What the Law of Moshe (Moses) States
The most definitive passage regarding the appointed times is in
Leviticus 23. Let’s review what that chapter states about Passover and Unleavened Bread:
Leviticus 23:1 [Lit. Yahoah] spoke again to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘The [lit. Yahoah's] appointed times (Heb. mo’edim; pl. of mo’ed) which you shall proclaim as holy convocations — My appointed times are these: (NASB)
Author’s Note: See how false rabbinic traditions regarding the recitation of the
Tetragrammaton as the Heb.
Adonai (=my lords) is actually invoking the Greek
Adonis and the Babylonian
Tammuz? Because of this false tradition of “not taking Yahoah’s Name in vain” (
Exodus 20:7 and
Deuteronomy 5:11), it has led to translators employing “the Lord(‘s)” throughout English translations as well as the incorrect Yahweh in textual analysis; see the article on
Mystery Babylon for details.
We can certainly say Yahoah within the context of the Scriptures; that is NOT taking His Name in vain! Again, the basis is FALSE rabbinic tradition. In fact, it led to their forgetting how to even pronounce The Name (Heb.
HaShem) over the millenia.
Leviticus 23:6 Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work. 8 But for seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work.’” (NASB)
Is the
first (or
seventh) month
Nisan? (
Author’s Note: Rabbinic Jews’ hearts are so hardened and are so confused that they even have TWO calendars — a
civil and a
religious/ecclessiatical. It’s a wonder that any of them recognized their Messiah!).
Deuteronomy 16:1 “Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to [lit. Yahoah] your [lit. Elohim], for in the month of Abib [lit. Yahoah] your [lit. Elohim] brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 You shall sacrifice the Passover to [lit. Yahoah] your [lit. Elohim] from the flock and the herd, in the place where [lit. Yahoah] chooses to establish His name. (NASB)
We know that the Gregorian and Masoretic calendars are pagan in origin, so what calendar correctly portrays this? The one from the Dead Sea Scrolls; see the
Qumran calendar.
The Original Passover
Now that we know
with certainty from the Torah that Passover and Unleavened Bread are two DIFFERENT appointed times — with the former occuring on 14 Abib and the latter from 15-21 Abib with the 15th and 21st serving as
annual or High Sabbaths — let’s review the original Passover story in Egypt.
There are three important things to remember at that point in history:
1. The Israelites were captives in Egypt (specifically in the
Land of Goshen),
2. Egypt had endured nine of the
ten plagues foretold to Pharoah (spoken directly from Yahoah to Moses), and
3. The Law of Moses had NOT been given yet.
Let’s pickup with the “death of the firstborn” in
Exodus 11.
Exodus 11:1 Now [lit. Yahoah] said to Moses, “One more plague I will bring on Pharaoh and on Egypt; after that he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out from here completely.” (NASB)
Exodus 11:4 Moses said, “Thus says [lit. Yahoah], ‘About midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt, 5 and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the millstones; all the firstborn of the cattle as well. 6 Moreover, there shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been before and such as shall never be again. 7 But against any of the sons of Israel a dog will not even bark, whether against man or beast, that you may understand how [lit. Yahoah] makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’ (NASB)
Keep “about midnight” in your back pocket for a moment; we will revisit that. The significance of the paschal lamb is about to be discussed:
Exodus 12:1 Now [lit. Yahoah] said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you. 3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household. 4 Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; according to what each man should eat, you are to divide the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight. 7 Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails. 10 And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire. 11 Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste — it is [lit. Yahoah's] Passover. 12 For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments — I am [lit. Yahoah]. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. (NASB)
First of all, this reconfirms that Yahoah’s Passover is on the fourteenth of the first month. But, v5a provides the foreshadowing for the
Lamb of God:
Exodus 12:5 Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old… (NASB)
Yehoshu’a is the Lamb of God (
John 1:29). He is unblemished (i.e., sinless) who is obviously male. But, the interesting thing to note is that most “theologians” and Biblical “scholars” contend that
Christ’s ministry lasted three and a half years as three Passovers are mentioned in the
Gospel of John. What they fail to recognize from Torah is
Pesach Sheni (Second Passover) on the 14th day of the second month. This appointed time will be developed further below.
In the meantime know this: Christ was born on
Shavuot (Feast of Weeks) in 6 CE during the
census of Quirinius (
Luke 2:2). His ministry began when he was nearly 30 years old (
Luke 3:23) — in fact, He was 28. Recall that He was of the tribe of Judah — NOT Levi — therefore, the Levitical laws for priesthood did not apply (
Hebrews 7:14). In fact, He is of the order of
Malki-tsedeq (=my king is righteous[ness]). It can be definitively deduced from the Scriptures that His ministry lasted EXACTY 574
yomim or 1.58
Qumran calendar years; this will be discussed in detail in mid-August. Therefore, from a ministry perspective, He was a
YEAR OLD AT THE TIME OF HIS CRUCIFIXION! He met ALL of the requirements for serving as the paschal lamb from Exodus 12:5a:
1. Lamb of God,
2. Unblemished (i.e., sinless),
3. Male, and
4. A year old (i.e., His ministry lasted 1.58 years).
When was the paschal lamb killed? On the 14th of the first month. When was Christ crucified? On 14 Abib in 36 CE. Our God is truly
omniscient!
Recall the “about midnight” statement in Exodus 11:4. Now, let’s examine Chag HaMatzot (Feast of Unleavened Bread):
Feast of Unleavened Bread
Exodus 12:14 ‘Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to [lit. Yahoah]; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance. 15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day you shall have a holy assembly, and another holy assembly on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them, except what must be eaten by every person, that alone may be prepared by you. 17 You shall also observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent ordinance. 18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19 Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is an alien or a native of the land. 20 You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’”
21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families, and slay the Passover lamb. 22 You shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning.
A Memorial of Redemption
23 For [lit. Yahoah] will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, [lit. Yahoah] will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you. 24 And you shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever. 25 When you enter the land which [lit. Yahoah] will give you, as He has promised, you shall observe this rite. 26 And when your children say to you, ‘What does this rite mean to you?’ 27 you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to [lit. Yahoah] who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.’” And the people bowed low and worshiped.
28 Then the sons of Israel went and did so; just as [lit. Yahoah] had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
29 Now it came about at midnight that [lit. Yahoah] struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle. 30 Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead. (NASB)
Without
sacrificial blood, there can be no
Redemption nor
Atonement; hence, the pashal lamb’s blood on the lintel and doorposts. We see from v29 that
the actual act of the “Passover” did occur about midnight on 15 Abib (that’s why rabbinic Jews consider Passover to be on 15 Nisan). However, without the paschal sacrifice on 14 Abib, Israel would not have been spared from Yahoah’s wrath, either; see vv21-23 concentrating on v23. That last verse bears repeating:
Exodus 12:23 For [lit.
Yahoah] will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, [lit. Yahoah] will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you. (NASB)
THAT IS THE POINT THE JEWRY MISS! In 36 CE, they were expecting the King of kings and Lord of lords to vanquish the Romans, but they didn’t realize that the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 had to come FIRST! The conquering Messiah is certainly coming (Revelation 19:11-16)!
He (Yehoshu’a in the incarnate form of Yahoah) shed His own blood — as the ultimate paschal sacrifice —
so that believers in Him may have eternal life and not experience the second death! Those who do not believe in Him will be judged by the Law, found guilty, and will be thrown into the lake of fire known as Gehenna on Judgment Day. Read
John 3:16 in context. That is the whole point of Grace, which is a judical pardon/clemency on Judgment Day;
those who believe in Him — the paschal Lamb of God — WILL NOT BE JUDGED (although unworthy of His Grace). And, “The Name (Heb.
HaShem) of the only begotten Son of God” in v18 is
Yehoshu’a (=
Yahoah is salvation) —
the Light of the first “yom” of Creation in vv19-21!
One fact remains from
Exodus 12:18… that although Passover (14 Abib) and Unleavened Bread (15-21 Abib) are separate appointed times, they are inextricably linked.
Last Supper (NOT a Seder!)
Christ’s Betrayal
The False Charge of Blasphemy
Christ’s Crucifixion
Christ’s Burial Before the High Sabbath of Chag HaMatzot
The Second Passover