Passover

by
by Arlan Weight (Bismarck, North Dakota)
 

       When should we keep it? Should it be observed at the beginning of the 14th of Abib (Nisan), or at the end? Should we observe eight days of unleavened bread or seven. Is the Passover called a Feast? Many people of the churches of God are confused over these questions. Why?
       Let’s face it. Most, if not all of the people in the ‘church’, have come to observe these days as a result of the preaching and teaching of Herbert W. Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God. The way and manner is still kept the same as he taught it, by many of the corporate churches of God. Yet a number of people and groups are coming to see some things that don’t seem to square with the Bible. Is it just their ideas or is there something we may have overlooked?
       Herbert W. Armstrong always taught that we need to study God’s word and prove to ourselves whether he was right or wrong on any given subject. If it needed correcting, he said the true church would do so. So, it is with this frame of mind this study of Passover is undertaken.
       To begin this subject, the very first question to answer is should we observe the Passover and how often? To those of us who have been in the church for many years the answer is elementary and plain. Yes, we are commanded to keep it (Ex. 12:14) and once a year in its season (Num. 9:2). This is something most of us in the church take for granted, but it is only because we have kept them for so long. It is good to review these commands from time to time, though, because we need to stand on the facts of the Bible as we have proved them to ourselves and not just because the church says so. But we also need to look deeper and see if we are truly observing these things as Jesus kept them.
 
Traditional Observance
       Traditionally, the church has taught that the Passover is to be observed at the beginning of the 14th of Abib (Nisan) because that is the night Jesus kept his last Passover with his disciples. This night was to be a most solemn occasion because it pictured the suffering and death of Jesus Christ to pay the death penalty for the sins of mankind.
       Following the Passover on the night of the 15th the church taught and observed a festival occasion where people gather in predetermined locations to eat fine food and drink. This night was to be a gala event to celebrate the Israelites coming out of slavery in Egypt. It also was to picture spiritual Israel’s deliverance in coming out of sin. This was to be that ‘night to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations’. (Ex. 12:42)
       On the one night the church observes an event in a funeral type of atmosphere and the next as a festival type. Exodus 12 indicates the time of the actual passing-over (Passover) the Israelites houses and their deliverance (‘night to be observed’) as happening the same night. Why does the church observe two nights with two separate events and meaning? How can this contradiction be resolved? Did Jesus change the day as well as the symbols of the Passover?
 
Jesus’ Example and Instructions
       Jesus’ custom was to observe the Passover from childhood. He was an obedient son and obeyed his parents. Notice Luke 2:41. “Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the Custom of the feast.”
       Shortly after Jesus began his ministry, Jesus was still keeping the Passover as he had been taught as a boy. It says it was the ‘Jews’ Passover.’ (John 2:13) In verse 23 it says, “now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day many believed in his name…” Was Jesus keeping the feast day at a different time than all the rest of the Jews? No, it is quite obvious he was observing it right along with all the rest. If Jesus was keeping it at another time, surely the Scribes and Pharisees would have pointed it out, but no where did they take issue with him on this.
       In fact Jesus taught the people to do the things the Scribes and Pharisees taught. Notice Matt. 23:2-3. “The Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do. . .” Surely that must have included the Passover with the timing and the various aspects as they had always done for so many centuries.
       So, then we must conclude from this that Jesus did not come to do away with the commands of Moses or the Law. He came to fulfill. Notice Matt. 5:17 “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” Was Moses a prophet? Acts 3:22 says, “For Moses truly said unto the fathers, a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me…” (Deut. 18:15) What did Jesus say of Moses? “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:27)
       So, if Moses is considered a prophet and Jesus came to fulfill what he said, we must come to see that for the first 32 years of his life, he kept the Passover and the Days of unleavened bread at the very same time the rest of the Jews kept it, the same as Moses commanded them back then. Some have said the Jews were keeping it a day late. Now really? Does that sound logical when we look at all the evidence? Hardly. No… Jesus was not contrary to the Scribes and Pharisees on this point.
       At his last Passover Jesus had to keep it at the beginning of the 14th of Nisan, because at the end He would have already been dead. The most important fact to remember is that Jesus is our Passover sacrificed for us. (1 Cor. 5:7) He was killed, just as all the lambs had been killed for centuries prior. . . at the very same time. Therefore, at this one time He had to deliver the symbolic bread and wine service to his disciples at the beginning… before he suffered. “And He said unto them, with desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” (Luke 22:15)
       Here Jesus is saying he desired to eat this Passover meal before he suffered. Again, this had to be done at the beginning of the 14th. All other times Jesus ate the Passover meal when all the other Jews did, at the beginning of the 15th. So, by eating this meal a day early, is Jesus changing the date we are to observe the Passover. I think not. For again he says continue to observe the things the Scribes and Pharisees taught because they sat in Moses’ seat. (Matt. 23:2-3) Continue to observe the Passover as Jesus had kept it from boyhood… at the same time as the Scribes and Pharisees.
       So, when did the Scribes and Pharisees observe the Passover that year when Jesus was killed? Notice all four gospel writers date his crucifixion on the preparation day, that is the day before the first Day of Unleavened Bread, the day before the Passover meal was traditionally kept by Jesus and all the Jews as taught by Moses. There can be no mistaking which day they ate the Passover meal.
 
·         “And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb… Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation…” (Matt. 27:59-62)
 
·         “And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath” – Mark 15:42 (This Sabbath was the First Day of Unleavened Bread.)
 
·         “This man went unto Pilate and begged the body of Jesus. And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulcher that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid. And that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on.” (Luke 23:52-54)
 
·         “And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour (John 19:14) … The Jews, therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, (for that Sabbath day was an high day,)” (John 19:31)
 
       Again, Jesus could not partake of that meal that year at the same time as the rest of the Jews, because he would have been dead by then. It is not that he changed the date of the observance, which he didn’t. This would not be consistent with the way God does things. Every other ‘High’ day is observed at the exact time of the original designation in Leviticus 23. Why, in the New Testament, would God choose to observe Passover a day early? If Jesus could have, he no doubt would have observed the Passover meal and introducing the symbols of the Unleavened bread and wine at the same time he always kept it before… the night portion of the 15th, which is the first day of Unleavened Bread.
       The main pivotal thing to remember is that Jesus died at the exact same time as the lambs were killed on the ‘preparation day’ because he became our ‘Passover Lamb’. So now that we understand Jesus was sacrificed exactly as the lambs were, exactly as the Jews understood it, and that Jesus, together with the Jews kept it, and the Passover meal the same time as the original in Exodus, we can rely on that account. We can read that account and see just how he ‘fulfilled’ it.
 
The First Passover and Christ’s Fulfillment
       “And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: … Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year…” (Ex. 12:1-5) Jesus was a male and he was without spot or blemish. “For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” (1 Pet. 1:18-19)
       “And you 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.” (Ex. 12:6) Numbers 9:3 says “In the fourteenth day of this month, at even ye shall keep it…” The word ‘evening’ and the word ‘even’ are translated from the Hebrew word ‘eth ereb’ meaning between the two evening times. (Young’s Concordance)
       If Jesus crucifixion fulfilled this precisely at the same time the lambs were sacrificed, it had to be in the afternoon of the 14th. “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice… when He cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the Spirit.’ (Mat. 27:46 & 5O) This is exactly as the Hebrew word implies. It occurred on the 14th ‘between the two evening times’ …between the beginning of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th.
 
Editor’s Note:
       The last statement here is only partially correct. The phrase “between the two evening times” is actually the time period between noon and sunset each day, noon being the first evening or the point at which the sun starts to go down and sunset being the second evening or the point at which the sun is completely down and out of sight. This editor’s note was added on 2-10-08 by Laura Lee.
 
       “And they shall take of the blood and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it” (Ex. 12:7) The blood was to be daubed on the two side posts of the entrance of a house to show the death angel that the occupants within that house were to be separated from the Egyptians. They had a special relationship with their deliverer, and they were to be spared. Hebrews 13:12 says it’s by Jesus own blood that which separates the people. “Wherefore, Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.” The word ‘sanctify’ is from the Greek word ‘haqiazo’ meaning to set apart. (Young’s Concordance) The analogy is exactly the same. Just as the lambs’ blood separated the Israelites and spared them from the death angel. So are we to be spared from destruction by the true ‘Lambs Blood’.
       “And they shall eat the flesh in that night” (the night of the 15th) ‘roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus, shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s Passover” (Ex. 12:8-11)
       Even as the Israelites were to eat the flesh of the roasted lamb Jesus said we are to eat of his flesh. He explained this to his followers in John 6:51-58. He said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat: then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so, He that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live forever.”
       The symbols of Christ’s flesh and blood are that of the Unleavened Bread and wine he presented to his disciples at his last Passover with them. “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and break it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. “ (Matt. 26:26-28)
       So just as the Israelites were to eat the roasted lamb, we are to partake of the symbols Christ gave us to represent his body and blood. What night are we to eat and drink of them? Moses instructed the Israelites to eat the lamb ‘in that night’. Jesus told the people to follow that instruction. (Mat. 23:2-3) We too then should ingest of the Lamb, in that same night, the night of the 15th, which is the First Day of Unleavened Bread.
       The afternoon of the 14th is when the lambs were killed, but the 15th of Abib is the actual ‘Pass Over’, the actual time when the death angel saw the blood and ‘passed over’ (Ex. 12:27) the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt. Exodus 12:29 says, “And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh” . . . This was the night of the 15th of Abib.
       “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. Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses:” (Ex. 12:18) The word ‘even’ here comes from the Hebrew word ‘erev’ which simply means ‘evening or eventide’. It is not the Same word as Exodus 12:6. That word specifically means ‘between the two evening times’. This word implies that the 1st day of Unleavened Bread begins at the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th of Abib. We must count inclusively in that the 15th is the 1st day and the 21st day is the last day. From the beginning of the 1st day (15th) to the end of the last day (21st) is seven days. (See Chart)
 
Passover Defined
       Is the Passover a feast or is it the memorial of the death of Jesus Christ? Or is it both? Traditional observance has tried to separate these two. The church has used Leviticus 23:5-6 and Numbers 28:16-17 to separate the Passover from the Feast day. Let us take a close look at these two references.
 
·         “In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord’s passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord…” (Lev. 23:5-6)
 
·         “And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of the Lord. And in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast…” (Num. 28:16-17)
 
       How do these squares with Exodus 12:8-11? Here it indicates the passover lamb was eaten the night of the 15th. “It is the Lord’s passover.” (verse 11) Is there a conflict here? How can this be explained?
       Throughout the old and new testaments, the term passover has been applied sometimes to a feast and sometimes to denote the killing of the lambs. Let’s look at just a few cases.
 
·         “Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families and kill the passover” (lamb). (Ex. 12:21)
 
·         “Then they killed the passover” (lamb) “on the fourteenth day of the second month” … (2 Chron. 30:15)
 
·         “Then came the day of unleavened bread when the passover” (lamb) “must be killed” … (Luke 22:7)
 
·         “And thus, shall you eat it;” (the lamb) “with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it” (the lamb) “in haste; it is the Lord’s passover.” (Ex. 12:11)
 
·         “And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast” (eating the lamb on the 15th) “to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast” (eating the lamb on the 15th) “by an ordinance forever.” (Ex. 12:14)
 
·         “Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover” (lamb)? (Mat. 26:17)
 
       There are many more examples like those above where sometimes the term ‘passover’ is used in conjunction with killing the lamb and sometimes it is used in eating it. Such is the case with Leviticus 23:5-6 and Numbers 28:16-17. In each of these two places we are simply talking about doing two different things. The fourteenth day is the day for killing and preparing the lamb, the fifteenth day is for eating it.
       The main thing to remember in this context is that Jesus (the Lamb of God) fulfilled the killing of the lamb on the fourteenth. The eating of the symbols representing his flesh and blood were to be eaten on the fifteenth. This he observed like all the Jews for the first 32 of his 33 years.
 
What day did the Israelites leave Egypt?
       So, when did the Israelites leave Egypt? In Deut. 16:1 it says, “God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.” So, did the Israelites leave their homes the night of the 15th? No. It is plain to see that the people could not have left that night. Notice the instruction Moses gave the people. “none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.” (Ex. 12:22) So what is the answer to this seemingly contradiction?
       In Deuteronomy 16:1 it says God brought them out of Egypt by night. But does it say here what day of the month? In Numbers 33:3 it says “And they departed from Rameses in the first month on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the Passover…” This says plainly that they did not leave Egypt the night of the 15th. The word ‘morrow’ comes from the Hebrew word ‘mochorath’ which simply means the next day. And of course, it fits because the Israelites were to remain in their houses all night.
       So, if they didn’t leave Egypt the night of the 15th, what night was it that they actually left? Continuing on in Numbers 33 it says “they removed from Rameses and pitched in Succoth. And they departed from Succoth and pitched in Etham… And they removed from Etham, and turned again unto Pihahiroth, which is before Basslzephon: and they pitched before Migdol.” At each of the places mentioned it says they pitched, meaning they encamped. It does not say how long they stayed at each location, but one might assume they encamped at least one night at each place. So, it was at least three days journey till they reached the point where they had to cross the sea.
 
Summary
       All of the difficulty in answering the questions about the old testament Passover and the new testament Passover stem from starting out on a wrong premise. That premise is that we must keep the Passover on the night beginning the 14th because Jesus kept it that night. But, as was explained before, Jesus had to keep it early that year because he knew it was his last and to fulfill the prophesy that he was to be that Passover Lamb, he could not keep it as he did before, on the 15th with the rest of the Jews.
       The church has taken its cue from 1 Corinthians 11:23-24 where it says “for I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you that the Lord Jesus the Same night in which he was betrayed took bread” … Here it says Jesus observed the Passover the same night he was betrayed, but does it clearly say we are to do so as well? Rather shouldn’t his first 32 years of keeping the Passover prove to the contrary, especially when his command is to keep the Passover as the Scribes and Pharisees were doing it? (Mat. 23:2-3) Could it be that the church has erred in viewing 1 Corinthians 11:23-24 as a command to keep the Passover at the same time, when it should only be viewed as a statement of historical record?
       The most important thing to remember is that Jesus fulfilled the sacrifice and shedding of his blood at the Same time as the original lambs were killed, on the afternoon of the 14th of Abib. Jesus observed the eating of the lamb and the ‘night to be observed’ the same as all of the Jews of his day, the night of the 15th, which is the first Day of Unleavened Bread. This he did first as a boy with his parents and then during his ministry. Furthermore, he told us to follow the Scribes and Pharisees in this example (Mat. 23:2-3). He didn’t change the day of its observance.
       When we look closely at the Exodus account, we are able to see the step by step of events that transpired that first Passover. We are able to see that there is no separation with the event of Passover and the first day of Unleavened Bread. Rather these occurred the same day. The night to be much observed is also the same night. So, all three, the Passover, Night to be Observed, and the First Day of Unleavened Bread are all one and the same day.
       True, the Passover lambs were killed on the fourteenth, the preparation day, but the actual Passover, the night to observe when the death angel passed over, occurred on the night of the 15th, The First Day of Unleavened Bread. It is no wonder then that the Passover is called a Feast in some places. For indeed it did occur on the Feast Day. It also explains why there can only be seven days of unleavened bread, not eight, because the first day the Israelites ate unleavened bread was the same night, they ate the lamb roasted with fire, the night of the 15th.
       Then there is the matter of tradition. Can we tell from scripture what day the Apostles continued to observe the Passover? If they did what Jesus commanded them, they kept it on the 15th. 1 Corinthians 11 only says “For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread…” It accurately tells what day Jesus kept it the year he was killed. It does not say he changed it to that day, nor does Paul tell you to keep it at that same time.
       Once we begin to realize the words Jesus said that he came to fulfill what Moses said are true, everything fits. We then begin to understand that you must start with Exodus 12 and go forward. This is the starting place. You cannot start with the New testament and fit the events of Exodus into the evening Jesus observed his last Passover. This is starting with a wrong premise. It appears that the only reason Jesus kept his last Passover at the beginning of the 14th that year, is that it was impossible to do it later. He most certainly would have if he could have.
       Finally, it comes down to this. Jesus said he did not come to do away with what Moses instructed. He said the Scribes and Pharisees, were keeping these days properly and that we need to observe them as they taught because they “sat in Moses’ seat” (Mat. 23:2-3). Furthermore Jesus, himself observed the keeping of these days from boyhood as he was taught by the leaders of his day. Should we then scrap all that in favor of observing the passover on the beginning of the 14th simply because Jesus kept it at that time, that year?
       Jesus said he desired to eat that passover ‘before he suffered’. This was his last passover. Could he have eaten it after he suffered? Pretty obvious it couldn’t have been done, unless he would have done it after the resurrection, and that would have completely been out of the sequence of events in Exodus.
       No, the answer should be quite apparent that Jesus fulfilled the scripture exactly as he said. His command to keep it as he fulfilled it is still valid. If tradition chooses to observe it at a different time than what he says, should we follow that? I think not. If tradition is to be our guide, we might well start observing Sunday as the Sabbath instead of the 7th day along with a host of other observances, but this is not what we are supposed to do.
       Jesus last instruction is as important for us today as it was to his disciples just before he left this earth. “Go ye therefore and teach all nations… teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Mat. 28:19-20)
       If his command is to keep the passover as the Scribes and Pharisees observed it, as he observed it for 32 of his 33 years, shouldn’t we listen to that? If it means breaking with tradition shouldn’t we do it? What should be our response?
 
(This article has been updated and re-printed from “The Church of God Messenger” May/June 2001—Issue No. 3.)
Iron Sharpening Iron
In regard to: Passover
Article by Arlan Weight
Comments by Rafael Algorri (Email)
1. John 13:1 is skipped for some reason.
2. Yahshua knew He couldn’t keep this Passover for He would be in the grave. He strongly desired but He knew otherwise.
3. He would violate His law if He officiated a Passover, that had to be in the Temple.
4. The often quoted Scripture by Paul in Corinthians is misunderstood because Paul said ” as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you do show His death till He come” WHEN did He die and shed His blood? Not that night! John 13:29 The disciples knew the feast was ahead of this Last Supper! (read somewhere “a graduation meal”?
5. There were Not two Passovers that year.
Iron Sharpening Iron
In regard to: Passover
Article by Arlan Weight
Comments by Laura Lee (Bismarck, North Dakota)
Great job Rafael.
 
In regard to number one, most people do not always quote all scriptures in regard to any given subject in short articles. So, John 13:1 was not necessarily purposely skipped for any reason. The author probably didn’t use it because he had other scriptures he used as proof for what he was saying.
 
In number four I believe you just misstated what you meant as you do quote the scripture which clearly shows the Last Supper happened before the Passover.
 
Joh 13:29 For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor. 
 
This incident where Judas left the Last Supper with the bag shows the feast of Passover had not yet happened. 
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