THE PERFECT PASSOVER, by Ya'acov Wolfaardt
When we get together for Pesach,
what do we do? - How do we celebrate it? The purpose of this article is not to
influence believers but rather to encourage and guide them into the observance
of Yahueh’s appointed times.
Even before we can observe
Pesach, we first of all need to determine the first month of the Hebrew calender, called the month Aviv. Way. / Lev. 23:5. In the
month of Aviv, which is springtime in Israel, we should be able to find signs
of barley ears forming in the fields. For this purpose many believers go to
Israel at this time of the year to see for themselves if they do find green
ears on the fields. If they are not found, it is not yet springtime in Israel.
What is the purpose of finding these green ears? If we read further in Wayyiqra (Leviticus) 23, verse 10, we see that Yahueh
expected Israel to take the first-fruits (a sheaf) of the harvest as a wave-
offering before Him. If no barley is found in the field, it was not possible to
bring this offering before Him. This wave-offering was only brought before
Yahueh by the priests - not the common people. Because we don’t have a Levitical priesthood today, it is no longer possible to do
this.
Once we have determined when the
month Aviv is, we can proceed to determine the first of the month, which is the
time when we see the visible New Moon on the horison
of the sky - just after sunset. When you have seen the New Moon, you can start
counting to the Day of Passover, which is on the 14th of Aviv.
For those of you who wish to
proceed with the Pesach lamb meal as part of your Pesach preparation, you have
to keep one more aspect in mind. On the 10th day of Aviv you must catch (or
buy) yourself a year old male lamb or goat - without blemish. Shem. Ex. 12:3-5.
This lamb must then be kept separate from the other animals until the 14th day
(on which it is slaughtered). Please notice, that this Pesach-lamb is very much
the same as all the other meat that you eat from day-to-day, with one
difference; it is much more special, because Scripture tells us why we have to
slaughter and eat it.
On the 14th Day of Aviv, we
observe Pesach. “Between the evenings” we slaughter the lamb, take some of its
blood and put it in a bowl. Why? Because we must put some of it on our
door-posts and lintels! Shem. / Ex. 12:7, 13, 14. You may reason that this was
only for that first Pesach that Israel kept in the wilderness. Can it do any
harm if you still keep it today? After all, Scripture says that we should
observe the (whole) festival as an everlasting law! Who are we to decide that
we can cut out some portions of Scripture. Putting the
blood on the doorposts and lintel reminds us of 2 things - [1]
That Yahueh spared or saved all the first-born of Israel, and [2] that through
the atoning blood of Yahushua we have also been spared or saved!
If you have never slaughtered an
animal before, you will for the first time very deeply appreciate what Yahushua
went through for us - He was slaughtered like a lamb for our sins. He was
innocent, and had to die for us.
A stumbling block to many is Shem. / Ex. 12:9, “Do not eat it raw, nor boiled
at all with water, but roasted in fire, its head with its legs and its inward
parts.” Does this mean that we should leave it with the head, legs and inward
parts when we roast it? Do you for one moment think that Yahueh wants us to
suffer while we eat the Pesach? Never! None of it shall be buried - everything
must be roasted in fire. This does not mean that we should roast the lamb with
all its inward parts. If we don’t cut the lamb open, the blood cannot come out.
We are not allowed to eat the blood or the fat, remember! All this passage says
is that the animal must be roasted in fire, the head must be roasted in fire,
the legs must be roasted in fire, and all the inward parts must be roasted in
fire. By implication everything that is not eaten, must be burnt before the
next morning! Verse 10. Remember, no bone shall be
broken when you prepare your lamb - just as none of Yahushua’s
bones were broken.
What we do, for practical reasons
is to make one fire, split it in two at some stage (or make 2 fires); burn the
skin, inward parts, dung and head, and roast the lamb on a separate fire.
We also use a spit to roast the
lamb - like any other braai (bar-b- que). It takes about 3 to 4 hours for a lamb to roast.
After the meat is roasted, the
women would at that stage also be ready for the main Pesach meal - just as Yahushua’s Talmidim prepared for
them. We cut some of the meat off the carcass and take it into the house where
we will commemorate Pesach, just as Yahushua did. Remember, Pesach is a meal,
with specific remembrances.
At the table we will take the
fruit of the vine (to some this is wine, and to some grape juice - to us it is
wine), break Matza and bitter herbs as part of our
meal. Almost at the end of the meal we will once again break the Matza, thank Yahueh for saving our flesh from perishing,
commemorating Yahushua’s body that was pierced for
our sins, and the haste with which Israel had to leave Mitsrayim. We will also
take the cup (of wine or grape juice), thank Yahueh for the blood of Yahushua
that had to flow for our sins and share the most important time of our
salvation. The bitter herbs that we eat with the meal
commemorates the hard labour that Israel underwent in Mitsrayim, and our
hard slavery to sin.
After the Pesach meal and
remembrance, we take water to wash each other’s feet as Yahushua was our
example. We wash each other’s feet to remind us that we should not be masters
but servants. We should at all times be willing to serve each other and
foremost, we should serve our Mashiach Yahushua who
made all of this possible.