Shalom Saints,
I knew someone, that knew somebody, that got me into the after-party with Stevie Wonder when he performed at Carnegie Hall in February 1973. The Main Ingredient group opened for Stevie. I was star struck at the after party! There was Bill Cosby standing a few feet from me to my right. I spoke to him, “Hello, Mr Cosby!” He nodded at me with a disinterested look. I then moved about and watched Stevie being guided around the room, while wearing 3 or 4 inch platform shoes, hob-knobbing with other in-crowd folks.
Stevie’s song Superstition was popular at the time and when he performed it earlier, many folks, including me, danced in the aisles at Carnegie Hall. I loved the beat. I didn’t have a clue as to what he was talking about except don’t live your life based on superstitious beliefs like the number 13 was bad luck and breaking a mirror was 7 years bad luck. My family had a few more like, if a bird builds a nest with your hair which your threw out from a comb or brush, you would have headaches.
Now I can see more meaning in Stevie’s lyrics than perhaps he even understood. The chorus to the song was:
When you believe in things that you don't understand,
Then you suffer,
Superstition ain't the way
At the time, I not only believed in things I did not understand, but I participated in activities that defy reasoning. How in the world does a rabbit lay colored eggs and what, pray tell, does that have anything to do with Jesus? I was suffering due to my ignorance and my attention being directed to do as the majority was doing. I was far from the Creator’s plan for me. I had worldly reasoning about life, relationships, success, religion and my self-esteem. I was truly “a ball of confusion!”
Listen as Arthur teaches on Preparing for Passover. All scriptural, no superstition!
Summary of the Teaching
We have received many questions from our Online Community about how to prepare for Passover. This teaching is Arthur’s response. He started with some basic understanding and a brief glossary of terms.
The Biblical New Year
- 1st day of the 1st month
- We are commanded to guard the 1st month of Aviv.
- This is the true Rosh HaShana.
Aviv
- Hebrew name of the 1st month
- The condition of the barley crop
Nisan
- Babylonian name of the 1st month
Passover
- Hebrew: Pesach
- The first of the commanded Spring Feasts
- The 14th day of the month of Aviv
- This is NOT a Sabbath or Holy Day.
- The meal is eaten in the evening of the 14th day and continues into the 15th day which starts at sunset. The 15th day is the 1st day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
- The practice/word Seder is not found in scripture.
Pesach
- The Pesach is a sacrifice.
- We cannot conduct sacrifices. However, we can eat lamb, goat, chicken, or any meat of your choice.
- We are required to eat bitter herbs and unleavened bread.
- Pesach commemorates the deliverance of the Hebrew people from Egypt by the Mighty Hand of YeHoVaH.
Feast of Unleavened Bread
- 15th day of Aviv through the end of the 21st day of Aviv
- The 15th and the 21st days are Holy Days.
- A Holy Convocation is commanded on the 15th and 21st days.
Arthur then elaborated on the following questions:
- How do we keep the Feasts?
- What do we eat?
- Are we required to eat lamb?
- What about uncircumcised people, can they celebrate the Passover with us?
- Why don’t we go up to Jerusalem?
- Is Passover a Sabbath Day?
- Does Passover begin at the beginning of the 14th or at the end of the 14 of Abib?
- Should we celebrate Passover like they did in Egypt at the first Passover?
- Do we put blood on our door posts?
- Do we eat leaning on a staff?
- Do we eat in haste?
- What about the Plagues if we don’t celebrate like in Egypt?
Torah clearly states that Passover comes before the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Arthur shows where there are translation errors in New Testament. We know these are errors by comparing them with Old Testament scriptures and knowing the Torah. In dealing with this issue, another question is answered: Was the Passover and the last supper the same thing?
Arthur then goes on to answer a few more questions about Passover. What does it mean for Yeshua to be our Passover Lamb? Was His sacrifice the same as the Levitical Passover Sacrifice? How often should we remember His sacrifice with bread and wine? What are we giving “Thanks” for at meals?
Arthur summarizes the teaching with “Preparation H2 O” which is preparing our Heart, Home and Offering for Passover.
Preparing Your Heart
- Determine that you are going to celebrate Passover.
- Look forward to news of the sighting of the new moon and Aviv Barley in Israel.
- Celebrate the Biblical New Year.
- Take the necessary time off from work.
- Save money for the Feasts.
Preparing Your Home
- Remove all leaven from your home.
- Ask family members to be on the lookout for leaven.
- Consume foods with leaven weeks prior to Passover.
- Check for breaded foods in your freezer.
- Always read labels.
- Look for leaven in the pantry, refrigerator, freezer, between leaves in your table, cupboards, between the stove and the countertop, wherever people eat in your home and leavening agents.
Preparing Your Offering
- Honor Yehovah with your Firstfruits.
- None shall appear before our Elohim empty handed.
This teaching is (has) everything you always wanted to know about How to Prepare for Passover.
Listen as Arthur gives the details of the practical applications of preparing your heart, your home and your offering.
This is a resource teaching for every believer to refer to for Passover now and Passovers to come!
Buzz on the Teaching
I enjoyed the refresher course on preparing for Passover, especially the scriptural reasons WHY we do them. This teaching brought an incident to my mind. Some years ago, when I was a “newbie” Messianic, I had an encounter with two large Hebrew families that did not believe in Yeshua. They were preparing to sacrifice a lamb, wrap the entails around its neck and cook it in a hole in the yard of the “Levite” family. They were having this celebration in Mississippi. Once they would not listen to my “Yeshua has come” reasoning, I was at a loss to say anything convincing to them even though I knew it did not seem right. This teaching is definitely part of equipping the Saints.
Arthur mentioned a side note in Thursday’s teaching that really resonated with me. We should not get stressed over the preparations for Passover. Being stressful will put a damper on the joy of the celebration.
For the past two weeks, I had been thinking of how I might become stressed with the preparations at home and at HOI. My mind was in a constant state of being ready to battle stress and on the lookout for people that might be stress bearers. I had a meltdown on Floyd on Wednesday night. What was worse was that he just looked at me and sat calmly as I stormed out of the kitchen. By the time I got to the bedroom in the back of the house, the Holy Spirit was talking to me BIG TIME. I returned to Floyd who was still calm, cool and collected and I apologized and we resumed preparing the grocery list. I blew up because he didn’t have the list already prepared when he said he would. I had let the enemy get the best of me!
After the teaching, I realized that I have to be proactive and declare that I am going to be calm and rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to help me through the logistics of the preparations at home and at HOI. I am focusing on the joy of Yehovah within me and looking forward to meeting and fellowshipping with my Saintly family.
Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. King James Version
Until next time… Blessings to You and Yours,
Sharon