Chapter 11.13
Passover
Death Angel Passover – Red Sea Passover – Cross
Passover
Good Friday – The Sacred Assembly – The meal -
Leaven
First Word
While
the word “PASSOVER” is well known, it’s pretty
much just a word or a meal that was eaten some 2,000 years ago by the Hebrews. But its meaning reaches so much farther than a
meal. It is that every person should
personally feel that they too had come out of Egypt… Remembering the Blood.
Death Angel Passover
Passover is derived from
the Hebrew verb pesah; meaning to pass over; to spare; skip,
hop. It comes from the Bible account of the Death Angel passing
over the Hebrew’s first born children, striking the first born of the
Egyptians.[1] This was the TENTH and final
plague placed on the Egyptians by God through Moses that finally got them
delivered out of the hands of Pharaoh and the land of Egypt.
All Ten plagues against the Egyptians were
actually plagues against their gods to show that their gods were nothing; they
were helpless.
Pharaoh sees
himself as a god: The King was believed to be the
incarnation of Horus the son of “Re” the sun god… Pharaoh was all powerful…
Life and death was in his word.
Ten in scripture is the number for
Government; it represents Judgment… the Law… as an example; the law of the Ten
Commandments. The tenth
judgment and final plague was that the first born child of every Egyptian
family would die; from the slave girl to the Pharaoh; including the first born
of all their cattle.[2] On the 14th of Nisan; a
distinction was made between the Egyptians and the Israelites;[3]
the land of Goshen would not experience the death plague. There would be such tranquility among the
Israelites that not even a dog would have an occasion to bark, but among the
Egyptians, mourning could be heard everywhere.
With death at their doorstep, Pharaoh’s
advisors were telling him, it might be a good idea “to let the people go”, in fact let’s help them
go; “Send
them out of the land in haste”.[4]
Archaeologists have uncovered
coffins with the inscriptions; “That night of slaying of the firstborn”. Other inscriptions say; “That day of the slaying of the firstborn”.
Judgment has now come on
Please get this…
It was God
Himself that invoked this tenth plague and told the Hebrews that
“When I see the blood, I will PASSOVER you”.
Exodus
12:12-13 –God personally brought the tenth plague on the gods of Egypt
12 "On that same night I will
pass through
13 The blood will be a sign for you on the
houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No
destructive plague will touch you when I strike
Red Sea Passover
With
Pharaoh in hot pursuit, the entire Hebrew nation safely PASSED OVER the Red Sea that day of deliverance. Pharaoh had said “Who is the Lord, that I should obey Him?”[6] Floating DEAD face
up in the Red
Sea, Pharaoh and his entire army would NEVER
Pharaoh personally owned the Hebrews
slaves; when he died they were no longer legally his. The Jewish Midrash teaches
that the Red Sea did not begin to part until the Hebrews stepped into the
water.[8] This teaches us that Redemption has been made
available, but
we must CHOOSE to step into the water.
Life is choice driven.
The Cross Passover
FYI - The Sanhedrin was the
religious court system of Judaism. The
head of it and the Jewish high Priest were appointed by Rome. (This is what you call; stacking the deck)
Jesus, the Lamb was examined and found
without fault; he was without blemish.[9]
When Jesus was crucified on the cross, He made it possible for Death to PASSOVER us. God Himself had provided the Passover
sacrifice.[10] Jesus became the sacrificial Lamb of the PASSOVER and when God sees His Son’s blood on the
door post of our life, death will pass over
us and we will LIVE forever with Him.[11] We
have been redeemed from the power of sin and death.
When the Son has set you free, you are free indeed.[12]
Good Friday
The slaughter of the Lamb
was to be performed by the families’ father, not the Priest. On Friday the doors to the Temple were opened
between 3 and 6 pm for the Father of each family to bring his lamb in to sacrifice its life for
their family.
At the very same time, God the Father sacrificed His ONLY Lamb; His Son on the
cross for His family. Without the shedding of HIS blood there can be no forgiveness.[13]
The smart people
say the next day was Passover and that would be (our) April 7, 30A.D.
The Sacred Assembly
To commemorate the “Passover,”
God gave Moses instructions on just how it was to be REMEMBERED.
It was to be celebrated 14 days after the new moon of the first month of
Nisan
also called Abid
which falls between March and April.[14] I know this sounds weird, but their year
started when the planting season started based on the new moon. Passover started on the evening of the 14th
which technically would be considered the beginning of the 15th, Saturday the
Sabbath.
Passover is the most important religious event in Israel.[15]
The meal is also known
as the “Seder
meal”; Seder in Hebrew means “Service.” The Feast of the Passover
combined with the Feast of Unleavened Bread is a seven day celebration with the main feast
the first night commemorating the last meal the Jews ate before they hurriedly
left Egypt. Traditionally the Lamb was
slaughtered in the temple precincts, but was celebrated and eaten in their
homes with other families. The meal was
traditionally taken reclining on the floor and would include the stipulated
ritual hand washings and the four cups of wine at specified
points in the meal. (Mixed; 1 part water, 3 parts
wine).
The
atmosphere was of worship, prayers, vows, vigils, promises, ritual washing and
the sacred meal followed by rejoicing with music, shouting and dancing.
The eldest son of the household would ask Four Questions at the Seder meal; 1) “Why is this
night different from all the others?” 2) Why the use of unleavened bread
and bitter herbs, 3) Why the dipping
of vegetables, and 4) Why the cushions at
the host’s chair; at which the
father would read excerpts from the Bible as well as the Haggadah; these readings
told the story of how the death angel had PASSED
OVER them
and how God had delivered the Hebrews out of Egypt.
The host would recline back on cushions recalling the ancient
mode of eating. The main purpose of
re-telling the story of Israel’s redemption was to
bring praise to God for His
mighty ACTS; His miracle of
deliverance. Following the explanations
of the Passover they would sing the Hallel (Psalms 113-114) or the Great Hallel (Psalms
120-136).
Today the celebration is twofold: 1) The Jews
rejoicing that God delivered them from their enemies
and their future as Gods children; 2) The celebration
of Jesus delivering them from their sins
and the expectancy of His return.
During the meal there was FOUR CUPS of wine; Jesus
did not drink the fourth cup. When we as saints are raptured, we will
sit at the marriage supper and take Holy Communion with
Christ and He will drink “The Fourth Cup” with us”.
Passover Meal
Water: A dish of salt water for washing the hands
represented the tears
of the slaves.
Red Wine: As the feast progressed, their cup would be
refilled four times with RED wine
representing the blood.
The Lamb: A one year old
male lamb without blemish was roasted whole; not boiled, and was eaten without
breaking a bone in his body.[16] It was called the “Paschal Lamb” and was eaten with
the bitter herbs. Jesus was the Lamb of God; not a bone in His body was broken.[17]
NOTE: Traditionally
the Paschal
Lamb must be eaten before sunrise
with none left over for the next day. If
it was leftover it MUST be burned; no
lamb could be slaughtered just for one single person; if a lamb was too much
for a small family they would join with other families to eat the Paschal
lamb. For a larger group of families, if
the Paschal Lamb was not large enough they could have a second Lamb called a Chagigah
and it was OK to save the
leftovers from that lamb for the next day.
NOTE 2: It might be fun to know that the tail of a sheep
or lamb could contain as much as 15 pounds of FAT; this was the
richest part of the fat and was offered as a sacrifice to God. [18]
Bitter herbs salad consisted of bitter lettuce, chicory or endive; today, Jews use grated
horseradish or onion, parsley and watercress.
It was symbolic of how the Egyptians embittered their life during
captivity.
Haroset sauce or fruit pulp
was grated apples, chopped nuts, sugar, cinnamon and sweet red wine mashed
together into a texture resembling mortar, making a thick dip. It represents the mortar of Pharaoh’s building
projects.
Unleavened bread;
Two
varieties 1) Wrapped
in a napkin, there were three wafers of bread such as Matzos; which had a
texture like a cracker. 2) Another type
resembled nut or date bread and was thick and heavy. Unleavened bread represented that there was no
time for bread to rise with leaven because of their quick flight out of the bondage of Egypt.
Other dishes; a hardboiled
egg and sweet vegetables also for dipping.
The very first
Passover,
they were to eat the meal inside the house and not outside, [19] fully dressed with their sandals on and their
staff in their hands and their “kneading bowls” bound up in the clothes on
their shoulders ready to go. [20]
The Sabbath… Just to get you all upset; the smart people’s Belief System is that at some point the early Christians
started having two church services on Sunday; one in the early morning and one
at night with the hours chosen for secrecy for the sake of those who WORKED ON THE
SABBATH. Go figure.
Leven at Passover
A candle light search
of the house was taken to “Seek and Destroy” all leaven in the house.[21] In
other places
in
scripture it speaks of leaven as being EVIL;[22]
symbolic of SIN.[23] Just saying
Jesus is the True Bread of Life; an unleavened
life without malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread
of sincerity and truth.[24]
Symbolically
the believer should “Seek and Destroy”[25]
the sin in their own personal life so as to match up with their position as
believers in Christ.
The Take Away
Josephus, the Jewish Historian writes that the
number of people celebrating the Passover Feast could swell to three million
people; others say it was only 180,000… Either way is was still a lot of
people.
The Greek word “Eucharist” (Pronounced; Yoo-Kuh-Rist) means “gratitude” or the giving of
thanks and was used in conjunction with Holy Communion of the bread and wine.
The Greek word “Koinonia” is translated; Fellowship, Communion or Sharing.
Passover is the REMEMBERANCE of the shedding of blood of the LAMB. Both Times.
Just as the ordinance of Baptism came to take the place of Circumcision;
the ordinance of “The Lord’s Supper” or communion
eventually took the place of the Passover meal.
We
celebrate the Passover when we partake of “THE
LORD’S SUPPER”
[1] Exodus 12:21-23 – The
Blood on the lintel and the two doorposts will be a SIGN for the death angel to
pass over you.
[2] Exodus 11:4-6 – The FIRST BORN throughout Egypt shall die
[3] Exodus 11:7 – A
Distinction - All Israel is pasted over; saved
[4] Exodus 12:33- Send them
out of the land with haste
[5] Exodus 12:12 – Judgment had come on the MANY GODS of Egypt.
[6] Exodus 5:2 - Who is the LORD, that I should obey Him
[7] Exodus 14:27-28 – The Sea
went back and drowned the Egyptians
[8] Exodus 14:21-22 – The Sea
parted and they PASSED OVER
[9] John 19:6 – The Lamb was
spotless with no fault found in Him -- John 1:29 – Jesus is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin
[10] Genesis 22:8 - God
Himself will provide the Passover Lamb
[11] Exodus 12:13 -When I see the blood, I will PASSOVER you
[12] John 8:36 - You are set
free; if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed
[13] Hebrews 9:22 – Without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness
[14] Leviticus 23:4-5 – Passover is at Twilight on the month of Nisan or Abib (March-April) 14th
[15] Exodus 12:14 – Passover is an everlasting ordinance
[16] Numbers 9:11-12 - Not one
of the LAMB’S
bones will be broken
[17] Psalm 34:19-20 – Prophecy
- Not one bone of the LAMB
will be broken -- John 19:36 - Not one of CHRIST’S bones will be broken
[18] Leviticus 3:16 – ALL THE FAT IS
THE LORD’S
[19] Exodus 12:46-47 – The
Passover meal must be eaten inside one house
[20] Exodus 12:11 – Eat with
belt and sandals on, with your staff in your hand. -- Exodus
[21] Exodus 13:7 – No leaven in all your quarters; where you live
[22] Matthew 16:6 – Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees
[23] 1 Corenthians 5:6 - A little leaven (sin) leavens the whole loaf
[24] 1 Corenthians 5:7-8 – Let
us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither
with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but
with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth
[25] Exodus
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