Passover is the first major event of the year according to Yehoah's calendar.
The Passover sacrifice is crucial since, if done carefully, Yehoah Elohim will offer us the free gift to be saved and to get eternal life!
In the Bible, the LORD does everything possible so that we will not be mistaken and will not choose the wrong direction at the time of Passover. Our generation is facing more and more dramatic events but the right direction, if chosen by us, will keep us on the path to freedom from the slavery of sin. Unfortunately the book of the Revelation of John reveals that the majority of human beings will engage themselves in the wrong way, the one that leads to death after being slave of the beast.
Consequently before starting the feast of Passover, it is very important to understand how our Creator does everything with accuracy, an accuracy that can be compared with the one of a watchmaker or a goldsmith!
At the time of the exit from Egypt, during the introduction of the sacrifice of Passover that marks the entrance to the feast of the seven days of unleavened bread, Yehoah revealed to Moses and Aaron in Exodus 12: 1-28 how to prepare it:
“1 Yehoah said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.[a]
7 “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. 10 And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11 In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Yehoah’s Passover. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am Yehoah.
13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.
14 “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to Yehoah; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. 15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day,that person shall be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you. 17 And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. 18 In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19 For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. 20 You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.”
21 Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. 23 For Yehoah will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, Yehoah will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. 24 You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. 25 And when you come to the land that Yehoah will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service.26 And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of Yehoah's Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.
28 Then the people of Israel went and did so; as Yehoah had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.”
Which Lamb for today’s Passover?
In the beginning, when Passover was instituted by our Father, each family was responsible for choosing on the 10th day of the first month a one year old lamb without blemish. This lamb was to be sacrificed on the 14th day of the first month of Aviv at the time of the perpetual sacrifice, that is at the 9th hour of the day. The blood of the lamb had to be applied on the doorposts and lintel of the door of the house and be clearly visible from outside. The Passover sacrifice is a gift made to each family as everyone had to consume it completely with bitter herbs. There was nothing to stay at sunrise, otherwise what is left should be burnt in the fire.
The last time Passover was performed in this way by the believers was the year during which Yeshuah , the only son and firstborn of Yehoah, offered himself in sacrifice. From this year on Yeshuah is the Lamb without blemish and the Savior of all human beings who, one day or the other, believe in the value of the sacrifice his blood and flesh to free them from the bondage of sin that ruled over them.
The prophet Isaiah tells us that this sacrifice would not be recognized as such by the Jewish people, the nation of Yeshuah (Isaiah 53):
“1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of Yehoah revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of Elohim, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and Yehoah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”
This passage from Isaiah, quoted in the book of Acts chapter 8, allowed Philip to introduce Yeshuah to an eunuch who was a high-ranking official of Queen Candace of Ethiopia (verses 30-35):
“30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?
31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.
34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?
35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Yeshuah .”
John the Baptist, when he saw Yeshuah coming to be baptized, is inspired to call him the "Lamb of Elohim who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1: 29).
Paul is a third witness who confirms to us in I Corinthians 5: 7-8 that our lamb for Passover is Yeshuah , the Anointed One of Elohim:
“7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”
Thus, since the Word was made flesh, Yeshuah title was changed to Lamb. This Lamb is represented as having been slain in several places in the book of the Revelation:
1. Revelation 5:6 “6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of Elohim sent forth into all the earth.”
2. Revelation 5: 12 “12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.”
3. Revelation 13: 8 “8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
The Lamb whom the believers have chosen is Jesus or Yeshua as some prefer to call him after his name in Hebrew or Aramaic. He is the one who, risen and enthroned at the right hand of his spiritual Father, who is our defense attorney in front of his Father and he will do everything to save us from death. But this requires from us to follow all his recommendations with the same zeal as the Hebrews have shown during their first Passover.
What about the blood and the flesh of the Lamb?
What about today’s blood of the lamb that had to be struck on the lintel and on the two side posts of the front door of houses to serve as a sign for the destroyer who would pass over these houses without killing any of the firstborns?
Yeshuah and Paul are giving us the answer: We are asked to remember each year at Passover the blood shed on earth by the sacrifice of the Messiah. We should do this by drinking during the night following Passover a selected wine poured in a glass; we should drink it among others at the beginning and at the end of the meal. This wine is the symbol of the blood shed once for all by Yeshuah as the selected unleavened bread that would be eaten during the same meal is the symbol for his sacrificed body.
“15 And he (note: he is Yeshuah ) said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves.18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”
And in I Corinthians 11 : 23-26, we can read : « 23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Yeshuah on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.”
Therefore we should not anymore sacrifice a one year old lamb without blemish at the end of the fourteenth day nor put its blood on the entrance of our homes nor eat its flesh roasted on the fire during the following night.
Under the new covenant offered by our Father Yahweh not only to the Jewish people and the other tribes of Israel in the dispersion but also to all the believers, they are invited to drink a cup of wine and eat an unleavened bread selected for Passover. These are the new signs that are expected to protect everyone during the night that has fallen on earth since the destruction of the Temple by the Romans.
What about the night-watch following the sacrifice of Passover?
The instructions given by Moses in Exodus 12 are requesting the Hebrews and the immigrants, if they are circumcised, to eat the sacrifice of the Passover during a night- watch and they should eat it in haste, the belt fastened, their sandals on their feet and a staff in the hand.
Moreover this night-watch should be kept in honor of Yehoah.
Finally, according to additional instructions given in Deuteronomy 16, it was not allowed to leave the place chosen by Yehoah for the Passover until the dawn, just before sunrise. And have in mind that at the first Passover, the exit meant the beginning of a march to freedom and to the Promised Land through the Sinai desert where Yehoah's mountain was.
Where should we gather to celebrate Passover today?
After the dedication of the Temple of Yehoah in Jerusalem, He promised in II Chronicles 7: 16 that His name would be forever in the place of his Temple. The prophet Daniel was one of the most important person under the reign of Darius but still a slave without freedom to travel anywhere. Daniel knew that Jerusalem, even destroyed and without inhabitant, is the city where Yahweh’s name is sitting. That is why, he turned himself to the holy city to pray and speak to his Elohim (Daniel 6: 11).
Today, the community of believers like Yeshuah and his parents is most often free to come in Jerusalem for Passover and for the feast of the seven days of unleavened bread.
But on the contrary to what I thought before, it should be noted that, according to John 14: 15-23, this festival can also take place wherever are gathered those who love Yeshuah by keeping His commandments.
Indeed Yeshuah himself said:
“15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper,[f] to be with you forever,17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be[g] in you.
18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Yeshuah answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”
Paul, in his first epistle to the Corinthians, made them reproaches as how they are disrespectful when they take the Lord's Supper, ie the Passover meal. These criticisms and a reminder on how the Passover meal should be taken are found in I Corinthians 11, verses 20 to 29. Paul had already given recommendations regarding Passover in I Corinthians 5: 6 to 8. This seems to imply that the Corinthian believers were meeting in the city of Corinth to keep the Passover.
Don’t choose the wrong Lamb for Passover!
A great danger threatens the believers especially in these end times. We must be very careful because a false lamb is expected to arise in the world, but it will not be the Lamb without blemish, it will not be our Savior. On the contrary, this false lamb will be a zealous servant of Satan and it will try to destroy the Church and the earth!
“11 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. 13 It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people…” (Revelation 13: 11-13)
This beast which is rising out of the earth is the same as the false prophet mentioned at the end of Revelation 19. By the way, don’t ever confuse him with the great prostitute, whose name is Babylon the Great, mentioned in Revelation 17. Indeed, this great prostitute will be destroyed years before the false prophet will be thrown in the fire with the other beast. Indeed the fate of the great Babylon, the great prostitute, is to be savagely ruined, destroyed and completely consumed by a fire. Her destruction will be made by the beast which was rising out of the sea and the ten horns who are ten kings in the end time. The fall of Babylon the Great will mark the start of the reign of the beast itself with its ten kings. It will also be the eighth and last reign of the beast (Apocalypse 17: 11).
Please note in Revelation 17, verse 11, it says that this eighth king is a resurrection of one of the seven empires that existed in ancient times. The Great Prostitute was already committing adultery with the same one that existed in ancient times.
Now be careful! The false prophet will work very hard to convince people that he is Yeshuah , the Lamb of Passover as he will appear like a lamb! The world will admire him blindly as he was capable of healing the deadly wound of the beast and causing its resurrection. But as mentioned earlier, this false lamb will have the same tremendous power as the beast during the reign of the latter. This unique politico-religious system will try to change the law of Elohim and His calendar as mentioned by the prophet Daniel in chapter 7, verses 23-26.
Having this mind, a very likely scenario that could be used by the false prophet to achieve his mission could be to fool the uninformed world that he himself is Yeshuah - Christ, the Savior of humanity, and that the Beast rising out of the sea is his almighty father. By so-doing, he would force people to worship this false God, in other word Satan, and if not, they should perish!
But at the end, this false lamb and beast will be defeated by Yeshuah and be thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning Sulphur according to Revelation 19: 20-21.
What about the Antichrist?
The Antichrist is another puzzling person for the end-times. Attention should be paid on him, especially on his spirit which is the spirit of Satan, the one that will spread the denial of Elohim and of the reality of the human life of His Son as described in the Bible! All those who have in them the spirit of the antichrist will do a tremendous job to convince people and their rulers to fight the true Christ, the true Lamb, at his coming as King of kings and Lord of lords as mentioned in Revelation 19, verses 16 to 19.
Please note that the correct name is indeed Antichrist and not “Antechrist” which is wrong. The word “antichrist” was introduced by the Catholic Church and is not used in the original Greek version of the Bible. Antichrist means in old greek against Christ, while antichrist is coming from the Latin word which means "before Christ".
The use of the word “antechrist” creates a confusion as its translation from old Greek would mean "replacement of Christ" or otherwise “vicarious Christi” in latin!
Finally, the word antichrist is often associated with the book of Revelation but many of you might be surprised to learn that it was never used in this Book! The only places in the Bible where the word antichrist is used are in the first two epistles of John.
Are we ready to leave this world as our Lamb did?
The believers, their belt fastened, their sandals on their feet, and their staff in their hand must be ready to bravely undergo a similar trial to that Yeshuah , their Passover Lamb, has successfully overcome. This trial is to be ready to die for their friends (John 15: 12-13). Isn’t Yeshuah -Christ our greatest friend?
Most of us might hopefully experience the situation of the Hebrews when they saw the strong Egyptian army planning to recapture them. The Egyptian army was led by the new Pharaoh, successor to the previous one, a firstborn who passed away during the night of the Passover. The Hebrews had no way to escape as in front of them they saw the Red sea closing the only option to escape!
Indeed, very soon Satan will give all his huge power to the beast that was rising out of the sea (Revelation 13: 2). With this power and the associated tremendous authority, the beast will fight the saints and overcome them (Revelation 13: 7 and Daniel 7: 21). The large crowd we read about in Revelation 7, verses 9-16 and the two witnesses are the illustration of this event. Despite the fact these believers like Yeshuah -Christ would prefer to avoid this kind of issue, they will choose full obedience to the Father to enter in the new world which is the Kingdom of Elohim (Luke 22: 41-45).
Have always in mind that Satan is not seeking to dominate over this present world as most of it is already under his power. He is only chasing a tiny minority: the believers in Elohim and his son Yeshuah -Christ. Consequently, the believers must also understand that their knowledge of the Bible is quite incomprehensible to the vast majority of humanity. Only those who are called by our Father will come to them and understand the message of the Gospel.
Here is how Peter is warning us about this in his first epistle, chapter 5, verses 8 and 9:
“8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
A night watch symbolizing the dark world in which we live.
As written above, the night of the Passover meal must also be a night watch. What does it mean?
Peter is encouraging us to WATCH and he knows what he's talking about. Indeed, he had a very bitter experience because, despite the encouragement of Yeshuah asking him to pray and stay awake during the night of his last Passover on earth, Peter fell asleep several times before the arrest of his Lord. This is what is written in Matthew 26: 36-44:
“36 Then Yeshuah went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.’
39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed,‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.’
40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. ‘Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?’ he asked Peter. 41 ‘Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ 42 He went away a second time and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.’
43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.”
The night watch we are asked to keep at the beginning of the first day of Unleavened Bread is a symbol for the believers who are living under the time of darkness that has befallen over the world since the sacrifice Yeshuah , the Paschal Lamb of all the human beings. We must constantly scrutinize the dawn that will announce the coming of Yeshuah -Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords.
This is the message that Paul sent us in chapter 13 of Romans, verses 11-14:
“11 And do this, understanding the present time: the hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Yeshuah Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.”
So be ready to hit the road with these very last warnings and advice given to us by Paul in Ephesians 6:
“11 Put on the whole armor of Elohim, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of Elohim, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of Elohim, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,”