Why is this time so special? (Part 1)

Around this time of the year, the worldwide Body of Christ recognizes a very significant historical event—the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Most of us know it as “Easter,” but the biblical name for it is “The Lord’s Passover.” This particular feast began as a time to commemorate the deliverance and exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt. The first Passover is described in Exodus 12. One lamb was slain for every Israelite household, and the blood was painted onto their doorframes. The motion they used when applying the blood to the doorframes replicated the Hebrew letter meaning “life.” This was done so the Lord would not kill the firstborn son of the Jewish households, but only those of Pharaoh and his people. Exodus 12:13b says, “…And when I see the blood, I will pass over you…” Prior to their departure from Egypt, they were to quickly eat the lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

While studying covenant, I discovered there couldn’t be a covenant without the shedding of blood. Therefore, what makes the Lord’s Passover so important is the blood of the Lamb of God! You may be wondering if Passover and Easter are the same? No, they are not. Church history explains that when the Emperor Constantine tried to merge Christianity with Paganism, it sounded great to followers of

Jesus because he was legalizing Christianity. This meant one could go to church without fear of being thrown to the lions. Constantine didn’t mind Christians celebrating Jesus’ resurrection, but he did mind them observing the Passover. He demanded that Christians not celebrate Jesus’ resurrection at the time of the Passover. He outlawed this feast and declared Christ’s death and resurrection to be celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon, after the vernal equinox. This is the spring festival of the pagan fertility goddess, Ishtar, also known as Eastre. Most of the church still observes Jesus’ resurrection at Easter, instead of Passover. Those who celebrated the Passover were brutally murdered. Satan has tried to stop its celebration, because it is centred on the blood of the Lamb of God, and he knows the blood has power and covers all sin.

During my treasure hunt, it was astounding to discover that the timetable of the Passover and the timetable of Jesus’ crucifixion were exactly the same. According to the Torah (first five books of the Bible), during the Passover, a number of events had to take place in a specific order and at specific times:

1. The Passover Lamb had to be selected on a specific day. God instructed the Israelites to choose the Passover lamb on the tenth day of the first month, which in the Jewish calendar is in the spring. At the time of Jesus, only lambs born and raised in Bethlehem were considered eligible to serve as Passover lambs. After their birth they were wrapped in a cloth. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem the sign the angels told the shepherds to look for was a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. Why would this be the sign to the shepherds? Because for Jews swaddling cloths were only used to wrap a dead body. It was the custom for travellers to take a swaddling cloth or strips of cloth on their journey, so if they died on the way, whoever found them could easily wrap the body in the cloth, and then bury them. Joseph and Mary most likely travelled to Bethlehem with such a cloth. Without them realizing it, and probably having nothing else soft, or suitable to wrap newly born Jesus, they used the swaddling cloth. So right at birth, Jesus was set apart for death. The priest would select a lamb from Bethlehem that would be without blemish and four days before the Passover he would bring it through the Eastern Gate of the city of Jerusalem, where the temple was located. The people knew to gather at the Eastern Gate to see which lamb he had selected. When it was Jesus’ time to die as the Passover Lamb, what gate did He come through riding on a donkey?The Eastern Gate, where the people had already assembled. Palm branches were waved and the people received Him as their Messiah. Prophetically, they were choosing Him as their Passover Lamb.

There are more treasures that I will share in the next blog.

(Taken from “The Treasure Within” book written by Kathy Gooch)

Life out of devastation

The mountain behind where I live on fire

It’s one thing to see a wildfire on television but it’s quite another to witness it sweep across the mountainside right above you. I live below one of the beautiful Table Mountain ranges in Cape Town. They have always wowed and impressed me like nothing else I have seen in all my travels. There is something to be said about their prominence, majesty, magnificence, beauty, strength and even mystery especially when you’re hiking them and think you’ve reached the top, only to discover there is another top! While their awesomeness seems to command my respect, at the same time they invite me to get up close and personal. And wrap me in their arms once I do. The sun is always brighter at the top and the sky bluer and the air fresher and the sounds clearer. There is no end to what one can discover on those mountains. They constantly challenge you to go up higher and not miss out on what could be just around the corner. Clothed from top to bottom with flora (or fynbos as its called here) and teeming with fauna; they are a picture of vitality.

Not once in all the years I have looked upon or walked upon these mountains would I have used the word vulnerable to describe them. But after witnessing the raging fires, that over five days devastated 5000 hectares of vegetation, I would add the word vulnerable to my description of them. Yes, the mountain itself is still standing but what decorated it has been stripped away. It’s naked, exposed. No longer a hiker or photographer’s paradise.

My mountain on fire

At this point it may be helpful for us to know the definition of vulnerable – able to be wounded. It is basically placing yourself, for the sake of the larger purpose, in a situation that could bring pain. For me the fires and how they have affected these mountains have been such a picture of the nature and character of God. Here He is prominent, majestic, magnificent, and mysterious and we could add to these hundreds of words; yet He has allowed Himself to be vulnerable. Much like these mountains succumbing to the whims of humankind who carelessly light fires during dry summers, God voluntarily places Himself in a situation that could possibly bring Him pain. It isn’t that He doesn’t foresee the implications of our carelessness, but because He has given us freedom of choice, He subjects Himself to our choices. Philip Yancey, one of my favourite Christian authors writes in his book, Reaching for the Invisible God, “I marvel at a God who puts Himself at our mercy, as it were, allowing Himself to be quenched and grieved, and even forgotten.” For me, the amazingness (if there is such a word) of God is that He goes through quenching and grieving while continuing to have His arms opened wide anticipating our turning back to Him. Not only that, but once we do, He turns all the heartache, pain, and damage we’ve done and redeems it.

My friend who works for Table Mountain National Parks sent me an article that helped to alleviate my distress at the effects of the fire. The botanist who wrote the article says that the fynbos vegetation that clothes our mountains is both fire prone and fire dependent. In order for the plants in the fynbos to be able to regenerate or reproduce it needs to be subjected to fire (usually controlled fires) every 10-14 years. The article says that these plants either resprout after a fire or they produce seeds that are adapted to survive fire and require heat and chemical compounds from the smoke to germinate. Some plants would have spread their seed within hours after the fire passed. So this magnificent mountain, in time, will be clothed even more brilliantly than before.

I don’t believe that the choices we make in any way diminish who God is. He remains the same yesterday, today and forever. But I do stand amazed that despite what we do to Him, He chooses to bring life out of devastation. 

Before fire

After fire

        

Before fire

After fire