LIVING IN PROPHETIC TIMES: PART TWO

The Miracle and Nine Blessings of Passover

As we celebrate Easter and Passover, at a time when the world is approaching the ‘most dangerous point in human history,’ we must remember that just as God protected the Israelites from the Plagues of Egypt thousands of years ago, He can protect us from ‘what is coming upon the world.’

By Rev. Kevin Jessip and Troy Anderson

         As we celebrate Easter and Passover – and the nine blessings that come with this feast of the Lord described in Exodus 23, including divine protection – our world, according to Noam Chomsky, one of the globe’s most influential and controversial thinkers, is at an existential crossroads.

         “We’re approaching the most dangerous point in human history,” Chomsky, 93, a political theorist and professor of linguistics emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has written over one hundred books, said in an interview with The New Statesman. “We are now facing the prospect of destruction of organized human life on Earth.”

         Chomsky, whose father was born in Ukraine and emigrated to the United States in 1913, was referring primarily to the growing threat of nuclear war as the Russia-Ukraine war grinds on with tens of thousands of casualties.

         I (Troy Anderson) had the honor of interviewing Chomsky several years ago, along with world-renowned evangelist Billy Graham, and both expressed similar concerns about the future of humanity, with Graham saying signs of the end of the age are “converging now for the first time since Jesus made those predictions.”

         Chomsky’s remarks come as Russian President Vladimir Putin has put his nuclear forces on “high alert” and nuclear experts say (see last month’s “Living in Prophetic Times” article) America is now in its worst nuclear crisis since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.   

At a time when the world is undergoing massive geopolitical and medical upheavals, along with the elite’s rollout of what World Economic Forum Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab has called the “Great Reset,” many people believe we are witnessing prophetic events that correspond to what the Bible describes as signs of the last days.

         In Luke 21:10-11, 28, Jesus Christ spoke about the days before His return to Earth:

         “Then He continued by saying to them, ‘Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven…. But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.’”

         Throughout the world, people are asking whether the COVID pandemic, the war in Ukraine, which many fear could lead to a wider conflict in Europe and even nuclear war, and the growing danger of economic catastrophe as global debts soar to unparalleled levels, are signs that the end times are upon us.

         Consider these recent headlines in the secular media:

• Why Ukraine, the Antichrist and COVID vaccines stir interest in Bible prophecy (The Oklahoman, March 4)
• Russia’s war on Ukraine has some Christians wondering: Is this the end of the world? (The Washington Post, March 10)
• Russia-Ukraine war: Some pastors wonder about “end of days” – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has prompted some of America’s most prominent Evangelical leaders to raise a provocative question (Associated Press/ABC News, March 11)

            A new poll conducted by McLaughlin & Associates on behalf of author Joel Rosenberg found 40 percent of Americans agree that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a sign of biblical prophecies coming to pass. This means 103 million Americans believe the invasion is a sign of the last days.

         Here is a more detailed breakdown, revealing that a broad cross section of Americans, not just Evangelicals, view the war as a prophetic sign: 

• 7 percent of atheists agree the Russian invasion is a sign of the “last days”
• 10 percent of agnostics agree
• 19 percent of self-identified “secular” Americans agree
• 28 percent of Jews agree
• 37 percent of Catholics agree
• 54 percent of Protestants agree
• 70 percent of Evangelical born-again Christians agree

         The poll found 40 percent of Americans believe the COVID pandemic is a sign of biblical prophecies coming to pass. The survey also found that 47 percent of Americans believe that a new nuclear deal with Iran “will make the world more dangerous by lifting economic sanctions, giving Iran’s government enormous new oil revenues, and making it easier for Iran to fund – and hide – its efforts to build nuclear weapons.”

         And the poll found 68 percent of Americans believe “the Iranian regime wants to use nuclear weapons to carry out their repeated threats to ‘wipe Israel off the map’ and bring about a Second Holocaust.”

         At a time when so many people are anxious about the future, and during this Easter and Passover season, what wisdom and comfort can we gain from Scripture to help us walk in the supernatural protection and provision of the Holy Spirit?

Not Consumed by the Storm

         We are to listen carefully to the warnings of the watchmen, but we are not to become obsessed with their warnings. We’re to gather all the knowledge we can about the coming storm so we can prepare our hearts for whatever destruction it brings.

         However, we are not to let fear or anxiety consume our thinking, dominate our minds, or take hold of our hearts!

         Darkness is certainly coming, and judgment is at our very door. As God’s people, though, we cannot allow any cloud of darkness to hide the light of His great promises of love and mercy toward His children. We are to be well informed by the Lord’s words and prophets, but we are not to dwell on prophetic knowledge so much that it takes over our lives.

         The devil would love for that to happen. He knows if he can’t get you to doubt God’s Word concerning judgment, he’ll take you to another extreme by driving you to a fearful obsession with perilous times. The deceiver will try to rob you of all hope by consuming you with thoughts of foreboding.

         The Apostle Paul reassures us about such things with this instruction: “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things” (Philippians 4:8).

         Paul is telling us, “You’ve heard all the warnings. Now simply take heed to what God’s Word reveals and to what His watchmen are saying. Then, finally, fix all your thoughts on Jesus and His goodness.”

         We have warned that Christians are going to suffer, that there will be great loss and hardship, and that right now multitudes of precious saints all over the world are enduring unbelievable tribulation. None of these things are the focus of all our energies.

         No, the deepest expression of our souls is to proclaim the love of the Father and the tender mercy of our savior Jesus.

         We acknowledge the world’s evil, and we grieve over it in prayer; but we know that God alone is in control of all these things.

The Nine Blessings of Passover

For most of the last two thousand years since Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected, the Church has been largely disconnected from the Jewish roots of its faith, believing Passover – which begins on Friday, April 15 this year and ends the evening of Saturday, April 23 – is a feast celebrated by Jewish people, not realizing it’s one of the feasts that the Lord invites us to join with Him in.  

          Passover, in Judaism, is the holiday commemorating the Hebrews exodus from slavery in Egypt in about 1446 B.C., following the Ten Plagues of Egypt, and the “passing over,” or the sparing of the firstborn of the Israelites, on the eve of the Exodus.

         On the seven (or eight) days of Passover, only unleavened bread, called matzo, can be eaten. The matzo symbolizes both the Hebrews’ suffering while in bondage and the haste with which they left Egypt during the Exodus.

         Passover is often celebrated on the first night when a family meal called the seder is held. At the seder, foods of symbolic significance commemorating the Hebrews’ liberation are eaten, and prayers and traditional recitations are performed.

         Around the same time, this year on Sunday, April 17, Christians celebrate Easter and the resurrection of Christ.

         This raises the question. Should Christians observe Passover? While God doesn’t require us to observe Passover, as revealed in Exodus 23, there are nine blessings associated with Passover. These blessings, according to Curt Landry Ministries, are:

• Divine protection
• Protection from enemies through positioning and alignment
• Commissioning of divine authority
• Supernatural health and Kingdom prosperity
• Covenant protection for multiplication and longevity
• A Godly release of fear and respect from enemies
• Relief from the threat of enemies
• The gift of dominion and an increased inheritance
• Freedom from corrupt covenants

            Exodus 23:20 tells us: “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.”

         “When we choose to set our feet under our Father’s Passover table (nine) blessings become available to us! The first of which is God sending an angel before us to bring us into the place He has prepared—aligning us for His purposes for the year, every year—and to protect us as we journey there,” Landry says.

         “This is vital because as we go higher into our calling the enemy tries harder to block our path… but with this yearly renewing of God’s promise of divine protection, we need not fear!”

Gods Great Concern

         In the middle of this worldwide “shaking of all things,” what is God’s great concern in all of this? The Bible tells us God’s vision is trained on His children: “Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy” (Psalm 33:18).

         Our Lord is aware of every move on the earth, by every living thing. And yet His gaze is focused primarily on the well-being of his children. He fixes His eyes on the pains and needs of each member of his spiritual body. Simply put, whatever hurts us concerns Him.

         To prove this to us, Jesus said, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). Even in the midst of great world wars, God’s primary focus isn’t on the tyrants. His focus is on every circumstance in his children’s lives.

         Christ says in the very next verse: “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will” (Matthew 10:29).

         In Christ’s day, sparrows were the meat of the poor and sold two for a penny. Yet, Jesus said, “Not one of these small creatures falls to the ground without your Father knowing it.”

         Jesus’ use of the word “fall” in this verse signifies more than the bird’s death. The Aramaic meaning is “to light upon the ground.” In other words, “fall” here indicates every little hop a tiny bird makes.

         Christ is essentially telling us, “Your Father’s eye is on the sparrow not just when it dies but even when it lights on the ground. As a sparrow learns to fly, it falls from the nest and begins to hop along the ground. And God sees every little struggle it has. He’s concerned over every detail of its life.”

         Jesus then adds, “Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (10:31). Indeed, he says, “The very hairs of your head are all numbered” (10:30).

         Simply put, the One who made and counted all the stars—who monitored every action of the Roman Empire, who sees the tragedy unfolding in Ukraine, and who keeps the galaxies in their orbits—has His eye fixed on you.

         And, Jesus asks, “Are you not worth much more to Him?”

Rev. Kevin Jessip is the co-founder and president of The Return International, president of the Global Strategic Alliance, and chairman of Save the Persecuted Christians. He’s an advisor to national and global leaders within the business, political, and faith communities. After years as an executive for one of the world’s largest publicly traded companies, Kevin was called into a deeper ministry, where he began as a youth evangelist over four decades ago, to become a dedicated leader for national and global repentance. Find out more at www.gsaministries.org, ww.thereturn.org and www.therenewal2022.org

Troy Anderson is a Pulitzer Prize-nominated investigative journalist, bestselling co-author of The Military Guide to Armageddon, Trumpocalypse and The Babylon Code, former executive editor of Charisma magazine and Charisma Media and reporter at the Los Angeles Daily News. He’s the executive editor of The Return International and vice president of Battle Ready Ministries. Find out more at www.troyanderson.us , www.battle-ready.org and www.thereturn.org.