It’s 58° out and I was mowing the grass, and a cool breeze is blowing so, I went into my daughter’s greenhouse to warm up. I love sitting in the greenhouse with its sweet smells and it is warm! I often just sit there and pray. There is background music playing of running water brooks and the sounds of birds chirping in the background. I can almost image what it must have been like for Adam when he was first in the Garden of Eden, shire peace. As I watch my daughter go around tending to each plant, inspecting each, tenderly picking off the dead blooms or sprouts, then watering. But she puts something in the water before using it, it is plant growth fertilizer. I thought, “This is just like God cares for us as well.” He constantly watches over us, cuts away the dead or that which is dying and then pours in the water of the Holy Spirit, but He also adds fertilizer, the Word of God.

“Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” – Eph. 5:25-27

So don’t despise God’s pruning’s, just know that they will bring new growth and beauty.

My last article was about Remembering the feasts of the Lord, so I want to add some fertilizer on this subject. The following will be about the Feast of Passover. It is long but, it will help your growth in your Christian life. I wrote it in 2020.

A very important Christian event is happening soon on April 9th, and I’m not referring to Easter. April 9th will be Passover, or Pesach in Hebrew. Passover is the first Feast of the Lord (Remember there are 7) in the Biblical year and was marked in 2014-2015 by a Blood Red Moon Tetrad. As I wrote in 2015 Blood Red Moons, “Heavenly signs are God’s warnings of things to come and 2014 began a series of 4 blood red moons that occur on Biblical Feast days.” The two BRM’s of 2014 did indeed set the stage for increased trouble both for Israel and the world!

Passover is the first of God’s Feasts of remembrance, His “appointed times” as they are called. God Himself commanded that this feast be remembered forever so, why are so many Christians ignorant of it?

“And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever.” – Exodus 12:14

The most common answer to my question is, “This was a command to the Jews only!” That is true but consider the following points:

1. These feasts are called Feasts of the Lord, not feasts of the Jews. (Leviticus 23:2).
2. We Christians have been grafted into the Root of Israel and made partakers of the commonwealth of Israel. We are part of the “One new man”. (Romans 11:17, Ephesians 2:12, 13 , Ephesians 2:15 )
3. Without the promise of Passover, there would be no Christianity. (Ephesians 2:13)

I am not suggesting that we have to keep these feasts in a legalistic way such as those who demand we must become Jews, as they did in the Paul’s time and indeed even today. What I am suggesting is that by not properly remembering these feasts and understanding their implications, we are losing something of Biblical Christianity that was meant for our instruction and growth in the faith.

For example, did you know that in the Passover only the father was to take the blood of the sacrifice lamb and paint it over the doorposts of his house? Remember, this was God’s way of delivering the faithful from the destruction that was passing over Egypt. There are several lessons in this act:

1. The blood of the sacrifice was required for salvation and we know Jesus is the fulfillment of this prophesy. “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” -1 John 1:7
2. The sacrifice blood had to be applied. ‘And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.” – Exodus 12:7
3. The head of the house was to apply the blood for his household.
4. They were to roast the lamb, not boil it in water.
5. They were to consume it all.
6. They were to be ready to leave bondage and go out into freedom.

There are other lessons in Passover, but I will concentrate on these. Passover marked a separation between God’s people and those who did not believe. It reminds us that there is to be a separation between Christians and the world.

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” – 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 

In Passover, God makes it clear that He is not politically correct. He discriminates between good and evil and He gets to say what is good and what is evil! He does not discriminate on the basis of race or color but on the basis of who keeps His word and those who do not.

In Passover, God makes it clear He places high value on the man being head of his family. It is the man’s responsibility to place the blood on the doorposts of the house and only that will protect his family. God is not in favor of the modern values of broken families. Today, over 50% of American families are living in fatherless families by their own choices. Those fathers are going to pay a high price for this in the judgment to come. This does not mean a family without a father was lost, for God made provision for families to be joined together in the Passover.

“And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb.” – Exodus 12:4

The American family is being lost because of selfishness and rebellion. We have passed laws to make divorce easy – we call it “no-fault” divorce. The churches have relaxed their standards to allow divorce and remarriage as if there is nothing wrong with it. But remember, God will not judge by man’s standards but by His!

“For the LORD God of Israel says that He hates divorce, for it covers one’s garment with violence,” says the LORD of hosts. “Therefore, take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.” – Malachi 2:16

Do not think that because you are under grace that God will overlook His standards – He will not! He has but one remedy for sin and that is repentance. Believe and repent are action words – they require action. If you believe in God, you do what He says. And if you repent, you must turn around and do what is right! Jesus explained it this way, “If you love Me, keep My commands.” If the Church in America really believed in what the word of God teaches on this, they would either be a lot smaller or American families would be a lot healthier.

The Passover reminds us that just eating a little of the lamb is not enough, it must all be consumed. Many embrace Christianity just enough to sooth a guilty conscience or to get a spiritual high but they don’t want to go any further, especially when the cost of taking up their cross and following Christ starts to become real to them. They are Sunday fair-weather Christians. Now while we all face these temptations, Passover reminds us that to follow Christ means embracing all of Him, even suffering for His names’ sake if need be.

Then the Passover Lamb was to be roasted with fire, not boiled in water. The fire represents the working of the Holy Spirit. Jesus, our Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7), promised we would be baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Luke 3:16). God also tests us with fire that all our dross may be purged away.

“that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, “– 1 Peter 1:7

Finally, Passover teaches us to prepare to leave the world of bondage. Some make a start with the Lord but, they fall by the wayside, not finishing the race, because they did not want to leave the world behind. We are called pilgrims in this world and our citizenship is not of this world, that we should come out and be separate, and these words are easy to say but hard to do. Jesus told the parable of the Sower to illustrate this (Mark 4:2-8), which we would all do well to read every so often. Passover teaches us that only those who prepared to leave and actually left made it to freedom. There are many who call themselves Christians but there are few who are preparing to leave on the journey to true freedom.

God is giving us heavenly reminders and warnings about Passover, to prepare for the journey ahead. We will not make it by our own strength or abilities, only God can satisfy the angel of death that will pass over the land. Only God can provide the blood that will save us and only he can part the Red Sea and bring us to the Promised Land. Our part is to apply the blood and get ready for the journey.

Passover is coming! This year it begins in the evening of April 9th and goes to the 16th, thus including the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the feast of First Fruits. The Hebrew month is Nisan, which is the first month –

“This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. “– Exodus 12:1

Later in this article, I will explain why this important. But there are many facts about Passover that we should remember.

First, it marks the beginning of deliverance from slavery. Most of us think we have never seen slavery but, we have! Jesus taught –

“Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.” – John 8:34

and we are all in that category! Many of my blogs have to do with truth and its vital importance because it is truth that is able to set us free, and Jesus is the Truth. The Apostle John wrote about sin –

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” – 1 John 1:8

Many today are pushing ‘social justice’ movements like Black Lives Matter, women’s liberation, Gay and Lesbian Pride, etc., but they will never have success, only more bondage and slavery because they carry their own problems within themselves – SIN! What is sin? It is any lifestyle, thought or action that is against God. There is no hope in any of such movements. There is hope only in Passover. Only Passover can set us free from the slavery of sin.

Second, Passover begins on the 14th day of Nisan but, a lamb without blemish was to be brought into the house 4 days before Passover on Nissan 10. This lamb was to be the sacrifice and its blood was to be painted on the doorposts of the house. When the angel of death passed over that house and saw the blood, he would pass over. The family of that household got familiar with the Lamb for 4 days, knowing all the time that it would save their lives. There were 4 days of remembering and repenting for all their sins before that final day of judgement – Passover. In this sense it pointed forward in time to the 10 days of awe that would occur between that future Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement (the first two Fall Feasts), when the Lord would return and an account for past sins must be given.

While there are many more important lessons in the Feast of Passover, I want to mention one more vital point. Third, At the time when the destroyer was passing over all, God’s Holy Spirit was at work too. There was much repenting that had to take place and only the Holy Spirit can lead into repentance.

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” – Eph. 4:30

Repentance is a reaction to the convicting of the Holy Spirit and not just human remorse. Esau found no place of repentance though he sought it with bitter tears. So, during Passover the Holy Spirit is at work and the rest of the Passover story is all a display of the Holy Spirit’s power; the Red Sea opening, water from the rock in the desert, manna from heaven, no sickness in the wilderness, all needs being met, meeting God at Mt. Sinai.

As we celebrate Passover this year we need to remember; we need an outpouring of the Holy Spirit to prepare for the final wilderness journey and that is exactly what God promises

“Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.” – Joel 2:23″

Notice, the rain will come in the first month, the month of Nisan and the time of Passover. And remember, we are specifically told to pray for it –

“Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.” – Zec. 10:1

Continue praying, don’t give up. Remember, on Pentecost, when the former rain came, they had been seeking and praying for 50 days. God will honor His word in due time, don’t give up. He is not going to pour out this latter rain because we are so good, but because we are not so good, and we need it for the days ahead!

If you feel discouraged and lost, cheer up – your Passover has come. If you are in bondage to some sin you can’t seem to break, cheer up, Jesus specializes in setting captives free! If you are laboring under the pain of sickness, Jesus has come with healing in His wings (the hem of His robe). This Passover can be your beginning of release and freedom – don’t miss it.

Finally, we need to remember that Passover had an ending – the resurrection of Jesus Christ and He has promised to return for us!

“But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the first fruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.” – 1 Cor. 15:20-24

For centuries men have been celebrating the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God’s Son.  Jesus was the first fruit from the dead and His promise is ever true – “afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.” Meanwhile, God is working to perform His stated plan (1) to reach the nations with the message of the Gospel, (2) to bring Israel back to the land, (3) to restore Jerusalem to the place of God’s Name, (4) to put an end to all rule, authority, and power but His. As we celebrate Passover this year, remember this is what it is all about – the restoration of God and His authority.

Now it goes without saying that the enemy, Satan, is going to oppose this with everything he can. He will attack with deception, subterfuge, and lies. He will attack in politics, social norms, militarily, and even in the Church where he will appear as an angel of light. He will attack with division because unity gives strength. He will certainly attack to bring down the United States because they are the last remaining superpower to stand with the tiny state of Israel. And Satan doesn’t want God’s Name to reign there.

 Like Balaam of old he will attack our social norms trying to make us sexually immoral because he knows this will cause God’s blessings to lift off us. God has sworn He hates divorce (Malachi 2:16) and that no adulterers or homosexuals or sodomites will inherit the kingdom of heaven (1 Cor. 6:9).

“But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.” – Rev. 2:14

Our forefathers, the Pilgrims and Puritans, founded this country on Biblical principles and by God’s grace gave us a Constitution that would protect the religious freedom the Gospel guarantees –

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” – Gal. 5:1 NIV

But the new Democrats want to put us under socialism or under globalist one-world rule. All of which experience shows us will enslave us and take away our freedom. What country ruled by socialism is free – China, Russia, Venezuela? Russia and China are closing Christian Churches and putting Christians in jail – so much for freedom. Venezuela, once the richest country in South America, now under socialism, can’t feed its people, provide medicine for the sick, or even keep the electricity operating. Democrats want to flood our country with immigrants who will vote for them, not because they appreciate the principles of freedom, we were founded upon but, because of the welfare free handouts they promise them. And who will pay for these handouts? Under Democratic Socialism, the government will take your money to pay for them. Once these socialists have reached a vote proof majority, they will become oppressive just like every other socialist government in existence.

So, as we celebrate Passover let us remember the freedom the Gospel promises and not be enslaved again to the principles of the world – democratic socialism. For these last days before the return of Jesus, God gave the world a nation founded on Republican principles of the Bible, which guarantees freedom – let us not surrender it to Democratic Socialists!

Let these words soke in and follow them and they will strengthen and beautify your life as pruning does with flowers.

Rev. Charles Cooley, ret.