Kosher Food for Thought

Question:  Who is the 'ARM' of the Lord, found in Isaiah 53? What does that term have to do with an element of the Passover Seder?

Answer: We find in Isaiah 40:10 that Messiah is the 'ARM' of the Lord: ruling for Him and tending the lambs in His flock. In Isaiah 52:10, God's 'ARM' is seen on Earth as "The Salvation of our God"

In Hebrew, 'ARM' is the same word as the shank bone of the Lamb used in the Passover Seder which also represents the Messiah.

Question:  How many Gentiles participated in Pentecost which is often called the birth of the Church?

Answer:  None are mentioned (Acts 2:5-10).  Gentiles have a similar experience 10 years later at Cornelius' house.  It appears that the birth of the church included only Jews for 10 years.

Question:  If Jesus died on Good Friday, how could He be in the grave for 3 days and 3 nights as He said in Matthew 12:40?

Answer:  Mark 15:42-43 explains the urgency to bury Jesus before the Sabbath began at sunset on Passover. Early church fathers assumed it to be the 7th day Sabbath, but that makes Jesus' words wrong.  The Day after Passover, however, is also a Sabbath rest day. (It begins the week long Festival of Unleavened Bread.)  Some years, both Sabbaths occur on one day, making a High Sabbath. It is most likely that the year Jesus died, the 2 Sabbaths were back to back (Fri and Sat).  That adds a day to the count that would explain his 3 nights in the grave.(Thurs/Passover; Fri /Sabbath and Sat/Sabbath)

Question:  What reason was Paul arrested and eventually killed

Answer:  In Acts 22:21-22, we see that it was not for preaching the gospel but rather for including Gentiles in God's plan of redemption. 

Answer:  None are mentioned (Acts 2:5-10).  Gentiles have a similar experience 10 years later at Cornelius' house.  It appears that the birth of the church included only Jews for 10 years.