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Passover and Easter are very important events for Jews and Christians alike. There is much in common...more than is often realized.

Jews have a greeting "chag Pesach kasher vesame’ach" that simply means:
"I wish you a happy Passover".

This presentation is timeless. We present a wide range of topics for your consideration that look at that look at possible reasons for the Coroinavirus pandemic and at how Christians can cope.
We share an order of service of a typical a Jewish Passover and we reveal how God has a solution that in simple terms was a personal application of the blood...

We hope it provides good information and proves to be a blessing.

Core Scripture: Exodus 12:1-24

David Wilkerson who was the pastor of Times Square church of “The Cross and the switchblade” fame back in the ‘70’s that became a movie starring Pat Boone said something extraordinary way back in 1986 at the Embassy Suites near the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. He had written to Richard Dortch, who ran PTL under Jim Bakker. David said, “Within 12 months from the date of this letter, the judgment of God will fall on PTL. You are fornicating with brick and stone. Flee now and repent. Bats will fly through the empty building.”

It was exactly 12 months to the day that the Charlotte Observer broke the PTL scandal story. David Wilkerson also said something else. “I see a plague coming on the world, and the bars and churches and government will shut down. The plague will hit New York City and shake it like it has never been shaken. The plague is going to force prayerless Believers into radical prayer and into their Bibles, and repentance will be the cry from the man of God in the pulpit. And out of it will come a third Great Awakening that will sweep America and the world.”

For several years, I have been trying to talk about this very thing—about change and the need for an awakening!

In other messages I have shared touching on this pandemic, I presented a range of possible reasons for assessment purposes.
They vary from accidental release of the virus, to deliberate release as a biological weapon, to a result of God’s intervention, or to a simple answer—a “natural” viral outbreak.

The Lord keeps saying that we really do not yet know the truth about this.

Regardless of the cause, we have a global catastrophe that will affect everyone for a very long time. One thing that I must say is that the devil, by his very nature is having a field day, but as born again believers we do not have to accept that.

We do have an answer and I suggest that we can find it by looking at Passover. One thing that I want to ask you to consider is that just before God did something extraordinary—we had a Passover event. Immediately prior to what God did, it seemed that all hell broke loose. Just before the Exodus, the world system that is represented by Egypt experienced plagues—whilst Israel was preserved. When the world was in darkness, God’s people had light. We are the children of the light. We are the only ones who can reveal that light to those who are in the darkness, so I urge you to look upon this pandemic, not in fear and panic, but expecting God to do something wonderful.


My personal belief is that this will be unprecedented. It is NOT the “revival” people talk about, thinking of a return to things that once hapapened. 
We simply cannot go back to things of yesterday because yesterday is gone. Consider this as something great and wonderful that “just might” be like hitting a reset button and when we are out of this thing, church, as we know it may never be the same again.

Many churches, even big churches will be gone, but God’s people will be very much alive to Him and flourishing.

Passover celebrations this year (2020) starts at  sundown on April 8 and continues to nightfall on April 16 and, in the light of the present world crisis, we need assurance and some good news that may be found by understanding and experiencing it.

Most Christians generally do not properly understand this event and tend to overlook its fuller significance. For both Christian and Jew alike it is a symbol of new beginnings—a fresh start if you will and is held for a 7 day period in Israel and an 8 day period elsewhere.  For those of you who are interested in numbers, the number 7 speaks of spiritual perfection and 8 talks about a fresh new start to things. I think you would agree with me that we do need a new  beginning, but one that lacks the dramas, problems and uselesness we have been experiencing for generations.

Passover itself begins on the 15th day of the Jewish month of Nissan. It is the first of the three major festivals (the other two are Shavu’ot and Sukkot) that were introduced by God’s command.  Every festival has significance to Christians, so we really cannot afford to ignore them. The Passover story is found in Exodus 13:3-10.

Every year at Passover, Jews go through a rigorous series of preparations that start with chametz. This is the total removal of all bread products, and things that contain leaven. The food we eat today is nothing like the food eaten then and contains all kinds of ingredients that are detrimental to our health—preservatives, food colorings, chemicals and bad carbohydrates. There are good and bad carbs of course, but bad carbohydrates turn to sugars that turn to acids and are no good for us. We can fill ourselves up on certain foods and think we are OK, but we aren’t. God knew of such things ahead of time and introduced certain “laws” designed to protect us.

God has given us a two ways of dealing with sickness and we do need both as they embrace things in the natural realm as well as in the spirit dimension. We need good talented, efficient and dedicated medical people and who are aware of the right food and we need the healing ministry of Jesus.

In these troubled COVID-19 times, those little trivial things can mean the difference between life and death. Those “Laws” God introduced included matters of hygiene like washing our hands.  These Hebrew festivals are not just “spiritual” but very practical.

Jews who are serious about Passover go through a rigorous multi step process to rid themselves of chametz. For approximately eight days and eight hours — they avoid any and all contact with it. This sounds like the COVID-19 isolation of our present time. Preparations to make the home “kosher for Passover” begin days, even weeks, before the festival and they go to great lengths to find it and eradicate it.

I have shared this in summary form only because leaven in the bible speaks of sin. Although Jesus has dealt with the sin issue, we need to ensure that we do not lapse without becoming legalistic about it and I need not elaborate any more on that. We can lay claim to the promises like “By His stripes we are healed” in Isaiah 53:3-5; 1 Peter 2:24 and what is found in Deuteronomy 28:1-14, but still succumb for a wide range of reasons that I shall sum up in one word—obedience.

I am committed to the “healing ministry” and have witnessed the miracles of the bible at first hand many times. On the other hand, we tend to forget that God never changes and the passages in Deuteronomy 28:15 onwards are still valid.

I am very committed to the word of God and what we say, because the power of death and life is in our tongues. God told Joshua:

Be strong and courageous, for you are to let this people inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. “Only be strong and very courageous, to guard to do according to all the Torah which Mosheh My servant commanded you. Do not turn from it right or left, so that you act wisely wherever you go. “Do not let this Book of the Torah depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you guard to do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and act wisely. Joshua 1:6-8

That word meditate does not mean what is often portrayed, but is a powerful “action” word that means to ponder over it and to speak it out loud. One meaning describes it as being like a lion roaring over its prey.

Proverbs 4:20-27 gives us good advice in how to live. Notice the reference to healing. Also note the reference to living right!

My son, listen to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not depart from your eyes; Guard them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, And healing to all their flesh. Watch over your heart with all diligence, For out of it are the sources of life. Turn away from you a crooked mouth, And put perverse lips far from you. Let your eyes look forward, And your eyelids look straight before you. Consider the path of your feet, And all your ways are established. Do not turn to the right or the left; Turn your foot away from evil.

Saying what God says (as we see in Hebrews 10:23) can produce what God said it would produce. God created everything by saying something. We can also create our environment by our speech because He gave us that authority. Therefore when someone in your neighborhood test positive with this virus, the worst thing you can do is say something like, “I hope I don’t get it.”

Stop thinking like that, because uncontrolled thoughts can lead to fear and worry. Once those thoughts start racing riot, it is easy to voice them and once you have spoken them, you release a spiritual force that is like a seed that will produce a harvest after its own kind. Worry is fear and fear can attract the thing we fear most the way moths are attracted to a candle. Faith begets faith and fear begets fear, therefore when we are assailed by issues, such as this virus, recognize the symptoms and act wisely, but do not say a thing not condusive to stimulating faith. If necessary get tested and practice self isolation because the authorities instruct us to do so. We can’t be foolish about this. This is not unbelief. It’s smart. If we apply the practical, we have a solid footing to claim the spiritual.

The Jews isolated people with an ailment like leprosy to help prevent cross infection and this was done because God commanded it.

We are not bullet proof! Do not deny the symptoms, because they could be real. Still your spirit and control those thoughts and talk to God! Ask Him what to do! Ask Him to lead you to a scripture of His choosing and start speaking that! It is easy to start parroting off a verse another preacher uses, or one that you like because it sounds good. Get your own direct from the source.

Regardless of what might or might not happen—if we die, we go home and never get sick again, so either way we can’t lose.

There is more to it than we realize, but the Passover is our clue and it is a powerful blessing promise.

On the last night of their last era in servitude, they had to do one thing and one thing only that was to apply the blood of a lamb to their homes.

They went to sleep in the dawning of a new era. We can go to sleep one night and wake up the following morning in a totally new world. It is my contention that for those of us who have personally applied that blood, it will indeed be good.

The Old New

Jews had an “old life” that ceased to exist. It brought them into more than reaching the “Promised Land” it ushered in a totally new life.

When we come to Christ, the bible teaches us that our old life ceases and we also start a new one—a new way of life and lifestyle.

If anyone belongs to Christ, there is a new creation. The old things have gone; everything is made new! 2 Corinthians 5:17

When Israel departed Egypt (the old lifestyle) the Red Sea opened up ahead of them so that they could cross over to start that new life—but it also closed up behind them, indicating that  everything of the past was left behind. This included their sins and failures and the plagues that struck the land. It was God’s intention that they could never return or revert to their old ways and this is what the Gospel is about. When Jesus died, that old life died with him. When He was buried, so too was our old life. When He rose from the dead in triumph, we also rose with Him indicating that all the old life was gone and a new one emerged, just like a grub goes into its cocoon to emerge as a beautiful butterfly. This is the kind of thing Paul spoke of in Colossians 2:9-15.

The sacrifice of that Passover lamb was a once-only event. The sacrifice of Jesus was a once-only event. God has provided the means whereby we can remember both whilst looking forward to the new.

God commanded Jews to remember what He had done—to keep this ordinance in his season from year to year. It is similar to what Jesus told us in Luke 22:19 to partake of communion in an act of remembrance, not a sacrament. They do it once a year, but we can do this whenever we want. It may be old, but it is perpetually new.

After leaving Egypt behind, God instructed Moses to build the Tabernacle, establish the Priesthood and observe the Feasts of the Lord in their seasons, laying down prescribed ways of going about it. He told Moses to make sure everything was done in strict accordance to the pattern He had shown him. Jesus said that He would build His Church and it too must be built strictly according to the Divine pattern, but it seems that we have strayed away from that pattern. God has never deviated fom His plan and it is so that He can dwell with His people.

It is a progressively unfolding plan that in our present illustration, started at Passover. Worship was in a tent, then in the Temple and now the central core of our worship starts in our hearts. We are now the temples of the Holy Spirit. There is much more to this of course, but I hope I have revealed the principle. Let us now look more at the whole Passover event starting at Exodus chapter 2.

Verse 21 says that Moses was content to dwell in Midian. Stop here. Midian was Abraham’s son by Keturah. God had promised him a son by Sarah and that their children would be heirs of the promise. No mention was ever made about any other offspring!

We know about Hagar and Ishmael, but rarely think of Midian. The Hebrew meaning of the name is strife!

This further illustrates that when we try to help God, try to force issues, or do things that He never authorized (including ministry, or building a church) we can run into all kinds of problems. whilst there are some good connotations, some of those problems include compromise, pleasing yourself, making alliances with people we should never meet and so on.  The Hebrew word is yaʾal and it indicates that Moses was at risk of missing God’s call and was contented with his lot. He accepted an invitation to settle down and marry Zipporah. When they had a son, Moses named him Gershom that means foreigner. He admitted that he had been a stranger in a strange land when he named his son! He knew that he was not in the right place!

How many of us are like that? How many of us are avoiding God’s call on our lives and making feeble excuses? How many of us are doing things that God never asked us to do? This story has tremendous implications that we may not think of. Perhaps what I said about Moses is why God had to intervene and appear in the burning bush. Let’s see what happened.

After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The people of Israel groaned, because they were forced to work very hard. When they cried for help, God heard them. God heard their cries, and he remembered the agreement he had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He saw the troubles of the people of Israel, and he was concerned about them. Exodus 2:23-25

This indicates a change in season. We need to remember that there are seasons in God. It is hard at times, because we do not like waiting and want things to happen our own way and immediately, especially if we have a “promise from God”. I think it was approximately 350 years after Genesis when this happened. God does not forget, but the bible describes it as if He had and suddenly remembered. He had already told Abraham what would happen and it did, but it seemed to us that God had “forgotten” and someone had to jog His memory. It really is not like that. What we need to do is to start thinking on His wavelength and when we do, things fall into place.

Think of it as if God turned the page on His calendar to the place where He had marked, “Today is the day I will start putting this plan into effect”. If we think like that, it can make it easy to handle things better.

The angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a flame of fire—out of the midst of a bush. It got Moses’ attention! God was watching and waiting! This is very important. God did nothing until Moses responded (see verses 3 & 4). Perhaps God has been waching and waiting for us today? When Moses asked God who He was, the reply was:

God said to Moshe, “Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh [I am/will be what I am/will be],” and added, “Here is what to say to the people of Isra’el: ‘Ehyeh [I Am or I Will Be] has sent me to you.’ ” God said further to Moshe, “Say this to the people of Isra’el: ‘Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh [Adonai], the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz’chak and the God of Ya‘akov, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered generation after generation. Exodus 3:14-15

God’s covenant names never change, because He does not change and He is to be remembered like that for generation after generation. I do not see any expiry date there, so wonder if this also applies to us today. Jesus came to us not to do away with The Law but to fulfill it and because we believe in His deity, we need to honor Him like that. The difference now is that He has made it “personal” to us. Although I have had many wonderful encounters and experiences with God and advocate cultivation of a deep personal and intimate relationship with “daddy”, there have been a few times when the meeting has been too awesome to handle and I dared not look up in case I saw something or found it impossible to describe! His name is His name forever...

Moses tried to make feeble excuses that God ignored, because when God calls someone He equips that person.

I’ve heard people say that Moses stuttered, because of his excuse in Exodus 4:10. He said that he was slow of speech, but that word can mean heavy and hardened. The man had been a shepherd in the wilderness prior to that. Imagine working with unsaved people for years and listening to their bad language and their unbelief! That stuff can rub off. We can become like the company we keep.

I’m not surprised with his excuse. Christians should not swear! It is not Godly.

When Moses and Aaron came to the king, he ignored them. They had “no clout” and he knew nothing about God, His ways or what He can do and refused to comply. I am becoming more convinced that if we really want to “win the lost” we have to show them more than we have, illustrating the reality of God and that there is good reason to want to know Him. This virus can be a good vehicle to reveal God’s hand, by providing real help in a time of need—supernatural help like protection and healing, or better yet—immunity.

He had switched off to religion, with his courts full of false gods and magicians, all his needs met and saw no need for any god and this is what we are really facing today. Something had to happen to get his attention and I am not saying we have to get freaky or do something silly. We must be different. It is one thing to say that we are building bridges to reach the lost, but are we, or are we becoming like them and no different? It is that difference that turned everything around in the early church.

The Prayer of Faith

Those plagues came just as Moses said they would, because he had been authorized by God to do so. I am saying this in an effort to show you how to pray the prayer of faith and make your faith declarations—that work. They will work when God gives us the specific word to speak and not something we like because pastor so-and-so says it. There must be that personal connection between God and the individual. It is not a simple matter of declaring a thing and binding enemy activity. We must have a basis, or a foundation to do this—and qualify to be able to do so.
I used to stand on faith and make all kinds of declarations and had partial success and wondered why it “worked” sometimes and “did not work” on other occasions. I am a faith preacher and needed to know why—to know how to pray like Jesus who always had His prayers answered (See John 11:41-42).

My mentor in the early days was Kenneth Hagin who majored on Mark 11:23-24 where we see that we can speak to a mountain and see it gone and we could liken this present crisis to a mountain or to a Goliath rearing his ugly head against us. David slew him, but we forget that Goliath had 4 brothers and an armor bearer to also contend with, so if we speak to this “Goliath” only, we might not get the results we desire! There is much more to praying and binding and speaking to a mountain. Jesus stated we can ask the Father anything in Jesus’ name and He will give it to us (John 15:16). In 1 John 5:14-15 we see that we can confidently pray and that our prayers would be answered but this does not mean that we can expect God to answer us if our prayers are out of line with His will. John qualified it by saying “according to God’s will” and that chapter revolves around the witness of God, of love, of keeping God’s commandments and of believing that Jesus is the Anointed One.

In my searching, the Lord led me to Job. We know of his dramas, but they were in essence self-inflicted. He said that the thing he feared most came upon him, so if this is a spiritual principle, which I believe it is, fear can help spread this virus. I am leading to something. Let us look at the passage the Lord led me to many years ago.

“You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you... Job 22:28.

Wow! What a promise. But wait... that’s not all of it. What preceded that is this:

“Yield now and be at peace with Him; Thereby good will come to you. “Please receive instruction from His mouth And establish His words in your heart. “If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored; If you remove unrighteousness far from your tent, And place your gold in the dust, And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks, Then the Almighty will be your gold And choice silver to you. “For then you will delight in the Almighty And lift up your face to God. “You will pray to Him, and He will hear you; And you will pay your vows.

Getting answers to prayer appears to be conditional. It does not depend on how much, how long, how we say it or on any religious observance but on our heart attitude, motivation—and obedience. That passage of Job continues:

“You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you; And light will shine on your ways. “When you are cast down, you will speak with confidence, And the humble person He will save. “He will deliver one who is not innocent, And he will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”

Declarations are not to be made for selfish purposes. They have to line up with God’s intention of bringing everyone into relationship.

Job was “perfect and upright, and one that feared God and eschewed evil” (Job1:1), so what happened?

In simplistic terms, he stepped out from under God’s umbrella of protection and this is what we must avoid doing. No one is exempt.

God did not promise total automatic immunity and that sickness would never come, but He did promise that when things happen, He would ensure we come out the other side. Sickness is real and it is here. The only time we shall be totally immune from any sickness will be when we leave this life and experience change—the change that happens when this mortality puts on immortality when we go to be with the Lord.

When other prophets and leaders were telling the people everything would be OK, God told Jeremiah the truth. He instructed him to tell the people to build houses, plant gardens and eat the fruit, marry and raise families—in Babylon when they were taken captive.

His instruction was to pray for their enemies, because when things went well for their captors, it would go well with them! He never asked them to pray for deliverance. Praying against the enemy in this instance was praying against God’s will! The good part followed. When that season had run its course, God promised a good outcome.

Prophets like them abound today, saying all kinds of “nice things” to us, but God gave Jeremiah a totally different message. He called them “false”, whilst one man dared be different. This is why we need to test the spirits and weigh up what anyone tells us today, no matter who they are.

‘For they are prophesying falsely to you in My Name. I have not sent them,’ declares יהוה. “For thus said יהוה, ‘When seventy years are completed, at Baḇel I shall visit you and establish My good word toward you, to bring you back to this place. ‘For I know the plans I am planning for you,’ declares יהוה, ‘plans of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and an expectancy. ‘Then you shall call on Me, and shall come and pray to Me, and I shall listen to you. ‘And you shall seek Me, and shall find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. ‘And I shall be found by you,’ declares יהוה, ‘and I shall turn back your captivity, and shall gather you from all the gentiles and from all the places where I have driven you, declares יהוה. And I shall bring you back to the place from which I have exiled you.’ Jeremiah 29:9-14

If and I say this again—If we pray against this virus, or make decrees and faith confessions unwisely, we might be sorely disappointed, If God is permitting it to happen. I am only suggesting this as one possible reason and not being categorical about it, but what if God is somehow, allowing this to happen? If so, then we could be praying with the best of intentions but praying amiss and contrary to His will. Consider what God said in Exodus 15:26, that is one of our core scriptures we quote concerning healing.

So Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When Moses threw the tree into the water, the water became good to drink. There the Lord gave the people a rule and a law to live by, and there he tested their loyalty to him. He said, “You must obey the Lord your God and do what he says is right. If you obey all his commands and keep his rules, I will not bring on you any of the sicknesses I brought on the Egyptians. I am the Lord who heals you.”

Did God “send” those plagues to Egypt? The Hebrew word suggests thay He did, but we say that God is a good God and never does things like that! Really? One meaning is very interesting as it relates to change. There is that change thing again! If God is indeed permitting this virus to hit, we should not be religiously rash or quick to pray against it, but determine the reason/s. Certainly, I pray for healing, but prefer to pray that there will not be any need to need to be healed. In other words, prevention is better than cure.

Many pastors are now starting to think that this might be a wake up call to the church and this is something I have been saying for years.

Perhaps, as a prelude to change, we might be witnessing something akin to the events leading up to the Exodus. This is a thought, mind you. Perhaps all this is a prelude to a blessing—a change—a new era for the church. Jesus said that He would build His Church and stated that the gates of hell would not have a leg to stand on. This was a literal, physical place that was regarded as the doorway to the underworld, or the gates of hell where goats were sacrificed to the false god pan. If you look carefully at what is happening now, we are facing a global PANdemic, where PANic, and PANdemonium is running wild. Jesus has not yet returned, so He is still in the process of building His Church and the implication is that it is right under the devil’s nose and, despite all of his efforts, nothing can stop it.

His Church, from the biblical description, is far from what we see today,  but one thing for sure, we will make it.

There have been several “Passovers” when supernatural intervention occurred. I still have to finish the reference to Moses, but consider what happened to Joshua. They had wandered in the wilderness for 40 years because ten spies gave a bad report. They died out and only two were present when Israel finally “passed over” again into the Promised Land and the River Jordan opened up for them.

On the very day they crossed over—the manna ceased. The old gave way to the new. This seems to be a pattern that God employs. Nature reveals this in some way when we have the changes in seasons. In Winter time, many plants have no signs of life whatsoever. They look like dead sticks, but when Spring arrives, new life comes forth and in Summer the fruit is ready for eating. This is what the bible reveals. First the natural and then the spiritual.

In Joshua 6 we once again see a prescribed pattern to follow. Joshua was contemplating their next course of action before entering Jericho, when the captain of the Lord’s host appeared and told him that he was taking over.

There are patterns to be followed in the things of God and if we have strayed or deviated from them (which I believe we have done in the church) supernatural intervention is needed and is very likely. If the Church is about to be “raptured” we should not be surprised or alarmed at what happens as a prelude. I have taken you on a circuitous path perhaps to lead to this—Passover.

The Plagues

All those plagues struck a blow at the false gods of Egypt and the chief god was Ra. His supposed power and the ensuing well-being of Egypt itself was linked with the symbolism of light and darkness. When the plague of darkness struck Egypt, it was like a direct attack on the Egyptian gods as well as on Egypt. We know that God is light and we know that He spoke light into existence into creation to sever the dark, pain, destruction and misery, just like the PAN items I previously listed. It illustrated that God is sovereign over light, darkness, life and death. Whilst the Egyptians were in darkness so intense it could be felt, God’s people were in light.

We are as I have said before, the children of the light and if our light is not seen, the darkness of the world is intense. We do not need to “prove it” or “manufacture it” if it is genuine. That light comes from within by an automatic process, because the Source of light lives within us. The Israelites did nothing and could not do anything to make that light shine—God did it.

This is a lesson the church needs to learn. Every one of those plagues affected the world system as it was then. Is it remotely possible that the plagues of our day can be striking at the world system?

The last plague was the one that changed it all.

The firstborn of all living creatures died—cattle, horses, sheep and people. Every living person was under that curse—everyone. Egyptians, priests, magicians and Hebrews alike would all suffer the same fate.

God’s remedy was to apply the blood and to do that something had to die.

Again, we see that God has a specific way to do things—a pattern to follow as we shall see.

And יהוה spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon in the land of Mitsrayim, saying, “This month is the beginning of months for you, it is the first month of the year for you. “Speak to all the congregation of Yisra’ěl, saying, ‘On the tenth day of this month each one of them is to take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. ‘And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next to his house take it according to the number of the beings, according to each man’s need you make your count for the lamb. ‘Let the lamb be a perfect one, a year old male.
Take it from the sheep or from the goats. ‘And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then all the assembly of the congregation of Yisra’ěl shall kill it between the evenings. ‘And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. ‘And they shall eat the flesh on that night, roasted in fire—with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. ‘Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire, its head with its legs and its inward parts. ‘And do not leave of it until morning, and what remains of it until morning you are to burn with fire. ‘And this is how you eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Passover of יהוה.

Ther are several points to consider:

  • Firstly it is the Lord’s Passover—not ours, not our church, synagogue or ministry
  • It was to be a specific month—this month and it became the beginning of months
  • All of the congregation was to be involved, doing the same thing at the same time in the same way. We really do not see this in the church today with different denominations, denominational groups and different local churches doing their own thing.
    It is a total breakaway from the Lord’s pattern of His Church
  • It was to be individual and so personal—each house, or each house with a neighbour on either side of that house
  • There was a prescribed way to eat it. Every individual house had to eat the same way and totally consume it. If there were any remains, they had to be burned. When I asked the Lord why, He quickly said to prevent contamination. It took me by surprise. Even here in the middle of a major “spiritual” exercise, God made provision in the natural to avoid spread of disease. After all, it was an animal, with innards, a head and other items that had to be properly disposed of. I need not explain further.

I left something of vital importance to last. Each household had to choose a lamb for itself. No one else could do that. Each household has to ensure that the lamb was flawless and in the prime of its life. Each household had to keep it for four days.

Let us consider the numerical values involved.

Number 1:
From that night on, this was the first day of a new year—a new beginning. The number 1 speaks of unity and of one God

Number 10:
The lamb was selected on the 10th day. Ten is a perfect number and represents perfection of Divine order

Number 14:
This is a compound number, being comprised of 2 X 7. The number 2 describes separation and the number 7 represents spiritual perfection. The number 14 thus describes a dividing of two things, the old and the new and is a double measure of that  perfection.

Number 4:
The lamb had to be kept for 4 days and observed closely for flaws and imperfections.
There are four seasons’; four elements in nature of fire, air, water and land; 4 phases of the moon; 4 divisions of a day being morning, noon, evening and midnight; 4 points of the compass (North, South, East and West); physical creation was  completed on the 4th day and a separation occurred when one river in paradise was separated into 4 rivers, one of which is the Euphrates. There are 4 cherubim. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, he had been dead for 4 days. There are many other illustrations seen in scripture concerning this number, but the most significant one on this occasions is that the number 4 speaks of God’s creative works. He was about to create something new.

It is becoming more and more evident as we dig deep into the word of God that He works to precise patterns, which is why I often say that we cannot deviate from any of those patterns and keep going as we have been. Something has to give and it is not God.

Every household had to select that lamb, keep it, feed it, nurture it and observe it for 4 days in the privacy of their own home.

The church of the living God starts in the privacy of our individual homes where we must as individuals feed, nurture it and protect it.

No church, regardless of size, denomination, programs, worship service or excellent preaching, all of which I like, can do that.

Because of this virus and the restrictions on public meetings, we are being forced, so to speak, to return to this pattern. Pastors can stream great on line services, but individuals might not be able to fellowship with each other as we should, but once the TV or the computer is  switched off, every individual is on his or her own.

Passover therefore has much more significance than merely holding memorial services once per year. It really is a complete way of life.

Passover

A Jewish Passover or Pesach typically takes on standard formats, but is essentially a feast that is called a Seder.

The order of service is as follows:

Kaddesh:
Sanctification. It means holy. A cup of wine is drunk and a second cup poured

Urechatz:
Washing. This is a washing of the hands without a blessing, in preparation for eating the Karpas
Interestingly, washing the hands is a health precaution strongly advocated more than before as a result of this virus

Karpas:
egetable. A vegetable (usually parsley) is dipped in salt water and eaten. It reminds Jews of their tears during slavery When the parsley is shaken, the salt water looks like tears

Yachatz:
Breaking. One of the three matzahs (bread) on the table is broken. Part is returned to the pile, the other part is set aside for the afikomen. It is this bread that Jesus broke in the Last Supper

Maggid:
The Story.  The youngest person present asks 4 questions known as Mah Nishtanah so that the story of the first Passover and the Exodus is told. The first question is “Why is this night so different?”At the end of the maggid, a blessing is recited over the second cup of wine and it is drunk.

Rachtzah:
Washing. A second washing of the hands, this time with a blessing, is done in preparation for eating the matzah.
Again, it is more than a ceremonial action but a practical one. Washing of hands is urged by all authorities because of the virus

Motzi Matzah:
Blessings are pronounced over the Matzah and a piece is eaten. See the note and images below

Maror:
Bitter Herbs. A blessing is recited over a bitter vegetable (usually raw horseradish; sometimes romaine lettuce), and it is eaten. This symbolizes the bitterness of slavery. The maror is eaten with charoses, a mixture of apples, nuts, cinnamon and wine, which symbolizes the mortar used by the Jews in building during their slavery

Shulchan Orech:
Dinner. A festive meal is eaten. There is no particular requirement regarding what to eat at this meal.
The only specific requirement is that chametz cannot be eaten. Each time I have attended Passover meal, lamb has been served
The piece of matzah set aside earlier is eaten as “dessert,” the last food of the meal.

Barech:
Grace after Meals. The third cup of wine is poured, and grace after meals is recited. This is similar to the grace that would be said on any Sabbath. At the end, a blessing is said over the third cup and it is drunk. The fourth cup is poured, including a cup set aside for the prophet Elijah, who is supposed to herald the Messiah, and is supposed to come on Passover to do this.
The door is opened for a while at this point to welcome his arrival, thinking of the coming of Messiah. It also supposedly reveals that Jews were not doing things unseemly or furtively. Historically, Jews were accused supposedly of putting the blood of Christian babies in matzah.

Hallel:
Praises. Several psalms are recited. A blessing is recited over the last cup of wine and it is drunk.

Nirtzah:
Closing. A simple statement that the seder has been completed. Often times words like Next year...Jerusalem are said.

There is a custom that can differ between families and the term used is the afikomen.
The general idea is that children hide a large piece of broken Matzah and the parents have to either find it or ransom it back. The meaning of Redemption is extremely important to us.
The Matzah is specially prepared and is like a cracker biscuit. If you look at the sample shown, a series of stripes and holes is found. Apparently the patterns should be identical everywhere. I have been told that when a piece is broken, it has a similar sound to that made when a whip hits someone’s body and when I have attended a Jewish Passover in a synagogue, the sound made is... “strange”.

The numerical analysis of these holes and stripes equate exactly to the stripes and holes made on Jesus, “By His stripes we are healed”. These things cannot be mere coincidence!

Boiled eggs (Beitzah ) are often consumed. It symbolizes the festival sacrifice that was offered in the Temple in Jerusalem and then eaten as part of the meal on Seder night. As you know, an egg could speak of a new life that is hidden inside but the outer shell must be broken to reveal it.

The lamb bone is not broken. Interestingly, not one of Jesus’ bones was broken

Inspecting the lamb

Matzos

A typical Passover meal (right)

Conclusion

I know that this message is long, but I wanted to cover a lot of territory to lead to this. We celebrate Easter, looking back to Calvary to remember what Jesus did for us. It included receiving that cruel scourging to provide healing for us. That is all over and we now look forward to the time He will return, that I believe is not far off now.

Jews remember the events preceding the Exodus that included protection from death on that first Passover. They also look forward to something new when they say at the conclusion of the Passover meal, L’Shana Haba’ah B’Yerushalayim (next year, Jerusalem).

After they crossed over into their new life, the first promise that God made was in Exodus 15:26, stating that He is רָפָא (rāpāʾ).

It appears more than 60 times in the Old Testament, so it indicates that God is serious about this. It embraces emotional, spiritual and physical healing. There are derivatives of this word, namely רְפֻאָה (rĕpūʾâ) remedy,רִפְאוּת (ripʾût) healing and מַרְפֵּא (marpēʾ) healing and health. God does not have the answer to this pandemic—He is the answer.

Whether it is God who causes disease or not, there are some that cannot be healed without divine intervention.

No natural remedy could be found anywhere in Egypt, but God’s remedy was simple.

It was not a pill or a vaccine. His medication was blood.

This is why I have said that we should pause and think carefully before praying and ask simple questions as to the real reason for this pandemic. When we know how and what to pray about, then we can confidently “claim those healing promises”.

A pastor in India contacted me asking about our welfare and I thank him for this. He said and I quote:

“I strongly believe that God has given us an opportunity to seek His face and to re-dedicate our lives afresh.”

There is an increasing number of people starting to ask such questions and it is up to us, or perhans some of us to provide answers.

I called my ministry Bashan Ministries at the Lord’s bidding, left the denomination to which I once belonged and was studying for my doctorate totally cut off and isolated from the church life I loved. It was a difficult time in some ways and was a very lonely time, but in that 5 year solitude The Lord got me to look at myself, at the church, at ministry as such and at the way things were going—but this time without looking through “church eyes” and the programming we are all subjected to.

One evening He came into the room and asked me to study the life and ministry of John the Baptist and from that encounter, I adopted the ministry motto of “Preparing the way”. He told me that I was like a modern day John the Baptist and I have to say this carefully to avoid misunderstanding. I am not alone in this. There are others...
The reason I share this is to illustrate that John introduced change. He paved the way for Jesus’ appearing.

If... we are living in the last of the last days as I believe we are, then the Lord’s return is imminent.

If so, then it is likely that a forerunner ministry will emerge as John did to tell God’s people—not the heathen—God’s people to get ready for it.

Perhaps we are coming into a time when a shaking is occurring; a sorting out of the real from the pretend; separation of sheep from sheep, then sheep from goats and a gathering of the wheat and chaff together for the sifting spoken of in scripture.

Time will tell.

My friends, in these troubled times, my recommendation is to do what he said, to apply that passover blood—and stay under it.
If necessary, break the mould. Start asking questions. Stop readily accepting everything you are being told and start asking God for

understanding and for the course of action He tells you to adopt. Apply it. Pray for your leaders, because they need help and because we are commanded in scripture to do so, regardless of politics.

Do all that you can in the natural, including eating right and applying good hygiene and as you do what that pastor said, to remember our Passover. That’s why this night is so special. Tomorrow... is another day.

In closing—L’Shana Haba’ah B’Yerushalayim (next year, Jerusalem).

Robert


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