Can we keep Passover outside of Jerusalem?
It's time to UNLEARN the lies.
UNLEARN
Hey, welcome to UNLEARN.
My name is Lex, and I'd like to invite you to join us each week as we UNLEARN the lies
and dig deeper into the truth of God's Word.
Now, let's get started.
I have heard people argue that we can't keep Passover unless we go to Jerusalem, but is
that really true?
The reason for going to Jerusalem was to offer the Passover sacrifice.
That is where the Temple and the Priests were located.
That is why it was required to go to Jerusalem.
The Bible says that we must offer the Passover sacrifice in the place where the LORD chooses
to place His name, and we cannot offer the sacrifice at our homes.
"Therefore you shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God, from the flock and the
herd, in the place where the Lord chooses to put His name.
You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it,
that is, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), that
you may remember the day in which you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your
life.
And no leaven shall be seen among you in all your territory for seven days, nor shall any
of the meat which you sacrifice the first day at twilight remain overnight until morning.
You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates which the Lord your God
gives you; but at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide..."
- Deuteronomy 16:2-6
This sure makes it sound like we can't keep the Passover anywhere but Jerusalem, but there
are a few things we need to consider about this.
First, it says you must offer the Passover sacrifice in the place where the LORD places
His name.
It is talking about the sacrifice, but even if we go to Jerusalem we would not be able
to offer a sacrifice, because there is no Temple and no Levites in Jerusalem.
So, there is no reason to go to Jerusalem.
Second, notice that the Bible is careful not to say, "you must go to Jerusalem for the
Passover."
It simply says you must go to the place where the LORD causes His name to abide.
This was believed to be Jerusalem by the Jews, but the Samaritans believed this was referring
to Mount Gerizim.
In fact, this was the biggest debate between the Jews and Samaritans in the First Century.
This was actually a question that Yeshua addressed when He spoke to the Samaritan woman at the
well.
She asked Him where we should go to worship, in Jerusalem or on Mount Gerizim, but His
response shows that there is another option.
"Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place
where one ought to worship."
Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this
mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.
You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.
But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in
spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
- John 4:20-24
He affirmed the Jews worship in Jerusalem, saying, "You worship what you do not know;
we know what we worship."
However, He went on to explain that Jerusalem will not always be the place of worship, saying,
"But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father
in spirit and truth."
He was basically saying that it will no longer be required to go to Jerusalem to worship
at the Feasts, because "the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth."
But what did He mean by that?
We know that in 70 AD, the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, and it has never been rebuilt.
This means that no one has been able to offer sacrifices since 70 AD.
However, the Bible explains that we have a better Temple and a better Priesthood in Heaven.
The book of Hebrews explains that Yeshua is our Great High Priest, and He offers a better
sacrifice in the Heavenly Tabernacle.
"Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest,
who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister
of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.
For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices.
Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer.
For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer
the gifts according to the law; who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things,
as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle.
For He said, "See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the
mountain."
But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better
covenant, which was established on better promises."
- Hebrews 8:1-6
The Bible also tells us the earthly Temples and Tabernacles were symbolic copies of the
Heavenly Tabernacle, but that Yeshua is ministering in the real Tabernacle.
"It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which
cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience...
For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true,
but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us"
- Hebrews 9:9,24
This means that believers in Yeshua are the only ones who can truly keep the Passover,
or any of the Feasts for that matter.
We are the only ones who have a High Priest, a Temple, and a Sacrifice.
After the destruction of the Temple, Judaism went through some major changes.
They went from being a Temple based religion to a Synagogue based religion.
They also understand that they can no longer offer sacrifices, so they modified their beliefs
and now they say that charity and good works are to be done in place of the sacrifices.
However, the Bible tells us that blood is required, and without the shedding of blood
there is no atonement.
"For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar
to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul."
- Leviticus 17:11
That is why the sacrifice of Yeshua is so important, because without His blood we have
no way for atonement.
Those who reject Yeshua have no High Priest, no sacrifices, and no Temple.
Paul explains that Yeshua is our Passover lamb, and that is the basis for his argument
that we should keep the feast.
"Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are
unleavened.
For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.
Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice
and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
- 1 Corinthians 5:7-8
So, can we keep Passover outside of Jerusalem?
Yes, because the true worshippers will worship in spirit and truth.
Again, we are the only ones who can truly keep the Feasts because we are the only ones
who have a High Priest serving in the Temple.
Yeshua truly is the only way to the Father.
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