Dear friends and readers,
Peace and grace to all of you in Jesus name.
First, thanks to a rapidly growing number of you readers in 34 countries. We are going to continue writing interesting articles with Biblical themes but will also soon expand into a You Tube channel. We will let you know as that happens.
Today's article is about the ancient practice of celebrating PASSOVER. You probably know that Jews all over the world will be celebrating this feast beginning Monday April 10, 2017. What many of you may not realize is that Passover is also an extremely important time for Christians. And is celebrated by increasing numbers of followers of Christ worldwide.
Over the centuries there has been an ever increasing split between Judaism and Christianity which I do not believe was ever intended. The long history of this split will be explained in another article but it is extremely unfortunate and has ripped off both Jewish people and Christians alike. For our Jewish brethren, this split has amplified an already tragic misunderstanding of the identity of their Messiah. For Christians, this split has drawn us away from an extremely rich heritage and an understanding of the tremendous importance of what we have come to know as the Old Testament.
Allow me to illustrate; If some giant was to come along and remove the foundation from your house, how long do you think your house would continue to stand? The same holds true for our Bibles. The Old Testament from Genesis to the prophet Malachi is the foundation for the remainder of the book, Matthew to Revelation. It is in fact one book and all of it is important and relevant. But the misunderstanding continues. For example, in some churches today the book of Revelation is not taught because "it is full of incredible imagery that we are simply not capable of understanding".
The truth is that if we study and understand the ancient Hebrew Biblical prophets, a window opens to us that does allow understanding of a very complex book, Revelation. And that book of Revelation along with incredible important issues like the Rapture of the church and the second coming of the Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ, are all future events that impact both Jew and Gentile believers alike.
So many times in my ministry years, Christians (not all but frankly most) have expressed absolutely zero interest in learning anything about Israel, the ancient Biblical prophets or the feast days that were set in motion eons ago by the Creator of the Universe.
On the Jewish side, many have come to believe that we Christians worship three gods because we speak of the Trinity (a Biblical doctrine that is slowly being rejected by a few apostate church leaders as well). In reality the Trinity of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are ONE GOD, expressing Himself in three different personalities so our finite little human brains can at least begin to fathom the immensity of who and what God really is. Also, the Bible expresses the Messiah as coming in two different forms. First as the suffering servant (Isaiah chapter 53), the lamb of God. Then He also comes a second time as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. As the lamb of God the Messiah gave Himself to be tortured and killed on the cross of Calvary to provide a one time sacrifice of His blood which atones for the sins of all mankind.
As the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, He comes again to stop the end times battle of Armageddon (Revelation chapter 19), judge his enemies and set up a 1000 year Reign as King of the world. Also for our Jewish brethren there is another very difficult hurdle to cross because unfortunately the early Biblical translators chose the words OLD TESTAMENT and NEW TESTAMENT. Innocently they merely meant that there was a 400 year period of time between the book of Malachi, the last of the B.C. (Before Christ) prophets and the beginning the first, physical walk upon this earth (A.D.) by the Messiah. But again unfortunately to some people, the term "OLD" equates to DONE AWAY WITH or NO LONGER RELEVANT. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is one book, cover to cover and in fact the NEW TESTAMENT was written to Jews, by Jews who were speaking in large part about the Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Actually there are official Hebrew names for these books; The first five books of the Bible are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Factually these are the "TORAH", or the Law.
The entire "OLD TESTAMENT" is in reality the "TANAKH" and the "NEW TESTAMENT" in the Hebrew language is the "BRIT CHADASHA" (pronounced Hadasha).
For Christians there is an extremely unfortunate belief among many that "the Jews killed Jesus". That in itself is a huge barrier for many to deal with. But although Jewish religious leadership and some Jews we're involved, this is what Jesus Himself said in the book of John chapter 10 verse 18 "No man takes my life from me, I lay it down that I may take it again" referring to His Resurrection from the dead.
One last point to make for anti Trinity people; Isaiah chapter 9 verses 6-7; "Unto us (the Jewish people) a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, MIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING FATHER, Prince of Peace".
One God displaying Himself as 1), Father, Creator of the Universe. 2). Son, Jesus Christ, The Word of God, Savior and redeemer of all mankind who will place their faith in Him. 3). Holy Spirit, (Among roughly 50 other job titles), John 16:8 convicts believers and the entire world of sin.
Regarding Passover, it is a feast day commemorating the time in which Moses was about to lead the nascent nation of Israel out of bondage in Egypt. 10 plagues were given by God against Pharaoh (King of Egypt) to get his attention so he would allow the Jewish people to leave his bondage. The last plague (Exodus chapters 7-12) was a decreed death of the first born of each family including both humans and animals. Pharaoh was not convinced and as a result, his first born son died along with everyone else's who were Egyptians. God Instructed Moses to have all the Hebrew families slay a spotless lamb and spread the blood across the top and sides of their household doors. When the death angel swept through Egypt and PASSED OVER the blood of the innocent lambs, the Hebrew children were spared.
P.S. folks, this is not just some Sunday school story. It really happened.
Fast forward to Jesus time on this earth, God had decreed that ALL generations of His people should celebrate Passover. Jesus celebrated a Passover meal on the night before He went to the cross. He did so with His Apostles. This was not a 15 minute quickie. This was a full blown meal describing the events of the original Passover and most likely was at least three hours long. In today's churches worldwide we still celebrate a Passover meal but it is about 15 minutes long and we call it "The Lords table" Communion or the Lords supper. In the Catholic church it is called the "EUCHARIST". It is described in the Bible in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 23-26.
What relevance does PASSOVER hold for Christians today? 1). Jesus is described in Revelation chapter 5 as the LAMB SLAIN and that we are redeemed (from sin) by His blood. Also in John 1:29 2). We still celebrate a Passover meal each and every time we take communion in our churches today. 3). Jesus died EXACTLY ON PASSOVER!
So, how is that important? A little known fact by many in the church today is that God decreed 7 Biblically appointed times (6 feasts and one day of repentance). He did this is Leviticus chapter 23 verse 4. "These are the appointed times of the Lord, Holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them". The Hebrew words "HOLY CONVOCATIONS" can mean REHEARSALS. In other words they are to be rehearsed without stop until perfectly done which in my opinion will be at the second coming of Christ.
A special word to my Christian brethren; These special days are not old antiquated Jewish anything. They are days given by God and yes He did entrust them to the Hebrew people but each and everyone is fully relevant to the church today.
These days are as follows; In the Spring of the year 1). PASSOVER 2). UNLEAVENED BREAD 3). FIRST FRUITS 4). SHAVUOT (PENTECOST).
No directed feast days in the summer.
In the Fall of the year: 5). "TRUMPETS" (ROSH HASHANAH) 6). "DAY OF ATONEMENT" (YOM KIPPUR) 7). "TABERNACLES" (SUKKOT).
As you know by now I write about fulfilled Biblical prophecy among other things. One of the most important is the connection between Jesus walk and the feast days. Did you know that our Savior Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled the first 4 of these Biblically appointed times at the event of His death and Resurrection?
He died exactly on PASSOVER. He was buried exactly on UNLEAVENED BREAD. He was resurrected from the grave exactly on FIRST FRUITS. And then 50 days later the Holy Spirit was given to the followers of Christ exactly on PENTECOST, which in effect began the church. It might be noted here that it is believed that the 10 Commandments were probably given to Moses on Mount Sinai on the very same day of PENTECOST which was known as SHAVUOT at that time.
Here is the big question? If Jesus chose to perfectly fulfill the first 4 Biblically appointed times exactly on each of the Spring feast days, do you think it possible, even likely that He will also in some future year choose to fulfill the Fall Biblically appointed times?
Is it possible to equate TRUMPETS to the Rapture of the church 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 13-18 ?
Is it possible to equate the second coming of Christ to the Day of Atonement Revelation chapter 19 ?
Could we venture to think that Christ will choose to begin His Millennial Reign on Tabernacles Revelation chapter 20 verse 4 ? And by the way, do you love Christmas? Me too but that was not the date Christ was born. In fact it is extremely possible that He was actually born in the Fall of the year on Tabernacles. A word that means "The Word became flesh and Tabernacled (lived) with us".
My friends, we as Christians are saved by the Grace of the Lamb of God who shed His blood for you and I that we might be forgiven our sins and enjoy all of Eternity with Him. Our Salvation is a free gift of God that not everyone accepts. The church is made up of both Jew and Gentile believers who have placed our faith in Jesus Christ (Y'Shua HaMashiac) as the Messiah of Israel. If you choose not to take the Biblically appointed times seriously it will not affect your salvation. But I encourage you to take another look at what God has done and will continue to do through these most important of Biblical days and events.
Passover season this year begins at sundown this coming Monday evening April 10 and runs through sundown Monday April 17. Look around in your area for a church advertising a "SEDER". That is the observance of a Passover meal and should place a spot light on Jesus walk in connection to this most important time.
God bless you all,
Pastor Rance.
Peace and grace to all of you in Jesus name.
First, thanks to a rapidly growing number of you readers in 34 countries. We are going to continue writing interesting articles with Biblical themes but will also soon expand into a You Tube channel. We will let you know as that happens.
Today's article is about the ancient practice of celebrating PASSOVER. You probably know that Jews all over the world will be celebrating this feast beginning Monday April 10, 2017. What many of you may not realize is that Passover is also an extremely important time for Christians. And is celebrated by increasing numbers of followers of Christ worldwide.
Over the centuries there has been an ever increasing split between Judaism and Christianity which I do not believe was ever intended. The long history of this split will be explained in another article but it is extremely unfortunate and has ripped off both Jewish people and Christians alike. For our Jewish brethren, this split has amplified an already tragic misunderstanding of the identity of their Messiah. For Christians, this split has drawn us away from an extremely rich heritage and an understanding of the tremendous importance of what we have come to know as the Old Testament.
Allow me to illustrate; If some giant was to come along and remove the foundation from your house, how long do you think your house would continue to stand? The same holds true for our Bibles. The Old Testament from Genesis to the prophet Malachi is the foundation for the remainder of the book, Matthew to Revelation. It is in fact one book and all of it is important and relevant. But the misunderstanding continues. For example, in some churches today the book of Revelation is not taught because "it is full of incredible imagery that we are simply not capable of understanding".
The truth is that if we study and understand the ancient Hebrew Biblical prophets, a window opens to us that does allow understanding of a very complex book, Revelation. And that book of Revelation along with incredible important issues like the Rapture of the church and the second coming of the Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ, are all future events that impact both Jew and Gentile believers alike.
So many times in my ministry years, Christians (not all but frankly most) have expressed absolutely zero interest in learning anything about Israel, the ancient Biblical prophets or the feast days that were set in motion eons ago by the Creator of the Universe.
On the Jewish side, many have come to believe that we Christians worship three gods because we speak of the Trinity (a Biblical doctrine that is slowly being rejected by a few apostate church leaders as well). In reality the Trinity of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are ONE GOD, expressing Himself in three different personalities so our finite little human brains can at least begin to fathom the immensity of who and what God really is. Also, the Bible expresses the Messiah as coming in two different forms. First as the suffering servant (Isaiah chapter 53), the lamb of God. Then He also comes a second time as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. As the lamb of God the Messiah gave Himself to be tortured and killed on the cross of Calvary to provide a one time sacrifice of His blood which atones for the sins of all mankind.
As the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, He comes again to stop the end times battle of Armageddon (Revelation chapter 19), judge his enemies and set up a 1000 year Reign as King of the world. Also for our Jewish brethren there is another very difficult hurdle to cross because unfortunately the early Biblical translators chose the words OLD TESTAMENT and NEW TESTAMENT. Innocently they merely meant that there was a 400 year period of time between the book of Malachi, the last of the B.C. (Before Christ) prophets and the beginning the first, physical walk upon this earth (A.D.) by the Messiah. But again unfortunately to some people, the term "OLD" equates to DONE AWAY WITH or NO LONGER RELEVANT. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is one book, cover to cover and in fact the NEW TESTAMENT was written to Jews, by Jews who were speaking in large part about the Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Actually there are official Hebrew names for these books; The first five books of the Bible are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Factually these are the "TORAH", or the Law.
The entire "OLD TESTAMENT" is in reality the "TANAKH" and the "NEW TESTAMENT" in the Hebrew language is the "BRIT CHADASHA" (pronounced Hadasha).
For Christians there is an extremely unfortunate belief among many that "the Jews killed Jesus". That in itself is a huge barrier for many to deal with. But although Jewish religious leadership and some Jews we're involved, this is what Jesus Himself said in the book of John chapter 10 verse 18 "No man takes my life from me, I lay it down that I may take it again" referring to His Resurrection from the dead.
One last point to make for anti Trinity people; Isaiah chapter 9 verses 6-7; "Unto us (the Jewish people) a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, MIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING FATHER, Prince of Peace".
One God displaying Himself as 1), Father, Creator of the Universe. 2). Son, Jesus Christ, The Word of God, Savior and redeemer of all mankind who will place their faith in Him. 3). Holy Spirit, (Among roughly 50 other job titles), John 16:8 convicts believers and the entire world of sin.
Regarding Passover, it is a feast day commemorating the time in which Moses was about to lead the nascent nation of Israel out of bondage in Egypt. 10 plagues were given by God against Pharaoh (King of Egypt) to get his attention so he would allow the Jewish people to leave his bondage. The last plague (Exodus chapters 7-12) was a decreed death of the first born of each family including both humans and animals. Pharaoh was not convinced and as a result, his first born son died along with everyone else's who were Egyptians. God Instructed Moses to have all the Hebrew families slay a spotless lamb and spread the blood across the top and sides of their household doors. When the death angel swept through Egypt and PASSED OVER the blood of the innocent lambs, the Hebrew children were spared.
P.S. folks, this is not just some Sunday school story. It really happened.
Fast forward to Jesus time on this earth, God had decreed that ALL generations of His people should celebrate Passover. Jesus celebrated a Passover meal on the night before He went to the cross. He did so with His Apostles. This was not a 15 minute quickie. This was a full blown meal describing the events of the original Passover and most likely was at least three hours long. In today's churches worldwide we still celebrate a Passover meal but it is about 15 minutes long and we call it "The Lords table" Communion or the Lords supper. In the Catholic church it is called the "EUCHARIST". It is described in the Bible in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 23-26.
What relevance does PASSOVER hold for Christians today? 1). Jesus is described in Revelation chapter 5 as the LAMB SLAIN and that we are redeemed (from sin) by His blood. Also in John 1:29 2). We still celebrate a Passover meal each and every time we take communion in our churches today. 3). Jesus died EXACTLY ON PASSOVER!
So, how is that important? A little known fact by many in the church today is that God decreed 7 Biblically appointed times (6 feasts and one day of repentance). He did this is Leviticus chapter 23 verse 4. "These are the appointed times of the Lord, Holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them". The Hebrew words "HOLY CONVOCATIONS" can mean REHEARSALS. In other words they are to be rehearsed without stop until perfectly done which in my opinion will be at the second coming of Christ.
A special word to my Christian brethren; These special days are not old antiquated Jewish anything. They are days given by God and yes He did entrust them to the Hebrew people but each and everyone is fully relevant to the church today.
These days are as follows; In the Spring of the year 1). PASSOVER 2). UNLEAVENED BREAD 3). FIRST FRUITS 4). SHAVUOT (PENTECOST).
No directed feast days in the summer.
In the Fall of the year: 5). "TRUMPETS" (ROSH HASHANAH) 6). "DAY OF ATONEMENT" (YOM KIPPUR) 7). "TABERNACLES" (SUKKOT).
As you know by now I write about fulfilled Biblical prophecy among other things. One of the most important is the connection between Jesus walk and the feast days. Did you know that our Savior Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled the first 4 of these Biblically appointed times at the event of His death and Resurrection?
He died exactly on PASSOVER. He was buried exactly on UNLEAVENED BREAD. He was resurrected from the grave exactly on FIRST FRUITS. And then 50 days later the Holy Spirit was given to the followers of Christ exactly on PENTECOST, which in effect began the church. It might be noted here that it is believed that the 10 Commandments were probably given to Moses on Mount Sinai on the very same day of PENTECOST which was known as SHAVUOT at that time.
Here is the big question? If Jesus chose to perfectly fulfill the first 4 Biblically appointed times exactly on each of the Spring feast days, do you think it possible, even likely that He will also in some future year choose to fulfill the Fall Biblically appointed times?
Is it possible to equate TRUMPETS to the Rapture of the church 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 13-18 ?
Is it possible to equate the second coming of Christ to the Day of Atonement Revelation chapter 19 ?
Could we venture to think that Christ will choose to begin His Millennial Reign on Tabernacles Revelation chapter 20 verse 4 ? And by the way, do you love Christmas? Me too but that was not the date Christ was born. In fact it is extremely possible that He was actually born in the Fall of the year on Tabernacles. A word that means "The Word became flesh and Tabernacled (lived) with us".
My friends, we as Christians are saved by the Grace of the Lamb of God who shed His blood for you and I that we might be forgiven our sins and enjoy all of Eternity with Him. Our Salvation is a free gift of God that not everyone accepts. The church is made up of both Jew and Gentile believers who have placed our faith in Jesus Christ (Y'Shua HaMashiac) as the Messiah of Israel. If you choose not to take the Biblically appointed times seriously it will not affect your salvation. But I encourage you to take another look at what God has done and will continue to do through these most important of Biblical days and events.
Passover season this year begins at sundown this coming Monday evening April 10 and runs through sundown Monday April 17. Look around in your area for a church advertising a "SEDER". That is the observance of a Passover meal and should place a spot light on Jesus walk in connection to this most important time.
God bless you all,
Pastor Rance.
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