we have accidentally come in contact with someone who will give us the virus; or whether we have entered into his Beast System and the Tribulation is not far behind. And if that's not enough, the devil is using this pandemic to intimidate the elderly with loneliness; the youth with hopelessness; and those in the prime of their lives with governmental tyranny. It's all part of his game plan.
     But we don't have to play by his rules! We are children of God and citizens of His Kingdom. Our Father rules with Love and Righteous Power, not fear and intimidation! It's who He is and who He's always been! I am reminded of that as I consider the history of Passover, which begins tomorrow night at sundown. If you will recall, God sent plagues against Egypt in attempts to pressure Pharaoh to release the Israelites from their captivity and bondage. All of Egypt suffered through ten plagues: water turning into blood; frogs; gnats; flies; pestilence among the livestock; painful boils; hail; locusts that covered the land; pitch black darkness for three days; and the final plague, the death of all the firstborn of Egypt. The difference is those plagues were miraculous and authorized by God. This Covid-19 plague was manufactured by man.
     There are other differences, too. We can actually compare that ancient plague [which instituted the celebration of Passover] with this modern plague. Although not welcomed by the Israelites, those miraculous plagues actually worked to free them from slavery. This plague feels like we're losing our freedoms and entering into bondage. God commanded the Israelites to remove all the leaven and non-holy food from their homes, and today we are hoarding food out of fear. The night of the first Passover, families huddled together in their homes, waiting for the Angel of Death to pass over their blood-stained doors. During this plague, we aren't allowed within six feet of each other, and are often separated from parents and children.
     Yet the Love of God and His Righteous Power can still be memorialized and glorified as we watch our lives change before us. Both the sacrifice of the Passover lamb and the joy of being set free from slavery were part of that first Passover. And we are certainly going to experience the sacrifice of the Lamb of God tomorrow evening, and there will be more sacrifice in the coming weeks and months -- the sacrifice of our pre-Covid freedoms, as we surrender to a "new normal". But I believe we can also experience the joy of the Passover celebration as we enter into a cleansing and renewal of our faith life and relationship with the Lord.
     We can write our own Liberation story -- liberation from the secular culture that divorced itself from God; liberation from the "busyness" of our lives that drowned out the Lord's voice; and liberation from all the worldly goods and comforts that drew our attention away from seeking God's will and purpose for our lives. What man created, through his evil partnership with the devil, God can use for His good. And this Passover season, we don't need to prepare in haste to leave our homes, because none of us will be going anywhere soon. As we consider Exodus 12:11 we can recognize that here, in the 21st Century, we have been blessed with time to fasten our belts [with God's truth], make sure we have our sandals [of peace] on, and have our staff [or shield] of faith firmly in hand.
     But because we have been transferred into the Kingdom of God, we also have the rest of the spiritual armor of God that those Israelites fleeing Egypt did not have: We have our helmets of salvation, our breastplates of righteousness, and our swords of the Spirit [which is the Word of God, Jesus]. So, we can bemoan our situation, and live in the fear and intimidation brought on by the Enemy -- or, we can dedicate each new day to what the Lord would have us accomplish for His Kingdom. Our commission has not changed. The Kingdom of God is still being advanced towards that glorious day when all the nations will have received the Good News that the Kingdom of God has come to the earth. Believe that God is at work during these changing times. His Love and His Righteous Power will reign!
     In the coming days we will celebrate Jesus's sacrifice and His resurrection. Let us proclaim that He sits on the throne of Heaven and He will overcome the evil of this World. Blessed be the Lord, our God, King of the Universe!

Romans 8:21    That the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.


April 4, 2020

As Passover Approaches

    
     With Passover beginning this Wednesday, April 8th, at sundown, I wanted to address the importance and significance of this Holy Feast -- both in the wake of our current pandemic crisis and in the bigger vision of the Kingdom of God. I am in no way lessening the momentous urgency of COVID-19, but at the risk of sounding heartless, this too shall pass, while the Kingdom of God is eternal.
     As most of the Christian world will celebrate Easter next weekend, it is extremely exciting for me to see more and more Christians celebrating the Passover Feasts. That wasn't the case when my heart was first awakened to the seven appointed feasts of the Lord over seven years ago.  It was then that Mark and I decided to begin a deep study on how Scripture said they applied to us, as Christians. And now, seven years later, the Lord is pointing us to the Passover as citizens of the Kingdom of God.
     The 2020 Festival of Passover begins on the evening of Wednesday, April 8th and will conclude at evening on Thursday, April 16.  Within these Holy days, God ordained the Feast of Pesach, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the Feast of Fruitfruits -- all in commemoration of what He did in delivering the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt AND as a foreshadowing of the work He would do through His Son, Jesus Christ, in delivering us out of a life of bondage to sin. Within these eight days of Passover, Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected, and each Feast speaks of Him and His redemptive work on our behalf.
     And yes, God ordained these Feast Days, and they are His Holy Days, not just Jewish holidays, as the Church has mistakenly believed. In Leviticus 23, God proclaimed them as My Feasts and that they would be a perpetual statute among all your generations in all your dwelling places.  And because we are the spiritual descendants of Abraham, these Feasts not only have meaning to us, but I believe that we are to celebrate them, too.  After all, Abraham is the "father" of our faith, and as Galatians 3:29 says, If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. 
     As the body of Believers has grown in understanding the significance of Passover, it has been interesting to see the conflict within the Church. Should Christians celebrate Easter or Passover? Is it wrong for Christians to celebrate Passover? Is Easter really Biblical? These are all questions you must answer for yourselves. In doing so, I would recommend that you study what the Word has to say and also do some historical research. I think you will find that our religious celebrations have taken on new meaning down through the centuries.
     The eight days that make up the Festival of Passover are actually recorded in Exodus, Chapter 12. Here we find three separate Feasts, all under the umbrella of "the Feast of Passover". The first day of the Festival, and the first of the Feasts, is called Pesach, which means "spare" or "exempt" in Hebrew, and which our English Bibles translate as "pass over".  Therefore, it has become known as the Feast of Passover in our time.
     It is the foundation of all three Feasts, and commemorates the Lord's direction to the Israelites to sacrifice an unblemished and spotless lamb, applying it's blood to the side doorposts and top lentil of each home. [It is important to note, that this application made the motion of the Cross]. The Lord promised that the Angel of Death would pass over homes where the blood of the lamb had been applied.  The lambs were the substitutes for the people, sparing them [and saving them] from death and judgment by the Lord. Each house marked by the blood of the lamb would be a haven of salvation, a place safe from the judgment that was about to come upon Egypt. Those Egyptian homes, where there was no application of the blood, would suffer the judgment of the Angel of Death at Midnight. NOTE: The Lord has recently shown me that those homes marked by the blood were more than just safe havens of salvation, but were under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of God. The Egyptians' homes, which remained unmarked by the blood of a sacrificial lamb, belonged to the kingdom of the world in which Satan was god.
     We know the rest of this story... the Israelites were spared, while the first born in every Egyptian home died that night, causing Pharaoh to issue a decree that the Israelites be released and allowed to leave.  For the Jewish people, the focus of the Passover observance is remembering YHWH's deliverance of Israel out of Egypt. "Remember" -- that is the key word for this celebration.
     For us Christians, who are Abraham's seed of the New Covenant, the Feast of Passover is a call to remember the Redemption we have received through Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.  He is our Passover who takes away the sin of the world.  We are redeemed with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. Just as the first Passover proved to be the Power of God to release the children of Israel from their bondage in Egypt, Jesus is the Power of God to release us from our bondage to the pleasures of the flesh in this world, and the penalty of our sins. We can now step into His Repentance, His love, Life, Freedom, Liberty, AND into the Kingdom of God as Kingdom citizens. Jesus IS the manifestation of the Passover Lamb, and He was crucified on the Feast of Passover.
     The second feast of the Passover Festival is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which lasts seven days.  Historically, it is a call to remember the quick exodus from Egypt, when the Israelites were instructed to make bread without leaven (yeast) because they didn't have time to wait for it to rise. In addition, yeast, or leaven, in the Bible always referred to any corrupting influence in the nation of Israel.  In this instance, God was telling them to leave behind the unholy influences of Egypt -- the worship of false Egyptian gods, and the rituals and traditions that had corrupted Israel's relationship with their God during their 430 years of captivity. They were to spend that week in worship and reflection for what God had done for them, and for their relationship with Him that they were privileged to experience. They were to remove any leaven [or sin] that was corrupting their present  relationship; it was to be a time of absolute separation from leaven in any form.
     I can't help but see the correlation to our present situation. In the midst of this global virus, we can spend the week in intentional worship and reflection for what God has done for us, and what He wants to accomplish in the midst of this crisis. And it isn't hard to see that we are being forced into "absolute separation" during this time -- it's a perfect time to reflect on how things need to change in our world and how we can advance the Kingdom.
     For today's Christian, this time is a Call to Purity, to an "Unleavened" life.  Jesus knew no sin, nor was any deceit found in Him.  He was unblemished and spotless.  He was made sin for us so that we could be made the righteousness of God in Him.  For us, it is a time to call to mind what God has done in each of our lives. We should each have a personal testimony of God's salvation and our relationship to Him.  As we reflect on how He has delivered us from sin, we can ask His help in removing any leaven from our life that is separating us from Him.  Ask Him to show us how He wants us to change the way we've been living [when we come out of this isolation]. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a time of renewal and revival in our daily lives, and I think we can all recognize just how much our lives have changed from pre-virus to now -- and how they needed to change.  It is taking a global event to get us to take our eyes off the world and turn to our Father in Heaven.
     And I will tell you that, for me, it is becoming a time for opportunities to see God's Kingdom come into its full influence on the earth. He has delivered me from wrong religious thinking and into a new mindset of my purpose as an ambassador of my King and His Kingdom. It is not a denial of Jesus's work on the Cross, but a greater realization of His whole purpose -- reconnecting us back to our original relationship with God! And now the pace of life has screeched to a halt so others have no excuse not to hear the Good News of the Kingdom! Let me be the one to introduce them to it!
     The third feast of this Holy Festival is the Feast of Firstfruits.  This feast occurs during the week of Unleavened Bread on the Sabbath after Passover.  In the Old Covenant, it acknowledged the Lord as the giver of the harvest, and commemorated Adam's son, Abel, bringing the first of his flock as an offering to the Lord. This Feast speaks volumes of Christ as the first of God's Harvest of souls and is a shadow of what Christ has done and the promises He has yet to do. 
     The Feast of Firstfruits points to Christ and His redemptive work. First of all, Jesus's resurrection occurred on the very day of the celebration of the Feast of Firstfruits.  And it should not be lost on us Christians that this year, in 2020, this Feast day coincides with the Western Church's celebration of Easter. [NOTE: for more on what the Lord has shown me about Easter, read this post.] But for the sake of this article, it is important to know that Jesus is the offering presented to the Heavenly Father as the first fruit of the harvest.  But just as important, He is the guarantee that more resurrections will follow.  In His first fruits offering, we see the blessing and the setting apart [or sanctifying] of the entire harvest to the Father, and a preview of what the resurrection will be like for every Believer.  Because He overcame death and lives today, every born-again follower of Christ is connected to Him and His power.
     Furthermore, that connection is real! God sent His Son to establish a Kingdom [and a family of sons] to rule His Kingdom for Him! Jesus didn't die and return to Heaven so that we would wait to join Him there. He came to restore to us our leadership authority that God gave us in Genesis 1 [dominion over the earth]. There is a fullness and expectancy of the Kingdom of God coming to earth that accompanies the celebration of the Festival of Passover.  It is Biblical and it is holy.  It is a remembrance of things God has already accomplished for us and a hope of what we can accomplish for the Kingdom. 
     Ultimately, this season of Passover is a celebration and a remembrance; an acknowledgment of God's desire to restore us to our original design and the earth to His original purpose. Yes, Jesus came as a sacrificial lamb, but He is our King, who came to establish His Father's rulership and authority over the earth He created. In the Passover celebration God shows us His plan for the redemption of mankind. But we can't stop there. We weren't redeemed to continue to let the kingdom of Satan influence the earth. Fifty days after the feasts of Passover, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to dwell in us to help us walk out our authority as ambassadors of the Kingdom. Jesus's assignment is now our assignment!
     So this Passover season, be thankful for your victory in Yeshua -- for the cancellation of your sins, and for your hope of resurrection. Then seek the Kingdom and a renewal of your mind as to your position as an Ambassador for the King of the Universe! Reconnect to that original relationship and authority and power you were made for. Yes, we have a rich heritage in the Feasts of the Lord, but our portion of the Lord goes back further than the Exodus story. It goes all the way back to Genesis 1 when God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over all the earth. Will we take advantage of this holy season to emerge from the Coronavirus epidemic with a new Kingdom mindset of how we want our families, our communities, our nation, and the world to look? Or will go back to "business as usual" and return to our old ways. I pray that each of you will renew your mind and heart to receive God's desire for your life and His will for the earth. And in the spirit of praise and worship of my King and His Kingdom, I say "Pesach Same'ach (Happy Passover)!

Exodus 12:13     The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

    

April 21, 2019

Luke 22:15-16

Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; For I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God."


     As most of the Christian world celebrates Easter today, it is extremely exciting for me to see more and more Christians celebrating the Passover Feasts. That wasn't the case when my heart was first awakened to the seven appointed feasts of the Lord over six years ago.  It was then that Mark and I decided to begin a deep study on how Scripture said they applied to us, as Christians. And now, six years later, the Lord is pointing us to the Passover as citizens of the Kingdom of God.
     The 2019 Festival of Passover began on the evening of Friday, April 19th and will conclude at evening on Saturday, April 27.  Within these Holy days, God ordained the Feast of Pesach, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the Feast of Fruitfruits -- all in commemoration of what He did in delivering the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt AND as a foreshadowing of the work He would do through His Son, Jesus Christ, in delivering us out of a life of bondage to sin. Within these eight days of Passover, Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected, and each Feast speaks of Him and His redemptive work on our behalf.
     And yes, God ordained these Feast Days, and they are His Holy Days, not just Jewish holidays, as the Church has mistakenly believed. In Leviticus 23, God proclaimed them as My Feasts and that they would be a perpetual statute among all your generations in all your dwelling places.  And because we are the spiritual descendants of Abraham, these Feasts not only have meaning to us, but I believe that we are to celebrate them, too.  After all, Abraham is the "father" of our faith, and as Galatians 3:29 says, If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. 
     As the body of Believers has grown in understanding the significance of Passover, it has been interesting to see the conflict within the Church. Should Christians celebrate Easter or Passover? Is it wrong for Christians to celebrate Passover? Is Easter really Biblical? These are all questions you must answer for yourselves. In doing so, I would recommend that you study what the Word has to say and also do some historical research. I think you will find that our religious celebrations have taken on new meaning down through the centuries.
     The eight days that make up the Festival of Passover are actually recorded in Exodus, Chapter 12. Here we find three separate Feasts, all under the umbrella of "the Feast of Passover". The first day of the Festival, and the first of the Feasts, is called Pesach, which means "spare" or "exempt" in Hebrew, and which our English Bibles translate as "pass over".  Therefore, it has become known as the Feast of Passover in our time.
     It is the foundation of all three Feasts, and commemorates the Lord's direction to the Israelites to sacrifice an unblemished and spotless lamb, applying it's blood to the side doorposts and top lentil of each home. [It is important to note, that this application made the motion of the Cross]. The Lord promised to pass over homes where the blood of the lamb had been applied.  The lambs were the substitutes for the people, sparing them [and saving them] from death and judgment by the Lord. Each house marked by the blood of the lamb would be a haven of salvation, a place safe from the judgment that was about to come upon Egypt. Those Egyptian homes, where there was no application of the blood, would suffer the judgment of the Angel of Death at Midnight. NOTE: The Lord has recently shown me that those homes marked by the blood were more than just safe havens of salvation, but were under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of God. The Egyptians' homes, which remained unmarked by the blood of a sacrificial lamb, belonged to the kingdom of the world in which satan was god. 
     We know the rest of this story... the Israelites were spared, while the first born in every Egyptian home died that night, causing Pharaoh to issue a decree that the Israelites be released and allowed to leave.  For the Jewish people, the focus of the Passover observance is remembering YHWH's deliverance of Israel out of Egypt. "Remember" -- that is the key word for this celebration.
     For us Christians, who are Abraham's seed of the New Covenant, the Feast of Passover is a call to remember the Redemption we have received through Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.  He is our Passover who takes away the sin of the world.  We are redeemed with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. Just as the first Passover proved to be the Power of God to release the children of Israel from their bondage in Egypt, Jesus is the Power of God to release us from the penalty of our sin into Repentance, His love, Life, Freedom, Liberty, AND into the Kingdom of God as Kingdom citizens. Jesus IS the manifestation of the Passover Lamb, and He was crucified on the Feast of Passover. 
     The second feast of the Passover Festival is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which lasts seven days.  Historically, it is a call to remember the quick exodus from Egypt, when the Israelites were instructed to make bread without leaven (yeast) because they didn't have time to wait for it to rise. In addition, yeast, or leaven, in the Bible always referred to any corrupting influence in the nation of Israel.  In this instance, God was telling them to leave behind the unholy influences of Egypt -- the worship of false Egyptian gods, and the rituals and traditions that had corrupted Israel's relationship with their God during their 430 years of captivity. They were to spend that week in worship and reflection for what God had done for them, and for their relationship with Him that they were privileged to experience. They were to remove any leaven [or sin] that was corrupting their present  relationship; it was to be a time of absolute separation from leaven in any form.
     For today's Christian, this time is a Call to Purity, to an "Unleavened" life.  Jesus knew no sin, nor was any deceit found in Him.  He was unblemished and spotless.  He was made sin for us so that we could be made the righteousness of God in Him.  For us, it is a time to call to mind what God has done in each of our lives.  We should each have a personal testimony of God's salvation and our relationship to Him.  As we reflect on how He has delivered us from sin, we can ask His help in removing any leaven from our life that is separating us from Him.  The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a time of renewal and revival in our daily lives. And I will tell you that, for me, it is becoming a time for the renewal of my mind to see God's Kingdom come into its full influence on the earth. He is delivering me from wrong religious thinking and into a new mindset of my purpose as an ambassador of my King and His Kingdom. It is not a denial of Jesus's work on the Cross, but a greater realization of His whole purpose -- reconnecting us back to our original relationship with God!
     The third feast of this Holy Festival is the Feast of Firstfruits.  This feast occurs during the week of Unleavened Bread on the Sabbath after Passover.  In the Old Covenant, it acknowledged the Lord as the giver of the harvest, and commemorated Adam's son, Abel, bringing the first of his flock as an offering to the Lord. This Feast speaks volumes of Christ as the first of God's Harvest of souls and is a shadow of what Christ has done and the promises He has yet to do. 
     The Feast of Firstfruits points to Christ and His redemptive work. First of all, Jesus's resurrection occurred on the very day of the celebration of the Feast of Firstfruits.  He is the offering presented to the Heavenly Father as the first fruit of the harvest.  But just as important, He is the guarantee that more resurrections will follow.  In His first fruits offering, we see the blessing and the setting apart [or sanctifying] of the entire harvest to the Father, and a preview of what the resurrection will be like for every Believer.  Because He overcame death and lives today, every born-again follower of Christ is connected to Him and His power.
     Furthermore, that connection is real! God sent His Son to establish a Kingdom [and a family of sons] to rule His Kingdom for Him! Jesus didn't die and return to Heaven so that we would wait to join Him there. He came to restore to us our leadership authority that God gave us in Genesis 1 [dominion over the earth]. There is a fullness and expectancy of the Kingdom of God coming to earth that accompanies the celebration of the Festival of Passover.  It is Biblical and it is holy.  It is a remembrance of things God has already accomplished for us and a hope of what we can accomplish for the Kingdom. 
     Ultimately, this season of Passover is a celebration and a remembrance; an acknowledgment of God's desire to restore us to our original design and the earth to His original purpose. Yes, Jesus came as a sacrificial lamb, but He is our King, who came to establish His Father's rulership and authority over the earth He created. In the Passover celebration God shows us His plan for the redemption of mankind. But we can't stop there. We weren't redeemed to continue to let the kingdom of satan influence the earth. Fifty days after the feasts of Passover, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to dwell in us to help us walk out our authority as ambassadors of the Kingdom. Jesus's assignment is now our assignment!
     So this Passover season, be thankful for your victory in Yeshua -- for the cancellation of your sins, and for your hope of resurrection. Then seek the Kingdom and a renewal of your mind as to your position as an Ambassador for the King of the Universe! Reconnect to that original relationship and authority and power you were made for. Yes, we have a rich heritage in the Feasts of the Lord, but our portion of the Lord goes back further than the Exodus story. It goes all the way back to Genesis 1 when God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over all the earth. I thank my God for renewing my mind to that truth. And in the spirit of praise and worship of my King and His Kingdom, I say "Pesach Same'ach (Happy Passover)!



     
 

March 29, 2018

Don't Lose Sight of the Cross!

     This weekend we find Believers celebrating both Passover and Easter. There is so much significance in these holy days. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is the most important event in human history, yet I wonder what people really focus on when they contemplate those events?
     For many, I suspect that Easter means their sins are forgiven; or that it is a picture of their own resurrection into eternal life. The Body of Christ certainly celebrates that Christ rose from the dead, making way for us to enter the heavenly realm and presence of God, the Father. And in this present day and age, we are recognizing that His substitutionary death not only paid the debt for our sins, but allowed for the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, so that by His power we could live in victory over the Enemy's attacks upon our souls.
     More Christians, every day, are living in the power and authority Christ transferred to us, so that His Father's Kingdom would come on earth, as it is in Heaven. That knowledge of our power and authority has led to redemption and freedom for many Christians locked in spiritual prisons created by the lies and deception of Satan. That's a good thing. But we must not become so consumed with the "show" of that power if it diminishes the Source of the power, or what it cost our Lord to give it to us.
     So, that's why, as we get ready to celebrate this weekend, I want to make sure we don't lose sight of Jesus on the Cross. Remember, Jesus was one of probably tens, if not hundreds, of thousands crucified throughout history. There were 6,000 crucified on a single day in 71 BCE, in the aftermath of Spartacus’ rebellion. So, as horrific as the act was, it is not the crucifixion itself that we should be focused on, but what was accomplished by it.
     The power of the Cross is this: in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God conquered death, hell, and sin! At the Cross, Jesus paid a tremendous price for every person on earth to receive Life and Glory and Freedom. The Cross should be at the center of our faith! Without the Cross, our power and authority would have no spiritual muscle behind it. We would be locked in continuous spiritual battle without any assurance of victory. But at the Cross, Jesus guaranteed our victory!
     The Cross opens the way for us to be reconciled to God, or as the dictionary defines reconciliation, to restore friendly relations. Before the Cross, we were estranged from our Father; separated by a debt we could never pay. But Jesus agreed to pay that debt by going to the Cross; it was the only way to regain our position and status as children of God. 
     I think you would agree that it is difficult to wrap our heads around the concept that Jesus came to earth to die. That was His ultimate goal. Along the way, He proclaimed that His Father's Kingdom had come to earth; He established the rules and government of that Kingdom; and He displayed the power of the Kingdom through the Holy Spirit. That was part of His mission, too, so that when He accomplished His goal of dying on the Cross, we would have a Kingdom model to live by. 
     But I don't know how many Believers understand all that the Cross represents. Put very simply, the Cross is the doorway to a life with God. Sadly, it can become overshadowed by other Godly principles such as Grace and Judgment. As important as those concepts are, ultimately, all other foundational truths of our faith rest upon the existence of the Cross. 
     Today, we must be careful of becoming so focused on, and infatuated with, the latest "movement"; the expression of power; or of looking to the future for the next great revival. There's nothing wrong with looking towards the future and yearning for the glory of the riches in Christ to come. But until that moment, perhaps we should never forget to take a look back at the Cross -- all that we need and desire is there! There we will find our redemption; our promise of victory in this life and the next; and the restoration of our relationship with our Father.  
     Jesus's act of dying on that Cross offers us a way to be transformed into a new nature and a new life; for with His death on the Cross, I have died to this life, yet am fully alive with Him. I am being transformed into learning to trust in the Word of God, seeking a way to live a righteous life, finding joy and peace in the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life, and enjoying the entire journey all along the way. 
     When Jesus declared on the Cross, "It is finished!", He set empowerment in motion for every Believer -- empowerment to walk as He did; empowerment to declare victory over the god of this world; empowerment to set the captives free; and empowerment to overcome the obstacles in sharing the Gospel message.  In other words, the Cross is the ignition point where God’s power becomes operative [and real], with the ability to convert, transform, and save [for both ourselves and others]. And that power is available to us because of what Jesus and God achieved at the Cross! So, let us focus on the power and the glory of the Cross this weekend. When we understand what was accomplished for us over 2000 years ago, we will see the magnitude of the glory of God and the greatness of our inheritance. Praise Jesus, the Light of the World!

1 Corinthians 1:18    "To preach the message of the Cross seems like sheer nonsense to those who are on their way to destruction, but to us who are on our way to salvation, it is the mighty power of God released within us". 
     

March 20, 2018

Our Own Passover Celebration

     As promised, I am sharing the particular way that our Home Church celebrates the Lord's Feast of Passover. I could never find any definitive commentary on how a Christian should celebrate this important occasion, so I guess you could say that the way in which we observe Passover is Spirit-led.
     But it is important to note that this is both a solemn observance and a joyous celebration. We are recognizing the tremendous sacrifice the Lord has made on our behalf and celebrating the freedom from sin that His sacrifice has afforded us. We have everyone bring their own lamb and a side dish. You can easily find traditional Jewish side dishes or start your own traditions. Mark and I provide the unleavened bread, the bitter herbs (horseradish) and the wine (or grape juice). 
     We incorporate solemn prayers, borrowed from the Jewish faith, while pointing out the significance to our Christian faith.  In no way, do I maintain that all Christians have to celebrate Passover -- that is a decision that you must make on an individual basis. But I simply offer the following to you as a guideline for your own celebration, should you decide to observe this holy Feast. We begin by making a statement about the significance of this Feast and then proceed to honor the traditions of the Jewish faith, while identifying with the meaning and importance for us, as Christians. And I would love to hear from others how you honor the Lord's Feast in your Christian observances.
     
     Our Statement of Faith: The Passover Festival is a call to REMEMBER what God has delivered us from; a call of GRATITUDE for the work He is doing in our lives today; and a call to look forward to the HOPE of our Resurrection into Eternal Life.
      The Feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits all foreshadow the work God would do through His Son, Jesus Christ. Within these eight days of Passover, Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected, and each Feast speaks of Him and His redemptive work on our behalf.
      We are gathered here today to REMEMBER Jesus as our Passover Lamb, sacrificed to deliver us out of the bondage of sin. He is the Unleavened Bread of Life – without Sin; unblemished and spotless – and He is the First Fruit of God’s Harvest of Souls.   
     Today, we will eat a meal of Lamb, Unleavened bread, and Bitter Herbs as God instructed the Israelites to do in Exodus 12:8.  We will share in the cups of wine that Jesus partook of in His last Passover meal. And we will celebrate His Life and His Blood, which were poured out for us.     
     Before the first Passover in Egypt, God told Israel, “Remove the leaven from your homes.”  Leaven is a symbol of sin.  Let us take a moment to remove any leaven that hides in our hearts and minds.  Let us remove any sin that would separate us from God. 

     MOMENT OF SILENCE AS WE CONTEMPLATE.  Pray (Together):  Search me, O God, and know my heart.  Test me and know my thoughts.  See if there is any offensive thing in me that needs to be removed, and sweep me clean of leaven.  Lead me in Your way everlasting. Amen. 
     This day, we will drink 4 cups of wine to recall God’s four promises to Israel in Exodus 6:6-7.  Jesus, along with His disciples, drank two cups before their meal.
     (Pour the First Cup):  The Cup of Sanctification I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will free you from their bondage. (Exodus 6:6)
     This first Cup of Wine sanctifies our meal.  Let us LIFT UP the first cup, the Cup of Sanctification and Pray (Together):  Blessed are You, O Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who creates the fruit of the vine. Thank you for the blood of Yeshua that was shed for us. Amen.
 DRINK. 
     Now, as we pour the Second Cup, everyone should take a piece of the unleavened bread and a spoonful of horseradish on their plate. We recognize the symbolism: The Lamb is Yeshua, our Passover Lamb; Matza is unleavened bread; pierced for our transgressions; bruised for our iniquities;
Horseradish is the bitterness of our bondage to sin; and Wine is Christ’s blood, shed for us to redeem us.
     (Lift Up The Second Cup) The Cup of Judgment:  I will rescue you with an outstretched arm, and by mighty acts of judgment. (Exodus 6:6)
     Let us raise the Cup of Judgment, and remember that Yeshua delivers us from the slavery of darkness and brings us into the kingdom of Light.
     Pray (Together):  Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, our Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy. Amen. (DRINK).
     Everyone should now hold up a piece of matza. Pray (Together):  Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who brings forth bread from the earth.  Thank you for Yeshua, the Bread of Life, who rose from the earth. And thank you, O Lord, that by His stripes we are healed. Amen.
     The Lord Jesus ate His Passover meal on the night when he was betrayed.  He, who is our Bread of Life, gave thanks, broke the unleavened bread, and said to His disciples, “This is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” (EAT BREAD).

EVERYONE EATS AND CELEBRATES THE WORK OF THE LORD IN OUR LIVES. Then after the meal ...
      (Pour Third Cup) The Cup of Redemption.  I will take you to Me for a people. (Exodus 6:7)
      The blood of the Lamb on the doorposts saved Israel. The blood of Yeshua on our hearts saves us, right here and now. As Scripture tells us, God will redeem our life from the grave, and take us to Himself.  No one who takes refuge in Him will be condemned.  He will write His law on our minds and hearts.  Everyone will know Him, from the least of them to the greatest.
      Lift up the Cup:  At the last Passover Supper, Yeshua took this third cup, the Cup of Redemption, and said, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is My blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins”.
 Let us Pray (Together):  Blessed are You, O Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who creates the fruit of the vine.  Thank you for the Blood of Yeshua that was poured out for us. Amen.  (DRINK).
      (Pour Fourth Cup) The Cup of the Future Kingdom.  This will be a kingdom of truth, peace, and freedom… I will be to you a God. (Exodus 6:7)
      During Yeshua’s last Passover Supper, He did not drink this fourth cup.  He said, “I will not drink this cup now until that day when I drink it with you in My Father’s Kingdom.”  As we drink the fourth cup, we look forward to a future kingdom, when we drink this cup with Him.  He will return, and there will be a better feast to come, the Wedding Banquet of the Passover Lamb.
     Have each of the men read one of the words of Gratitude listed below:
    •  In praise of the Lord’s salvation in the past and the future, we raise the Cup of the Kingdom.  O Lord, You redeemed us and brought us to this night.  Bring us also to Your Holy City, the New Jerusalem.
    •  You have put a new song in our hearts, a song of praise and thanksgiving for the redemption of our souls.  Blessed are you, O Lord our God.
    •  Blessed are you, O Lord our God, who gives eternal life.  Eternal life is that we might know You, the one true God, and the Messiah, Yeshua, whom You Sent.
    •  I know that my Redeemer lives.  He will stand on the earth in the latter days, and I will see Him as He is.
    •  Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive glory and honor and praise.  Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!
    •  O God who dwells on high, we are free on a day like this.  Raise up Your numberless congregation.  Soon, and with rejoicing, lead us to Zion.  Praise and Glory and Wisdom and Thanks and Honor and Power and Strength be to our God forever and ever.
    •  These are the words of our Lord: Fear not for I am with you.  Be not dismayed for I am Your God.  I will strengthen you; yes, I will help you.  I will uphold you with My righteous right hand! 
   
     Let us all lift up THE CUP OF THE KINGDOM.
     PRAY (TOGETHER):  Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who creates the fruit of the vine.  Thank you for Your Coming Kingdom.  Amen.  
    When the Lord returns, the survivors from all the nations will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles and God dwelling with us. Let us declare (SAY TOGETHER):  Next year in Jerusalem!  Amen.  (DRINK).

     So, this is just a suggestion of how to observe the Feast of Passover as a Christian. It is by no means a definitive way to celebrate, but as I said earlier, we have tried to be Spirit-led in honoring the redemptive work of our Lord and Savior on our behalf, while honoring the roots of our faith and the Jewish traditions. May you be blessed and encouraged during these holy days, and may your assembly know the pleasure and favor of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 5:7    So remove every trace of your “leaven” of compromise with sin so that you might become new and pure again. For indeed, you are clean because Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us.