To all of you interested in Messianic types and shadows within Jewish culture, welcome to this study..hello and shalom! By way of introduction, I am a Messianic Jew, which translates as a Jewish believer, aka: "Hebrew Christian", ( yes, you can be both!),or" completed Jew". As far as secular credentials, I am simply a believer, without the benefit of a D.D. degree in either philosophy, Hebrew ethics or Jewish culture; no Ph.D in Hebrew politics. My only credibility lies in the years of practice and experience I gained growing up in a conservative Jewish home, and around the Seder table in Buba and Zadee's kitchen. I graduated from the school of ?Kosher Kitchens?, and if there was a medallion awarded for all the Manischewitz wine and foods consumed, I'd be a candidate! I can?t boast of any formal degrees, and yet, I'm a PROFESSOR, not in the academic sense, but as in one who PROFESSES to love the God of Israel and His written word .... which is the reason for this study: to share with you the depths of God's truths that are hidden within the beautiful traditions of Passover.

During the course of growing up, I had observed and celebrated many Passovers, Channukahs, Purims and Yom Kippurs, only to have a constant hunger within my heart that longed to have more than just a knowledge of God..I wanted to have a relationship...something "real" in the way of interaction with Him...not just prayers from the Sedur, ( prayer book), but a 2 way conversation! And why not? Abraham did! Isaac spoke to God...Jacob, also;..Moses had a 40 day conference with Him! The point is, all the Patriarchs had a 2 way relationship with their God..they talked, He listened! He talked, they listened!..and in spite of all the things I did to be a good Jew..bas mitzvah; confirmation; Hebrew school...none of that seemed to score Brownie points, because after I spoke to Him, I listened...only to the silence of my room! I was no different than Moses and Jacob and the rest of the clan...we were all cut out of the same mold: We were all flesh and blood...humanity, reaching up to God, only separated by time and culture. Why wasn't I getting any answers? I asked my Rabbi and my teachers, never receiving any valid answers to my questions, but always suggestions to "do mitzvahs", ( good deeds ), and busy myself", and ? look for God in you fellowman?. These answers were all distractions from the real issue: I knew the law, but wanted desperately to know the LAWGIVER!

I turned to the Torah , ( the first 5 books of the Old Testament), and the Prophets again, and found the prophecies and the promises God made to the Jews, but few accounts of the fulfillment of either, leaving me with more unanswered questions. I had no idea then, that all the answers and fulfillments of those O.T. prophecies were recorded in the New Testament, and could be seen even in the daily newspaper in the events that were unfolding around me daily! ( How could I know what the New Testament contained? I was told it was a Gentile book, and never on the ?Book-of-the-Month? list for Jewish readers!. I never knew it was written by Jews, for Jews and about Jews!) The Tenach, ( Old testament), teaches that" God is the Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.", and seek Him I did. First, within Judaism, and then, in other religious frameworks, but never found anything more than a trade-off in doctrine or philosophy...still no reality.! Finally, through the events following a near tragic accident involving my SON, I came to a place where I came to terms with God, felt His touch, heard His voice and experienced Him with all the reality I had been seeking and hungering for. That experience changed my life and made the God of my forefathers as real and personal to me as He had been to them. Because of that experience, God opened my eyes of understanding as to Who the Messiah is, and how He has revealed Himself through not only our Jewish Scriptures, but through our culture and even our traditions! Even rites and rituals we pride ourselves in doing speak of the Messiah, hidden within
types and shadows, spoken of in allegories, parables and similitudes.

In Colossians 2:17, the Rabbi Saul wrote to the believers, (Messianic Jews), in the city of Collose that the Holy Days were ?shadows of things to come?, but the Substance of those shadows was the Messiah, Y'shua,(Hebrew for Jesus.). It is with this Scripture in mind that I present the Passover, a ceremony practiced by Jews worldwide, in obedience to the command from Moses. ( Exodus 12:14 )As we go through this feast, I will point out the types and shadows of Y'shua within the rites and rituals, in hope that I can show you, very clearly, the SUBSTANCE of those shadows...the anointed One for Whom the Jews have been taught to look for...the Messiah, Y'shua.

I want to emphasis the fact that this is NOT a study to teach Gentile believers to , or how to observe and practice Passover. This is only presented to educate anyone interested, Gentile and Jew, as to why we observe certain traditions, and their relevance to Messiah. For the many years I observed and practiced Passover with friends and family, I never understood the hidden meaning and how it all pointed to Y'shua. Now I can partake of the feastof Passover, filled with gratitude and love for my heritage, knowing that God has placed within this Feast the story of His love and desire for His people.

Next: Tragedy That became a Blessing


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Types and Shadows: In the Bible, there are certain story settings and characters that are a parallel to other events that appear later in history.They are factual, but because of their similar- ties, they are referred to as "types" or "shadows". Just as a hand shadow made on the wall is only a vague outline of the actual substance that projects the shadow, so it is with Biblical types and shadows. They are stories within themselves, projected on the wall of time, but the "substance", ( the actual person or event), seen after the shadow projects the shadowy picture with greater definition. Just as the light of the sun in the morning hours projects shadows of trees, the brighter the sun gets as it moves in time, the shorter the shadow becomes until it finally disappears, and the sun reveals, in full definition, the entire tree. As the dispensations of time roll by, the shadows of parallels and similitude?s disappear, and the reality or substance of those shadows become distinctly defined. In discussing the law, Rabbi Saul taught that the Jewish holidays and feasts were only temporary rules that ended when the Messiah appeared; they were only "shadows" of the real Substance, which was the Messiah, Himself. ( Collosians 2:17 ) In essence, these holidays and feast pointed to and spoke of the fulfillment that Y'shua defined more clearly by his actions.

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