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Written by Grant Berry
While my usual focus is to write about The Reconnection between the Church and Israel, there is no better way to communicate this connection than through the Jewish Feasts. There are several Major Feasts that God instructed the Israelites to celebrate (See Leviticus 23). As well as a number of others that were added along the way, such as Hanukkah, which Yeshua/Jesus also celebrated (see John 9-11), and Purim.
The Jewish Feasts are rich in biblical history and incredible symbolism that always quickly reminds us of the faithfulness of the Father, as well as His love for us. In the New Covenant they take on a renewed focus with Yeshua/Jesus being the central theme of most of them. In addition, associating yourself to the feasts makes a great way to reach out and connect with our Jewish friends.
As I have already mentioned in earlier chapters, I truly believe that Gentile believers can fully enjoy their own participation in any of these Jewish holidays without any legalism, and what better way to connect to Jewish people than through their own events, which now also belong to us.
In embracing the Jewish feasts into our Church calendars, we can find tremendous reconnection, not only in the Spirit, but also in our theology. More importantly though, as we look to rebuild the bridges from the New to the Old, in order to awaken Israel; the feasts can be used as common ground between us to better reflect the intimacy of our New Covenant connection with Messiah. When we
reconnect to our Jewish roots, it causes us to share the Gospel back to the Jewish people in a way that will help them relate to it from a Jewish perspective. Let us remember that the Gospel was given to Israel first and so when we use the feasts to present Yeshua in a Jewish manner they naturally feel more connected to it.
I would encourage you to copy and paste the message below and send it to your Jewish friends over the holidays. I have mindfully written it in a manner that is more sensitive to their hearing. They may not agree with it, but always remember that God’s word never comes back void and it will help towards the seed planting that God is looking to do in their lives. My favorite book on the Feasts for believers is written by Valerie Moody and is called The Feasts of Adonai.
THE GOSPEL THROUGH THE PASSOVER
The Passover is my favorite Jewish holiday. Aside from the family get-togethers, the great food and the observance of Moses' edict that this story should be told from generation to generation, the Passover itself is extremely exciting. It tells the miraculous story of how the Jewish people escaped the grips of the then world's super power (Egypt), but it was also a much clearer time in our world history when the power of God was clearly seen. Not only so, but when we look at the Passover in its fulfillment through the New Covenant, through the Messiah Yeshua/Jesus; it tells two other very exciting stories. It acts as a prophetic shadow to foretell the Gospel, as well as the final judgment of sin when Messiah returns. First, He came as a LAMB, but when HE returns, He will come like a LION!
It is a mirror image, a divine portrait from Israel's physical experience through the Passover, to a spiritual fulfillment that ultimately offers all mankind hope and deliverance from sin. As a Jew and a follower of Yeshua/Jesus this really excites me, as it not only confirms the message of salvation, but also acts as a bridge and a confirmation from the old covenant to thenew one.
THE PASSOVER PLAN
Israel was in bondage to slavery and there was no way out for them. We in the world are in bondage to sin and there is no way for us to escape the judgment coming upon it, except for the blood of the Pascal Lamb. The deliverer Moses reflects the deliverer Yeshua/Jesus, and both obviously moved in divine power. As Moses extended his staff to demonstrate the power of God with the plagues and the parting of the Sea, so Yeshua/Jesus extended His hand miraculously in healing and deliverance. Yeshua/Jesus also broke through every physical dimension that God established on the earth. To name a few, He walked on water, calmed storms, multiplied food, and raised the dead. Moses delivered Israel physically; Yeshua/Jesus delivers us spiritually from the bondages of sin with the New Covenant that was prophesied to Israel (See Jeremiah 31:31-34).
Yeshua/Jesus also reflected the Pascal lamb that was taken outside the city at twilight and sacrificed. The lamb also had to be perfect and none of its bones were to be broken, so also was Yeshua/Jesus perfect in all He did, so He could pay the final sacrifice for all man's sin. His blood is to be taken and sprinkled on each man's heart that calls out to Him for forgiveness of sin, so that when the angel of death comes into the city at judgment time (see Revelation), he will see the blood and Passover. In this way when we put our hope and trust in Messiah Yeshua/Jesus we will be spared the judgment that will ultimately come on to the world for its sins.
It is written in the Torah, that nothing unclean can come into G-d's presence and survive; but when we put our trust in Yeshua/Jesus, God sees the blood of His Son on the doorpost of our heart, and
in this way, we can come directly into His presence with intimacy and fellowship and know God for ourselves, just as was foretold by Jeremiah, the Jewish prophet. Yeshua/Jesus is the only one who has fulfilled the numerous prophecies concerning the Messiah; here a few for reading purposes (Isaiah 7:14, chapter 9, chapter 53, Micah 5:2). Even Moses told us to follow Him (see Deuteronomy 18).
Yeshua/Jesus's main mission in the world was to bring G-d's final plan of salvation to Israel and then to the world. To redeem man from the curse of sin and death that the law exposed, so that all who put their trust in Him could experience the new life that Messiah Yeshua/Jesus brought after His resurrection; first for the Jew, then to the Gentile (see Romans 1:16). He was the Passover Lamb that takes away the sins of the world, and He willingly gave His life up so that the plan of God could be fulfilled, which He made clear to the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, "You would have no authority over me if it were not given from above (John 19:11)." All of this took place on the Passover itself, coincidence or divine plan?”
Through Moses' faith, the Red Sea was parted and Israel walked through on dry ground, so as we put our faith and hope in Yeshua/Jesus, He will deliver us and our lives will never be the same again. When Israel marched out of Egypt, the Bible tells us a cloud led them by day and a pillar of fire by night. Neither the cloud nor the fire left them and it also protected them from the onslaught of the Egyptians. Both the cloud and pillar are representative of God's Holy Spirit, and when you put your trust in Yeshua/Jesus He will send His Holy Spirit to live in your heart, so that you will know God in an intimate way and His Holy Spirit will lead and guide you and will also protect you. There is nothing we can do to earn God's salvation in our own lives, no works or acts. Like the Israelites, all we have to do is to be still and put our trust in Him and He will not only pass us over, but will also lead us across the sea and into a new life full of faith and His presence.
HE MADE THE PASSOVER ETERNAL
In fact, on the Passover itself, Yeshua/Jesus took both the bread of affliction (matzah) and the cup of redemption (the 4thcup), the two greatest symbols of the Passover and made them eternal through His own body and blood, what an amazing connection! So as you can see, these special times in our spiritual history are very much intertwined and I respectfully submit to you that this is definitely not a mistake or accident, but rather a divine layout for mankind's deliverance from sin, which is all ultimately fulfilled in Messiah Yeshua/Jesus and His Passover Plan.
From my own perspective and life experience, it was almost the identical moment when I realized that it was indeed my sin that separated me from a righteous and Holy God, that Yeshua/Jesus also revealed to me that He had paid the price for that sin. I did not feel condemned, but rather released and set free. Instantly in my heart I experienced an incredible deliverance and was filled with the Holy Spirit, and I can honestly tell you that I was meeting the God of Abraham for the first time. I will never forget that day as long as I live. It is like you are experiencing the Passover yourself and I never felt more Jewish in my life, because Yeshua/Jesus brought me to God of my Fathers and I met Him personally for the first time.
He came first as a Lamb, but when He returns, He will come like a Lion and the sin of the world will be judged. This process has already begun and the world is beginning to shake. It’s not just Mother Nature, it’s the God of Israel trying to get our attention. Will you take the blood of the lamb upon the doorpost of your heart? The choice is yours…
Author and speaker Grant Berry is the founder of Reconnecting Ministries and Producer of The Romans 911 Project. Grant is a Messianic believer in Yeshua/Jesus and is promoting a new message into the body of Messiah/Christ during these last days, known as "The Reconnection." The Reconnection is a term used to describe the reuniting and reconciliation of Jewish and Gentile believers into John 17 love and unity into "The One New Man" now that Israel's awakening is upon us. The Romans 911 Project has been created to bring The Reconnection message to light, which has primarily been hidden in the mystery of Israel’s restoration according to Romans 11:25-27. For more information and a special offer on The Romans 911 Project, please visit:www.Romans911.org
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