The Story of Passover and the Connection to Jesus

Passover ended last week but today I am going to post the story of Passover and a wonderful video from Amir Tsarfati about Jesus’ connection to the Passover.

Have a Blessed Week,
Chris

Exodus 12 New King James Version (NKJV)

The Passover Instituted

12 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without[a] blemish, a male [b]of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire—its head with its legs and its entrails. 10 You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. 11 And thus you shall eat it: [c]with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.

12 ‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord13 Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

14 ‘So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. 15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that [d]person shall be [e]cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat—that only may be prepared by you. 17 So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your [f]armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance. 18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19 For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land. 20 You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’ ”

21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. 22 And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. 23 For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the [g]lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. 24 And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. 25 It will come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. 26 And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 that you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’ ” So the people bowed their heads and worshiped. 28 Then the children of Israel went away and did so; just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn

29 And it came to pass at midnight that the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was [h]in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock. 30 So Pharaoh rose in the night, he, all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.

The Exodus

31 Then he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise, go out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel. And go, serve the Lord as you have said. 32 Also take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also.”

33 And the Egyptians urged the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” 34 So the people took their dough before it was leavened, having their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes on their shoulders. 35 Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. 36 And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.

37 Then the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children. 38 A mixed multitude went up with them also, and flocks and herds—a great deal of livestock. 39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought out of Egypt; for it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves.

40 Now the [i]sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in [j]Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. 41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years—on that very same day—it came to pass that all the armies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. 42 It is a [k]night of solemn observance to the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is that night of the Lord, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generations.

Passover Regulations

43 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat it. 44 But every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then he may eat it. 45 A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat it. 46 In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house, nor shall you break one of its bones. 47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. 48 And when a stranger [l]dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it. 49 One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you.”

50 Thus all the children of Israel did; as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. 51 And it came to pass, on that very same day, that the Lord brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt according to their armies.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+12&version=NKJV

Resources for Christians

Feeling a little under the weather this week if those who see this can keep me in their prayers. I’ve decided this week to provide a list of resources I use that help with Bible study.

First I use Dr. David Jeremiah’s study Bible. He writes a lot of notes and articles to help understand the Word. It is a great resource.
https://www.amazon.com/Jeremiah-Study-Bible-Says-Means/dp/1617956740/ref=sr_1_2?crid=27CKW2BHU6Y4H&keywords=dr.+david+jeremiah+study+bible&qid=1563821279&s=gateway&sprefix=Dr.+David+%2Caps%2C129&sr=8-2

Remember it is always good to get more than one perspective from teachers and make sure it matches the Bible. Most importantly let the Holy Spirit guide you to the truth.

Two men I suggest for online sermons are Messianic Rabbi Johnathan Cahn and Pastor Steve Cioccolanti.

http://www.hopeoftheworld.org/

https://discover.org.au/

Both are very insightful and offer much material on the Lord.

Some online resource websites that are really good are…
-Blue Letter: https://www.blueletterbible.org/
-Bible Gateway: https://www.biblegateway.com/
-Bible Study Tools: https://www.biblestudytools.com/
-Reasons for Jesus: https://reasonsforjesus.com/
A nice apologetic website run by a former new age follower turned Christian.
-Bible Project: https://thebibleproject.com/
The Bible Project offers fascinating insightful videos based completely and only on Biblical Teaching. They also do podcasts where they discuss the Bible.

Lastly some organizations that do great work that I think people should know about.
https://www.worldvision.org/
https://www.samaritanspurse.org/
https://www.persecution.com/

Have a Blessed Week,
Chris

Jesus Was the Passover Lamb

Passover just recently ended on Saturday, it is a very important time of the year for the Jewish people but also for Christians. One of the most famous Passover traditions that is done each year is for the Jews to sacrifice a lamb in order to remember being freed from the Egyptians.

Jesus however freed the entire World from sin when he was killed during Passover.

Jesus of course rose again thus defeating both death and the grave.

One of the most compelling prophecies in the Bible is from Isaiah 53. It is clear that the chapter is about Jesus, if you read the scripture it is clearly about a man and perfectly describes what happened to Jesus.

Here is an article that explains this better and also shows how the Rabbi’s taught that this section of Isaiah was about the Messiah.

https://www.gotquestions.org/suffering-servant-Isaiah-53.html

Now however modern Rabbis have back tracked and attempted to claim this chapter to be about Israel as a nation. Take a look for yourself and decide…

Isaiah 53 New King James Version (NKJV)

The Sin-Bearing Messiah

“53 Who has believed our report?

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,

And as a root out of dry ground.

He has no [a]form or [b]comeliness;

And when we see Him,

There is no [c]beauty that we should desire Him.

3 He is despised and [d]rejected by men,

A Man of [e]sorrows and acquainted with [f]grief.

And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;

He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

 

4 Surely He has borne our [g]griefs

And carried our [h]sorrows;

Yet we [i]esteemed Him stricken,

[j]Smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But He was wounded[k] for our transgressions,

He was [l]bruised for our iniquities;

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,

And by His stripes[m] we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray;

We have turned, every one, to his own way;

And the Lord [n]has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

 

7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

Yet He opened not His mouth;

He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,

And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,

So He opened not His mouth.

8 He was taken from [o]prison and from judgment,

And who will declare His generation?

For He was cut off from the land of the living;

For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.

9 And [p]they made His grave with the wicked—

But with the rich at His death,

Because He had done no violence,

Nor was any deceit in His mouth.

10 Yet it pleased the Lord to [q]bruise Him;

He has put Him to grief.

When You make His soul an offering for sin,

He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,

And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.

11 [r]He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.

By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,

For He shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,

And He shall divide the [s]spoil with the strong,

Because He poured out His soul unto death,

And He was numbered with the transgressors,

And He bore the sin of many,

And made intercession for the transgressors.”

It seems clear to me and as a matter of fact many Jewish people accept Jesus as their messiah after reading this scripture.

Also I want to include an interesting video from Amir Tsarfati comparing the Passover celebration traditions to that of the story of Jesus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-Vw4nk8sZ4

Have a Blessed Week,
Chris

God in three relationships: Introduction

The Holy Trinity, one God in three separate yet equal forms, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Trinity is clear yet also mysterious in nature. Many have read about the Trinity, written about the Trinity and of course prayed about and to the Trinity.

But today I want to start a series about God not in three forms but in three separate, yet equal relationships.

Next week’s blog entry will be about God as a best friend, He is with you through everything, He is there for you when you need him, in big situations and in small. He is with you always. There is no better best friend then God.

The second blog entry will focus on the family of God, how we all are a part of His family and the relationship we are to have with our fellow Christians.

The final entry will discuss our relationship with God as God. How He is not just our God but the true living God of the World. We must trust in Him and realize all of His power and the beauty of His love and compassion. Knowing this will help us bring others to Him so they can be saved.

I am hoping that this series helps others get a better understanding of the importance of a relationship with God.

I hope you all have a blessed week and if there is anyone out there that needs praying please comment.

-Chris

Hanukkah

There seems to be a new debate on whether or not Christians should celebrate Hanukkah or other Jewish Holidays. I personally am fascinated by the celebrations from the Old Testament and Judaism. Jesus of course followed the traditions of His heritage.

The Gospel of John even mentions Jesus entering the temple for the “Festival of Dedication”, which is Hanukkah.

Here is an interesting article on John 10: 22-23 and Hanukkah.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-s-keener/jesus-and-hanukkah-john-10-22-23_b_2233251.html

With the exciting movement of Messianic Judaism I feel there will be an increase in Jesus followers celebrating the traditional Feasts and Holidays.

Pastor Steve Cioccolanti has a video on How to Celebrate Hanukkah as a Christian and a Jewish Follower of Jesus. I enjoyed watching this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Da9pVkJyoo&t=1s

Anyways to those who chose to celebrate it, have a happy Hanukkah and may Yeshua/Jesus be the light in your life that burns forever and ever.

Have a Blessed Week,
Christopher

God’s Plan and Free Will

We hear often how God has a plan for us all and that is of course true. But we must remember that God also has given us free will to chose our own path.

Does that sound like the Bible contradicts itself? Today I will be discussing why that is not the case.

You see God has a plan for us all but He gives us options on how to go about it. It is up to us to follow that path in order to get what God has intended for us.  There is the right way and the wrong way, follow God’s guidance and He will lead you to the right way, ignore and you will go the opposite, down the wrong path.

Now the great thing about God is because of His grace, He will always be there to guide you to get back on the right path.

If you take the exit to the wrong way, there is always a ramp to get back on the right way.

God is all knowing, so he knows how it will all turn out. He sees every path in which you can take and knows each outcome that will occur based on our choices.

For example if you have been looking for a job for awhile and one day you get the urge to go to a certain place that the Lord would want you to be, it is up to you to decide to go. If God really wants you to be there He will continue to throw signs at you and do everything to show you to go but it is up to you to actually get up and make it there.

Now lets just say for the purposes of this blog, God intended for you to go because there was someone He wanted you to meet who would lead you to a great job opportunity.

But if you didn’t end up going, that opportunity is now lost. God knew the outcome of both options, He was just waiting for you to decide the path you were going to take.

Now that doesn’t mean He won’t help find you a job another day, He will be right there with you continuing to guide you through it all, hoping you chose the right path.

Another example is when the Prophets of Israel and Judah called the people to repent, their prophecies of coming judgment were warnings, if the people repented God would relent. He knew the outcome of what would happen if they did or didn’t repent.

The problem is after they did repent and the judgment didn’t come, time would pass and they would go back down the wrong path, back to their wicked ways, which led to the Judgment of God coming down on the people.

Then because of His love, God would set them up for another path, back to the plan He has for His people.

God has His plan for us, we must follow the right path in order for the plan to come to fruition.

It is very important to understand this because many scoffers have pointed out that if God makes our plans for us and everything that happens is a part of that plan, then that means He chooses who goes to Hell.

That is a complete lie.

God wants us all saved, that is why the Father sent His Son to die for our sins.

God sends no one to Hell, you only go to Hell by your own choice.

I chose to accept my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and I hope and pray for guidance to stay on the right path of God’s plan for me.

Next week I will be writing about the other side to this…destiny and when God chooses to make something happen by His own will.

Have a blessed week,
Chris

The Importance of Knowing the Bible

I watched a video once of a group of Atheists tricking Christians to attempt to “open their eyes” to show how horrible God is. In reality the goal really seemed to just humilate these people and gain viewership in order to make money.

The trick was they told the unsuspecting Christians to read a verse from the Koran but in reality it was a verse from the Bible.

The wanted to show God in a horrible light. Many in the video were shocked by the truth.

I was very angry with the Atheists but then I realized God will take care of them. They’re just being foolish.

Forgive them Father for they don’t know what they’re doing.

Truth is shame on those Christians. They didn’t know the Word.

Shame on me. At the time I was just as ignorant as them if not more. I still have so much to learn.

And shame on me for even watching the video and giving them more views.

We must know the Word and understand it.

They were just taking selected verses out of context to manipulate scripture.

But aren’t us Christians guilty of that too? How often do we take a verse out of the Bible and run with it to fit an argument or belief? How often do you see a person take one verse and speculate on it to justify their own actions or beliefs?

You have to read the entire Bible. The whole Word and pray to understand it.

When someone tells me God is judgmental, cruel and unfair. I point out how he waited hundreds of years to punish nations who were immersed in sin. And all they needed to do was repent and He would have relented.

Try breaking one law and just tell the police that you’re sorry and see what happens. After you’re in jail, the same people that call God judgmental, cruel and unfair would tell you that you got what you deserved.

That’s just one example.

The Word of God is your armor, don’t leave yourself vunerable.

Remember satan quoted scripture to Jesus in the desert. Even the enemy knows the Word of God.

If you need a quick answer I would suggest Bible Study Tools.
https://www.biblestudytools.com

For example, want a scripture on the immigration debate? See what God says by looking it up in the search and you will find out what the Bible says.
https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/bible-verses-about-immigration/

Easy just like that 30 verses about Immigration.

Are you up to the challenge to live in the Word? It won’t be easy. Many are so focused on changing others but reading the Bible might force you to change your own view points. Your views may differ from God’s.

Get in the Word and see what happens.

If you not only know God’s word but follow it, your life will be so fulfilled.
Have a blessed week,
Chris.

Isaiah 53: The Forbidden Chapter

This week I am not writing much in my blog post but instead choosing to let the Word of God speak. This post is geared towards Jews who have not read or have been told to ignore Isaiah 53 and also anyone else who has not accept Jesus as the Messiah.

Read this and tell me if anyone comes to mind

“Who has believed our message
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
    and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and afflicted,
    yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
    and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression[a] and judgment he was taken away.
    Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
    for the transgression of my people he was punished.[b]
He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
    and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
    nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes[c] his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
11 After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life[d] and be satisfied[e];
by his knowledge[f] my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,[g]
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,[h]
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.”

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+53&version=NIV

This happened to only one man on Earth, Yeshua (Jesus).

Watch this video about the Forbidden Chapter:

Also check out the videos of many Jewish people’s testimonies of coming to Jesus. Listen to their stories maybe they seem similar to yours.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQDc5idYQE2T6IYKT3bUN7A

https://www.oneforisrael.org