Why is the NEW COVENANT PASSOVER Important?

Let’s look to the apostle Paul to find the answer to this important question in 1 Corinthians 11: 23- 26.

 (23) For I have received of the Master that which I delivered unto you, that the Master Yahshua, the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:

(24) And when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘ take, eat:  this is my body, which is broken for you:  this do in remembrance of me.’

(25) After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying,  ‘this cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.’

(26) For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Master’s death till he come.”

Paul tells us in verse 25 that the drinking of the fruit of the vine is part of the new covenant.  He continues in verse 26 by telling us that by eating this bread and drinking the fruit of the vine we proclaim (shew, Strong’s 2605) the Master’s death until he comes. 

How is this different from the Passover observed on the 15th by the Jews? The Apostle John calls that Passover the feast of the Jews. (John 5:1; 6:14)  The new covenant Passover is about Messiah.  He wants us to observe this Passover in remembrance of him. The Jewish Passover is for them to remember the escape of their fathers from Egypt.

The Messiah initiated this Passover with new symbols. He chose leavened bread. (artos) and unfermented grape juice.  Contrast this with the unleavened bread (azymos) and wine used by the Jews in their Passover observance.

By using leavened bread, Messiah was connecting the new covenant Passover with the feast of Pentecost or Shavuoth. During Shavuoth, the required offering is with two loaves of leavened bread. This bread is known as the bread of the firstfruits. (Leviticus 23: 20)  The new covenant Passover that Messiah initiated that night was a foreshadowing of the coming feast of Pentecost when the Spirit of Yahweh would be given to the disciples and thousands of others.

The new covenant Passover was about Messiah and the firstfruits he would begin creating during the coming Pentecost. The Jew’s Passover was about their affliction and their deliverance from Egypt and slavery. The new covenant Passover is about Messiah and his firstfruits.  Each observance is very different from the other.

Those who are called and chosen to be firstfruits are given a down payment of Messiah’s Spirit when baptized. That spirit, like leaven, begins to spread throughout the individual and replace the carnal nature with the nature of Messiah. When we are resurrected with a fully formed Spirit of Messiah (Galatians 4:19), we shall be like him. (1 John 3:2)

The Spirit of Messiah is represented by leaven and its action in dough. This Spirit is pervasive and spreads vigorously through the firstfruit as does leaven in the dough. Leaven is neither good nor bad, and certainly does not represent sin. Leaven represents a force for change.  This is why Messiah could use leaven as an example for the hypocrisy of the Pharisees as well as for the kingdom of Yahweh.

Messiah says this about himself: “I am the bread of life.” (John 6:35)  That bread contains life. When someone is baptized in the name of YahwehShua, the Spirit of Messiah that they receive begins imparting that life to them.  That Spirit functions like leaven in that it infuses the body of the firstfruit with life. Leaven causes the dough to rise, and in a similar manner the Spirit of Messiah allows the firstfruit to be raised from the dead when Messiah returns.

Unleavened bread does not have the active quality of leavened bread.  Moses tells us that unleavened bread is the bread of affliction.  (Deuteronomy 16:3)  This is very different from leavened bread that is puffed up from the action of leaven. The leaven raising the dough is a representation of Messiah’s Spirit raising the firstfruit in the first resurrection (Revelation 20:6).

The bread of affliction or unleavened bread is a remembrance of troubled times. The Israelites were enslaved, suffered for forty years in the wilderness, and were conquered by the Assyrians and Babylonians.  This affliction is the outcome of disobedience. In a parallel manner, Messiah, as the husband to the Israelites, also suffered affliction. (Ezekiel 16: 43)

The bread of the firstfruits or leavened bread is a looking forward to the resurrection of the 144,000 firstfruits or saints. The new covenant Passover is a time for thanksgiving, joy and excited anticipation of the better resurrection. (Hebrews 11:35)  It is also a time for reflection on what Messiah endured for his firstfruits.

The bread of affliction did not symbolize hope for the future. It is a looking back to difficult times. The Jews are celebrating in the present, but without insight as to what is their future.

The firstfruits are being given life. Messiah promised this in John 10:28:  “And I give them [the firstfruits/saints] eternal [Strong’s 166, aionian, age-abiding] life.” The second death will not harm them (Revelation 20:6) and they will be like Messiah when resurrected. (1 John 3:2)  What an exciting promise and future to look forward to!

Messiah asked his firstfruits to keep the new covenant Passover in remembrance of him. By obedience to his request, we proclaim his death until he comes. Each Passover we are to recall our baptism, when the Spirit of Messiah initiated our becoming a new creation. The new covenant Passover, on the night he was betrayed, was a prophecy of what was coming. Pentecost was the initiation of a new creation and Messiah’s return will represent the fulfillment of that creation.

Messiah told us from the beginning what he was doing. In a better translation of Genesis 1:1 we learn this: “For the sake of the firstfruit, Elohim created the heaven and earth.” Throughout the Scriptures, Messiah reveals more about the glorious future of the firstfruits.

You must be a firstfruit to take part in the new covenant Passover in a worthy manner. (1 Corinthians 11:27-29)  To become a firstfruit, you must be baptized in the name of YahwehShua.  As a firstfruit, you must overcome to the end (Revelation 2:26) to be among the 144,000 firstfruits. (Revelation 14: 1)

Choose the bread of the firstfruits and not the bread of affliction!

 If you wish to submit a question or comment, please email our Elder at john12e4567@gmail.com. 

LEAVEN DOES NOT REPRESENT SIN

I have reviewed many Christian documents and websites to learn about their perspectives on leaven. One website that I found offered this:  “Whenever leaven is mentioned in the Bible (22 times in the Old Testament and 17 times in the New Testament), it always (almost always) represents sin or evil.”  This is a very traditional understanding of what leaven is supposed to represent.

However, while this is a tradition, it is not scriptural.  There is no verse in the Bible that declares that leaven is sin. There is a verse that tells us what sin is. That verse is 1 John 3:4 which says, “Sin is the transgression of the law.”

Messiah Yahshua never called leaven sin, but he did give us some examples of how he viewed the symbol of leaven. The first example is found in Matthew 13:33: “the kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven.” Another scripture that offers a positive perspective is found in Luke 13:20-21: “and again he said, whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of Yahweh?  It is like leaven.”

A second example is when Yahshua compared the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees with leaven. This is found in Matthew 16:11-12: 

How is it that ye do not understand that I spoke not to you concerning bread that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?   Then understood they how he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine [Strong’s 1322, didache, teaching or instruction] of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Messiah clarified that he was not talking about bread, but the influence of teachings. He was not calling the bread or the teaching bad, but only influential.

Their teachings had the ability to shape people’s thinking.  Since these teachings were based on man’s traditions and not the Scriptures (Mark 7: 13), caution must be taken.

The third example is when Messiah warned the disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod in Mark 8:15.  Once again, Messiah was speaking about the Pharisees and Sadducees’ reliance on their traditions, and not the word of Yahweh.  This time he also referenced Herod’s immorality with his brother’s wife as well as his other evil deeds. (Mark 6:14-29; Luke 3:18-21)  Messiah was warning his disciples not to be influenced by Herod’s words or deeds.

The fourth example is found in Luke 12:1 where Messiah says: “Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”   Hypocrisy is saying one thing and doing something else.  The Pharisees had the knowledge to teach properly, but would often conduct themselves contrary to the teachings.

The Pharisees, the Sadducees and Herod were authority figures.  Their status in society would only add weight to their words.  He was warning his disciples to be careful. They must always compare someone’s words and behavior to Yahweh’s word. That is the ultimate authority and not man.

Three of these four examples had to do with the negative influence of teachings and behavior.   The fourth compares leaven with the kingdom of Yahweh or heaven.  What could be evil or corrupt about Yahweh’s Kingdom or heaven?

However, I did find some Christian writers who tried very hard to spin this parable in such a way that it supported a sinful or corrupt influence of the kingdom of Yahweh or heaven.  Once again, Messiah was talking about the potent influence of the kingdom. Once leaven enters the dough, it spreads quickly and thoroughly throughout the dough. It is this pervasive quality that Messiah is describing, not the good or bad qualities of the influence.

In Matthew 4:4 Messiah is quoted as saying:  “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of Yahweh.”  We must be careful of any source other than the word of Yahweh as a standard of how to live our lives. Yahweh’s words are more important than any other source that man can offer.

Messiah was not saying that everything man proclaims is bad, but it could be. We must be discerning. Leaven is not bad in and of itself, but It can ferment or puff-up.  Man’s words can also produce arrogance and blind one to the truth.

If Ieaven usually represents sin, then what does this say about the bread of the firstfruits mentioned in Leviticus 23:17, 20?  On Shavuoth, or Pentecost, the people were told to offer a new meal offering. It is in verse 17 that we are told: “Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals:  they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven; they are the firstfruits of Yahweh.”

Who are these firstfruits?  The apostle John provides us with an answer in Revelation 14:4-5:

These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto Yahweh and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile:  for they are without fault before the throne of Yahweh.

Should these firstfruits be symbolized by bread that supposedly contains evil leaven? Of course not, because leaven is not used to indicate sin or evil. What we are being told is that the firstfruits have been under the influence of a very permeating force. In this case it is the Spirit of Yahweh and the Spirit of YahwehShua.

The firstfruits are the saints who overcome and are raised in the better resurrection when Messiah returns. When they were baptized in the name of YahwehShua, they received a down payment of the Son’s Spirit, bestowed by the Father’s Spirit.  The Son’s Spirit is compared to leaven because it is a permeating force that over time supplants our carnal nature with the nature of Messiah.  This process is described by Paul in Galatians 4:19. The attributes of Messiah’s nature are described in Galatians 5:22-23 as fruits of the Spirit.

The two loaves presented at Pentecost represent the firstfruits. As the spirit supplants man’s carnal nature, it produces beings that will be with Messiah always, having no guile and are without fault.  This positive outcome is symbolized by the permeating action of leaven in dough.

The case of Judas provides an example of a negative outcome of a different sort of influence.  Judas was pressured by the Pharisees to make an evil pact to betray Messiah. His deadly decision cost him his own life as well as that of Messiah. Yes, this was all within Yahweh’s will and His plan. Yahweh is the most powerful force of all. His will shall be done. This is why Messiah said the Kingdom of Yahweh is as leaven!

In Exodus 12, we are introduced to the use of unleavened bread with the Passover meal and as food during the Israelite escape from Egypt.  They ate this Passover meal in haste. (Exodus 12:11)  They did not have time to prepare leavened bread.  The use of unleavened bread in this passage is not intended to make a statement about the good or evil nature of leaven. It was simply expedient to use unleavened bread.

Look at what Paul tells us in first Corinthians 5:6-7:

Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?  Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Messiah our Passover is sacrificed for us.  Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness but with the unleavened (bread) [the word bread is added and not found in the Greek] of sincerity and truth.

Paul is not writing about leavened or unleavened bread.  He is speaking about the extensive influence of the world and Satan. We must learn to rely on the truth of Yahweh’s word instead.

Here are two extra-biblical examples of interpreting leaven as sin or evil:  “And in rabbinic literature, leaven is often used as a metaphor for the evil inclination or yetzer-ha-ra.”  (Babylonian Talmud, Berakhat 17a)

“And the people took their dough before it was leavened. On the strength of this founded the precept that leaven should be burned on Passover eve. Leaven and unleavened symbolizes the evil and good incarnations of man.”  (Soncino Zohar, Shemoth, Raya Mehemna page 40b)

These are two examples of how the Christians, Catholics and Messianic groups learned that leaven is evil and unleavened is pure or good.  This concept did not come from the Scriptures, but from the traditions of men. These groups have fallen victim to what Messiah warned us about. The Talmudic and rabbinical perspectives represent a potent force that can be compared to the leaven that puffs up man. Man views their beliefs as having greater authority than what Yahweh says in his word. This has nothing to do with bread.  This is really about persuasive forces that can lead us away from Yahweh’s truth.

This false teaching obscures the meaning of the bread of firstfruits as well as how the Spirit of the Father Yahweh began the development of the firstfruits at the first Pentecost.  Those who receive the down payment of the Spirit are exposed to the mighty spiritual force of Yahweh.  This dominant force is able to overcome man’s carnal nature and create a new being that will be like Messiah. This spiritual force is symbolized by the leaven in the bread of the firstfruits.  Yahweh’s spirit is the most powerful force in the universe.  Nothing is comparable.

It is interesting to note that Yahweh began His Scriptures with a comment about the firstfruits. Genesis 1: 1 is traditionally translated in the King James Version as  “In the beginning Elohim [this is the correct Hebrew word, the English, g-d, is an incorrect translation] created the heaven and earth.”  However, the Hebrew for “in the beginning” is translated from the word “bereshiyth.”  Be is a preposition and can be translated using various prepositions including, for the sake of. Reshiyth is the Hebrew word that can be alternately translated as firstfruit. [Strong’s 7225] There is another Hebrew word, tekhillaw, which actually expresses the sense of beginning better than reshiyth. I believe Yahweh is sending us a message of how important the firstfruits are. He begins the book of Genesis with this thought and concludes His Scriptures with information about the firstfruits in the book of Revelation. The alternate, and I believe, the more accurate translation of Genesis 1: 1 is:  “For the sake of the firstfruit, Elohim created the heaven and earth.” 

Messiah is called a firstfruit by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:23. James 1:18 says the saints are a kind of firstfruits and Revelation 14:4 reveals who the first fruits are.  The firstfruits are created by the extraordinary Spirits of the Father and Son. This force is not evil, nor are the firstfruits.

When Messiah returns, 144,000 firstfruits will be with him. They will reign with him for 1000 years. They will not face the second death or Gehenna fire. Perhaps this is why we are told in Leviticus 2:11-12 that leaven should not be burned. The firstfruits are blessed by not having to face the Gehenna fire.  Remember, Yahweh knows the end from the beginning. These are his words and he knows what he’s speaking about. We must always pray to Yahweh for truth and ask that he reveal the true and deeper meaning of His words.

These insights about leaven are important. They will help us to better understand the deeper meaning of the NEW COVENANT PASSOVER. There is more to be revealed!

 If you wish to submit a question or comment, please email our Elder at john12e4567@gmail.com. 

THE NEW COVENANT PASSOVER

This is the first year we will be observing the new covenant Passover. What is different about this observance and what have we done in the past?

Previously we have observed the supper Messiah had with his disciples with unleavened bread, and called it Passover. However, this was not the Passover of the Jews.  It was the new covenant Passover that Yahshua introduced that night before he died as the Passover Lamb of Yahweh.  The Jews’ Passover began in Exodus 12 with the killing of the lambs on the afternoon of the 14th, and the Passover meal the evening of the 15th.  They celebrated with unleavened bread.  Messiah died as part of the Jews’ Passover. 

After much study and prayer, this has been revealed to be incorrect. Jude has admonished us to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” (Jude 3)

Our membership has come from many different assemblies and churches. We have been taught that the Passover lambs were killed before the supper that Messiah had the night he was betrayed. Others have said the Passover lambs killed by the Jews in preparation for Passover occurred on the date of the 14th, the same day Messiah died on the tree.

The one fact that most sources support is that Messiah died on the 14th of Nisan at 3 PM.  However, there are those who insist that he died on the 15th, which is the first high day of unleavened bread. This cannot be correct because it would not have been permitted by the Jews.  It was totally against the Jewish tradition to execute criminals or have criminal proceedings on a high day. This is why the Pharisees hurried to remove the Messiah from the tree and place Him in the tomb before the first high day began at sunset, which would be the 15th of Nisan.

Messiah’s supper with his disciples occurred on our Tuesday evening, which was their evening of the fourteenth. This was the night before the Messiah would die, which coincided with the time the Levitical priests killed the Passover lambs in preparation for the Passover meal on the evening of the fifteenth.  Messiah would not have used unleavened bread.  The Greek scriptures consistently say, artos, which is the Greek word for bread, not unleavened bread. The Messiah ate a traditional pre-Passover meal with his disciples, which included leavened bread. (artos)   No unleavened bread was used that evening.  The Jews did not begin to remove leavening from their homes until the day portion of the fourteenth. According to tradition, this removal began after 11 AM.  It was after this removal that Messiah died, and not beforehand.  The bread Messiah gave to his disciples was legal and scriptural.  It was eaten outside of the Days of Unleavened Bread and before the leaven was required to be removed from their households.

This may be shocking to you. The Christian churches today celebrate an unscriptural communion with unleavened bread. However, this has not always been so.  The Greek Orthodox and Catholic churches for the first 900 years following the Messiah’s death used leavened bread. It was not until 1054 CE that the Catholic Church demanded the use of unleavened bread and coerced the Orthodox churches to submit to their new teaching.

We are able to trace the correct observance of Messiah’s supper as well as the Jewish Passover back to a group that was called the Quartodecimans, by the Latin or Catholic Church. This name was given to them because they celebrated the Passover on the 14th to commemorate that day as the death of Messiah.

They began their count of seven days from the date of the 14th until the 20th.

The Jews kept Passover to commemorate the Exodus for seven days from the 15th to the 21st day.

It is of note that the historian, Philip Shaff, in his history of the Christian church included a reference to a visit between Polycarp, leader of the eastern or Asiatic assemblies, and Anicetus, a leader of the Catholic or western churches in Rome.

Rome was teaching the celebration of Easter which was calculated differently than the scriptural Passover. Polycarp disagreed with this significant deviation of what was “once delivered unto the saints.” They were able to agree to disagree without bloodshed. The pressure from Rome would continue for several hundred years, but at least Polycarp kept the Asian assemblies free from this false doctrine for a period of time.

Who was this Polycarp?  He was a disciple of the apostle John, who had observed Passover under John’s guidance. This apostle was there the night of Messiah’s dinner before he was betrayed and witnessed the execution of the Messiah. John was the disciple loved by Messiah and whom he chose to be responsible for his mother. At the time of his death at the approximate age of 100, he resided in Ephesus. He had been the source of scriptural teaching in the east.

It is interesting that Polycarp was involved in the controversy between Passover and Easter. However, no discussion was recorded regarding what type of bread was used by Messiah on the night of the fourteenth. The early assemblies and churches used leavened bread for several hundred years.  They were able to successfully do this because the meal they celebrated was not the Jew’s Passover, nor was it within the Days of Unleavened Bread.

It was within the Days of Unleavened Bread that the wave sheaf offering was presented. This occurred on the morrow after the weekday Sabbath within the days of unleavened bread. It was on this day that the count towards Shavuoth began. The 50th day or Pentecost was also known as the feast of the firstfruits. This is the day that the Spirit of Yahweh fell on the disciples and thousands of others on the day of Pentecost.

It is interesting that the offering of two loaves during Shavuoth, or Pentecost, was of leavened bread. In Leviticus 23:20, these two loaves of leavened bread were called “the bread of the first fruits.” This is the same kind of bread Messiah used when he introduced the emblems for the new covenant Passover on the night he was betrayed.

Messiah gave the same leavened bread to his disciples who would be the firstfruits of the new covenant. Messiah himself was the firstfruit, as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15: 20, 23.  By using leavened bread instead of unleavened, Messiah was revealing the significant difference between that meal and the Passover of the Jews.  He was foretelling the creation of the firstfruits with the celebration of Pentecost after his resurrection.  He was alerting us to a new event, which was coming at Pentecost:  the beginning of a new creation, the firstfruits.

James tells us we are a kind of firstfruits.  (James 1:18)  The firstfruits are the same people as those called saints. In Revelation 14, we are introduced to 144,000 firstfruits that stand with Messiah on Mount Zion.  

The new covenant Passover is when leavened bread is first introduced as a symbol for His body. Messiah told us in John 6:56 that we must eat his flesh (the bread) for him to dwell in us. The correct type of bread is consistent with the two leavened loaves offered at the feast of firstfruits. We must continue to remember him with the correct emblems or symbols. The correct symbols are leavened bread and the fruit of the vine, and not wine.

To correctly keep the new covenant Passover, you must be circumcised. Circumcision was also a requirement for the first Passover; however, the new covenant circumcision is of the heart, not of the flesh. This circumcision is without hands. (Colossians 2: 11)  You must be baptized to partake of this event worthily. (1 Corinthians 11:27)

We, of the Light of YahwehShua, baptize only in the inherited name of Messiah, YahwehShua, which is the name of life. That name provides us with the down payment of Yahweh’s spirit.  This spirit brings with it the seed of the Spirit of Messiah. This seed of Messiah spreads through us over time, just as leavening spreads through dough. Leavening is not sin of itself. Leavening is an influence that brings about change, positive or negative. In Matthew 13:33, we see the positive influence of leaven. Similarly, the Spirit of Messiah infuses the body of the firstfruits and prepares them for the better resurrection.

Now is the time to prepare for the new covenant Passover. Passover is at the end of April this spring. The first step you must take is baptism.  For assistance, please contact our elders. Baptism is the first step, the narrow way, the path to the light. Join us and become the light of YahwehShua.

 If you wish to submit a question or comment, please email our Elder at john12e4567@gmail.com.  

THE NEW COVENANT PASSOVER GLOSSARY

1.     The exodus of the Israelites from Egypt begins with the Passover in Exodus 12.

A.   A lamb for each household selected on the tenth of that first month. (Nisan/Abib)

B.   That lamb is held until the fourteenth day, killed in the evening of that day, and eaten “in that night.” (Exodus 12:8)

C.    The Israelites are told to eat with loins girded, shoes on their feet, staff in their hands and in haste. Why?  They eat the night of the fourteenth, and the destroyer passes over the dwellings of the Israelites at midnight. They are to stay inside until it is time to depart. According to Numbers 33:3, they depart on the next day after the Passover, or on the fifteenth.

D.   All males who eat the Passover must be circumcised in the flesh. (Exodus 12:48) 

E.    This is the Passover of the Jews.  (John 6:4, 11:55)

2.    The Hebrew concept of a day is very different than the Roman concept, which we follow today. The Hebrew day begins in the evening at sunset and continues through the daylight portion until the sunset.

A.   The Roman concept of the day begins at 9 PM or midnight and continues through the next day.

B.   We are not used to thinking in terms of a day being from sunset to sunset. This is important to grasp for a full understanding of the timing of the Passover.

3.    The concept of between the evenings is introduced in Exodus 12:6. The English translation of the Hebrew is in the evening. The Hebrew is

Ben ha-arbayim.

A.   The Jewish Encyclopedia says this about ben ha-arbayim:

The time between the two evenings was considered to be after noon until nightfall.

B.   The period of the afternoon refers to the time that the sun begins to descend after the high noon. Anytime after the high noon the Passover lambs could be killed.

4.    The Passover season had not begun at the time of Messiah’s supper with his disciples on the night in which he was betrayed.

(Matthew 26:20; Mark 14:17; Luke 22:14; John 13:1)

A.   A very important understanding is that Messiah died on the tree as the Passover lambs were sacrificed at 3 PM (our time) during the daylight portion of the fourteenth.  The Pharisees did not want to defile the first high day of unleavened bread by leaving him on the tree so they hurried to remove him and placed him in a tomb. The first high day of unleavened bread began after sunset following his death, which was the fifteenth.

B.   The Jews did not begin to remove the leavening from their households until 11:00 AM and completed by noon the same day the lambs were sacrificed for Passover.

C.    The supper Messiah had with his disciples before his death was not part of the Jewish Passover observance. It was before the leavening was removed, before the killing of the lambs, and before the Days of Unleavened Bread even began.

D.   This meal would have been served with leavened bread. The Greek word used for the bread Messiah used on that night is always artos. (Strong’s 740).   The authors of the Scriptures could have used another Greek word for this bread if it had been anything else. That word could have been azymos (Strong’s 106), which means unleavened bread.  However, this Greek word is never used for the bread that was used that evening. The bread used during the days of unleavened bread, as recorded in the Greek, is azymos.  The Hebrew word for unleavened bread is matzah. (Strong’s 4682)  The bread Messiah gave to his disciples was artos.  (Strong’s 740)

5.    It is very important to understand that the concept of leaven being sin is not scriptural.  It is an invention of man.  The Talmud teaches that leaven is sin, but this is not found in the scriptures.

6.    It is important to understand what the bread of the firstfruits is, as well as the bread of affliction.  Please see an article on this topic on the website.  This false teaching that leaven is sin has obscured a correct understanding about the firstfruits and their becoming a new creation through the pervasive infusion of Messiah’s spirit. 

7.    The New Covenant Passover Service

A.   To participate you must be baptized in the name of YahwehShua.

B.   The observance is held after sunset at the beginning of the evening of the fourteenth of Abib or Nisan.  For 2018, it goes from sunset of 4/30 to sunset of 5/1 according to the Gregorian calendar.  Our corresponding night for Messiah’s supper was Tuesday evening.  He then died on Wednesday afternoon at 3:00 PM.  He was placed in the tomb before the beginning of the High Day and remained there three days and three nights (the sign of Jonah) until his resurrection just before sunset on the weekly Sabbath.  This is why Mary visited his empty tomb on the morning of the first day of the Hebrew week.  

C.    Our observance begins with a prayer.  Next, there is the footwashing. During the footwashing, read from John 13:1-17.  After the footwashing, we partake of the new emblems that Messiah introduced:  the leavened bread and the fruit of the vine (not wine, but juice). During the dispensing of the emblems, read from Matthew 26:26-29.  Next, we have prayer and sing a song of praise.  The service is then ended.  For the disciples, this was a joyous occasion because they did not understand what was about to happen to Messiah.  For us also, it is a time of joy and hope.  We have the opportunity to learn from the marital failures of the Israelites, to better prepare ourselves as the espoused bride of Messiah.  During the Days of Unleavened Bread, we better understand the affliction that began with the exodus from Egypt.

8.    The members of the Light of YahwehShua observe the Days of Unleavened Bread.  The leaven is removed by noon of the 14th and we eat unleavened bread for seven days from the 15th to the 21st.  Just as there is a Passover of the Jews, the Days of Unleavened Bread were kept by the Jews to commemorate their release from bondage in Egypt.  However, we observe these days for a different reason.  The bread eaten during this period is known as the bread of affliction.  (Deuteronomy 16:3)

What does this affliction refer to?  It was the affliction that the Messiah endured during his first marriages.  His first wives, the northern kingdom (Samaria) and the southern Kingdom (Jerusalem/Judah) betrayed Messiah and broke their marriage vows.  (Exodus 19)  They disobeyed the marriage covenant, which was confirmed on Mt. Sinai.  Yahweh (Messiah, or the Son) divorced the northern kingdom, but remained married to the southern kingdom. It was Judah that killed her husband.  With his death, the marriage covenant was terminated.  We of the new covenant have much to learn from the affliction that Messiah endured.  The disobedience of the old covenant can teach us about the dangers of disobedience in the new covenant.  There are serious consequences involved.  Please refer to Hebrews 10:26-27.  We have some important lessons to learn during these days.

If you wish to submit a comment or a question, please email our Elder at john12e4567@gmail.com. 

THE BREAD OF THE FIRSTFRUITS vs THE BREAD OF AFFLICTION

We are introduced to the bread of the firstfruits in Leviticus 23:17-20. Yahweh of Hosts, who is the Son, revealed that two loaves of leavened bread were to represent the firstfruits.  This bread was a new offering initiated during Shavuoth of the Old Covenant. The symbolism of this bread would eventually be fulfilled during Pentecost (Greek) or in Hebrew, Shavuoth, of the New Covenant.

What is the bread of affliction? This was the description of unleavened bread given to Moses in Deuteronomy 16:3. Moses was told this:

Thou shalt eat no unleavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, (even) the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste; that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.

Physical Israel that was rescued from oppression in Egypt would eventually become the wife of Yahweh’s son at Mount Sinai. (Isaiah 54: 5)  Yahweh gives Moses his proposal to the nation of Israel in Exodus 19: 3-7. The Israelites accepted his proposal in verse 8. The marriage covenant at Mount Sinai was confirmed by a marriage supper described in Exodus 24:11. Representatives of all physical Israel attended this supper. (Exodus 24:9)

The representation of the marital relationship between Yahweh and the nation of Israel is done with unleavened bread. It was initiated during Passover because this was when Messiah, Yahweh of Hosts, passed over Israel and killed the first-born Egyptians.  The first-born of Israel were saved on this night.

The first-born Egyptians had to die to free the first-born Israelites from the affliction of Israel. Lambs were sacrificed at Passover as a representation of the Lamb of Yahweh, who would be sacrificed by his wife to end the marriage covenant.  The end of this marriage covenant would allow for the beginning of a new marriage covenant.

The bread of affliction is a reminder of the marriage that went wrong. Israel’s husband killed the first-born Egyptians to secure the freedom of his future wife, the Israelite nation, from their affliction. The unleavened bread is also a reminder of the affliction Messiah would suffer as a result of this marriage.

Just as Messiah, the Son of Yahweh, would initiate unleavened bread as a symbol for his first marriage, he would initiate leavened bread as a symbol of the new marriage. The two loaves of leavened bread were a prophecy of what would happen on the day of Pentecost, following the Messiah’s death.

The Spirit of Yahweh came upon the disciples and thousands of others at Pentecost, as revealed in Acts 2. Yahweh’s Spirit was freely given to thousands of firstfruits and would result in the down payment of the seed of Messiah’s Spirit.  This seed of Messiah’s spirit would develop over time. Paul describes this process in Galatians 4:19:  “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Messiah be formed in you.”

In Revelation 2 and 3, John tells the seven assemblies that they must overcome to receive the promises that are offered to the firstfruits. The full development of the Spirit of Messiah is required for the baptized to be eligible for the resurrection when Messiah returns, and that baptism must be in the name of YahwehShua.

Paul informs us in 2 Corinthians 11:2 that the firstfruits are espoused to Messiah as a chaste virgin.  Paul is indicating that the marriage has not yet occurred. This relationship between Messiah and the firstfruits will be confirmed by the marriage supper after the resurrection.

The meal attended by Messiah and his disciples before his death was not an old covenant Passover. It was a new covenant Passover.  The old covenant Passover required unleavened bread. That type of bread symbolized the old marriage covenant and was considered the bread of affliction. This reference to affliction relates to the oppression of the Israelites, the death of the Egyptians, a difficult marriage and the eventual death of Messiah.

Out of that disastrous marriage with the nation of Israel will come a new marriage.  The symbol for this new marriage is leavened bread. The unleavened bread of affliction does not have much flavor and is in reality “dead bread”. The leavened loaves of Pentecost are infused with a bubbling, lively force of fermentation, which allows for the raising of the bread. This is a symbol of the raising of Messiah and the firstfruits from death.

Remember, that Messiah said he was, “the bread of life.” (John 6:48)   Messiah has life in him. He is the bread that has been raised (fermented) by the Spirit of his Father, Yahweh. (In the same way as leaven.)  Yahweh will also raise the firstfruits, the bride of Messiah. The firstfruits are the 144,000 saints, introduced to us in Revelation 14, and are symbolized by the bread of the firstfruits.

This coming Passover will be celebrated with a deeper understanding of who the firstfruits are and how the bread given to the disciples was leavened, and not unleavened. The meal Messiah had with his disciples the night before he died was outside of the days of the old covenant Days of Unleavened Bread. The unleavened bread represents a former marriage covenant that ended with the death of the husband. The leavened bread represents the resurrected body of Messiah, as well as his saints or firstfruits.  Eleven of the twelve disciples who were at that dinner that night were to become firstfruits on the Pentecost after his resurrection.

From that day forward until his return only 144,000 saints or firstfruits are created. Yes, the firstfruits are a new creation that is in process, but not yet completed. (2 Corinthians 5: 17) All the firstfruits will be resurrected when Messiah returns. They will reign with Messiah for 1000 years, judge a resurrected mankind, as well as angels, on the Last Great Day, and will “ follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.” (Revelation 12: 4)

The old covenant Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread are reminders of the time of affliction. But out of that affliction a new covenant and a new creation is born.

John gives the firstfruits a joyous message that must be remembered when we eat the leavened bread and drink the fruit of the vine:  “Beloved, now are we the sons of Yahweh, and it does not yet appear what we shall be:  but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

As Eve was created out of Adam (Genesis 3:22), the firstfruits are created from the Spirit of Messiah. Eve became the wife of Adam. The firstfruits are espoused to Messiah.

The marriage of Adam and Eve led to affliction. Messiah’s marriage with Israel was one of affliction.  The outcome of this afflicted marriage was the death of the husband at the hands of the wife.

The new covenant is represented by the bread of life, rather than the bread of affliction. Messiah has chosen those who will receive his life and become his bride.

The new covenant Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread are days of celebration and joy for the firstfruits. The old covenant Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread are a somber reminder of what the husband of the firstfruits had to endure to create his bride.

 If you wish to submit a question or comment, please email our Elder at john12e4567@gmail.com.