Tag: Passover

Mysteries and Miracles

One mystery miracle that is sometimes overlooked is:

The Rending or Tearing of the Temple Veil.

Recorded in three places in the gospels of Matt 27:51,

“And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, He gave up His Spirit.

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

The earth shook and the rocks split.

The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life” (Matt.27:50-52 NIV). 

Luke 23:45 and Mark 15:38 – “Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”

In the Temple, The Holy of Holies is also called the Most Holy Place, inner sanctuary, oracle, and inner house and represented the dwelling place of God here on Earth, or the Throne of God.

It was only to be entered once a year, on the Day of Atonement, and only by the High Priest.

In Solomon’s Temple, the Holy of Holies was 20 cubits long, 20 cubits wide, and 20 cubits high.

(Note: A cubit is approx. 18 inches, so the Holy of Holies in Solomon’s Temple would have been about 30 feet by 30 feet by 30 feet in today’s unit of measurement.) The height of a 6ft man = 4 cubits.

The temple complex was huge and to understand the scale of it, makes the torn veil of greater significance. To get a better idea compare the size of the people.

Entrance into the Holy of Holies.

To enter into the Holy of Holies in Solomon’s Temple, the High Priest had to pass through a curtain, or veil (2 Chr. 3:14), gold chains (1 Kgs. 6:21), and two doors (1 Kgs. 6:31).

The veil separated the Holy Place or Temple, where the High Priest made the sacrifice and the Holy of Holies or Most Holy Place.

The sacred veil or curtain, called the peroketh, represented an inter-dimensional veil that shielded the Unseen, Unfathomable Lord of hosts, from the rest of His creation. 

The curtain in Solomon’s Temple is in 2 Chronicles 3:14: it was described as a “veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work and worked cherubim on it” which separated the Holy of Holies, the Kodesh Hakadashim, from the rest of the Temple.

This is very similar to the description of the veil leading into the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle in the Wilderness.

Exodus 26:31 “And thou shalt make a vail [of] blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made:”

The veil was then hung on four pillars like the

 Throne of God which rested on the four cherubim in heaven.

The Curtain of Separation

History seems to indicate that there were two curtains in Herod’s Temple: One at the huge gated entry into the Temple and the other separating the Holy of Holies and the main sanctuary.

God Himself thought so much of the importance of the type, as shown by the tearing of the veil:

Matt 27:50-51 “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split.”

If we don’t understand the meaning in Scripture of the Holy of Holies and the veil, we miss out on extremely significant information concerning exactly what Messiah’s death meant to sinful mankind.

To comprehend why it was a miracle we need to understand that the curtain separated the Holy Place from everyone but the High Priest.

The Holy Place was where the presence of God dwelled on the mercy seat.

The curtain was a constant reminder to the Israelites that their access to God depended on another physical human, and that this access was only granted through the physical works of the sacrificial system. 

Exodus 26:31 – “You shall make a veil woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen.  It shall be woven with an artistic design of cherubim.

You shall hang it upon the four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold.  Their hooks shall be gold, upon four sockets of silver.  And you shall hang the veil from the clasps.” 

At the Moses tabernacle replica the high priest worships just outside of the Holy of Holies.

“Then you shall bring the ark of the Testimony in there, behind the veil.  The veil shall be a divider for you between the holy place the Most Holy.  You shall put the mercy seat upon the ark of the Testimony in the Most Holy.”

According to Israelite Hebrew teachers /rabbinic sources, the Sacred Veil that was made for the Temple of Solomon was actually made by layering multiple sheets of colored linen together.  The curtains overall thickness was said to be over three feet.  The highest and most Holy of days in the life of a Israelite/Hebrew, is the Day of Atonement, on this day, the Lord of hosts left His throne of justice and moved to the seat of mercy to meet with the Tzaddik of Israel, the High Priest as he entered the Most Holy Place.

One can only imagine the High Priest blindly navigating through the maze of thirty layers of linen sheets, together with the censor smoking incense in one hand and the blood of the ram in the bowl in the other hand.

As his world became darker and darker, he soon found himself standing in the presence of the Lord in complete darkness.

Without any sensory sight to help him, standing in the presence of the Lord would have been very disorientating.  He had to lean on faith and trust explicitly on the Lord to shield and protect him, for to touch the ark of the Lord would mean instant death. Then as the Lord promised the High Priest, “I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat”.

In the temple of Herod, (in Jesus’ day), the massive temple veil(s) were 60 feet long, 30 feet wide with multiple woven layers the thickness of a man’s hand (approx. 4”).

(See account of Historian Josephus at the end.)**

These curtains/veils were not the flimsy material we have as window dressings today.  

It was woven in 72 squares and was so heavy that over 300 priests were needed to move or change the squares.

The curtain itself was hung in the Temple on a huge stone lintel. It was over thirty feet long and estimated to weigh about thirty tons (60,000 pounds).

In a Letter to Hedibia, the early church father, Jerome, wrote that the during the rending of the temple Veil, the lintel that held the Veil was splintered, broke up and fell to the ground.

The lintel was an enormous stone, being at least 30 feet long and weighing some 30 tons!

Though this event was in the midst of a great earthquake, the portents to the High Priest and the Sanhedrin occurring at the moment of the death of Jesus/Yeshua were ominous.  Even with the collapse of the lintel, the huge curtain would have fallen to the ground, but the historical testimony states that “the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom”. (Matthew 27:51)

The unseen Hand of the Almighty One sent a message to Caiphas, Ananias and all the other temple rulers.

The curtain being torn from top to bottom was a foreboding omen, indicating that God’s hand had torn it in two and that His presence was leaving that Holy place.

The judgments of God, as portrayed over the preceding three hours as Jesus hung on the cross, would be visited upon His own temple, His own people, and upon the evil followers of the temple rulers.

The rending of the veil is recorded in the gospels as if it were observed from the site of the execution of Jesus.  It seems the only place in the vicinity of the Temple of Herod, that had a visual view of the Eastern Gate looking down upon the temple, with a view of the veil in front of the Holy of Holiest, was on the western slopes of the Mount of Olives near the Miphkad Altar, where the ashes of the red heifer were burnt.

Consistent with the Gospel accounts of the death of Jesus and the independent testimonies of the Hebrew Talmud, Josephus, Tactitus, and early ante-Nicean fathers of the Christian Church, the final moments of the life of Jesus were surrounded with cataclysmic events and fateful portents.  These portents shadowed the esteemed high priest’s family, the House of Ananias and the temple hierarchy all the way to the final destruction of that glorious temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE. 

It is also significant how the natural world was rent and torn, while the agony of the Suffering Servant was demonstrated on that cross before the Jewish people.  We must understand again, that the death of Jesus was not a human event but a cosmic event.  The Book of Job gives us a heavenly scene where in the Council of heaven the ‘sons of God’ met and deliberate.  It was here in this council that Satan went to represent this earth.  How?  There in the Garden, when Adam chose to disobey God, Satan wrestled away from ‘this’ son of God his dominion as ruler of this planet and his role to sit in that cosmic council in heaven.  There Satan known as ‘HaSatan’, which translated means ‘the Accuser’, has been representing this planet before the throne of God.

It was not just the followers of Jesus, the rulers of the temple and the Roman soldiers that watched the unfolding of this great “Drama of the Ages”. The other dimensional hosts in the universe; the sons of God and the angelic hosts all watched with bated breath and horror as the Son of God gave up His life. This was evident in the darkness of those hours.

Here, was THE moment of time, when Jesus/Yeshua cried out again with a loud voice, “It is Finished and bowing His head, He gave up His spirit” (John 19: 30) or as Luke testified, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” (Luke 23:46) and “yielded up His spirit”.  (Luke 27:50)

“It records the rending of the Temple-Veil in two from the top downward to the bottom; as the second, the quaking of the earth, the rending of the rocks and the opening of the graves . . . while the rending of the Veil is recorded first, as being the most significant token to Israel, it may have been connected with the earthquake, although this alone might scarcely account for the tearing of so heavy a Veil from the top to the bottom.” 

The only place where a Passover (Pesach) lamb could be killed was in 
Jerusalem (Yerushalayim).

Mount Moriah, the exact same place where Abraham and Isaac had been willing to offer his life.

On the fourteenth of Nisan, at the third hour of the day (9:00
a.m.), the high priest (Cohen
 HaGadol) took the lamb and ascended the altar so he could tie the lamb 
in place on the altar. Exactly the same time on that day, Yeshua was tied
 to the tree on Mount Moriah (Mark 15:25).

The time of the evening 
sacrifice was (3:00 p.m.) for Passover (Exodus [Shemot] 12:6), the high 
priest (Cohen HaGadol) ascended the altar, cut the throat of the lamb
 with a knife, and said the words, “It is finished.”

(These are the
 exact words said after giving a peace offering to G-d.)

At this same 
time, Jesus/Yeshua died, saying these exact words as recorded in John (Yochanan) 19:30.
 Yeshua died at exactly 3:00 p.m. (Matthew [Mattityahu] 27:45-46,50). 

 

Roman time was calculated on 6 a.m. as the first hour of the day, as day breaks. Jesus/Yeshua died at the ninth hour, which is 3 p.m.

Between the evenings (Plural) is when the Passover lamb was killed.

This is a Jewish term. There are two evenings in the Jewish day. The first is the beginning of the suns waning, which is Noon. The second is the beginning of the darkness as the new day begins, avg. 6p.m. (Don’t think this strange, for in most of the western world the day begins at midnight, in the middle of the darkness.) Between the evenings as given in Exodus means 3 PM.


Picture Jesus’ loud and painful cry “it is finished” (Jn.19:30), as the Roman solder plunges a spear deep into His side and His life Blood drains to the ground.

At the same instant, the Temple veil tears apart as a powerful earthquake shakes Jerusalem.

Furthermore, picture the high priest who, having just condemned Jesus to death the night before, was splashing the blood of Passover lambs against the altar of God.

When Jesus cried out “it is finished” and the curtain tore, the relationship between God and humanity was altered forever. The tearing of the curtain of separation from top to bottom, forever opens the way for all humanity to eventually fellowship directly with God the Father. 

The significance that Jesus/Yeshua dies at the same moment that the lamb in the temple was killed cannot be over emphasized. It was God’s perfect timing, because it was at this point the earth quaked and the veil tore right where the High Priest was standing.

Their shock and astonishment was understandable.

   None of these events ‘just happened’, it was all part of God’s plan and His plan is still in motion.

The colors of the veil are very significant and are the same colors that are used in the garments of the High Priest.

Blue: We have learned about the significance of the color blue representing the Law of God.

Red: The color red represents the blood of Jesus Christ as our Passover sacrifice. It also represented the red ribbon of Rahab, which pointed to the inclusion of the Gentiles in salvation.

Purple: The color purple, which combines both blue and red, points us to the Royal Priesthood, which combines both the salvation given to us through the sacrifice of Jesus and our love of God shown through our obedience to the Law.

White: on the High Priest’s garments represents our clean garments as we prepare ourselves as the Bride of Christ and also the perfection of Jesus Christ.

Gold: To these four colors was added gold. In the Tabernacle in the Wilderness we see that the Ark of the Covenant located in the Holy of Holies was also made of gold. God’s presence was in the Ark and it was also the receptacle of the Holy Spirit. As the High Priest symbolizes the living Holy Holies/ Sanctuary, that we are today, the gold represents the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit in us. Just as the gold was interwoven amongst all the other strands of material, so too Holy Spirit ties all the members of the Body of Messiah together.

Therefore, by passing through the four-colored veil, it was looking forward to our perfect High Priest, Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah.

The symbolism of the veil was, that it was there to exclude all mankind, UNTIL the sacrifice of Jesus as High Priest. Jesus the Messiah could enter once and for all with His own blood to provide access for us, so that Holy Spirit, as the tangible power of God, could dwell among men.)

When Jesus died and the veil in the Temple was torn in two it ensures that we all may boldly approach the Throne of God in prayer, through our High Priest, Jesus the Messiah (Heb. 4:14-16).

Consider the enormous significance of this monumental and historical event in the following references:

This is the moment in time that Jesus spoke of to the woman of Samaria when he foretold that the existing worship system would be abolished, and that those who wanted to worship God would no longer need to travel to a specific location to worship:

“The woman said to him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where it is necessary to worship. Jesus said to her, Woman believe me that an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem . . .. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth” (Jn.4:19-23 Para.).

No longer would a physical man be required to offer animal sacrifices for sins. Any who truly worship the Father can now stand before him and present their own cause to him, knowing that he will hear and consider their prayer because of the sacrifice of Jesus the Christ.

With the tearing of the curtain, all who worship God, whether Jew or Gentile, have access to the throne of mercy by the one and final sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.

See Heb.4:15-16; 6:18-19; 9:1-15; 10:19-22.

“For through him we both have access by one spirit to the Father. Now therefore you are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Eph.2:18-19 KJV).

 

Historical References of interest:

** “Josephus reported that the veil was 4 inches thick, was renewed every year, and that horses tied to each side could not pull it apart.  It barred all but the High Priest from the presence of God, but when it was torn in two at the death of Jesus of Nazareth (see Mark 15:38), access to God was made available to all who come through him.”  (Even at face value, this is an enigmatic note, in that Exodus 26 describes the Tabernacle, and the veil that was torn in two was part of Herod’s Temple.  Ryrie’s representation of “the veil” certainly implies that the veil that Exodus describes is the veil that Josephus describes, which is to be identified with the veil that was torn in two.) before these doors there was a veil of equal largeness with the doors. It was a Babylonian curtain, embroidered with blue, and fine linen, and scarlet, and purple, and of a contexture that was truly wonderful. Nor was this mixture of colors without its mystical interpretation, but was a kind of image of the universe; for by the scarlet there seemed to be enigmatically signified fire, by the fine flax the earth, by the blue the air, and by the purple the sea; two of them having their colors the foundation of this resemblance; but the fine flax and the purple have their own origin for that foundation, the earth producing the one, and the sea the other. This curtain had also embroidered upon it all that was mystical in the heavens, excepting that of the [twelve] signs, representing living creatures. (Historian Josephus Wars of the Jews: Wars 5.5.4)

Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah.

The Veils before the Most Holy Place were 40 cubits (60 feet) long, and 20 (30 feet) wide, of the thickness of the palm of the hand, and wrought in 72 squares, which were joined together; and these Veils were so heavy, that, in the exaggerated language of the time, it needed 300 priests to manipulate each.  If the Veil was at all such as is described in the Talmud, it could not have been rent in twain by a mere earthquake or the fall of the lintel, although its composition in squares fastened together might explain, how the rent might be as described in the Gospel.

Maurice Henry Harris, Hebraic Literature (M. Walter Dunne, 1901).

Three hundred priests were told off [sic; the idea is that they were designated] to draw the veil (of the Temple) aside; for it is taught that Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel declared in the name of Rabbi Shimon the Sagan (or high priest’s substitute), that the thickness of the veil was a handbreadth. It was woven of seventy-two cords, and each cord consisted of twenty-four strands. It was forty cubits long and twenty wide. Eighty-two myriads of damsels worked at it, and two such veils were made every year. When it became soiled, it took three hundred priests to immerse and cleanse it.     Chullin (Harris, pp. 195-96)

The veil was one handbreadth thick and was woven on [a loom having] seventy-two rods, and over each rod were twenty-four threads.  Its length was forty cubits and its breadth twenty cubits; it was made by eighty-two young girls, and they used to make two in every year; and three hundred priests immersed it.

 

A Lot Can Happen In A Week

  During the process of gathering and assembling all the pertinent information for the Spring feast posts; the reality of the facts and the multiple events surrounding our central focus became clearer than ever before. At best we are prone to forget, at worst we ignore all the activity and miracles taking place on and around the same time as we remembered the Passover.

Even though the week has physically passed, it is still highly relevant as the halfway point, (25th day) to Pentecost is called the 2nd Passover. A 2nd chance to prepare our hearts. For these are His Divine appointments. 

This particular year, everything changed. What had been in the planning and on hold stage, prophetically rehearsed for millennia, was now taking place and unfolding in real-time.

Although many of these events are recorded in all four Gospels, those here are primarily followed in Matthew  chapters 20-28 and John 12.

Prior to the start of passover week,

Jesus/Yeshua raises Lazarus from the dead no doubt one of the last events

that made the chief priests decide to do something about Him, but they did not want to do it right on the festival of Passover. 

In Luke 12:20–21 the Greeks asked Philip to take them to Jesus. In verse 24, He taught on the seed falling to the ground, prophetically declaring what was about to occur in His own life. 

John 12: 28 God’s voice came from heaven, “and I did glorify and I shall glorify again” the crowd heard thunder.

In verse 29, an angel spoke to Him and 

He begins by prophesying that He will be betrayed and the chief priests and scribes will condemn him to death.

 James and John were arguing who would sit on his right or left hand. 

Verse 30 Jesus heals two blind men. He touched their eyes and

immediately they received their sight and followed him.

Then He tells the disciples to go to Bethphage, near the Mount of Olives and to bring the donkeys colt, fulfilling Zechariah 9:9

Then the triumphal entry as recorded in

John 12:12, the next day he entered Jerusalem on the donkey.

Jesus weeps over Jerusalem because they miss their appointed time of visitation.

In John 16:23; His teaching to ask the Father in His Name.

John 17. The whole chapter Jesus prays for all believers.

 verse 12, Jesus went into the temple but before-hand, He purposefully and thoughtfully made a whip

and then turned over the tables in the temple courtyard where the merchants were trading animals and birds for the temple sacrifices and drove them out.

vs. 14 The blind and lame came to Him and He healed them.

This displeased the chief priests and scribes and was the final straw to them trying to get rid of Him.

 He went to Bethany and stayed there

John 12:16 also tells us that days before Passover, Jesus came to Bethany.

John 12:19 was the withering of the fig tree,

then John records in 12:12-9, the crowd saw it and then the high priests wanted to kill Lazarus after Jesus raised him.

John 12:23 He was teaching daily in the temple and the chief priests and elders came and challenged Him.

Vrs 31- 41 He warned them and then verse 45-46 they realized was He meant.

Chapters 22 and 23 He continued teaching and called them hypocrites,

verse 24, He left the temple and went and sat on the Mount of olives,

here He tells them of the events that are going to take place in future.

chapter 25 teaches the parables of 5 wise

and 5 foolish virgins.

Also the

and the separating of the sheep and goat nations.

 Chp. 26:2 He tells the disciples that after two days is the feast of the Passover and the Son of Man will be betrayed to be crucified.

Chapter 26:3-5, the chief priests, scribes and elders talked to Caiaphas and consulted how they might take Jesus and kill him.

Matthew 26:6 Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper.

Matthew 7-13, 19 is the record of the woman who washed His feet with her tears and emptied her alabaster box of precious ointment over Him which Jesus stated prophetically, was in preparation for His death.

Jesus tells Simon He knows what he is thinking and declares that the one who is forgiven much, loves much.

14-16 Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests and they gave him 30 pieces of silver.

17- Jesus tells His disciples to go and make ready for the seder meal and the Passover

23 24 Jesus tells that one of them there will betray Him

26 He takes the bread and the cup and institutes communion as we know it.

John chapter 13:4-7 if after supper He took a towel poured water into a basin and washed the disciples feet.

John 36: Jesus prays in Gethsemane – Gat Sh’monim, which means olive press. This was an enclosed grove with its oil press.

And olive grove was not a garden, we know it better as Gethsemane.

Vs.40 Peter, James and John could not stay awake one hour, three times He goes to the disciples and they were sleeping each time.

Jesus sweats blood with the stress of the burden of the world’s sin that he is taking upon Himself. Luke 22:44 and Mark 14:33, 34 tells us that He almost died at this point.

There is some scientific data confirming that under extreme stress, blood will be forced through capillaries to the skin surface, appearing as if blood is being sweated.

Verse 43 He saw an angel. 

47-49 Judas arrives with the chief priests and elders of the people and betrays Jesus with a kiss.

John chapter 18:5–7 Jesus spoke ‘I am that I am’, ‘Anochi’, with such a powerful authority and anointing they all fell backward to the ground.

and the rest to follow…….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not Passing Over

This time of the year is one of the 2 occasions upon which Christians mainly focus, and it deserves more than a casual glance. If we believe the confession of our faith then we need to understand its beginnings as best we can. This season is at the very core of our beliefs and without it there would be no resurrection and no hope.

In the Hebrew language Passover is

For some this may be a bit long, but the conviction that it was important to share outweighed the whispering to keep it short! So this is in case there are others out there who for many years have never seen the similarities of the sacrifices of the lambs and of Jesus in relation to the Hebrew Feast. If we’ve never really studied the Feast rituals and preparations before, the commonalities never dawn on us.

After all THIS IS THE VERY CRUX OF OUR FAITH and there should not be anything more important.

He gave His life for each one of us and its an indicator of the grateful attitude of our hearts when we take some time to remember why we call ourselves Christian Believers in Jesus the Messiah.

No condemnation or judgment here, only information and loving encouragement. Even the disciples had a hard time praying for an hour with Jesus. 

It’s true, Israel had been observing these Feasts for 1,400 years before Yeshua’s birth. The Appointed times of the Lord have been kept for some 3417 years although it seems ‘new’ to Christian believers in fact it’s not ‘new’ at all.

 

LEVITICUS 23 is the single chapter of the entire (Tanakh) Bible that sums up everything. God’s eternal plan – from chaos to eternity – is ingeniously revealed through the nature and timing of the Seven annual Feasts of the LORD.

In taking a fresh look we come to realize that the entire human race now exists between two of these feasts, and as sacrifice is the major feature of the feasts, our knowledge and understanding of them can only enhance our faith.

“The Lord’s APPOINTED TIMES which you shall proclaim as HOLY CONVOCATIONS – MY APPOINTED TIMES ARE THESE.  In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the Lord’s PASSOVER.” (Leviticus 23:1,5)

Here’s How The Week Unfolded

Passover (Pesach). Leviticus 23:5 specifies that the festival year begins with Passover on “the fourteenth day of the first month” (Nisan 15). Passover is the Feast of Salvation. In both testaments, the blood of the Lamb delivers from slavery – the Jew from Egypt, the Christian from sin.

Everything is connected.

Think about the tenth plague in Exodus 12:5, when Egypt’s first born sons died while the angel of death “passed over” the Israelites homes with the blood of the lamb on their door posts. In the New Testament/B’rit Chadashah, Jesus serves as the sacrificial lamb.

It is no coincidence that our Lord Himself was sacrificed on Passover.

The tenth of Nissan was the day that the lamb was chosen and taken to the house and family that would on Passover offer it up. The mystery is in what we call Palm Sunday, it is in reality the 10th of Nissan, the day of the lamb.    

  (see previous post)  https://www.minimannamoments.com/palm-sunday-nisan-the-appointed-time-of-the-lamb/

As the people of Jerusalem were leading the Passover lambs to their homes Messiah was being led from the Mount of olives into the city gates. The bringing in of Messiah to the city with palms and hosannas was actually the fulfillment of what had been commanded from ancient times.

The bringing in of the Lamb.

On the day when the Passover lamb was to be brought to the house, God brought the Lamb of God to his house, to Jerusalem, and to the temple. Just as the lambs of the tenth of Nissan had to be sacrificed on Passover by those who dwelt in the house, so too the Lamb of God would be sacrificed on Passover by those who dwelt in Jerusalem.

The Lamb of God had to come to the House of God that the blessings of salvation could count. So it is only when you bring a lamb home when you bring him into the place where you actually live your life, when you bring Him into every room, every closet and crevice only then can the fullness of the blessings of salvation begin. Exodus 12:3 Matthew 21:1–11

The lamb became a part of the family just as pets today are family members. This made the sacrifice very much harder to do but the meaning is clear. The love bestowed on an innocent lamb caused emotional response of remorse, guilt and sadness for the lamb they loved was to die in their place because of the need for a blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin. How much more should the tears of repentance flow from each of us as we remember the sacrificial death of the guiltless Lamb of God.

Living in this timeframe after Yeshua’s birth, death, resurrection and ascension, we get the bigger picture that the original instructions point to.  This makes the Feasts extremely relevant and exciting for us.  Not only do we get to remember the Exodus, but we also remember Jesus Yeshuas’ first coming during the Spring Feasts, and the Fall Feasts yet to be fulfilled, focus on His return.

APPLICATIONS OF THE FIRST 3 FEASTS

Passover (Pesach)

Unleavened Bread (Hag HaMatzah

First Fruits (Bikkurim)

FEAST                                                      HISTORICAL ASPECT

  1. Passover (Pesach)                    Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage
  2. Unleavened Bread (Hag HaMatzah)      The going out of Egypt
  3. First Fruits (Bikkurim)                               Crossing the Red Sea

FEAST                                                      MESSIANIC FULFILLMENT

  1. Passover (Pesach)                     Death of Yeshua on the tree
  2. Unleavened Bread (Hag HaMatzah)   The Burial of Yeshua
  3. First Fruits (Bikkurim)                            Resurrection of Yeshua

FEAST                                                  SPIRITUAL APPLICATION ( Halacha )

Passover (Pesach)      Repent (Teshuvah) and trust by (Emunah )in the shed blood of Yeshua

Unleavened Bread (Hag HaMatzah)   Sanctification and separation from evil represented by water immersion (Mikvah)

First Fruits (Bikkurim)                        Walking (Halacha) in newness of life

We have the benefit of hindsight, but the Israelites couldn’t see what was ahead. They had no idea they were foreshadowing God’s plan of redemption for all mankind but centuries of going through those motions helped them prepare for that future.  Consider that just by following the instructions with no other understanding, their faithful Israelite descendants were in Jerusalem for that very important Passover Week, which is when Yeshua was crucified, buried and resurrected. Deut 16:16  instructed them to be in Jerusalem for this week.

They would’ve missed these events if they hadn’t been observing the dates and location.

The Feasts are God’s appointed days for all time.  These are dates that He’s chosen to fulfill His plan for mankind – a plan He’s not yet completed.  These dates will still play a significant role in His timeline for the future.

The Spring Feasts are the exact days Yeshua fulfilled His mission for his first coming. The Fall Feasts are all about Yeshua’s second coming.

Typically we think of the Spring Feasts as a time to remember – the Exodus and Yeshua’s death on Passover, His resurrection on the Feast of Firstfruits, the giving of the Torah and the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.

The first Passover occurred over 3500 years ago in Egypt and it is by far, the oldest celebration continually kept by any group of people in the history of mankind. Exodus 12:18-20 where He instructed the people to sacrifice a lamb, place its blood on the doorpost of the house, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Each part of the Passover meal was significant and symbolized something that was important for the people of God to remember about His plan of redemption.

To appreciate the background of the feast, read Exodus12:1-13:10. There you will find that Passover, which was an evening meal that took place as the sun went down on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Abib (also called ‘Nisan’), and Unleavened Bread, which was a subsequent week-long festival that began as the Passover meal was eaten. They were originally a commandment from God to mark and save His people from the death that would befall others who did not have a heart to heed His words.

As every man was to select for his household a lamb without spot or blemish and he was to select this lamb on the tenth day of the month. Then he was to observe this lamb for five days to make sure there was nothing wrong with him. There could be no fault (spot or blemish) found in this lamb.

On the fifth day, he was to bring the lamb to his doorstep and kill him.

As he killed the lamb he would catch the blood in the basin at the foot of the doorstep then using a hyssop branch to smear the blood on both sides of the doorpost and above the doorpost so the entire entrance into the house was covered by the blood of the lamb.

Hyssop is a weed – a lowly plant. It has spongy leaves and a woody stem.

Exo 12:22 Hyssop was used to dip and apply the blood to the doorposts at Passover.

Lev 14:4-52 and Num 19:6,18 Hyssop was used in the cleansing of lepers (a picture of judgment on human pride) and in cleansing the tabernacle.

Psa 51:7 David’s repentance: “Cleanse me with hyssop.” John 19:29 Jesus on the cross was given sour wine in a sponge on a stalk of hyssop.

Hyssop is a picture of humility.

This was done on the evening of the 14 day (twilight). Remember, the Hebrew day begins in the evening at approximately six o’clock in western time.

The Hebrews killed the lambs at three o’clock in the afternoon on the 14th in order to eat the meal by six before the day of Passover feast ended.

The family then entered their house through the blood-stained door where they were protected from the plague of death that was to move through the land.

Now here comes an interesting part.

According to the instructions, the entire lamb was to be roasted and consumed. Nothing could be left over for the next day.

In preparing the meal, not one bone of the lamb was to be broken. This instruction required that the lamb be roasted on a spit shaped like a crossbar so that its body could be spread open.

Although the family went inside the house and couldn’t see the blood covering, they had faith that God would save them because of it.

They were saved by grace through faith in the blood of the lamb which they could not see.

This should sound familiar to us.

Also notice the shape of the doorway and as Jesus said He was the Door notice the similarities to the Hebrew letter CHET

The prophet Isaiah spoke of the suffering this human lamb would experience. He wrote a very clear, graphic description, which is recorded in Isaiah chapter 53. We often skip over this as it tends to make us very uncomfortable.

Yeshua Se Tamiym – Yeshua Our Pesach Lamb – Jesus Our Passover Lamb

As the precise moment came in God’s timeline for the substitutionary human lamb to be sacrificed, the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and God came to earth in the manifestation of Jesus to live among us, to go through everything we as humans have to endure and become the sacrifice for our sins. God sent one last prophet to help the people recognize Him, John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus. John introduced Jesus with these words:

“Behold the Lamb of God!”. (John 1:36)

It would have had a profound meaning to those who heard as they all understood the appointed time of the Passover Lamb and had been rehearsing it every year their whole lives.

In John 12:1 it says that Jesus came to the town of Bethany six days before the Passover. Since the Passover was celebrated on the 14th, this means that Jesus came to Bethany on the ninth. John also gives us more information to show that Jesus entered Jerusalem on the tenth according to John 12:12-13. He says that it was the next day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem.

 In other words, He came into Jerusalem on the exact day that God told the Jews to set aside their lambs back in Egypt.

Jesus was fulfilling in Himself the ultimate reality of the Feast of Passover.

As earlier mentioned the purpose of setting the lamb aside was to observe it to make sure that it was without spot or blemish. This lamb was to be offered to God. Since God is perfect, no lamb that was blemished (physically or with fault) could be sacrificed, so the Jews observed and tested the lamb for five days to make sure that it was faultless. The same was done to Jesus by the religious leaders.

They questioned His authority, they asked Him trick questions hoping He would somehow give a wrong answer that they could use against Him. They did everything they could to discredit Him so that He would not be an acceptable sacrifice.

Of course you know the story, Pilate said he could find no fault in Him. (John 19:4). This all happened in that five day period from the tenth to the 14th while the Jews were checking their lambs for the sacrifice.

Jesus was crucified on the 14th ( the same day as the lambs) and to be even more precise the same hour of the day. At the exact hour when the Jews were preparing their lambs for sacrifice, Jesus was nailed to the cross. (9:00 am, the 14th), they were killed at 3:00pm, so that Passover could be completed before six pm which would begin a new day.

To summarize this, Jesus gave His total self to be roasted and consumed in the judgment fires of God as He died for our sins.

The spit shaped like a crossbar on which the lambs were spread open pointed to Jesus hanging on the cross. All the other details concerning the death of the lambs happened to Jesus, the real Lamb of God. For example, His bones were not broken. Remember, God said not to break any bones in the Passover lamb (Exodus 12:46, Number 9:12; Psalms 34:20).

When a person is crucified, the body sags so that they cannot breathe. This causes them to push themselves up with their heels just long enough to take a deep breath.

To hasten a person’s death, a Roman soldier would break his legs; thus, he would not be able to push himself up to get air.

John records that the soldiers broke the legs of the two thieves , that were next to Jesus, but they saw Jesus was already dead, so they didn’t break His legs.

They also offered a combination of ingredients in a drink that would help to numb the pain Jesus refused as He wanted to remain alert to experience it fully.

God had specifically instructed the Israelites to consume the whole lamb. Nothing was to be left over for the next day. (Exodus 12:10). This was also the case with Jesus. The Jewish religious leaders, not realizing they were carrying out God’s plan, hurriedly had Jesus’ body taken down before six o’clock. 

The Passover lamb was a visual aid and dress rehearsal directing the Jews into the future when Jesus would come and establish the spiritual reality that the lambs could only symbolize. The blood of Jesus saves us from death and gives us the promise of resurrection.

“For Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Cor.5)

 The sacrificial blood of animals had no power to pay for our sins – they only served to remind us that we are sinners and that a divine sacrifice was still needed. Our text shows us that Jesus was that divine sacrifice which ended all other sacrifices.

In Jerusalem, on this Passover, the Lamb of God carried His cross and willingly laid down His sinless life to save all those who would receive Him as their Savior. Though He was without guilt, unlike the little Passover lambs who cried, He remained silent as He was falsely accused during His trial but for those who have received Him as their Savior and their Lord, there is a silence of the lambs.

But This As You Know Is Not The End Of The Story…..but for now…

To all 74 subscribers and to any visitors. Enjoy the Holyday weekend which without Messiah and the events above would not be on our calendar.