The Three Most Important Days #3

The 400 & 430 Years & Passover Offering vs Passover Sacrifice

Fred R. Coulter—February 14, 2009

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Now let's think about this a little bit more. Let's analyze it as we look at the structure back in Lev. 23. It has the Sabbath, the Passover, and then the Holy Days.

Now let's examine the counterfeit that Satan the devil has. He has three most important things for his version of Christianity, as well. What do you suppose those are?

• Sunday
• the Eucharist or communion
• the occult holidays

The exact same pattern; God's way is:

• Sabbath
• Passover
• Holy Days

Worldly 'Christianity':

• Sunday
• Eucharist or communion

which is the counterfeit of the Passover

• the occult holidays

Isn't that amazing? One thing that is so important as we will see as we go along, but I'll mention it here. One of the reasons why Satan has caused so much confusion concerning the Passover, which has evolved into worldly Christianity as communion or the Eucharist, is because if you keep the Passover properly and if you have the Holy Spirit through baptism, then you are in covenant and have a relationship with God that is not attainable any other way.

Remember the thing that's important that Jesus said, and He said it on the Passover night. 'I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father except through Me.' There you have it! That's why these things are important. That's why as we learned when we started this series, the world is blinded, and they're blinded whenever they go against God's way. Or wherever they come along and have part of God's way, and then substitute it with:

• their own thoughts
• their own traditions
• their own things that they have

Every step that is taken away from God's way leads to a further blinding.

John 3:18: "The one who believes in Him is not judged… [that is unto death] …but the one who does not believe has already been judged because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
Of course, this means you believe in the true Jesus. Not the counterfeit in the world, because some of these counterfeits are quite good, quite clever. Just like if you have counterfeit money. Some of those counterfeit monies are really good.

Let me tell you what the Germans did right toward the end of WWII. They got all of the Jewish engravers who work with jewelry, and they engraved and made plates absolutely identical to the British pound. And they printed up British pound money, so they could use it after the war was lost. And it was so good that it took them a long time to discover the real from the counterfeit. That's an important thing to remember. Satan is a liar. Satan is a counterfeiter. He takes a pattern that God has, and he puts his own on it:

• Sabbath vs Sunday
• Passover vs communion
• Holy Days vs occult holidays

If you don't know, and if you aren't searching the Bible and you don't want to live by the Truth, it will be hard for you to find out.

Verse 19: "And this is the judgment… [the judgment is already here] …that the Light… [Who is Christ in the Word of God] has come into the world, but men loved darkness rather than the Light because their works were evil."

What do they do? 'Oh well, we don't have to keep the Old Testament! We don't have to ever be bothered with anything there. That's all fulfilled or done away.' Very convenient excuse! You've already been judged. They don't want to repent of their sins, especially their self-righteous sins. To repent of Sunday, the communion, and the occult holidays is almost an impossibility for people who are wrapped up and steeped into the worldly Christianity that is the counterfeit of Satan the devil.

They would not think those works are evil. No, they think Sunday is good. They think that the communion is good. They think that Halloween, Christmas, Easter, New Year's and all the occult holidays are good. But they are evil!

Verse 20: "For everyone who practices evil hates the Light…"

• they don't like to be reproved
• they don't like to be told that's evil
• they don't like to be told that these things are of pagan origin
• they don't like to be told that if you take the communion then you're actually taking a communion that originated with Mithras and the original from Babylon

Likewise with all the holidays. They hate the Light.

"….and does not come to the Light… [they don't come to the Word of God, the true Jesus] …so that his works may not be exposed" (v 20).

They don't want to have those things exposed as wrong or evil, 'because these are so good.' I've mentioned this before but we'll just plug it in here Truth vs lie or error. Everyone who is a parent teaches the children never to lie. Don't lie. But somewhere along the line if you keep all of the holidays of the world they are going to discover that Christmas is a lie, and Santa Claus is a lie.

But no one asked the question, if these things are supposed to be Christian, and if they are supposed to teach us God's way and Jesus said, 'I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.' How can you take something that is a lie and say that it is good? and Something that is a lie and say it represents Jesus Christ Who is the Truth?

They never think about it, and they don't want to have it exposed. Look at what they do. When they hear that, they say, 'Oh well…' whatever the excuse may be: Are you a Jew? No, I'm not a Jew! Are you Seventh-Day Adventist? No, I'm not a Seventh-Day Adventist! What are you then? Sounds like when they questioned John.

The best way to answer them is, we're Scripturalists. We believe the Scriptures, the whole Bible. Not part of it, the whole Bible. Well then, why do you keep these days? Because God says so! And the very thing that they're totally mystified about:

• Who is God?
• What is He doing?
• Why do these events happen in the world the way that they happen?

How does God working whatever He's working on the earth? The very things that they've accepted the counterfeit from Satan the devil, blinds them to understand the truth concerning the Sabbath the Passover and Holy Days, which then shows them God's plan. That's why we have the books that we have we have:

• The Christian Passover
• The Day Jesus the Christ Died
• A Harmony of the Gospels
• God's Plan for Mankind Revealed by the Sabbath and Holy Days
• Occult Holidays or God's Holy Days—Which?

 Those are all designed to bring people out of darkness into the light, to prove and show what is true and right so they can find God and understand the Word of God. They don't like their works exposed. This is what we do every Sabbath:

Verse 21: "But the one who practices the Truth…" What is the Truth? Jesus said:

• Your Word is the Truth
• Your commandments are Truth
• Your laws are Truth
• Your way is true from the beginning

"…who practices the Truth comes to the Light…" (v 21). If you're

• practicing and keeping the Sabbath
• practicing and keeping the Passover year-by-year
• practicing and keeping the Holy Days of God

you have the Spirit of God and you are converted! Then we have this:

"…so that His works may be manifested, that they have been accomplished by the power of God" (v 21).

Not by the self. God is working at work in us. Now there's another thing about the Truth of God. 1-Cor. 2 is one to always remember when we're talking about how to you understand the Bible. It tells us right here. Let's follow all the way through with what Paul is telling us.

1-Corinthians 2:1: "And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with superiority of speech or wisdom, in proclaiming the testimony of God to you. For I decided not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (vs 1-2).

Of course then, all the Word of God is wrapped up in that statement as well. Paul was coming to the Greeks in Corinth, and what did they have? They had all of their false gods, all the occult holidays that they were observing at that time, and they worshiped the sun, etc.! So, he was saying that he didn't come with anything other than the Truth of God.

Verse 3: "And I was in weakness and in fear and in much trembling when I was with you; and my message and my preaching was not in persuasive words of humanwisdom; rather, it was in demonstration of the Spirit and of power; so that your faith might not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God" (vs 3-5).

Let's understand that statement a little bit more. Faith is 'the substance of things and the belief of things not seen.' So, it has to be the faith of God. What is the wisdom of men? Philosophy! What do we have in philosophy? Philosophy is the pagan religion!

Paul is showing here he's not mixing the two, but in the power of God. Remember, they did not have the Bible like we have today. We're really in a very tremendous and blessed situation today having the Word of God, all of it. We can study it, we can know it and we can look into it. We have Bible dictionaries, concordances, accurate copies of the original in Hebrew and in Greek; we can know the Word of God. This has only occurred in about the last 400 years when it began with Tyndale and is multiplied and come down to our time today. So it's quite a really great thing that we have all of this.

Verse 6: "Now we speak wisdom among the spiritually mature; however, it is not the wisdom of this world… [it's not the wisdom of the world or the wisdom of men] …nor of the rulers of this world, who are coming to nothing. Rather, we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery…" (vs 6-7). As we started out, the Word of God to those who do not know and will not listen and will not obey is a mystery.

"…even the hidden wisdom that God foreordained before the ages unto our glory, [which then is in am encapsulation of the whole plan of God] …which not one of the rulers of this world has known..." (vs 7-8).

'Remember what happened when Paul was talking to Festus? Festus said, 'You almost persuade me to become a Christian.' He was one of the leading rulers, the governor. Paul was under house arrest in Caesarea.

"...(for if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory); but according as it is written, 'The eye has not seen… [go search, look, find whatever you want to] …nor the ear heard… [even if you knew every language in the world] …neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.'…. [that's what all of this gets down to: loving God] …But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit…"(vs 8-10).  So, these things are spiritually understood.

Jesus told the disciples, 'The words that I speak to you they are Spirit and they are Life.' So, when you read the Bible and you understand the Bible and it registers in the in your mind, that is a spiritual operation that takes place! When you have God's Spirit with you as you're coming to understand things before you're baptized then God's Spirit is leading you. But after you received the Spirit as a begettal of your mind with your spirit then you understand even more and grow in grace and knowledge year after year; you can say day after day, week after week, and month and year, and so forth.

 ...for the Spirit searches all things—eventhe deep things of God" (v 10). God's Spirit, as we search the Scriptures, will help us to understand things that we have not understood before. We're going to see a couple of those today.

Verse 11: "For who among men understands the things of man except by the spirit of man, which is in him? In the same way also, the things of God no one understands except by the Spirit of God."

I wonder why none of those in the other so-called Christian churches don't understand these things? What is the answer? They don't have the Spirit of God! You can count on that for sure. Everyone who keeps Sunday knows which day is a seventh day of the week, because they keep the first day of the week.

Verse 12: "Now, we have not received the spirit of the world…" What is the spirit of the world? Take all your pagan religions and put them in one category! Then you take worldly Christianity and you have the spirit of the world: Sunday, communion, Eucharist and the occult holidays. That is the spirit of the world! If it's the spirit of the world then it comes from the 'prince of the power of the air' who was Satan the devil; he is the one who inspires and controls those things.

...but the Spirit that is of God, so that we might know the things graciously given to us by God" (v 12).

That's something! So, everything that we learn everything that we know of the Word of God everything that we understand out of the Word of God comes right back to the Spirit of God and the Truth of God. Are we willing to live by it? and obey it?

Verse 13: "Which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Holy Spirit in order to communicate spiritual things by spiritual means." How is that? Search the Scriptures daily prove whether these things are so!

Verse 14: "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned."

This is why there is such confusion concerning the Passover. Men want their own way. Even the Jews have their own way. We will cover some of those in a little bit.

If you haven't read The Christian Passover book in a long time, read it again. That will take you step-by-step all the way through to show you all of the Truth concerning the Passover. Also, it will show you why all the traditions and teachings of men are wrong. Because it systematically takes every one of the allegations that the Jews have that the Christians have that others have to try and debunk keeping the Passover. We'll project forward just little bit here. The night before Jesus was crucified he kept The Passover. He did not keep some extra meal that was in addition to the Passover.

Now let's come back and continue where we left off in part two, and that is concerning Abraham and the promise given to him (Gen. 15). I want to cover something so we can keep this in mind as we move forward and come to Exo. 12 to compare something.

Genesis 15:13: "And He said to Abram, 'You must surely know that your seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs (and shall serve them and they shall afflict them) four hundred years."

Now notice the parenthetical statement. Let's jump ahead of the parenthetical statement because unfortunately the way it is in the King James makes it look like that they would be in the land of Egypt for 400 years and be afflicted. But that's not the sense of it in the Hebrew.

"... and your seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs…four hundred years" and they shall serve and afflict them.

"...your seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs (and shall serve them and they shall afflict them) four hundred years. And also I will judge that nation whom they shall serve. And afterward they shall come out with great substance" (vs 13-14).

Exodus 12:40: "Now, the sojourning of the children of Israel in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years."

• How do we get 430 years when God said it would be 400 years?
• What is the difference?
• How do we account for the 30 years?

Today we're going to find out how to account for it. We will see some other things that we have not covered have not understood in the book of Genesis though it has been there all the time. It's kind of like the sermon I gave It's been Under Our Nose All the Time. Here'sanother one of those things. We will see how we understand the difference in the 400 years and 430 years?

Verse 41: "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 is a 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 41-42).

Are we to keep the night much to be observed? Yes! That's what it says. We will see how we are to keep it.

Now let's look at a couple of things that will help us to understand the difference between the 400 years and the 430 years. Because when you read this back here in Gen. 15 you assume that the 400 years begins right that night. But that's not true.

Genesis 15:13: And He said to Abram, 'You must surely know that your seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs...four hundred years.'

It couldn't start right then. Why? Why could it not start that night? This is the very night that was the beginning of the 15th that they came out of the land of Egypt. Why couldn't it not start that very night? Isaac was not born, yet!

So obvious you miss it! Have you ever seen these pictures that they give you, two or three pictures, and ask how are these pictures different? You look at them and the first two or three times and you see that they're the same. What's different? Then you begin looking and examining.

I remember I saw one where some people coming off an airplane and they had a crowd there. What happened was they change the clothes of different people, they took the ring the paint off the front of the jet engine, they had someone who was standing in one place and was moved over to another place. There were about seven or eight things that were different, and when you first look at it you say how can that be different? After you know what the difference is you say, 'How did I miss it?'

This is what were going to find here; we will understand the 30 years.

Genesis 16:3—the parenthetical statement: "...(after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan)." Abram left when God told them to leave, when he was 75-years-old. Gen. 15 took place when he was 85-years-old. {note 85}

Gen. 17:1 was when God appeared to Abram, when he was 99-years old. So, that's 14 years. When Isaac was born, that was another year, so that's 15 years until Isaac was born. That's 15 of the 30 years. Gen. 17 is part of the covenant.

Genesis 17:1: "And when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, 'I am the Almighty God! Walk before Me and be perfect. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly'" (vs 1-2).

So, the promises were given first. The covenant sacrifice of those animals that were devoured by the smoking furnace and the lamp passing through them showed that God walk through the between the parts of those animals was God's commitment to the covenant. Here we come along 14 years later and he is adding more to the promises. Remember what was the original promise. That he would have a seed from his own loins it was going to be:

• Isaac—physical seed
• they would be as the stars of heaven—spiritual seed

There are two promises contained.

Isaac: physical promise of physical seed

Verse 3: "And Abram fell on his face. And God talked with him, saying, 'As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. Neither shall your name any more be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations'" (vs 3-5).

Yet, Isaac was not even conceived, so it's important to realize that many times God talks of things that are not as though they already are! If God says He's going to do it, it is as good as done!

Verse 6: "And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you."

This shows clearly that of the twelve sons of Jacob—whose name was changed to Israel—the Jews were only one tribe. Are they many nations today? No! There's one little, tiny nation in Palestine and all the rest are scattered and they don't have nations. So, this refers to the twelve tribes of which we know about Ephraim and Manasseh and the end-time ten tribes of Israel.

Verse 7: "And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you and you seed…"

Now that's important to remember. Because the covenant is not established until "…between Me and you and your seed..." It cannot be fully established until Isaac has been born and some years after that.

"...after you in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your seed after you. And I will give the land to you in which you are a sojourner, and to your seed after you, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. And I will be their God.' And God said to Abraham, 'And you shall keep My covenant, you and your seed after you in their generations'" (vs 7-9).

So, here's the sign of the covenant. Remember, there always has to be a covenantal sacrifice. That's important to understand. So, here is the covenantal sacrifice: circumcision. God gave the covenantal sacrifice by walking between those animal parts and they were consumed. Now here comes the part of the physical circumcision, which is the human token of agreeing with the covenant, where there's circumcision blood is shed.

Verse 10: "This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your seed after you. Every male child among you shall be circumcised. And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin…. [at 99-years-old that was a difficult thing I'm sure] …And it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. And a son of eight days shall be circumcised among you, every male child in your generations; he that is born in the house, or bought with silver of any foreigner who is not of your seed. He that is born in your house, and he that is bought with your silver, must be circumcised. And My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant…. [for the physical seed] …And the uncircumcised male child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people—for he has broken My covenant.' And God said to Abraham, 'As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but her name shall be Sarah. And I will bless her, and give you a son also of her. Yes, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations—kings of people shall be from her'" (vs 10-16).

This obviously is talking about going down in time with the multitude of people. Just think of it. All the population of the world today that we see wherever they are came from Shem, Ham and Japheth, the three sons of Noah! From six people came all the people of the world. Likewise here with the people that God was going to deal with this goes down in time generation after generation after generation. This is quite a promise. He hasn't even had Isaac born yet, and God has promised all these things to him.

You've got to have faith to believe it. That's why you have to believe what God says though you may never see the actual substance of it. But if you believe God, know that it will happen. And I've often thought I wonder what Abraham is going to think when he's resurrected? He's standing there on the Sea of Glass with all the spiritual seed. There's Isaac and there's Jacob and you know all of those will be there.

And God says to Abraham, 'These are your spiritual children. Come on over here to the Sea of Glass I want you to look down on the earth. You see all these Arab nations over here. Currently they're fighting against us but they will have salvation most of them in what is going to be the second resurrection. But these are also your children. I want you to look over here geographically little way away and you have all the descendents of those who came from your second wife Keturah. All of these are your children. Abraham I fulfilled my promise to you. And it's going to continue all during the Millennium.'

And just like he fell on his face here and worship God he's not going to laugh this time.

Verse 17: "And Abraham fell upon his face and laughed, and said in his heart, 'Shall a child be born to him that is a hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear?' And Abraham said to God, 'Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!' And God said, 'Sarah your wife shall bear you a son indeed. And you shall call his name Isaac. And I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him'" (vs 17-19).

Verse 7: "And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you in their generations for an everlasting covenant..."—he repeated over here.

Verse 19: "And God said, 'Sarah your wife shall bear you a son indeed. And you shall call his name Isaac. And I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.'"

Well here's a little bit hard-headedness on Abraham's part, but God said, 'Okay.'

Verse 20: "And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation." They have most of the oil in the world though they live in the desert place.

Verse 21: "But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time in the next year."

Then the circumcision party took place and all of that was taken care of. Now one year passes and Isaac is born.

Genesis 21:1: "And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said. And the LORD did to Sarah as He had spoken, for Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son that was born to him (whom Sarah bore to him) Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac, when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. And Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him" (vs 1-5).

So, we have age 75, then 10 years before Gen. 15—85-years-old. Then we have from 85 to 100 is 15 years. Though we do not have the other 15 years specifically spelled out, we can figure them from what takes place in Gen. 22. We can also give an accurate assessment of Isaac's age when this took place. Gen. 22 becomes a very important chapter.

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Genesis 22:1: "And it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, 'Abraham!' And he said, 'Here I am.' And He said, 'Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love…'" (vs 1-2).

Now we're going to see parallels concerning the Passover here. Even though we have the days that are listed here we can come up with four days and maybe that's sufficient, but I've gone back and forth on this several times. Just as I have on how old was Isaac at this point. We're going to see it doesn't tell us anything about his age here, but from the event we will be able to deduce what his actual age was. Then we will close the gap on the difference between the 400 and the 430 years.

Verse 2: "And He said, 'Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains, which I will tell you.' And Abraham rose up early in the morning…" (vs 2-3).

This is one day he told him to do it. The next day then begins another three-day count, which gives us a total of four days.

Verse 3: "And Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him…"

Isn't that interesting? When Jesus was crucified there were two also with Him. One on one side, one on the other. But this is not exactly similar, but the numbers are interesting [speculation].

"…and Isaac his son. And he split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up and went to the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day…" (vs 3-4).

So, we're dealing with four days here, however it falls. Nevertheless, we still have a type of the Passover in this situation. It would be more than likely that it did occur on what was the Passover Day as we see the events that took place.

Verse 5: "And Abraham said to his young men, 'You stay here with the donkey, and I and the boy will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.'" As a boy, this means that he was less than 20-years-old.

Verse 6: "And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his son…." Which is a type of Jesus carrying His own cross. And remember, Jesus was also the Firstborn. And Jesus was the Son of promise as Isaac was the son of promise (Gal. 4) in part two.

"…And he took the fire pot in his hand, and a knife. And they both went together. And Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, 'My father.' And he said, 'Here I am, my son.' And he said, 'Behold the fire and the wood…. [I can see that] …But where is the lamb for a burnt offering?'" (vs 6-7).

This shows the faith that Abraham developed and grew into from the time that God first called him out of Haran to come into the land of Canaan.

Verse 8: "And Abraham said, 'My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering.' So, they both went on together. And they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. And he bound his son Isaac and laid him on the wood, upon the altar" (vs 8-9).

How ever long this took place, we don't know the time of the day that all of these things took place. We would have to assume that on the third day when he saw the place it was quite a ways off, but it had to be sometime in the morning. They were able to get there sometime that day. We know when Jesus died: at the 9th hour, which is about three o'clock. We can't read that directly into this part here but it would follow along that it was very close to that time when you consider all the factors involved.

After Abraham laid Isaac on the altar… I imagine Isaac had to have faith, too, to let Abraham bind him. I don't know how much he bound him. I don't know if he just bound his hands and feet. Or if he wrapped rope around his whole body and laid him up there, we don't know that. But he had to have faith to let his father do that and then place him on the altar with the wood, and to know, momentarily, something's going to happen.

Verse 10: "And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son." So, right to the last minute.

Why did Abraham do this? Because we find that it is said that Abraham was willing to do this because in a figure he received him from the dead (Heb. 11). That is from his dead body and the deadness of Sarah's womb. So, if God could perform that miracle, if he did happen to offer him and cut his throat—and he would bleed to death—God would bring Isaac back to life, because He's able to raise him from the dead.

That shows that Abraham—from Heb. 11—had a pretty good understanding of God's plan and what He would do, and there would be a resurrection. Abraham also understood, because of Heb. 11, about the city that was going to come from God. So, God taught Abraham about New Jerusalem, which was coming. Many of the things that we read here—we do not have all the information—that God told Abraham is condensed down in a summary fashion. Only the things that are necessary for us God has given. So we can pick these up from the New Testament and understand these things.

Now think about the poor Jews today who reject the New Testament and when they read this without the knowledge of the New Testament they are wondering: Why on earth would God do this? Now notice what happened. Sometimes God takes us right up to the point to see do we really believe God obey God and are willing to do so under all circumstances regardless of how dire they may look to us at any given time. This look pretty dire both to Abraham and to Isaac.

Stop and think for a minute! I wonder how many times that Abraham and Sarah told Isaac how he was born? And what God had promised them? When Isaac got to a certain age he could look around and see other children there that were being born in the Abraham's entourage, because he had servants and they were born in his household and so forth. Isaac could see that all the mothers were young.

But Sarah was old! And Abraham was old! So, I imagine he rehearsed this to Isaac many times. 'Your mom was 90 when you were born; that's a miracle! And I was 100.' So all of this in the backdrop. Now we also have the type of Christ as the firstborn: Isaac was the firstborn. Abraham is a type of God the Father being very old. At this point we will see we will get the exact age here in just a minute. But we know Abraham was over 100 plus the age of Isaac.

Verse 11: "And the angel of the LORD called to him from the heavens and said, 'Abraham! Abraham!' And he said, 'Here I am.'…. [I can imagine it was just like that, too] …And He said, 'Do not lay your hand upon the lad…'" (vs 11-12).

So up he's called the boy in v 5, and he's called the lad in v 12.

"…nor do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God…" (v 12). I want you to keep that statement in mind, and we will calculate in just a little bit the complete number of years that it was in until God said

"…for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me" (v 12).
John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish, but may have everlasting life."

So these are all the elements that we have in Gen 22, and these are important because it then establishes the covenant that God gave to Abraham that he could pass on to Isaac at this point. So this is very important and since one was a covenantal sacrifice on the Passover Day. This is a covenantal sacrifice even though we may not be able to calculate or figure the exact day it is undoubtedly at the Passover Day that this occurred. Because this is a covenantal sacrifice as we will see here in this little bit.

Genesis 22:13: "And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram was entangled in a thicket by its horns…."

• How did it get there?
• Did it just walk up there

or

• Did God create it?

I'm sure as they were walking up to go to the place for the sacrifice that they were looking around. I'm sure Isaac was looking around. Where's the Lamb? I'm sure he had his eyeballs peeled everywhere looking for a Lamb. So could it be that God just instantly created a ram a special sacrifice for this special covenant sacrifice that we are seeing here.

"…And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide; so that it is said until this day, 'In the mount of the LORD it will be provided'" (vs 13-14).

• Did Isaac remember where this place was all during his life? Yes!

This shows us that "…until this day…"

• Which day?
• Who wrote this?
• Is this Moses that wrote "…until this day…"? Yes!
• Did they know where the place was? Yes!

Otherwise they wouldn't say "…until this day, 'In the mount of the LORD it will be provided'" (v 14).
So, when we read through here we miss a lot of things, because we don't stop and think about it.  And sometimes we read through and we wonder:

• What does this mean?
• Why is this here?
• Is this the same place where Jesus was crucified?
• Is this one of the mountains of Moriah that later became known as the Mount of Olives?

That's where Jesus was crucified! It could very well be.

• Was Christ the sacrifice provided for the sin of the whole world?
• Did not John the Baptist say, 'Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world'?
• Yes!

So look at the type that we have here.

When the promises were given that was a covenantal sacrifice on God's part, which happened on the 14th day of the 1st month. In this case we have Abraham who was a type of God the Father. Isaac who was a type of Christ and was the firstborn of Sarah. Then we have all of a sudden God intervening to provide a substitute sacrifice in place of Isaac. This is New Testament doctrine from this way: the death of Christ Who is the Lamb of God is the substitute sacrifice for our sins. The wages of our sins is death.

Let's understand that this is a covenant sacrifice and let's see where it is. And this is a confirmation and a final establishment of the covenant that God promised Abraham and now it comes to a point of being irrevocable and irreversible because He said, "Now I know that you fear God."

Verse 15: "And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said, 'By Myself have I sworn,' says the LORD…" Let's stop and think about this for minute:

• Is God true? Yes!
• Is every word that He says always true? Yes!
• Does God need to swear? No!

But when he swears by Himself, He is basing this covenant and these promises on His existence. Meaning that they are going to be fulfilled because God exists. He has said He will do it. This is very powerful when we go through it.

"…'By Myself have I sworn,' says the LORD, 'because you have done this thing…'" (v 16).

• Do our works and faith count? Yes!
• What does it say? We're going to be rewarded according to our works!
• Isn't that true? Yes!

See how much we have wrapped up here in this chapter.

"…'because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son; that in blessing I will bless you… [it's irrevocable, irreversible] …and in multiplying I will multiply your seed like the stars of the heavens…'" (vs 16-17).

The spiritual promise of spiritual seed. But what must you have first before you have a spiritual seed? You must first have physical seed! That ties in with what Paul wrote. The spiritual was not first, but the physical. The first man Adam was of the earth, earthy. The second Adam was the Lord from heaven. Your seed, like the stars of heaven, though at times it is applied to the children of Israel. But there's also the spiritual Israel of God that you have to remember which is the Church and those who will be in the first resurrection.

"…and as the sand, which is upon the seashore. And your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. And in your seed… [Isaac and Christ] …shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice" (vs 17-18).

Now then, let's answer the question how old was Isaac when this took place? Well, if we have Abraham at 85 plus 15, we have 15 years added to the 400. We know that it was exactly 430 years to the very same day. Then Isaac had to be 15-years-old when this took place. That is how we count the 430 years.

Before we go back to Gen. 15, let's add up some other numbers that are very interesting concerning all of these events that we have basically covered. We know that Abram was:

• 75-years-old when God called him
• 85-years-old when the covenant was made (Gen. 15)
• 100-years-old when Isaac was born
• 115-years-old when God asked him to offer Isaac as a burnt offering

If we take all the years and add them together:

• 10 years
• 15 years
• 15 years

we come up with a total of—40 years—the number of trial and testing that we find in the Bible

• Moses was 40 years tending sheep before God called him to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt.
• Jesus was tested 40 days and 40 nights by Satan the devil

There are other examples of 40 years in different and varying ways. But 40 is significant because from the time that God called Abraham in Gen. 12 until the final confirmation of the covenant in Gen. 22 was 40 years.

This covenant sacrifice becomes the important thing. From this time forward there are 400 years left to 'the very same day.' So, we've got to have the Passover and Unleavened Bread involved in all three of these operations.

Genesis 15:13: "And He said to Abram, 'You must surely know that your seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs...four hundred years."

That 400 years begins to be calculated 30 years after he made this statement; 15 years until the birth of Isaac and 15 years until Isaac was offered as the sacrifice.

• Was Isaac sojourning in the land as a stranger? Yes!
• What happened to his son Jacob? Jacob went off over to Syria!
• Is that a land that was not his?

He stayed there with Laban and ended up with two wives. One he bargained for the other one he didn't.

• How long did it take him to come back to the land of Canaan?
• When he came back to the land of Canaan did he have possession of the land? No!
• How long did they wander there in the 'promise land'?

Then you have the incident which then happened where then the brothers hated Joseph because of his dream and because of the of the tunic. Not a coat of many colors, a tunic. And a tunic is a sign given by the father of the one who's going to be the leader and the inheritor. Remember that Joseph was when that started only seventeen. And you know the 'great love' that the brothers had for him! Of course, they hated him, and they feigned his death. And poor old Jacob he was all those years suffering because of the shenanigans and the carnality of the brothers.

But it was all in God's plan. What happened then? When the famine hit, you know the rest of the story there, they eventually came down into Egypt and they eventually found out that the one who was second in charge of Egypt was none other than their younger brother Joseph. What happened according to the dreams that Joseph told his brothers? He said, 'I was out there and there was the sun and the moon and I was there and all of these sheaves of grain bowed down to worship me.'

• What happened?
• What did they go to Egypt to receive? Grain!
• Where does that come from? Sheaves!
• What was the whole episode over? Bags of grain!

When they came back the second time to get more grain and after they had gone through all the shenanigans they bowed down to worship him as lord. So, God makes everything happen and come out according to his time and his purpose.

Exodus 12-13 & Deuteronomy 16—Passover Offering vs Passover Sacrifice:

We will spend the rest of the time answering some questions concerning Exo. 12-13 and Deut. 16. It will be a little different than what I have written in The Christian Passover book, which has been broken down in great detail. Let's come back to the chapter of the Passover in Exo. 12 so we can look at some of the instructions and that will help prepare us for looking at the things in Deut. 16. Because I want to read something that I will refer to when we get to Deut. 16.

Exodus 12:8: "And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread. They shall eat it with bitter herbs. Do not eat of it raw… [this is the Passover lamb that they sacrificed] …nor boiled at all with water…" (vs 8-9).

I want to emphasize that very clearly and importantly. Because this helps us understand the mistranslation that is in the King James Version of the Bible which has led so many people astray.

"…nor boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire, its head with its legs, and with its inward parts" (v 9)—which has to do with the heart and liver and the kidneys.

We already covered vs 41-42, the end of 430 years it is a night. So, they left when the sun was going down and going into the 15th day, just like we find the parallel in Gen. 15.

Now let's come to Exo. 13 and let's see something concerning the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins with The Night Much to be Observed. Now the chapter break in the King James should actually be broken right here, Exo. 13, So, I start out with:

Exodus 12:51: "And it came to pass the very same day, when the LORD brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies…

Exodus 13:1: "…then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Sanctify all the firstborn to Me, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, of man and of beast. It is Mine.'…. [now concerning the sacrifice for the firstborn]: …And Moses said to the people, 'Remember this day in which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for the LORD brought you out from this place by the strength of His hand. There shall be no leavened bread eaten. On this day… [15th day] …you are going out, in the month Abib'" (vs 1-4).

When we talk about a day it does not necessarily mean the day portion of the day. Mark 14:30 is where Jesus told Peter—so we see how Jesus spoke of the day and the night—that he would betray Him three times.

Mark 14:30: "And Jesus said to him, 'Truly I say to you, today, in this very night… [when he uses the term today it applies to that night] …before the cock crows twice, you shall deny Me three times.'"

We have to understand that sometimes when God says today it can also mean beginning with that very night. That's what we're talking about here

Exodus 13:4: "On this day…"—which is The Night to be Much Observed, because it says:

Exodus 12:41: "And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, it was even on that very same day… [the same time of the day as Gen. 15] …all the armies of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. It is a night to be much observed to the LORD…" (vs 41-42). So, we have day/night referring to the day beginning at night. When it says over here:

Exodus 13:3: "…'Remember this day…'" That does not mean it's in the day portion of the day, but right at the beginning of the night.

Verse 10: "You shall, therefore, keep this law in its season from year to year. And it shall be, when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to you and to your fathers, and shall give it to you, you shall set apart to the LORD all that opens the womb, and every firstborn that comes of any animal which you have; the males shall be the LORD'S" (vs 10-12).

Someone's going to ask 'What if it's a female? The female's still firstborn! Then that was to be used for the offerings for the Feasts. This becomes important when we come to Deut. 16. As well as the substitutionary sacrifice for the male children and the male animals that they would bring. So, you have a combination of both male and female.

Males belong to the Lord so it was given wholly to the priest. And the priest would have it, they would own it they and their families with eat it and they would not eat of that sacrificed because that went to the Lord. The females they would take to the feast and they would offer and they would eat it.

"…the males shall be the LORD'S. And every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb…. [you had that sacrifice, too] …And if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck…. [Do you want the donkey or not? Yes!] …And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, 'What does this mean?' you shall say to him, 'The LORD brought us out of Egypt by the strength of His hand, from the house of bondage. And it came to pass when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, the LORD killed all the firstborn of the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of animals. Therefore, I sacrifice to the LORD all that opens the womb, that are males. But all the firstborn of my sons I redeem'" (vs 12-15).

This was to be specially commemorated on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And what begins the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread? The Night to be Much Observed! Now let's come to Deut. 16. It's important that you read it in the Passover book because we have all the parallel chapters put there that you can read together so you can understand it.

Deuteronomy 16:1: "Keep the month of Abib, and observe the Passover to the LORD your God…. [Passover is one thing, we'll clarify something else here as we go along] …For in the month of Abib, the LORD your God brought you forth out of Egypt by night."

What night was that? The night after the Passover! The Passover pictured what the passing over. The Night to be Much Observed, beginning the Feast of Unleavened Bread, is the night that they left Egypt. Two different events. One on one night, one on the other night.

Verse 2: "And you shall, therefore, sacrifice the Passover Offering…"

Now this is where the confusion comes. And there is a difference in the Hebrew. The Passover Sacrifice was the Lamb or the kid goat. In the Hebrew the Passover Sacrifice was the Lamb to be eaten with the Passover meal. The Passover Offering that we are going to come to here are those offerings that were prepared and offered late on the Passover Day to begin observing The Night to be Much Observed. And you need to read in the Passover book where it was later that the whole Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread was called Passover. But let's read it carefully here now.

Verse 2: "And you shall, therefore, sacrifice the Passover Offering to the LORD your God, of the flock and the herd…"

Now the Passover Sacrifice was only to be taken from the flock not from the herd. Jesus was not called by John the Baptist, 'Behold the Passover Lamb of God'—not calf!

When I was really studying this through and coming to understand this the first time I was reading late at night in bed. I read that and because I was going over and over this because the Church was beginning to accept the Jewish tradition that the Passover and first day of Unleavened Bread were the same. And I said, 'Here it is!' Here's the temple sacrifice. They offer at the temple. Now no longer at home. I thought how can that be? And when I read this of the flock and of the herd I jumped out of bed and I said that's it. Because it specifically says in Exodus 12 you to take it from the flock. What you mean the herd?

So, this is not the Passover Sacrifice; this is the Passover Offering that was offered late on the Passover Day at the temple in preparation for The Night to be Much Observed. Now let's see how that fits. And let's also see something else that distinguishes this.

"…of the flock and the herd, in the place, which the LORD shall choose to place His name there" (v 2). That's at the tabernacle or the temple. The Passover Sacrifice was a domestic home sacrifice. Now we'll get into that next time about the Passover in the New Testament.

Verse 3: "You shall eat no leavened bread with it. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it…"

Unleavened bread was to be only eaten one day on the Passover Day. That's an unleavened bread day. Now here are seven days you're to eat it. That is the sacrifices, which began on the day portion of the Passover, but what were these sacrifices for? The firstborn male female redemption of unclean animals! Redemption of your own male sons. So, they had many sacrifices. This was a tremendous thing that they were doing.

"…Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, the bread of affliction, for you came forth out of the land of Egypt in haste, so that you may remember the day that you came forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life" (v 3).

That tells us this is the Feast of Unleavened Bread The Night to be Much Observed begins it, and it is not the Passover night because the Passover night the ceremony was that this is done because of the Lord passing over our houses.

Verse 4: "And there shall be no leaven seen with you in all your borders for seven days. Nor shall any of the flesh, which you sacrificed in the first day at sunset…"

Those special sacrifices for The Night to be Much Observed remain all night until morning. Because all of those sacrifices were peace offerings. All peace offerings you were not leave anything left over until morning. That's the same thing that applies to the Passover Sacrifice. So, this looks very similar then. But that's the difference and the distinction between it.

Verse 5: "You may not sacrifice the Passover Offering… [for the redemption of the firstborn] … within any of your gates, which the LORD your God gives you."

Whereas the 14th Passover was to be kept in your home. Now, we'll see something else a little later concerning that.

Verse 6: "But at the place which the LORD your God shall choose to place His name in, there you shall sacrifice the Passover Offering at sunset, at the going down of the sun, at the time that you came out of Egypt."

Verse 7 is another key verse that shows this could not be the Passover Sacrifice as instructed in Exo. 12.

Verse 7: "And you shall boil and eat it in the place which the LORD your God shall choose…." What was said of the Passover Sacrifice?

• you are not to boil it all with water
• it's to be of the flock a kid of the goats or the lambs

and we have here the herd and boiling. These are the redemption sacrifices for the firstborn to begin The Night to be Much Observed.

Verse 7: "And you shall boil and eat it in the place which the LORD your God shall choose. And in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents. Six days you shall eat unleavened bread…." (vs 7-8).

Right there that defines that in the morning. They stayed up all night. Can you imagine what kind of feast they had all night.

• all that flesh
• all that bread
• everybody there
• all the wine
• they were eating
• they were drinking
• they were rejoicing

Because they had been brought out of the land of Egypt, and when morning came they were to go to their tents and sleep for a good portion of the day. I don't know how many had hangovers depending on how much they drank.

But you see that it says suddenly six days. It's the only place in the whole Bible where it says six days. When you have one day of seven days of Unleavened Bread already used up how many do you have left? Six!

"…And on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD your God. You shall do no work" (v 8).

When you understand this properly this solves the problem of the difficulties between the 14th and 15th Passover.

We have solved the problem where the 30 years came from: 15 years between the promises given and the birth of Isaac, and 15 years in the birth of Isaac to the sacrifice of Isaac—that's the 30 years.

Then we have here Deut. 16: the Passover Offerings of the flock and herd have to do with the redemption of the firstborn. And the Passover Sacrifice of the Lamb has to do with the 14th Passover.

All of the years of confusion back and forth and arguing because of poor translation and wrong understanding.

Scriptural References:

• John 3:18-21
• 1 Corinthians 2:1-14
• Genesis 15:13-14
• Exodus 12:40-42
• Genesis 15:13
• Genesis 16:3
• Genesis 17:1-19, 7, 19-21
• Genesis 21:1-5
• Genesis 22:1-12
• John 3:16
• Genesis 22:13-18
• Genesis 15:13
• Exodus 12:8--4
• Mark 14:30
• Exodus 13:4
• Exodus 12:41-42
• Exodus 13:3, 10-15
• Deuteronomy 16:1-8

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Leviticus 23
• Galatians 4
• Hebrews 11

Also referenced: Books by Fred R. Coulter (truthofgod.org):

• The Christian Passover
• The Day Jesus the Christ Died
• A Harmony of the Gospels
• God's Plan for Mankind Revealed by the Sabbath and Holy Days
• Occult Holidays or God's Holy Days—Which?

FRC: po/bo
Transcribed: 3/26/17