THE PASSOVER 2023: WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW (AND AVOID)

Shalom family, Pesach (Passover) 2023 is almost upon us, and there’s something that needs to be voiced. It seems that many of you have questions about the meal, and the service; rightly so. The scriptures tell us to eat three things: lamb, unleavened bread and bitter herbs, that’s it. Yet, the predominant rendition of the Passover meal, is the seder plate, and service. Most are unaware, that this practice stems from pagan origins, as we will prove momentarily. Is this something we should be intermingling with this holy day that represents Messiah?

Let’s begin with the Word. Exodus 12 explains the contents of the Passover meal:

And they shall eat the flesh in that night (lamb), roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it

Exodus 12:8

This is the meal. Why then are many people eating a Passover meal consisting of eggs, charoset (mixture of fruit, nuts, and wine), and other foods not given to us in scripture?

Furthermore, why are the masses not eating the lamb? Don’t you think that’s a bit symbolic, considering Messiah is the lamb, and this feast is all about him? We’ll come back to that later. The truth is, YHWH hates when people celebrate him in man-made ways.

You hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, These people draw close to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men

Matthew 15:7-9

Do any of you want to worship him in vain?

The seder meal is a man-made tradition that you won’t find it anywhere in the Word. Though millions will be celebrating the Passover meal in the weeks to come, how many will be doing it His way? After all, this is all about him isn’t it?

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of YHWH, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts

Leviticus 23:2

Because the Passover meal is so unrecognizable compared to how Exodus 12-13 describe, is it still his feast anymore?

your appointed feasts my soul hates: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them

Isaiah 1:14

Many people are waking up, and recognizing the true blessing of celebrating the feast days our Heavenly Father instituted thousands of years ago. The problem is, many are leaning too heavily on Judaism for answers. If you’ve read the gospel accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John), then you know how often our Messiah rebuked the vain traditions the Jews were so accustomed to. Moreover, modern-day Judaism is nothing other than the Pharisaic practices, with 2,000 years of room for more additions.

This is not antisemitism, this is cleaning house. In fact, Messiah told us to beware of, and cut out their doctrine:

Then Yahusha said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees

Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees

Matthew 16:6,12

Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Messiah our Passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and Truth

1st Corinthians 5:7-8

Perhaps it’s time to follow the doctrine Messiah taught, echoed by Paul. Let’s remove the leaven (doctrine) from this feast day, as well as other areas of our worship towards YHWH!

Now, let’s go straight to the source (Jewish ‘rabbi’) and hear exactly where the seder came from.

There’s much more to cover, regarding how to keep The Passover with sincerity and Truth as Paul encouraged, and I’d like to point you to our most recent study on the topic:

THE TALMUD, THE LAMB & FINISHING UP

As we mentioned earlier, I find it highly symbolic that the Jewish tradition of Passover excludes eating of any actual lamb meat. You just stare at a bone all night. Some might say that the lamb can be only eaten in Jerusalem, or with a temple standing, however, that’s not what Messiah teaches. In fact, he foretold a time would come, where the place of worship/celebration would not matter.

We discuss this point much further in our full study that was just cited.

We will finish up with a few quotes from this ‘book of doctrine’.

Here’s a link to another practice that the Talmud promotes, that I don’t even want to show on screen.

So I ask, to those of you who want to serve our creator in Spirit and Truth, and in the light of Messiah, should we be leaning on the Jews for doctrine anymore? It’s time for a revolution for YHWH’s people, walking away from the traditions of men, and back to His Word.

Again, if you’d like a more in-depth study on how to celebrate Passover by the scriptures only, see the study below. We cover the: how, when, why, where and prophecy.

Further research on the Greek symposium
How the Greek symposium and the seder service relate
Wicked passages in the Talmud

Blessings and Shalom!