Okay, so it is Jewish in a sense, but not for the reason we’ve all been taught. Put directly, Passover was given to all twelve tribes of Israel, not just the tribe of Judah(Jews). In fact, when one realizes that our Messiah Yahusha was our Passover Lamb… well, they should be compelled to celebrate that Appointed Time. Furthermore, believers are actually commanded to celebrate Passover… forever.
You shall observe [Passover] as an ordinance for you and your children forever.
Exodus 12:24
Each Appointed Time includes the instruction that Passover should be observed and kept forever, throughout all generations. There is not one single stipulation to that. There is no sentence that comes even close to saying: “The Appointed Times should be kept forever… except until the Messiah comes, is nailed to the cross, and is resurrected… then forever doesn’t really mean forever.” Excuse my poor attempt to prove a point. Forever still means forever. Don’t listen to anyone who tries to twist that word, whether from the English, Hebrew, or Greek. Yahuah declared that we should keep his Appointed Times throughout our generations forever.
This is big news for professing believers today. Many churches across the world ignore the Appointed Times commanded in Scripture. Why? Shouldn’t we be striving to do Bible things in Bible ways? Of course we should. More importantly, if our Messiah kept these Appoint Times, shouldn’t we be keeping them as we strive to follow in his footsteps? Definitely. When we are called to walk in his image we are being told to do as he did on earth. Otherwise, we are ignoring his perfect example. Yahusha our Messiah kept the Appointed Times instructed by our Creator. We should too.
Here’s the stumbling block: we’ve been told that these are Jewish Holy Days. That they do not apply to Christians today. We are erroneously taught that they are “Old News” and that Christians should be celebrating days like Christmas and Easter. The cold hard truth is that Christmas and Easter are not instructed from our Bible to be kept. As a matter of fact, we are instructed from our Bibles—the perfect Word of the Most High—that we should NOT be celebrating Christmas or Easter. But that’s too hard for many to swallow and a whole different blog post. This post is a quick why (Part 1) and how (Part 2) believers should be celebrating Passover today.
Let’s get this straight really quick: If you believe that the Messiah of the Bible, Yahusha Ha’Mashiach (commonly referred to as Jesus Christ), was put to death on the cross and rose from the dead, taking your sins upon his shoulders so that you could be freed from the punishment we deserve because of sin, and you call him your Lord and Master submitting to his will for your life… then according to scripture—you could be considered a grafted-in Israelite (I’m not the Most High or Judge, so I won’t speak in absolutes in this case—He and he alone determines who is in His family). Now, if you’re a true believer, and the Messiah knows you (as scripture makes clear in Matthew 7:17-23) … you’re an Israelite. Romans 11 unravels how one would be considered a grafted-in Israelite. Just as Apostle Paul and the rest of the Apostles did after Messiah had been resurrected, you too should be keeping the Appointed Times of our Creator and Father. When one starts to dig into the Appointed Times, maybe testing to see if they should be keeping them today or what Scripture truly affirms regarding each of them, they should find that the three Fall Mo’edim (Appointed Times) have yet to be fulfilled. This should compel one to keep them even more since they will be anticipating those promises to be fulfilled.
Really quick, for those who are not sure what Appointed Times are outlined in the scripture: there are four Spring Mo’edim and three Fall Mo’edim. Each is very special to our Father. And each Appointed Time has everything to do with our Messiah. Search the scriptures and find this out for yourself. Please. It’s vital to your walk as you desire to follow Yahusha.
Spring Mo'edim
Passover (Pesach)
Unleavened Bread (Chag HaMatzot)
First Fruits (Reshit Katzir)
Pentecost (Shavuot)
Fall Mo’edim
Trumpets (Yom Teruah)
Atonement (Yom Kippur)
Tabernacles (Sukkot)
Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits go hand-in-hand. Scripture depicts them to start as an intimate time with family and then moves into time in fellowship with fellow believers. A time where we are to search our homes and our hearts to ensure that they are cleansed of anything that is contrary or in opposition to our Messiah and our Father. They are a time to remove the leaven of our lives.
I hope this post encourages you to search the scriptures about Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, as well as all the other Appointed Times. Exodus 12 and Leviticus 23 are great places to start.
These feasts are an amazing time with family and a most holy time to worship our Father while giving praise for His perfect son. If you call yourself a believer, it’s imperative that you take this seriously. If you desire to truly submit to our Messiah then you should be eager to follow in his footsteps regarding these Appointed Times. Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits are just around the corner… you have plenty of time to test, learn, and lovingly partake, just as our Father instructed.
Passover 2018 Friday, March 30, 2018 Passover meal (Dinner) before sunset (4:00PM - 7:00PM EST)
Feast of Unleavened Bread 2018 Friday, March 30, 2018 sunset (7:40PM EST) through Friday, April 06, 2018 sunset (7:44PM EST)
First Fruits of the Harvest 2018
Saturday, March 31, 2018 sunset (7:40PM EST) to Sunday April 1, 2018 sunset (7:40PM EST)
Sean is a former Atheist who was finally awoken to the reality of our Creator—which lead him to the one place he thought he would never step foot: “Bible College.” During his studies, our Heavenly Father flipped his Christian worldview upside down in order to reveal the Whole truth of His perfect Word. As a follower of Messiah Yahusha (Christ Jesus), Sean encourages believers to deepen their faith, seek the truth, test everything, and be willing to walk in the true image they were created: the image of the Most High and His flawless son.