Dear Family in the Messiah Yeshua! Greetings and blessings to you from your brothers and sisters at “Holy Land Ministries”, Israel!
We are already in the Jewish month of Nisan, getting ready to celebrate Pesach, one of the major and fundamental events in Jewish history.
The great Holiday of Pesach, (Passover), is ordained for the 15th-22nd of Nissan in the Jewish calendar, which this year falls at sundown on Friday, April 15, and ends at nightfall on April 23 by the Gregorian calendar.
One of the old Jewish practices of Pesach preparations is to thoroughly cleanse the home before the Feast, and especially to get rid of all the leaven in the house for the whole time of Pesach. “Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread.” Exodus 12: 20 NKJV.
Leaven is always a symbol of sin; and also “staying in Egypt” which, according to Jewish interpretation, is associated with being in bondage to sin; thus on a personal level the Exodus from Egypt, commemorated by Pesach observance, according to the Jewish mind, symbolizes one’s drastic breaking from the bondage of sin and getting ready for serving the G-d of Israel. So the season of Pesach is a time for “personal exodus”, inner cleansing and spiritual renewal for each of us, as we are entering into this special solemn season and preparing ourselves to serve our Messiah.
“Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Mashiach (Christ), our Passover, was sacrificed for us”.
1 Cor.5: 7 NKJV
As usual, we have asked our Jewish rabbi and brother in the Messiah Yeshua to share his thoughts and teaching on this major Biblical event of Pesach.
בס״ד
Passover Power
Recently, I spoke with a leader of a congregation who was not very familiar with Passover. He was the spiritual leader who was responsible for a few hundred people and I was going to be speaking at his congregation. The subject came up on what I would be sharing. I had been invited through a mutual friend and this leader graciously and kindly agreed to allow me to teach. When I responded that since Passover was approaching I was going to be teaching about this festival, I could tell that he was not very enthused. He even said to me, “Do you have something else that would be more relevant for the people?”
When I answered that Yeshua is our Passover Lamb according to Paul in 1 Corinthians 5:7, he said he knew this verse, but did not understand what Paul meant by this statement. Sadly, this Pastor is not alone. Many believers do not know the significant connection between Messiah’s work when He came the first time and the Spring Biblical Festivals. When I shared with him that Yeshua died on the Cross on preparation day, which is another term for Passover, I could tell that he started to become more interested. He remarked, “Perhaps it was for me that you were led to share about Passover.” After the two sessions from 2 Chronicles chapter 30, both he and his congregation were much more interested in Passover. What I would like to do in this article is to share a few of the points which I taught that evening.
Hebrew is a very special language and in 2 Chronicles chapter 30, King Hezekiah is mentioned in verse 1. However, his name is spelled differently יחזקיהו instead of חזקיהו , as an extra letter is added to the beginning of his name. This extra letter, the Hebrew yod, is a marking relating to the future tense. Therefore, his name change is to inform the reader that this chapter has implications for the future. One of the primary messages of this chapter is unity. King Hezekiah invited the Northern kingdom, called Israel, to come to His Southern kingdom, Judah, to celebrate Passover in Jerusalem. Such an invitation would have been quite controversial, as those in the Northern kingdom were taught to worship in their kingdom at either Dan or Beit El and that there was no need to go to Jerusalem. Nevertheless, King Hezekiah sent letters to all of Israel (both kingdoms) from Dan to Beer Sheva to come and do the Passover in Jerusalem. The reader is told that Passover had not been kept according to what is written in the Law of Moses for a very long time (See 2 Chronicles 30:5 כִּי לֹא לָרֹב עָשׂוּ כַּכָּתוּב). With this invitation to come to Jerusalem to observe the Passover properly, King Hezekiah instructed everyone to repent to the L-rd G-d of Avraham, Yitzach, and Israel.
Whenever the Patriarchs are mentioned in the Scriptures, the reader should understand that what made the Patriarchs pleasing to G-d and what caused them to act faithfully were the covenantal promises of G-d. In other words, King Hezekiah wanted the people to get right with the L-rd so that the promises of G-d would be experienced by them. It is most significant that the Assyrian Exile is mentioned and the fact that the people had been rebellious and prideful in the past. This is what caused all the desolation that the people were still experiencing even at this time (see 2 Chronicles 30:7).
What King Hezekiah was offering the people was a chance to experience a spiritual change in their situation and a removal of G-d’s anger and to become a recipient of His mercy (see 2 Chronicles 30:9).
The heralds went forth with the invitations to come to Jerusalem in order to keep the Passover and although initially there was mocking of such a thought, soon thereafter, people began to submit to the commandment of the king (see 2 Chronicles 30:11) אַךְ-אֲנָשִׁים מֵאָשֵׁר וּמְנַשֶּׁה וּמִזְּבֻלוּן נִכְנְעוּ וַיָּבֹאוּ לִירוּשָׁלִָם. It was as a result of this submissive act that G-d gave the people one heart to do the commandment of the king (see 2 Chronicles 30:12). Whereas at the end of verse 3, the people did not assemble in Jerusalem in the first month, now as a response of the king and the leaders in Jerusalem deciding to invite the people in the second month for the Second Passover (see Numbers 9:10-11), a great multitude עַם-רָב לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת-חַג הַמַּצּוֹת בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִי קָהָל לָרֹב מְאֹד came to Jerusalem to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This revival brought about spiritual renewal and the various places of idolatry which were in Judah were destroyed (see 2 Chronicles 30:14).
Many of the Priests and Levites were not prepared spiritually and were ceremonially unclean, but when they saw this great multitude, they sanctified themselves so they could serve and offer up the Passover sacrifices for the people. Those who had at first not taken part and were also ceremonially unclean wanted to participate, and although there was no time for them to sanctify themselves to make the Passover offering, they did so anyway. This was against the Law of Moses, but King Hezekiah prayed to G-d to forgive them and his prayer was received (see 2 Chronicles 30:18-20). What is finally emphasized in this chapter is the great joy that was experienced by the people because they obeyed the commandments of G-d. In fact, the joy and gladness was so great that all the congregation took counsel together and decided to celebrate the Festival an additional seven days, for a total of 14 days.
It is clear in the Scriptures that Israel is called to be a light to the nations and influence them spiritually to observe the word of G-d. It was as a result of the great joy that came from the Jewish people in doing the word of G-d that the reader is told that the Gentiles who were dwelling in Israel and Judah also responded and joined the great multitude and there was a great gladness in Jerusalem (see 2 Chronicles 30:25-26). The chapter ends with the Priests blessing the people (see 2 Chronicles 30:27).
It is important for the reader to understand the progression of events that took place in this chapter and realize that this does not have to be a onetime experience, but every time G-d’s people submit to His word there will be a mighty response from Him to the people. Although there is no Temple in Jerusalem to go to and observe the Passover and Yeshua, He is our true Passover sacrifice. There is still much wisdom in studying about the Feast of Unleavened Bread and all the instructions that surround this very important period. It is proper to sanctify Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread and worship G-d, acknowledging the message of this Biblical Holiday. One is not able to keep this Festival according to the letter of the Law of Moses today; but we, in the newness of the Spirit, can deepen our redemptive relationship with our G-d through remembering the Passover sacrifice that His Son became for us.
Dear friends, please continue to pray for the new disciples in our ministry as they are just at the beginning of their spiritual journey. At this stage, they are discovering for the first time in their lives the amazing reality of the Word of G-d and His Holy Commandments.
“As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious”. 1 Peter 2:2 NKJV
As we shared many times in our previous reports, many of these precious Jewish people, who came to Israel from the former Soviet Union have no background in Judaism or often any other religious experience or education.
These challenging circumstances do have some advantages also.
People who are not familiar with any other religious world except the Israeli community are learning the Biblical truths and concepts within this modern reality and thus are integrating much easier and becoming natural witnesses of the Messiah’s teaching to modern Israeli society.
Please pray with us, dear Family, that all these young believers will indeed become a powerful and effective testimony of our Messiah Yeshua to this present generation in Israel!
Please continue to pray for the work of our new ministry house in Beer Sheva. Besides the local needy, we, like many in Israel now, are receiving Ukrainian refugees. Thousands of them have come to Israel during the last month.
In connection with these events, please meet our new shelter guests from Ukraine: two sisters Zoe and Ludmila with their grandchildren Artem 14 years old, Ilya 11years old, and Maxim 9 years old. The fathers of these young children are serving in the Ukrainian army and their mothers are enrolled in the medical service there.
Since there are many immigrants in Israel who have come from the former Soviet Union over the last decades, (Ukraine, Belorussia, and other former Soviet Republics), the tragic events in Ukraine are taken extremely personally by many in Israeli society. There are many heated debates and controversies going on everywhere now, and at times it is so hard not to take sides and not to get involved in discussions on a human level. And yet the only prayer we all can wholeheartedly agree upon, as we pray about this situation, is the prayer for the ceasing of bloodshed and G-d’s mercy for the thousands of poor people suffering in this disaster.
We all know well, that the only values and choices that can bring peace and comfort into people’s souls in the middle of this chaos and hatred are the eternal values and choices, that are revealed to all of us in the Word of G-d and in the Holy Character of our Messiah.
The family of refugees we are currently hosting in our shelter, are members of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, which usually indicates the national identity of the particular people rather than their spiritual state. In other words it would usually mean, that these people would be familiar with some religious rituals and liturgy, but ignorant about the Word of G-d and His saving power.
As we seek to serve these dear Ukrainian people in a practical way while they are staying under the roof of our shelter, we are praying for the Lord’s special revelation and grace poured into their hearts, so that they can clearly see His incredible care and His loving hand reaching out to them even in this difficult present situation.
Please pray with us for the comfort and safety of our Ukrainian guests, for the safety of their loved ones left back in Ukraine, and that in spite of all these tragic circumstances, the stay in our shelter in Israel will bring the eternal blessing into the lives and destiny of these dear people.
“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal”.
2 Cor. 4:17 NKJV
Dear Friends, we are asking your prayers for another important project that we began this year.
Please pray with us for our joint ministry with an Arabic Pastor from Nazareth. This year during the Pesach holidays we have a special food distribution for the poor families in Nazareth.
And it’s not a onetime event. We are working on the foundation of the ongoing partnership with this dear brother and his congregation as we are seeking to establish a lasting and evident testimony of Yeshua’s disciples in the modern Israeli society. There is an urgent need for such a testimony of G-d’s people in Israel today.
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Matthew 5:14-15 NKJV.
As you know, we are constantly facing burning hostility from Islamic fanatics in the Arabic community towards the Jewish population. Since March 2022 there are fourteen people killed and dozens injured in terrorist attacks committed by the Islamic terrorists.
Our friend the Arabic pastor in Nazareth (we are not writing his name due to security reasons) is one of the few brave souls who is bringing the Hope and Light of the Messiah into his community at this time of troubles.
Please pray for the protection of his family and all Yeshua’s disciples in his congregation in Nazareth, as about 80% of the population of Nazareth are Muslim today.
Please pray with us for the establishment of our continued joint ministry as an ongoing strong testimony of Yeshua’s disciples even at this present time of darkness and hatred.
Please pray that the L-rd will indeed increase our light and witness in the Arabic and in the Jewish community today as His faithful ambassadors and practical doers of His Word.
Pesach Kasher and Sameach to you, dear Family!
Holy Land Ministries 