Chapter 2

Pecach Miqra'

Passover Outcalling

The Story of Our Redemption...

The presentation of Yahuweh’s redemptive appointments with His creation begins in Genesis. Having conceived life on the third day, God announced His timeline for saving it in the fourth. It was here that man was introduced to the Godly concept of the mow’ed - designated appointments designed to celebrate communion. And it was on this day that the Creator predicted the miraculous events that would transpire during man’s fourth millennia - an epoch which began in 967 BCE and ended tumultuously in 33 CE on our pagan calendars.

"God/Elohiym said, ‘There shall be lights (ma’owr - luminaries) in the expanse of the heavens to divide (badal - separate and set apart) day from night. They shall exist as symbols and signs (‘owth) for the appointed symbolic meeting places and times (mow’ed), for days, and for years." (Genesis 1:14)

An ‘owth is: "a signal and a distinguishing maker." An ‘owth is: "a way to remember;" it is "a non-verbal representation which has meaning." It was used to convey something that was designed to be "a miraculous proof, a wondrous indication of something that would serve as an illustration, an example, or a metaphor which would in turn make something else more clearly known." An ‘owth is: "an accounting, record used to evaluate a ransom or reward."

A mow’ed denotes a: "designated period which relates to others for a specific purpose authorized by an authority." A mow’ed is "a set-apart feast and festival for the celebration of communion." Yahuweh’s Miqra are Mow’ed.

Accurately and completely communicated, these two sentences convey the profound truth that the Miqra Mow’ed of Yahuweh are "wondrous signs that convey an important message" from our Creator. In fact, by coming to appreciate what the Mow’ed Miqra represent you will come to understand God, understand yourself, our relationship to Him and our purpose for being here. You will discover the means to salvation and the very framework of time itself from start to finish.

Failing to understand the Miqra Mow’ed, these appointed signs, clerics and laity alike fail to appreciate the connections between the covenants, and they have been deceived into believing that future prophetic events cannot be dated. We have become lost and blind, stumbling in the dark without a map. Steeped in religion, we are ignorant of the means provided to understand and date every significant event - past, present, and future. 

Spiritually speaking, Yahuweh had more to say about His Mow’ed Miqra.. "They exist as lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light to the earth, existing and established. God fashioned (‘asah - prepared, appointed, and instituted) the two large luminaries, the greater (gadowl - the more enormous in magnitude and intensity, the mighty, important and distinguished man; from gadal, meaning "to be magnified, great and powerful; to make and do great things) luminary to rule (memshalah - have dominion and authority over) the day and the lesser (qatan - smaller, insignificant, and unimportant, the younger chronologically, the lowly of status; from quwt, meaning loathed, opposed, abhorred, and detested) luminary to govern the night (layil - the absence of light; gloom and shadow), and the stars." (Genesis 1:15-16)

The greater and lesser luminaries "govern;" they have "dominion over" their respective conditions - light and the absence of light. The greater source of illumination and rule is "important, distinguished, and powerful, able to do great things." The "enormity of his magnitude and intensity" suggest only one individual - the Messiah Yahushua; God in the flesh.

The Adversary, as a fallen angel, is still luminous, albeit in "abhorrent and detestable opposition" to the Light. Acquiescing to His authority leads mankind "backwards," away from God and to the "gloomy and lightless enclosure" known as the abyss.

The testimony continues.."God established (nathan - bestowed, permitted, and granted; entrusted and assigned) the expanse of the heavens for light upon the earth, to rule over (mashal - to reign and exercise dominion over) the day and night, to divide and separate (badal) light (‘owr - enlightenment, instruction, life, and safety) from darkness (choshek - obscurity, blackness, concealment and confusion; the absence of light; ignorance, distress, and sorrow). God saw (ra’ah - perceived and considered, regarded and distinguished) that it was good (tabab - agreeable, excellent, valuable, appropriate, productive and beneficial)." (Genesis 1:17-18)

Badal means to: "to sever and to set apart, making a distinction between entities." It speaks of "separating from one group and being set-apart to another. Badal is about "discernment, the ability to evaluate and judge." It conveys that one group will be "excluded and abandoned" while others will be "accepted and accompanied" based upon the "selections" they make. This temporal life is all about making a distinction between truth and fiction. It is about separation - being set-apart unto God or being separated from Him. Based upon our decision, we are either accepted or abandoned, favorably evaluated or judged.

Yahuweh’s plan of salvation is based upon choice. We can select azab/separation or beriyth/relationship. This explains why when asked about bringing peace, Yahushua said that He "came to bring division."

Each of us individually can choose light or darkness, enlightenment or ignorance, instruction or confusion, safety or distress, life or death, the Creator or the creation. We can choose to love Yahuweh and to be set-apart and separated unto Him, allowing God’s Spirit to exercise dominion over us. Or we can elect to be ruled by men under the influence of the Adversary, and thus be expelled, some having their souls annihilated and others spending eternity in darkness and sorrow. Our very existence is purposed by this choice, making these words worthy of our consideration.

Historically, in accordance with the "‘owth/symbolism" of the "mow’ed/appointed assembly meetings," the "gadowl/magnificent, mighty, important and distinguished individual, the magnified, great and powerful luminary able to make and do great things," appeared right on schedule during the closing days of humankind’s fourth millennia. The Messiah’s mission began on the Miqra of Tabernacles in 2 BCE, in accordance with John’s and Luke’s testimony. John explains: "the Word became flesh and Tabernacled with us." Yahushua’s mission ended thirty-three years later, exactly forty days after His fulfillment of the Mow’ed Miqra of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and FirstFruits in the Yowbel/Lamb’s Redemptive Year of 33 CE. Per the Creator’s plan, it was exactly forty Yowbel after Abraham’s dress rehearsal with Isaac on the same mountain. Ten days later, right on schedule, the forty Yowbel reign of the ekklesia/out-calling was born, fulfilling the ecclesiastical Miqra of Seven Sabbaths.

During their wilderness wanderings, the Israelites were instructed to observe seven annual Miqra, or Set-Apart Convocations, spread out over a seven month period. Some were memorials of events in the life of Yahuweh’s Chosen People. Others served to enhance their relationship with Him. Yet each and every one served as prophetic signposts, dating and explaining the road to redemption. The six feasts and one fast enabled the Yahudim to reflect upon Yahuweh’s deliverance and provision. Today they help us understand God’s nature and unravel His plan of salvation.

The first three Miqra (Passover, Unleavened Bread, and FirstFruits) predict the Messiah’s redemptive advent. They foreshadow His atoning sacrifice, explain how He removed sin from our bodies, and demonstrate how this leads to the victory of resurrected life. The fourth Miqra (Seven Sevens) is prophetic of the indwelling of the set-apart Spirit and of the creation of an adopted family who are called-out to be witnesses. The fifth Miqra (Taruwah or Trumpets) brings the age of the ekklesia/out-calling to a close with the harvest known to many as the "rapture." The sixth Miqra, the Day of Atonement, ends the age of man with a rather angry Yahushua returning to Earth to clean up our mess. The Millennial Sabbath begins five days later on the Festival Feast of Tabernacles in the Yowbel of 2033.  

What I’m saying here is that while God is immortal, time is important to Him. These dates are fixed - preordained and predetermined if you will. Everything that is important to Yahuweh occurs on His schedule - one that He published over 3,000 years ago.

Numbers are also important to Yahuweh. There are seven Miqra which play out over the course of seven months. There are seven days in a week, all designated by number. The seventh day is the most important one, foreshadowing that man cannot work for his or her salvation. The first Miqra, Passover, begins at sundown on the 14^th day, two sevens after the start of the first month.

Collectively, the seven Miqra are erroneously referred to as "Jewish Holidays" or as the "Feasts of Israel." But that concept of them is a dead end. In order to disassociate the first and third Miqra from Yahushua’s crucifixion and resurrection, the Spring Feasts have been grouped together under the title Unleavened Bread. The fourth Miqra, called Pentecost in Greek, is simply ignored - too Christian perhaps. The fifth was renamed by the Jews during their Babylonian captivity, changing Yahuweh’s seventh month announcement of Taruwah to Rosh Hashanah, or New Year’s Day. Since the Day of Atonement has no "Christian" symbolism, it is still duly noted but not observed in accordance with Yahuweh’s instructions. Tabernacles, however, isn’t so popular. Jews don’t want to be reminded that the Tabernacle Temple was just a building - one that is now in ruins. They are sill running from the reality that the real Tabernacle of Yahuweh, was Yahushua and that today, God’s Tabernacle is the body of believers.

Although the Chosen People would be the first to experience Yahuweh’s set-apart convocations, God plainly states that these are His festivals. Therefore, they have ramifications that go well beyond Israel’s national interests. They are fixed annual appointments between man and God that are to be kept for all time and in all places. They are communal celebrations Yahuweh wants observed. And all seven exist in direct opposition to man’s secular and religious observances: New Year’s, St. Valentine’s Day, Lent, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The history of our festivals is actually Satanic - born and bread in Babylon. They are an abomination to Yahuweh.  

The Scriptures are clear. If you are a follower of Yahuweh, if you rely upon the Messiah Yahushua for your salvation, you are asked to observe the Miqra and abstain from Satanic festivities. Unfortunately, "Christians" the world over ignore all of these appointments with God. Many don’t even know their names, and most don’t understand their significance.  

After reiterating the importance of keeping the Sabbath - something else Christians fail to do, Moses writes: "These Godly (‘el-leh) appointed meeting times (mow’ed - fixed assembly betrothal appointments which focus on the specific purpose designated by the Authority) of Yahuweh, these related (‘asher) set-apart (qodesh) assemblies of the called out (miqra’ - the calling together; from qara’, to call out, to read, and recite), shall be proclaimed (qara’ - called out, read aloud, and recited) in relationship to (‘asher) their appointed meeting times (mow’ed - their fixed betrothal appointments where the assembly focuses on the specific purpose that was designated by the Authority)." (Leviticus 23:4)

Once again we are reminded that the "mow’ed represent "specific meeting times" which could be considered "betrothal assemblies." Their prophetic message is to be "qara’/proclaimed, called out, read aloud, and recited." That is why they are named - Miqra’. Further, the Miqra are "‘asher/related" to everything that is important to God. They are "mow’ed/specifically designed to develop" the "‘asher/relationship" between God and those who are "‘qara/called out."

The subtle shadings of the paleo Hebrew words are astounding. Scripture is Yahuweh’s means of building a relationship with man, and the Miqra are the fixed appointments scheduled to keep us focused on His agenda. In the business of spiritual affairs, they are meetings with the Boss. These convocations are a celebratory, replete with feasts. Moreover, they are signals and signs of things to come.

The Miqra are also "rehearsals" for the actual events - the most important events in human history from God’s perspective. While some were drawn from history, commemorating the past, as rehearsals they are directed toward a more important and more public future enactment.

The definition of "convocation" is telling: "a group of people gathered in answer to a summons." We have been summoned to appear by the ultimate Judge. But, I dare say, most every Christian has missed most every date. Shame on us. Shame on every pastor, priest, and cleric. The mandate is clear. We are to "call out" these Miqra, "address them by name, proclaim them, preach them, and publish them." Our very soul is at stake.

Qodesh, the Hebrew term used to define the Miqra is the same word Yahuweh uses in reference to His Spirit. It’s the "set-apart" Miqra, for the "set-apart" ekklesia, on behalf of the "set-apart" Spirit. You have to be rather dense not to see a pattern developing.

The first Miqra is Yahuweh’s Passover. "In the first (ri’shown) month (chodesh) [Abib - the month young barley ears form and green], on the fourteenth (‘arba’ ‘asar - four and ten) at twilight (‘ereb - sunset), is Yahuweh’s Passover (pecach)." (Leviticus 23:5)

In God’s accounting, a day begins at sunset. The fourteenth day of a month would commence as the sun set in the twilight of thirteenth day following a new moon. It would last until sunset of the following day. Understanding this timeline will help you better understand Passover.

In 33 CE, the year of Yahushua’s sacrifice, Passover began on Thursday evening March 31^st. It was then that the Messiah observed Passover dinner, the Last Supper, with His disciples. It was still Passover when He shed His blood on the 14^th day of Nisan as the perfect Passover Lamb. This was Friday afternoon, the 1^st of April, on our pagan calendars.

In the Torah introduction to the Miqra, the word Yahuweh used for "first" is ri’sown. It is from the same root as re’shiyth, Scripture’s first word in Genesis. It is indicative of the creation and salvation accounts being related. It serves to suggest that the seven days of creation present the same prophetic plan as do those depicted by the seven Miqra.

The word Yahuweh used for "month" is chodesh, the root of which is chadash. It means "renewed and restored." This suggests that Passover ushers in the time of the Renewed and Restored Covenant. Even "twilight" is interesting. The Light came and revealed Himself in the darkness of our world.

And speaking of the "first month," a little explanation is in order. While the Israelites used the first ripening grains of barley to determine which new moon reckoned the start of the new year, in practice it turned out to coincide with the new moon closest to the vernal equinox. The Yahuwdim observed a lunar calendar of approximately 354 days - 12 months averaging 29½ days - adding an intercalary month every three years to keep the first month fixed with regard to the sun’s cycle. Thus Nisan, also called Abib, could fall in either March or April, by our Gregorian-calendar system.

To understand the Passover we are going to have to turn back the clock to the days preceding the Exodus. Yahuweh told His people: "In the first month of the year," which is Abib, "you are to bring the lamb into your home on the tenth day of the month." God wanted His people to appreciate the sacrifice the Lamb would make for their sins. By having it arrive four days before the feast, the family would become familiar with the lamb before they sacrificed it.

Yahuweh said: "Your lamb shall exist as (hayah) an unblemished (tamiym - blameless and innocent) male (zakar) son (ben), a year old (shaneh)..and he shall exist with you (hayah) and be confined and guarded (mishmeret - kept responsibly) until the fourteenth day of the same month. And the whole (kol) assembly (qahal) of the congregation (‘edah) of Yisra’el (those who live with Yahuweh) shall sacrifice (shachat - take its life by killing) him around twilight (‘ereb - sunset)." (Exodus 12:2-6) Yahushua’s sacrifice corresponded perfectly to the designated time of the slaughter. It was just before sunset that He surrendered His life and Spirit.

The following was also fulfilled by Yahushua, this time on another doorway, the one to paradise. "You are to take (laqach - lay hold of, seize and receive) a portion of (min) the blood (dam) and put (nathan - entrust, dedicate, exchange, devote, and pay with) it on (‘al) the two upright pillars of the doorway (mazuwzah) and on the crosspiece of the doorframe (masaqowp - the lintel; from shaqaph, meaning that which looks out and down upon) of your homes (bayith). Then, relationally (‘asher) you shall eat (‘akal) its flesh..with Unleavened Bread and bitter herbs... It is Yahuweh’s Passover." (Exodus 12:7-8) The reason Yahuweh wanted the Yahudim to eat the lamb was so that they would understand that the sacrifice wasn’t a gift to God, or a service to Him, but instead something for them to benefit from, to be nurtured by, and enjoy.

In its bitter fulfillment, "Yahushua broke the bread and said, ‘Take and eat. This is my body broken for you.’ And He took the cup and gave it to them, saying ‘Drink from it all of you for this is My blood of the covenant which is to be shed on behalf of many for forgiveness of sins.’" (Matthew 26:26-28)

When we are washed in the blood of the perfect Passover Lamb, our lives are spared on that account. God said so during the Exodus. "I Am Yahuweh. The blood will exist (hayah) as a sign (owth - a token, a miraculous signal) for you on your homes (bayith) where you (‘attah) by way of relationship (‘asher) are at that time (sham/shem - are known by name). And when I see (ra’ah - when I consider) the blood I will pass over (pacach) you on that account (‘al - on that basis and for that reason)." (Exodus 12:13) It is so subtle it is usually missed. The sign was for us, not for Him. Passover was a sign of things to come - the universal redemption of the Renewed Covenant.

But there is much more. Passover isn’t a somber affair. It is the ultimate party. On this day we are adopted into Yahuweh’s family, inheriting all that is His. "This day will exist (hayah) as a memorial (zikrown - a reminder, a means to recall and understand). And you shall hold a feast (chagag - celebrate, throwing a party), a festival feast (chag) with Yahuweh throughout your life and generations (dowr), celebrating the festival feast (chagag - reveling in the party) as a prescribed ordinance (chuqqah - a clearly communicated prescription of what you should do) forever (‘owlam - into perpetuity)." (Exodus 12:14) By saying that this Miqra was a zikrown, a "memorial and a reminder" God told us that its lessons should be "remembered because they would help us understand" His ultimate plan of salvation.

‘Owlam means that the observance of Passover was never to end; it wasn’t to be replaced by anything. So why do you suppose the Catholic Church made the celebration of Passover illegal, punishable by death? Why did they replace Yahuweh’s Passover with the Babylonian celebration of Easter? And why do Protestant and Orthodox Christians follow their ungodly example? Is it any wonder we don’t understand the majesty of God’s plan?

The significance of "Passover" - Pesach - is imbedded in the word itself: "it is to let sin pass without consequence." It is the Good News of the Renewed Covenant.

No Yahuwdah/Jew in Moses’ time could have missed the significance of Passover. The terrifying memory of the last plague was vivid in their minds. Pharaoh rejected Yahuweh’s request to release His chosen from bondage a tenth and final time. The Egyptian monarch coveted the value of free labor, palaces and things, more than a relationship with his Creator. And it could well be that he liked pretending to be god.

The consequence of pharaoh’s rebellion proved high - although it is the same price all of us will pay if we reject Yahuweh’s offer of companionship. God passed judgment and slew the firstborn sons of every household not marked by the blood of the lamb in accordance with His instructions.

Reviewing the specifics has merit because they were prophetic of another bloody event still thousands of years in the future. For example, as we’ve already discussed, the lamb was kept with the family from the 10^th day of the new year until the 14^th day of Nisan/Abib. During this time, it was inevitable that a relationship would form between the lamb and family. Blood atonement, therefore, was a costly and painful experience for everyone, sacrificee and sacrificor.

Then at twilight on the 14^th day, the father would personally perform the sacrifice in front of his children. There would be no mistaking the consequence of sin. This reality is embedded in the Hebrew words for "twilight or dusk," translated "as even" in the King James. Beyn ereb is actually the "distinction between light and darkness." Beyn ereb represents "a separation based upon understanding and prudent discernment." It is the ultimate "either or."

This divide between darkness and light must be crossed if we are to be unified with God. The pole upon which Yahushua hung is the only bridge across the chasm that separates us from Him.

The Pesach lamb surrendered its life for the atonement of sin before "the whole assembly." Thus, there was more to this atoning sacrifice than merely the cost of purchasing and caring for the animal. It wasn’t just business. It was personal. So is sin - and only blood atones.

If you don’t like these rules, don’t blame me. They are Yahuweh’s. By establishing them He wants us to know that the resulting effect of un-atoned sin is death. Where there is no blood, there is no life. Life, sacrifice, and relationship aren’t frivolous things to God, nor should they be to us.

Now that we understand the rules God laid out, let’s examine how He lived by them. Yahushua, the unblemished lamb of God, arrived in Jerusalem the final time on the 10^th of Nisan in 33 CE - precisely on schedule. The people who had congregated there for Pesach got to know Him. So when He was slaughtered before the whole assembly on the 14^th, on Pesach, as the sacrificial lamb, there was no mistaking what He had done.

Since the Christian church remains clueless with regard to Yahuweh’s instructions, let’s verify that Yahushua’s fulfillment actually coincided with them. By reading Daniel, brushing up on our history, and doing some fairly simple math, we know that the Messiah arrived in Jerusalem on the 10^th of Nisan - Monday, March 28^th, 33 CE. The reason we know this is as follows. Gabriel told Daniel: "Know and understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks of years. The way shall be built again, and the means of separation, even in troublesome times. And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself." (Daniel 9:25-26)

The date of the "command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem," is presented in Nehemiah. "And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when..I [Nehemiah]..said to the king, ‘If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Yahuwdah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.’ ..So it pleased the king to send me." (Nehemiah 2:1-6) In the unabridged version of this discussion there is a lot of alcohol in use and posturing for reasons you will discover later. 

Bereft of the detailed information we have today, Sir Robert Anderson, a 19^th century Scotland Yard director, published a book called The Coming Prince which dated the "twentieth year of Artaxerxes" to 445 BCE since his father, Xerxes, died in 465. But now that we have discovered and translated thousands of cuneiform tablets from the Babylonian sands, we have come to learn about a "made for TV drama" that transpired following Xerxes murder.

We now know that Xerxes was killed in his sleep by an ambitious fellow named Artabanus, who also murdered the heir apparent, Darius. The next oldest son in the royal line, Hustapis, was out gallivanting in another country. That made Artaxerxes, a teenager, the temporary stand in while Hustapis was tracked down. Artabanus left Artaxerxes alive, figuring he could rule through the boy as regent.

But seven months later Artabanus "the Bad" changed his mind and tried to kill Artaxerxes. However, as luck would have it, the lad killed his would-be assassin instead. So then Hustapis showed up and tried to claim the throne. The young Artaxerxes, now an accomplished murderer, slew his older brother to resolve the question of power. And that is why, Nehemiah, in the unabridged account, was so diplomatic in his request to the murderous monarch. 

All this maneuvering took a year. Thus the young tyrant Artaxerxes wasn’t able to assume the throne until 464. That would make his twentieth year and the starting date of Daniel’s prophecy the 1^st of Nisan, 444 BCE.

Gabriel’s prediction to Daniel said: "seven weeks of years and sixty two weeks of years" because it was codifying two separate, yet related events. From the Nisan 1, 444 BCE date, we count "seven weeks of years (49 prophetic years)" until Jerusalem could be rebuilt. Then there would be another "sixty-two weeks of years (434 prophetic years)" for a grand total of 483 years "until the Messiah" would arrive in "troublesome times..to be cut off but not for Himself." To calculate this date we must multiply 483 (49 + 434) years by the 360 days in Yahuweh’s prophetic calendar. This comes out to 173,880 days, or 476 solar years and 25 days. Next, we add this interval to the 1^st of Nisan, 444 BCE. Since there was no year zero in the Georgian calendar, the addition of 173,880 days to Nisan 1, 444 BCE sets the arrival of the Messiah to Monday, March 28, 33 CE, the 10^th of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar, not so coincidently.

Since we have many copies of Daniel dating to the second and third century BCE, this exacting prophecy demonstrates that Yahuweh’s Word was inspired by a Spirit who knew what would happen many centuries before the events unfolded. It also means that Rabbinical Judaism is a complete farce. Jews who are awaiting the arrival of their Messiah have obviously missed Him. 

The Renewed Covenant details the events which transpired on this day for a reason. Each word fulfilled a prophecy or issued a new one. The testimony begins with: "And when they drew nigh (eggizo - approached) unto Yaruwshalaim (Hierosoluma - Jerusalem, the place from which restoration flows) and came to Bethphage (a transliteration of the Hebrew Bayithpag; meaning House of unripe figs) then to the Mount of Olives, at that time, Yahushua sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the village opposite you, and you will immediately come upon a donkey tied there with a colt under her. Untie them and bring them to Me... Now this came to pass because so that that which was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled." (Matthew 21:1-4)

Yahushua was into the details. The reason for the donkey was: "Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, daughter of Zion (Tsiyown - the signpost). Shout for joy (ruwa’) daughter of Yaruwshalaim. Behold, look and see, your King comes to you (bow’ - arrives and enters) Upright (tsaddiyq -innocent and guiltless; from tsadaq, for vindication and) to save (yasha’), humble and riding upon a donkey and a colt." (Zechariah 9:9) The "humble" reference also ties this prophecy to the "Suffering Servant" predicted by Isaiah 52 and 53.

Matthew’s eyewitness testimony continues with: "And a great multitude (polus ochlos - a large crowd of common people) spread their garments along the way while others cut down branches (klados - tender shoots, a translation of netser in Hebrew; symbolizing the Messiah) from the trees, spreading them along the way. And the large crowds of common people who were leading the procession and those who were following, cried out, ‘Please Save us Savior (osanna - ωσαννά (omega sigma alpha nu nu alpha) a transliteration of the Hebrew yasha’ na’, meaning save us Savior please we pray), Son of David. Praise and celebrate (eulogeo - think kindly toward) the one who comes (erchomai - arrives and appears before the public to reveal himself) in the personal and proper name of Yahuweh. Please save us Savior (osanna) with the Most High (upsistos)." (Matthew 21:8-9) While Greek doesn’t possess the alphabetical characters to write Yahuweh, I wrote it in because the crowd spoke Hebrew in this procession, and I’ve read Isaiah 52 (and so had they).

What the Roman Catholic Church, and her Protestant step-children, would errantly call "Palm Sunday," is really "Branch Monday." Sunday is the day sungods were worshiped. And palm frowns were routinely held above the heads of men who pretended to be gods all the way back to Mystery Babylon. You’ll see such images in the drawings on Egyptian temples as well in papal processions. The "branch," however, was one of the most common Messianic metaphors in the Old Covenant. By using them, and by quoting Isaiah 62, the people were acknowledging that Yahushua was the Messiah.

In case you’re wondering, this portion of Isaiah reads: "O Yaruwshalaim.. remember Yahuweh..do not be silent or rest because you give Yahuweh no rest until He prepares and establishes you (kuwn), making Yaruwshalaim a shining light on the Earth. Yahuweh has sworn an oath by His right hand, by His Mighty Sacrificial Lamb... Radiate Yahuweh’s light. Passover the gates. Prepare the Way for the family. Lift up the raised highway. Clear it of stumbling stones. Speak among the people and say, ‘Behold, look and see Yahuweh... Behold, look and see: Salvation comes in, arrives and returns. Behold, look and see, His payment (sakar - the fare or fee that must be paid for passage) and His work (pa’ullah - compensation which is given to pay for damage incurred) are before Him.’ And they will call them: ‘the cleansed and set-apart (qodesh) family, the redeemed (ga’al) of Yahuweh.’" (Isaiah 62:6-12)

Matthew reports: "When He entered (eiserchomai) Yaruwshalaim the whole city was shaken... The crowds of common people said, ‘He is the prophet Yahushua of Nazareth (Nazareth - a transliteration of the Hebrew name based upon naziyr, the set-apart one, netser, the tender shoot or branch, and natsar, the one who protects and preserves relationships) in Galilee (Galilaia - a transliteration of Galiyl, the one who rolls open the door)." (Matthew 21:10-11)

While Yahushua arrived in Jerusalem on the 10^th of Nisan in Yahuweh’s year 4,000, the exact day Daniel predicted nearly 600 years earlier, He didn’t stay. According to Mark 14, the Messiah sought to thwart the desire of the "Chief Priests and Scribes to seize Him by stealth and kill Him" prior to "the Feast of Passover, so as to diminish the likelihood of a riot by the people." He did this by spending "two days," those being Tuesday and Wednesday, "in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper." (Mark 14:1-3) While the Messiah was willing to sacrifice Himself on our behalf He was not willing to have any aspect of His fulfillment of the three days depicted in the Miqra’s of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and FirstFruits occur on days other than those previously specified.

According to Mark, Luke, and John, the Messiah returned to town for Passover. He was about to be the sacrificial Lamb. "Now while He was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast many people saw the miraculous signs He was doing and trusted in His name, believing in Him."

Matthew also tells us that Yahushua returned to Jerusalem to eat Passover dinner (which would have been Thursday evening, the 14^th day of Nisan, or March 31^st in 33). As proof that this was Passover, consider what Matthew recorded Yahushua saying: "Moreover, before Unfermented Bread (azumos - Unleavened Bread, the inclusive name of the eight day festival that includes the Assemblies of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and FirstFruits), the disciples approached Yahushua and asked, ‘Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat Passover (Pascha - a transliteration of the Hebrew Pecach (pronounced peh sakh), meaning to pass over)?’ And He said, ‘Go into the city (polis [i.e., Jerusalem]) and say to somebody, "The Teacher affirms, ‘The fixed and definite day for (kairos - the due measure of time, the opportunistic occasion, the awaited epoch for) Me is imminent. I will produce (poieo - author and render, constitute, create and construct) Passover (Pascha) advantageously with My disciples."’ ..They made the necessary preparations for Pecach and yea, when evening (opsios - the beginning of night at sunset) had come He reclined at the table to eat with the twelve disciples." (Matthew 26:17-20)

Yahushua and His disciples not only thought about, discussed, and observed Passover, they recorded these things so that we could follow their example. It is only within the context of Passover that the "remembrance of Him" makes sense in regard to "broken bread" and "wine." If you partake in the Catholic Eucharist under the misguided notion that this is a religious ritual which should be performed, regardless of the day, you have been deceived. Likewise, you have been deceived if you believe that a priest changes an ordinary wafer of round bread into "the body of the Lord" or changes wine into His blood. The Church does not transform or save, only Yahushua does.

The Messiah is recorded using the definite kairos rather than the generic word for time, chronos, in this passage. He knew that Passover in 33 was the appointed epoch predicted in the fourth day of creation. It was exactly forty Yowbel from Abraham’s foreshadowing with his son. And He knew that it would be exactly forty Yowbel from this sacrifice to His return. Further, it was in precise accord with Daniel’s famous prophecy detailing the specific time "the Messiah would be cut off but not for Himself." The "opportune occasion," the "awaited epoch," the "due measure of time (40 Yowbel)," and "the definite and fixed day" was "imminent."

It is also important to understand that while Yahushua and His disciples "kept and observed" the Passover, that is not what these words say. The Word said that He was the Passover. He "constituted" it, "establishing it, giving it form and substance." Yahushua "authored" the Passover, dictating the words He fulfilled to Moses. He "rendered" the Passover, which means He "delivered it by furnishing the necessary consideration (payment) for approval by way of a judicial verdict." Yahuweh, in the form of a man, "prepared and produced Passover" - the means to redeem mankind, just as surely as He created mankind.

Later that evening, Thursday night in our way of thinking, Yahushua walked across the Kidron Valley to Gethsemane where He was arrested. He was tried by Chiaphas and the Sanhedrin Council that night, spending the wee hours in the High Priest’s dungeon. By reading Matthew 26 and studying rabbinical law, it becomes readily obvious that He was accused of blasphemy - that is of actually speaking the full and proper name of God. He said "Yahuweh," quoting from Psalm 110:1 ("Yahuweh says to my Sovereign [Me as in Yahushua], ‘Sit at My right hand while I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.") and Daniel 7:13 ("Behold, in the clouds, the Son of Man is coming.")

Then on Friday morning, still Passover, the 14^th of Nisan by Scriptural reckoning, April 1^st on our pagan calendars, Yahushua was taken to Pilate, the Roman Prefect over Judea. Declared innocent, the perfect Passover Lamb was slaughtered that same afternoon at Golgotha - the place of the skull - just outside the Damascus Gate. Matthew 27 tells us that around the ninth hour, three o’clock in the afternoon in today’s parlance, Yahushua gave up His Spirit after reciting the opening line of the Psalm that predicted and depicted His crucifixion. It all occurred right on schedule.

Mark 15 and Luke 23 say that this all occurred the end of the "Preparation Day, that is the day before the Sabbath was to begin." In 33 CE, the Sabbath, or seventh day of the week, and the Special Sabbath commemorating the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread were coterminous. It wasn’t a coincidence.

Before the sun set and these aligned Sabbaths began, Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Council, received Pilot’s permission to remove the Messiah’s lifeless body from the upright pole from which it hung. Then after completing the burial preparations, Yahushua’s corpse was placed in Joseph’s family’s tomb. And we are told: "And on the Sabbath they rested according to the Commandment." (Luke 23:56)

Therefore, we know that the Old Covenant was fulfilled in the New. As predicted, the Passover sacrifice was performed on the specified day, in the specified way, and for the reasons specified.  

We know this because we have the benefit of looking forward from the Scripture’s perspective and back historically from our own. The Yisra’elites also had an important perspective, one that should have taught them the same lessons we derive from Yahuweh’s Word. During the days immediately before the Exodus Passover, the Yahuwdim were instructed to trust and rely upon Yahuweh to save them from specter of death. It is the message of Passover still. Self reliance or the reliance upon the teachings of men (a.k.a. politics and religion) is a disease, a plague which leads to death. It ultimately destroys us, snaring and corrupting us, leading to separation from Yahuweh. The most egregious error is to reject God’s help, His love, and His desire to have a relationship with us. When we do so, we live counter to His prescriptions and are cast off - receiving what we have chosen. We die and are forsaken - damned, which means separated.

Our Creator conceived and authored a graceful provision for us: Passover. The blood of the Exodus Passover lambs were smeared on the doorposts and lintels in Egypt as a token of what was to come. God would sacrifice Himself, becoming the Passover Lamb, leaning out and looking down from the horizontal beam from which He hung, becoming the doorway to salvation.

Then, as now, when God saw the blood He knew the people trusted His promise to keep death at bay. God said to them: "The blood shall be a sign for you..." He was screaming that the Passover’s salvation was prophetic of things to come.

What was lost on so many, at least until after the fact, was how exquisitely the detail of the prophecy matched its fulfillment. Yahushua’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem coincided with the day the paschal lamb would have been brought into the household, on the tenth day of Nisan. He lived and walked among the people. They got to know Him. At the end of the "examination period," Pontius Pilate pronounced, "I find no fault in Him," declaring in effect, that the Passover Lamb was indeed without spot or blemish. He was slaughtered at twilight on the fourteenth day of Nisan. The prophecy of the first Miqra, Passover - Pesach - the Feast of our Freedom, was fulfilled, literally, down to the last detail.

Today, since the blood of the Perfect Sacrificial Lamb - Yahushua - has been shed so that we might live, we do not need slaughter another lamb. But we do need to observe the Miqra and keep the appointment with Yahuweh. The date is not difficult to establish. Passover is marked on most every secular calendar as the 14^th day following the new moon closest to the spring equinox.

On that day each year we should observe the Pesach symbolically. I recommend doing as much of what Scripture says as possible. Celebrate the Feast with your family, eating a meal of roasted lamb and unleavened bread, just as the first celebrants did. And while you and your family are reminiscing over our freedom from the bondage of sin, read about the first Passover in Exodus 12 and 13. Then qara/read the prophecies in Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 that speak so vividly of what actually happened and why it occurred that way. Follow this by a review of the eyewitness accounts, the demonstration of His love and provision starting in Matthew 20-28, Mark 11-16, Luke 18-24, and/or John 11-21.

Strike Easter from your vocabulary and your calendar and follow Yahuweh’s instructions and Yahushua’s example. Keep the qodesh/set apart appointment with God and celebrate the Miqra of Passover each year.