Passover Origins:
Passover was first ordained by God during the series of plagues He brought to Egypt to free His people.
Speaking to Aaron and Moses, God informed why they were to observe Passover, how, when, the number of days, the benefits and blessings associated, and for how many generations it was to be enacted. In all this, God was clear on what our role was to be and what He in turn would do… and while only the first observance would be required to spare the firstborn of God’s people, God still desired its continued observance for our sakes; for all the remembrance, teaching, and blessings it brings.
“Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
“So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.”—Exodus 12:13-14
God spoke that Passover was to be a memorial to us, yet, further still, He said that we were to keep it throughout our generations. It was to be an EVERLASTING ordinance…
God is not a man that He should lie, He does not change—being the same yesterday, today, and forever—so, we are still to observe Passover, right?
Now, you might say, ‘Oh, that command was given to the Jews, not the Gentiles,’ and you would be right—yet, we are grafted in to the Jews. Jesus, our Messiah was a Jew; and further still, His life, death, and resurrection made one man from the two—Jew and Gentile—thus making peace.
So, while God gave us circumcision of the heart instead of the body and gave us His Blood so we might be forgiven for not keeping His laws fully—taking away its curse—He did not void His words.
“For I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.”—Malachi 3:6
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”—Hebrews 13:8
“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”—Numbers 23:19
If God Ordained Passover, Why was it Forbidden?
For hundreds of years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, Passover was celebrated by believing Jews and Gentiles. They would sit at the Passover table just as Jesus and His disciples did, only now Jew and Gentile did so together. A person’s ancestors mattered far less than a common faith in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit…
Jews could have the redemption of Jesus’ Blood; Gentiles the blessings of heritage that the Jews possessed. They were in one accord.
“Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh… aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
“For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation… so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace.”
—Ephesians 2:11-15
Yet, religious leaders who allowed ungodly spiritual influences to speak into and through them became envious of the Jews’ heritage, trying to hoard faith. Even Roman rulers who wanted obedience, quickly worked to alter the views of the Gentile half of the body, embracing the baseless ideals of religious leaders…
Many of whom wrote that it was the Jews who killed Jesus; that God was tired of Jews and brought in Gentiles to replace them; and even that Jews had no right to the Word because of their shortcomings!
These leaders ignored the fact that God does not change, and that many of His covenants have no method of breaching by either party—no way to remove one’s rights to the covenant—thus, God would not cast aside His promises to the Jews…
They even forgot that Jesus was a Jew, a Rabbi, and that He observed the “Old Testament” and “Jewish” holidays…
They wanted someone to blame for the death of Jesus while also creating for themselves a self-importance they could grow…
Thus, new rules and regulations not given by Jesus came, banning many things they considered too Jewish, and creating alternatives so that the transition for Gentile Believers might be easier.
Constantine—a Roman emperor who embraced a “type” of Christianity—also helped religious leaders and past politically motivated leaders to move Gentile Believers even further away from their Jewish roots…
Slowly the Sabbath moved from Friday/Saturday and on to Sunday. Sunday observance not only intended to separate Jews from Gentiles, but to ease these Gentile Believers into acceptance while hopefully converting other Roman citizens to the emperor’s newly favored religion. And since Sunday was already the day used to observe a Roman sun god, the transition was supposed to be simple…
With new laws and changes, Jewish and Gentile Believers were soon disallowed to even eat or fellowship with one another under threat of punishment or death—ignoring the Word in regard to fellowship.
And Passover?
Well, Passover was forbidden as well. Yet, in an effort to make the transition easier, Gentile Believers were “given” a new holiday to observe. Easter.
Now, Easter, like Sunday, was a day previously meant for another god—or in this case, most likely a goddess. Recycling days being far easier for both Believers and non-believers to adjust to…
Yet, Easter in particular was playing with fire as a base for a God-focused holiday.
It had been a spring festival focused on rebirth or fertility, likely in the form of one goddess; celebrating her…
And since it fell close to, or during, Passover, the timing was excellent as a “replacement.” Yet, they could have hardly chosen a more unholy day to alter…
Further still, not only did they disregard Passover in favor of Easter, they removed and added anything they desired. For instance, they added a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection, while alternatively taking away the Jewish heritage of Jesus in the established ordinance of the Passover Feast.
The Take-Away:
While celebrating the resurrection of Jesus in and of itself is a good thing, they added pagan mixture to it by their very choice of day. Further still, they took away the lessons, truths, and blessings of Passover.
They took away the nine blessings that come with Passover to bring us into alignment for the year.
They took away the fullness of communion that comes within Passover—Passover having four cups, not merely one.
They took away heritage and a portion of inheritance.
They not only took these things away from themselves, but from us; and we are only now getting them back, over 1,500 years later and nearly 2,000 since Jesus ascended into Heaven.
Yet, we ARE getting these things back! Slowly but surely many Believers around the world are learning about what was stolen, remembering their Jewish roots while realizing that as Believers we are not meant to become Jews—that is not why Jesus died and rose again—but that we are supposed to remember that we are grafted into the Jewish people. That ALL God’s Word is for us too…
Both Jew and Gentile are meant to become one from the two…
We are meant to find peace that way; to be strengthened by the blessings and knowledge of BOTH parts. Living our lives for HIM; our Messiah and King!
