Two Little Pesach Puzzles

Yesterday, while working at the pie shop, I had on the beautiful Star of David I bought in Old City Jerusalem last month.  I wear it often.  A customer asked if I was Jewish.  I replied that I am a Hebrew in spirit, that I am an adopted, grafted-in Hebrew.  The customer, a nice young man, is Jewish.  We both wished each other a blessed Passover and (him to me) Easter.

I dearly love the Jewish people and long to see them come to know Jesus.  I know this will happen as God continues to unfold human history.  How I would love to be able to be a greater part of seeing Him work this marvelous work!

This morning, I want to show you two mysterious particulars from the Passover (Pesach, in Hebrew) feast, which are simply extraordinary.  In the last post, I referenced a Passover Haggadah for Christians.  The Haggadah is merely a Jewish word for "script" or "text", literally "the telling".  It is the procedure and the verbiage which guide the Passover feast.  Non-messianic Jews reject the Christian views of Passover, that is, our applications of it to the life and work of Jesus Christ.  Note the following puzzles, however.

1.  The Zeroa
Passover seders (the traditional meal which marks the first night of Passover) have changed over the centuries.  If you recall from the first Passover, the most spotless, blemish-free lamb was to be killed (Exodus 12) in the doorway of the family home, and its blood spread, not only over the threshold (which would be inevitable), but also on the sides of the doorway and across the top, the lintel, making an endless, continuous circuit of blood.  The roasted lamb was then eaten as part of the Passover meal.
As the centuries rolled on, some changes have been made.  For example, if you were to attend a Seder today, only the roasted shank bone of a lamb would be featured.  The shank is called the zeroa.  We see this word in Isaiah 53, a chapter of the Old Testament that is no longer part of the Jewish cycle of readings in synagogue.  (Isn't that curious...) Christians can easily see that Jesus has fulfilled Isaiah 53 through His life, death, burial and resurrection.  Here is zeroa in that chapter:

1Who has believed what he has heard from us?^a
And to whom has the arm {zeroa} of the LORD been revealed?

John the Baptist most certainly recognized Jesus as The Lamb of God, and called Him such as Jesus walked up while he (John) was baptizing in the Jordan.  John 1:29 (ESV) - - -

Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

2. The Afikomen
Again, this ceremony was not part of the original Passover feasts, though unleavened bread most certainly was.  This feature of a Passover celebration did not come into practice until, many believe, shortly before Jesus' time.  But, the truth is that God mysteriously inserted the practice, and no one is sure exactly when.  The word "afikomen" is a Greek word which means "the coming one" or "that which comes after"; in Hebrew it is "habba".
In today's Passover seders, unleavened bread called matzo figures prominently from beginning to end.
First of all, three pieces of matzo are used, in addition to the matzo provided for each participant.  The three pieces are wrapped in white linen, placed into a MatzahTash ("unity bag") and given to the leader of the seder, usually the father.  Before the meal begins, the leader takes the middle piece, the second piece, of matzo and breaks it in half, a ceremony called "yachatz" (to break).  Part of this piece (the afikomen) is hidden somewhere in the home.  Later in the seder, the children are asked to go search for the afikomen; the meal may not continue until it is found and returned to the father.  The afikomen is then consumed by the participants in the meal as the final morsel.
It used to be, in Jesus' day, that the passover lamb was the final morsel eaten at the feast on Nisan/Aviv 15, IF AND ONLY IF the meal was being eaten in Jerusalem.  Passover meals eaten outside Jerusalem featured the afikomen as "the last bite".  As previously stated, today, only a lamb shank is on the Passover table, and the final bite consumed is the afikomen.

In examining the symbolism here, from a Christian perspective, let's start with how Jesus made application of unleavened bread to Himself.  The account is recorded in all four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).
The setting is a meal which occurred, I believe, at the conclusion of the Day of Preparation.  (My next few posts will detail a chronology for the 10 days leading up to Jesus' final Passion Week; so, I won't defend that statement here and now.)  On the table are unleavened bread and the fruit of the vine (wine).  At that meal Jesus refers to His body being broken for us:

19And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

Luke 22:19 (ESV)

I wonder if the disciples remembered at that point that Jesus had referred to Himself as "the Bread of Life"?  (John 6:35, 51)

I am the living bread which came down from Heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever; 
and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
John 6:51

Other mysteries:
***The three pieces of matzo represent Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  The second piece represents Yeshua Mashiach (Jesus the Messiah).  He is our afikomen.
***The afikomen is broken and "hidden" (symbolizing Jesus' true personhood being hidden from traditional Jews even today, and also symbolizing His being hidden in the tomb for 3 days).  The afikomen's wrapping of white linen points to the holiness of the Godhead and also to the burial cloths of Jesus.
***The name "Unity Bag" is no accident.  It bespeaks the unity, the Oneness, of the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
***The afikomen is searched for diligently by the children.  Indeed, the meal cannot continue until the afikomen is found.
Jesus said that anyone who seeks Him must become like a little child, approaching Him in child-like faith (Matthew 18:1)
God also promised that anyone who diligently seeks Him will surely find Him (Jeremiah 29:13).
Surely, when Jesus is found by a person, He is the "final morsel", because in Him is all the beauty and treasure of the Godhead revealed bodily.

For all The Fullness of The Deity dwells in him bodily.

Colossians 2:9 (Aramaic Bible in Plain English)

Oh the beauty of the Word of God, both Savior and Holy Bible!  How wondrous the way He reveals Himself to us in this Passover and Easter season!  Even those who do not yet know Him, the Savior of the world already come, unknowingly celebrate His finished work on earth, for our behalf.

In closing, hear Jesus' words, again, from John 6 - - -
(Jesus, a devout Jew, is speaking to His Jewish fellow men of that day.)

32Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34“Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”

35Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.39And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

41At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

43“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’^d Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.47Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Dear God, Three-in-One, Father, Son and Holy Spirit ...  Thank you for giving us Bread from Heaven, born in Bethlehem, the City of Bread, and "slain before the foundations of the world" were laid (Revelation 13:8).  Open the eyes of the blind to see You, to know You, in all your fullness today!

Oh precious reader!  Is the Savior drawing you to Himself today?

Sources:

https://jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/newsletter-apr-2011/mysterious-passover-symbols/

Good, J. (1998). Rosh HaShanah and the Messianic Kingdom to come: an interpretation of the Feast of Trumpets based upon ancient sources. Nederland, TX: Hatikva Ministries.

A Free Meal

So, yesterday began a new week, Easter week, and I was glad to put the last one behind me.  It was a humdinger.  I guess that was why I nearly forgot about the Lord's Supper yesterday.  Yep, true confession.  By a small miracle of God, He brought it to my mind as I was getting ready to go set up for church.  See, in our little church, which meets in a school, we set up every Sunday morning, and then tear down afterwards.

My absentmindedness meant I had to stop at Publix on the way down and pick up a loaf of fresh-baked bread and some grape juice.  Fortunately, I carry the cloths, napkins, goblets and such around in my car.  I know - - a special kind of weird.  At any rate.... my friends Carolyn, Cindy and Sloania helped get the bread "chopped", juice poured and everything in place.  Communion went off without a hitch, praise the Lord!  I'm glad that there is no one-and-only-one "right" way to celebrate communion, apart from the fact that it is sacrament for Christian believers only.  At our church, the elements are at the front, and we process row-by-row to the table, where we take the elements, saying "The body of Christ, the blood of Christ.  Thanks be to God!"

Jesus commanded that we take communion to remember His sacrifice, but not how often we should celebrate that sacrament.  Our church does it about once a month.  It is a mysterious thing, The Lord's Supper, communion.  I was thinking last night about yesterday's "near debacle" and about Jesus appearing to the two followers on the road to Emmaus, after His resurrection.  I found it curious that He appeared first to Mary, outside the tomb, but even downright strange that He appeared to two rather obscure followers seven miles outside Jerusalem.  Why would He do that?  Don't you think that He "should" have appeared directly to The Twelve (apostles)?  This is another curious thing:  the two Emmaus road followers of Jesus did not recognize Him until He did one thing.  Do you remember what that was?

30When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. 31And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. 32They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” 33And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Luke 24:30-35 (ESV)

When did they recognize Him?  When He was breaking the bread with them in communion, in fellowship.  Wow.  Who would have imagined their eyes would have been opened at that moment?! He is, in His own words, the Bread of Life (John 6:35).  When we seek Him, study about Him, eat of that spiritual bread, He opens our eyes then too.  The Lord's Supper not only reminds us of His death, burial and resurrection; it also reminds us that He is life, abundant life!  I love how this story stars "the everyday believer", not the "stars of the show" (the Twelve).  Jesus demonstrated that His food is freely available for every one of His beloved, not just those who are them most "visible" or "out front".

This morning I got up much earlier than usual to help with a church outreach.  We are making a big push to invite folks to church on Easter Sunday, since many who don't usually attend will often look for some church to attend that day.  So, four of us Rising Hills Church members met in a parking lot to assemble and then distribute (when "the traffic signal was red"!) over 100 paper bags containing a FREE Bojangles biscuit, jelly packet, juice and a card about our Easter services.  There it is again - - - bread and juice.

We weren't celebrating the Lord's Supper this morning, of course.  We were blessing commuters who were facing another Monday.  But, those elements given today were prayed over by many; perhaps soul-hungry people saw or will see Jesus in the receiving of them.  Hopefully, their hearts will burn within them, in a desire to know more about the one and only Savior.

By the way, last year I wrote in the blog a whole series of Easter posts, laying out a timeline of Jesus' acts during Passion Week.  If you would like to read them, they begin with this one.

http://resplendentdaughter.blogspot.com/2016/03/10-days-that-changed-world.html

Happy Monday, folks!  (Don't forget to eat.)

Where Earth and Heaven Met, deuxieme partie

Well, I have to keep my high school French sharp, you know.... :) "Deuxieme partie" is French for "part two", which begs the question of why there is a big, golden 7 up there.  But, hang on....

You know how folks will ask, "If you were going to be marooned on a desert island all alone for the rest of your life, and you could take 3 things with you, what would they be?"

I think about that question as I contemplate what God Almighty chose to include in the "furnishings" of the Tabernacle (and later the Temple's) "holy place".  There were only three items.  Are there any indications in Scripture to teach us why He chose those items?  Let's investigate!

First of all, all three furnishings were made of acacia wood overlaid with pure gold, and the accompanying items (such as tableware and coal pans) were made of pure gold.

1.  The Table of Shewbread (aka Table of the Presence)1
"Shewbread" literally means "bread of the face" or bread set out before the face of God.
As one entered The Holy Place, this table was on the right hand side.  (This is the first mention of the word "table" in the Bible. Table is a symbol of communion and fellowship.  More about that in a moment.) On the table were placed every Sabbath 12 loaves of bread, made from the finest flour and unleavened.  They were arranged in two rows of six, on the table.  Each loaf represented one of the tribes of Israel. How beautiful that, even though only Levitical priests were allowed in the Holy Place, all the people of the 12 tribes were represented there before the Lord, by the 12 loaves... Sprinkled over the loaves was the oil of frankincense, which consecrated the bread unto the Lord, essentially making it a grain offering.  At the end of the week, the "old" bread was consumed by the priests and new bread took its place on the table.  Tradition holds that 8 priests would hold hands standing around the table before consuming the old loaves.  Such a sacred communion.
The Table of Shewbread represents our Savior, Jesus Christ.  It is through Him, and only through Him, we have communion with our Triune God.  Frankincense was given to Him by the 3 Wise Men, you will recall, as a birthday gift.  No accident, that.  He called Himself the Bread of Life in John 6:35, 51-58.  This table was part of God's "old covenant".  The covenant meal Jesus established with His disciples shortly before His death represents His New Covenant.  That meal represents the believer's eating the "body" (bread) and blood (wine) of Christ on a regular basis to remind us of His sacrifice's all-sustaining and eternal nature.
Bible references to explore:  Exodus 25:23-30; Leviticus 24:5-9.

2.  The Golden Lampstand2
There were no dimensions given for this item.  (Who, after all, can measure the light of God?)
The instructions for making it are found in Exodus 25:31-40.  It was to be made entirely of gold (which caused it to weigh 75-100 pounds) and fashioned by the best artisans.  A strong motif in the design was the flower of the almond tree.  In that part of the world, the almond tree was the first to awake from the darkness of Winter, the first tree to respond to the increased light of Spring.  The lampstand had a vertical shaft, at the end of which was a bowl for the oil.  In addition, there were three curved branches, curving upward, to form 6 more bowls.  All seven were in the shape of the almond blossom.
The seven, tiny bowls, were to be kept burning at all times.  The High Priest was responsible for the care of the lampstand, to ensure its wicks of flax were adequate and that the finest olive oil was abundant, so that the eternal flame burned in the Holy Place (Leviticus 24:3).  There were no windows in the Holy Place.  None were needed.

The lampstand represents the Godhead, and points forward to Jesus.  Zechariah 4:1-4 tells us that this oil represents the Holy Spirit of God.  When the Holy Spirit fell on the believers at Pentecost, He represented Himself as "tongues of fire" over the head of each believer there assembled (Acts 2:3-4).  Jesus referred to Him as fire in Matthew 3:11-12.  And, Paul exhorts us to "not quench the Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 5:19).  Jesus often called Himself the Light of the World (John 9:5; 8:12).  And, in Psalm 27:1, God the Father reminds us that He is our Light and our Salvation.  In the Bible 7 is the number which represents completion and perfection.3  Our perfect God, the Three-In-One.

3.   The Altar of Incense4
(Exodus 30:34-38)
It was commanded that this wooden altar, overlaid with gold, be the tallest structure in the room.  It stood about 3 feet tall.  Some of the characteristics of this altar, such as the four horns on the four corners, mimicked the bronze altar just outside the Holy Place. There were coals kept burning on this altar, and they were brought there from the Bronze Altar in a golden coal pan.   As noted in its name, an incense, made of the finest spices and frankincense oil, was burned on this inner altar twice a day. The exact combination of incense is lost to us today.  But, this combo was to be used by no other Israelite for any other purpose.  It was a holy combination, used only for the worship of God on the Altar of Incense.  The High Priest, after he had tended the Golden Lampstand morning and evening, would offer an incense offering on the altar.  In this way, a perpetual sweet smell would pervade the Holy Place. (This fragrance of love and worship expressed the delight of one whose sins had been forgiven!) Additionally, once a year, on the Day of Atonement, after the annual sin offering (Passover Lamb) had been offered, some of its blood would be rubbed on the horns of this incense altar, as the High Priest was proceeding into the Most Holy Place (which we will examine in an upcoming blog).
The golden altar of incense has at its essence worship and praise.  It reminds us of Jesus' current ministry in Heaven, to perpetually intercede on our behalf before God the Father.

Let my prayer be set before You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

Psalm 141:2 

In the next post, ... the Most Holy Place!

Sources:

1   http://www.bible-history.com/tabernacle/TAB4The_Table_of_Shewbread.htm
2   http://www.bible-history.com/tabernacle/TAB4The_Golden_Lampstand.htm
3   https://www.gotquestions.org/number-7-seven.html
4   http://www.bible-history.com/tabernacle/TAB4The_Golden_Altar_of_Incense.htm
5   Wiersbe, Warren W., and Warren W. Wiersbe. The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: The Complete Old Testament in One Volume. Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2007. Print.