3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man must get one lamb for the people in his house.~ The LORD in Exodus 12 verse 3 NCV
The 10th of Nisan (1st month of Jewish Religious Calendar)
Imagine you are a visitor to Jerusalem during the Passover feast. There are millions of people all over an there is an energetic buzz about the city because this Nazarene Prophet has been seen! You hear that He, and His followers are right outside of Jerusalem’s gates! they are making their way to hopefully, the Temple area. You’ve heard of the many miracles Jesus has done. And you are excited to just be able to get a glimpse of this wonderful Rabbi. You start rushing towards the area they said he’s coming through, only to see thousands upon thousands of people already lined up holding palm branches ahead of you. All have this blessed hope that finally there will be another king of the Jews! The expectation of the long awaited Messiah of Israel has culminated to this point….
You don’t care, you just want to get a glimpse of this Man who is being called the Messiah. In four days the Passover feast will be held & hopefully a new King will be crowned…You find yourself yelling out Yeshua’s name…Save now, Yeshua! Save Now Yeshua! I pick you!
Os Roca
Today March 23, 2021, should be the real Palm Sunday. This day should be celebrated every year at the right time. You see, about 2000 years ago, the 10th of Nissan landed on a Sunday.
Palm Sunday & Easter Sunday don’t always land on Sundays. Christians all over the world celebrate Palm Sunday every year & that’s quite fine to do. But when you really take a look at the Feasts of the LORD, you will see that the 10th day of the first Month of the Hebrew calendar is something beautiful & incredible.
Os Roca
In Exodus chapter 12, God orders Moses and the rest of Israel to commemorate Nissan as the First month of the year, and with this, came the Spring Feasts in Exodus 12, Leviticus 23, and Numbers 28. There is a time line given to Moses by God. Moses then, writes all these Holy Days, Moedim’s, Holy Convocations or Rehearsals down for all of Israel to follow. These convocations are not voluntary. They are mandated by God Himself as His Holy Feasts in Leviticus 23.
There is a precise & powerful reason why God commanded these rehearsals to be practiced yearly in the order God gave to Moses.
Os Roca
The Israelites would have to practice these Holy Feasts on the exact time and dates He gave Moses to pass on to all of Israel. We see in Exodus 12:3-4— that during the First month on the 10th day, all of the households would have to pick an unblemished year old male lamb or goat from their flocks. If people were too poor to have their own lambs, they could share with other members of the community who were close to them.
Then, God tells Moses in Exodus 12:5-6— That this lamb should have no blemishes( H8549 Tamim) meaning, no unhealthy markings, and having all of his parts in tact. Each family was to take the little lamb into their house and tend to it. Then on the 14th day of the same month ( Exo 12:6), they were to take the little lamb and kill it. The blood would be drained into a basin, where they would take it to the doorposts of their homes and ‘paint’ it on to the top, and sides of the door frames. Then they would take the lamb and barbecue it and everyone in the household would eat it.
FIRST PASSOVER:
Exodus tells us the story of the First Passover, but it’s so much more. You see, God made sure that the Israelites would rehearse this over and over, every year after year, in order to preserve the integrity of what He wanted to convey in these latter times.
Israel practiced Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Pentecost, Day of the Trumpet blasts, Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles for one specific reason—They tell His Story. Whose story? Yeshua’s story.
Os Roca
We in the western world know Him as Jesus. But His name, like the Feasts, has such a deeper meaning in Hebrew. Westerners hear the Name ‘Jesus’, and have a reverence to it. But the Hebrew name Joshua H3091, means salvation or to save…
And the little lamb that was slain on the first Passover, would also have a future, deeper, defining meaning for all of humanity. That is for the next blog.
Os Roca
For now, on this day roughly under 2,000 years ago, all of Israel would be picking their sacrificial Passover Lamb. As Jesus for the first time, allowed Himself to be worshipped by the crowds for who He really was, is, and forever will be—The Messiah or Savior of humanity.
This perfect God-Man, rode in on a foal of a donkey (Matthew 21:4-5) , while all of the 2 million plus Jewish visitors were screaming His name calling for salvation from the Roman Empire.
Os Roca
Yet, what I truly believe is that the Jewish people were so desperate for their long awaited Messiah or Anointed One (h4899), because they, since the last golden age of David and Solomon, had been under foreign empires’ claws. Rome was the latest despot to rule over the Israelites.
All of the desperation of their forefathers was climaxing into this perfect, and exact moment, the 10th day of Nissan (which happens to fall today, 3-23-2021), where all of Israel would pick their King to lead them into victory over their long oppressive rulers. People had watched Jesus perform and outwit the ruling members of Israel’s holy congress or Sanhedrin. He had shut both the Pharisees, and Sadducees’ most prolific and wise minds down. Most of the ruling congress or council, disliked this Carpenter from Nazareth. Jesus was becoming a threat to their rule and control. He spoke of fresh things that weren’t new. Jesus spoke and quoted many things that most people had forgotten. Although these ‘fresh’ ideas were from the TORAH, or THE LAW. But unfortunately, like most Christians today, the Jews allowed themselves to be taught by people instead of really delving into God’s word individually.
Had they known the perfect hour of Jesus’ visitation, this LAMB of God, would not have been killed for all of our sins.
Os Roca
But on this ‘Palm Sunday’ or 10th Day of the First month, this humble Carpenter from Nazareth, of the line of Israelite Kings, would ride into millions of people shouting to be saved from their present day Roman bondage. Yet, in reality, the 2 million plus pilgrims who were there on their yearly Passover Holy day convocation, were clamoring for spiritual freedom from the bondage of their sinful nature.
So today, If you don’t know who Jesus is, or don’t know what He did on that Passover almost 2,000 years ago, I would ask you to research what I just gave you. Don’t take my word, or anyone else’s. Making a commitment to, and personally knowing this Jewish Carpenter from Nazareth is a personal matter. No one else can do this for you. You have to spiritually and mentally close your eyes, imagine you are in Jerusalem, and you have heard of this Holy man named Jesus or Yehoshua, the Name that means Salvation. Now imagine you have seen what He has done, how He raise people who were already dead. How He touched and healed thousands of people during His ministry. Then imagine yourself as part of the crowd who is yelling out His name, and crying out Hosannah! Save us Yeshua!
I invite you to know this God-Man who gave His body up for us. Who endured so much for us. And who was, is and will always be the God who saved humanity.
Os Roca
Next post, what this Holy God-Man did for us on that 14th Day of Nissan almost 2,000 years ago...
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PleaseBeStillMoments by Oscar Roca 
Shalom my brother. Great read! Hosanna Hosanna…
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