Some Prophetic Implications of the Sacrifices: The Crucifixion, Sin and Communion

Leviticus 6:9, Shall be on the hearth. It took most of the day (see v. 12) and all night to burn up an animal completely. Similarly, Yeshua hung on the cross for a long time—from sometime after the third hour (9 AM) until the ninth hour (3 PM). Not only this, but from the six hour (12 PM) to the ninth hour (3 PM) when Yeshua died, darkness come over the earth (Matt 27:45; Luke 23:44). Both the burnt offering and Yeshua’s time on the cross encompassed hours of daylight and darkness.

Leviticus 6:17, No leaven. Why does YHVH stipulate this prohibition? The main Jewish commentaries are unable to answer this question. It is not until we understand the spiritual implications of leavening as revealed in the Testimony of Yeshua that this prohibition makes sense. Leavening is a Hebraism for false doctrines, hypocrisy and sin (Matt 16:1–5, 12; Luke 12:1; 1 Cor 5:1–5). Unleavened bread, on the other hand, is a metaphor for sincerity and truth (1 Cor 5:5, the last words of the verse). This is why unleavened bread is consumed at communion on Passover, for it is a symbol of Yeshua’s sinless life that he offered up on the cross for sinners (Matt 26:26), and it symbolizes what should be the heart of the saint. 

Leviticus 7:6, Every male…may eat it. Why were the priests allowed to eat some of the offerings? What’s this all about? Let’s answer this question with a question. Why do believers in Yeshua eat the communion elements, and what do they represent? Is there a Continue reading

 

A Study on 1 Cor 5:7-8 for this last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread

Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Messiah, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 For 5:7–8)

1 Corinthians 5:8, Leaven. What specifically is leavening? Leavening is primarily yeast that makes bread rise and, biblically, is the symbol for the sin of pride. Leavening is also a symbol of decay. The rising of the dough is only possible by the natural process of decay. In ancient times, a pinch of fermented or sour dough was placed into a batch of unleavened dough to make it sour and cause it to rise. Yeast is a living micro organism that is classified as a fungi. Fungi feed on both living and dead and decaying organic matter. Yeast turns food sour through the process of fermentation and this begins the process by which something dies. Yeast is an apt metaphor for the corrupting influences of sin, which invades our lives and turns our souls from sweet to sour leading to spiritual death. Were it not for the curse of death because of Adam and Eve’s sin, it’s quite possible that fungi would not exist.

When YHVH commands us to remove the leavening from our homes during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, he’s teaching us an important lesson: We must remove the contagion of sin from our lives if we’re to be sweet, pure, sinless and holy (or set-apart unto YHVH). Sin, like yeast fungi, causes decay and death, and to remove yeast from our homes is like Continue reading

 

Preparing Ourselves for Passover

 

Repent of Sin and Get Under the Lamb’s Blood. As the children of Israel applied the lamb’s blood to the door posts and lintels of their house, so we must apply the sin-cleansing and Satan-defeating blood of Yeshua afresh to our lives (i.e., to your thoughts as represented by the door lintel and actions and to our hands as represented by the door posts). This occurs as we repent of our sins, and pray for and receive YHVH’s forgiveness. He will then cover our sins over or wash away our sins by Yeshua’s blood (1 John 1:9; Rev 1:5)

In Egypt at Passover time, YHVH judged all those who had failed to put the lamb’s blood on the door posts of their houses. In other words, they weren’t under the blood of the lamb, and they were still under the penalty of sin, which is death. Unrepented sin has a death claim on us all. To the degree that one has sin in their life is the degree that the spirit of death has a hold on one’s life. Now is the time to repent of sin by confessing it and seeking Elohim’s forgiveness under the blood of Yeshua and then forsaking that sin through YHVH’s grace.

Here are some things of which to repent.

Pride. Do you always think that you’re right? Your opinion is what matters the most? Do you have a hard time with those who don’t see it your way, when you don’t get your way? Do you have a fit when people disagree with you? Do you criticize others and put others down (especially those who are closest to you)? Do you belittle, mock, scorn and ridicule others? Do you focus on other people’s faults? Do you have a hard time identifying any sins that you have committed? Are you proud of your humility? Are you proud of how Torah-observant you are (compared to others)? Are you overly defensive when someone corrects you or challenges your opinion? Do you blame others when things don’t go right instead of taking personal responsibility for your actions? These are all signs of pride. Pride is self-idolization. Elohim hates pride and calls it an abomination (Prov 6:16–17).

Selfishness and self-absorption (putting self above others too much of the time). Are you ungrateful? Are you discontent about your place in life? Do you always want more? Are your material possessions and personal belongings really important to you? Do you have a hard time giving things away? This is a form of self-idolatry and idolization of things.

Love of this world over love of YHVH and the things that matter to him. This a form of idolatry. You’re concerned with what others think more than what Elohim thinks about things.

Sins of the mouth include mean, selfish, unkind, angry, impatient, egotistical words toward others. This is idolization of self. What matters most is what I have to say, how I feel, my opinions and I have the right to say what I want when I want. This is also pride.

The lack of the fear of Elohim. Are you more concerned with what others think than what YHVH Elohim thinks about something? Anything in our lives that we put ahead of Elohim is idolatry.

Ask yourself this: In everything that I do and say, am I advancing the kingdom of Elohim and bringing glory to Yeshua or am I doing the opposite? Am I being a river of life to all those around me, or am I dragging them downward by being a purveyor of negativity and darkness?

Tell the Redemption Story. It is the responsibility of parents and elders to pass on to the next generation the Passover story (Exod 12:24–27). Explain how the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt (a metaphor for the world), to Pharaoh (a metaphor for Satan), and how YHVH delivered the Israelites from the judgment of the destroyer (YHVH’s judgment against sin) because they put the blood of the lamb on their doorposts (a picture of Yeshua’s sin-atoning death on the cross). In reality, this is the basic gospel message.

Celebrate the Feasts. Prepare your heart and mind to obey YHVH by keeping his appointed times of Passover and Unleavened Bread. Are you willing to obey his commands pertaining to these observances? How much do you love him (John 14:15)? How much do you want to know him (1 John 2:6–7)? Celebrating YHVH’s feasts help us to love him and to know him better.

Examine Yourself. At this time of the year, we must each examine ourselves to insure that we will not be partaking of the cup of redemption (i.e. the communion cup) unworthily (1 Cor 11:28).

Rediscover the Cross. It is time to rediscover the cross of Yeshua again and your place at its foot. It is also time to rediscover the power of the resurrected Yeshua in one’s life. Marvel at the miracle of the resurrection and consider the fact that you have access to Yeshua’s resurrected life through faith in him and through the work of his Set-Apart Spirit as we obey the Word of Elohim.

A Time of Spiritual Awakening and New Beginnings. Passover occurs in the spring at the beginning of the biblical year. Spring is a time of new beginnings physically and spiritually. It’s the time of year to take stock of one’s life, assess any weaknesses and deficiencies you have, and then resolve to make the necessary changes. It is the time to make improvements through the power of YHVH’s grace, his Word, his Spirit all through a vibrant, daily relationship with Yeshua our Master and Savior.

The Season for Spiritual Housecleaning. It’s Time to Deleaven.  Passover is time of spring cleaning and deleavening our physical houses (Exod 12:15–20) and removing the leaven of sin from our spiritual houses as well (Pss 26:2; 139:1, 23–24). We must root out and eradicate the old sin habits from the crevices and dark areas of our life.

In Scripture, leavening represents sin, pride, hypocrisy and false doctrine.  Do the sinful practices, evil habits and illicit delicacies of Egypt still hold sway on us? Do any unclean spirits or filthy habits still have control over us? It is time to take control of these sins and eliminate them and become wholly consecrated unto YHVH-Yeshua, his Word, his plans and purposes. It is time to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness (Matt 6:33). One can’t serve two masters at the same time (i.e. the world and the flesh) and expect to be pleasing to YHVH (Matt 6:24).

It’s time to forsake all these things that drag us down spiritually and pull us away from our Father in heaven. It’s time to move onward and upward spiritually!

Time to Renew Our First Love For Yeshua. It is time to renew our first love for Yeshua our Heavenly Bridegroom (Rev 2:4–5). Now is the time to rekindle our passion and zeal for Yeshua and to repent of spiritual lukewarmness (Rev 3:15–21).

 

Dealing With the “Leavening” in Our Lives—Overcoming Sin!


Exodus 12:15, Remove leaven from your houses. Leaven is a biblical metaphor for sin. How do we remove sin from our spiritual lives?

Throughout Scripture, leavening is a spiritual metaphor for sin, pride, hypocrisy, malice, bitterness and false religious doctrine (Pss 71:4; 73:21; Hos 7:4; Matt 16:6; Mark 8:15; Luke 12:1; 1 Cor 5:8–6; Gal 5:9). Even as a small amount of leavening agents in bread (e.g. yeast and various chemical agents) will quickly permeate bread dough causing it to rise, so a little sin can rapidly infect our lives (or like a quick spread cancer disease) and take us away from Elohim’s path of righteous-living.

The Scripture teaches us to be overcomers (Rom 12:21; 1 John 2:13–14; 5:4) eradicating the leavening of sin from our lives. We must overcome the world, the flesh and the devil (Jas 3:15). Yeshua admonished each of the seven Messianic assemblies to be overcomers (Rev 2:7,11,17,26; 3:5,12,21; see also Matt 24:13). For those who overcome, there will be great rewards—a spiritual inheritance; they will be sons of Elohim (Rev 21:7).

The Greek word for overcome is nikao meaning “to conquer, to get the victory, prevail” and Continue reading

 

New Video: Paul on the Feast of Unleavened Bread

If there’s one biblical feast the church should be keeping, it’s the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This is because Paul commands NT believers to do so! Paul gives us some deep spiritual insights into this wonderful celebaton and we explore these in this video.

 

Insights on the Feast of Unleavened Bread

The Feast of Unleavened Bread Is a Commemorative Ritual

Passover going into the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is the birthday of the nation of Israel. In ancient times, universal Israel came together in Jerusalem to celebrate this event. Today, redeemed Israelites come together to celebrate these divine appointment sacred convocations.

Days of Unleavened Bread

Abstaining from leavened bread for seven days is symbolic of Elohim’s people separating themselves from sin and turning towards a holy relationship with him.

Removing leavening from our  homes is a symbolic activity just like taking communion, being baptized for the remission of sins, or building a sukkah during the Feast of Tabernacles. As humans, we need symbolic commemorative occasions for several reasons. They give us a sense of history by helping us to understand the past, so that we can move forward into the future knowing who we are and where we’ve come from. They give us guidance so that we’ll learn from the lessons of history, both the good and bad ones. Our culture is full of symbolic rituals and commemorative acts and markers (Christmas, Easter, birthdays, anniversaries, Independence Day, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, statues, historical markers, monuments, museums, heritage sites, etc.). Likewise, Biblical commemorative rituals help us in several ways.

  • They help us to both recall and commemorate past and future events.
  • They help us to understand who we are by recalling where we’ve come from which in turn helps us to understand where we’re going.
  • They can be something physical that helps us to wrap our minds around difficult-to-understand spiritual principle. Continue reading