Passover, Part 2

Well, thank you, Heidi, very much. That was beautiful. I loved acoustic guitar and beautiful voice. Did you write that song?

It sounds like a song that was written by somebody in the church, so... But it was very beautiful, very, very appropriate. Thank you very, very much. That was very inspiring. It helps us to focus on the world tomorrow. It would be great when the world tomorrow is the world today. We're all looking forward to that time. This afternoon I want to continue to look at the events surrounding the Old Testament Passover, which occurred on that Passover Day that led up to God leading Israel out of Egypt. And what I want to stress, too, I know there's a lot of controversy over some of those events, exactly when they occurred and how they transpired and so on. So I want to stress that I'm simply trying to clarify and substantiate what the long-time position of the Church of God has been, going all the way back to Mr. Armstrong and the position today of all the major churches of God.

But I realize that through other positions that some would consider to have merit as well, which is why I would say just that we shouldn't be judgmental or condemning of other positions, possibly, because it can be complicated in some instances. And I would have to add, of course, I'm getting up in years, but I was not an eyewitness to the event. I wish I would. It would be great if I was. I saw it. Here's the way it's handed out. I'm thinking maybe sometime in God's kingdom, when we get there and things get settled down a little bit on the earth, maybe we can have a movie night or something. We're going to have a movie night and I'm going to show you exactly how it all played out. And we might all be a little surprised at some things as to the way they actually played out. But then I want to look at basically seven real basic questions surrounding Israel's first Passover.

And the first question I basically attempted to answer last time. I gave the church position on that last time. But the title for my sermon here this afternoon is Israel's First Passover. Because we're going to look at the events that transpired on that day, and we're going to ask questions and let the Bible answer the questions for us so we can get the Bible's perspective. But Israel's first Passover, or in my series, is the Passover Part 2.

Again, all these questions I'm going to ask here and address are very basic questions. But like I said, their answers over the last 15 years or so, especially, have generated a great deal of controversy and confusion. And I will say probably before everybody will be on board with the same answer, we'll probably have to wait until Christ returns and spells it out for us before we all be exactly in agreement as to exactly how these things transpired. But until then, we can only try to put the pieces of the puzzle together as best we can, which is what I'm trying to do with this series of sermons. Again, the first question I'm showing those events I answered last time, which is when were the old Testament Passover lambs killed? And of course, Exodus 12.6 says, or New King James says, at twilight, which is a translation of the Hebrew phrase, which literally means between the two evenings. The controversy is what was that period of time? How would they have understood that 3500 years ago? The most likely meaning of that, which in my opinion can best be supported by Scripture and by definition, as Scripture is used, is that between the two evenings, or between sunset and the time of total darkness. And that was at the very beginning of the 14th day of the first month, at the beginning of that Passover day, because the day begins at sunset, so it would be time from sunset to total darkness.

It's very interesting because it depends on your perspective. If you have that as your premise, then the events that follow that will fall into a certain pattern. And if you have the other premise that the Passover was sacrificed in the afternoon of the 14th, and that then they ate it on the beginning of the 15th, and so on, then all these other events follow a different pattern. And in my view, the only pattern that really fits Scripture really best is that between the two evenings had to occur between sunset and darkness on the 14th, beginning of the 14th. The Passover lands were killed just after sunset at the very beginning of that 14th day of the first month. Now, the next six questions in will address the events which then took place, the remainder of that Passover day, from that perspective of the Passover being sacrificed at that time, and then during the following daylight portion of that 24-hour Passover day. So today I will address all the events which occurred on the Passover day, which led and led up to Israel's Exorcist, which occurred then beginning on the night of the 15th, which we saw as the night to be much observed and nice to be much remembered. So the second question, then, I already addressed the question of when the Passover lands were killed. The next question, then, is, and this is an important question to address, especially when we get on into the next part of the series, but a very basic question, but very important, is where were the Passover lands killed? That actually is significant when we understand the whole picture. Where were the Passover lands killed? Let's let the Scripture answer that for us as we go through to Exodus 12. It makes it very clear where the Passover lands were killed on that very first Passover day that led up to Israel being delivered out of Egypt. Exodus 12, verse 3, Verse 4 then adds that the household is too small for the lamb. Let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons, according to each man's need, you shall make your count for the lamb. So if it was a very small household, of course, the lamb had to be a year old, no more than a year old. The lamb had been born that spring, maybe before the Passover. In fact, they were born in the spring, but if it was born before the Passover, you could maybe have a very young lamb that was only maybe three or four or five weeks old, only weighing maybe 20 pounds, because the lamb, when it was born, from research I did, is about seven or eight pounds, but they grow quite quickly. So it could be a lamb just maybe 20 pounds or more, and if you're a small household, that would be in plenty. If it was almost a year old, the lamb might weigh anywhere, maybe 80 or 90 pounds possibly, but it's still a small animal compared to like a beef that we would eat today. But again, it says you pick a lamb according to the number of people in your household. They had rather large families, so if it was a small family, then they could get together with the family next to them, next door.

But the point is, my question was, where were the Passover lambs killed? So the point is, they were killed at their household's or at their neighbor's household. That's why they were killed. That's important as we get down the road and try to address all the questions surrounding the Passover that have come up over the last few years. Verse 6, you should keep it until the 14th day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel should kill it at twilight. That's the phrase between the two evenings. Verse 7, and they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. So they would both kill and eat their lambs at their household's or at the neighbor's household if they combined together. And then, of course, if they had combined together, then they would have placed the blood on the doorposts of the household in which they were eating the lamb. Again, verse 7, put some of the blood on the doorposts and the lintel of the houses where they're going to be eating it. Verse 8, then they shall eat the flesh on that night. Eat the flesh on that very night. I think these three verses, verses 6 through 8 here, tend to make an important point that I'd like to just distinguish. And that is that the Passover lamb was to be killed on the 14th, and then it says, eaten on that same night.

Those scriptures then indicate that the Old Testament Passover lamb consisted of both of the killing of the lamb and the eating of the lamb. That Passover service consisted of killing the lamb and the eating of the lamb. And I think that's important because it tends to indicate that both of those events had to occur on the Passover day, on that 20-part period that's the Passover day, in order to be a part of the Passover service.

Which would indicate you wouldn't kill the Passover on the 14th and then eat it on the 15th and have both of these events part of the Passover service. They both have to occur on the same day. That's what scripture would tend to indicate from what we read here. That the Passover lambs had to be killed and eaten both on the Passover. Both those events had to take place on the Passover day to be a part of the Passover service. But back to my original question, where were the Passover lambs killed? They were killed at the households where they lived or at their neighbor's household.

This was a family household Passover service, if you will, or a domestic Passover service, you might call it. Now, the next question, third question, in this series of seven questions. Where were the children of Israel during that entire night? That's been a very controversial question. Where were they? Did they remain in their houses that entire night? Or did they leave shortly after midnight when the death angel passed over? Well, what do scriptures indicate? Let's read the scriptures that touch on that and see what they tend to indicate.

Exodus 12, beginning in verse 8. They should eat the flesh on that night, roasted in fire, with unleavened bread, and so on. Verse 9. Do not eat it raw, nor boil it all with water, but roasted in fire. It's had with its legs and entrails. And then verse 10 says, You shall let none of it remain until morning, and will remain of it until morning you shall burn with fire. So all that is indicate that by the next morning, that what was left, they would make sure it was all burned up and they left.

That would tend to indicate that they would stay there that night. Let's read on. Let's drop down to verse 21 of Exodus 12. Then Moses called for the elders of Israel and said to them, Pick out and take lambs for yourselves, according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. Verse 22. And you should take a bunch of hyssop. Hyssop was a kind of help from spreading diseases. You should take a bunch of hyssop in it and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel in the two door pulse with the blood that is in the basin.

And then, notice what it says in the latter part of verse 22. This is God's command regarding that night. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. So here they are directly commanded by God that none of you should go out of the door of his house until morning. Why? Verse 23. For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians on that night, and when he sees the blood on the lintel of the two door pulse, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you.

Now what event does the Passover specifically commemorate them? In verses 24 through 27. Verse 24. And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. It will come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you, just as he promised, that you should keep this service, this Passover service. And then you will say, this is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord who passed over the houses of the children of Israel and Egypt when he struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.

So the Passover specifically commemorates God passing over the houses of the Israelites and sparing their households from the slain of the firstborn, which occurred in all the houses of the Egyptians.

Now let me ask this question then. Did the children of Israel do as God commanded in verse 22, and not go to their houses until the next morning? Did they do that? Well, let's read what it says in verse 28. Then the children of Israel went away and did so, just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

So when you combine Exodus 12, verses 10, 22, and 28, it gives a very clear picture. It clearly indicates the Israelites remained in their houses that entire night and didn't go out until the next morning.

Now I'll just mention this, because last time I said something that was corrected later on, I got an email. And I know that the Church of God people who believe that the Passover occurred on the 15th, that it was sacrificed on the afternoon of the 14th and eaten on the 15th and so on, that all these events took place on the 15th. Most of those people believe that Israel then went out of Egypt that same night, on the night of the 15th. However, I think I said last time that that was a position of Orthodox Jews as well. I was told that it's not necessarily the position of some rabbis and Orthodox Jews, who believe these events occurred on the 15th, rather than we do, as we do, saying that they believe on the 14th. They believe they occurred on the 15th, but the Orthodox Jews, I was told, that they actually believe that the Israelites did remain in their houses that night, because these scriptures I just read were seen to be very clear. And they believe that they begin leaving Egypt on the daylight portion of what was considered to be the 15th. Of course, if you believe that, you have a problem with Deuteronomy 16.1, which says they went out by night. So that doesn't fit. So you have to try to figure out a way to try to make that fit. But anyway, they would have had to go out of their... I want to mention one other thing as far as they could not leave their houses that night. The indication here was that they did remain in their houses all that night. I just want to... One other thing I want to clear up is the fact that they would not have had to go out of their houses to roast the lamb. I have a Nelson's New Illustrated Bible, Manner's and Customs, which says the houses of the Israelites, which are fairly small. They're about... He said they're about 15 by 20... excuse me, about 15 by 50 feet. Or they're about 750 square feet. But he said from what they discovered, those houses had a couple of back rooms that they used, like their kitchen area. One room was covered where they ate. The other room in the back was open to the air. So they could roast in that particular room within the house and it was open to the sky. So that was what they used for roasting. So the point is that they would not have had to go out of their houses to roast the Passover lamb. And they could have kept God's instructions remaining their houses and still have roasted the Passover lamb without leaving their houses.

Let's go down to verse 11.

And it says, it shall be... See, I get X is 12 or... X is 12 verse 11 and X is 13. X is 12 verse 11. And thus you shall eat it, it says, with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So shall you eat it in haste, it is the Lord's Passover. And as I pointed out last time, one meaning of that can be that they would eat it with a lot of anxiety, a lot of fear and trepidation, because this was not just going to be a normal meal. They realized something was going to happen that night and that they would have to be ready that night to leave at some point. Doesn't necessarily mean they had to leave right after midnight. Some would take it that way. But it means they just had a lot of anxiety.

Now, a small lamb probably does not take a long time to roast. That was the way they did things. Probably a lot more efficiently than we could do that today. They could easily kill and bleed a young lamb within 45 minutes to an hour during that twilight period. Then you would roast an entire lamb, it says, and a young, small lamb wouldn't take very long at all to roast. Even a larger lamb of 70-80 pounds wouldn't take that long, maybe a couple hours at the most. So they could probably eat fairly decent time that evening. I would imagine that after that they would probably want to have the kids get some sleep, maybe get some sleep themselves. But obviously there was a lot of anxiety, and they realized that this was no normal night. That they were going to have to be ready to leave whenever that time came. They were going to have to be packed, have everything ready. They weren't going to have time to do that the next day, so they would have to get ready that night to be ready to leave with whatever provisions they could take with them that was necessary. So they would eat it in haste in the sense of a lot of anxiety, in the sense of urgency, with some pure intrepidation because of the events that were going to take place. This wasn't just going to be a leisurely meal like they would normally eat. And of course that's because of what was going to take place later that night. As we read in Exodus 12, verses 29 to 31, verse 29, It came to pass at midnight that the Lord 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 the livestock. So Pharaoh rose in the night, he and all his servants, and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead, in the house of the Egyptians. Verse 31, Then he called from Moses and errant by night, and said, Rise, go off from among my people, both you and the children of Israel, and go through the Lord as you have said. Now I want to clarify one thing here. Apparently, however, Pharaoh actually got word to them by a courier, and I don't... Indications that most neighbors didn't actually make a trip to go to Pharaoh, that he got word to them to leave rather than telling them in person. Because the reason I say that is because after the ninth plague, and I'll give you the scripture, after the ninth plague, Moses is recorded as telling Pharaoh. That was the last time Moses saw Pharaoh was after the ninth plague, before the tenth plague. And right after the ninth plague, Moses recorded as telling Pharaoh, I will never see your face again. That's recorded in Exodus 10, verse 29. So indicate that the word got to Moses to leave. Pharaoh said, now you can leave if they got to him by a courier, one of his servants. Now let's go to a fourth question.

Again, this might seem redundant, but it's important. I want to go into it in more detail here because of a question that comes up. When did the children of Israel leave their houses? Now, I've already shown that, but some claim that they left their houses shortly after midnight. Did they leave Jerusalem after midnight, or did they wait until daybreak the next morning? Now, we've already read that none of you should go out of the door of his house until morning. I think that's Exodus 12, verse 22. But there's been a great deal of controversy, or not a great deal, but there's been some controversy over the meaning of the Hebrew word translated morning there in Exodus 12, verse 22. And some would say, and reason, that well, when you get after midnight, you know, you could say that could be considered to be morning. Like, maybe if you wake up at 2 o'clock, 2 a.m., you might say, boy, I really woke up early this morning. I woke up at 2 o'clock. But is that really what the Bible would call morning? Would you call right after midnight, any time after midnight? Because that could be considered to be morning by definition of the word that's used in Hebrew for morning. So the question then becomes, when was morning? Could it be after midnight, or did it have to be when daybreak came and begin to get light?

Now, the Hebrew word for morning is a Hebrew word, and I'll know if I pronounced it correctly, Boper, B-O-Q-E-R. And the Hebrew word for night is lel-a. My strong spell is L-A-Y-A-H. It can all be spelled L-A-I-A-H. L-A-I-L-A-H, or L-A-Y-L-A-H, lela. And first, I'm going to look at how lel-a, the Hebrew word for night, is first used in Scripture. The other word is also used here. Let's go back to Genesis 1. Let's see if we can define these terms by the way they're used in Scripture to clear it up, to find out if morning could be just after midnight or would be more when the sun was coming up. Genesis 1, verse 5, this is the first use of these terms in the Bible. Genesis 1, verse 5, God called the light day and the darkness he called night. The Hebrew word for night there is lela, L-A-Y-L-A-H, or L-A-I-L-A-H, however you want to spell it. The darkness he called lela. So by its use, lela can be defined as that period of darkness of the 24-hour day. It's a period of darkness. Also, just to mention here, the evening and the morning it says were the first day, and the Hebrew word for morning there is boker, B-O-Q-E-R. God called the morning a boker. So it's indicated here by its usage that lela is a 12-hour dark period of time of the day, and the boker is the first beginning of that 12-hour daylight portion of the day. Let's go back to Exodus 12. Exodus 12, verse 29 again, because this word lela for night is used here again, and it tells us something about this particular, how it's used here in this very instant, when death angel passed over at midnight. Exodus 12, verse 29, it came to pass at midnight that the Lord 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 the livestock. Verse 30, so Pharaoh rose in the night. This is after midnight, and it says he rose then, after the firstborn were killed at midnight, he says he rose in the night. And night here is lela. Pharaoh rose in the lela, in Hebrew. In other words, as we just read in Genesis 1.5, that's darkness. He rose in the darkness of the night. That's what it's saying.

Verse 31, then he called for Moses and Aaron by night. Again, the word is lela. By lela, or by darkness when it's still dark. Sometimes after midnight, the point is, after midnight, and it's still being called lela, still being called night or darkness. It is not called boker or morning. And if morning could be any time after midnight, you think here it would be called boker rather than lela. But it's not. It's called lela, which by the usage of Genesis 1.5 is a period when it was still dark, darkness of the night. Vines expository dictionary of biblical words also defines lela as the period of time during which it is dark.

So after midnight, Pharaoh rose in the night or in lela while it was still dark. How long does that period that the Hebrew calls lela or darkness, how long does that last according to the biblical usage of that word? How long does it last? Does it last till daybreak? Or can it morning be some time before then? Let's go to Exodus 13, verse 21, where we find this word used again, this word lela for night. It gives us an indication of how long that period lasts. Verse 21, Exodus 13, So in this usage, night in both cases is lela here in verse 21. Now how long would they need that pillar of fire? Well, they would need it until daylight, until the time when the sun was beginning to come up. And then they wouldn't need it. As long as it was dark, they would need that pillar of fire to guide them. So as it is used here, lela, night or darkness, would refer to the entire period of darkness between sunset and sunrise, as it's used here. That's a whole period of time. Let's also note in Exodus 10.13, where both lela and voker are used. Exodus 10, verse 13.

Exodus 10, verse 13, So Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, And the Lord brought an east wind on the land all that day and all that night, Night there is lela, And when it was morning, when it was boker, The east wind brought the locusts.

So this verse is significant in defining both terms, because it shows a complete period of darkness of night, Followed by a complete period of light of day, And records that the wind blew all night, all lela, until morning, until boker. And by morning, says then, came the locusts, Thus showing that morning occurs after the darkness of the night had ended. But does the Bible elsewhere clearly define the word boker or morning? And the answer is yes, it does. There's one place where it clearly defines it. It's in the book of Judges. Let's go there to the book of Judges, to Judges, chapter 19. And now when you read this incident, we kind of stand back and say, Wow, how could something like this happen? How could this be allowed? It's a bizarre incident, but this is when everyone was doing what was right in his own eyes, And there was no king in Israel, and so on. Judges 19, verse 1, we'll start there. It came to pass in those days when there was no king in Israel, And when everyone was doing what was right in his own eyes, That there was a certain Levite staying the remote mountains of Ephraim. He took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. And then you read the count here. As they were traveling together, they came to a little town called Gibeah, And the sun had set, so they set down the town square, And hoping that someone would take him in. They wanted to have someone take him in for the night. And there an elderly man saw them, sitting there at the town square, And it was getting dark, one safe one to be out there, So he invited them into his home. We'll pick up the story from there in verse 22. Judges 19, verse 22. And as they were enjoying themselves, Suddenly certain men of the city, perverted men, Surrounded the house and beat on the door. And they spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring out the man who came to your house, so we may know him carnally. Very wicked man, wicked city. No wonder it wasn't safe to stay out in the town square.

But the man, the master of the house, Went out to them and said to them, Well, no, my brethren, I beg you, don't act so wickedly. Seeing this man has come into my house, Do not commit this outrageous act.

So then he says, this is what's hard to understand, verse 24. We can't even imagine this. But he says, Look, here is my virgin daughter, And the man's concubine. Let me bring them out now, humble them, And do with them as you please, But to this man, do not such a vile thing. We might consider the alternative quite vile as well. But anyway, that's the way the society was. Shows how far they'd gotten away from God.

Verse 25, But the man, well, verse 25, But the man would not heed him. So the man took his concubine, And brought her out to them. And they knew her, and abused her all night. The word translated tonight there is Layla. They abused her all Layla. How long did Layla or night last? And they abused her all night until morning. And the word there is Boker. When does Boker or morning in this usage begin?

And they knew her and abused her all night until morning, And when the day began to break, They let her go. So morning or Boker began, it says here, When the day began to break. It didn't begin sometime after midnight when it was still dark. It began when the day began to break. As the sun was beginning to come up. Not sometime after midnight. Now, let's look at one final scripture before moving on. Because those who believe that Boker can begin anytime after midnight, Or morning can begin anytime after midnight, Often go to this scripture in the book of Ruth for scriptural support. So let's turn there just to look at that to see if that has to be the case. Let's go to the book of Ruth, chapter 3.

Ruth, chapter 3, beginning in verse 12. Here's Boaz talking to Ruth. Of course, Ruth had been married, and her husband died, and they had no children. And so this is now a near relative of her husband who had died, Who then married her and gave her children according to that law that they had back then. Ruth 3, verse 12, now it is true that I am a close relative, Boaz tells Ruth. However, there is a relative who is closer than I am. So stay this night, and in the morning it shall be that If he will perform the duty of a close relative and marry you to raise children by you, Good! Let him do it. But if he does not want to perform the duty for you, Then I will perform the duty for you as the Lord lives. So lie down here with me until morning. Verse 14, so she laid his feet until morning, And she arose before one could recognize another. Now in all three cases here, the Hebrew word translated morning is bokeh, B-O-Q-E-R.

So those who believe that morning can occur anytime after midnight, Or well before daylight occurs, use this scripture as support. As it says here, that morning was a time before one could recognize another. That's what it says. Can this be reconciled with Judges 19-25, Which tells us that the bokeh or morning begins when the day begins to break, At the very first glimpse of light which can occur maybe 45 minutes to an hour before sunrise. Well, let's just ask a simple question. Here in room 314, if Ruth would derive from Boaz's rushing floor, say 45 minutes to an hour before sunrise, The birds are beginning to cheat. They know the sun's coming up out there. Maybe just get a very glimpse of the horizon starting to get a little bit light, Just beginning to break into lightness, but still an hour before sunrise. How dark is it going to be? It's going to be pretty dark. Would anybody standing any distance away be able to recognize who Ruth was? And the answer is no, they wouldn't. They wouldn't be able to recognize anybody that early in the morning. Because it's beginning to get light. It's just starting towards daybreak, but it's still way too dark to recognize them unless you're very close. And so, this scripture alone cannot be used to definitely say that morning could occur any time after midnight. Because morning could still be that time when it's just about to be daybreak, And it'd still be too dark at that point in time for one to recognize anyone else unless you were very, very close to them.

So, rule 314, then, cannot be used to clearly substantiate the bulk or a morning can be again any time after midnight or long before daybreak. Now, let me ask another question. When did the Israelites leave their houses on that Passover day? Well, so they did not go out of the door of their houses until morning, until the day was beginning to break and was beginning to get light. That's what it indicates. That's what scripture by the whole use of that word, they stayed in there all that night, and they didn't leave until the next morning was beginning to get light.

Now, let me ask another question. Question number 5, which comes up, which has been controversial. When did the Israelites boil the Egyptians in? See, the Passover Lamb was killed right after sunset at the beginning of the 14th, as we believe. If the Israelites then remained in their houses for the rest of that night and didn't go out until daybreak, that next morning of the Passover day, then when did the Israelites boil the Egyptians? Now, those who believe the Passover Lamb was slain on the afternoon of the 14th, and then eaten after sunset on the 15th, believed the Israelites had already spoiled the Egyptians prior to those events, prior to that tenth plague being poured out when all the firstborn were killed. And they based out on the King James and New King James translation of Exodus 12, verses 35 and 36. Let's turn there. Exodus 12, verses 35 and 36.

Verse 35. Now, the children of Israel had done, according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians, articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. Verse 36. And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus, they plundered the Egyptians. So this translation here in the New King James and also the King James leads us to believe the Israelites had already spoiled the Egyptians before they killed the Passover Lamb, and before the tenth plague had been poured out on the Egyptians. However, is that really the case? Well, it depends on how it's translated. And I'm just bringing them in. I'm going to get in the scripture to prove it, but there are other translations that put it more in a present tense instead of a past tense, and I'll just read three of them. The American Standard Version translates these two verses this way. The children of Israel did according to the word of Moses, and they asked of the Egyptians jewels of silver and jewels of gold and raiment. And Yehova gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Now, the New Century Version says the Israelites did what Moses told them to do, and that's the Egyptians for silver and gold and for clothing. The Lord caused the Egyptians to think well of them, and the Egyptians gave the people everything they asked for. And you stop and think, what would have caused the Egyptians to give the people everything they asked for? Maybe the death of their firstborns? Yeah, I'd say that would be a pretty good thing that would probably cause them to do that. Another translation, the New Jerusalem Bible translates it this way. The sons of Israel did as Moses had them, and now see Egyptians for silver, ornaments, and gold, and for clothing. Yahweh gave the people such prestige in the eyes of the Egyptians that they gave them what they asked. Now, I'm simply pointing this out to say there are other translations that would put it more in a present tense than in a past tense. Now, you can't use that to prove the point, because you can't go to 20 translations. I'm going to pick the two or three translations that fit what I think happened, and I'm going to use those and reject the rest. You can't do that. You have to have more support or more... you have to have scriptural support, rather than just reasoning and translation that best fits what you like to make. So you can't substantiate that way. But what do other Scriptures indicate? What did Moses tell them, and when did God grant favor to the Israelites in the eyes of the Egyptians? Did God grant them favor before or after the tenth plague had been poured out? Well, we don't have to guess. There is a Scripture that tells us. Let's go back to Exodus chapter 3.

Exodus chapter 3, and I'll begin in verse 19.

Exodus 3 verse 19, where God tells Moses here, He says, I'm sure the king of Egypt is not going to let you go. No, no matter what I do. Not even by a mighty hand. Not initially, anyway.

Verse 20, so I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders, which I will do in its midst. And after that, after I have struck Egypt with all my wonders, God says, then He will let you go. And of course, we know by reading the rest of the account, He did not let them go until after the death of their firstborn, until after the tenth plague had been carried out. But I guess the question here would be, how many wonders or plagues did all include? In all, how many wonders or plagues did God strike Egypt with? Well, in all, there were ten plagues, or ten wonders.

Then God told Moses that after that, after all ten plagues had been poured out against Egypt, that after that, He said, then He will let you go. And of course, we know He didn't let them go until after the tenth plague had been poured out. Now, what did God tell Moses would come next? After all my wonders, all God's wonders, all ten plagues had been poured out.

Verse 20, I will switch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders, which I will do in its midst, and after that, He will let you go. Verse 21, and I will give this people, then, favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and it shall be when you go.

That is what the indication would be, when you go out of Egypt, after all my wonders have been poured out, He's going to finally let you go. And when you go, you will not go empty-handed. But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely of her who dwells near her house, articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing, and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters, so you shall plunder the Egyptians. So basically it says here, when you go, you shall plunder the Egyptians. That's what it seems to indicate in context here. When you go where, at what time? Well, when you go out of your homes, after the tenth plague, after God struck Egypt with all of His wonders, with all ten plagues. That's the clear implication here in Exodus 3, is that Israel did not receive favor from the Egyptians until after all ten plagues have been poured out. And you can understand that after that tenth plague, when all the firstborn were killed, then, you know, the Egyptians would say, look, we'll do anything you want. We'll give you whatever you want. We want you out of here fast, because they thought they were all going to die. And they wanted to get them out fast. So if you take whatever you want, we'll give you silver, give you gold, anything you want, you can have as long as you leave. And it would not really be until after the tenth plague that they would be likely to do that. At that point they would want them to leave at any cost. And ready to give them whatever they asked for. But prior to the tenth plague, it's not likely that they would have done that. So when did they most likely spoil the Egyptians? Well, most likely during the daylight portion of that Passover day, after they left their houses, that morning, as they were heading for Ramses, as we'll see in a minute. Now, this next question, to me, is a smoking gun. It seals it. That the church position is correct. Because it just can't work any other way. And that question is this. It's a simple question, and the only way you can think about asking, but where did the Israelites live at the time they left their houses? Where did they live?

You can't understand a little geography here. When you do, it gives you a pretty clear picture. Let's go back to Exodus 8. It tells us where they live. Let's go back to Exodus chapter 4, to Exodus chapter 8. Exodus chapter 8, and we'll begin in verse 20 of Exodus chapter 8.

And the Lord said to Moses, this is now the first three plagues have been poured out, and this is the time they were going to pour out, this is about the time the fourth plague was about to be poured out. And God was going to now make a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites. The Israelites suffered the first three plagues along with the Egyptians, but now there's going to be a distinction made as his fourth plague was to be poured out. Exodus 8 verse 20, And the Lord said to Moses, Rise early in the morning, stand before Pharaoh, as he comes out to the water, and then say to him, Thus says the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me. Or else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you, and your servants, and on your people, into your houses. And the houses of the Egyptians should be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand. Verse 22, And in that day I will set the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, where the houses of Israelites were, I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land. And verse 23, I will make a difference in between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall be. But the point is, their homes, their houses, were in the land of Goshen. That's an extremely important point. Now that was the portion of land which a former Pharaoh had given to Joseph about 200 years previous to this, as recorded in Genesis 47, verses 4-6. That was given to Joseph for Israel, land of Goshen. Now the land of Goshen, do some research, the land of Goshen was an area about 300 square miles. It was about 20 miles long and about 15 miles wide.

And the city of Ramses, built by the slave labor of the children of Israel, was located at the very far lower corner, well, not corner, but very far lower center of the land of Goshen. Extreme edge of the land of Goshen.

Now this is important geographical information because Israel began actually leaving Egypt from the city of Ramses. When they left Egypt, they didn't leave from their houses to leave Egypt, they left from the city of Ramses, as we'll see. This also tells us that in Exodus 12, verse 37, is part of another place as well, which we'll see in a moment.

They began a journey out of Egypt from Ramses, not from their houses. But after leaving their houses in the land of Goshen, they then had to travel to Ramses before actually beginning to leave Egypt. How long or possibly would that have taken? Land of Goshen is 300 square miles, 15 miles by 20 miles. And the reference of nearly 2 million Israelites is the 600,000 men plus women and children, Exodus 12, verse 37, and they traveled on foot. Also, Exodus 12, verse 37. So they had to walk from their houses with their belongings, everything they could take with them, and they had to walk on foot to Ramses to assemble in Ramses to get ready to leave Egypt.

So some would have had to travel at least 15 miles or further to get from their houses to where Ramses was. How long would it take to travel 15 or more miles on foot with all your belongings?

Well, if 3 miles an hour, which would be a fairly good pace, it would have taken some at least 5 hours or more to get to Ramses. Now, more likely, it probably took about 6 to 8 hours for all of them to leave their houses and to walk on foot to Ramses to assemble there to leave for Egypt. Probably takes somewhere between 6 and 8 hours in all likelihood.

Deuteronomy 16.1 says they began leaving Egypt by night.

And the Hebrew word translated night, again, is lelah, which you've already seen, by its usage, means during the time of darkness when it was still dark, during that nighttime portion, time of darkness. Now, due to the distance they would have had to travel from their houses to get to the city of Ramses before beginning to leave Egypt, there's no way they could have done that all on that same night after the death angel passed over. Between midnight and the next morning, about a 6-hour period of time, there's no way they could have all gone at night, leaving after midnight, ventured from their houses to the city of Ramses, which had taken 6 to 8 hours, and then assembled in Ramses before leaving Egypt that same night. It says they left by night. You can't do it. It's impossible. It's geographically impossible when you understand the geographic circumstances.

It just could have happened that way as some performance of a 15-passover would believe. They would have had to spend the major portion of the daylight time of that Passover day on the 14th, according to the way we believe it, they would have spent the major portion of that Passover day just venturing from their homes, leaving at daybreak, to get to the city of Ramses. That would have taken most of that day. Now, one final question, which you already answered, but I want to substantiate it by Scripture. When and where did the Exodus begin? Because the Bible makes it very, very plain.

As I said, I already answered that, but let's review it again and verify it from Scripture.

First, before we do that, what manner did God command Aaron and Moses to bring Israel out of Egypt? And what manner were they to leave? Let's go back just for a moment to one Scripture, Exodus 6, verse 26. Exodus 6, verse 26 says, These are the same Aaron and Moses, to whom the Lord said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, and then it says, According to their armies. Is that how they're brought out? Were they brought out according to their armies? Let's go to Numbers, chapter 33, which is very clear. Numbers, chapter 33, and I'll begin in verse 1. This is the answer to the question I just asked, because this answers that question for us from the Bible. These are the journeys of the children of Israel who went out of the land of Egypt by their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron. Now, the Hebrew word translated armies is from a prime root Hebrew word, which implies being assembled together or mustered together in an organized manner, like you'd organize an army. And in any case, they didn't just haphazardly from all over the place, just started leaving from their houses, leaving Egypt. They had to assemble in rambies, and they had to be mustered there, and they had to be organized there before leaving, to some degree. That's what this indicates. Even as an army of soldiers would be organized. And again, as I said, Exodus 1237 indicates there were 600,000 men on foot. It would take some time to assemble and to even roughly organize that large group. Couldn't be done in just an hour. Presumably, that would have been done toward the end of that daylight portion of the Passover day, as they began assembling there in rambies, as they came in. There were numbers of who they would come in and be organized as they came in. Different, maybe this tribe here and this tribe here and so on. This is what might have been organized, according to their tribes, I'm not sure. It indicates they were organized in some manner before they left Egypt. They just all started screaming out in a haphazard manner.

And again, it's been very difficult to do all that in the middle of the night anyway. There was not enough time, but they've been very difficult. Now, where did the Exodus begin? From where does the Bible clearly tell us they began leaving Egypt? Numbers 33, verse 2. Now, Moses wrote down the starting points of their journeys. So God inspired their starting points to be written down specifically.

Moses wrote down the starting points of their journeys at the command of the Eternal. And these are their journeys according to their starting points. Verse 3. They departed. They began leaving Egypt. They departed from Ramses. Not from their individual houses. They departed from Ramses.

Now, they departed from their houses at daybreak that next morning, that Passover morning, to journey to Ramses, to assemble there in an organized fashion before beginning to leave Egypt. When did they depart from Ramses to begin leaving Egypt? Verse 3. They departed from Ramses in the first month on the fifteenth day of the month, on the day after the Passover. I mean, to me, that's pretty clear.

On the day after the Passover, the children of Israel went out with boldness in the sight of all the Egyptians. What were the Egyptians preoccupied with at that time? Verse 4, number 33. For the Egyptians were bearing all their firstborn whom the Lord had killed among them. So, as he is Israelized, I mean, the picture this gives me is, as the Israelites were assembling together in Ramses toward the very late afternoon of that Passover day, in around Ramses, again, which was an Egyptian city, they saw Egyptians bearing their dead. And the Egyptians, in around Ramses, saw all the Israelites coming together in Ramses. They were all coming together to assemble there. Thus, Israel did go out in boldness in the sight of all the Egyptians. And even if, of course, it says they will see, they began leaving at night, but even then, as they began leaving at night, they could see them all assembling there. That late afternoon, the Passover day. And even if it was dark by the time they left, it would indicate it was dark when they began leaving on that night, the 15th. You have two million people, 600,000 men plus women and children, two million people are leaving. They're going to know they're leaving. You can't have too many people sneak out without people knowing it. The Egyptians are going to know they're leaving. So Israel did go out in boldness in the sight of all the Egyptians. And the Israelites were also saying that the Egyptians were bearing their dead.

So when did the Israelites actually then begin leaving Egypt? What was it? Dark when they began leaving? Did they leave at night, after sunset? And was it then, the day after the Passover? Was it by then the day beginning of the first day of Unleavened Bread? Again, verse 3, they departed from Ramses in the first month, on the 15th day of the first month, on the day after the Passover, the children of Israel went out with boldness in the sight of all the Egyptians. So the day after the Passover, so it was the first day of Unleavened Bread when they began leaving Egypt. That's when they began departing.

Now was it at the beginning of the first day of Unleavened Bread? That is, did they leave after sunset? Did they begin leaving Egypt at night? Well, again, I've referred this term to it, Deuteronomy 16, verse 1.

So let Scripture answer that for us. Deuteronomy 16, 1, observe the month of Abib and keep the Passover to the Lord your God. For in the month of Abib, the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. By night. Again, the Hebrew word translated night is leila, which by its usage elsewhere was a time of darkness. It was that darkness period of the twelve-hour period of darkness.

What then does the first day of Unleavened Bread commemorate? Just to reinforce all this. Again, let's go back to Exodus 12, verse 17.

Exodus 12, verse 17 says, you shall observe the feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day, on this day of Unleavened Bread, I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance. So the first day of Unleavened Bread commemorates is the departure from Egypt, as that is when it occurred.

Beginning at the first part of that day, the nighttime portion of the first day of Unleavened Bread. Let's go down to verses 41 and 42 of Exodus 12. Verse 41, it came to pass at the end of the 430 years, on that very same day, it came to pass that all the armies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. It is a night of solemn observance to the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is that night of the Lord, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generations. Again, the Hebrew word for night is Laila. And we do observe and remember and commemorate that night as the night to be observed, the night to be much remembered, beginning to bring them out of Egypt on that night, as the fifth day of the first month was beginning. So the first day of Unleavened Bread commemorates Israel's departure out of Egypt, because that's when it occurred. The Passover commemorates the sacrifice of the Passover lamb, the eating of the Passover lamb, God passing over the houses of the Israelites and sparing their houses, who let adore the slain Passover lamb on their dorquals. It commemorates all those events, because all those events occurred on the Passover day.

So on conclusion, that then covers all the events surrounding Israel's first Passover. Up to the night they begin to leave Egypt on the day after the Passover's assays. But that being the case, then we come to another question. That being the case, how then did the Jews come to observe the Passover on the night of the fifteenth, as they still do today? How did that happen? See, that's a very basic question. What I've just pointed to is what the Bible indicates. That's the case in how did the Jews come to observe the Passover on the night of the fifteenth, of the night of the first day of Unleavened Bread. Well, I'll begin to cover that next time in Part 3 in two weeks, where I'll address this question, how did the Jews come to observe a temple Passover on the afternoon of the fourteenth? That's the first thing we'll have to look at to understand how this transformation took place to where they observed it on the fifteenth instead of the fourteenth. So I'll end here for now, and I'll pick it up in two weeks from now. We'll cover that particular question.