God Humbles Those Who He Enters into Covenant With

by | Apr 30, 2022 | Podcasts

This is an overview of the 30th Reading of our 3-year Torah Reading Cycle. It is found in Genesis/Beresheit 31:3-32:2.

I use the Hebrew names of the patriarchs throughout this post. And just to familiarize you with the names so as to not cause any confusion:

Ya’achov=Jacob

Yitschaq-Isaac

Avraham=Abraham

Beresheit=Genesis

Devarim=Deuteronomy

Y’shua/Yeshua/Yahoshua=Jesus

Yah/Yehovah/El/Elohim/Abba Father=God, the Creator of the Universe

Halachah=Torah living; walking out the Creator’s instructions in righteousness

Teshuvah=Repent and Return to the Father and His Way of Life

Yehudah=Judah

Mishkan=Temple

Ruach HaKodesh=Holy Spirit

The Command is Given for Ya’achov to Return to His Father’s House–As we too are called to return (Teshuvah) to our Father’s House

31:3–Yah instructs Ya’achov to return to Canaan-the land of his fathers. And in him doing so, Yah declares that He would be with Him. Now, this hearkens back to Genesis/Beresheit 28:10-15–Ya’achov’s dream at Bethel as he journeyed to Laban’s place where he’d ultimately meets and marries his uncle’s two daughters. But in that dream at Bethel, Ya’achov receives a vision of heavenly things: Angels ascending and descending a stairway with Yehovah positioned at the top of the stairway. And it is here in this vision that Abba reaffirms with him that same covenant He’d made with his father (Yitschaq) and grandfather (Avraham): Ya’achov being given the land in which he rested upon that night. The giving of the land upon which he slept to him and his offspring; his offspring numbering as the dust of the earth and covering the whole of the earth (not just his biological descendants but those who would be grafted into the commonwealth of his covenant blessings through the Person and Ministries of Y’shua Messiah and Abba Plan of Salvation-Restoration-Redemption). And Abba declares unto Ya’achov His divine protection and oversight–behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land as He would not leave him until He’d done what He, Yah, had promised him. So then, the Avrahamic Covenant is perpetuated in this least likely of a soul–Ya’achov. And this just goes to show us that Yah chooses those with whom He will establish His covenant. In this particular case, one of the most important covenants to have ever been established between Yah and His human creation, the Avrahamic Covenant, Yah chose of Yitschaq’s two sons, Ya’achov.

In honor of that encounter, Ya’achov took the stone upon which his head rested as he dreamed, anointed it with oil, and set it as a pillar unto Yah. And it was then and there that Ya’achov vowed to serve Yah from that point forward in his life. He affirms the name of the place as Bethel (aka, Beit-El–House of God) as the place where Yah’s house stood and that he would tithe unto Yah all his increase (Beresheit 28:20-22).

Ya’achov Convenes a Family Meeting to Discuss His Need to Return to His Father’s House

So, Ya’achov is being sent back home by Yah, along with all that he had received and been blessed with. And he is being sent home in the midst of relational stresses that had grown between him and his uncle Laban. So, in 31:4 Ya’achov calls a family meeting, and he regales to them his experiences under Laban’s roof: The tables being turned, the once conniving Ya’achov recalls how his uncle has mistreated him over the years through cheating and deception. Yet, he recognizes how Yah was with him throughout. Yet, throughout Ya’achov’s difficult years under Laban’s mistreatment, Yah turns Laban’s foolishness around, only to expand Ya’achov’s material blessings.

Yah Will Flip the Script in Order to Fulfill His Will and Perpetuate His Plan in the Earth

This is a key principle that carries over to all of Yah’s people. As noted by Yosef to his once conniving brothers: “ye thought evil against me, but Yah meant it unto good…” (Gen. 50:20). Rav Shaul wrote to the Messianic Assemblies in Rome that “all things work together for good to them that love Yah, to them who are the called according to His purpose” (8:28). He also wrote similarly to the Messianics in Philippi that: “…the things which happened to me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel” (1:12). Of the captive Babylonian Jews, Yah, through Yermiyahu wrote: “…Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Yehudah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. For I will set My eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: And I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up” (24:5-6). Indeed, as mentioned by Moshe to the second generation of Hebrews who would enter the Promised Land: “Who (Yah) led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was not water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint; Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that He might humble thee, and that He might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end” (Devarim 8:15-16). Yah may allow certain tumultuous events to overtake us in order to humble us and prepare us to receive His Kingdom. So, we must meet affliction when it comes with the understanding that it serves a divine purpose in our lives. Whether that purpose is to humble us, teach us principles and ways; or to correct, reprove and instruct us, Yah ultimately has our backs, and He will ultimately deliver and prosper us.

Yehovah is the Elohim that Sees

I personally found 31:12 particularly interesting. Ya’achov tells his wives that in addition to Yah protecting and prospering him against all human odds, Yah also told him that “He’d seen all that Laban was doing to him.” Upon reading this verse, I was immediately taken back to Hagar’s, Sarai’s handmaid’s story, whereby after she has a run-in with her mistress, runs away into the wilderness. She is confronted by the Angel of Yah who comforts her, tells her about the child she was bearing, and ultimately instructs her to return to her mistress and submit to her. Amazed by this miraculous event, Hagar referred to Yah as El Roi (aka, “the Elohim of seeing”), and the place where the encounter occurred as Beer-lahai-roi. And this just goes hand-in-hand with Yah’s sovereign and capable protection of those whom Yah loves. For He sees what His chosen ones are going through and in accordance with His Will and Plans, He protects and delivers them.

Now, that protection and deliverance may not be in the manner in which we would expect or envision. But He does ultimately see us as His chosen ones, and He does have our backs in one form or another.

Ya’achov’s Family is Unified, Furthering the Perpetuation of the Covenant

In 31:14, the sisters, Rachel and Leah, Laban’s only children that are mentioned here: He has no sons in which to pass on an inheritance, acknowledge unto Ya’achov that their father had indeed married them off to him, forfeiting any inheritance they’d be entitled to. However, as it stood, all the wealth that would have been Laban’s, their father, miraculously and serendipitously went to Ya’achov their husband. So, they rightly reasoned that their secure and prosperous future rested with him. And thus, they encouraged Ya’achov to obey Yah’s instructions that he return to his homeland of Canaan (31:16).

An Excellent Lesson on Marriages in the Midst of Being in Covenant with Yah

The thing about this section of the reading that resonates with me is the example that Ya’achov provides those of us who are married while walking out this covenant relationship we have with Yah. Ya’achov received instructions from Yah to return to the Land of his Father Yitschaq and Avraham. By all convention, Ya’achov could have done a number of things to follow suit. But he chose to do the right thing. He called a family meeting and laid the situation out to his wives, involving them in the decision making process. It wasn’t that Ya’achov was handing over to them the power to make the ultimate decision as to whether he would obey Yah. But rather, Ya’achov chose to involve his wives in his covenant relationship with Yah. This is huge. For it tells us that, even though we may be in covenant relationship with the Most High, we still have natural responsibilities that we must attend to. In this case, he had to make sure that his wives were onboard with what he was about to do in connection with the covenant he had with Yehovah. Ya’achov didn’t only have his wives to deal with in connection with the covenant requirements that stood before him. He also had 12-sons through Rachel and Leah that would become inextricable elements of the covenant that had to be brought into his decision to leave Laban’s house for the Land of his fathers.

I guess this story, in many ways, should serve as a reminder to each of us, that the covenant relationship we enjoy and possess with Father Yah, at any given time may only be between Yah and us as individuals. However, the mantle–the burden–the responsibility–the function–the capacity of that covenant relationship often extends over to our spouses and our children. For the sanctity of marriage and the family is not abolished when we enter into covenant relationship with Yah. In fact, our marriages and families become all the more relevant and significant elements of our lives and walk with Messiah that we must always pay close attention to.

Our Master, Yahoshua, strongly upheld the sanctity and importance of marriage, even in the life of a disciple (Matthew 19:8). Rav Shaul, wrote a great many things about this particular situation, encouraging his reader’s wives to submit to their husbands as fitting in Yah, and husbands to love their wives as they love their own bodies, treating them with all due respect (Ephesians 5:22-28; Colossians 3:18-19; 1 Timothy 3:11). Shimon Keefa (aka Peter) likewise admonished his readers wives to be subject to their own husbands and husbands to be understanding and honoring to their wives (1 Peter 3:1-7). All the while, Rav Shaul reminds us that ultimately, we have a responsibility to uphold our part of the covenant relationship we enjoy and hold with Abba Father. We have to be subject to Yah in every respect and in every aspect of our covenant relationship with Him (1 Corinthians 7:29-40). Shaul emphasizes in this particular passage that we are not ruled or influenced by our spouses as it relates to our covenant relationship with Yah. However, we must learn how to put our married lives in proper, Godly perspective. We are compelled to do the right thing as it relates to our marriages in association with our covenant relationship with Yah. Yah must come first. But we must also respect our marriages for what they are: Yah-sanctioned institutions that must be dealt with appropriately and respectfully.

In the case of our reading today, Ya’achov illustrated this very understanding by bringing his wives into his decision to obey Yah. He loved and respected them such that he involved them in his determination to obey Yah. In other words, Ya’achov laid out to Rachel and Leah Yah’s instructions to them, and he left it up to them to fall in line with his intent to obey. Ya’achov put the situation of his wives in the hands of Yah, and everything worked out the way Yah intended it to work out. As did Ya’achov, we are compelled as covenant keepers, to operate in covenant within the framework Yah has placed us, doing everything therein decently and in order (1 Corinthians 14:40). If by chance our spouses refuse to get onboard, we have to obey Yah in the end. So, we first take the situation to Yah and petition Him to intercede. If things don’t go as they should–that is, our spouses refuse to come around, then we walk on in obedience unto Yah, and leave the fallout in Yah’s capable hands to sort out and to properly direct our paths. For if we acknowledge Yah, He will direct our paths accordingly (Proverbs 3:6).

I did a two-part-teaching as it relates to this subject entitled: “Marriage and Divorce According to Torah” that, if you’ve not already read or listened to, I would humbly encourage you to check it out if you are so led.

Ya’achov’s Family Flees Laban’s House with Laban in Hot Pursuit

And so, when Laban had left his home to shear his flocks, Ya’achov collected all that Yah had blessed him with, including his wives Rachel and Leah, his sons, and his livestock and headed back to Canaan (31:17-20).

And we find as this Reading progresses forward that indeed, Abba Father did have Ya’achov’s back. For Ya’achov faced at the time of his return to Canaan, two formidable foes he had to contend with: Laban his uncle, who would not be the least bit happy that Ya’achov had stole away from his home along with his married daughters and grandsons and Ya’achov’s material possessions. And secondly, Ya’achov knew he’d have to contend with his brother Esav, whom he had previously taken his birthright and blessing.

Laban’s people informed him three-days into Ya’achov’s flight that he’d departed Laban’s home, which prompted Laban’s pursuit of him (31:21-27). Laban caught up with Ya’achov seven days later, but not before Yah warned had warned him of his behavior towards Ya’achov (31:24). So then, at their meeting, we find two-tricksters coming to terms with their respective hijinks. It’s quite a scene to behold to say the least.

Laban Confronts Ya’achov

Laban proceeds to tell Ya’achov of his encounter with Yehovah, whom he described as the “El of your father” (31:29). This I found interesting, but not surprising. All along there was this false sense that maybe Laban feared the Elohim of Avraham and Yitschaq. But we find in 31:19 that while Laban was away back at the ranch, shearing his sheep, that Rachel stole her father’s idols. And so, we find clearly spelled out here in this section of our Reading that Yah will deal directly with those who are not His; who are not in covenant with Him. And He does so in accordance with His Will and Plan. Yet, we have no indication that Laban even honored the El of Avraham and Yitschaq. But Laban certainly recognized and respected Yah enough to heed Yah’s warning that he, Laban, not harm Ya’achov.

Evidence of a Pantheon of Gods in Ya’achov’s Day

And this just cements further in my mind the reality of the pantheon of gods that the ancients recognized back in their day. The spiritual side of life was just as real to them as the physical side. And they lived their lives within the framework of that reality. Today, as it relates to us, the vast majority of folks in this world are insensitive to the realities spirit realm, including denominationalists. Most of them have absolutely no thought as to the entities that populate the spirit realm, much less acknowledge and fear the El of Avraham, Yitschaq, and Ya’achov. Which in and of itself is a very dangerous place to be found in. For when one is oblivious as to the realities of the spirit realm, he or she is effectively subject to the whims and controls of the spirit realm. In particular, the whims and control of the bad side of the spirit realm. Of this, Rav Shaul wrote:

(1) And you were dead in the trespasses and sins (2) in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, (3) among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind (Ephesians 2).

Furthermore, this passage reveals to us that Yah will directly intercede in the affairs of those who seek to harm His covenant-people. Today, such encounters may not be evident to those affected. But Yah will do what He needs to in order to protect His chosen ones and further His will and purpose in the earth. Let us not be blind to that truth.

Laban Seeks to Gain an Upper Hand Against Ya’achov

So, knowing that Yehovah had restricted him from dealing harshly with Ya’achov regarding his abrupt departure from his home, Laban chooses to deal with Ya’achov from the perspective of the idols that he believed Ya’achov had stolen from him. We know, however, that it was Rachel who stole those idols. (31:30). And so it was under this pretense that Laban invaded the privacy of Ya’achov’s camp, searching for the stolen idols. But to no avail did Laban find the idols. And it is as a result of his failure to prove the accusations Laban leveled at Ya’achov that Ya’achov berated his uncle’s intrusive and malicious behavior toward someone who had served him and his household for twenty-years (31:38).

Ya’achov Justifies Himself Before Laban

Despite Ya’achov being a trickster or fraudster in his own right, Ya’achov regaled his 20-years of service to Laban’s house. And during those 20-years, Ya’achov rightly asserted to Laban that he served him with honor and honesty and truth, despite Ya’achov himself being abused and mistreated by Laban (Gen. 29; 31:41). All virtues consistent with the ideals of one who is in covenant with the Most High El (31:38-42).

Yah’s Covenant-Will-Plan Always Prevails

Stymied by the hand he’d been dealt by Ya’achov’s Yah-ordained situation–Ya’achov being blessed with family and material wealth that originated from Laban starting 20-years prior–Laban invites Ya’achov, his son-in-law, to enter into a covenant with him (31:44). And that covenant would serve as a sign of peace between he and Ya’achov. And so, in memorial of this event, Laban and Ya’achov gathered stones and erected a mound and ate a covenant meal at the place they vowed the covenant. The name of the place Ya’achov called “Galeed” and “Mizpah” (31:48-49). And these two swore peace towards one another to the names of their respective elohim (31:53). I find it interesting and telling that Laban swore to the God of Avraham and the god of Nahor, Avraham’s father, and the gods of their fathers. Again, evidence of the pantheon of gods that were worshiped by the ancients of that day.

And true to Ya’achov’s upbringing, he offered a sacrifice to commemorate the covenant between he and Laban (31:54). And the next morning, Laban blessed his grandson and kissed his daughters, and departed.

Also, Ya’achov broke camp and departed Galeed, arriving next at a place with angelic activity (32:1-2).

Practical Messianic Halachah

From a practical, Messianic, halachic sense, I find this Reading to be illustrative of the lifestyle and behavior that we who are in covenant with the Almighty are called to. Each of come into covenant with Yah with a ton of personal baggage that Yah has to strip away in order to make of us any true value to Him in His work and plan and will in the earth. In Ya’achov’s case, Yah had to humble Ya’achov. And it took 20-years to humble him. In that 20-years, Yah blessed him materially and family-wise. Most importantly, Father Yah officially declared to him that He was chosen to perpetuate the covenant that He’d made with his father Avraham and Yitschaq.

In our respective walks in Messiah, we are similarly called to a process of humbling. That humbling is what we could refer to as the sanctification process. The sanctification process may take a lifetime in which to be completed. But it is a process that each of us must go through in order to enter the Kingdom of Yah an to receive Yah’s eternal blessings. Because of Yeshua’s sacrifice and intercessory ministry in the heavenly mishkan, we can now answer Yah’s call to enter into covenant with Him and to have a true and substantive relationship with Him. His Holy Spirit (i.e., His Ruach HaKodesh) will humble us and over time, inscribe Yah’s Words–His Torah–upon the fleshly tables of our hearts, so that we will walk in Yah’s Ways without reservation or inhibition. We learn to love Yah and His Ways. And we see the world around us, as Yah sees it. And we effectively image Yehovah, Creator of the Universe, in view of the pantheon of gods that rule over this earth and that enslave the hearts and souls of humanity. Yah be praised and receive the glory and honor He so justly deserves!

Shabbat Shalom. Shavu’atov. Take care beloved.

The Exceeding Kingdom Qualifying Righteousness That Takes us from Passover to Tabernacles-Part 1

by | Apr 29, 2022 | Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

The Exceeding Kingdom Qualifying Righteousness That Takes Us from Passover to Tabernacles-Part 1

 

One of the many things about Passover (aka Pesach) and the Days of Unleavened Bread (aka Chag HaMatzah) that we must be mindful of as we progress through the Biblical Calendar Year is that these Feasts, which are embedded in the Creator’s Calendar, are emblematic of “mile-markers” or “sign-posts” (if you will) along a rocky, difficult and narrow pathway that begins with our leaving Babylon (I.e., Egypt; the world) and on to the Kingdom of Yah.

 

 

So, if Passover and the Days Unleavened Bread serves as a starting point for this fantastic, grand life journey that the Creator has called each of us to, then the Feast of Tabernacles (aka Sukkot) would represent our ultimate goal and destination that we all aspire to, which is the Kingdom of Yah.

 

I would dare say that the Feast of Tabernacles is just about everyone’s favorite Feast. Why? Because Tabernacles is fun. Everything about it is fun. It’s a happy time. And it tends to be the highlight of every true believer’s biblical calendar year. And it should be because Father designed it to be. It’s a joyous celebration.

 

Beloved, there’s no shame in admitting that we love Sukkot/Tabernacles more than we love Passover/Unleavened Bread.

 

Why? Because Pesach and the Days of Unleavened Bread is generally a somber time, with only glimmers of joy and hope sprinkled throughout the week. We’re encouraged to reflect on our sins and the sacrifice of our Master Yeshua Messiah to address those sins. We’re led to reflect on the solemness of the bread and wine ceremony and the story of the difficult exodus of Yah’s people out of Egypt. So, reflectively, these are not what we would call fun and happy days.

 

Consequently, we solemnly and meditatively enter Pesach and the Days of Unleavened Bread (emblematic of our redemption, the atonement, and the challenging sanctification process we all must go through in our respective walks with Messiah) with an anticipatory, yet excited eye towards Sukkot (emblematic of our receiving and being and reigning with our Master Yeshua Messiah in the Kingdom of Yah for a 1,000-years).

 

But it is that process of getting to Sukkot that proves to be challenging for the would-be child of the Most High: This getting from—this passing through Pesach to Sukkot. And so, we go through these set-apart days with Sukkot (the Kingdom) in our sights, and minds. And so, in essence, it becomes that Sukkot becomes the joy of our Pesach/Days of Unleavened Bread observances each year.

 

The blessing of Pesach and Days of Unleavened Bread is that it reminds us of the narrow gate and extremely difficult road ahead of us as we journey towards the Kingdom. For these days show us that we must meet certain criteria–certain standards if we are to make it into the Kingdom.

 

And one of the most critical standards or criteria that each of us must meet to receive Father’s Kingdom is that of operating in (walking in; living in) “righteousness.”

 

Now, we discussed what Righteousness is in several TMTO postings. But I would humbly direct you to our post entitled “The Righteousness of God Revealed from Faith-to-Faith: It’s True Meaning and Reality for God’s People” for a more detailed discussion on the topic of righteousness, especially if you’ve not had the opportunity to read or listen to that post.

 

Nevertheless, regarding righteousness, our Master Yeshua told His disciples that if they had any thought of entering the Kingdom of Heaven, their righteousness had to exceed/surpass that of the Scribes and Pharisees. Master told His inner core Prushim/Disciples:

 

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Mat 5:17-20 ESV)

 

Knowing that the Scribes and Pharisees had less than a stellar spiritual reputation back in Yeshua’s day, one must ask what Yeshua could have possibly meant by such an outrageous pronouncement?

 

Attention:

 

The natural inclination would be to think that our Master was being melodramatic in making this pronouncement. That He was exercising hyperbole; over the top talk that was designed to jar His disciples into straightening up and flying right. Into being good little disciples. And so, in essence, He didn’t really mean what He was saying outright to them concerning the realities associated with their righteousness.

 

But what if that which Yeshua was saying here is NOT hyperbole? Not dramatics. Not superfluous talk. But rather, that He was expressing a very real concern about His disciples making it into the Kingdom—getting from Pesach to Sukkot? And so, what are we to make of this rather shocking pronouncement?

 

 

Satisfaction

 

If we truly hold to that adage and belief that our Master was in every sense of the phrase, the “walking-talking Word of Yah/Torah in human form,” then Yeshua’s understanding of the righteousness that was necessary for one to enter the Kingdom—to transition from Pesach to Tabernacles–would be the same as that of His Father.

 

Visualization:

 

Let’s Define What Kingdom Qualifying Righteousness Is

 

The Greek understanding of “righteousness” (in the context of Matthew 5:20) carries an overall meaning of one being found or existing in an acceptable position with the Creator; being in right standing with Yah; being approved of Yah. Which, in a broad sense, naturally appeals to most denominationalist. For this definition tends towards upholding and fostering a “lawless” life that consists solely of the Creator’s imputed righteousness that comes as a result of his or her simply reciting the sinner’s prayer and having some semblance of faith in the cross of Jesus Christ.

 

But is this the exceeding righteousness that Yeshua is addressing here in Matthew 5:20? Because quite frankly, that’s what millions of folks around the world recognize righteousness as.

 

As sound as the Greek definition for righteousness may be, it is absent Father’s more substantive understanding of the word and does not define completely the righteousness that the Child of Yah must possess and operate in if they are to make it to Sukkot (aka the Kingdom).

 

The Hebrew word for our English term righteousness is “tsed-aw-kaw,” the root of which is “tzad-deek.” And the meaning that we draw from “tzed-aw-kaw” and “tzad-deek” is that of one who walks a straight path. The word points to one whose walk is straight; that has no bends or curves to it; that is true and without flaw.

 

 

So, if we apply the Hebraic understanding of “righteousness” to Matthew 5:20, we are forced to recognize, not just that form of Godliness, or rather righteousness that is given to the one who answers the call to come out of Egypt/Babylon (aka Pesach our starting point leading us to Sukkot); that righteousness that is ignited because one believes–one trusts Yah—Father’s imputed righteousness, but also that righteousness that flows from walking and operating in the Creator’s ways. We’re talking about uncompromising obedience to Father’s Word–His Torah–His instructions in righteousness.

 

Therefore, it stands to reason that those righteous garments that one receives as a result of their repentance, confessing unto Father their sins, and trusting faith in the Person and Ministry of Yeshua to take them out of Babylon–out of Egypt—out of the world; to begin that long, difficult, narrow-gate and rocky path journey from Pesach to Tabernacles; well, that righteousness compels him or her keep those garments of righteousness spotless by operating–living–walking in a life of obedience. In other words, to walk, as the Prophet Jeremiah prophesied, “by the rivers of waters in a straight way where we will not stumble” (Jeremiah 31:9).

 

So then, what was Yeshua’s issue with the Scribes and Pharisees in terms of the righteousness they possessed? Clearly, they didn’t believe Him and the things He taught. Beyond these things, Yeshua in fact referred to them as hypocrites; blind guides; a brood of vipers.

So, what righteousness did the scribes and pharisees possess that was worth mentioning by Yeshua?

 

Yeshua recognized that His nemeses, the Scribes and Pharisees, walked in an exceptional degree or level of righteousness that few in His day could ever match. Turns out that the Scribes and Pharisees lived quite disciplined lifestyles, despite many of them being hypocrites, blind and outright jerks. Regardless, they lived extremely disciplined lives. They DID in fact possess a righteousness. But it was a FORM of righteousness. Obviously not the type of Exceedingly Qualifying Kingdom Righteousness that Yahoshua requires of His disciples.

 

Yeshua talked about scribes and pharisees being so meticulous in walking out their religion which they described as a fence around Torah:

 

23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.  24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! 25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. 27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. (Mat 23:23-31 ESV)

 

The Scribes (“grammateus” in the Greek and “sopherim” in the Hebrew) were precursors to what we would refer to today as the so-called Jewish sages. The “wise ones.” These folks were the “teachers of Torah.” They were the teachers and expositors of the Law. Luke referred to them as “doctors of the law” (Luke 5:17; Acts 5:34). The Prophet Ezra was a Scribe, albeit not corrupted as those in Yeshua’s day (Ezra 7:6; Nehemiah 8:1). But the job of the scribe was to interpret the Law/Torah and serve as officers of the Court or in Yeshua’s day, the Sanhedrin. They were the smartest kids in class, so to speak. If you had a question about anything related to how one was supposed to walk-out their religion, these were the guys you went to for the answers.

 

The Pharisees on the other hand were sort of religious politicians in addition to Torah scholars. They were birthed of the Hasmoneans. The Hasmoneans being of the Maccabees fame. These were the ones who were known for their meticulous practicing of Torah that was generally filtered through their personal sensitivities and preferences. And their obedience to Yah’s Torah often proved to be lopsided in that they essentially “majored on the minors” and “minored on the majors” (Matthew 23:23).

 

The Apostle Paul was a notable Pharisee, who described himself as a zealous “pharisee of pharisees” who persecuted the Body of Messiah (Philippians 3:5-6).

 

Nevertheless, Yeshua held these folks responsible for teaching and modeling Torah to the people. To Him and His Father, their righteousness should have been the example that the people would aspire to; would imitate. But it turns out that these folks, despite their diligence, zeal, and meticulousness in expounding and keeping the parts of the Law that worked best for them (e.g., Matthew 23:23; Luke 11:42)—picking and choosing what laws to keep–most of them, were hypocrites and corrupt. They basically did not practice what they preached.

 

The problem as it related to the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees as Yeshua saw it was that their disciplined lives were made up and prescribed by them, not by Abba Father. They set the rules, traditions, and laws for their way of life—their Faith, that they essentially forced upon the people. Not unlike that which the “church triumphant” has done throughout the centuries. And it was THEIR righteousness that they doubled-down upon and pushed upon the people. Consequently, they did not double-down upon the life that God originally prescribed for His people to walk in. And woe to any who would challenge them and their authority and their way of life. And Yeshua would end up paying the price for doing that very thing.

 

These were blinded by the dull brilliance of their religion that stripped away the authority, power, and sovereignty of Yah’s instructions in righteousness.

 

Paul described this human condition which would be the hallmark of the peoples of this world in the latter days:

 

2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.  9 But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men. 10 You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra– which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. (2Ti 3:2-11 ESV)

 

The scribes and pharisees effectively replaced Yah’s righteousness with a righteousness they themselves imagined and enforced. Unfortunately, their righteousness was devoid–missing the essential elements of Yah’s/Father’s heart, which consisted of love, true justice, and mercy in each of His children’s walk. Their religious traditions, laws, and rules prevented them and their followers from living righteous lives that would take them from Pesach to Sukkot-the Kingdom.

 

As in Yeshua’s day, many of God’s set-apart people look to their religious leaders and religious institutions to inform them–to describe to them–to model for them the righteousness that would get them into the Kingdom; that would essentially take them from Pesach to Sukkot. But sadly, that exceeding kingdom qualifying righteousness will not be found in these entities. It is to be found only in the Person and Ministry of Yeshua Messiah.

 

 

Action:

 

In my next post, I will describe/define for you those very elements of righteousness that WILL take us from Pesach to Sukkot (aka the Kingdom of Yah).

 

 

The Shavuot-Pentecost Connection

by | May 28, 2020 | ,

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The Niddah Laws–Still in Effect Today ?

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Keeping Passover by Way of the Renewed Covenant-Part 3 of Keeping Passover and Unleavened Bread in 2022

by | Apr 14, 2022 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

 

This is the third and final installment to our “Keeping Passover and Unleavened Bread in 2022” discussions. This installment is entitled “Keeping Passover by Way of the Renewed Covenant-In Spirit and in Truth.”

 

If by chance you did not read or listen to parts one and two of this three (3) part-discussion on “Keeping Passover and Unleavened Bread in 2022, I would humbly encourage you to do so by clicking the link to that post in this post’s transcript.

 

 

Should we, under the auspices of the Renewed Covenant, keep the Passover/Pesach as laid out before us in Torah? Or should we, as many do each year, partake in a traditional Jewish Seder (or Jewish-type of Seder) on Passover? Or should we rehearse Yahoshua’s Last Supper as sort of a replacement of Passover as some have sought to do? Or should we simply follow the leading of Yah’s Ruach HaKodesh, and keep Passover/Pesach in some form of Spirit and Truth?

 

Well, let’s look at each of these questions one-by-one and see if we can come to some biblically-based, reasonable answers.

 

  1. Should we, under the auspices of the Renewed Covenant, keep the Passover/Pesach as laid out before us in Torah? Well, as we’ve concluded several times during the previous installment, we cannot keep Passover/Pesach as Yah passed it down to our ancient Hebrew cousins. The ordinance as rendered at the time of the Exodus was related specifically to our departure out of Egypt. And Yah attached a number of requirements with that particular version of Passover such as slaying the Lamb that we selected back on the 10th day of the Month of the Aviv between the two evenings of the 14th of the Month of the Aviv. Applying the blood we collected from that slaughtered lamb upon the door posts and lintel of our homes so as to protect us; cover us from the destroyer as He went throughout the Land of Egypt to kill the firstborn. Each participating male of the Passover meal would have to be physically circumcised. Consuming the roasted Pesach that evening, we would be fully dressed with our staffs in hand and consume the meal in haste. And so forth (Exodus/Shemot 12). Everything would need to be completed before morning. And then at the 2nd anniversary of the original Passover, a second Passover is added to facilitate those of our community who for whatever reason were not in a position (either physically or spiritually) to properly keep Passover. And thus, purity regulations were added to the keeping of Pesach by Yah’s covenant people at that time (Numbers/Bemidbar 9).

 

Later on, Yah provided that once we were in the Land of Promise, we would conduct a pilgrimage to the Place where He chose to put His Name. And it would be at this place where He places His Name that we would select the Pesach, have it slaughtered, and then consume the Pesach as a community at that central location where Yah’s Name is placed. And then, when all is done and said, we would return to our temporary dwellings in the morning (Deuteronomy/Devarim 16).

 

It should be understood that the very last instructions Abba provided us in His Torah regarding our keeping of Pesach/Passover, should be the set of instructions that we would follow, at least up to the time that our Master came to minister to us (Deuteronomy/Devarim 16). But since we no longer have a functioning Levitical Priesthood to officiate the Pesach proceedings, and we no longer have a standing and functioning Temple in Yerushalayim, we cannot keep most of the elements of Pesach as outlined in Deuteronomy/Devarim 16. Not to mention that Yahoshua HaMashiyach fulfilled the role of the Pesach Lamb for us once and for all.

 

Rav Shaul wrote to the Messianic Assembly in Corinth regarding this aspect of Yahoshua’s ministry and person:

 

“…For our Passover is the Mashiyach, who was slain for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7; AENT).

 

Keefa/Peter wrote of our Master as our Pesach:

 

(18) …since you know that neither with perishable silver nor with gold you were redeemed from your vain doings which you had by tradition from your fathers; (19) but with the precious blood of that lamb, in which is no spot nor blemish, namely the Mashiyach…(1 Peter 1; AENT).

 

So beloved, there are no sheep to take into our homes; to slaughter on Passover; the blood of which to apply to our homes; and then consume in haste at night. Yahoshua our Messiah is our only Passover/Pesach. To do as rendered and outlined in scripture regarding lambs and such, would essentially ignore the sacrifice made by our Master. His sacrifice should be the Pesach sacrifice that we focus on during Pesach and Unleavened Bread. Oh, we should certainly reference with all the reverence we can muster, the Pesach of the original covenant. But that’s not where our redemption and salvation rests.

 

If, however, you are so led to keep Pesach as outlined in Torah, I say: Have at it. It’s not my place to judge or condemn any who are led to do anything they read in Torah. I’ve heard of at least one individual over the years—a prominent Messianic teacher on the internet—who made it publicly known that he intended to keep Passover as outlined in Exodus 12. And from what I understand, he ended up doing that very thing. Whether he’s done this each year since, I have no idea. But the point of my bringing this up is that this gentleman, who I highly respect and regard as a brother in the true faith once delivered, has a sizable following in the Messianic community. And although he made it known to his viewers and listeners that he was not encouraging them to follow his lead, no doubt countless individuals did follow his lead. And this is potentially a tragedy. It’s a tragedy because when we blindly keep Torah without keeping in mind and heart the Spirit and Truth behind each Torah instruction/mitzvah, regardless how pure our intentions may be, we end up being no different than the Pharisees and scribes who potentially leave undone the weightier matters of Torah: justice, mercy, and faith; and we nullify the full impact of our Master’s sacrifice. (Mat. 23:23). We must never forget that Yahoshua is the end (ie., the “telos”) of Torah—He is the focus; the fulfillment; the fullness of Torah that we must consider first and foremost in our operating and keeping Torah (Romans 10:4).

 

  1. Should we, as many do each year, partake in a traditional Jewish Seder (or Jewish-type of Seder) on Passover? I stated in STAR-28 that I had serious reservations about what we know as Jewish Seders. Jewish Seder are supposedly fashioned in accordance with the elements of the first Passover of Exodus/Shemot 12. But like everything in else in Judaism, the Passover Seder is highly and has been highly regulated by the rabbis. In fact, the so-called Seder is a rabbinic invention that looks and operates nothing like the Pesach meal of Exodus/Shemot 12. Many of the elements that make up the Seder meal seem to carry with it pagan symbolism, none of which I will get into in this discussion. However, if you are interested in that which I’m alluding to here regarding the Jewish Seder, I would encourage you when you get the chance, to simply conduct an internet search and look up what constitutes the Jewish Seder. Compare and contrast what constitutes a Jewish Seder with that which is detailed in Exodus/Shemot 12 and Deuteronomy/Devarim 16 and I am confident you will agree with my assessment that it is not something that Yah’s elect should be involving themselves with during this sacred time of the biblical calendar year.

 

Which brings me to the third question or point: 3. should we rehearse Yahoshua’s Last Supper as sort of a replacement of Passover as some have sought to do?

 

Well, this is an extremely important point and question if you ask me.

 

We find in Matthew 26, Mark 14; Luke 22; and John 13 what many within and outside of our Faith community refer to as the Last Supper. It is the night that our Master Yahoshua was betrayed; when He instituted the ritual of what many call communion—the sharing of bread (in Matthew 26:26 we find that bread was actually leavened bread-”arton” in the Greek and “lechem” in the Aramaic; and if this were in fact the Passover/Pesach/Seder meal, only unleavened bread can be provided for the meal) and wine; where He washed His disciples’ feet in a show of humility that many have over the centuries revered as a ritual to be followed even today by Yah’s people.

 

Turns out that many within and outside our Faith community believe that Yahoshua was actually crucified on what would turn out to be Passover day for that year; Master Yahoshua literally playing out the role of the Pesach Lamb. But this time, He would be the Lamb that would take away the sins of the world. I happen to be one of those who believe He was crucified on Passover/Pesach, as well as I believe that the so-called Last Supper was held the night prior to Passover Day. However, I do recognize that there is vocal opposition to this theory, strongly advocating the theory that Master was crucified on the First Day of Unleavened Bread.

 

Both theories drum up some serious questions demanding answers. In terms of the theory that Master was crucified on Passover Day, is that Matthew 26;19, Mark 14:12, and Luke 22:7 all mention that the so-called Last Supper took place on the first day of Unleavened Bread or on Passover, which is the 14th day of the Month of the Aviv. Which if the text is accurate, makes for an impossibility that Master was crucified on Passover day because He’d yet had His last supper with His disciples. But then, these same texts also paint a problem for the crucifixion taking place on the first day of Unleavened Bread as well. For any orthodox Jew to have any participation in a crucifixion on such a high holy day would be also an impossibility. So, both theories have problems associated with them in terms of what the Gospel record states.

 

The one other theory that I’ve come across of late has Yahoshua Messiah being crucified not on Passover Day, but on a Fr-day, Preparation Day, during the week of Unleavened Bread. I can see some possibilities in this theory, but there remains a great more investigation to be had on my part before I abandon my current stance.

 

Because, as I just mentioned, I adhere to Master being crucified on Pesach/Passover. There are just too many parallels between the events that make up the crucifixion day and the events that routinely take place in Yerushalayim on Passover day. For the sake of time, we won’t go over those parallels here.

 

 

The point of debate as to when the so-called Last Supper was held and what day Y’shua was actually crucified falls heavily upon Matthew’s record of the events, found in 26:17:

 

“Now on the first (Greek of protos) day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Yeshua, saying to Him, ‘Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover” (NKJV modified).

 

The Greek term “protos” as used in this verse most likely means from a contextual standpoint:“the day in front of or before the Passover Day,” which is always on the 14th day of the Month of the Aviv, with the first day of Unleavened Bread always commencing at sundown on the 14th day of the Month of Aviv—virtually on the heels of Unleavened Bread.

 

Yochanan’s (aka John’s) Gospel record is slightly clearer on this critical point:

 

“Now before (ie., the Greek word “pro,” contextually meaning, the day before) the Feast of the Passover, when Yahoshua knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end” (13:1; NKJV modified).

 

To insist that Master’s last meal with His disciples was the Pesach meal and that it took place on Passover night, are ignoring some important, critical points that are often left inadequately addressed by those in opposition.

 

But in support of Master being crucified on Passover, given the Gospel record challenging this claim, I turn to Michael Rood’s Chronological Gospels for an explanation for the disparity here:

 

“Preparations began on the 9th day of the Aviv and continued through the late afternoon of the 14th. A rented upstairs apartment in Jerusalem (the famous “upper room”) was prepared for Passover and for their extended domicile through the Feast of Shavuot. The parenthetical summary details where the last supper would take place—not when the preparation was made. The night in which the last supper occurred was the last evening in which leaven could be consumed. This is also the disciples’ first night in Jerusalem after spending the previous week nights in Bethany on the Mount of Olives” (Rood’s Chronology).

 

Regardless what one may think about Michael Rood, I will say that I find his work of the Chronological Gospels to be a decent reference. A lot of research was put into its compilation, and I’m afraid that many in our Faith community discount the work because they don’t care for the author, Michael Rood. Well, that’s too bad. And if that’s indeed the case, then it is what it is. I will continue to reference this publication from time-to-time as needed, at least until such a time that its content is proved wrong or inaccurate.

 

But assuming that Master Yahoshua was crucified on Passover Day, then that would mean the so-called Last Supper took place the night before Passover, or Erev Pesach. And if this is in fact true and accurate, then what Yahoshua and His disciples engaged in the night of the Last Supper was NOT the Passover/Pesach meal, or as popularly referred to as the Seder. It was simply Master having a final meal with His disciples, during which He institutes the “renewed covenant in His blood for the remission of sin,” and the eating of the bread which represented His broken body. During that dinner the betrayer is revealed and Yahoshua washes His disciples’ feet. Also, Master reveals that Shimon Keefa would betray Him three times before the crowing of the cock the following morning. And lastly, He renders unto the 11-remaining disciples (after Judas departs) one last lesson before the group departs out to the Mount of Olives.

 

So, for me, it’s unlikely that Master Yahoshua kept Passover as any devout Jew of His day would that year. He didn’t keep Pesach that year because He became our Pesach on that Passover Day. He was removed from His execution stake, hastily cleaned up, and placed in the borrowed tomb before sundown, which would be the time of the Pesach observance for all observing Jews in Yerushalayim, as well as at sundown, the start of the seven (7) day long Chag HaMatzah or Feast of Unleavened Bread. Remember, during Master hasty trial before Pilate, the Jewish leaders were concerned about prolonging the trial too long into the day, such that they were up against a clock and could not risk being in a position where they could not keep Pesach/Unleavened Bread in accordance with Torah.

 

That being said, the so-called Last Supper would have nothing to do with the Passover Meal and any associated ceremonies that tradition might bring up.

 

But we’ll leave this debate alone for now and continue on with our discussion on keeping Passover and Unleavened Bread in the Renewed Covenant.

 

 

 

 

_______________________________________________________

 

 Personal Thoughts and Reflections on Pesach and Unleavened Bread

 

So then, with all that we’ve just covered in this discussion, how are we—Yah’s redeemed and elect–to honor, celebrate, keep Pesach and Unleavened Bread. Well, we’re not expected necessarily to rehearse the elements of the so-called Last Supper, although many in our Faith Community do. Or folks in our Faith community simply default to participating in a variation or form of the classic Jewish Seder which Yah never ordained nor instructed us to do. And this brings us to the 4th option, which is to keep the Feasts in Spirit and in Truth.

 

Unless we’re focused on the greater meaning and shadows that Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread paints for us during this set-apart season, we run the great risk of blindly keeping the Feasts and missing or overlooking that which Abba so desperately wants us to take away from during our time together with Him.

 

First and foremost, unless we stop and truly recognize and appreciate the sacrifice that our Master Yahoshua made on our behalf; the cost of the atonement He made for our sins and the redemption that was paid for our release from the bondage and slavery to the gods of this world; unless we renew our vow to take-up our stakes and follow Him, giving all to follow Him; then Passover may very well be nothing more than a passing Hebrew holiday, a lamb meal and conceivably good times spent with friends and family. Our obligation, as Yah’s set-apart people is to keep Yahoshua at the forefront of our thoughts and hearts during this Passover/Pesach.

 

Master instructed His disciples, and by extension us today, to remember Him in whatever we do during Passover:

 

(17) Yeshua took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this cup and divide it among yourselves, (18) for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of Yehovah shall come.” (19) He took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me (Luke 22:17-19; Rood’s Chronology).

 

I would be remiss if I did not encourage each of us to remember that which Yahoshua did for us, at the very least, by reading the Gospel accounts of the so-called Last Supper and His sacrifice/His passion. Maybe remember Him Yeshua as our Pesach by partaking of bread and wine during this set-apart time.

 

Shaul told His Corinthian readers that which He personally received from our Master regarding the night our Master was betrayed:

 

(23) …He…took bread: (24) 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. (25) After the same manner also He took the cup, when He had supped, saying, ‘This cup is the new testament (new covenant) in My blood: This do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ (26) For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s (the Master’s) death till He come (1 Corinthians 11:23-26; KJV).

 

So, we’re instructed to remember Yahoshua our Master and our Redeemer on Pesach. In terms of keeping Passover/Pesach in accordance with the instructions rendered unto us in the original covenant, we cannot keep it for the reasons previously mentioned. But that’s okay beloved. What we can do to honor, observe, keep, guard Pesach/Passover is to remember the Person and Ministries of our Master Yahoshua, at the very least, on that day.

 

In terms of the seven (7) day Festival/Feast of Unleavened Bread (aka Chag HaMatzah), Torah requires that we rid our homes of all leavened foods and leavening agents. And then, from the night of the Pesach/Passover on the 14th of this Month, through the last day of Unleavened on the 21st of this month, we (1) abstain from eating any leavened laced or infused foods, and (2) eat matzah sometime each day during the period of the feast.

 

And so, we do. But we do so with a purpose in mind. Not simply to do what we’ve been instructed to do, which we should and must. But rather, to do so with the distinct purpose in mind of addressing and dealing with the leaven that presently exists in our respective lives.

 

Leaven (in Hebrew it is “chametz” and in the Greek it is “zume”), otherwise known to us as yeast, in many passages of scripture is emblematic of sin; of mental and moral corruption; of hypocrisy; error; and perversion. One of the many reasons Yah analogized sin, corruption, error, perversions and such with yeast or leaven, is because yeast, although it may start off in very small amounts when added to foods, it has the potential of expanding to very great amounts. Rav Shaul (aka the Apostle Paul) simply described leaven to his Galatian readers in this respect:

 

“It takes only a little “chametz” to leaven the whole batch of dough” (5:9; CJB; cf. 1 Corinthians 5:6).

 

I dare say that most of us—those who listen to or read these posts—do not live sinful lives. I’m not saying that we do not sin from time-to-time. But we do not go out of way to live lives of sin. And this is what makes Shaul’s analysis of chametz or leaven so powerful to those of us who have eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts willing to do the Will of our Father in heaven.

 

It doesn’t take much in the way of leaven or sin, or corruption, or error, or perversion or hypocrisy in our lives to, over time, expand within us and lead us to living sinful lives. To cause us to break covenant with Yah. To put at risk our place in the Kingdom of Yah. So, it falls to us to search out the slightest remnants of chametz or leaven and have it purged from our respective lives.

 

The Psalmist wrote:

 

“Search me, O God (O El), and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts” (Psalm 139:23; KJV).

 

“Prove me, O LORD (O Yehovah), and try me; purify as with fire my reins and my heart” (Psalm 26:2; KJV).

 

This is exactly what we should be doing during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Not just consuming unleavened bread and avoiding leavened foods. But do these things with the purpose of mind, heart, and soul, to identify the leaven that exists in our respective lives. And then, seek to have those leavened elements purged from our lives.

 

Shaul understood some of the moral struggles that the Messianic members of the Corinthian Assemblies were struggling and dealing with. And it was right about the time of Passover/Pesach/Unleavened Bread that the apostle counseled and encouraged them to:

 

(7) Get rid of the old chametz (that is get rid of the old leaven; the remnant of sin/error/hypocrisy/corrupt that exists in their respective lives), so that you can be a new batch of dough, because in reality you are unleavened. For our Pesach lamb, the Messiah, has been sacrificed. (8) So, let us celebrate the Seder (actually feast of Passover/Pesach), not with leftover chametz, the chametz of wickedness and evil, but with the matzah of purity and truth (1 Corinthians 5:8-9; CJB modified).

 

You see, some of the assembly members were walking out their faith, carrying around with them, as Shaul described, leftover issues—leftover chametz—chametz of wickedness and evil that they had to get rid of if they wanted to make it into the Kingdom. For later on in this same letter, Shaul informed them:

 

(9) Don’t you know that unrighteous people will have no share in the Kingdom of God (that is, the Kingdom of Yah)? Don’t delude yourselves—people who engage in sex before marriage (ie., fornicate), who worship idols (ie., idolaters), who engage in sex after marriage with someone other than their spouse (ie., adulterers), who engage in active or passive homosexuality, (10) who steal, who are greedy, who get drunk, who assail people with contemptuous language, who rob-none of them will share in the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; CJB).

 

Beloved, each of us carries within us, remnants of leaven that have not been completely purged out of our lives. This is the optimal time to make that very thing happen. If we are indeed in covenant with Yah, and Yah has set Himself to meet with us during this set-apart time of His Biblical Calendar Year (read or listen to our discussion entitled: “Guarding the Month of Aviv: Aviv’s Critical Importance to God’s Covenant Elect”), we have the grand opportunity to place these remnants of chametz or leaven on His brazen altar—purge them out of our lives with the help of His Ruach HaKodesh—and burn them up. Give them no room for continued existence and growth in our lives.

 

This seven (7) day festival is emblematic of the sanctification process that must take place in each of us, if we intend to remain in covenant with Yah and to enter His Kingdom. What will you seek Abba’s help in purging out from your life?

 

And lastly: If you recall two installments ago, in our Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections installment entitled “Guarding the Month of Aviv: Aviv’s Critical Importance to God’s Covenant Elect,” we discussed to a lesser or greater extent, the tucked away in the middle of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Day of the Wavesheaf Offering, or Yom HaNafar HaOmer. In that post, we discussed the importance of the barley crop’s maturity to the timing of Yah’s Calendar, and its importance to Yom HaNafar HaOmer.

 

We also discussed that this little discussed and little understood day, that this year, on our observational calendar, falls on S-nday, 4/24/22—the very last day of the seven (7) day Feast of Unleavened Bread. Unfortunately, you will not find any mention of Yom HaNafar HaOmer on your Calculated Jewish Calendar.

 

But, that’s neither here nor there.

 

The Day of the Wavesheaf Offering is emblematic of our Master being the firstfruits of those who Yah will raise from the dead, to be His loving, faithful transformed beings serving only Yah and His eternal Kingdom:

 

 (4) From: Yochanan to: The seven Messianic communities in the province of Asia: Grace and shalom to you from the One who is, who was and who is coming; from the sevenfold Spirit before His throne; (5) and from Yeshua the Messiah, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the earth’s kings. To Him, the one who loves us, who has freed us from our sins at the cost of His blood, (6) who has caused us to be a kingdom, that is, cohanim for God, His Father—to Him be the glory and the rulership forever and ever. Amein (Revelation 1:4-6; CJB).

 

The writer of Hebrews explains how Yahoshua our Master fulfilled the tenets of the spiritual Wavesheaf Offering:

 

(3) This Son (speaking of Yahoshua) is the radiance of the Sh’khinah, the very expression of God’s essence, upholding all that exists by His powerful word; and after He had, through Himself, made purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of HaG’dulah BaM’romim (or He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High)…(Hebrews 1:3-4; CJB).

 

Thus, our Master’s atoning and redemptive sacrifice was accepted before Yah—His sacrifice was essentially waved before Yah and Yah accepted it on our behalf: the true manifestation of the sheaves of barley that the ancients would bring before Yah at the Tabernacle or Temple, and the Levitical Priests would wave it before Yah and Yah would accepted that thanksgiving offering on our behalf.

 

Today, because, again, we don’t have a functioning Temple, nor Levitical Priesthood, nor are most of us barley farmers residing in the Land of Yisra’el, we cannot keep this portion of the Feast of Unleavened Bread as it was revealed to us in Yah’s Torah.

 

Therefore, we are compelled to keep this aspect of the feast in proper Spirit and in Truth. How so? Well, under the auspices of the original covenant, the ancients would bring of the first of the firstfruits of their barley crop to the Tabernacle or Temple to be waved before Yah. So, we too, from a related, spiritual perspective, offer unto Yah the first of our firstfruits unto Yah. What that actually looks like is what we are actually led to do by Yah. Some brethren are led to send to the ministries that feed them a special offering that serves as a form of worship that honors and praises Yah for His generous mercies in providing them their sustenance; their income; what have you. This type of worship is the closest form of worship that is represented by Yom HaNafat HaOmer.

 

Others of us may be led to offer unto Yah the best of what we have to offer Him: in the form of our talents; our abilities; our strength; our time; our worship that the author of Hebrews describes as “offering a sacrifice of praise to Yah that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His Name.” Truly, this is one of the little exercised offerings that folks in our faith community are cognizant to offer. But we must never overlook such a proper offering and form of worship.

 

Regardless of what we are led to wave before Yah, let us remember what Yahoshua accomplished on our behalf, and follow up that remembrance with that which Yah calls us to offer before Him.

 

As far as Hilary and me are concerned, we tend to share bread and wine on the night before Passover day, as well as we do wash one another’s feet in a show of respect and humility for that which Master showed us on the night that He was betrayed (ie., the so-called Last Supper). We realize that Y’shua was not in any way instituting a new feast day. He was simply having a last meal with His disciples, and from that solemn occasion, we draw out lessons on humility; obedience; sacrifice; love; hope; betrayal; and so many other things. And so, we meditate on those lessons.

 

In terms of Passover Day, at dusk, sometime close to dinner time let’s say, Hilary and I will have a meal consisting of lamb, bitter herbs, and unleavened bread as mentioned in Torah. We treat this time together as a solemn occasion and we generally will partake of a teaching online from one of Yah’s anointed teachers and we’ll discuss the meaning of the day; pray; maybe sing a song or two. But when sundown comes, we’ll blow our shofars and welcome the seven (7) day Feast of Unleavened Bread. We would have, a few days before, purged our home of all leavened foods and leavening products as Torah commands. Of course, we treat the first and last day of this feast as high holy days, to be filled with fellowshipping with other like-minded brethren (most likely via online live services); and we’ll keep the day holy as He commanded and as Yah’s Spirit directs us. Throughout the week of Unleavened Bread, we supplement each meal with matzah as commanded by Torah. We consume no leavened foods. And we remember what the Feast of Unleavened Bread is supposed to mean to us. It’s a time of introspection, as many feast days are each calendar year. And during this time of introspection, we take assessments of our respective walks with Messiah. We see the leaven that remains in our lives and we seek Yah’s help in purging those sins from our lives. We recognize this feast as being emblematic of the lifelong sanctification process that each of us must go through as Yah’s Ruach HaKodesh works in us each and every day, 24/7, to transform us into the image of our Master Yahoshua. It’s also a time of celebration for us. Depending on our situation that year, we may uproot ourselves from our home, and spend the week somewhere else, so as to spend the entire week entirely focused on the shadows and spiritual applications to be had by us from this feast. We seek to come out of this seven (7) day feast better—spiritually, and even physically, than we entered it.

 

Well, this brings us to the end of our rather lengthy discussion on Keeping Passover and Unleavened Bread in 2022. Thank you for hanging in there with me. And it is my heartfelt hope, trust, and prayer that you and your families and fellowships have a blessed; a powerful; a miracle-filled; meaningful; and safe Pesach and Unleavened Bread. And until next time beloved, may you be most blessed fellow saints in training.

The Shavuot-Pentecost Connection

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The Question of Niddah  One question that seems to pop-up a lot from members of our Faith Community has to do with the Laws related to Niddah. Are the laws of Niddah still valid for today’s Torah Observant Disciples of Yeshua Messiah? And in case you aren’t familiar...

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Keeping Passover by Way of the Original Covenant-Part 2 of Keeping Passover and Unleavened Bread in 2022

by | Apr 14, 2022 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

 This is “Keeping Passover and Unleavened Bread in 2022.” This will be part two (2) of a three (3) part discussion on Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread or Chag HaMatzah, which I’ve elected to entitle this particular discussion: “Keeping Passover by Way of the Original Covenant.”

 

 

As it relates to the honoring of the Passover of the Original Covenant, we must be on guard for those rabbinic traditions that nullify or diminish Yah’s Torah.

 

We should first be aware that Passover/Pesach is a one-day festival that immediately precedes–is actually adjacent–to the seven-day pilgrimage feast of Unleavened Bread, otherwise referred to in Hebrew as Chag HaMatzot. These two distinct festivals occur seamlessly synchronous: Passover occurs and then blends right into the start of Unleavened Bread (ULB). Pesach ends and ULB immediately begins. Because of this seamless synchronicity, most Torah-observant people view and treat Passover and Unleavened Bread as one, eight-day feast.

 

In our last post, entitled Shabbat HaGadol-The Path to Redemption and Atonement-we discussed the Jewish concept of “z’man cheiruteinu,” which essentially assigns Passover the central theme of it being a time to honor and reflect upon Yisra’el’s freedom from abject bondage and redemption from Egyptian slavery by the Mighty hand/arm of YHVH.

 

Rav Shaul (the Apostle Paul) wrote to the Messianic Assembly of Believers in Colossae:

 

(16) Therefore, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. (17) These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ (Mashiyach). (Col. 2:16-17; ESV)

 

The AENT rendering of this passage is as follows:

 

(16) Let no (pagan) therefore judge you about food and drink, or about the distinctions of festivals and new moons and Shabbats (17) which were shadows of the things then future; but the body of Mashiyach.

 

Here is another example of Shaul having to put into proper perspective questions and issues related to his readers’ respective walks in Messiah that one way or another made it to his attention. In this case, the Colossae assembly seemed to be undergoing some criticism from outsiders (of the assembly and general Body of Messiah) regarding the keeping of the dietary laws and the various feasts and special days of Yah that are part and parcel of Yah’s calendar year. These criticisms no doubt were concerning to the assembly members. It’s conceivable that these criticisms may have even introduced some degree of confusion and uncertainty as it relates to the appropriateness of the members of the Colossian Assembly keeping such mitzvot, traditions, and observances.

 

Shaul attempts to refocus the Colossian Messianics’ fears by counseling them to not pay those outside criticizers any mind. In fact, the only individuals who they should consult in terms of these mitzvot, traditions, and observances is the true Body of Mashiyach. Not unconverted family members and so-called friends. Not denominationalist teachers, preachers, and self-professing scholars. Not bosses or coworkers. Not only are these outsiders ignorant of the true importance of Yah’s Torah to Yah’s set-apart people, their motives may be less than honorable and pure. These are journeying on a pathway that leads only towards darkness and ultimately destruction (Mat. 7:13; Luk. 13:24).

 

Sadly, this Colossians passage has been hijacked by denominationalists who use it as one of their anti-Torah proof passages. These insist that Shaul here (and in other similar passages) was effectively instituting a life of lawlessness for the New Testament people of God. Such thinking and twisting of Shaul’s writings, as we’ve discussed numerous times on this platform, are just that: A twisting of the apostle’s words, which effectively is a twisting of our Master’s teachings since we’ve shown also countless times that Shaul and Yahoshua our Master were in “lock-step” as it related to their teaching and preaching of the Gospel message.

 

So then, Shaul suggests that we consult only the [true] Body of Mashiyach as it relates to any questions or issues we may have regarding the keeping of feasts, the Sabbath, the calendar, and the food laws. And today, since the [true] Body of Mashiyach is so scattered, this is accomplished in whatever manner you are so led by Yah’s Ruach (eg., your local fellowship; ministries based on the internet that you trust; the written words of Yah’s anointed teachers, preachers, and so forth).

 

 

Clearly, the foundational element of Passover is Yisra’el’s exodus out of Egypt/Mitsrayim. And many of us in this faith community place a great amount of emphasis on this reality. I’ve said this many times on this platform: We essentially remain at the base of Mount Sinai. But if we can shift around our focus to that of the Renewed Covenant, using the Torah of the Original Covenant as our foundation and guide, we will understand how to operate effectively in the Renewed Covenant.

 

Some have likened our present situation in the Body of Mashiyach to that of our ancient Hebrew cousins: That we are effectively residing in the abject, bitter spiritual bondage of this world. And that it is scripture that tells us of a “Greater Exodus” to come, whereby those of us who will be chosen to be a part of it, will have to have an understanding of how to operate within the framework of that Greater Exodus. And the first Exodus contains that knowledge–that information–that will be needed to effectively navigate the Greater Exodus.

 

We learn of this “Greater Exodus” in Jeremiah/Yirmeyahu 23:

 

(3) I will gather in the remnant of my people in every land, whither I have driven them out, and will set them in their pasture; and they shall increase and be multiplied. (5) Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. (7) Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when they shall no more say, The Lord lives, who brought up the house of Isra’el out of the land of Egypt; (8) but The Lord lives, who has gathered the whole seed of Isra’el from the north land, and from all the countries whither he had driven them out, and has restored them into their own land (LXX).

 

Isaiah/Yesha’yahu also contributes to the discussion about the Greater Exodus in chapters 14 and 43 of the cepher that bears his name:

 

(14:1) And the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Isra’el, and they shall rest on their land: And the stranger shall be added to them, yea, shall be added to the house of Jacob. (14:2) And the Gentiles shall take them, and bring them into their place: And they shall inherit them, and they shall be multiplied upon the land for servants and handmaidens: And they that took them captives shall become captives to them; and they that had lordship over them shall be under their rule. (43:5) Fear not; for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and will gather thee from the west. (43:6) I will say to the north, bring; and to the south, keep not back; bring my sons from the land afar off, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; even all who are called by My Name: for I have prepared him for My glory, and I have formed him, and have made him (LXX).

 

Ezekiel 34:12-14–As the shepherd seeks his flock, in the day when there is darkness and cloud, in the midst of the sheep that are separated: So will I seek out my sheep, and will bring them back from every place where they are scattered in the day of cloud and darkness. And I will bring them out from the Gentiles, and will gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land, and will feed them upon the mountains of Isra’el, and in the valleys, and in every inhabited place of the land. I will feed them in a good pasture, on a high mountain of Isra’el: And their folds shall be there, and they shall lie down, and there shall they rest in perfect prosperity, and they shall feed in a fat pasture on the mountains of Isra’el (LXX).

 

As arduous and tragic as our ancient Hebrew cousins’ plight may have been during those many years of bitter bondage, that which hasatan meant for evil (such that the utter and complete destruction of the Hebrew nation), Yah ultimately turned those lemons into lemonade. The squeezing of Yisra’el during the time of their Egyptian enslavement served to keep the nation as one nation of people. For had there been NO bondage inflicted upon the people, it is likely the nation would have been absorbed into Egypt’s melting-pot of cultures and peoples. Yisra’el could have just as easily been a brief note in the pages of human history. But Yah’s plans for His bride Yisra’el would not be deterred by the enemy’s evil agenda, which in great part to destroy the people and lineage by which Mashiyach would ultimately come.

 

In the midst of Yisra’el’s bitter enslavement and bondage, Yehovah heard her cries and pleas for freedom. And it was the cries of the people that prompted Yah to remember the covenant He’d made with Avraham, Yitschaq, and Ya’achov. Thus, Yah chose Moshe to lead His bride, Yisra’el out of bitter Egyptian bondage.

 

Egypt’s pharaoh would not, however, release Yisra’el from her bondage without having to endure a series of 10-plagues that Yah declared would serve as judgment against the tribulators of His people and the gods of Egypt:

 

(12) And I hearkened to the groaning of the children of Isra’el and I remembered the covenant with you”…(15) and I will go throughout the land of Egypt in that night, and will smite every first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and on all the gods of Egypt will I execute vengeance: I am the Lord” (Exodus/Shemot 12:2).

 

Just prior to the final plague Yah would bring against the Egyptians and their gods, Yah’s providence and foresight brought Yisra’el to be favored by their Egyptian overlords. Those Egyptian overlords lavished their Yisra’eli slaves with great material wealth (Exodus/Shemot 11:2-3, 35-36). And thus, Yisra’el did not leave Egypt as paupers, but as a wealthy nation.

 

It was immediately after Yisra’el “plundered” her overlords that Yah instituted the very first pesach/passover ritual:

 

(1) And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, (2) this month shall be to you the beginning of months: It is the first to you among the months of the year. (3) Speak to all the congregation of the children of Isra’el, saying, On the tenth of this month let them take each man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: (4) And if they be few in a household, so that there are not enough for the lamb, he shall take with himself his neighbour that lives near to him, –as to the number of souls, every one according to that which suffices him shall make a reckoning for the land. (5) It shall be to you a lamb unblemished, a male of a year old: Ye shall take it of the lambs and the kids (Exodus/Shemot 12:1-5). (If you’ve not already done so, and are led to do so, I would humbly invite you to read and or listen to our discussion entitled “Shabbat HaGadol: The Pathway to Redemption and Atonement.”)

 

This unblemished, perfect lamb upon being selected by each household, was to be kept by that household, in their dwellings, from the 10th to the 14th day of the Month of the Aviv. But then, sometime between noon and dusk on the 14th, we were instructed to slaughter the animal (Exodus/Shemot 12:6; cf. Deuteronomy/Devarim 16:6).

 

Two things were to happen to the carcass of the slaughtered lamb or kid: (1) Collect the animal’s blood and apply it to the door-posts and lintel of each home/dwelling; and (2) roast and eat the flesh of the animal along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs in haste (the Hebrew being “b’chippazown” which means to go as in a hasty flight) and while fully dressed (that being our loins girded or belt on our waists, our sandals on our feet, and our staffs in our hands) (Exodus/Shemot 12:7-11).

 

Beloved, there is nothing likened unto the fancy, shmancy, elaborate Seders many Jews and Messianics have come to enjoy each Pesach/Passover season. Maybe those modern Seders have lost something in their “translation” or application of this solemn meal, and many of us have as a consequence become somewhat jaded by the event. It’s important to know the fullness of what happened back then, and what Yah wants us to get out of this set-apart day. Certainly the forefathers did not have the luxury of such an elaborate occasion as many in our faith enjoy today. But that’s just me.

 

 

The prophetic shadows of this ritual are easily recognized. Clearly the unblemished lamb that would be selected on the 10th day, kept and tended to by each family, and then slaughtered 4-days later is emblematic of our Master Yahoshua Messiah. Each of the elements of the meal carried with it a spiritual meaning: the bitter herbs representing the harshness and bitterness of our captivity; the unleavened bread representing our move towards living a sinless life, as well as it represented the haste by which we were to prepare and consume the meal. We were being readied for a hasty departure out of Egypt early in the morning. Finishing the entire meal that night without leaving any for the next day; burning whatever was left.

 

The blood that was applied to the entrances of our homes was indicative of our obedience to Yah’s instructions (Exodus/Shemot 12:12-13). For the difference between life and death that night was our obedience Yah’s instructions. Those who obeyed Yah and applied the blood of the lamb/kid to the door-posts and lintels of our homes as instructed would be spared grief and death and misery, while those who for whatever reason chose not to obey Yah suffered greatly. Those who obeyed got to leave Egypt and leave their life of bondage behind them. Conversely, those who for whatever reason chose not to obey Yah no doubt stayed behind and had to endure whatever life awaited them in a land of many gods who would that night be judged by the One True and Living Elohim: Yehovah. Death would bypass those marked homes that terrible night. And as a shadow of that terrible night, we know that Yahoshua’s blood when applied to our lives also spares us from eternal death and separation from Yah.

 

 

Again, the prophetic shadows are too great to overlook or deny. The Pesach or Passover Lamb plays centrally in the 10th day of the Month of the Aviv, as well as the Pesach sacrifice and how the sacrifice is treated. Yochanan the Immerser (aka John the Baptist) declared of Yahoshua:

 

“…Look! God’s lamb! The one who is taking away the sin of the world” (Joh. 1:29; CJB).

 

Our Jewish cousins cannot appreciate Exodus/Shemot 12 as much as we can. For the first Pesach/Passover was not just the precipitating event that ushered in the Hebrew nation’s exodus out of Egypt, but it was also an emblematic rehearsal of the Passion of our Master and Saviour Yahoshua HaMashiyach. And as wondrous as the elements of the first Passover may appear to those of us in this faith community, we must keep all those elements within their proper perspective. In other words, we must factor in the requirements of the Renewed Covenant that our Master set forth for us, while honoring and keeping Pesach/Passover in its proper Spirit and Truth paradigm. We’ll talk more about that in a moment. 

 

 

We find then in verses 14-18 that Yah instructs us to keep the feast of Pesach/Passover, which includes both Passover night and the 7-days of Matzah/Unleavened Bread. Passover/Pesach is to be an “everlasting ordinance” for the people of Yah. During the 7-days of Matzot/Unleavened Bread, we are required to remove all leaven from our dwellings, NOT consume leavened foods, and eat unleavened bread, perform no work and convene a sacred convocation on the first and 7th-day of that 7-day feast week (Exodus/Shemot 12). You may hear from time-to-time, especially in Jewish and in some Messianic circles that the first and last day of HaMatzot/Unleavened Bread (ULB) are “high Sabbaths” or “high holy days.” These days are meant to focus our attention on Yah and the things He is doing for His people, and not get caught-up with the cares of this life. These are rest days. We are commanded to convocate or be a part of a sacred gather to worship Yah and learn of Him and His Ways. We are permitted to prepare meals on that day, so as to enhance the celebratory nature of these set-apart days. There should be no other tasks or preparatory things done on these days.

 

Yah is emphatic that we have no leaven in our homes during these set-apart days; that we not consume any leaven during these set-apart days; and that we instead consume unleavened bread (verses 19-20). And this regulation still applies to us today. It is imperative that we go through our cupboards, pantries, refrigerators, and freezers and rid them of any leavened, or leavened-based products.

 

Now, I will not take it upon myself to instruct you on precisely which items fall within this category of leavened products. Based upon the level of zeal we possess in serving and obeying Yah’s instructions in righteousness will determine to what extent we rid our house of any leaven or potential leavened products. And then after that, not consume unleavened bread, and also consumed matzah throughout the 7-days of Chag HaMatzah/Unleavened Bread. Hilary and I each year go out and purchase one of those big family-sized boxes of matzah, and we eat matzah with whatever main dishes we intend to eat each day. It essentially becomes a part of our lives for those 7-days. And we look forward to it each biblical calendar year.

 

 And thus, the first Pesach was inaugurated in the land of Egypt. The firstborn of those dwellings that did not have the blood of the Pesach applied to it, as well as the firstborn of the cattle all died that night, including Thutmose IV’s firstborn son. The firstborn of the homes, primarily those of the Hebrews, that had the Pesach’s blood applied to them, Yah spared, as the destroyer went throughout the Land of Egypt (Exodus/Shemot 12:23, 29). There’s a lot to be said about the issue of the firstborn being the target of Yah’s judgment. Recall back in chapter 2 of Exodus/Shemot that an unidentified Pharaoh commanded the Hebrew midwives to kill the boys of those born to Hebrew mothers at their birth, while sparing the girls (verses 15-16). And when that didn’t quite pan out because of Yah’s mercy and grace, Pharaoh commanded the citizens of Egypt to cast every boy born to a Hebrew family into the Nile River, while sparring the Hebrew girls (verses 17-22). This obviously upset Yehovah immensely.

 

We know that Yah has always had a special place in His heart for firstborn children, especially those firstborn of His covenant people. And when pharaoh launched a war against the male offspring of His covenant people, he crossed a line with Yehovah that could not be reversed. Yah viewed His covenant people as His firstborn—the shadows of this cannot be overstated. Of this issue related to the firstborn, Yah stated to Moshe:

 

(22) And you shall say to Pharaoh, “Thus said the LORD: My son, My firstborn, is Isra’el. (23) And I said to you, Send off My son that he may worship Me, and you refused to send him off, and look, I am about to kill your son, your firstborn (Exodus/Shemot 4).

 

 

Now back to the unleavened bread that the Hebrew had with their Pesach and bitter herbs during that “night to be most remembered,” there are tremendous spiritual and prophetic shadows associated with it, which we’ve touch ever so slightly in our discussion here, and we’ll certainly look at it later on. But there are also practical aspects of the unleavened bread as it related to the exodus. For we find in verse 39 of chapter 12 that practically speaking, that the Hebrews’ departure was of such a hasty manner that they did not have time to prepare meals for their journey. Therefore, they baked unleavened cakes for their journey. For there was no time to allow for the dough to rise.

 

The next several verses of the 12th chapter impress the swiftness of events that occurred that Pesach/Passover/night to be most remembered, all leading to the people’s immediate departure from Goshen in Egypt the very next morning. The text states:

 

“And it happened on that very day that the LORD brought the Isra’elites out of the land of Egypt in their battalions” (verse 51; Alter).

 

And so, we have the nuts and bolts of Pesach laid out before us here in the 12th chapter of Exodus/Shemot.

 

However, we find in Numbers/Bemidbar 9 record of the Hebrews’ second Passover observance (in the wilderness) where Yah added to the Exodus/Shemot 12 ordinance, the element and requirement of ritual purity for any who would keep Pesach (verses 1-3). Any who, during the appointed time of Pesach in the Month of Aviv, were found to be in a state of ritual impurity would be expected to keep Pesach on the 14th-day of Month-two of the calendar year at dusk. This Pesach/Passover is called Pesach Sheini.

 

Pesach is to be honored and kept by every Hebrew, and thus, Yah made provision for those who might find themselves in a position not to keep it. He is a merciful and loving Elohim.

 

But it should be understood that we have no record in Torah of the Hebrews keeping Pesach beyond the 2nd one as recorded in Numbers/Bemidbar 9. Not until the conquest of the Land of Promise:

 

(9) And the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, “On this day have I removed the reproach of Egypt from you:” And He called the name of that place Gilgal. (10) And the children of Isra’el kept the Passover on the 14th-day of the month at evening, to the westward of Jericho on the opposite side of the Jordan in the plain. (11) And they ate of the grain of the earth unleavened and new corn. (See, they’d not only kept Passover, but they also conducted Yom HaNafat HaOmer/the Wavesheaf Offering: A requirement in order for us to consume any new grain from the harvest of the Land that would be forthcoming.) (12) In this day the manna failed, after they had eaten of the corn of the land; and the children of Isra’el had not any more manna; but they did eat of the product of the Land of Canaan during that year (Joshua 5:9-12; LXX). 

 

Thus, we have the template before us for keeping Pesach. There should be no excuses for keeping it by any of Yah’s covenant people.

 

 

But is this the whole of the story that we should follow or that our Ancient Hebrew cousins followed after they inherited the Land of Promise? And the answer is no. Yah actually made alterations to Pesach that all but eliminated the application of the Pesach’s blood to the door-posts and lintels of our homes, as well as the keeping of Pesach shifted from that of a family, home-centered observance, to that of a national observance at one central location.

 

Because we would be spread out across the Land of Canaan, Yah instructed that Pesach/Passover/Unleavened Bread be a required annual pilgrimage feast. Every household would be required to journey to the place where Yah chose to establish His Name for purposes of observing Pesach. The Pesach would now be sacrificed at the central location (I.e., at the place where the Tabernacle or the Temple stood).

 

 

Keeping Pesach/Passover/Unleavened Bread is a requirement for every chosen child of the Most High. However, because Yah altered the parameters and elements of this ordinance, and we no longer have a true, functioning, Levitical Priesthood, nor a functioning, standing Temple or Tabernacle (for that matter), we cannot keep Pesach as Yah conveyed to us in Torah. However, under the auspices of the renewed covenant, we are compelled to keep the elements of the ordinance of Pesach/Passover that remain viable to us today, all in Spirit and in Truth. One of the things we as renewed covenant saints in training is that we follow the example of our Master in terms of our keeping the ordinance of Pesach. And we’ll discuss this in our next installment.

_____________________________________________________________________

 

Now, a handful of key concepts must be factored into our understanding and even keeping of Pesach as outlined in the Original Covenant:

 

  1. The Pesach of the Original Covenant (I.e., the covenant passed down to us through Moshe) was part and parcel of our leaving Egypt and going to a destination that Yah has chosen for us. From a historic standpoint, it was Yah remembering the covenant He’d made with Avraham, Yitschaq, and Ya’achov, redeeming them and leading them out of Egyptian bondage (both physical and spiritual) and to the Land that He swore to give to Avraham as an inheritance. From a spiritual standpoint, it symbolized Yah’s Plan of Salvation-Redemption-Restoration, whereby, Yah makes provision for His chosen ones who enter covenant with Him to leave Egypt. To depart Egypt. To rid themselves of anything having to do with Egypt. And so, Egypt and Babylon are symbolic of the “world.” Yah calls His own to leave the world—and go to the place—the life that He has established for them.

 

Yochanan (aka John) the Revelator records the words of a voice out of heaven that declared:

 

(4) …”Come out of her (ie., spiritual Babylon/Egypt) my people; that you may not participate in her sins, and may not partake of her plagues. (5) For her sins have reached up to heaven; and Elohim has remembered her iniquities…” (Revelation 18; AENT).

 

Yah, through the Prophet Jeremiah/Yirmeyahu admonishes Yisra’el to:

 

(6) “Flee from the midst of Babylon; let every one save his life! Be not cut off in her punishment, for this is the time of Yah’s vengeance, the repayment He is rendering her…Go out of the midst of her, my people! Let every one save his life from the fierce anger of Yah” (51:6, 45; ESV modified).

 

Likewise, the Prophet Isaiah/Yesha’Yahu in a prophetic sense admonishes Yisra’el, pointing to the coming Greater Exodus of Yah’s elect:

 

(20) Go forth of Babylon, thou that fleest from the Chaldeans: utter aloud a voice of joy, and let this be made known, proclaim it to the end of the earth; say ye, The Lord hath delivered His servant Jacob. (21) And if they shall thirst, He shall lead them through the desert; He shall bring forth water to them out of the rock: the rock shall be cloven, and the water shall flow forth, and My people shall drink (48:20-21; LXX).

 

Rav Shaul (aka the Apostle Paul) declares this same call of Yah’s people coming out of the world in his second letter to the Messianic Assemblies in Corinth:

 

(15) Or what agreement has the Mashiyach with the Accuser or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? (16) Or what agreement has the temple of Elohim with that of demons? For you are the temple of the living Elohim; as it is said, “I will dwell among them, and walk among them, and will be their Elohim, and they will be My people (17) Wherefore, you come out from among them, and be separate from them” says Master Yehovah, “and don’t come near the unclean thing (here talking about Yah’s insistence that His chosen ones remain in a state of spiritual and ritual purity at all times) and I will receive you; (18) And will be to you a Father, and you will be sons and daughters to Me,” says Master Yehovah the Almighty (chapter 6; AENT).

 

Thus, Passover/Pesach serves as a rehearsal and a foreshadowing of our departure from the world via what has been dubbed as a Greater Exodus, and our settling into a restored Land of Yisra’el (cf. Hebrews 8:5; 10:1).

 

  1. From a historic perspective, Yah required any who would partake of the Pesach/Passover be circumcised:

 

(48) And should a sojourner sojourn with you and make the Passover offering to the LORD, he must circumcise every male of his, then may he draw near to do it and he shall be like a native of the land, but no uncircumcised man shall eat of it. (49) One law shall there be for the native and for the sojourner who sojourns in your midst (Exodus/Shemot 12:48-49; Alter).

 

So, Yah put forth the requirement of circumcision for any who would partake of the Pesach/Passover. And I’ve come across Messianic ministries that teach any male who would partake of the Pesach/Passover Seder today, they must be circumcised.

 

(I’ve expressed my personal views on the application of the mitzvah of physical circumcision for modern day Messianics in the post entitled: “Paul on Physical Circumcision for God’s People-A Question of One’s Jewishness Part 3.” If you’ve not had the opportunity to listen to or read that post, and you are so led, I would humbly encourage you to do so. Paul on Physical Circumcision for God’s People–A Question of One’s Jewishness Part 3 (themessianictorahobserver.org))

 

But I would go so far as to submit that under the auspices of the Renewed Covenant, we are all required to be circumcised first and foremost of the heart as taught by Rav Shaul:

 

(28) For he is not a Jew who is so in what is external (alone): nor is that (only physical) circumcision, which is visible in the flesh. (29) But he is a Jew who is so in what is hidden: And circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not from men, but from Elohim (Romans 2; AENT; cf. Deuteronomy/Devarim 10:16; 30:6; Jeremiah/Yermi’Yahu 4:4; 2 Corinthians 10:18; Colossians 2:11; Philippians 3:3).

 

Physical circumcision for male believers aside, I believe covenant believer who is circumcised of heart is eligible to partake in the Pesach/Passover. Again, we cannot keep Pesach/Passover as conveyed to us by Yah for the previously stated reasons. Therefore, we keep Pesach/Passover in Spirit and in Truth, with a circumcised heart, with purity of heart, body, and soul.

 

Shaul admonished the Messianic Assembly in Corinth:

 

(7) Purge out from you the old leaven that you may be a new mass, as you are unleavened. For our Passover is the Mashiyach, who was slain for us. (8) Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of wickedness and bitterness, but with the leaven (or unleavened bread) of purity and sanctity (1 Corinthians 5; AENT).

 

 

Well, I pray that you got something out of this discussion on Keeping Passover and Unleavened Bread by Way of the Original Covenant. For we can’t fully appreciate and understanding keeping these set-apart days unless we have a full grasp of what the original covenant had to say about them.

 

In the third and final installment of this series, we’ll discuss Keeping Passover by Way of the Renewed Covenant. I’ll see you on the other side.

The Shavuot-Pentecost Connection

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Some Passover Basics-Keeping Passover and Unleavened Bread in 2022-Part 1

by | Apr 14, 2022 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

This is “Some Passover Basics.” It is the first installment of a three (3) part series I chose to entitle: “Keeping Passover and Unleavened Bread in 2022.”

 

We have a lot to cover. So let’s get right into it.

 

For those of us who keep the Observational Calendar, Pesach/Passover will take place this year on S-nday evening, 4/17/2022, with the first day of Chag HaMatzot/Unleavened Bread commencing at sundown on that same S-nday, extending out through sundown on S-nday, 4/24/2022. Yom HaNafat HaOmer or the Day of the Waveheaf Offering will also fall on S-nday, 4/24/2022. Now, we really cannot keep Yom HaNafat HaOmer in the fashion that Yah passed down to us in Leviticus/Vayiqra 23. For us, the day serves as more of a marker. For it is the day that we begin our 7-Sabbath/Week count towards Shavu’ot, which we will discuss in a future installment of this program. For some of us, it also serves as a day in which we give of the first of our increase (a special offering that is not the tithe) to whatever ministry, organization, thing we are led to give in honor and thanksgiving to Yah for blessing and increasing and sustaining us throughout the year.

 

Now, for those of you who keep the Jewish Calendar, Pesach/Passover will take place this year on Fr-day evening, 4/15/2022, which is generally noted as the first Seder night or Erev Pesach. And then of course, that same night at sundown, commences the 7-day feast week of Passover, also referred to in rabbinic circles as the 2nd Seder night. This day also commences the 50-day counting of the Omer (which is not biblical, but it does serve the purpose of pointing us towards Shavu’ot). Why do we differ in our determination of Yom HaNafat HaOmer or the start of the Counting of the Omer? Well, that’s a rather complicated issue that I will reserve for a future post, so as to not bog down any further this discussion. But, the last day of Passover on the Jewish calendar is set for sundown on Shabbat 4/23/2022. 

 

 

 

How Many Feasts Do We Keep

 

There are various opinions as to how many feasts or festivals we are supposed to honor each year. Those of our faith community who tend to be more on the Messianic Jewish side of the aisle will contend that there are five (5) with the Jewish holidays of Purim and Hanukkah added well after Torah was given:

 

  • Passover (Unleavened Bread is inclusive).
  • Shavuot (aka Pentecost).
  • Yom Teruah (aka the Day of the Blowing of Trumpets which these insist is Rosh Hashanah).
  • Yom Kippur (aka the Day of Atonement).
  • Sukkot (aka the Feast of Tabernacles including Shemini Azterets).

 

I’ve always contended that there are at least seven (7) mandated feasts of Yah:

 

  1. Passover Day
  2. Chag HaMatzot (aka Unleavened Bread and Yom HaNafat HaOmer—7-days)
  3. Shavu’ot (aka Pentecost)
  4. Yom Teruah (aka the Day of the Blowing of Trumpets—Not Rosh Hashanah)
  5. Yom Kippur (aka Day of Atonement)
  6. Sukkot (aka Feast of Tabernacles—7-days)
  7. Shemini-Atzeret (aka Last Great Day)

 

I do not include Purim nor Hanukkah as they are Jewish-instituted holidays. Nothing wrong with Yah’s people celebrating them or honoring them. But they are not mandated by Torah. These are purely nationalistic holidays.

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Over the years, Torah-keepers have viewed and treated these Feasts or Moedim of Yah from many different perspectives.

 

Some view these set-apart days collectively as simply holy days that God’s people are obligated to keep. And those who hold such a perspective will keep each of these days by way of enacting or keeping the associated Jewish traditions.

 

Others view these set-apart days from more of a rabbinic standpoint: That collectively, these days portray or are emblematic of Yah (the Bridegroom) marrying Yisra’el (by extension us). That is, the successive steps of an ancient Hebrew wedding and marriage:

 

  • Pesach representing the Bridegroom (aka Yah) choosing and then redeeming His bride to be Yisra’el. Yah pays the bride’s father a “dowry” so to speak. And we know that one of the central themes of Pesach apart from that of freedom is “redemption.” The price to redeem the bride was the blood of the Pesach: The unblemished Lamb Yisra’el would choose every 10th day of the first-month of the Aviv.
  • Shavuot, more popularly known to the world as Pentecost, represents the “Ketubbah.” A “ketubbah” is essentially a Hebrew marriage contract. It would stipulate the terms of the pending marriage agreement between the bridegroom and his bride. In other words, it spelled out the rules of the marriage. Well, tradition has it that Yah spoke to the Hebrew nation His Torah from Mount Sinai on Shavu’ot. And recall, that Shavu’ot is seven (7) weeks after Passover. Therefore, Torah can be likened unto that of the marriage “ketubbah” between Yah and Yisra’el. The “ketubbah” should not be viewed as just a set of rules that govern the marriage, but rather, a love letter from the bridegroom, Yah, to His bride, Yisra’el. And so, as long as the bride would remain faithful to her Husband, Yah pledges His undying protection and love for her.
  • Yom Teruah, more popularly referred to as the Feast of Trumpets, in Messianic Jewish circles, represents Yehovah’s impassioned call to His unfaithful wife, Yisra’el. The day represents Yah’s willing to forgive His cheating spouse Yisra’el. And all He requires of her is that she Teshuvah: Return to her first love, repent, and abide with the original terms of the “ketubbah” that was given when she married Yah.
  • Yom Kippur, otherwise known as The Day of Atonement, represents the return and cleansing of the once unfaithful bride, Yisra’el, to her awaiting Husband, Yehovah.
  • Sukkot, popularly referred to as the Feast of Tabernacles, is emblematic of the marriage being consummated, and the happy couple dwelling together. Of course, the “sukkahs” or “booths” as some call them, in this paradigm, represents the cohabiting of Yah with Yisra’el. Why seven days according to this paradigm? Well, the week represents Yah, the husband, dwelling with His bride, Yisra’el, here on earth for a defined period of time that is generally referred to as the Millennial reign or the Kingdom of Yah here on earth. The eighth (8th) day, otherwise known as “Shimini Atzeret,” represents Yah dwelling with His people for eternity. These eight (8) days emphasize Yah’s desire to dwell with His people.

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The Factor of Physical Circumcision Related to Pesach

 

Yah required that any male who would partake of the Pesach-the Passover Lamb-be physically circumcised. Now, this was generally meant for the foreigners and sojourners who would come to be part of Yisra’el and serve Yehovah (Exodus/Shemot 12:48-49). For at the time this mitzvah was given to Yisra’el, the large group that would be departing out of Egypt would be composed of what our English translations describe as “a mixed multitude” (Exodus/Shemot 12:38; Numbers/Bemidbar 11:4). These individuals and their families (if they did in fact have families) would have likely been non-Hebrews who were of course, uncircumcised. Conversely, the departing Hebrews, because they were biological descendants of the Patriarchs, would most likely have been circumcised. And because Yah’s focus at that time was to enter a marriage agreement-a covenant agreement-with Yisra’el His Bride, it would fall upon any male who would partake of the Pesach to have the sign of the Avrahamic-Covenant applied to their flesh. And this has always been Yah’s desire that any who were outside of the commonwealth of Yisra’el be engrafted in. That is, become an Yisra’elite. I’m not talking about a so-called spiritual Israel, which tends to conjure up a false concept of replacement theology. I’m not talking about proselytizing the Gentile, such that the Gentile or non-Jew seeking to enter into all of her covenant promises and way of life, must first become a Jew and pledge themselves to be practitioners of Judaism. And this is where Judaism lost her way as it relates to the relevancy and intent of circumcision.

 

Yes, under the auspices of the original covenant, physical circumcision was a requirement for any male to partake of the Pesach. But things got a bit dicey in the first-century, under the auspices of the Renewed Covenant. The elephant in the room at the time was “what should the Jewish Messianics do with the influx of Gentiles (all of whom were no doubt uncircumcised) coming in to the Faith?” This question was made all the more troublesome when you factored in their keeping and partaking of Pesach/Passover. Although Pesach/Passover was not directly addressed, this issue of what to do with the incoming Gentiles was the central point of discussion at the Jerusalem Council under James, the biological half-brother of our Master Yahoshua (Acts 15). Contrary to the erroneous conventional wisdom of denominationalism, the Jerusalem Council in her final ruling DID NOT abolish physical circumcision for the Body of Mashiyach. But rather, the Counsel, through her ruling, put physical circumcision into its proper perspective, which was to first and foremost acclimate the incoming non-Jews into the Hebrew Faith by having them rid themselves of all vestiges of their former pagan lives: That they abstain from idolatry; abstain from fornication; follow the proper dietary laws; and not consume blood (Acts 15:19-20). These elementary mitzvot were minimal requirements for a Ger (that is, a non-Jew) to come near and receive vital Torah instructions:

 

“For from ancient generations in all cities Moshe had preachers in the synagogues that on every Shabbat they read him” (Acts 15:21; AENT).

 

How this affected the converted, uncircumcised Gentile (the non-Jew) in his being permitted to partake of Pesach in the first century? Well, let’s talk about that for a second.

 

And oh by the way, Torah did not have such prohibitions on women as it related to their partaking of the Pesach. Since physical circumcision did not apply to girls and women, there were no mitzvot that prohibited them from partaking of the Pesach apart from any ritual purity issues that might prevent them from doing so at the time. However, there is evidence that in the latter half of the first-century, converted, non-Jewish women had to go through prosylization and commit to practicing Judaism in order for them to partake of the Pesach.

 

But back to our discussion on converted, uncircumcised non-Jewish men, the writings of first through third century A.D. sages such as Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai and Rabbi Ishmael suggested that these individuals were permitted to participate in the so-called Jewish Seder by eating the elements of the Pesach meal, but they could NOT partake of the Pesach Lamb. Period (Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai; Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael).

 

Needless to say, this situation placed tremendous pressures upon many of the converted, uncircumcised male Believers of the Way Movement back in the day. Many succumbed to these pressures and went ahead and got circumcised. At least that’s what the context of some of these Jewish writings suggests.

 

But there were other concerns that crept into the discussion about converted Gentile males being circumcised. Essentially, who could perform the circumcision on these individuals so that it would qualify them to partake of Pesach. And it seems from such previously stated Jewish writings that at the start, even as far back as Old Testament days, that it didn’t matter who circumcised an individual, or how one came to be circumcised. As long as one was circumcised, they passed the mitzvah muster. However, as the first-century progressed, the rabbis began to pass takannah (Jewish rabbinic halachah that carried the authority of Torah), that one who was circumcised had to prove they were circumcised with the expressed intent of practicing Judaism. There had to be a specific intent to become a proselyte in order for the circumcision to be valid. Still later on, beyond 70-C.E. (ie., the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple), that the intent of one to practice Judaism wasn’t the only requirement for circumcision, but it was added that a uncircumcised Gentile had to be circumcised by a qualified Jewish practitioner or physician in order for their circumcision to be valid.

 

And this mindset followed throughout the ensuing centuries that in order for one to partake of Pesach, if they were male, had to not only be circumcised, but also a practicing Jewish convert. This also was applied to Gentile women. Women ultimately had to be converted to Judaism in order to partake of the Pesach. And this fence that the rabbis placed around the keeping of Pesach by the Gentile had to do with an intentional misunderstanding and misinterpretation of Torah:

 

“No foreigner shall eat of it (the it being Pesach)” (Exodus 12:43).

 

The rabbis taught that all non-Jews must be excluded from partaking of the Pesach. To the rabbis, all non-Jews, otherwise referred to as foreigners, were essentially idolaters. Jews were never idolaters, unless they were convicted or caught practicing idolatry. (In that case, the idolatrous Jew would be prohibited from ever partaking in the Pesach, or for that matter, being a member of the community.) And this understanding again, applied to both men and women. And the only way of being absolved of the title of “idolater,” one had to legally convert to Judaism by way of the established Jewish Halachah.

 

We know today that Yah is primarily concerned with the state of one’s heart. Yah requires His beloved to be circumcised of heart first and foremost:

 

“And you shall circumcise the foreskin of your heart (both men and women), nor shall you show a stiff neck anymore” (Deuteronomy/Devarim 10:16; Alter).

 

“And the LORD your God shall circumcise your heart and the heart of your seed to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your being for your life’s sake” (Deuteronomy/Devarim 30:6; Alter).

 

On this issue of circumcision, Shaul wrote:

 

(28) For he is not a Jew who is so in what is external (alone): Nor is that (only physical) circumcision, which is visible in the flesh. (29) But he is a Jew who is so in what is hidden: And circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not from men, but from Elohim (Romans 2:28-29; AENT).

 

 

And so, in bringing this issue home, as it relates to one being circumcised in order for them to partake of Pesach, it should be understood that first and foremost, one must be circumcised of heart. And this of course applies to both men and women. (As I stated in our discussion on Yah’s people being circumcised, I do not believe circumcision of the heart replaced the Torah mitzvah of physical circumcision. This is not the place to rehash that discussion, but if you are interested in where I stand on this very issue, I humbly invite you to read or listen to that discussion which is entitled: “Paul on Physical Circumcision for God’s People-A Question of One’s Jewishness Part 3.”

 

But in terms of one keeping Pesach and partaking of Pesach and such (and this is just Rod speaking here), I truly believe any who is in covenant with Yah, and who is circumcised of heart, they certainly qualify to partake of Pesach. Again, we can’t and we don’t keep Passover as it is ordered in Torah because we no longer have a functioning Tabernacle/Temple, nor do we have a functioning, valid Levitical Priesthood to officiate the proceedings. Instead, we keep Pesach in Spirit and in Truth. So then, however the Body of Mashiyach is led to keep Pesach is how we keep Pesach. And we keep Pesach with Yahoshua in mind. He is our Pesach today (1 Corinthians 5:7). A Passover Seder should NOT be our focus this Passover. Although I have stated previously that I do not judge any member of the Body of Mashiyach who is led to participate in the so-called traditional Seder, it serves only to place one under the instructions and rules of the rabbis. We answer only to Yahoshua, our Master.

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Defining the term Pesach

 

Our English term “Passover” in the Hebrew is “Pesach.” Now, there is a noun and a verb version of Pesach that we should be aware of in terms of what the overall term actually means.

 

First and foremost, our noun “Pesach” is drawn from the Hebrew verb “pasach.” “Pasach” carries a meaning of “to limp;” “to jump;” or “to move with an uneven/unsteady gate such as one who hobbles along” (Tim Hegg; “What Does the Word Passover “pesach” Mean?”).

 

Always looking for more than one witness on a thing in my studies, I consulted my trusty copy of Jeff A. Benner’s “Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible” and learned that the noun “pesach” means one who is “lame,” as in “one who hops on one leg,” while the verb “pesach” means “to hop from one place or another.” The KJV, however, defines “pesach” as “to pass over.”

 

Turns out that the KJV has been the source by which we get this sense of the destroyer “passing over” the homes of the Hebrews that had the “pesach lamb’s” blood applied to them. But see in our Hebrew definitions here that we somehow have to deal with this issue of one who is “hobbled” or “lame.”

 

We learn that Yah went through Mitsrayim/Egypt on that solemn Passover night and struck down the firstborn of the homes where the blood of the “pesach” had NOT been applied. And thus, Yah passes over the doors of those protected homes, and does not permit the destroyer to come into the home (Exodus/Shemot 12:12, 24).

 

Tim Hegg, Messianic Torah teacher and author highlights a very interesting context to be understood regarding the use of the root term “pasach” throughout the Tanach (ie., the Old Testament). We find in the story of Elijah’s confrontation with the priests of Ba’al the following:

 

“Then Elijah approached all the people and said, ‘How long will you hesitate (”pasach”) between two opinions? If Yehovah is God, follow Him. But if Ba’al, follow Him.’ But the people didn’t answer him a word” (1 Kings 18:21; CSB).

 

Contextually speaking, when we factor in to our understanding the phrase “between two opinions,” we arrive at a very poignant image. That of a bird jumping or hopping between various limbs and branches of a tree. This is derived from the root word “sa’aph” which means branches or a branch. English translators chose the English term opinion to get their point across.

 

However, if we look at another Tanach passage where “pasach” is used, we get a brilliant portrait of what is being conveyed:

 

“Like hovering birds, so the LORD of Hosts will protect Jerusalem—by protecting it, He will rescue it, by sparing it, He will deliver it” (Isaiah 31:5; HCSB).

 

Hegg states that the Hebrew terms for “defend,” “deliver,” and “preserve” are joined with the verb “pasach.” And thus, Yehovah is likened unto a “momma” bird that hovers over her nest of baby birds, offering them sustenance and protection and if necessary, rescuing them from predators. So, “pasach” conveys a sense of Yah protecting his beloved Yisra’el from death.

 

And so, backing up to the Elijah story and the prophet criticizing the people that they were of two opinions as to which God they would serve: Yehovah or Ba’al, our English term “opinion(s)” could line up to mean “branches.” Therefore, we can imagine Elijah berating the people and telling them to stop acting as birds, fluttering about between two (2) limbs or branches; being unable to decide which God to serve.

 

But then, from a contextual standpoint, apart from the Elijah story, we have this sense of a protective bird hovering over her children. In this case, Yah hovering in a protective manner, over Yisra’el. Yah provides protection for Yisra’el. Yah rescues Yisra’el. Yah shields Yisra’el. From what is He protecting, shield, or rescuing? From the Destroyer. Thus, it is Yah who protects Yisra’el from the plague of death that went throughout Egypt and took the lives of the firstborn.

 

I have thoughts as it relates to there being a “death angel” or Yah Himself delivering the judgment. But for the sake of time, we’ll simply leave it with how the passage describes the situation:

 

(12) And I will cross through the Land of Egypt on this night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the Land of Egypt from man to beast, and from all the gods of Egypt I will exact retributions: I am the LORD. (13) And the blood will be a sign for you upon the houses in which you are, and I will see the blood and I will pass over you, and no scourge shall become a Destroyer amongst you when I strike in the Land of Egypt (Exodus/Shemot 12:12-13; Alter). 

 

The rabbis believe that it was Yah and Yah alone who took the lives of the firstborn of Egypt who were not covered by the blood of the Pesach. I further submit that Yah in addition, personally protected each marked home from the destroyer. Who is this destroyer. Alter suggests some type of evil spirit. I tend to slightly agree with Him. Thus, I believe that Yah, as he hopped or hobbled over the marked homes and through the Land of Egypt, that He also protected; hovered; rescued the Hebrews from the enemy who may have sought to go tit for tat and strike at the Hebrews for what was happening to the Egyptians. (Just a thought.)

______________________________________________________________

 

 

We find in Genesis/Beresheit 47 that Yosef, who was made viceroy over Egypt by Pharaoh (whose name is believed to have been Djoser of the 18th Dynasty) because of his ability to interpret Djoser’s dream and his ability to manage the affairs of Egypt, invited his entire family to reside in Egypt as a result of a famine that was devastating the entire middle east region at that time. Yosef (who through recent archaeological excavations in Egypt has been shown to have been given the name Imhotep). Given Yosef’s revered, even supreme status in Egypt, his family (consisting of 70-souls at the start of their sojourn) enjoyed during the time of Yosef’s and his brothers’ lives, privilege and honor in Egypt (Exodus/Shemot 1:6-10).

 

However, after the deaths of the 12-patriarchs, a pharaoh who did not appreciate the historical legacy of the Hebrews in the Land (whose identity is not readily known) enslaved the patriarchs’ descendants as foretold by Yah to Avraham back in Genesis 15:13-14:

 

(13) And He (He being Yehovah) said to Abram, “Know well that your seed shall be strangers in a land not theirs and they shall be enslaved and afflicted four hundred years. (14) But upon the nation for whom they slave I will bring judgment, and afterward they shall come forth with great substance…(16) And in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full” (Alter).

 

The Pharaoh of the Exodus was Thutmose IV of the 18th Dynasty (aka Amenhotep III), not Rameses as historical tradition has erroneously put forth to an unsuspecting world for centuries.

 

So then, how long were the ancients under bitter Egyptian bondage? Well, we find in Exodus/Shemot the following regarding the length of time the ancient were enslaved in Egypt (although the text does not specify enslavement, just the time they dwelt in Egypt):

 

(37) And the Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, some six hundred thousand men on foot, besides the little ones…(40) And the settlement of the Israelites which they had settled in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. (41) And it happened at the end of four hundred and thirty years and it happened on that very day, in the battalions of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt (Exodus/Shemot 12; Alter).

 

Some rabbinic sources place the time in actual bondage between 86-116-years (ref. Talmud Megillah 9a and Rashi on Exodus/Shemot 12:40; and Seder Olam Rabbah), but this seems grossly unlikely given Moshe records that the mixed multitude that departed Goshen of Egypt totaled some 600,000 men, in addition to their families, which some have estimated the total number of people being two to three million souls.

 

I’m inclined to always trust and go with what scripture says. And Yah told Avraham back in Genesis that his descendants would be enslaved and afflicted for some four-hundred years (Genesis/Beresheit 15:13-14), and then Moshe reports that when Yisra’el completed her business with Egypt, they’d lived there for some 430-years. This would make the best sense in terms of some 600,000 men along with their families departing out of Egypt at the start of the Exodus (Exodus/Shemot 12:37-41).

 

 

Well, I’ve thrown a lot of background content at you regarding the basics of Passover and Unleavened Bread. I pray that this information will provide you with some fundamental knowledge of Pesach/Passover and Unleavened Bread that will serve you as you prepare to receive the coming set-apart days of Yah.

 

In part 2 of this discussion series, we will discuss Keeping Passover by Way of the Original Covenant. I’ll see you on the other side.

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