Today is the 13th of Nisan on the Hebrew agricultural calendar. The 14th of Nisan is the Passover (April 8, 2020). Because Hebrew days always begin at sunset, Passover will begin tonight (April 7, 2020) at sunset…the 14th of Nisan. What is so extraordinary about this Passover, is that it is so earily similar to the first Passover in approximately 1513 BC. What happened on the Passover?
Well, during those days the Israelites had been slaves in Egypt for approximately 430 years. They were crying out for deliverance when God raised Moses up to be a leader. Egypt’s Pharoah was very stubborn and had no intention of letting his cheap labor go free. God then used Moses to deliver a series of judgments (10 plagues) on Egypt that would culminate in the final plague, the death of the firstborn.
At the time of the 10th plague, God had Moses instruct the Israelites to select a lamb on the 10th of Nisan, keep it for 4 days, and kill the lamb on the 14th of Nisan at sunset.
Exodus 12: 3: Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month (Nisan) they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household. 4 Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; according to what each man should eat, you are to divide the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight.
God then required something quite extraordinary. God had Moses tell the Israelites that they were to take some blood of the lamb and spread it over their doorposts and lintels of their homes. If they were OBEDIENT to this instruction, the angel of death and destruction (death of the firstborn) would PASS OVER their homes, and they would be safe.
Exodus 12: 7: Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.
13 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.
By applying the blood of the lamb over their doorposts, God would not allow the PLAGUE to come near them or destroy them. This happened approximately 3500 years ago…and yet something very similar is happening again today. Once again, God is telling His people to go into their chambers and hide themselves for a little while until the indignation PASSES OVER. Nearly the entire world is on lockdown because of the Corona Virus, as the vast majority of people are being told to stay in their homes. The Jewish people in the State of Israel are being mandated that they must stay in their homes during this Passover celebration. This isn’t just unusual, it is unheard of. This hasn’t happened in about 3,500 years.
Isaiah 26:20: Come, my people, enter into your rooms
And close your doors behind you;
Hide for a little while
Until indignation runs its course.
What is going on and what is so important about the blood of the lamb?
About 1500 years after the original Passover, we discover the TRUE SIGNIFICANCE of that very important night. On the 10th of Nisan (the day that the lamb was selected), the TRUE Lamb of God made His Triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a Donkey. Out of all of thousands and even millions of lambs that had been slain for centuries, only this single TRUE LAMB of God could take away sin, could truly SAVE a life. Every single lamb that was sacrificed on the Passover was POINTING to the TRUE Lamb of God, the MESSIAH. The PASSOVER was meant to be a FORESHADOW of the MESSIAH.
Isaiah 53:4: Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions (sins),
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity (sins) of us all
To fall on Him.
Like the Lamb in the Passover story, Jesus was selected on the 10th of Nisan, riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, with robes and cloaks at his feet, displaying that JESUS was the KING of the JEWS!
Zechariah 9:9: Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Matthew 21:6: The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, 7 and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats. 8 Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. 9 The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting,
“Hosanna to the Son of David;
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord;
Hosanna in the highest!”
But by the 14th of Nisan, everything changed. It was on this night, the 14th of Nisan, that Jesus had His Disciples prepare the Passover meal. They ate the Passover meal at sunset on the 14th of Nisan (on the Passover). The Passover meal was to be eaten after sunset in accordance with the original Passover meal.
Mark 14:12: On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus‘ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”
Exodus 12: 6: You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight. 7 Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails. 10 And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire.
Mark 14:17 When it was evening He *came with the twelve. 18 As they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me—one who is eating with Me.”
It was on this night, the 14th of Nisan, that Jesus instituted the NEW COVENANT that would be WRITTEN in HIS BLOOD.
Mark 14:22 While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.” 23 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
About 1500 years after the night that the death angel passed over the Israelites, Jesus brought His Disciples into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray with Him. Sadly, the disciples were so tired that they could not stay awake even one hour to pray with Jesus. It was here, in this garden, that Jesus sweated drops of blood because He KNEW what was about to take place. Jesus would be BETRAYED by a friend. He would be ARRESTED for doing absolutely NOTHING WRONG. He would be CRUCIFIED and die a sinner’s death. He who knew no sin would become sin so that we could become the RIGHTEOUSNESS of GOD!
Yes, Jesus KNEW what was about to transpire..and HE did it anyway because of HIS GREAT LOVE for HIS FATHER and for you and me!
After an illegal trial that occurred in the dead of night, Jesus was viciously scourged by the Romans and was NAILED to a CROSS at 9AM on the 14th of Nisan. He was PIERCED for our TRANSGRESSIONS, crushed for our sins. By noon, the sky grew dark, and by 3M Jesus gave up His Holy Spirit. The word “Gethsemane” means OLIVE PRESS. It was here, in the garden of Gethsemane, that Jesus was arrested and began to be PRESSED, BEATEN, HUMILIATED, and CRUCIFIED. In the Bible, Olive Oil represents the HOLY SPIRIT. When olives are PRESSED, they produce OLIVE OIL. When Jesus was pressed, scourged, and crucified, He gave up HIS HOLY SPIRIT…for us! This is why Jesus told His Disciples that it is good that He “go away”, otherwise the SPIRIT could not come to them (and live inside of them). God’s Spirit will NOT dwell in sin. Our sins had to be forgiven before the Holy Spirit could dwell inside of us!
John 16:7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
The only way that a person can be FORGIVEN of sin is for the BLOOD OF THE LAMB to be applied to the doorpost and lintels of our HEARTS. This is the NEW COVENANT written on our HEARTS. When we APPLY THE BLOOD of the LAMB of GOD, our sins are FORGIVEN and the plague of ETERNAL DEATH will PASS OVER us. This is what the Passover was all about. The whole Old Testament (Torah) story is about God sending HIS LAMB to be the PASSOVER SACRIFICE for ALL MANKIND!
The Israelites had to FIRST receive the Passover LAMB, eat of it completely, then and only then could they make their EXODUS out of EGYPT. So it is with us. The only way that any human being on the planet can come out of sin is to RECEIVE the BLOOD OF JESUS as our Passover Sacrifice. Only then can we begin to make our lifetime journey out of sin. The Holy Spirit, who lives inside of every believer, does this amazing and holy work…a work of progressive sanctification. Yes, a believer is completely JUSTIFIED and SANCTIFIED the moment we BELIEVE on JESUS’ finished WORK ON THE CROSS..this is TRUTH! But also, the Holy Spirit will do a good work in each believer to expunge sin (as much as possible) from our lives. This is a good and holy work and is typified by the Feast of UNLEAVENED BREAD that was celebrated for 7 days following the Passover. Leavening “puffs up” and is a metaphor for SIN.
After the Israelites received the PASSOVER, they made their EXODUS from Egypt on the 15th of Nisan, the “night to be much observed”. During the day on the 14th of Nisan, the Israelites plundered the Egyptians, and by the 15th of Nisan (at sunset), they began their trek out of Egypt. Jesus PLUNDERED the devil on the CROSS during the day on the 14th of Nisan as HE took back what RIGHTFULLY belonged to HIM…HIS PEOPLE WHO ARE HIS TREASURE! God’s redemptive work on the CROSS PLUNDERED the DEVIL! Hallelujah!
On the 15th of Nisan, at sunset, Jesus was placed in a rich man’s tomb where He spent 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the earth according to the sign of Jonah. As Jonah was in the belly of the whale 3 days and 3 nights, so would the son of Man be in the belly of the earth 3 days and 3 nights. Jesus was not crucified on a Friday and Resurrected on a Sunday morning. This is not true. Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday (14th of Nisan)…and then He was put into the tomb BEFORE the HIGH HOLY DAY (ANNUAL SABBATH) on the 15th of Nisan (Wednesday at sunset). Jesus spent 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the earth, just as He said He would. It is most likely that Jesus was resurrected just before sunset on the WEEKLY SABBATH (SATURDAY). The tomb was DISCOVERED to be EMPTY on the FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK (SUNDAY)…before dawn…when it was still dark.
John 20:1: Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.
Matthew 12:40: for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Tonight (April 7, 2020), at sunset, we begin the Passover meal. Tonight at sunset, I will be taking Communion at my home and observing the Passover meal of the NEW COVENANT instituted by Jesus Christ, our PASSOVER LAMB. Remembering what my SAVIOR did for me, when HE fulfilled the PASSOVER FEAST OF GOD…perfectly! Also, in prayer I will APPLY (spiritually speaking) the BLOOD OF THE LAMB and PRAYING for the angel of CORONA VIRUS DEATH and DESTRUCTION to PASS OVER myself and my family! There is POWER in the BLOOD OF JESUS! This is the night. God Bless! I pray over each person that comes to this blog, for the BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST to COVER and PROTECT EACH OF YOU from this PLAGUE!
Praying and believing that our EXODUS (RAPTURE) is soon! God Bless! Happy Passover!
