Calling for a Cease Fire! Here we will share cold, hard facts, interesting connections, and let you come to your own conclusions. Explore the other side of the "argument." Look at things from a different angle. Open your eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to understand. We take an unapologetic, whole Bible applicable view to everything.
Watched a teaching this morning and pondering some of their points, which lead me to pondering of a variety of this and thats such as this one. In considering the “laws” of Yah/God, I submit for your consideration there are three roads today.
In the Old Testament Yah/God entered into several covenants, all of them were based on his terms – some required specific actions, some did not. However, there were always two ways, the way with Yah and the way adversarial to his way. For or against. Blessings and curses. Yah also said it was one law for both the native born and the foreigner who wanted to follow him. Everyone walked on the same roads, either adversarial to Yah or with him.
Many sects of Judaism became fearful (not in a good way) of breaking the ways of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, so they created a much stricter path. They didn’t get the concepts behind the wisdom of God. They took everything literally. So even though the “law” said they should help an animal if it fell in a ditch on a Sabbath day, they wouldn’t help a needy person that same day because “it was work”. They also said if you were a Gentile (Foreigner), you couldn’t walk their path. Gentiles were excluded.
Jesus came to set the roads back to the way Yah had originally designed them to be. Many of the Jewish sects never accepted Jesus as the Messiah. Thus, Jesus came against all the extra strict man made laws. And he open the road back up to the Foreigner/Gentile. He brought the Old Covenant back to his brighter days, he restored or renewed it. He made clear the foundation put in place by Yah was kept in tact. However, he took the place of the animal sacrifices by offering his blood and flesh, becoming the eternal sacrifice. Then he took the place of the Priests, becoming the new eternal High Priest.
Some of the Jewish faith kept their margin of error road and have built it even stronger because they don’t have anywhere to make sacrifices and are watching for the Messiah to come. A few hundred years after Jesus, Constantine demolishes the old road ways and sets up new ones. The Christian faith starts splitting and reforming, etc. etc. Bringing us to what we have today. An Adversarial road way which is a little smaller than what God set up because “everyone is a sinner” and “all are welcome”. A narrowing of the road of Yah down to Love God, Love People and a few words from Jesus. Some side roads built because Jesus did away with the “law” but parts of the Old Covenant is kept. For example, of the Ten Commandments, nine are kept as is, but the Sabbath day is moved to Sunday, taking a side road.
Wonder how Yah/God sees it? Does he see the man made improvements as good? Is he okay with the road way of the adversaries being narrowed? What do you think?
We are in the time of counting the Omer – heading toward Shavuot (now known as Pentecost). In the Old Testament, the Tables of the Testimony (now known as the Ten Commandments) were given on Shavout and placed in the Most Set-Apart place (Holy of Holies) in the Tent of Meeting (Tabernacle).
In the New Testament, the promised Set-Apart Spirit (Holy Spirit) was given in Acts 2 while followers of Jesus were gathered to keep Shavuot. Yah said this Spirit would write his ways on their hearts and minds.
Now is a great time to assess what does this road look like in your life? What road are you on? And instead of What Would Jesus Do? – maybe ask – What Would Jesus Say?
Yah/God set apart specifically appointed time to celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. He put them in place thousands of years ahead of time, as signs, foreshadowings, of what was to come. They have been set aside for counterfeit man made traditions.
Jesus most likely rose at twilight Saturday night. During the in between time just before the first day of the week, Sunday, started. If he had remained in the tomb through the night, it would have been four nights in the tomb instead of three.
First Fruits (Bikkurim, Firstfruits, Harvest) Surrender All to Jesus
Become a Disciple: As we observe this appointed time, we are to remember what Jesus has done for us. Without him going first, and making the way, we would not be able to follow. He was offered up first so the rest of the harvest that follows can also be accepted. As his disciples we surrender our lives and walk in his ways. On this day we remember his resurrection – the original Easter.
God called the Israelite and whoever to bring a sheaf of the first grain harvested (faith/obey) in the promised land to the priest.
The priest waved the sheaf before God (on Sunday) so it would be accepted on the communities behalf.
A lamb without defect and a hin of wine were also offered.
God appointed the Feast of First Fruits for whoever.
Three days after the Passover, a sheaf of the first fruits of the barley and the wheat harvest are brought on the first day of the week (Sunday).
The sheaf is representative of the whole harvest to come.
The concept of presenting the first to God, like the first born, appears all throughout the Scriptures.
No bread could be eaten until the sheaves had been offered to God.
If the first fruits were not accepted, the whole harvest was not. Everyone brought the best of the crops.
This was fulfilled when Jesus resurrected on the third day.
God gave the Table of Showbread in the Temple on which were placed the Bread of Presence and a pitcher for drink offerings (wine).
There were 12 loaves, representing the 12 tribes of Israel, God’s chosen first fruits of people.
Each Weekly Sabbath (Saturday), the old would be removed and consumed by the priest and new put out.
In the Ark of the Testimony (we’ll talk more about it later) was a bowl of Manna.
The Manna represented the Bread of Life
They had to learn to trust and reply on God who provided manna on their journey into the promised land for six days during the week. The seventh day was a rest day, so none was given, nor collected on that day.
God gave his son as a First Fruit. Jesus resurrected on the Feast of First Fruits as the first fruit offering accepted of the harvest to come.
Whoever died with him will also be accepted and rise with him in eternal life.
He has paved the way for all those who have faith in him.
Revelation 14:4 These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been redeemed from among mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb.
Most believe this is a command to do “missions,” as it relates to being a missionary. Or going on missions trips to foreign nations. However, this isn’t the idea the text is conveying.
The Greek translation shows the word as ‘ethnos’ which according to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon means:
a multitude (whether of men or of beasts) associated or living together; a company, troop, swarm
a multitude of individuals of the same nature or genus
race, nation
foreign nations not worshipping the true God, pagans, Gentiles
Gentile Christians
In the KJV version, we see this exact same word translated as Gentiles (93x), nation (64x), heathen (5x), people (2x).
In Hebrew the word isעַמִּים, simply translated, peoples. More than one person.
Basically, if you are disciple of Jesus, he has told you to go and teach people. You don’t have to fly across the world, become a missionary, nor go on missions trips, you simply have to teach the people around you. If you have the means and the time, go as far away as you can, nothing against this. Some may even be called to specifically be missionaries. But if you do not or are not, nothing is stopping you from accepting this great commission to go and teach all people.
This is not the same as ‘testifying’ or ‘giving a witness’. This also is not about getting people “saved.” There is nothing against either of those either, but that is not the context here. How do we know this? Because this teaching is directly tied to the word disciple – a student, a follower, a learner. It is about giving instruction. In Jesus’s time, a disciple wanted to become as much like their teacher as possible. The idea was also, a disciple would one day go out and teach as well.
Are you doing what Jesus told his disciples to do? Are you teaching people?
It might be surprising, but the next part, baptizing, has nothing to do with water. Stay tuned!
And afterward, Moses and Aaron went, and they said to Pharaoh, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, ‘Release my people so that they may hold a festival for me in the desert.’ ”
Exodus 10:9
And Moses said, “With our young and with our old we will go; with our sons and with our daughters, with our sheep and goats and with our cattle we will go because it is the feast of Yahweh for us.”
Exodus 12
1 And Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 “This month will be the beginning of months; it will be for you the first of the months of the year. 3 Speak to all the community of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month, they will each take for themselves a lamb for the family, a lamb for the household. 4 And if the household is too small for a lamb, he and the neighbor nearest to his house will take one according to the number of persons; you will count out portions of the lamb according to how much each one can eat. 5 The lamb for you must be a male, without defect, in its first year; you will take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 “You will keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, and all the assembly of the community of Israel will slaughter it at twilight. 7 And they will take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel on the houses in which they eat it. 8 And they will eat the meat on this night; they will eat it fire-roasted and with unleavened bread on bitter herbs. 9 You must not eat any of it raw or boiled, boiled in the water, but rather roasted with fire, its head with its legs and with its inner parts. 10 And you must not leave any of it until morning; anything left from it until morning you must burn in the fire. 11 And this is how you will eat it—with your waists fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and you will eat it in haste. It is Yahweh’s Passover. 12 “And I will go through the land of Egypt during this night, and I will strike all of the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from human to animal, and I will do punishments among all of the gods of Egypt. I am Yahweh. 13 And the blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and I will see the blood, and I will pass over you, and there will not be a destructive plague among you when I strike the land of Egypt. 14 “And this day will become a memorial for you, and you will celebrate it as a religious feast for Yahweh throughout your generations; you will celebrate it as a lasting statute. 15 You will eat unleavened bread for seven days. Surely on the first day you shall remove yeast from your houses, because anyone who eats food with yeast from the first day until the seventh day—that person will be cut off from Israel. 16 It will be for you on the first day a holy assembly and on the seventh day a holy assembly; no work will be done on them; only what is eaten by every person, it alone will be prepared for you. 17 “And you will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because on this very day I brought out your divisions from the land of Egypt, and you will keep this day for your generations as a lasting statute. 18 On the first day, on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, you will eat unleavened bread until the evening of the twenty-first day of the month. 19 For seven days yeast must not be found in your houses, because anyone eating food with yeast will be cut off from the community of Israel—whether an alien or a native of the land. 20 You will eat no food with yeast; in all of your dwellings you will eat unleavened bread.” 21 And Moses called all the elders of Israel, and he said to them, “Select and take for yourselves sheep for your clans and slaughter the Passover sacrifice. 22 And take a bunch of hyssop and dip it into the blood that is in the basin and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts. And you will not go out, anyone from the doorway of his house, until morning. 23 And Yahweh will go through to strike Egypt, and he will see the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, and Yahweh will pass over the doorway and will not allow the destroyer to come to your houses to strike you. 24 “And you will keep this event as a rule for you and for your children forever. 25 And when you come into the land that Yahweh will give to you, as he said, you will keep this religious custom. 26 And when your children say to you, ‘What is this religious custom for you?’ 27 you will say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice for Yahweh, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when he struck Egypt; and he delivered our houses.’ ” And the people knelt down and they worshiped. 28 And the Israelites went, and they did as Yahweh had commanded Moses and Aaron; so they did. 29 And in the middle of the night, Yahweh struck all of the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh sitting on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the prison house and every firstborn of an animal. 30 And Pharaoh got up at night, he and all his servants and all Egypt, and a great cry of distress was in Egypt because there was not a house where there was no one dead. 31 And he called Moses and Aaron at night, and he said, “Get up, go out from the midst of my people, both you as well as the Israelites, and go, serve Yahweh, as you have said. 32 Take both your sheep and goats as well as your cattle, and go, and bless also me.” 33 And the Egyptians urged the people in order to hurry their release from the land, because they said, “All of us will die!” 34 And the people lifted up their dough before it had yeast; their kneading troughs were wrapped up in their cloaks on their shoulder. 35 And the Israelites did according to the word of Moses, and they asked from the Egyptians for objects of silver and objects of gold and for clothing. 36 And Yahweh gave the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians, and they granted their requests, and they plundered the Egyptians. 37 And the Israelites set out from Rameses to Succoth; the men were about six hundred thousand on foot, besides dependents. 38 And also a mixed multitude went up with them and sheep and goats and cattle, very numerous livestock. 39 And they baked the dough that they had brought out from Egypt as cakes, unleavened bread, because it had no yeast when they were driven out from Egypt, and they were not able to delay, and also they had not made provisions for themselves. 40 And the period of dwelling of the Israelites that they dwelled in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. 41 And at the end of four hundred and thirty years, on this exact day, all of Yahweh’s divisions went out from the land of Egypt. 42 It is a night of vigils belonging to Yahweh for bringing them out from the land of Egypt; it is this night belonging to Yahweh with vigils for all of the Israelites throughout their generations. 43 And Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: No foreigner may eat it. 44 But any slave of a man, an acquisition by money, and you have circumcised him, then he may eat it. 45 A temporary resident and a hired worker may not eat it. 46 It will be eaten in one house; you will not bring part of the meat out from the house to the outside; and you will not break a bone of it. 47 All of the community of Israel will prepare it. 48 And when an alien dwells with you and he wants to prepare the Passover for Yahweh, every male belonging to him must be circumcised, and then he may come near to prepare it, and he will be as the native of the land, but any uncircumcised man may not eat it. 49 One law will be for the native and for the alien who is dwelling in your midst.” 50 And all the Israelites did as Yahweh had commanded Moses and Aaron; so they did. 51 And it was on exactly this day Yahweh brought the Israelites out from the land of Egypt by their divisions.
Exodus 13:3
And Moses said to the people, “Remember this day when you went out from Egypt, from a house of slaves, because with strength of hand Yahweh brought you out from here, and food with yeast will not be eaten.
Exodus 23:14–15
14 “ ‘Three times in the year you will hold a festival for me. 15 You will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you will eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you at the appointed time, the month of Abib, because in it you came out from Egypt, and no one will appear before me empty-handed.
Exodus 34:18–25
18 “You will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you will eat unleavened bread, which I commanded you, at the appointed time of the month of Abib, for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt. 19 Every first offspring of a womb is for me—all of your male livestock, the first offspring of cattle and small livestock. 20 But the first offspring of a donkey you will redeem with small livestock, and if you will not redeem it, you will break its neck. Every firstborn of your sons you will redeem, and you will not appear before me empty-handed. 21 Six days you will work, and on the seventh day you will rest; in the time of plowing and in the time of harvest you will rest. 22 And you yourself will observe the Feast of Weeks—the firstfruits of the wheat harvest—and the Feast of Harvest Gathering at the turn of the year. 23 Three times in the year all your males will appear before the Lord, Yahweh, the God of Israel, 24 because I will evict nations before you, and I will enlarge your territory, and no one will covet your land when you go up to appear before Yahweh your God three times in the year. 25 “You will not slaughter the blood of my sacrifice on food with yeast, and the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover will not stay overnight to the morning.
Leviticus 23:5
In the first month, on the fourteenth of the month at the evening is Yahweh’s Passover.
Numbers 9:1–14
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai, in the second year after they came out from the land of Egypt, in the first month, saying, 2 “Let the Israelites observe the Passover at its appointed time. 3 On the fourteenth day of this month at twilight you will perform it at its appointed time according to all its decrees; and according to all its stipulations you will observe it.” 4 So Moses spoke to the Israelites to observe the Passover. 5 And they observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight in the desert of Sinai. According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses, thus the Israelites did. 6 And it happened, men who were unclean by a dead person were not able to perform the Passover on that day. And they came before Moses and Aaron on that day. 7 And those men said to him, “Although we are unclean by a dead person, why are we hindered from presenting the offering of Yahweh at its appointed time in the midst of the Israelites?” 8 Moses said to them, “Stay. I will hear what Yahweh commands to you.” 9 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the Israelites, saying, ‘Each man that is unclean by a dead person or is on a far journey, you or your descendants, he will observe the Passover of Yahweh. 11 On the second month on the fourteenth day at twilight they will observe it; they will eat it with unleavened bread and bitter plants. 12 They will leave none of it until morning, and they will not break a bone in it; they will observe it according to every decree of the Passover. 13 But the man who is clean and not on a journey, and he fails to observe the Passover, that person will be cut off from the people because he did not present the offering of Yahweh on its appointed time. That man will bear his guilt. 14 If an alien dwells with you he will observe the Passover of Yahweh according to the decree of the Passover and according to its stipulation; thus you will have one decree for you, for the alien and for the native of the land.’ ”
Numbers 28:15–16
15 And one male goat as a sin offering for Yahweh; it will be offered in addition to the continual burnt offering and its libation. 16 “ ‘On the fourteenth day of the first month is the Passover for Yahweh.
Numbers 33:3
They set out from Rameses on the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the next day after the Passover the Israelites went out boldly in the sight of all the Egyptians
Deuteronomy 16:1–6
1 “Observe the month of Abib, and you shall keep the Passover to Yahweh your God, for in the month of Abib Yahweh your God brought you out from Egypt by night. 2 And you shall offer the Passover sacrifice to Yahweh your God from among your flock and herd at the place that Yahweh will choose, to let his name dwell there. 3 You shall not eat with it anything leavened; seven days you shall eat with it unleavened bread of affliction, because in haste you went out from the land of Egypt, so that you will remember the day of your going out from the land of Egypt all the days of your life. 4 And leaven shall not be seen with you in any of your territory for seven days, and none of the meat that you will slaughter on the evening on the first day shall remain overnight until morning. 5 You are not allowed to offer the Passover sacrifice in one of your towns that Yahweh your God is giving to you, 6 but only at the place that Yahweh your God will choose, to let his name dwell there; you shall offer the Passover sacrifice in the evening at sunset, at the designated time of your going out from Egypt.
Joshua 5:9–11
9 And Yahweh said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the disgrace of Egypt from you.” Therefore, the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day. 10 And the Israelites camped at Gilgal, and they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, on the plains of Jericho. 11 On the next day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate from the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and roasted corn.
2 Kings 23:21–23
21 Then the king commanded all of the people, saying, “Keep the Passover to Yahweh your God, as has been written on the scroll of this covenant.” 22 For they had not kept this Passover from the days of the judges who had judged over Israel or during the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was kept for Yahweh in Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 8:13
as was the daily requirement, to offer up according to the commandments of Moses for Sabbaths, new moon festivals, and the three annual feasts: the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths.
2 Chronicles 30:1–5
1 Then Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, to come to the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem to make a Passover feast to Yahweh the God of Israel. 2 Now the king and his princes, and all the assembly in Jerusalem had taken counsel to make the Passover feast in the second month—3 but they were not able to make it at that time, for the priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient numbers, and the people had not been assembled in Jerusalem—4 and the plan seemed right in the eyes of the king and in the eyes of all the assembly. 5 So they let the decree stand, to make a proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, to come to make a Passover feast to Yahweh the God of Israel in Jerusalem, for they had not kept it as often as prescribed.
2 Chronicles 30:15–18
15 And they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. And the priests and the Levites were disgraced, so they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings into the house of Yahweh. 16 Then they stood at their positions according to custom, according to the law of Moses the man of God. The priests were sprinkling the blood from the hand of the Levites. 17 For there were many in the assembly who did not consecrate themselves, so the Levites were over the killing of the Passover sacrifices for all who were not clean, to consecrate them to Yahweh. 18 For a majority of the people, many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves. But they ate the Passover sacrifice otherwise than prescribed, but Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, “May the good Yahweh make atonement unto
2 Chronicles 35:1–19
1 Josiah kept the Passover to Yahweh in Jerusalem. And they slaughtered the Passover sacrifice on the fourteenth day of the first month. 2 And he set the priests at their posts and encouraged them in the service of the house of Yahweh. 3 And he said to the Levites who were teaching all Israel, who were sanctified to Yahweh, “Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. There is no need to carry it on your shoulders. Now serve Yahweh your God and his people Israel. 4 And prepare yourselves according to your families, according to your working groups, according to the decree of David king of Israel and according to the decree of Solomon his son. 5 And stand in the sanctuary according to the clans of your families for your brothers, the lay people, and a part of the family of the Levites. 6 And slaughter the Passover lamb and consecrate yourself and prepare for your brothers to do according to the word of Yahweh by the hand of Moses. 7 Then Josiah provided for the lay people sheep, lambs, and young goats, all for the Passover for all who were found there, to the sum of thirty thousand, along with three thousand bulls. These were the possession of the king. 8 And his officials contributed a freewill offering to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, commanders of the house of God, gave to the priests two thousand six hundred Passover lambs and three hundred bulls. 9 Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethanel his brothers, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jehozabad, commanders of the Levites, contributed to the Levites five thousand Passover lambs and five hundred bulls. 10 And when the work had been completed, the priests stood at their positions and the Levites in their working groups according to the command of the king. 11 And they slaughtered the Passover lamb, and the priests sprinkled the blood from their hand, and the Levites flayed the sacrifices. 12 And they set aside the burnt offerings to give them to the clans of the families for the lay people, to offer to Yahweh according to what is written in the scroll of Moses. And thus they did with the bulls. 13 Then they roasted the Passover lamb in the fire according to the ordinance. And they boiled the holy offerings in pots, in kettles, and in dishes and brought it quickly to all the lay people. 14 And afterward they prepared for themselves and for the priests, since the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were busy with offering the burnt offerings and the fat until night. So the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the descendants of Aaron. 15 And the singers, the descendants of Asaph, were at their stations according to the decree of David and Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, the seer of the king. And the gatekeepers were at each gate. They did not need to depart from their service, for their brothers the Levites had made preparations for them. 16 So all the service of Yahweh was prepared on that day to keep the Passover and to sacrifice burnt offerings on the altar of Yahweh, according to the command of King Josiah. 17 And the Israelites who were present kept the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days. 18 And there was no Passover like it kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. And none of the kings of Israel kept a Passover like that which Josiah and the priests and the Levites, and all of Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, kept. 19 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah this Passover was kept.
Ezra 6:19–20
19 On the fourteenth day of the first month the returned exiles observed the Passover feast. 20 For the priests and Levites together had consecrated themselves; all of them were clean. And they slaughtered the Passover sacrifice for all of the returned exiles, for their brothers the priests, and for themselves.
Ezekiel 40:1–2
1 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was destroyed, in this day exactly, the hand of Yahweh was on me, and he brought me there 2 in visions from God. He brought me to the land of Israel and put me on a very high mountain, and on it was something like a structure of a city to the south.
Ezekiel 45:18–21
18 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘On the first month on the first day of the month, you shall take a bull, a calf without defect, and you shall purify the sanctuary. 19 And the priest shall take from the blood of the sin offering, and he shall put it on the doorframe of the temple and on the four corners of the ledge of the altar and on the doorframe of the gate of the inner courtyard. 20 And so you shall do on the seventh day in the month for anyone doing wrong inadvertently or due to ignorance, and so you must make atonement for the temple. 21 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the Passover, a feast lasting for seven days, when you shall eat unleavened breads.
Matthew 26:1–2
1 And it happened that when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, 2 “You know that after two days the Passover takes place, and the Son of Man will be handed over in order to be crucified.”
Matthew 26:17–19
17 Now on the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came up to Jesus, saying, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 18 And he said, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is near. I am celebrating the Passover with you with my disciples.” ’ 19 And the disciples did as Jesus directed them, and they prepared the Passover.
Matthew 27:15
Now at each feast, the governor was accustomed to release one prisoner to the crowd—the one whom they wanted.
Mark 14:1
Now after two days it was the Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread, and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how, after arresting him by stealth, they could kill him.
Mark 14:11–16
11 And when they heard this, they were delighted, and promised to give him money. And he began seeking how he could betray him conveniently. 12 And on the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare, so that you can eat the Passover?” 13 And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, 14 and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” ’ 15 And he will show you a large upstairs room furnished and ready, and prepare for us there.” 16 And the disciples went out and came into the city and found everything just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
Mark 15:6
Now at each feast he customarily released for them one prisoner whom they requested.
Luke 2:41–42
41 And his parents went every year to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to the custom of the feast.
Luke 12:35–38
35 “You must be prepared for action and your lamps burning. 36 And you, be like people who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that when he comes back and knocks, they can open the door for him immediately. 37 Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he returns! Truly I say to you that he will dress himself for service and have them recline at the table and will come by and serve them. 38 Even if he should come back in the second or in the third watch of the night and find them like this, blessed are they!
Luke 22:1–15
1 Now the feast of Unleavened Bread (which is called Passover) was drawing near. 2 And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they could destroy him, because they were afraid of the people. 3 And Satan entered into Judas, the one called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. 4 And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers of the temple guard how he could betray him to them. 5 And they were delighted, and came to an agreement with him to give him money. 6 And he agreed, and began looking for a favorable opportunity to betray him to them apart from the crowd. 7 And the day of the feast of Unleavened Bread came, on which it was necessary for the Passover lamb to be sacrificed. 8 And he sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, so that we may eat it. 9 So they said to him, “Where do you want us to prepare it?” 10 And he said to them, “Behold, when you have entered into the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house which he enters. 11 And you will say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” ’ 12 And he will show you a large furnished upstairs room. Make preparations there.” 13 So they went and found everything just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover. 14 And when the hour came, he reclined at the table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
Luke 23:17–18
But they all cried out in unison, saying, “Take this man away, and release for us Barabbas!”
John 2:12–25
12 After this he went down to Capernaum, and his mother and brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there a few days. 13 And the Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 And he found in the temple courts those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated. 15 And he made a whip of cords and drove them all out of the temple courts, both the sheep and the oxen, and he poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 And to the ones selling the doves he said, “Take these things away from here! Do not make my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 So the Jews answered and said to him, “What sign do you show to us, because you are doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up!” 20 Then the Jews said, “This temple has been under construction forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 So when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the saying that Jesus had spoken. 23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in his name because they saw his signs which he was doing. 24 But Jesus himself did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people, 25 and because he did not need anyone to testify about man, for he himself knew what was in man.
John 4:45
So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, because they had seen all the things he had done in Jerusalem at the feast (for they themselves had also come to the feast).
John 5:1
After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
John 6:4
(Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near.)
John 11:55
Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem from the surrounding country before the Passover, so that they could purify themselves.
John 12:1
Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
John 12:12
On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
John 12:20
Now some Greeks were among those who had gone up in order to worship at the feast.
John 13:1
Now before the feast of Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come that he would depart from this world to the Father, and having loved his own in the world, loved them to the end.
John 13:29–30
29 For some were thinking because Judas had the money box, Jesus was telling him, “Purchase what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor.) 30 So after he had taken the piece of bread, he went out immediately. And it was night.
John 18:27–28
27 So Peter denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed. 28 Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the governor’s residence. Now it was early, and they did not enter into the governor’s residence so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover.
John 18:38–39
38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, “I find no basis for an accusation against him. 39 But it is your custom that I release for you one prisoner at the Passover. So do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews?”
John 19:14
(Now it was the day of preparation of the Passover; it was about the sixth hour.) And he said to the Jews, “Behold your king!”
Acts 12:1–4
1 Now at that time, Herod the king laid hands on some of those from the church to harm them. 2 So he executed James the brother of John with a sword. 3 And when he saw that it was pleasing to the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. (Now this was during the feast of Unleavened Bread.) 4 After he had arrested him, he also put him in prison, handing him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.
Acts 20:6
And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread and came to them at Troas within five days, where we stayed seven days.
1 Corinthians 5:6–8
6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole batch of dough? 7 Clean out the old leaven in order that you may be a new batch of dough, just as you are unleavened. For Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. 8 So then, let us celebrate the feast, not with the old leaven or with the leaven of wickedness and sinfulness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
1 Corinthians 10:16
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?
1 Corinthians 11:23–28
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night in which he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and after he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 Likewise also the cup, after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But let a person examine himself, and in this way let him eat from the bread and let him drink from the cup.
1 Corinthians 15:3
For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures,
Galatians 5:1
For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.
Hebrews 11:28
By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, in order that the one who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.
Revelation 9:18
By these three plagues a third of humanity was killed—by the fire and the smoke and the sulphur that came out of their mouths.
Exported from Logos Bible Software, 8:37 PM February 10, 2024.
Testing in Resting: The weekly Sabbath is a day to rest and reflect. It’s a time to remember God has provided all we need. He sent his son, Jesus to become our sacrifice and our high priest – all we have to do is have faith in him and he will do the rest. Our reconciliation is promised through our faith. However, Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my Torah.” He specifically talks about the “Torah” and keeping the smallest marks in it. As we seek to understand more fully, we learn there are laws to keep, ordinances dependent on circumstances, recommendations for getting the best out of life, and right-rulings for making judgements. We don’t keep them because we have to, we keep them because we want to obey. All throughout God Sabbaths/appointed times has referenced or alluded to having faith and obeying him – the original day of worship.
God called the Seventh Day Holy and rested well before any covenant.
It was first observed by God in Genesis, he blessed the day and made it holy and rested on the seventh day.
It is a sign between Gods people and Him that He is their God.
God gave manna in the wilderness and told the whoevers to gather a day’s portion each day, but on the sixth day gather enough for the next day. He said he did this as a test to find out whether they would walk according to his ways or not (faith/obey).
God appointed the Weekly Sabbath Day as a test and a sign
It is about learning to rest and rely on God – to show you what is good and bad, trusting he knows what is best.
God used the manna to test if they would follow his instructions by collecting twice as much on the sixth day and resting on the seventh.
All of God’s Sabbaths are a sign that he is God, who makes you holy.
God pours out wrath when his Sabbaths are not kept.
Jesus and all in the Bible who were righteous kept the Sabbath day.
All of Jesus’s disciples and the women rested, they did not prepare the body because they observed the Sabbath day.
Jesus said he was the Lord of the Sabbath.
Much of the contention between Jesus and the religion leaders of the day was centered around the Sabbath day rules.
The rules he contested were man made rules – not God made rules.
Jesus said his yoke is easy and his burden is light.
God gave the Cloud in the Tabernacle so the people would know he was dwelling among them.
A cloud covered the tent of the meeting (tabernacle) and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
A cloud of smoke by day and of fire by night
It was in the sight of all the camp during all their travels. The people kept watch on the cloud in anticipation of what God would do. When the cloud would lift, the people would set out. If it did not lift, they stayed.
God gave Jesus rest on the weekly Sabbath. His resurrections was on the Feast of First Fruit which is always the first day of the week (Sunday).
Revelation 22:1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
Genesis 2 “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their array.”
Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot, Booths, Ingathering, Feast of the Lord) Complete Unity
All are One: During this time we remember, Jesus said a prayer for those who have faith in him. He said, “Just as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You, so also may they be one in Us, so the world may believe that You sent Me.” God tabernacled among his people in a temporary dwelling place. And Jesus temporarily tabernacled among us in flesh. And now our body is a tabernacle to the Holy Spirit. Jesus has went to prepare our forever home and one day, we will once again be with Immanuel – God with Us when he returns to reign forever and ever. ““Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” – the original Christmas
God called the whoevers to live in temporary shelters during their 40 years in the Wilderness.
The mix multitude lived in temporary shelters and relied on God
He brought them out of bondage and provided for them (faith/obey).
God appointed the Feast of Tabernacles as a time of celebration of the fall harvest and remember God’s protection and provision.
Five days after Day of Atonement and lasts for seven days
First and Eighth day are days of sacred assembly and no work.
Take branches from trees and rejoice before God.
Celebrate at the place God chooses.
All NATIVE-BORN ISRAELITES are to live in temporary shelters for seven days.
This will not be fully fulfilled until Jesus returns to take those who follow him to a permeant dwelling place.
God gave the Ark of the Testimony in the Tabernacle in the Holy of Holies where he took up temporary shelter
Now called the Ark of the Covenant
This is where God would meet and give his commands
Held the signs of the Testimony/Covenant
Tables of the Testimony – Now called Ten Commandments
A bowl of Manna
Aaron’s staff which budded
Jesus temporarily dwelled among us.
Many believe Jesus was born on this feast.
His name was called Immanuel – “God with us.”
Jesus told his disciples there were many dwelling places and he was going to prepare a place.
Revelation 21:3 “See, the Booth of Elohim is with men, and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and Elohim Himself shall be with them and be their Elohim.
Forgive as You are Forgiven: During the time between Trumpets and Day of Atonement is a time to consider our ways and make correction as needed. Just as the priests were ordained and consecrated by the atonement sacrifice, so Jesus has been our atoning sacrifice. We are the one who deserves death but instead we will be set free because Jesus takes our place. Forgive others, just as Jesus forgave those who persecuted him. The original Ash Wednesday/Lent.
God called Moses to make an offering as atonement for Aaron and his sons for their priestly ordination and consecration.
It took seven days to ordain them.
It took seven days to make atonement for the altar, then it was most holy.
God appointed the Day of Atonement as a time to assemble and deny oneself.
Ten days after the Feast of Trumpets, reflection is made on each of the ten days.
Do no work. Deny = the general consensus seems to be fasting as well as recognizing lawlessness (sin), confession, and recognizing the need for Jesus.
The High Priest took two goats,
One was the sacrifice and one was a scapegoat.
At the door of the tent, they would cast lots to see which would be presented as the offering and which would be let go.
It will not be fully fulfilled until after Jesus’s second coming.
Jesus was offered once to bear the sins of the community and will appear a second time to bring deliverance.
He became a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, making atonement for the sins of the people.
God gave the Lid of the Atonement in the Tabernacle where he is said to have rested.
Typically called the Mercy Seat.
It was the actual Lid to the Ark of the Testimony
Once a year – the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies, and sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice to cover the unknown sins of the community for another year.
There was a shadowing of the Day of Atonement when Pilate offered the choice between Jesus and Jesus Barabbas.
One became the offering, the other the scapegoat.
Revelation 12:10 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. 11 They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
Feast of Trumpets (Yom Truach, Day of Blasting) Be the Light of the World
Become One Who Disciples: On this day we remember while Jesus was in this world he was the light, whoever follows him will never walk in darkness, but will have the light in them. Jesus said his disciples are the light of the world and should not be hidden. We remember when we walk in his ways and let our light shine we have fellowship together. Shout for joy because Jesus has destroyed death, brought life and immortality to light through the good news. One day he is returning and will reign forever and ever! A day to remember to keep watch for one day he is returning – the original Advent.
God rested on Mt. Sinai on this day
There was thundering, lighting, a thick cloud,
“The blast of the exceedingly loud shofar”. The sound of the shofar grew louder and louder.
Moses spoke, and God answered him with a thunderous sound.
All the people saw and heard, and they trembled.
God appointed the Feast of Trumpets for whoever to have a day to sound the trumpets/shofar and have a day of rest.
The Feast of Trumpets falls on the start of the civil year. God appointed Passover as the first of a year.
It is a call to preparation for the Day of Atonement
This feast has not been fulfilled. It will be fulfilled at Jesus’s second coming.
Jesus said he will be as lightning from one part of the sky to the other.
The Lord will descend with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God.
Many believe Jesus will return during the Feast of Trumpets.
God gave the Lampstand in the Tabernacle
The Lampstand was a sign of God’s presences.
It was the only source of light in otherwise complete darkness. It was kept lite continuously and never went out.
It resembled almond branches, the Hebrew root word means “to hasten”. And the flowers were like open almond flowers.
In the Ark of the Witness was Aaron’s staff which budded
The staff was made out of a piece of almond wood.
It symbolized God’s choice as to who should serve as Priests.
It was a sign to the rebellious to put an end to their grumbling against God.
God gave the Light of the World, Jesus, whoever follows him will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.
Some believe Jesus was born during the Feast of Trumpet.
Revelation 11:15 The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.”
Revelation 21:23 And the city has no need for the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God lights it up, and its lamp is the Lamb.
Pentecost (Feast of Weeks, Shavuot) Testify and Be Baptized
Receive Jesus’s Testimony and Baptism: On this day we remember the free gift given to both Jew and Gentile. The Holy Spirit is Jesus’s baptism(Acts 2:38) and his witness testifying to the whole earth. The Spirit writes his commands on our hearts. The Spirit baptizes in the Name (the essence) of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – the original Pentecost.
God called the Israelite and whoever to bring an offering of new grain in two loaves, with yeast, as a wave offering of first fruits fifty days (7 weeks) after the First Fruits offering.
A burnt offering, drink offering, and fellowship offering were also brought.
A day of sacred assembly and no work.
When reaping, leave the edges for the poor and foreigners (faith/obey).
God appointed the Feast of Weeks as a time to rejoice at the place he chooses as a dwelling for his Name.
Name in Hebrew refers to the essence of someone, not their title or “name” given to them.
Celebrate at the place God chooses.
This was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2)
God gave the Golden Incense Altar in the Tabernacle which was placed just outside the curtain into the Holy of Holies.
Spices were burned as a continuous offering, a sweet aroma. The incense represents the prayers of the people.
Prayers are a line of communication directly with God to offer thanksgiving, praises, and adoration for his provision. They can also be used to confess, express repentance, petition and make requests.
In the Ark of the Testimony the Two Tablets of The Testimony were placed.
The tablets are now referred to as the Ten Commandments
Originally given on the day of Pentecost.
On the two tablets were the covenant law God provided to them.
God said, keeping these are a sign we are willing to offer up our own ways and follow God’s ways
God gave his Holy Spirit fifty days after Jesus was resurrected.
His followers were gathered in observant of Pentecost.
The Holy Spirit came down, represented by fire and was Jesus’s Baptism.
Received by all – both Jew and Gentile, the two loaves, were waved as an offering to God through the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit was given to write the Tablets of the Testimony on the hearts of his people.
Revelation 8:3 (TLV) 3 Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden incense burner.[b] He was given much incense to offer up along with the prayers of all the kedoshim upon the golden altar before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the kedoshim,[c] rose before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the incense burner and filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth; and there were clashes of thunder and rumblings and flashes of lightning and earthquakes.[d]
First Fruits (Bikkurim, Firstfruits, Harvest) Surrender All to Jesus
Become a Disciple: As we observe this appointed time, we are to remember what Jesus has done for us. Without him going first, and making the way, we would not be able to follow. He was offered up first so the rest of the harvest that follows can also be accepted. As his disciples we surrender our lives and walk in his ways. On this day we remember his resurrection – the original Easter.
God called the Israelite and whoever to bring a sheaf of the first grain harvested (faith/obey) in the promised land to the priest.
The priest waved the sheaf before God (on Sunday) so it would be accepted on the communities behalf.
A lamb without defect and a hin of wine were also offered.
God appointed the Feast of First Fruits for whoever.
Three days after the Passover, a sheaf of the first fruits of the barley and the wheat harvest are brought on the first day of the week (Sunday).
The sheaf is representative of the whole harvest to come.
The concept of presenting the first to God, like the first born, appears all throughout the Scriptures.
No bread could be eaten until the sheaves had been offered to God.
If the first fruits were not accepted, the whole harvest was not. Everyone brought the best of the crops.
This was fulfilled when Jesus resurrected on the third day.
God gave the Table of Showbread in the Temple on which were placed the Bread of Presence and a pitcher for drink offerings (wine).
There were 12 loaves, representing the 12 tribes of Israel, God’s chosen first fruits of people.
Each Weekly Sabbath (Saturday), the old would be removed and consumed by the priest and new put out.
In the Ark of the Testimony (we’ll talk more about it later) was a bowl of Manna.
The Manna represented the Bread of Life
They had to learn to trust and reply on God who provided manna on their journey into the promised land for six days during the week. The seventh day was a rest day, so none was given, nor collected on that day.
God gave his son as a First Fruit. Jesus resurrected on the Feast of First Fruits as the first fruit offering accepted of the harvest to come.
Whoever died with him will also be accepted and rise with him in eternal life.
He has paved the way for all those who have faith in him.
Revelation 14:4 These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been redeemed from among mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb.
Called Out of Captivity: As we observe this appointed time of YHWH/God’s, we are to remember we were once captives to lawlessness (sin), separated from God, just like the Israelites were in the land of Egypt. In order to get back in right relationship with God, there must be a sacrifice made because the law of sin requires a death. We are to remember he chose to bring us out of captivity through the sacrifice of his son, Jesus and set us free from lawlessness (sin). On this day, we remember his crucifixion, the original Good Friday.
*Passover and Unleavened Bread are one appointed time
God called the captives out of slavery and bondage.
The Hebrews and whoever trusted in him (faith), put the blood of an unblemished lamb over the doorposts (obey).
Those who had faith and obeyed, He passed over (even the non Hebrews) because he saw the blood of the lamb.
Those without the blood, had their first born son killed.
God appointed Passover for whoever in all generations, to remember he had brought them out of bondage and set them free.
God gave this as the first month of each year.
This was fulfilled when Jesus became the Passover Lamb.
God gave the Brazen Altar in the Tabernacle for offerings of repentance.
When whoever realized they were walking in lawlessness (sin), they would repent and bring a sacrifice. This would put them back in right relationship with God and the people.
The people brought their sacrifices day after day, but did not change their ways. The sacrifices became meaningless to them and God could not bear it any more.
God gave his Son, Jesus to take the place of the sacrifices. Jesus, was The Anointed One who serves as the unblemished, Passover Lamb.
Jesus and his followers were observing the appointed time of Passover when he took the cup and offered it as his blood, to be poured out for forgiveness of lawlessness (sins) for whoever put their faith in him and obeyed.
Following the Passover Meal, Jesus was arrested, tried, and crucified. He offered himself up as the once for all unblemished, sacrifice for lawlessness (sin).
He was sacrificed on Passover at the very same time all the other Passover Lambs were being sacrificed in the Temple.
God will again, Passover on Judgement day, whoever has faith, brings the blood of the Passover Lamb (Jesus), and obeys.
Revelation 12:11: They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives even in the face of death.
Unleavened Bread (Festival of Matzot)* Confess, Repent, and Be Baptized
Called into Righteousness: As we observe this appointed time of God’s, we are to remember God provides for us. We are to clean out all the lawlessness (sin) in our houses. Just as he prepared a way through the wilderness into the promised land for the Israelites, he has prepared a way into righteousness and the Holy Place through his son, Jesus. Jesus has paid the ransom for those have faith in him and obey. On this day we remember his triumphant descent – the original Holy Saturday.
*Passover and Unleavened Bread are one appointed time
God called the Hebrews and whoevers to clean out all the yeast from their houses and they did not have time to prepare food for themselves before they left.
Whoever did not put the yeast out (faith), was put out of the community (obey).
They carried their unfermented dough and their kneading-troughs as they left. The bread they made from the dough became known as ‘the bread of affliction’.
God provided them with manna from heaven. He sustained them throughout their journey to the promised land.
God appointed the festival of Unleavened Bread for whoever in all generations, to remember this is the day whoevers were brought out of bondage.
Celebrate at the place God chooses.
This was fulfilled when Jesus was buried.
God gave the Bronze Laver in the Tabernacle to wash clean their hands and feet.
Being in right relationship and clean, they were now prepared to enter into the Holy Place.
There was a veil between the Outer Courts and the Holy Place, only a Priest could pass through into the Holy Place.
God provided a way.
Before Jesus, one came preparing a way, he was called John the Baptizer.
John called people to an immersion in the river as a baptism of repentance from sin, marking a turning away from lawlessness (sin). This is referred to as John’s Baptism.
At the Passover Meal, Jesus, as the Bread of Life, offered the unleavened bread as his body, in memory of himself.
The bread representing dying to lawlessness (sin). Jesus was buried on the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
They had always eaten the unleavened bread at the Passover Meal, but Jesus changed why, he said to eat it at the Passover Meal in remembrance of him.
At his death, the veil between the Outer Courts and the Holy Place was torn from top to bottom, into two pieces, he had prepared the way for whoever into the Holy Place.
God provided those who eat of the Bread of Life (Jesus), a way to live forever, free from leaven (sin).
He sacrificed his fleshly body and died to sin, once and for all. Those trusting (faith) and obeying him, have also crucified their body and are no longer captive to lawlessness (sin).
John 6:51 I am the living bread, which came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever. This bread is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
The most accurate and quick answer would be: Because YHWH/God said to. God said to be set-apart. He said he doesn’t want what is given to other gods. He gave us ways of celebrating and worshipping him.
Sometimes the most appropriate question doesn’t start with can or could, but instead starts with should. Can I rob a bank? Yes. Should? No. Can I drink pop all day long? Yes. Should? Probably not. Can Christians celebrate Easter and Christmas? Yes. Should? Isn’t that the question? Do Christians have to learn about God’s Sabbaths? No. Should? Probably should. Jesus did, the disciples did, Paul did, the early church father’s did, the church did up until at least the late fourth century.
So why not? Why would Christians want to be the only god worshippers who are willing to change how they celebrate YHWH and Jesus because the government and a bishop said to? Why would Christians want to be the only ones who changed their date, abandon YHWH’s ways, and adopt those of other god worshippers? Do they fear their gods more than Christians fear theirs?
What is the Good News God Gave?
Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2 For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.
Hebrews 4 NIV (Emphasis added)
“Faith and obeyed.” This implies there was an expected action in addition to having faith.
This may take a bit to digest, don’t try and take it all in at once. Take it section by section, look at each element separately. God designed this so through the Holy Spirit, it would be easy to understand and comprehend. Scripture references are left off in most cases – test everything – look them up. Enough of the words are used you can easily google them and find the scriptures. You may be surprised at other treasures you will turn up, if you are seeking knowledge and wisdom, your mind will be blown at least once!
God tells the good news of Jesus through observance of his Sabbaths (appointed times). He also tells it through his Tabernacle which was a copy and shadow of what is in heaven (where God is). He designed them as a testimony for his followers to live out and be set apart from the rest of the world. Don’t skip over this scripture we all think we know, take time to read it.
10 Yeshua answered him, “You’re a teacher of Israel and you do not understand these things? 11 Amen, amen I tell you, We speak about what We know and testify about what We have seen. Yet you all do not receive Our testimony! 12 If you do not believe the earthly things I told you, how will you believe when I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has gone up into heaven except the One who came down from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,[c] so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life!
16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. 18 The one who believes in Him is not condemned; but whoever does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not put his trust in the name of the one and only Ben-Elohim.
19 “Now this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world and men loved the darkness instead of the light,[d] because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed. 21 But whoever practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be made known that his deeds have been accomplished in God.”
John 3 (TLV)
Passover (Pesach)* Accept Jesus’s Sacrifice
Called Out of Captivity: As we observe this appointed time of YHWH/God’s, we are to remember we were once captives to lawlessness (sin), separated from God, just like the Israelites were in the land of Egypt. In order to get back in right relationship with God, there must be a sacrifice made because the law of sin requires a death. We are to remember he chose to bring us out of captivity through the sacrifice of his son, Jesus and set us free from lawlessness (sin). On this day, we remember his crucifixion, the original Good Friday.
Unleavened Bread (Festival of Matzot)* Confess, Repent, and Be Baptized
Called into Righteousness: As we observe this appointed time of God’s, we are to remember God provides for us. We are to clean out all the lawlessness (sin) in our houses. Just as he prepared a way through the wilderness into the promised land for the Israelites, he has prepared a way into righteousness and the Holy Place through his son, Jesus. Jesus has paid the ransom for those have faith in him and obey. On this day we remember his triumphant descent – the original Holy Saturday.
*Passover and Unleavened Bread are one appointed time
First Fruits (Bikkurim, Firstfruits, Harvest) Surrender All to Jesus
Become a Disciple: As we observe this appointed time, we are to remember what Jesus has done for us. Without him going first, and making the way, we would not be able to follow. He was offered up first so the rest of the harvest that follows can also be accepted. As his disciples we surrender our lives and walk in his ways. On this day we remember his resurrection – the original Easter.
Pentecost (Feast of Weeks, Shavuot) Testify and Be Baptized
Receive Jesus’s Testimony and Baptism: On this day we remember the free gift given to both Jew and Gentile. The Holy Spirit is Jesus’s baptism(Acts 2:38) and his witness testifying to the whole earth. The Spirit writes his commands on our hearts. The Spirit baptizes in the Name (the essence) of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – the original Pentecost.
Feast of Trumpets (Yom Truach, Day of Blasting) Be the Light of the World
Become One Who Disciples: On this day we remember while Jesus was in this world he was the light, whoever follows him will never walk in darkness, but will have the light in them. Jesus said his disciples are the light of the world and should not be hidden. We remember when we walk in his ways and let our light shine we have fellowship together. Shout for joy because Jesus has destroyed death, brought life and immortality to light through the good news. One day he is returning and will reign forever and ever! A day to remember to keep watch for one day he is returning – the original Advent.
Forgive as You are Forgiven: During the time between Trumpets and Day of Atonement is a time to consider our ways and make correction as needed. Just as the priests were ordained and consecrated by the atonement sacrifice, so Jesus has been our atoning sacrifice. We are the one who deserves death but instead we will be set free because Jesus takes our place. Forgive others, just as Jesus forgave those who persecuted him. The original Ash Wednesday/Lent.
Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot, Booths, Ingathering, Feast of the Lord) Complete Unity
All are One: During this time we remember, Jesus said a prayer for those who have faith in him. He said, “Just as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You, so also may they be one in Us, so the world may believe that You sent Me.” God tabernacled among his people in a temporary dwelling place. And Jesus temporarily tabernacled among us in flesh. And now our body is a tabernacle to the Holy Spirit. Jesus has went to prepare our forever home and one day, we will once again be with Immanuel – God with Us when he returns to reign forever and ever. ““Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” – the original Christmas
Testing in Resting: The weekly Sabbath is a day to rest and reflect. It’s a time to remember God has provided all we need. He sent his son, Jesus to become our sacrifice and our high priest – all we have to do is have faith in him and he will do the rest. Our reconciliation is promised through our faith. However, Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my Torah.” He specifically talks about the “Torah” and keeping the smallest marks in it. As we seek to understand more fully, we learn there are laws to keep, ordinances dependent on circumstances, recommendations for getting the best out of life, and right-rulings for making judgements. We don’t keep them because we have to, we keep them because we want to obey. All throughout God Sabbaths/appointed times has referenced or alluded to having faith and obeying him – the original day of worship.
10“Because this is the covenant that I shall make with the house of Yisra’ĕl after those days, says יהוה, giving My laws in their mind, and I shall write them on their hearts, and I shall be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.
11“And they shall by no means teach each one his neighbour, and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know יהוה,’ because they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.
12“Because I shall forgive their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawlessnesses I shall no longer remember.”
13By saying, ‘renewed,’ He has made the first old. Now what becomes old and growing aged is near disappearing.
Following a topic through the entire bible provides for some pondering. Today let’s look at the words typically translated as sign or mark.
“On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. (Exodus 12:12-13)
You shall bind them (statutes, judgments, and commands of YHWH/God) as a sign (mark, signal, proof, evidence) on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. (Exodus 13:9, Exodus 13:16, Deuteronomy 6:8 and Deuteronomy 11:18)
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy. … The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’” (Exodus 31)
“Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.” (Ezekiel 9:6)
“Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed (marked) the servants of our God on their foreheads” (Revelation 7:3)
They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, but only those men who do not have the seal (mark) of God on their foreheads (Revelation 9:4).
All these curses will come on you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God and observe the commands (the testimony) and decrees he gave you. They (curses) will be a sign (mark) and a wonder to you and your descendants forever. (Deuteronomy 28:45-46)
“You shall have no other gods before me. … You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments (the testimony).: (Exodus 20)
It (the second beast) exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast … It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, (Revelation 13:16-17)
A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. (Revelation 14:9-10)
I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4)
Jesus said:
“If you love me, keep my commands(the testimony). And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” (John 14:15-21)
Which Mits-vah (directive or guidance) is the main object or root in Torah (teachings)?
That was the question a scribe, or lawyer, asked Jesus as recorded in Mark and Matthew. (Click link for all scriptures used in this article).
First thing we have to get over before looking at His answer is the word ‘command’. At that time, when they heard the word mits-vah it did not carry the same as it does when we hear the word command. To them, this would have been more like the white lines on a road than the speed limit sign. If you cross the white lines to avoid something, you most likely will not get a ticket. You may, however, encounter plenty of natural consequences. But if you cross the line because of careless driving or you cross the speed on the speed limit sign (driving lawlessly) in front of law enforcement officer, you will receive a ticket. Whoa! Side thought: Every stop to wonder why we are so much more comfortable with and in general easily following laws “of our land” set a long time ago and yet are uncomfortable and struggle against keeping those set by YHWH/God? Something to ponder.
Jesus said: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” and “If you love me you will keep my mitsvah.” Because he is the WAY, and the TRUTH, and the LIFE, you would understand it is in your best interest to follow his directives, guidance, and recommended way of living. Jesus is not like our navigation systems which allow you to choose the route and ‘recalculates’ a new one for you when you decided to deviate from the best route initially set before you.
It is good to follow the mitzvot/commandments and it is bad not too. Just as it was good not to eat the forbidden fruit and it was bad to eat it. We have the same choice. We can either choose to follow the Way, the Truth, and the Life as provided by YHWH/God or not. If YHWH/God is the King who reigns over the Kingdom you live in, you would WANT to follow his rules. Otherwise, you will essentially be living somewhere else. You have full free will to choose what kingdom you want to live in, Heaven or Hell, but you do not have the right to determine what is good and bad in the Kingdom of Heaven, where God Reigns.
The second thing we have to get over is the word ‘law’. The Hebrew word is Torah which specifically refers to the five books of Moses. We know these as Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers. Almost all the time, even in the New Testament, when we see the translated word Law, it is the word Torah and does not refer to anything written in the New Testament.
The scribe/lawyer is not asking Jesus, of everything that you have taught what is the greatest. He is specifically asking out of everything in these five books, what is the g’dolah or root.
The third thing we have to get over is the idea that Jesus is giving two new commandments and all the rest are done away with. He is very specific in stating, “All the Torah and the prophets hang on these two mitzvot.” The word hang means based on, thus he has answer the question about what is the root. These two are the root and all the others found in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers grow up out of those.
This is in many ways a picture of the Tree of Life. You can choose the Tree of Life or the Tree of Knowledge of Tov/Good and Ra/Bad. You can decide the best way to go about living or you can let YHWH/God give you guidance. And His ways do not have to make sense to you, you just have to follow what he says.
When Jesus says, “You must love your Elohim with all your heart and with all your nephesh and out of all your understanding,” He is purposefully bringing to mind several passages for the Jewish people standing around.
Let me give you an example of what Jesus was doing with what he said. Most Christians are familiar with the saying of the mark of the beast – it’s every where right now. And everyone knows it will be a mark/sign on the hand and/or on the forehead. So if I said to you, “Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads,” I can almost guarantee the largest percentage of the Christians who hear it will call to mind the statement about the mark of the beast from Revelation. HOWEVER, if this same thing was said to a Jewish believer, they would be brought right to Deuteronomy 6 and THIS is what would be called to mind:
4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a]5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6 NIV emphasis added
Which would in turn bring them right back to the Exodus and the Passover:
14 “In days to come, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed the firstborn of both people and animals in Egypt. This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.’ 16 And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.”
Exodus 13 NIV emphasis added
Wouldn’t these passages be so much better to recall than the mark of the beast passage? Later, check out Revelation 7:3 – very interesting.?
Jesus is directly quoting from Deuteronomy 6:5. This particular passage is part of the Shema, which every good Jew would have recited daily as his declaration of faith. This would have also brought to mind the entire Exodus and all it entailed.
It would have brought to mind Deuteronomy 10:12 and the entire scene of them receiving the tables of stones – which YHWH/God called ‘The Testimony’ or the ‘The Witness’ which we now call the ‘Ten Commandments.’
He would have brought to mind Deuteronomy 30:6 when he told them he had set all these mitzvah before them, blessings and curses – you choose.
He would have brought to mind Joshua 22:5 when they first entered the promise land. It might even bring to mind Joshua 24:15 which MANY Christians have hanging on the wall of their houses – it was the time when Joshua reminds them of what YHWH had done for them and why they should keep the mitzvot (commandments) and he lead them by making declaration of his choice for his household. Following this, he made a covenant. I can’t help wonder, does it mean the same thing to us as it did to Joshua as we hang it on our walls? Are we really ready to make the declaration he made in v24-26? Or do we take it out of context because it’s a catchy phrase? Hmm, something more to ponder.
And it would have brought to mind Josiah from 2 Kings 22-23 – Josiah is arguably the greatest earthly King there ever was. Some say David was, but Josiah did not make the mistakes David did. What Josiah did in his time may be a good thing to do in our time. He was a beloved King, by both man and YHWH.
Moses received the law in around 1313 BC. Over 855 years later, after many very evil and wicked Kings, along comes Josiah, he brings back the Torah and the Feasts. And this is what YHWH/God/Adonai said:
18‘Thus says Adonai, God of Israel. As for the words that you have heard, 19 because your heart was softened and you humbled yourself before Adonai when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants—that they should become a desolation and a curse—and because you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,’ declares Adonai. 20 ‘Therefore behold, I will gather you to your fathers and you will be gathered to your grave in shalom. So your eyes will not see all the disaster I am bringing on this place.’”
2 Kings 22 TLV
3Then the king stood by the pillar and cut a covenant before Adonai, to follow Adonai, keep His mitzvot, His laws and His decrees with all their heart and soul, in order to fulfill the words of this covenant that were written in this scroll. So all the people stood for the covenant.
21 Then the king commanded all the people saying, “Celebrate the Passover to Adonai your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 For no Passover like this had been celebrated from the days of the judges who judged Israel or in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was observed for Adonai in Jerusalem.
2 Kings 23 TLV – scenes similar to the one at Mt. Sinai and the night YHWH took them out of Egypt.
25 Before him there had never been a king like him, who turned to Adonai with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Torah of Moses, nor has any king like him risen since him.
2 Kings 23 TLV
Which Mits-vah (directive or guidance) is the main object or root in Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers)?
Yeshua answered,
Hear Yisrael, your Elohim – YHWH is one
Him you must love with all your heart and with all your nephesh, and with all your thoughts, and with all your strength.’
you must love your fellow man as yourself
Then the scribe/lawyer replied:
“Rabbi, it is a great truth, that there is none besides one Eloah, and there is none other except him – 33 he whom a man is obligated to love with all the heart and with all the nephesh, and with all the strength – also to love his fellow as himself – and this is greater than all the human offerings.” (burnt offerings and sacrifices)
Mark 12 Hebrew Gospels
And when Jesus heard that, he answered
with wisdom, he told him that he was not far from the kingdom of YHWH / Kingdom of God / Kingdom of Heaven / Where God Reigns
“not come to abolish the law and the Prophets,” “will [not] by any means disappear from the law,” “anyone who sets aside one of [the law] and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven,” “whoever practices and teaches … great in the kingdom of heaven.”
What is he referring to? What is “the law,” or the “the commands” to him? Nothing in the New Testament had been written yet, so we can’t find the answer there.
And when modern day Christianity says, “We are no longer under the law because we are under grace,” how does that fit with what Jesus said?
One of the main reasons given for this is, “we can no longer keep the law.” How does that fit with what Jesus said about who is least and greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
Before we take a deeper dive in to Matthew 5, we are looking at a few things:
What was “the law and the prophets” to Jesus?
Can we still keep them? We are not exploring should we, or would we, but just the simple question of COULD we?
Grace vs Law, which in some ways is Modern Christianity vs Jesus. And if you really dig into the New Testament – it was the main question of the day. It was Jesus vs the Religious Leaders of the day. If Jesus fulfilling the law brought grace, what do we do with what Jesus says in Matthew 5?
Once we establish the answer to those questions, we’ll begin a deeper dive into Matthew 5 because it is one of the longest teachings of Jesus we have on record. And if we profess to follow him, shouldn’t we hang on every word he spoke?
There are so many debates about what is in or not in the Bible as well as the interpretation of different scriptures. Let’s take a Cease Fire moment to deepen understanding, and seek knowledge. Thank you for joining us in this Cease Fire moment.
In today’s culture, many Christians have settled for allowing others to teach them what is or isn’t in the bible. There’s very little time to sit down and discover for oneself. Many just do not know how or where to start. We have a video on this channel where we showed the word for disciple in the great Commission is a verb not a noun. This means we were not called to make anything, we were called to do something. That something is to disciple. If we do not know for our selves what is in Scripture, how can we disciple properly?
Talk a step by step walk with us through Matthew 5-7. You may be surprised at just how little you know about these chapters which have been quoted over and over. Set aside your preconceived notions and be open to learning something new.
Get out your your computer, or your phone or your Bibles, note pad, and pens and let’s get started.
The Video below links to a Playlist, be sure to check out all the videos in this series.
There are so many debates about what is in or not in the Bible as well as the interpretation of different scriptures. Let’s take a Cease Fire moment to deepen understanding, and seek knowledge. Thank you for joining us in this Cease Fire moment Today we are going to take a look Easter in the Bible. Music: Evolution and AcousticBreeze @ https://www.bensound.com/
There are so many debates about what is in or not in the Bible as well as the interpretation of different scriptures. Let’s take a Cease Fire moment to deepen understanding, and seek knowledge.
Thank you for joining us in this Cease Fire moment today we are going to take a look at the Tabernacle People and what they can show us in regards to the walk of a Christian and our relationship with YHWH/God.
By looking at the people, the way the camp and the tabernacle were set up, we can see God’s path to a relationship with him. It starts with Jesus, but Jesus is not the destination, he is the way to the destination.
The set up of the Tabernacle can show us just how close or far away we are in our relationship with God.
So where are you are in your walk?
Be sure to listen for the “read between the lines” hyperlinks to other scriptures in the Bible. This video is packed full of them. Open your eyes to see and your ears to hear.
To Hebrews, a name is not simple something we use to identify someone. There is a similar Hebrew word, “neshama,” it literally means ‘breath.’ If you look into neshama, you will find it fascinating as it is one part of our soul. God’s exhaling. It is the seat of ones character. So a name to Hebrews, ‘shem’ denotes character, reputation, authority, and purpose of an individual, it makes up an identity.
Jesus was given all authority in heaven and earth, therefore, you apprentice by traveling, immersing into the Name, and teaching the commandments and you will see I AM within you all the days until the joint completion of the age.
It came as a complete shock when I found out the word ‘disciple’ in the ‘Great Commission’ isn’t a noun. For those who have been out of school for a while, a noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. Imagine further, the shock in finding out the word ‘make’ isn’t anywhere in the original text. For me, this seems to be a game changer.
Nations, the Greek word used is ‘ethnos’. This same word is translated at other times as Gentiles, nation, heathen, and people. The meaning carries with it the idea of a group of a like natured people. An ethnic group.
I/You disciple/teach by dipping in, washing, bathing, affecting thoroughly, overwhelming all the groups of peoples into, unto, to, towards, entrance into, as the final result of bind them into the essence of YHWH, Jesus, and the Set-Apart Spirit.
Step by Step Study Session of Matthew 28:18-20
Ever hear of sentence diagramming or block diagramming or maybe even outlining? We are going to look at using a few tools to dig down deep into a scripture. We are going to use color coding and indenting with this scripture and look at the words in their original form.
The text challenges the common interpretation of “into all the world” and emphasizes teaching all people, not just foreign nations. It explains the meaning of “ethnos” and emphasizes the instruction to teach, not just testify or convert. This aligns with the concept of being a disciple.
When I first looked at this, I have to admit I was shocked, then appalled. This scripture is a foundational scripture for Christianity. And the fact it has been so mis-taught and watered down is, well, it is a grave injustice. What we are about to see is in direct contradiction to what some are taught and believe. The question is, do you follow man’s ways or YHWH/God’s way? Let’s just see.
Here is the typical translation read:
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
Matthew 28 (NIV)
This seems pretty straight forward. Teaching, we can understand pretty easily. Teaching who? As we learned previously, ‘the nations’ or ‘group of people.’ So teach a group of people. Teach a group of people what? According to the NIV, to obey. Let’s take a look at that word to make sure we understand it’s meaning to its full extent.
Obey. tēreō. I like to start at looking at how it was translated in other scriptures.
keep (57x), reserve (8x), observe (4x), watch (2x), preserve (2x), keeper (1x), hold fast (1x).
KJV translations according to Strong’s
The KJV uses the word observe, but it also sees this word as more than just an observant behavior, it also sees it as preserving and holding fast.
Look at this one:
to attend to carefully, take care of; to guard, metaph. to keep, one in the state in which he is, to observe, to reserve: to undergo something
Outline of Biblical Usage
How does this translation change how you see this verse?
“teaching them to guard all that I have commanded you.”
Guard vs obey vs observe. Obey feels like an obligation. Observe seems passive. But guard sounds like a responsibility, something to step up to. Obey and observe feel like an offensive position where Guard is a defensive position. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me.
Here are a few other verses using this same word:
And He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except One – Elohim. But if you wish to enter into life, guard the commands.” Matthew 19:17
And He said to them, “Well do you set aside the command of Elohim, in order to guard your tradition. Mark 7:9
“He who possesses My commands and guards them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I shall love him and manifest Myself to him.” John 14:21
Teach groups of people to guard … guard what? Commands. This is also shown in the other scriptures referenced above. Here’s where Christianity starts to move onto a man made path, when we ask the question … What commands?
There are two descriptors of these commands. All and the ones יהושע/Jesus gave. What Christianity has done is taken those to mean the ones given by Jesus in the New Testament.
The first flaw in that thinking is, none of the New Testament exists as writings at the time יהושע/Jesus spoke these words. But if asked, a Christian would say the command which Jesus gave were:
And one of the scribes coming near, hearing them reasoning together, knowing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first command of all?” 29And יהושע answered him, “The first of all the commands is, ‘Hear, O Yisra’ĕl, יהוה our Elohim, יהוה is one. (Deu. 6:4) 30‘And you shall love יהוה your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ (Deu. 6:5) This is the first command. 31And the second, like it, is this, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ (Lev. 19:18) There is no other command greater than these.
Mark 12 ISR
But, this is also flawed if we don’t realize all of these are actually coming from the Torah.
25And see, a certain one learned in the Torah stood up, trying Him, and saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit everlasting life?” 26And He said to him, “What has been written in the Torah? How do you read it?” 27And he answering, said, ” ‘You shall love יהוה your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ (Deu. 6:5) and ‘your neighbour as yourself.’ ” (Lev. 19:18) 28And He said to him, “You have answered rightly. Do this and you shall live.”
Luke 10 ISR
It is clear Jesus is referencing what is in the Torah. He even said He did not come to destroy the Torah, or the Prophets. “The Law and the Prophets is a term used for the pre-Messianic Scriptures.”
17Do not think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to complete. 18For truly, I say to you, till the heaven and the earth pass away, one yod or one tittle shall by no means pass from the Torah till all be done. 19“Whoever, then, breaks one of the least of these commands, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the reign of the heavens; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the reign of the heavens.
Luke 16 ISR
I don’t think it is too difficult to establish when Jesus gave this commissioning, the commandments referred to include those in the Old Testament. There are other scriptures where Jesus talks about the commandments and about how He says nothing except what the Father says. Might be worth taking some time to explore those if you haven’t already.
So what this says when all laid out is:
Teach groups of people to guard/keep all the commandments given by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
I’ve come to realize there are three versions of “the commandments,” but only two are seen by Christianity.
The Jewish law. We know Jesus was not a fan of the commandments the Jewish religious leaders of His time were keeping. This is because they had added a bunch of their own laws.
Jesus’s laws. Love God and Love Your Neighbors. Christianity teaches we are no longer under the laws but under the blood. Some how that has translated to we don’t have to keep the laws of the Old Testament, which typically is tangled up in the Jewish laws.
But both of those are actually man’s laws. Whoa! What! Yes I said that.
The Jewish Law was made up of the Torah laws PLUS their own Oral laws. They had a bunch of man made laws they followed, like don’t carry your mat or heal on the Sabbath.
The Christian’s Laws are also man made because they went to the other side of the road. Theirs is Jesus MINUS the Torah laws. They said we don’t have to know the laws of the Torah, like keeping the Sabbath day.
If we really look at what Jesus said, we would find there is a middle path, which is the one Jesus taught, Jesus taught the Torah (part of the Jewish teaching) PLUS the Kingdom of Heaven is near (part of Christianity’s teaching). Jesus is the FULFILLMENT of everything in the Torah. He has taken the place of the Tabernacle, the High Priest, and the Sacrificial Lamb. He did not take the place of YHWH/God’s law. God’s law defines what is sinful.
This was what the fall was all about. After eating from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam and Eve saw what was good and evil in their own eyes. Reversing the fall of man is about putting the fruit back on the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. By dying to our flesh, we hand that knowledge of good and evil back to God. Because God defines what is evil, He also defines what the payment is for doing evil, which is death. He gave the Old Testament people the requirement of sacrificing and shedding the blood of a Lamb as the price.
He gave the New Testament people the option to choose to come under the blood of THE Lamb as the price. If we accept Jesus as our sacrificial Lamb, then we also accept sin and the payment for sin is once again defined by God in the Kingdom of Heaven. The Good News is YHWH reigns again, He defines good and evil, He defines the payment for evil, He has given us Jesus to restore us through His blood and He has given us the Holy Spirit, to live in us, helping guide us to all truths, empowering us, comforting, and convicting us to keep us from sinning.
This is why Jesus commissioned us to:
Teach groups of people to guard/keep all the commandments. (Torah) “And see, I am with you always, until the end of the age. Amĕn” ISR (Kingdom of Heaven)
The Great Commission 16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
I find it fascinating how many scripture verses we truncate. This one we truncate at the beginning and the end. Typically, we tend to say something like, “Go into all the world, make disciples and baptize them into the father, son, and holy spirit.” Seems to be a whole lot more words there than that.
I asked several people what they understood was the command and how in this scripture. The examples I gave were:
Clean your room, pick up the toys, make your bed, put away your clothes. The command is Clean. The how is picking up, making, and putting away.
Get ready for school. Brush your teeth and hair, pack your bag, get your lunch. So it would be get ready: brush, pack, get.
Based on feedback, the general consensus is the command is ‘Go’. The how: ‘Teaching/Discipling’ and ‘Baptizing’. Could that be right? So we are commanded to Go and how we go is teaching and baptizing? Sounds a bit awkward.
Because this is a translation from another language, Greek, we should back up to the original to see if it looks that way. Here is the literal translation of the Greek:
This is from a pretty cool site. By clicking on the blocks, it will break things down even more. I encourage you to explore it more simply to understand Greek. It is not necessarily a sight to determine doctrine.
The text ‘You make students’ kind of makes the command a little more clear. The command isn’t to ‘Go’ it is ‘make students.’ If we look at this even closer, the ‘you’ is implied, the word ‘make’ isn’t really there, and the literal word is ‘apprentice’. So it simply says, “You apprentice.” Well that is much clearing, don’t you think? It also gives a feeling of weighted ownership.
So our command is “You apprentice.”
How do we apprentice?
Traveling. I’ve heard ‘go’ defined in many ways throughout the years. As I personally thought about the word go, it sounded like a decision I would make. The word traveling sounds like something I do on a continued basis. If I think of ‘go’ I feel like there is a destination. When I think traveling, I don’t feel a destination. Maybe if our original had said going, it would paint a different picture for me. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me. *shrugs*.
As we look into this word further this Biblical Dictionary states, “Its tense is aorist (which indicates the mere fact of the action, with deliberate silence about when the action takes place or how long it would last).” So it is a continual, perpetual state. We are always traveling throughout life. So it isn’t about making a decision to go, it is what we are always doing.
Traveling makes sense, picture someone being apprenticed. The apprentices goes with the master and does what he does. So if we are truly followers of Jesus, we would be ourselves immersed in the father, son, and holy spirit and we would be keeping His commandments as we traveled throughout our daily lives.
“All the nations.” I included this here because we tend to associate “go” with “into all the nations.” But it really isn’t when we look at the original Greek. It comes after ‘apprentice.” if we look at that word further, we find out it isn’t just one person, it means multitudes of people. In our translations, it is often translated as ‘gentile.’ Another observation is it tends to refer to people associated with one another, living together, of the same nature, race. Not going down this rabbit hole right now, but there is a thought in the back of my mind, if we take away the association with go, and we look at the actually meaning of people living together and that we look at traveling, maybe it means as we travel in our every day lives with those around us? We have turned this particular verse into a call to missions outside our immediate area, but hmmm, going to ponder that one a little more. NOTE: This is not discounting foreign missions, specific disciples were called to foreign missions, but not all. ALL are called to this “Great Commission, not some.” There is a significant difference between ALL being called “into all the world,” and SOME being called.
Immersing. As I read this, I realized how my mind’s framework has a defined meaning to ‘baptizing,’ but not so much immersing. Initial as I read, ‘immersing them into the name of the …’ I realized a few things.
First, it doesn’t sound as much like baptizing into water as immersing into YWHW/God, Yeshua/Jesus, and Raukah/Spirit. Do you see what I see? Immediately, Jesus on the cross with the thief made some sense. People who do not have the necessary means to be fully immersed into water made sense. “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit,” made sense. It’s about being fully immersed in our Elohim/god. Nothing else, no one else, no other. NOTE: This is not discounting water baptism. Simply open your mind to a deeper meaning. In fact, water baptism is meant to be an outward sign of this very thing. Not to mention Jesus was baptized in water, so therefore, we should be as well.
Second, the word ‘name’ not ‘nameS’. Looking into the Greek word further, “its number is single, and its gender is neuter.” The name, it is very similar to Shem in Hebrew. Not three distinct names but one. Three in one.
Not to go down another rabbit hole, but another thought I had was, father, son, and holy spirit are not names anyway. O.o Neither is god or the Christ. Their name’s are YHWH/I Am and Yahoshua/I Am Saves.
Teaching. This is one of those we truncate. “Make disciples” period full stop.
We aren’t just told to teach, we are told what to teach, “to keep all whatsoever I directed you.” The word translated as I directed you, we frequently see translated as command. Matthew uses it in Chapter 17 when he writes about God commanding to honor a mother and father. Also in Chapter 5 as part of a warning in regard to teaching someone to break any of the commandments taught in the law, referring to the Old Testament law. That alone is food for thought.
In looking at the word even further, it is interesting to note the meaning, “to hold discourse with others in order to instruct them.” Yet again, I find I have inserted my own preconceived ideas. Nothing here says anything about the apprentice’s spiritual maturity. It doesn’t say someone who isn’t a believer or a new believer in the Christ. It makes me view the word apprentice differently as well. ‘You apprentice,’ can have dual meanings. Hmmm, so I went to look it up again and guess what, yep, it surely does. “To be a disciple of one to follow his precepts and instructions; to make a disciple to teach, instruct.” Ponder that one for a few.
It also is a commission given to ALL who choose to believe, not just to some. The word used in Ephesians 4 is derived from this word, but has a little different meaning. So “some” are not called to do this and some not, ALL are called. Teach what you know and learn what you don’t.
Simply put we are commissioned to: Apprentice by traveling, immersing into the Name, and teaching the commandments.
As I mentioned, this is a scripture we have memorized in a truncated form. We pick up mid sentence in verse 19, and stop mid sentence in verse 20. Let’s finish out with verse 20, “And surely I am with you always …”
The word which jumped out at me when reading the original Greek is ‘see,’ “… and you will see that I and within you …” See isn’t in most of our translations. As we apprentice, we will see Jesus within ourselves. That is significantly different than Him just saying He is always with us. Our translations don’t require anything of us, this translation does. We should see … do you see this in yourseslf?
I also spotted the I AM. “I am all the days ….” Whoa, what? Upon further inspection, “The fascinatingly irregular verb ειμι (eimi) means to be.” Do you see it there? I was, I am, and I will be. Eh-weh/God said, “This is My Name forever, and this is My memorial [name] to all generations.” (Exodus 3). This points us back to the immersing in the name [shem]. “I am all the days until the joint completion of the age.” Take a moment to grab on to that one. Going to leave the “I am all the days,” alone, that is a big concept right there I tell you.
Let’s look back at the beginning in Verse 18.
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Matthew 28 NIV
Here we have the why? Why do we want this commission? Jesus said, “it was given to me all authority in to heaven and unto earth.”
Jesus was given all authority in heaven and earth, therefore, you apprentice by traveling, immersing into the Name, and teaching the commandments and you will see I AM within you all the days until the joint completion of the age.
Now that is a heavy commissioning, Did you simply take it or did you accept it? If you simply took it, it will be a casual element in your life. Maybe you should considering giving it back and this time accepting it. When it is fully accepted it, it will BE your life.
CalltoCeaseFire 