Newsletter 3

          This email is off schedule with the studies, but “on schedule” with God’s Holy Days! “Pesach” or “Passover” is coming this week. It is a celebration commemorating the escape from Egypt. The “Seder” meal will be on the evening of April 12^th and Pesach  runs from the 13^th through the 19^th.

Before I touch lightly on some of the highlights of Passover, I would like to address the “Feasts and Festivals” of God. We as Christians sometimes look at the Jewish Holidays as just that, Jewish Holidays. But that is not the correct way to look at them. They are GOD’S chosen days. HE is the one that set aside these days for celebration and commemoration. He also set them aside for celebration forever! Most of the Holidays (Holy Days) revolve around Jesus in some form or fashion; we will talk about these as they come this year. Please, always remember, it wasn’t a Person/Rabbi/Priest that said to honor these days, it was God Himself. Also keep in mind that Jesus celebrated each and everyone of these days, and we are instructed to walk as He did.

Now, back to Passover……Passover commemorates the escape from bondage of the People of Israel. When they went forth, they went with a “mixed multitude”.  That means that there were people other than Jews by blood, that escaped with them, that went to Sinai, that wandered through the wilderness and received the Torah from God. That means that when God told the people to always celebrate this day, he was talking to everyone there, Jews and non-Jews alike.

I won’t be able to go into all the things about Passover and how it relates to Jesus, as it would make this email 18 pages long. But I will touch on a couple, just to give you some things to think about, and maybe look into on your own.

1) At the Passover Seder – in Luke 22:20, Jesus raised the 3^rd cup of wine (the Seder has 4 designated cups of wine) and said “This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.” This is significant because the 3^rd cup, the cup after dinner, is the Cup of Redemption! This cup, this blood, is our redemption! Praise God!

2) In the Passover schedule, each family is to choose a lamb. They have five days to make sure that it is an unblemished lamb. Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. He was Sacrificed on Friday. This follows exactly the prescribed five day timeframe for examining “The Lamb”! Praise God!

3) Jesus in coming to Jerusalem to be Sacrificed there, fulfills what I think was the most prophetic statement in the Bible. Abraham came to Mount Moriah (which is in Jerusalem) to sacrifice “his son”. After seeing the fire and knife in Abraham’s hand, Isaac asked “but where is the lamb?” Abraham answered prophetically….”God himself will provide a Lamb”!!! God did provide a real lamb/ram to Abraham, but He also provided “The Lamb” for all of us!! Praise Jesus Holy Name!

Jesus, in His Sacrifice, answered all the protocols of Passover. All of the Feasts/Holy Days point to Jesus, just as all the Torah points to Jesus. These things I have mentioned here are not even the tip of the iceberg concerning how accurately Jesus Sacrifice truly is THE PASSOVER SACRIFICE! No longer are we in bondage, bondage to sin, for we have been set free! And who the Son sets free, is free indeed!

One last thing, when the Hebrews search their homes for leaven/yeast to clear it out for Passover, it is symbolic for searching out sin. So, Robin and I will be, and I ask you to, look through your lives, and look in the corners and the cabinets and under the appliances of your lives for sin that might be hiding there. Clear it out! Get rid of it! We don’t have to have it in our lives anymore! For we have the Ultimate Passover Lamb that has Set Us Free!!!!

Blessings in the Name of The Lamb,

                                      Tony and Robin