Is Passover the Seal of God?

Well, I might as well tell you right off--from everything I've learned, the evidence shows that Ahnsahnghong is NOT the second coming Christ, "Mother Jerusalem" (Zahng Gil-Ja) is not God either because her claim is based on his, and the World Mission Society Church of God (which I'll refer to as the WMSCOG or COGWMS) is full of contradictions in their doctrine and practice. I'll share with you reasons why I've come to that conclusion, but if anyone wants to share with me new information to change my mind, feel free...

First of all, it's Passover season. The Passover will be celebrated on March 29 around the world by the Jewish people (and some Christian churches also). The WMSCOG talks about all the disasters and plagues that are happening in the world, and that to be safe, you must keep the Passover because it will give you God's seal of protection.

If you do the WMSCOG study about the Passover as the seal of God, they will tell you that throughout the history of the Israelites you can see how every time they celebrated the Passover, God protected them. And when they did not keep the Passover, they were not protected.

They use 2 examples, the original Passover in Egypt and the Passover during the reign of Hezekiah.

In Exodus, when God sent the plague of the death of the firstborn, the Israelites who kept the Passover were “passed over” by the death angel. The Egyptians who did not keep the Passover were struck by this plague. This was the very first Passover (Exodus 12).

Then in 2 Chronicles 30, they’ll show you how King Hezekiah celebrated the Passsover in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, while the Northern Kingdom of Israel scorned them and would not keep the Passover. Then they take you to 2 Kings 18 & 19 and tell you that the Northern Kingdom of Israel was conquered and taken captive because they did not keep the Passover, but since the Southern Kingdom of Judah did keep the Passover they were not destroyed even though they were a much smaller kingdom.

Here’s the problem—If the Passover was the key to protection from God, it should be clearly represented as so throughout the Bible and history with many examples. It’s clear with the original Passover that God was distinguishing His people from the Egyptians. And we could make a good case that God protected King Hezekiah and Kingdom of Judah, but it may have been because of their love and obedience to the Lord and may not necessarily be a direct result of the Passover.

But what about the other times the Israelites kept the Passover? Do we see God’s protection on them because of it? I wanted to find all the occurrences of Passover mentioned in the Bible to check it out…

Exodus 12 – This is the original Passover when the Israelites were delivered from Egypt, and also gives some restrictions on who may celebrate the Passover.

Exodus 34 – God gives Moses some commandments for His people, and the Passover is among them.

Leviticus 23 – Here are directions for celebrating the feasts of God, including Passover.

Numbers 9 – This is the first anniversary of the Passover, and the Israelites celebrate as God directed them. God also gives Moses an alternative date to celebrate for those who were unclean. There is no mention about what it may have protected them from this time.

Numbers 28 – Directions for the Passover offerings are here.

Numbers 33 – This just mentions that the Israelites left Egypt the day after the Passover, as a review of their history.

Deuteronomy 16 – Here are more directions for celebrating the Passover.

Joshua 5 – This is the first celebration of the Passover in the Promised Land, with Joshua as leader, just before battle of Jericho. They won this battle, but was this a direct result of the Passover? Could be, but I think it was more of a fulfillment of God’s promise to give them the land.

2 Kings 23, and 2 Chronicles 35 – King Josiah celebrated the Passover. There is no mention of any special case of protection for the Israelites. And what happened to King Josiah? He died in a battle.

2 Chronicles 30 – King Hezekiah celebrates the Passover. This is the example of protection the WMSCOG uses.

Ezra 6 – The exiles celebrated the Passover when they returned to Jerusalem. They were able to rebuild despite opposition. Does this mean they were protected by the Passover?

And finally, Ezekiel 45 – This passage give directions about offerings to celebrate the Passover.

That’s it for the Old Testament. Only 6 distinct Passover celebrations are mentioned. And only 2 of those examples can show a comparison between a group who kept the Passover and a group who did not. Those are the 2 examples the WMSCOG uses (the Passover in Egypt and King Hezekiah’s Passover). Of other 4 occurrences:
--The 1st anniversary Passover makes no mention at all of a battle success or any other protection.
--Joshua won the battle of Jericho after his Passover but we don’t see what would have happened to any of them who didn’t celebrate it, so it’s hard to make a clear comparison.
--King Josiah’s Passover did not protect him personally in battle.
--The exiles celebrated the Passover, and as far as we know, Israel continued keeping the Passover from then until the time of Jesus. BUT they weren’t protected from being conquered and occupied by the Romans.

We also know that throughout the book of Judges, the Israelites experienced many cycles of falling away from the Lord and being handed over to their enemies, then returning to the Lord and finding relief from their enemies, only to fall away again. If the Passover were the key commandment to gaining God’s protection and favor, wouldn’t we expect to see it in the book of Judges with the Israelites keeping the Passover, neglecting it, and then celebrating it again? Instead, God hands them over to their enemies because they’ve done evil by following other gods, and then sends relief through a judge because He has compassion on them. There’s NO mention of Passover at all in the entire book of Judges. It’s nicely summed up in Judges 2:11-19. So apparently celebrating the Passover is not as important as worshiping God alone.

How about the New Testament…does what we learn there show that the Passover provides God’s protection? Here are the mentions of Passover in the New Testament:

Matthew 26; Mark 14; Luke 22; John 11, 12, 13, 18, 19 – These are all referring to the Passover at the time of the Last Supper and Jesus’ crucifixion.

Luke 2; John 2, 4, 6 – These chapters all mention other Passovers during the time of Jesus.

Acts 12:4 – Herod intends to bring Peter out for public trial after the Passover, but the night before the trial an angel releases him from prison. Did Peter celebrate the Passover while he was in prison? Unlikely, but he probably did keep the Passover in other years.

1 Corinthians 5:7 – This compares Jesus to the lamb of the Passover.

Hebrews 11:28 – This verse mentions Moses’ faith in keeping the original Passover.

So Jesus kept the Passover but He was not protected from crucifixion, though we know that He was destined to die for the sins of us all. The Jews in general kept the Passover at this time in history (and until today), and they were not protected from the Romans (think of the destruction of Jerusalem in the 1st century), but you might make the case that they did not believe in Jesus and therefore lost the protection.

But what about Jesus’ disciples, who we know both believed in Him and kept the Passover? All but one of them were martyred. They were NOT protected.

My conclusion:
From studying the Passover through the Bible and history, there is no consistent connection between the act of celebrating the Passover and having God’s protection. The WMSCOG claim--that whenever the Israelites kept the Passover they were protected and that when they did not celebrate the Passover they were not protected--is FALSE.