YHWH's Set Apart times for us are not the usual man-made holidays
spawned from traditions that you find printed on most modern day
calendars, nor are they simply Jewish holidays. He put them in place as
one set of rules for all people - His fixed times for all generations,
throughout the ages. He set the pattern for us way back then, just as
He showed the pattern of the Tabernacle to Moses and instructed him to
build it just as he had been shown, we, too, have been shown the pattern of becoming His Set Apart people.
~ Pesach is the Hebrew word translated "Passover"
~ Chag HaMatzah is Hebrew translated "Feast of Unleavened Bread"
From my studies of Scripture I have learned Passover is not a set apart time by itself; the 'pass over offering' was made during
the evening of the 14th day and immediately gives way to the seven days of
Unleavened Bread. Also, the entire time (14th through the 21st) traditionally is referred to as Pesach, which I think is misleading in general as anything kept 'traditionally' is always a red flag in my mind.
A lot
happened before Pharaoh finally let Yah's people go. We'll fast forward
to Exodus 12 when YHWH tells Moses and Aaron that this month will be
the beginning of the months, it is the first month of the year. The
people, Hebrews and a mixed multitude that accepted YHWH as their
Elohim, were instructed to take a lamb per household on the 10th day of
this month and keep it until the 14th day of this month, to be
slaughtered at twilight.
They were further instructed to take
some of the blood of the lamb and, using a bunch of hyssop, put it on
the doorposts and lintel of the houses in which they were going to eat
the roasted lamb, not leaving anything left over until morning. They
were to be fully dressed and ready to travel, and they were to eat it hurriedly: It is a
passover offering to YHWH.
Exodus 12:12- For
that night I will go through the land of Egypt and strike down every
first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and I will mete out
punishments to all the (false) gods of Egypt... And the blood on the
houses where you are staying shall be a Sign for you: when I see the
blood I will pass over you, so that no plague will destroy you when I
strike the land of Egypt.
This day is one we shall remember and
celebrate throughout the ages, for all time.
Exodus 12:15- Seven days you shall
eat unleavened bread- on the very 1st day (of the 7, on the
15th) you shall remove leaven from your houses. The first day and the seventh day are sacred occasions and
no work is to be done, only whatever is to be eaten may be prepared.
Exodus 12:17- you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread for on
this very day (the 15th of the 1st month) I brought you out of Egypt, to
be observed throughout the ages as an institution for all time.
Exodus 12:18- In the first month from the 14th day at evening you
shall eat unleavened bread until the 21st day of the month at evening. No leaven is to be found in your houses- whether one is a
stranger or a citizen of the country- you shall eat nothing leavened.
Exodus 12:24- You shall observe this as an institution for all time, for you
and for your descendants. :25 And when you enter the land that I will
give you, as I promised, you shall observe this rite... And when your
children ask why and what does it mean, you shall say, 'It is the
passover sacrifice to YHWH Elohim because He passed over the houses of
the Israelites in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but saved our
houses.'
Please note that He tells us to observe the Feast of
Unleavened Bread from the 14th until the 21st. Those seven days of yeast free breads begin with the pass over offering.
The act of Faith, painting the blood of the lamb on the doorposts and
lintel, was a Sign between Yah and those Set Apart believers.
Exodus 13:49- There shall be one law for the citizen and for the stranger who dwells among you.
Leviticus
23:4- These are the set times of YHWH, the sacred occasions, which you
shall celebrate each at its appointed time: In the first month, on the
14th day of the month, at twilight, there shall be a passover offering
to YHWH and on the 15th day of that
month YHWH's Feast of Unleavened Bread- for seven days.
If we are not in
the Promised Land now, are we to be observing this rite? If the priesthood does not exist, should we offer up a lamb at this time? We are to 'remember' why YHWH makes this a
set apart time, and observe it as a sacred occasion, but can we take
matters into our own hands by making a celebration out of it according to
our own imagination?
A year after He set them free from Pharoah, they did
make the passover offering and observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This was after the Tabernacle was set up and YHWH was in their
midst. He had moved from the mountain to the tent where He attached His
Name. When Solomon built the temple, that is the last place we know of where Yahweh attached His Name. There is only one House of Elohim. Also, for us, the Lamb has already been sacrificed which set us free from bondage to sin. There is no longer a sin offering necessary, no passover offering is required yet we keep the the appropriate days as Shabbats, remove leaven from our lives for those seven days and remember why:
Deuteronomy
6:21- We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt and YHWH freed us from
Egypt with a mighty hand. YHWH wrought before our eyes marvelous and
destructive signs and portents in Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his
household, and He freed us from there,
that He might take us and give us the land that He had promised to our
fathers. Then YHWH Elohim commanded us to observe all these laws, to
revere Him as our Elohim for our lasting good and for our survival as is
now the case. It will be therefore to our merit before YHWH our Elohim
to observe faithfully this whole Instruction as He has commanded us.
As they were
were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, we are slaves to today's world system, and by the blood of the lamb, Y'shua,
we have freedom from the old pagan ways, freedom from our old sin nature and made ready to receive the promise of eternal life. The shed blood of Y'shua we accept as our
covering, as a Sign to the Almighty to
save us from death, that we may rest in His Kingdom for eternity.
Deuteronomy
16 gives us a little more detail for this set time. It reads that a
passover offering is made to YHWH and slaughtered in the place
Elohim will choose to establish His Name. For 7 days no leaven
shall be found among you. You cannot
slaughter the sacrifice wherever you choose but at the place YHWH
chooses to establish His Name. In the morning you may start back
home; on the 7th day of Unleavened Bread hold a solemn gathering, do
no work.
In today's world, we
are not able to bring a passover offering to YHWH which would normally be
handled by the priesthood at the temple, but we must also remember that His Son was our one time sacrifice. He is our Lamb whose blood was shed for our sake.
Hebrews 10:11
For every high priest who stood and ministered daily, offered again and again the same sacrifices which never were sufficient to purge away sins. But this Priest (Yahshua the Anointed One) offered one sacrifice for sins, and forever sat down at the right hand of Elohim (where he waits for his kingdom to come). For by one offering he has perfected forever, them who are sanctified by him. After which the Ruach haKodesh testifies by saying, This is the covenant I will give them after those days; says Master Yahweh... I will put my Torah/Instructions into their minds and inscribe it on their hearts and their iniquity and sins I will not remember against them.
Now, where there is a forgiveness of sins
there is no offering for sin demanded.
There is no need to make a passover offering because Y'shua has fulfilled that requirement. We can, however, be free of leaven
those seven days and hold a solemn assembly on the 1st and 7th days and do no
work on those days. We do this because we remember
how YHWH set our ancestors free from slavery, in bondage to Pharaoh in
Egypt - this same pattern was revealed in Y'shua, who sets us free from
eternal death, by willingly laying down his own life that we would gain
life eternal.
If we 'remember' as Elohim says to, then we can understand
how this applies to us today. The blood of the lamb was/is a sign to
YHWH to pass over those who chose/choose to obey, follow, observe His
Instructions. If you don't have the testimony of Y'shua, the blood of
the lamb (a Sign) on your doorposts and lintels (heart and mind), then
you cannot be saved, passed over, from destruction. This would mean, to
be saved (from eternal death) is to obey YHWH's instructions, by Faith, and in
obeying His Instructions you accept that Y'shua gave his life, his blood
was shed that we may have life eternal.
Take notice in regards to what has been added to the simple Word of
Elohim as a quote from
the Jewish Virtual Library:
On the first night of Passover (first two nights outside of
Israel), Jews are commanded to have a special family meal filled with
ritual to remind us of the significance of the holiday. This meal is
called the Seder, which is a Hebrew root word meaning “order.” The
Seder, however, is no ordinary holiday meal - there is a specific set of
tasks that must be completed and information that must be covered in a
specific order. To correctly follow the process, the text of the
Passover seder is written in a book called the Haggadah. The content of
the seder is summed up in fourteen parts... end quote.
Now you tell
me, after reading Scriptures and knowing what Yah's instructions are, has His Word been added to? This invented celebration is pure hog-wash in
comparison to Scriptures.
The Definition of Haggadah:
- The Passover Haggadah is a set form of benedictions, prayers, midrashic
comments and psalms recited at the seder ritual on the eve of Passover.
(this is Not a Commandment of YHWH our Elohim...)
It's
no wonder Isaiah shares these Words of YHWH in 1:10 as he relates how it was in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah:
"Hear the word of
YHWH the instructions of Elohim! What need have I of all your
sacrifices? I am sated with burnt offerings of
rams, and suet of fatlings, and blood of bulls, and I have No Delight in
lambs and goats that you come to appear before Me... trample My courts
no more! Bringing oblations is futile, incense is offensive to Me. New
moon and sabbath, proclaiming of solemnities, assemblies with
wickedness, I cannot abide. Your new moons and fixed seasons fill Me
with loathing, they are become a burden to Me, I cannot endure
them..."
This is exactly why we are not to worship Elohim in our own way, or try to approach Him as we see fit. If we follow tradition we are not following YHWH or Y'shua haMashiyach. Remember, Y'shua also warns of the end times, that it will be like
it was in the days of Noah, like the days of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Remember, it is about Yahweh's perfect timing, not religious ideals, traditions. our own creative imagination or customs.
In this day and age
let us obey
and follow His Instructions best we can.
Set apart the 1st and 7th day as Sabbaths
to do no work,
And remember why this time
is appointed by our Creator.
Read Scriptures
Remember and see the pattern
The pattern which reveals the days to come.
Remove the leaven from your life
Let no temptations be found in your home
