• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Stand In Faith

  • Home
  • The Kingdom of God
  • Spiritual Warfare
  • 144000
  • About
Home » living bread

living bread

The Lord’s Prayer | How Did Jesus Pray? Line-By-Line Meaning Explained

Leave a Comment

Jesus taught His disciples ‘the Lord’s Prayer,’ but what does each element of the prayer really means? How did Jesus pray the Lord’s Prayer?

For more than 50 years I confess that I mechanically prayed the Lord’s Prayer without really understanding it. Then, in early 2019 the Spirit of God led me to dig into the details of the Lord’s Prayer and uncover its deeper meaning. So, after hundreds of hours of Biblical research, prayer, and revelation from the Holy Spirit, here are the original 5 topical sections of the Lord’s Prayer. The remainder of this article will dig deeper into their meaning.

  1. Father, Yahovah, hallowed be Your name.
  2. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on the earth as it is in heaven.
  3. Give us this day our daily bread.
  4. Forgive us our debts as we forgive all our debtors.
  5. And bring us not into trials, but rescue us from an evil heart of unbelief.

For reference purposes, the Lord’s Prayer is found in two places: Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4.

The Lord’s Prayer, Line 1 | “Father, Yahovah, Hallowed Be Your Name”

Father

If you are a believer in Jesus, then Yahovah (YHWH) became your Father when you repented of sin and believed in Jesus. Following your sincere repentance and faith, YHWH miraculously birthed new spiritual life in your heart and you literally became His child, a new creation, a different person.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah is begotten of God.

1 John 5:1

Begotten of God

What does ‘begotten of God’ mean?

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

(2 Corinthians 5:17)

We don’t use the words beget, begat, or begotten very much today. As you can see below, the Greek word translated ‘begotten’ literally means to procreate a descendant and produce an offspring.

Biblehub reference

So, YHWH literally becomes every true Christian’s Father. We become members of His personal family; we share His spiritual DNA. Therefore, when we pray to the Father we’re confessing two things:

  1. He is my Father and I am His child; I have His DNA in the new spirit He quickened within me.
    • I’m no longer a mere man (1 Cor 3:3).
    • Christians are a different species from unregenerate people; they’re members of a new creation (2 Cor 5:17, Gal 6:15).
  2. My sibling believers are those who also have God’s spiritual DNA; those who’ve had their spirits quickened within them. Therefore, God is ‘our Father.’

In Heaven

Our Father is in heaven. What does this mean? Is God’s abode a physical place, far beyond the constellations? Or is it in another dimension that exists invisibly alongside the physical space-time dimension we live in? A good argument can be made for both of these views.

But years ago, God revealed this to me—God isn’t far away (across the universe) in heaven. Just the opposite! He is closer to us than we are to ourselves. He is closer to you than the breath in your lungs.

God is constructing an eternal temple, built with ‘living stones.’ This spiritual temple is God’s dwelling place forever.

As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight, you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:4-5

So, when I pray to the Father I don’t add the words ‘in heaven,’ which makes it seem like He is somewhere far away. He is not far away. Instead, I’m prompted to intentionally quiet my natural thoughts and focus my attention toward the Holy Spirit of God who dwells in my spirit, my innermost heart.

Yahovah

Scripture tells God’s people to call on His name, extol His name, make His name known, etc.  It’s respectful and worshipful to address YHWH by His name, so when I pray I begin by personally addressing Him, saying “Father, Yahovah.”

The next line of the Lord’s Prayer is “hallowed be Thy name.” How can I pray this if I haven’t said His name?

The Father’s Name

What is the Father’s name? There are two reasons why most people don’t know it.

  1. Unfortunately, for thousands of years God’s people avoided saying the name of God, supposedly out of respect. Because of this, Bible translators even changed ‘YHWH’ to ‘LORD’ in most English Bible translations.
  2. In addition, Satan’s world system actively pressures people not to acknowledge the true God, or to pronounce God’s name. 
Call Upon His Name

But YHWH tells us to call on His name, extol His name, make His name known, etc.  For a few examples, see: Joel 2:32, 1 Chronicles 16:8, Isaiah 12:4, Psalm 105:1, Romans 10:13, and Acts 2:21.

But Don’t Speak the Names of False gods

In contrast, YHWH explicitly commands us not to speak the names of false gods…

You must not invoke the names of other gods; they must not be heard on your lips.

(Exodus 23:13)

God commands us not to say the names of false gods because that would legitimize them. But over the centuries Satan has deceived God’s people by preventing them from speaking God’s name, even though YHWH encourages us to call on His name.

Pronunciation

Many people avoid pronouncing God’s name for fear of mispronouncing it, but if your heart is sincere and reverent it’s not important to pronounce God’s exactly correctly. God looks at your heart; He is not judging your pronunciation.

That said, based on compelling evidence from Jewish Hebrew scholar Nehemiah Gordon I believe the most-likely pronunciation for YHWH is “Yahovah.” Here are URLs to three videos for anyone who’d like to investigate this further, or to hear how a Hebrew scholar pronounces Yahovah.

Yahweh vs. YHVH: The Name of God – Q&A with Michael Rood & Nehemia Gordon

The Origins of Yahweh

God’s name is not Yahweh – Proof from Jewish Rabbis

Hallowed Be Your Name

To ‘hallow’ something means to treat it as holy and pure, separate from common things.

After I address YHWH saying, “Father, Yahovah,” I pray “Hallowed be Your name” to reinforce my recognition that I am entering the presence of Almighty God, the creator and sustainer of all things, and the holy Judge over every creature eternally.

In 1973 the Holy Spirit gave me a glimpse of God’s love. I experienced God’s love as so deep and powerful that I felt like I was drowning in an ocean of love. It was overwhelming. I had to ask the Spirit to reduce the experience because I felt like I the glory was too much for my flesh and it would have killed me. In the Spirit I ‘saw’ the Son in the bosom of the Father (John 1:18), surrounded by the Father’s infinite love, and I realized that that’s where I was too, since my life is now ‘in Christ.’ I flashback to this experience when I pray “hallowed be Thy name.” He is infinitely holy and pure and loving. I’ve experienced that even a glimpse of His glory is too much for us fleshly creatures.

The Lord’s Prayer, Line 2 | Your Kingdom Come; Your Will Be Done. As In Heaven, So On The Earth

The Lord’s Prayer is first and foremost a kingdom prayer. In this part of the Lord’s Prayer, we’re first praying for YHWH to perfect His kingdom in heaven by throwing the Devil and his angels out, and then to extend the Messiah’s authority over all the earth, until all of heaven and every nation on earth submits to God’s throne and willingly aligns with His will.

When we pray ‘Your kingdom come Your will be done, as in heaven so on the earth” we’re engaging in spiritual warfare. We’re using our Adamic authority to exercise dominion over the earth. The goal is for all the earth to conform to God’s will, in peace, righteousness, and prosperity.

For more information about this spiritual warfare, read Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done On Earth As It Is In Heaven and Spiritual Warfare for God’s End-Time Overcomers.

From the Book of Revelation we know that we won’t see God’s kingdom come onto the earth until after Armageddon. Then, Jesus will oversee YHWH’s kingdom on the earth for 1000 years. Here’s my Prediction of Life in the Next Millennium.

The Lord’s Prayer, Line 3 | Give Us Today Our Daily Bread

Sometimes we forget that Jesus didn’t emerge from His mother’s womb as a fully-developed and mature man. Just like us, He grew from infancy, to childhood, adolescence, and finally manhood.

About this developing and maturing process the Bible says,

Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

Luke 2:52

Our Daily Bread is Living Bread

The Bible is the logos, the written word of God. It is static and permanent, a constant reference for anyone to read.

In contrast, the rhema is God’s spoken word. It is the voice of the living God speaking to us today, to teach us, direct us, or command us about a specific topic in our life right now.

Biblehub reference

As He grew and matured Jesus learned the logos perfectly, and He also demonstrated His total dependence on YHWH’s rhema.

See and Hear God’s Rhema

In the Gospel of John (chapter 5) Jesus revealed that He both saw and heard YHWH’s rhema in His daily life. Without this rhema, Jesus said He could do nothing.

Truly, truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself, unless He sees the Father doing it. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does. The Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does. And to your amazement, He will show Him even greater works than these. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wishes.

John 5:19-21

I can do nothing by Myself; I judge only as I hear. And My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

John 5:30

If Jesus could do nothing without the rhema direction from His Father, how much more do we need to seek the Father’s rhema in everything we do.

God wants us to ask for and depend on Him to provide whatever physical, mental, and spiritual ‘bread’ we need to accomplish His will through our lives today. 

The Bread of Life

Physical and mental bread are important, but spiritual bread gives us eternal life. The rhema of YHWH is this daily bread.

Bread of Empowerment

Our daily bread is not only to keep us alive and well, but it’s our empowerment to complete our mission of advancing God’s kingdom.

Just as we depend on God for life itself, He depends on us to bear His fruit on the earth.

For more information about ‘our daily bread’ read Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread and Christian Passover.

The Lord’s Prayer, Line 4 | Forgive Us Our Debts As We Forgive All Our Debtors

True Christianity requires a supernatural transformation of our human spirit. Otherwise, it’s impossible for us to forgive our debtors as much as God requires us to.

The Lord’s Prayer (and many other Bible verses) teach that if you don’t forgive everyone of everything, then God won’t forgive you. 

According to Why “Forgive Us Our Debts As We Forgive Our Debtors?” there are three reasons why our ability to forgive is so important to God:

  1. Our ability to forgive others is evidence to God of our true repentance
  2. Our ability to forgive others is evidence to mankind of a transformed life with supernatural quality
  3. Our ability to forgive others is evidence to celestial principalities and powers of God’s victory through Christ in us.

The Lord’s Prayer, Line 5 | Bring Us Not Into Trials, But Rescue Us From An Evil Heart of Unbelief

If you’re like me you’ve prayed ‘Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil’ for a long time without understanding what Jesus meant in this part of the Lord’s Prayer. For example, the traditional words ‘Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil’ often brought these questions into my mind:

  • It always sounded to me like I needed to ask God not to lead me into circumstances where He knows I’d be weak and tempted to sin.
    • But, as a loving heavenly Father, wouldn’t it be against His nature to lead me into sinful temptation?
  • What evil was I asking God to deliver me from?
  • Some translations (NASB, KJV, YLT) say, ‘deliver us from evil’ and other translations (NIV, NLT, BSB) say, ‘deliver us from the evil one.’ What is the correct translation of this phrase?

After detailed study of this verse I believe Jesus’ original teaching conveyed this meaning: “Bring us not into trials, but rescue us from an evil heart of unbelief.” The reasons for this wording, as well as the answers to the questions above, are all explained in detail in Lead Us Not Into Temptation But Deliver Us From Evil.

Amen

Finally, when we say “amen” in the Lord’s Prayer it’s in the same context as the ancient Hebrews, who meant two things by the word ‘amen:’

  1. Whatever has been said is true and in alignment with God’s will.
  2. God made man the ruler over all the earth in Genesis 1:28. Therefore, just as God spoke the heavens and the earth into existence, may God manifest my words into reality. Let them be done on the earth.

“Amen,” replied Benaiah son of Jehoiada. “May the LORD, the God of my lord the king, so declare it.

(1 Kings 1:36)

In Conclusion

The Lord’s Prayer is a kingdom prayer. Now that you understand how Jesus taught His disciples to pray–with the goal of advancing God’s kingdom on the earth–you can pray the Lord’s Prayer as (I believe) it’s meant to be prayed.

What Do You Think?

Did this article answer all your questions on this topic? Please leave a comment below and tell me:

  • Were you satisfied by the information in this article?
  • Or, did it leave you wanting more?

Related Questions and Answers

Q: What about the traditional end of the Lord’s Prayer in the Gospel of Matthew, “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever?”

A: Most authoritative ancient manuscripts don’t include the traditional end of the Lord’s Prayer, which is why modern translations omit it from Matthew’s gospel, except perhaps to mention it in a footnote. In Luke’s gospel there isn’t even a footnote.

Filed Under: Kingdom-of-God Tagged With: Armageddon, living bread, living stones, millennial reign of christ, prayer, principalities and powers, rhema, satan, spiritual warfare

Christian Passover

Leave a Comment

What is Christian Passover? Even after being a dedicated Christian for over 45 years, I didn’t understand Passover; and, like most Christians, I believed that Easter replaced Passover. But in the last few years I’ve discovered Passover’s spiritual importance and how Christians should celebrate it.

Most Christians know God fulfilled Passover about 2000 years ago when the Lamb of God voluntarily sacrificed Himself for our sins. That’s true, but the ongoing, Christian meaning of Passover is that disciples are to follow the Savior’s example, themselves becoming lambs of God, “living sacrifices.” How?

In this article you’ll learn:

  1. Past: How Jesus physically fulfilled Passover. This includes how He fulfilled the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits, both of which directly result from His sacrifice as our Passover Lamb.
  2. Present: How God calls His disciples to celebrate Christian Passover in their own lives, with purity, obedience, and sacrifice.
  3. Future: Since God fulfilled the Spring feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits) exactly as prophesied, what can we expect concerning the Autumn feasts in our future?

“Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”

1 Corinthians 5:7

1.     Past: How Jesus Fulfilled Passover

Terminology: Jewish Passover vs Christian Passover

Jewish Passover

Since the exodus from Egypt, God commanded Israel to annually celebrate Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Christian Passover

Starting at the Last Supper on the evening before His crucifixion, Jesus fulfilled the symbolism of the Jewish Passover and instituted a New Covenant version–Christian Passover.

Christian Passover doesn’t replace the Jewish Passover. Rather, it builds on the original Passover’s foundation and adds expanded meanings onto it.

When to Celebrate Christian Passover?

According to Leviticus 23:5-8, we determine the Christian Passover season dates according to the monthly cycle of the moon. The Christian Passover preparation begins on Nisan 14, and the festival runs from Nisan 15-21, with Sabbath days on Nisan 15 and 21.

The Hebrew Calendar

Nisan? For centuries many doctrinal misunderstandings and errors occurred because our Gregorian calendar is different from the Hebrew calendar, so (trust me) it’s important for you to briefly understand the Hebrew calendar before proceeding.

From Sunset to Sunset

Ever since the first day of creation in Genesis chapter one, days in the Bible go from sunset to sunset—not from midnight to midnight as we’re accustomed.

example from Hebrew4Christians.com

God’s Appointed Times

Explanatory Note About God’s Names

First (because it’s a stumbling block to some people) this section is a quick side-note to explain why I use the names YHWH and Jesus in this article.

YHWH

In Exodus 3:14 we learn that “YHWH” is Almighty God’s personal name. There are many opinions about how to pronounce YHWH, with Yahweh or Yehovah being the most popular.

In this article, rather than referring to Him using the generic word ‘God,’ which allows people to imagine whatever their concept of God is, I’ll often use the specific name of YHWH. YHWH is the God who covenanted with Israel. He is the Father of Yeshua the Messiah.

Yeshua

There are almost as many opinions about how to correctly say our Savior’s name. He is called Yeshua, Yahushua, Issa, Iesue, and Jesus. In this article I’ll refer to the Lord by the name Jesus, not because it’s correct, but because this article’s target audience are Christians who know Him by this name.

The Seven Moedim (Appointed Times)

In the Bible (Leviticus 23) YHWH ordained seven ‘moedim’ for His people. YHWH’s appointed times, or ‘Moedim’ (pronounced mo-a-deem) are sacred assemblies for His people (Leviticus 23:2).

The 4 Spring moedim teach us about God’s plan for redeeming mankind from sin and death through the Messiah. Christian Passover is a spring moedim; we celebrate it to remember (and personally identify with) Jesus’ sacrifice as the Lamb of God.

The 3 Autumn moedim promise how YHWH will resurrect His saints and establish the Messiah’s kingdom on the earth.

Here are the 4 Spring and 3 Autumn moedim:

The 7 Moedim from holyimpactministries.com

God fulfilled the Spring moedim in the past; He will fulfill the Fall (Autumn) moedim in our future.

Lunar Month of Nisan

Passover is in the lunar month of Nisan, which is the first month in the Hebrew calendar. Nisan always coincides with March/April.

The first day of each Hebrew month starts at sunset when Israel sights the first sliver of the new moon. Then, two weeks later, the full moon is on the 15th of each month. Here’s a depiction of one lunar cycle; one Biblical month.

Moon Phases image from goodnet.org

Passover on Nisan 14

From the following verses we learn Passover occurs ‘between the sunsets’ on Nisan 14. The Feast of Unleavened Bread follows immediately afterward, for the next 7 days, from Nisan 15-21:

These are the LORD’s appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you shall proclaim at their appointed times. The Passover to the LORD begins between the sunsets on the fourteenth day of the first month. On the fifteenth day of the same month begins the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread.

Leviticus 23:4-6

Every year, the Jewish Passover Day (Nisan 14) is when the lambs are killed. But, it is not itself a Sabbath Day.

Rather, Nisan 14 is a preparation day, to prepare the lamb (and vegetables, etc.) for the Passover ‘Feast of Unleavened Bread.’ This feast begins after sunset, as the ‘high Sabbath’ begins on Nisan 15.

The Passover feast is the ‘Feast of Unleavened Bread,’ and Nisan 15 is a ‘high Sabbath’ day.

Events on Christian Passover Day – Nisan 14, from Sunset to Sunset

This is a brief, chronological summary of events that happened on Nisan 14, Christian Passover Day, in the year Jesus died on the cross:

  1. Jesus and His disciples met for the Last Supper at the beginning of Nisan 14, just after sunset. This was a Tuesday evening.
  2. After dinner, Jesus and His disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. Judas led a a mob there to arrest Jesus.
  3. Pontius Pilate convicted and condemned Jesus to be crucified early on Wednesday morning.
  4. By 9am Jesus was crucified. At about 3pm (still on Nisan 14) He died on the cross.
  5. His disciples hastily laid His body in a nearby tomb before Nisan 14 ended at sunset. This was before the Feast of Unleavened Bread was to begin at sunset, the beginning of Nisan 15. (John 19:31, 42)

The Last Supper

Jesus and the 12 disciples met in an upper room for (what Jesus knew was) His last meal.  During this meal He emphasized to them (and demonstrated) the Christian Passover concepts of purity, obedience, and sacrifice.

Purity: Mikveh and Foot-Washing

Before entering the sacred temple area for Passover, Jews ritually purified themselves by immersion in a mikveh, a ritual bath. Archaeologists discovered hundreds of mikvehs around Jerusalem for this purpose.

Jerusalem Mikveh Exhibit

Whoever has already bathed needs only to wash his feet, and he will be completely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.

John 13:10

From this verse (John 13:10) we know Jesus and His disciples bathed to cleanse their bodies before walking to the upper room for the Last Supper.

Ancient Stepped Mikveh in Jerusalem
Another Ancient Stepped Mikveh in Jerusalem

Obedience:

Jesus didn’t want to die on the cross. Even so, knowing He was going to be crucified as the Lamb of God within just a few hours, Jesus said,

I do exactly what the Father has commanded Me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.

John 14:31

Sacrifice: Bread and Wine

At the Last Supper, Jesus used leavened bread (artos, Strong’s #740) and wine to symbolize His body and blood.

The Melchizedek Priesthood

The symbol of bread and wine wasn’t new in Hebrew history. In the book of Genesis, Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He ‘brought out bread and wine’ when he blessed Abraham in Genesis 14:19.

According to Hebrews 5:10, 6:20, and 7:1-28, Jesus is our High Priest ‘according to the Order of Melchizedek.’

So, what did it mean when Jesus ‘brought out bread and wine,’ and how does it relate to Christian Passover? Months before, in Galilee, Jesus told His followers:

I AM the Living Bread of Life

Truly, truly, I tell you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is My flesh.”

“Unless you eat My flesh and drink My blood you have no life in you…”

Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is real food, and My blood is real drink.

Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your fathers, who ate the manna and died, the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this teaching, Jesus asked them, “Does this offend you? Then what will happen if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before? The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. However, there are some of you who do not believe.

John 6:53-63
Jesus is the Living Bread

So, what did it mean when Jesus ‘brought out bread and wine,’ and how does it relate to Christian Passover? The bread and wine in the Last Supper were elements of an ancient blood covenant ritual. It is a ‘New Covenant in His blood.’

The New Covenant

Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant they broke, though I was a husband to them, declares the LORD.

But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.

No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD.

For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.

Jeremiah 31:31-34
Who Are the Parties Making the New Covenant?

Who did YHWH covenant with in the New Covenant? Contrary to popular opinion, the Church didn’t replace Israel as God’s chosen people when Jesus instituted the New Covenant.

According to Jeremiah 31:31 above, the New Covenant is between YHWH and the houses of Israel and Judah.

Spiritual Israel

New Covenant disciples are citizens of spiritual Israel.

Jesus is God’s High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek. He mediated the New Covenant between YHWH and the houses of Israel (10 tribes) and Judah (2 tribes). The apostle Paul revealed that Gentile believers are reconciled to God because they’re grafted-in to the ‘lost 10 tribes’ of Israel.

At the Last Supper Jesus revealed that His body and blood would be sacrificed to renew the covenant that God made with Israel at Mount Sinai—the covenant Israel had broken.

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, spoke a blessing and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is My body.”

Then He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (Matthew 26:26-28)

This is the Christian Passover ceremony.

The New Covenant Is A Blood Covenant

Bread and wine are ‘blood covenant‘ symbols. In ancient times, whenever two men made a formal covenant, they sacrificed an animal. They spilled its blood (its life) and then roasted and ate its body in a covenant meal. Eating this meal constitutes an unspoken agreement that whoever breaks the covenant will be cursed to die, just as the sacrificed animal died.

In like manner, when we eat the Christian Passover bread and drink the Christian Passover wine (in the Feast of Unleavened Bread) we’re symbolically eating the body and drinking the blood of the Christian Passover sacrifice, the Lamb of God.

When you eat the bread and drink the wine in the Christian Passover ceremony you are literally entering into a covenant with YHWH.

That’s why the apostle Paul warned:

Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Each one must examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.

1 Corinthians 11:27-30
Our Responsibility In the New Covenant:
  • Believe in the Messiah as our Christian Passover sacrifice
  • Have God’s law written in our mind and on our heart (and walk accordingly)
  • Know YHWH.  
YHWH’s Responsibility In the New Covenant:
  • Reconcile believers to Himself—both Jew and Gentile. Reconciliation is available to anyone who believes. Belief in YHWH’s Christian Passover sacrifice is the only method of reconciliation with YHWH. (John 14:6)
  • Replace believers’ heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Make it possible for them to live according to God’s instructions.
  • YHWH now inhabits a spiritual house made from ‘living stones,’ making all stone temples obsolete.

As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight, you also, like living stones, are built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:5

Arrest, Trial, Crucifixion, Burial

The themes of purity, obedience and sacrifice continue:

Purity

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.

1 Peter 1:19

Obedience

“Not My will, but Thine be done.”

Luke 22:42

In His anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.

Luke 22:44

He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.

Philippians 2:8

Regardless of the cost and pain, Jesus completely obeyed the Father and submitted Himself to the Father’s will.

Sacrifice

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth.

Isaiah 53:7

Feast of Unleavened Bread, from Nisan 15-21

The Feast of Unleavened Bread is the actual Passover meal, when we eat the roasted, sacrificial lamb.

Historical Christian Passover Week Details

Note: the year 30AD is not certain, but the Nisan 14-18 details are correct.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread occurs every year after sunset, at the beginning of Nisan 15. This is about 4 hours after the lamb’s blood (its life) is taken.

Jesus died on the cross on Wednesday at about 3pm. This was exactly the same time as the Levitical priests in the temple were killing the Passover lambs to cover the nation’s sins. Just after sunset on that Wednesday, all families in Israel would be eating roasted lamb in Passover Seder meals. A ‘Seder’ (pronounced say-der) is the ritual feast commemorating the exodus from Egypt under Moses.

A bright, white full moon at the beginning of this feast on Nisan 15 represents the Messiah’s resurrected glory.

Why Unleavened?

Whereas Jesus and His disciples ate leavened bread at the Last Supper, this is the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Why unleavened? There are two reasons:

  1. In the exodus from Egypt they didn’t have time to leaven their bread. So this is a remembrance of their leaving in haste.
  2. Leaven represents sin. While Jesus was in His mortal body, it was corruptible, like ours. In fact, in this sinful world Jesus suffered temptation in every way we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15) But after His body died, it was no longer possible to tempt Him to sin. He is forever incorruptible. His body has (symbolically) changed from leavened to unleavened.

In the New Covenant YHWH gives us a heart of flesh and writes His law in our mind and on our heart. So, unleavened bread also represents our changed nature, from sinner to saint. We can now walk in sincerity and truth…

Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with the old bread, leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and of truth.

1 Corinthians 5:7

Why is the Feast of Unleavened Bread 7 Days?

The Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Tabernacles have many similarities:

  • Both feasts last 7 days (Tabernacles lasts 7 days, but adds an 8th day)
  • Both begin and end with “a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work”

Ever since the 7 days of creation in Genesis, the number 7 represents the fullness, completeness, and perfection of YHWH’s creation. For example, every 7th day speaks of complete rest; there are 7 colors in God’s rainbow, and 7 notes in the musical scale.

Why these feasts last 7 days is a mystery, but here’s my belief; the 7-day duration of these two holy feasts tells me that they have eternal significance.

  • Throughout all eternity we’re grateful to YHWH because He provided us the bread and wine of the New Covenant in the Feast of Unleavened Bread. We owe everything to YHWH’s love and grace, and to our Passover Lamb, Jesus.
  • For all eternity we’re the ‘tabernacle’ of YHWH; that is, He will dwell in us and we will be His temple, built of living stones.

Should Christians Celebrate Moedim?

In a word, yes. For Christians who don’t believe the moedim apply to them, Zechariah 14:16 tells us all nations will celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles annually in the millennial age to come–after the Battle of Armageddon.

Then all the survivors from the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.

Zechariah 14:16

Think about it objectively…

  • God required Israel to celebrate His moedim in the past, and He will require require all nations to celebrate Tabernacles in the future Millennium.
  • It’s therefore highly unlikely that God thinks it’s okay for His people today to disregard His moedim, and to replace them with non-Biblical ‘Christian’ holidays.

Firstfruits, Nisan 18

Firstfruits celebrates the first portion of the harvest of mankind in the kingdom of God.

The Sign of Jonah

The Jewish leaders asked Jesus for a sign to confirm God sent Him. In response, Jesus told them,

A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.”

Matthew 12:39, 16:4, Luke 11:29

Now the LORD had appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish.

Jonah 1:17

The sign of Jonah is that Jesus would be in the grave three days and three nights.

His disciples placed Jesus’ body in the tomb on Wednesday afternoon, Nisan 14, before sunset. Three days and 3 nights later, Jesus arose from the dead on Saturday afternoon, Nisan 17, before sunset.

Timing

While fulfilling the sign of Jonah, Jesus also fulfilled the timing requirements for the Firstfruits moedim.

And the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘When you enter the land I am giving you and reap its harvest, you are to bring to the priest the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest. And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD so that it may be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath.”

Leviticus 23:9-11

After the Nisan 17 sunset, ending the Sabbath, Jesus ascended into heaven and waved the sheaf of firstfruits before YHWH on Nisan 18.

Firstfruits Offering in Heaven

As the spotless Lamb of God Jesus fulfilled Passover and Unleavened Bread. When YHWH resurrected Jesus’ body, transforming it into an incorruptible, heavenly body, Jesus ‘entered the land’ in the spiritual realm. As the resurrected High Priest according to the Order of Melchizedek, Jesus brought many resurrected saints with Him as the Firstfruits offering in the heavenly sanctuary…

At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split. The tombs broke open, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After Jesus’ resurrection, when they had come out of the tombs, they entered the holy city and appeared to many people

Matthew 27:51-53

Some believe these resurrected saints are the 24 elders John saw in Revelation 4:4.

2. Present: Christian Passover

How should Christians apply the spiritual truths of Passover?

Christian Passover – Purity

Just as Jesus and His disciples ritually purified themselves before Passover, we must purify ourselves before we can…

offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

Romans 12:1

How to Purify Yourself

The Passover sacrifice of Jesus makes it possible for us to overcome all shame and an evil conscience. This enables us to ‘have confidence’ to enter YHWH’s presence without guilt or shame…

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way opened for us through the curtain of His body. And since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Hebrews 10:19-22
The Tabernacle

God told Moses to build the tabernacle “according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” (Exodus 25:40) God showed Moses the divine pattern that everyone must follow to enter YHWH’s presence.

Enter through the Door at the bottom. Proceed up to the Holy of Holies.
The Temple

Later, Israel’s temples followed this same pattern…

Christian Passover – Spiritual Application
  1. First, enter through the Door. Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. (John 10:7)
  2. Sacrifice on the brazen altar. Jesus was offered once for all time as a permanent sacrifice for sins. (Hebrews 10:12)
  3. Sanctification (mikveh) in the brazen laver (large tub) of water. We have been sanctified through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time. (Hebrews 10:10)
  4. After sacrifice and sanctification you can enter the Holy Place to praise YHWH, receive revelation (the Word), and enjoy the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

In the same way, before we can enter YHWH’s presence we must partake of the Passover sacrifice by faith. Then, we can mikveh (cleanse) our mind and conscience through introspection and prayer.

Other New Testament scriptures concerning our purification: Ephesians 5:27, Colossians 1:22, Hebrews 9:14

The ‘bottom line’ is that nothing impure or unholy may enter YHWH’s presence.

Christian Passover – Obedience

Jesus frequently said, “If you love Me keep My commandments.” He also warned,

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven. But only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 7:21

Similar verses include: 1 John 2:17, John 9:31, Mark 3:35, Matthew 7:24, 12:50, and Revelation 2:26.

Cheap Grace vs Costly Grace

Dietrich Bonhoeffer became a martyr for Christ after he opposed Hitler during WWII. He wrote “The Cost of Discipleship,” contrasting cheap grace with costly grace.

Cheap Grace

Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner. Grace alone does everything they say, and so everything can remain as it was before…Well, then, let the Christian live like the rest of the world, let him model himself on the world’s standards in every sphere of life, and not presumptuously aspire to live a different life under grace from his old life under sin…. “Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. It is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession…Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

“The Cost of Discipleship” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Sadly, most of today’s visible Church wants ‘cheap grace.’ Its leaders merchandise the gospel for their own benefit, while ‘tickling the ears’ of large crowds on the broad way that leads to destruction. (Matthew 7:13-14)

Costly Grace

Costly grace is… costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: “ye were bought at a price,” and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life but delivered him up for us.

“The Cost of Discipleship” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

God’s grace was costly. We respect the price He paid by becoming morally pure according to His Spirit in us…

This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.

Jeremiah 31:33

Don’t Tolerate Sin In Your Life!

If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Hebrews 10:26-31

Obedience to God isn’t always easy or pleasant…God’s will led Jesus to die on the cross. In like manner, God’s will may lead us to sacrifice our money, our property, and our lives. But following God’s will is the only path to success and glory in God’s eternal kingdom.

Christian Passover – Sacrifice

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Romans 12:1-2

How to Become a Living Sacrifice

  1. Purity: partake of the bread and wine of the Passover sacrifice by faith. Then mikveh (wash, cleanse) your mind and conscience through introspection, prayer, and faith in the Messiah’s sacrifice for your sins. Do this until you can stand before God without any shame or guilt.
  2. Obedience: having purified your conscience, don’t be defiled by allowing leaven (sin) in your life. Be holy, as YHWH is holy (1 Peter 1:16). Be sure to mix holiness with genuine humility; remember, pride is a sin.
  3. Sacrifice: having cleansed your conscience by faith in the Christian Passover Lamb, put away all leaven in your life. Then you can offer yourself as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. God will mightily use you to advance His kingdom on the earth.

Job Openings in God’s Kingdom

All of these saints will be ‘living sacrifices’ unto YHWH during the years ahead:

3. Future: The Autumn Feasts in Our Future

At the exact moment the Levitical priests were killing the Passover lamb in the temple, our Christian Passover Lamb was dying on the cross. He arose from the grave after fulfilling the sign of Jonah, just in time to wave the sheaf of Firstfruits in heaven on the Sabbath following Passover.

God fulfilled the Spring feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits) exactly as prophesied. Since YHWH fulfilled the Spring feasts so exactly, what can we expect concerning the Autumn feasts which haven’t been fulfilled yet?

Obviously, (just like the Spring feasts) we can expect the Autumn feasts to be fulfilled on the exact dates when the Jews are celebrating them. The Autumn feasts all take place in the Hebrew month of Tishri, the 7th month, which occurs in September/October on the Gregorian calendar.

Trumpets, Tishri 1, Leviticus 23:24-25

Many reputable teachers believe this will be the day when “the Last Trump” will sound and all dead and living saints will be resurrected or ‘snatched-up’ to heaven and changed in the twinkling of an eye. (1 Corinthians 15)

Day of Atonement, Tishri 10, Leviticus 23:26-32

Whereas Passover deals with personal redemption, the Day of Atonement is the national-level ‘covering’ of sin, with offerings for the priesthood, the nation, and the sanctuary.

I believe the Battle of Armageddon, when Messiah returns with the armies of heaven to defeat the armies of the Antichrist, will occur on a Day of Atonement.

Following the resurrection of Jesus’ disciples on Tishri 1, I believe this is the day when ‘all Israel’ will be saved, in fulfillment of Zechariah 12:10.

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come from Zion. He will remove godlessness from Jacob. And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.

Romans 11:25-27

The Year of Jubilee, when all debts are cancelled and properties are restored, will begin on a Day of Atonement. (Leviticus 25:8-12)

Tabernacles, Tishri 15-22, Leviticus 23:33-43

  • Saints commanded to dwell in booths (tents or temporary shelters) for 7 days to remember how Israel dwelt in booths when they came out of Egypt
  • Preparation for the future ‘Greater Exodus,’ when believers will flee from the Antichrist (Revelation 12:13-17, Jeremiah 23:7-8)
  • Also known as the Feast of Ingathering (of the final harvest) in Exodus 23:16
  • Many reputable teachers believe the Wedding Supper of the Lamb occurs during this feast
  • God will require all nations to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem every year during the millennial reign of Messiah (Zechariah 14:16-19)
  • The 8th day symbolizes the saints dwelling in YHWH’s presence for eternity

Christian Passover – Conclusion

Most Christians know Passover was fulfilled about 2000 years ago when the Lamb of God voluntarily sacrificed Himself for our sins. That’s true, but the ongoing, New Covenant meaning of Christian Passover is that disciples should not only partake of the bread and wine, but they should themselves follow the Savior’s example, becoming lambs of God, “living sacrifices.”

They can do this by:

  1. Purity: partake of the bread and wine of the Christian Passover sacrifice by faith, and then mikveh (wash, cleanse) your mind and conscience through introspection and prayer. Do this until you can stand before God without any shame or guilt.
  2. Obedience: don’t let any leaven (sin) defile you. Be holy, as YHWH is holy (1 Peter 1:16). Be sure to mix holiness with genuine humility; remember, pride is a sin.
  3. Sacrifice: having cleansed your conscience by faith in the Christian Passover Lamb, and having put away all leaven in your life, offer yourself as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. God will mightily use you to advance His kingdom on the earth.

What Do You Think?

Did this article answer all your questions on this topic? Please leave a comment below and tell me:

  • Did this article satisfy you?
  • Or, did it leave you wanting more?

Related Questions and Answers

Q: Should Christians celebrate Old Testament festivals?

A: Yes. The New Covenant is between YHWH and Israel–sealed by the blood of Jesus. Jesus fulfilled the Spring festivals exactly according to their dates and prophetic patterns and He will likewise fulfill the autumn festivals in our future. God gave the annual festivals in Leviticus 23 to His people so that we’d understand God’s plan of redemption, and He commanded His people to keep these festivals. Christians are grafted into Israel (Romans 11:17-24), so let’s keep the Biblical festivals, not blindly and mechanically according to their letter, but intelligently, according to God’s spiritual intent, as I’ve illustrated in this article about how to spiritually observe Passover and the Spring feasts.

Q: This article doesn’t jive with the church’s Good Friday and Easter holidays. Why not?

A: Good Friday, Easter, Ash Wednesday, Lent, and all other ‘church’ holidays are both absent from and contrary to scripture. For any objective person, it’s easy to trace their evolution from Babylonian roots. Though many of these holidays seem harmless, and even reverent, they illegitimately substitute themselves for the truths that YHWH’s moedim provide. Thus, they deprive you of the moedims’ revelation and truth, and they deprive YHWH of the form of worship He commanded us to present to Him.

YHWH designed His moedim to teach you His plan of redemption, including how and when events will unfold in our future. Just as Jesus fulfilled the Spring feasts, so will He fulfill the Autumn feasts.

Therefore, instead of following the world in celebrating pagan holidays, Christians should follow YHWH’s appointed times (holidays) found in Leviticus chapter 23.

Filed Under: Moedim Tagged With: Armageddon, Autumn Feasts, Babylon, Day of Atonement, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, God's appointed times, greater exodus, Jubilee, living bread, living stones, millennial reign of christ, new covenant, satan, Spiritual Israel, Temple, Trumpets

A Christian View of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread

Leave a Comment

For Christians, what is the significance of Passover Week, which is the Feast of Unleavened Bread? I’ve studied God’s ‘appointed times’ for many years but recently I discovered some new information that greatly expanded my understanding and appreciation of this mandatory event in God’s annual calendar.

Table set for the Feast of Unleavened Bread

So, what is the Christian significance of Passover Week? During the Feast of Unleavened Bread Christians should:

  • ‘Eat’ the Passover Lamb
  • Identify and remove leaven: man-made traditions and teachings
  • Prepare for the ‘Greater Exodus’ that is coming in our future

In chapter 23 of the Biblical book of Leviticus, God commanded His people to celebrate seven ‘appointed times’ every year. These events are prophetic types that reveal God’s plan for mankind’s redemption and the re-establishment of His kingdom over all the earth. The 7 ‘appointed times’ are:

  1. Passover (or Pesach)
  2. Unleavened Bread
  3. Firstfruits
  4. Pentecost
  5. Trumpets
  6. Atonement
  7. Tabernacles

Click the Passover link above to read my detailed article about Passover itself.

But in this article I’ll focus on the Week after Passover, and how the Feast of Unleavened Bread applies to us today.

Eat the Passover Lamb

For an excellent introduction to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, including an excellent timeline for Jesus’ final week on earth, I recommend this video:

The Old Testament Passover Experience and Its Symbolism

Here is the Old Testament passage where God ordained the Passover Feast of Unleavened Bread, from Exodus 12:1-17:

“Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month is the beginning of months for you; it shall be the first month of your year.

Select a Passover Lamb

Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month, each man must select a lamb for his family, one per household. If the household is too small for a whole lamb, they are to share with the nearest neighbor, based on the number of people, and apportion the lamb accordingly.

Your lamb must be an unblemished-year-old male, and you may take it from the sheep or the goats. You must care for it until the fourteenth day of the month when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight. They are to take some of the blood and put it on the two sideposts and tops of the doorframes of the houses in which they eat the lambs.

Eat the Roasted Passover Lamb that Night

They are to eat the meat that night, roasted over the fire, along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

Do not eat any of the meat raw or cooked in boiling water, but only roasted over the fire—its head and legs and inner parts. Do not leave any of it until morning; before the morning you must burn up any part that is left over.

Be Ready to Travel

This is how you are to eat it: You must be fully dressed for travel, with your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. You are to eat in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover. On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn male, both man and beast, and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.

The blood on the houses where you are staying will distinguish them; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will fall on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

A Perpetual 7-Day Memorial

And this day will be a memorial for you, and you are to celebrate it as a feast to the LORD, as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day, you are to remove the yeast from your houses. Whoever eats anything leavened from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel.

On the first day, you are to hold a sacred assembly, and another on the seventh day. You must not do any work on those days, except to prepare the meals—that is all you may do.

So you are to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your divisions out of the land of Egypt. You must observe this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.

Passover and the Exodus from Egypt

If you’ve seen The Ten Commandments movie, starring Charleton Heston, you know the first Passover happened when the death angel killed all the firstborn children and animals of the Egyptians. The death angel ‘passed over’ each Israelite family that applied an innocent lamb’s blood to the doorposts of their houses.

That evening, the Israelites roasted and ate the sacrificial lambs, along with bread that didn’t have time to leaven, just before they hurriedly departed Egypt and miraculously crossed the Red Sea.

The Passover Commemoration

In Exodus 12 (above) and Leviticus chapter 23, God told Israel to commemorate their deliverance from Egyptian bondage every year by sacrificing a lamb on the 14th of Nisan (the first month) and eating it’s roasted flesh that evening.

Christian Passover Seder Table

In Jewish tradition this meal is known as the Passover Seder (pronounced say-der). It is during this “Feast of Unleavened Bread” when the Passover lamb is eaten.

The 15th of Nisan began at sundown, a few hours after the lambs were killed. Unlike our days that begin at midnight, Bible days start at sundown, as in this verse from Genesis chapter one.

“And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.“

Genesis 1:5

A Perpetual Feast

The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a permanent ordinance, for all time.

This is a day to remember. Each year, from generation to generation, you must celebrate it as a special festival to YHWH. This is a law for all time.

Exodus 12:14

God said for His people to celebrate this feast perpetually–for all time. The Roman church in the second and third centuries, especially under Constantine, had no authority to discard Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, or to replace them with Good Friday and Easter.

But thankfully, Christians today are re-discovering God’s appointed times and their spiritual application under the New Covenant.

Jesus Is Our Christian Passover

As you learned in the video above, Passover isn’t a day.

In the annual Passover commemoration, “The Lord’s Passover” is the actual sacrifice of our lamb for our sins, whether it’s a yearling sheep, or Jesus, the Lamb of God.

At 3 pm on the 14th of Nisan, the Passover lambs were killed in God’s temple. At exactly the same time, Jesus was dying on the cross as the Lamb of God. Jesus is the Christian Passover.

Christian Feast of Unleavened Bread Fulfills the Old Testament Symbolism

Get rid of the old yeast, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

1 Corinthians 5:7

Jesus not only perfectly fulfilled the symbolism of the Passover Lamb, delivering us from our bondage to sin and the fear of death, but He was sacrificed at exactly the same time as the Jewish priests were sacrificing the Jewish Passover lambs in the temple.

Jesus was buried in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb just before sundown on Nisan 14. Sundown is the start of Nisan 15, which then begins the (Christian) Feast of Unleavened Bread.

To Live You Must Eat My Flesh | I am the Living Bread

During His ministry Jesus totally astonished all of His followers when He said,

Truly, truly, I tell you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is My flesh. (John 6:47-51)

At the last supper He said,

“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” (1 Corinthians 11:24)

Jesus is our Passover sacrifice. Just as the Israelites ate their sacrificial lamb during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, so Christians must feed on the Lamb of God–who is now a life-giving Spirit.

“The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam a life-giving spirit.”

1 Corinthians 15:45

Identify and Remove Leaven: Manmade Traditions and Teachings

Many Jews and Christians struggle to understand God’s commandment to purge all the leaven from our houses for one week each year. For an excellent perspective on what leaven is, and what it symbolically represents, watch this video:

In light of the teaching in this video, during the annual Christian Feast of Unleavened Bread God primarily wants us to introspectively examine our hearts to identify and remove any ‘leaven.’ That is, we need to remove every man-made teaching or tradition that contradicts or replaces God’s word.

Christian Feast of Unleavened Bread: Prepare for the ‘Greater Exodus’ in Our Future

Just as the children of Israel fled Egypt in ‘the exodus’ under Moses, the Bible tells us there’s a Greater Exodus in our future.

The ancient exodus from Egypt began during the week after Passover. Then God delivered one people; the people who became the nation of Israel.

But, in a future (Christian) Feast of Unleavened Bread week, God will begin to deliver His people out of all the nations of the earth in the ‘Greater Exodus’. This ‘Greater Exodus’ will totally eclipse and replace the ancient exodus from Egypt in the minds of all God’s people forever.

As Jeremiah prophesied,

Yet behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when men will no longer say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of Egypt.’ Instead they will say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and all the other lands to which He had banished them.’ For I will return them to their land that I gave to their ancestors.

Jeremiah 16:14-15

Timing of the Christian Feast of Unleavened Bread–the Greater Exodus

For reasons I explain in #1c and #7 of The Coming Great Tribulation | Sequence Of End Time Events, the Greater Exodus will happen during Christian Feast of Unleavened Bread, just after the great tribulation begins.

The ‘abomination of desolation‘ will initiate the 3.5-year great tribulation. Since the 7th Trumpet at the end of the tribulation will certainly coincide with the autumn feasts of Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles, this means the abomination of desolation will coincide with the spring feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread 3.5 years earlier.

Just as God delivered Moses and the Israelites from Egypt on the 15th of Nisan, I expect God will initiate the Greater Exodus in our future on Nisan 15. Just as God told the Israelites the words below, so they will apply to us in the future.

“This is how you are to eat it: You must be fully dressed for travel, with your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. You are to eat in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover.“

To learn more about the Greater Exodus, here are two references:

  1. The Sequence of End-Time Events
  2. The video below from Lion & Lamb Ministries

Conclusion: Christian Feast of Unleavened Bread

The perpetual Feast of Unleavened Bread teaches us that we must always remember:

  • Our Passover Lamb’s sacrifice that gives us forgiveness and life
  • To cleanse our mind and heart from the leaven of every man-made teaching or tradition that contradicts or replaces God’s word
  • The deliverance God provides for our souls, as well as our bodies in the future, Greater Exodus.

Filed Under: Moedim Tagged With: Autumn Feasts, Feast of Unleavened Bread, God's appointed times, greater exodus, Israel, living bread, new covenant, Pentecost, Trumpets

The One-World Religion | 2 Thessalonians 2:3 | The Great Falling Away

Leave a Comment

The prophesied one-world religion is now here. While its false prophets proclaim world peace and brotherly love with their words, in practice they promote violence and hatred against God’s true followers.

The Bible tells us the one-world religion’s strong delusion will deceive everyone who refuses the love of the truth–those who delight in wickedness. The result is the greatest ‘falling away’ in the history of the church, and this is happening now.

Here’s how the Book of Revelation portrays the one-world religion:

Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and those who dwell on the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her immorality.

And the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, where I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. 

And on her forehead a mysterious name was written:BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

I could see that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and witnesses for Jesus.

Revelation 17:1-6

Godly Unity is Good

Psalm 133:1 says, “How good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!”

It is good and pleasant for born-again brethren to dwell in unity—a unity centered on their shared faith in God and obedience to His Word.

Satanic Unity in a One-World Religion is Bad

But, instead of this holy unity, Satan and the fallen celestial rulers of the present wicked age are building a seductive, counterfeit religious unity, a one-world religion based on their shared rebellion, their desire for power, and lawlessness toward God and his Word.

The current Roman Catholic pope, whom the prophecy of Malachy predicts will be the last pope before Rome is destroyed, is aggressively promoting such a unity between the world’s three major monotheistic religions—Jewish, Christian, and Muslim. Here are just a few news articles supporting this statement:

Roman Catholics with Jews the pope meets with Jewish leaders to discuss a United Nations of Religions.

Protestants ‘Churches’ merging with Roman Catholics Prominent Pastor Rick Warren promotes Protestant/Catholic unity.

Roman Catholics with Orthodox the pope builds bridges with Orthodox leadership.

Roman Catholics with Muslims the pope prays in a Mosque with Muslim leaders.

United Nations Interfaith Harmony Week is held every February. It’s a way to promote harmony between all people regardless of their faith.

The One-World Religion’s Apostasy is Happening Now

The Bible teaches that this effort will succeed, and it will result in “the apostasy” predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4:

Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

Notice that it’s not an apostasy, but the original Greek text explicitly uses the definite article “the,”  labeling it the apostasy. The one-world religion is the greatest apostasy in world history.

The One-World Religion: The Great Falling Away

People commonly refer to the apostasy of the coming one-world religion as ‘the Great Falling Away.’ This is based on the King James version’s translation of 2 Thessalonians 2:3…

Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first…

2 Thessalonians 2:3 NKJV

So, what is this apostasy, ‘the falling away?’

Christianity’s Golden Calves

For centuries, the majority of ‘Christian’ Catholic and Protestant believers have been in varying degrees of descent into complete apostasy. Since they’re ignorant of God’s Biblical commands and calendar, they follow the world’s traditions and calendar instead.

For example, they celebrate the non-Biblical Ash Wednesday and Lent festivals. Then they take their children on Easter egg hunts instead of celebrating the perpetual, Biblically-mandated feasts of Passover, First-fruits, and Unleavened Bread. 

Likewise, they ignore YHWH’s autumn feasts of Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles–all of which God is fulfulling in our future. Instead, they substitute Halloween harvest festivals, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

This apostasy will increase in the end time as the majority of churches reject obedience to God’s Word. In its place, they’ll follow this world’s religious leaders (i.e., Kenneth Copeland, the Pope, Dalai Lama, etc.) in accepting a mishmash of humanistic, man-made religious doctrines that Jews, Muslims, and ‘Christians’ can all agree on.

The One-World Religion’s False Prophets and Hirelings

The ‘Christian’ church today is already in ‘the great falling away.’ Its false prophets discard the Old Testament, along with any uncomfortable passages in the New Testament.

Multitudes of pew-warming believers traditionally gather for 1 hour a week, where these false prophets lead them through a weekly religious ‘worship experience.’ The typical worship experience goes like this:

  1. Have people assigned to greet everyone at the front door. Give them coffee and donuts in the foyer while catchy multimedia clips give them various kinds of church-related information.
  2. Start ‘the service’ with an upbeat ‘worship package.’ The last song should evoke strong emotion.
  3. Before the emotion fades, fleece the sheep (harvest their money).
  4. Feed them a feel-good, seeker-friendly message in less than 30 minutes.
  5. Encourage them to bring their friends next week, so that they can feel good too.
  6. Send them home with the false assurance that anything they do is OK because it’s all covered by God’s grace.

If this sounds like your church, you need to seriously question if you’re on on the broad road or the narrow way. Rather than always swimming with the current, we must swim upstream to enter the kingdom of God.

Metrics of Success: Numbers or Obedience?

I attended a protestant Bible College in 1974-1975, where I got to peek behind the curtain of ministerial life. I learned the pecking order for ministerial prestige is always governed, from week to week, by a minister’s number of attendees and offerings.

Whenever two of these hirelings met, they’d ask, “How many are you running?” Then they’d compare their attendance and offering numbers. These numbers automatically determined their rank in the pecking order. Whoever had more people and more offerings had more prestige.

In contrast, (in John chapter 6) when Jesus taught His followers that He is the Bread of Life, most of His followers left Him.  But numbers weren’t His priority.

Therefore, a godly minister’s only metric of success is whether the Living God’s will is being done–whether or not it’s popular.

Forbidden Topics

Today’s ‘Christian’ leaders generally avoid topics like: the feasts of Israel, the 4th Commandment, the blood of Jesus, repentance, discipleship, obedience to God’s Word, persecution, sacrificial suffering, martyrdom, prophecy, God’s judgment, the Antichrist, Armageddon, and God’s expectation of our practical holiness.

As a result of these false shepherds, 99.999% of the people who attend today’s Catholic and Protestant churches are ignorant of what the Bible actually teaches about these things.

Enter through the Narrow Gate

Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13 NASB)

So, if you’re in the Christian mainstream, chances are you’re not going through the small gate on the narrow way that leads to life.

Judgment of the Hirelings

To the false prophets, who are ‘Pied Pipers’ on the broad way to destruction, the prophet Hosea’s words still apply:

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being my priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” (Hosea 4:6)

The result of this ‘lack of knowledge’ is pervasive lawlessness in the church.

Biblical Lawlessness of the One-World Religion

The Bible simply defines lawlessness as not following God’s commandments.  For example, in his war against the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15) King Saul did 99.9% of what God commanded him to do, but he didn’t completely obey God. As a result, God rejected him as king over Israel. In this well-known passage,

Samuel said, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.

For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king.

Too Late for Repentance

Then Saul said to Samuel,

I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice. “Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.”

But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”

As Samuel turned to go, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. So Samuel said to him,

The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you.”

Depart from Me, You Who Practice Lawlessness

Likewise, because of their lawlessness and disregard for obeying God’s Word, many of today’s Christians will be surprised when they’re rejected from entering the kingdom of heaven…

Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. 

Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’  “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

Matthew 7:21-23, NASB

Persecution is Coming from the One-World Religion

Judgment Begins in the House of God

A great shaking and sifting is coming to the Church, and it will reveal God’s true disciples…

I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the LORD of hosts.

Haggai 2:7

They will fill God’s temple with the glory of their redemption–which God accomplished in them through Christ Jesus.

For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

1 Peter 4:17

God will first judge His Church, and then He will judge the nations. When He judges the Church, only faithful, obedient disciples will remain standing in His presence. When He judges the nations, nobody will be able to stand.

The one-world religion will soon persecute true Christians, who obey the Bible and seek God’s kingdom first. They’ll label Christians as: mentally ill, violent extremists, terrorists, bigots, etc. The groundwork for these accusations is already laid.

One-World Religion Lays the Groundwork for Christian Persecution

Indeed, the foundation for this persecution has already been laid.

Political Preparation for Persecution

“The Obama administration, including the military over which President Obama presides as commander-in-chief, is engaging in a pattern of behavior targeting traditional Christian believers and their groups as extremists and mocking their beliefs.” (from Frontpagemag.com)

Religious Preparation for Persecution

From the Catholic News Service on 6/25/14:
1. Pope Francis described as “dangerous” the temptation to believe that one can have “a personal, direct, immediate relationship with Jesus Christ without communion with and the mediation of the (Roman Catholic) church.”

  1. In the hyperlinked article below, Pope Francis and retired Israeli president Shimon Peres worked to create a “United Nations of Religions,” but ‘fundamentalist’ believers aren’t welcome.

“There is one type of Christian that Pope Francis does not have anything positive to say about. Pope Francis says that there is not any room for “fundamentalism” in Christianity… Following his first visit to the Middle East as pope last month, the pontiff criticized fundamentalism in Christianity, Islam and Judaism as a form of violence.

“A fundamentalist group, even if it kills no one, even it strikes no one, is violent. The mental structure of fundamentalism is violence in the name of God.”

Pope Francis And Shimon Peres Discuss The Establishment Of A ‘United Nations Of Religions’

Coming One-World Religion: What Should You Do?

To avoid falling into the great apostasy of the coming one-world religion:

  1. Sincerely ask God to forgive you of your sins. Turn away from your sinful nature. Ask Jesus to lead you into a life of obedience and holiness, according to God’s word.
  2. Study and obey the entire Word of God as the antidote to one-world religion delusion.
  3. Fellowship together with other sincere, obedient disciples of Jesus. If your church is following the ‘religious process’ formula above, immediately start searching for another congregation that teaches and expects you to follow the whole Word of God.
  4. Mentally and spiritually prepare for persecution.

It is a trustworthy statement: for if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us.

2 Timothy 2:11-12

Filed Under: End Time Tagged With: Antichrist, Armageddon, Autumn Feasts, Babylon, false religion, glory of God, Israel, living bread, martyrs, satan, strong delusion

Primary Sidebar

Musings & Teachings

  • End-time Prophetic News and Expectations
  • The Lord’s Prayer | How Did Jesus Pray? Line-By-Line Meaning Explained
  • Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness
  • The Kingdom of Heaven Suffers Violence | Matthew 11:12 | Luke 16:16
  • Anticipating Christian Pentecost
  • Measure the Temple of God and the Altar | Revelation 11:1
  • Christian Passover
  • The First and Second Rapture of the Church
  • A Christian View of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread
  • Why No Discipleship Curriculum in the Bible?
  • When is the Next Year of Jubilee? | The 70th Jubilee | Leviticus 25:10
  • Our Authority Activates God’s Power
  • End Time Events Sequence | End Times Prophecy Timeline
  • Prediction of Life in the Next Millennium
  • Christianity’s Golden Calves
  • Fear of the Future | How to Overcome It
  • Watch and Pray
  • 5 Steps to Divine Healing | Free Download
  • The Heavenly Council – The Unseen Hands Controlling World Events
  • The One-World Religion | 2 Thessalonians 2:3 | The Great Falling Away
  • A Christian Concept of War
  • What’s Worth Dying For? One Veteran’s Opinion
  • Keeping the Sabbath
  • Kickoff – Stand In Faith

Footer

Categories

Tags

144000 (5) abomination of desolation (3) Antichrist (3) Armageddon (5) Autumn Feasts (5) Babylon (2) Daniel's 70th week (3) Day of Atonement (2) divine healing (2) Dragon cast down (3) false religion (4) Feast of Unleavened Bread (3) Firstfruits (2) first resurrection (2) glory of God (6) God's appointed times (6) greater exodus (3) Innumerable multitude (4) Israel (4) Jubilee (2) living bread (4) living stones (3) Manifestation of Sons of God (3) Mark of the Beast (3) martyrs (5) millennial reign of christ (7) new covenant (3) our inheritance in Christ (2) Pentecost (6) prayer (4) principalities and powers (7) prophetic (1) rhema (3) Sabbath (2) satan (8) satan's world system (2) Spiritual Israel (2) spiritual warfare (3) strong delusion (2) Temple (3) The Great Tribulation (5) the rapture (2) Trumpets (7) Two Witnesses (4) worry (3)

Copyright © 2021 All Rights Reserved