Karam Ram on Beyond Religion

The famous atheist Richard Dawkins said that many of us saw religion as harmless nonsense, but September 11th changed all of that. The people who attacked the Twin Towers were men of religion. Religion is often a cause of suspicion, distrust and conflict because religious people don’t always ask critical questions about their faith and can confuse religion and politics and culture together. What may just be cultural becomes invested with religious significance. So is organized religion about God, or is it really about maintaining community and identity? Can being Christadelphian become more important than actually being children of God?

Jesus’s parable of the Pharisee and the publican illustrates the “us and them” attitude and how we can simplistically divide the world into the good guys and the bad guys.  Paul says,

“don’t be wise in your own conceits”

but that’s exactly what the Pharisee does in enumerating his good deeds. He’s saying

“I am deserving of God’s favor because I do all these things,”

and in contrast, all the publican can say is

“God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

Groupthink is a very deeply ingrained human tendency. Societies and communities maintain cohesion through groupthink. Religious communities are susceptible to it when they prioritize their own identity, their privilege at all costs:

“We are special. We have the truth, and because we have the truth, we are in God’s favor.”

The Pharisee in the parable is a very powerful example (as is the case of Al Qaeda and ISIS) of how groupthink enables certain views of the world and attitudes to become normalized, but to anyone outside that group those attitudes are just bizarre or immoral. Jesus’s parable is especially subversive because the Pharisees represented the popular ideas of piety within Judaism but in this case it isn’t the religious man who is right with God, it’s the sinner.

In Jesus’s time groupthink was probably much more powerful because of the Roman occupation. The foundational event for Israel was the Exodus from Egypt, so they could probably more justifiably mobilize religion in favor of their aspirations for liberation. They tried to draw in Jesus by asking whether it was appropriate to pay taxes to Caesar.  Jesus doesn’t criticize the Romans or Herod or Pilot, but Jesus was very critical of people who represented popular ideas of religious piety.  Jesus is trying to bring the Jews back into an authentic relationship with God rather than one that was just based on formalism or rituals.

If religion is just about how we appear to other people, then it’s only ever going to be superficial. Jesus makes the point that the Pharisees cleaned the outside of the platter but not the inside. There is obsession with respectability, with fitting in with the group, which results in hypocrisy. Jesus said in John’s gospel,

“I know you don’t have the love of God in you. You receive honor one from another, how can you receive the honor that comes from God?”

They were the children of those who murdered the prophets. They could celebrate the righteous and the prophets in death, but they couldn’t abide them in real life.

These are really penetrating and cutting criticisms of the way religion is co-opted and abused. We could apply it to our own community.  We may not be the worst offenders – I don’t know any Christadelphians who have flown airplanes into the sides of buildings! – but these words of Jesus have a lot to say about the state of religion today and the way that religion is mobilized as part of identity politics.

In Matthew 5:17, Jesus says

“I haven’t come to destroy the Law and the prophets, but I’ve come to fulfill”

because he was aware that the people who were listening to him wouldn’t actually recognize what he was saying. For them, religion was all that the Pharisees represented, temples, rituals, externals.  Jesus was aware that his message stressing a direct relationship with God without all of this other stuff would appear to be unrecognizable. It was beyond their concept of religion because it was about a personal relationship with the Father.

That idea of being the children of God should be important to us in a very personal and powerful way.  Christ made this very clear through his personal communion with the Father. There’s an incident in Matthew’s gospel where the Jews ask Peter

“does your master pay the tax”

and Jesus said to Peter

“what do you think? of whom do the Kings of the earth take tribute from strangers or from children?”

The implication of the question is,

“why are we having to pay this? Are we strangers from God or are we his children?”

The whole point of Jesus’s ministry is to bring us into a real, authentic relationship with God.

For the Jews of Jesus’s day, the one thing that represented God more than anything else was the temple. The temple was impersonal and vast, but that suited everyone because it kept God at a distance. Our challenge is to be up close and personal with God. That’s what Jesus came to do, to break down that wall of partition between us, to tear the veil of the temple. We need to cultivate hearts and minds that are less concerned with the appearance of respectability or groupthink, and more sensitive to the real presence of God in our lives.

To listen to the full interview with Karam and Steve please check out WCF A Little Faith podcasts

Perishable non theologians daring to go out to preach

Universe exist already a long long time, and it shall continue to exist for a much longer time. Human beings in that universe have a lot of limitations. We are chained by our confinements. We do not like to have restrictions imposed on us and lots of people do think they can do a lot or even do think they can play for god.

We as perishable persons may look around us and either see the beauty of creation or miss it all. What is important that we should come to see the Hand behind everything. All being created in the likeness of the Divine Creator have not their eyes open to see their origin or to understand the ways of life.

For coming to insight it is important that people help each other. We have developed education centres and got printing and other media aids to provide educational material.

Rabbis Lesson with kids (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Some two thousand years ago there was a simple man of flesh and blood in the Jewish community who warned the people around him that they better took account of what the previous rabbis told. The world had got prophets, men send by God, who gave warnings, but not many wanted to listen. With that prophet 2000 years ago it was not much different. He was considered a ‘stand in the way’ and therefore killed. Though making his mouth shut down, did not end his teachings. His disciples continued to go around wherever and whenever they could. They followed a big lesson they had learned from their master rabbi: going out into the world to preach the Good News of the Coming Kingdom of God.

Today Jeshua, as this rabbi was called (today better known as Jesus) is till alive in many hearts. Several people came to see what his death really means for the world. The eternal God, Who cannot die, told the world that there in the river Jordan was standing “His only beloved son“, given to the world to bring salvation. By the Grace of God, Jeshua his offering of his body is accepted as a ransom for us all.

But the story may not end there. The master teacher who had only a very short public life of three very active years, has asked his followers to continue in his footsteps. And there seems to lie a big problem. Not many do want to go out and preach in the name of Jesus.

Today it does not seem to be very much different than in the times of Jeshua. There are loads of discussions about the position of the Torah on issues that are out of date with our modern sensitivities. There are people who also come to see that there might be rituals which are supposedly similar to pagan festivals of the time. The reason for this is that often it were people who liked so much certain attitudes that they took over certain attitudes and feasts. But we always should consider if they would be something God would like to see.

It becomes more and more important to get to know what the Divine Creator really wants from us and what His Plans are. the task Jesus has given to his disciples has become more vital. It should be an essential part of the life of a follower of Christ (a Christian). Being Christian should mean that you are prepared to follow Christ his teachings and are willing to live according his rules (The Law of Christ)

Coming together, exhorting each other and preaching the gospel should be the core-business of a Christian.

Some may be convinced that a religion has to give to the people what they want to find, not having to change too much their life. Lots of people want that they get something familiar to hold onto? Perhaps they could call it “God modelled” “His new religion” after existing practices.

There is an established principal in Jewish thought (and a logical one as well) that “The Torah speaks in the language of man.” Among other things, this means that the Torah speaks in the context of the time in which it was given and in a way that is appropriate for the people of the time. Many of the commentators write that God had to gradually wean a pagan slave population off of it’s pagan ritual and belief system. It would not be effective for God to create brand new rituals that have no meaning for the worshipers. To give a silly example, if God were to create a brand new religion now, he would not create one where worship of God is done by standing on one’s head 5 times a day.{Why are some Jewish rituals similar to Pagan rituals?}

People have to come to understand it is not God Who has to adapt to them but that they have to come closer to God knowing Him and following up what God wants us to do.

To get to know what God really wants from us, we best look into what He has given the world to get to know Him better. God has given His Word for all mankind to find Who He is, what He wants and what we can do to come to Him and to become Children of God.

People write history or similar for a reason; what someone did may not be as important for their memory as what someone later needed to do with it. Jeshua his followers had their own worldly job, but they knew how urgently needed was their preaching, telling others about the works of their master teacher. Whether or not all these who tried to bring the gospel to others were really talented orators we probably can’t tell. In a certain way it does not really matters. What matters is that they got the message across.

Also today, you may perhaps not be so eloquent, or not so good in many languages, but you should know you too can have a story to tell. Everybody can help to contribute getting the news of the coming Kingdom spreading all over the world.

Many may think it is sufficient when they preach in their own church. For them it is sufficient (they think) to give exhortations to their own church or ecclesia members. Many may find the opportunity to stand in front of congregations and crowds many times. How many time do they think about the responsibility they bear? Though may shall have the hope some of the people in the congregation will hear their voice and carry the thought with them to ponder.

But we do not have to preach for those who already believe. We do need preachers for those who do not yet know the truth. Those who do not know the importance of Christ yet, should come to know it. We need announcers of the Good News, not a bellman for the own flock or to bring just recreational or bad news, like the journal offers it every day over and over again.

It is true others may not understand the energy it takes to get up in front of others to proclaim God’s word and lots of people would call it a silly activity. But it is not what the worlds find interesting to do what we should do. The love of the world is not for the Holy Word. People are not interested in God, His Plans or His world. Though they should know it really matters to know Him.

Importance of coming together to study the Word of God – Bible time at Shunem

Those who love God should not be afraid to come out for it. They should also trust Him, what He can do with them is they are willing to go to others to tell about Him and His son. They shall be surprised to come to feel the Hand of God in what they do, when they try to do it honestly. They can be surprised to feel how God can guide them and how God is willing to give His Power and presence in a mighty way. Often we shall be amazed at the insight He gives, the words He brings, the abilities we recognize, not because of our skills, but because of God’s power and presence within us.

Today time seems to be spares for everybody. Pastors and everybody else are busy.

They hardly have time to prepare their sermons every week while at the same time visiting, counseling, planning, fixing, etc. Ask most pastors what good theology books they’ve read recently and you’ll be greeted by blank stares. {The Value of Systematic Theology to Pastors}

How many can, or better said, are willing to take time to come to study the Bible and to share their findings with others? How many are willing to come to a God-centered search and preaching?

In certain churches the priest may have the idea that:

Pastors who do not study theology tend to preach atheological sermons. They may be able to atomistically expound a text, but they will have difficulty connecting the text to the grand redemptive truths that give the texts weighty significance. {The Value of Systematic Theology to Pastors}

but they forget that the essence is all in the Word of God and can be found when really looking in that word, not having to have had theological studies in universities. God Himself has provided everything in His Word to be found by every man, educated and non-educated. Man does not need a theological study to come to understand God His Word. They also do not a university tittle to go out preaching the gospel. Jesus nor his followers, except Luke and Paul, got high degrees or were known scholars. common people in the first century of Christianity took care that the word spread and that it could reach lots of people, from child, slave, uneducated up to educated people. Many came to know the truth by simple people who took their time to spread the news.

Mark Farnham may think

Van Til saw a definite connection between the study of systematic theology and the ability to preach the whole counsel of God. If a pastor is not well-versed in theology, he may shy away from Scriptures that his flock needs for growth in grace. Or worse, he may shy away from Scriptures his flock needs for spiritual and doctrinal protection.{The Value of Systematic Theology to Pastors}

He also writes:

Many people believe that the basis and source of defending the faith is different than that of knowing the faith. That is, they believe that we do systematic theology by appealing to the Scriptures, and we defend our faith by appealing to reason or philosophy (since unbelievers don’t accept the Bible as the Word of God). {The Value of Systematic Theology for Defending the Faith}

Without being in the faith a person can not come over convincingly. The faith has to be in the veins and the spirit. When the person is wiling to give him or herself to the Words of God, those Words can feed him or her. It is in the Word of God that The Truth can be found and not in the words of human beings. Jesus wanted us to share that truth which we can find.

The distinctive of the presuppositional (or transcendental) approach to apologetics developed most extensively by Cornelius Van Til is its demand that Scripture be the starting point for all human knowledge, and that it be maintained as such in a believer’s defense of the faith against attacks by unbelievers.The best apologetic defense will invariably be made by him who knows the system of truth of Scripture best. The fight between Christianity and non-Christianity is, in modern times, no piece-meal affair. It is the life-and-death struggle between two mutually opposed life-and-world views

Both seem to forget the Power of God, the Holy Spirit, Who is the One Who has to guide the speaker or preacher.  It is not as they say that

He who has not been trained in systematic theology will often be at a loss as to how to meet these attacks.

It probably shall not be easy, that’s sure, but that we can see by theologians as well when they are brought down their pied de stall.

Van Till and Mark Farnham think

He may be quite proficient in warding off the attack as far as details are concerned, but he will forever have to be afraid of new attacks as long as he has never removed the foundation from the enemy’s position.

Those who go around telling about the prophets, Christ and the One who send all these men, should not consider the others as the enemy. Even when they may go in the position of attack, the one willing to preach for God shall be able to trust Him and would not have to worry man.

All those who come along and hear the words of the one who wants to preach in the name of God can either stop to listen or continue their way. Nobody should remain. Nobody is expected to take everything for what and how it is said. The preacher when he does not find the ground fertile, finds no one to listen can and shall continue his or her way to go further trying to reach people who are willing to listen and who are willing to investigate and to take the Word of God to compare with what is said.

Van Til starts stepping on toes:

The church will have to return to its erstwhile emphasis upon its teaching function if it is to fulfill its God-given task of bringing the gospel to all men. Its present recourse to jerky evangelism as almost the only method of propaganda is itself an admission of paupery…Revivalists ought to make themselves unnecessary as quickly as possible.

Reformed apologist and churchman Cornelius van Til preaching on the street

We only can hope Van Til was pleading for a return to a comprehensive instruction in sound doctrine, (what he and other  theologians may understand by that?) that would provide the foundation for both a deep and strong faith, and a solid foundation for a robust defence of the faith against attacks.

We are convinced that regular Bible reading (perhaps according to a strategic plan) is the right foundation for successful Bible study. And the principles of accurate interpretation will take that Bible study to the next level of spiritual blessing and benefit. Each person willing to get to know God and His works shall find the answers to his and others questions by reading God’s Word. True biblical sermons or exhortations don’t drive the biblical text, they are driven by the biblical text. Scripture speaks for itself.

But preaching is not all about giving sermons or exhortations it is also by showing your heart to others and letting others feel how vibrant the Word of God makes you. Feeling humbled by the privilege to study Scripture and teaching it to others we should love seeing God working out and confirming His calling on others, having us nearby them to give them our hand to go together on the path of God.

We should not be afraid to go out in the world to tell others what we do believe about the Creator and His son.

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Find also to read:

1. More Muslim children than Christian children growing up in our cities
2. Catholicism, Anabaptism and Crisis of Christianity
3. Trying to get the youth inspired
4. Looking for True Spirituality 7 Preaching of the Good News
5. People Seeking for God 2 Human interpretations
6. Trusting, Faith, calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #3 Voice of God #6 Words to feed and communicate
7. Proclaiming shalom, bringing good news of good things, announcing salvation
8. Preaching to an unbelieving world
9. How should we preach?
10. Our way of life
11. Attackers silenced freedom of speech
12. Minimizing the power of God’s Force the Holy Spirit
13. Van Til interacting with Bavinck and Calvin on Natural Theology
14. Jehovah’s Witnesses not only group that preach the good news
15. Belonging to or being judged by
16. Holland Week of billing
17. Trying to get the youth inspired
18. When discouraged facing opposition
19. A Living Faith #3 Faith put into action
20. Atonement And Fellowship 4/8
21. The Involvement of true discipleship
22. Testify of the things heard
23. Proclaiming shalom, bringing good news of good things, announcing salvation
24. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #5 Prayer #2 Witnessing
25. A Voice to be heard
26. Creator and Blogger God 4 Expounding voice
27. Blogging for Jesus…
28. Our openness to being approachable
29. Preaching to an unbelieving world
30. Words to push and pull
31. Good or bad preacher
32. Learn how to go out into the world and proclaim the Good News of the coming Kingdom
33. How should we preach?
34. Breathing and growing with no heir
35. Breathing to teach
36. Bringing Good News into the world
37. Reasons to come together
38. Missionary action paradigm for all endeavours of the church
39. Many forgot how Christ should be our anchor and our focus

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Find additional literature:

1. Why are some Jewish rituals similar to Pagan rituals?
2. Messages will be spoken! (Micah 3:8)
3. The Value of Systematic Theology for Defending the Faith
4. The Value of Systematic Theology to Pastors
5. Common Interpretive Pitfalls
6. Seminar CXLIX: the importance of being eloquent in the Italian Church
7. Van Til the Evangelist
8. Van Til the Street Preacher
9. Jehovah’s Message
10. Following Jesus’ Footsteps
11. The Good News of God’s Kingdom
12. Thoughts concerning the preacher
13. On Preaching “To the Men”
14. Expository preaching – friend or foe?
15. How to Spread the Gospel
16. 4 Principles for Collaborative Preaching
17. 6 Ways to Your Teacher’s Heart
18. Preaching is a two-way street
19. How to Get More Out of the Preached Word of God
20. What do you need…?
21. Preach It, Sister!
22. Community Houses are Better than Church Buildings

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Elul Observances

For the Jewish community it is the last month of the year. We also are at the turning point having the Summer Holiday being the end of the time to repose and to go into a new school- or academic year and into a new church year.

By the Chosen People of God prior to the Exile the months were designated partly by names and partly by numbers.

Elul (Hebrew: אֱלוּל, StandardElulTiberianʾĔlûl) is the twelfth month of the Jewish civil year and the sixth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a summer month of 29 days. Elul usually occurs in August–September on the Gregorian calendar. {Wikipedia}

Shofar (by Alphonse Lévy) Caption says: “To a good year” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The name of the month (spelled Alef-Lamed-Vav-Lamed) is said to be an acronym of “Ani l’dodi v’dodi li,” “I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine,” a quote from Song of Songs 6:3, where the Beloved is the Most High divine Creator of heaven and earth and the “I” is the Jewish people. In Aramaic (the vernacular of the Jewish people at the time that the month names were adopted), the word “Elul” meaning “search,” which is appropriate, because at the end of a period (weak/season/ year) it is not bad to take some time free to think about what happened in the past. At the turn over of the season or year it is time to search our hearts and to seriously have an introspection and stocktaking — a time to review one’s deeds and spiritual progress over the past year and prepare for the upcoming Yamim Nora’im or “Days of Awe” of Rosh Hashanah and Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur.

According to tradition, the month of Elul is the time that Moses spent on Mount Sinai, forty days and forty nights, neither eating bread, nor drinking water, preparing the second set of tablets after the incident of the golden calf (Exodus 32; 34:27-28). He had ascended on Rosh Chodesh Elul, the 1st of Elul of the year 2448 from creation (1313 BCE).

Moses was seen by Jehovah as a righteous person, finding beauty in God His eyes. It was to him that God wanted to make all His function cross over upon his face and willing to show beauty, having compassion to whom God will have compassion. Though God cannot be seen, people can feel His presence. Moses, with Christ Jesus, was the only human being ever coming to know God this way. Jehovah taught him the secret of His “Thirteen Attributes of Mercy” (Exodus 33:18-34:8).

Exo 33:17-23 NHEBJE  Jehovah said to Moses, “I will do this thing also that you have spoken; for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.”  (18)  He said, “Please show me your glory.”  (19)  He said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of Jehovah before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.”  (20)  He said, “You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live.”  (21)  Jehovah also said, “Behold, there is a place by me, and you shall stand on the rock.  (22)  It will happen, while my glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with my hand until I have passed by;  (23)  then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back; but my face shall not be seen.”

Exo 34:1-8 NHEBJE  Jehovah said to Moses, “Chisel two stone tablets like the first: and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.  (2)  Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain.  (3)  No one shall come up with you; neither let anyone be seen throughout all the mountain; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mountain.”  (4)  He chiseled two tablets of stone like the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up to Mount Sinai, as Jehovah had commanded him, and took in his hand two stone tablets.  (5)  Jehovah descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of Jehovah.  (6)  Jehovah passed by before him, and proclaimed, “Jehovah, Jehovah, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth,  (7)  keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and disobedience and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the children’s children, on the third and on the fourth generation.”  (8)  Moses hurried and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped.

Moses remained on the mountain for 40 days, until the 10th of Tishrei (Yom Kippur), during which time He obtained God’s whole-hearted forgiveness and reconciliation with the people of Israel following their betrayal of the covenant between them with their worship of the Golden Calf. This was the third of Moses’ three 40-day periods on Mount Sinai in connection with the Giving of the Torah. Ever since, the month of Elul serves as the “month of Divine mercy and forgiveness.”

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in Moses’ hand, on the 10th of Tishri, at the end of Yom Kippur, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone by reason of his speaking with him, as a sign that his repentance was complete.
Other sources say that Elul is the beginning of a period of 40 days that Moses prayed for God to forgive the people after the Golden Calf incident, after which the commandment to prepare the second set of tablets was given.

As the month of Divine Mercy and Forgiveness it is a most opportune time for teshuvah, the “return” to God, where we try to come even closer than in other times. This coming closer has to be done by getting in a closer relationship with God by spending enough time in conversation with Him, by prayer. for the Jews it is also a time where they show love for each other. That increased Ahavat Yisrael (love for a fellow Jew) has to happen in the quest for self-improvement and coming closer to God.

Schneur Zalman of Liadi (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Chassidic master Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi likens the month of Elul to a time when “the king is in the field” and, in contrast to when he is in the royal palace,

“everyone who so desires is permitted to meet him, and he receives them all with a cheerful countenance and shows a smiling face to them all.”

Is that not a lovely thought that we are given the opportunity to meet that King over the king of kings? From the Hebrew writings we may understand that Jehovah God is willing to listen to everybody who is willing to search for Him.

As we pass through life, we are invariably coarsened and sullied by our errors and misjudgements, or simply by the travails of physical life; but our innermost self, the soul which is created in the “image of God” and should be a “veritable part of God” should be ready to come in front of God. Last year the Christadelphians and Bible Students in Belgium focused on our communication with God. This coming season we are going to look at our being, which has the nephesh or nefesh (flesh) and (psyche), a soul which can only exist because God allows it to exist.

The Jews may bind the small black leather cubes containing parchment scrolls inscribed with the Shema and other biblical passages, around the arm (“hand Tefillin“) and head (“Head Tefillin“) of adult men during weekday morning prayers. But we should not have such touchable symbols to wrap around us to have the connection with the Word of God. The Mitzvah (precepts and commandments as commanded by God) binds us spiritually with our hearts and deeds with the Holy Spirit. Our mind (psyche) or soul which we give into the Hands of God, in these days of ‘turn over’ or ‘turning point’, should now get some interest from us to cleanse and purify it, so that we can come to a daily reunification within ourselves and with God.

The term mitzvah has also come to express an act of human kindness. In these days of passage, going from baby into toddler, toddler going from kindergarten to the lower and later to the junior and higher school. As adult going into a new academic year. It is God Who allows us to climb higher on the ladder, getting more knowledge and wisdom.

Specific Elul customs include the daily sounding of the shofar (ram’s horn) as a call to repentance. The Baal Shem Tov instituted the custom of reciting three additional chapters of Psalms each day, from the 1st of Elul until Yom Kippur (on Yom Kippur the remaining 36 chapters are recited, thereby completing the entire book of Psalms). (Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24)

In this world there is a lot of distraction, so much noise we often do not hear the right sounds. There is so much that keeps us busy in the time of year we often do not find enough time to have pleasure time for the own family and even less time to spend time together with brothers and sisters of the same faith. How much time do you find to spend with others thinking about the Word of God and discussing what can be found and understood from Bible reading?

Let us take time to repent and to think about what we have done last year and how we are going to enter the new church year. We look forward to enter a new church-year full of enthusiasm, looking for ways to get to know the human soul better and to bring more people to better insight in the Holy Scriptures, in the hope that they may find God and shall be willing to get baptised and to join one of our communities.

Are we willing to let our soul be formed by the almighty God and to be looking forward to the Teshuvah, the God-given ability to access and reconnect to that untouched self, re-establishing our lives upon its foundation, and even redefine a negative past in its purifying light?

We may not overlook the most important aspect of Elul which is to make a plan for your life. Because when the “Big Day”, the Last Day of this time-system comes it shall be too late to make preparations. Everything has to happen before that day, like the marriage arrangements have to be taken before the day of marriage. It is Now that we do have to prepare ourselves to be ready to come before the Judge of the Endtimes. You may be sure that it will be so much easier when you prepare yourself for that day with others; Together the work shall be so much lighter and it will be much easier for each of the meeting to find the right way. Now is the time to prepare yourself for making a good start going into the right direction and finding like-minded people who are willing to unite in the name of Christ, willing to do, like him, the Will of God and not of ourselves or of the world.

Let us hear the trumpet of God and follow His Guidance into a new stadium, preparing ourselves to enter that promised New World, the Kingdom of God, as children of God.

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Find also to read:

1. Our openness to being approachable
2. A new school-, academic and church year
3. The sin of partiality
4. Let us not fret or worry about next season
5. Atonement And Fellowship 1/8
6. Following a Compassionate Lord
7. Wishing to do the will of God
8. A Living Faith #7 Prayer
9. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #8 Prayer #6 Communication and manifestation
10. The soul
11. Is there an Immortal soul
12. Science, belief, denial and visibility 2
13. I Only hope we find GOD again before it is too late !
14. What I Hope For Is What You Hope For
15. Forgiveness is a blessing for the one who forgives
16. The thought of losing rekindles the joy of having
17. Courage is fear that has said its prayers

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Days of Nisan, Pesach, Pasach, Pascha and Easter

End of Winter, new beginning

When Winter let us see its last breath 1st Nisan brings a New Year.
At the appearance of the first “new moon” of Spring, that is, when the waxing crescent of the moon is first sighted we come to celebrate the Biblical New Years Day.

After the dark months we look forward to a time of more light. We are also confronted with what happened many thousand years ago. There was an event in history which was going to influence the coarse of history up to today. In Egypt a people felt restricted and threatened by how they where treated. Nisan brings the start of their big journey. It is the start of the month of the Exodus from Egypt and the beginning of Jewish national history. It is also the first month used for counting the festivals (mo’edim) of the Hebrew Calendar and for reckoning the years of reign of the Kings of Israel.

Head of the months

Israel’s Escape from Egypt, illustration from a Bible card published 1907 by the Providence Lithograph Company (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Rosh Chodashim (ראשׁ חֳדָשִׁים), “the head of the months,” and its observance is considered the very first commandment given to Israel before the great Exodus from Egypt took place. For the world now got days they should remember for ever.

“This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.” (Exodus 12:2 ASV)

“3 And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand Jehovah brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten. 4 This day ye go forth in the month Abib.” (Exodus 13:3-4 ASV)

“The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep: seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, at the time appointed in the month Abib (for in it thou camest out from Egypt); and none shall appear before me empty:” (Exodus 23:15 ASV)

“The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, at the time appointed in the month Abib; for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt.” (Exodus 34:18 ASV)

“Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto Jehovah thy God; for in the month of Abib Jehovah thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.” (Deuteronomy 16:1 ASV)

Commemorating miracles the Creator performed

Creation in itself is already something special about many people may have many theories. Still people are not sure how everything came into existence. They still continue to have many debates about how the world came into existence. By wondering and concentrating on the theories of man they do not see the first miracle nor the other miracles God did in this universe which still hides a lot for our small eyes.

The Ramban (Nachmanides) wrote:

“By counting every month from Nisan, we constantly commemorate the miracle that God performed when He took us out of slavery.”

Month for the Redeemed

Since the redemption from Egypt took place during the month of Nisan you also could call it

“the month of the redemption.” [Chodesh HaGeulah (חדֶשׁ הַגְּאֻלָּה)]

The Babylonian Talmud (Tractate Rosh Hashanah 11a) states:

“In Nisan our forefathers were redeemed from Egypt and in Nisan we will be redeemed.”

Not only for Jews it is an important month; Also for Christians it should be the most important month of the year. It should be a period where we remember how the Divine Creator has chosen Him a people, Israel, the Jews. But also because it is the month of the New Creation. The God of gods not only in that month took care that His own people got liberated from the slavery in Egypt. Many years later God also took care that all people got liberated from a bigger and worse slavery, namely the slavery of sin. Therefore not only for the Jews, also for Christians and Muslims, but also for those who do not (yet) believe in the True God, Nisan is also Chodesh ha-Yeshuah (חדֶשׁ הַיְשׁוּעָה), the “month of the salvation,” both in terms of the physical deliverance from Egypt, but more profoundly in terms of the spiritual salvation given at Zion/Moriah through the Messiah.  The Month of Jeshua has brought a change for the whole world, Jews and gentiles or to believers and non-believers or non-religious.

When you take Nisan to come from nissim (נִסִּים, “miracles”) or from the word nitzan (נִצָּן, “bud”) we got presented the greatest miracles in humankind.

Coming into new life

When the flowers are come on the earth; the time of cutting the vines is come, and the voice of the dove is sounding in our land, when the fruit-trees put out their green fruit and the vines with their young fruit give a good smell, we should get up and go into the world bringing the Good News of Salvation. (Song of Solomon 2:12-13) We should be thankful that the Creator not only redeemed His own people but also gave a solution for the sin of us all.

The 1st of Nisan is counted as the new year for the purpose of counting the reign of kings of Israel (in Exodus 12:2, the word lakhem (לָכֶם), “to you,” can be rearranged to form the word melekh (מֶלֶךְ), “a king.”). For instance, if a king ascended the throne just a week before the new moon of Nisan, that week would be reckoned as a year in the chronicles of Israel’s kings.

Last king and High-priest assigned to the throne

On the 14th of Nisan, about 1985 years ago a new and the last king for God was put next to the throne of God. A Jewish man from the lineage of king David was chosen to become the major High Priest in the Temple of God and to be the mediator between God and man, sitting at the right hand of God.

“55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56 and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:55-56 ASV)

Jesus from Nazareth was the man God called “his only begotten beloved son“. He was the chosen one, the one God had already spoken of in the Garden of Eden. As such God His Word, His promise made in the Garden of Eden, had become flesh in 4BCE. When this son of man who was also called son of David and son of God, became 12 years of age he went already in the temple to talk about his heavenly Father. When he was thirty he got baptised by John the Baptist, after which God declared in front of many at the river Jordan, that the man standing there in the water was ‘his beloved son“.

“16 And Jesus when he was baptized, went up straightway from the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him; 17 and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17 ASV)

For those who would have doubted God repeated His saying:

“33 And it came to pass, as they were parting from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah: not knowing what he said. 34 And while he said these things, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud. 35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my Son, my chosen: hear ye him. 36 And when the voice came, Jesus was found alone. And they held their peace, and told no man in those days any of the things which they had seen.” (Luke 9:33-36 ASV)

After the man had died God provided a Comforter, Who gave Jesus his disciples the courage to go out in the world and to tell about the miracles that man had done and of what importance that man was and did works in the name of his Father, the Holy Righteous One God, the Elohim Hashem Jehovah.

Day of breaking the bread

Bread to be broken as a symbol (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On the 14th of Nisan they had seen that man taking bread and wine, presenting them as if it was his own body, saying it was given to them and the world for their sins, and the action of that coming together and “Breaking of the Bread” they had to repeat until he would come back.

According to Jewish tradition the month of Nisan is also assigned to the royal tribe of Judah (יְהוּדָה), in whose merit both the Holy Temple was built and from whom the Messiah Jeshua (Jesus Christ) would descend. When we look at the name Judah (יְהוּדָה) we can see that it includes the Name YHVH or YHWH (יהוה) {Jehovha} with the insertion of the letter Dalet (ד), suggesting that Judah would be the “door” or “gate” into the presence of God. This Only One God had kept His promise made in the Garden of Eden. His Word had become flesh. (John 1:1) The man of flesh, blood and bones had only done the Will of his Father (and not his own will) and was killed for it and for being an nuisance for the leaders at that time.  They could not bear it that this man dared to say he was doing all this miracles in the name of his heavenly Father. If he would told the people he was doing it himself they would perhaps not have bothered so much, but now he called to God for what he did. That was considered blasphemy and therefore he had to be killed.

A preparation for salvation by the full ransom

After Jesus had let his disciples prepare for 15 Nisan, the Passover he on the 14th of Nisan enjoyed his last supper on the 14th of Nisan and asked his disciples to remember that day. All followers of Christ therefore should remember that special day when Jesus installed the New Covenant. The same day he was taken prisoner and impaled to find his death. He was put in a grave and according to the Holy Scriptures was three day under the dead, being in sheol or gehenna (the hell) or what we commonly call the grave. {Those who call the hell a place of torture should wonder why Jesus had to be in it for three days.}

The Door to find and to open

Jeshua or Jesus Christ was from the tribe of Judah and had spoken many times of his Father and about his role in this world-system.  He also knew we all have to live in this world, but warned us not to be of this world and to look at him to get to know his Father and to see the light leading up to the gate of the Kingdom of God. Many times Jesus described himself as ha-sha’ar (הַשַּׁעַר) “the gate”(John 10:9). The arrangement of the tribes placed Judah directly in front of the door into the Mishkan (Numery 2:3).

Celebrations and the Day after

“Christ risen from His tomb”, fresco ; cathedral of Spoleto, Italy; (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

These days when so many have celebrations being it for Passover or being it called Easter, they should see the first New Year which marks the month of the redemption of the Jewish people see the redemption Jeshua brought when he was sacrificed upon the wooden stake at Moriah to redeem us from our sins. The second marks the month of Israels’ corporate salvation that will be fulfilled in the End of Days.  Oddly enough for most Christians, “New Years Day” should be really celebrated in the spring, certainly not in “January.

After three days in the grave, something incredible happened. It goes beyond any human conception. Though we should grasp a clear understanding of the event. Because of the Passover celebration the loved ones of Christ had no time to properly prepare the body for burial with spices and ointments according to Jewish customs. No work could be done on the Holy Sabbath of Sabbaths, so that task had to wait until the day after.

When in the morning, Mary Magdalene and several other women went to the tomb with the spices they had prepared and arrived at the sealed tomb, guarded by Roman soldiers, so that nobody could do something with the body of that rebel Jesus, they found the tomb had been opened and nobody around the tomb. When they went in, they did not find Jesus’ body, and they wondered what had happened.

Suddenly, two angels in dazzling white clothes were there. The women were terrified, but the angels said to them,

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you that He would be turned over to sinful men, be crucified, and rise again on the third day!”

The women ran back to tell Jesus’ apostles what they had seen. Peter and one other apostle went to the tomb to see for themselves. They looked in and saw the linen cloths that Jesus’ body had been wrapped in but nothing else. Then they went home, amazed and confused.

Not stolen, not mislaid

The Risen Christ, the one who showed his wounds to proof he was not a ghost or spirit (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You can imagine how terrified they must have been. Who had stolen the body of their most beloved rabbi (master teacher)?

When Peter and the other apostle went home, Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb crying. Suddenly she saw Jesus standing there, but she did not recognize him at first. Jesus said to her:

“Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?”

Mary thought He must be the gardener and said:

“Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where, and I will take him!”

Can you imagine what would have gone through this lady when Jesus said, “Mary!” and she then recognized him and exclaimed, “Master!”?

All the disciples like Mary Magdalene knew Jesus was the son of God, who had done everything for his Father and who had spoken of the possibility of people going to the reign of his Father, him being there. But Jesus affirmed her that he was not yet by his Father in heaven. It is not by dying that something would go up into heaven or hell. Like every human being, plant or animal, Jesus died and we will die. Normally once death, all thinking and handling will be finished. We shall not be able to do anything any more. Mary Magdalene was aware of the dead not being able to do anything, but now she got to see Jesus. Also others, later, got to see Jesus. To them he also proofed he was not a ghost or a spirit, like his Father is a Spirit. He was a man of flesh and blood who showed his wounds to proof that it was him they were seeing know, after he had died. Incomprehensible!

Not yet in heaven, Still to ascend

Jesus said:

“Don’t hold on to me, because I have not yet returned to the Father. But go to my disciples and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'”

Then Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples

“I have seen the lord!”

and she told them everything that had happened.

Many could not believe what had happened. Several got to see Christ Jesus, and saw that he was really risen. They could see and believe.
We can not see that Jesus is rise. For us it is more difficult to believe, because there are no witnesses alive any more. We have to go on the books, the stories told. Most of all we have to go on our faith were we believe what has been told in the Old Books of the Old Testament, where the promises of God are told to all who want to know. In those books are also the signs given to recognise the promised Messiah. Putting everything together, we should have no doubt who the Messiah is and what God has done with him and for us.

Tool to get out of the slavery of sin and its curse, the death

Having the month where God helped His chosen people to get out of slavery by man, we also have the month where God gave mankind a tool to get out of the slavery of sin and its curse, the death. As such this is the Month of Hope and the Month of Salvation.

Instead of being wondering which presents or gifts we should buy for Easter, we should use Easter time to remember the Exodus form Egypt , the Last Supper, Jesus installing the New Covenant, Jesus being impaled for the sins of the world, and Jesus taken out of the dead by his heavenly Father. A resurrection bringing us hope, because in it, we can see what shall be able to happen to us in the future, after Jesus has returned.

All more the reason to look out for the return of Christ and to put our hopes in that man who was the beloved son of God. We should trust in him and his Father and follow his teachings, being thankful for the restored relationship between God and man.

Dominion of sin and Death has been conquered

In Christ Jesus, Jeshua, death has been conquered. He paid the ransom by giving his body to his Father. If Jesus is God, because God can not die and is an eternal Spirit. Than Jesus could not be taken out of the dead and his body raised to be the body showing wounds. Without dying there could be no he resurrection. And if there is no resurrection, then we have no hope.

Christ Resurrected (Photo credit: Waiting For The Word)

If Jesus wasn’t raised, if the tomb was not empty or when Jesus his body would have been stolen out of the grave, than there would be nothing to hold on to accept Jesus was risen. Several people saw Jesus after he had died. They were convinced they had really seen him.  Many were willing to die for what had happened, because they were convinced “death now could be reversed”. Now they could believe sin shall not have dominion over them nor us who believe, because from that day onwards we have come under grace. (Romans 6:14)
In case Jesus’ death didn’t pay our penalty for sin, then we “are still in our sins.” And when Jesus was not taken out of death by his Father, meaning that there did not took place a resurrection, then all those who have died before us … no matter what they did …shall have had nothing in their hope.

Isaiah promised that the dead would live (Isaiah 26:19) and Job knew that there would come a moment that he should not hide any more in Sheol. Abraham Isaac and Jesus believed in a God of the dead but also in the God of the living.

“31 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, 32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not [the God] of the dead, but of the living.” (Matthew 22:31-32 ASV)

The one man who did all the time the will of his Father told the people about the hope they could have when he would be gone. If he would not be taken out of the dead, what reason would there be to believe what he said?

“39 And this is the will of him that sent me, that of all that which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that every one that beholdeth the Son, and believeth on him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:39-40 ASV)

“22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; then they that are Christ’s, at his coming.” (1 Corinthians 15:22-23 ASV)

We should know that a great quality is been given to the life of man that cannot be matched by any other soul.

“And in none other is there salvation: for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12 ASV)

“3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 and that he was buried; and that he hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures; 5 and that he appeared to Cephas; then to the twelve; 6 then he appeared to above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain until now, but some are fallen asleep; 7 then he appeared to James; then to all the apostles; 8 and last of all, as to the [child] untimely born, he appeared to me also.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8 ASV)

“20  But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of them that are asleep. 21 For since by man [came] death, by man [came] also the resurrection of the dead.” (1 Corinthians 15:20-21 ASV)

By Jesus Christ assurance given

Through Jesus Christ we now have the assurance that we may fall asleep (die), but there shall come a moment, after he returned, that we shall be taken out of the graves and shall come to see what it means to receive the gift of God which is eternal life.

“For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23 ASV)

“It was necessary therefore that the copies of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.” (Hebrews 9:23 ASV)

“And without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing [unto him]; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that seek after him.” (Hebrews 11:6 ASV)

In the resurrection of Christ Jesus our faith in him is of incredible value. Let us therefore recognise who that man was and is and follow his teachings and worship his Father, the Only One True God, Who gives life.

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Please find also to read:

1. God’s promises
2. Belief of the things that God has promised
3. Israel God’s people
4. Tu B’Shvat, the holiday of the trees
5. Passover and Liberation Theology
6. Commemorating the escape from slavery
7. Being sure of their deliverance
8. Deliverance and establishement of a theocracy
9. Do not be afraid. Good news because a Saviour has been born
10. Bringing Good News into the world
11. God’s salvation
12. Waiting for God’s Salvation
13. Ember and light the ransomed of Jehovah
14. Jesus Messiah
15. Jesus Christ, Jeshua, Messiah, Jahushua
16. Seeing Jesus
17. Jesus begotten Son of God #4 Promised Prophet and Saviour
18. Jesus begotten Son of God #10 Coming down spirit or flesh seed of Eve
19. Jesus begotten Son of God #5 Apsotle, High Priest and King
20. Jesus begotten Son of God #14 Beloved Preminent Son and Mediator originating in Mary
21. Jesus begotten Son of God #18 Believing in inhuman or human person
22. Anointing of Christ as Prophetic Rehearsal of the Burial rites
23. Day of remembrance coming near
24. 14 Nisan a day to remember #1 Inception
25. 14 Nisan a day to remember #2 Time of Jesus
26. 14 Nisan a day to remember #3 Before the Passover-feast
27. 14 Nisan a day to remember #4 A Lamb slain
28. 14 Nisan a day to remember #5 The Day to celebrate
29. 14-15 Nisan and Easter
30. Around the feast of Unleavened Bread
31. Shabbat Pesach service reading 1/2
32. The son of David and the first day of the feast of unleavened bread
33. A Jewish Theocracy
34. Observance of a day to Remember
35. Around the feast of Unleavened Bread
36. Observance of a day to Remember
37. Pesach and solidarity 
38. A Holy week in remembrance of the Blood of life
39. Seven days of Passover
40. On the first day for matzah
41. Servant for the truth of God
42. The Anointed One and the first day of No Fermentation
43. How is it that Christ pleased God so perfectly?
44. Wishing to do the will of God
45. For the Will of Him who is greater than Jesus
46. Self inflicted misery #3 A man given to suffer for us
47. The Seed Of The Woman Bruised
48. The redemption of man by Christ Jesus
49. Imprisonment and execution of Jesus Christ
50. Death of Christ on the day of preparation
51. A Messiah to die
52. Swedish theologian finds historical proof Jesus did not die on a cross
53. Impaled until death overtook him
54. Why 20 Nations Are Defending the Crucifix in Europe
55. Jesus three days in hell
56. Christ having glory
57. Salvation, trust and action in Jesus #3 as a Christian
58. Your Sins Are Forgiven
59. A Great Gift commemorated
60. High Holidays not only for Israel
61. Festival of Freedom and persecutions
62. After the Sabbath after Passover, the resurrection of Jesus Christ
63. Proclaiming shalom, bringing good news of good things, announcing salvation
64. Jesus is risen
65. Risen With Him
66. Easter: Origins in a pagan Christ
67. Eostre, Easter, White god, chocolate eggs, Easter bunnies and metaphorical resurrection
68. Peter Cottontail and a Bunny laying Eastereggs
69. Altered to fit a Trinity or Ishtar the fertility goddess
70. Who Celebrates Easter as Religious Holiday

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Other interesting articles:

1. Welcome to Easter 2014
2. Walk with Jesus: Matthew 27 He who overcame
3. Gethsemane
4. Yeshua thanks his father through prayer
5. Pesach
6. Good Friday or Passover?
7. What’s Good about Good Friday?
8. When Was Jesus Crucified?
9. Jesus Died
10. “Christ Is Our Passover Lamb” / The Message of the High Sabbath beginning the eve of March 25, 2013
11. Ransom for allom
12. Holy Trifecta: Good Friday, Passover, Resurrection Sunday
13. Thoughts About Easter
14. It Did Not End In the Grave
15. Tree of Jesus Life, the Risen Christ, (a)
16. On Easter and The Resurrection of Jesus
17. Easter Questions and Answers
18. What Happened on Easter?
19. The Truth About Easter
20. The Easter Story of the Resurrection
21. Jesus is alive, the tomb is empty.
22. The Empty Tomb
23. He is Risen! What Christians Believe About Easter, and Why
24. The Significance of the Resurrection – Jesus Arose Where He Died
25. The Glory of Easter Part 1 + The Glory of Easter Part 2
26. “The Resurrection”
27. The Resurrection of Jesus X 4
28. Even Resurrection Pauses For Sabbath Rest
29. The Power of His Resurrection
30. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
31. The Resurrection is Believable
32. He is not here, He is risen, just as He said
33. When Nothing Meant All
34. Pass Over Now
35. Does Christianity Have Pagan Roots? (Part 1) How Did “Easter” Originate? | god from the machine
36. Does Christianity Have Pagan Roots? (Part 2) The Pagan Myth Myth… No, I’m Not Stuttering

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Related articles

• Today is the beginning of the biblical new year (biblethingsinbibleways.wordpress.com)
  Happy New Year!!!! Biblically speaking of course.
  Even though January 1st is celebrated as the beginning of the year over the world, as Christians, we need to consider that the Biblical New Year is far more important to us, than a day that was picked by the Romans.
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  The month of Abib/Aviv does not coincide with a month in the standard western calendar in any way. This means that the 1st day of the Biblical Year could fall on any day in the season of March/April. The biblical calendar is not one which is set in paper, but which is set in the heavens. When our Creator made the Sun, Moon & Stars, He proclaimed “let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years”.
• Understanding Passover (wqad.com)
  Passover, also called Pesach, is the Jewish festival celebrating the exodus of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery in 1200s B.C.The word Passover comes from the idea that God passed over the houses of the Israelites, who had marked their doorposts to signify that they were children of God.
• Feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread (Deut 16:1-16:8) (efinne1540.wordpress.com)
  Abib is often called Nisan and usually refers to our April. Here the Passover is to be celebrated at ‘the place that Yahweh will choose as a dwelling for his name.’ It will not be in the towns that Yahweh is giving to them. The 7 day unleavened bread feast is called the ‘bread of affliction.’ No leftover meat may be eaten the next day. Sunset was the time of the meal because you left Egypt at sunset. There was to be a solemn assembly on the 7^th day with no work done.
• Chag Pesach Kasher v’Sameach : חַג כָשֵׁר וְשָׂמֵחַ (jewsdownunder.wordpress.com)
  The journey initiated during Pesach, that of a nation of slaves racing towards freedom, reaches its climax with the festival of Shavuot, without a rendezvous with God at Mt. Sinai. Here the Jews’ new-found freedom finds its purpose.The agricultural significance of Pesach is that it marks the start of the early harvest period in the land of Israel. The harvesting of the barley grain was marked by a special offering of the Omer commencing on the second day of Pesachand continuing for forty-nine days, concluding at Shavuot.
• Rosh Chodesh Nisan (glehrer.wordpress.com)
  We learned that Dayenu in hebrew means “enough” and when we sing the song Dayenu at the end of our seder it is because we are thanking God for our freedom, shabbat, the torah, and the miracles he performed to get us out of Egypt when we were slaves. The story taught us about getting ready for the seder, and just when you think you’ve done enough to prepare for Pesach, there is usually at least one more thing you can do to make your seder even more special.
• Nisan: The Month of Redemption; Adar: a leap year, i.e., to add an extra month, Such a year that has 13 (lunar) months is called a “pregnant year” (שנה מעוברת), indicating a state of being from which a new reality, specifically, the next month – the mont (guapotg.wordpress.com)
  In the Torah, the month of Nisan is referred to as “the month of spring.” From the verse, “Guard the month of spring and make Pesach for HaShem your G-d,” the sages learn of the mitzvah to make a leap year, i.e., to add an extra month (a second month of Adar) when necessary, to ensure that the holiday of Pesach always falls in the season of spring.
• Passover Guide for the Perplexed, 2014 (algemeiner.com)
  The Passover legacy constitutes the foundation of Judaism, and is therefore included in most Jewish blessings (“in memory of the Exodus”). Passover symbolizes the rejuvenation of nature and mankind, spiritually and physically, individually and collectively/nationally.  Passover stipulates that human rejuvenation – just like the rejuvenation of nature – must be driven by memory/history/roots.
• The Evolution Of Passover – Past To Present (jewishengagement.wordpress.com)
  The first Passover’s preparation and celebration is described in Exodus 12:1-28. In a nutshell, the Israelites were commanded to take an unblemished lamb, watch over it and then slaughter it on the 14^th day of Nisan marking the doorposts and lintels of their homes with its blood. They were instructed to roast it over a fire in its entirety and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They were to eat hurriedly with their clothes on, sandals on their feet and staff in their hands within the confines of their homes.
• Being Filled (mymorningmeditations.com)
  We celebrated Easter this year with our community of Christian and Jewish interfaith families. Our minister started off by pointing out that Easter is not in the Bible, and that our holiday traditions make reference to ancient goddesses, and the fertility rites of spring. She then gathered the children together and talked to them about the Buddhist metaphor of a cup of tea representing the comforting memories of life after the tea bag (or body) is gone. She’s not your typical minister.Next, our rabbi gave an adult sermon about the themes of intimacy, transcendence and unity in the story of the resurrection of Jesus. Somehow, the idea of life beyond death, of renewal and regeneration, seemed completely universal to me as he spoke. As a Jew, I do not feel I need to believe in a messiah or a personal savior in order to celebrate these Easter messages. Our rabbi spent his career at Georgetown, knows his gospels, and has been called a “closet Catholic” by Catholic friends. And yet, he’s an erudite, dedicated and deeply spiritual Jew. He’s not your typical rabbi.
• The April 15th Blood Moon Eclipse Coincides with The Exact Date & Hours of The Crucifixion (banoosh.com)
  When it mentions here that darkness covers the land, is that a reference to a Solar Eclipse that occurred at the exact hour of the Crucifixion?