OT Origin | FEAST PASSOVER The Jewish people celebrate Passover as a commemoration of their liberation by God from slavery in Egypt and their freedom as a nation under the leadership of Moses. Christians SHOULD celebrate Passover because Jesus was crucified on Nissan 14th, the “Day of Preparation”, just hours before Passover starts. |
Messianic Relevance
For more on Yeshua’s Crucifixion |
Liberation from the slavery in Egypt. Read (Exodus 12) | On the fourteenth day of the first month (Nisan) in the afternoon, the Seder (a special meal) is prepared. In the evening, it will be eaten: A lamb, bitter herbs and unleavened bread (matzoth). (Exodus 12:8) Since the destruction of the temple 70 AD, the lamb is left out. |
On the fourteenth day of the first month (Nisan) in the afternoon, Jesus (The Lamb of God) was crucified and dies around 3PM Jesus’ body was placed in the tomb at twilight Luke 23.44. He would have been buried before sunset because of the approaching Sabbath, for that Sabbath day was a high-day (John 19.31). Liberation from the slavery of Satan, of sin. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:36) |
Readings: Ex 12:21-51 Numbers 28:16-25 Joshua 3:5-7;5:2-6:1 Joshua 6:27II Kings 23:1-9 Ezekiel 37:1-14 Deuteronomy 15:19-16:17 |
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The blood of the lamb protects against the destroyer, the Angel of Death. „He will see the blood on the top and sides of the door frame and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.” (Exodus 12:23) | Passover (Hebrew Pesach) means: “to pass over, to skip” | Through the blood of Jesus, we have eternal life. Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. (John 5:24)
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Peter 1:18-19) |
A flawless male lamb, one year old. (Exodus 12:5) A male lamb (sheep or goat), one year old: Not a helpless little lamb! | The Lamb of God was clearly prefigured by the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham (the Akedah), was central to the redemption during the Exodus from Egypt, and was later offered daily upon the altar at the Tabernacle (קָרְבָּן תָּמִיד) as the “pattern” or vision of sacrifice given to Moses during the great revelation at Sinai. | Yeshua, Jesus was without fault: (Isaiah 53:9) or God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor 5:21) For more on Yeshua’s Crucifixion & Resurrection on Passover |
No bone of the lamb may be broken. (Exodus 12:46) | No bone of Jesus has been broken. (John 19:31-36) | |
During Passover – sometimes called the Festival of Unleavened Bread – no chametz may be eaten for a full seven days – from the 15th of Nisan through the 22nd of Nisan (Exod. 12:15-18; 34:18). That means no leavened bread products of any kind may be eaten during this time. This is explicitly stated in the Torah (Exod. 12:15): | 3 matzoth are served. The middle one will be broken in two, and one half hidden. After the meal, the children are sent out to find it. Then, every member of the family eats a small piece. This half of the middle matzoth is called AFIKOMEN.Rabbinical tradition has two different explanations: 3 Matzoth: Priests, Levites and Israelites (the people) or Abraham, Isaac and Jacob |
The trinity of God — 3 matzoth: Father, Son and Holy SpiritThe Messiah — the middle matzoth
Jesus body is broken for us all (Lord supper) AFIKOMEN can be traced back to the Greek word afikomen(αφικωμεν). It is the 1. person plural aorist active of afikneomai(αφικνεομαι) and means WE CAME. |
Isaiah 53:4-5 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. |
The matzoth are full of “stripes” and they are “pierced”. | Jesus body is covered with stripes and is pierced. (1 Peter 2:24 / John 19:34). He says: I am the bread of life. (John 6:48)If anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever. (John 6:51)
He has been born in the house of bread (Bethlehem) and was put in a vessel, which is designed to eat out of it (manger).
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OT Origin | 2. Feast: Feast of Unleavened Bread | Messianic Relevance |
For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses. (Exodus 12:15) Notice that the prohibition of chametz is not limited to the festival of Passover and Unleavened Bread, since all of the minchah (meal) offerings banned its presence from the altar of God in the Mishkan (Tabernacle):
– No meal offering that you offer to the LORD shall be made with leaven (chametz), for no leaven (se’or) or honey may be turned into smoke as an offering by fire to the LORD. (Leviticus 2:11)
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Leavened *bread was the normal fare for the ancient Israelites (Hos 7:4). Several texts speak of omitting the leaven for various religious purposes. Directions concerning the *Passover rite, for example, insist that leavened bread could not be eaten for seven full days (Ex 12:15). In fact, leaven could not be stored within the Israelites’ houses (Ex 12:19), or even exist within the entire territory of the nation (Ex 13:7; Deut 16:4). On the night before Passover eve, the house is searched for yeast (or leaven), and all which is found will be burnt. | Yeast, a symbol for sin (1 Cor 5:7-8) *sin within their church body (1 Cor 5:6; Gal 5:9). Expelling the sin from their body was akin to removing leaven, similar to what the Israelites did to prepare for the Passover. |
In Hebrew, leaven is called se’or (שְׂאוֹר) whereas a leavened product is called chametz (חָמֵץ). In ancient times, se’or was as a lump of old dough allowed to reach a high level of fermentation (sometimes called sourdough or yeast). When the piece of sourdough was kneaded together with a mixture of flour and water, it accelerated the rising process and created chametz (today yeast or baking powder function as se’or). | Each day Psalm 113-118 are recited: Halalu Yah! Praise YHVH | Leaven is considered a corrupting influence, a hidden uncleanness that manipulates purer elements. Like the influence of a lump of leaven in a batch of dough, “spiritual” leaven functions as our ‘evil inclinations’ within us that corrupts and sours our soul. As such leaven is considered a metaphor of sin which we are commanded to put away from us. The removal of leaven is a metaphor of our sanctification. |
Starting the 15. of Nissan, exclusively unleavened bread is eaten for 7 days. | Jesus body is buried (put into the ground): Unleavened bread (he was without sin).I tell you the truth, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. (John 12:24) |
OT Origin | 3. Feast: Feast of Firstfruits | Messianic Relevance |
When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the LORD so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath.(Leviticus 23:10-11) | In biblical times and today again, on the first day after Passover – Holiday (Sabbath), the feast of Firstfruits is celebrated. | Yeshua, Jesus resurrection. He is the First Fruit.But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. (1 Cor 15:20)
James calls believers “a kind of firstfruits of His creatures” (James 1:18). Just like the sheaf of grain was set apart for the Lord, so are believers set apart for God’s glory. |
Firstfruits was a time of thanksgiving for God’s provision.
Leviticus 23:9-14 institutes the firstfruits offering. The people were to bring a sheaf of grain to the priest, who would wave it before the Lord. A burnt offering, a meal offering, and a drink offering were also required at that time. Deuteronomy 26:1-10 gives even more detail on the procedure of firstfruits. |
The word “Easter” goes back to a Teutonic/ Germanic/ Anglo-Sax godhead “Eostera”. Behind this is the Babylonian goddess “Ishtar” Where did we get the word “Easter”? Did you ever hear of the Ashtaroth, the fertility goddesses mentioned in the Bible? The Hellenization of Ashtaroth Ishtar is transliterated into English as Easter. Have you ever wondered about the Easter egg and the Easter bunny and all of the other concepts and ideas connected to this festival? Where did they come from? Would it surprise you to find out that this is another pagan custom that was brought into the Church? |
OT Origin | 4. Feast: Shavuot (Pentecost) | Messianic Relevance |
The first time, Moses received the ten commandments on stone tablets and the whole law about 7 Weeks after the death of the Passover lambs in Egypt (Exodus 19). The law on stone tablets |
6. Sivan: Commemoration of the giving of the law | The disciples received the Holy Spirit (Acts 2) Jeremiah 31:32-34 The law of life in your heart |
When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. (Exodus 32:19-28) 3000 Men died! |
With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptised, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. (Acts 2:40-41)Because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2) 3000 Men came to true life! |
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Readings:Exodus 19:1-23 / Ezekiel 1:1-28; 3:12 I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north– an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The centre of the fire looked like glowing metal. (Ezekiel 1:4) | Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:2-4) | |
From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the LORD. (Leviticus 23:15-16) | Shavuot (Hebrew) means “weeks”: The Feast of Weeks. Pentecost goes back to the Greek penteconta “fifty”. The Jews start counting “Omer” the 16. Nissan. They count the 50 days. | |
From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two tenths of an ephah of fine flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits to the LORD. (Leviticus 23:17) | Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Church has been created. It does not consist of people, who are without sin, but they are all “baked with yeast”. Nobody but Jesus alone was without sin! Two loaves: Gentiles and Jews!? |
OT Origin | 5. Feast: Feast of Trumpets | Messianic Relevance |
On the first day of the seventh month hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. It is a day for you to sound the trumpets. (Numbers 29:1-6) | Since the second century BC ( other sources mention the eleventh century AD), this day is celebrated as the Jewish new year: Rosh Hashanah. Earlier (biblically) the new year starts the first of Nissan! | The trumpets will announce the second coming of Jesus: For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thess 4:16-17) see also 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 |
To sound the trumpets: To call the community (Israel) together for … (Numbers 10). | For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. (Ezekiel 36:24) | |
In Israel’s religious ritual, she utilised two different kinds of trumpets. One was long and flared and made of silver (Numbers 10:2). The other was a ram’s horn and is called in Hebrew the shofar. | To sound the trumpets is a remembrance of the grace of God against Abraham, when he supplied a ram as sacrifice at the place of Isaac. This is why at Rosh Hashanah, the shofar will sound in the Synagogues over the whole world. |