Passover: The Four Sons
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Paul’s Passover Purpose by Sam Nadler
The congregation at Corinth, like any congregation, had its problems. (There were people in it!) Unfortunately, none of us are perfect, so when we come together for fellowship and worship, sometimes our imperfections come with us. “The First Church of Corinth” was in need of maturity: you name it, they were probably doing it! To help correct this predominantly Gentile congregation, Paul wrote to the Corinthians why their immorality (see 1 Corinthians 5:1-5) was detestable and culpable before God, and amazingly uses the Passover to drive the point home. “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are, in fact, unleavened. For Messiah, our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:6-8).
A ‘Puffed-Up’ Lump
Paul speaks about “boasting” as leaven. What did he mean? Traditionally, families that celebrate Passover clean out the leaven/yeast products from their homes before the feast can be enjoyed. This, of course, is from Exodus 12:15: “Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.” (See also Deuteronomy 16:4) Why? Leaven (yeast) is a natural rising agent in breads and is a biblical picture of natural corruption. Though the loaf is no larger in substance, it swells in size. Like pride, this produces an inflated, false sense of growth (1 Corinthians 8:1). This is why there were no offerings with leaven given in the Temple (Leviticus 2:11). Messiah used the idea of leaven to symbolically represent the corruption of false teaching (Matthew 16:6, 11, 12).
“Let us keep the feast” Even the Gentiles Understood Passover!
There are three insights we get from this portion. First, Passover was understood by all first century believers. Paul could readily refer to Passover regarding spiritual areas of their lives because they all understood the issues of Passover. The apostles’ method of discipleship included teaching on the Feasts of Israel as the basis to understanding the salvation experience (Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits), their sanctification and growth in the Holy Spirit (at Pentecost), and their future hope in Messiah (Trumpets, Day of Atonement and Tabernacles). In fact, these feasts are literally “appointed times” (mo’adeem, Leviticus 23:4); God’s appointed timesto meet with His redeemed people. I sometimes wonder if Paul could so easily use such references in our congregations and churches today as he did in the first century. Paul, and the other apostles might well be shocked at the lack of teaching and awareness regarding the Biblical Feasts among New Covenant believing churches.
A Present Picture
Passover was relevant to all first century believers: It was a constant reminder that we are no longer slaves in the bondage of sin, but are now spiritually free to follow and honor the Lord because Messiah, our Passover, also has been sacrificed. We are to no longer live as slaves to sin but live as new creations through Messiah’s gracious atonement. Passover clearly demonstrates that we are free from bondage and not that we might foolishly do as we please, but, that we might follow God into the ‘Land of Promise,’ and be pleasing to Him. Passover is a present picture of living the fulfilled life, not merely a record of some ancient biblical event.
For All Believers, For All Time
Passover was observed and celebrated by all New Covenant believers. Paul was not telling the Corinthians that they should start keeping the Passover, they already were. The point is that they needed to do it properly. Paul’s point is that Passover should be celebrated with a pure heart, otherwise it is a demonstration of hypocrisy. Paul understood that, for believers, Passover was to always be celebrated as Moses taught. In 1 Corinthians 5:8, Paul uses the very same Greek word that is used for ‘celebrate’ in the Greek version of Exodus 12:14: “Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance.” When Paul wrote to the Corinthians (and us), “Therefore let us celebrate the feast” he may have been thinking of this very verse that Moses shared with Israel. We can see clearly the messianic fulfillment of the Passover in Yeshua, and we should celebrate it with the eternal perspective of Messiah, and to His glory.
Tradition or Truth?
Some have suggested that Paul’s use of ‘old leaven’ might refer to ‘the Jewish traditions.’ Thus we would need to celebrate Passover only in the Lord’s Supper, not as the Jews do, for that would be “old leaven”. This idea is wrong for two reasons: First leaven refers to moral corruption, not traditional observance because Yeshua, himself, celebrated Passover according to the customs of the day, and He certainly never sinned; Secondly, “old” in the Greek is the same word as in Ephesians 4:22, “in reference to your former manner of life.” Thus, this old yeast (5:7) refers to the old self that is crucified with Messiah (Romans 6:6). Paul is telling believers to keep celebrating it without impurity: not as in the former manner of life with malice and wickedness (an evil attitude and wicked activities). We’re to celebrate it with purity, with the unleavnened bread of sincerity and truth: that is, with a pure attitude and in accordance with the truth of God.
You Mean, We Gotta?
Am I saying that, Biblically, all believers are required to celebrate Passover in a traditional Jewish style? No, we are certainly free in Messiah (see Col. 2:16, 17). I am saying that, Biblically, celebrating Passover is normative for followers of Messiah; it gives insight on the spiritual truths of the Scriptures and is a healthy reminder to live pleasing to the Lord. Those New Covenant believers and congregations that do choose to celebrate Passover and study their “Jewish roots” discover great truths and blessings. They more clearly recognize God’s faithfulness, and “they do not support the root, but the root supports them” (Romans 11:18).
This year, ‘let us keep the feast.’ We invite you not only to come to enjoy our annual Seder banquet, but invite a Jewish friend to Passover to hear that Messiah is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
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Why The Holocaust?
Why The Holocaust? by Sam Nadler
Since April 11, 2018 is Holocaust Remembrance Day, we thought it vital for all who take the Bible seriously to understand the importance of the spiritual issues at stake. During the 1930’s & 40’s about one third of all the Jewish people alive on earth at the time were murdered by the Nazi regime. As terrible as that was, the prophet Zechariah tells us that there is something even worse to come. In Zechariah 13:8 he prophesies that during a future holocaust, not one third, but two thirds of all the Jewish people living at that time will be killed! Many ask the question, “Why? Why are there Holocausts? The Scriptures are clear regarding the main reason for anti-Semitism in general and holocausts in particular: “Spiritual Warfare.”
The Scriptures inform us that there is an enemy of God: Satan (the Hebrew word for “adversary”). Though it may seem futile for anyone to fight against an almighty God, Satan is working to defeat God’s redemptive plan in order to dethrone God (Isaiah 14:12-14).
Satan’s Activity To Stop The Redeemer
In Genesis 3:15 God promised that the Redeemer of mankind would also be the Destroyer of Satan. This Redeemer was promised to come through the Jewish people as the Messiah of Israel (Genesis 12:3; 22:18; 49:10; Isaiah 11:10; 49:5-7; etc.), and Satan would attempt to stop this Redeemer from coming by destroying the Jewish People (via Pharaoh in Exodus 1; Balaam in Numbers 23-24, Haman in Esther 3, etc.). But Messiah did come, died for our sins and was raised from the dead! On this point we know Satan has failed. But if he has failed, why is Satan still trying to destroy the Jewish people today?
Right now “the devil prowls like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8); but at The Second Coming, when Messiah returns to earth to restore the Davidic Kingdom, He will then have Satan bound for 1000 years ( Revelation 20:1-3). Afterwards, Satan will be “thrown into the lake of Fire” forever (Revelation 20:10). The lynchpin to all of this future activity and victory of God is the survival of the Jewish people.
The return of the Lord to reign on planet earth is directly related to Israel’s repentance of rejecting her Deliverer. This is a consistent principle in Scripture: before deliverance can take place, God’s deliverer must be recognized and received on God’s terms. For example, after first being rejected, Moses brought his people out from Egyptian bondage only after he was accepted by Israel as their deliverer. Joseph, as well, could deliver his estranged family from destruction only after his brethren repented of their rejection of him. Joseph, the ‘rejected one’, was actually God’s means for their salvation (Genesis 50:20). Again, David could not rule over all of Israel and completely remove his adversaries until the people accepted him as their King (2 Samuel 5:1-5). So, Yeshua will not return to reign on the Throne of David and remove the Adversary, Satan, until the Jewish people acknowledge Yeshua as King. This is why Yeshua said to our people, “You will not see me again until you say,–‘Baruch Haba B’shem Adonai—Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord’” (Matthew 23:39).
Indeed, the prophecy of Isaiah 53 is not so much a prophecy of the Jewish people confessing their rejection of the true Messiah, who would die as atonement for their sins (Isaiah 53:4-10). This confession will be made at the Second Coming of Messiah: “And I (God) will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn” (Zechariah 14:4).
Peter reiterates this point when he proclaims to the Jewish people, “Repent and turn to God, that your sins might be wiped away, in order that the times of refreshing might come from the Lord, and that He might send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Yeshua. He must remain in Heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as He promised…” (Acts 3:19-21). The return of Yeshua who will “restore everything”—“the times of refreshing”, as well as the destruction of Satan—depends on the Jewish people repenting and returning to God. Yeshua must remain in Heaven until that time.
Stop Messiah from Coming Again!
God has made very specific promises to the Jewish people, among them…
The Jews shall always remain an identifiable people before the nations of the world: “Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night,…If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever. Thus saith the Lord” and…
Israel would become a nation again: For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it (Jeremiah 31:35-37;30:3).
If the Jewish people were to go the way of the Babylonians, Hitites, Ninivites, etc., God’s promises would be nullified and Satan would essentially have a stalemate. Thus in his desperate attempt to prevent Messiah’s return, Satan is doing all he can to destroy Israel and the Jewish people. At the same time he is trying to make faith in Yeshua so alien and repugnant that no self-respecting Jew, much less all Israel, would ever desire to repent and trust in Yeshua as the Messiah! I would even say that every congregation of believers in Yeshua/Jesus, Jewish or Gentile, which does not endeavor to bring the Good News to the Jewish people, is actually, though unwittingly, playing into the plan of Satan: To stop Israel from recognizing their Messiah.
Spiritual Warfare
Why the holocausts? Because of spiritual warfare! Therefore as believers in Jesus/Yeshua, Israel’s Messiah, let us “fight the good fight” (1Timothy 6:12) for “we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us” (Romans 8:37). I’m asking that you encourage your congregation to remember the Holocaust at your services, to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Psalm 122:6), and do all you can to bring the Good News of Messiah to the Jewish people around the world. And may Israel soon say, “Baruch Haba B’Shem Adonai: Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!”
You are invited to Hope of Israel Congregation’s Yom Ha Shoah, Holocaust Remembrance Service, Wednesday evening April 11th at 7 pm.
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Southwest 2018 Planters Conference by Sam Nadler
A week earlier, I had contacted the various leaders to pray with them, and understand the strengths in the ministries (so their strengths can assist those that need help in those same areas), and what areas for them need ‘special attention’ as well. After praying with each of them, I then reorganized the whole presentation and materials to more fully address each of their areas of need during the conference. In that way each leader can return home with a plan to further reach out to the greater Jewish community around them.
Admittedly, since it is a ministry training conference and not a relaxing family conference it’s a pretty intensive time, as we go from 8:30 am to 8 pm on the first day and then 8:30-5 pm on the second day. As I explained to them, “The text book I wrote is used by Israel College of the Bible as semester course for Planting congregations. But we’re going to cover much of the material in 2 days –unless everyone would like to extend this for a few weeks?” Everyone appreciates that we all need to roll up our sleeves and get to work.
Since we work so closely with each participating leader, the responses we receive reflect the value of the conference for them. When asked what was most helpful in the conference, one leader wrote:
“This material brought a lot of Biblical principles together in an easy to understand way. I feel very edified and thankful that I took the time to attend because this conference enabled me to refocus the vision of where and what God is doing in our congregation. I found it most vital to renew the importance of discipleship for a healthy congregation which enables us to grow into the likeness of Messiah Yeshua.”
The material over the 2 days addresses many areas that are needed by the participating leaders and, in many cases, they have not been exposed to many of the biblical principles and practices that address their problems. So, it’s not uncommon for leaders to return and attend the other Word of Messiah conferences. One of these leaders wrote: “This was my second time through this material as I attended one of your conferences several years ago. For me this presentation addressed with even more clarity many of the issues and challenges that we are going through. One of the most helpful aspects revolved around your teaching on ‘problem solving.’”
Debbie Holford reports: “I listened to the story of another lady from California, I was awed again by God’s perfect timing and the commitment of those He had called. Faced with a restart and additional responsibilities, this conference provided the encouragement and practical help they need to move forward. ”
What is especially exciting for the participating Messianic leaders is the emphasis on Yeshua, the equality of Jewish and Non-Jewish believers in the congregation, the whole bible approach and the focus on reaching the Jewish people with the Good News.
We focus on Yeshua as the Head, and the congregation as the local Body that lives out the will of the Head. Since His redemptive Will is seen in Messiah’s redemptive work as prophet, priest and king, we then show how the scriptures instruct us in how to effectively express these 3 functions in both the responsibilities of the elders and in the self-sustaining structure of the congregation. It is the whole bible that reiterates these matters for both the nation of Israel (Exodus 18) and for the local congregation (Acts 6). There is One Book, One Author and One People in Messiah.
Since the congregation is the local expression and testimony of God’s faithfulness in Messiah, outreach “to the Jew first” is explored and applications made, even though discipleship is the same for both the Jewish and non-Jewish people that come to faith.
Since our mandate from Yeshua is to “make disciples” not just decisions, a great deal of our time is spent on the matters pertaining to discipleship. It is jarring for many leaders to realize that their congregants may be merely acculturated and not discipled in the faith, and just how this problem accounts for much of the disunity and discontent that some congregations experience. To further apply these discipleship principles and practices in the congregation, we provide three breakout sessions: for children’s ministry led by Mrs. Debbie Holford, women’s ministry led by Miriam Nadler, and men’s ministries led by me.
By the end of the conference, there is a real sense of spiritual unity and comradery as we recognize what the Lord has accomplished over the two days knitting our hearts together in love so that we may all return in the grace of God and edify those we’re privileged to serve and further our outreach to the greater Jewish communities where we are located.
Please keep in prayer our follow-up as Word of Messiah will work with several of the attending congregations to assist them with application of the principles and address the further training each may need to more effectively reach out to the Jew first! Also please remember to pray for all the Word of Messiah ministries coming, especially the many Passover outreaches that will be conducted.
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Upcoming Events
Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Remembrance Day
Wednesday Evening
April 11th at 7:00 PM
Hope of Israel Congregation
11630 Elm Lane
Charlotte NC 28277
For More Information
Mar 28, 6:00pm: Carmel Baptist, Matthews NC
Mar 30, 6:00pm: Hope of Israel/WMM Annual Passover Banquet
Apr 8-11, 12:00pm: Fireside Chat, Dallas, TX
Apr 15, 11:00am: Secrest Grove Bapt., Monroe, NC
Apr 22, 11:00am: First Presbyterian, Lenoir, NC
Apr 29, 8:30am: Millers Creek Bapt., Millers Cr., NC
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Messiah in The Feasts of Israel
God’s redemptive plan is unveiled through the Feasts of Israel. Discover how these appointed times of God are still relevant for our lives today as they illustrate what Messiah has done for us, and what He has yet to do! Learn the details of each of the Feasts, their fulfillment in Messiah, and their implications for your life.
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Word of Messiah Ministries
Upcoming Events
Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Remembrance Day
April 11th at 7:00 PM
Hope of Israel Congregation
11630 Elm Lane
Charlotte NC 28277
Sam Nadler
Sam's Speaking Events:Mar 28, 6:00pm: Carmel Baptist, Matthews NC
Mar 30, 6:00pm: Hope of Israel/WMM Annual Passover Banquet
Apr 8-11, 12:00pm: Fireside Chat, Dallas, TX
Apr 15, 11:00am: Secrest Grove Bapt., Monroe, NC
Apr 22, 11:00am: First Presbyterian, Lenoir, NC
Apr 29, 8:30am: Millers Creek Bapt., Millers Cr., NC
SCHEDULE A SPEAKER
From the BOOKSTORE
+ Shipping & Handling
Messiah in The Feasts of Israel
God’s redemptive plan is unveiled through the Feasts of Israel. Discover how these appointed times of God are still relevant for our lives today as they illustrate what Messiah has done for us, and what He has yet to do! Learn the details of each of the Feasts, their fulfillment in Messiah, and their implications for your life.
VISIT OUR BOOKSTORE
TODAH! (Thank you!)
Your prayers and support are invaluable as we share the Good News, establish healthy Messianic congregations, and equip the Body of Messiah around the world in our shared calling to bring the Good News of Yeshua "to the Jew 1st and also to the Gentile."
GIVE ONE-TIME GIFT
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P.O Box 79238
Charlotte, North Carolina 28271, United States
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