Many times in the scripture the true Passover (as performed according to the instructions which were codified in Exodus 12) has been followed by cataclysmic events. The destruction of Sodom, Egypt and Canaan are all examples of the above statement and will be discussed in this article. Is it possible that the great tribulation will also begin with a True Passover?

[Note: This is continued from the Last Days Sequence of Events Overview]

Will a True Passover Initiate the Great Tribulation?

A true Passover is more than a mere rehearsal of the deliverance of Israel’s seed from Egypt; it is the redemption of the repentant faithful from the kingdoms of darkness into the kingdom of Yehovah, which is True Israel. I make a distinction between the STATE OF ISRAEL, (those who follow the laws of that man-made government with its statutes, judgments and ordinances and who trust in its Military Intelligence, tanks, ground to air missiles, planes, etc, etc, etc) and True Israel, those who have repented and are diligently learning, doing and teaching our heavenly Father’s statutes, judgments and ordinances. True Israel trusts in Yehovah God (Elohim) exclusively for all their provisions and safety.

A true Passover is a not a corporate redemption but rather an individual and deeply personal one. That may seem obvious to some but I believe we, in ignorance or pride or both, have set aside Yehovah’s instructions concerning Passover which he said should be kept throughout all generations. Ezekiel 45 indicates that Passover will be kept in the Millennium Kingdom; and since Yehovah does not change this makes perfect sense to me.

The Hebrew word “Ezrach” (Strong’s H249) is the man who is born twice. Once by water into some kingdom of the earth and once by the spirit (through his participation in the true Passover) into the land of Israel; he is the man who is born again.

In order for a man to take part in the true Passover, he must first be one who has repented and committed himself to keeping all of Yehovah’s ways from the heart. This man is called a “Ger” (H1616) in the scriptures and can come from any nation; he becomes a Ger and citizen of True Israel through baptism.

Once the Ger is circumcised in the heart, he must be circumcised in the flesh also and then he may partake of the Passover lamb and becomes an Ezrach, as one born in the Land (or one “born again” into the kingdom of Yehovah).

Here are some examples from the scriptures.

The Ger becomes a new creäture once he partakes of the Passover lamb.

Exodus 12:47-49 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. And when a “Ger” (stranger) dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to Yehovah, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be an “Ezrach” (as one who is native-born). For no uncircumcised person shall eat it. One law shall be for the native-born (Ezrach) and for the stranger (Ger) who dwells among you.”

Joshua also provides us with this principle of circumcision prior to Passover; these folks also went through the water (a baptism type of experience) just before they were circumcised and ate their Passover lambs.

The 4th chapter of Joshua begins with the “people” (the am), crossing the Jordan and finishes with “Israel” crossing the Jordan on dry land. What happened in this chapter? They went through the water and were baptized into True Israel!

Joshua 4:19 And the people [עם, am] came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho.

Joshua 4:22 then you shall let your sons know, saying, ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land’;

They became True Israel that day, but they were still not “Born in the land.” Chapter 5 gives us the rest of the story.

Joshua 5:2-3 At that time Yehovah said to Joshua, “Make flint knives for yourself, and circumcise Israel’s seed again the second time.” So Joshua made flint knives for himself, and circumcised Israel’s seed at the hill of the foreskins.

Those who were circumcised in Egypt had died in the wilderness, but their sons had not been circumcised.

Joshua 5:8-10 So it was, when they had finished circumcising all the people, that they stayed in their places in the camp till they were healed. Then Yehovah said to Joshua, “This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” Therefore the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day. Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the true Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho.

Israel’ sees were circumcised, ate the Passover and became an “Ezrach” (as those born in the land) just as they were beginning their and Yehovah’s military campaign against the people who were currently inhabiting the land which was promised to Israel by Yehovah.

The next and final example concerns the circumcision of Abraham in Genesis chapter 17.

And God said to Abraham: “As for thee thou shall keep My covenant, thou and thy seed after thee throughout their generations. This is My covenant which you all shall keep, between Me and you all and thy seed after thee: Every male among you all shall be circumcised; and Thou shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you all. (Genesis 17:9-11)

That very same day Abraham was circumcised, and his son Ishmael; and all the men of his house, born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him. (Genesis 17:26-27 )

This should remind us of the instruction we received in Exodus concerning Passover.

Exodus 12:43-44 And Yehovah said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat it. But every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then he may eat it.

But there is more to this story also; this story requires us to seek with eyes that see and with a heart that understands.

Genesis chapter 18 follows 17! That may sound obvious to some, but these chapters are very closely linked. The casual reader will miss what is there. I did not see it until I read about this event in the book of Jasher. Here is what it said.

Jasher 18:1-4 (1) And Abraham rose and did all that God (Elohim) had ordered him, and he took the men of his household and those bought with his money, and he circumcised them as Yehovah had commanded him. (2) And there was not one left whom he did not circumcise, and Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised in the flesh of their foreskin; thirteen years old was Ishmael when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. (3) And in the third day Abraham went out of his tent and sat at the door to enjoy the heat of the sun, during the pain of his flesh. (4) And Yehovah appeared to him in the plain of Mamre, and sent three of his ministering angels to visit him, and he was sitting at the door of the tent, and he lifted his eyes and saw, and lo three men were coming from a distance, and he rose up and ran to meet them, and he bowed down to them and brought them into his house.

Gen 18:1 Then Yehovah appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day.

Chapter 18 recounts the visit of Yehovah to Abraham while he was sitting at the door of his tent on a very warm day, and the subsequent visit of 3 men. They (who are called men but are really messengers or angels of Yehovah) tell Abraham and Sarah that she will have a son when Yehovah returns to Abraham and Sarah at the “moed” (appointed time – H4150) according to the “time of life” the following year. Therefore, Yehovah is visiting Abraham at the appointed time and He will return at the same time next year also.

When studying this phrase, “the time of life,” I was tempted to write it off as the time of spring; but I could not, as it also mentioned the moed and followed so closely to the circumcision of Abraham. I have long felt that this chapter and the next (chapter 19) which talks about the visit of the two messengers or angels to Lot and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah were closely connected to the Passover for two reasons. Firstly, Lot served the messengers “unleavened bread” the very night that the mob in Sodom came for the messengers/angels.

Gen 19:3 But he [Lot] insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. [Why? The righteous are indoors on the night of the Passover!] Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

And secondly, I found a verse in Revelation that seemed to equate the destruction of Sodom, the destruction of Egypt, and the day Yeshua was crucified, all to the Passover.

Rev_11:8 And their dead bodies [speaking of the two witnesses] will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom [destroyed after Passover] and Egypt [brought to their knees after Passover], where also our Lord was crucified [died on Passover].

To me it seems that Abram was circumcised, and then celebrated the Passover, a “time of Life” or “new life”, a time for being born again.

We will see how the Passover (kept the way it was intended) plays a crucial role in the events of the coming last days. For the tribulation to finish with the fall feasts of Yehovah (the Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement and Feast of Tabernacles) they must begin with the Spring feasts of Yehovah which are Passover and the Feast of unleavened bread. This scenario is in agreement with what we have just seen, Passover and then judgment.

Sodom and Egypt are just small shadow pictures of the real deal. The Day of Coverings (AKA the Day of Atonement) is not for the nations, it is for Israel alone. We must join ourselves to Israel prior to that day or there will be no covering for ourselves nor our wives and children during the coming tribulations. I would expect that the 144,000, who are from all 12 tribes of Israel, will be sealed on this Day of Atonement. If we are not Israel, we can not expect that we will be sealed. The 144,000 sing, as it were, a new song; but it is really a very ancient song which has been sung since the days that man was created. It is the song of righteousness!

(Rev 14:3) They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth.

Yeshua told Nicodemus that we must be born again; this second birth is into the kingdom of True Israel as an Ezrach, a “native-born” of the Land!

(Ezekiel 39:28) Then they shall know that I am Yehovah their Elohim, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer.

I have developed a series of five movies that describe what I refer to The Process of Becoming Born Again.

Continued here: (2) A Nation Born In A Day?

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