The Night to be Much Observed

Fred R. Coulter—April 3, 2015

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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to the Night Much to be Remembered unto the Lord. Why do we observe this night? Some people have said that it's an operation of the figment of the imagination of a man.

• Is it?
• What do the Scriptures say?
• What actually happened?
• Why do we have two nights in a row?
• Passover night
• Night to be Much Observed
• What is the significance of it?
• How did it get started?
• Why does God say it is a night to be much observed to Him?
• For what purposes?

Exo. 12 is where we find the key. In understanding this, we're going to do what is called reverse engineering. We're going to start at a point of completion and go back to a point of origination. Then we will understand.

Exodus 12:40: "Now, the sojourning of the children of Israel in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years, and it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, it was even on that very same day, all the armies of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. It isa night to be much observed to the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt. This is that night of the LORD to be observed by all the children of Israel in their generations" (vs 40-42).

The Church is spiritual Israel, and just like everything else in the Bible, there's the first fulfillment—for the Old Testament; there is the second fulfillment—for the New Testament. Sometimes they are overlaid so they perfectly match. We know that last night was the night of the Passover.

• Why two nights?
• What does it mean "…that very same day…" or "…the self same day…" (KJV)
• What does it have to do with us?

The Protestants think that everything in the Old Testament has been fulfilled. Some of them don't, but most of them do. And the Catholics just ignore the Old Testament and the New Testament, as well, using names and things like that to appear to be Christian; but they are not!

That may offend a lot of people. Have you heard the term 'Christian Catholic' recently? or Catholic Christian? Coptic Christian? Protestant Christian? Well, there's only one Christian! It's a way of life!That is through Jesus Christ, and we are to walk in His footsteps! We are to live by His words!

Remember, the One Who became Jesus Christ was the Lord God of the Old Testament. So, it was God, in Gen. 15, that starts the Passover and the Night to be Much Observed.

Gen. 15:3—Abraham is still called Abram. In Gen. 17 God changed his name to Abraham because he was to be 'the father of many nations.' So, Abram is talking to God, because God appeared to him:

Genesis 15:3: "And Abram said, 'Behold, You have given no seed to me; and lo, one born in my house is my heir.'" That was a legal thing to do. If you had no heirs you could select one of your servants to be your heir.

Verse 4: "And behold, the Word of the LORD came to him saying, 'This man shall not be your heir; but he that shall come forth out of your own loins shall be your heir.'" This is a prophecy of Isaac.

Sidebar: In Heb. 7 when it's talking about tithing and Melchisedec, Paul wrote that Levi tithed because he was in Abraham's loins when Abraham tithed. We will see that that applies to the children of Israel because they were not 430 years in the land of Egypt sojourning. Combined with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob they were sojourning 430 years.

Here's what God did, and here is the beginning of the New Covenant, the beginning of the Passover—Old Testament and New Testament—and the beginning of the Night to be Much Observed unto the Lord:

Verse 5: "And He brought him outside and said, 'Look now toward the heavens and number the stars—if you are able to count them.' And He said to him, 'So shall your seed be.'" This is the spiritual seed, these are the spirituals sons of Abraham that come through Jesus Christ. Those who are resurrected will shine like the sun in the glory of their father.

Verse 6: "And he believed in the LORD…. [He couldn't count it, so the action was to believe!] And He accounted it to him for righteousness. And He said to him, 'I am the LORD that brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.' And he said, 'Lord GOD, by what shall I know that I shall inherit it?'" (vs 6-8). This land, this promise, goes to Abraham, through all his descendants down to when Abraham was looking for the city that God was building (Heb. 11); comes down to Christ, goes through the Church, through the first resurrection. Parallel with that are the physical children of Israel.

So, how is Abraham going to know? Here is a special offering. It's called a maledictory offering, and irrevocable covenant offering. We will see that God was the only One Who fully participated in it as we examine what happens. This special offering consisted of what God told Abraham to get:

Verse 9: "And He said to him, 'Take Me a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.' And he took all these to himself, and divided them in the middle and laid each piece opposite the other…" (vs 9-10). They were cut down the middle from head all the way down, and then laid open so all the guts and everything would be up. There was left a path between the parts,

"…but he did not divide the birds" (v 10). He did not cut them in half. It took quite a while to do this, because this is quite a job cutting down the spine.

Verse 11: "And when the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away." This shows that it took a good portion of the day to do it. Notice what happens in v 12, because I want you to understand the sequence of time with this, first: go out at night and count the stars! Remember, a day starts at sunset. Now we have this taking place on the day portion.

Verse 12: "And it came to pass, as the sun was going down…" How far down it was we don't know.

"…that a deep sleep fell upon Abram. And, behold, a horror of great darkness fell upon him!" (v 12)—a type of death.

The truth is that this pictures the death of Jesus Christ. So, the timing of the Passover for the death of Christ was established here with this covenant between Abraham and God, not with the human tradition that the later Jews enacted of having some of the Passover lamb sacrificed at the temple.

Verse 13: "And He said to Abram, 'You must surely know that your seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs… [let's jump over the parenthetical statement] …four hundred years." They will sojourn 400 years.

Now then put in the parenthetical statement: "…(and shall serve them andtheyshall afflict them)…" (v 13). Not afflicted 400 years, but sojourning 400 years.  

We read 430 years. What is the difference between the 400 and the 430 years? The difference is this; note it carefully:

• this covenant was given to Abraham when he was 85-years-old
• Isaac was born when Abraham was 100-years-old

That's 15 years! The other 15 years is when Abraham took Isaac to offer him as a burnt offering (Gen. 22).

• Isaac had to be 15-years-old

There's the 30 years, 15+15. From that point the 400-year count started for the sojourning, and the 430 years, from God's reckoning, began with the maledictory sacrifice for the covenant that He was making with Abraham.

Verse 14: "And also I will judge that nation whom they shall serve. And afterward they shall come out with great substance." Did that change when the children of Israel left Egypt? Yes, it did!

Verse 16: "'But in the fourth generation they shall come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.' And it came to pass—when the sun went down…" (vs 16-17). What ends the day? Sunset!

You have night, all day, sun going down—sunset—and you're into the next day. Here you have two days, just like in Exo. 12: Passover on the 14th, Night to be Much Observed on the 15th. We will see what God did. Here is how He verified, made sure absolutely, that this covenant would be true, that it would be sure, and it is dual.

• He would bring the children of Israel out of Egypt and be their God
• as their God manifested in the flesh, as Jesus Christ, He would die to end the covenant with them and begin the New Covenant with the Church

All of that is contained in here. Just reading this alone you would never know it. You have to put it together a little here, a little there and put the whole picture together.

Notice that Abraham did not walk through the path between the animals, only God. This is significant because God is pledging His future death:

Verse 17: "And it came to pass—when the sun went down  and it was dark—behold, a smoking furnace and a burning lamp passed between those pieces." Without a doubt, all those pieces of the animals were turned into ashes. When Abraham awoke there was nothing left but the ashes, because it was a complete sacrifice that God was going to do in giving His life. Two things:

• guarantee that Israel would be brought out of Egypt
• Christ would die and with that He would bring the Church out of spiritual Egypt (Rev. 11)—Sodom and Egypt

So, the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, started on their exodus to go to the 'promised land.' That also has great meaning for us as a church. What does that mean for us?

Christ has died for our sins on the 14th, put in the grave at sunset and the tomb is sealed. Jesus said that He would be in there three days and three nights until He was resurrected. But being put in there guaranteed that His death would forgive our sins upon answering God's call and repentance!

Let's take a look at the spiritual significance of the Night to be Much Observed for the Church. Here's the parallel:

• Pharaoh—a type of Satan the devil
• Egypt—a type of the world
• the Church—it is actually Satan the devil that we have been delivered from and from the present evil world, which is Sodom and Egypt.

We still live in the world, because we haven't finished our exodus to the point of the resurrection. But we keep this night because of Gal. 1:3 and here's our relationship with God:

Galatians 1:3: "Grace and peace be to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ." Being under grace means that we have direct access to God the Father.

Verse 4: "Who gave Himself for our sins… [depicted by the maledictory oath (Gen. 15)] …in order that He might deliver us… [rescue us, save us] …from the present evil world, according to the will of our God and Father; to Whom be the glory into the ages of eternity. Amen" (vs 3-5).

Let's see that only God can bring us out of this world. It's a spiritual thing because we still live in the world, as Jesus prayed. He prayed for us that we would be delivered from the evil one. Not that we would be taken out of the world.

Let's see the love of God that He has for us in calling us. When we come to the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread every year, what we are doing is thanking God for His deliverance.

• We are looking at the work of God and His Spirit in our lives.
• We are looking to God so that we can have that direct personal relationship with Him.
• We are delivered from the present evil world.
• We are delivered, rescued, because no one can come out from underneath the clutches of Satan the devil unless there is a spiritual miracle in the life of the individual who answers the call of God and has repented and been baptized.

When we're baptized, we're conjoined to the very death of Jesus Christ. That is our sacrificial death of the covenant.

Colossians 1:9: "For this cause we also, from the day that we heard of it, do not cease to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding." That prayer applies to us today. We are to be growing in grace and knowledge every year, every month, every week, every day, because of the great work that God has done to call us.

Verse 10: "That you may walk worthily of the Lord, unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God."

Today we have it all right here for us—don't we? We have the whole Bible—Old Testament and New Testament. Everyone has it available to them. You have it, the world has it, but God has opened our minds to the Truth, and our minds to what is going on in this world. We are called to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

• that is through the preaching of the Gospel
• that is through warning the world
• that is through doing what God wants us to do

We all have a part in it, every single one of us. Then we look forward to taking over the rulership and reins of this world. That's going to be a fantastic day.

Verse 11: "Being strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory… [coming from God] …unto all endurance and long-suffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father, Who has made us qualified…" (vs 11-12).

As we yield to God, and grow and overcome, and use the Spirit of God in our lives, God is qualifying us.

• that's why He leads us to further repentance
• that's why He leads us to further knowledge and understanding

He is qualifying us! We can't qualify ourselves, but we need to follow what God is working and doing in us. Yes, we have our effort to do it, but God is the One Who qualifies us.

"…for the share of the inheritance of the saints in the Light; Who has personally rescued us from the power of darkness and has transferred us unto the kingdom of the Son of His love" (vs 12-13). We are under the jurisdiction of God the Father and Jesus Christ. Yes, we live in the world, but we are not of the world. God has called us to live His way.

• we know that there are difficult times coming
• we know that there is persecution coming
• we know that there are those martyrs for Jesus who are being beheaded today

Even the little bit of faith that they have, though not in proper knowledge, those are martyrs for Jesus.

It's going to come to us, and we're going to have to be delivered from Satan the devil, continuously, just like Satan was after Jesus all during His ministry.

Here is what Paul said when Jesus talked to him, when Jesus first called him. Imagine Paul—still called Saul at that point—going to Damascus with written orders from the high priest of the temple of God in Jerusalem to arrest, persecute and kill Christians. God changed Saul's mind very quickly—didn't He. Here is Paul relating this when he is talking to Festus and the king during his imprisonment. He told him about hearing the voice:

Acts 26:14: "Then all of us fell to the ground; and I heard a voice speak to me, saying in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the pricks.' And I said, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said, 'I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting.'" (vs 14-15). Think of that! Whenever any of the saints of God are persecuted it is against Christ!

Verse 16: "Now arise, and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose…" each one of us has a purpose in our lives. God has a crown that He is preparing, a place that He is preparing, an office that He is going to give us. The rulership to bring—starting with the Millennium—everlasting righteousness to this earth!

• that's why we've been called
• that's why we observe this night

Christ sealed it completely when He was put in that tomb! So, we rejoice in what Christ has done for us.

For this purpose: "…to appoint you as a minister and a witness both of what you have seen and what I shall reveal to you. I am personally selecting you from among the people and the Gentiles, to whom I now send you" (vs 16-17). Here is the purpose; this is why we keep the Night to be Much Observed, because:

• we have been delivered from this world
• we have been delivered form Satan the devil

Christ is there at the right hand of God praying for us!

• giving us His Spirit
• giving us His strength
• helping us to grow in grace and knowledge

Verse 18: "To open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the authority of Satan to God, so that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified through faith in Me." That's what Jesus told Paul, and guess what?

• we have all His writings here
• all the words of God
• all the writings of the apostles
• all the words of the Prophets
• all the Law
• all the testimony
• all the Psalms

Brethren, we need to rejoice in this night, and thank God for this night. It is a Night to be Much Observed in rejoicing

• for the greatness, goodness and love of God,
• for personally selecting us out of this world,
• for personally rescuing us from Satan the devil,
• for giving us of His Spirit

so that we can use His Spirit to grow in grace and knowledge, and develop and become the sons and daughters of God. This is why we observe The Night to be Much Observed!

Scriptural References:

• Exodus 12:40-42
• Genesis 15:3-14, 16
• Galatians 1:3-5
• Colossians 1:9-13
• Acts 26:14-18

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Genesis 17
• Hebrews 7; 11
• Genesis 22
• Revelation 11

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 3-9-15

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