| Dwight Fleming (Oroville, California) |
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| The Crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth marked a turning point in the history of the Jewish people and led to the birth of the church of God forming the spiritual body of Christ. Concerning the death of Jesus, the Lamb of God, the apostle Paul states, “For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us” (I Corinthians 5:7). The term “passover” refers back to the Israelites’ sojourn in Egypt when God commanded them to slay a lamb then put its blood upon the lintel and doorposts of their dwellings. The lamb’s blood would cause the destroyer to “passover” their dwellings thus sparing their firstborn from death. God gave a specific timeframe when this “passover lamb” was to be slain. Notice: “ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening [between the two evenings]” (Exodus 12:6). It was critical that they kill this lamb on the right evening. If they had gotten the time wrong, then they would have suffered the death of their firstborn as did the Egyptians. Jesus is often referred to as the Lamb of God. Why? Because by His shed blood death would passover us allowing us to escape the penalty of sin. To be our Passover, Christ would then have to die at the time prescribed in Exodus 12:6. Yet there are ministers who want you to believe that Jesus died at the wrong time, but it doesn’t matter because He ate the Passover at the right time. Wait a minute! What kind of illogical thinking is that? Did Jesus become our Passover by dying at the right time or by eating at the right time? This is at the heart of any debate regarding the correct time of the first Passover in Egypt and at the time of Christ’s death. Those who believe that Christ ate the Passover at the right time must concede that Jesus died at the wrong time and in effect make Him a fake with their misunderstanding. Others believe that Christ had to eat the Passover one night early since He knew that He would be dead by the time when the Jews normally ate the Passover. But then Christ would have eaten a fake Passover lamb since it was not killed at the prescribed time. Jesus Christ IS NOT A FAKE!!! The apostle Paul clearly states that Christ died “according to the scriptures” (See I Corinthians 15:3). What scriptures? Those of the Bible of their day which we call the Old Testament. This would include the time prescribed by Exodus 12:6. The Lamb of God, our Passover, would have to die on the 14th day of the first month at even, or, more specifically, between the two evenings. There has been much debate on exactly what “between the two evenings” mean. But even more basic to the argument and which everyone has overlooked is when was the 14th day? When did it begin and when did it end? As you know, God gave Moses specific instructions for when to kill the Passover lamb and also when to keep a feast of unleavened bread for seven days. Exodus 12, verse 18 reads, “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.” There are those who believe that the days of unleavened bread begin at the beginning of the 14th day of the first month and believe that the New Testament supports this thinking. This misunderstanding stems from the assumption that God meant the even that begins the 14th day rather than ends the 14th. Herein lies a simple truth that everyone has overlooked. How did the Israelites of the Exodus know which evening God meant? Lives were at stake! There could be no confusion. Furthermore, notice the particular wording of God’s instruction. Why didn’t God just say, “from the ending of the 14th day until the ending of the 21st day, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days”? Today we follow the Gregorian Calendar in our everyday lives. How do you explain to someone unfamiliar with the Sabbath when to keep it? You could just say that it is on the seventh day of the week which is Saturday. But would that be completely accurate? Not really. So, to be more explicit, you would probably state that it is from Friday sunset until Saturday sunset. Why would you have to explain it this way? Because a calendar day on the Gregorian Calendar begins and ends at midnight and not at sunset. Whoa!!! Stop the presses!!! Everyone is assuming that the 14th day in the minds of the Israelites of the Exodus began and ended at sunset. But this is a major error and false assumption that has caused gross misunderstanding as to when the first Passover was kept. If a calendar day begins and ends other than at sunset or “even,” then that means that there would only be one even or sunset per calendar day to contend with. And this is why God had to word His instructions in Exodus 12:18 the way that He did. Let’s put things into historical context. The children of Israel had sojourned in Egypt for about 400 years. They may have been slaves for a good 100 years or more. This is uncertain. They were obviously indoctrinated in Egyptian custom by the time of the Exodus. The Egyptians are noted for their solar calendar which Julius Caesar borrowed from in developing his Julian Calendar. The Romans began and ended a calendar day at midnight as we do today. Is it possible that they also borrowed this from Egypt as well? One thing is certain is that the Egyptians did not begin the calendar day at sunset. A lunar calendar was also observed. Thus, a calendar day for the Israelites of the Exodus either began at dawn or possibly at midnight as some scriptures indicate. The main thing to realize is that the 14th day did not begin or end at sunset. This is crucial for understanding the correct evening of the Passover. Want more proof? In Leviticus 23, God gave Moses’ instructions for the Day of Atonement. Verse 27 says to keep it on the 10th day of the seventh month. That is simple enough. If the Israelites of the Exodus were observing a calendar day from even unto even then no further explanation would be needed regarding the time. But here is absolute proof that they weren’t observing a calendar day from even unto even. Since the Day of Atonement was to be a fast day, then it was necessary for God to tell them to start observing this annual Sabbath at even on the NINTH DAY (verse 32). Why didn’t God just say to observe it from the very beginning of the tenth day until the very end of the tenth day? Because, for the Israelites, the tenth day did not begin at even or sunset. Ignore or argue with this all you want. But it is the “plain truth.” This means that there was only one possible evening when the first Passover lamb was slain in Egypt. The 14th day had either begun at midnight or at dawn for the Israelites. When did God strike down the firstborn in the land of Egypt? At MIDNIGHT. This would have been the beginning of the 15th day after the slaying of the Passover lamb earlier on the 14th. And when did the Israelites depart from Egypt? Numbers 33:3 states the Israelites left on the 15th, the day AFTERPassover which was observed the evening of the 14th. It appears that midnight was the dividing line between the 14th and 15th day at that time. The Jews later moved it up to sunset perhaps during the Babylonian captivity according to some sources. Some contend that the Israelites were commanded to stay in their dwellings all night and not leave until the light of dawn. They contend that “morning” must mean when the sun actually rises or shortly before it. This is necessary to prove their belief that the first Passover was observed at the beginning of the 14th given a sunset to sunset reckoning. The Israelites then spent the daylight portion of the 14th spoiling the Egyptians and making ready to depart at sundown when the 15th day began. But a careful reading of scripture does not bear this out. First of all, the Israelites were told to eat the Passover in haste with their shoes on and their staff in hand (Exodus 12:11). They needed to be ready to hit the deck running. Imagine: “You kids turn off that video game and eat your supper. We got to be ready to leave pronto. What do you mean, you can’t find your sandals? Of all times to have them in the shop for repairs. Okay, you will just have to wear your old Nikes.” The Egyptians “were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste (Exodus 12:33). “And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry [dilly-dally], nor had they prepared provisions for themselves” (Exodus 12:39). Okay, the Israelites had all day to raid their neighbors’ jewelry box but forgot to raid the pantry to fill their ice chest with any food. Does that make any sense? No! Exodus 11 tells us that they had already borrowed from the Egyptians before the final plague. The Egyptian populace saw the destruction all around them and wanted these Hebrew slaves gone at any price before they all became “dead men.” They left as soon as Pharaoh told Moses to “hit the road!” It was a full moon that night so it would have been no problem traveling by night. But they couldn’t leave their dwellings until daybreak, right? Have you ever got up very early in the morning before sunlight to leave on a trip? We consider any time after midnight to be morning. Can it be morning yet still dark? Consider this example: David was not allowed to fight in the battle against Saul. He was told to rise up early in the morning, and when it became light enough, then to depart. See I Samuel 29:1-11. These same contenders for an early 14th Passover, believe that Exodus 16 absolutely proves that the Hebrew term, “ben-ha-arbayim” [between the two evenings], must mean the time between sunset and darkness. This is why some translations render the term as “twilight.” But another Hebrew word is also rendered as “twilight” which the text supports. “He was going down the street near her corner, walking along in the direction of her house at twilight, as the day was fading, as the dark of night set in” (Proverbs 7:8-9 NIV). Exodus 16 is used to support a strained explanation of “ben-ha-arbayim.” It is contended that the Hebrew word for “evening” used in verses 6, 8, and 13 must all be translated as “sunset” in order for the explanation to work. You can find this in A Faithful Version translation at www.afaithfulversion.org. Exodus 16 is the crux of their argument for an early 14th Passover given a sunset-to-sunset 14th day. Since it appears that Christ also kept the Passover at the beginning of the 14th, then they believe that their argument is on solid ground and airtight. Not so fast! In the same translation, the same Hebrew word translated as “sunset” is elsewhere translated as “evening.” See Genesis 24:11, 63 as an example. To use “sunset” in these verses would not be appropriate. Could “evening” include any time prior to sunset? Notice Jeremiah 6:4: “Prepare for war against her; arise and let us go up at noon. Woe to us! For the day goes away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.” As everyone knows, shadows begin to grow long from about 2 or 3 pm onward. Generally speaking, morning can be the time between midnight and noon while evening can be the time between noon and midnight for us today. The morning may include darkness and light while the evening may include light and darkness. If you rise up early when the sun comes up, then by mid-afternoon when it can get quite warm, it is best to retire or rest for the day and prepare an evening meal. Forget going to the movies or watching any TV after dark. The stars were bright and dazzling and provided stories of wonder and God’s glory and handiwork. Time for bed if you weren’t elected for doing night watch. The Jews were human and got some things wrong but also got some things right. They teach that “between the two evenings” is from noon until sundown. This is confirmed by Deuteronomy 16:6. This is a lengthy subject beyond the scope of this article. See paper by T. Alex Tennent: TMF_Between-the-Evenings (themessianicfeast.com). Same with their traditions. Christ criticized their bad traditions but did follow their good traditions, such as, the Feast of Dedication (John 10:22). To assume that all Jewish tradition is bad or wrong would be a big mistake as we will soon see. The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) have Jesus keeping Passover at the beginning of the 14th of Nisan (first month of the sacred year as God commanded Moses). However, the gospel of John shows the Jews keeping Passover at the end of the 14th and into the 15th. This seemingly paradox has added greatly to the debate over when the original Passover was kept. For those who believe that the Passover lamb was slain late on the 14th day and eaten on the 15th as John confirms, then the Synoptic Gospels seem to show Christ keeping the Passover one night early since He knew that He would be dead by the following evening. As stated at the beginning of this article, that also is an erroneous assumption. If Jesus was The Passover Lamb of God, then why would He, being sinless, need to eat a physical lamb? Of course, He wanted to fulfill all righteousness as He told His cousin John who baptized Him. But would Christ keep the Passover at the wrong time? No way! Thus, we have a doctrinal dilemma. Those who conclude that Christ must have kept the Passover at the correct time then feel compelled to make the Old Testament story of Passover agree with an early 14th Passover account. As we have already seen, this is totally incorrect. Those who see the 14th/15th as the correct time then jump to the conclusion that they must follow Moses rather than the example of Jesus Christ by partaking the bread and wine on the night of the 15th. Christ said, “The servant is not greater than his lord” (John 15:20). Yet we think that we can be more righteous than Jesus, the head of the church. Would you rather follow the Jews who slew the Lamb of God as they did the Passover lamb or follow Jesus who became our Passover by offering Himself? We falsely assume that Jesus merely changed the “symbols” of the Passover. Such thinking robs us of our Christian calling. We are to more than spiritual Jews. Christ said, “No man can serve two masters.” Who is our master? Moses or Jesus Christ? Christ also said, “… except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of thescribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). The apostle Paul wrote, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions JUST AS I DELIVERED THEM to you” (I Corinthians 11:1-2). Traditions? What traditions? [Cue song from “Fiddler on the Roof”] Did Jesus Christ establish a new tradition for the church to follow? The Synoptic Gospels show Christ eating the “passover” earlier than called for by Exodus 12:6. As already mentioned, a lamb slain at the wrong time would be a fake. Everyone is assuming that Jesus ate a slain lamb that night because of the use of the word “passover.” What else was eaten with the Passover lamb at the time of the original Passover? “And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread” (Exodus 12:8). Remember the confusion over when the Days of Unleavened Bread began that I mentioned awhile back? Do you think the Jews may have had the same problem with Exodus 12:18 as others have had? To play it safe, is it possible that a custom or tradition may have started somewhere along the line with eating unleavened bread at the beginning of the 14th day? When the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him where to keep the Passover, did they mean a Passover lamb or Passover bread? The only word used is “passover.” Thus, the confusion and error with any assumptions that a slain lamb was meant. By the time of Christ, had unleavened bread become included in the word “passover”? “Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover” (Luke 22:1). There was no lamb there that night other than the Lamb of God. Based on a Jewish tradition of eating unleavened bread on the night of the 14th, Jesus instituted an entirely new tradition for His disciples to follow. These symbols were to remind us that we are part of His body that was beaten and torn for us. The wine reminds us that we are of His blood that was poured out for our redemption. We are not to be as the Jews who put Christ to death and watched His agony. We are to be there with Him on the cross suffering as He suffered! To be there with Him, we have to partake of the symbols before His death not after! “For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:19-20). This new tradition started by Jesus Christ was called “the Lord’s Supper” by the apostle Paul to distinguish it from the Passover Seder observed by the Jews. When Paul said the church wasn’t observing the Lord’s supper, he obviously meant their causal practice of having a full-blown dinner party rather than a solemn occasion that truly honored the sacrifice of Jesus Christ with the partaking of the bread and the wine. We are making the same mistake by calling the bread and wine “Passover” which adds to the confusion. Jesus Christ is our Passover. The bread and wine remind us that we are of His flesh and blood before the time of His death. So as Paul revealed, they should be partaken in the “night that he was betrayed” that we may properly remember His death as members of His blood and body. |
| Iron Sharpening Iron In regard to: Jesus Our Passover Article by Dwight Fleming Comments by Laura Lee (Bismarck, North Dakota) |
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| This isn’t the worst Passover paper I have ever read but it is right up there with the worst of the worst. For one thing you jump around so much that people will get tired just reading it. Are you keeping your Saturday Sabbath from Friday evening until Saturday evening? If so, that is the pattern for the annual Holy Days also. They are all covered under the 4th Commandment. Between the two evenings is from noon to sunset each and every day. Christ was killed around 3 PM on the 14th, thus right on time between the two evenings. Once Christ was crucified there was no longer a need to eat a Passover lamb on Passover for Christ was our Passover lamb. What Christ did the night before he was crucified was to introduce the emblems of Passover which would still be kept on the evening of the 14/15 with a meal. Passover is a memorial of Christs death, so you keep it after He has died and not before. On Passover in Egypt, they killed the lamb and ate it. They took the blood of the lamb and daubed it on the door post to protect them from the death angel. So, the emblems that Christ introduced were the unleavened bread to represent His body (the lamb) and the wine to represent His blood. You cannot find any place in scripture where Christ ever changed the day of Passover which is still the first day of Unleavened Bread. When did you want Christ to introduce the new emblems for Passover? After He was dead? Whether you want to call the meal Christ kept the day before Passover the Lord’s Supper or Passover, there was a valid reason for it since Christ would be dead on Passover. One of the problems we see with people who do not want to keep the calendar that was preserved by the Jewish people complete with all the Holy Day Dates and when to keep them is that these people have an animosity toward the Jews. That animosity clearly comes out in your article when you complain that the Jews killed Christ. The Jews were not the only ones that killed Christ. You killed him too and all your ancestors by being sinners. Do you realize that Christ was a Jew, and He kept the same calendar the Jews kept in the Temple? Do you also understand that Christ had to die to save us? Would it have been better for you if the tribe of Reuben or Dan or one of the other tribes had killed Him? The point is that someone had to kill Christ, or you would die and never live again. If people understood this concept there would be less animosity toward the Jewish people and way less chaos over calendar issues in the church. Before you make up your own calendars or change the real dates on the Hebrew Calendar as preserved by the Jewish people think about what you are doing. God’s command is for you to keep His Holy Days not the ones you are making up. God would not tell you to keep His Holy Days and then not leave you a calendar. If you are not keeping God’s Holy Days, then you are committing lawlessness and if you are teaching your fake Holy Days to other people, you are teaching others to commit lawlessness and you will be held responsible for that someday. P. S. – They didn’t leave Egypt until the last day of Unleavened Bread. |
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