Month: April 2019

The Day Death was Defeated

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The Day Death was Defeated

 

The day Jesus rose from the Grave was a momentous occasion, that we still celebrate nearly two millennium later, but this special day had a long history of marking important Biblical events. This third day after Passover, Nisan 17, signified the day death was defeated, and was the beginning of a new chapter.

The first Nisan 17th, after God had established His Calendar, was the day that the Israelites crossed the Red Sea. The exhausted Israelites began a three day journey immediately after their Passover Feast on Nisan 14, and had just reached the banks of the Red Sea. The Pharaoh of Egypt and his cavalry had been pursuing them, and now the Israelites were pinned against the water’s edge. Exodus 14 describes the miraculous moment when Moses outstretched his arm over the waters and they receded, allowing the Israelites to cross on dry land. Before the sun rose, Moses outstretched his hand again and the pursuing Egyptian military was consumed by the Red Sea. Slavery and Death by the Egyptian armies was replaced with Freedom and Hope on that day.

Forty years later, after the generation that had crossed the Red Sea had died wandering in the wilderness, Joshua lead the new generation across the Jordan River and camped in the plains of Jericho. They celebrated the Passover Feast (Nisan 14) and ate some of the produce from the previous harvest, as unleavened bread and roasted grain, the next day (Nisan 15). The following day (Nisan 16), was the last day that manna fell from Heaven, because they would begin to eat the fruits of the land from Nisan 17 onward (Joshua 5:2-12). The previous hard hearted generation and the old grain were replaced by a newly circumcised population and First Fruits of the Promised Land.

After Israel had become an established nation, and built the First Temple, it had been ruled by many evil and idolatrous kings who had defiled the Temple and turned the nation of Israel’s heart from God. God raised up righteous King Hezekiah to begin the cleansing of the Temple on the First Day of the First Month of Hezekiah’s first year of ruling. The work was completed on the sixteenth day and very early on the seventeenth day of the first month (Nisan 17) King Hezekiah gathered the rulers of Jerusalem and had a massive celebration commemorating the Cleansing of the Temple (2 Chronicles 29:1-28). King Hezekiah replaced the human and child sacrifices of the pagan worship the Israelites had fallen into, with Devotion to the Living God.

During the Babylonian Exile, a plot was instigated by Haman, one of the high officials of King Xerxes, who planned to exterminate the Jews in the empire. The edict enacting this systematic genocide was signed and decreed on the thirteenth day of the first month (Nisan 13). Instructed by her honorable uncle Mordecai, Queen Esther, a Jewess, requests that the Jews fast for three days. At the end of the third day’s (Nisan 16) fast, Esther hosted a private banquet for the King and the scheming official, Haman, inviting them to another banquet the following evening. During this feast, Haman’s plans for extermination of the Jews are uncovered, and Haman was killed in the manner he had planned for his rival Mordecai. This reversal, on Nisan 17, not only had Haman killed instead of Mordecai, but Haman’s wealth, authority, and title were given to Mordecai as well. Annihilation was replaced by Power and Glory.

When the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, they left 430 years of slavery and certain slaughter by the Egyptian chariots, and began the journey to form a nation after God’s own Heart. After Joshua traversed the Jordan River, to enter the Promised Land, there was no going back to Egypt, and no option to continue wandering in the Wilderness, amongst the previous generation’s bones, as the Manna had stopped falling from Heaven, and they would have to conquer the new land before them. After Israel had fallen into idolatry and human sacrifice, they had the opportunity to abandon the death cults that had been introduced into their lands and turn their love back to the God who established them. Even after they had been exiled, God’s redemption was seen when Haman’s conspiracy to massacre the Jews, led to his own death, and his rival Mordecai replacing him. Christ’s Crucifixion on Passover was the price of redemption, but it was His Resurrection three days later on Nisan 17 that marked the dividing line between what had been and the new chapter that had just begun.

God’s Timing is always perfect and the date of Christ’s Resurrection is a deliberate reference to the many previous prophetic instances of God giving His People the opportunity to leave behind their Demise and Destruction in exchange for Life and Prosperity God sought to redeem His People from their Slavery, their Hardheartedness, their Idolatry, and their Political and Economic Rivals, but all those challenges paled in comparison to Christ’s ultimate victory, for all of mankind, over Death.

 

Prepared by, Kent Simpson, Apostolic Prophet & Eric Sepulveda, PMT Administrator

 

Prophetic Praise on Passover

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Prophetic Praise on Passover

 

Christ and His Disciples celebrated the Passover Feast the night before His Crucifixion, where Jesus used the prophetic imagery of the bread as His Body and the wine as His Blood to explain the sacrifice He was about to make. The closing of the Passover meal included another tremendously significant prophetic signal that enlightened the expectant Hebrews of Christ’s coming and was something Jesus and His Disciples also participated in during the Last Supper: the singing of Psalms.

The Book of Psalms was a collection of songs of praise, similar to the hymnal books found in many churches today. These songs were sung during weekly worship and God’s Festivals. Just as we have seasonal songs, some of these psalms were designated for specific holy days. Psalms 113-118, which were sung during Passover, were collectively referred to as the “Hallel“ (translated: “Praise“), the root of “Hallelujah“, which means “Praise the Lord“. These Songs of Praise were written during David’s kingship, but were later adopted in the Haggadah, which established a systematic way to observe the Passover feast in what we know today as a Seder.

The priests who served in the Temple, during the Passover, would have been singing these Psalms as they handed the blood filled silver basins to each other in a chain, with the last man tossing the sacrificial lamb’s blood onto the Mercy Seat. The sounds of their unified chanting would have filled Jerusalem during the Passover festivities creating a harmonic atmosphere for the Jewish men who had come from all over the known world to offer their ransom.

The Hallel song lyrics clearly showed that the Passover Feast was not restricted to Jewish participants, but that God’s Love was extended to all who feared God. In Psalm 116:9-11, all people, starting with “All you Israelites”, followed by “House of Aaron”, and closing with “You who Fear Him” are encouraged to “trust in the Lord-He is their Help and Shield“.

All you Israelites, trust in the Lord-
He is their Help and Shield.
House of Aaron, trust in the Lord-
He is their Help and Shield.
You who fear Him, trust in the Lord-
He is their Help and Shield.

This encompassing of all mankind is not accidental, and is repeated in Psalm 118:2-4, when the Psalmist wrote “Let Israel Say”, trailed by “Let the House of Aaron say”, finishing with “Let those who fear the Lord say”: “His Love endures forever”.

Let Israel say:
“His love endures forever.”
Let the House of Aaron say:
“His love endures forever.”
Let those who fear the Lord say:
“His love endures forever.”

After the Passover meal, Christ and His Disciples would have sung the closing half of the Hallel, Psalms 116-118.

Psalm 116 especially has direct references to Christ’s last few hours before His Crucifixion. The stanza “Everyone is a liar” (v. 11) alluded to not only Judas who betrayed Him, but also Peter who denied Him. “I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord” (v. 13) must have chimed through Jesus’ thoughts as He prayed “let this cup pass from Me“, but He satisfied the following line that “I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people,” (v.14) when He faced Crucifixion, recognizing that “Precious in the sight of the Lord, is the death of his faithful servants” (v.15).

Psalm 117 is the shortest psalm and the shortest chapter in the Bible, exclaiming

“Praise the Lord, all you nations,
extol Him, all you Peoples”,
“For great is His Love toward us,
and the Faithfulness of the Lord Endures forever”.

It concludes with “Praise the Lord”, reminding us that His immeasurable Love and Faithfulness should be recognized and celebrated by Everyone.

Psalm 118, the closing psalm, had been alluded to throughout Christ’s ministry. Jesus explained that He was “the Lord’s right hand, [which] has done mighty things!” (v. 15), “the gate of the Lord, through which the righteous may enter” (v. 20), and “the stone the builders rejected, [which had] become the cornerstone” (v. 22).

As Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on the back of a donkey, the crowds chanted “Hosanna! Blessed is the One coming in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David. Hosanna in the highest [heavens]!” (ref. Matthew 21:9; Mark 11:9-10; Luke 19:38; John 12:13). This direct reference to Psalm 118:25-26 meant that the adoring crowds understood that this Psalm was alluding to Christ as they chanted while He entered the city.

While the Passover Feast had transformed since the night of the 10th Plague, when the First Born was slaughtered, Jesus was able to take the new symbols, such as the wine drunk, to allude to His Blood, and the Psalms sung, to demonstrate the sacrifice He was about to give. In whatever capacity you celebrate and remember Our Savior’s Sacrifice this week, we pray that you give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good: for His Mercy endureth for ever.

 

Prepared by, Kent Simpson, Apostolic Prophet & Eric Sepulveda, PMT Administrator

 

The Voice Crying in the Wilderness

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The Voice Crying in the Wilderness

 

Our last article discussed the significance of the First Day of the First Month and how it marked the day of Jesus’ baptism and served as a precursor to what Christ would later fulfill throughout the Passovers of His Ministry. This First Day of the First Month also served as the birth date of John the Baptist, who was the precursor to Christ, whom John recognized and proclaimed as the Passover Lamb of God.

Luke 1 introduces John’s parents, his father Zechariah, a priest of the division of Abijah, and his wife Elizabeth, who was also a descendant of Aaron. They are “righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.”

When Zechariah’s division was on duty, he was chosen by lot to burn incense in the Temple, where he was confronted by the archangel Gabriel, who informed him that his wife Elizabeth would bear a son and that they were required to name him John, whose role would be “to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (ref. Luke 1:17).

Priests didn’t serve continuously in the Temple but ministered for two separate week-long periods in a rotating system, in addition to being present for the three feasts (Passover, Feast of Weeks, and Feast of Tabernacles) that all males were required to attend in Jerusalem. Since it was Zechariah’s division serving, rather than all the priests, we know that this event didn’t occur during one of the three feasts. This rotating system is kept consistent, since there were twenty-four priestly divisions which served two separate weeks, totaling forty-eight weeks, plus three mandatory festivals, equaling the fifty-one week Hebrew calendar. Since this system would have started on the first day of the first month and readjusted itself systematically, we can track when Zechariah first met Archangel Gabriel.

Zechariah’s priestly division of Abijah was the eighth in the series, so his service most likely occurred during the ninth week of the year, since Passover was mandatory of all the priests to attend and pushed the date a week ahead. After ministering, Zechariah would not have been able to have gone home yet, since right after his service on the ninth week, he would have to participate in the Feast of Weeks during the tenth week. During the 11th week of the year, Zechariah would have returned home to impregnate Elizabeth who would have given birth 40 weeks later on the First Day of the First Month.

Zechariah’s interaction with Archangel Gabriel could have happened during his series’ second rotation in the Fall, but Luke’s narrative leaves two distinct clues that inform us of the Spring dating. Gabriel explains that John will “be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb”. Because of his and his wife’s advanced ages, Zechariah was doubtful and questioned how they can have a child, requesting a sign from Gabriel, who makes him mute for his unbelief.

The Feast of Weeks, also known as Pentecost, occurring the following week, would be the next major holiday after Zechariah’s encounter. Pentecost would later be celebrated as the day Christ’s Followers”were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (ref. Acts 2:4) after His Ascension. It’s not coincidental that John’s father Zechariah lost his ability to speak due to his unbelief and that John the Baptist would be “filled with the Holy Ghost while still in his mother’s womb”.

The first day of the first month set a precedent for what Christ would accomplish during his Ministry Passovers, starting with righteous King Hezekiah cleansing the Temple, foreshadowing Jesus clearing the Temple of the money changers; Ezra beginning to teach in the Temple which was fulfilled by Jesus teaching them directly from God; and the rebuilding of the Temple starting the countdown to the death of the Messiah. In like manner, John the Baptist, born on the first day of the first month, laid the groundwork for what Jesus would accomplish later.


“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way”-
“a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.'”

It was believed that Elijah would return to announce the coming Messiah and the Archangel Gabriel confirmed this, explaining that John would “turn the Children of Israel back to the Lord their God” going “before Him in the Spirit and power of Elijah”. John fulfills this when he declared:

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit, before being born on the First Day of the First Month, which was the date the Holy Spirit filled the Tabernacle and the same day Jesus was Baptized and the Spirit came upon Christ like a dove. John baptized Jesus with water, on the First Day of the First Month, to prepare the hearts of Israel for “He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit”.

The First Day of the First Month marked the counting of days towards the events of the Spring Feasts and forecasted the prophecies that Christ would fulfill. John was born on this day to announce the Passover Lamb and baptized Jesus with water on this day in preparation for us to be baptized with the Holy Spirit.


John was filled with the Holy Spirit and was ready to fulfill his role in God’s Kingdom.


Are you?

 

Prepared by, Kent Simpson, Apostolic Prophet & Eric Sepulveda, PMT Administrator

 

Nisan 1-The Day Jesus was Baptized

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Nisan 1-The Day Jesus was Baptized

 

In our previous articles, we began to discuss the importance of God’s Holy Festivals and how they were prophetic signs of Christ’s arrival. While Nisan 1, the First Day of the First Month, was NOT a holy festival, it was the date of many firsts, the most important of which was the day of Christ’s Baptism and the start of His Earthly Ministry.

In Exodus 12:1-2, during the Egyptian plagues, God instructed that the Jews recognize this first day, and this first month (Nisan 1) as the beginning of their religious calendar. One year after the Israelites fled Egypt, they had dedicated and “[erected] the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, on the first day of the first month” (Exodus 40:1-2). “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle”. This was a direct reference to Christ’s future consecration, also on the first day of the first month, during John’s Baptism by water, which was followed by the Holy Spirit coming upon Christ.

Several other important events happened on this special day which focused on the future King Solomon’s Temple and the roles Christ would serve during His time on Earth.

After King Solomon’s construction of the First Temple, several subsequent rulers began to do evil in the sight of God, one of the most heinous being idol worship and the human sacrifices that often came with it. God raised up the righteous King Hezekiah, who was responsible for bringing Israel back to fearing and venerating the one True God. King Hezekiah set a precedent for future rulers and “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD … [and] in the first year of his reign, in the first month [Nisan 1], he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them” (2 Chronicles 29:2-3). This date marked the beginning of the Cleansing of the Temple.

During the seventh year reign of the Persian King, Artaxerxes, his scribe, Ezra, was tasked with bringing in more groups of returning “Israelites, including priests, Levites, musicians, gatekeepers and temple servants, [who] came up to Jerusalem” (Ezra 7:7) to continue rebuilding the Temple of Israel and begin teaching the scriptures in the Temple again. They “had begun [their] journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month, [Nisan 1]” (Ezra 7:9) beginning the reestablishment of the Temple system of Teaching of the Scriptures.

During the twentieth year of Artaxerxes’ reign, we saw the initiation of one of the most important prophecies foretelling of the coming of Christ. During the Babylonian Captivity, Daniel had prophesied that “From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.'”. On the first day of the first month [Nisan 1], while Nehemiah was serving as cupbearer/chief counsellor to the Persian King, Artaxerxes, God used this foreign sovereign to issue a decree which approved and authorized Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and restore Israel as a state (ref. Nehemiah 2:1-6). This first day of the Israelite religious calendar marked the day Israel would begin to be restored and rebuilt and was the start of the prophetic countdown to Christ.

We can easily trace Christ’s Baptism and the commencement of His Earthly Ministry to this same date of beginnings.

In our previous article, we discussed that during the second Passover Festival of His Ministry, Christ fed the multitude of 5,000 with the five small barley loaves and two small fishes. During the third Passover Festival He was crucified. In John 2:13-25, we learn about Christ’ first Passover Festival where He is filled with righteous anger and drives out the merchants and money changers with a whip, yelling “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” This would have taken place on the 14th day of the first month, Nisan (Abib).

Earlier in the chapter, Christ and a few of His Disciples were attending the wedding feast in Cana. John makes a point of stating that the wedding began on the third day (ref. John 2:1), which is still a custom of modern Jews today, because “God saw that it was good” twice on this day, leading many to believe weddings will be doubly blessed if they start on the third day (ref Genesis 1:9-13). Most weddings lasted a week during this time period and it would be during the last day or two that the wine would realistically run out. The water transformed into wine miracle must have taken place no later than the 9th of the first month, a maximum of seven days.

This 9th of the first month being the latest this miracle could have taken place is reinforced by the fact that “after this [Jesus] went down to Capernaum with His mother and brothers and His Disciples. There they stayed for a few days.” We’ve previously discussed how the 10th of the first month was extremely important, since it was the day that the Passover Lamb was chosen and brought into the family home (ref. Exodus 12:3) before the Passover celebration on the 14th which is mentioned in John’s narrative immediately afterwards.

The few days before the wedding were marked by Christ being baptized [Nisan 1], John’s disciples, Andrew and Simon Peter following Christ the day after His Baptism [Nisan 2], and Philip and Nathanael being called by Jesus the day after that (ref. John 1:35-50) [Nisan 3]. The Wedding of Cana miracle where water was turned into wine would have ended no later than Nisan 9, since the next day [Nisan 10] Jesus went back home with His Disciples to bring the sacrificial lamb into their house in preparation for Passover [Nisan 14] when He chases out the merchants and money changers.

The first day, of the first month, the Tabernacle was consecrated and God’s Spirit filled the building and was also the date of the future Baptism of Christ by water and the Holy Spirit. It marked the beginning of the cleansing of the Temple by King Hezekiah, mirroring Jesus chasing out the merchants and money changers during His first ministry Passover. It was the date when Ezra set out to reestablish the teaching of the Word of God in the Temple, which was fulfilled by Christ by His explaining during His second Passover that, “It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ [so] Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from Him comes to Me.” (ref. John 6:45). Ezra teaching in the Temple was necessary so they could recognize when they were being taught by God Himself. This date was also the commencement of the seventy ‘sevens’ marking Christ’s coming and “After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One [would] be put to death” (ref. Daniel 9:25) on the third Passover.

While this First Day, of the First Month is not typically celebrated, it is still significant, since it helps us remember that God set it aside as a special day to mark the beginning of His Calendar in preparation for the Spring Festivals, starting with Passover. In His Infinite Wisdom, God included prophetic signs within the Temple, to point us to the coming Messiah and some of the key prophecies Christ fulfilled during the three Passovers of His Ministry. This beginning of God’s Calendar, we hope you recognize how Christ was baptized to prepare the way for the Holy Spirit to baptize us by fire, to fulfill the roles God’s Kingdom has for our own lives today.

 

Prepared by, Kent Simpson, Apostolic Prophet & Eric Sepulveda, PMT Administrator