SHEPHERD, MT (ANS) — Have you ever been curious about the Celebration of Passover? Do you question if Passover is something Christians should celebrate? Is Passover just a Jewish Holy Day, or is it a much deeper truth woven into the fabric of God’s eternal Kingdom?
The King’s Passover: Restoring the Season of Our Deliverance in the Kingdom Lifestyle of God’s People (Paperback $14.95; Kindle $5.99 – Amazon.com) equips followers of Messiah Yeshua (Jesus Christ) with important foundational features in God’s Kingdom, then brilliantly places the celebration of Passover into its proper Kingdom context.
* Discover the historical and cultural truth about our Savior’s Last Supper, His death, and His resurrection.
* Understand the powerful Passover meaning in Yeshua’s instruction to break the Bread and drink the Cup in remembrance of Him.
* Discover the key features of God’s Kingdom that place the celebration of Passover in its eternal context.
* Grasp how Passover fits into God’s full plan of redemption and why it is called, by both Jews and Christians, The Season of Our Deliverance.
* Receive principled concepts and practical instructions that will help you bring a Yeshua-focused celebration of Passover into your home.
** Bonus Content includes Guides to the celebration of the Passover Season for followers of Yeshua.
Restored to its love-motivated purpose, this ancient Biblical Feast Day moves from being misunderstood as a legalistic obligation to returning to a joy-filled annual celebration given by our King that you will not want to miss!
In this dynamic book, Pastor Deborah Munson presents a path to restoring Passover in the Kingdom lifestyle of every believer and how you can make that happen in your household. No matter what is happening in the world around you, the Kingdom reality of Passover is something you and your family can live in every day!
Munson had two motivations in writing this book. “First, leaving a legacy for my children and grandchildren is very important to me. As we weren’t aware of my Jewish heritage when our children were young, the adjustments my husband and I have made to embrace a walk with Christ that is based solidly on Scripture and the lifestyle of our Messiah has been a true stretch for them. Most of my writing is to help bridge the gap for them, and for our grandchildren, so that they are able to wrestle down for themselves what their heritage means to them as believers,” Munson said.
Second, Munson wants to help others who are walking a similar journey to hers. “Learning more about our life in union with the Father and with Messiah from a Kingdom perspective has been a true paradigm shift for what was my American, Western Christian mindset.
“Some of the biggest shifts concern God’s Appointed Times. Learning about the seventh day Sabbath and the Feast Days, finding the heart of God for us in them, and all that comes with choosing to celebrate them can be overwhelming. Once the desire to honor them as His feast days is in you, the discoveries become a marvelous adventure into the richness of God’s Kingdom. One reaches a point where to do anything else seems ridiculous! This book deals specifically with Passover, as it is usually the first of the three major Feast Days that Christians want to know more about.”
Munson described how her entire journey to returning to Passover and other aspects of what was part of the 1st Century Church began in earnest when she was in high school.
“I remember thinking that if Jesus was a descendant of Judah and part of the whole House of Israel and that God predestined that our salvation would come through His Word and His people, then it seemed reasonable to believe that we should still be keeping the biblical Sabbath and celebrating the feasts that God commanded. I loved to read the whole Bible, not just the New Testament, and I simply could not find a reason for any of His instructions to have changed. As you can probably imagine, that did not concept did not go over well with the church I was in or with my professors in an evangelical Bible College.”
Munson said she chose at that time “to shut up and just believe…and practice…the acceptable.”
Then God fulfilled a lifetime dream by sending her family overseas to serve as a missionary in Russia for 4 years during a time when persecuted Christians were finally able to start coming above ground.
“We were slammed in the face with a reality check. Just what is the church supposed to look like and function as the Kingdom of God? American? European? Australian? Korean? That experience put me back on a path of questioning that took me another 10 years to find resolution,” Munson said.
Two trips to Israel and the confirmation that both sides of her family heritage as a German Russian were indeed Jewish threw her even deeper into searching for answers.
“I had to get real with God and give Him permission to strip away all I had embraced as Christianity so that I could finally find some truth about my own identity in Him and what He really requires of and desires for me as His child. That was the beginning of the most delightful, rich and enlightening journeys I could have dared imagine,” she said.
“I had never been so free in Christ, and so awestruck and in love with my Father! That experience is still a daily part of my journey with Messiah today. It is stunning, and gets even better year by year! I have been able to grasp what I knew in my heart to be true as a teenager. Harmonizing what is loving, grace-based faith in Christ with the richness of truth as recorded in the Hebrew foundations that support our faith is really not that difficult.”
According to Munson, the biggest obstacle to overcome is our own mindset and our religious habits that have been immersed in and born out of both Catholic and Protestant church doctrines and traditions.
“I am so grateful to YHVH, my Father, for taking me on this journey. My only regret is that though I had Messiah as my Savior early on in life, I did not know how to live in the reality of His Kingdom until my 50’s, and now my 60’s. I trust Him that this is my ‘for such a time as this’ season!”
Munson would love to see a copy of her book in every Christian home, of course!
She said that according to the New Testament, Yeshua our Messiah and King (Jesus) did die on Passover and was resurrected on the Feast of First Fruits during the Passover Week celebrations.
“It seems only logical and far more honoring of Him to restore our joyous celebrations to their proper Biblical context. There is reason that the Father put His redemption plan into action at Passover and as followers of Messiah we need to remember and honor this. I hope that my book will help believers who are sincerely seeking truth in and through Him to embrace Messiah and the life we are called to lead as His disciples as those who have been grafted into His Olive Tree, Israel.”
Munson would also like to see the book become a study tool for small groups such as Bible study groups and home groups.
“As a 21st century follower of Christ, I find the richness in understanding Passover to be extremely encouraging and empowering, especially as we see the time of His return quickly approaching. We need to encourage and strengthen one another in the foundational principles of our faith, all of which were made available to us through God’s perfect Passover Lamb.”
“Lastly, and perhaps most importantly,” Munson said, “I hope to see Christians use this book to begin to celebrate Passover in their homes with their families and friends. I’ve included tips and instructions – and even a sample celebration – to help them do just that. Passover was meant to be a ‘home event’ for His people, an event of remembering how YHVH delivered His people with His mighty outstretched arms. He has purposed this holy night to be an important part of passing on our faith to our children and grandchildren. In today’s world, we need this celebration more than ever before.”
Munson hopes ‘the takeaway’ for readers will be that simply put, Passover is not just a Jewish Feast Day.
“It is Our Heavenly Father’s Feast Day given to ALL who call upon Him for deliverance and salvation. Though it has been lost to Christians for centuries, it is time for it to be restored in our churches, but most importantly in our homes.
“During His last Passover meal with His disciples, Yeshua stated that He would not drink of the 4th Cup of Passover – the Cup of Joy – again until He returns. We will celebrate the Passover with Him again. Will His Bride know His Ways and be ready for that incredible night to come? I know my answer to that question. Do you?
In conclusion, Munson said an eye-opening moment for her as a believer came when she understood that Yeshua did not come to create the Church. “He came to restore His people- the whole House of Israel – and all who would come to Him through them to the purity of His Father’s Kingdom.”
“ Salvation isn’t about being only about being saved from Hell. Our deliverance is from being subject to the results of sin, which is death to all things in our lives, plus a deliverance from the world’s Godless systems and futile pagan ways. Being ‘born again’ is about becoming part of the Household of God – His Family – over whom One who calls us to His higher ways watches and guards. We become citizens of the eternal Kingdom of God that is far greater and awestriking than we can begin to imagine. Yet it is also a Kingdom that has a physical presence and purpose on this earth…and the new one yet to come.”
Munson’s book, The King’s Passover, helps readers to understand this.
Gaining a Kingdom of God mindset starts with understanding the fundamentals of living in a kingdom, she said.
“There is an entire chapter at the beginning of the book devoted to understanding key Kingdom Principles that will hopefully help Western (especially American) Christians began to understand and reframe the Word of God as His instructions that help us return to living our lives as citizens of His Kingdom and children of His Household. We are called to be His nation of priests and kings. His Word teaches us what that looks like and how to fulfill this remarkable destiny. Passover has a key role in helping us appreciate and enjoy living in His kingdom!”
** Pastor Deborah Munson is founder of Springs of Shiloh Ministries in Shepherd, Montana USA. She focuses her gifts of teaching, speaking, writing, and mentorship on restoring the Hebrew Roots of the Christian faith in the lives of those who have a passion for the Kingdom of God. She is committed in serving YHVH’s purpose of bringing Jew and Gentile together as one flock, one family, and one Kingdom under Messiah’s reign.
Pastor Deborah and her husband lead tours to Israel, helping pilgrims understand the teachings and lifestyle of Yeshua (Jesus) from a Hebrew perspective. She also serves as an associate pastor with Everlasting Covenant Congregation in Billings, Montana USA.
The author of this story, Michael Ireland, is a self-supported media missionary with ANS. Click here to support him as a missionary journalist.
