Examining Prophecies--Passover, Part 1

Finally, the key prophecy. Will this be the one to pinpoint Ahnsahnghong as the second coming Christ? Let's see...

When Christ returns
He will restore the Passover—the “Tree of Life.”
Gen. 3:22; John 6:53-54; Matt. 26:11-26; Heb. 9:28
They read Hebrews 9:28 to mean that when Christ returns to bring salvation, the “salvation” spoken of is the Passover, and that the church of the second coming Christ will be the only one to keep the Passover.

To the World Mission Society Church of God, the “Passover” is not the traditional Seder meal, but taking the Lord’s Supper (or Communion, the bread and the wine), on Passover evening. They also believe it is the physical act of eating the bread and the wine, at the specified hour on the proper day and in the correct manner, that provides the eternal life promised through the new covenant. We could argue that taking the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper is symbolic of truly believing in the sacrifice of Jesus’ body and blood as payment for our sins. And that we are free to partake of it and remember the sacrifice of Jesus any time of the year, as often (or seldom) as is helpful to our personal faith.

But since I know that the WMSCOG is very legalistic, I’ll approach it that way, assuming for the moment that it is the day, time, and manner of the Passover that is of supreme importance, and not the sacrifice and belief that it is a symbol of….

The WMSCOG has claimed that "the Passover was abolished at the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325," and then "the Passover completely disappeared from the world." (source) If Ahnsahnghong really did have the only church in the world with the correct (legalistically speaking) practice of Passover, and the prophecy was interpreted correctly, then BINGO!—that would be the key to point to him as the only one to fulfill this prophecy. So the question becomes, was Ahnsahnghong’s church the only one, and are they celebrating Passover correctly?

Well, with some work, time, and the internet, we can track down other churches that DO celebrate the Passover—the bread and the wine on Passover night. It’s easier to find them when it’s Passover season as you can look up their calendars and see it there. For example, look for different Churches of God (like Church of God 7th Day), Adventist churches, Messianic Jewish churches.... Keep in mind that they might call the celebration the “Lord’s Supper” or “Communion,” but held on Passover night it is still “Passover”.

When I brought this point up, I was told that those churches did not count because of a variety of reasons: they might not do footwashing (some actually do, though), they are a newer congregation and could be copying the WMSCOG (but some are older), they are not celebrating on exactly the right day (wait…not even the Messianic Jews?!). In 2009, the WMSCOG had their Passover celebration on April 9, but the Jewish people celebrated on April 8 according to the Hebrew calendar. Jewish culture is steeped in tradition--could they have the wrong date? That did not sound right, so I've been investigating... I'll let you know next time what I found.

Click here to go on to Part 2.