Holy Days
Part One
How Shall We Keep the Passover?
I am going to begin my thoughts about Passover with the following parable taught by Yeshua. Later I will describe how this parable relates to the present situation of the remnant people. Yeshua said "When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first." (Luke 11:24-26) Now let me explain how this Parable relates to the Passover and the other Holy Days.
In our quest in find peace and reconciliation with our Creator, our paths led us through many differing religious organizations. Yes we found some truth there and in certain aspects, these truths helped along our way! We admired the men and women who possessed knowledge beyond our own understanding while they nurtured and cared for our spiritual needs. But like the parable of the evil spirit being swept out of the house, we removed from our hearts everything that our teachers warned would spoil our ultimate salvation. And with a clean heart eager for knowledge, a place was made in our soul to accommodate the seven devils of Babylon “a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird.” (Revelation 18:2)
Let me further explain further. For many of us, our first introduction into the Mosaic code (which includes the festivals) came through the viewpoints of religious systems offering zero tolerance relating to the unique practices of the Hebrew people. Out of obedience and respect for what has been called “Christian tradition” we unwittingly adopted these viewpoints along with alternate religious practices forbidden by the word of God. Hence the seven devils came and infiltrated our souls. They manipulated us (through the doctrines we learned to trust) to rise up against the commandments and ceremonies which the Father transmitted to Moses. But fortunately, the light of God’s word succeeded to penetrate through the confusion of these doctrines. And with it, a desire came upon us to obey what His word revealed. Yet because we were never previously taught to “fully obey” the instructions of Moses, we deferred to a new set of leaders who preached doctrines to regulate our beliefs about this new light.
These new doctrines advised us to keep certain commandments, yet teach us that many others were negated for the same reasons as our previous religious institutions from which we came. Hence the devils of Babylon that we swept away when we embraced the “new light” are returning to govern our house all over again. The cycle I have described is real and continues to divide the remnant. This cycle will not stop until we “fully obey”! “Fully obey what?” You might ask. Let me quote the passage I took this term from. “If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.” (Deuteronomy 28:1) Take a look at the religious practices that you are about to commit yourself to and simply compare them to instructions that Moses was given. Are your practices and beliefs different from what was written by Moses? If so, ask yourself why? The answer is simple. It is because we (the Remnant) have still not taught to be carefully to obey everything and belief what Moses taught!
The remnant is currently experiencing a progression of Light. I would liken this progression to an archaeologist digging his way down through the sediment to locate something from a very ancient age. After months of much sweat and toil, he finally locates an old coin! But as he cleans the coin, he realizes that it only dates back a few hundred years. So he tosses the coin aside and continues to dig. He knows that his dig will be successful he locates articles going back 3500 years. So it is with those who are seeking the truth. Many of the things we are discovering along the way are based upon human traditions. I would liken these traditions to that old coin. Many are satisfied to stop as they make what I would call superficial discoveries. But the real truth seekers will not be satisfied with their venture until they dig all the way down and obey the word as it was originally stated. In essence, the remnant will struggle to realize the true meaning of the Passover until we are willing to obey the word as it has been written. We have a long ways to go.