Aviv 19 Matzah Day Five
2020: Monday, April 13
Omer Day 4: Blessed are you, Yahweh, King of the Universe, who made us holy with your commandments and commanded us regarding the Counting of the Omer. Today is 4 days of the Omer. Amen. Read: Psalm 67 Psalm 119:25-32
Today is a normal but light workday. Stay in a festive attitude and enjoy a fun activity with family and friends!
In Israel: no school & many businesses close early.
Today’s Passover Readings: Ezra 6:1-22 Mark 16 Psalm 115
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Aviv 20 Matzah Day Six
2020: Tuesday, April 14
Omer Day 5: Blessed are you, Yahweh, King of the Universe, who made us holy with your commandments and commanded us regarding the Counting of the Omer. Today is 5 days of the Omer. Amen. Read: Psalm 67 Psalm 119:33-40
Today’s Passover Readings: II Samuel 22:1-51 Psalm 116 Luke 24:13-53
Today is a Preparation Day for the 7th Day Shabbat of the Feast of Matzah. Be sure to prepare food for meals today so that tomorrow can be a day of rest and celebration. Stay in a festive attitude with family and friends.
If your family is planning to also celebrate Mashiach’s Feast tomorrow evening be sure to include your preparation for this event in today’s efforts. (See below.)
This evening on Erev Matzah Shabbat we commemorate the Splitting of the Red Sea. The evening meal should be festive as we remember this mighty eventwhich took place during the night.
Evening Reading: Deuteronomy 16:1-17 Exodus 13:17-15:26
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Aviv 21 Matzah Day Seven The 2nd High Sabbath of Passover Week
A day of complete rest.
2020: Wednesday, April 15
No work today! Lunch should be festive yet easy to prepare.
This is a day of holy assembly. Congregations should plan a special service for today. If no such service is available to you, plan to gather fellow followers of Yeshua together for a special time of worship in your home or a selected location. Spend some special time with Father Yahweh today.
“Mashiach’s Feast” is this evening. As Passover Week draws to a close, Chassidic Jews living outside of Israel celebrate the coming arrival of the Messiah with a festive meal. Many Messianic Believers have also adopted this practice in anticipation of Yeshua HaMashiach’s imminent return. The celebration serves the same function as a regular Shabbat Havdalah, bringing this separated time of the Feast of Matzah to a close. Like the Passover Seder the meal includes unleavened bread and four cups of wine, each representing the promises of God found in Exodus 6: a Cup of Remembrance, a Cup of Deliverance, a Cup of Sanctification, and a Cup of Inheritance. Use this evening to celebrate and look forward to the imminent return of Yeshua HaMashiach and the coming redemption of all Israel! Below, there is a suggested guide to this celebration. You are welcome to use it, or to create your own celebration!
Omer Day 6: Blessed are you, Yahweh, King of the Universe, who made us holy with your commandments and commanded us regarding the Counting of the Omer. Today is 6 days of the Omer. Amen. Read: Psalm 67 Psalm 119:41-48
Today’s Passover Readings: Deuteronomy 16:1-17 Matthew 24:31-46 Acts 1:1-11 Psalm 117
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Aviv 22 Matzah Day Eight
Celebrated outside the land of Israel – a High Sabbath
2020: Thursday, April 16
For many centuries now, Jews living outside the land of Israel celebrate holy days for an additional day. In ancient days there was no set calendar for the Jewish people. Everything was timed based on a proclamation from the Temple priests at the sighting of the new moon each month (called Rosh Chodesh). In the early Diaspora years (since 70 AD) Temple messengers were no longer able to get the announcement to Jews outside Israel in time for the proper setting of Feast celebrations. Therefore, it was decided to extend the feast celebrations an additional day for those outside of the land to ensure the correct day had not been missed. Though today we do have calendars by which to mark and set the passage of each day and month, a rabbinical decision was made to keep to the second day formula.
To observe this Eighth Day Sabbath of Passover Week is up to you and your household.
Like Day Seven of Passover Week, there is no work today. Lunch should be festive and fun! Our attitude and activities should continue to be joyous and in celebration of The Season of Our Deliverance.
Work may resume one hour past sunset this evening.
Omer Day 7: Blessed are you, Yahweh, King of the Universe, who made us holy with your commandments and commanded us regarding the Counting of the Omer. Today is 7 days of the Omer. Amen. Read: Psalm 67 Psalm 119:49-56
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Mashiach’s Feast: A Celebration Guide for Messianic Believers
You will need:
- 2 candles and a lighter (or matches)
- 4 cups of wine or juice
- Unleavened Bread (matzah)
- Your prepared festive meal
- Favorite hymns and songs that you will want to insert in the service given below.
Welcome
Tonight, as we bring our celebration of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread to a close, we want to take the time to acknowledge the end of this sacred week. We also want to remind ourselves of our wonderful Messiah, Yeshua, who is and always will be our Passover Lamb, chosen by God to provide for us complete forgiveness of our sin and full entrance into His Kingdom forever. We have every hope with full confidence that Yeshua our Messiah will return just as He has promised. We celebrate Mashiach’s Feast in joyful expectation of that Great Day!
To begin our special evening together, we will light the candles and share in the first three cups of the evening.
Lighting of the Candle
- Blessing over the 1st Candle
Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King of the universe, who separates between the uncommon and the common, between light and darkness, between Israel and the pagan nations, and who has established the week of Passover and Unleavened Bread for remembrance and celebration. Amen.
- Blessing over the 2nd Candle
Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King of the Universe, who was, and who is, and who is to come. Amen.
Scripture: Read aloud together.
Exodus 6:2-6 God spoke to Moshe; he said to him, “I am Adonai. I appeared to Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya`akov as El Shaddai, although I did not make myself known to them by my name, Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh ( י ה ו ה ) [Adonai]. Also with them I established my covenant to give them the land of Kena`an, the land where they wandered about and lived as foreigners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Isra’el, whom the Egyptians are keeping in slavery; and I have remembered my covenant. Therefore, say to the people of Isra’el: ‘I am Adonai. I will free you from the forced labor of the Egyptians, rescue you from their oppression, and redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am Adonai your God, who freed you from the forced labor of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya`akov—I will give it to you as your inheritance. I am Adonai.’ ”
The 1st Cup and the Bread: The Cup of Remembrance
Exodus 6: 5 “I have heard the groaning of the people of Isra’el, whom the Egyptians are keeping in slavery; and I have remembered my covenant.”
Jeremiah 31:31-33 (and Hebrews 8:10)
“Here, the days are coming,” says Adonai, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Isra’el and with the house of Y’hudah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers on the day I took them by their hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt; because they, for their part, violated my covenant, even though I, for my part, was a husband to them,” says Adonai.
“For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Isra’el after those days,” says Adonai: “I will put my Torah within them and write it on their hearts; I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
Blessing over the Cup and the Bread:
Blessed are you, Yahweh our God, King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine. Blessed are you, Yahweh our God, who brings forth bread from the earth. Amen.
Partake together.
The 2nd Cup and the Bread: The Cup of Deliverance
Exodus 6:6 “Therefore, say to the people of Isra’el: ‘I am Adonai. I will free you from the forced labor of the Egyptians, rescue you from their oppression…”
John 8:31-36 So Yeshua said to the Judeans who had trusted him, “If you obey what I say, then you are really my talmidim, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
They answered, “We are the seed of Avraham and have never been slaves to anyone; so what do you mean by saying, ‘You will be set free’?”
Yeshua answered them, “Yes, indeed! I tell you that everyone who practices sin is a slave of sin. Now a slave does not remain with a family forever, but a son does remain with it forever. So if the Son frees you, you will really be free!”
Blessing over the Cup and the Bread:
Blessed are you, Yahweh our God, King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine. Blessed are you, Yahweh our God, who brings forth bread from the earth. Amen.
Partake together.
The 3rd Cup and the Bread: The Cup of Sanctification
Exodus 6: 6-7 “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. “I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am Adonai your God, who freed you from the forced labor of the Egyptians.”
John 17:13-23 “But now, I am coming to you; and I say these things while I am still in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world—just as I myself do not belong to the world. I don’t ask you to take them out of the world, but to protect them from the Evil One. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Set them apart for holiness by means of the truth—your word is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. On their behalf I am setting myself apart for holiness, so that they too may be set apart for holiness by means of the truth. I pray not only for these, but also for those who will trust in me because of their word, that they may all be one. Just as you, Father, are united with me and I with you, I pray that they may be united with us, so that the world may believe that you sent me. The glory which you have given to me, I have given to them; so that they may be one, just as we are one— I united with them and you with me, so that they may be completely one, and the world thus realize that you sent me, and that you have loved them just as you have loved me.”
Blessing over the Cup and the Bread:
Blessed are you, Yahweh our God, King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine. Blessed are you, Yahweh our God, who brings forth bread from the earth. Amen.
Partake together.
TIME TO EAT AND ENJOY YOUR FESTIVE MEAL!!!
The 4th Cup and the Bread: The Cup of Inheritance
Exodus 6:8 “I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya`akov—I will give it to you as your inheritance. I am Adonai.”
Deuteronomy 30:1-20 (Moses is speaking.) “When the time arrives that all these things have come upon you, both the blessing and the curse which I have presented to you; and you are there among the nations to which Adonai your God has driven you; then, at last, you will start thinking about what has happened to you; and you will return to Adonai your God and pay attention to what he has said, which will be exactly what I am ordering you to do today—you and your children, with all your heart and all your being. At that point, Adonai your God will reverse your exile and show you mercy; he will return and gather you from all the peoples to which Adonai your God scattered you. If one of yours was scattered to the far end of the sky, Adonai your God will gather you even from there; he will go there and get you. Adonai your God will bring you back into the land your ancestors possessed, and you will possess it; he will make you prosper there, and you will become even more numerous than your ancestors. Then Adonai your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your children, so that you will love Adonai your God with all your heart and all your being, and thus you will live. Adonai your God will put all these curses on your enemies, on those who hated and persecuted you; but you will return and pay attention to what Adonai says and obey all his mitzvot which I am giving you today. Then Adonai your God will give you more than enough in everything you set out to do—the fruit of your body, the fruit of your livestock, and the fruit of your land will all do well; for Adonai will once again rejoice to see you do well, just as he rejoiced in your ancestors. However, all this will happen only if you pay attention to what Adonai your God says, so that you obey his mitzvot and regulations which are written in this book of the Torah, if you turn to Adonai your God with all your heart and all your being. For this mitzvah which I am giving you today is not too hard for you, it is not beyond your reach. It isn’t in the sky, so that you need to ask, ‘Who will go up into the sky for us, bring it to us and make us hear it, so that we can obey it?’ Likewise, it isn’t beyond the sea, so that you need to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea for us, bring it to us and make us hear it, so that we can obey it?’ On the contrary, the word is very close to you—in your mouth, even in your heart; therefore, you can do it! Look! I am presenting you today with, on the one hand, life and good; and on the other, death and evil— in that I am ordering you today to love Adonai your God, to follow his ways, and to obey his mitzvot, regulations and rulings ; for if you do, you will live and increase your numbers; and Adonai your God will bless you in the land you are entering in order to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, if you refuse to listen, if you are drawn away to prostrate yourselves before other gods and serve them; I am announcing to you today that you will certainly perish; you will not live long in the land you are crossing the Yarden to enter and possess. I call on heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have presented you with life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore, choose life, so that you will live, you and your descendants, loving Adonai your God, paying attention to what he says and clinging to him—for that is the purpose of your life! On this depends the length of time you will live in the land Adonai swore he would give to your ancestors Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya`akov.”
John 14:1-7 “Don’t let yourselves be disturbed. Trust in God and trust in me. In my Father’s house are many places to live. If there weren’t, I would have told you; because I am going there to prepare a place for you. Since I am going and preparing a place for you, I will return to take you with me; so that where I am, you may be also. Furthermore, you know where I’m going; and you know the way there.” T’oma said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you’re going; so how can we know the way?” Yeshua said, “I AM the Way—and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me. Because you have known me, you will also know my Father; from now on, you do know him—in fact, you have seen him.”
Blessing over the Cup and the Bread:
Blessed are you, Yahweh our God, King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine. Blessed are you, Yahweh our God, who brings forth bread from the earth. Amen.
Partake together.
Tonight We Are Reminded…
This wonderful experience called Messiah’ s Feast helps us to remember all that Yeshua has already accomplished for us and reminds us of what He has yet to complete. Our Jewish brothers and sisters, the House of Judah, are just beginning to come to Him in recognition of who He is. We must continue to pray in true compassion for their temporary blindness to be removed. We, the House of Israel (Ephraim), are anxious for the day when we will be fully reunited with them in Messiah. No longer Jew and no longer Gentile, we will again be one Whole House of Israel just as Yahweh has promised through His prophet, Ezekiel:
“I will take the stick of Yosef, which is in the hand of Efrayim, together with the tribes of Isra’el who are joined with him, and put them together with the stick of Y’hudah and make them a single stick, so that they become one in my hand. … I will take the people of Isra’el from among the nations where they have gone and gather them from every side and bring them back to their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Isra’el; and one king will be king for all of them. They will no longer be two nations, and they will never again be divided into two kingdoms. They will never again defile themselves with their idols, their detestable things, or any of their transgressions; but I will save them from all the places where they have been living and sinning; and I will cleanse them, so that they will be my people, and I will be their God. My servant David will be king over them, and all of them will have one shepherd; they will live by my rulings and keep and observe my regulations. They will live in the land I gave to Ya`akov my servant, where your ancestors lived; they will live there—they, their children, and their grandchildren, forever; and David my servant will be their leader forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant. I will give to them, increase their numbers, and set my sanctuary among them forever. My home will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. The nations will know that I am Adonai, who sets Isra’el apart as holy, when my sanctuary is with them forever.” — Ezekiel 37:21-28
We join with the House of Judah in anticipation and prayer…
To Your city, Jerusalem, You shall return with mercy, and You shall dwell in it, and as You have spoken, may You build it soon in our days for eternity, and may You establish the throne of David within it. The offspring of David your servant may You swiftly flourish and exalt his honor with Your salvation; for Your redemption we hope all day long. Blessed are You, Yahweh, who raises the ray of salvation. Amen. (An excerpt from the Amidah – the Standing Prayer presented before Yahweh three times each day.)
We close the Passover Feast of Matzah with these words.
Revelation 19:11-16 Next I saw heaven opened, and there before me was a white horse. Sitting on it was the one called Faithful and True, and it is in righteousness that he passes judgment and goes to battle. His eyes were like a fiery flame, and on his head were many royal crowns. And he had a name written which no one knew but himself. He was wearing a robe that had been soaked in blood, and the name by which he is called is, “THE WORD OF GOD.” The armies of heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. And out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down nations—”He will rule them with a staff of iron.” It is he who treads the winepress from which flows the wine of the furious rage of Adonai, God of heaven’s armies. And on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
Revelation 21:1-6 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had passed away, and the sea was no longer there. Also I saw the holy city, New Yerushalayim, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud voice from the throne say, “See! God’s Sh’khinah is with mankind, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and he himself, God-with-them, will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will no longer be any death; and there will no longer be any mourning, crying or pain; because the old order has passed away. Then the One sitting on the throne said, “Look! I am making everything new!” Also he said, “Write, ‘These words are true and trustworthy!’ ” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the ‘Aleph’ and the ‘Tav,’ the Beginning and the End. To anyone who is thirsty I myself will give water free of charge from the Fountain of Life.”
Revelation 22:12-17 “Pay attention!” [says Yeshua,] “I am coming soon, and my rewards are with me to give to each person according to what he has done. I am the ‘Aleph’ and the ‘Tav,’ the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. How blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they have the right to eat from the Tree of Life and go through the gates into the city! Outside are the homosexuals, those involved with the occult and with drugs, the sexually immoral, murderers, idol-worshippers, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. I, Yeshua, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the Messianic communities. I am the Root and Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star. The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come!’ Let anyone who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let anyone who is thirsty come—let anyone who wishes, take the water of life free of charge.”
My brothers and sisters, let’s stand and raise our glasses as we say together,
“NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM!”
Using a drop of wine, extinguish the candles.
A refreshing source in Hebrew Restoration for followers of Yeshua 