Johnny
Apr 4th 2012, 08:24 AM
Ek wil graag 'n e-pos plaas wat ek ontvang het, en dit is 'n langerige een, maar laat my toe (moderators). Dit vertel ons 'n bietjie van hoe die Jode Paasfees hou. Nou voor almal regop spring, ek weet hulle vier asof die Messias nognie gekom het nie, maar ons kan 'n les hieruit leer. Is ons lewens skoon in hierdie tydperk, die belangrikste gebeurtenis vir ons as christinne elke jaar en nog ooit? Is daar nog suurdeeg in jou en my lewe wat verwyder moet word? Die Bruidegom kom vir 'n skoon, rein en heilige gewaste Bruid. Is ons gereed? Ons lewens moet elke dag vry wees van suurdeeg
"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." (Exodus12:15)
With Passover (theFestival of Unleavened Bread) beginning next Friday, all over Israel, every man, woman and child is busy cleaning their closets, shelves, drawers and vehicles in order to be ready for this most important celebration.
https://staticapp.icpsc.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/261268/72f79583a6cc616c3a3d2749e22c05a6/image/jpeg
Passover at the Western (Wailing) Wall in Jerusalem
Preparing for Passover is the ultimate in spring cleaning!
In obedience to the eternal commandment that God gave to the children of Israel to remove leaven (yeast) from their houses, every nook and cranny must be emptied, sorted and wiped inorder to make sure that each dwelling place is free of chametz (leavened products)before Passover begins(Exodus 12:15).
Rabbinical Judaism has taken this single commandment and transformed it into a system that would weary the hardiest of women. All dishes, cutlery, pots and pans, even dish rags must be made “Kosher for Passover.”
https://staticapp.icpsc.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/261268/496f86cc9be27daf77ed0abf62b0e4ac/image/jpeg
Becausethe kitchen is cleared of products that contain leaven or may be
contaminated with it, preparing for Passover is both labor intensive and
expensive. Just prior to Passover, grocery stores in Israel begin tostock
foods that are specially prepared for Passover and guaranteed leaven-free.
The Hebrew signs on the shelves above read "Kosher for Passover."
Many women completely clean their kitchen to such a degree that it sparkles like it did when it was new.
Furthermore, in the weeks prior to Passover, Israeli supermarkets begin to sell products marked with a special “Kosher for Passover” stamp.
These products are guaranteed to be free of leaven, and are eaten in the days before and during the holiday of Passover.
Eating matzah(unleavened bread), however, is saved for the Passover Seder, which is a special ceremonial meal where the story of the exodus from Egypt s recounted.
https://staticapp.icpsc.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/261268/389bb60a9225aef99b4f43b97fc4b860/image/jpeg
TheHaggadah,the text that sets the order of the recounting of the liberation
of the Jewish People from Egypt, is read during the Passover Seder. The
pierced, striped bread of affliction in the bottom right corner is calledmatzah.
Why Fuss over a LittleLeaven (Yeast)?
“A little yeast works throughthe whole batch of dough.” (Galatians 5:9)
In the Bible, yeast symbolizes sin.
Yeast is a powerful metaphor for learning about sin, God, and living a life of holiness.
Yeast is a single-celled fungus that causes dough to rise by consuming the sugars and excreting carbon dioxide as a by product.
And it doesn’t take much yeast to start the process. Yeast is so pervasive that if dough is left on the counter, yeast will attach to the surface of the dough and then make its way throughout the wholeloaf. It’s in the air.
So, just like yeast (leaven)eats away at the sugars in the dough, sin eats away at us and causes us to become separated from God.
“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so thathe will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:2)
https://staticapp.icpsc.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/261268/9da5bfecd945b20a40762bc12c6839f1/image/jpeg
Althoughit is not known when yeast began being used to bake bread, the
earliest records of this practice come from ancient Egypt.
Leaven and the Sin of Pride
“Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch ofdough?” (1 Corinthians 5:6)
When it comes to the leaven as a metaphor, Scripture especially narrows in on the sin of arrogance, boasting, conceit, and pride.
In the same way that a little yeast affects the whole batchof dough, causing it to become puffed up, a little bit of pride and arrogance in people’s hearts causes them to think more highly of themselves than theyought.
We must deal with the leaven in our own hearts, knowing that arrogance is not pleasing to the Lord and pride often precedes our own downfall.
“Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)
https://staticapp.icpsc.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/261268/62a62601b1add15d0d0b3c8f9be25d62/image/jpeg
Titanic Sinking, by Willy Stower
The Titanic: Lethal Effects of Arrogance and Pride
The sin of arrogance can have deadly consequences.
For an example of arrogance, perhaps we need not look any further than the Titanic, which sunk one hundred years ago on April 14, 1912.
The Titanic and her sister ships, the Olympic and the Britannic, were the biggest ships ever made. At almost 900 feet long from stem to stern, they dwarfed the tallest skyscrapers of the time.
Since these ships were outfitted to meet the challenges of the Atlantic, they were supposed to be among the world’s safest ships.
The experts, in their arrogance, believed the Titanic to be unsinkable; nevertheless, the ship snapped like a toothpick after hitting an iceberg and many lives were lost.
https://staticapp.icpsc.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/261268/8cbc479d7fad5fe3cc3182edbff0145c/image/jpeg
Thetraditional Bedikat Chametz (search for leaven) is a ceremony used
to cleanse the home of leaven. These two young boys search for leaven,
using a feather and a spoon to remove it. The chametz (leavened products)
will be burned the next morning in the Bi'ur Chametz ceremony.
Meaningful Jewish Custom: The Search for Leaven (Bedikat Chametz)
At Passover, the Jewish People practice a beautiful custom called bedikat chametz(search for leaven).
The eve before Passover, the leader of the household, usually the father, holds a candle and guides his family around the house.
With the lights extinguished, they search for any remnant of chametz (leavened products) by the light of this single candle.
https://staticapp.icpsc.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/261268/955d7d7dae61689e4d851a2320c6488a/image/jpeg
Thefeather, spoon, candle and prayers for the Bedikat
Chametz ceremony.
The children search every nook and cranny for crumbs of bread that have been hidden ahead of time by the mother.
Each crumb of bread is found with exclamations of delight, “Oh! There it is! I found one!”
This meaningful search continues until the very last crumb of leaven is removed.
These are swept away into a bag using a feather and will be burned the next morning.
https://staticapp.icpsc.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/261268/4ff8ed8536c8fb502a35437d4900f460/image/jpeg
Bi'ur Chametz (burning the leavenedproducts) in Bnei Brak, Israel
On the morning of Erev Pesach (Eve of Passover), one can see little fires burning all over Israel, as each family burns their small pile of chametz.
A special prayer is recited in case any has been missed.
This special ceremony (bedikat chametz) demonstrates how the light of God’s Word, symbolized by the candle, searches our hearts for any pride or arrogance that may be lurking, hidden in the darkness.
The feather symbolizes the work of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) sweeping the sin away.
The bi'ur chametz fire shows how God destroys this leaven, for God is a
consuming fire!
https://staticapp.icpsc.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/261268/e408b9b09fea9ebf176982d6cefcf560/image/jpeg
Bi'ur Chametz: pita bread burning with thedried palm (lulav) and myrtle
(hadass) leftover from Sukkot (six months earlier). To burn thedried palm
and myrtle (holy objects) from the previous biblicalholiday is considered an
additional mitzvah (blessing).
Passover in the NewTestament (New Covenant)
“Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are.” (1Corinthians 5:7)
Just as an overgrowth of yeast in the body may become a systemic infection and must be dealt with before it causes serious physical problems, the ‘leaven’ or sin within the Body of Messiah (Church) must also likewise be dealt with accordingly.
In the Bible, the Apostle Paul makes use of the imagery of Passover and the cleansing of the chametz to exhort the Believers in Corinth to get rid of the sin of malice and wickedness, and live the holy life they are truly capable of
living, free from the bondage to sin.
“Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Messiah, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed.
“Therefore let us keep the Festival [Passover], not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Corinthians 5:7-8)
https://staticapp.icpsc.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/261268/2a77fd2aa4d3460ad90c82f7cd62a3b9/image/jpeg
Passoverat the Western (Wailing) Wall in Jerusalem
The Leaven of False Teachings
In the New Covenant (New Testament), leaven (yeast) can also represent false teachings.
Yeshua warned people to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.
By this Yeshua was not referring to bread, but to their teachings that did not align with the Word of God (Matthew 16:11-12).
The Apostle Paul also warns the Gentiles in the Church to beware the sin of pride and arrogance, particularly in their relationship to the Jewish people.
Furthermore, in the Book of Romans, Paul reminds those who have been supernaturally grafted into the natural olive tree (Israel) by the mercy and grace of God, not to boast over the branches:
“If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.” (Romans11:17-18)
https://staticapp.icpsc.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/261268/07cdd23218cf3288d359efcc57b36362/image/jpeg
Woe unto You, Scribes and Pharisees, byJames Tissot
We must be on our guard against the false teaching of replacement theology in the Church which has led many astray.
This errant doctrine teaches that God has rejected the Jewish People (nation of Israel) and that now the Church is the ‘New Israel.’
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Scripture is clear that God will never forsake His people Israel and will always keep covenant withthem.
“For the Lord will not reject His people; He will never forsake His
inheritance.” (Psalm 94:14)
https://staticapp.icpsc.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/261268/30bb2a45b7dbc2262e7d7ed22abebb04/image/jpeg
Passoverat the Western (Wailing) Wall in Jerusalem
Passover, Leaven, and God’s Plan for Israel and the Church
Arrogance and pride can prevent us from understanding God’s plans and purposes for the Jewish people, Israel, and the role of the Church.
As Passover approaches, let’s remember that temporary blindness has come upon the Jewish People so that salvation would come to the Gentiles, and after that to the nation of Israel.
“Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.” (Romans 11:11)
God can and will lift the veil from the Jewish People’s eyes to see their
Messiah Yeshua, and when the Jewish people accept Yeshua as their Messiah, it will mean resurrection life for the entire world!
“For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their
acceptance be but life from the dead?” (Romans 11:15)
https://staticapp.icpsc.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/261268/f33e6b8d727f703a1a3c3cc361d6fe31/image/jpeg
Handmadeshmura (guarded) matzah being made from grain that has been
under special supervision from the time it was harvested.
During this time when Jewish People are cleansing their homes from leaven, please pray that they will recognize that Yeshua is indeed the Promised Messiah of Israel.
And may we also search our hearts for the leaven ofsin, making them “Kosher for Passover,” so that we may walk in humility, with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Eternity is at the Doorstep of the Jewishpeople in the Holy Land.
"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." (Exodus12:15)
With Passover (theFestival of Unleavened Bread) beginning next Friday, all over Israel, every man, woman and child is busy cleaning their closets, shelves, drawers and vehicles in order to be ready for this most important celebration.
https://staticapp.icpsc.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/261268/72f79583a6cc616c3a3d2749e22c05a6/image/jpeg
Passover at the Western (Wailing) Wall in Jerusalem
Preparing for Passover is the ultimate in spring cleaning!
In obedience to the eternal commandment that God gave to the children of Israel to remove leaven (yeast) from their houses, every nook and cranny must be emptied, sorted and wiped inorder to make sure that each dwelling place is free of chametz (leavened products)before Passover begins(Exodus 12:15).
Rabbinical Judaism has taken this single commandment and transformed it into a system that would weary the hardiest of women. All dishes, cutlery, pots and pans, even dish rags must be made “Kosher for Passover.”
https://staticapp.icpsc.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/261268/496f86cc9be27daf77ed0abf62b0e4ac/image/jpeg
Becausethe kitchen is cleared of products that contain leaven or may be
contaminated with it, preparing for Passover is both labor intensive and
expensive. Just prior to Passover, grocery stores in Israel begin tostock
foods that are specially prepared for Passover and guaranteed leaven-free.
The Hebrew signs on the shelves above read "Kosher for Passover."
Many women completely clean their kitchen to such a degree that it sparkles like it did when it was new.
Furthermore, in the weeks prior to Passover, Israeli supermarkets begin to sell products marked with a special “Kosher for Passover” stamp.
These products are guaranteed to be free of leaven, and are eaten in the days before and during the holiday of Passover.
Eating matzah(unleavened bread), however, is saved for the Passover Seder, which is a special ceremonial meal where the story of the exodus from Egypt s recounted.
https://staticapp.icpsc.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/261268/389bb60a9225aef99b4f43b97fc4b860/image/jpeg
TheHaggadah,the text that sets the order of the recounting of the liberation
of the Jewish People from Egypt, is read during the Passover Seder. The
pierced, striped bread of affliction in the bottom right corner is calledmatzah.
Why Fuss over a LittleLeaven (Yeast)?
“A little yeast works throughthe whole batch of dough.” (Galatians 5:9)
In the Bible, yeast symbolizes sin.
Yeast is a powerful metaphor for learning about sin, God, and living a life of holiness.
Yeast is a single-celled fungus that causes dough to rise by consuming the sugars and excreting carbon dioxide as a by product.
And it doesn’t take much yeast to start the process. Yeast is so pervasive that if dough is left on the counter, yeast will attach to the surface of the dough and then make its way throughout the wholeloaf. It’s in the air.
So, just like yeast (leaven)eats away at the sugars in the dough, sin eats away at us and causes us to become separated from God.
“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so thathe will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:2)
https://staticapp.icpsc.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/261268/9da5bfecd945b20a40762bc12c6839f1/image/jpeg
Althoughit is not known when yeast began being used to bake bread, the
earliest records of this practice come from ancient Egypt.
Leaven and the Sin of Pride
“Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch ofdough?” (1 Corinthians 5:6)
When it comes to the leaven as a metaphor, Scripture especially narrows in on the sin of arrogance, boasting, conceit, and pride.
In the same way that a little yeast affects the whole batchof dough, causing it to become puffed up, a little bit of pride and arrogance in people’s hearts causes them to think more highly of themselves than theyought.
We must deal with the leaven in our own hearts, knowing that arrogance is not pleasing to the Lord and pride often precedes our own downfall.
“Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)
https://staticapp.icpsc.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/261268/62a62601b1add15d0d0b3c8f9be25d62/image/jpeg
Titanic Sinking, by Willy Stower
The Titanic: Lethal Effects of Arrogance and Pride
The sin of arrogance can have deadly consequences.
For an example of arrogance, perhaps we need not look any further than the Titanic, which sunk one hundred years ago on April 14, 1912.
The Titanic and her sister ships, the Olympic and the Britannic, were the biggest ships ever made. At almost 900 feet long from stem to stern, they dwarfed the tallest skyscrapers of the time.
Since these ships were outfitted to meet the challenges of the Atlantic, they were supposed to be among the world’s safest ships.
The experts, in their arrogance, believed the Titanic to be unsinkable; nevertheless, the ship snapped like a toothpick after hitting an iceberg and many lives were lost.
https://staticapp.icpsc.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/261268/8cbc479d7fad5fe3cc3182edbff0145c/image/jpeg
Thetraditional Bedikat Chametz (search for leaven) is a ceremony used
to cleanse the home of leaven. These two young boys search for leaven,
using a feather and a spoon to remove it. The chametz (leavened products)
will be burned the next morning in the Bi'ur Chametz ceremony.
Meaningful Jewish Custom: The Search for Leaven (Bedikat Chametz)
At Passover, the Jewish People practice a beautiful custom called bedikat chametz(search for leaven).
The eve before Passover, the leader of the household, usually the father, holds a candle and guides his family around the house.
With the lights extinguished, they search for any remnant of chametz (leavened products) by the light of this single candle.
https://staticapp.icpsc.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/261268/955d7d7dae61689e4d851a2320c6488a/image/jpeg
Thefeather, spoon, candle and prayers for the Bedikat
Chametz ceremony.
The children search every nook and cranny for crumbs of bread that have been hidden ahead of time by the mother.
Each crumb of bread is found with exclamations of delight, “Oh! There it is! I found one!”
This meaningful search continues until the very last crumb of leaven is removed.
These are swept away into a bag using a feather and will be burned the next morning.
https://staticapp.icpsc.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/261268/4ff8ed8536c8fb502a35437d4900f460/image/jpeg
Bi'ur Chametz (burning the leavenedproducts) in Bnei Brak, Israel
On the morning of Erev Pesach (Eve of Passover), one can see little fires burning all over Israel, as each family burns their small pile of chametz.
A special prayer is recited in case any has been missed.
This special ceremony (bedikat chametz) demonstrates how the light of God’s Word, symbolized by the candle, searches our hearts for any pride or arrogance that may be lurking, hidden in the darkness.
The feather symbolizes the work of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) sweeping the sin away.
The bi'ur chametz fire shows how God destroys this leaven, for God is a
consuming fire!
https://staticapp.icpsc.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/261268/e408b9b09fea9ebf176982d6cefcf560/image/jpeg
Bi'ur Chametz: pita bread burning with thedried palm (lulav) and myrtle
(hadass) leftover from Sukkot (six months earlier). To burn thedried palm
and myrtle (holy objects) from the previous biblicalholiday is considered an
additional mitzvah (blessing).
Passover in the NewTestament (New Covenant)
“Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are.” (1Corinthians 5:7)
Just as an overgrowth of yeast in the body may become a systemic infection and must be dealt with before it causes serious physical problems, the ‘leaven’ or sin within the Body of Messiah (Church) must also likewise be dealt with accordingly.
In the Bible, the Apostle Paul makes use of the imagery of Passover and the cleansing of the chametz to exhort the Believers in Corinth to get rid of the sin of malice and wickedness, and live the holy life they are truly capable of
living, free from the bondage to sin.
“Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Messiah, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed.
“Therefore let us keep the Festival [Passover], not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Corinthians 5:7-8)
https://staticapp.icpsc.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/261268/2a77fd2aa4d3460ad90c82f7cd62a3b9/image/jpeg
Passoverat the Western (Wailing) Wall in Jerusalem
The Leaven of False Teachings
In the New Covenant (New Testament), leaven (yeast) can also represent false teachings.
Yeshua warned people to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.
By this Yeshua was not referring to bread, but to their teachings that did not align with the Word of God (Matthew 16:11-12).
The Apostle Paul also warns the Gentiles in the Church to beware the sin of pride and arrogance, particularly in their relationship to the Jewish people.
Furthermore, in the Book of Romans, Paul reminds those who have been supernaturally grafted into the natural olive tree (Israel) by the mercy and grace of God, not to boast over the branches:
“If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.” (Romans11:17-18)
https://staticapp.icpsc.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/261268/07cdd23218cf3288d359efcc57b36362/image/jpeg
Woe unto You, Scribes and Pharisees, byJames Tissot
We must be on our guard against the false teaching of replacement theology in the Church which has led many astray.
This errant doctrine teaches that God has rejected the Jewish People (nation of Israel) and that now the Church is the ‘New Israel.’
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Scripture is clear that God will never forsake His people Israel and will always keep covenant withthem.
“For the Lord will not reject His people; He will never forsake His
inheritance.” (Psalm 94:14)
https://staticapp.icpsc.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/261268/30bb2a45b7dbc2262e7d7ed22abebb04/image/jpeg
Passoverat the Western (Wailing) Wall in Jerusalem
Passover, Leaven, and God’s Plan for Israel and the Church
Arrogance and pride can prevent us from understanding God’s plans and purposes for the Jewish people, Israel, and the role of the Church.
As Passover approaches, let’s remember that temporary blindness has come upon the Jewish People so that salvation would come to the Gentiles, and after that to the nation of Israel.
“Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.” (Romans 11:11)
God can and will lift the veil from the Jewish People’s eyes to see their
Messiah Yeshua, and when the Jewish people accept Yeshua as their Messiah, it will mean resurrection life for the entire world!
“For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their
acceptance be but life from the dead?” (Romans 11:15)
https://staticapp.icpsc.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/261268/f33e6b8d727f703a1a3c3cc361d6fe31/image/jpeg
Handmadeshmura (guarded) matzah being made from grain that has been
under special supervision from the time it was harvested.
During this time when Jewish People are cleansing their homes from leaven, please pray that they will recognize that Yeshua is indeed the Promised Messiah of Israel.
And may we also search our hearts for the leaven ofsin, making them “Kosher for Passover,” so that we may walk in humility, with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Eternity is at the Doorstep of the Jewishpeople in the Holy Land.