Why We Observe the Passover at the Beginning of Nisan 14

Is the Passover to be kept at the beginning of the 14th or at the end of the 14th and end of the 15th? That being asked, I'd like to just underscore here, emphasize here at the beginning, that what we discuss in the Old Testament is history and chronology. And I believe that it is possible, at least it ought to be possible, for clear-minded, God-fearing Christians to come to different conclusions about somebody's matters of chronology, but still be able to stay together and do the same thing.

What we do today is based on the New Testament, and we'll get to that in a little bit. But we're going to spend some time back with the Old Testament.

And I think we need to consider, first of all, when the Old Testament refers to, and we use that word, Passover, what is the essence of that word? What is included in that word? So let's go to Exodus 12.

Exodus 12. Now, if you want more study material ever on this topic, the Church can fix you up. For instance, here is a study paper that is 46 pages long on the Passover of Exodus 12.

It came out, the Council approved that in November 1999.

And actually, a year and a half earlier, two and a half years earlier, the New Testament Passover study paper came out April 1997, and it's only 21 pages long.

And then there's this little two-page addendum to the Exodus or the Passover of the Old Testament.

And it focuses on the Hebrew word that is translated Twilight or Dusk, or the Old King James had a marginal note between the two evenings.

So if you want material, the Church has it. I just have yet to meet that person who really wants to delve into it that far. But I think that there's a certain level of comprehension we need to have. So in Exodus 12, the early months, he says, this is the beginning of the year. This is the beginning of months. And you take this lamb, set it aside. It's a male lamb or kid, and no blemish. But let's just pick it up in verse 6. Verse 6, now you shall keep it, this lamb, until the 14th day of the same month. So notice it says you keep it until the 14th.

Now, I think all of you realize the conclusion that the greater body of the Church has always had is that we keep the Passover at the beginning of the 14th, but also that the evidence leans us to conclude that the Old Testament Passover was also at the beginning of the 14th. Now, there are people who will disagree with that. And to that I say again, let's remember that's chronology, that's history. And what we do today is based upon what Jesus Christ did. Until the 14th, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. Now, this is New King James.

What is the word that the Old King James used? In the evening. Okay, and I think my old Cambridge White margin had a note there, and it's between the two evenings. Now, I think others will translate it dusk. I think that it, well, I've got a quote here a little later from James Mosset, who's one of the highly respected Hebrew scholars of a century ago. And I believe he put it between sun down and dark. Sun down and dark. There's only one twilight of a given day as God's calendar works. With human beings, we, for some reason, start a new day in the middle of the night. But his is from evening to evening. And when the sun goes down, you've got that twilight or dusk. So you kill it at twilight.

They shall take some of the blood. So they're going to be killing it, slaughtering it in such a way that the blood's going to pour forth. You capture some of the blood and put it on the two door posts and on the lentil of the houses where they eat it. And this was instrumental as far as the symbolism. The blood of the lamb was a foreshadow of the blood of the lamb, Jesus Christ, and that we are saved by his blood. They literally, this first Passover, this first one that we have any record of, they literally were spared by the fact that the blood of the lamb out on the door posts then got passed over. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night, roasted in fire. So you're going to then take the lamb that's been slaughtered, you're going to roast it with unleavened bread, and with bitter herbs, they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw, nor boil it all with water, but roasted in fire, its head with its legs and its entrails. You shall let none of it remain until morning, and whatever remains of it until morning, you shall burn with fire. And thus shall you eat it with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. I am the eternal God. So I think we can distill it down to, we could say, that the essence of the Passover, and actually the name for the day, comes from the act of God passing over the protected houses. The essence of what we just read is you're going to have this lamb. This lamb is very representative of something to come, very symbolic. Secondly, you are going to slaughter or kill that lamb, capture the blood, etc. You are thirdly going to roast it, and then you're going to have a meal. You're going to have that lamb, and you're going to have the bitter herbs, you're going to have unleavened bread with it, and have a meal. Then after that, at about midnight, as another scripture tells us, God's going to pass over the houses where there is that blood.

All of those go together to define what the Old Testament word Passover meant, or as it was used.

Now let's add to that Leviticus 23.

Leviticus 23, of course, this is a chapter where we have first the weekly Sabbath mentioned, and then all of the festivals throughout the year. Let's realize here that the Passover is called a feast or a festival. It is not an annual Sabbath. It is not a holy day, but it is a festival.

Those two are different. Like unleavened bread, you have five festival days, but you have day one and day seven are Sabbath's annual Sabbath. So in Leviticus 23 verse 2, speak to the children of Israel and say to them, the feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations. These are my feasts. And that word translated feast or feasts is the Hebrew mo'ed, those appointed times that are reckoned by a calendar. Weekly Sabbath mentioned verse 3. Verse 4, it then goes to the feasts that are to be proclaimed at their appointed times. Verse 5, on the 14th day of the first month at twilight, is the Lord's Passover. And then it goes directly into the fact that the 15th day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread, seven days, first day, holy convocation, goes on down seventh day, holy convocation. And I think that's as far as we need to read right there. But a feast implies a meal. And in the case of the Passover, the meal is defined as being this lamb with the other food items. And it would seem odd to call consistently the 14th of Nicin or Abib. It would seem odd to call the 14th the Passover, which includes eating a meal, but to do it at the end of the 14th. So your meal is actually on a totally separate day, the 15th. Again, there are people in the greater body of Christ who do conclude that, and that's fine. We're just talking chronology and history here thus far. Let's tie in now something said in Numbers 9. Numbers 9. Numbers 9, beginning verse 2, actually verse 1 mentions this is the second year. This is the year after. They're not in Egypt. They're Sinai. And it's the first month, but of the next year. Verse 2, let the children of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time here, as in the other two places. It says, on the 14th day of this month, at twilight.

Now, I have a marginal note in this New King James, and it says literally it means between the evenings. So between the evenings you slaughter this lamb or kid. You shall keep it, Passover, keep it at its appointed time. Notice, according to all its rites and ceremonies, you shall keep it. So Moses told the children of Israel that they should keep the Passover, and they kept the Passover on the 14th day of the first month at twilight in the wilderness of Sinai.

According to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did.

Now, it goes on then, you know, where a year later questions arose. Well, you know, somebody died.

You know, a couple of us had to take care of dead remains. We are ceremonially defiled. What do we do if it comes to month one of the new year, day 14, and we are outside the camp because we're defiled? That is answered. It goes on here, verse 9. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, speak to the children of Israel, saying, if any one of you or your posterity is unclean because of a corpse or is far away on a journey, he may still keep the Lord's Passover. And it goes on to the fact that in the second month on the 14th day, you can keep it. On the 14th day of the second month at twilight, they may keep it. They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They shall eat none of it till morning nor break one of its bones. According to all the ordinances of the Passover, they shall keep it. And it continues on, but I think that's as far as we need to read. It is interesting we read above. No, this is where we just read up above here, the Passover, according to all its rites and ceremonies. You shall keep it.

And it seems to clearly speak of the Passover with everything that goes along with it.

You slaughter the lamb, you roast the lamb, you have the meal with the herbs and unleavened bread.

Of course, that first Passover, God would pass over the protected houses. Anything left the next morning, burn it with fire. We skipped over the place and next is 12, but they were told, don't go out of your house till morning. Don't go out of your house till morning. Now, we look at this and all rites and ceremonies revolving around Passover are spoken of as being on the 14th. There's not one place in the Scriptures that says, you start this the 14th, but you're going to finish the bulk of it into the 15th. There's not one Scripture that says that.

Some conclude that. Let's go back here and let's consider the chronology of the Passover back in the days of Exodus 12. Did Moses and Israel celebrate the Passover at the beginning of the 14th or was it right? The end of the 14th and then the bulk of it was into the 15th.

You know, you study into it, you can hear some plausible arguments both ways.

I'm not really sure we have all of the pieces of the puzzle or enough of the pieces of the puzzle to absolutely nail down one chronology from the other. And as again, as I said today, it doesn't really alter what we do today in the age of the New Testament Church. Personally, I believe the Church has been right in saying that the 14th began and early in the 14th they killed the lambs and all the events followed. I think for those who say it was late on the 14th and into the 15th, you have too many things taking place that night for it all to have come together. In fact, it's hard to get my mind around how do you gather two or three million people together even when you have the next day and then you start going out by night the night after. That's, I mean, it's not like they had pagers and cell phones and television and live PAs and sirens to, you know, to blare and they all know, okay, it's time to move. So we've got some challenges and the secret things belong to the Lord and the rest of the story we're going to be given later on. But we read that statement, twilight or dust or between the two evenings. Some make an argument that between the two evenings can occur at the end of 14th. Let's look at some of the other translations.

Israel was told to kill the lamb between the evenings, which is about as close to a translation as you can get of that Hebrew word or words, ben ha'arba'im. Between the evenings. Most translations of late, the more modern ones, will use the word twilight or then some will use the word dusk to define that word. Now, when I looked at my dictionary at home, the word twilight is defined as the subdued light just after sunset, the period from sunset until dark. So if you look at a day that begins with sunset, well, you know, there's not a scripture that says the new day begins at sunset. You go back to the creation story, the evening and the morning were the first day. The evening and morning were the second day. And there's not a scripture that just clearly pinpoints it and nails it down. But sunset is close enough for me. 543 last night was good enough. And 543 tonight to end it is close enough. Because again, if the Bible doesn't just exactly, precisely nail it down, let's be careful. We don't paint ourselves in the corners.

The period between sunset and dark, then that means there can only be one twilight attached to each day. And it's at the very, very beginning of the day. And I'm stressing this because there are those who say, well, before sunset, the next day is the 14th is about to end, you can somehow call that twilight even while you can still see the sun, the sky. And I'm sorry, it just doesn't, it just can't qualify as between the two evenings. The Holy Scriptures by the Jewish Publication Society uses the word dusk, or the more recent version by the Jewish Publication Society, the Jewish Tanakh uses the word dusk. Again, the scholar James Moffat translated this as between sunset and dark. The Jerome biblical commentary offers this comment on Numbers 9 verse 3, where we just read, on the 14th of Nicene between the time that the sun went down and darkness fell, consistently over and over. That's the translation. That's the conclusion that has arrived at. I don't know of any credible authority that translates that Ben-Ha-Arbaim as being mid or late afternoon, as some say that it can mean. But every day began, and then every day ended at evening.

And we often have to look at the context to tell one from another. Now, even in the way that we reckon day is the day, it can be a bit confusing and vague. If last week I'd been here and told you, well, on March 1st at midnight, we're going to do thus and such. Well, here we are, it's March 1st. So when I said March 1st at midnight, did I mean last night or do I mean a few hours from now?

You know, a little bit of squiggle room there where you could see where you could have two different conclusions that are drawn. Now, the Unleavened Bread. Let's look at that briefly. Some have argued that since Israel ate Unleavened Bread with the Passover, that that means that it was late on the 14th and they were doing it into the 15th, which is the first day of Unleavened Bread. Is there anything that says they can't eat Unleavened Bread all year long? Any day of the year? I don't know of a scripture that would say that. But there are scriptures that do say that you do not offer a bloody sacrifice with leaven. And if they're slaughtering a lamb, capturing the blood, that is a bloody sacrifice. And so it is not to be kept with leaven. So it's the 14th, the beginning of the 14th, you have a lamb, you have bitter herbs, you have bread, but it's Unleavened Bread because you don't take that, have that as a part of, and it was an offering for sin. Now, the Passover is called a sacrifice. Let's go on a little further here. There have been those who have argued that Israel went out by night on the night of Nice and Fifteen immediately after eating the Passover. Well, that's where, as I said, I'll imply a while ago, there are just too many things that have to happen in there. To kill the lamb late on the 14th, roast it, and eat it the night that you and I keep the night to be much observed. And then Death Angel, well, that's the way Ten Commandments movie paints it, the Death Angel, the green fog goes through, but it says God passed over the houses at about midnight. So sometime after that, because Deuteronomy 16.1 says they went out by night. So did they get everybody rallied together and ready to roll? And within hours, just bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, and then they're marching out. Seems a stretch to me.

Let's look at Numbers 33. Numbers 33, and reading verse 3, looking back at the many journeys of Israel from years down the line, verse 3, they departed from Ramesses 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. The 15th of the first month, the day after the Passover, the children of Israel went out. If the Israelites had kept the Passover at the beginning of the 15th, if they'd killed it late on the 14th, and they were actually eating the Passover meal beginning of the 15th, then could it have worked for them to have gone out that next morning? Because God told them, don't go out of your house till morning. Could they have gone out that night? Well, I suspect if you and I were there, and God had said, don't go out of your house till morning, and you knew people were being killed, I don't think we'd put a toe out of that building, out of that house that had the blood on the doorposts. Now, let me go to here the big study paper on the Passover of Exodus 12. Here is a quick listing. Let me just rattle some off. Where consistently, when the Old Testament says the Passover and connects it with the date, it says the 14th of the first month, over and over. We have read Exodus 12 verse 6. Keep it until the 14th day of the same month, and then you kill it at twilight. Leviticus 23 verse 5, we read that one as well. On the 14th day of the first month at twilight. Numbers 9 verse 3, we just read that. 14th day of the month at twilight. And again, there's only one twilight, one between the two evenings of any given day.

Verse 5, Numbers 9, they kept the Passover on the 14th day. You know, if they had started it on the 14th, but they were doing the bulk of it on the 15th, then wouldn't be able to look back and say that they kept it on... they'd have to say they kept it on the 14th and the 15th, but it doesn't say that. Numbers 9 verse 11, on the 14th day of the second month at twilight. Numbers 28 verses 16 and 17 says on the 14th day of the first month is the Passover. Joshua 5 verse 10, they kept the Passover on the 14th day of the month. And of course then, the next day, they start circumnavigating Jericho and did that during the days of 11 bread. 2 Chronicles 30 verse 15, killed the Passover lambs on the 14th day. Ezra 6 verse 19, and kept the Passover on the 14th day of the first month.

And so over and over, repeatedly, we have this connection between the 14th of the first month, whether you call it a bib or a nyson, and that's the Passover. And there's not one verse that says the Passover starts on the 14th, but it continues into the 15th, not one place. Now, when we use the word Passover, that too can be a little open-ended. This other study paper on the New Testament Passover has a listing of some of the ways that the term Passover is used, whether it's Old or New Testament.

First of all, it can refer to the entire spring festival season, including Passover and Unleavened Bread. For instance, when Christ's parents would go up to Jerusalem, whenever you remember the time when He was left behind when He was 12. So they went up to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover, according to the custom of the feast, and when they had finished the days.

So by the terminology Passover meant the whole spring feast, the early spring feast. You and I do that today. We'll talk about, well, you know, it'll be another month, it'll be Passover season. We do that. It won't be long. We'll start getting feast planning guides, and where do you want to go to feast? Well, we're going to go to the feast this year at Panama City, or we're going to transfer out to wherever. Or we want to try that new site down in Bahamas. But we're talking about going off for seven days of 11 bread, plus a separate one-day festival called the Eighth Day, or we've called it the Last Great Day. And we're talking about, you know, what are you going to do for the feast? And we mean the whole feast trip that we take. Other times, we have the phrase, the feast of Unleavened Bread used, and it means the whole season. For instance, Luke 22.1, Luke 22.1, now the feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called Passover.

The word Passover is connected repeatedly with the 14th day of the first month.

Passover, second Passover, is connected with the 14th day of the second month.

Passover refers to the lamb or kid that was killed or sacrificed on the 14th. Passover is also used in reference to the meal of the roasted lamb or kid with the Unleavened Bread and bitter herbs. And of course, ultimately, we have the statement of Paul, Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. And so Passover may refer to the ultimate fulfillment, Jesus Christ.

So we've got a little room here in some of the ways the words are used in different ways, different times. Let me give you a couple of quotes from the Jewish historian Josephus.

Josephus was a first century Jew, and he wrote a number of works. His largest one is The Antiquities of the Jews. Antiquities of the Jews. I'll give you the reference if you're interested. It's book two, chapter 15, paragraph one. I didn't see anybody writing that down.

Oh, excuse me. It's book two, chapter 15, paragraph one. Thank you, Brenda.

Or my heart there. But he wrote, We Keep a Feast for Eight Days, which is called the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Well, he was a Jew. He knew good and well what it was. You had Passover, followed by seven days of Unleavened Bread, but they commonly looked at all that and sometimes called the Passover or sometimes the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And you and I do that. I mean, we oftentimes keep eight days of Unleavened Bread because we know we want it out of the house.

You know, we sometimes on the way to Passover service, we might throw away the last little bit of leaven we have somewhere. Usually it's gone before then, since we don't have eating machines walking through our house, you know, boys. Okay, other quote from Josephus. This is still antiquities, but it's book three, chapter 10, paragraph five. We do celebrate this Passover in companies, leaving nothing of what we sacrifice till the day following. Then he says the Feast of Unleavened Bread succeeds that of the Passover and falls on the 15th day of the month and continues seven days. So if Unleavened Bread is seven days beginning the 15th and he says it succeeds, meaning it follows after the Passover, the Passover is the 14th. So I mean, here's someone from first century A.D. writing this. Okay, now some have argued that since Israel was dressed to move that night, that they must have kept the Passover at the end of the 14th and end of the 15th because later that night they're going to move. No, that night they were told don't leave the house. In fact, let's just look at that Exodus 12. We didn't read that a while ago. Exodus 12, verse 11. Okay, now that's where they're to be dressed. Probably, you know, generally thought to be acting out an act of faith. After all, these are people. Who knows how much they understood? But you know, there was a time when God told Abraham, I think it was Genesis 15, when Abraham laid out those animals, five animals, and sacrificed them. But God had told him, you know, your seed are going to dwell on this land. It's not yours.

You're going to end up in another country. You're going to end up serving this other people.

But so this 400 year period of time, but then I'm going to bring them out.

How much they understood after having been in such slavery, we don't really know it. May not have been a whole lot. But there might have been this little bit of hope that kept going.

Because, you know, they cry out early in Exodus, they cry out because of the hard bondage.

And then, especially when Moses comes back on the scene, they had to connect the dots. Now, wait a minute. He's one of us. And now he's back and sent the Pharaoh and doing these great, he and Aaron, these great works. And they had to start getting their hopes burning. That God, maybe this is it. We're going to be delivered. So they're dressed to go, but there's over in verse 22, the latter part, verse 22, and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. Now, if that was you and me, we wouldn't put a little pinky outside that house. Now, some take that word morning and they want to say, yeah, well, now the days of Ruth, she went and laid at Boaz's feet that night. But then in, when it was morning, she got up to leave before anyone could tell one from another.

There's still a problem here. And the problem is Deuteronomy 16 verse one.

I say there's a problem here. I mean with the reasoning that you keep the Passover late on the 14th into the 15th. If so, that's the night that God said, don't leave, don't go out until morning. And in Deuteronomy 16 verse one, 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. They left by night. So if it was that same night, God had told them, don't go anywhere. Don't leave your house. The only thing that makes sense is the events happened. The 14th begins, the sacrifice, the roasting, the meal, the passing over of the protected houses. You go through the next day, and the next night they left. They could leave by night because there was a pillar of cloud, there's a pillar of fire. Gave them warmth, gave them light, they could see where to go and also leave them. So there's a problem with trying to force an interpretation into that, don't go out of your house till morning. Let's go to Numbers 1. You know, some of these topics get so huge as far as really, really exploring every corner. Numbers 1. I think we can probably appreciate this, or at least it gives us something good to ponder. The numbers of people we're talking about. Numbers 1, verse 40, let's see, verse 45 and verse 46. Verse 45, there's a numbering of the children of Israel by the father's houses from 20 years old and above who were able to go to war in Israel. So 20 and up, how many warriors can we count on? Verse 46, all who were numbered were 603,550. That's a lot of men, but you realize that's a fraction of the total. Is that one-third? I bet it wasn't that much. This number doesn't count women and any children 19 and below.

Maybe closer to guesstimate quarter. I mean, across all the ages of Israel.

And if you look at it that way, that's where we come up with that guesstimation, and that's what it is, this estimate that when Israel left Egypt, you were probably talking at two to three million people. How do you inform two to three million people in that day and age? That's a daunting task. You can tell a man and tell a woman all you want, and it'll spread fast. But in my mind, I envision more so like Paul Revere, people getting on a horse, assuming I don't know if they had horses they had access to, but taking off in various directions, crying the red coats are coming. Only they're crying, we're leaving. It's going to take a period of time. You have the plundering of the Egyptians, you have all kinds of things that had to take place, which couldn't take place in the middle of the night. If they just kept the Passover and then immediately thereafter, they're leaving by night, even though God said don't leave till morning. You think of two or three million people, how many counties here? Thankful, we'd have to count Jefferson County, but how many surrounding counties? You know, like counties from here to Gazzan, Etiwon, a lot of counties to get that many people. And how would you be able to fan out and get the word to everybody? It's time. Let's go. It's now. Get your livestock. Get what things you want to take with you. We read also there's a mixed multitude that went with them, and they too had a great deal of livestock, as the phrase is used. Some have made the argument that the Passover feast, the meal, was on the 15th, but they killed the lamb on the 14th.

To that, in fact, I just heard it in the sermon, sometimes you answer something by asking a question.

Why isn't there one scripture in the Bible that says the Passover is to be killed on the 14th, but then you eat it on the 15th? And there is not one passage that says that.

It connects the Passover, the killing of it, the roasting, the eating, and all of its rites and ceremonies. It always connects that with the 14th of the first month.

Now, again, I want to say it again. We do have some seer, God-fearing Christians who come to different conclusions on this area of chronology. Now, we have a handout. We have one of our young talent here with a handout, and we're going to go through, briefly, chronology of the Passover of Exodus 12. You can find this handout in some of the church's literature. This kind of walks through that, and then we're going to go to the real central question here is, why do we in the New Testament age observe the Passover at the beginning of the 14th? And I think we've got a clear answer, and for that we go to the New Testament. But what we're covering here is chronology and its history. So if we start over in the far left-hand column, again remember even before that, the 10th of the month, they set aside this lamb. Lamb or kid, male, no blemish, etc.

Then, as we get to the end of the 13th, we come to sunset. Sunset's as close as we can get.

Here's the Hebrew word for evening. You go back to Genesis 1, the evening and the morning, or the third day, or the fifth day, by Arev's. And that is the point where another day has begun. The past day has ended. The lamb was kept until the 14th. You've got the passage there in Exodus 12 verse 6, until the 14th. Now, if they weren't going to kill it until at the end of the 14th, I somehow suspect God would word that a little differently.

But He said, you keep it until the 14th. Then we come into the next shaded column there of the evening of the 14th. We come to this between the two evenings, the Hebrew, b'in ha'arba'in, translated twilight or dusk, or as, what did I say, Moffat said, from sun down until dark. You're looking at that one to a time. How long does twilight last? I don't know. It probably depends on cloud cover and lots of factors. But you've got a noticeable period of time. So we have between the two evenings, and of course that's when everything starts happening. Lamb is killed, catches the blood.

What you do with the blood, you start preparing it for. You have the roasting and you have all of that. Then we get into night. So the between the two evenings is over and we're into the night. It's dark and the Passover meal is eaten. Because again, it's going to take a while to roast a lamb with fire. They're eating that as we get toward midnight.

You've got the reference there in Exodus 12.29, the firstborn of Egypt are killed at midnight. Pharaoh sends for Moses by night after midnight, but not called morning. It was not called morning. There is no record that Moses went to see Pharaoh. Moses told Pharaoh, you won't see my face again. There's no reason, no record here. He sent for him. It was probably between with messengers and messages, but there's no scriptural record that Pharaoh ever laid eyes on Moses again. And then Israel remains inside till morning. We read that scripture. All right. Then the 14th, we come to the day portion.

The sun comes up. Any remains of the meal were burned in the morning. Somehow, since it said you roasted with its entrails and all, somehow I suspect there was something left that needed to be burned. Israel baked unleavened cakes for the trip. And you can go back and check that scripture there in chapter 12 verse 39. Joseph's remains were collected for the trip. Remember there that last chapter, last few verses of Genesis 50, Joseph is saying, you know, when you go, you know, God's going to bring you out of here. And when you go, you take my remains with you. And amazingly, all that time later, and they remembered that and honored that.

Israel gathers by Ramesses, by armies, hosts, and divisions. I think the word used, it can mean by rankings of five. It's a military term. There was this orally procession as they were getting ready to move. The spoiling of the Egyptians, the firstborn being buried as Israel is gathering to leave. Then we come to the end of the day of the 14th, and we come to another sunset, another Bá'erez, and we come to the beginning of the 15th.

And we don't read as much. You and I, we keep a night to be much observed that night. It is a celebration that God is remembrance of Israel being led out. They went out that night. But it is reminding us and celebrating the fact that God has called us out of our past, forgiven our sins, and called us to go forward. So a night to be much observed. And then Israelites marched to Succoth about 20 miles.

And that's just, that's hard to get your mind wrapped around. 20 miles with that many people of all ages. And it says great multitudes of life stumped. It's just hard to fathom. Israel left Egypt by night 430 years to the self same day. And it hearkens back to the days of Genesis 17. God establishing a covenant with Abraham and this time solidifying it with the sign of circumcision. And Jewish tradition is that was a Passover night. But again, that's Jewish tradition. That's not Scripture. But 430 years to the very night they leave. All right, then we get to Nice and 15 daytime.

Israelites camped Succoth on the first day of Unleavened Bread. Seven days of Unleavened Bread began at sundown the previous evening. Six days of Unleavened Bread followed the Passover and then another seven days of Holy Day. That's just your summary of the chronology as the church has understood it. Again, if anybody disagrees with that, then disagree with it. It's history. Now, we'll know. We'll have all the pieces of the puzzle one day.

But the way that lays it out is the only way that makes sense to my limited mind. But let's shift on and let's ask as far as why we do what we do today. When did Jesus Christ celebrate the Passover? When did he celebrate the Passover?

Well, I don't know of anyone who disagrees with the fact that Jesus and His disciples ate, well, the world calls it the Last Supper, they ate that final Passover, the night before the priests and the Jewish leaders were going to keep the Passover. And that's a story for another time, if we ever even get to that story. But over the centuries, there was a time when things changed.

Israel used to consistently keep it the 14th and then the 15th through the 21st was unloving bread. But the time came when the bulk of the Jews, not all, but the bulk of the Jews were keeping the Passover at the end of the 14th. They were killing it somewhere after three o'clock and sundown, roasting it and they were doing, not to be much observed, actually was their Passover meal. But I don't know of anyone who disagrees that Christ and the disciples took it the night before. They had to. He's going to be dead the next afternoon around three o'clock. And that was the Passover. That was the 14th. Let's go to John 18 verse 28 because this underscores that there was a difference in the way the Jews viewed it. And here it talks about how they were hurrying and they wouldn't even go into the the Hall of Judgment because they didn't want to be ceremonially defiled and therefore not be able to take the Passover. John 18 verse 28. Now we're breaking into the story here of his trial, his beating, his scourging, his going from Caiaphas to Annas to Herod, the Pilate and back and forth. Peter denying him, the rooster crowing the second time. Verse 28. Then they led Jesus to Caiaphas from Caiaphas to the Praetorium. And it was early morning, but they themselves did not go into the Praetorium. That's the governor's headquarters, office, whatever. Lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover. They were clearly going to eat the Passover that night, but they kept it at different times.

Was the last supper, as people call it, was the last supper, was it a Passover meal? Well, it would have to be, wouldn't it? It would have to be a Passover meal. And that would have been the final one of the Old Testament adjudication, because it's about to be changed when Christ dies. And he's changing a lot. He's adding a lot that are going to take precedence in years to come. So was it a last Passover? Or was that last supper a Passover? Well, all of the synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, all of them consistently call that night the Passover.

And Jesus said, I have fervently desired to keep this Passover. Let me go back to the study paper on the New Testament Passover. Here is a, let me just summarize a rundown of some of the events of that night. Remember how when Jesus had sent two of the disciples, you go ahead, you prepare for what? The Passover. And they were to go to this, you know, this man, you remember the story and, you know, the master, you know, he'll have this upper room and there you prepare the Passover. So we have all of that. Well, Matthew, as far as that account where two of them were sent ahead, Matthew says, where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?

And Jesus, a little later, as far as what you tell the man, I will eat the Passover at my house with my disciples. Mark's account, where do you want us to go and prepare that you may eat the Passover?

I asked the man, where's the guest room in which I may eat the Passover? I mean, over and over and over, what they did that night was a Passover. And I think we can confidently say they probably had a lamb and they probably had unleavened bread and they probably, well, then we know they had that, and they had bitter herbs is what I meant to say. And it may have been all stewed together because of the dipping of the sop and handing it to Judas. And of course, there was wine, there was a cup that was passed around. So the disciples go, those two go and prepare. And then the others, you know, it says they prepared the Passover in those very words in three accounts. Then Jesus and the other disciples gather at that room that has been prepared for the Passover. And it says, it says, when evening had come. Now he's going to be dead at three o'clock approximately in the afternoon on the 14th. That had to be the evening before when evening had come had to be that between the two evenings time. Luke says when the hour had come, John says during supper. So they would have had the meal and during the course of that meal, Jesus would have arisen at one point. And maybe at the beginning of it, I mean, that was kind of the customary service of that day and age is to to offer a foot washing service. Maybe at the beginning, he'd lay aside his outer garment, get the water, the towel, and go around washing feet. But somewhere in there, the foot washing, then the taking of the bread and passing it, breaking it, passing it, this is my body. Then the taking of the cup, giving thanks, passing it, drink from it, all of you.

Then after foot washing, bread and wine, a lot of instruction. And then he's, you know, they sang of him and they went out to the Mount of Olives. That's when, of course, Judas had been dismissed somewhere along the line. And that led to the betrayal and the events that took place in it. Three o'clock the afternoon, the next day he's dead. Okay. When did Jesus celebrate the Passover? I think we have to all agree that he kept it at the beginning of the 14th. The United Church of God observes the Passover at the beginning of the 14th. Why? Well, let me give you four reasons. Four reasons we keep the Passover at the beginning of the 14th.

Number one, we have the example and instructions of Jesus Christ. Jesus and the disciples had that final meal together. It had to have been a Passover. It was called the Passover repeatedly. Luke 22.15, if you make a note of that, Luke 22.15, he stated that he had fervently desired to keep that Passover with him. So it was the Passover. He gave them during that time the example, the practice of the foot washing, and then the new symbols of the broken, unleavened bread and the cup, the wine, representing his shed blood. That's one reason.

And if we ask ourselves, if in doubt ask, if kids are, well, not kids, everybody will wear this little WWJD, or they'll have it on a bumper sticker, what would Jesus do? Well, I remember when Bob Dick changed one word years ago, he said, well, let's just think, what did Jesus do?

And we'll never go wrong if we just ask, what did Jesus do when he walked the earth here? And if we can see what he did, we're going to be safe if we follow in his steps. But again, I've heard all kinds, one man years ago saying, well, you know, Jesus just did it that evening of the 14th because he was going to be dead that next afternoon. And otherwise they would have done it the evening of the 15th. And somewhere along the line, it just bounces around and makes no sense at all to me. So the example of Jesus Christ, what did Christ do? He kept it at the beginning of the 14th.

Number two is the teaching of Paul 25 years later. And for that, let's go to 1 Corinthians 15. Now, when I say 25 years, that's an approximation. 1 Corinthians 11. Now, let's notice the first two verses. 1 Corinthians 11 verses 1 and 2. Imitate me just as I also imitate Christ.

Or I like the way the old King James says, follow me as I follow Christ. Verse 2, Now I praise you, brethren, that you keep or that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I deliver them to you. And again, if in doubt, what has been the tradition and custom of the church? I think that's a pretty good rule of thumb to remember as well. But let's go further into the chapter because as we get to about verse 20, he is discussing, he gets to the Passover and therefore, verse 20, when you come together in one place, it's not to eat the Lord's Supper. That's the only place you can see that phrase in the in the New King James, the Lord's Supper. I mean, that's commonly what is called in the world around us, but Christ called it repeatedly the Passover. And we call it the Passover.

But it's not to get together to eat a meal is what he's pointing out any longer like we did through the Old Testament age. Verse 23. Here's where we've got some pretty heavy, a pretty heavy case that is made for I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you. Now pause there. Remember, Paul said there was this time earlier in his ministry when he was three years in Arabia, and he was taught personally by Christ. And that's the only way what he's giving could have been given to him directly from Christ. That the Lord Jesus, on the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, gave thanks, passed it, took the cup, gave thanks, and passed it. The night he was betrayed. Remember how they were at the upper room? And they had that meal, and they had the new symbols and ceremony, and they instructed them, and they sang to him, and they went out. And then they were in the garden. He prayed, poured out his heart to God. It was, as it were, drops of blood coming off his brow.

And then he was betrayed. That night. Not the next night. That night. That's what the Lord Jesus did. So that's what Paul says. The night he was betrayed. And he also said, imitate Paul as he follows, or imitates Christ. And it, to me, takes a huge stretch of the imagination to say that Jesus conducted the Passover because he's going to be dead in a few hours, but in following years there to keep it that next night. He clearly kept it at the beginning of the 14th. All right.

Those are the two strongest arguments for why we do what we do today. The next two aren't of the same caliber, but I think they're things to ponder. We do have point three, binding and loosing. We have binding and loosing in the church. Now, let's go back to Matthew 16, where we see that phrase. And let's lay this foundation before I go on with where I want to go with this, as we consider the scattered greater church of God today. In Matthew 16, of course, they are at Caesarea Philippi, verse 13. And the question, who is he? The son of man.

Peter said, you're the Christ, the son of the living God. And he talks about building the church on this rock and the gates of the grave will not prevail against it. Verse 19. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. So whatever you bind, you know, there is the body of Jesus Christ that continues and has continued across the centuries.

And we're a scattered bunch today. I mean, am I the only one that's noticed that? We're kind of scattered far and wide. And of course, you know, 30, 40 years ago, we kind of thought we were all together, but then we'd run into a group and, you know, somewhere on some other down South America who were keeping the Sabbath and the Holy Days. I mean, right on down. We didn't know anything about them. We didn't know what to do with them because we thought the corporate bounds of this is the sum total of the body of Christ. But the body of Christ, you know, what does Romans say?

Those that have the Spirit of God, they are Christ's. But you look at the scattered body of Christ today and look at some of the bodies. What does the United say? And yes, what does Kogwa say? And what does living say and do? And you've got Christian biblical church of God.

And you know, all the good names are taken. I'm drawing a blank here. Oh, you've got church of God International. You've got Intercontinental Church of God, Philadelphia Church of God, and lots of smaller, I mean, there are living room groups here and there. And the vast, vast majority have continued in this tradition that the beginning of the 14th, we take the Passover. And then the next night starts seven days of 11 bread. We could even go back further than, you know, Radio Church of God, because Mr. Armstrong came into fellowship, Mr. M. misses with Church of God's seventh day. Now, no, they don't keep all of the festivals. They do keep one. They keep the Passover. And yes, they keep it with grape juice for their own reasons, but they keep the Passover when? At the beginning of the 14th of Nicene. And I think that, you know, you add all that up. If it's still uncertain, I think that, you know, we remember Paul said, keep the traditions that I've passed along to. Understanding is going to come from the body of Christ, not some lone ranger who appears out of the setting sun riding a, you know, a white horse with silver bullets in his gun. It's going to come from the church. It's not going to come from some lone ranger out there who rises up and, you know, well, I found the calendar and you're all wrong and I'm right. So there is binding and loosing. And then finally, point four is what Christ said in one point, you will know them by their fruits. You will know them by their fruits. So we look at the Passover as we have for decades observed it and we can ask the question, are the fruits good or are the fruits evil? Now, I would hope we would all agree the fruits have been very good. The, you know, if we ever are wrong, God, we've got to find a way in His own time, His own way to correct us. But, I mean, we've got decades. My first Passover service would have been 1972 when I was a kid. And all across these years, there was a presidential election. I forget who used the phrase, don't change horses in the middle of the stream.

You know, if it's working, let's don't change. Or in sports, don't change a winning game plan. Is the Passover working? I think it is. The problem is not with God and the Passover, the way it's done the problem is with us. The fruits are good. But it may not be possible to conclusively prove beyond any shadow of doubt to everyone about how the chronology of the Exodus worked out. Who knows? We may all find out one day we were all wrong to differing degrees. But I think we can be safe in what we do for the New Testament Passover. Because we have the example and teaching of Christ, we have the teaching of Paul, and we have the fact that it is a winning ballgame. So when we ask what did Jesus do, if in doubt, do what Christ did when he walked the earth and we'll be safe.