TORAH AND THE WILDERNESS

As we know, Moshe ministered to Israel mainly during the time spent in the wilderness. YHVH had made it known that this was a period in which His people were to be taught and learn obedience to His commandments, statutes and ordinances, but not without the Almighty’s grace. The Children of Israel did not lack anything; food, water, or shelter, and neither did their clothes and shoes wear out during the forty-year journey. In the course of the sojourn in the dessert they were to be a testimony and a witness to the surrounding nations of the One who had redeemed them and brought them out of the bondage of Egypt. However, in spite of the grace, their hearts remained hard and their necks stiff towards their Elohim.

Therefore, shortly before entering the land, Moshe delivered a very disturbing message to the people. He revealed to them, that YHVH had not yet given them a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear (ref. Deut. 29:4); and then predicted that they would break covenant with Elohim once in the land that He was about to give them. Consequently they were not going to live long in the land, but be cast out and scattered amongst the peoples. But in spite of this harsh forecast, he did not leave them without hope. In the latter days, Moshe added, they would return to YHVH their Elohim and listen to His voice (ref. Deut. 4:25-30).

Of all the curses upon Israel’s disobedience, the severest is to be living outside the land. To be exiled amongst the other nations is like being back in the wilderness again, which the Bible calls the “wilderness of the peoples”. As we know from history, Moshe’s predictions came to pass, and in 722 BC the Northern Kingdom of the House of Israel was taken by the Assyrians to the northern regions of Assyria and later, in 556 BC, their brethren, the House of Judah, met the same fate in the Babylonian exile.

In the days of the prophet Ezekiel (590-560 BC) the elders of the Northern Kingdom approached Ezekiel, who was amongst them on a divine mission, and enquired if they could come back to the land. YHVH refused to answer them, other than to remind them of the abominations of their fathers, and admonishing them to forsake their ancestral ways. It was bad enough that they had rebelled in the wilderness, but once entering the land they had committed even worse offences (see Eze. 20:27-31). Now, in the “galut” (diaspora or exile), they were enquiring when they could return to the land.

Thankfully YHVH informed them that even though they had wanted to be like the other nations, serving wood and stone and playing the harlot, He would not allow them to carry on living in this manner: “Surely with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, I will be king over you. I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will plead My case with you face to face. Just as I pleaded My case with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will plead My case with you… I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; I will purge the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the country where they dwell, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am YHVH” (Ezekiel 20: 34-38).

Although this seemed like good news to those elders, it was not to be that generation that would return. But is it good news for the generation that will return? “With an outstretched hand and fury poured out” does not sound like much fun. Those elders of the House of Israel who were listening to Ezekiel must have been very disappointed. But because they were in rebellion against the Almighty they did not know nor understand what the prophets had spoken to them about their destiny, and that unfortunately is much the same case today. At that time YHVH’s plan for them to become multitudes, and even many nations, in accordance with the covenant that He had made with their forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, was just in the beginning stages.

Now, almost 3,000 years later, it is evident that YHVH has kept His covenant and multiplied the seed of Israel like the sand of the sea. And although most of the Ephraimites are still in the “wilderness of the peoples”, there are signs that we could be living in the day of the restoration and return of the whole House of Israel. One of those signs is that this rebellious house would remember the Torah of Moshe, which was their instruction while in the “wilderness” after emerging from the house of bondage, and how much more so for their time in the “wilderness of the people”. "Remember the Torah of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments…before the coming great and terrible day of YHVH” (Malachi 4:4-5). Another sign that is in accordance with the “new covenant” was that, YHVH would write His instructions on the circumcised heart of the believing - resurrected Israelite. What Moshe said to our forefathers about YHVH not giving them a heart to understand, was now going to change with the “new covenant”. Therefore those who have received the grace to believe into this new covenant have no excuse for living a Torah-less life style.

It is interesting to note that during the time of the rejection and dispersion from the land, the House of Judah declared to the House of Israel: “Get far away from YHVH; this land has been given to us as a possession” (Eze 11:15). But let us hear what YHVH says about this: "Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone. Therefore say, 'Thus says YHVH Elohim: "I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel’" (Eze 11:16-17).

However, in order for this to come to pass there is an obligation that must be met. YHVH is not going to bring us back in the same condition that our forefathers were in when they were booted out. Repentance is going to be forced upon us until we smite our thigh for the sin of our youth; that is, the sin of our forefathers that we are still living in today even as believers in the “new covenant”, under which repentance is mandatory. Thus it is written about the House of Israel:
“There is hope in your future, says YHVH... I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself: 'You have chastised me, and I was chastised, Like an untrained bull; Restore me, and I will return, For You are YHVH my Elohim. Surely, after my turning, I repented; and after I was instructed (in Torah), I struck myself on the thigh; I was ashamed, yes, even humiliated, Because I bore the reproach of my youth'” (Jeremiah 31:17-19).

Be blessed as you count the seven weeks. Remember it was during this time that Yeshua was teaching His disciples about the Kingdom of His Father (ref Acts 1:3).

Ephraim

PASSOVER AND A LAMB FOR THE SACRIFICE

April 12, 2006

Passover! An exciting time of the year, especially this year, as the 14th of the first month (Aviv), YHVH's Passover, occurs again in the middle of the week, just as it did on the week of Yeshua's execution. The Biblical feast days are usually referred to as “mo’adim” (plural of “mo’ed), meaning a fixed, or appointed time of YHVH.

What is so important about these fixed appointments and their time and place, and are they relevant for today’s redeemed Israelite community? In Colossians 2:16-17 Shaul says: “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a mere shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Messiah." Many use this mistranslated scripture portion to disqualify the feasts of YHVH. However the literal translation of these verses is: “Let no one be your judge in regards to food, drink, feasts, new moon or Sabbaths, but the body of Messiah, for these are shadows of things yet to come.” Thus, these Torah observances are prophetic, and by keeping them we are proclaiming something that is yet to be revealed in YHVH’s plan. For this reason the Body of Messiah is "to judge" and discern these matters, as the verse points out. To those who would argue that the Torah laws were nailed to the cross, and have all been fulfilled by Yeshua, we would respond that the apostle wrote this after the death of the Messiah. In other words, yes, they are shadows… of things yet to come, and therefore are prophetic in nature!

Let us walk with Yeshua the Lamb, starting Friday, the ninth of the month of Aviv (Nissan), all the way through the Feast of Unleavened Bread, culminating with the Waving of the Omer. Each day will be much more meaningful as we ponder the mo’ed ahead of us, focusing on Yeshua’s last Passover. Being the lamb of Elohim, Yeshua would have had to fulfill all the requirements of this mo’ed. In addition, He also had to fulfill the prophetic words that had been written about Him, and those that He prophesied about Himself. Here are some of the relevant scripture texts, and looking at a Hebrew calendar, as you read, will help.

IT IS WRITTEN:
"Do not think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. (Matt. 5:17-18).

" Then He said to them, 'O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Messiah to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?' So beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures (Tanach) the things concerning Himself (Luke 24:25-27)".

" Then I said, `Behold, I have come----In the volume of the book it is written of Me----To do Your will, O YHVH'" (Heb.10:7).

"Then Yeshua said to them, 'all of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: `I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered'”: (Zech 13:7)…

" ‘Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? "How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?’ In that hour Yeshua said to the multitudes, ‘Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me? I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me. But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.’ Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled” (Matt. 26:31, 53-56).


YESHUA’S PROPHECIES

The Sign of Jonah:

“Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, 'teacher, we want to see a sign from You'. But He answered and said to them, 'an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth'” (Matt:12:38-40).

"'A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.’ And He left them and departed” (Matt.16:4)

“And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, ‘this is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet’” (Luke 11:29).

The Sign of the Temple

"So the Jews answered and said to Him, 'what sign do You show to us, since You do these things? 'Yeshua answered and said to them, 'destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up'. Then the Jews said, 'it has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?' But He was speaking of the temple of His body. (John 2:18-21).

Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Yeshua to put Him to death but found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward and said, "This fellow said: `I am able to destroy the temple of YHVH and to build it in three days'" (Matt. 26:59-61; Mark 14:58-62).
(Were these last two really false witnesses? Did not Yeshua say that He would destroy the temple? Read John 2:18-21 again.)

"And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying: 'you who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross '"(Matt. 27:39-40; Mark 15:29-30).

Because Yeshua told the Priests and the people that ??these?? were signs of His being the Messiah, the former wanted to make sure that no one would try and steal the body and then proclaim to everyone that what this prophet-teacher said has indeed been fulfilled. So, to ensure that nothing would happen to the body, they placed soldier-guards around the tomb, and sealed the stone that covered the entrance. This, however, backfired on them, in that these soldiers became the first witnesses to the fulfillment of the signs. “Now while they were going, behold, some of the guards came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, 'tell them, `his disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.' "And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will appease him and make you secure." So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day” (Matt. 28:11-15).

"After His resurrection, the disciples also recalled what Yeshua had said about the destruction of the “temple” and about raising it in three days" (John 2:19-22).

YHVH’S APPOINTED TIMES

“And YHVH spoke to Moses, saying, 'speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: `The feasts of YHVH, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of YHVH in all your dwellings'” (Lev. 23:1-3). Each feast day, regardless of the day of the week it happens to occur on, is patterned after the Shabbat and is called a Shabbaton. This is why Yeshua had to be taken off the cross and buried before the evening of the coming in of the “Shabbat”. “Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day [the 14th] that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day [the 15th] ) the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away (John 19:31; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54). The 15th was and still is the Feast of Matzot - unleavened bread. It is a Shabbat-like day (a Shabbton).

“These are the feasts of YHVH, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. On the fourteenth day of the first month between the evenings [the entire twenty four hour period of the 14th] is YHVH’s Passover” (Lev.23: 4-5). Please note that the 14th is not spoken of as a rest day or a holy convocation (see John 19:31). It was the day on which they were busy sacrificing and cutting up the lambs; from evening to evening, a day of preparation for the Shabbaton that was to follow (on the 15th which was the first day of the Feast of Matzot). “And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to YHVH; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day [the 15th of the Month of Aviv] you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to YHVH for seven days. The seventh day [the 21st of the month of Aviv, April 26th this year] shall be a holy convocation [a Shabbat-like day]; you shall do no customary work on it" (Lev. 23:6-8; ref. Deut. 16:1-3). Within the week of the Feast of Matzot it is possible to have three Shabbats; the fifteenth, which could fall on any day of the week, the regular seventh day of the week, and the seventh day feast which again can fall on any day of the week.

“And YHVH spoke to Moses, saying, ‘speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before YHVH, to be accepted on your behalf'”. (Lev. 23:10-11) This literally says: “for your acceptance, or that you may be accepted”. In other words, you and I can only go before YHVH if this wave offering qualifies us. “On the day after the Sabbath (the weekly Shabbat that falls between the two Shabbatons) the first day of the week [the 18th of Aviv, which in the Hebrew letters makes the word “life”), the priest shall wave it. And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to YHVH.” (Lev. 23: 9-12). Yeshua was raised on this day and presented Himself before the Father, this is why He told Miryam of Magdala not to touch Him. for He had not yet been to the Father. He was that first fruit wave offering that you and I may be accepted. “And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed” (Lev. 23:15). (Not forgetting to count the Sabbath of the 21st of Aviv).

LAMB FOR THE SACRIFICE

"Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: `On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. `And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man's need you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. `Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight [between the evenings]'" (Ex. 12:3-6).

Yeshua the Lamb,

“And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night" (Luke 2:7-8). The Lamb was born in a stable, in a feed troth, amongst other animals in the place. Shepherds pasturing sheep heard the message of the angles. "And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger." (Luke 2:12).

“The next day John saw Yeshua coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

"The place in the Scripture which he read was this: 'He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its sheerer is silent, So He opened not His mouth. In His humiliation His justice was taken away, and who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth'"(Acts 8:32-33)

“But with the precious blood of Messiah, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you” (1Pet.1:19-20).

“And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying: 'You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth'” (Rev. 5:6-10).

“After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb'" (Rev. 7:9-17).

“They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: 'great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints! Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, For Your judgments have been manifested'"(Rev. 15:3-4).

Passover Lamb’s Journey

“Now it came to pass, when Yeshua had finished these sayings, that He departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan" (Matt. 19:1; Mark 10:1; John 1:28). ”Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Yeshua was going before them; and they were amazed. And as they followed they were afraid. Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him: 'behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again'" (Mark 10:33). Please note the pronoun being used, it is as if the Son of God 'aspect' of Yeshua is speaking about the Son of Man 'aspect'.

“Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.
And when he heard that it was Yeshua of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, 'Yeshua, Son of David, have mercy on me!'" (Mark 10:46; Luke 18:35; 19:1 Matt. 20:29; Luke 19:28). Interestingly YHVH used a blind man to declare that Yeshua was the Messiah Son of David.

“Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Yeshua sent two disciples, saying to them, 'go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me'” (Matt. 21:1-2; Luke 19:28-29).

“Then, six days before the Passover [the 9th of Aviv], Yeshua came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. Then Miryam took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Yeshua, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Yeshua, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Then one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray Him, said, 'why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?' This he said not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. But Yeshua said, 'let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always'" (John 12:1-8).

Tonight (Erev Shabbat), when you sit to have your meal, think about what had been taking place on this very night so many years ago. Maybe find some perfume to scent the air…(fragrance of Messiah).

“The next day [Shabbat the tenth of Aviv], a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Yeshua was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: 'Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the YHVH! The King of Israel!' Then Yeshua, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: 'Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey's colt'" (John 12:12-16).

The Jewish feast of Unleavened Bread was and still is celebrated on the 15th. This year that day happens to fall on Thursday, April 20th . If we count six days before the 15th of Aviv, we arrive at Friday the 9th (April 14th ), this was the day on which Yeshua came up to Beit-Onya (Bethany), and had an Erev Shabbat meal with El’azar (Lazarus), Martha, and Miryam. John tells us that the following day, which would have been Shabbat the tenth of Aviv, Yeshua rode the colt of an Ass into Jerusalem. Sorry it was not Palm Sunday, but Palm Saturday that year. It on this same day that the priests carried the lambs for the Passover sacrifices into the temple as well. The lambs were examined for four days, and if no blemish or defect could be found, they qualified for the sacrifice, and were killed on the 14th. Yeshua went up on the tenth. and for four days he was also questioned and examined until no fault could be found in Him. He was the perfect sacrifice. He celebrated the Passover meal the night before the rest of the nation celebrated it, as He knew He would not be around for the occasion. “Now before the feast of the Passover, when Yeshua knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end" (John 13:1).
“When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Then He said to them, 'with fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God'" (Luke 22:14-16). He was then crucified on the 14th , which is Wednesday, the middle of the week. “Then He shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate" (Daniel 9:27). On the day of preparation, Yeshua was put into the grave, just before the Shabbaton of the 15th , the eve of Thursday, (Please keep in mind that the night comes first and then the day). He was in the grave that night (1st night), all day Thursday (1st day the 15th); the night of Friday (2nd night) all day Friday (2nd day the 16th); Saturday night (3rd night) and all day Saturday (3rd day the 17th). Then sometime after the Shabbat went out Yeshua rose from the dead. He was exactly 3 days and 3 nights in the grave. The religious leaders were looking for a reason to enounce him as a liar. Indeed, if He would not have stayed in that grave for three nights and three days they would have proven their point beyond a shadow of a doubt, and Yeshua could not have been the Messiah of Israel. The Good Friday and Easter Sunday celebrations only come to the aid of those who would declare Yeshua a liar. The sign of Jonah is Yeshua’s answer to an evil and wicked generation.

Let us be as those who have understanding and join Yeshua’s disciples and remember all that has been written. “Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Yeshua had said" (John 2:22)

Ephraim

"Great and marvelous are Your works, YHVH Elohim Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints! Who shall not fear You, O YHVH, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, For Your judgments have been manifested"(Rev. 15:3-4).

PASSOVER AND OUR NATIONAL UNITY

April 7, 2006
For those of you who are celebrating Passover with our brother, the People of Judah, I would like to share again the following letter. I think it quite significant that it was at this time that YHVH declared Israel to be His firstborn nation; the only nation that would ever have this status before Him. Actually very little mention is made of the importance of the death of Egypt’s firstborn and the fact that YHVH established Israel as His. Israel’s birth as a nation came as a result of the death of a lamb and its blood having been smeared on a doorpost of the homes, but also at the expense of another nation losing its firstborn sons. I hope this year we will consider the importance of our unity as YHVH’s firstborn nation and what it means to be called an “Israelite”.
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It was over 3,800 years ago when the Elohim of Jacob sent His family down into Egypt to make them into a single nation. Speaking to His servant Jacob, He said: “I am YHVH, the Elohim of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation [goy] there’” (Genesis 46:3). One of the Hebrew words for “nation” is “goy”. It is first used in the Tanach in the Covenant that YHVH made with our forefather Abraham, “I will make you a great nation [goy]; I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2). One man, one God, one Covenant, one national identity; this was at the heart of YHVH’s plan for the redemption of the creation. The Elohim of Abraham set apart a man, and swore by His own name that his seed/sperm would become a great and holy (set-apart) nation.

When Jacob and his band of seventy souls arrived in Egypt, he found another family member already down there - Joseph. As we can see from the story recorded in Genesis, Joseph and his progeny had lost their identity and connection with their family of origin, and thus in a sense were a prophetic type of the second family (the so called Gent
iles, the company of nations) of the house of Jacob. Perhaps this is why Jacob had to adopt Joseph’s sons (ref. Gen 48:5), even though they were of the same bloodline. The adoption was significant for the restoration of the governmental order and unity of the clan. If they were to become a nation there in Egypt, they had to have their own land, and so since Joseph was in a position to do so, he gave them the land of Goshen, where they multiplied profusely. The Creator blessed them with fruitfulness, as they dwelt in one of the most fertile areas of the land of Ham.

However, eventually Jacob’s family became slaves to their Egyptian overlords. And while in that state, they lost their vision of being a nation, a family and a people with a purpose and a Divine call. This is portrayed quite vividly in the scene of the two Hebrew slaves who (much like today’s ‘two houses’) were fighting one another much to their own demise. The seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was now characterized by individualism. This was only natural, since they were living under extreme conditions where self-preservation became their means of survival. So where was this great nation that was promised to Abraham? His seed, now turned slaves, were cursing the day they were born on. They had become nothing more than dead dry bones in the desert sands of Egypt. So helpless were they that they could not even respond to Moses, when he came to them preaching the good news of their deliverance (ref. Exodus 6:9)!

The Passover story is replete with pestilence, famine and one disaster following another. But when gross darkness covered the land, there was still light in the tents of the Hebrews (ref. Ex.10:23), as the anointing of YHVH’s covenant word (which “is a light”, ref. Ps. 119:105) was still upon them to become a great nation. How was this going to be made possible? It certainly was not going to happen by the nation’s own strength. This was going to take a miracle, a Divine intervention. YHVH, therefore, dispatched a man with a message: “Let My people go”. Moses was faithful to bring that word to the ruler of the slaves, but YHVH hardened the heart of Pharaoh, just to make sure that His people would know that their deliverance was not going to come by the way or the authority of man. Had Pharaoh given his permission, these Hebrews would have been forever indebted to their slave owner. They would have never been free and could never have taken up their divinely ordained position as the head of all the nations. In this manner, they would have been legally bound to Egypt.

YHVH had another plan to restore these slaves to freedom and to their national identity. He told His servant Moses to have each family take a lamb: "Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: `On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man's need you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats…. Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb….then you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning…. 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 ” (Exodus 12:3-5; 21-22; 13).

The moment the elders applied the blood and struck the lintels and the doorposts of the Hebrews’ homes with it, the latter were all sealed into their deliverance, freedom and destiny, but even beyond that - their individualism had just ceased to exist. They were now united behind the one sacrifice, totally dependent upon the powerful right arm of the Almighty to bring them out. “Let My people go!” YHVH had already announced to all the rulers of Egypt who these people belonged to. These were a people who did not belong to themselves, they were and still are today “My people, [“ami” -singular] says YHVH”. But now, through the blood of the lamb they were set apart to enter into the next phase of His plan. “’And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel" (Exodus 19:6).

As we, Ephraim and Judah, YHVH’s two families, the two nations, gather together to honor Him during this year’s Passover, let us leave our individualism and lift the cup of unity. Remember that we were all once slaves to sin and death and bound to the principalities and powers of this world’s (kosmos) dominion. It behooves us to, “purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you 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 of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:7-8). May we walk together through the Door that is splattered with the blood of the Lamb, out of the houses of our bondage and into the liberty of the new corporate life of the “One New Man”, the Royal Priesthood and Holy Nation Israel, YHVH’s firstborn!

May you all be blessed during this Passover and Feast of Matzot (unleavened bread) with a sense of national unity! May the eyes of our hearts be opened anew to the fact that we are “My people Israel” in this generation.

Ephraim

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there YHVH commanded the blessing--Life forevermore” (Ps. 133).