WILL BILLY GRAHAM BE RESURRECTED OR GO STRAIGHT TO HEAVEN?

Today it was announced that Billy Graham died at age 99. The Seattle Times called him “America’s Pastor” and a confidant to several US presidents. While growing up in Christianity, I was very familiar with Mr. Graham. He was well thought of as a pastor and evangelist.

However, as I started to really study the Bible and not just religionist doctrine, my beliefs were no longer consistent with that of Mr. Graham.  He often talked about going to heaven or hell after death. The apostle John tells us in John 3:13 that  “No man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which Is in heaven.” Luke adds to this insight in Acts 2: 34:  “For David is not ascended into heaven.” Even King David, who was beloved of Yahweh, was not eligible to go to heaven immediately after death.

Now Solomon was known as a very wise man to whom much knowledge was given. Look what he tells us in Ecclesiastes 3:19-20: 

“For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast; for all is vanity.  All go to one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.” 

Solomon provides more insight in Ecclesiastes 9:5 where we are told:  “the dead know nothing.”

According to the apostle John and Solomon, no human being or animal goes anywhere after death. They are in the grave where they know nothing. Based on what the scriptures say and not ecclesiastical doctrine, Billy Graham is asleep and is not aware of his death.

Will Mr. Graham live again? Yes! All mankind will have to die once, then the judgment. (Hebrews 9:27) If you know nothing in the grave, then to be judged, you would have to be alive to know what is happening. After death there must be a resurrection!

The apostle John confirms that all mankind is resurrected. He tells us this in Revelation 20:5-6:  “But the rest of the dead lives not again until the thousand years was finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath a part in the first resurrection:” This informs us that there are at least two resurrections: a first and a second. The first is for those who reign with Messiah for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4)  The second is for everyone that is not in the first resurrection.

Please note that Revelation 20:14 also tells us there is a second death. This is known as the lake of fire. This is what religionists mistakenly call, “hell”.  Hell is often translated in place of the Hebrew word, sheol, which refers to the grave. In the grave or hell we know nothing. We must be alive to know something. This requires a resurrection.

The first resurrection is only for those who reign with Messiah for 1000 years. Notice what Paul tells us in first Corinthians 15:23:  “But every man in his own order. Messiah the firstfruits; afterward they that are Messiah’s at his coming.”

This resurrection is just before the thousand years. Those in this resurrection will be given spiritual bodies without the possibility of further death. (Revelation 20:6) We are able to learn more about those who qualify to be in the first or better resurrection (Hebrews 11:35) by reading Revelation 14.  Here you will learn that there will be only 144,000 firstfruits or saints in that first resurrection.

The next resurrection follows the 1000 years. This will be a physical resurrection. Why? Those in this resurrection may have to face the second death or lake of fire. They therefore must have a physical body. To learn more about this physical resurrection, read Ezekiel 37. Here you are introduced to the “valley, which was full of bones.”  Ezekiel provides us with what the second or physical resurrection looks like. These dry bones must have flesh attached to them and then these re-created bodies are given breath. Only then can they be judged.

Those who are able to pass the judgment during this physical resurrection will be translated into the new heaven and earth. (Revelation 21:1; Isaiah 65:17) Those who must go through the lake of fire will also enter the new heaven and earth as well, but in their own order. The important truth is that not one human life is lost. Every human being who was ever conceived will be in the new heaven and earth. We don’t leave the earth.  New Jerusalem with Yahweh’s throne comes to the new earth where all spiritual humanity and angels will be.  (Revelation 21:10) Yahweh comes to us. How loving is that?

Religionists have a hateful concept of eternal hell fire with eternal torture. The Bible does not teach this. Yahweh is love. (1 John 4:8)  Yahweh’s plan is full of love and not revenge or hatred. Yahweh wants life for all his human creation as well as the angels. This has been his goal from the beginning and is realized in the new heavens and earth.

So where is Billy Graham? He is asleep awaiting the second resurrection. He will be physically resurrected and judged. I pray he will be judged to enter the new heavens and earth without going through the lake of fire.

The first resurrection is only for the 144,000 firstfruits or saints. (Revelation 14) Only Yahweh calls those who are considered for this opportunity. (John 6:44, 65) Humans cannot call themselves; that is reserved only for the Father. Those who are called are then chosen or selected by Messiah. (John 15:16) All the rest of mankind will have their chance in the next resurrection.

The real question is not about Billy Graham but about you. He is asleep while those reading this are awake. Now is your time to consider what will happen to you when you fall asleep or die. There is much more to learn about being a firstfruit. You must first become a firstfruit to even qualify for the better resurrection. The knowledge you need is in the Scriptures. The Light of YahwehShua is here to assist you in gaining the knowledge you need and making the decision that will position you for the first resurrection.

Do not take the path Billy Graham was given. Pray to Yahweh for truth, study our website and contact us for guidance. We are firstfruits who are guided by the truth of Yahweh. We speak with the authority and knowledge that Yahweh has given to us. Consider what we are told in Psalm 37:5:  “Commit thy way unto Yahweh; trust also in him; and He will bring it to pass.”

Your calling comes from the Father. You must go to him. The first resurrection is the better resurrection. Why take second best if you have an opportunity to overcome into a better resurrection?

 If you wish to submit a question or comment, please email our Elder at john12e4567@gmail.com.

Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of YAHWEHSHUA

The title of this article is taken from the book of Acts 2:38:  “Then Peter said unto them, repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of YahwehShua Messiah for the remission of sins, And ye show receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

This speech by the apostle Peter was given on the day of Pentecost. He was with the other eleven apostles when he stood up and spoke to all that were assembled. Those who heard him then asked a question of Peter and the other apostles: “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (Verse 37)

Perhaps you’re wondering the same thing? We, the Light of YahwehShua, are firstfruits just as were the apostles and thousands of other brethren who were baptized that day. Peter’s advice that day is just as significant today as it was then.

If you have reviewed this website, you are familiar with the name of the Father, Yahweh, as well as the names of the Son. Yahweh’s son had a human or prophetic name given to him when he was born, Yahshua. When he died, that name was blotted out. (Deuteronomy 29:20)  Because of this Scriptural requirement, Messiah had to inherit a new name. (Hebrews 1:4)  That inherited name is YahwehShua, Yahweh Saviour.

When Peter spoke he did not use the name of Jesus. That name did not exist at that time. It was not invented until the 16th century.

The name of Yahshua was given at birth. Messiah became a curse for us (Galatians 3:13), and as a consequence of his taking all sin upon himself, his name was blotted out.

Peter was using the name of the Savior and Redeemer of Israel. Messiah, who was the Yahweh of the Old Testament (1 Corinthians 10:4) proclaimed this in Isaiah 49:26:   “All flesh shall know I Yahweh am thy Savior and thy Redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob.”  His new name was a combination of his Father’s name and a suffix, which identified him as the Savior.

Where else in the Scriptures are we informed about the combined name of the Father and Son?  That would be in Revelation 14:1 that says:  “And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on the Mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his name and his Father’s name written in their foreheads.”

Caution, if you read this verse in the King James Version of the Bible, you will find something different. There it says: “having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.” The Greek actually says, “His name and his Father’s name.” (The Emphasized Bible by Rotherham; The Diaglott; Companion Bible footnote to that verse.)

Who is that Lamb on Mount Sion? John the Baptist provides the answer in John 1:29:  “The next day John seeth Yahshua coming unto him, and saith, behold the Lamb of Yahweh, which taketh away the sin of the world.”

Who are the 144,000 beings standing with the Lamb?  Revelation 14:4 tells us this:  “These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follows the lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto Yahweh and to the Lamb.”

The firstfruits or those who repented, were baptized in the name of

YahwehShua and overcame to the end. (Revelation 2:26)  James 1:18 tells us we are a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

The apostle Paul knew firstfruits that lived in Achaia, a Greek province of Rome. (Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:15)  In 2 Corinthians 1:1, he identified these firstfruits as saints. There are firstfruits in the world today.  We are a group of firstfruits located in Missouri, USA and we have brethren in Embu, Kenya.

YahwehShua is still creating today. The firstfruits are that new creation. (2 Corinthians 5:17) Messiah’s Spirit, the seed of which is planted at baptism, is growing throughout our bodies to prepare us for the first resurrection when Messiah returns.

When all firstfruits are resurrected they will be like him. (1 John 3:2)  They shall see the face of Messiah and the name of the Father and Son will be on their foreheads. (Revelation 22:4)  The second death, Gehenna fire, will have no power over them. (Revelation 20:6)  The firstfruits will judge mankind and the angels during the Last Great Day.  (1 Corinthians 6:2-3)  When the new heaven and earth are created, the firstfruits will be with YahwehShua throughout eternity.  They will have an exalted position which cannot be taken away.

Now, how can you become one of these firstfruits? You must be called by the Father (John 6:44, 65) and chosen by his Son. (John 15:16)  Should you be called and chosen, the next step is baptism. This will require baptism by immersion, not sprinkling or some other form of splashing with water.

After repenting and being immersed, an elder of the Light of YahwehShua will place their hands on your head. (Acts 8:17-18)   It is by the laying on of hands that the Spirit of Yahweh imparts a seed of the Spirit of Messiah.  The Spirit of Yahweh is freely given to those he is calling. (1 Corinthians 2:12; Romans 8:32)  The Spirit of Messiah is not given immediately, but must develop over time. The development of his Spirit occurs during the process of overcoming. We must have the fully formed spirit of Messiah within us to be resurrected. (Galatians 4:19)

The development of Messiah’s Spirit requires obedience over time. We must be obedient to all his commandments. We must embrace the new covenant and all of its requirements. We must embrace the new covenant Passover and keep his command to remember him.  We must walk in his footsteps, such as keeping the Sabbath as he did. We must keep the High Days that are revealed to us in the doctrine of Messiah.  (Hebrews 6:1-2)  We must keep his commandments to abide in his love. (John 15:10)  John tells us in 1 John 5:3 that: “ His Commandments are not grievous.” We must be willing to do whatever it takes!

If you believe that you are being called to this wonderful destiny of becoming a firstfruit, please contact us. We are a beacon of light, a rallying point, for the firstfruits that are now being called and chosen.

Please pray to Yahweh for truth. Study this website. The narrow path to the better resurrection is only through baptism in the name of YahwehShua. There is NO other name. Without this name, you will not have access to the life Messiah wants you to have. Messiah reveals this truth about himself in John 14:6:  “I am the way, the truth and the life:  no man cometh unto the Father but by me.”

 Can you handle the truth?

 If you wish to submit a question or comment, please email our Elder at john12e4567@gmail.com.

Why is the NEW COVENANT PASSOVER Important?

Let’s look to the apostle Paul to find the answer to this important question in 1 Corinthians 11: 23- 26.

 (23) For I have received of the Master that which I delivered unto you, that the Master Yahshua, the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:

(24) And when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘ take, eat:  this is my body, which is broken for you:  this do in remembrance of me.’

(25) After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying,  ‘this cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.’

(26) For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Master’s death till he come.”

Paul tells us in verse 25 that the drinking of the fruit of the vine is part of the new covenant.  He continues in verse 26 by telling us that by eating this bread and drinking the fruit of the vine we proclaim (shew, Strong’s 2605) the Master’s death until he comes. 

How is this different from the Passover observed on the 15th by the Jews? The Apostle John calls that Passover the feast of the Jews. (John 5:1; 6:14)  The new covenant Passover is about Messiah.  He wants us to observe this Passover in remembrance of him. The Jewish Passover is for them to remember the escape of their fathers from Egypt.

The Messiah initiated this Passover with new symbols. He chose leavened bread. (artos) and unfermented grape juice.  Contrast this with the unleavened bread (azymos) and wine used by the Jews in their Passover observance.

By using leavened bread, Messiah was connecting the new covenant Passover with the feast of Pentecost or Shavuoth. During Shavuoth, the required offering is with two loaves of leavened bread. This bread is known as the bread of the firstfruits. (Leviticus 23: 20)  The new covenant Passover that Messiah initiated that night was a foreshadowing of the coming feast of Pentecost when the Spirit of Yahweh would be given to the disciples and thousands of others.

The new covenant Passover was about Messiah and the firstfruits he would begin creating during the coming Pentecost. The Jew’s Passover was about their affliction and their deliverance from Egypt and slavery. The new covenant Passover is about Messiah and his firstfruits.  Each observance is very different from the other.

Those who are called and chosen to be firstfruits are given a down payment of Messiah’s Spirit when baptized. That spirit, like leaven, begins to spread throughout the individual and replace the carnal nature with the nature of Messiah. When we are resurrected with a fully formed Spirit of Messiah (Galatians 4:19), we shall be like him. (1 John 3:2)

The Spirit of Messiah is represented by leaven and its action in dough. This Spirit is pervasive and spreads vigorously through the firstfruit as does leaven in the dough. Leaven is neither good nor bad, and certainly does not represent sin. Leaven represents a force for change.  This is why Messiah could use leaven as an example for the hypocrisy of the Pharisees as well as for the kingdom of Yahweh.

Messiah says this about himself: “I am the bread of life.” (John 6:35)  That bread contains life. When someone is baptized in the name of YahwehShua, the Spirit of Messiah that they receive begins imparting that life to them.  That Spirit functions like leaven in that it infuses the body of the firstfruit with life. Leaven causes the dough to rise, and in a similar manner the Spirit of Messiah allows the firstfruit to be raised from the dead when Messiah returns.

Unleavened bread does not have the active quality of leavened bread.  Moses tells us that unleavened bread is the bread of affliction.  (Deuteronomy 16:3)  This is very different from leavened bread that is puffed up from the action of leaven. The leaven raising the dough is a representation of Messiah’s Spirit raising the firstfruit in the first resurrection (Revelation 20:6).

The bread of affliction or unleavened bread is a remembrance of troubled times. The Israelites were enslaved, suffered for forty years in the wilderness, and were conquered by the Assyrians and Babylonians.  This affliction is the outcome of disobedience. In a parallel manner, Messiah, as the husband to the Israelites, also suffered affliction. (Ezekiel 16: 43)

The bread of the firstfruits or leavened bread is a looking forward to the resurrection of the 144,000 firstfruits or saints. The new covenant Passover is a time for thanksgiving, joy and excited anticipation of the better resurrection. (Hebrews 11:35)  It is also a time for reflection on what Messiah endured for his firstfruits.

The bread of affliction did not symbolize hope for the future. It is a looking back to difficult times. The Jews are celebrating in the present, but without insight as to what is their future.

The firstfruits are being given life. Messiah promised this in John 10:28:  “And I give them [the firstfruits/saints] eternal [Strong’s 166, aionian, age-abiding] life.” The second death will not harm them (Revelation 20:6) and they will be like Messiah when resurrected. (1 John 3:2)  What an exciting promise and future to look forward to!

Messiah asked his firstfruits to keep the new covenant Passover in remembrance of him. By obedience to his request, we proclaim his death until he comes. Each Passover we are to recall our baptism, when the Spirit of Messiah initiated our becoming a new creation. The new covenant Passover, on the night he was betrayed, was a prophecy of what was coming. Pentecost was the initiation of a new creation and Messiah’s return will represent the fulfillment of that creation.

Messiah told us from the beginning what he was doing. In a better translation of Genesis 1:1 we learn this: “For the sake of the firstfruit, Elohim created the heaven and earth.” Throughout the Scriptures, Messiah reveals more about the glorious future of the firstfruits.

You must be a firstfruit to take part in the new covenant Passover in a worthy manner. (1 Corinthians 11:27-29)  To become a firstfruit, you must be baptized in the name of YahwehShua.  As a firstfruit, you must overcome to the end (Revelation 2:26) to be among the 144,000 firstfruits. (Revelation 14: 1)

Choose the bread of the firstfruits and not the bread of affliction!

 If you wish to submit a question or comment, please email our Elder at john12e4567@gmail.com. 

LEAVEN DOES NOT REPRESENT SIN

I have reviewed many Christian documents and websites to learn about their perspectives on leaven. One website that I found offered this:  “Whenever leaven is mentioned in the Bible (22 times in the Old Testament and 17 times in the New Testament), it always (almost always) represents sin or evil.”  This is a very traditional understanding of what leaven is supposed to represent.

However, while this is a tradition, it is not scriptural.  There is no verse in the Bible that declares that leaven is sin. There is a verse that tells us what sin is. That verse is 1 John 3:4 which says, “Sin is the transgression of the law.”

Messiah Yahshua never called leaven sin, but he did give us some examples of how he viewed the symbol of leaven. The first example is found in Matthew 13:33: “the kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven.” Another scripture that offers a positive perspective is found in Luke 13:20-21: “and again he said, whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of Yahweh?  It is like leaven.”

A second example is when Yahshua compared the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees with leaven. This is found in Matthew 16:11-12: 

How is it that ye do not understand that I spoke not to you concerning bread that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?   Then understood they how he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine [Strong’s 1322, didache, teaching or instruction] of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Messiah clarified that he was not talking about bread, but the influence of teachings. He was not calling the bread or the teaching bad, but only influential.

Their teachings had the ability to shape people’s thinking.  Since these teachings were based on man’s traditions and not the Scriptures (Mark 7: 13), caution must be taken.

The third example is when Messiah warned the disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod in Mark 8:15.  Once again, Messiah was speaking about the Pharisees and Sadducees’ reliance on their traditions, and not the word of Yahweh.  This time he also referenced Herod’s immorality with his brother’s wife as well as his other evil deeds. (Mark 6:14-29; Luke 3:18-21)  Messiah was warning his disciples not to be influenced by Herod’s words or deeds.

The fourth example is found in Luke 12:1 where Messiah says: “Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”   Hypocrisy is saying one thing and doing something else.  The Pharisees had the knowledge to teach properly, but would often conduct themselves contrary to the teachings.

The Pharisees, the Sadducees and Herod were authority figures.  Their status in society would only add weight to their words.  He was warning his disciples to be careful. They must always compare someone’s words and behavior to Yahweh’s word. That is the ultimate authority and not man.

Three of these four examples had to do with the negative influence of teachings and behavior.   The fourth compares leaven with the kingdom of Yahweh or heaven.  What could be evil or corrupt about Yahweh’s Kingdom or heaven?

However, I did find some Christian writers who tried very hard to spin this parable in such a way that it supported a sinful or corrupt influence of the kingdom of Yahweh or heaven.  Once again, Messiah was talking about the potent influence of the kingdom. Once leaven enters the dough, it spreads quickly and thoroughly throughout the dough. It is this pervasive quality that Messiah is describing, not the good or bad qualities of the influence.

In Matthew 4:4 Messiah is quoted as saying:  “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of Yahweh.”  We must be careful of any source other than the word of Yahweh as a standard of how to live our lives. Yahweh’s words are more important than any other source that man can offer.

Messiah was not saying that everything man proclaims is bad, but it could be. We must be discerning. Leaven is not bad in and of itself, but It can ferment or puff-up.  Man’s words can also produce arrogance and blind one to the truth.

If Ieaven usually represents sin, then what does this say about the bread of the firstfruits mentioned in Leviticus 23:17, 20?  On Shavuoth, or Pentecost, the people were told to offer a new meal offering. It is in verse 17 that we are told: “Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals:  they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven; they are the firstfruits of Yahweh.”

Who are these firstfruits?  The apostle John provides us with an answer in Revelation 14:4-5:

These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto Yahweh and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile:  for they are without fault before the throne of Yahweh.

Should these firstfruits be symbolized by bread that supposedly contains evil leaven? Of course not, because leaven is not used to indicate sin or evil. What we are being told is that the firstfruits have been under the influence of a very permeating force. In this case it is the Spirit of Yahweh and the Spirit of YahwehShua.

The firstfruits are the saints who overcome and are raised in the better resurrection when Messiah returns. When they were baptized in the name of YahwehShua, they received a down payment of the Son’s Spirit, bestowed by the Father’s Spirit.  The Son’s Spirit is compared to leaven because it is a permeating force that over time supplants our carnal nature with the nature of Messiah.  This process is described by Paul in Galatians 4:19. The attributes of Messiah’s nature are described in Galatians 5:22-23 as fruits of the Spirit.

The two loaves presented at Pentecost represent the firstfruits. As the spirit supplants man’s carnal nature, it produces beings that will be with Messiah always, having no guile and are without fault.  This positive outcome is symbolized by the permeating action of leaven in dough.

The case of Judas provides an example of a negative outcome of a different sort of influence.  Judas was pressured by the Pharisees to make an evil pact to betray Messiah. His deadly decision cost him his own life as well as that of Messiah. Yes, this was all within Yahweh’s will and His plan. Yahweh is the most powerful force of all. His will shall be done. This is why Messiah said the Kingdom of Yahweh is as leaven!

In Exodus 12, we are introduced to the use of unleavened bread with the Passover meal and as food during the Israelite escape from Egypt.  They ate this Passover meal in haste. (Exodus 12:11)  They did not have time to prepare leavened bread.  The use of unleavened bread in this passage is not intended to make a statement about the good or evil nature of leaven. It was simply expedient to use unleavened bread.

Look at what Paul tells us in first Corinthians 5:6-7:

Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?  Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Messiah our Passover is sacrificed for us.  Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness but with the unleavened (bread) [the word bread is added and not found in the Greek] of sincerity and truth.

Paul is not writing about leavened or unleavened bread.  He is speaking about the extensive influence of the world and Satan. We must learn to rely on the truth of Yahweh’s word instead.

Here are two extra-biblical examples of interpreting leaven as sin or evil:  “And in rabbinic literature, leaven is often used as a metaphor for the evil inclination or yetzer-ha-ra.”  (Babylonian Talmud, Berakhat 17a)

“And the people took their dough before it was leavened. On the strength of this founded the precept that leaven should be burned on Passover eve. Leaven and unleavened symbolizes the evil and good incarnations of man.”  (Soncino Zohar, Shemoth, Raya Mehemna page 40b)

These are two examples of how the Christians, Catholics and Messianic groups learned that leaven is evil and unleavened is pure or good.  This concept did not come from the Scriptures, but from the traditions of men. These groups have fallen victim to what Messiah warned us about. The Talmudic and rabbinical perspectives represent a potent force that can be compared to the leaven that puffs up man. Man views their beliefs as having greater authority than what Yahweh says in his word. This has nothing to do with bread.  This is really about persuasive forces that can lead us away from Yahweh’s truth.

This false teaching obscures the meaning of the bread of firstfruits as well as how the Spirit of the Father Yahweh began the development of the firstfruits at the first Pentecost.  Those who receive the down payment of the Spirit are exposed to the mighty spiritual force of Yahweh.  This dominant force is able to overcome man’s carnal nature and create a new being that will be like Messiah. This spiritual force is symbolized by the leaven in the bread of the firstfruits.  Yahweh’s spirit is the most powerful force in the universe.  Nothing is comparable.

It is interesting to note that Yahweh began His Scriptures with a comment about the firstfruits. Genesis 1: 1 is traditionally translated in the King James Version as  “In the beginning Elohim [this is the correct Hebrew word, the English, g-d, is an incorrect translation] created the heaven and earth.”  However, the Hebrew for “in the beginning” is translated from the word “bereshiyth.”  Be is a preposition and can be translated using various prepositions including, for the sake of. Reshiyth is the Hebrew word that can be alternately translated as firstfruit. [Strong’s 7225] There is another Hebrew word, tekhillaw, which actually expresses the sense of beginning better than reshiyth. I believe Yahweh is sending us a message of how important the firstfruits are. He begins the book of Genesis with this thought and concludes His Scriptures with information about the firstfruits in the book of Revelation. The alternate, and I believe, the more accurate translation of Genesis 1: 1 is:  “For the sake of the firstfruit, Elohim created the heaven and earth.” 

Messiah is called a firstfruit by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:23. James 1:18 says the saints are a kind of firstfruits and Revelation 14:4 reveals who the first fruits are.  The firstfruits are created by the extraordinary Spirits of the Father and Son. This force is not evil, nor are the firstfruits.

When Messiah returns, 144,000 firstfruits will be with him. They will reign with him for 1000 years. They will not face the second death or Gehenna fire. Perhaps this is why we are told in Leviticus 2:11-12 that leaven should not be burned. The firstfruits are blessed by not having to face the Gehenna fire.  Remember, Yahweh knows the end from the beginning. These are his words and he knows what he’s speaking about. We must always pray to Yahweh for truth and ask that he reveal the true and deeper meaning of His words.

These insights about leaven are important. They will help us to better understand the deeper meaning of the NEW COVENANT PASSOVER. There is more to be revealed!

 If you wish to submit a question or comment, please email our Elder at john12e4567@gmail.com. 

THE NEW COVENANT PASSOVER

This is the first year we will be observing the new covenant Passover. What is different about this observance and what have we done in the past?

Previously we have observed the supper Messiah had with his disciples with unleavened bread, and called it Passover. However, this was not the Passover of the Jews.  It was the new covenant Passover that Yahshua introduced that night before he died as the Passover Lamb of Yahweh.  The Jews’ Passover began in Exodus 12 with the killing of the lambs on the afternoon of the 14th, and the Passover meal the evening of the 15th.  They celebrated with unleavened bread.  Messiah died as part of the Jews’ Passover. 

After much study and prayer, this has been revealed to be incorrect. Jude has admonished us to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” (Jude 3)

Our membership has come from many different assemblies and churches. We have been taught that the Passover lambs were killed before the supper that Messiah had the night he was betrayed. Others have said the Passover lambs killed by the Jews in preparation for Passover occurred on the date of the 14th, the same day Messiah died on the tree.

The one fact that most sources support is that Messiah died on the 14th of Nisan at 3 PM.  However, there are those who insist that he died on the 15th, which is the first high day of unleavened bread. This cannot be correct because it would not have been permitted by the Jews.  It was totally against the Jewish tradition to execute criminals or have criminal proceedings on a high day. This is why the Pharisees hurried to remove the Messiah from the tree and place Him in the tomb before the first high day began at sunset, which would be the 15th of Nisan.

Messiah’s supper with his disciples occurred on our Tuesday evening, which was their evening of the fourteenth. This was the night before the Messiah would die, which coincided with the time the Levitical priests killed the Passover lambs in preparation for the Passover meal on the evening of the fifteenth.  Messiah would not have used unleavened bread.  The Greek scriptures consistently say, artos, which is the Greek word for bread, not unleavened bread. The Messiah ate a traditional pre-Passover meal with his disciples, which included leavened bread. (artos)   No unleavened bread was used that evening.  The Jews did not begin to remove leavening from their homes until the day portion of the fourteenth. According to tradition, this removal began after 11 AM.  It was after this removal that Messiah died, and not beforehand.  The bread Messiah gave to his disciples was legal and scriptural.  It was eaten outside of the Days of Unleavened Bread and before the leaven was required to be removed from their households.

This may be shocking to you. The Christian churches today celebrate an unscriptural communion with unleavened bread. However, this has not always been so.  The Greek Orthodox and Catholic churches for the first 900 years following the Messiah’s death used leavened bread. It was not until 1054 CE that the Catholic Church demanded the use of unleavened bread and coerced the Orthodox churches to submit to their new teaching.

We are able to trace the correct observance of Messiah’s supper as well as the Jewish Passover back to a group that was called the Quartodecimans, by the Latin or Catholic Church. This name was given to them because they celebrated the Passover on the 14th to commemorate that day as the death of Messiah.

They began their count of seven days from the date of the 14th until the 20th.

The Jews kept Passover to commemorate the Exodus for seven days from the 15th to the 21st day.

It is of note that the historian, Philip Shaff, in his history of the Christian church included a reference to a visit between Polycarp, leader of the eastern or Asiatic assemblies, and Anicetus, a leader of the Catholic or western churches in Rome.

Rome was teaching the celebration of Easter which was calculated differently than the scriptural Passover. Polycarp disagreed with this significant deviation of what was “once delivered unto the saints.” They were able to agree to disagree without bloodshed. The pressure from Rome would continue for several hundred years, but at least Polycarp kept the Asian assemblies free from this false doctrine for a period of time.

Who was this Polycarp?  He was a disciple of the apostle John, who had observed Passover under John’s guidance. This apostle was there the night of Messiah’s dinner before he was betrayed and witnessed the execution of the Messiah. John was the disciple loved by Messiah and whom he chose to be responsible for his mother. At the time of his death at the approximate age of 100, he resided in Ephesus. He had been the source of scriptural teaching in the east.

It is interesting that Polycarp was involved in the controversy between Passover and Easter. However, no discussion was recorded regarding what type of bread was used by Messiah on the night of the fourteenth. The early assemblies and churches used leavened bread for several hundred years.  They were able to successfully do this because the meal they celebrated was not the Jew’s Passover, nor was it within the Days of Unleavened Bread.

It was within the Days of Unleavened Bread that the wave sheaf offering was presented. This occurred on the morrow after the weekday Sabbath within the days of unleavened bread. It was on this day that the count towards Shavuoth began. The 50th day or Pentecost was also known as the feast of the firstfruits. This is the day that the Spirit of Yahweh fell on the disciples and thousands of others on the day of Pentecost.

It is interesting that the offering of two loaves during Shavuoth, or Pentecost, was of leavened bread. In Leviticus 23:20, these two loaves of leavened bread were called “the bread of the first fruits.” This is the same kind of bread Messiah used when he introduced the emblems for the new covenant Passover on the night he was betrayed.

Messiah gave the same leavened bread to his disciples who would be the firstfruits of the new covenant. Messiah himself was the firstfruit, as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15: 20, 23.  By using leavened bread instead of unleavened, Messiah was revealing the significant difference between that meal and the Passover of the Jews.  He was foretelling the creation of the firstfruits with the celebration of Pentecost after his resurrection.  He was alerting us to a new event, which was coming at Pentecost:  the beginning of a new creation, the firstfruits.

James tells us we are a kind of firstfruits.  (James 1:18)  The firstfruits are the same people as those called saints. In Revelation 14, we are introduced to 144,000 firstfruits that stand with Messiah on Mount Zion.  

The new covenant Passover is when leavened bread is first introduced as a symbol for His body. Messiah told us in John 6:56 that we must eat his flesh (the bread) for him to dwell in us. The correct type of bread is consistent with the two leavened loaves offered at the feast of firstfruits. We must continue to remember him with the correct emblems or symbols. The correct symbols are leavened bread and the fruit of the vine, and not wine.

To correctly keep the new covenant Passover, you must be circumcised. Circumcision was also a requirement for the first Passover; however, the new covenant circumcision is of the heart, not of the flesh. This circumcision is without hands. (Colossians 2: 11)  You must be baptized to partake of this event worthily. (1 Corinthians 11:27)

We, of the Light of YahwehShua, baptize only in the inherited name of Messiah, YahwehShua, which is the name of life. That name provides us with the down payment of Yahweh’s spirit.  This spirit brings with it the seed of the Spirit of Messiah. This seed of Messiah spreads through us over time, just as leavening spreads through dough. Leavening is not sin of itself. Leavening is an influence that brings about change, positive or negative. In Matthew 13:33, we see the positive influence of leaven. Similarly, the Spirit of Messiah infuses the body of the firstfruits and prepares them for the better resurrection.

Now is the time to prepare for the new covenant Passover. Passover is at the end of April this spring. The first step you must take is baptism.  For assistance, please contact our elders. Baptism is the first step, the narrow way, the path to the light. Join us and become the light of YahwehShua.

 If you wish to submit a question or comment, please email our Elder at john12e4567@gmail.com.