April 2015

Dr. James W. Goll is the President of Encounters Network, the International Director of Prayer Storm, and the Founder of God Encounters Training – an eSchool of the Heart. He is an internationally respected prophetic voice, a prolific author, and an insightful teacher and preacher. In this month's devotional, James reminds us of the importance of the upcoming Passover.

The week of April 4th through April 10th, 2015, is celebrated as the Feast of Passover. Note that in the Jewish calendar, a day begins on the sunset of the previous day, so observing Jews will celebrate Passover on the sunset of Friday, the 3rd of April. Most of the Christian church worldwide will likewise celebrate Easter on Sunday, April 5th, as the day that Jesus rose from the grave! Hallelujah!

I am grateful for all the traditional Seders that are being held as believers from across the nations celebrate the biblical Jewish roots of our Christian faith. I have participated in various forms of a Seder meal for years, discovering a rich understanding and honoring of our Jewish roots.

Passover always comes on the 14th of the biblical month of Nisan (also called Abib), always with a full moon. Israel needed no lighted torches on the night of their deliverance – nor did the Roman soldiers on the night of Jesus' betrayal.

Remember the night of Israel’s deliverance and remember the night of Jesus’ betrayal when He sat with His close friends for the last time.

The Feasts Prophetically Speak

There are seven Feasts of the Lord celebrated in the Jewish faith each year. Passover is the very first major feast, followed by the Feasts of Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and finally Tabernacles. All seven of these memorial feasts are celebrated throughout the biblical year in strategic succession. Each of these feasts are prophetic in nature and each point to Jesus Christ the Messiah, the Son of God, the Lamb of God.

All seven of these Jewish Feasts are previews of coming attractions, each fulfilled by Christ Jesus and the New Covenant. The first four Jewish feasts have already been fulfilled during Christ’s first coming through His life, death, resurrection, and ascension. As New Covenant believers, our understanding is that the remaining three feasts are yet to be fulfilled with details surrounding the second coming of Jesus.

Passover Declares Salvation

The Feast of Passover prophetically speaks of our personal salvation. It points to the spotless Lamb of God (Jesus) and the necessity of His shed blood on the cross. God’s severe judgments on a sinful, unbelieving world are placed on Christ willingly. Isaiah tells us, “All we like sheep have gone astray and each of us has turned to his own way. But the iniquity of us all has fallen on Him.” (Isaiah 53:6) This is the “beauty from ashes” story of the work salvation of the sacrificial Passover Lamb.

He bears the bitterness of slavery and mankind’s addiction to sin; He enables the believer to escape worldly entanglements and live a life free from sin. He who knows the Son is free indeed!

In Passover, we find historical and spiritual reasons for the preparation of the unleavened bread in view of the hasty and dangerous journey ahead of the Israelites who were held in Egyptian captivity. “Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.” Exodus 12:15.

Throughout Israel’s generations, this simple biblical commandment to cleanse one’s home and life from leaven became the launching pad for the entire feast progression. This command to “eliminate sin and de-clutter” one’s life leads us into our own personal salvation journey. It starts with the exodus from Egypt’s slavery and ends with the great and final celebration when God “tabernacles with men” at the Feast of Tabernacles.

On the last night before Passover, the father in a Jewish home is conducting a ceremonial cleansing of leaven by going through his house with a candle, a feather, a wooden spoon and a linen napkin. The final piece of leaven is found (in a prearranged place) with the help of the candle. The father takes the feather and brushes the bread crumbs unto the wooden spoon. Everything is then wrapped in the linen napkin. The following morning everything is burned in a fire outside as he confesses before God that he has cleansed his home from all known leaven. Then the home is ready for the celebration of Passover.

The symbolism in this preparation is powerful. The candlelight refers to the illumination of the Scriptures that exposes sin in our lives. The feather symbolizes the power of the Holy Spirit helping us to repent when we ask God to help us. The wooden spoon refers to the tree where Yeshua took our sins upon Himself. Finally, the fire of the Holy Spirit burns out all trace of sin, making us clean and ready for the Feast.

Let us prepare ourselves by cleaning out all wickedness and sin from our lives, and then celebrate the Feast in obedience to the command of Yeshua, “Do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19)

Christ Is Our Passover Lamb!

Let’s get rid of the old yeast, that you may be a new batch without yeast – as you really are. “For Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Cor. 5:6-8)

The Lamb of God who was slain has risen and will return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Praise His Name forever!

Prayer Directives

So let’s pray this month that:

1. As we celebrate Passover and Easter, we will focus on the gift of the Cross and fall in love with Jesus all over again.
2. That we as a Body will begin to walk in the full manifestation of the freedom of sin’s “leaven” in our lives, manifesting the fruits of Holy Spirit and the character and nature of Christ in greater and greater measures.
3. As we reflect on the incredible gift of the Cross that has saved us and set us free in love and by grace, we will passionately intercede for the lost to come to know Jesus as Savior and Lord.
4. Thanks to the Passover Lamb, Christ Jesus, every manifestation of sin and death is defeated, the enemy is overcome, and we will enter into a new level of signs, wonders and miracles that testify of Jesus the Savior as Lord, Deliverer, Healer, Provider and Protector.
5. As we remember the tree of Israel that we are grafted into by the sacrifice of Jesus, we will pray for Israel and intercede for this precious nation whose people are the apple of God’s eye, praying for their peace, protection, and revelation of Jesus as Messiah.

Blessings as You Celebrate and Remember! James W. Goll Founder of EN • PS • CA Best Selling Author www.encountersnetwork.com

Resources

Want more? Then may we suggest these new resources by James W. Goll: