Passover

This was a turbulent week for my Lord & Savior, Jesus. As I go through this week thinking about all that Jesus did on the cross for you and me, I noticed that tomorrow is Passover. Yes, I read about the children of Israel and how they were to anoint the doorposts & lintels of their houses with the blood of a spotless lamb and how the death spirit would passover their houses. But I never really put a complete connection with the Old Testament act with the New Testament Jesus. I was reading my email today from Elijah List....for those interested you can sign up at www.elijahlist.com and get prophetic words sent to your email. Any who, I read the following in today's post and figured I would copy & paste it here for others to read. It is a bit lengthy, but worth ever moment to read. I pray you learn something new not only about the Passover celebration, but also how it was a foreshadowing of our sweet beloved Jesus.

Chuck D. Pierce and Robert Heidler: Why Passover?
by Chuck Pierce and Robert Heidler
Mar 29, 2010

So many have asked the simple question: Why Passover? In Exodus 12:13-14 we read, The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you when I strike the land of Egypt. This day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord. Throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance.

Robert Heidler

As we approach the celebration of PASSOVER we must remember that Passover is a celebration designed by God! This Feast and event was given to increase our faith and prepare us to enter into the fullness of His blessing! Passover was commanded by God for the Jews in the Old Testament to teach them the importance of redemption by the blood. But it was also observed by Christians in the New Testament to remember and understand God's redeeming work. The Bible tells us it is to be a permanent ordinance…a celebration for all time.

Many Christians don't realize that Passover is just as much a New Testament Feast as an Old Testament Feast. It's all through the New Testament. Jesus and the apostles all celebrated Passover. The original Lord's Supper was a Passover meal. The apostles taught the Gentile churches to celebrate Passover. In 1 Corinthians, Paul wrote to a predominantly Gentile church and said: "Christ OUR Passover Lamb has been slain, therefore let us celebrate the feast!" For hundreds of years, Passover was the most important yearly celebration in the early Church.

What Makes Passover So Important?

Derek Prince once said that the most powerful faith declaration for deliverance is this: "I am redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb out of the hand of the enemy!" He said that if you can make that declaration in faith, and keep on making it, something will happen. You will be delivered from the power of the enemy. That's really the message of Passover. The Feast of Passover is a faith declaration that we are redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb. It does something in us when we celebrate Passover. When we come together to remember God's great works of redemption, and declare the power of redemption in our lives today, it ALWAYS does something!

Passover is very important to God. But satan HATES Passover. The enemy has worked diligently to steal Passover away. The good news is: God is restoring Passover. But it is a battle! The battle for Passover is the battle for the Blood. Satan wants to give us a bloodless religion, because a bloodless religion has no power. The power is in the Blood!

There's always a battle for PASSOVER. We see it in Church history. In the 4th century, when the emperor Constantine tried to merge Christianity and paganism, it sounded like a good deal to many. He legalized Christianity. You could go to church without having to fear being thrown to the lions. And Constantine didn't mind Christians having a celebration of Jesus' resurrection…but he did have an issue with PASSOVER. He demanded that Christians not celebrate Jesus' resurrection at the time of Passover. At the Council of Nicea (A.D. 325), he declared, "This irregularity [observing Passover] MUST be corrected!"

At the council of Nicea, Constantine outlawed Passover and directed that Christ's death and resurrection be celebrated on "the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox," which is a time associated with the spring festival of the pagan fertility goddess Ishtar also known as Eastre. (That's why in the Church today we celebrate the resurrection at Easter instead of Passover.) Constantine's goal was to remove Jesus from the context of Passover.

The Battle Continues! Many in the Church resisted Constantine's edicts, so for many centuries after Constantine, the battle for Passover continued. In the sixth century, for example, Emperor Justinian sent the Roman armies throughout the empire to enforce the prohibition on Passover. In his attempt to wipe out the "heresy" of Passover, thousands of men, women and children were brutally murdered. Entire cities were massacred for refusing to stop celebrating Passover. (The battle for Passover has had many casualties.) Pressured by the government, the Roman Church joined in the attempts to stamp out Passover. Notice some of the decrees passed against Passover by various church councils.

A Curse Pronounced!

THE COUNCIL OF ANTIOCH (A.D. 345) – "If any bishop, presbyter or deacon will dare, after this decree, to celebrate Passover, the council judges them to be anathema from the Church. This council not only deposes them from ministry, but also any others who dare to communicate with them." (The word anathema means "cursed." The Church actually pronounced a curse on Christians who would celebrate Passover!)

THE COUNCIL OF LAODICEA (A.D. 365) – "It is not permitted to receive festivals which are by Jews."

THE COUNCIL OF AGDE, FRANCE (506) – "Christians MUST NOT take part in Jewish festivals."

THE COUNCIL OF TOLEDO X (7th century) – Easter must be celebrated at the time set by the decree of Nicea.

The battle for Passover is seen clearly in Church history! That battle against Passover is nothing new. We see the same thing in the Bible: satan always tries to steal away Passover, because he knows the celebration of the Blood releases power. Look what happened in Hezekiah's day:

Hezekiah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He repaired and cleansed the temple, tore down the false altars, restored the sacrifices, and Davidic praise. Then Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah, inviting them to come to celebrate Passover. Couriers went throughout Israel and Judah: "People of Israel, return to the Lord." The hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind to carry out what the king had ordered. A very large crowd of people assembled in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast. They slaughtered the Passover lamb and celebrated the Feast for seven days with great rejoicing, while the Levites sang to the Lord every day, accompanied by instruments of praise. The whole assembly then agreed to celebrate the festival seven more days; so for another seven days they celebrated joyfully. There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon son of David, king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached Heaven, His holy dwelling place (see 2 Chronicles 29-30 for more).

The same thing was happening in Josiah's Day: Josiah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. In the 18th year of his reign, while repairing the temple, they found the TORAH scroll in the temple. When the king heard the words of the Torah scroll, he tore his robes. He went up to the temple with all the people. He read in their hearing all the words of the Covenant. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant. The king ordered them to remove from the temple all the idols made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He tore down the quarters of the male prostitutes, which were in the temple…The king gave this order to all the people: "Celebrate Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this scroll of the Covenant." In the 18th year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem. Not since the days of the judges who led Israel, nor throughout the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah, had such a Passover been observed" (see 2 Kings 22-23 for more).

We see a Biblical pattern! In both of these passages, God's people had drifted far from the Lord and turned to idolatry, and the blessing of God was lost. They turned back to God and sought Him, and the first thing God did was restore Passover! As they turned from pagan idols and celebrated Passover, they were restored to God and experienced great joy and blessing. That's an interesting pattern. Over and over again in the Bible, we discover that Passover had been LOST. Even during the Old Testament era, and even among the Jews, generations lived and died without celebrating Passover.

Why had Passover been lost? Satan had STOLEN it away! Satan always wants to steal Passover. Then, as a new generation turned back to the Lord, and began to read the Bible, they read about Passover for the first time. It seemed strange to them. They said, "We've never done this!" (That's exactly what we see in much of the Church today.) But as the Holy Spirit moved on their hearts, they celebrated God's feast of redemption, and God's power and joy were restored!

Why Does Satan Hate Passover?

Satan hates Passover because Passover is the celebration of JESUS. When the Church gave up Passover, it invented other celebrations of Jesus. That is how we shifted the timing of our celebration to Christmas and Easter. It's not bad to celebrate Jesus on those other days. (It's always good to celebrate Jesus.) But the celebration of Jesus that God gave us is called Passover!

The New Testament tells us that Jesus IS the Passover Lamb. When John introduced Jesus He said, "Behold the LAMB!" Paul said: Christ, our PASSOVER LAMB has been slain! Celebrating Passover IS celebrating Jesus! As the Passover Lamb, He shed His Blood to redeem us from the enemy. When His Blood is "on the doorpost" of your life, God delivers you from the destroyer. So if you understand Passover, you automatically understand what Jesus did.

On the original Passover night, everything pointed to Jesus. Every father in Israel was told to stand at the door of his house with a basin containing the blood of the lamb. He was to dip a branch of hissop into the blood and smear the blood on the two doorposts of the house. Then he was to repeat the action and put the blood on the lintel over the door. If you can picture the motion he made with that blood-soaked branch of hissop, you'll see he was making the sign of the Cross!

On Passover night, every father in Israel made the sign of the cross in the blood of the lamb. And as result, the family experienced redemption from the power of the enemy! God's deliverance always comes by His Cross and by His Blood. That's what Passover celebrates. You see, it was not by accident that Jesus died on Passover. God could have had Jesus die any time of year. But it was God's will for Him to die at Passover, so we would recognize that He is the Passover Lamb!

Passover is so important to God that He chose to have the most important event in history (the death and resurrection of Jesus) take place at Passover. God went to great lengths to CONNECT the sacrifice of Jesus to Passover. (This is interesting: Constantine's goal was to separate the work of Jesus from Passover, while God's goal was to connect Jesus' work to Passover.) God wants us to think of Jesus in the context of the Passover celebration!

The Timetable of Passover

It's interesting to compare the timetable of Jesus' crucifixion with the Passover celebration. According to the Torah, at the time of Passover a number of events had to take place in a specific order, and at very specific times.

1. The Passover Lamb had to be selected on a specific day. Exodus 12 instructs that the Passover lamb be chosen on the 10th day of 1st month. By the time of Jesus, only lambs from Bethlehem were considered eligible to serve as Passover lambs. So the lamb born in Bethlehem was chosen and brought into Jerusalem from the east (down the Mount of Olives) and entered the city through the sheep gate. On the 10th day of 1st month Jesus, the Lamb born in Bethlehem, came down the Mount of Olives and entered Jerusalem through the sheep gate. (This is called His "triumphal entry.") As He entered, the people waved palm branches and shouted "Blessed is he that comes in the name of the LORD! Save us, Son of David!" By mass acclamation Jesus is designated as Israel's Messiah! The crowds had chosen their Passover Lamb!

2. The Lamb then had to be examined. The Torah instructed that once the lamb was chosen, it had to be carefully examined for blemishes. Only a perfect, spotless and unblemished lamb would suffice for the Passover. After arriving in Jerusalem, Jesus went to the Temple to teach. While there, He was approached by the Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians and the teachers of the Law. Each group posed difficult questions, trying to trap him. Essentially, they were looking for any blemish which might disqualify Him as Messiah. But no one could find fault with Him. He was without blemish.

3. The Leaven (impurity) must be cast out. Torah instructs that before the feast, all leaven (impurity) must be cast out of every Israelite home. Each mother took a candle and searched out impurity, removing it from her house. This regulation is still observed today. Passover is a time to cleanse every house. Every observant Jewish family carefully cleans their house before Passover. Every trace of impurity is removed. After Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, He entered the Temple and cast out the moneychangers. He was following the Biblical instruction to prepare for Passover by cleansing His Father's house.

4. The Lamb is taken to the altar for public display. On the morning of the 14th day of the 1st month, when all has been set in order, the lamb was led out to the altar. At 9 a.m. that morning, the lamb was bound to the altar and put on public display for all to see. On the morning of the 14th day of the 1st month, when all had been fulfilled, Jesus was led out to Calvary. At 9 a.m. that morning, just as the lamb was being bound to the altar, Jesus was nailed to the Cross and put on public display at Calvary.

5. The Lamb was slain at a specific time. At exactly 3 p.m. the high priest ascended the altar. As another priest blew a shofar on the temple wall, the high priest cuts the throat of the sacrificial Lamb, and declared, "IT IS FINISHED!" At 3 p.m. on that high holy day, at the moment the Passover lamb was killed, Jesus cried with a loud voice, "IT IS FINISHED," and gave up His spirit. In Greek, "It is finished" is tetelistai! It means, "The debt has been paid in full!"

The Celebration of Jesus!

Do you see how God chose to connect Jesus with Passover? It's no wonder John introduces Jesus by saying, "Behold the Lamb!" It's no wonder Paul writes "Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been slain!" Passover is all about Jesus! Do you see that Passover is all About JESUS?

* He came as the LAMB of God!
* His Blood redeems US!
* By His Blood…judgment turned away!
* By His Blood…the power of the enemy is broken!
* By His Blood…we are released from bondage and oppression.
* By His Blood…we are set free to enter into God's Promise!

Passover is the "JESUS" Celebration! The more you understand Passover, the more you appreciate Jesus! If you don't understand Passover, you have a hard time fully understanding what Jesus did. As you celebrate Passover, you are declaring your faith in the power of His Blood and His redemption. That's why one of strangest things in the world is that Christians all over the world have accepted satan's lie that Passover is not a "Christian" thing! Satan tries to steal away Passover, because he knows the celebration of the Blood releases power! When the celebration of Passover was stolen away, the power left! But when Passover is restored, the power RETURNS!

The Good News is—God is RESTORING Passover! All over the world churches are again celebrating Passover! And the POWER is returning! We invite you to celebrate the power of Jesus' Blood. We invite you to join with Christians all over the world in the restoration of Passover. Join with us in proclaiming: We are REDEEMED by the BLOOD OF THE LAMB, out of the hand of the enemy!

If you would like to know more about Passover and see suggestions for celebrating it, we recommend the book The Messianic Church Arising! by Dr. Robert Heidler.

Blessings,

Chuck D. Pierce and Robert Heidler
Glory of Zion International Ministries

It Ain't Over Til the Fat Lady Sings & I ain't singing it!

Pastor gave an unusual Easter sermon today...but hey my pastor isn't the conventional type. He preached on the status of your napkin. Ok before you gather stones and start googling where I live and worship...pull up a stump and listen to my story as granny would say.

It all started with Pastor handing out some paper napkins to each one of us with instructions of unfolding it and setting it close to be handy. You see there is a Hebrew custom that if one isn't done eating the diner would fold his/her napkin and lay it by his/her plate. This was a signal to the servant's that the diner wasn't done and not clear his/her plate.

Pastor went on to read the "normal" Easter scriptures...John 19:28-30, John 20:1-7, John 14:1-14. He went on to say that when Jesus died on the cross and was buried in the tomb but His story and our story wasn't over. Jesus wasn't finished and neither should we be. Check it out...John 20:6-7 " Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself." Did you catch that?? The handkerchief, some translations read "napkin" was folded together in a place by itself. Jesus wasn't and isn't done. Hallelujah!

In a boxing match, when the fighter is wearing thin from the match and the trainer wants to stop the fight, the trainer throws in the towel. So what are you going to do with your napkin? was Pastor's question. He said it was a personal choice and there wasn't any shame in our wadding up our napkin as long as we didn't throw it away. A friend of mine made his choice a couple of years ago, he confessed that this christian walk was harder then he could bear. Yes he has stepped away from the Lord, but he didn't hide his wadded up napkin so to speak. He didn't pretend his walk with God was ok, while inside he was moving further and further from God. God is calling him back I am pleased to say....pray with me that "Jason" will heed the call of the Lord and return!

So....I am sure you are wondering about my napkin. Well beloved if you are wondering I would highly suggest you read the previous posts of this blog. This "fat" lady isn't going to sing the song of the quitter! My napkin is pressed within the pages of my bible. It is now my bookmark, a reminder to not give up, to not quit & throw in the towel coz Jesus surely isn't done with me yet & I still have a lot to do for Him.

Speaking of "return to the Lord". I heard a song by Pablo Perez from the International House of Prayer....awesome song. I can't get it out of my head nor my heart. I heard this song about 2-3 weeks ago and it has been a prayer on my lips since. That this nation will return to her Lord God, that individuals would return to the Lord God. I pray those that don't know of Jesus and His love for them will come to know Him. I pray that those who have turned their backs on God will return, that their hearts be set ablaze with passion for Jesus like never before. I have been praying this humble blog will reach millions for my Lord & King. I have been praying...........

Resurrection Morning

I am an early riser by nature it seems. I never was one to sleep in to noon. This morning when I rolled over in bed at 6:50 a.m. I had a song in my heart and on my lips....Alleluia He is Risen, Alleluia He is here! A song I heard & sang on my Emmaus walk. For those who don't know what that is...well all I can say is it is a weekend encounter with Christ. For those who know DeColores, He is Risen indeed.

I know I haven't posted in a couple of weeks, it is because I have been busy. Not so much with earthly things such as work...that has been busy enough, thank You Jesus for the answers to prayer there. No beloveds I have been busy, pondering Christ's work on the cross in preparation of this Resurrection Morning.

This world got so independent from God....like little ones starting to realize they can do things on their own, we adults got bullheaded and independent from God. We decided that we knew ourselves better then the One that created us. The propensity to sin entered in with Adam, but we can't blame Adam for our own CHOICES. Boy that word has been ringing loudly to me for the past 2-3 years now....it is what I call the secret of life....CHOICE. Back to my train of thought, because of our own choices we got further and further away from God. God created us so He could have fellowship with us, not just so we could take care of everything He created, but to have fellowship with Him. But we allowed our choices to crowd out His voice, to take over time in His presence. Adam & Eve before the fall took time out in the cool of the evening to walk with God throughout the garden talking and getting to know one another better. Adam & Eve related to God in a personal way.

Today is a day many will come to church because it is Easter. But will they relate with what Christ accomplished on the cross. Back in the garden the first sacrifice was made for sin. Take a look at it in Genesis 3:21 "Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them." I did Beth Moore's God inspired study of the tabernacle, "A Woman's Heart, God's Dwelling Place." Personally I thought it pertained to men as well and should have read A Child of God's heart, God's dwelling place, but I guess it was birthed during a women's conference and therefore got the distinction of a woman's heart....ah rabbit trailing again. Anyway it was an awesome study, but I got a chuckle from my friend who was leading the study. When she got to this scripture, she called me and asked about skinning an animal what happens to the animal. I was surprised, but also aware of her child like faith and honored she asked me the answer.

The answer was think about a dog or cat you love and have grown up with. Now think about pulling all it's skin off. You have pulled a hang nail before, it got deeper and deeper when you pulled and you bled. Well God had to mercifully dispatch (aka kill) the animal before He skinned it to make a covering for Adam & Eve. Here was the first blood sacrifice for the atonement of sin. Keep reading God's love letter & basic instructions, His Holy Word, the Bible. In Exodus/Leviticus He gives detailed instructions for the priests on what is required for a sin offering. The sacrifice of an animal and how the blood was to be sprinkled on the mercy seat and the horns of the altar.

Jesus is that sacrificial Lamb. Sin abounded in this world, but the grace & mercy of God abounded more. God sent His only Son, Jesus, to come into this world to teach the love and mercy of the Father. At the appointed time Jesus was broken & bruised for our iniquity (sin), He was hung on a cross like a common thief, He died upon that cross and was buried in a tomb for 3 days. On Resurrection Morning the stone was rolled away, not for Jesus to leave the tomb....He had already left, but for those coming to mourn Him could see He was no longer there.

It's Resurrection Morning....Jesus desires to resurrect your life from that of sin to one of grace. Grace isn't a gift from God....Grace is a gift of God. God is love, but He is also grace....so this gift isn't just something He gives, it is a part of Himself He graciously offers all of His children. Romans 5:17 "For if by the one man's (Adam's) offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ." Though sin may abound more and more in this world (take a look at the news) so much more God's grace is abounding, overcoming that sin.

We are walking in the end times beloveds...make no mistake about that. It was declared on the news the other day that the US is no longer a "christian" nation. We haven't been standing up and doing what God has desired, we haven't been the example of Him before the world. We like the first children, Adam & Eve, have decided to do our "own thing" because we foolishly believe we know ourselves better then the one who created us. Oh God let Your never ending grace cover us today, may we all walk in Your grace fully understanding the sacrifice of Your Son Jesus to make that grace available to each and everyone of us. May we arise and fully walk in your resurrection power today and everyday until the final trumpet blows, in Jesus' mighty name, amen and amen and amen. Let it be according to your word.

Take time out today to spend it with God. For those that have video stores open in their community, go rent the Passion of the Christ, directed by Mel Gibson. Get a box of tissues on the way home, if your heart is tender and open to God you will need them. Watch this movie with the understanding that if you were the only person on earth, that Jesus would have endured all of it just for YOU. This is a very graphic and at times bloody movie, but it gives you a glimpse of what Jesus endured for you. When you get done watching the movie honestly ask yourself if anyone in your circle of friends or family would be willing to do that for you....you will find that there isn't anyone but Jesus who was willing to endure all of that just for you.