Hello again! This blog entry will offer a quick word on Passover. It has to do with the study we did yesterday during Sabbath. Yesterday was a special day because it combined a weekly Sabbath with the first day of Unleavened Bread. Passover meal occurred on the preceding evening (Friday near sundown). So we made our Sabbath study about Passover/Unleavened Bread this Sabbath. This study summarizes the FOCUS and PURPOSE of Passover, which is a good way to lay the foundation for understanding Passover ‘ritual’.
Let’s being with a word from my past. When I first began observing Passover back in the 80’s, it was kind of confusing, because I was raised ‘doing’ Easter (Ishtar). But since I quit ‘doing’ Easter many years before taking up Passover observance, I really wasn’t accustomed to doing anything. So I was kind’a lost. First thing I did was look around and see what other Christians were doing about observing Passover. Most of them were Messianics, so they ‘did’ Seders that they got from the Jewish Rabbis, and subsequently modified. I tried that ONCE, but it just didn’t seem right.
After doing a little research on the Seder tradition, I discovered that these Seders are basically Babylonian or other foreign customs merged into rabbinic Judaism. In essence, it’s PAGANISM COMBINED WITH JEWISH TRADITION. I got a confirmation of that from a Jewish friend who ‘converted’ to Christianity. This Jewish tradition reminded me of the Catholic tradition shoved down everybody’s throat by the Herodian Emperor Constantine back in the 4th Century AD. Babylon + Jewish tradition = Judaism; Babylon + Christian tradition = Catholicism. Moreover, the early Christian ‘church’ liturgies and other traditions were based on standard Synagogue practice. So these rituals all share the same basic foundations, even though they may differ in content and appearance.
But like I said in another blog, after 70 AD, and later under Yavneh, “Judaism” and “Christianity” parted ways very distinctly in their formalism. But that’s another story. So basically, I first ‘jettisoned’ Catholicism, then Protestantism, and then Judaism! All that religious baggage had to go in order for me to make a clean start of things to set things aright.
The two points we arrived at yesterday are:
1. Christ and his Apostles changed the FOCUS of Passover from ISRAEL to CHRIST’S DEATH.
2. Christ and his Apostles changed the PURPOSE of Passover from ISRAEL DELIVERANCE FROM SLAVERY to HUMANITY’S DELIVERANCE FROM SLAVERY. By “humanity”, I refer to anybody who believes and practices the truth found in the Bible. I already talked about all that in my COVENANT blogs.
In essence, after Christ appeared, there was a tidal shift from ISRAEL to JESUS CHRIST. It’s that simple! Let’s take a look at what Christ says in the gospel texts about this:
26 While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. 29 But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26)
22 While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.” 23 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” (Mark 14)
14 When the hour had come, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. 15 And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; 18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. (Luke 22)
You can see for yourself that Jesus equated the bread with his body (his life) and the wine with the sacrificial blood (his death) of the required Old Testament offerings. You can also see this “lord’s supper”/”Eucharist” occurred on PASSOVER. You can also see that Jesus promised to have the Passover supper again IN GOD’S FUTURE KINGDOM (when God sends Jesus back to rule the world). Those are the 3 elements we get from the gospels. Check out what Paul has to say about this:
23 For I [Paul] received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. (1 Corinthians 11)
You can see for yourself that Paul uses the same words as found in the gospels. There’s one glaring difference: He explains the saying about God’s Kingdom. In so doing, he explains the PURPOSE for observing the “Christians” Passover: PROCLAIM THE LORD JESUS CHRIST’S DEATH UNTIL HE RETURNS TO RULE THE EARTH. So THAT is PURPOSE of Passover for Christians.
And you can clearly see that ISRAEL is not involved. Instead, the FOCUS is on JESUS CHRIST and GOD’S KINGDOM (which he will rule for God at the appointed time). Granted, Jesus and his Apostles observed Passover like 2nd Temple citizens (with some sort of Seder sanctioned ‘by law’). But that’s not the focus we have in the gospels or Paul. The result: NO MORE FOCUS ON THE NATION ISRAEL. Instead we see these authorities FOCUS ON JESUS CHRIST. Pretty simple when taken at face value.
Here’s the thing about all that: God formed the nation Israel to become the leader of ALL the nations on earth. He wanted them to become “a kingdom of priests” (talked about in another blog). You find that in Exodus 19:6. Peter agrees with this idea, but applies the idea to Christ’s people (“the church”) in 1 Peter 2:9. Therein you again see the tidal shift in focus. That “priestly nation” was God’s PURPOSE for forming the nation of Israel. But alas! Israel refused to obey God, so He punished them, which cut them out of His plan for mankind for the time being. God cut them loose and took up His purpose with Jesus Christ, because “Christ is the answer” to God’s plans for His creation. You can read all about how Jesus Christ provided deliverance/redemption for the human race in the book of Hebrews. Suffice to say that PASSOVER NOW FOCUSES ON JESUS CHRIST, NOT ISRAEL. That’s the big difference between Christians and Jews observing Passover.
Another aspect of this is the way TRADITIONAL CHRISTIANITY views Passover. Most of the world-wide Christian denominations don’t acknowledge Passover. Instead, they split it up into two separate and distinct parts: EASTER and “THE LORD’S SUPPER”/”THE EUCHARIST”. They really don’t know what they’re doing. They really botched it all up. Can you imagine?? Nearly TWO THOUSAND YEARS of TRADITION, and they’ve been WRONG ALL ALONG. One has to wonder who authored THAT! Anyways, most Christian denominations practice the Eucharist on a weekly or monthly basis, or even any time someone calls on the religious minister/priest. But that’s not hardly even remotely what’s in the Bible. Historically, THE EUCHARIST OCCURRED ON PASSOVER EVE. It was a ONCE PER YEAR event. And EASTER WAS NEVER PART OF GOD’S LAW. Easter is a PERVERSION of Christian ideology and practice.
I’m not going to get into the in’s and out’s of Easter. Suffice to say it’s PAGAN and PROHIBITED by God’s law. That’s all we need to know to get back on track. And good counseling would dictate that you REPLACE a BAD old habit with a GOOD new habit. So that’s why we observe Passover. PASSOVER REPLACES THE PERVERTED EASTER AND EUCHARIST TRADITIONS in denominational churchianity. Passover CORRECTS centuries old INSTITUTIONALIZED ERROR. That’s it in a nutshell.
So next year, let’s all observe Passover by FOCUSING ON JESUS CHRIST’S DEATH. By the same token, let’s NOT forget about God’s deliverance of Jacob’s descendants (they weren’t the nation Israel yet!). And let’s remember them as predecessors and examples of God’s deliverance of US from Satan’s kingdom. GOD’S DELIVERANCE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST is what this is all about. And that’s what the stipulations of the covenant are relevant to. We leave Satan’s kingdom, and quit obeying his perverted, morally corrupt “laws” and lifestyles by replacing them with God’s law and being thankful for our redemption in Jesus Christ.
That’s what we got out of this year’s Passover study. It’s FOUNDATIONAL to understanding the FOCUS and PURPOSE of Passover, and what things you do to ‘observe’ the holy day according to God’s commandments in the Bible (more on this in another blog entry).
Thanx for stopping by to share our thoughts on this 2019 Passover event!
Reality Bible 