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.

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

                   Lamm & Vanbeckervoort

                   Published by Stichting Zoeklicht (foundation)

                   copyright 2017

Behold, the Lamb of God!

                                                       

This time of year sees the world celebrating the resurrection of Jesus.
The Gospel of John opens with both a declaration and a depiction that reminds us of the purpose and identity of Jesus:
"The next day John (the Baptist) saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!...Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!"                                                                             John 1:29-36

The New Testament also closes with both a declaration and depiction of Jesus as the Lamb of God. The angels, elders, and creatures of heaven are declaring loudly:
"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing!"           Rev. 5:12

"Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready."                                  Rev. 19:7

"The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light."                               Rev. 21:23

The name of "Lamb" is given to Jesus because on Passover, He was the sacrifice for sin on the cross, and our Father's provision for our deliverance from death. He rose from the dead on the third day after Passover. His association with Passover has a deep importance for His acceptance by the Jewish people, as well as a contextual and spiritual meaning for Gentile people. God decreed the blood of the Passover lamb thousands of years ago in the Torah as He delivered His people from the bondage of the Egyptians. He revealed Passover's prophetic significance in the New Testament/Covenant with Jesus' death on the Passover feast. The term "Passover" in Hebrew includes the meaning of "a sacrifice made that provides a sparing immunity from penalty and calamity". Yet centuries ago, the Church, as a whole, made a decision to separate the sacrificial Lamb of God from the Passover, and instead to calculate the date of His death and the celebration of His Resurrection each year from the date of the Vernal Equinox, the arrival of spring.
This would be error enough, but in addition, by making this change, the Passover Lamb of God has become associated with the goddess Ishtar, with Easter becoming the name given to His day of resurrection. This day is celebrated with new spring outfits, elaborate bonnets, and with cartoonish depictions of bunnies and eggs. While these springtime activities seem harmless enough and pleasant, and provide "fun" for our children, the goddess Ishtar, was a vile, destructive creature. She was the Assyrian/Babylonian goddess of fertility, love, war, and sexual promiscuity. Those whom she chose to "love", were eventually reduced to slavery, and then destruction. Her worshippers would construct tabernacles, or booths (Succothbenoth), of idolatrous prostitution. In her various identities, depending upon the culture, she was considered the personification of the planet Venus. She was not just associated with carnality, but she also carried weapons of war.
Her legend also includes an account of her descent into the Underworld, that should give all Christians serious pause. Ishtar's plan was to violently storm the gates of the Underworld in order to bring the dead back to earth to kill and consume the living. It would be a counterfeit, demonic version of resurrection. Why would we, as Christians, want to be any part of that? Why would we want to associate our Savior with that?  In the beginning, this mixing of Jesus' greatest gift to us with pagan worship was a decision made by the Church that may even have been done with good intentions. However, man should not think that he can change and "improve upon" the will and word of God, especially regarding His beloved Son. Now the tradition is continued perhaps in ignorance. However God gives a strong warning in His word that His people are destroyed from their ignorance and lack of knowledge (Hos. 4:6).

If we remove Jesus, the Lamb, from the delivering power, timing, and deeply prophetic meaning of Passover, which was commanded by God to be taught to all our generations as an everlasting ordinance (Ex. 12:13-14), we lessen the meaning of His resurrection.

The Apostle Paul also exhorted the New Testament Church to observe the true meaning of the Passover:
"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
 

If we associate Jesus' death and resurrection with a pagan goddess instead of the Passover, we have placed a barrier to faith and knowledge of Messiah before the Jewish person, and robbed the Gentile of the full meaning of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. We have created a spiritual mixture that does not bring the Lamb the glory He deserves. 
In past examples, as God's people mixed His name with the names of idols, He delivered them into the hands of their enemies, and they suffered the consequences as He removed them out of His sight (2 Kings 17 and 18). By continuing to manipulate the date of the Resurrection, and celebrate it as Easter, we do the same thing, creating the same mixture, by joining the sacred with the profane. 

Jesus certainly did not separate Himself from the Passover. On the night He was arrested:

"... He said unto them, "With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not anymore eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God."                                                        Lk. 22:15-16

With His suffering, death, and resurrection, Jesus fulfilled the Passover, as He, the Lamb of God, was purposed to do. Let us connect the Lamb again with the Passover in our understanding, and in our hearts. He desired and suffered so much to fulfill it on our behalf.

 



                                                                                   

                                             Above: Matza incl. Afikomen, Unity Bag, cup of wine  

                                                        

 

                                                      

                                                            Above: Seder plate with lamb shank

 

 



 

Above Depiction: Blood of the Passover Lamb applied to the doorposts and lintels