It is this time of year the followers of Jesus Christ
celebrate His victory over Death and the Jews commemorate Passover. There is an
ancient Jewish tradition associated with the Passover Feast of Unleavened Bread
that is called the hiding of the afikomen.
Feast of Unleavened Bread & the Afikomen
The Feast of Unleavened Bread is
observed the day after Passover and is a seven-day festival to the Lord (Leviticus 23:6-7;
Exodus 12:7-8,14-17). As Christianity emerged from Judaism, Jewish
ideas taken up and developed by followers of Jesus were suppressed by Jewish
authorities. Such was the case with the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
One of these ideas or customs is
practiced during the Passover Seder and
involves 3 Matzahs which are wrapped up in a white linen napkin. In this
ancient custom, the father of the household takes the middle matzah and breaks
it in half.
The smaller half goes back in with the
other 2 matzahs while the larger half (now called the afikomen)
is placed in a separate linen and hidden somewhere dark in the house.
The children search for the afikomen and bring it to the father in
exchange for a prize. Refusal to surrender the afikomen until a prize is agreed
upon is called a “ransom”. And the prize is called “the Promise of the Father”.
Now the father breaks the afikomen
into as many pieces as there are people gathered and each partakes in
remembrance of the paschal lamb.
Does any of that custom remind you of
Jesus?
The three matzahs represent the
Godhead. The middle matzah that is broken represents Jesus, specifically the afikomen
because Jesus gave His life as a “ransom for all” (see Matthew 20:28; Mark
10:45; 1 Tim 2:6; Rev. 5:9). His broken body was wrapped in linen (Matt. 27:59;
Mark 15:46; Luke 23:53; John 20:7) and hidden in a dark place.
I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will
redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy
destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes. - Hosea 13:14 KJV
14. Applying
primarily to God's restoration of Israel from Assyria partially, and, in times
yet future, fully from all the lands of their present long-continued
dispersion, and political death (compare Hsa
6:2 Isa
25:8 26:19 Eze
37:12 ). God's power and grace are
magnified in quickening what to the eye of flesh seems dead and hopeless
( Rom
4:17, 19 ). As Israel's history, past and future, has a
representative character in relation to the Church, this verse is expressed in
language alluding to Messiah's (who is the ideal Israel) grand victory over the
grave and death, the first-fruits of His own resurrection, the full harvest
to come at the general resurrection; hence the similarity between this
verse and Paul's language as to the latter ( 1Cr 15:55 ). That
similarity becomes more obvious by translating as the Septuagint, from
which Paul plainly quotes; and as the same Hebrew word is
translated in Hsa
13:10, "O death, where are
thy plagues (paraphrased by the Septuagint, 'thy victory')? O
grave, where is thy destruction (rendered by the Septuagint, 'thy
sting')?" The question is that of one triumphing over a foe, once a cruel
tyrant, but now robbed of all power to hurt. BLB
Commentary
(Emphasis added by me. In an upcoming article I
will address The Rapture as a Harvest.)
Now we remember Jesus as the Final
Afikomen when we partake of the matzah piece!
Event Horizon--The Resurrection |
The afikomen is returned to the father for a prize. Forty days later, the father gives the child his prize. Jesus 40 days after His resurrection gave the apostles a gift when he told them to “wait for the promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4). Then when Pentecost had fully come, the Holy Spirit was given--the greatest prize of all!
The
afikomen is hidden away after being publicly broken, which is reminiscent of
Yeshua’s burial after His public death. Then the afikomen is found—which
alludes to Yeshua’s resurrection and our Savior walking out of His tomb. Then the afikomen is given to
all present as a symbol of God giving life to those who follow Him. As Yeshua
said, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will
not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst” (John 6:35).
Whatever its historical origins, the afikomen is a beautiful analogy for what
Yeshua has done for us. Source
I learned of the afikomen
custom from reading Tom Horn’s book The Messenger. His team found proof that this rare
ancient word began before the time of Christ and refers to Jesus Christ
as “The Coming One” or “the messiah who has come”.
Yet today the religious
Jews explain away the reason for hiding the afikomen or broken matzah as a
means of entertainment for the children (see Chabad.org
and LearnReligions.com).
The Afikomen and The Last Supper
At
the last supper Jesus was telling His disciples that He fulfilled the afikomen
and that it no longer had to be hidden or sought after. At this Passover meal
Jesus broke the afikomen representing Himself bypassing the search
because He was REVEALED!
Jesus made Himself known by the
“breaking of bread”:
And, behold, two of them went that
same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem [about]
threescore furlongs.
And they talked together of all these
things which had happened.
And it came to pass, that, while they
communed [together] and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.
But their eyes were holden that they
should not know him. - Luke 24:13-16 KJV
And they drew nigh unto the village,
whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. But they
constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day
is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.
And it came to pass, as he sat at meat
with them, he took bread, and blessed [it], and brake, and gave to them.
And their eyes were opened, and they
knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.
And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked
with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
And they rose up the same hour, and
returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that
were with them,
Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and
hath appeared to Simon.
And they told what things [were done]
in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread. Luke
24:28-35 KJV
All who heard this for the first time in our home on
Resurrection Sunday in 2022 were moved with tears in their eyes—including me
who had the honor of teaching it.
The Promise to the Bride
But I
got to thinking--is the “Promise of the Father” a typology of the Promise given
to us in John 14 when Jesus said, “I will come again for you”?
The building of the bridal chamber is the 8th step in the
ancient Hebrew marriage:
The bridegroom departed, going back to his father's house
to prepare the bridal chamber.
At this point, the bridegroom leaves for his father's house
to prepare the bridal chamber for his bride. . . Before he goes, though, he
will make a statement to the bride. "I go to prepare a place for you; if I
go, I will return again unto you." This is the same statement Yeshua made
in John 14:1-3 before He went to His father's house in Heaven, as it is
written:
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Fathers' house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself that where I am, there ye may be also (John 14:1-3).
According to the tradition of the afikomen—40 days
after Jesus as the afikomen returned to the Father, Jesus appeared to the
apostles and relayed the promise of the Gift when he told them to “wait for the promise of the
Father” (Acts 1:4).
And, being assembled together with [them], commanded them
that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father,
which, [saith he], ye have heard of me. - Acts 1:4 KJV
Then when
Pentecost was fully come the Holy Spirit was given--the greatest prize
of all for with it came the seal of eternal life!
Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the
Spirit in our hearts. - 2 Corinthians 1:22 KJV
Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing [is]
God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. - 2 Corinthians 5:5
KJV
Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the
redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. -
Ephesians 1:14 KJV
Jesus as the Found Afikomen presented Himself to the Father
resulting in the pouring out of the “ransom” or “The Promise of the Father”. So then are our crowns and rewards that are given to us
soon after we are Raptured an extension of “The Promise of
the Father” that came on
Pentecost?
How Likely is a Pentecost Rapture?
Jesus and the Old Testament Saints were the Firstfruits Barley
Offering—the first part of that harvest. So where does that put Those in Christ
who are awaiting their “harvest” when the trumpet sounds? Pages 143-144 of The
Messenger state:
The rabbis say that the
dispensation of law began on Pentecost. . . Many Jews say that this, the first
mention of a trumpet blast in Exodus, was regarded by the spiritual leaders of
Israel as having occurred on Pentecost. . .
Furthermore, the trumpet was blown not by a human, but by a heavenly being. . . The next such trumpet should sound on the day of Rapture and resurrection, making the day of Pentecost an interesting possibility for that event. . . (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
The celebration of Pentecost is associated with the wheat
harvest, but Jesus’ resurrection is tied to the barley harvest. I wanted to write
about what I found regarding the Rapture as a harvest, but first desired to
share the wonderful significance of Jesus the Passover Afikomen—our beautiful
Savior who has ransomed us from death and the grave and will soon catch us away—perhaps
this year.
Come! Lord Jesus Come!