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!

 

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.

 

Understanding Pentecost: The Jewish and Christian Perspectives

     This weekend is Pentecost [meaning "fifty"], the Christian holiday which commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Jewish Feast of Weeks [or Shavuot -- which is translated as "weeks" in Hebrew]. For the religion of Judaism, this feast emphasizes the time lapse between Passover and Shavuot, two of the three "solemn feasts" which every Jewish male was required to attend in Jerusalem [the other being the Feast of Tabernacles].
     Passover, in addition to its historical phase commemorating the end of Egyptian slavery, also was a spring festival linked to the beginning of the spring harvest season. The grain harvest lasted seven weeks, beginning with the harvesting of the barley on the second day of Passover and ending with the harvesting of the wheat about a month later, at Shavuot.
     The Feast of Weeks also involved a ritual in which there was the bringing of the wave offering of bread [as a show of peace and service to God], which was to be baked from the new crop of wheat. Leviticus 23:15-17 gives us the details of this ritual ... You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the Lord. You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as firstfruits to the Lord. This was the way one expressed his or her gratitude to God for the new crop.
     It is important to us, as Christians, to understand that the Lord's Feasts were instituted not only as holy convocations, or gatherings, to the ancient Israelites, but they have continued significance to us as the children of God, whose faith is rooted in the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

     As I have pointed out to you in the past, the four Spring feasts are a mirror of Christ's reality here on earth. Jesus was crucified as the “Passover Lamb” and rose from the grave at the Feast of Firstfruits. Following His resurrection, Jesus spent the next 40 days teaching His disciples before ascending to heaven (Acts 1). Fifty days after His resurrection, and ascension, where He sat at the right hand of God, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit [which God had promised] to indwell the disciples and empower them for ministry. The promised Holy Spirit arrived on the Day of Pentecost, which is another name for the Feast of Weeks.

     Yes, this day has extraordinary meaning to the Body of Christ. The holiday of Pentecost commemorates the day God made good on His promise to send us a Counselor/Helper in the absence of our Lord and Savior. 

     Jesus, Himself, prophesied that this would happen ...  And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high (Luke 24:49); When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me (John 15;26). Paul confirms this in Ephesians 1:13 -14: having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance. 

     But this promise of the Holy Spirit was well-known throughout Jewish history, too. Their prophets had brought the message of the Promise down through the centuries. The Holy Spirit had been present in their midst whenever God sent Him for specific purposes. Haggai 2:5 exemplifies this concept: As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear! The prophet Ezekiel preached this message from YHWH: Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. And then there is the End Times prophecy from Joel 2:28-29: It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. 

     As you can see, throughout the Old and New Testaments, which in reality are one continuous covenant with His own, there has been a promise that God would give us the Holy Spirit. And He has given us Holy days upon which we are to reflect and glorify His sovereignty.  The importance of that promise and those holy days are meant for both Jew and Christian; our faiths are intertwined, along with the promises from the Father and the Son. We are all called to repent and be baptized in the Holy Spirit. This weekend I will meditate on what the Holy Spirit has done in my life, and I will pray and express my gratitude for the gift of the Holy Spirit and for the revelation of the importance of this Feast. And I will cry out for a new anointing in the Spirit as I renew my dedication to witness of the power and authority of Jesus Christ on the earth. To God be the Glory!

Thank you to the websites MyJewishLearning.com and GotQuestions.org for supplementing my own research in the Word of God. May these resources which point to our Lord always be available.

     

 Isaiah 59:21     As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from now and forever.”

In Preparation for Pentecost: How Full Is Your Lamp?

     This upcoming weekend we will be celebrating the Lord's holy feast day known as Shavuot, or the Feast of Weeks. It is among the three "solemn feasts" that all Jewish males were required to attend in Jerusalem. Deuteronomy 16:16 makes this clear: "Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed."
     This Feast, along with the other holy feast days ordained by God, has significance for both Jews and Christians. They all foreshadow the coming Messiah and His ministry. The holy day is also known as the "Day of the Firstfruits" and the "Feast of Harvest" in the Jewish religious traditions, as it was in celebration of the first fruits of the wheat harvest. And in Leviticus 23:16, the Lord gave this commandment, "You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain [from the harvest] to the Lord". 
     But it has unique meaning for Christians as well. Exactly 50 days after His resurrection and ascension into Heaven, Jesus sent the promised Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17) to indwell the disciples with power to begin their ministry. That empowerment by the Holy Spirit happened precisely on the Feast of Weeks, or Day of Pentecost (which means "fifty"). I will share more of the history and significance of what the Lord has to say about Pentecost in the next post. But today I want to revisit a revelation I received about this holy feast day a couple of years ago. I think it has even more profound significance for us today.
     We are all familiar with the power of the Word contained in Acts 2:1-4, When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. This is a depiction of the Glory of the Lord falling on the devout followers of Jesus! But I have to ask you a very serious question now ... does that same power of the Holy Spirit permeate the places that you worship? Does your church experience being overtaken by the Holy Spirit each time you gather? Does the presence of God manifest in your church as the pillar of fire that accompanied the Israelites in Exodus 13, or the tongues of fire that engulfed the disciples in Acts 2? I'm pretty sure not many can answer "yes". Which brings me to the question I have posed in this blog title .... How full is your lamp?
     In 2 Corinthians, Chapter 4, Paul is warning Believers that "the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." He goes on to say that we are to be the "light-bearers", so to speak, of the knowledge of the glory of God; "we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us". We know that the power of God came to Jesus through the Holy Spirit, and that same power dwells in us, as evidenced by 1 Corinthians 3:16, Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? So, we are, in effect, carriers or "vessels" of God's power and glory!
     If we believe Scripture that we have the treasure of the Holy Spirit in us, with all of God's glory and power, why does the Body of Christ not resemble the "vessels" that met together at that first Pentecost in Acts 2? Why does the modern Church dismiss the glory that they contained? Why do we dismiss the signs and wonders and the power of the Holy Spirit that was evidence of God's glory in them? In response to these questions, I'd like to share the wisdom I received from an article in Charisma Magazine a few years ago...
     Consider that the state of our churches is similar to the experience of the Wise and Foolish Virgins in the Parable of the Ten Virgins. In this well-known parable, half of the Virgins have their lamps full of oil (which is representative of the Holy Spirit in the Bible). The wise Virgins had been in recent contact with the dispenser of oil (Holy Spirit), whereas the foolish Virgins had apparently procrastinated. Engaging frequently with the dispenser of the oil [the Holy Spirit], the wise had an adequate supply of oil to trim their lamps and go into the marriage supper when the Bridegroom finally arrived. They were prepared! But the foolish Virgins think they can just borrow some of the oil from their wiser counterparts.  But that's not how the Holy Spirit works!
     The premise of the article was as follows: "Churches are filled with people the Bible would call foolish—those who are not spiritually vibrant, personally disciplined, and deeply intimate with Jesus [and Holy Spirit]. Their lamps are empty... If a church is ablaze with the spirit of prayer and alive as the Holy Spirit blows and burns through everyone there, those who are asleep and without any oil will definitely not feel comfortable. There is no way they can integrate in such a place without feeling the pressure to fill their lamps." Why are we so willing to share our oil; or to dilute the glory of God in the presence of the Holy Spirit in order to make those people feel comfortable? Why is the Church of today so willing "to integrate nicely with others who are equally resistant to the deeper things of the Spirit? They are [all] spiritually interested, but not spiritually invested. They have not paid the price and have not bought their own oil".
     Here's what is so important for us to understand ... the oil (Holy Spirit) cannot be borrowed. And it cannot be passed from one person to another.  Each person must determine just how much of the Holy Spirit he or she wants.
     This principle reminds me of those 120 who were present together in the Upper Room, devoted to prayer, as they waited for the promised Holy Spirit. And do you recall that after He was resurrected, Jesus appeared first to Peter, then to the 12 Apostles, and then to more than 500 of His followers? Acts 1:3 says, "He presented Himself alive to them after His suffering [on the Cross] by many proofs [signs and wonders], appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the Kingdom of God".
     The Bible tells us in Acts 1:2, that just before He ascended into Heaven, He left instructions for ALL of those followers and apostles [which means "sent ones"; not restricted to the Twelve]. He told them all to wait in Jerusalem for the gift of the Holy Spirit; that which had been promised by the Father [in Joel 2].  So there were at least 512 people who had seen the resurrected Christ and been told to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit. Why were there only 120 who received Him? Did the others get tired of waiting? Did they think they had lots of time and weren't diligent about being prepared? Or did they think that the gift of the Holy Spirit wasn't for them or worth their while? Do you see the similarities with the Foolish Virgins? With the modern Church?
     If we think that we're on solid ground, or good enough, with being Saved and having the Holy Spirit indwell us, and thus being content with a moderate level of the Holy Spirit in us... aren't our lamps only half full? Don't we want the full measure of Him, which means we are willing to pay the price to seek Him on our own? Do we really want to be like those 200 or more people who missed out on the Upper Room experience because they weren't willing to pay the price to wait for the Father's gift of the Holy Spirit? As the article proclaims, "Those who had their lamps full, those who responded to the command of Jesus to wait and pray, were ready when the wind and the fire came!"
     So, as we prepare to celebrate the holy Feast of Weeks [Pentecost] this weekend, let us be sober and intentional in seeking to fill our lamps and vessels to the brim with the fullness of the Holy Spirit! Let us be like the wise Virgins who "took flasks of oil with their lamps." Does this suggest they went with full lamps and extra provision of the Holy Spirit? [I believe that fasting for Pentecost could certainly "store up" the power of Heaven for future spiritual needs.]
     At the very least, I wish to encourage each of you with these thoughts ... Let us not quench the desire of the Holy Spirit to manifest among us in the supernatural power of Heaven. Let us not restrict His Presence because some are uncomfortable, or lazy, or fearful. Let us not limit His Presence to the lowest common denominator. The glory of God is to make His Presence known; to pour out His Spirit on all mankind. What He did in the Upper Room at Pentecost is His desire for you and me. As Peter declares at Pentecost, "The promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself". We are those who were "far off"; generations and a couple of thousand years away from the impartation of the Holy Spirit and His power  -- but we can experience the same thing this Pentecost, if we desire it. Spend these next few days repenting and asking for that supernatural promise to be fulfilled in your life. It's time to fill our lamps!


Acts 2:43    A deep sense of holy awe swept over everyone, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.
      
      
     

The Feast of Trumpets & The Kingdom of God

     The Feast of Trumpets begins this evening at sundown and continues until Tuesday, October 1st at sundown. As happens every year, I receive more revelation of the significance of the Lord's Feasts for the Body of Christ. Biblically, not much is mentioned about this Fall Feast. Levitcus 23:24-25 and Numbers 29:1 are the primary references.

     Historically, it was a blowing of trumpets as a reminder of the coming National Day of Cleansing. The Israelites performed daily animal sacrifices in which the animal's blood was brought into the Holy Place for sprinkling against the veil and upon the horns of the altar of incense. This served to symbolically transfer into the sanctuary the sins which had been paid for (by the death of the animal). There the sins remained [for a whole year] until the Day of Atonement, when the sanctuary was cleansed of the accumulated sins of the people.

      The blood of the sacrificial animals served as a substitute for the Sinner who offended God.  But this blood offered for repenting sinners defiled the sanctuary, because it was used to symbolically carry their sins into the sanctuary where they were kept until the Day of Atonement.  God’s Sanctuary needed to be CLEANSED on the Day of Atonement.  Imagine the smell of all that accumulated blood upon the altar for a full year!

      The Feast of Trumpets was a blowing of the shofar to remind the people that it was 10 days until the Day of Atonement. These 10 days make up the Jewish High Holy Days. The Jews believe that God writes every person’s words, deeds, and thoughts on their personal pages in His Book of Life, which He opens and examines on the Day of Atonement. If good deeds outnumbered sinful ones for the year, that person’s name will be inscribed in the book for another year. Here, you can see the temporary pardoning of sins.

      So between the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement (known as the Ten Days of Repentance) people can repent of their sins and do good deeds to increase their chances of being inscribed in the Book of Life. The Feast of Trumpets is a call to examine your life because it will be judged. But here’s the interesting part from the Jewish perspective: the people never lost their conviction that their sins would be pardoned. They believed that the sacrifice of the blood would be a pardon for their sins.

     Now, let's look at the significance for us Kingdom citizens... 1 Thessalonians 4:16  says, For the Lord Himself will appear with the declaration of victory, the shout of an archangel, and the trumpet blast of God. He will descend from the heavenly realm and command those who are dead in Christ to rise first. So, some Feast of Trumpets [in the future] could be the day that the Lord comes back on the clouds!! 

     In Matthew 24:3, the Disciples ask Jesus, "What will be the sign of Your coming, and the end of the age"? 1 Thessalonians tells us He will come declaring victory, and archangels will be shouting and the shofars will be blown. But remember, there is a condition that must be met before He returns and it is revealed in Matthew 24:14 -- And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

     But the end of what? The end of the age and, subsequently, the end of Satan's kingdom on earth? Satan's rule will certainly end when Christ's Second Coming occurs. But I want you to also remember that Jesus said in John 12:31 that [with His first appearance], "Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world [Satan] be cast out." 

     So, how does this all tie into a Kingdom perspective on the Feast of Trumpets? Consider this:

The Feast of Trumpets and the ten days until the Day of Atonement could be the Bema Seat of Judgment as seen in 2 Corinthians 5:6-10: So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. ⁷ For we live by believing and not by seeing. ⁸ Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. ⁹ So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. ¹⁰ For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.

     But I want to make it very clear, the Bema Seat Judgment DOES NOT DETERMINE SALVATION! We cannot do anything to receive our Salvation. It is a gift based on our faith in Jesus as our Redeemer. These are Christians who have been "Born Again" and entered into the Kingdom of God on earth as His ambassadors (John 3:1-5). They will stand before the Lord at His return to hear what is written in His Book of Life; everything we have done in this life for the Kingdom of God as a redeemed child… it will be just like the Jews on their ancient Day of Atonement at the Temple.  We will hear every word said, every deed done, and Jesus will see what we have built for Him upon the foundation of our Salvation, which He paid for.

      The significance for us as Christians and Kingdom citizens -- people who are saved by grace through our faith in Jesus as our Savior, and entered into our purpose of taking back dominion of the earth for the Kingdom of God – is that we are to contemplate how we have served Him and have lived our lives as Christians. It is a time of remembering and of repentance; both in the sense of atonement for any sins we have committed, and a time for renewing our minds to all that Jesus has done -- delivering us into eternal life and re-establishing His Father's Kingdom on earth, along with our dominion (power and authority). BUT, just like the ancient Israelites, we live with the certainty that our sins are forgiven and we are pardoned… that the blood of Jesus covers our sin and we stand blameless. In addition, we look forward to the day that our King will reign on the earth and crush our Enemy under His feet.

     So, as we experience the Feast of Trumpets in 2019, let us be mindful of the coming day when our Lord returns. How glorious will that day be! Let us understand that we will stand before the Lord as He examines our lives. Have we built upon the Rock with gold, silver and precious stones—those things that last for eternity—or with wood, hay, and stubble which will be burned up? This is not a time of condemnation, but rather, a time of rewards. It's where we will receive crowns based on how faithfully we have served Him and the Kingdom of God. It will be a time of great rejoicing as we stand in the presence of our Creator and King. Let us spend these next 48 hours in solemn remembrance, humble gratitude, and expectant hope. Happy Rosh Hashanah!

Revelation 11:15    Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.”

 

 

 

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)!

     
 

We Are Covered By The Blood of The Atonement

     As we contemplate the Fall Feasts of the Lord, I want to consider the Day of Atonement and its significance for us New Testament Christians. There are so many theological theories of what  "the Atonement" is -- it was a "ransom sacrifice" paid for Christ; Jesus suffered crucifixion to satisfy justified wrath against man's transgressions; the purpose and work of Jesus Christ resulted in a moral change in humanity due to the inspiring effect of His teachings, martyrdom and resurrection; Jesus is seen as the new Adam who undoes what the original Adam did, leading humankind to eternal life; and finally, the scapegoat theory that Jesus took on our sins and unfairly suffers the consequences -- all of which touch on what Jesus did to atone for our sins and reconcile us with the Father. But why did God institute the Day of Atonement and how was it to effect and provoke the Israelites and us?
     Both the Spring Feasts and the Fall Feasts are "dress rehearsals" for God's appointed times in His plan of redemption for mankind.
     The Spring Feasts mirror His death, burial and resurrection, along with the giving of the Holy Spirit.  The Fall Feasts mirror His Second Coming.  This week's Feast of Trumpets is a dress rehearsal for His return and the rapture of the Church.  The ancient Israelites celebrated this day as the beginning of their civil new year, and they gathered together to praise God for His renewal.

      The Feast of Trumpets also began 10 days of celebration as the people prepared themselves with fasting and prayer to hear their verdict on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).  This ritual trial reached its conclusion when the people finally dropped all their defenses and excuses and threw themselves on the mercy of the heavenly court, yet the same people never lost the conviction that they would be pardoned. This atonement was by divine grace; it was above and beyond the individual's effort or merit.  The Day of Atonement was a gracious day each year when all the Israelites could experience a new beginning by being cleansed from their sins and restored to fellowship with their Maker.  

     The Old Testament significance of this Feast Day is understood by remembering that the Israelites performed daily animal sacrifices in which the animal's blood was brought into the Holy Place for sprinkling against the veil and upon the horns of the altar of incense. This served to symbolically transfer into the sanctuary the sins which had been paid for (by the death of the animal). There the sins remained [for a whole year] until the Day of Atonement, when the sanctuary was cleansed of the accumulated sins of the people.  

     The blood of the sacrificial animals served as a substitute for the Sinner who offended God.  But this blood offered for repenting sinners defiled the sanctuary, because it was used to symbolically carry their sins into the sanctuary where they were kept until the Day of Atonement.  God’s Sanctuary needed to be CLEANSED on the Day of Atonement.  Imagine the smell of all that blood upon the altar for a full year!

     The ten days from Trumpets to the Day of Atonement were known as "the days of awe" and the people considered very carefully what sins would be held against them when GOD settled accounts.    Jewish tradition says that on this future day GOD will enter the righteous in the Book of Life and the wicked in the Book of Death.   For  those in between, the verdict remains open during those 10 days. Will they decide for God or against Him? Will they confess and repent for their sins, or continue in rebellion?

     If we believe these Feasts are to be considered dress rehearsals for Christ’s Second Coming, then after the blast of the last heavenly Trumpet, and Christ first appears, there will be 10 days until the Bema Seat of Judgment where we will stand in God's presence and hear an accounting of how we lived our lives for Him and His Son.  

     The significance of this day (Day of Atonement) for us New Testament believers is that God loves us SO much that He has even given us the day we should fast, pray and seek His face before we have to stand in front of Him, face-to-face.   Yet, like the ancient Israelites, if we belong to Him, we can rest in the knowledge that Christ is the Sacrificial Lamb that paid the price for our sins, and we will be pardoned. 

     This year, the Day of Atonement begins at sundown on September 19th, and ends at sundown on September 20th.  We can come together with other believers (Holy Convocation) for a day of complete fasting (examine our souls). What better time to do this than on the one day each year that our Heavenly Father has instructed His people to do so?  

     It’s also a good time to intercede and appeal for mercy on behalf of ourselves, our family and friends, and our Nation/Community. We see this in the story of Jonah –Jonah was sent by God to Ninevah, a wicked murderous nation to warn them of impending judgment. We see that they humbled themselves (fasted) and turned from their wicked ways and because of that, God spared them. He is so good to provide a warning before judgment!  

    But there is still such a large harvest to bring into God's storehouse! It is our responsibility as representatives of God's Kingdom on earth to not only spend the days between the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement to pray and fast for our own lives, but to intercede on behalf of others who are yet to know Christ. I don't want to ever hear someone say, "Nobody told me!" 

     So, Lord Jesus, I thank you for the redeeming work of the Cross and what it means for my life. I look forward to Your return and I commit to spending these next days in humble prayer, examining my life and praying for cleansing, redemption and restoration. I fully expect my name to be written in the Book of Life and I praise you, Father, for Your love and Your faithfulness towards me. I will truly live these next days in awe of all that You have done in my life; all that You are; and all that You will be when I stand before You. I want to live my life as if every day was the Day of Atonement; ever mindful that I have so much to be thankful for.

Leviticus 23:27  Also the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement; it shall be a holy [called] assembly, and you shall afflict yourselves [by fasting in penitence and humility] and present an offering made by fire to the Lord.

The Fall Feasts: Why Christians Should Pay Attention

     This Sunday evening at sundown will be the beginning of the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashana, or the Biblical Feast of Trumpets. Ten days later [on September 19] will be the celebration of Yom Kippur or what the Bible knows as the Day of Atonement, followed five days later [on September 24-30] by Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles.
     Several years ago when I began studying the implications of these Biblical feasts, few of my fellow Christians were aware of them or their significance for New Testament followers of Jesus. I am happy to say that this is changing, and more Christians are seeing the relevance of the Lord's Feasts as they pertain to our faith. God established His Feasts as a memorial to His faithfulness throughout history to the nation of Israel as His Chosen People, and to all people who would believe in Him through all the coming generations. That includes us.

     What are known as the Spring Feasts (occurring in March-April of each year) have already been fulfilled; the first two by Jesus Christ on the actual feast days according to the Hebrew calendar. He was sacrificed on Passover, and resurrected on the Feast of First Fruits. The third Feast of Unleavened Bread carried great significance in light of His sinless life and His sacrifice, while the fourth Feast, Shavuot, or the Festival of Weeks, was again fulfilled on the exact day on what we now call Pentecost. As Christians, these Feasts are a time for us to commemorate what Jesus accomplished at His First Coming.

     But it is these Fall Feasts that have us yearning for their fulfillment with great expectation. The Fall Feasts look forward to the fulfillment of Bible prophecy concerning Yeshua’s End Times’ return when He will come with trumpet blasts to usher in a new age of purified fellowship with Him in His new Kingdom on earth.  And we are now about to enter that sanctified season.  And for that reason, I think it is incumbent upon us to do a quick review of the holy significance of these two weeks in September.

     The Feast of Trumpets is a time of new beginnings.  There is even some speculation by Bible scholars that based on the view that John the Baptist was born in the spring, around Passover, and his birth preceded the birth of Jesus by 6 months (Luke 1:36), it’s possible to place the birth of the Messiah on the Feast of Trumpets.  That would definitely be representative of a new beginning for mankind!

     In 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 we read about the great trumpet (Shofar) that will sound in heaven when the dead who are in Yeshua will rise from their graves, and those who are still alive will go to meet Him in the air. This event precedes the return of the Messiah. The Book of Revelation [in Chapters 8-11] also talks about trumpets sounding in heaven as a series of judgments are poured out on the earth. All of this is to prepare the earth for the Messiah’s return. It is a warning—a wake-up call to the earth and the inhabitants therein to get ready!  Does it mean that the Rapture of the Church will take place on this Feast Day?  It is possible, and Scripture hints at it.  But the Bible also says that the Church will be taken up to meet Christ in the air when “the full number of gentiles has come in” (Romans 11:25), and "immediately after the tribulation of those days... the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Matthew 24:29-30).  

     Since no one knows the day or hour, I prefer to see the Feast of Trumpets as a time of prayer and expectation; acknowledging not only God’s grace, but His calling by the shofar to get ready for a new beginning in the history of mankind -- the time of Jesus's Second Coming when He will return to administer Justice and rule and dwell on the earth as King.

     Ten days later is Yom Kippur. In the Bible, this is known as the “Day of Atonement,” Yom Kippur was the only time of year the High Priest could enter the Most Holy Place of the Temple to atone for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the entire nation. This was done by sacrificing a bull and a goat and sprinkling the blood of these animals on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. Also on this day, two goats were brought before the High Priest. He would lay hands on them and symbolically transfer the sins of the people into them. The first one was the sacrifice—the one that provided atonement for the people’s sins. The second, however, was the scapegoat. This one was released into the wilderness to wander and eventually die, removing sin from the camp. The blood of the first goat brought forgiveness. The second brought sanctification.

     Prophetically, The Day of Atonement will be the day in which God’s judgment will be rendered, the books will be closed and everyone’s fate is sealed.  It will be a solemn day of acknowledging our sins and seeking God’s forgiveness and mercy. Therefore, we should spend the 10 days between the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement contemplating our lives and service to God, repenting for our sins and proclaiming His faithfulness and grace. Prophetically speaking, I believe that these 10 days will be a time of second chances for those who are still alive on the earth to determine if they will repent and turn their lives over to Jesus Christ; recognizing the price He paid to redeem them.

     We need to understand that the shedding of blood has always been required by God for the forgiveness of sin, and it always will be. That is why the Messiah had to die and shed His blood for us. That is the good news. We have a Redeemer who exchanged His blood for ours. The debt we owe, for both intentional and unintentional sins, was paid by Yeshua through His death on the cross. All we have to do is accept His sacrifice on our behalf.

     The third and final Feast in this month of September is Sukkot, otherwise known as the Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Booths. Sukkot, which begins five days after Yom Kippur, is a seven-day period during which Jewish People look back into the history of Israel and remember their forty-year period of wandering in the wilderness.  To us Christians, the Feast of Tabernacles represents the Lord’s shelter in the world to come and His great Tabernacle that will exist in Jerusalem in the Kingdom Age.  The Lord will establish His Tabernacle in Jerusalem and the world will come each year to appear before the King and worship Him (Zechariah 14:16-17).  

     But there is another picture that presents itself during this final Feast.  Historically, it was also a  celebration of the fall harvest and the Lord’s bountiful provision.  Prophetically, it is a picture of the harvest of souls that will come at the End of this Age.  Jesus will return, judge the nations, and establish His throne on the earth in Jerusalem. But there is also a sense in which these holy days also reflect the life of every believer. 

     Jesus came to offer us new beginnings (Feast of Trumpets), and to live in our hearts at our new birth.  As He required the shedding of innocent blood to reconcile Himself with Israel (Yom Kippur) so He shed His own Blood to reconcile Himself with us. As He dwelt with the Israelites in the wilderness of Midian (Tabernacles), so He dwells with us in this wilderness of Earth. “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age,” (Matt 28:20).  Even so, we eagerly await the sound of the heavenly trumpet that announces His return! Come Lord Jesus! (Rev. 22:20).  And as we celebrate the beginning of the Fall Feasts of the Lord this coming Sunday, you can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah. Are you ready to receive Him?

Numbers 29:1    On the first day of the seventh month, you shall have a holy [summoned] assembly; you shall do no servile work. It is a day of blowing of trumpets for you [everyone blowing who wishes, proclaiming that the great Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles are now approaching]

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.