Time For Passover

On the fourteenth day of the first month is the LORD’s Passover (Numbers 28:16 & Leviticus 23:5). 

When does this annual memorial celebration happen each year? Is it, A, B, or C?

A) Every January 14 - Gregorian Calendar

B) Nissan 14 (14 days after the sighting of the New Moon after the Spring Equinox which in 2022 is April 22) - Hillel Calendar kept by the majority of Jewish people and many Messianic Believers.

C) Month 1, Day 14 (14 days after the Spring Equinox if it happens on a Wednesday which in 2022 is April 5) - Zadokite Calendar kept by the Essenes and Zadokites, believed by many to be the oldest of the calendars and kept by the people of God as far back as Noah.

If you said "C" the Zadokite Calendar, I would be in agreement with you. If you have never heard of this calendar, Google your own research on this topic. 

The Zadokite Essene calendar, the calendar attested in I Enoch and the Book of Jubilees, consisted of a solar calendar of 364 days divided into seven-day weeks, twelve months of thirty days each except for one extra day in the last month of each quarter (Jaubert 1965:27; Pfeiffer 1969:64-65; Vanderkam 1998:55; Finegan 1998:44) www.man-child.com/the-essene-calendar/

 

Aside from WHEN Passover happens, just exactly WHAT is it and should Christians keep and observe it?  And if so, HOW should that be done? 

Passover (Hebrew: Pesach) was the culmination of the 10 plagues in Egypt the night before Moses led the Children of Israel out to the wilderness bound for the Promised Land. 

According to Exodus 11 & 12, YHWH gave instructions for the Hebrew slaves who desired to escape the plague of the death of all firstborn men and animals in the land of Egypt. On the 14th of the 1st month they were to sacrifice a lamb and place some of its blood on their doorposts and lintel.  Then they were to eat the lamb and keep a vigil throughout the night as death visited the land, yet "passed over" the homes marked by the blood of an innocent lamb. Throughout the night, death visited the land of Egypt. The result was as last, Pharaoh said to Moses, "Take your people and go!"

As Believers in Jesus/Yahusha, we see a clear picture of the sacrificed Lamb of God in this event. And we can also see the Gospel message for anyone today who would seek salvation from sin, guilt, death and hell by placing the blood of the Lamb upon the doorpost of their heart in true repentance! For all who do so will experience life eternal as death passes over them when they are one day transported into the Father's presence forever!

So, there you have the WHEN and WHAT of Passover.  But what about the HOW when it comes to keeping this annual Feast of the LORD?  Thousands of year ago the Jewish people developed a tradition called the SEDER which is a set order with a guidebook called a Haggadah.  As for HOW we should keep the Passover, we can simply follow the example set by the Messiah and His disciples.  There are four identifiable ways in which Jesus kept the Passover.

1. The Bread: When I take the Lord's Supper to our elderly VIPs we use the communion juice cups that have a little wafer under the top seal.  Oftentimes I say, "When Jesus took the unleavened bread and broke it, I wonder if he said something like, 'Guys, you have been eating unleavened bread at Passover all your lives.  Our people have eaten this for 1500 years! Have you ever wondered why God made sure it was recorded in scripture that when they left Egypt they ate unleavened bread because they didn't have time to let their dough rise? I mean, who cares what kind of bread they ate? Well, tonight I am going to tell you why.  Because that unleavened bread was a prophecy about me coming and being the Bread of Life--born in Beit Lechem, the House of Bread! And if any bread is going to represent me, it better not have leaven in it as leaven represents sin!'"  And I can just imagine the lightbulbs going off.  So we do eat unleavened bread in remembrance of His body, broken for us.  

2. The Wine: By the time Jesus celebrated Passover there were 4 cups of wine to be drunk which represent the four "I wills" from Exodus 6:6 “Therefore, say to the people of Isra’el: ‘I am ADONAI. I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.  It was the third Cup of Redemption that Jesus took and said, "Drink ye all of it" as His own blood was going to be poured out for each one of us. And then he said he would not drink the fourth cup until He could do so with us in His Father's Kingdom!

3. The Washing of Feet: The scripture records that Jesus rose at the Passover meal, took a towel and basin and washed the feet of each disciple.  This was his example of how we are to humble ourselves and serve one another. The thing about washing feet if you have ever participated in a foot-washing ceremony is that it is indeed a very humbling experience for both the washer and the washee.

4. Keeping a Vigil: Exodus 12:42 in the Berean Study Bible brings it out best. "Because the LORD kept a vigil that night to bring them out of the land of Egypt, this same night is to be a vigil to the LORD, to be observed by all the Israelites for the generations to come."  Passover is to be kept by us participating with our ancient brothers there in Egypt when death was falling all around them.  But they waited in prayer, encouraging one another, seeking the Lord's protection, being under the Blood, until the night of death passed over.

This is how we, true Israelites (Galatians 3:29) who have been grafted into the people of the Covenant, are to keep the Passover in obedience to Yah's command.