What is Hyssop and why is it important?
What is Hyssop and why is it important?
Hyssop is a plant that grows around the east Mediterranean. and grows to 60 cm. in long stems.
But why do we care? Let’s look at John.
John 19:28 After this, Jes
us knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.
John 19:29 Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth.
John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
John makes a point of the hyssop, but why? We know from 1 Corinthians 5:7 that Christ is our Passover and that Christ was the perfect sacrifice. So let’s look at what the Passover Lamb looks like.
Exodus 12:21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover.
Exodus 12:22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.
We see that Christ, being the perfect sacrifice, was given hyssop just as the Passover lamb of old.
So why hyssop? Our Father doesn’t just pick plants out of a hat and tells us to use them. Hyssop is very aromatic and is used in many herbal remedies. Especially ones that help the lungs. What I find the most interesting is that hyssop improves the yield of grapevines and is a natural insecticide and insect repellent. This should perk up your spiritual ears. Christ is our vine and we are the branches. This improving effect is most beneficial if the ground is rocky or sandy. Think of the parable of the sower. Spiritually speaking hyssop would help those planted in rocky soil and help ward off the evil one (insecticide).
Psalms 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.Rev 12:15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
Rev 12:16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
Rev 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Does God keep us?
Rev 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
Many people say this verse says we will be gone, but lets look at it.
first lets look at the word keep in our Strong’s Concordance.
Greek 5083 τηρέω tēreō tay-reh’-o
From τηρός teros (a watch; perhaps akin to G2334); to guard (from loss or injury, properly by keeping the eye upon; and thus differing from G5442, which is properly to prevent escaping; and from G2892, which implies a fortress or full military lines of apparatus), that is, to note (a prophecy; figuratively to fulfill a command); by implication to detain (in custody; figuratively to maintain); by extension to withhold (for personal ends; figuratively to keep unmarried): – hold fast, keep (-er), (ob-, pre-, re) serve, watch.
It’s a guard not an escape. Look at what Christ tells us here:
Luke 21:18 But there shall not an hair of your head perish.
Read that whole Chapter in Luke. God is guarding you and they are not allowed to touch you. Remember Satan’s power is given by God. Without God Satan has no power.
Christ our Passover
1Corinthians 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
1Corinthians 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Did that Say Easter????? Why is Christ our Passover? Let’s look at the first Passover to find out.
Exodus 12:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
Exodus 12:2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.
Exodus 12:3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:
Exodus 12:4 And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.
Exodus 12:5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
Christ was our Lamb!.
Exodus 12:6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
Christ crucified.
Exodus 12:7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
We are covered by the Blood of Christ. That is how we over come. Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Exodus 12:8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
Let us back up to 1Co 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Understand what that leaven symbolized?
Exodus 12:9 Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.
Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.
Exodus 12:10 And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.
Exodus 12:11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’S passover.
Israel was preparing to leave Egypt and then they were preparing to exit Egypt and so they needed to be ready. It is no different today. Ephesians 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Ephesians 6:15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Exodus 12:12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.
God is coming again and if you are not under the covering of the Christ’s blood then you are in a world of hurt. If you think that the church is going to disappear think again. Israel was IN Egypt when the Angel of death came.
Exodus 12:13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
Exodus 12:14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
Throughout your generations. This does not stop and it certainly was not changed into Easter!
Exodus 12:15 Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Throw out that old leaven. Renew yourselfs with the Blood of our Savior.
Exodus 12:16 And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.
Christ is our sabbath. Rest in him.
Exodus 12:17 And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever.
Exodus 12:18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.
Exodus 12:19 Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land.
Exodus 12:20 Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.
Exodus 12:21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover.
Exodus 12:22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.
John 19:28 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.
John 19:29 Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth.
Exodus 12:23 For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.
Satan is the destroyer my friends. But we do not need to worry. He is nothing more than a 2nd rate street performer with a larger stage. Luke 21:16 And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.
Luke 21:17 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.
Luke 21:18 But there shall not an hair of your head perish.
Exodus 12:24 And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever.
How long do we observe this??? Read think and repeat.
Predestination
Bible Literacy Quiz 1
Is the old testament God too harsh?
Daily Bible Quiz 1
Happy Birthday to you, Bible!
This year marks the 400th birthday of the King James bible. I know this post should have been out last week, but I have been very busy trying to get the video blog ready to go which should be ready this week.
In 1604 King James commissioned 47 Church of England Scholars to convert the Hebrew and Greek texts into English and that work was completed on 1611. While this was not the first but the third English version, it is the one that we still have today. The earlier English versions had enough errors and religious slants in it that the Puritans demanded a new version. What makes the King James Bible so special is that many editions today do not go back to the original texts. Instead, they use other English texts and try to modernize the language. I am sure that anyone who has played the telephone game in kindergarten can tell you taking a message from a message is never a good idea. The other thing that makes this version special is that the scholars who translated it were Christian. A very important factor when getting translations done.
One last note to mention is the fact that the scholars that translated this work sent a letter to you, as the reader of the book, stating that they tried their best, but errors are inevitable. Sadly, this letter has been removed from modern printings of the bible. I strongly recommend reading that letter at least once. You can obtain that letter here by signing up for the newsletter.
I know of three podcasts that I am going to listen to on the topic:
Is the next king of England going to still be the defender of the faith?
Fidei Defensor, Latin for defender of the faith, was given to King Henry the VIII by Leo X. The Catholic church revoked the title after Henry established the Church of England. Parliament restored the title in the 16th Century and since then England has always had a monarch crowned with that title. The coronation, I might add that occurs atop the stone of scone or Jacob’s pillar.
Now it seems that only half of Britons feel that England is still a Christian nation. Does this prove that Queen Elizabeth II has failed to protect what she has sworn to do? I find it sad to see that Christians are now under attack for their beliefs in a county that has a leader sworn to protect that very faith.
As Christians what is one to do about such a thing? Should a Christian allow their beliefs to be eroded or compromised simply because the law demands penalties if we do not? Paul tells us in Romans that a nation is only in existence by the will of God and that a nation must protect your right to practice your beliefs as long as you abide within its laws. So is it then Christians that are allowing these things to happen. God gives us power over all our enemies. Maybe its time for us to stop waiting for an aging monarch to do her job and start doing our job.