Tag Archives: Egyptians

Evergreen trees and Decorations with festive foliage

For the festive events throughout the year, there are lots of people who not think about the reason why those celebrations are there. Others perhaps do know the origin of the festivals but consider it not so important anymore for what reason there was a celebration or why we should not take it as an ordinary civil celebration without any connotation to earlier connections.

There are people who consider it a special day for a special event of which the actual day itself is not important and as such Jesus might be born in October though many celebrate his birthday in December. They forget that the day they celebrate the birth of Christ is really a day celebrated by heathen people for the god of light. That is also one of the reasons real Christians would abstain from celebrating December 25 as the birthday of Jesus Christ.

Legalistic people are very scrupulous about observing a festival on the exact day. Others consider every day as a gift from God, to be equally received with thanksgiving. {Christmas is Tammuz’s Birthday?}

Later, even people came to believe that they were celebrating the birth of God, forgetting that the Only One True God had never a birth and is an eternal being (= having no beginning or birth and no end or death).

It is wrong to think that early Christians would have taken over the pagan festival and converted it into a celebration of their lord’s birth.  It was only many centuries later that the Roman Catholic Church, to gain more baptisms, introduced those Celtic festivals into their own year circle so that the people could continue their long traditions.

The use of evergreen trees, wreaths, and garlands to symbolize eternal life was a custom of the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews. Tree worship was common among the pagan Europeans and survived their conversion to Christianity in the Scandinavian customs of decorating the house and barn with evergreens at the New Year to scare away the Devil and of setting up a tree for the birds during Christmastime. It survived further in the custom, also observed in Germany, of placing a Yule tree at an entrance or inside the house during the midwinter holidays. {Christmas tree holiday decoration – encyc. Britannica}

Abies alba1.jpg

Silver fir (Abies alba)

The evergreen tree for many people has something special, it’s resisting warm and cold weather, seemingly growing for ages, in a certain way as many people surviving tree, declared possession of eternity. Those evergreen trees were and still are considered to provide oxygen, beauty, wood, paper, food, and medicine. Some people thought that by cutting down such an ‘eternal tree’ they could bring over endless life to themselves when they made it more beautiful with decorations and honoured it. By worshipping that decorated tree they hoped to show the gods how much they appreciated that tree and as such recognised their god’s creation and showed how it had become part of their life.

The Divine Creator did not create those evergreens to be cut to decorate it and not to use it for proper things, like using the wood for heating or making houses and furniture. Jehovah God knows the world loves those evergreens in another way than He wanted. But He wants His people not to do like the majority of mankind.

“2 Thus says the LORD,

“Do not learn the way of the nations, And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens Although the nations are terrified by them; 3 For the customs of the peoples are delusion; Because it is wood cut from the forest, The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.

4 “They decorate [it] with silver and with gold; They fasten it with nails and with hammers So that it will not totter.” (Jer 10:2-4 NAS)

Today too, we see people adorn the evergreen tree, with the idea it will not rot and stand long enough to pass the darker days, with silver and gold, like their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands, as is written in the Scriptures. (Ps 115:4 135:15 Esa 40:19,20) Many people bear it upon their shoulder or carry it into their house, and set it in its place, and it stands, from its place shall it not remove. They put gifts around it and have nice times around it, but also moments that they may cry unto it, yet can it not answer, nor save them out of their trouble. (Isa 46:7)

When we undertake such an action, we must be very careful how we have that decorated tree in the house and how we stand before it.

In many nations so-called Christians sing hymns to the Christmas tree, making it clear that in a certain way they are adoring it. How many on Christmas Eve do not sing: O Tannenbaum (Oh pine tree/O fir tree) It might well be that

When winter days are dark and drear
You bring us hope for all the year.

and as such one could agree that having the green tree with its lovely smell in the house, full of little light or small candles, it cheers the dark days up. We do agree that it can

bring us light in winter’s gloom

Some people do think those evergreen fir trees do not much good to our planet, because they do not clean the air like trees and shrubs with leaves. For them it does not matter so much to cut down such trees because that will not have a lot of impact on the carbon footprint.

Others who want to excuse themselves for keeping up that tradition of putting up all those lights at the end of the year and saying that they celebrate the light God has given us, claim that Jews do that too around this time. Probably they think of Chanukkah, which is by some Christians called the “Jewish Christmas”, though they are mistaken to connect it with Christmas, where many Christian also have a Santa bringing gifts. Historically the Jewish festival Hanukkah, which begins on Kislev 25, historically may have become one of the most popular Jewish religious observances that this year is celebrated from Monday, December 19 to Monday, December 26. It is not a big gift-giving event, so you won’t find massive “post-Hanukkah” sales on the Internet. Similarly, there are also no stockings hung by the chimney or anywhere else.

In Jewish and Jeshuaist families you shall mostly not find cut and decorated trees in the house. It can very well be, that dried flowers can be found in the living room here and there throughout the year, but that has nothing to do with Christmas or to be part of glorification. Though for Jeshuaists and Jehudiem that are married to a Christian it can be a “Hanukkah bush” or some Christmas decorations can also be found in the house. For them, it is 8 days for commemorating the miracle of the long-lasting oil in the rededicated Temple. It is not a high holiday as Christmas is for several Christians, but a minor holiday. Most of them choose a candle whose light is strong and beautiful and place it at the window so that it can be seen from outside as a sign that in the house lives a person who believes in the miracle of the single vial of oil that burned for the eight days of Chanukah during the time of the Second Temple. In a spiritual sense, oil represents Chochmah, or knowledge.

Further similarities might be the gathering and sharing of nice food. On Hanukkah, it is e.g., latkes or laht-kuh(s) (fried potato pancakes and sufganiyot (donuts).

Nothing beats the smell of fresh pine and spruce in the house.
The innate cosiness of twinkling lights is unbeatable when the sun sets before 4pm and by those extra lights we do not feel so depressed by the darkness of the season.

Christmas trees are not as bad for the planet as some might think, but their carbon footprints are still not great. It is hard to beat the smell of fresh pine and spruce at this time of year, so gardening writer Alice Vincent enlisted the help of florist Katie Isitt to help her dress her home for the festivities without relying on a tree.

Photo by Vladimir Konoplev on Pexels.com

Making wreaths and hanging them up in the house brings something from mother earth in the house. You can make them in such a variety and with so many sorts of plants and grasses that none has to be the same. We only may not forget to have a balance of lots of different things.

For colouring and decorating the house so that it feels “warmer” you can use a lot of materials. You can use as much home-grown, recycled and edible decoration as we could, and to go for different ideas, discuss it with friends and amateur gardeners.

Many gardeners have a selection of evergreens, and most of them use it to decorate their and other’s houses. when having selected armfuls of foliage, both deciduous and evergreen, you can recut the stems and put them in deep water to condition them.

Pooling foliage, flowers and decorating ideas, would be a perfect start to the festive season.

Photo by Vladimir Konoplev on Pexels.com

You also shall come to see how making decorations your self attributes so much more to the end of year season and fun. You shall come to feel thaa half the fun is trying different additions and deliberating what to discard and what to keep. It is tempting to throw too much in, and there you shall have to decide for certain pieces to definitely avoid evergreens and berries, just to ring the changes.

Katie comes up with some innovative suggestions – and five top tips you might like to try.

  1. Don’t be a fashion slave
  2. Rummage around for what you’ve got
  3. Don’t be afraid to let the mechanics show
  4. Speak to a florist
  5. Compost or keep it afterwards

Please consider finding our more, reading

about making your home into a feast for the senses with seasonal greenery – and yes, that includes sprouts. Emily Watson (emilytallulah.com), who specialises in flowers for weddings, events and weekly contracts, magnanimously offered to come and share a few pearls of design wisdom and artful techniques,: The Christmas decorations hiding in your garden

to fill your home with fragrant festive foliage – with a little help from innovative floral designer Katie Isitt, com to read the article: Forget the Christmas tree, here’s how to decorate with festive foliage

From stocking up on winter vegetables to protecting plants from frost, there is plenty to keep you busy in the garden this month: Gardening in December: what to plant and tidy in your garden this month

 

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Preceding

Solstice, Saturnalia and Christmas-stress

The True Significance of Jesus’ Birth

Sunshine for a New Year

The Proper Place of Excess

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Additional reading

  1. Only One God
  2. Jesus son of God
  3. Jesus Christ (the Messiah)
  4. God’s salvation
  5. Salvation is of the Jews
  6. When you believe Jesus is God: who do you think is the mediator? #1 Son of man
  7. Biblical Yeshua/ Jesus or Another European Greco- Roman Jesus ??
  8. Matthew 2:1-6 – Astrologers and Priests in a Satanic Plot
  9. The nativity of Jesus is the sunrise of the Bible
  10. Focus on outward appearances
  11. A Christmas thought: Abiding in Christ
  12. Germanic mythological influences up to today’s Christmas celebrations
  13. Thought for the Christmas time: A sense of history
  14. Framework and vehicle for Christian Scholasticism and loss of confidence
  15. No shepherds in the field in December
  16. Christmas in Ancient Rome (AKA Saturnalia)
  17. Irminsul, dies natalis solis invicti, birthday of light, Christmas and Saturnalia
  18. Autumn traditions for 2014 – 2 Summersend and mansend
  19. A birthday passed nearly unnoticed
  20. People believing they need to celebrate the birth of God
  21. Which hero to celebrate in December 2020
  22. Objects around the birth and death of Jesus
  23. Called Immanuel does not mean to be Jesus being God
  24. Hosea Say What?
  25. Chanukah (Hanukkah) / Christmas – Facts or Fabels?
  26. The imaginational war against Christmas
  27. Tekufat Tevet – Darkness, gold moon and Light to look forward
  28. Ignorance of Today’s Youth (and Adults) (Some View on the World)
  29. Ignorance of Today’s Youth (and Adults) (Our World)
  30. Eight days of sprinkling lights
  31. A season for truth and peace
  32. Today’s thought “Those following the policies of the wrong leaders and popular people” (December 08)

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Related

  1. Christmas is Tammuz’s Birthday?
  2. Christmas: Is it “Christian” or Pagan?
  3. Is Christmas Pagan?
  4. Christmas Origins Part 1 of 2
  5. The Origin of Christmas
  6. 25th December…why?
  7. The History of Christmas, simple to remember
  8. Caesar’s Census and God’s Sovereignty
  9. Pagan Roots? 5 Surprising Facts About Christmas
  10. Should we Celebrate Christmas?
  11. Should There Be Idolatry in Our Worship?
  12. Worshipping created things. The outward acts of their idolatry. Idolatry is Forbidden.
  13. Merry… What?
  14. Matthew 1:18-25 Commentary, Reflection, and Prayer
  15. Mary Listened
  16. Thoughts on the One behind Christmas
  17. The war on Christmas trees
  18. The Holy Tree of Glastonbury
  19. Chanukah (Hanukkah) / Christmas – Facts or Fabels?
  20. O Tannenbaum, 2018 Edition
  21. Oh Christmas tree, MY Christmas tree
  22. Christmas Tree
  23. christmas parties with nosy family
  24. Party Like a Celt: Festivals in Celtic Spirituality
  25. Celebrate heritage and history at the Dayton Celtic Festival
  26. Black Cats Howl and Pumpkins Gleam
  27. It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
  28. If I Were a Tree What Tree Would I Be?
  29. Warming the Heart – A Christmas Devotional
  30. A Christmas Story
  31. O Holy Night! (Repost)
  32. A Time of Hope
  33. Share the Spirit of Joy and Giving 🎁
  34. Subversive Joy
  35. Disconnections: December 31.18
  36. Cedarwood-Did You Know?
  37. Evergreen Beard Oil
  38. Pine Tree Information, Care, and Problems
  39. AList20: Gemma
  40. December 19th Look For An Evergreen Day
  41. Oh, Say, Can You See…a White Pine?
  42. Australia’s massive Christmas crisis looms
  43. Pennies from Heaven
  44. Rare Ingredients
  45. Christmas Eve – Lessons and Carols
  46. Regifting: Taboo or To Do?
  47. What Hanukkah’s Really About
  48. Tree Ritual
  49. O Christmas Tree, NO Christmas Tree?
  50. The Idol Christmas Tree
  51. Odds n Ends
  52. Bridging the Gap between Santa Claus and Jesus
  53. Tree Talk
  54. Tree worship and tree of wise ancestors’ spirits
  55. “Faith sees […] a giant oak in an acorn.” William Arthur Ward
  56. Tree Worship
  57. Worshipping the Seen and Unseen
  58. Will other religions survive your teachings or live in harmony with you Maitreya?
  59. Get outside and worship in the Tree Church.
  60. Triple Update: Demoniality, Cultus Arborum, Sickness in Hell
  61. Thus began the pulp-worshipers
  62. Finding the gods among their sacred trees
  63. The Real Meaning of Christmas

6 Comments

Filed under Lifestyle, Nature, Religious affairs, Social affairs

Commemorating the escape from slavery

In this day and age many like to play god, and often think they are able to do so. Lots of people do want to be in the ‘beams’ shining bright. They want to be in the centre of the ‘spotlight’ and love the attention. But at one point the attention becomes too much. Lots of people then loose control over their emotions.

twitter y macworld

twitter y macworld (Photo credit: juque)

To cope with all those little agonies today people have found Twitter as their outrage machine, where this medium will make its little idols, through its perpetual series of distractions, puffery and self-indulgence.

Twitter allows us to be like Gods, worshipped by our followers with retweets and personal messages. And then we do battle with other Gods. {Twitter, Outrage, and Jesus}

Lots of people think they do not need to seek healing, for we have these weapons in 140 characters.

If there is the hope of winning, we will continue to place hashtags. {Twitter, Outrage, and Jesus}

A 13th century book illustration produced in B...

A 13th century book illustration produced in Baghdad by al-Wasiti showing a slave-market in the town of Zabid in Yemen. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the mean time they all have become enslaved by their little technological attributes like smartphones, tablets, i-pads, laptops and all sorts of brands computers, televisions and so much more.
They also have become the new slaves of this age, having to work with more than one in the household to survive. And the bosses do know they need that work to survive and use it to their advantage, not to pay to much, but just enough to keep the workers quiet.

What would be the difference with the slaves from old times?

The coming week millions of believers in the Divine Creator shall celebrate an historic moment when the People of God were liberated from slavery. First they were liberated from the oppression of the Egyptians. A later liberation was even to become more important for all those who still had to be born. It would be the liberation of something which catches us all. In the past and in the future it was and is something which has conquered the people always. But now there would have come an end to it. But people shall have to make choices to be part of the winners. It would not be a game of poker, or an other game of cards, gambling or trying your luck on the lottery game. It would become a matter of choosing the right way to go in your life at your own responsibility.

Jews and several Christians shall be celebrating next Monday and Tuesday the incredible offer the Divine Creator gave to the world. Many probably would wonder why they will tell again old stories to their children, for the so ‘many-est’ time in their life.
Even in far away countries where it all happened, parents shall remind their children of that special occasion, we all should remember.

Also at the Youth Group at Hillside Church they may get Corbin’s grandmother, Ruth Dudlay, coming to tell them stories about the Underground Railway with special Underground Railway quilts, actual slave irons, and other historical relics from the time of slavery in a place close to them, North America. They shall hear those old stories because they are important to know their past but also to know their future.

Those stories can be told in many ways, but they should not only give entertainment. They should get us to think about certain matters, perhaps hidden behind the words of that story. Stories are also told in many ways to help us remember them.

The coming week many people in the world shall look at the liberation from slavery remembered in the ritual of the Passover feast. The coming weekend and following days many shall take time to remember and to recall those old stories. We also should take up those ancient books like the Bible and read about those important moments in history of humankind.

By reading and studying those old stories we can get to understand more about our human way of living and get to see who we are. Where we came from and where we are headed.

It is significant that the ancient stories of the Israelite slavery were cherished by the North American African slaves. Because of these ancient stories, slaves over 3,000 years later had hope that like the Israelite slaves they would be liberated by God! It was reading the stories in the Bible and the teachings of Jesus that caused William Wilberforce to petition the British Empire (and its colonies of Canada) to abolish slavery. {Why tell old stories?}

The story of Exodus describes an enslaved oppressed people rising up from captivity and escaping through the desert to return to their nomadic ancestors burial lands in Canaan. If you believe this story, the Exodus is one of the most significant moments of history without parallel. Slavery has been a part of human civilization for time untold and continues to be practiced today. Throughout history many slave revolts have occurred, however they usually end with all of the revolting being killed (for instance Spartacus and his slave rebellion against Rome). That the tribe of Hebrew slaves were able to leave Egypt, the most powerful empire in the world, and survive wandering through the desert is a powerful story that has inspired many oppressed peoples throughout history. {Why tell old stories?}

Friday-night, this coming Sabbath, the Haftorah read shall refer to a day in the future which will be “great” – the day of the re-establishment of God’s Kingdom on this earth, as described in Malachi 3-4.

Mal 4:5-6 NHEBYSE  Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of YHWH comes.  (6)  He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.

The world should know that before the Day of Jehovah God, shall be there the world shall have receive the opportunity to choose for better things. We shall not be able to escape therefore the third World War, which shall be coming and be terrible, but we shall either be gone before or when still alive, shall be able to cope with it because we shall be prepared.

In the above verse the prophet speaks of the day of redemption in the future. Passover, which represents the day of redemption of antiquity, serves as the model for the future redemption of the children of Israel.

This Shabbat in Egypt was different from all other previous Shabbatot. This time, man joined God in His holy day. Ironically, the mode of observance was not “resting” as we think of it in the context of today’s Shabbat. Historically, the Shabbat before Pesach was the day when the children of Israel were commanded to take to themselves a lamb, a symbolic action that stood in opposition to the lamb-worshiping Egyptians. {Weekly Torah Commentary — Acharei Mot April 11, 2014}

The Sages note that by taking the lamb the Jews observed Shabbat in Egypt as never before. This was their first Shabbat as a people, a moment of passage in the national sense: They had reached the age of majority, became adult (“gedolim”), with responsibilities. This was Shabbat “HaGadol”. The most basic teaching of Shabbat is the acknowledgement that God created the world in six days. By taking the lamb the Jews rejected idolatry and accepted God. This was not merely an action which took place on the tenth of Nissan. This was a watershed of Jewish history. Now the Jews joined God in a Shabbat.  {Weekly Torah Commentary — Acharei Mot April 11, 2014}

All those who believe in the Creator God could better sometimes listen to those who are still in the old tradition of Hebrew teachings. then they should know and understand that it is perhaps because people always went in against the wishes of the Most High, that the better things did not yet come up to them. we should remember that God was very clear on which days had to be celebrated and to which Laws we should keep. But how many thought they could bring better laws into the world than the Maker His Laws? How many did not think they could make a better world than the world the Maker of the Universe had in His mind?

Our sages teach us that if all of Israel fully observe just two Shabbatot the Messiah would appear. {Weekly Torah Commentary — Acharei Mot April 11, 2014}

Interestingly, according to the mainstream Jewish approach the world was created in Nissan, which means that the Shabbat which takes place around the 10th of the month was the second Shabbat in the history of the world. Had those two Shabbatot been kept properly the world would have been redeemed back then. {Weekly Torah Commentary — Acharei Mot April 11, 2014}

In particular, the two Shabbatot which must be observed are Shabbat Hagadol and Shabbt Shuva. Each of these Shabbatot have a special power to them: One falls between Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur, it is a Shabbat which teaches man how to return to God. The other Shabbat is the first Shabbat observed in Egypt, the one we are about to celebrate. It is a Shabbat which contains within it the secret of redemption. {Weekly Torah Commentary — Acharei Mot April 11, 2014}

If man could master these two Shabbatot, the Messiah would quickly arrive. Would that it would be this year. {Weekly Torah Commentary — Acharei Mot April 11, 2014}

Observing the Sabbath-closing havdalah ritual ...

Observing the Sabbath-closing havdalah ritual in 14th-century Spain. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

These days we should come to prepare to celebrate the Festival of our Redemption, past and future. We should take some time to examine our relationships and make sure that we have no ‘unfinished business’ in that area. Now has come the time that we should consider which relation we would like to have with others around us. In case we have something done wrong we should come to the point that we ourselves take courage to go up to that person and admit we were wrong. These coming days we should look at all those old stories where we have seen that even people of God could do something wrong but ask forgiveness, and that it was given to them. We are also in need to ask forgiveness for some offence or have to forgive others for their offences against us. Now has come the time to our doorstep that we do have to do it from the heart. If we need to forgive someone else, likewise let’s forgive freely as God forgives us.

Now is also the time we do have to remember that Nazarene Jew who had no fault but was killed. He was willing to give his body as a lamb for God, as a payment for the sins of all people in this world.

Next Monday night we should come together and be feeling united with many people all over the world. We should also let others know that all over the world people will be looking forward to this gathering. We could always invite others too to gather with us to celebrate Passover – the holiday that commemorates the Jewish people’s escape from slavery in Egypt. And Christians can look for some extra dimension to that feast. We should not mourn for the death of Jeshua (Jesus Christ), but should be pleased that he on the night before he was given over to the Romans, took his closest friends with him in an upper room in Jerusalem to present them with symbols, which were a sign of the New Covenant, our new connection with Jehovah God, the Father of Christ Jesus, Who is also our Father and Who is welcoming us all again, if we are willing to come up to Him.

The world should get to know the meaning of these special days and has to come to understand the meaning of the symbols of Passover which all point to the ministry, death and resurrection of that humble Nazarene man Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is our Passover lamb.

On the 14th day of the month of Nissan Jesus was crucified, or sacrificed. On the very same afternoon that the Passover lambs were being killed as a sacrifice, Jesus – the Lamb of God- was being sacrificed for all of us. Just like the blood on the doorposts of the Hebrews caused God’s judgement to pass over them, so the blood of Christ causes God’s judgement to pass over us. Christ provided atonement, as well as redemption for us upon the wooden stake. To receive this forgiveness of our sins we must put our faith in this Nazarene man, who is the Christos or Christ, the Messiah for which many may be still waiting. But he has already come, has fulfilled the wish of his Father and sealed the New Covenant with his own blood.

For seven or eight days (depending on where you live), families and friends come together for festive seder meals packed with ritual foods and a few dietary restrictions (for instance, no leavened grains). We all could feel united with them and show the outer-world the connection those people from all sorts of tribes, cultures or countries may share with each other. they all are united under the blessings of the One and Only True God.

It is under His Wings that we shall be able to come closer to each other and will be able find peace in unity.

English: Festive Seder table with wine, matza ...

Festive Seder table with wine, matza and Seder plate. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We look forward to be able to find many at the meetings held on Monday night. On the 14th of April 2014, it shall also be from sundown the moment to remember what Jesus has done. Therefore a “Memorial Meal” shall bring many Christians together all over the world, keeping “Christian communion”. Also known by many as “the Lord’s supper” we shall gather to pray and remember all the difficulties this world received, but also all the goodness which has come over it. We shall read the old stories of the exodus and of the last days of Christ Jesus. Together we shall celebrate our Passover remembrance of the body and blood of Christ. His body being broken for us and his blood being shed upon the wooden stake for our salvation. The Passover lambs had to be without blemish in order to be sacrificed for sin. Christ was the only man without blemish (sin) so he became our Passover lamb. Christ is the second Adam, the man of flesh and blood and bones. He could be tempted and sin, like any other man, but he did not. He was the only person who managed to keep to the Laws of his Father, the Only One God, Whose Name he made known and asked us to be made known all over the world. Being without fault he was the perfect offer humankind give to its Maker. Giving his life for many he succeeded to become the only one who could purchase our salvation and become the mediator between God and man. In him we can trust, like we can trust his Father, our heavenly Father, the Elohim Hashem Jehovah God.

Let us wish each other:

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Pesach Sameach!!! (A blessed Passover)

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Additional literature:

  1. 1 -15 Nisan
  2. Day of remembrance coming near
  3. Another way looking at a language #4 Ancient times
  4. Self inflicted misery #5 A prophet without a hedge around him
  5. The Advent of the saviour to Roman oppression
  6. Seven days of Passover
  7. On the first day for matzah
  8. A Great Gift commemorated
  9. Jesus memorial
  10. Observance of a day to Remember
  11. A new exodus and offering of a Lamb
  12. In what way were sacrifices “shadows”?
  13. What does ‘atonement’ mean?
  14. Why did Jesus say he wouldn’t drink wine again until the kingdom when he ate and drank other things? (Mark 14:25)
  15. Children ate the OT passover so why not NT bread and wine?
  16. Deliverance and establishement of a theocracy
  17. 14 Nisan a day to remember #1 Inception
  18. 14 Nisan a day to remember #2 Time of Jesus
  19. 14 Nisan a day to remember #3 Before the Passover-feast
  20. 14 Nisan a day to remember #4 A Lamb slain
  21. 14 Nisan a day to remember #5 The Day to celebrate
  22. Around the feast of Unleavened Bread
  23. High Holidays not only for Israel
  24. Festival of Freedom and persecutions
  25. 14-15 Nisan and Easter
  26. The Song of The Lamb #7 Revelation 15
  27. Servant of his Father
  28. For the Will of Him who is greater than Jesus
  29. A Messiah to die
  30. Anointing of Christ as Prophetic Rehearsal of the Burial rites
  31. Death of Christ on the day of preparation
  32. How many souls did the death of Jesus pay for?
  33. Swedish theologian finds historical proof Jesus did not die on a cross
  34. Why 20 Nations Are Defending the Crucifix in Europe
  35. Impaled until death overtook him
  36. Misleading Pictures
  37. A time for everything
  38. 2013 Lifestyle, religiously and spiritualy
  39. Fixing our attention
  40. Control your destiny or somebody else will
  41. Allowed to heal
  42. A secret to be revealed
  43. Your Sins Are Forgiven
  44. Slave for people and God
  45. Liberation in Christ
  46. Not bounded by labels but liberated in Christ
  47. Holidays, holy days and traditions
  48. A Holy week in remembrance of the Blood of life
  49. Peter Cottontail and a Bunny laying Eastereggs
  50. Bread and Wine
  51. Around the feast of Unleavened Bread
  52. The son of David and the first day of the feast of unleavened bread
  53. Deliverance and establishment of a theocracy
  54. Focus on outward appearances
  55. Fraternal week-end at Easter in Paris
  • How religion has been used to promote slavery (religion.blogs.cnn.com)
    what did the founders of the three great Western religions do? Did they have slaves and did they condemn the practice? Or were they, at least on this issue, squarely men of their times?
  • The people asked for a king: Selling ourselves (spiritharvestblog.com)
    God did not create man to dominate other men. Humans were created as sovereign beings with direct access to his and her Creator. We were created to be sovereign leaders of ourselves, partners in marriage, examples of right living to our children and upright representatives in our communities. We were created to live with the knowledge and understanding that God is our King, our Lord, our True Sovereign Leader. He occupies a throne no man can usurp.

    Until we attempted to take the throne for ourselves, or alternatively, put someone else upon the throne to rule us. No man can usurp our authority, but we can certainly surrender it.

  • God’s Law; Your slaves (soipost.wordpress.com)
    The social laws of the Pentateuch were not designed for the modern world,
    They were clearly designed for a different kind of world, a mainly agricultural society.
    But since they were published in the name of the Biblical God, they can still throw light on his nature and intentions.
    Which gives us a new reason for reading this collection even if the laws themselves have been superseded.
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    Some scholars try to reconcile Leviticus with the other laws by suggesting that “Hebrew” was a wider social or ethnic category than “Israelite”.
    But since the word “brother” is also used to describe Hebrews, it is probably better to see the injunctions of Leviticus as representing an ideal which wasn’t always attained.
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    What can these laws tell us about the God who endorses them?

    They deal with the state of slavery as something which exists, but their purpose is to regulate the treatment of slaves and impose restraints on the power that is exercised over them.
    This God is apparently unwilling to allow slave-owners the kind of absolute control which would have been available to them in most other slave-holding societies of the time.
    The owner cannot hold one of his own people in slavery for longer than a limited period.
    There are laws to prevent the treatment of slaves from descending into brutality, and laws to rein in the exploitation of female slaves.
    Since most of the Israelite slaves would have been debt-slaves, all this can be seen as one aspect of care for the poor.
    It points to the same concern for the weak and vulnerable that can be seen in many other Israelite laws.

    In fact the general tenor of these laws is unfriendly to the very existence of slavery, at least among the brethren.

  • Passover Primer (boiseweekly.com)
    Passover, a Jewish holiday celebrated for seven or eight days (depending on the branch of Judaism) that starts on the full moon in April, is a great opportunity to sink your teeth into Jewish history and culinary traditions. Why? Because each item consumed during the Passover seder–a ritual feast that’s hosted on the first night of Passover, this year Monday, April 14–is filled with thousands of years of meaning.
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    In addition to matzah, the Passover seder features six symbolic items displayed on a special seder plate. While some of these foods are eaten during the reading of the Haggadah–a guide outlining the order of the seder and explaining the significance of the meal–others are there for ceremonial purposes.
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    “What better way to entice people to really think about something than food?” said Lifshitz. “Food is intergenerational dialogue, which is what the Passover seder is about; it’s about a discussion.”
  • Christ our Passover Lamb (daysofdaniel.wordpress.com)
    The week of Passover or Pesach will begin at sunset Monday, April 14, and ends at nightfall Tuesday, April 22. The Passover is a Hebrew commemoration of when the death angel passed over the homes of the Israelites that placed blood on their doorposts. The Lord struck the firstborn of Egypt dead in response to Pharaohs decree but spared the firstborn of the Israelites who marked their homes with blood. The Hebrews were instructed by the Lord to eat the Passover meal, as well as to celebrate this holy week throughout their generations. It is also known as the week of unleavened bread, because the Hebrews were instructed to eat bread made without leaven (yeast).
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    All of the events that occurred at that time, as well as the symbols of Passover all point to the ministry, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is our Passover lamb.
  • One man’s mission to end modern slavery (jewishjournal.com)
    Cohen, a Los Angeles native with a dude-esque Southern California surfer dialect, has been a full-time investigator since 2000, identifying victims of human trafficking — often, young girls in the global sex trade — and gathering the evidence and money required to free them.
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    When discussing more recent experiences, he didn’t revel in the details of his operations. And he shied away from discussing any of his recent stings in the United States.

    He wanted, rather, to discuss Judaism, the Torah, Passover, and why he meditates and prays immediately before his operations, most of which begin with a simple interview of a trafficking victim. Cohen poses as a customer who wants the girl’s services, meets her at a hotel and simply speaks to her, gains her trust, and, usually after a few meetings, gets her and others on the record, providing evidence that the authorities demand

  • Shabbat HaGadol (layacrust.wordpress.com)
    The Shabbat right before Pesach is called Shabbat HaGadol- The Great Sabbath. One interpretation is that “Moshiach”- the Messiah- will come on Passover, so this is the  Great Shabbat, the one before that great redemption.

    Another idea is that the days leading up to the Exodus from Egypt were days of unusual and overwhelming preparation for the Israelites. Those preparations  not only affected sacrifices and food but defined faith and self identification. That concept holds true today. Those who choose to prepare for Pesach and change their diet and behaviours for an entire week are declaring their faith in the God of Israel and defining themselves as Jews.

  • Scripture Oppression in the Bible Part 1 (human2o.wordpress.com)
    As we interpret the bible in “Modern” times, many questions arise. Why has the world’s highest selling book,”the holy bible”, been used to justify oppression, of a specific group of people? Fear, political, and economic power, are the three main reasons to oppress people. Society uses fear to condemn, what is not understood, by controlling through opression keeping one subordinate. The majority, or the group in power uses scripture to maintain status, and build their retention of power. Humans sometimes use fear as a scapegoat for lack of their acountabilities. The word scapegoat originates from biblical days of atonement. Priests performed a ritual, in which the sins of people were symbolically placed on goats. The goats were then driven into the wilderness, along with the sins, and impurities of the people (Paul J Harpers Bible Dictionary). Its funny to see that people believed a goat running into wilderness, took accountability for their wrong actions, giving them instant forgiveness, with no apology, or correction.
    In less than 300 years, in the United States alone, there are four major examples of how scripture has been used to oppress particular social groups. Oppression of African Americans, and Jews, through slavery are seen throughout the bible. Oppression of women, and now LGBTQ(Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) have all been supported by scripture in the bible.
    There are over 500 translations of the bible. Every translation changes ” the words of god”, as they are mass produced over time. If a person is not smart enough, by reading the “holy bible” , they will follow the “will of god”, and become a slave.
  • Slaves In Egypt? (brianrushwriter.wordpress.com)
    The religion of ancient Israel was not anything that properly deserved to be called Judaism. It was a tribal cult in which the Hebrew God, Adonai or JHVH, was one deity among many in the world, not a universal deity as the Jewish God is today. This God was easy for them to abandon, as the diatribes of the prophets in the Bible show that they frequently did. Moreover, this God was not something to be worshiped in spirit wherever one found oneself; rather, he had a location, and that location was Palestine, especially Jerusalem, more especially the Temple. How can we worship the God of our fathers in a foreign land? the captive Hebrews cried.
  • Passover: Touching Liberation (jewishjournal.com)

    As we were developing the cover story for this year’s Passover issue —“Are we e-slaves?”— I couldn’t help thinking about a little girl in Israel, Amit, who suffers from a neurodevelopmental disorder called Rett syndrome.

    According to academic literature, Rett syndrome is characterized by “normal early growth and development followed by a slowing of development, loss of purposeful use of the hands, distinctive hand movements, slowed brain and head growth, problems with walking, seizures and intellectual disability.”

  • Happy Passover! (jewishvoice.wordpress.com)
    History repeats itself . . .
    First there were the Israelites in Bible times, who were saved from sudden slaughter when they obeyed God by putting blood on the lintels and doorposts of their home. The Angel of Death passed over, and the Hebrew children lived to tell their great story of God’s faithfulness.
    Happy Passover! (jewishvoice.wordpress.com)
    we as people of faith can celebrate being saved from certain death when we apply the blood of Yeshua our Messiah to our lives and repent of those sins that kept us in our own personal bondage.To help you celebrate this wonderful occasion, we have put together some Passover resources so that you can be educated and inspired by the beauty of this holy feast.
  • Tears of the Anointed (beautyfromchaos.wordpress.com)
    Yudah hated the Romans. None of us were particularly happy about their presence, but we put up with them and by and large they didn’t bother us too much. Yudah wanted an armed uprising, and thought that Yeshua was the way to achieve it; he wouldn’t let it go, however many times Yeshua patiently explained to him that that wasn’t what his teaching was about.
  • The Unanticipated Passover Seder (ghostriverstudios.wordpress.com)
    If there are aspects of the Passover seder from which all people can learn, how much more so is this true for believers in Messiah? After all, our Master Yeshua chose the wine and the matzah of a Passover Seder to represent his body and blood.
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    The Unanticipated Passover Seder
    I cannot be considered as one of the members of humanity who marched out of Egypt and left behind my slavery, and certainly I cannot project myself into the masses who stood at the foot of Mount Sinai and personally received the Torah from Hashem, as does every person who is Jewish.
  • The Unanticipated Passover Seder (mymorningmeditations.com)
    our Master Yeshua chose the wine and the matzah of a Passover Seder to represent his body and blood. More than just learning about and celebrating the concept of freedom from oppression and exile, for disciples of Messiah, the seder celebrates Yeshua’s atoning death and resurrection while remaining firmly grounded and centered on God’s deliverance of the Jewish people from Egypt.
  • PesachI imagine that the death of Jesus was still sad in heaven even though they knew the whole plan. Suffering is sorrowful. I don’t really know what was happening while Jesus was dead so I won’t try to guess here.
  • “Christ Is Our Passover Lamb” / The Message of the High Sabbath beginning the eve of March 25, 2013 (owprince.wordpress.com)
    Remarkably, the celebration of Easter, one of the most holy of Christian holidays, cannot be found anywhere in the Bible. In 1949 the Encyclopedia Britannica in its article on Easter stated the following regarding this day: “There is no indication of the observance of the Easter festival in the New Testament, or in the writings of the apostolic fathers.”
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    If you find the word Easter in your Bible, it’s actually a mistranslation that is noted in your Bible’s margin. Most recent translations of the Bible make the correction. The correct translations use the word Passoverinstead of Easter.
  • Jesus Christ, Our Passover (fredswolfe.wordpress.com)
    Jesus was dead in the grave with no consciousness for 3 full days and 3 full nights = 72 hours. There is no way in Hell to fit 3 full days and 3 full nights between Sunset Friday and Sunrise Sunday. Therefore, there is no such thing as Good Friday! Jesus Christ, our Passover Lamb,was sacrificed for us and was buried on a Wednesday around sunset beginning the 1st night (Thursday). At dawn Thursday began the first day. At sunset Thurs. began the 2nd night of Friday, then Friday day; thenFri at sunset began the 3rd night, Saturday; then Saturday at sunset completed the 3 days and 3 nights. Sunset Sat. began Sunday night:Jn 20:1 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.KJV
  • Passover: A Time To Remember (jacksonandrew.com)
    I am thankful that today, we can celebrate this feast without the sacrifice of a life for our sins, as Christ, our Passover Lamb, has once and for all, become the substitute… and with Him, God is well pleased. Don’t forget to remember or you are doomed to return to what once enslaved you.
  • G-dfearers Participation In Shabbat, And Pesach According To Toby Janicki (paradoxparables.justparadox.com)
    Gentile believers have been brought near to the commonwealth of Israel. Although this does not make Gentile Christians into Jews, they share in the spiritual heritage of the nation of Israel.
  • This Week’s Torah Portion – VAYIKRA (And He Called)(terri0729.wordpress.com)
    God made Nisan the first month of the year because it was the month in which
    the Jewish people were freed from slavery in Egypt.
    So too, may we remember our freedom from the slavery of sin and death through
    Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah.
  • The High Holy Days for Atonement – 2012 A.D. (moshebarabraham2013.wordpress.com)
    As we prepare for The High Holy Days of Midian, Israel, and Ishmael, we seek Atonement through Fasting and Prayer as handed down to us from our Ancestors under The Covenant of Abraham (COA), Ibrahiym.
  • The LORD Jesus Christ- Our Passover (zionsgate.wordpress.com)
    Pesach (PAY-sahk) means to ‘pass over’.  The Passover meal, seder (SAY der), celebrates this historic event.
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    The LORD’s supper is a remembrance of his sacrifice as the perfect Passover Lamb and the fulfillment of the new covenant between GOD and man (Luke 22:20; 1st Corinthians 5:7; Ephesians 2:11-13).  Prophecy of this sacrifice is found in Psalm 22.  The Hebrew prophet Isaiah also spoke of the sufferings and sacrifice of the Messiah, and how that sacrifice would be the ultimate atonement for the sins of GOD’s people (Isaiah 53).
  • The Mystery of the Passover Wine Revealed: The Yayin HaMeshumar….Yeshua said, “I shall give you what no eye has seen and what no ear has heard and what no hand has touched and what has never occurred to the mind of man. (Gospel of Thomas 17) (guapotg.wordpress.com)
    The phrase “wine that has been kept” in the Hebrew is Yayin HaMeshumar “wine of keeping”. The tradition of the Yayin HaMeshumar runs deep in traditional Judaism. It is the wine that will be served at the Messianic Feast when the Messiah re-establishes the Kingdom of Israel on earth.
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    Not only is the Yayin HaMeshumar the blood of the Messiah, but it is more. It is the “mystery” of which the blood of Messiah is only part:
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    next time you partake of the cup of redemption in the Passover sader, realize that this cup is symbolic of the Yayin HeMeshumar, the wine that has been kept from the six days in the beginning, the blood of the lamb slain from the foundation which has been hidden and separated and prepared for those who love him.
  • Passover and the Feast of Unleaven Bread (ourcommunityatfbcdc.wordpress.com)
    The Passover meal is eaten on the first day. God commanded that Israel keep this feast perpetually.
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    God offers us redemption through the atoning action of Jesus Christ, God’s son who came to the earth, and suffered and died for the sins of the world. He became the Paschal lamb. Under this judgment of sin and ultimate eternal death, God freely offers to all who will believe and accept His provision for us, forgiveness of our sins and life eternal.
  • The Passover Type and Its Anti-type (compasschurchamman.wordpress.com)
    The Old Testament (Exodus 34:18, 25) distinguishes the festivals by using the terms “Feast of Unleavened Bread” and “Passover Feast”. The New Testament (Matthew 26:17; Mark 14:1; Luke 22:1) refers to both of these as “the Passover” and the “Feast of the Unleavened Bread. These festivals were held in immediate sequence. Passover was celebrated at twilight of the 14th day of the month (Exodus 12:6) and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for the seven days following, namely, the 15th to the 21st (Exodus 12:15; Leviticus 23:5f.; Numbers 28:16ff; 2 Chronicles 35:1, 17).
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    The timing of Jesus’ death in the Passover season and the conviction that his death was the atoning death of “blood poured out for many” (Mark 14:24) assisted linking his atoning death to the Passover sacrifice. As the Israelite was delivered from the bondage of Egypt through the blood of the Passover lamb, so the Christian is saved from sin through the sacrifice of Christ; but Paul further adds that continual victory over the sins of the world means a continual observing of the Feast of Redemption.
  • Exodus, The Red Sea, and New Testament Baptism (thelifechurchofdesplaines.wordpress.com)
  • Echoing Passover in This Worship (tbolto.wordpress.com)
    The word “Seder” simply means “Order.” Everything is done in a careful order in keeping with God’s instructions in the Old Testament or Torah, as it is known by Jewish people, and with traditions that have been added to keep alive the memory of the original Passover people.
  • The Crossing of the Red Sea- A Picture of the Process of Salvation…..Just as the Egyptians followed the Hebrews into the Red Sea but the Hebrews alone emerged alive, when we enter into the death burial and resurrection of Messiah as symbolized by water im (guapotg.wordpress.com)
    When someone asks “are you saved”? the natural question is “saved from what?” “Saved” is a verb that begs for a direct object. Yet many who ask you “are you saved” cannot actually tell you what they mean.
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