Passover - Pesah
Hebrew #6453 – pesah – פסח
Greek #3957 – pascha – πάσχα
Definition: (1) a festival, or meal, remembering the Hebrews’ freedom from Mitsrayim.
- Shemoth (Exodus) 12:11
“And this is how you eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Pĕsaḥ of יהוה.”
-Bemidbar (Numbers) 33:3
“So they departed from Ra‛meses in the first new moon, on the fifteenth day of the first new moon, on the morrow of the Pĕsaḥ the children of Yisra’ĕl went out with boldness before the eyes of all the Mitsrites.”
- Melaḵim Bĕt (2 Kings) 23:22
“For such a Pĕsaḥ had not been prepared since the days of the rulers who ruled Yisra’ĕl, nor in all the days of the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl and the sovereigns of Yehuḏah.”
-Ezra 6:19-21
“And the sons of the exile performed the Pĕsaḥ on the fourteenth day of the first new moon, for the priests and the Lĕwites had cleansed themselves – all of them were clean. And they slew the Pĕsaḥ for all the sons of the exile, and for their brothers the priests, and for themselves. And the children of Yisra’ĕl who had returned from the exile ate together with all who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the nations of the land in order to seek יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl.”
Passover - Pesah is a wonderful gift to Yah’s people. The covenant meal He made with Yisra’el in Mitsrayim, and now anyone who desires to be part of His people. Coming out of Mitsrayim, Yisra’el was a pure bride joined to her Husband embarking on a wonderful journey to enter the land of promise. But at Mount Sinai, when Yisra’el built the golden calf, the perfect covenant was broken, another proof that Yah's people need an ultimate sacrifice beyond what man could do.
So Yahuah had a wonderful plan, one He knew from the foundation of the earth. He came and shed His own blood for His Bride, to renew the covenant, perfect blood that had not a speck of sin.
“For it is impossible for blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, coming into the world, He says, “Slaughtering and meal offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me.”
Iḇ`rim (Hebrews) 10:4-5
There is so much more to this amazing sacrifice, like the divorce. In the book of Jeremiah, because of the treacherous things Yisra’el did, Yahuah gave her a certificate of divorce (Jeremiah 6:8). And according to Torah, if a divorced woman marries another man, she cannot return to her original husband, if divorced a second time. So Yisra’el played the harlot in that she left Yahuah, and went and served many other mighty ones (Reading the prophets [Isaiah, Judges, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, all minor prophets], you will see the picture that shows their harlotry.) So Yisra'el is unable to return to Yahuah because she married (served) another.
Unless…
He, Yahuah, were to die.
So you can see, Yahuah had to come live among us, show us exactly how to walk in His ways (because we could not do that right) and then sacrifice His own life, for His Bride. How amazing is that! But it doesn’t stop there!
After Yahusha (Yahuah’s Salvation) was crucified three days later, He rose again, right? In order to be a perfect sacrifice, that was not a requirement, and yet He did rise again. Why? Because if Yahuah died, then He was dead, and there would be no Husband for Yisra’el to return to. But He had to be raised from the dead to be the husband, the same husband to take her back. (Romans 7:1-4) This story is so amazing!
So what does that mean for us today? If you have chosen Yahusha as your Savior AND have chosen to walk in His Torah, you are His Bride. The Torah is His laws for the marriage between Him and His people. If you don’t walk in them, you are the same as Yisra’el of old, who played the harlot. It is very important to walk out His commands, especially His Shabbat(s), which is the sign or the wedding ring of it all.
“And you, speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, saying, ‘My Sabbaths you are to guard, by all means, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, to know that I, יהוה, am setting you apart.” - Shemoth (Exodus) 31:13
“And I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, to know that I am יהוה who sets them apart. But the house of Yisra’ĕl rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not walk in My laws, and they rejected My right-rulings, which, if a man does, he shall live by them. And they greatly profaned My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My wrath on them in the wilderness, to consume them.” - Yehezqĕl (Ezekiel) 20:12-13
Yes, Yahusha’s sacrifice covers our sin, but does that mean we keep sinning? No, absolutely not. Throughout the scriptures, “old” and “new” testaments alike, you’ll find proof that if we choose to be His people, we are Yisra’el and MUST walk in His commands.
All that to say, Yahuah dearly loves His people and sacrificed Himself through a painful death so that we could live with Him. He wasn’t a mythical god that made Him not feel pain, but He was in a man’s body, and felt every bit of it, and more.
“My Beloved, Yahusha is His Name
He died for me, so I could live with Him
What amazing love it is, to be loved by the Messiah.”
- Anonymous
I hope you were encouraged by these words, and got to or will get to (more on that in a future post) partake of the Passover Meal, and encounter the amazing love of Yahuah.
Shalom,
JS