Pesach is a Sign of Revival
By Eric Carlson in 03_2023-1 on March 1, 2023
March 22nd, 2023 at sunset marks the New Biblical New Year! This means we begin Pesach (Passover) 14 days later! The annual feast day cycle renews as commanded in:
Leviticus 23:4-12. “‘These are the designated times of ADONAI, the holy convocations you are to proclaim at their designated times 5 “‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, between sundown and complete darkness, comes Pesach for ADONAI. 6 On the fifteenth day of the same month is the festival of matzah; for seven days you are to eat matzah. 7 On the first day you are to have a holy convocation; don’t do any kind of ordinary work. 8 Bring an offering made by fire to ADONAI for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; do not do any kind of ordinary work.'” 9 ADONAI said to Moshe, 10 “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘After you enter the land I am giving you and harvest its ripe crops, you are to bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the cohen. 11 He is to wave the sheaf before ADONAI, so that you will be accepted; the cohen is to wave it on the day after the Shabbat. 12 On the day that you wave the sheaf, you are to offer a male lamb without defect, in its first year, as a burnt offering for ADONAI.
Observing, Keeping, and honoring the Feast of Pesach, Matzah, and Ha Bikkurim kick off our annual Feast Day cycle. Honoring and celebrating the Feast of Matzah is one of the ten commandments that is recorded in:
Exodus 34:18. “Keep the festival of matzah by eating matzah, as I ordered you, for seven days during the month of Aviv; for it was in the month of Aviv that you came out from Egypt.
Only in this chapter, this passage do we read the actual statement “Ten words” mentioned:
Exodus 34:28. Moshe was there with ADONAI forty days and forty nights, during which time he neither ate food nor drank water. [ADONAI] wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Words.
These three Moedim, these Feasts remain special unto Adonai, He continues to keep vigil over us on this night still!
Exodus 12:42. This was a night when ADONAI kept vigil to bring them out of the land of Egypt, and this same night continues to be a night when ADONAI keeps vigil (shimmur {shim-moor’}: night watch, watching, vigil, observe) for all the people of Isra’el through all their generations.
The root word of Shimmur is one we’re very familiar with, the word commanded by Adonai unto Adam regarding the Garden: Shamar: guard, observe, protect, tend, defend, and obey. Adonai is doing that over us every Pesach evening which is extremely critical as you’ll see a little later! This is why Yeshua Himself desired to Shamar, to observe, keep, and celebrate Pesach:
The root word of Shimmur is one we’re very familiar with, the word commanded by Adonai unto Adam regarding the Garden: Shamar: guard, observe, protect, tend, defend, and obey. Adonai is doing that over us every Pesach evening which is extremely critical as you’ll see a little later! This is why Yeshua Himself desired to Shamar, to observe, keep, and celebrate Pesach:
Luke 22:14-16. When the time came, Yeshua and the emissaries reclined at the table, and he 15 said to them, “I have really wanted so much to celebrate this Seder with you before I die! 16 For I tell you, it is certain that I will not celebrate it again until it is given its full meaning (pleroo {play-ro’-o}: to carry into effect, bring to realization, to perform, to execute, fulfilled, to complete, when saying, promises, prophecies coming to pass, to cause God’s will as made known in Torah to be obeyed as it should be) in the Kingdom of God.”
This literally happened 2,000 years at Pesach! Yeshua’s life and words tells us that not only did He celebrate, honor, and Keep Pesach He looked forward to it! He didn’t view it as a cumbersome burden that he couldn’t eat a Ruben or Pizza! He looked forward to it, He wanted to celebrate Pesach with His Talmidim, His family. We too are looking forward to celebrating next month with our family and the Congregation! Pesach was the last event, the last Feast Day Yeshua celebrated with His Talmidim before He was crucified! The Pesach Seder marked the transition from Adonai’s Glory residing in the Temple system to Yeshua becoming our sacrifice and Adonai’s glory to residing within us! Scripture records Pesach is a celebration of Supernatural transition! Pesach marks a transition, from the previous year to the new year, from Slavery to Freedom, from wandering in the desert to entering into the promise land, from Sin to Salvation in Yeshua, from Death to eternal life! As Yeshua stated in Matthew 5:17-19, these Moedim are not done away with in fact they’re rehearsals for the coming Messianic Reign, a not too distant future transition when the Kingdom of Heaven and this world become one again.
Yeshua is revealing a mystery in verse 16. He will celebrate Pesach with us again when it’s given its full meaning, when its fulfilled, when it’s brought to realization, when the sayings, promises, prophecies come to pass, When God’s will as made known in Torah is obeyed as it should be! Yeshua is talking about the restoration of all things! What Yeshua did on Pesach 2,000 years and what Pesach means prophetically, in the future are one in the same! Yeshua, as our paschal sacrifice wiped away our sins to be known no more, His death bought us eternal life, His death tore down the middle wall of partition, to unify the only two people groups known scripturally: Jew and Gentile.
Yeshua is teaching divine Kingdom civics, regarding citizenship in His Father’s Kingdom and the necessity to be loyal, obedient subjects/citizens! Yeshua is saying to not be in opposition, to not disobey the King or you’ll lose status in the Kingdom-possibly not entering the Kingdom of heaven at all!! I’m totally amazed how Adonai has intertwined this all together with such precision and supernatural detail!
We are NOT called to denominations, earthly empires, or the domain of dogma, doctrine, or religion! We are not to divide ourselves by color, race, nationality, or any other divisive snare. Yeshua’s death, His sacrifice upon the stake redeemed us from those earthly bondages. Through His sacrifice we’ve been transferred to Adonai’s Kingdom to be priests of the most High God, to Serve Him, keep His Moedim, and submit to His eternal Rulership and Kingship! We must begin to live as the citizens of the Messianic Kingdom as His Cohanim, serving Him, not earthly kings, lords or their domains. Then we will celebrate Pesach and its service with Yeshua in its full meaning and understanding.
Yeshua’s crucifixion upon the stake, upon the cross paid the price for all of us allowing us to be the bride, a single, unified body reconciled unto Adonai! Pesach marks a transition, a shift from the kingdoms of this world with all its religious, dogmatic, racist, Anti-Semitic divisions and separations to a unified, spotless bride for the Groom, Yeshua. This is the fundamental core foundation of all revivals, awakenings, and sovereign moves of the Ruach Elohim. An awakening to the Absolute truth of the Kingdom!
We are called to be an international, Messianic movement to implement and restore true unity between Jewish and Gentile believers through the word, dialogue, communication, example, biblical teaching, training, and fellowship! With the implements of the Passover seder service Yeshua inaugurated the Brit Chadesha, the New Covenant! By partaking of His sacrifice our sins are washed away to be known no more:
Luke 22:17-20. Then, taking a cup of wine, he made the b’rakhah and said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you that from now on, I will not drink the `fruit of the vine’ until the Kingdom of God comes.” 19 Also, taking a piece of matzah, he made the b’rakhah, broke it, gave it to them and said, “This is my body, which is being given for you; do this in memory of me.” 20 He did the same with the cup after the meal, saying, “This cup is the New Covenant, ratified by my blood, which is being poured out for you.
Exactly as Moshe inaugurated the First Covenant and Torah:
Exodus 24:8. Moshe took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which ADONAI has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
The transition between these two historical, life changing, world changing events occurred during the same feast as reveled in:
Hebrews 9:18-24. This is why the first covenant too was inaugurated with blood. 19 After Moshe had proclaimed every command of the Torah to all the people, he took the blood of the calves with some water and used scarlet wool and hyssop to sprinkle both the scroll itself and all the people; 20 and he said, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has ordained for you.” 21 Likewise, he sprinkled with the blood both the Tent and all the things used in its ceremonies. 22 In fact, according to the Torah, almost everything is purified with blood; indeed, without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. 23 Now this is how the copies of the heavenly things had to be purified, but the heavenly things themselves require better sacrifices than these. 24 For the Messiah has entered a Holiest Place which is not man-made and merely a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, in order to appear now on our behalf in the very presence of God.
What a profound, supernatural understanding and revelation of these parallel, blood covenant events! According to the Torah, almost everything is purified with blood; indeed, without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins! Before Yeshua came your own blood was shed for your sins! For those who refuse or reject Yeshua they will perish for their sins! The only way to escape eternal death is to receive and partake of the Passover Sacrifice! Exodus 12 records that Israel was commanded to take a lamb on the 10th day of Nisan. To keep it for four days to ensure it was without blemish or defect. Yeshua did the same as Adonai’s Lamb! He entered into Jerusalem with the other Passover lambs in a processional 2,000 years ago on the 10th of Nisan as recorded in Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19, and John 12. For the first Passover in Egypt Adonai commanded:
Exodus 12:6-10. “‘You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, and then the entire assembly of the community of Isra’el will slaughter it at dusk. 7 They are to take some of the blood and smear it on the two sides and top of the door-frame at the entrance of the house in which they eat it. 8 That night, they are to eat the meat, roasted in the fire; they are to eat it with matzah and maror. 9 Don’t eat it raw or boiled, but roasted in the fire, with its head, the lower parts of its legs and its inner organs. 10 Let nothing of it remain till morning; if any of it does remain, burn it up completely.
As we read in Hebrews 9 the Blood consecrates, there cannot be a covenant without blood. It was this very reason that God commanded Israel to slaughter the Passover lamb and daub its blood – in full view of all the Egyptians – on their doorways. His purpose was twofold: 1. That we would visibly separate ourselves from the idolatrous and pagan Egyptian views and beliefs. 2. We were to publicly counter the false Egyptian notion that sheep were gods and that slaughtering the lamb would NOT CAUSE OUR DEATH but BRING ISRAEL REDEMPTION and SALVATION.
The blood on the doorposts is a test of trust for the fledgling nation of Israel in Egypt. The blood serves as a sign to the angel of death to Pesach, Passover the house with the blood! After the blood was daubed on the door post we had to eat, to consume, to partake of the lamb! Pesach is the night of choice. If you do not take partake of and eat the lamb, you will be an Egyptian and the first born will perish. Whoever applies the blood of the lamb will be a Child of God. This was a radical act that was counterculture to everything in Egypt just as it is counterculture to everything today in America! With the Lamb of God, Yeshua, we must do the same:
John 6:53-56.; Then Yeshua said to them, “Yes, indeed! I tell you that unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life — that is, I will raise him up on the Last Day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I live in him.
We must partake of the sacrificed lamb (represented by the Matzah just as Yeshua told us) and partake of the blood (as represented by the wine again as Yeshua instructed us) and place it on our hearts as a sign of the covenant! The key here is verse 56 “Whoever eats”! The Mystery revealed is that WHOEVER partakes of the lamb is saved! Just like the mixed crowd who departed slavery in Egypt. Many non-Jews saw the wonders of Adonai’s miraculous plaques against Egypt and followed Adonai’s instructions concerning the lamb and were saved from death! Yeshua does the same! “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I live in him.” This is absolute truth! The Seder Table is one of equality, oneness, and unity regardless of where you came from, regardless of your skin, hair, and eye color! Regardless of your race, nationality, and culture! All who partake of the lamb are one, brothers and sisters, children of Adonai, citizens of the Kingdom of God! Sha’ul profoundly outlines this supernatural understanding in:
I Corinthians 10:16-17. The “cup of blessing” over which we make the b’rakhah—isn’t it a sharing in the bloody sacrificial death of the Messiah? The bread we break, isn’t it a sharing in the body of the Messiah? 17 Because there is one loaf of bread, we who are many constitute one body, since we all partake of the one loaf of bread.
As we enter into the New Year this month let us begin preparing for Pesach! Let us remove the Chametz, the Levin that represents sin and strive with great intentionality to be one body, echad, one body, the bride! Let us enter this new year with great expectation and anticipation!