Precision Timing, Precision Rehearsal: Pesach

 

Examining the Passover Lamb

 

  

 We have previously discussed the fact that the seven feasts of the LORD have prophetic significance. The Ekklesia (the called out assembly of God's people) should be aware of their importance. Being "holy convocations", the feasts are "holy rehearsals" for special events connected directly to the Messiah, Jesus. The feasts are part of the example, shadow and pattern of heavenly things shown by God to Moses on the mount (Ex. 25:40, Heb. 8:1-6). So there is a precise pattern to follow for the feasts.

There is also precise timing given for the feasts. There are specific dates given by the command of God for all of them according to the lunar calendar. Part of the creation was manifested for the purpose of precise timing:

"And God said, "Let there be lights  (cheerfulness, joy, candlestick, to become light, to shine) in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs (signal, banner, monument, miracle, distinguishing mark), and for seasons (appointments, fixed times and place of meeting, assemblies, to summon, to betroth), and for days, and years."                                                                       Gen. 1:14

Fulfilments of prophecy do not happen at just any time, but at the precise timing of God. So it is also with the feasts. Although the Gentile Church, in an effort to separate itself from the Jews and from the Torah, tried to change the timing of the feasts by using the solar calendar instead of the lunar calendar of the Hebrews, God's exact timing prevails. The Ekklesia should be made aware of this precise prophetic timing, and the glory it brings to the Father, Son, and Spirit.

The first of the spring feasts of the LORD is Pesach (Passover), on the 14th day of Nisan. Nisan is considered by God to be the first month of the year. "Nisan" translates from the Hebrew as "their flight". The month of Nisan is associated with deliverance (see Neh. 2:1, Est. 3:7), and Pesach is a feast of deliverance. It marks the event leading to the Israelites' deliverance from slavery in Egypt. They used the blood of a lamb applied around their doors to protect them from the angel of death sent by God to plague Egypt. Following that last plague, the Hebrew slaves were released by Pharaoh.

In this same manner, the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus, delivered us, and continues to deliver, from the slavery of sin, and death. When the Church continues to separate the crucifixion of Christ from the feast of Pesach, it causes people to miss the incredible details of fulfilment which God precisely timed and set in place to declare to all generations, both Jew and Gentile, His miraculous salvation and deliverance prophesied beforehand through His feast. Let us marvel at some of the prophetically precise details and timing within the feast of Pesach:

Nisan 10-

• The High Priest would travel to Bethany, or Bethlehem, to carefully choose from thousands, the one lamb to be sacrificed for the nation on Pesach.

         During this same time, Jesus was in Bethany with the family of Lazarus.

• The High Priest would set apart the lamb he had chosen for the Passover.

         Mary anointed, or set apart, Jesus with spikenard.

• The High Priest leads the chosen lamb into Jerusalem, where crowds proclaim and sing from Ps. 118:26, "Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD."

         Jesus entered Jerusalem as crowds waved palms and declared the same verse.

Nisan 10 through14-

• The Passover lamb is examined for any faults. It must be without blemish.

         During this same time, Jesus was questioned and examined by all of the following: scribes, priests, elders, Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians (Mk. 11 and 12), Herod, and Pilate (Lk. 23), at which time Pilate announced:

   "I, having examined Him before you, have found no fault in this man..."  Lk. 23:14

Nisan 14-

• The Passover lamb chosen for the nation, is sacrificed at approximately 3 PM with the Levites singing from Ps. 116-118:

        "The sorrows of death compassed me...and the pains of hell: I found trouble and    sorrow... I am Thy servant...Thou hast loosened my bonds...

The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner..."

          At approximately 3 PM, on Nisan 14, Jesus died on the cross. He might even have been able to hear from Calvary the above singing of the Levites at the temple as He died.

The historian Josephus gives an account of a typical Passover sacrifice of thousands of lambs at the temple, one for each household, which preceded the sacrifice of the one lamb chosen for the nation. He describes the blood and rinsing water flowing into the aqueducts from Jerusalem, through the Kidron (to grow dark, to mourn) Valley, and into the Hinnom (lamentation, the river that separates Mt. Zion from the "hill of evil counsel") Valley, which in the Greek is called "gehenna", or "hell". In this valley, idolatrous sacrifices were made, including, historically, the burning of children, and where the garbage of Jerusalem was burned continually. The blood of the Pesach lambs, mixed with water, flowed down into these valleys.

On the cross, Jesus' body poured out blood and water from the piercing in His side.

Knowing some of these details associated with the first spring feast of Pesach, and their miraculous fulfilment through the events of the days leading up to, and including, the crucifixion of Jesus, gives us greater understanding of the precious atoning sacrifice of the Lamb of God. Who but God could sovereignly and precisely direct this eternal Passover deliverance for all men.

To Contact/Give:

PO Box 155

Christmas, Fl. 32709

http://everlastingcovenant.wixsite.com/theshroud

https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8

FaceBook: Kenneth E. Stevenson

PayPal available

Reference: "Wake Up! God's Prophetic Calendar in Timelines and Feasts"

                   Lamm & Vanbeckervoort

                   Published by Stichting Zoeklicht (foundation)

                   copyright 2017

Whose Feasts Are They?

 

Often, those in the Church refer to the feasts ordained by God and revealed to Moses, as "The Jewish Feasts". This is not an accurate label. The LORD describes the feasts to Moses in this way:

"Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, "Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are My feasts."  Lev. 23:2

The LORD calls these appointed feasts "the feasts of the LORD", and "My feasts", therefore these feasts belong to Him. The feasts are to be proclaimed as "holy convocations", or in Hebrew, mikrah kodesh. This holy convocation is a calling together, a sacred assembly. This should bring to mind the definition of the Ekklesia, the Greek word translated as "church": the called out assembly of God's people. Mikrah, or convocation, also means "a rehearsal", or "a practice for something yet to come", so these convocations are a holy rehearsal for a coming event. Those coming events have to do with the Messiah, Jesus, as we shall see. It should be noted that included in these holy convocations, these feasts of the LORD, is the Sabbath (Lev. 23:3), which the Church has chosen to alter until it is unrecognizable, and unobserved. Instead, the Ekklesia should be proclaiming the holy convocation of the Sabbath feast of the LORD with Jesus who said, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Mt. 11:28), and, "There remains, therefore, a rest for the people of God...Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest..." (Heb. 4:9-10).

The Apostle Paul confirms the prophetic nature of Christ in all of the feasts of the LORD when he tells the Church:

"Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ."  Col. 2:16-17

These feasts are (present tense used) a prophetic shadow. They are not a work of the past, but exist in the present, and by their prophetic nature, extend into the future. If this is the case, then why does the Church choose to ignore, or forget, these holy rehearsals of coming events, these feasts that belong to the LORD? The point of the verse above, and of all of chapter 2 of Colossians, is not to tell the Church to ignore the feasts. The purpose is to warn the Church not to allow those who impose onto the observances of the feasts "philosophies, vain deceit, and the traditions of men", all based on the ways of the world. Rather, the Church is to keep the fullness of Christ found in these feasts as their foundation (v.8). Men shrouded the feasts of the LORD with religious legalism and tradition, until the Body of the feasts, Christ, became hidden. Paul said to keep the ultimate triumph of Christ in these feasts. With Christ being the Head of these feasts, the whole Body is joined together, nourished, and "increaseth with the increase of God." (v. 10-15, 19). There is something being "joined together" in the Ekklesia through these feasts. Keep in mind that Paul is writing all of these things regarding the keeping of the feasts of the LORD to a Gentile church in Colossae. These Gentile believers were keeping the feasts. Paul opened this discussion of the feasts by saying they were "the mystery of God and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," (Col. 2:2-3).

While the Church is to reject the religious traditions and legalisms of men regarding these feasts, many have, instead, associated the feasts with pagan customs like Santa Claus, Easter bunnies, and the like, making the resulting observances unrelated in any manner to God's feasts, or to His Word. This wasn't so in the early church.

Paul expected the Gentile church at Corinth to understand his references to Passover, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread:

"Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore 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."  1 Cor. 5:7-8

The very communion we share in the Body of Christ, the Table of the LORD, is from the Passover seder overseen by Christ with His disciples (1 Cor. 11:23-29, Lk. 22:7, 15-20).

When the Ekklesia forgets the feasts of the LORD, we also forget this solemn Word:

"The LORD was as an enemy...And He hath violently taken away His tabernacle...He hath destroyed His places of the assembly: the LORD has caused the solemn feasts (appointed sign, signal, meeting, assembly, betrothed for marriage, set time) and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of His anger the king and priest."  Lam. 2:5-6

We, the Ekklesia, are kings and priests before God (1 Pet. 2:9, Rev. 5:10). We should not be disregarding the importance of all the feasts of the LORD.
As the Ekklesia was taught by the apostles the power, and prophetic shadows of Christ in the feasts of the LORD, it was for the purpose of provoking Israel to jealousy "by them that are no people" (Rom. 10:19). Instead of this, by ignoring, or corrupting the meaning of the feasts, we have in many ways re-built the wall of partition between Jew and Gentile that Christ, having abolished this enmity between the two in His own flesh, made one new man (Eph. 2:14-16). This very thing is part of the above mentioned "joining together" to which Paul refers. We partially nullify the work of Christ in us when we re-build that wall of separation and enmity between Jew and Gentile.
Let us restore the apostolic foundation regarding the feasts of the LORD in sincerity and truth.

To Give/Contact:
PO Box 155
Christmas, Fl. 32709
http://everlastingcovenant.wixsite.com/theshroud
https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8
Facebook: Kenneth E. Stevenson
PayPal also available

The Fall Feasts-The Feast of Tabernacles

Booth (Sukkah)

 

"The Season of Our Joy"

 

The seven day fall Feast of Tabernacles follows the Feast of Trumpets, and the Day of Atonement. It is described in Lev. 23:33-44, and is marked by the building of sukkot, or booths. These booths are a memorial of the booths built in the wilderness when God brought the Israelites out of Egypt. The faithful presence of God in their midst, and His provision for them is symbolized by these booths.

Unlike the other two fall feasts, the identifying characteristic of Tabernacles is the command of the LORD to rejoice in unity:

"Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine: and thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow that are within thy gates."    Deut. 16:13-14

"And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem."   Ezra 3:1

" ...for this day is holy unto our LORD: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength...and the people went their way...to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them."   Neh. 8:10-12



 

 

At the close of this seven day joyful feast of ingathering of fruits, especially grapes from the vines, the latter rains of the year would begin. This feast then also became associated with the outpouring of water, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit:

"For I will pour water upon him who is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thy offspring."  Isa. 44:3 (see also Joel 2:28-29, Isa. 12:2-3)

 

Jesus referred to this when He stood at the Feast of Tabernacles:

"In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, "If any man thirst, let him come to Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." (But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive...)"  Jn. 7:37-39

With this announcement at Tabernacles, Jesus was publicly declaring His fulfillment of this feast as Messiah. No wonder the Israelites were commanded to observe this feast with prophetic rejoicing!

Apostle Paul also speaks of this fulfillment through Christ as that spiritual Rock that followed the Israelites and provided water to them in the wilderness. He said that this example was provided as an admonition for us upon whom the end of the age has come (1 Cor. 10:4, 11). Therefore, the fulfillment of this feast is especially important for us in these Last Days.

Through this fulfillment by Christ, the shadow of the booths of this feast has become the manifestation of the Tabernacle of God among men:

"And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God...And He said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely."    Rev. 21:3-6

"In that day, there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness."   Zech. 13:1

"And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem...and the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD and His name one...And it shall come to pass that everyone that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall come up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles."  Zech 14:8-9, 16

The Feast of Tabernacles is the prophetic shadow of the reign of Christ on earth. It is the day when all things, even the common, shall be "HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD"  (Zech. 14:20)

In Jesus' last discussion with the disciples before His arrest, He spoke of things that should bring to mind what we have learned regarding the feast of tabernacles. He spoke of these things to assure His disciples of the provision that has been made for them in the time that would come. He spoke of the spiritual Vine and its fruit (Jn. 15:5), and of the joy that has been ordained for them, even in the midst of coming persecution (Jn. 15:11, Jn. 16:22, 24). He told them about the Holy Spirit that would come to them ( Jn. 16:13-14), and the unity of the indwelling of the Father and Son in each one, and their unity with each other (Jn. 17:21-23).

All of these things of which He spoke are the fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles in each one of us who believe. We who have received this outpouring of living waters, the Holy Spirit, should, above all, rejoice, being filled with joy unspeakable and full of His glory (1 Pet. 1:8).

Even as God's provision for the Israelites in the wilderness was found in His booths, so our provision in the wilderness of the Last Days is to be found in His Tabernacle with us.

As God has commanded, "Rejoice!".


Hear Apostle Ken Stevenson's full message "Sukkot" on Twitter/Periscope:
https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8

Contact:
PO Box 155
Christmas, Fl. 32709