This year, 2019, Passover begins at sunset on April 19, and ends at sunset on the 27th.
I know most calendars mention Easter but I prefer to call the event by the correct historical term: Pascha, derived from Pesach: which is Passover.
The eight-day festival is a celebration which dates back roughly to 1450 BC when the Israelites were set free in Egypt and left in that famous mass-exodus. And by following the customs or traditions of Passover, the Jewish church has the ability to relive and experience the freedom that their ancestors gained.
But as you read through Scripture, you find that the Passover, in which innocent lambs
were sacrificed, foreshadowed the crucifixion of Jesus; for Jesus, the Christ, was ultimately the true innocent Passover Lamb – not just for one nation, but for the world. Let’s briefly recap the history that led to the Passover Celebration.
Ten of Jacob’s sons were jealous of young Joseph because Jacob had given Joseph the coat of many colors – the robe of authority denoting family leadership. Eight of the brothers sold Joseph to a trade caravan and Joseph was taken to Egypt.
Rising in authority in Potiphar’s household, he was falsely accused of attempted rape and sent to prison – probably under Potiphar’s jurisdiction. Joseph interpreted dreams and was taken to the reigning Pharaoh – probably of the Hyksos people who were not native to Africa.
After Joseph died, the native Africans (probably Cushites and Nubians) defeated the Hyksos and regained control of Egypt. But because the descendants of Jacob ethnically resembled the Hyksos, the Egyptians thought the Israelites would rise up and fight for the Hyksos. Therefore, the “Pharaoh who knew not Joseph” ordered them enslaved.
Eventually, Moses was born, placed in the Nile, rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter, and raised in the Egyptian court. He was schooled in every phase of Egyptian aristocracy, could speak several languages, and traveled throughout the kingdom.
However, although becoming a general in the Egyptian army, Moses never forgot his roots and killed an Egyptian task-master who was brutalizing an Israeli. But killing an Egyptian officer without the Pharaoh’s permission was a capital offence – even for the esteemed Moses – and he fled for his life.
Deprived of his royal background, he became a lowly shepherd for forty years; but God never abandoned Moses, and commissioned him to return to Egypt to be the human element in setting the Israelis free.
It was understandable why the Pharaoh refused to free his subjects: by now, economics prevailed. So God began to apply leverage to force Pharaoh’s hand. The last straw was the tenth plague. God set the day when this would take place.
God gave Moses specific instructions about how to prepare the last meal in Egypt, for each item and its preparatory procedure would reflect, in some way or other, on the death of the final Sacrificial Lamb. So Moses gave the order to put blood on three places outside the door, and eat the meal with their traveling clothes on. After the meal, they would head out.
The tenth plague that Egypt experienced was death of the first-born male. Cows, mules, and horses also suffered this fate. The term passover derives from pesach which essentially means to pass over something; and in the Land of Egypt, the death angel passed over the houses which had the blood applied to the doorposts. The people who were covered with the blood of the lamb were spared.
Pharaoh’s son died, so Pharaoh finally submitted to Moses, allowing Moses to lead the people out of bondage and into freedom. (Many tumultuous years were in store for the Israelis, but that’s another story.)
In Israeli history, Moses became their servant-ruler, which reflects on our Savior, our Redeemer.
The Temple Sacrifice was instituted to reveal the severity of sin (disobeying God), and also pointed to the final Sacrifice – Jesus, the Messiah.
But there is a significant difference between the traditional sacrificial lambs and our final Sacrificial Lamb. Where the yearly lamb died to gain forgiveness of sin for a year, Jesus died and raised from the dead to grant us forgiveness forever, and inherit eternal life.
![dscn0185[1]](https://genelinzey.files.wordpress.com/2019/03/dscn01851.jpg?w=178&h=194)
Passover is a picture of the sinless Lamb of God – Jesus – Who suffered the penalty of sin for us (death), raised Himself back to life, and set us free. All we need to do is to accept Jesus into our lives, ask Him to forgive us for our self-centered lifestyle, then purposely live for Him. We will be covered with the blood of the Lamb and forgiven.
Passover points to Calvary.
Next time we’ll get a glimpse of happened during that famous Passover Week leading to Jesus crucifixion.
Several years ago, our son (Ron) and grandsons (Josiah and Joshua) flew from Oklahoma City to the Grand Canyon. For those of you who may be geographically-challenged, one way to reach the Grand Canyon is by driving about 80 miles north-northwest out of Flagstaff, Arizona.
wonderful! We flew in a Piper Turbo Arrow and the altimeter had a reading of about 10,000 feet for the majority of the flight. It was amazing how things appeared to be so small when we were in flight. Structures that are rather large on the ground seemed to have minimal noticeability from the air. The ground looked like a map that had been laid out beneath us, and we could see almost 100 miles in every direction.”
But things are much calmer when we view our situations from a higher plane – from God’s perspective. Josiah said, “Flying in a plane presents a good comparison of what God sees when looking at our lives. As we need to trust our flight instruments, we also need to trust and obey with the understanding that He sees the big picture.”
physical life is all there is. We’re oblivious to the reality “beyond the fence.” But our world is very small, and God wants us to see “the bigger world” from his perspective – more like the butterfly. 
That took me by surprise. John and I were having an interesting discussion; but when we touched on an idea about which he disagreed, he spat out, “You are wrong!” 
evolutionary synthesis, natural selection, cosmic evolution, and population genetics. Several creation concepts are: intelligent design, the six [24-hour] day creation, the six [1,000-year, or more] day creation, punctuated equilibrium (although a version of this hypothesis is also accepted in evolution); and myriads of pagan creation stories. Here is an Egyptian myth:![dumbbell-nebula1[1]](https://genelinzey.files.wordpress.com/2019/03/dumbbell-nebula11.png?w=239&h=156)
ago. So far, so good. But John came to a mental roadblock when I said, “In the infinity preceding the creation of life on earth, I wonder how long God thought about and planned His proposed creation.” 
a good understanding of Scripture and history. Second Timothy 3:15-16; “Study [the Bible] to receive God’s approval as you correctly understand and teach the word of truth. But avoid useless arguments: for they will drive people further away from God.” 
personal reality. For this reason, postmodernism is highly skeptical of explanations which claim to be valid for all groups, cultures, traditions, or races, and instead focuses on the relative truths of each person. In the postmodern understanding, interpretation is everything.”
discussion of ‘justice’, there is no meaning which we can find. The concept of ‘justice’ exists only as long as we negotiate its meaning between ourselves in our society.” And that makes as much sense as me trying to push around a 300-pound gorilla!
Do you know anything about wisdom? Wisdom is defined as: the ability to discern or judge what is true or right; the ability to make practical applications of truth or knowledge in everyday life. ![dscn6647b[1]](https://genelinzey.files.wordpress.com/2019/03/dscn6647b1.jpg?w=525)
a while for us to grow out of our youthful foolishness. That’s why Scripture says young people should learn from the older folk: they have been around for a while, and have a wealth of information and wisdom to pass on.
against imaginary people, and the result is barbarianism and cruelty against real people. We also extol the virtues of drinking alcohol, then try to figure out why we have so much death, mangled cars, destroyed lives, lost jobs, and wrecked marriages. I could go on, but that will suffice. 
On December 4, 1965 Captain Charles White was flying an Eastern Air Lines Lockheed Super Constellation from Boston to Newark International Airport. At the same time, Captain Thomas Carroll was flying his TWA Boeing 707 from San Francisco to Kennedy International Airport. Both aircraft had passed a thorough inspection within the past year, and the pilots and crew had recently passed their annual physical exams. Both pilots were
instrument-rated and both aircraft had up-to-date for IFR flight. 
As they approached Carmel, New York, the Constellation was flying at 10,000 feet altitude in-and-out of an inclined cloud bank while the 707 was above the clouds at 11,000 feet. But they collided over Carmel. What caused the mid-air collision? Quoting from one of the reports: 
Losing its vertical stabilizer, the Constellation briefly continued gaining altitude but quickly became unstable. Captain White, skillfully manipulating engine thrust, regained control of the plane to some degree. Not having the luxury of choosing airports, he had to put the plane down right away. Expertly using engine thrust to guide the plane, he landed the plane in a field near Danbury, Connecticut, and the captain immediately began helping passengers to safety.
says, they show that in their hearts they know right from wrong. They demonstrate that God’s law is written within them….” That’s why verse 20 informs us that no one has an excuse for not living according to God’s law.
“Carol, look in the back yard!” I called to my wife. A large cat was lying motionless on the lawn intently observing something. But why was it there? What was it looking at?
was partial to rabbits until I planted our garden. The furry little creatures seem to have a taste for my beet greens, Carol’s pea plants, and our broccoli. As I was chasing one rabbit out of the garden, I hollered, “Have you ever heard of rabbit stew?” The leporid probably didn’t hear me as it darted through – yes, THROUGH – the chain link fencing. I didn’t know they could fit through the diagonal openings. From the next yard it stopped, turned around, and looked at me as if to say, “You can’t catch me!” only to run for its furry life as the neighbor’s barking dog took up the chase. Good dog!
appears “out of the blue,” like that Broad-winged Hawk after the rabbit. Then we ask, “How did I get caught?” 
male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). God is a spiritual being, and we are spiritual beings – inside human bodies. Mankind was the high point of God’s creative work here on earth. God created us as an entirely new species, quite different from animals. And to emphasize this distinction, God placed man over the animals. In Genesis 1:28 God told Adam, “Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Animals can’t do that.
interaction. Evolutionist Julian Huxley noted that “Only humans possess true language, conceptual thought, art, humor, science and religion.” And only humans can record and direct the course of history. Humans can express themselves analytically. And it is obvious that only humans have the ability to communicate through complex, multi-lingual skills. All this sets mankind apart from the animal kingdom. 
humans do care for the elderly. Animals do not have the intellectual,
emotional, and relational mentality, or the skill or ability to interact and build an enhanced society; but man has been to the moon and back. Instead, animals have continued their lives without change for the past recorded 6,000 years. When you hear or read some scientist say that 98% of our genes are shared with some animals, don’t get excited about it. They also say we share about 50% of our genes with bananas. So the statistics are meaningless. 
One winter day in 1956 (I was 10 years old), Dad said, “Get me a pan of water so I can defrost the ice on the windshield.” It was a very cold day, so I decided to heat the water. After a few minutes, Dad called out, “Where are you?” I hollered, “I’m warming the water.” Whereupon Dad said, “Just give me what’s in your hand!”
Living a Christian life is adventuresome, and it demands taking risks. So let me ask you: “What’s in your hand?” That can mean three things – all related: What are you physically holding in your hand? What do you know how to do? What are you willing to do?
host a home fellowship group? Do you have ideas to help the church grow? Do you have the ability to develop those ideas? God needs every one of you to use your skills, expertise, and gifts to grow the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. God wants you to be available to help others.
Gene Linzey 