This blog was inspired by this year’s Passover observance. On Passover I woke up in the morning with the word REMEMBER floating around in my head. So that’s what this blog is about. In other words, we observe Passover to MEMORIALIZE GOD’S REDEMPTION OF HUMANITY BY JESUS’ DEATH WHICH PROCURED THE NEW COVENANT. However, the information I assembled to make my point may not seem like it connects, so I have to rely primarily on appeal to authority to prove my thesis. After all, the info spans a millennia+, so it’s not a simple matter to find material evidence to connect-the-dots. Let me start out by answering this question:
WHY SHOULD GENTILE CHRISTIANS
OBSERVE A ‘JEWISH’ NATIONAL HOLY DAY?
Everyone knows that Passover is a ‘Jewish holiday’, so I won’t get into that. But for us moderns, it really doesn’t make sense on initial consideration for a non-Jew to observe Passover. After all, we have our own Gentile holidays to observe, right? And history shows that Gentiles have been observing their own holidays for the past 2 millennia. Different traditions for different nations, but similar themes among the ‘Christian’ nations, as a general rule. For example, the Europeans and Americas observe Christmas and Easter, as well as various cultural and political holidays. But some Europeans observe Christmas on different dates than Americans do. In America one of the oldest national (political) holidays is Independence Day. Many of the American holidays honor former political leaders and revolutionaries such as George Washington and Martin Luther King, Jr.
During more recent times the ‘idle rich’ have been shoving their evil social agendas down our throats here in America, granting ‘rights’ to and creating ‘holidays’ for moral miscreants, social dissidents and foreign revolutionaries. They have even begun destroying vital national monuments and replacing them with their own Satanic memorials in an attempt to redefine the social narrative. In any case, America has their own set of officially recognized holidays that the people observe. And since this is a nation where ‘freedom of religion’ is foundational, many of the citizens observe non-Christian holidays from their foreign mother country. However, the true meaning of ‘freedom of religion’ is another topic for discussion. The point is, even Christian America has a wide variety of holidays, both ‘Christian’ and non-Christian. But are the American ‘Christian’ holidays truly Christian? Hopefully by the end of this blog you will be able to answer that question yourself, at least for one important church observance.
A thing I learned from studying the history of Christianity is that Western Christianity was inextricably connected to national citizenship. YOUR RELIGION DETERMINED YOUR CITIZENSHIP. And if you changed your religion, you became a social outcast, a political dissident. That’s why there were inquisitions and persecutions during the past 2 millennia. Martin Luther suffered from such evils, just like Jesus’ Apostles did in 2nd Temple Israel. And contrary to popular belief, it was not the religious people who perpetrated all that mass murder over those centuries, it was the governments of those lands. Remember that ‘separation of church and state’ was not known to the peoples of this world until recently.
The reason why religion was state-authored and implemented is because the rulers and bureaucrats wanted uniformity of thinking and compliant action among their citizenry. The wanted obedient slaves. So just like today, they brainwashed the masses using threats of violence against obedient citizens and actual violence against ‘rebels’. They made examples out of those who ‘rebelled against authority’ so the masses would fear and obey all their laws and decrees. It’s no different today in America (or any nation for that matter!).
And who do you suppose determined the theology for those Christian citizens? The government, of course! They did it through their appointed religious authorities and social institutions (church), just like today in America. I blogged about this previously. And let’s not confuse the ‘church fathers’ with today’s type of religious minister. They were not acting independently. They actually worked for the state as their propaganda bureau. Martin Luther is a perfect example of that. They were very sophisticated implementors of their craft. Imagine the work involved in brainwashing the masses without any modern electronic media? No TV, no movies, no computers, no cell phones, none of that. Imagine?! So you have to wonder how much of their religious ‘doctrine’ originated with Jesus? How much of it was true to the Bible? I’m talking about the ideologies developed since the time the Apostles died, all the way up to today. Do you think Jesus would approve of their ‘theology’? How about today’s denominational Christianity?
Once you come to realize that most of your Christian beliefs are government-instituted brainwashing (propaganda), you are then faced with a dilemma about trusting your Christian beliefs. You have to wonder if you can trust anything that you were taught by today’s churches. They claim that they are ‘contending earnestly for the faith once delivered’. But upon closer inspection I discovered that nearly all the church leaders (and religious educational institutions) ignorantly assume that their theologies and creeds are based on good tradition. But the truth is, they are not! They automatically assume that what they learned from their ancestors came directly from Jesus and his Apostles, so you had better not question any of it! I fell under that same spell while going to Bible college. How naïve and trusting I was back in my youth! But now I am convinced that quite the opposite is true, based on the facts of history and personal experience. So today I consider all institutionalized religion, including their institutes of higher education, to be propaganda mills that are devoid of Jesus’ Spirit and God’s will.
So with the above foundation laid for the propagation of wrong beliefs among institutional Christianity, let’s take a closer look at what may very well be the truth about Passover.
A fundamental historical fact about Passover is that it was the basis for The Lord’s Supper (The Eucharist). You can see that in these NT passages:
15 And He [Jesus] 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 [death]. (Luke 22 = ‘The Lord’s Supper’ as instituted by Jesus)
23 For I 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 = ‘The Lord’s Supper’ as administrated by the Apostle Paul)
The above passages reveal that Jesus instituted The Lord’s Supper (The Eucharist) as AN ADD-ON TO THE ‘JEWISH’ PASSOVER. And the Apostle Paul administrated it in the GENTILE churches at Corinth. In those verses you can see that
PASSOVER IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE LORD’S SUPPER
You also see that the purpose for the Lord’s Supper, being the new purpose for Passover, is to
REMEMBER JESUS’ DEATH AS PROCUREMENT OF THE NEW COVENANT
Therein you have the proof for this blog’s theme. As I said above, I resort to appeal to authority (Jesus’ and the Apostle Paul’s) to make my point. Also note that Jesus observed Passover among his fellow countrymen in Israel as ‘a Jew among Jews’. The Apostle Paul observed Passover outside of Israel in Gentile nations as a ‘Jew’ among fellow Jew and Gentile believers in Jesus. We know that Paul was the ‘Apostle to the Gentiles’ (Romans 11:13, Galatians 2:9, 1 Timothy 2:7). The above is undeniable evidence (proof) that the Passover was observed not only among Jews in Israel, but also among Gentiles outside of Israel. You can find more evidence in the Book of Acts and the other Gospels. You will also discover in early church history that the Eastern Gentile churches observed the Mosaic holy days with a focus on Jesus instead of on Israel.
Now let’s revisit my original question. Why would a Gentile Christian observe a Jewish holy day like Passover? Here are the reasons that come to mind:
1. NT AUTHORITY dictates this practice (per the above scriptures).
2. A false and bad rationale is religious brainwashing. Let me explain. When I was in the Evangelical church (and Bible college) the ‘authorities’ brainwashed us with Christian Zionism. In other words, we were taught to be ‘pro-Israel’, which meant that anything ‘Jewish’ was good and that anybody who was anti-Jewish and anti-Israel would be CURSED BY GOD. Ya gotta luv that religious fear mongering! Don’t get me wrong. There’s a proper time for fear, but only the good kind of fear (fear of God’s judgment against people and nations who commit sin). But this kind of religious fear-mongering is just plain wrong. As a result of that brainwashing, I turned to observing the Mosaic holy days after discovering that Christmas and Easter are pagan holidays with a ‘Jesus sticker’ on the outside. I was living a meaningless lie all my life up to that point, and swapped one meaningless lie for another…duh! But that’s what I get for trusting-in man instead of God. As a result, I did the right thing for the wrong reasons. But not any longer!
3. If I didn’t know #1 & #2 above, a good enough reason to observe the Passover (the Mosaic holy days) would be simply because God commands it of His people. Even if you’re naïve and don’t know anything, your child-like good intentions will lead you into doing the right thing. Didn’t Jesus himself say we have to come to God like children? Just so you know, you can read the Passover command in Exodus 12:42. Now I realize that is a direct reference to Israel under the Mosaic covenant, and that Christians are not operating under the authority of the Mosaic covenant. But as we saw in the above NT passages, Passover observance was integral to ‘church’ observances, based on both Jesus’ and the Apostle Paul’s authority. So even if one were to naively obey God’s holy days given to Israel under the authority of the Mosaic covenant, they would (hopefully) eventually discover that they had been doing the right thing all along.
4. In support of #3 above concerning who God’s people are, the Apostle Paul presents a legal theory in Romans 11:15-26 about the connection between Gentile believers in Christ and ‘Jewish’ believers in Christ. He talks metaphorically about the Gentiles becoming part of Israel by using the analogy of a fruit tree having branches from a different kind of fruit tree through the process of grafting. However, this is a topic for another discussion about Israel, God’s promises to Abraham (the Royal Grant type covenant), and the next age when Jesus rules the world (Messianic eschatology found in the OT prophets and NT apocalyptic literature). Paul’s point is, the Gentiles become part of Israel, so technically on that basis, Gentiles believers ARE Israel. But the disclaimer on that is, the Gentiles are not part of today’s physical Israel. Kind of confusing, right? That’s why I’m not going to get into it in this blog (I already wrote another blog on it). But do you see the connection there?
5. In a previous blog I discuss the importance of recognizing the reality and existence of the ‘Jews’ and ancient Israel as proofs supporting the reality of THE HISTORICAL JESUS. This reasoning would be useful more for apologetic purposes than for edification of believers. In that blog I discuss why the modern and post-modern scholastic determinations (that Jesus was a fiction or the Bible’s accounts of Jesus are myths) are just a pack of slick lies concocted by fools posing as intellectuals in order to discredit God’s authority in the Bible and Jesus’ value to humanity. Anyway, the existence of ‘the Jews’ and ancient Israel prove the existence of Jesus, as seen in the historical details.
6. Just like the writer to the Hebrews says, Passover (as part of the Mosaic covenant and resulting Israelite national culture) is a REPRESENTATION of the REAL THING. Paul says the same thing in Galatians 3 (explained in a previous blog). With hindsight we know that the real thing is Jesus and his redemptive work for humanity, whereas the ‘scale model’ is the Mosaic system of government in ancient Israel. Like I point out in a previous blog, the NT focuses on JESUS NOT ISRAEL as God’s agent of redemption.
So, just as Passover marks the DELIVERANCE (REDEMPTION) of Jacob’s (Israel’s) descendants from Egyptian slavery, likewise Jesus’ death marks the DELIVERANCE (REDEMPTION) of the human race from slavery to this world and to the sin that disqualifies us from entering into a relationship with God. Essentially, Passover marks INDEPENDENCE DAY in history for nascent Israel by God’s work through Moses’ leadership, whereas The Lord’s Supper part of Passover marks INDEPENDENCE DAY in history for humanity by God’s work through Jesus’ leadership. Thus we can conclude that
THE PURPOSE FOR OBSERVING PASSOVER AND THE LORD’S SUPPER
IS TO REMEMBER GOD’S REDEMPTION OF HUMANITY
THROUGH JESUS’ LIFE AND DEATH
WHICH PROCURED THE NEW COVENANT
And let’s not miss the fact that The Lord’s Supper is a ONCE A YEAR observance that happens DURING PASSOVER (as an add-on at the end), not any way you want any time you want like the churches do today.
7. The KEY to all of this is found in THE STRUCTURE OF THE COVENANTS. I discussed this in previous blogs. Consider the PREAMBLE to the Mosaic covenant. Therein you find God’s blessings to Jacob’s descendants before they became Israel, that is, God’s covenant people. Same with Jesus’ redemption. You can see in the Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, chapters 1-3, where he recites God’s provision of redemption and blessings in Jesus. Note the recurring phrase “in him”, which is a reference to Jesus being God’s source of all redemption and covenant blessings. So in principle, Jesus’ redemption is the PREAMBLE to the New covenant just as Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian slavery is the PREAMBLE to the Mosaic covenant. For me, this is the key to the observance of Passover, because it marks the point in history of humanity’s deliverance by God’s gracious kindness through His beloved son’s death on the cross.
Here is a list of some of ‘God’s grace’ (gifts) to believers IN CHRIST per Ephesians 1-2:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world…
5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself…
6 His grace…He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses…
9 He made known to us the mystery of His will…which He purposed in Him
10 with a view to…the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.
In Him 11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined…
12 to the end that we…in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.
13 In Him, you also…having believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14…a pledge of our inheritance…
Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins…and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ…6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
10 For we are…created in Christ Jesus for good works…
11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision ” by the so-called “Circumcision”– 12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood [death] of Christ.
14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one…15 so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, 16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross…
18 for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, 21 in whom the whole building…is growing into a holy temple…22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
Et cetera…
The above scriptures clearly represent a PREAMBLE of sorts, the kind you would expect to see in a covenant agreement. Note the many individual and collective blessings in the above list. By way of reminder, the Preamble to a covenant was a recitation of the good things that the Sovereign did for the people he’s offering his covenant relationship to. It was the record of his acts in taking care of them and of his goodness to them in the past which benefitted them in an essential way. The purpose of the Preamble was to MEMORIALIZE the facts of history between the sovereign and his subjects which occurred prior to their entering into that covenant relationship. The Preamble was the permanent record kept by the subjects REMINDING THEM THAT THEY OWE HIM THEIR LIVES. Remembering the Preamble in a meaningful way was the key to motivating the recipients to not lapse into disobedience or apathy, especially during those seasons of life that were meaningless, painful, unbearable or otherwise difficult to live through. If you want a refresher on the structure of the covenant you can read George Mendenhall’s article on the ANE Covenants.
Here is one of many warnings in the OT against NOT remembering:
11 “Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; 12 otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 15 “He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; He brought water for you out of the rock of flint. 16 “In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end. 17 “Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth. 18 “But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 “It shall come about if you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish. 20 “Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you would not listen to the voice of the LORD your God. (Deuteronomy 8)
Notice that it says “like the nations…before you”. That is a reference to all the Gentile nations like America of today. If it applied back then then certainly it must apply to us today. Here is a NT passage with the same message:
26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. 28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.” And again, “THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.” 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10)
Now take a moment to list some ways unbelievers ‘serve other gods’. Can you list some ways that modern Christians serve other gods? Non-Christian idolatry is easy to identify. Some of the world’s religions practice idolatry outright, such as Hinduism, tribal ancestor worship, cannibalism, etc. But what about Christians? Here is a general test for Christian idolatry:
…for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also….No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. (Jesus, Matthew 6:21, 24)
This is how the Apostle Paul says it:
…we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, (Ephesians 2:3)
And the Apostle John:
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. (1 John 2:16)
Jesus was talking about IDOLATRY with a thing called MAMMON (“wealth”), an Aramaic term referring to ILL-GOTTEN GAIN. I won’t get into it because I already addressed that subject in a previous blog (even though a lot more needs to be said about it). Suffice to say that SERVING MAMMON is one of the biggest sins of our time. According to the Apostle Paul, greed amounts to IDOLATRY (Colossians 3:5).
Along those lines, it’s easy to identify Christian idolatry. Just look at what/who they honor or value the most and compare it with their dedication to living the way God desires His people to live. Does what they honor and value distract from their commitment to obeying God’s law? Does it directly violate God’s law? Do the ‘Christians’ who indulge in these things focus on them to the exclusion of learning God’s law and obeying it? But what about people who ‘lived a good Christian life’ and didn’t harm anybody, who go to church every Sunday and dutifully obeyed the laws of the land, and always treated everyone nicely? What about them? I already discussed Sabbath vs. Sunday in a previous blog, so won’t get into it here. I also briefly discussed obeying the wisdom of men called priest, rabbi, pastor, minister, etc., instead of personally learning God’s law from reading and studying the Bible oneself. Far as the rest of it, keep reading.
Now let’s take a look at some examples of Christian living in America and compare it with God’s law:
MONEY
13 You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a large and a small. 14 You shall not have in your house differing measures, a large and a small. 15 You shall have a full and just weight; you shall have a full and just measure, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you. 16 For everyone who does these things, everyone who acts unjustly is an abomination to the LORD your God. (Deuteronomy 25)
You shall not charge interest to your countrymen: interest on money, food, or anything that may be loaned at interest. You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your countrymen you shall not charge interest, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land which you are about to enter to possess. (Deuteronomy 23:19-20)
First let’s talk about business people. Today there’s a lot of gouging going on. Corporate businesses, family businesses and individual sellers are pimping yesterday’s products at today’s prices. I have repeatedly encountered this phenomena with auto parts and appliance parts. Tools as well. Same with building materials and related items. For example, many times I’ve been forced to purchase new aftermarket parts for 10x the original OEM retail price, which I could remember from ‘back in the day’ when I purchased such parts. Dealerships are some of the worst gougers. And many times individuals sell parts that are defective, were returned, were used, were aftermarket parts boxed in OEM packages, or were otherwise worth much less than they are sold for. Gouging is a violation of the laws prohibiting charging interest by reason of adding to the original value. It’s also driven by greed. Suffice to say that gouging is a criminal act that deserves severe punishment. Yet, it’s become the national custom here in America! A prime example of ‘Christian’ gouging is ‘My Pillow Guy’ Mike Lindell.
Moreover, every conceivable product that satisfies a basic human need in America has been ‘politicized’ to the point that the sellers have become scam artists. Take beds for example. The guy who does Beducation on YouTube tells you all about pricing and the con-game that surrounds the retail bed business. You can’t even buy a bed today without getting gouged to death! So, all the people who participate in this kind of sin (greed, gouging, etc.) and who buy from them are supporting and perpetuating this sin. It’s idolatry, according to the Apostle Paul (Colossians 3:5). Idolatry is an ‘unpardonable sin’.
Another big sin that business people commit all their lives is under-paying their workers. I won’t get into the details of this, b/c I discussed it another blog. But suffice to say that robbing the wages of the laborer is part of the bigger protection racket operation called government. It’s part of an overall scheme of social engineering. This such a huge and intricate subject that I won’t get into it in this blog. But when you see it for what it is, you have to believe there’s a real live Devil behind it!
Another insidious method of business people robbing the public is the scheme of incorporating the price of advertising and other unrelated expenses into the selling price of goods and services. We know this is a sin based on it being a violation of the prohibition against charging interest (adding to the price). My word for that is a hidden tax because it’s the same method governments use to tax people. They call it an indirect tax. The business people incorporate their overhead into the product’s pricing, so the sky’s the limit on overhead! I’ve seen all kinds of pork barrel items like this leavened in various goods and services, all of which amounts to coveting + fraud + theft. As stated above, it’s Idolatry. Jesus called it ‘serving Mammon’. So anyone who does this, and all the people who support it with their purchases, are perpetuating it and making it grow larger and larger by the day. It’s an economic cancer epidemic here in America!
Another kind of ‘bad business’ (which isn’t illegal in America, by the way) is the use of foreign slave labor to manufacture products that are sold at outrageously inflated prices here in America. We outlawed slavery many generations ago. Historical slavery of black people has been made into a mega-political issue of late. So it’s absurd to see that today’s American businesses rely heavily on foreign slave labor to make their profits! The idolatry involved with this practice should be self-explanatory, besides it being a violation of other laws in God’s law and in the NT, especially if the business people perpetrating these evils are professing Christians.
For example, Leviticus 25 prohibits enslaving your fellow countryman. So if the foreign slave is a Christian, then you’re violating that law against him. A prime example of using foreign slave labor was Pat Robertson’s diamond and gold mining operations in South Africa. Another is the ‘labor farms’ over in India, China and the Ukraine that American engineering firms and manufacturers utilize to do their engineering work, because American professional labor costs way more than that foreign slave labor. The garment industry is another example, along with ‘consumer’ electronics, appliances, clothing, jewelry, eye glasses, etc. Examples of this could be multiplied. The bigger picture commercial wars between corporate hegemonies is another sordid subject for another time. So if you hire foreign slave labor to make your profits, even if you need them due to the stiff competition, then you are a part of the problem. And if you buy foreign slave labor goods and services, then you are perpetuating this problem and making it grow bigger by the day. Nothing good will come from this!
Now let’s talk about BANKING. America’s Federal Reserve banking system is built on false weights and measures. Proof of that fact is The Fed’s ‘dollar’. They call it ‘an elastic currency’. That means it can change value by their manipulation of various aspects of the system. Comparing that to the original Act of Congress (1792) that established Gold and Silver coins of a certain fineness, shape, size and weight as the ‘coin of the realm’ reveals the fraud in today’s money (valuable metal coins vs. assetless numbers on paper or in a computer). Moreover, the federal Constitution (1.10.1) mandates just weights and measures based on the original Act of Congress using the words, No State shall…make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts. Suffice to say that the Fed’s ‘dollar’ is a fraud and theft racket, being idolatry by reason of its violation of God’s law of JUST WEIGHTS AND MEASURES, besides other lawlessness.
So, when Christians participate in America’s fiat money system, they are violating God’s law. For example, bank accounts, line of credit, loans, mortgages, investments, credit cards, BitCoin, etc. The fact that not one churchian I’ve ever met knows anything about this is absurd! Had they educated themselves in God’s law, they would be well aware of all of this, and would not have tolerated it for one moment. In other words, they would not have allowed it to happen in America. Yet, they make full use of that system day-in-and-day-out their entire lives without ever giving it a single thought. Moreover, the system has been imperceptibly choking them to death financially from generation to generation right under their noses without them ever questioning it. Amazing! And to think that American Christianity considers the good results of obeying God’s law as NOT FOR TODAY (not applicable to them) is beyond absurd!
FOOD
Today’s churchians obstinately repudiate God’s food laws. I briefly wrote about this in a previous blog. Suffice to say that the church’s refusal to know and obey God’s food laws has resulted in a myriad of health problems for Christians. Besides that, an entire world of profit has arisen around this ignorance. The American medical establishment is a perfect example of a profit-mill that enforces sickness over the long term in order to parasitically profit perpetually. The pharmaceutical industry is a prime example. If churchians knew about the food laws and obeyed them, then none of them would have submitted to the recent COVID vaccines, even if they could be of help to them instead of harming them as has been evident of late. Why? Because vaccines violate the food laws. I blogged about this briefly in the past. Moreover, had churchians been educated in God’s food laws, they would never eat GMO/industrial foods. They would not allow the government to control the meaning of ‘Organic’. They would not tolerate perfectly lawful foods to be poisoned and rendered unclean because ‘science’ thinks they should be. A lot more could be said about the down-side for society of ignoring God’s food laws, but I’ll leave it at that for the moment.
ENTERTAINMENT
This is a gigantic subject and I’m at a loss on where to begin! Sports, professional athletes and sporting events comprise one of the biggest gambling and profit rackets in America. How can it be right that a man – who is an expert at throwing or hitting a ball – should be worth millions of dollar annually? What value do they bring to the average citizen’s daily existence? Do they help him stay healthy? Do they help him take care of his family? Do they help him be a good member of the community? What value does this kind of institution bring to the nation? What kind of blessings have professional athletics brought to the youth in America? The whole paradigm of paying professional athletes amounts to BRIBERY. Think about it for a moment. If you were propositioned by a businessman to work for him in a job that would ruin your body and health after doing it 10 years, and he promised to pay you minimum wage to work for him, would you sign-on? What if he promised to pay you enough to buy a house, take care of your wife and children, and give you a pension at retirement age (late 60’s) so you could live at a subsistence level? Would you sign-on? What if he promised to pay you enough to retire after 10 years, so that you could do whatever you wanted and live any way you wanted for the rest of your life? I hope you get the point.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that athletic events are bad. But I am saying that the criminal enterprises that have arisen around them and that control them for the profit of the few is idolatry to the max. And the associated publicity and profiteering has damaged our society in an incalculable way. Have you ever considered the profits generated by the athletic paraphernalia industry associated with these events and players? Shirts, shoes, brand names and logos, toys, action figures (idols?), etc. Entire city venues are dedicated to this social institution, including large sums of tax monies dedicated to their cause for infrastructure and the rest of it. Really? Do we really have that kind of money to throw at this sort of thing? I can think of far better investments for society using taxpayer monies than professional athletic venues and events ‘owned and operated’ by criminal syndicates for the profit of the few.
Who’s to blame for this? Everyone who participates in it at all levels, including the millions annually who participate in it by handing over their money to attend such events, and to garnish their lives with the associated memorabilia. And to think that Americans have such a short memory of the PROPAGANDA that this industry has been shoving down all our throats in the recent past. For example, ‘taking the knee’ in disrespect of America’s founding fathers’ sacrifices for us so we can be a free people. Inserting trans-genders into the opposite sex’s sporting competitions as though it’s fair. Using drugs and steroids to gain an edge during competition. Corporate sponsors controlling the narrative of players, and loan agents controlling the sponsors (telling them to promote sexual perversion and treason against American Christianity, to name a couple). So many wrongs in such a useless public facing venue!
What about Hollywood? For the most part, today’s entertainment amounts to moral degenerate monsters glorifying institutionalized violence and moral perversion. War, crime, intrigue, master scheming, weapons, fighting, murder, theft, free sex, human trafficking, mixed marriages, same-sex marriages…you name it, it’s a total violation of the 10 Commandments and everything else ‘righteous and good’. Yet, it’s standard fare in American entertainment, which has unfortunately spread across the globe. How can any of this pass for good content suitable for educating our children? I’ll leave it at that because moral analysis of this subject could fill volumes. To reiterate, I’m not against athletic events, just the criminal activities, profiteering and social engineering involved with them. I’m also not against good music and clean entertainment. But today’s entertainment industry has replaced community outings and fellowships of past generations.
FAMILY
Another big problem in America. What does God’s law say about marriage and divorce? I commented on this in a previous blog, so I won’t get into it here. Suffice to say that Jesus addressed this legal topic as seen in Matthew’s gospel. Compared to Jesus’ legal standards, American divorce law is the farthest thing from God’s intent and design for marriage and divorce, that it’s hard to imagine today’s Christian practices even exist! Add to that the mega profits acquired by divorce lawyers for breaking up marriages without any attempt at reconciliation. Destroying the family has become one of the biggest legal profit centers in America today next to ‘robbing widow’s (and widower’s) fortunes’.
Far as raising children is concerned, here’s what Moses says, which is also what the NT agrees with as seen in the Apostolic letters:
5 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 “These words, which I am commanding you today [= God’s law], shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. 8 “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 9 “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates [= seat of government]. (Deuteronomy 6)
I blogged about this previously, so won’t get into it here. Suffice to say that I’ve met only a handful of Christians who have taught their children God’s law! And most of the children have forsaken it due to pressures bearing down upon them from the usual ebb-and-flow of society. For example, shift-work requires people to work during Sabbath and holy days. If you refuse, you get fired. Try proving that in court based on the way the business persons do it to you. Another more recent example is being forced to take vaccines in order to work at a job you’ve held for many years. If you refuse for any reason, religious objections included, you get fired. Nice job of government upholding freedom of religion in America! Most people who work for a corporation will do whatever they’re told, because if they don’t, even if it’s morally wrong according to God’s law, they will lose their job. This is a coup against Christianity and God’s law that is built into society’s business culture. This kind of evil just didn’t happen by accident either, especially considering it’s nation-wide at nearly every place you work. Piles and piles more can be said about this, but I’ll leave it at that. It’s unfortunate that Christians have been forced to choose between obeying God’s law and earning a living! And notice that I didn’t even broach the subject of CHILD TRAFFICKING!
All of the above are a few of the many evidences of the Biblical doctrines of SIN AND UNRIGHTEOUSNESS which Christians are prohibited from participating in. As for the many other categories of American life evidencing moral degeneracy in violation of God’s law which nearly all Americans participate in as a routine part of their lives, I’ll leave them up to you to list and detail. And remember that you first must know God’s law before you can identify the sins which social process enables us to commit. That’s also how you identify IDOLATRY, which is a violation of God’s law as instituted by the state (government), businesses practices and other social institutions (like medical, entertainment, food, etc.).
Now let’s get back to our list of reasons for observing Passover as part of the Lord’s Supper (The Eucharist):
8. Since some of the words and ideas used in the NT arise out of familiarity with the holy day observances in the Mosaic law (Passover in this case), familiarity with them is important for understanding their meaning with regard to Jesus and the New covenant. You need this practical foundation in order to be able to personally extrapolate the principles necessary to make sense out of the parallels with Jesus and the New covenant. So, observing the Mosaic holy days helps us to personally understand God’s redemption and blessings that Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and ascension have accomplished for us who believe.
Unfortunately today’s churches are not only rebellious in their repudiation of God’s law and refusal to obey it, but they also have substituted their own ‘feel good’ liturgical and holiday observances for the ones that God require. Some examples of that are The Lord’s Supper (The Eucharist), Christmas, Easter, memorials for Saints (such as Polycrates which I blogged about previously), etc. Just look at the church calendar and liturgy and compare it with the NT commandments and God’s law. That will tell-all. As a result, today’s churchianity has institutionalized their obstinate rebellion, as well as shut their eyes and ears to the messages which observance of God’s holy days would bring to them. However, if they sincerely observed God’s holy days, their meaning would point out the people’s sins, both personal and collective, which is the first step towards quitting them and obeying God’s law. That is the key to becoming like Jesus.
According to the title of this blog, PASSOVER IS A TIME OF REMEMBRANCE. As we have seen above, we are remembering GOD’S REDEMPTION of both Israel and humanity, by means of God’s wondrous acts in human history. That is what Paul is referring to in Romans 1:20
For since the creation of the world His [God’s] invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made [done], so that they are without excuse.
Reading ‘Worlds in Collision’ is a good start for discovering what God has done during ancient times which give historical evidence of ‘His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature‘. During the first Passover, when the earth was bombarded with astronomical debris and convulsed from planetary ‘collisions’, God assigned Moses to guide Israel to safety and freedom. During the new Passover (the past 2 millennia), God assigned Jesus to guide humanity to safety and freedom, albeit this time in the midst of man-made world chaos and conflagration. The NT book of Hebrews provides a preliminary account of the contrasts between Moses and Jesus, as well as of the Old vs. New covenants. It’s worth reading with these ideas in mind.
Let’s take a quick look at some OT authority commanding Passover observance as A MEMORIAL (“REMEMBER”):
‘Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance. (Exodus 12:14)
Moses said to the people, “Remember this day in which you went out from Egypt, from the house of slavery; for by a powerful hand the LORD brought you out from this place. (Exodus 13:3)
1 “Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, for in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 You shall sacrifice the Passover to the LORD your God from the flock and the herd, in the place where the LORD chooses to establish His name. 3 You shall not eat leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), so that you may remember all the days of your life the day when you came out of the land of Egypt…You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.” (Deuteronomy 16)
Meaningfully remembering their foundations is the key to Israel’s obedience to the stipulations of the Mosaic covenant. Disobedience guarantees eventual national destruction, as seen in the covenant renewal ceremony of Joshua 23-24. Even after God kicked them out of the land and destroyed the nation Israel, He persisted in honoring His Promises to Abraham. That involved bringing them back to the land and setting up their government once again as we see in the return under Ezra and Nehemiah (following their 70 years national punishment in exile):
16 “But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly; They became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments. 17 “They refused to listen, And did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them; So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a God of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness; And You did not forsake them. (Nehemiah 9)
Can you identify when and who returned them to Egypt? I didn’t know the answer to that question until I read Velikovsky’s Ages in Chaos. In that book I learned that 1st Temple Israel had entered into covenant relationships with various Gentile nations throughout the course of their history, Egypt included. None of my professors in Bible college taught me that! You can read for yourself some of the covenant communications in the El Amarna Letters.
Anyway, even after they returned to the land, the nation Israel still had a long way to go before they could be considered faithful to their God. To date they have not risen to the occasion! Yet, when God finally decides to gather the faithful Israelites back into their land (that is, those who believe in Jesus), it will be a new world for them, much like Velikovsky discusses in his book ‘Worlds in Collision’. And that new world will have new remembrances for God’s people:
14 ‘Return, O faithless sons,’ declares the LORD; ‘For I am a master to you, And I will take you one from a city and two from a family, And I will bring you to Zion.’ 15 “Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding. 16 “It shall be in those days when you are multiplied and increased in the land,” declares the LORD, “they will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the LORD.’ And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again. 17 “At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of the LORD,’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name of the LORD; nor will they walk anymore after the stubbornness of their evil heart. 18 “In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance. (Jeremiah 3)
For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. (Isaiah 65:17)
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. (Revelation 21:1)
I realize that may be conflating two different future ages into one. But the point remains that in the future when the new ages dawn on humanity, they will honor God as The One True God and Jesus Christ as His Beloved Son. And they won’t return to their former worthless national holidays and all that nationalist propaganda.
In conclusion, God’s nation began with Israel. Jesus came into existence from within Israel because no Gentile nation could ever qualify for the job. God required a very specific environment within which to raise his Redeemer, so he LEGISLATED his requirements in the Mosaic Law, which gave rise to Divinely-based customs and culture for 1st and 2nd Temple Israel (Galatians 3:19).
It’s important to recognize that although Passover is commanded by God to remember God’s great act of redeeming Israel from slavery to the greatest world power of the time, Jesus vested Passover with new meaning and purpose. He mandated Passover observance to be a time when God’s people would remember Jesus act of giving up his life for humanity’s redemption. Sure, Passover is a time to remember Israel, albeit in passing. But Passover observance is primarily about Jesus. Because from that point forward in human history, Jesus became the focal point of God’s REDEMPTION for humanity, NOT ISRAEL. Israel never was a ‘redeemer’.
And Jesus’ redemption will include both Israel and Gentiles who will join God’s Kingdom via the New covenant. Combining Jews and Gentiles into one nation under God is the great MYSTERY that the Apostle Paul reveals in his NT letters, which Jesus’ atoning death accomplished. And since Jesus began a new epoch in God’s redemptive history which will culminate in establishing his Kingdom over the entire world, the old things that we know today will eventually be forgotten, being replaced by NEW MEMORIALS (as seen in the above passages of scripture).
So what practical things can we take-away from this discussion?
1. Remembering God’s redemptive works is a Divine command that we must obey.
2. The purpose for remembering God’s redemptive works is to remind us of our undesirable past, and contrast that with the blessings we have received as a result of becoming citizens of God’s Kingdom. In other words, WE OWE HIM!
3. The reason we need to be reminded of God’s works on our behalf, and the resultant blessings, is so we won’t get proud and lapse into disobedience to God’s law when times are good. It’s also to reminds us during the difficult times in life to continue to rely on God’s help to move us into better times while we persist in obeying His law (which is the substance of His testing us).
4. We are obligated to observe Passover because God commands it in the OT and because Jesus and the Apostle Paul mandated it in the NT, yet with new meaning by adding The Lord’s Supper (The Eucharist).
5. Passover for Israel memorialized God’s redemption of them from national slavery. Passover for the human race memorialized God’s redemption of humanity from slavery to the evil world and from eventual Divine condemnation and punishment for participating in the evils of this world (participating in personal and collective sins).
6. The biggest lesson for us is realizing that PASSOVER MEMORIAL IS THE PREAMBLE TO GOD’S NEW COVENANT RATIFIED BY JESUS’ DEATH, just like the NT says:
He [Jesus] took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood [death]. (Luke 22:20)
The New covenant’s Preamble is our reminder of the wonderful gifts God has given to us so that we can begin to live a new life based on obedience to God’s commandments, which is our sworn duty under the covenant. The purpose of sincerely learning and obeying God’s law is so that we can develop a mindset, character and behavior that is equivalent to that of Jesus. Doing so transforms us into people who qualify as citizens of God’s future earthly Kingdom.
Now I ask you to seriously consider changing your ‘liturgy’ (religious practices) from observing the theological ‘Lord’s Supper’ (The Eucharist) to observing Passover based on this blog’s informed viewpoint, sincerely acknowledging the ideas about God’s covenant and your duties towards God in that connection.
Thanks for stopping by and reading this GOSPEL truth. See you in the next blog!
Reality Bible 