Is There A New Covenant Sabbath?
While it seems that there is no New Covenant Sabbath, if there were it would certainly be the Passover known as Pesach, which today is observed arbitrarily by most churches. The Passover is supposedly represented by The Lord’s Supper also known as the Eucharist, Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar and the Blessed Sacrament.
"The Signs on the Door".
Watercolor: James Jacques Joseph Tissot, circa 1896-1900.
The Jewish Museum, New York.
Pesach seemed to be quite important to Yeshua since supernatural provisions were made for it and He stated that “This Do In Remembrance Of Me.” (Luke 22:7-22) In fact, this phrase can frequently be seen emblazoned on church furniture. “This Do In Remembrance Of Me” was said at “The Last Supper” which was the observance of Passover. In fact, this is really the only scripturally authorized Holiday on the church calendar. All other Holidays are superfluous, and frankly, based on that statement they are contrary to scripture. It is also notable that the Apostles observed Pesach in the Jewish tradition after Yeshua’s time had passed. In fact, this was the case at least to the third century.
Interestingly enough, however, it seems that most churches never observe the Passover on the Passover and they observe it in way that is quite divorced from an actual Passover feast known as the Seder. By necessity, the Passover Seder must occur on the 14th of Nissan on the Jewish calendar. In Jewish tradition, the Passover period runs for a week, but the Seder, the night that commemorates when the Lord brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt, occurs on the 14th of Nissan every year.
Exodus 12:1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2"This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. 4If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. 5The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. 6Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. 7Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. 8That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. 9Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roast it over the fire-head, legs and inner parts. 10Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it.11This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord's Passover. 12 "On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn-both men and animals-and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 13The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. 14"This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord-a lasting ordinance. 15For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. 16On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat-that is all you may do. (NIV) (Emphasis added)
It is really quite important to observe the Seder of the 14th of Nissan according to the Jewish custom because there is a great deal of symbolism associated with The Last Supper. It conveys great meaning for understanding scripture, particularly prophetic scripture. If one is not familiar with the particulars of this feast, many of the simple analogies in scripture are impossible to understand. Furthermore, this exact celebration embodies countless points that connect the God of the Tanach with the God of the New Covenant.
In Jewish tradition, the root of this practice is a feast where one eats a lot of food – sort of like Americans do on Thanksgiving. Exodus 12:11-21 stipulates some of the particulars. Additionally, Jews drink four cups of wine. This part is only slightly treated in Biblical scripture and some of this tradition is contained in the Mishnah and Talmud. Nevertheless, this particular portion of the Seder is highly symbolic in particular regard to the conduct of Yeshua at the Last Supper and His expected return. At most Christian communions the menu is quite meager to point of not needing table service. Unless one is a middle-aged thoroughbred-racing jockey, that person is not likely to construe one oyster cracker to be a feast. One should really expect to be served barbequed mutton, bitter herbs, matzah and red wine as a minimum (Exodus 12:8). One cannot observe an observance without observing the observance. This could be a real opportunity for a potluck dinner, but realistically this feast is traditionally carried on quietly at home by families with perhaps a few guests.
Exodus 12:8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. (NIV) (Emphasis added)
Jeremiah 8:7 Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons, and the dove, the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration. But my people do not know the requirements of the LORD. (NIV) (Emphasis added)
In the contemporary Jewish custom the dinner or Seder has several necessary dishes such as matzah, bitter herbs, mutton and so on (Exodus 12:8). In modern times, some include an orange at the Seder because someone quipped that a woman belongs in the rabbinic pulpit just as much as an orange belongs at the Passover Seder. Heretofore, oranges were not included at the Seder. Since many women are serving as Rabbis today, the orange is included as a taunt to the person that made that statement. Moreover, it is really an in your face kind of statement to God.
While it may seem quite amusing to mock this notion, the real gravity of the situation of having women serve in pulpits is certainly not adequately symbolized by an orange. It would really be far more accurate to state that a woman belongs in a pulpit just as much as ham should be served at the Passover Seder. Realistically, one would be better off to sacrifice a pig on the temple altar than have a woman serve as a Rabbi (Acts 10:9-15). The same is true for Christianity. There are no provisions for woman to occupy a pulpit and there is a clear prohibition against it in New Covenant scripture. This was not an oversight on God’s part and it is not subject to change or argument.
Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? (NIV) (Emphasis added)
Malachi 3:6 "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. (NIV) (Emphasis added)