The Four Cups of Passover

Passover is just around the corner, that joyful celebration of deliverance from physical bondage in Egypt and spiritual bondage from sin.

The four cups of Passover are deeply symbolic.  They have been around in Jewish tradition for thousands of years.  Two cups are drank before dinner, and the other two after dinner.

The cups are based on the four "I Will" statements from Exodus 6:6-7.  Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.  I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

The first cup is the cup of Sanctification.  That word means holy, or set apart.  God set apart the Israelites as His chosen people.  In the Seder, the first cup is called the Kiddush, which comes from the same root word as Kadosh, meaning holy.

The second cup is the cup of Judgement.  When Yeshua was praying in the garden, He asked his father to take this cup from him.  But to do His father's will, He agreed to "drink of it" so that we would not have to. 

The third cup is the cup of Redemption.  Just as the Lord God redeemed Israel from Egypt with an outstretched arm, so too did Yeshua redeem us with His outstretched arm on the cross.  During the Seder that night, Yeshua instutited the new covenant, which had been promised to Israel in Jeremiah 31:31.  Luke 22:20 tells us, Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.  Jesus was literally sealing the new covenant promise with this third cup of the Seder, the Cup of Redemption.  He did not drink of it Himself, therefore excluding Himself from redemption so that He could become redemption for us.  He gave the cup to His disciples to drink, in order to seal the deal with them.

The fourth cup, called the Cup of Praise, is reserved for the future wedding of the Lamb.  This is why Yeshua promised that He would not drink of the fruit of the vine with them until the Kingdom of God is set up on Earth when He returns.

Jesus came to Earth to become our sacrificial Passover Lamb.  This is the pivotal point of all history, the fulfillment of God's promise in the garden to send a redeemer who would crush satan's head. 

 

Unfortunately, the church was overtaken by Rome in the fourth century, and all Jewish forms of worship were made illegal. The rich, Biblical foreshadowing of what Yeshua fulfilled at Passover (and Unleavened Bread, and Feast of Firstfruits) was swapped for a pagan festival named after a Babylonian fertility goddess.   "Easter" (or Ishtar, or Ashtoreth, or Astarte, or Eostre - they are all the same) had been celebrated by pagans for thousands of years before Yeshua came to Earth to redeem us.

I was an adult before I knew that the "Last Supper" was a Passover Seder. 

I don't know about you, but it seems quite incongruous to me to celebrate our redemption by the Passover Lamb with an Easter Ham... just sayin'!

Tongues of Men and Angels?

Ahh, the gift of tongues.

I believe no other subject causes more division in the church (unless you count music styles or which Bible version one must use).

For the sake of this post, let's say there are two groups of people - Christians that speak in tongues (Group A), and Christians who do not (Group B).

I belonged to Group B for about the first 15 years of being a believer, and didn't have too much exposure to Group A.  I was born again in a church that taught that the spiritual gifts are no longer for today, because the Bible was complete and the Holy Spirit power gifts (such as tongues, prophecy, miracles, etc) weren't needed anymore.  There was always this unspoken implication (okay, I have actually heard people speak it, too) that speaking in tongues verged on the demonic, and that it blasphemed the Holy Spirit.  And frankly, the idea of speaking in tongues was a little weird!

But I kept meeting people who had this strange gift.   I grew curious about it, because the people didn't SEEM like they were the spawn of satan.  (Although I WAS really irritated by the woman who told me that I was probably not born again because I didn't speak in tongues).

I reached a turning point almost three years ago when I went on a mission trip to Mexico.  I was blown away by the presence of God in the place we visited.  I purchased a book written by the founder, Charla Pereau, in which she gives her testimony, called Charla's Children.  She'd been saved as a child and was a good Lutheran housewife in her 40s - looking forward to her youngest child entering school so that she would have more free time to have coffee and grocery coupon parties with other moms while the kids were at school.

The Holy Spirit wrecked her comfortable life.

Like me, she had been taught that tongues or the other miraculous gifts were NOT for today.  But for her, the subject kept coming up through different people that she came in contact with.  Eventually, she received the baptism of the Holy Spirit (along with the gift of tongues), all the while kicking and vehemently protesting!  But the Holy Spirit really got ahold of her and changed her life.  She will be the first to say that it was because of His power in her life that she was led to found the orphanage in Mexico that eventually grew into a full-fledged mission featuring many ministries and outreaches.

It was a combination of seeing the fruit of the mission, and then reading her book, that totally changed my thinking on the matter of tongues (and the other gifts of the Holy Spirit as well).  I prayed for, and received, the gift of tongues just over a year ago.

When studying any doctrine, it is important to study everything the Word says about it and not use a "proof-text"  (which is a verse taken out of context to prove a point).  For example, when Paul is encouraging the Corinthian church to make sure there is an interpreter, he is chiding that congregation for its absolute chaos.  They were immoral, carnal, full of strife... spiritual babes not ready yet for meat.  He was trying to teach them to tone it down a little, for heaven's sake. 

Putting all the passages on a topic together and then studying them out is called "systematic theology."  Doing so gives one a much more balanced doctrinal viewpoint.

One thing to remember is that scripture teaches that there are different kinds of tongues.  There is the kind in Acts 2, when the apostles were able to speak the languages of all the people visiting Jerusalem for Shavuot (Pentecost).  This happened to my friend Patty - she was able to speak Spanish in an emergency when she didn't know Spanish.

1 Corinthians 14:2 gives us a glimpse of another kind of tongue -  For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.  Chapter 12 lists a variety of gifts, including tongues, that the Holy Spirit distributes according to the will of God.  Mark 16:17 promises that this would happen - And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues - the Greek word for "new," kainos, means just that:  a new kind, unprecedented, novel, uncommon, previously unheard of.

So are they wrong?  Those denominations and seminaries who claim that tongues are not for today? After all, scripture teaches that where there are tongues, they will cease (1 Corinthians 13:8).

I do believe that they have legitimate reasons for what they teach, and it has to do with church history.

The letter to the seven churches in Revelation gives us a prophetic and sequential picture of what was going to happen in the church throughout the messianic age, leading up to the return of Jesus.  Each one, in order, coincides with what took place, and is taking place, in church history.  (Seven represents completeness in scripture).  If you would like more information, click on the "Seven Churches" label on the right side of this page and have a look.

Anyway, the church separated itself from her Jewish roots beginning in about the fourth century, which led to mass confusion and corruption.  The church in the middle ages is represented by the church at Thyratira (the corrupt church), followed by the Reformation Age church, represented by Sardis (the dead church).  These were eras where there wasn't a whole lot of Holy Spirit action.  (I struggled with the Reformation church being called dead, until I realized that, in the words of Jesus, a grain of seed must fall to the ground and die before new life could spring up.) 

The next church, Philadelphia, is a church that sprang to life after the turmoil of the Reformation.   The great Missionary age was born, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit began to return.

Here is where it gets exciting!  The Pentecostal movement was born at the same time as modern day Zionism, which really took off in the late 1800s.  Think of the Welsh Revival and the Azuza Street revival in the early 1900s, and there have been many other great revivals since then.  Now that Israel has become a nation again, the words of Joel 2 (he is speaking of the last days) are literally being fulfilled now: 

And it shall come to pass afterward
That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions.
And also on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
 
I know that not everyone will agree with me, and that is fine, but I believe that people on both sides of this doctrine really need to take 1 Corinthians 13:1 to heart:

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

Please, no matter which side you are on, be kind to those who hold to a different doctrine than you do.  Please don't point fingers and call them demonic, blasphemers, unsaved, a lesser Christian, etc. etc.  Remember the prayer that Jesus prayed in the garden before His death, that his believers will be one in Him.  (John 17:20-23). 

Faith, hope, and love remain, but the greatest of these is LOVE!  1 Cor 13:13
 

Hospitality and the Kingdom of God

I have been studying Matthew 10, when Yeshua sent His twelve disciples out.  I love how the new covenant dovetails so beautifully with the old!

But before I get into discussing hospitality, I just want to point out that in verse 6, Yeshua says "But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."  This does not mean that He loves the Gentiles any less, but is putting things in their proper, Biblical order of "to the Jew first."  

The apostles were to take no money or luggage, and were to enjoy the hospitality of righteous ones who were willing to give it.  In turn, they would bring peace upon the household.  Conversely, they were to "shake the dust off their feet" while departing from people or cities who did not receive them.  In Jewish custom, the dust shaking was actually a warning of the judgment of God.  The hospitable ones would receive peace, and the non-hospitible ones would not.

Hospitality is a very important theme in scripture.  We see this very scenario played out in Genesis 18.  Three ushpizin (Hebrew for guests) came to visit Abraham.  Abraham went over the top in showing hospitality to these visitors.  And what happened?  Did peace come to this house?  Yes, indeed!  Genesis 18:10 tells us that Abraham and Sarah are promised a son within the year.

Two of the ushpizin left and headed to Sodom.  The third - which is probably a theophany (pre-incarnate earthly visitation) of the Lord - stayed behind with Abraham while Abraham pleaded for the righteous in the city of Sodom (of which there ended up being less than ten).

In Genesis chapter 19, the two angels arrived in Sodom.  Other than Lot, the people of the city did NOT show the visitors good hospitality.  You can go read the details yourself if you wish.  You know what happened.  Sodom and the nearby city of Gomorrah were destroyed. 

Matthew 10:15 links back to the events of Genesis 18-19:  Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!

The results of Sodom and Gomorrah are repeated in 2 Peter 2:6 - and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; and again in Jude 7 - Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

This Biblical lesson on hospitality is a picture of those who will receive Him and those who would reject Him.  Matthew 10:40 wraps up the importance of hospitality:  He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent me.
 

Salvation, Salvation, Salvation

Many believers think that all they need to do is "ask Jesus into their heart" and they are saved.  Boom.  Done. End of story.  Party on.

That is way too simplistic.

Let's start with 1 Thessalonians 5:23 - Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This verse is a great picture of the human creature, a whole being made up of three parts.

• Spirit - The Greek word is pneuma, from which we get the word pneumonia.    It literally means breath, or wind, or vital spirit, which is breathed into us by God at birth. The verb form of this word pnein means to blow or breathe.

• Soul - The Greek word is psuche.  Think of the English word psyche.  This is the inner workings of our minds.  Our inner man, so to speak; our very being, our capability of rational thought.

• Body - The Greek word is soma. This is our physical bodies - our flesh.

When man sinned, death entered the world.  Our breath will eventually leave our bodies, our minds are given over to corruption, and our bodies - well, they pretty much start to deteriorate early on in life.

Our salvation is also threefold. 

Our initial salvation happens when we submit our lives to Yeshua and are redeemed through His atonement, or sacrifice on the cross, for our sins. A transaction takes place when we turn to Him in repentance. This is called our justification, and we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Our spirit becomes alive because of Him!   If you are not sure that you have been redeemed, you probably have not yet done this yet.  He is waiting for you to respond to his invitation!  Confess to Him your sin and receive His forgiveness.  He can do this because He paid our death penalty on the cross, even though He lived a perfect life and did not owe that penalty.

We are also saved through sanctification.  This is the process of becoming more like our Messiah as we live out the rest of our lives by the renewing of our minds.  This happens through focusing on Him, living for Him, and learning more about Him.    Philippians 2:12 tells us to work OUT (not FOR) our salvation with fear and trembling.

Our final salvation is yet to come.  We are saved through glorification.  When Yeshua returns to Earth, we are given a new, immortal body.  This is our ultimate and complete salvation.  1 Corinthians 15:52-53 says the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

This salvation is only made possible through Yeshua.  Matthew 1:21 tells us "And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus (the Greek form of Yeshua, which means salvation), for He will save His people from their sins.”

Taking His Name...

Exodus 20:7 tells us not to take the name of the Lord in vain.

What exactly does that mean?  Does it mean saying OMG when you are not speaking to Him or about Him?  For years, that is what I thought, and it was my pet peeve when people (including Christians) would throw His name around like that.

But I have come to believe that dropping one of His titles casually like that is the very tip of the iceberg.  In fact, the word "God" isn't really His name. 

When Moses asked who He was at the burning bush, He replied, I am.  (Yahweh - a name so holy that the Jewish people will not write it out or say it, in case they might stumble over it).  Whenever you see the word LORD in capital letters, it is the Hebrew word spelled yod heh vav heh - the tetragrammaton. 

 

I believe that this concept goes much deeper than a mere utterance.  What does it mean to take someone's name?  When we women get married, most of us take on the name of our husband.  When we receive Yeshua as our Lord and Savior, we become the covenant Bride of Messiah - we take on His name! 

 

 

 

I believe the commandment is telling us not to live a life in vain of that calling.  How we live our life matters!  Are we living in such a way as to bring glory and honor to our holy Bridegroom?  The Word tells us to be holy because He is holy (Leviticus 11:44, 1 Peter 1:16).  The word holy means to be sanctified, set apart; in other words, to be different from the world around you as you live out a life of obedience to the Master.

 

I no longer cringe when I hear unbelievers use the OMG expression.  They have not yet taken on His name!  Are you a believer in Yeshua/Jesus?  As the bride of Messiah, you have a high calling and are commanded to live a life worthy of that calling.  What a blessing!

The Gathering, Part 2

Daniel's seventieth week, the seven years leading up to the Lord's return, will be hard. And I have to say that it drives me crazy that so many pastors simply won't deal with it.  Perhaps they can't defend what they were taught in seminary.  I've heard some say that they just don't want to cause division.  Where is the iron sharpening iron?  We are to be LOOKING for the return of the Lord and many churches avoid the subject completely.  Often we hear Hebrews 10:25 preached in regard to church attendance, but they forget to mention the second half of the verse:  exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.  That would be the Day of the Lord.  The return of the Messiah.  We are supposed to be WATCHING for it.

Revelation chapter 6 talks about the seals of the scroll being opened.  What is the scroll?  Daniel 12:1 and 12:4 reveal to us that it is the book that contains the names of His people who will be delivered.  Look what verse 9 says:  And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.  Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.

During the breaking of the seals in Revelation (before the scroll is opened), there is plenty going on, and it is amazing how there is a precise parallel to Matthew 24.  Let's look at the seals in Revelation and how they compare to Matthew.

• Seal One (Rev 6:2)  And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.  It sounds like someone who has been given the ruling power of a king - could this be the antichrist?  Matthew 24 says And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 

 

• Seal Two.  Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.  Matthew 24:6 says:  And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.

• Seal Three.  Behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.  And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, "“A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.”  Uh oh, food shortages.  Matthew 24:7 - And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.

• Seal Four.  So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.  (It doesn't sound pretty, does it?)  Matthew 24:9 says, “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 

• Seal Five. When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.  And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”  Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.  This is the great tribulation!  Matthew 24: says,   For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.

• Seal Six.   I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold,there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains,  and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”  Look at that - God's wrath is about to begin!  But the tribulation has already happened!  If the pattern continues, we should see a parallel in Matthew 24.  Oh yes, here it is, right in order:   “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (emphasis mine). 

• Seal Seven.  In Revelation, there is a break in the action while the Jewish people are sealed, and then a whole bunch of people show up suddenly in heaven.  Verses 13-14 clarify exactly who they are:  Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?”  And I said to him, “Sir,you know.”So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."  Does Matthew 24 give us a parallel?  You bet it does!  Verse 31 says, And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.   Then in chapter 8, the last seal is broken, the saints are gone, God's covenant people (The Jews) are redeemed and sealed, and God prepares to pour out His wrath on the earth.  This harmonizes what is recorded in 1 Thessalonians 5:9... For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The short version of "happily ever after" is that when God's wrath is complete, the wedding of the Lamb will take place and we will dwell with Him on Earth during His thousand year reign.  It will be the seventh millenium of human history - a Sabbath, if you will; following the pattern of the week of creation.  Satan will be bound and it will be a time of peace and safety.  A honeymoon with our Messiah!  After that, Satan is released for a short time and vanquished, and the New Jerusalem will come down from the heavens and join with the New Earth to be our dwelling place with Him.

I'd like to see HGTV top THAT home makeover!  

The Gathering, Part 1

Back in the 90s, when the Left Behind books were so popular, I (like many others) became interested in End Times theology.  Having been raised Catholic, the "End Times" was not something that was ever taught or discussed.  So as I began to read the books (and yes, I read them all), it was my first realization that the Bible really did talk of the return of Jesus.  Growing up, I had heard references to the "second coming," but frankly, I had no idea what that meant.

I told my pastor (at that time) that I was reading the Left Behind books, and he said, "That's good, but you really need to watch their theology."  That's all he said.  He did not elaborate, or try to convince me of his own viewpoint.  Hmmm.... the researcher in me really woke up!  (Turns out he was an amillenialist - see the next paragraph to find out what in the world THAT is).

I discovered that there were numerous theological opinions regarding the End of the World.  I began to study all of them.  One thing became clear to me:  the events of the last days are completely centered on Israel!  For centuries, the church taught Replacement Theology and had to allegorize away most of Revelation (amillenialism), because the coming kingdom is centered on God's covenant people in the physical land of Israel.  If you are teaching that the church replaced Israel, Revelation can be a tough book to rationalize.

Today, it seems that within evangelical Christianity, the pre-tribulational rapture viewpoint is the most popular.  This is the idea that the church will be zapped away into heaven before the start of Daniel's seventieth week, which is the final seven years of History on Earth before the Lord's return.  It is a step in the right direction, because at least it acknowledges Israel, but it still separates out the"church" from Israel.  I don't know about you, but I'M grafted in to the commonwealth of Israel and an heir according to the promise to Abraham.

The history of the pre-trib viewpoint goes back to about 1830, with a supposed dream or vision had by a fifteen-year-old girl, Margaret MacDonald in Scotland. 

John Nelson Darby, the founder of a group known as the Plymouth Brethren, began teaching this new theory after visiting Miss MacDonald.

Later, by 1917, C. I. Scofield had published his improved edition of the Scofield Reference Bible which contained the pre-tribulation teachings of Darby and others. Soon many Bible Colleges such as Moody Bible Institute and seminaries such as Dallas Theological Seminary became staunch promoters of dispensational theology that included the doctrine of a pre-tribulation rapture.

In 1970 Hal Lindsey, who attended Dallas Theological Seminary, popularized this teaching with his book titled The Late Great Planet Earth. Several million copies have been sold and a movie by the same title was made.

The more I studied scripture, however, the less I agreed with this point of view.  There were just too many things that didn't line up.  Eventually a friend gave me a book, "The Rapture Question Answered, Plain and Simple," by Robert Van Kampen.  This book helped greatly in clearing up my confusion, and helped to harmonize all the scriptures regarding the End Times for me.  I went on to read his very thick book "The Sign," which helped to further clarify things (even though I don't agree with all of his conclusions).

There are several scriptures that pre-trib people use to help justify their viewpoint.  One is 1 Thessalonians 1:10 -  and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.  See?  God wouldn't have us undergo the wrath that is coming in the tribulation.  Hmmm, ever read Foxe's Book of Martyrs?  There has been persecution and tribulation for believers since Jesus went back to heaven. 

Another verse used is Revelation 3:10, from the letter to the church at Philadelphia:  Because you have kept My command to perservere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.  Bullinger's Greek Lexicon explains "keep from" in this manner:  "to watch over, take care of, keep an eye on, observe attentively."  In other words, it's a promise of protection to the faithful within a sphere of danger.  But it's a promise made to only one of the seven churches in Revelation.  What about the warnings to the other six?  I want to be a part of Philadelphia, the faithful church!

The problem I have with the pre-trib viewpoint is that it assumes that the whole 70th week of Daniel is "the tribulation."  This just ain't so.  The first three and a half years will be relative peace and safety, albeit with birth pangs.  The second half is the great tribulation - severe persecution by satan against the people of God.  The pre-trib view also lumps together the great tribulation and the wrath of God.They are two separate things!  The gathering of the saints DOES happen, just not when the PTs think. 
I have found that Matthew 24 and the seven seals of Revelation 6-8 parallel each other and give us the clearest picture of what is to come.  So in my next post, I will take a closer look at them.  Stay tuned!

Click here for part 2.