| (Copyright 04-10-2025) by David Antion (Pasadena, California) |
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| The Churches of God have traditionally placed emphasis on the death of Christ – observing the “night in which He was betrayed.” We do it “in remembrance” of Him as He instructed (1 Corinthians 11:24) “for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes” (v. 26 NAS). Editor’s Note: There is nothing in scripture anywhere showing that Christ changed the date of Passover to be celebrated before his death. All Christ did on the night He was betrayed was to introduce the symbols, bread, wine, foot washing, which He wanted to be done on Passover which is to be celebrated with a meal on the early part of the 15th of Nisan. Common sense would tell most people that you would not remember anyone’s death until after it has taken place. In other words, why are you remembering Christ’s death the night before he died. That was not the purpose of the meal He had with His disciples the night before He died. Laura Lee The crucifixion of Christ was a major teaching in the early church. Paul wrote, “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). Peter wrote, “For Christ also died for our sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). And John wrote, “In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10 NAS). Jesus’ own words predicted His crucifixion how “The Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected by elders and chief priests, and they will condemn Him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles who will mock Him and spit on Him and scourge Him and kill Him (Mark 8:31; 9:31-32; 10:32-34; John 12:20-36). The Passover and Lord’s Supper held the symbols of the bread and wine. They symbolized Jesus’ body and blood given for all His disciples and for all mankind who will become His disciples. The Feast of Unleavened Bread became associated with the Passover ceremony. There are three main Hebrew words connected to the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread. They are 1) Pesah 2) Hag and 3) Massot. Pesah is the Passover offering that was eaten at night. It is a festival in its own right (Exodus 34:25). Pesah is connected with the Hebrew verb to “protect” in Isaiah 31:5. But in general it means to “skip” or “limp” or “halt.” See 2 Samuel 4:4; 1 Kings 18:21, 26. Hag means feast or festival and it is only associated with Passover in Exodus 34:25). Editor’s Note: So, unless you can prove that the date of Passover has changed from the Old Testament to the New Testament this would be part of the proof showing that Passover is a Feast of God and does not take place on a non-feast day such as the early part of the 14th of Nisan. Laura Lee Massot means unleavened bread but when used with “hag” it means Feast of Unleavened Bread. While there is a special designation for the Feast of U.B. it was common to have unleavened bread as part of the standard process of sacrifices (Leviticus 2:11; 6:10; Exodus 23:18). The linking of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread was natural in that the lamb was selected on the 10th day of Nisan and slaughtered on the 14th day of the month “at even.” This phrase “at even” is the Hebrew “ba ereb” and is used in only 11 places in the Bible. They are: Exodus 12:6; 16:12; 29:39, 41; 30:8; Leviticus 23:5; Numbers 9: 3,5, 11; 28: 4,8. This phrase is often translated as “between the two evenings” or “twilight” which corresponds to our late afternoon. It was the phrase used for the evening sacrifice (Exodus 29:39). Editor’s Note: The phrase “between the two evenings” means between Noon and Sunset. The evening sacrifice in the temple was always done between Noon and Sunset. It was never done after Sunset. Laura Lee Since the Passover was killed on the afternoon of the 14th it was eaten at night on the beginning of the 15th — what we call “a night to be observed” (Exodus 12:42) It was easy to then apply the term Passover to the beginning of the days of Unleavened Bread. In Ezekiel 45:21, “’ In the first month on the fourteenth day, you are to observe the Passover, a feast lasting seven days, during which you shall eat bread made without yeast” (NIV). This Feast became one of the “pilgrim feasts” (Deuteronomy 16:16). And in 2 Chronicles 30:1-5, 13, 26 we read how Hezekiah celebrated it in the second month (Numbers 9). And according to the law, he had the Levites and Priests do the sacrificing of the lambs (Deuteronomy 16:5). Editor’s Note: Are you then saying that God inspired it to be written in Ezekiel 45:21 that Passover was a Feast of seven days when it actually was not true and the Israelites just made it up? Because that is essentially what you are saying. On the one hand you claim in the Old Testament Passover was called a Feast but now days it is not a Feast. You really can’t have it both ways. Christ died for our sins so that we can live. Why would that not be proclaimed as a Feast Day? Everyone knows that the way Worldwide celebrated Passover they did not esteem it as a Feast Day. They ate unleavened bread during their early 14 celebration and then they went back to eating leavened bread until the first day of unleavened bread which also started the first day of the Feast of Passover for seven days. Yet, scripture throughout the Bible says Passover is a Feast. Passover is a meal that takes place on the very start of the days of Unleavened Bread and you do a disservice to God’s people when you try to make Passover not important enough to be a Feast Day. Passover was the day to be much observed in Exodus because it was the most important Feast in the entire Bible. Laura Lee Later on, Josiah also celebrated the Passover feast (2 Chronicles 35). In Ezra’s time, they celebrated it also (Ezra 6:19-22). From there it became a very popular celebration even in the time of Jesus. Since the sacrificial lamb symbolized redemption, it was natural for the New Testament writers to connect it with Christ (John 1:29). Paul called Jesus “our Passover” (1Corinthians 5:7). He so fulfilled the parallels of the Passover lamb to prophecy that not even a bone of His body was broken. See John 19:33-36; Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12). Our main task during these days and always, was and is getting rid of the spiritual leaven and replacing it with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Christ condemned the hypocrisy of the old leaven (Matthew 23:13-28). For Christians, the spiritual application of the days of Unleavened Bread never ends! ————————————————————————— Reprinted with permission from: Guardian Ministries http://daveantion.com/ ————————————————————————— |
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