Passover

April 12, 2006

Greetings, Brothers and Sisters in the Messiah,

As Believers most of us know what the time of the Passover means.  To the Hebrews it means a remembrance of a time in their history when they were delivered from Egypt by the hand of YHWH (YaHWeH).  It is a time of "remembrance" - to remember an event from the past.  Of course a lot of things have been added to this simple time of "remembrance", added traditions marking certain features of the escape from Egypt.  Is this wrong?  No, as the Hebrews, you know the Jews, are doing this as a “remembrance” of something that actually happened to them and to glorify the God of the Bible.  They are not taking pagan holy days or pagan celebrations and making them their own under the name of the God of Israel.  We are speaking of the Passover, the first Holy Day of seven.  Not all of the traditions of the Jews represent Holy Days or days commanded by YHWH to be observed by the Jews.  No, as some of their traditions are in error and not found within the pages of Scripture but rather in their written traditions, still, what they are doing and have done is nothing like the Christians. 

As Believers in YaHshua as our Savior we see the Passover, like the Jews, as a time of "remembrance", too.  The first centruy Church were composed exclusively of Jews and it would be in their culture, from birth, to observe certain Holy Days as a matter of tradition.  Eventually the New Testament Church scaled back, keeping a basic Passover observance that centered around the risen Messiah, discontinuing most, if not all of the customs and the traditions connected with the Hebrew Passover. Keep in mind, to properly keep (observe) the Passover you would have top travel to Jerusalem and slaughter a lamb for you Passover meal.  When the disciples came to the full knowledge of what YaHshua had done they slowly moved away from the tradtions of their youth.  Once Gentiles entered into the fold the Chruch then entered into the "times of the Gentiles" and, for the most part, the Holy Days fell to the side being nearly forgotten by those claiming to be followers of the Messiah of the Bible.

You have to remember that nearly all of the first thousands of thousands of converts to the Messiah YaHshua were Hebrew, Jews, and the honoring of the Passover as a Hebrew, as a Jewish custom, by the Law was not an option, it was a command.  Jewish Christians not only accepted the Messiah but also kept the Law of Moses and the traditional way of observing the Holy Days of the Bible.  But, as time moved forward and their knowledge of Salvation progressed they understood, beginning with the Passover, the true meaning of this event and other Holy Days.  It was a forecast of the coming Messiah as the sacrificial Lamb to deliver His people from death itself and in this prophetic Holy day the Messiah Yahshua was seen and accepted as the one and only Savior of man-kind.  Certainly the disciples gathered and being instructed by our Savior for those forty days after His crucifixion were given the deeper meaning of what had just happened but from the reading of the letters to the Churches it is obvious the jewish segment where having a great deal of difficulty finding the freedom YaHshua offered.  Even Peter, at times, struggled with this Jewish aspect of the faith.  Paul, on the other hand embraced the spiritual freedom finding no problem with sitting with gentiles and sharing a meal while the righteous Jew would not think to do such a thing.

As the teachings of the Apostles reached out a struggle within the Church began, especially after the acceptance of gentile members.  It had been decide by the leadership at Jerusalem that the gentiles did not have to do anything but to refrain from idols, drinking blood and living a clean, moral life.  I suspect the Jewish leaders, being very prejudicial toward gentiles, thought it improper for them to observe the things the holy people of God were commanded to do.  I could be way off on that but the fact remains that the gentile believers were given the lighter load and were given a greater "freedom" than that of the Jewish segment of the Church.  Certainly there had been a move among some that thought they were leaders working toward getting the gentiles to obey the letter of the Law of Moses, laws originally meant for the Israelite people as a nation.  The problem here was that the nation, or rather the body of the Christ, was expanding way past any boundaries of a nation.  Look at the historical problems the Jews were having themselves, many of them living far outside of Israel proper.  Can you imagine how some of the Jewish teachers must have felt when they were told the gentile brothers of the faith did not have to get circumcised when they had been so adamant about the necessity of this “law”.  The Bible doesn’t tell us but you can be pretty sure thee were some hurt feelings.   

With the destructionof Jerusalem by the Romans and the dispersion of the Jewish, Israelite, populations the gentile converts filled in the leadership gap.  The Apostles are all dead except for John who is exiled to an Island.  John compiles the book of Revelation as given to him from and by the angel of YaHshua (an angel, messenger of Yahshua).  The Church falls into the fog of history as she is chased to and fro by the pagans, the Roman authorities and the emperor himself.  Satan is after the “offspring” of the woman (Revelation 12).  The child has been snatched up to heaven, the woman has been dispersed throughout the world and only the offspring remain and Satan turns on them. 

Eventually the Church emerges with power and authority under the encouragement of a Roman emperor, warrior, Constantine.  Do you suppose it is the same body of believers emerging under the new Roman attitude?  Hardly.
 It is not long and we see a Church far different from the "original".  As if overnight the pagan festivals are integrated into the Christian religion, given Christian sounding names pagan holy days (we call them holidays) and practices are worked into a religion mocking the word of God, stealing the book of books to build a false religion filled with doctrinal chains to bind the unsuspecting seekers of truth.  I say, most, but there is one particular Holy Day (holiday?) that bares the pagan title without embarrassment from any of its clergy, or bible teachers.  Easter, a pagan celebration of life, a day filled with all sorts of sexual innuendoes, rabbits, eggs, and such, having nothing to do with the Passover, nor the crucifixion of our Savior.  Oh, yes, some take this pagan celebration and work the Christian message into it but its origins are rooted in pure paganism.  Christians flock to the hillsides for the Sunday morning "Sun Rise Services", not Son but Sunrise. 

This is a pagan tradition that dates back to the times of Babylon.  The people would gather to face the East, witness the rising of the sun in honor of the false god Nimrod (he has several other names as well, Horus for the Egyptian).  It has been suggested that the word Easter is from the name, Astarte, the historical fertility goddess seen as Ashroth in the Bible.  Others say the name comes from observers of this day in facing the East - they are Easterners.  What does this have to do with our honoring the Passover to our Lord YaHshua?  Nothing if you are observing the Passover, but that is not what is happening.  The Passover is about His crucifixion and resurrection, not a Sunday morning rising of the Sun. For on thing the Messiah was not found rising on Sunday morning, He was already gone, the tomb was found empty early Sunday morning – before sunrise.  When you do the proper study on this you will see that in fulfilling the declaration of proof He gave, that of the Prophet Jonah, you will see that He was raised from the tomb on Saturday (the seventh day) evening.  All of the business of the angels rolling the stone back, of the guards being blinded, and of the women finding the tomb empty points plainly to the fact that He was no longer in the tomb.  Nothing at all to do with a sunrise, except in pagan mythology.

Here is demonstrated a fatal error, Christians not listening to the Word.  Following traditions handed down, not from the  Messiah, Apostles, or our Father in Heaven, but from the fathers of the ancients, the pagans of old.  This is why you will see my making reference to the pagan Christians.  Virtually every religious tradition, every trading of worship has its roots in the pagan religion of old Babylon – yes, back that far.   We, as a people, haven’t learned much have we?  Easter? Easter eggs?  Sun rise services?

Ezekiel 8:16  And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S (YHWH'S) house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD (YHWH), between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.

A sun rise service, and they did this within the building of the Living God.  Notice that their backs are toward the Temple of the Living God YaWHeH.  When you face the altar to the temple of the Living God which way would you guess you would be facing?  West, of course. 

Our freedom in the Messiah removes the chains of pagan doctrine us from, releasing us from all such foolishness.  Renaming a pagan practice, or unholy day, or declared holy day with their origins in the pagan past is insane.  Who do Christians really worship?  They proclaim the Christ by a false name, another name, they celebrate His birthday at a time dedicated by pagan worshipers as a holy time, a time not even close to His actual birth.  The traditions of this time of celebration, the cutting down of a tree, the exchange of gifts, etc., have nothing to do with the origin of our Savior any more than Easter eggs and bunnies have to do with His resurrection.    

servant@yahshauservant.com 

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