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EARLY
14th or LATE 14th PASSOVER... WHICH?
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Written by Felicia Trecek LATE
14th THEOLOGY 1) The Messiah had to die at the exact time as the Passover lamb. Where is the scripture that reads Messiah had to die at the exact same time when the Passover lamb was killed? There are no scriptures. Even though Messiah represented the Passover lamb, to believe Messiah had to die at the exact same time as the Passover lamb is a belief based on an assumption and not the word of YHWH. The Messiah had many representations other than the Passover lamb, and many scriptures should not be "explained-away" to meet a supposed premise. THE
PASSOVER LAMB DID NOT REPRESENT THE ACME OF ALL SACRIFICES There were other lamb sacrifices that portrayed the Messiah aside from the Passover. The following are examples of lambs that would fall within the time period of the Passover and unleavened bread season: the two daily continuously, the two Sabbath continuously, and seven lambs during the week of unleavened bread. (Indication is seven lambs each day of the feast, every morning.) They all were male, unblemished, and perfect lambs that included a basic unleavened bread and wine offering. The meaning of each lamb offering was not given other than: "they are for you" (Num 28). They were just mandated offerings with no explanation. However, these lambs foreshadowed a role in Messiah's coming to which we can only speculate. Even though their meaning or role is not given in scripture, they should not be neglected when determining the timing of Messiah's death. PASSOVER
LAMB IS NOT A SIN OFFERING THE PASSOVER
LAMB ONLY DEPICTS THE FIRSTBORN
2) The gospel accounts are misleading. The Passover meal was not the real Passover meal. THE "EXPLAIN-AWAY"
IDEALOGY The late fourteenth observers do not believe these above scriptures or any other corresponding scriptures to mean, this meal was actually the Passover, and Messiah actually ate the Passover. (Corresponding scriptures: Mark 14:12-18, Luke 22:7-16) They believe this was a prelude meal before the real Passover meal the following night. In order to believe this, they explain-away scripture. When these passages are explained away, the Messiah becomes a liar. If you "explain-away" scripture, where does that ideology stop? Here is that same "explain-away idealogy" used on another scripture, unrelated to the topic to show it's preposterousness. Example: Gen 2:3 reads, YHWH rested the seventh day. It does not read, He rested from evening to evening (the full day). Can I really be sure He rested the full day? Or, can I really be sure He rested at all since He is Spirit and does not become tired. Maybe His rest is not the same as our rest; therefore, this cannot be an argument for us to rest. Do you understand that type of ideology? If Messiah told His disciples to tell the man (Matthew 26:18-19), "My time is near. I am to observe the Passover at your house with My taught ones", WE SHOULD BELIEVE IT! In Mark 14:12-18, the disciples were slaughtering the lamb as they spoke with Messiah. The primary point is, the Passover lamb died, the lamb became meat on the table, and Messiah was still alive. If we cannot believe scripture, then why believe any of it at all, especially the new testament? Most everyone knows there are errors within the new testament, but all three gospels concur with a total of twenty-one scriptures. That is a large number to explain-away. If anyone of us uses the explain-away idealogy, we can 'prove' anything we want to believe whether it is the truth of YHWH or not. WHAT ABOUT JOHN 18:28? The Jews of the day who were against Messiah, including the priests, led Messiah from the High Priest to Pilate's Palace in the morning after they took Him from the garden the previous night. According to John 18:28, the priests did not enter Pilate's Palace because they felt if they did, they would be defiled before THEY ate of the Passover. The late fourteenth believers use John 18:28 as evidence against an early fourteenth Passover. They would rather follow what the Jews did rather than Messiah. There is no doubt, according to the story flow, the Jews, at that time, kept a late fourteenth Passover. Can we be sure the Jews followed the law correctly? Messiah warned us to beware of the teachings of the Pharisees and the Sadducees (Matt 16:6, 11-12). They boast in the law, but don't do it (John 7:19, Acts 7:53, Rom 2:23-27, Galations 6:13). In Nehemyah's time, when the second temple was reestablished, the leaders along with the people soon began breaking the law. Nehemyah was very upset with the common people and the priesthood for defiling the covenant of the priesthood and that of the Levities. Nehemyah said, "Remember me, O my Elohim, for good." (Neh 13:30) The digression from the Torah began prior to the second temple period. According to the Judaica Encyclopedia, the Babylonian Talmud (the oral law) was a revision of the Jerusalem Talmud, which was obviously written in the first temple period before their exile. The book of Isaiah gives indication to an oral law at the time of the first temple period (Is 29:13). The Babylonian Talmud was written in Babylon which was considered the center of the Torah at that time. The Talmuds were brought with them from Babylon to Jerusalem when the reestablishment of the second temple took place. From the time of the revision (the Babylonian Talmud) until today, the Jews use the Babylonian Talmud as their decisive authority over the bible. Messiah said to the Pharisees and some Sadducees in Mark 7:8, "Forsaking the command of Elohim, you hold fast the traditions of men." TRADITIONALLY, according to Judaic record, they have kept a late 14th observance. How do we know this is just not Judaic tradition which was founded on an erroneous interpretation of scripture?
3) When YHWH Passed-Over to kill the first born of the Egyptians, it is not the Passover. The Passing Over is not part of the 14th day Passover. The passing-over took place on the night of the 15th. When reading the word "Passover" by itself, it is only referencing the killing of the lamb. This belief is pure conjecture. There are no scriptures that denote or connote the reading, "YHWH [will or did] pass-over on the night of the 15th to kill the first born Egyptians". The late 14th believers base their conclusion on individually selected scriptures and overlook the combination of other scriptures that are all in relational context with one another. The following are some scriptures used by the late fourteenth observers to conclude the passing-over occurred on the night of the 15th. Numbers 33:3, "So they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month, on the morrow of the Passover..." Exodus 12:40-51 (v:41) "And it came to be at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, on that same day it came to be that all the divisions of YHWH went out from the land of Egypt. (v:42) It is a night to be observed unto YHWH for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This night is unto YHWH, to be observed by all the children of Israel throughout their generations." Exodus 12:30-31 Pharaoh rose up in the night (after the first born died), called for Moses and Aaron and told them, "Arise, go out from the midst of my people..." Deut 16:1, "...YHWH your Elohim brought you out of Egypt by night." Exodus 12:26-27, (v:26) "...when your children say to you, 'What does this service mean to you?' (v:27) then you shall say, 'It is a Passover offering of YHWH, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians and delivered our households.'..." Is 'deliverance' the same as 'departing from Egypt'? Did Pharaoh's command override the command of YHWH to stay in their homes until morning? (Ex 12:22) What night is to be observed: the 14th or the 15th? At the end of the four hundred and thirty years, what day was it: the 14th or the 15th? When YHWH brought them out by night, was it the 14th or 15th? The Passover account is like a large puzzle with many pieces. You can pick and choose pieces, and arrange them to reconstruct the event you assume to be correct, or you can look at all the pieces and reconstruct the event correctly. If all the pieces of the puzzle don't fit your basic premises, then something is wrong with one or all of your basic premises. (All the pieces of the puzzle must include the new testament.) JUST
BECAUSE THE ISRAELITES DEPARTED EGYPT ON THE 15th DOES NOT PROVE THE PASS-OVER
WAS NOT ON THE NIGHT OF THE 14th. EXPLANATION NEEDED FOR CERTAIN PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE
THE WORD 'DEPART'
DOES NOT MEAN 'DELIVERED Deuteronomy 16: 6, reads: "... there you offer the Passover in the *evening, at the going down of the sun, at the **appointed time (**season) you came out of Egypt." {*Strong's #6153 = from #6150. dusk: - + day, even (-ing, tide), night / **Strong's #4150 = prop, an appointment, i.e. a fixed time or season; spec a festival.} The Israelites did not walk out of Egypt at the same time they offered the Passover, the lamb's blood. The phrase "at the appointed time you came out of Egypt" means they escaped or were taken out from Egypt's bondage at the time they offered the lamb's blood. They were delivered [back to YHWH] at midnight (Ex 12:29) when the passing-over occurred.
4) If a person would read the Pentateuch objectively, they would conclude there is no full day gap of unleavened bread, nor conclude consumption of unleavened bread was mandated over an eight-day period. The Pentateuch consistently reads, "for SEVEN days." To read the Pentateuch objectively, will depend on one's own interpretation of words, passages, and the combination of passages. King Josiah in 2 Chronicles 35 found the book of the law (Pentateuch), read it, and knew exactly when and how to perform the Passover. The whole performance was completed on one day, the 14th day. But, today with the final additional books of the bible, there is a wide controversy on when and how to observe the Passover. There is only one correct way to observe the Passover and it is our goal to determine the one true correct way. The Pentateuch does read consistently to eat unleavened bread for seven days. No argument. However, there is one full day before the seven day Festival of Unleavened Bread". Ex 12:6-14. In verse 6 it reads, the Passover is on the 14th. Verse 8 reads, they shall eat the flesh on THAT night. What previous time period is the word THAT referring back to? Verse 10 reads, don't leave any of it until morning. What morning? Again, what time period is this verse referring back to? Verse 12 reads, He will pass through the land THAT night. Again, what previous time period is the word THAT referring back to? Verse 14 reads, THIS DAY shall be a remembrance to you. What time period is THIS DAY referring back to? The only time/day period given for these verses is verse 6 - the 14th DAY. Exodus 12:8 reads, eat the flesh with unleavened bread. According to the procession of mandates found in Exodus 12:6-14, eating took place on the night of the 14th. In the first account, the Israelites did not eat any leavened bread after the Passover meal. Exodus 12:34 reads, they took their dough (with them) before it was leavened. There is no scriptural reason for us to do otherwise. Moreover, the unleavened bread analogy changed within the new covenant. The new covenant analogy should be a greater reason to refrain from eating leavened bread after the Passover meal. Within the old covenant, the bread represented 'affliction' (Deuteronomy 16:3). Within the new covenant, the bread represents Messiah's body - sincerity and truth (1 Corinthians 5:8, Matthew 26:26). Why would anyone want to consume Messiah's body of sincerity and truth at the Passover, then afterward, eat of sin (leavened bread) again right before the first high Sabbath of the seven days? The whole objective is to rid sin from your lives. TWO UNLEAVENED BREAD
FESTIVALS JOINED TOGETHER To say the Passover is the first day of unleavened bread is correct. But, it does not mean the Passover is the first day of the seven day festival. The Israelites ate leavened bread the whole year until the evening of the 14th, in the first month, when they ate unleavened bread with the Passover lamb. In Matt 26:17, the word "day" is not written as it is in Mark 14:12 and Luke 22:7. Matt 26:17 correctly reads as: "And on the first of Unleavened Bread the taught ones came...". The wording of Matt 26:17 is better rendered in it's reference to the first Festival (the Passover). They ate unleavened bread with the Passover meal which carried the same meaning as it did during the seven day festival. The unleavened bread is the cross-over element of the two festivals that join them together.
5) Exodus 12:6 reads, "And you shall keep it [the lamb] UNTIL the fourteenth day..." The word UNTIL in this verse does not mean "up-to", but rather means "progressively into". Oh? The Hebrew word for "until", according to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance means "UP-TO" and not "progressively-into". The late fourteenth observers think the word 'until' means 'progressively into' within Exodus 12:6, but refuse to believe the word 'until' found in 2 Chronicles 35:14 means 'progressively into'. [Amusing.] The entire event described within 2 Chronicles 35:1-18 unequivocally dictates the event progressed into the night, because verse 16 reads, all of the service was done on that same day, the 14th (35:1). However, perhaps the late fourteenth observers are correct regarding the definition of the word 'until' within 2 Chronicles 35:14 which is "UP-TO" and not "progressively-into'. The whole 2 Chronicles 35 Passover service occurred on one day, the14th (35:1, 16). Verse 14 reads the Aaronite priests offered burnt offerings and fat UNTIL night. This verse does not indicate the entire Passover event ended when nightfall began. According to the first part of verse 14, the regular priests prepared for the Aaronite priests BECAUSE the Aaronite priests were offering until night. What did the regular priests prepare for the Aaronite priests? By deductive reasoning, if the Aaronite priests only had time to offer the offerings for the Passover service from the time they started until the beginning of night, then they too needed to eat of it. The regular priests prepared the Passover meal for the Aaronite priesthood. Consequently, the Aaronite priests had to have eaten the meal after the beginning of nightfall. The late fourteenth observers think all the service could have been completed on that same day if they began at noon or shortly thereafter. However, there are two problems with that understanding:
OTHER
SCRIPTURES DO NOT CONCUR WITH A NOON TO EVENING 14th PASSOVER In Joshua 5:10, before the Israelites entered the promised land, they performed the Passover on the 14th day at evening. In this passage of scripture, you will not find the phrase, "between-the-evenings", but rather 'at evening'. The word evening means at dusk, the time before nightfall. (Reference Strong's #6153) Was this evening at the beginning or end of the 14th day? The Passover began during the first evening on the 14th day. According to Exodus 12:11, the meal consumption is described to be part of the Passover festival: "...you shall eat it in haste. It is the Passover of YHWH." There would not be enough time to kill the lamb, put the blood on the lintel and door posts, prepare and cook the lamb to eat, and then eat the lamb within a small fraction of time at evening, before nightfall. If the Passover was on the second evening of the 14th day, the mandates for the Passover would flow past evening, into nightfall, and consequently occur on the 15th day. The late 14th observers argue, the word Passover used in Exodus 12:11 is referring to the lamb only and not the entire festival or all of it's mandates. Therefore, the meal consumption does not need to be on the 14th day, but rather could be on the 15th day. This is an assumption with no scriptural references. According to Strong's, the word for Passover is interchangeable between the lamb and the festival. However, even if the word Passover was only referring to the lamb in Exodus 12:11, how do the late fourteenth observers arrive at this conclusion? When the lamb was alive it was the Passover, and when it was dead in the form of meat on the table it still remained the Passover. Just because the lamb is dead does not negate the timing for meal consumption from the 14th to the 15th. Joshua 5:10 reads, the Passover was on the 14th day.
6) "Between the evenings" means from the time of about high noon to sunset (evening). This belief is from one source only; Jewish record. One cannot conclude this belief from scripture. The early 14th observers reject Jewish record in determining the definition of 'between-the-evenings' for two main reasons.
The late fourteenth observers have a problem with the early fourteenth observers definition of 'between-the-evenings' which is: when the sun is close to the horizon until after the sun is completely non-visible, below the horizon. The late fourteenth observers think there is not enough time during this brief period to keep the Passover. They are correct. There is not enough time for the entire Passover event to happen during this small fraction of time. But, there is no commandment that reads all of the mandates for the Passover must fall within this time period. The only mandate for 'between-the-evenings' is the killing of the lamb. To accomplish the death of the lamb, one must slit the throat, turn the lamb upside-down, and begin draining the blood from it's body. This one mandate for the Passover can be accomplished within a small fraction of time, especially if one is already prepared. "A DAY HAS TWO EVENINGS" Leviticus 23:27 reads, THE DAY of Atonement is on the tenth day of the seventh month, have a set-apart gathering, and afflict your beings. Verse 28 reads, no work shall be done on that day. Verse 32 defines the exact timing when we are to afflict our being: "On the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening you observe your Sabbath." If there is no second evening within a total day, then there is a contradiction in terms, for the second ninth day evening is already part of the tenth day. If one believes the evening of the ninth is the evening at the beginning and not at the end, then one would have to fast and keep a Sabbath for two days since the tenth day also requires one to afflict their being as written in verse 27. And, not forgetting verse 32 also requires you to observe your Sabbath on the ninth day. Hence, both the ninth and tenth days would require to keep a Sabbath and afflict your being. This idea is superfluous, but also erroneous because THE DAY (v:27) of Atonement would begin at the start of the ninth day and last through the end of the tenth day. This is in direct conflict with the definition of a day in Genesis since THE DAY of Atonement then spans a two day period. The correct interpretation of Leviticus 23:27 is: begin afflicting your being in the evening ending the ninth day up-to the evening ending the tenth day; thus "evening to evening." In Leviticus 23:32, the definition of the word 'evening' according to Strong's is #6153 and defined as: from #6150. dusk: - + day, even (-ing, tide), night. This definition certainly does not mean from about noon to dusk, and concurs with the evening to evening Genesis definition for a total day. Leviticus 23:27 and 32 unequivocally demonstrate a transitional time from one day to the next within the recurring evenings. This transitional period is what the early fourteenth observers believe to be the definition of 'between-the-evenings'. There are yet additional scriptures that demonstrate a second evening within one day. Exodus 12:18 reads, "In the first, on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month in the evening." We know from other scriptures such as Leviticus 23:6, the twenty-first day is also mandated for unleavened bread consumption. In Exodus 12:18, when it reads, "until the twenty-first day of the month in the evening." means the second evening of the day. The word "until", according to Strong's means "UP-TO" and not "all-the-way-through". Therefore, we are to eat unleavened bread up-to the second evening on the twenty-first day. The first part of Exodus 12:18 also points to the second evening: "ON the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, you shall eat unleavened bread". Without the understanding of the second evening, one naturally would deduce this scripture to mean: begin your unleavened bread consumption at the beginning evening on the fourteenth day, because it clearly reads, "ON the fourteenth day". However, if this was the correct interpretation, then Exodus 12:18 is an anomaly, because there are no other scriptures mandating unleavened bread consumption to start at the beginning evening on the fourteenth day. All other scriptures read, "on the fifteenth day...". This scripture can be likened to that of Leviticus 23:32: For the day of Atonement, the tenth day, begin fasting the previous evening, on the previous day. Exodus 12:18 should be interpreted to mean, begin your unleavened bread consumption on the second evening of the fourteenth day, since verse 19 immediately reads: "For seven days (not eight) no leaven is to be found in your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, that same being shall be cutoff from the congregation..." "BETWEEN-THE-EVENINGS"
CANNOT MEAN FROM ABOUT NOON TO SUNSET |