Nazarene Israelite Two House Congregation of Port Elizabeth

The Passover for returnees.

Elohim’s Master Plan for the salvation of all mankind begins where most of Christianity believes it ends. As Yahshua the Messiah breathed His last on His impalement stake, He said “It is finished”, as recorded in John 19: 30. In accordance with His final words, traditional Christianity assumed that Messiah’s death completed Elohim’s plan of salvation for mankind. The main reason why they do not understand Elohim’s Master Plan of salvation for all mankind, is because they have come to believe the so-called ‘Old Testament’ to be irrelevant in their lives. They do not even know about the Feast Days ordained by Elohim in the Scriptures, let alone keeping it. Yes, as children they were taught ‘bible stories’ in Sunday school, but because they were also taught falsehood like Xmas and Easter; the ‘birth’ and ‘resurrection’ of J*e*s*u*s* the wrong name of Messiah, many (especially men – who base their decisions in the most on logic) became irreligious when they grow up.

 

They realize that both these major celebrations of their faith were not commanded to be kept by Elohim and are based on myths. This is when they started viewing the Bible as mere stories ‘we tell our children’, together with such myths as the tooth fairy, the sand man, and Xmas father who brings children presents at Xmas. The problem is, even knowing that their ‘faith’ has been based on lies, they continue to teach their children the same customs and traditions learnt from their parents. On the other hand, when others (particularly women) grow up, they start investigating the falsehoods they were taught and realize how they were deceived as children, by parents, teachers and even ministers of religion. This is usually when they start searching for truth and stumble upon ministries such as ours, where they get to learn the facts contained in Elohim’s word. This is perhaps why after leaving traditional Christianity in an effort to embrace Scriptural truths more than 40 years ago, I found comparatively more women coming out of the Babylon of confusion of traditional Churchianity than men. Orthodox Rabbis believe that circumcision reveals the promise YHVH made with Abraham and his offspring through Isaac and Jacob. Repentance is a process that takes a great deal of time, from the time a new believer gets called to eventually ask for immersion, after which he/she is supposed to grow in grace and knowledge until he/she attains to the unity of the faith, of the knowledge if the Son of Elohim, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Messiah, when ultimately male believers requests to be circumcised and start keeping the whole Law. At that point he becomes part of the covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and is again entitled to a piece of the Promised Land, Abraham’s one seed, Yahshua bought back for him and all fully fledged returnees from the lost ten tribes, after which he may partake of Messiah’s annual memorial Passover as a fellow Israelite.

 

The seven annual Feast Days of YHVH are commanded to be kept by all Israel and are listed in Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 16. We read fittingly from Leviticus 23:  4 & 5: “These are the appointed times of YHVH, holy (set-apart) convocations, which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them. (5) In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is (YHVH)’s Passover.” We are reminded of the fact that YHVH counts days from sunset to sunset, not from midnight to midnight as the western world has become accustomed to since the introduction of the Gregorian calendar. The way that YHVH determines a day is given right in the beginning of the Scriptures in Genesis 1: 5, as follows: ‘And Elohim called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.’   The first Passover was observed by the ancient Israelites just before their exodus from Egypt. They had been slaves in Egypt for many years before Elohim freed them through a number of plagues, which He caused to punish the Egyptians for refusing to let the children of Israel go. Stern Egyptian taskmasters threatened and whipped any Israelite who fell behind in his work and day after day, all day long, the Israelites were forced to perform backbreaking labor, making mortar and bricks for Pharaoh’s ambitious building projects, including the city of Ramses. Those who were not at work on the building projects were forced to work all day under the heat of the sun in the fields (Exodus 1). That was the life of the Israelite slaves in the land of Egypt. The Israelites could do nothing about it and were powerless to help themselves.  This is almost like the situation we find ourselves in today, where our people cannot find proper jobs to support their families and funding an ever increasing cost of living any longer. I believe we have reached a point where we need to start crying out to YHVH to save us from the countries into which we were scattered because of our sins, similar to the way our ancient forebears cried to Him, as witnessed in Exodus 2: 23 – 25, in this way: ‘Now it came about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry for help because of their bondage rose up to Elohim. (24) So Elohim heard their groaning; and Elohim remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (25) And Elohim saw the sons of Israel, and Elohim took notice of them.’

 

At that time YHVH being all powerful, performed a series of mighty miracles to set His people Israel free from captivity in Egypt. He sent ten great plagues on Pharaoh and the Egyptians to deliver His people from slavery.  The tenth and final plague was the death of the firstborn in Egypt.  YHVH finally told Moses in Exodus 11: 1, saying: “One more plague I will bring on Pharaoh and on Egypt; after that he will let you go from here.” The Egyptians would be devastated by this tenth and final plague. In ancient societies, the firstborn son was given special treatment.  He received the greatest portion of the inheritance, and became the head of the family when his father died.  In a monarchy, like Egypt when the Pharaoh died, it was his firstborn son who ascended the throne. The firstborn was usually the most loved and respected in the family.  So for all the firstborn in the land to die was a great tragedy to the Egyptians.  Further you will learn that it is within the great plan of YHVH to later resurrect the firstborn of Egypt whom He killed, and then give them a chance to become members of His Family. But, before YHVH delivered His people from slavery in Egypt He revealed the beginning of months to them, the time He would redeem them from Egypt, as witnessed in Exodus 12: 1 & 2, as follows: ‘Now YHVH said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, (2) “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you”’ This is the time during which YHVH redeemed His people from slavery in Egypt. Rosh Hashanah or the head of the year, where the year count is taken from, being the time of creation of man.  Reading from Exodus 13: 4, we see that the first month was called Aviv.  The Israelites were forced to work seven days a week and adapt to the Egyptian calendar. It was Elohim’s time to overturn the situation and claim these descendants of Abraham as His own chosen people. They required a complete reorganization of their social, work and religious customs. He commanded that the month of Aviv (which came to be called Nissan after the Babylonian captivity – as per Esther 3: 7) be their first month. Aviv is derived from the transliterated Hebrew word ‘Aviv’ meaning ‘green ears of grain’. It is the month in which green ears of grain ripen, barley first, then winter wheat, which is usually still in green ears when the barley ripens. Therefore, Elohim’s calendar begins in the spring in the Northern Hemisphere.

 

The Scriptures inform us that the “oracles” (the covenants, the Torah, the temple services and the promises as per Romans 9: 4), which include the knowledge of Elohim’s weekly and annual Sabbaths and festivals, were given to ancient Israel through Moses to pass on from generation to generation, as recorded in Acts 7: 38, as follows: “This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living oracles to pass on to you (us the remnant of latter day Israelites, called out of the world by YHVH at this time).” More than seven centuries after receiving the oracles from Elohim, the house of Israel (the Northern 10 Tribes – excluding Judah, Benjamin and Levi) went into captivity in Assyria, losing their identity and their knowledge of Elohim and His way as punishment for them rejecting the Torah. They lost the ‘oracles’ of Elohim and started keeping the festivals of the pagan nations into which they were later scattered by YHVH while Judah (the Jews) continued in guarding the Oracles of YHVH – Rom. 3: 1 - 4. Even though the house of Judah was also taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon about 120 years later, they did not lose their identity or the knowledge that Elohim gave Israel at Mount Sinai. Recognizing the fact that they had gone into Babylonian captivity for Sabbath breaking (Nehemiah 13: 17 & 18), the Jews became very strict in its observance. Rav Shaul, under inspiration wrote in Romans 3: 1 & 2, ‘Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? (2) Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of Elohim.’ Elohim used the house of Judah to preserve the Tanach, the Hebrew language, and the weekly and annual Sabbaths for all Israel.

 

Even though YHVH said the tenth and final plague would be on every family living in the land of Egypt, He gave the Israelites a way to escape. YHVH told them that on the tenth day of the first month (Aviv), each family were to choose from among their flocks a male lamb, under a year old and without any blemishes.  They were to kill it just after sunset on the beginning of the fourteenth of Aviv (at twilight), and mark the doorposts of their houses with the blood of the lamb.  Inside their houses that night, the Israelites were to roast and eat the lamb and be ready to quickly leave Egypt. YHVH told Moses that He would go through Egypt during the night of the fourteenth and that He would ‘pass over’ any house that had the blood on its doorposts, saving the lives of the firstborn members of the family, as witnessed in Exodus 12: 13, in this way: “And the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.” It was their obedience – striking the blood of the lamb on their doorposts – that saved the firstborn of the Israelites from death in Egypt. Little did the Israelites know that the Passover sacrifice was a ‘type’ or a forerunner, of the sacrifice of Yahshua many years in the future?  We read about this in the last part of 1 Corinthians 5: 7, “… just as you are in fact unleavened. For Messiah our Passover also has been sacrificed.”  A second witness comes from 1 Peter 1: 18 – 19, as follows: “Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, (19) but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Messiah.”  Egypt is sometimes used in the Scriptures as a symbol of sin.  When we sin, we bring upon ourselves the penalty of eternal death (Romans 6:23).  Since we all have sinned (Romans 3:23), we are all under the penalty of death. Yahshua is called the Lamb of Elohim, which takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29).  He qualified to do this because He lived a perfect, sinless life as a ‘human being’. And since He was YHVH in the flesh, the One who created everything, His one life was more valuable than all other human lives combined. Yahshua was therefore able to pay the penalty of death for all mankind.

 

Each Israelite family had to keep the lamb they selected on the tenth day, until the fourteenth of the month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel were to kill it at twilight (in the evening – Proverbs 7: 9). The transliterated Hebrew words ‘bayn haerbaim’ (הצרבים בין‎) from which twilight or ‘in the evening’ is derived, literally means ‘between the two evenings’ – the period of time between the going down of the sun and when three average size stars are visible with the naked eye. YHVH the Father wants us to live forever as members of His Family. By dying in our stead, Yahshua paid the penalty for our sins, thus redeeming us from the death penalty we earned by being disobedient to Elohim’s given Torah. When YHVH calls us and we decide with all our hearts to begin living His way of life, to obey His Torah teachings and to be immersed in the saving name of Yahshua Messiah (Acts 2: 38), He gives us a portion of His Set-apart Spirit with the laying on of hands (as per Acts 8: 17). When a person is immersed, YHVH forgives him by applying the sacrifice of Yahshua to his past sins.  In that way Yahshua becomes his personal Passover. We see from verses 12 & 29 of Exodus 12, that at mid-night (on the fourteenth of Aviv) YHVH struck all the first born in the land of Egypt; from the first born of Pharaoh who sat on the throne, to the first born of the captive in the dungeon, and all the first born of cattle. Before making His covenant with the Israelites at Mount Sinai, Elohim commanded them to keep the Passover forever. No authorization from Elohim was ever given to cease observing the Passover. Consequently, when Yahshua was young, He went up to Jerusalem to keep the Passover, as witnessed from Luke 2: 40 – 43, in this way: ‘And the Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of Elohim was upon Him. (41) And His parents used to go to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. (42) And when He became twelve, they went up there according to the custom of the Feast.’ We see that Yahshua continued to observe the Passover as witnessed in John 2: 23, as follows: ‘Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, beholding His signs which He was doing.’ In fact, before and during His ministry Yahshua kept all of Elohim’s annual festivals, including the Passover. As YHVH in the flesh, it was He who revealed these festivals to ancient Israel, and kept it Himself during His life as a ‘human being’ on earth.

 

Before His crucifixion, Messiah instructed His disciples how to observe the New Covenant Passover in remembrance of His death. At the end of His earthly life, Messiah set an example for the continuance of the Passover to be observed in remembrance of His death, by those who are returning to Elohim, through Him, our Personal Passover and Redeemer. He kept the Passover with His disciples on the night before He was crucified, as recorded in Luke 22: 13 – 15, in this way: ‘And they departed and found everything just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover. (14) And when the hour had come He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him (after spending 3½ years with His disciples they were called apostles – meaning they were fully trained and ready to be sent out to preach the good news into the world). (15) And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”’ Yahshua instituted new Passover symbols for His disciples (including us His modern day disciples, who have been called by Elohim from the lost sheep of the house of Israel) on the evening of the very day the Passover lambs had always been slain – the 14th Aviv. It is very important to note that the Passover Lamb is nowhere called a sacrificial offering for sin in the Scriptures. The Scriptures plainly show that sacrificial offerings for sin were not instituted until after the Ten Commandments were given at Mount Sinai and broken after the golden calf incident.  The Passover was instituted in Egypt weeks before the Israelites arrived at Mount Sinai and was repeated in the covenant made at Sinai, but it was not instituted by that covenant. On the evening before Yahshua Messiah’s crucifixion, He gave specific commands for His disciples and those who would follow them. We read from John 13: 1 – 5 how Yahshua instituted foot washing as part of the way of observing the Passover, in this way: ‘Now before the Feast of the Passover, Yahshua knowing that His hour had come that He should depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. (2) And during supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, (3) Yahshua, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from Elohim, and was going back to Elohim, (4) rose from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself about. (5) Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.’ The foot washing ceremony was not part of the Hebrew Passover. This was instituted for the first time by Messiah Himself. We see from verses 6 – 8 that Kepha at first refused to allow Yahshua to wash his feet, as follows: ‘And so He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Master, do You wash my feet?” (7) Yahshua answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you shall understand hereafter.” (8) Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Yahshua answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”’ Because open-toed sandals were the customary footwear of that time, feet could become quite dirty. Foot washing upon entering a house, was considered a menial task, usually done by the lowest servants.

 

Kepha did not yet understand the purpose of the foot-washing ceremony Yahshua was instituting and did not want his Master to wash his feet. But Yahshua explained that unless Kepha took part in the ceremony, he could not have a relationship with Him – he could not be a Netzarim[1].  We see from verses 12 – 16, why Yahshua instituted this new observance of foot washing in connection with His memorial Passover, in this way: ‘And so when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments, and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? (13) You call Me Teacher and Master; and you are right, for so I am. (14) If I then, the Master and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. (15) For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. (16) Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master; neither is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him.”’ By washing their feet, Yahshua was illustrating to His disciples that He had come to earth to serve mankind. Shortly afterward, He proved the extent of His willing and loving service when He gave His life for the reconciliation of His People to the Covenant from which they had been cut off 800 years earlier. He suffered the most humiliating and painful death imaginable in order to save us all from the penalty of death!

A willingness to serve and help others is an essential part of every believer’s training to be a loving ruler in Elohim’s Kingdom, where every ruler will administer Elohim’s government for the benefit of others rather than himself, as witnessed in Luke 22: 25 - 27: ‘And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ (26) But not so with you, but let him who is the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as the servant. (27) For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table, or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.”’ We see that Rav Shaul, who practiced what he preached, also tells us about having a servant’s attitude, saying in Philippians 2: 3, 5 – 8: ‘Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself. (5) Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Messiah Yahshua, (6) who, although He existed in the form of Elohim, did not regard equality with Elohim a thing to be grasped, (7) but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. (8) And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.’ The Renewed Covenant shows that Messiah’s followers did serve, just as He did, preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of Elohim. Yahshua commanded His disciples to wash one another’s feet and in Matthew 28: 19 & 20 commanded us to teach the lost Israelites in the world to do likewise.

 

What other ‘new ways’ of observing the Passover did Yahshua institute during that Passover before His death?  One very important symbol Yahshua introduced during the Passover meal concerned the meaning of the unleavened bread they ate that evening.  We read accordingly from Matthew 26: 26, “And while they were eating, Yahshua took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.”’ Yahshua said the broken bread symbolized His body. Before Yahshua was crucified, He was severely beaten and whipped. Even for the strong, healthy body of a hard-working carpenter, this was an exhausting and terrible beating.  It was so severe that the skin was even torn back off His bones, and many were no longer able to recognize Him, as witnessed in Isaiah 52: 14, in this way: “Just as many were astonished at you, My people, so His appearance was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men.” But, we should not forget, the Hebrew Passover was always eaten with unleavened bread, as witnessed in Exodus 12: 8, as follows: ‘And they shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.’ We become sick because we break physical health laws.  If we don’t eat properly balanced meals, if we don’t get adequate rest, or if we don’t get proper exercise we eventually become sick.  Sickness is the penalty we pay for breaking physical health laws, just like the second death is the penalty for breaking the Torah of Elohim. But YHVH wants us to live happy, full, abundant and healthy lives.  Yahshua inspired John to write in 3 John 2, “Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.”

 

Because of His great love for each of us, Yahshua allowed Himself to be beaten and suffer intense pain even though He didn’t break any physical health laws.  He paid the physical penalty for us so if we become ill or suffer an accident, we may be healed, as witnessed in Isaiah 53: 5, in this way: ‘But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our wellbeing fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.’  We read therefore from James 5: 14 & 15: “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the congregation, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Master; (15) and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Master will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.”  YHVH promises to heal us spiritually and physically; that is part of the meaning of the Passover. Another very important part of the Passover service is the wine, which is symbolic of the shed blood of Messiah.  We read from Matthew 26: 27 & 28: “And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; (28) for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.” Note that ‘the fruit of the vine’ that Yahshua gave His disciples was fermented wine, not grape juice. Grape juice could only be made in the fall (autumn), and could not be preserved until spring, at that time. It was either fermented into wine, or else made into syrup that was used as a sweetener. The Scriptures nowhere condemns the drinking of alcoholic beverages – only its abuse. If we obey Yahshua’s command, we will do as Rav Shaul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11: 25, saying: ‘In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”   

 

From that time forward, each year during the Passover service, the people of Elohim drink a small amount of wine after they ate a piece of unleavened bread.  This wine is symbolic and a reminder of the shed blood of Messiah.  It reminds the people of Elohim that when they repent of their sins, it is the death of Yahshua – His shed blood – that frees them from the penalty of eternal death resulting from the sins they have committed.  Though the people of Elohim strive to obey the Torah, they are not yet perfect, and still sin sometimes.  But if they repent of their sins, YHVH will forgive them. So the wine replaced the blood of the lamb as the symbol of the blood of Yahshua which was shed for the forgiveness of our sins. We also need to be mindful that the Scriptures forbid the consumption of blood and that those who believe the doctrine of transubstantiation (that the bread and wine are the literal flesh and blood of Yahshua) reject the teaching of the Scriptures in both Leviticus 3: 17 and Acts 15: 29. Yahshua did not abolish the Passover to introduce the celebration of Easter; No, He merely changed the symbols used in the Passover service for His followers from the house of Israel. The word ‘Easter’ as used in both the King James and Authorized Versions in Acts 12: 4 is a blatant mistranslation. The Greek word is ‘pascha’ which all modern translations correctly render ‘Passover’, especially considering the time of the year during which it occurred, mentioned in the last part of verse 3, as follows: ‘Now it was during the days of Unleavened Bread.’  After the death and resurrection of Yahshua the Messiah, His disciples continued to follow His example in keeping the Passover, as well as all the other festivals, as witnessed in Acts 12: 4.  Rav Shaul, around 55 CE, continued to instruct the Nazarene Israelites about the correct way to keep the Passover - to follow the example set by Yahshua. He wrote to the congregation in Corinth, saying in 1 Corinthians 11: 26, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Master’s death until He comes.”  The Word of YHVH clearly shows that the people of Elohim are to continue observing the Passover as an annual memorial of Yahshua’s death, until He returns.

 

After Messiah instituted the new Passover symbols, He gave His disciples additional instructions and encouragement, as recorded in John 13: 31 – 16: 33. Then in John 17, He prayed the real “Master’s prayer”. In this prayer He committed not only His disciples into His Father’s care, but all whom YHVH would call into his congregation from that time forward (and throughout the ages). After Messiah finished this prayer He and His disciples sang a hymn and went to the Mount of Olives. There He prayed again with great fervency to escape the extreme pain and suffering that was to come (Luke 22: 41 – 44). He asked His Father three times if it would be possible to begin His plan of salvation for all mankind in some other way (Matthew 26: 39 – 44). However, as we see from Luke 22: 42, Yahshua finally said: “Father, if Thou art willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Thine be done.” Then Messiah, betrayed by Judas, one of His disciples whom He personally chose, was arrested like a common criminal and all His friends deserted Him. He was brought informally before the Sanhedrin by night. The trial began on a day before an annual Sabbath, even though Jewish law did not permit the trial of a capital offense to begin on the day before a weekly or annual Sabbath. In fact Jewish law states: ‘If a sentence of death is to be pronounced, it [a criminal case] cannot be concluded before the following day’ (Mishnah, “Sanhedrin” IV, 1). This was to allow for sufficient opportunity for any witness in support of the accused to present themselves. Yahshua’s trial was conducted in private and completed in less than nine hours! It was therefore completely illegal. In addition the sentence was pronounced in a place forbidden by law. The trial took place in the high priest’s house (Luke 22: 54). According to the law, a death sentence could only be pronounced in the court’s appointed place.

 

In addition the court illegally switched the charges from blasphemy to treason before Pilate. Yahshua’s opponents wanted to ensure that He was executed, but did not want to do it themselves. So they charged Him with treason (Luke 23: 2) – a crime against the Roman government; so that the Romans would be responsible for His death. But, when no evidence was presented (John 18: 29 & 30), Pilate saw that Yahshua was not guilty (John 18: 38). However, because of his fear of the crowd, he allowed the crucifixion of an innocent man.  Even so, before we fall into the trap of blaming specific groups of people for Yahshua’s death, we need to recall His words in John 10: 17 & 18, as follows: “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it up again. (18) No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” Yahshua had to die to redeem us from our sins – consequently, we who claim that He is our Savior and Redeemer are all responsible for His death.

The prophecies in Isaiah and the Psalms were written many years before Messiah’s death, yet they described in vivid detail the suffering and death Messiah was to experience. Scourging was a punishment meted out to criminals during Messiah’s time. The victim was stripped to the waist, bent over and then beaten with a multi-lashed whip made of leather thongs weighted down with broken splinters of bone. Messiah suffered this merciless beating, which tore open His flesh, disfigured him and caused Him to bleed from numerous open gashes and cuts. Whereas most victims were allowed to recover, Messiah was not. Like a criminal he was then forced to carry His own stake, but because He was so weakened by this terrible beating, He could only carry it for a short distance, when the soldiers found a man of Cyrene named Simon to carry His stake.

 

Yahshua was crucified outside the city on the skull or summit of the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s journey away from the Temple (the significance of which is explained later). Crucifixion was the most shameful form of execution. Spikes were driven into the victim’s hands and feet and his body was suspended from these open wounds, making breathing agonizingly difficult. Our Savior suffered an incredibly painful death. He did this voluntarily for the sins of the house of Israel and ultimately the whole world. If we are Messiah’s disciples (students), we must be partakers of His suffering as witnessed from Romans 8: 16 & 17, as follows: ‘The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of Elohim, (17) and if children, heirs also, heirs of Elohim and fellow heirs with Messiah, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.’ Rav Kepha tells us how we are to follow Messiah’s steps in suffering for righteousness sake in 1 Peter 2: 21 – 25, in this way: ‘For you have been called for this purpose, since Messiah also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, (22) WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; (23) and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; (24) and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. (25) For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.’ Messiah who was YHVH in the flesh, did more than suffer for us, He ceased to exist as also witnessed in Psalm 146: 4, as follows: ‘His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.’ We know that Yahshua the visible image of the invisible Elohim was the first born of all creation – as per Colossians 1: 15. We read further from verses 16 - 18, ‘For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities –all things have been created by him and for Him. (17) And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. (18) He is also the head of the body, the congregation; and He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything.’  If the original Passover lambs had not been slain, the Israelites’ firstborn would have been killed; and unless Messiah was killed, we would not have a Savior today. 

 

The only way in which we have access to the Father is through Yahshua our Messiah, as confirmed in Hebrews 9: 8, where we read: ‘The Set-apart Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the Set-apart place has not yet been disclosed, while the outer tabernacle is still standing.’  Hebrews 8 - 10 is a discussion by Rav Shaul, about two priesthoods and here in the quoted section, the Set-apart Spirit tells us that the Levitical priesthood did not provide the house of Israel with direct access into His presence, but restricted them from entry, since access had to come by another way. It teaches that we from the lost sheep of the house of Israel cannot have access to the Father, without the death of Yahshua our Messiah. We read accordingly about Yahshua’s death in Luke 23: 44 - 49, ‘And it was now about the sixth hour (12 o’clock in the afternoon), and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour (3 o’clock in the afternoon), (45) the sun being obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. (46) And Yahshua, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, INTO THY HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.” And having said this, He breathed His last. (47) Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising Elohim, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent.” (48) And all the multitudes who came together for this spectacle, when they observed what had happened, began to return, beating their breasts. (49) And all His acquaintances and the women who accompanied Him from Galilee, were standing at a distance, seeing these things.’  Similarly, we cannot inherit eternal life, before we die or (in the case of those still alive at His coming) are changed at Yahshua’s return (1 Corinthians 15: 52).

 

It is from the quoted section in Luke 23 that we get to understand that the belief that Yahshua was impaled on ‘Golgotha’, is not true. We need to understand that every mountain, including the Mount of Olives has a summit (called its head or skull). Another meaning implied by the word Golgotha, is that Yahshua is the ‘Goal Galut’ meaning the Redeemer of the exiles, as He confirmed in Matthew 15: 24, as follows: ‘But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”’ Yahshua, similar to any sacrifice to make atonement, was killed ‘before YHVH’, meaning in His presence, at the doorway of the tent of meeting, as may be seen from Leviticus 1: 3 & 5. We read accordingly in Hebrews 13: 11 & 12, ‘For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the Set-apart place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. (12) Therefore Yahshua also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.’ For this to be true, Yahshua had to be impaled on the Mount of Olives, opposite the gate of the temple. How can I say that? It is clear to see from the quoted section in Luke 23 that the spectacle that people came to observe from the place where Yahshua was impaled, was the veil of the temple that was torn in two (verse 45). Despite the sun being obscured, they could see into the Holy of Holies in the light provided by the menorah, since the Mount of Olives was due east from the entrance to the temple, at the time. Messiah taught by His example that the Passover should be taken only once a year as a memorial of the day on which he died for the sins of the world – on the 14th of (Aviv) Nisan, in the evening, after the 13th day has ended. Before we conclude, we need to understand that we could take the Passover in an unworthy manner. We read Rav Shaul’s warning regarding the observance of the Passover in 1 Corinthians 11: 27 – 30, as follows: ‘Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Master in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Master. (28) But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. (29) For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he does not judge the body rightly. (30) For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.’ Many today have not understood Rav Shaul’s warning. Some, feeling they are not ‘worthy’ of Yahshua’s sacrifice, have concluded that they should not observe the Passover. Others have taken the Passover symbols in a casual manner, not fully understanding their meaning. Both extremes are incorrect!

 

Rav Shaul was not saying a believer must be ‘worthy’ to take the Passover. He wrote that one should not observe the Passover unworthily. ‘Unworthily’ does not describe the person – it describes the manner or attitude in which a person eats and drinks the symbols. In other words when we partake of the Passover, we should think seriously about its deeper meaning and not do so in a flippant manner. Firstly, we should treat the members of Messiah’s congregation with love and outgoing concern, realizing that the called out members of the congregation is referred to as the body of Messiah in the Scriptures. Secondly, we need to understand that in Messiah the fullness of Elohim (called Deity in the NASB) dwells in bodily form, as witnessed in Colossians 2: 9. Let us therefore show Him the respect due to Him at the annual Passover. Think about it!

 

 

[1] Netzarim – Believers in Yahshua who keep Torah; literally means branches.