Passover

Dear friends.

We are approaching the first Feast of the Lord in the month of April. The Feasts of the Lord always begin with Passover. God’’s great plan for mankind is woven within the fabric of the Feasts and it is my great desire to highlight this, beginning with Passover. As we study Passover, we will learn that it includes two other Feasts equally important and tightly connected to it: Unleavened bread and The Feast of Fruits. Now, let us begin our journey, studying these great Feasts of this season!

V.4. "These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons."

V. 5. "On the fourteenth day of the first month at evening is the Lord’s Passover."

First month speaks of the new beginning.

V. 6. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread unto the LORD; seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.

V. 7. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.

V.8. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.

Now we come to the Feast of Unleavened bread which precedes Passover. First of all it is called unleavened bread because the Lord commanded Israel not to mix this bread with leaven or yeast. Yeast represents sin and the Feast of Unleavened bread points to the sinless life of Yeshua. Moreover, in Jesus, we receive the new, sinless nature. Through Him, God has forgiven our sins. What was this unleavened bread made of? Israelites did not gather any grain crops in the wilderness. The Unleavened bread required by the Lord was made out of manna. Since unleavened bread represents the sinless nature of our Messiah and Savior, it also speaks of a new sinless life in Jesus the Messiah.

The unleavened bread needed to be made of manna. The manna came from heaven and its provider was God! No leaven mixed with it. Likewise, our new and sinless life is a gift and an offering from God. No man could ever be involved in its production. It is of God and from God alone! Another interesting point is that manna, which came from God, had no leaven. Only man could mix leaven or yeast with grain as we will see later on. No leaven comes from God, because God has nothing to do with sin!

The third important point of this message is that Passover, the Feast of Unleavened bread and the Day of Atonement were to be observed in the wilderness. All other Festivals were meant to be celebrated in the Promised Land. What does it mean? This refers to the born again experience of a believer. You might be surprised by any reference to the born again experience in the Old Testament so let me explain.

Those who came out of Egypt did not reach the Promised Land except for Joshua and Caleb. Why did so many fail to reach the Promised Land? It is because of their unbelief. This tells us that our born again experience depends upon true faith in God and His Word. If a person comes to God without faith, his experience will be nothing more than curiosity, complaint, dissatisfaction and rebellion. Under these circumstances, a person has not received the new born again life, due to their unbelief. The Bible clearly states that, "without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a reworded of them that diligently seek him." The born again experience will bring the fruit of God into a believer’’s life

9. And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

V. 10. "Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them:"When ye come into the land which I give unto you and shall reap the harvest thereof, when ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest.

V. 11. ‘He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.

V.12 And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the LORD.

V.13 Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the LORD, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin.

V.14 You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.The Feast of First Fruits immediately follows Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Passover speaks of Jesus as the Lamb that was slain for our sins and Unleavened Bread addresses His sinless nature and our new sinless life in Him. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is called a Feast because it is a celebration of the Lord. It is also a celebration of all those who have received salvation through the blood of Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah. Their sins are forgiven and the separation between them and God finally removed.

As discussed earlier, the Israelites could not celebrate any of these feasts except Passover and the Day of Atonement until they had reached the Promised Land. Passover and the Day of Atonement are not called Feasts because they represent the sorrow and suffering of Yeshua. Secondly, there is no reason to celebrate if you are not born again.

Each Feast involved the harvest. While walking in the wilderness, it was not possible for the people of Israel to bring their first fruits. This is significant in the sense that the real harvest in your life occurs only after you are resurrected with the Messiah. Faith is the door to resurrection. The born again experience begins with the resurrection with the Messiah.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten (born) us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." 1 Pet.1:3.

Only two people reached the promise land from those who left Egypt, while the others died in the wilderness due to their unbelief and rebellion. They were unable to celebrate or keep the other Feasts because they required a harvest. Sometimes we wonder why some so called believers never show any fruit of the Spirit? It is because they have never crossed the Jordan River to the Promised Land. It means that they did not really believe in the Lord while accepting Him. Along the way, they die spiritually without reaching the Promised Land.

V13. " And the meat offering hereof shall be two tenths part of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savor; and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, a fourth part of a hin."

The Passover required a lamb for sacrifice and unleavened bread. In the wilderness, the people of Israel were to bring unleavened bread made out of manna. However, there was no flour to make manna from. This speaks of the total provision of God on the behalf of our sinless life. It came right from heaven. But this offering was different. As we can see in this verse, God required a grain offering, made out of fine flour, oil and drink offering. They must be mixed and burned as a sweet aroma to the Lord. This particular verse speaks of the resurrected Yeshua. It is important to see the connection between this festival, the Passover and the Unleavened bread.

Let us review:

Passover - Jesus’‘ death for our sins.

Unleavened bread - God freely gives to every born again believer a new sinless life in the Messiah.

Firstfruits - Jesus’resurrection which signifies a new life or a born again experience. Who gets to the resurrection with the Lord? Only those who sincerely and wholeheartedly has accepted Him.

And now let us look a little bit closer into the ingredients of the grain offering of the Firstfruits:

a) fine flour - made out of grain from the sheaf which was waved before the Lord. This is exactly what Yeshua did on our behalf before God. He was the Firstfruit or the resurrection from death to life. But why is the grain needed to be grinded to a fine flour? Because it speaks about the nature of the Messiah and our nature in Him. "I have been crucified with the Messiah; it is no longer I who live, but the Messiah lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Gal. 2:20.b)

b) mixed with oil - filled with Ruah ha Kodesh (the Holy Spirit)

c) drink offering - the joy of the Lord.

By: Messianic Rabbi Gennady Livshits