Tag Archives: Passover

Stubborn As Mule

11 Wednesday Dec 2019

Posted by in Poetry

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I composed this poem on December 8, 2019, after seeing so many Christmas postings in my Facebook newsfeed that professed Christians posted. It is hard to believe that – in this twenty-first century – so many who declare they are Christians are still kicking against the goads (are still refusing to hear YeHoVah’s Voice about not following/not keeping the traditions of men). They have closed their souls and their ears to His Truth – choosing to be unfaithful to His Will and His Ways. Perhaps the real problem is that they are Christians instead of Netzarim (faithful servants/disciples/saints of Yeshua).

By stubbornly refusing to obey YeHoVaH, Christmas celebrators and believers are driving their individual goad in deeper and deeper. Choosing to be unfaithful to YeHoVaH’s Divine Truth, by rejecting the Holy Spirit’s teaching/revealing, causes the necessary pain that comes from His Discipline, which eventually will happen to them, if it hasn’t already begun. Selah . . . .

Why would you be so stubborn as to close your hearts and your ears to me? You are always opposing the Holy Spirit, just like your forefathers! – Acts 7:51, TPT

Yeshua Never Died on a Good or a Black Friday

01 Sunday Dec 2019

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31 It was the day of preparation, and the Jewish leaders didn’t want the bodies hanging there the next day, which was the Sabbath (and a very special Sabbath, because it was Passover week). So they asked Pilate to hasten their deaths by ordering that their legs be broken. Then their bodies could be taken down. – John 19:31, NLT

In this blog article, I am doing what all saints of Yeshua should do. I am setting the record straight about the Black Friday graphic with Yeshua on the cross flanked by two criminals. Many versions of this graphic have been posted for years on Facebook, but, sadly, they all have been posted not only to confirm Yeshua died on a Good Friday but also to confirm that that Good Friday was a black Friday. The truth is that Yeshua never died on any Friday – neither good nor black or otherwise.

To start with, there were three days of preparation during the so-called Holy Week Yeshua was crucified. The one mentioned in the above Scripture was not on Friday – at least not the week Yeshua died.

During the Holy Week, there were two Sabbaths – a High Holy Sabbath and a regular Saturday Sabbath. The Jews prepared for both of these Sabbaths on the days before they took place.

Moreover, the  13th of Nisan – Tuesday – has been called the “preparation day” for the Passover, which included Passover and Unleavened Bread. On Nisan 13, all leaven was removed out of the Hebrews’ homes.

On this 13th day of Nisan, Yeshua had His Disciples prepare for His Passover meal. Yeshua’s Seder meal actually would be eaten after 6:00pm, which would be the beginning of Nisan 14 since, once again, a Jewish day has always been from sunset (evening) to sunset (evening).

Likewise, the 14th day of Nisan – Wednesday – has always been the day of Passover since the Israelites came out of Egypt. They also have always been allowed to work on this day.

During the week Yeshua died, Nisan 14 (Passover) also was the day that the Jewish religious leaders had the Temple’s guards drag Yeshua in front of Pilate’s (the Roman governor’s) residence around 6:00am (see Matthew 27:1-2; John 18:28-29). Additionally, it was on Passover, from noon (the sixth hour) until three in the afternoon (the ninth hour) that Yeshua was crucified. During these hours, darkness came over all the land. Lastly, it was on Passover that the Jewish people in Yeshua’s day prepared for the next day’s High Sabbath.

Yeshua hung on the cross until right before the 15th of Nisan – Thursday – was about to begin. Nisan 15 has always been the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Yeshua was removed from the cross and then placed in a borrowed tomb right at the start of Nisan 15 – a day that otherwise would be very uneventful, except for the holy convocation.

The 16th day of Nisan – Friday – was called “the morrow after” the Sabbath (the day after Nisan 15th’s High Holy Sabbath). Nisan 16 was the day on which the firstfruits of the barley harvest were cut and bundled. During the week Yeshua died, Nisan 16 also was the day of preparation for the regular Saturday Sabbath.

The 17th day of Nisan – Saturday – in the year Yeshua was crucified was the regular 7th-day Sabbath. At the start of this day, Yeshua had been in the grave two nights and two days. By the start of Nisan 18 – Sunday, the first day of the week – Yeshua had fulfilled His prophesied three days and three nights in the grave. His resurrection also made Him the first fruits of the dead, because He rose on the day of First Fruits when the cut barley sheaves were waved before YeHoVaH.

Yeshua rose from the dead right when Sunday evening started. Sunday was the Day of First Fruits. Remember, a Jewish day is from sunset (evening) to sunset (evening). Without a doubt, the above timeline is consistent with Yeshua’s words that He would be dead and in the grave for three days and three nights.

Shalom . . . . .

Christ’s Saints Are Barley Overcomers – Christ’s Carnal Believers Are Tribulation Wheat

02 Tuesday Jul 2019

Posted by in Bible Prophecy

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The Master himself will give the command. Archangel thunder! God’s trumpet blast! He’ll come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise—they’ll go first. Then the rest of us who are still alive at the time will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master. Oh, we’ll be walking on air! And then there will be one huge family reunion with the Master. So reassure one another with these words. – 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, MSG

…To the one who overcomes I will give access to feast on the fruit of the Tree of Life that is found in the paradise of God. – Revelation 2:7, TPT

…To everyone who is victorious I will let him feast on the hidden manna and give him a shining white stone. And written upon the white stone is inscribed his new name, known only to the one who receives it. – Revelation 2:17, TPT

To everyone who is victorious and continues to do my works to the very end I will give you authority over the nations – Revelation 2:26, TPT

And the one who experiences victory will be dressed in white robes and I will never, no never erase your name from the Book of Life. I will acknowledge your name before my Father and his angels. – Revelation 3:5, TPT

For the one who is victorious, I will make you to be a pillar in the sanctuary of my God, permanently secure. I will write on you the name of my God and the name of the city of my God—the New Jerusalem, descending from my God out of heaven. And I’ll write my own name on you. – Revelation 3:12, TPT

And to the one who conquers I will give the privilege of sitting with me on my throne, just as I conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. – Revelation 3:21, TPT

The Bride of Christ (the collective Body of His Saints) is the prophesied Barley Harvest of Overcomers (Victorious Conquerors) – the glorified firstfruits who are raptured before the Tribulation Period begins.

The Non-overcoming Carnal Believers are the Tribulation Period’s Wheat because they resemble Tares. These Wheat believers are the ones who have not cooperated with the Holy Spirit’s sanctification process (have not allowed Him to gradually change them into the image of Christ).

Prophetically speaking, the Barley Harvest represents the first of God’s three end-time Harvests and, thus, part of the first resurrection. The Scripture refers to these saints as “overcomers.” Additionally, God’s first three feast days – Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits – spiritually represent the three stages of salvation: 1. justification (Passover), 2. sanctification (Unleavened Bread), and 3. glorification (First Fruits). Just as Jesus Christ was the first holy and saintly Barley Harvest Overcomer to be resurrected from the dead as the Barley First Fruits of the greater Barley Harvest to come, the Bride of Christ also represents the rest of the holy and saintly Barley Harvest of Overcomers.

It is written that only Christ’s holy and saintly overcomers – the spiritually mature believes who are transformed into the image of Christ – will either be resurrected from the dead as part of the first resurrection or raptured alive BOTH happening during the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. These are the saints who will rule and reign on the earth during Jesus Christ’s millennial reign. Please note that no matter if God is speaking literally or figuratively, it also is written that the Barley Overcomers (symbolizing the barley grain that always is planted AFTER the Wheat) is always harvested before the Wheat.

The natural (physical) and spiritual orders of the grain harvests are why the Wheat Harvest represents “carnal believers who today are mostly ‘Christian’ churchgoers.” These carnal believers are the end-time gathered Gentile nations. Indeed, Christ’s Gospels’ description of the gathered nations is a picture of God’s Wheat Harvest (see Matthew 25:32, Mark 13:27). It is written that all nations will come to know the Lord and serve Him.

This second harvest speaks of those believers who were justified by faith, but either they did not go through or did not submit to the Holy Spirit’s sanctification process. Many of these carnal believers will also be first resurrection believers, but just barely. They will be saved but have the smell of smoke on them. Furthermore, the alive end-time Wheat (carnal) believers will need to be shifted like wheat in order to become fully sanctified so that they can wear God’s Divine Nature and Character (be glorified). Unfortunately, they will be the beheaded Tribulation martyrs.

Carnal believers who are Wheat still have some rebellion or lawlessness in their lives that must be purged by the Fire of God (the Holy Spirit). The only way for this purging to happen is for this Wheat to be exposed to the Antichrist’s wrath during the prophesied end-time Tribulation. The believers who are part of the Wheat Harvest will be brought forth in the second resurrection (Tribulation Period’s Rapture) to be glorified “ yet so as through fire.” The apostle Paul writes:

Remember, there is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ. Take particular care in picking out your building materials. Eventually there is going to be an inspection. If you use cheap or inferior materials, you’ll be found out. The inspection will be thorough and rigorous. You won’t get by with a thing. If your work passes inspection, fine; if it doesn’t, your part of the building will be torn out and started over. But you won’t be torn out; you’ll survive—but just barely. – 1 Corinthians 3:11-15, MSG

If Christ’s believers are not saintly overcomers – victorious over the flesh, the world, and the devil  –  they are not Christ’s Barley Bride. It is only with the aid of the Holy Spirit that saints who become overcomers are able to control their flesh, conquer the corrupt world systems, and defeat God’s enemy the Devil. Selah (pause and calmly think about that)!

NOTE: God established that three of His seven commanded appointed times (feast days) would be associated with two different grain harvests and one fruit of the vine harvest that took place annually in Israel. The barley grain ripens first around the time of First Fruits, the wheat grain ripens later around the time of Pentecost, and the grapes from the vine ripen last just prior to the feast of Tabernacles. Moreover, God established that these three crops (barley, wheat, and grapes) would also depict, spiritually speaking, three classes of people. The Barley represents the holy and saintly overcomers, the Wheat represents the carnal believers, and the Grapes mostly represent the unsaved unbelievers.

Traditions of Men

01 Sunday Apr 2018

Posted by in Bible Study, Spiritual

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Traditions Of Men

 

 

 

Jesus replied, “You are frauds and hypocrites! How accurately did Isaiah prophesy about you phonies when he said:

‘These people honor me with their words
while their hearts run far away from me!
Their worship is nothing more than a charade!
For they continue to insist
that their man-made traditions
are equal to the instructions of God.’

 “You abandon God’s commandments just to keep men’s rituals, such as ceremonially washing utensils, cups, and other things.”

Then he added, “How skillful you’ve become in rejecting God’s law in order to maintain your man-made set of rules. For example, Moses taught us:

‘Honor your father and your mother,’
and,
‘Whoever insults or mistreats his father or
mother must be put to death.’

“But your made-up rules allow a person to say to his parents, ‘I’ve decided to take the support you were counting on from me and make it my holy offering to God, and that will be your blessing instead.’ How convenient! The rules you teach exempt him from providing for his aged parents. Do you really think God will honor your traditions passed down to others, making up these rules that nullify God’s Word? And you’re doing many other things like that.” ~ Mark 7:6-13, TPT

 

Long before the time of Jesus, the Jewish religious leaders frequently added to the Law of Moses their own traditions—the traditions of men—that were their rules they made everyone follow. The reason they added their traditions was because these religious leaders wanted to make the Word of God more convenient to themselves. They also wanted to control the entire Jewish population—to control Israel—and they wanted to take the place of God.

Over the course of time, mostly after the Roman Empire destroyed the Jewish Temple in 70 AD, as well as after the deaths of Jesus Christ’s apostles, the Roman believers in Christ developed their own highly sophisticated theology and organizational structure that was controlled by the papacy. The papacy was nothing like the Ekklesia that began on the Day of Pentecost, which was right after Jesus Christ’s Ascension Day that happened forty days after His Resurrection.

By the way, Jesus Christ was raptured twice. He first was raptured on the Day of First Fruits, when He rose from the grave and then secretly went to Heaven where He was presented before Father God who accepted His Son as the firstfruits of the resurrected dead. Secondly, Jesus Christ was raptured when He ascended to Heaven right in front of His original disciples.

Now, although the Roman Catholic Church has claimed that it is the Church Christ died for, according to the New Testament, the real truth is that the Roman Catholic Church’s beginning was not based on the teachings of Jesus Christ or His original disciples who became apostles. Indeed, for the first 280 years after Jesus Christ established His Ekklesia on the day of Pentecost, the Roman Empire banned believers in Christ and His teachings.

In fact, it wasn’t until after the Roman Emperor Constantine’s alleged “conversion” that the Roman Catholic Church made “Christianity” the ONLY religion of the Roman Empire. As a result, the Roman Empire stopped persecuting and crucifying believers in Christ around 313 AD.

However, even though the Roman Catholic Church has claimed it is the Church Jesus Christ established, nowhere in the New Testament are there any mentions of a papacy; the confession of sin to a Catholic priest for his absolution; the immaculate conception of Mary, the mother of Jesus; the worship of Mary, the mother of Jesus; purgatory; infant baptisms; the petitioning of saints in Heaven for their prayers; calling priests “fathers”; the rosary and its string of prayer beads; Lent; and so many more of the Roman Catholic Church’s traditions of men.

Like the Jewish religious leaders who added their own traditions to the Law of Moses, the Roman Catholic Church added its own traditions to the teachings of Jesus Christ and His disciples—to the New Testament. The Roman Catholic Church did this because it wanted to make the Word of God more convenient to its papacy and the religious leaders under the Pope, and it wanted to combine and control the “Christian” and pagan populations. Moreover, the Roman Catholic Church’s early religious leaders wanted to control the world, to take the place of God, and to give absolute POWER to the Roman Catholic Church. Indeed, even the Roman Catholic Church’s history confirms that many Popes, Bishops, and other religious leaders were wicked, power hungry, and greedy for monetary gain. This description also applies to many of the Jewish High Priests, Pharisees, and Sadducees.

Most important, because the Roman Empire was massive, sprawling, and diverse, the Roman Catholic Church’s religious leaders not only wanted to distance themselves from the Jewish communities that were still celebrating God’s appointed seven annual feasts but also these religious leaders wanted to absorb the pagan feasts, beliefs, and rituals of their non-Christian citizens—feasts, beliefs, and rituals the Roman Emperor Constantine also continued to practice. Thus, the Roman Catholic Church’s religious leaders at the time of Emperor Constantine wanted to absorb the existing paganism so that these religious leaders could get all Roman citizens to embrace the Roman Catholic Church’s religious brand—“Christianity.”

Long story short, it is the Roman Catholic Church’s traditions of men that became the law and the customs the entire Empire had to follow as soon as said religious leaders during Emperor Constantine’s reign “Christianized” their existing pagan rituals and feasts. These traditions of men became the law and customs that most of the world, Protestant believers included, still follow today. A few of these traditions of men are the celebration of Christ’s birth (the annual Christmas holiday), the celebration of Good Friday (the annual celebration of Christ’s death), and the celebration of Easter (the annual celebration of Christ’s resurrection).

The uncomfortable truth is that there is nowhere in the entire Word of God—the Old and the New Testaments—that Father God instructs His Children to celebrate His Son’s birth. Christmas, therefore, is not an annual God-appointed feast day. It is just one of the many pagan feast days and rituals that the Roman Catholic Church absorbed and Christianized.

Likewise, there is nowhere in the entire Word of God that Good Friday is presented as a God-appointed feast (annual holiday). Good Friday is the Roman Catholic Church religious leaders’ attempt at getting rid of Passover—the annual God-appointed feast day that is in the Word of God. Passover is the day of preparation for the Jewish High Sabbath (a sacred day), and Passover is the day the Roman soldiers crucified the Messiah on the Cross.

Then too, there is nowhere in the entire Word of God that Easter is presented as a God-appointed feast (annual holiday). Easter, however, is the Roman Catholic Church religious leaders’ additional attempt at getting rid of Passover, which they did by making Easter fall on the first Sunday after the first full moon that occurred on or after the spring or vernal equinox. These same religious leaders also changed Passover’s name to Good Friday, changed First Fruits’ name to Easter, changed Passover’s significance—Jesus Christ’s crucifixion day—and changed First Fruits’ significance, which was Jesus Christ’s resurrection day. By changing Passover and First Fruits’ dates, names, and significances, the Roman Catholic Church’s religious leaders were able to get rid of three Jewish feasts—Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits. These were Jewish Feast days that many of the Roman Catholic Church’s “Christians” were observing. Having Roman Catholic “Christians” who also celebrated these Jewish Feasts days was causing a big problem in the Empire. Even so, the truths these early Roman Catholic Church religious leaders tried to bury were the Holy Bible’s annual God-appointed feast days of Passover and First Fruits, which were the days when Jesus Christ died and rose from the grave—not Good Friday and Easter.

The bottom line is as follows: If the Roman Catholic Church started with Jesus Christ and His disciples it certainly has done everything in its power to change or remove the Lord and His disciples’ teachings by either altering or replacing them all together with their own traditions of men, all for their own convenience. Out of their own disdain for the Jewish festivals’ traditions that line up with the entire Word of God, and because of their own life of compromise—mixing Christianized pagan feasts and rituals with their “Christianity”—the early Roman Catholic Church’s religious leaders ended up leaving behind an unholy legacy.

Tragically, today’s believers in Christ have inherited from these early Roman religious leaders the same life of compromise and the same disdain for God’s appointed seven annual feast days that begin with Passover and end with Tabernacles. Consequently, way too many of today’s believers in Christ—Roman Catholics and Protestants—still religiously celebrate Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter. They do so as believers in Christ who are ignorant of the following fact: By continuing to celebrate these nonbiblical feasts, they are saying that the Roman Catholic Church’s attempt to change Father God’s prophetic calendar was ordained by God when it wasn’t.

It is evident that Father God foresaw this unfortunate example of the blind leading the blind—not only in the Roman Catholic Church’s celebrations of the wrong feasts but also in ALL the Hebrew and Roman religious leaders’ other traditions of men that have been added to the Word of God. Sadly, every followed tradition of men is why so many believers in Christ who will be living right before the Tribulation Period begins will be so unprepared and unalert that they—carnal believers and natural men and women (unbelievers – Jews and Gentiles)—will miss the Rapture and end up suffering during the Tribulation Period.

May the Lord help them see the errors of their ways before it is too late. Amen.

April 6, 2012: Good Friday vs. Passover

06 Friday Apr 2012

Posted by in Bible Study

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Jacopo Tintoretto’s The Crucifixion of Christ

These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, the holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight, is the Lord’s Passover. 

And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. But you shall present a food offering to the Lord for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work.

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.’ ~ Leviticus 23:1-11, ESV; the underlining is this blogger’s emphasis

 

Despite the fact that America’s Good Friday (2012) falls on April 6th and Passover falls on April 7th, the first day of the Jewish first month (Abib/Nisan) traditionally has been the first day of the Jewish religious or festival year. This day, biblically speaking, is Abib/Nisan 14th, and this day is better known as the Passover Feast, which usually isn’t celebrated on a Sabbath. However, to be absolutely accurate, Passover could fall on any day of the week!

Furthermore, the Passover Feast, like all ancient Jewish festivals, always begins the evening before the date that it appears on American calendars. For example, as previously mentioned, American calendars note that Passover starts on April 7, 2012, so that would mean that, if this Passover were in keeping with the biblical Passover Feast, then it would begin on the evening of April 6, 2012, because a Jewish day traditionally has been from sunset to sunset (twilight to twilight). Then too, if this Passover were like the ancient Passover Feast, then it also would begin with the customary Jewish family dinner (the Passover Seder meal of lamb and unleavened bread, etc.).

Biblically and historically, the Passover Feast is both the meal and the ceremony (the commemoration of the biblical Israelites’ exodus or the time when they were freed from their slavery in Egypt). This Passover Feast immediately precedes the first annual Sabbath of seven annual Sabbaths (High Sabbaths) of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is celebrated on Abib/Nisan 15th. Then too, because the Passover Feast commemorates the Israelites’ exodus, this is the reason why no leavened bread is eaten during the week of Unleavened Bread.

Note: Feast of Unleavened Bread’s annual Sabbath is the first of seven annual Sabbaths or High Sabbaths, which are:

1.  The first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread
2.  The last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread
3.  The day of Pentecost (Shavuot) which coincides with the beginning of The Feast of Weeks
4.  The Day of Trumpets (Yom Teruah)
5.  The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)
6.  The first day of the Feast of Tabernacles (Succoth or Sukkot)
7.  The Last Great Day (8th day, also on Succoth or Sukkot)

Furthermore, biblically speaking, Jewish individuals, especially all Jewish men in their early 20s, and older, are commanded to keep the Passover from generation to generation, which means forever (cf. Exodus 12:14 ). This God-appointed time (Passover) is why Christ Jesus is in the God-appointed place (Jerusalem), during His Passion Week. The author of The Gospel According to Saint Luke writes:

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.’~ Luke 22:7-8, ESV

What needs to be noted here is that Passover includes the Passover Feast and the week of Unleavened Bread’s Feasts of Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits (cf. Exodus 12:14, 16-18; Exodus 13:6-8; Leviticus 23:1-11; Deuteronomy 16:3-8; and Numbers 28:16-18). Moreover, depending on which day of the week Passover actually falls on in the month of Abib/Nisan, the God-appointed mo’edim (times of the Passover Feast, Feast of Unleavened Bread, and Feast of Firstfruits) could spread over a 7-9 day period.

During this 7-9 day period is the week of Unleavened Bread, which actually begins on Abib/Nisan 15th.  Abib/Nisan 15th also is known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Once again, Abib/Nisan 15th also is the first annual Sabbath. For this reason, the first day of the week of Unleavened Bread is celebrated by having a sacred Sabbath assembly (a Holy Convocation). Likewise, the seventh day of the week of Unleavened Bread also is celebrated with a sacred Sabbath assembly (a Holy Convocation)—the second yearly Sabbath.

Lastly, the final festival that occurs in the first month of the Jewish religious or festival year (Abib/Nisan) is the Feast of Firstfruits. This feast is celebrated, per Leviticus 23:9-11, after the weekly Sabbath that comes after the first annual Sabbath or Feast of Unleavened Bread. However, God is not saying that the Feast of Firstfruits always takes place on Abib/Nisan 16th. For sure, regardless of which days of the month of Abib/Nisan the Passover and Unleavened Bread Feasts fall on, the Feast of Firstfruits always was meant to fall on the day after the weekly Sabbath (Saturday rest day). In  other words, the Feast of Firstfruits always was meant to fall on the first day of the week or Sunday! 

For the record, a sacred annual Sabbath or High Sabbath, like all Sabbath days, is from sunset to sunset. However, unlike the weekly Sabbath days, the sacred yearly Sabbath is a memorial of God’s appointed time (mo’ed). In fact, the sacred yearly Sabbaths also are memorials of the great events scheduled on God’s Sacred Calendar, such as the prophetic dates fixed for the past fulfilled signs, as well as the prophetic dates fixed for the fulfillment of future signs. 

Then too, on every Sabbath, no matter if it is a yearly (High) or weekly (regular) Sabbath, there would not be any work, and work for the Jewish people would be sowing, plowing, reaping, binding sheaves, kneading, baking, cooking, slaughtering, and so forth (cf. Exodus 20:8-10). However, even though all Sabbaths are days of rest and spiritual enrichment, the sacred yearly or High Sabbath differs from the sacred weekly or regular Sabbath in that the sacred weekly or regular Sabbath always begins on Friday evenings around 6 p.m. and ends on Saturday evenings around 6 p.m. (from sunset to sunset). Additionally, the sacred weekly Sabbath is a memorial of God’s creation of the world. 

The point here is that Jesus the Christ did not die on Good Friday, because “the day of Preparation” mentioned in Mark 15:42, John 19:14 and 31 is the day before the yearly or High Sabbath. Now, traditionally, “the day of Preparation” for the Passover, which in the Hebrew language is called Erev Pesach (literally, Passover eve), begins on the evening of the Passover Feast, meaning it begins during the night hours of the Passover Feast. On Erev Pesach, Jewish people, in obedience to the biblical command and in order to prevent the accidental eating of leavened bread, would remove all leaven and leavened products from their homes (cf. Exodus 12:15).

This removal of leaven definitely had to be completed before the week of Unleavened Bread started, so by the evening of the Feast of Passover (Erev Pesach or Abib/Nisan 13th), the Jewish people had to have performed the Bedikat Chametz ritual, making sure to dispose of any remaining chametz (leaven). Only after this ritual had been completed could a Jewish home be considered chametz-free and ready for the Passover Feast and the week of Unleavened Bread.

It is important to note here that a Jewish hour occurring between sunset and sunrise is called a Jewish Night Hour. A Jewish hour occurring between sunrise and sunset is called a Jewish Day Hour.  Then again, as already mentioned, a Jewish day is from sunset to sunset (it begins at sunset on the night before the day listed on a Jewish calendar), which means a Jewish 24-hour day both ends AND begins at sunset, as well as means a Jewish holiday spans two days on the western or Gregorian calendar. For example, if Abib/Nisan 14th were listed as beginning at sunset on Thursday, then it actually would be observed after sundown on Abib/Nisan 13th (Wednesday) and during the daytime hours of Abib/Nisan 14th (Thursday).

Having said all that, it is time to look closer at Jesus the Christ’s Passion Week. During His Passion Week, “the day of Preparation” was the Passover Feast (Abib/Nisan 14th), which started during the Jewish night hours on Wednesday of the western or Gregorian calendar, and ended during Jewish day hours on Thursday of the western or Gregorian calendar. More important, it is at the 9th hour (3 p.m.) of “the day of Preparation”/Passover Feast (Abib/Nisan 14th) that Jesus died (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:7).

The point here is that Christ Jesus had to have stayed in the grave for at least 72 hours or three 12-hour nights and three 12-hour days (cf. Matthew 12:40). For this statement to be true, the Lord had to have been buried some time before the end of the Passover Feast’s day hours, which means He had to have been in the grave for at least 1 or two day hours, or more, before the end of Abib/Nisan 14th day hours (sunrise to sunset), and He had to have remained in the grave from the 12 night hours of Abib/Nisan 15th through the 12 day hours of Abib/Nisan 15th (the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which was/is a yearly Sabbath or High Sabbath); plus from the 12 night hours of Abib/Nisan 16th through the 12 day hours of Abib/Nisan 16th; plus from the 12 night hours of Abib/Nisan 17th through at least 10-11 day hours of Abib/Nisan 17th, which was a weekly Sabbath. These 3 days and three nights in the grave (72 hours) mean that it had to have been some time after sunrise on Abib/Nisan 18th (the first day of the week, Sunday, or the Firstfruits Feast; see Matthew 28:1 and/or Luke 24:1) yet way before sunset, that the Lord is resurrected. Remember, a whole Jewish day is from sunset to sunset! 

Concerning the Passover Feast (Abib/Nisan 14th) also being “the day of Preparation”), which is the day before the yearly or High Sabbath, the Scriptures prove this truth. Also, as mentioned earlier, the term Passover stands for both the Passover Feast day and the week of Unleavened Bread, as indicated in Mark 15:42 and John 19:14. Additionally, apostle John writes:

Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness— his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth— that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: ‘Not one of his bones will be broken.’ And again another Scripture says, ‘They will look on him whom they have pierced.’ ~ John 19:31-37, ESV

It is because the Lord died on the Passover Feast that Christ Jesus is now every born again and saved believer’s symbolic PASSOVER. He, indeed, fulfilled God’s prophetic event that pertains to the Lord becoming the sacrificial lamb Who would take away the sins of the world (cf. Isaiah 53:7; John 1:29, 36; Acts 8:32; 1 Corinthians 5:7; 1 Peter 1:19), and He did so on God’s appointed time (mo’ed) of the Passover Feast, which is Abib/Nisan 14th.

Furthermore, Jesus the Christ did not arise on Easter Sunday. He arose from the dead as soon as 3 FULL 12-hour nights (3 FULL periods of darkness), and 3 FULL 12-hour days (3 full periods of daylight) were completed. 

Once again, a Jewish day ALWAYS begins at sunset or evening, and a Jewish 24-hour day runs from sunset to sunset. Therefore, during the week of Christ Jesus’ Passion, the Lord arose some time after the 72-hours ended, which back then was on Abib/Nisan 17th. In other words, around sunrise, while it was still dark and, therefore, long before the daylight hours of the first day of the week (Sunday, or the day of Firstfruits, Abib/Nisan 18th), which during the Passion Week followed the weekly or regular Sabbath), Christ Jesus arose from the grave. The Scriptures support this truth, for apostle John writes about the Lord’s resurrection, saying:

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. ~ John 20:1-3, ESV

Now, for some believers, this truth will not matter, because they will continue to commemorate a Good Friday crucifixion and an Easter Sunday resurrection. However, for other believers, this truth will cause them to want to get it right. Thus, they will want to commemorate their Lord’s death on the correct day, which is the Passover Feast (Abib/Nisan 14th), and they will want to commemorate their Lord’s resurrection on the correct day, which is the Feast of Firstfruits (whatever day in Abib/Nisan that might be, since God never established Abib/Nisan 16th as a FIXED date for His Firstfruits Feast)!

Three Main Harvests Of Souls

20 Tuesday Mar 2012

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I will give you rains at the right season; the land will produce crops, and the trees of the field will produce their fruit. Your threshing will continue until the grape harvest, and your grape harvest will continue until it is time to plant. Then you will have plenty to eat and live safely in your land. ~ Leviticus 26:4-5, NCV

 

God can use a metaphor better than the most gifted writers. For example, He takes the Old Testament’s annual two grains and one fruit agricultural harvests and develops them into well-defined metaphors that describe the New Testament’s spiritual harvests of souls—those saved believers who enter into the Kingdom of God (see the rich harvest imagery in Matthew 9:36-38; John 4:35-36).

Now, in order to understand His metaphors, the three spiritual harvests of souls, believers first need to understand the significance of God’s three mandated major festivals that He situates within aforesaid agricultural harvests. The three agricultural-related mandated feasts that all Jewish men who, more than likely, are 20 years of age and older, had to attend are the Passover Feast, the Feast of Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles (cf. Exodus 23:14-17; Deuteronomy 16:16). Moreover, the two different grain harvests and the one fruit harvest that are compared to three spiritual harvests of souls are the Barley Harvest, Wheat Harvest, and Grapes Harvest—these harvest metaphors depict God’s harvest times as a time of opportunity in the here and now, and a time of  final judgment.

It is important to note here that every crop of grain and fruit will have firstfruits (the grain and fruit of every crop that ripens early), and every crop of grain and fruit will experience a time of separation. When the crop is ripe, it is harvested by separating the chaff or the refuse. Thus, mature barley goes through a time of separation or winnowing. Using a wooden fork or “fan,” winnowers throw the gathered barley against the wind so that the wind can separate the chaff (husk) from the grain. On the other hand, mature wheat goes through a time of separation or crushing/threshing. Using a tribulum, a wooden board with holes in it, or using a wooden sled, both of which oxen often pull, threshers stand or sit on the board or sled as it is drawn over the grain that is laying on the threshing floor, causing the grain to be separated from the husk (chaff) and straw.

Because barley and wheat still will have certain amounts of chaff, little stones, and/or some tares mixed in them, these grains must go through an additional time of separation or sifting (sieving). The sifters sit on the floor and shake the sieve, which contains the grain, until the chaff begins to appear on the top. Then the sifters blow away the chaff by using the power from their breath. Shifting, thus, is necessary before the grain can be ground into meal.

Lastly, the mature grapes also go through a time of separation or crushing (treading). Using a winepress, treaders crush the grapes until the grapes’ juice is separated from the grapes’ skins, which results in the pressed juice running into the vats.

Having said that, here, in a nutshell, are the three main spiritual Harvests of Souls:


FIRST HARVEST — BARLEY HARVEST (@FIRST FRUITS FEAST)

 

See ~ Ephesians 5:27; ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:23, NCV; ~ 2 Peter 3:14, NCV

 

The Barley Harvest represents the overcomers. These are the saints whose hearts are tender—the repentant on-fire believers, whose body, soul and spirit are without spot or blemish; completely sanctified unleavened lives driven by the Wind of the Holy Spirit. Like Christ Jesus, they too are Firstfruits; they are the Bride of Christ; they are the redeemed, resurrected, never-to-die again, glorified sons and daughters of God, and they are the FIRST PHASE of the spiritual Harvest of Souls who participate in the 1st resurrection. Furthermore, some of them will be the resurrected dead in Christ AND some will be the raptured alive in Christ (see 1 Corinthians 15:51- 54; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17).

More important, these overcomers have been winnowed, which means they did not need to be harvested by using a “TRIBULUM” (Latin word from which comes the English word, Tribulation). In other words, the Barley Harvest of Souls will NOT have to go through the seven-year TRIBULATION, of which the last 3½ years are going to be the time of great distress and great pressure that this world has never seen before, and will never see again.

 

SECOND HARVEST — WHEAT HARVEST (@FEAST OF PENTECOST)

 

See ~ Matthew 3:11-12; ~ Matthew 13:38-39; ~ Revelation 14:14-16, NCV

 

The Wheat Harvest represents all the rest of the believers—the left behind hardhearted and/or carnal believers who were not ready when the Bride of Christ was raptured. These believers must endure the seven-year Tribulation, and for them the Great Tribulation (the last 3½ years) is a judgment that can be compared to the most severe action of Wheat threshing that is done in order to make the Wheat easier to separate (easier to winnow) away from the chaff. The Wheat Harvest, thus, represents those believers who are asleep, in the spiritual sense (see Matthew 13:25). Furthermore, the Firstfruits of this Wheat Harvest will be the martyred (beheaded) saints who are the SECOND PHASE of the spiritual Harvest of Souls who participate in the 1st resurrection, and the remaining mature Wheat will be those surviving Tribulation saints—the left-behind believers who have been thoroughly purged; see Revelation 7:13-14).

Also mixed in with this left-behind Harvest of Wheat are many left behind evangelized unbelievers (Jews and Gentiles) who, during the seven-year Tribulation, finally will accept Jesus the Christ as their personal Savior! Together with the surviving Tribulation’s left-behind believers, these Tribulation converts will be those Tribulation survivors biblically described as “…a great multitude, which no man could number…” (Revelation 7:9).

 

THIRD HARVEST — GRAPES HARVEST (@FEAST OF TABERNACLES)

 

See ~ Revelation 14:17-20; ~ Revelation 19:15

 

The Grapes Harvest represents the unbelievers who, for the most part, will be part of the massive crop of unbelievers who are in the 2nd resurrection—those centuries of unbelievers who will be judged according to their works (see Revelation 20:11-13). Moreover, many of these Grapes are Tribulation unbelievers who have heard the Gospel but made a choice to not make the Gospel a part of their lives—they chose not to accept Jesus the Christ as their Lord and personal Savior. These Grapes, thus, are the Tribulation’s unspiritual Harvest of Souls who have been thrown in the great winepress of God’s wrath, which thoroughly extracts juice (life) from “crushed” Grapes  (see Revelation 14:19). Put differently, the Grapes and their seeds are UTTERLY and TOTALLY CRUSHED!

In contrast, the Firstfruits of the Grapes Harvest are the 144,000 last days’ redeemed unmarried translated/raptured Messianic Jews (see Revelation 14:3-4). These blameless, undefiled, and faithful followers of Jesus the Christ are the THIRD PHASE of the spiritual Harvest of Souls who participate in the 1st resurrection, because just like the alive Bride of Christ these 144,000 saints will be raptured (redeemed or resurrected; raised up) alive!   

Are you breathing? Then a word to the wise should be sufficient!!!

For detailed information, please read my blog entries: The Three Most Important Crops of Israel’s Seven Major Crops, and Jewish Menorah Mirrors 7 Feasts: Reflections Made On 2011’s Feast of Trumpets