Introduction
Passover xop is a very interesting word. What does the word mean?
The Messiah Jesus, who is the incarnate virgin born Son of God became weak and was “bruised” for us so that all who trust Him for salvation can be skipped over for the punishment of sin. The incarnation is the belief that Jesus is part of the Trinity, the Elohim of Genesis 1:1
Urah taw Mymsh ta Myhla arb tysarb as the Word of God and by the Word, Jesus, all was created.
John 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. … as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Passover’s place on God’s calendar is hnsh sar Rosh Hashanah, the first month of the year. This change in the calendar represents the passing away of the old nature, Adam’s, and the “new birth” of all who will believe. We are no longer in the year 5774 since Adam but in the year 2014 since the Messiah. (Note: Both the Jewish and Gregorian calendars are off by several years. See note on the Feast of Trumpets calendar section.)
It is very important to take into consideration the chronological order of the Feasts of Leviticus 23 and correlate them with the redemption of mankind. Since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden Nde Ng there is nothing as important to mankind and the world than this redemption.
Genesis 3 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, … I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
The entire world was cursed when mankind fell
Genesis 3:17-18 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
ולאדם אמר כי שׁמעת לקול אשׁתך ותאכל מן העץ אשׁר צויתיך לאמר לא תאכל ממנו ארורה האדמה בעבורך בעצבון תאכלנה כל ימי חייך
וקוץ ודרדר תצמיח לך ואכלת את עשׂב השׂדה
Romans 8 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
All of the feasts of Leviticus 23 were part of a covenant and were a type of something even greater that was going to take place in the future. The Passover set free the Children of Israel from the “house of bondage” which was Egypt. The greater fulfillment of that feast gave the entire world a new covenant hsdx tyrb which sets free all who will accept it. This new covenant hsdx tyrb is mentioned in Jeremiah 31:31
tyb ta ytrkw hwhy Man Myab Mymy hnh
hsdx tyrb hdwhy tyb taw larvy
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant hsdx tyrb with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Photo from the Scroll of Jeremiah
This new covenant hsdx tyrb was consummated by the blood of Jesus The Messiah xysmh ewsy, as written in Luke 22
And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament hsdx tyrb in my blood, which is shed for you.
Compare these two covenants.
Specifically the ordinance of Passover and the ordinance of communion
Every year in Jewish homes throughout the world Passover begins on the 15th day of the month of Nisan, which typically falls in March or April of the Gregorian calendar. Passover is an evening service to be conducted at home with the family gathered around the table where the teaching is conducted. It is a memorial service where the food and teaching is centered on the first Passover almost 3,500 years ago. Many times this “different” service will bring questions to the children’s minds as they join in with excitement. They start asking questions such as the ones listed in the next three slides.
Exodus 12:24-27 And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD’S passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses.
Deuteronomy 6:4-7 gives instruction for the parents to teach their children about the Lord.
Deuteronomy 6
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Many people have a problem believing that Jesus was the promised Messiah of Israel because since He paid for our sins on the cross is seems He did not deliver us from our problems and the world has become more inhospitable and death still reigns. The question is asked, “where is this ‘great’ deliverance”?
The Passover xop in its fulfillment by the death and burial of The Messiah for the sins of the Earth is only one aspect of the Feasts of Leviticus 23.
The next feast, First Fruits rme, is the fulfillment of the resurrection.
The feast of Weeks twewbs tells what happened to those who were “born again”.
At the next feast, Trumpets hewrt God calls His people from the Earth to Heaven.
Following this is the feast of the day of atonement
Myrpk Mwy where the Earth is covered with blood in judgment.
The last feast Tabernacles twko is what we all have been looking for, eternal peace on Earth with the reign of The Messiah in Jerusalem.
The first covenant brought death, even to Moses.
וימת שׁם משׁה עבד יהוה בארץ מואב על פי יהוה
Deuteronomy 34:5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.
Numbers 20:11,12 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.
James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
The 10 Commandments are written twice in the Torah, first five books of the Bible, once in Exodus 20:2-17 and in Deuteronomy 5:6-21. The photograph below is the Exodus writing of the 10 Commandments.
The Hebrew word al as seen on line 22 following means “do not”.
The New Covenant
Reconciling Law and Grace – They both point us to the promised redeemer.
Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Galatians 3:21-24
The change from eating a full Passover meal to using the two small items in remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice for us originated in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 59 A.D. in the letter Paul wrote to the church in Corinth.
(Notes added in black) Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper. (the words Lord’s supper denote the following: “supper, a feast especially a formal meal usually held at the evening,”) For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? (Only a few people in the church could afford to bring a full Passover meal to church and apparently they were not sharing what they had with the poorer believers.) What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. (This is the example Christ gave to us at the Passover meal the night of His arrest. All were to share from a single broken piece of unleavened bread. This would make for a very small piece if many were in attendance.) After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. (This is also the example Christ gave to us. Everyone was to share from one cup indicating there would be a very small amount for each.) For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, (In these verses in 1 Corinthians 11 we can see the third element necessary for a Passover, bitter herbs. Later in this study on Passover the bitter herbs and examining will be discussed in detail.) and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, (A “born again” person will never suffer the “second death” removal from God’s presence. However when this child of God sins he will be corrected by The Father as seen in Hebrews 12:1-11.) not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come.
The word communion is used in relation to the bread and cup in 1 Corinthians 10:16-17. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.
Communion simply means fellowship. So instead of gathering to eat a full evening meal we gather to fellowship around Christ.
Once a year for 30 years a Passover Seder, service, was conducted in St. Louis, Missouri where all the teaching and elements of Passover were observed. This was not done as an ordinance of the church but was an evangelistic Bible study where many thousands of Jews and Gentiles studied the Teaching of Moses and the life of Jesus the Messiah.
