Feast: Passover

The Passover is a Holy Day Feast in which we remember how the Most High saved our forefathers from the hard bondage in Egypt under Pharaoh by sending great wonders and plagues, the last of which was the angel of death. Only those who had the blood of the lamb sacrificed by Moses and Elders of Israel upon their door posts would be saved from that plague, but those that did not all the first born of the Egyptians and their cattle were slain by the angel of death.

Leviticus 23:5-8, I Corinthians 5:7-13, Exodus 12:1-16, 24

PROPHETIC EXPLANATION OF THE PASSOVER

Points to the Messiah as our Passover lamb whose blood would be shed for our sins. Yahusha/Yahshua was crucified on the day of preparation for the Passover, at the same time that the lambs were being slaughtered for the Passover meal that evening. This was a preparation for the Most High sending his son Yahusha/Yahshua to also be a lamb without blemish or without sin in order to be sacrificed for the nation of Israel, so that all that is under his blood can be saved from death and receive eternal life being restored back to the Father through Yahusha/Yahshua. (Galatians 4:4-5). He is our Great High Priest and became our Sacrificial Lamb. The Feast are forever (Exodus 12:24) but the Lamb has already been provided.

PROPHETIC SYMBOLS OF THE PASSOVER

• For seven days for the festival by cleansing our homes of all leaven (yeast), which is a symbol of sin, according to the commandment found in Exodus 12:19: Yahusha/Yahshua went to the Temple before the Passover Festival and cleansed it of the “leaven”—the corruption of the money changers doing business within. (John 2:13–16)
• Yahusha/Yahshua came into the city of Jerusalem five days before the lamb was killed in the temple as the Passover sacrifice for the sins of the people of Israel. Five days before the lamb was to be sacrificed, it was chosen.
• The original celebration centered around the Passover lamb, which was sacrificed and its blood put over the doorposts as a sign of faith, so that Yahuah passed over the houses of the Jews during the last plague poured out on the Egyptians - the killing of every firstborn. (Exodus 12:21-23). Today His Blood covers us now.
• The Passover lamb was to be a "male without defect, which is the same description given to Yahusha. He was perfect. (Exodus 12:5) (1 Peter 1:18-19)
• When the lamb was roasted and eaten, none of its bones were to be broken. (Exodus 12:46)This fact was also prophesized for the Messiah, whose bones were not to be broken. (Psalms 34:20).It was customary during crucifixion to break the leg bones of the person after a few hours in order to hasten their death. However, in the case of Yahusha/Yahshua, they broke the legs of the other two men, but did not break His, since He was already dead.  (John 19:32, 33, 36)

• The day Yahusha/Yahshua was crucified was the day of the Passover celebration and the day that the Passover lamb was to be sacrificed. For the previous 1,200 years, the priest would blow the shophar (ram's horn) at 3:00 p.m. - the moment the lamb was sacrificed, and all the people would pause to contemplate the sacrifice for sins on behalf of the people of Israel. At 3:00,(Matthew 27:46, 50) when Yahusha/Yahshua was being crucified, He said, "It is finished" (John 19:30) - at the moment that the Passover lamb was sacrificed and the shophar was blown from the Temple.
• The sacrifice of the Lamb of YHVH was fulfilled at the hour that the symbolic animal sacrifice usually took place. At the same time, the veil of the Temple (a three-inch thick, several story high cloth that demarked the Holy of Holies) (Hebrews 9:3) tore from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51)- representing a removal of the separation between YHVH and man.
• Fifty days later, on the anniversary of the giving of the law (Pentecost), YHVH left the earthly temple to inhabit those who call on the name of Yahusha through His Holy Spirit.
• In the scriptures the whole congregation had to slay the Lamb. In Yahusha/Yahshua’s day, the whole congregation slew him as they ask to pardon Barabbas. Sinful Blood cannot cover sin. It has to be innocent blood.

SYMBOLS OF THE ELEMENTS OF PASSOVER

Lamb: The unbroken, unblemished Lamb meat reminds us of Yahusha/Yahshua’s crucifixion in that it always remains an unbroken bone. During Roman times, ALL crucified people were to have their leg bones broken, but YHVH gave the Messiah’s unbroken legs as one of the signs of His identity because the Passover Lamb’s bones were never broken (Exodus 12:46 and Numbers 9:12). Yahusha is our Passover Lamb.

Matzoh (Unleavened Bread): Used for the Passover Pesach Meal must be unleavened—leaven is often equated with sin in the Scriptures, and Yahusha/Yahshua is sinless. Second, the matzoh must be striped—Yahusha “stripes” (His wounds) are what heal us spiritually (Isaiah 53:5). And, third, the matzoh must be pierced—Yahusha was nailed to the cross (Psalm 22:16).The other elements of the Pesach Meal plate are traditional reminders of the Israelite enslavement to the Egyptians. They are as follows:

Wine (Grape Juice): There are also four cups of wine used at various points during the Pesach Meal. Each of these glasses of wine has a name: the first glass is the “cup of sanctification.” The second is the “cup of judgment.” The third is the “cup of redemption.” And the fourth is the “cup of praise.” At the Last Supper, Yahusha took the first cup and promised His disciples that the next time He drank the fruit of the vine with them would be in the kingdom (Luke 22:17). Later in the Pesach Meal, Yahusha/Yahshua took the third cup—the cup of redemption—and used that cup as a symbol of the New Covenant in His blood (Luke 22:20).

Bitter Herbs (Maror) – The eating of “bitter herbs” is commanded in Exodus 12:8. In modern times, this is usually horseradish, one of the bitterest herbs. The maror reminds the Jews that they were unable to offer sacrifice and worship to YHVH, and that was bitterer than the slavery of Egypt.

Vegetable (Karpas) – This element, usually parsley, is dipped in salt water and eaten. The karpas pictures the hyssop that was used to apply the blood of the Passover lamb to homes of the Israelites in Egypt. In the New Testament, hyssop was used to give the Lamb of YHVH vinegar when Yahusha/Yahshua said He thirsted (John 19:29). The salt water represents the tears shed during the bitter years of slavery and the Red Sea that YHVH split during the exodus.

Passover, as with all YHVH’s appointed Feasts, is rife with symbolism that YHVH gave us to deepen our walk with Him. Symbols speak louder than either words or pictures. And symbols are YHVH’s language. Practicing the rituals YHVH gave us to remind us of His ways is how we gain the deeper knowledge of Him called the meat of the Word´