April 1, 2007
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Passover is coming soon.
B"H
Master of all worlds! It is not on account of our righteousness that we offer our supplications before Thee, but on account of Thy great compassion. What are we? What is our life? What is our goodness? What our righteousness? What our helpfulness? What our strength? What our might? What can we say in Thy presence, LORD our GOD and GOD of our fathers? Indeed, all the heroes are as nothing before Thee, the men of renown as though they never existed, the wise as if they were without knowledge, the intelligent as though they lacked understanding; for most of their doings are worthless, and the days of their life are vain in Thy sight; man is not far above beast, for all is vanity.
However, we are Thy people, Thy people of the covenant, the children of Abraham Thy friend, to whom Thou didst make a promise on Mount Moriah; we are the descendants of his only son Isaac, who was bound on the altar; we are the community of Jacob Thy first-born, whom Thou didst name Israel and Jeshurun because of Thy love for him and Thy delight in him.
Therefore, it is our duty to give thanks to Thee, to praise and glorify Thee, to bless and hallow Thy name, and to offer many thanksgivings to Thee. Happy are we! How good is our destiny, how pleasant our lot, how beautiful our heritage! Happy are we who, early and late, morning and evening, twice every day proclaim:
Hear, O Israel, the LORD is our GOD, the LORD is One.
Blessed be the name of His glorious majesty forever and ever.
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The preceding excerpt was taken from the Preliminary Morning Service in the Sidur. As I have mentioned before, the Sidur is the standard prayer book of the Jewish people. The root of the word sidur is the same as the word seder and it means to set in order. This Monday evening is the start of Pesach (Passover) and in most Jewish homes the event is known as a Seder. There is a definite order to the holiday with certain ritual elements of food and song and storytelling. Pesach is the first of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. Shavuot (Pentecost) and Sukkot (Tabernacles) are the other two. The theme of Passover is one of deliverance and redemption therefore it is also known as Zeman Cherutanu (The Season of Our Freedom). The LORD our GOD has delivered and redeemed us from slavery in the house of bondage (Egypt) so that we might go forth and serve Him in the wilderness.
Passover ushers in the start of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For eight days we put away all foods with yeast or any type of leaven and eat matzah, the bread of affliction. Matzah is made of just flour and water. No yeast is allowed as a reminder that our forefathers left Egypt in haste with their staff in their hand and their sandals on their feet. Yeast and leaven have come to be recognized as symbols of sin and corruption, but only during this season. It’s perfectly ok to eat leavened items throughout the rest of the year. By participating in the act of Jewish Spring Cleaning, that is, removing all yeast and leavened items from our homes, we create a very powerful object lesson wherein we see the degree of diligence that GOD requires of us concerning sin and corruption in our lives. We need to take care regarding our own personal thoughts and actions as well as our corporate and collective behavior. I Cor 5: 7 – 8
Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Messiah our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep The Feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
For those of my friends and brethren here who are not Jewish I would encourage you to read the story of the deliverance from Egypt in the Book of Exodus chapters 1 – 15. The LORD has deposited a rich heritage for His people in the Story of Israel and the themes of deliverance and redemption make the most sense when not separated from their original context.
Blessings for peace and love in the name of Yeshua (Jesus) our Messiah,
Shlomo
Comments (13)
CHRIST'S PASSOVER - APRIL 2, 2007
"The earliest Christians celebrated the Lord's Passover
at the same time as the Jews, during the night of the first
full moon of the first month of spring (Nisan 14). "
--Quoted From --
(Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History,
Book V, chapters 23-25).
"....the fourteenth day of the moon (Nisan 14),
on which day the Jews were commanded to sacrifice the lamb,
should be observed as the feast of the Saviour's passover."
Among these are Philip, one of the twelve apostles.
and, moreover, John, who was both a witness
and a teacher, who reclined upon the bosom of the Lord.
All these observed the fourteenth day of Nisan;
the passover according to the Gospel,
deviating in no respect, but following the rule of faith.' "
--Eusebius (a well-known historian of the early Church)
from his work, Ecclesiastical History,
Book V, chapters XXIII and XXIV
"Polycarp, the disciple of John the Evangelist
.... urged the tradition which he had received
from the apostles of observing the 14th day...."
-Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition
"The Last Supper took place within the framework of
a Jewish Passover meal, where Jesus sought to prepare
the disciples for what was to come."
- Encyclopedia Britannica; 1968 edition
Volume 12; page 1020
Jesus was Jewish and so were his parents. Even his
Apostles and early followers were all Jewish.
Jesus and his Apostles observed all the Jewish Laws,
and Observed all the Jewish Festivals. This remained so
- throughout the entire New Testament Scriptures.
"Early Christianity - Jesus was a Jew, as were all the apostles.
Thus the earliest Christianity is in fact a movement within Judaism."
-Encyclopedia Britannica; 1968 edition
Volume 5, page 693
"...the very acknowledgement of Jesus as "the christ" means
the confession that he is the fulfillment of the promises originally
made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."
-Encyclopedia Britannica; 1968 edition
Volume 5, page 693
"Jesus.....was as an adherent of Judaism ..."
- Encyclopedia Britannica; 1968 edition
Volume 12; page 1020
It was the Romans that despised and hated the Jews.
It was Rome - who was determined to wipe-out any
memory of Christ's Jewish heritage. Rome forbid the
Psssover celebration of Christ death and replaced it
with the pagan spring-time celebration.
"At the Council of Nicea, exhibiting unwarranted
HATRED OF THE JEWS , as Emperor of Rome,
Constantine established his infamous 'Easter Edict,'
cursing and cutting off all Believers who would dare follow
any traditions of the HATED 'Jews' "
- [Hargis, David. THE CONSTANTINE CONSPIRACY
White Stone, Virginia: House of David Herald, 1994.].
What we have then today - being done in the name of
Christ - bears no resemblance to his commands, anymore
than painting a kitchen orange - when the owner requested
a "blue" living room.
Changing Places
Basically, Christianity has adopted the doctrines, and
festivals of paganism.
"They replaced the nighttime Passover service -
that was a commemoration of Christ' death -
with the pagan Easter Resurrection.
Not only had the date and time been changed
but the whole meaning of the festival was changed. "
-- J.L. Hurlbut
Story of the Christian Church, page 79
Those who cling to these compromises - are referred to
as the "Faithful" - "Orthodox" Christians.
Those who adhere to the original teachings of Christ -
and who refuse to compromise with Paganism - are now
labeled as a "Cult" and referred to as Heretics.
It is a complete reversal of values.
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Christ - Our "Passover" Lamb
(click-here)
"EASTER" and "Babylon The Great"
(click-here)
A Rabbit -- The Consort
of the goddess - "Easter" (click-here)
```````
just popping over to say hello
Thank you so much for your kind words.
Perhaps our paths will meet someday.
& don't worry about Cory's name. IT happens often. :]
Thanks for your posts Shlomo. I've been busy as ever, but would like to see you again sometime soon.
How was your Passover?
Hello, Shlomo .. how are you? I'm sorry for not being in contact for quite some time ... it's been a stessful, difficult time, recently. Things I'm not always discussing on my site .. maybe that will change, soon.
Just know that I'm thinking about you, my friend, and hope you understand.
John
B"H
Thanks for asking about Passover Josh. We had one small Seder at home on Monday, the first night, and another larger event with our new congregation on Wednesday. I guess about 30 people were present on Weds. Although many people had attended a Seder before this was somewhat different in that we put on a full Seder meal rather than just a demonstration. I have been using a Haggadah written from a Messianic Jewish perspective by friends of mine back in the 1980's. I think it was a good experience for all in attendance.
With Passover and Resurrection Sunday coming both in the same week this year, it provided an excellent opportunity for teaching and reconnecting the Last Supper with its Jewish origins.
Blessings,
Shlomo
B"H
Well my friends, it's time to move on. To move on from this post that is. I was kind of surprised that no one made any remarks in response to the comments of TheVoice_1. I sort of doubt that many of you agree with him/her. Having been to his/her Xanga site I quickly realized that this is strictly a one way conversation that is going on. No comments or responses are possible there. Oh well. I think that we should feel free to express our various ideas, even when they may be contrary to the general consensus. The one thing that should always prevail is our desire to benefit and bless one another and thus to bring Glory and Praise to GOD our Father.
Shlomo
hey dear brother,
we are not sure what our travels will entail but there is always a chance of going through or to chicagoland. we will let you know for sure if we are heading in that direction. thanks for your encouragement and prayers. Peace be with you in Christ
Hi there. I saw you over on Charity Singleton's blog. I love Passover, even though I don't have Jewish roots (well, that's not quite true... we have discovered some ancestors WAY back that were Spanish Jews.) Anyway, my oldest daughter makes sure she gets me to celebrate it every year. Matzo balls and all!
B"H
Hey L.L.,
Thanks for stopping by. I have tried several times to comment on your site with no success so far. I am having a major problem with my blogger account and your site doesn't allow anonymous comments. Anyway, I appreciate your support welcome you here. I hope that we shall be able to enter more fully into a deeper theological conversation in the near future.
Blessings,
Shlomo
Thanks for your comment! That's awesome that you know Neta Jackson. My church in Lincoln, NE is going to have her speak in October. We're very excited! We had 4 or 5 women's book clubs for her first book and now we're moving on to the second book!
Have a good week!
Malinda
Hi Shlomo,
I tagged you and that means you can participate in giving us 8 interesting or funny facts about yourself that none of us could know.
Don't feel pressured, if you don't participate then keep to it. I just did it to make sure I didn't offend those who did tag me and were excited about it.