Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. They were delighted and agreed to give him money. He consented and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present. (Lk 22:1-6) NIV
The Festival of the Unleavened bread is a festival ordained by God to us. God specifically gave Moses and Aaron the instructions about this festival and to pass it on to the children of Israelites to celebrate and also to their generation to come. (Exo 12 1-11) gave us a clear view of the instructions.
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. The animals you choose must be year-old males without defects, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs, and internal organs. Do not leave any of it till morning; if some are left till morning, you must burn it. This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.
We can see the lengthy instructions given about this festival because, it was a festival of redemption, to redeem the children of Israelites from their bondage. And God wants them to remember it forever and ever about His great works, of how he used his mighty outstretched hand to redeem the children of Israelites from their severe bondage. And that is why He called it a lasting ordinance. Vs 14 “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance.
He also told them again in vs 17 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. Meaning is now a festival of Joy, merriment, and a special day of jubilation of God's victory over the enemies of his children.
Since it was a lasting ordinance that was supposed to be passed on to the next generations, Jesus came and was also observing that ordinance, ordained by God our Heavenly Father in heaven. To know how important, this festival is, Jesus has to travel from Galilee to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover with his disciples, which a lot of us are doing today. We do travel to certain celebrations with families and friends to have fun and relax from stress.
But these days, Satan has turned these festivals into something else, as God gave us the festival of the unleavened bread called Passover to celebrate with other festivals listed later in the bible to observe, like the festival of Firstfruits, the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles or Ingathering). After the exile, the Jews added memorial days for the fall of Jerusalem (eventually fixed as the Ninth of Ab), Purim, and the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah). In addition, the Israelites observed the Sabbath every week and the feast of the New Moon every lunar month.
Count off seven sabbath years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbath years amount to a period of forty-nine years. Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan. The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines. For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat only what is taken directly from the fields. In this Year of Jubilee, everyone is to return to their own property. (Lev 25:8-13)
You can see that God said, in vs13 it is a year of Jubilee for everyone, signifying joyful years for the children of Israelites. They should celebrate for once because, during their era in Egypt, they never knew anything called celebration.
As God created these festivals for the children of Israelites and their generation to come to celebrate, so do Satan cunningly ordained his own festivals and channel it for wicked purposes, and most of us, who called ourselves Christians do not know about this and we will join the unbelievers to celebrate it as well.
Whatever God created, the devil will always have the opposite side of it. The festival of unleavened bread called the Passover was meant for the children of Israelites to celebrate how God delivered from bondage, of which Jesus also went to Jerusalem to celebrate, so do Satan turn it as a way to kill Jesus by entering Judas called Iscariot to betray Jesus to the Pharisees for them to kill Jesus. Likewise today, there are some people or rather persons that Satan has entered to use them to kill certain people.
Jesus Christ on his own came to fulfilled all righteousness, settled and sealed in heaven by God the Father, God the Son, and God the holy spirit. Of which he (Christ) knows that he would come to the earth to die for mankind and redeem the Jews and the gentiles from the bondage the Pharisees and Sadducee have changed the Passover into, its no longer a feast of celebration, but a yoke on the children of Israelites neck, because Satan, has entered them, and they added their own laws to it and made it difficult for the people.
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! (Matt 23:13)
Especially the law of the Sabbath, (See Mark 2, Matthew 12:38-42, Matthew 16:1-4) and many more. But our main topic is the festival of the unleavened bread.
So, because of how Jesus was condemning the Pharisees and the Sadducees of how they are treating people, they were looking for an opportunity to kill him and that opportunity fell during the festival of the unleavened bread called the Passover. Everybody was returning to Jerusalem to celebrate the festival of the Passover, but some of them did not know, they have marked it for a day or a time to kill them through somebody close to Him.
That is how it is today, some people are coming home to celebrate certain festivals but they never knew, they had already planned their death, they had already planned how to poison them, or how to kidnap them. A literally big opportunity for their enemies to kill them. And at times, these plans/schemes are being carried out by a person closely related, friends, or someone close by.
To some people, human lives don't matter to them anymore, for a little amount of money, or ransom, they are ready to do anything possible to anybody as far as they get their money. And very rampant in festive seasons and celebrations or lonely places. Remember Judas consented to the Pharisees he will hand over Jesus to them when no crowd was present.
Lk 22:6, He consented and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.
So please, be meticulous about the festivals and celebrations you attend and lonely places. Satan had already entered some people to eliminate you and they are very tenacious to do it. So when your loved ones are telling you not to go to certain places and festivals, listen to them and forget about the food and drink they will serve you there, some of the foods and drinks are not real, but a stratagem to attract you more and truncate your destiny.
Jesus is the saviour of the world that is why He came to die for us, ( And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer (Lk 22:15) he knew about his death before He went to Jerusalem, he knew, He will suffer unto death for mankind, that is why He went for the Passover and give himself for us to replace the Passover lamb and today He is the Lamb seated on the throne.
In fact, the book of revelation said about Him that: For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’” (Rev 7:17).
He is now the lamb seated on the throne, you! you are not the lamb that will seat on the throne of heaven nor will you be the saviour that will shepherd your family or the world or wipe away the tears of humanity. You are just a man or woman and why die before your time, why be the one that will be vomiting money for a ritualist, when you know if you didn't go to that festival or celebration you would have been alive today, why be a cripple when you know if you didn't embark on that journey you wouldn't have had that accident that took your limb left you in a regrettable state.
So, my dear, not all festivals are worth it, not all festivals are worth going to. When your inner voice or someone dear to you is speaking or advising you not to go to that festival give it a thought.
#ThewordofGodwithCelinaJoseph#
Please comment, like, and share. Thanks
Posts
0 Comments