Passover is the first of the Moedim in YHWH’s calendar, that occurs during the barley harvest. It’s also the first of the Moedim that our family began to observe (in 2007). At the time, we simply wanted an annual Biblical event that could begin a family tradition that was not based on pagan beliefs and practices. It seemed like the natural replacement, even though we knew little about the observance of it. Each year we’ve had an evening meal consisting of unleavened bread and roasted lamb, as we spend time praying and reading Scriptures that remind us of YHWH’s Passover and focusing on the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
Of course, many of us know the story of the Passover in Egypt – preceding the tenth plague that finally released the tribes of Israel from slavery, and initiated their return to the promised land. It was an amazing display of YHWH’s power and control!
In faith, the Israelites placed the blood of a lamb on their door posts so that the firstborn was not killed that night. It was the blood that was a token, or sign, to YHWH that He would pass over that house and not destroy anyone within (Ex 12:13). The day was then to be kept as a feast to YHWH throughout the generations for ever (Ex 12:14).
Passover, then, led into the night that the Israelites came out of Egypt. They went from being slaves to becoming free men. This is a type of our own personal salvation, where we go from being slaves of sin to freedom and having life everlasting. It is the blood of the Lamb that makes all of this possible! Yeshua died ON Passover as THE Passover lamb! Passover points to our Messiah intimately and precisely.
Here is where we begin to see why YHWH calls these days the Moedim – the Appointed Times. That day was planned before the foundation of the world! It is highly likely that the three strangers who told Abraham that He would have a son (Gen 18), gave that prophecy on Passover, that Isaac was subsequently born on Passover and that, later in life, Isaac was almost sacrificed on Passover. That sacrifice was prophetic in itself of the sacrifice of YHWH’s own son many years later – on the same day!
Early NT believers kept Passover on the 14th of Nissan/Abib as prescribed in Leviticus. However, it was progressively replaced by a Sunday Easter observance, being pushed by the anti-Semitic church of Rome. Those living in Asia minor continued to keep the true Passover date, but Roman Emperor Constantine (a life-long sun worshiper) decreed it illegal in AD 325. This didn’t stop everyone, and so a later “christian” emperor added the death penalty for those who continued to observe the correct date, around AD 380.
At Passover time, let’s remember Paul’s words stating that “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Cor 5:7)!
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