The Clarion, Apr. 2022
Welcome
They say, “April showers bring May flowers.” But what else does April bring us?
More times than not, it brings us to a time of remembrance of our Savior’s death and resurrection. Unfortunately today many people do not even consider it. Bunnies, and baskets of candy, and coloring eggs, take center stage. The days of sitting in church reflecting from noon to three are long gone. Even in our modern translations, our Bibles have omitted the shed blood of our Messiah. This is why Yeshua said to His disciples at the Seder Meal, when you get to this point in the Seder, “Remember it’s about Me” (paraphrased). Today, as you prepare for this memorable time, let us remember with hearts eternally grateful for the shed blood of our Messiah, and let us go from there into a celebration of praise for such a great salvation, for He has truly risen to eternal glory!
The Atonement is in the Blood
This month we remember the sacrifice of the lamb. The first time that we see a sacrifice of a lamb that has any significance was in Exodus 12:2-7, “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year for you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are, each one, to take a lamb for themselves, according to the fathers’ households, a lamb for each household. Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; in proportion to what each one should eat, you are to divide the lamb. Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to slaughter it at twilight. Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.”
So let us begin in the first line, God says, “This shall be the beginning of months for you.” Originally this would have been the seventh month, but now God has changed the order of things. At the time of Creation the first month, which is now the seventh month, was the time of Rosh Hashanah, which means “head of the year, ” Rosh Hashanah is considered the birthday of Creation. This is the civil New Year of the Jewish calendar, the year 5782. There are ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. These are called the Days of Awe. This is a time of repentance. From Creation to Yom Kippur we know that Adam and Eve sinned.
Yom Kippur most likely was the first atonement when God sacrificed animals to clothe Adam and Eve, in Genesis 3:21, “And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.”
These animals most likely were sheep, though it does not say, but because Yeshua was to be the atonement for their sin, He was called the Lamb of God, so it is safe to say that they would have been sheep that God sacrificed for their atonement. And those garments from that atonement which were used to cover Adam and Eve are like Yeshua’s blood that covers us, and makes us righteous. So then, those garments could be called “Robes of Righteousness.” Adam and Eve then were driven from the Garden of Eden. This exodus from the garden was like the exodus from Egypt. They too, went into the wilderness after the sacrifice of the lamb and just like the people leaving Egypt lived in tents, so too Adam and Eve. This would have been the first Feast of Tabernacles. But now God says that this no longer would be the first month to you, Why? Because now it was not only to be about their exodus from Egypt, but one day it would be about our exodus from sin. And the lamb and it’s blood placed on the lintels of the doorpost, would be the Lamb of God and His blood placed on our hearts. So what Yeshua has fulfilled has taken us full circle from Creation. Let’s look at this in Scripture. Exodus 12 tells us about the blood of the lamb that was to be put on the doorposts and lintels of the house.
Exodus 12 :12-13 continues, “For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and fatally strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the human firstborn to animals; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will come upon you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”
We see that the blood was to be a sign, and that blood was going to keep the death angel from striking that house. So the death of the lamb was actually saving life through it’s blood. Leviticus 17:11 tells us this, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.”
Once again the blood was bringing atonement.
John 1:29 tells us this about John the Baptist, “The next day he saw Yeshua coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
Many years later the Lamb of God came to shed His blood. This sacrifice would be the fulfilment of God’s promise to Adam and Eve. It would be a fulfilment of the Exodus story. As the blood atoned for Adam and Eve, and for God’s people in Egypt, so too, this Lamb would atone for all of man’s sin. We saw in Exodus 12 that a lamb was to be picked out on the tenth day of the first month and held till the fourteenth day, the day called Passover. This was to give the one who was going to offer the lamb time to examine it to see if it was truly without spot or blemish. We see in Matthew 21:7-11, that Yeshua came into Jerusalem on the tenth day of the first month and He rode upon a donkey for all to see. “ And brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their cloaks on them; and He sat on the cloaks. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. Now the crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!” When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds were saying, “This is Yeshua the prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee.”
The people did see, and deemed Him the One sent by God. 1 Peter 1 17-19 says, “If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Messiah.
Matthew 21: 12-13 tells us what Yeshua did right after He entered Jerusalem,
“And Yeshua entered the temple area and drove out all those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And He said to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a den of robbers.”
Yeshua cleanses the temple and rids it of all uncleanness, all spot and blemish.
1 Corinthians 3:16, tells us, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?”
We also see that husbands are to be like the Messiah as Ephesians 5:25-27,
“As for husbands, love your wives, just as the Messiah loves the Community of Believers, and indeed, gave Himself up on its behalf, in order to set it apart for God, making it clean through immersion, so to speak, in order to present the Community of Believers to Himself as a bride to be proud of, without a spot, wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and without defect.”
Hebrews 9:19-22 tells us this, “For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.” And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood. And almost all things are cleansed with blood, according to the Law, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”
Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. We have seen this to be true beginning with Adam and Eve. Matthew 26:27-28, “ Also He took a cup of wine, made the blessing, and gave it to them, saying, “All of you, drink from it! For this is My blood, which ratifies the New Covenant, My blood shed on behalf of many, so that they may have their sins forgiven.”
We all have sinned, and we all have need for the blood of the Lamb. We all have our own Exodus as Colossians 1:13-20 tells us, “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation: for by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also the head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.”
John 19:30 says, “He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”
When we think of Yeshua hanging on the cross, remember this:
It may have been the grace of God to send His Son to die for us, because He so loved us, but
You are saved by the shed blood of the precious Lamb of God, and do not ever forget it.
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Recipe Corner: Must- Have Tiramisu by Taste of Home.com
Ingredients:
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 cups vanilla yogurt
1 cup fat-free milk
1/2 cup brewed espresso or strong coffee, cooled 24 crisp ladyfinger cookies
Baking cocoa
Fresh raspberries, optional
- In a small bowl, beat cream until stiff peaks form; fold in yogurt. Spread 1/2 cup cream mixture onto bottom of an 8-in. square dish.
- In a shallow dish, mix milk and espresso. Quickly dip 12 ladyfingers into espresso mixture, allowing excess to drip off. Arrange the dish in a single layer, breaking to fit as needed. Top with half of the remaining cream mixture; dust with cocoa. Repeat layers.
- Refrigerate, covered, at least 2 hours before serving. If desired, serve with raspberries.
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Kids Corner:
Hey Kids…did you know that Jesus’s real name is Yeshua? Yeshua was Jewish, and He loved children. He would place them on His knee and bless them. He said that we all must come to Him as children no matter how old we were because God was our Father. Matthew 18:2-3 tells us, “And He called a child to Himself and set him among them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you change and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Yeshua is our Savior. That means He saved us from our sins, because sin separates us from our Heavenly Father. Were you ever separated from your parents? That is a scary feeling. It makes us want to stay close to them and not wander off. Yeshua died for us so that we could be in heaven with God, and even our family one day. But even though He died on the cross, God raised Him from the dead. WOW!
One day we too, will rise from the dead and we will live with God forever. What a day of rejoicing that will be when we all get to heaven and live together with our heavenly Father.
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