Passover and Night to be Much Observed #3

Redemption of the Firstborn

Fred R. Coulter—February 25, 2006

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I have in my hand one paper that the Passover should be on the 15th and was changed in Num. 9, which we proved in part two that's not so. I have in my other hand a paper saying that the 15th should be moved back to the 14th.

Neither one of them can be right, and they are not right. The key is that nowhere in the entire Bible can you find where God combined the days! The 14th is the 14th and the 15th is the 15th!

As we covered in part two—very thoroughly—that the problem is reading and following along in the King James with the word 'evening' making no distinction between the two evenings and sunset. That causes great problems. There is a reason why this confusion lasts and continues. It is because of the practices of the Jews today. This is very important to understand and to realize what happened, because this is the place where someone says that God changed it from the 14th to the 15th.

He did no such thing! He did not make a temple, tabernacle or a burnt altar offering sacrifice. Nowhere is in the Bible that God commanded a temple sacrifice of th Passover lamb. We will cover Deut. 16 today, and we will see all the elements of Deut. 16 very carefully.

Numbers 9:1: "And the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 'Let the children of Israel also keep the Passover at its appointed time.'" (vs 1-2).

• What is the appointed season or time?
• The 14th or the 15th?

Verse 3: "In the fourteenth day of this month, between the two evenings…'"

The Schocken Bible has it this way, which is really the best; between the two eveningsis the best and is correct; this is how Schocken has it, and this is how he has it everywhere:

Numbers 9:3: (SB): "On the fourteenth day after this New Moon, between the setting times…"

Let me just say here, every question that has been brought up every answer is found in The Christian Passover book. In both of these papers, though the persons may be very sincere and well-intentioned, they take excerpts without reading through.

What I said at the very beginning of the Passover book… Since the first edition was published in 1993, the second edition was published in 1999, no one has disproved one thing that has been written! There are years and years of research into this. We have historical quotes that are mammoth!

• we are not seeking a position
• we are not going by a theory
• we are not going by assumptions

We are going by provable Biblical and historical facts! That's what it's operating on.

Each one of these papers is going on an assumption. Just like the Jews went on the assumption that children of Israel left their houses right after midnight, after the firstborn were killed and that's how they left at night. Therefore, the Passover is on the 15th.

Well that is a slight of hand, which we will see later, to explain why they keep a 15th Passover today, and they don't keep a 14th Passover. There's a very important reason why they don't keep a 14th Passover today. When God says the Passover is on the 14th—'ben ha arbayim' between the two evenings—which we can conclusively prove from Exo. 16 that 'ben ha arbayim' follows 'ba erev.'

In other words, between the two evenings follows sunset. That 'knocks into a cocked hat': 'ben ha arbayim' is not in the afternoon as the Jews claim today

Let me tell you how I came by the Schocken Bible: I was visiting Bob and Elaine Hunnicutt in 1992 and I was writing on the Passover for the first edition of the Passover book. We went into this huge bookstore and Elaine and I were going to meet Bob for lunch. We had some time and she had to get something at the bookstore so I went in with her and I thought I would look at the Bible section and see what they have.

Here's this book—The Five Books of Moses: The Schocken Bible Vol. 1—translated by Everett Fox. (a new translation with introductions)

I opened it up to Exo. 12 and he had 'between the setting times' for between the two evenings. I check quickly every place 'between the setting times.'

Here's what he has concerning the Passover.

Leviticus 23:5 (SB): "On the first New Moon, on the fourteenth after the New Moon, between the setting times (is) Passover to YHWH.

From the footnote: between the setting times: Between the time that the sun is below the horizon, no longer visible, and total darkness. An idiomatic rendition would be 'at twilight.'

Many of them have it at twilight. I said 'BINGO!' He's got it right, so I bought it. This is one of the most literal translations of the Hebrew. Likewise in Num. 9 he has the same thing:

• between the setting times

or

• between the two evenings

Numbers 9:3: "In the fourteenth day of this month, between the two evenings, you shall keep it in its appointed time. You shall keep it according to all its statutes, and according to all the ceremonies of it."

When did God give the rights (statutes) and ceremonies of it? The year before!

Verse 4: "And Moses spoke to the children of Israel to keep the Passover. And they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month between the two evenings in the wilderness of Sinai. According to all that the LORD commanded Moses, the children of Israel did" (vs 4-5).

The key is that in keeping the Passover, it starts with the preparation. What do you have to do? It means that they kept it in the way that He gave the commands! It doesn't mean that they were actually eating the Passover exactly between the two evenings. The literal translation by J.P. Green Sr. is more correct: They prepared the Passover!

But this is referring to keeping it in the way that they were told. So, you have to go back and read Exo. 12 how to do it.

Between the time of the first Passover in Egypt, and this time, God gave the laws of clean and unclean. God gave the laws in Num. 5 & 19 about how a person becomes unclean if they touch the dead body of a man, or whatever. That's why this came up.

Verse 6: "And there were certain men who were defiled by the dead body… [soul] …of a man… [this is saying is that the soul can die] …so that they could not keep the Passover on that day…."

They came after the fact. They came the next morning and said,'We weren't able to do this, are we now excluded? What do we do?'

"…And they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day. And those men said to them, 'We are defiled by the dead body of a man. Why are we kept back that we may not offer an offering of the LORD in its appointed time among the children of Israel?'" (vs 6-7).

The person who wrote the paper that it's on the 15th because of this and that God changed it here goes to Strong's Concordance.

Let' me tell you something, if you go to Strong's Concordance just like I wrote in the Passover book, you're going to collapse on your face, because it does not go into the details of it. The word for offering in Num. 9 is 'qorban,' which is just a general offering. It does not mean that it has to be brought to the altar.

Let's read on and see what happened because this is very important. We will see that there was no change of it to bring it to the altar—period—at any time! The 14th was a domestic observance.

Verse 8: "And Moses said to them, 'You wait here, and I will hear what the LORD will command about you.' And the LORD spoke to Moses saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel, saying, "If any man of you or of your generations shall be unclean because of a dead body, or in a journey afar off, he shall still keep the Passover to the LORD. They shall keep it the fourteenth day of the second month between the two evenings, eating it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break any bone of it. According to all the ordinances of the Passover they shall keep it"'" (vs 8-12).

This is very important to understand and tells us that in the covenant with Israel they had to be in the land of Israel to keep a 14th Passover

Verse 13: "But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and holds back from keeping the Passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he did not bring the offering of the LORD at its appointed time, that man shall bear his sin."

What were the instructions that God gave in Exo. 12? You would kill it at home and put the blood on the side doorposts and lintel! There was no command at any time to bring it to the temple to offer the Passover Sacrifice.

There is something called the Passover Offering, which we are going to cover in Deut. 16. That is different than the Passover Sacrifice. This use of the offering in 'qorban' covers the Passover Sacrifice because it refers back to the instructions given in Exo. 12.

You cannot make any definitive conclusion based upon Num. 9 when you exclude Exo. 12, because it's referring back to Exo. 12. So, you have to get your instructions there.

If they don't do it, v 14: "And if a stranger shall live among you, and will keep the Passover to the LORD, he shall do according to the law of the Passover, and according to its ordinance…. [found in Exo. 12] …You shall have only one law… [didn't change it to the altar] …both for the stranger and for him that was born in the land."

So, the paper that says, 'Num. 9 shows that Moses changed it to the 15th' cannot stand the test of Truth!

• it's not what you think
• it's not what you believe
• it's not what you feel
• it's not what you misread or misinterpret

It's what is the Truth that stands close, magnifying scrutiny! That's what the second edition of the Passover book does.

I want to read from The Christian Passover book that answers the question from the Jews' own mouth as to way they don't keep a 14th Passover today.

When we get to the New Testament Passover, we're going to find out what the sacrifice is of our Passover: Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God!

• Where was He slain? In Jerusalem, outside the wall! It was outside the city as prophesied.
• Where was our sacrifice given? In Jerusalem! One sacrifice for all time for all sin!

That's why when He changed the Passover emblems on the Passover night, which we'll cover later, but I just want to project forward a little bit so you understand what is happening.

Jesus did the foot-washing, and then broke the bread and said, 'Eat, this is My body, which is broken for you.' And He took the wine and said, 'Take drink, this is My blood, which is shed for the remission of sins. This do in the remembrance of Me!'

Since the sacrifice is Christ, and it was done in Jerusalem, the remembrance of it through the Christian Passover—with the foot-washing, the bread and the wine—can be taken anywhere in the world on the 14th at the time that Jesus said, which coordinates with the time that was given in the Old Testament.

Why does Satan cause so much confusion concerning the Passover, which had degenerated into many different version of it: communion, the Sacrifice of the Mass, and taking it any time they want to, even hourly. Some priests give three Masses a day. By the time they're done drinking all the wine—because they don't give it to the people—they're sort of staggering out to their little room that they go to when they're done. You can tell how much wine that they drink and how close to becoming alcoholics some of them are, because all you have to do is look at their faces and they've to this glowing, almost pulsating red face and broken veins. That only comes from being an alcoholic unless you have some other disease.

From The Christian Passover, 2nd ed.; pg 202:

The Exiles Could Not Keep the Passover

Why? Because they were to keep it 'in the land.' If you are not in the land, being and Israelite or a Jew, you could not keep the 14th Passover. You could keep Unleavened Bread, which all the Jews in the Diaspora have done. But how do they make it look like it's the Passover? Because they call the Feast of Unleavened Bread 'Passover; eight days of Passover.'

They are not honest like the Karaite Jews in admitting that they can't keep the 14th Passover because they are exiled for punishment of sin. They do not even keep a 14th Passover—those Jews who are living in the land now—because they don't have temple. They're tradition has changed it! Why was it changed? Because they rejected Jesus!

As I covered earlier, do not go to the Jew as a lawgiver, because there is ONE Lawgiver, Who is God,and one of Them became a human being of the house of David of the tribe of Judah! The Lawgiver was until Shiloh come,' and He came!

That's why so many brethren, because they get all infatuated with Jewish tradition and everything, they fall victims of Judaism! Please understand that in the Passover book it's made very clear:

• Jesus never followed the rabbis!
• Jesus was never a rabbi in the sense—though they called Him 'Rabbi' referring to Him as Teacher—of a rabbi of Judaism
• Jesus was never schooled in any of the their schools

That's all in here in the Passover book. People who come along and attack the Passover book and take out little excerpts here and there and say that Fred Coulter is wrong. Look, it's not me that they're coming against, because this is not my theory! though I did write it and put it together. This is putting together all the Truth so we can understand the whole meaning of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and yea, all the Holy Days of God as we ought to.

Please remember and understand, Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Pentecost all apply to the Church and in rejecting Jesus the Jews have it all messed up.

Continuing in the Passover book and it is talking about Daniel's heartfelt prayer (page 201) of repentance (Dan. 9):

pg. 202: What a heartfelt prayer to God! What a powerful admission of the sins and transgressions that Judah and all Israel had committed against God! As a result of their wickedness, they had become a reproach to all the nations around, exactly as Moses had prophesied: "...even all the nations shall say, 'Why has the LORD done this to this land? For what is the meaning of the heat of this great anger?' Then men shall say, 'Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers which He made with them when He brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, for they went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they did not know and that He had not allotted to them. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land to bring on it all the curses that are written in this book. And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger and wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is today' " (Deut. 29:24-28).

Even the heathen peoples of the world understood that the captivity of Israel and Judah was decreed by God. They knew that He had executed this great curse because His people had broken His covenant with them. Their exile from the land of the covenant was a sign to them and to all the world that God had rejected them. While in exile, the people were not in covenant with God.

Because they weren't 'in the land'!

The Exiles Could Not Keep the Passover

As Jeremiah had prophesied, the Babylonian captivity lasted seventy years. During this seventy-year captivity, the land was desolate, and Jerusalem and the temple were in ruins. Because the temple was destroyed, no sacrifices could be offered. Since the people were no longer in the land of Judea, they could not restore the temple and renew the covenant.

That did not happen until the time Ezra!

Moreover, during the entire seventy-year captivity, the Passover could not be kept. The word of God makes it absolutely clear that when the people were not in the land of Israel, they could not keep the Passover on the 14th day of the first month….

We just read that in Num. 9!

God's instructions to Moses show that the people were not allowed to keep the Passover when they were away from the land of Israel. This prohibition applied to all those who were carried out of the land to captivity and exile. That the Jews in exile could not observe the Passover is acknowledged by the Karaite Jews and recorded by Samuel Al-Magribi in 1484: "Today, however, by reason of our many sins, we are scattered over the four corners of the earth, we are dispersed in the lands of the Gentiles, we are soiled with their ritual uncleanness and unable to reach the House of the Lord, and our status is equivalent to that of persons ritually unclean or traveling far away. That is why this ordinance of the Passover sacrifice no longer applies to us…"

That's why they use the shank bone on the 15th, which begins the Feast of Unleavened Bread!

"…and the reason for this is our fathers' exceeding disobedience to God and our own following in their sinful footsteps" (Nemoy, Karaite Anthology, p. 206)

So, the Jews know!

I don't see in any one of these papers anyone going through and quoting this from the Passover book, or even recognizing that that was so.

So, to claim that in Num. 9 that this changes it from a domestic sacrifice to a temple sacrifice is completely untrue, untenable and a twisting of Scriptures, and is a figment of the imagination of the person who wrote it!

Exo. 12—I want to review this again. This is very important to follow along and understand. I know that I have covered it, but even today after covering it over and over and over again, people still don't get it. The reason they don't get it is simply because they only read part of it. You can't do that! You have to take the whole thing.

We will go through certain selected verses because that's what we need to cover. In each paper and also throw in the one by Robert Kuhn and Lester Grabbe—which I mention in the Passover book—and the one that I mentioned that Darrel Hanson did—combining the 15th with the 14th and instead of ending up with eight days, you end up with seven.

The Jews start with the 15th and end up on the 22nd so they still have eight days, and they call it eight days of Passover. That's why you have to go into the Bible and you must understand what it says. That's why before we even start I've got The Fourteen Rules of Bible Study and one of the rules is to not use Strong's Concordance to make final dogmatic decisions concerning doctrinal issues, because Strong's is not accurate enough in details. It does not even contain between the two evenings: 'ben ha arbayim,' which is a derivative of 'ba erev.'

Everywhere 'ben ha arbayim' is in the Hebrew, Strong's lists it under 'ba erev,' which is absolutely wrong. I spend a whole chapter explaining that.

So, before anyone comes along with anything against the 14th Passover or the 15th Night to be Much Observed, or a 15th Passover against a 14th Passover and combine the Night to be Much Observed and the Passover on the 15th, or combine the 15th with the 14th on the Passover, and so forth, you've got to get all the facts straight! We're going to also see another assumption.

Now, I want to prove a point, because in the paper that was sent to me was this: 'The Passover is a Holy Day.'

Leviticus 23:1: "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, "Concerning the appointed Feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be Holy convocations, even these are My appointed Feasts. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, a Holy convocation. You shall not do any work. It is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwellings"'" (vs 1-3).

• What do the Jehovah Witnesses say? Every day is Holy!
• What does God say? The seventh day is Holy!

They make themselves greater than God by saying that every day is Holy! The standard answer you ought to give to them is, 'When do you work?' Because it says that on a Holy Day you're not to work. That shows the foolishness of that reasoning!

Verse 4: "These are the appointed Feasts of the LORD, Holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their appointed seasons."

Let's understand that when it is a specific Holy convocation it says so. When it is a Feast not being a Holy convocation it says so.

Verse 5: "In the fourteenth day of the first month, between the two evenings, is the LORD'S Passover."

We know that it was killed between sunset and dark, and the first Passover that they did in Egypt, they all killed it as soon as the sun went down below the horizon.

Verse 6: "And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD…."

Are all Feasts Holy convocations, every day Holy convocations? No! God's specifies what days are Holy convocations or Holy Days! He does it here and He does it in Exo. 12 and so forth.

"…You must eat unleavened bread seven days. On the first day you shall have a Holy convocation. You shall not do any servile work therein." (vs 6-7).

Days 2-6 are not Holy Days, except when you have a weekly Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. If Passover is on Tuesday night, the Night to be Much Observed is on Wednesday night, and then Friday night begins the Sabbath. So, we would have three Holy Days during the seven days. The other days are not Holy Days!

So, you cannot say because the Passover is called 'a Feast unto the Lord' that it is a Holy Days. That's the mistake that was made in this paper claiming that that's why the 15th is on the 14th.

Exodus 12:5: "Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You shall take it from the sheep or from the goats." No calf! No bovine! Very important to understand when we come to Deut. 16.

Verse 6: "And you shall keep it up until the beginning of the fourteenth day of the same month. And the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it between the two evenings."

We have proved conclusively that that is after 'ba erev'—sunset (Exo. 16). No one has ever disproved Exo. 16 by God's use of 'ba erev' for sunset, and 'ben ha arbayim' as between the two evenings. I covered that thoroughly in part two.

The Jewish interpretation is between the 9th and 11th hours and may be found in some Bible. That is from Judaism and not from the Scriptures! {Note sermon series: Scripturalism vs Judaism}

True Christianity did not come out of Judaism! The Law of Moses has nothing to do with Judaism, though they call it the Law of Moses. Most people are not familiar with that. Just like the Catholics have tradition over the Word of God, the Jews have tradition over the Word of God, and the word of the rabbis is greater than the judgment of what is in the Bible. So, in both cases you're dealing with the doctrines of men! And so are we in dealing with these two things concerning the 15th/14th or the 14th/15th.

It says where to put the blood and so forth (v 7).

Verse 8: "And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire…"

Night follows between the two evenings, between sunset and dark. So, here we have night, and it means night! Roasted is very important. Deut. 16 says boil.

"…and unleavened bread. They shall eat it with bitter herbs. Do not eat of it raw, nor boiled at all with water…"

Boil in Hebrew is 'ubsl'; sometimes it can mean cook as if you're cooking a stew. If you're going to have a stew, what do you have to put in it? Water!

"…but roasted with fire, its head with its legs, and with its inward parts. And you shall not let any of it remain until the morning… ['boquer'—sunrise] …And you shall not let any of it remain until the morning. And that which remains of it until the morning you shall burn with fire. And this is the way you shall eat it: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in trepidation. It is the LORD'S Passover, For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night… [the 14th at midnight] …and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. And the blood shall be a sign to you upon the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day… [the 14th] …shall be a memorial to you. And you shall keep it a Feast to the LORD throughout your generations…." (vs 9-14). He does not says that it is a Holy Day; it is a memorial Feast!

When we get to the New Testament and see the sacrifice of Christ, everything that took place there, you will understand why the Passover is not a Holy Day! It has never been a Holy Day. You cannot make it a Holy Day because it is called a feast!

"…You shall keep it a feast as a law forever" (v 14).

As I mentioned, it is full stop; it comes to a stop! Next is seven days having nothing to do with the Passover Day, which has already been covered. I went through and explained all about the seven days of Unleavened Bread, explaining how it says:

Verse 18: "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at sunset…" So, you begin it between the two evenings, you have the whole day as a memorial, a feast unto God, and it ends at sunset and that is the end of the 14th!

The difference between the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread is this: He passed over the children of Israel and spared their firstborn and smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast.

Verse 16: "And in the first day… [of the seven; not the first day being the Passover] …there shall be a Holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be a Holy convocation for you…."

God defines a Holy convocation. If the Passover Day were a Holy convocation He would have said so! God didn't say so, so it's not a Holy convocation. It is a Memorial Feast.

"…No manner of work shall be done in them, except that which every man must eat, that only may be done by you. And you shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for in this very same day…" (vs 16-17). Which day? The beginning of the 15th, not the Passover Day!

The paper attempting to show that the 15th and 14th should be combined, they say, 'The selfsame day refers to the Passover Day.' NO! Because on the Passover Day He passed over their houses! You cannot have them leaving their houses before sunrise.

Verse 17: "And you shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread…"—not the Passover Day!

Since this is in Egypt there's no mention of a temple or tabernacle, because God did not give Moses the instructions concerning that until after they got to Mt. Sinai.

"…for in this very same day I have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore, you shall keep this day in your generations as a law forever" (v 17).

In both cases where those who theorize that the 15th goes on the 14th or the 14th goes on the 15th they must have the children of Israel leaving their houses shortly after midnight. As I explained, we went through that very thoroughly in the Passover book, so read the book! All the answers are in the Passover book, but the problem is people get lazy because it's 500 pages. Well, the reason that it's 500 pages is because of all the confusion that has been concerning the Passover—Old Testament and New Testament!

We didn't do 500 pages just to have a thick book! If we could have done it in 30 pages we would have. But we didn't! I remember when we started with the first edition, I said, 'Brethren, because of all the controversy we have with the Passover, we need a good thick in-depth booklet about 75 pages. Then we were going along and everybody kept asking because, as you know, when writing it takes longer.

(go to the next track)

I was asked how the booklet was coming, and I said that we're up past 60 pages right now, and we'll have more than 75. How many do you think? 125! So, I get up close to 120 and they ask, 'How far along are you now?' I'm up to about 120, so maybe it will be 175! I get up close to 170 and they asked, 'How many is it going to be?' I said that it would be over 200! So, when I got close to 200 they asked again how many pages it would be. I said, 'I give up, I don't know, but when I'm done, I'm done.' The first edition ended up being 300+ pages.

Let's understand Exo. 12 very thoroughly. They did not, could not have, left their homes before sunrise, which would put you on the day portion of the 14th.

Exodus 12:21[transcriber's correction]: "Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, 'Draw out and take a lamb for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. And you shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip in the blood that is in the bowl, and strike the lintel and the two side-posts with the blood in the bowl. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until ['boquer'] sunrise" (vs 21-22).

Did they leave before sunrise? If any of them would have left their houses before sunrise that would have been written in there, just like it was when some of them went out on the Sabbath to look for manna (Exo. 12)..

Verse 28: "And the children of Israel went away and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron; so they did."

Another thing that you can read in the Passover book is that Moses did not leave his place after midnight to go to Pharaoh. Pharaoh's men came to Moses and said, 'You can leave.' However long after midnight that was, you can read it in the Passover book, or in Exo. 10-11 where it talks about how Moses would never see Pharaoh face-to-face again. So, Pharaoh sent his messengers down.

Where were the children of Israel located at the time they kept the Passover? In the land of Goshen, which was in the northeast part of the Delta! It's part of Egypt!

In the morning they were to leave their houses. These houses were scattered throughout Goshen. I've got a map and I show it in the Passover book, and you need to read it.

They had to get together at Rameses for the exodus to begin. It took all the day portion of the 14th to get there. Some got there rather quickly, some took a little longer, but they got there. Those who got there first were able to rest up a little bit; those who got there last were able to rest up when they got there. When the first part of them started leaving, it took hours before the last part of them got out of there.

So, even though they started leaving at sundown, the going down of the sun, then did not get out of Rameses until night. I go into great detail explain the logistics of it, how they had to go, how long it would take, etc.

As I said in the book, you get all these armchair scholars that lean back in their chairs and put their feet up on the desk and speculate about the Passover and how it is done, and have no idea of the logistics of it, and the whole thing is logistics.

What they did was finish spoiling the children of Israel on their way to Rameses. Let's read this very clearly; they had to come to Rameses:

Verse 37: "And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth…" So, they had to get from the land of Goshen, from their houses, leaving in the morning to get to Rameses!

Someone is surely going to say, 'How could they possibly stay up two nights in a row?

• Could God give them the strength and energy to do it? Yes!        
• Did God not even say that your shoes and clothes didn't wear out in 40 years?

Besides, you think about all that the people went through in hearing all the cries and screams of the firstborn that were killed of the Egyptians.

• Can you imagine how much adrenalin was pumped into to their system, and how excited they were to go?
• Can you imagine how excited they were loaded down with gold, silver and precious jewels, clothes and raiment?

They were walking out with the wages of 200 years of slavery, rejoicing!

• Can you imagine how excited they were holding all of these gold and silver jewels and all of these expensive things?

They walked out with the wealth of Egypt!

Who would be able to sleep? You tell me this, if you found a pure vein of gold somewhere, don't you think that you would be awake for a couple of days thinking about that? Sure you would!

Don't put it in the sense that they were up two nights in a row. Absolutely, because God gave them the power and strength to do it.

"…the men being about six hundred thousand on foot, apart from little ones" (v 37).

So, you just estimate 1.8 million! If you have a family of ten, think about all the trouble you have to go through to get everybody coordinated and ready to go. If you have an SUV, to get all the kids in the van to go at the same time. Think about Moses' and Aaron's task of getting 1.8 million people ready to go in an orderly manner.

You don't accomplish this by…. One minute after midnight all the firstborn are dead, 'Let's go! Let's go to Rameses! The exodus begins on the night of the 14th!' Nonsense! The Night to be Much Observed begins on the 14th! Nonsense!

Verse 38: "And also a mixed multitude went up with them..." These were the Israelites who married Egyptians! So, you half Israelite and half Egyptian.

"…and flocks and herds, very much livestock. And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not stay, neither had they prepared any food for themselves for the journey" (vs 38-39).

People say that this means that they left immediately. NO! The most immediately they could leave was when they got out of their houses in the morning and came to Rameses!

The day that they left Rameses was NOT the 14th, because we read that in Num. 33. Here the mistake that is done in this paper on putting the 15th on the 14th.

Verse 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…" (vs 40-41).

What they're claiming is that 'the selfsame day' or "…very same day…" refers to the Passover Day. It does NOT! It refers to a time 430 years before, not the Passover Day.

That day is fully explained in the Passover book. If it sounds like a broken record, read the Passover book; it is a broken record because too many people have the book and don't read it.

The thing is this, I'm not angry at you for not reading it, but I am really concerned that people would come up with ideas and things from other people's papers and they didn't take the time and effort to go through the Passover book and examine with what is in here of what that paper is talking about.

You can all be thankful that I haven't had to go through this for a number of years. You have to prove all things, as the Bible says.

Verse 42: "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." Can't get any clearer!

Verse 43: "And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 'This is the ordinance of the Passover….'"

Let's see the pattern that we have here in Exo. 12 to understand it: Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread.

• vs  1-14—Passover
• vs 15-20—Unleavened Bread

• Does Unleavened Bread follow Passover? Yes, indeed!
• What day is the day of Unleavened Bread numbered as in Lev. 23 & Num. 33? The 15th day of the first month!
• When did they come forth? By night!

So, it could not have been the 14th—period!

• vs 21-32—Passover
• vs-33-36—Day portion of the Passover, assembling at Rameses
• vs 37-42—Unleavened Bread

So, we have the pattern of Passover/Unleavened Bread. You can't have the Feast of Unleavened Bread without the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread follows the Passover.

• vs 43-50—a summary of additional instructions concerning the Passover

Verse 51: "And it came to pass the very same day…"

When people read that they say that this has to refer to the Passover. NO! This does not refer to the Passover.

"…when the LORD brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies" (v 51).

Which day did they leave? Num. 33:3, the 15th!

Now, I think it is important to know the technical things, and Everett Fox is a foremost expert in Hebrew today; he breaks the verses between vs 50 and 51, and puts 51 to show that it should be beginning Exo. 13. (see footnote in the SB) to show that. The breakdown of the verses and chapters were arbitrary; here's one place that was a mistake and Fox corrects. (this has been corrected in the Favorite Version.

Verse 51 (SB): "It was on that same day, (when) YHWH brought the Children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their forces"—coma, not period. This is part of the problem with the KJV; the full stop comes at v 50.

Another translation has 'on the day when God brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt'—coma!

We're going to get into some new things that will help us understand about Deut. 16 when we get to it. But this becomes a very important thing. What we are doing is going systematically through proving, testing and understanding the Word of God as it is!

You cannot take the KJV in isolation and establish doctrine on it, because there are enough inaccuracies in it.

Verse 51 (FV): "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."

• When did He bring them out?
• On the Passover Day, the 14th?

or

• On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the 15th?
• When does that begin? At 'ba erev' ending the 14th and beginning the 15th!

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.' 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'" (vs 1-3).

They are to remember the day they left; they are to keep the Feast of the Passover as a memorial Feast—two different things! Two different occurrences, even though they happen one right after the other!

Verse 4: "On this day you are going out, in the month Abib."

Verse 11: "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 11-12). This is different than the Passover! This is all the firstborn!

Verse 13: "And every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb. And if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem." They redeemed it with an offering of an animal, plus an offering of money!

Now let's see what the first day of Unleavened Bread means as they explain it to their children, and especially in relationship to the firstborn in the first part of Exo. 13 and then vs 12 & 13.

Verse 14: "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. And it shall be for a token upon your hand, and for frontlets between your eyes, for the LORD brought us out from Egypt by strength of His hand" (vs 14-16).

God knew that He was not going to take them the easy way to the 'promised land.' There was an easy way to go to the 'promised land,' and I think we get a good lesson of this in our lives, too. God doesn't take us the easy way! The reason is that eternal life is so profound and good that God knows living in this world is going to be difficult.

Here we have a parallel with the children of Israel; v 17: "And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines… [which goes right up along the coast from Egypt to the Mediterranean that we call Gaza today] …although that was near, for God said, 'Lest the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt.' But God led the people toward the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea" (vs 17-18).

That's how God took them, and it's the same way with us. I think it's interesting that William Tyndale said that the reason we have trials and difficulties is so that God will know what's in our heart!

If we always had everything just perfect, smooth and nothing ever went wrong, we would be the most arrogant and conceited and loving of any people that could be. We would have no understanding or compassion.

This is why God took them that way, because there were going to be difficulties that they would encounter. Yet, God was still with them. We will see when we come to the meaning of the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, how that God will fight our battles for us, and we need to believe God and go forward!

In Exo. 12 we will see that there are two services:

• the Passover ordinance
• the service of the Passover

Exodus 12:24: "And you shall observe this thing as a law to you and to your children forever. And it shall be when you have come to the land, which the LORD will give you, according as He has promised that you shall keep this service. And it will be, when your children shall say to you, 'What does this service mean to you?' Then you shall say, 'It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S Passover, Who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our houses.' And the people bowed their heads and worshiped" (vs 24-27). Do you see the difference between the two of them?

• One is the passing over on the Passover Day on the 14th!
• The other is deliverance when they came out by the hand of the LORD!

Now we have added into on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the firstborn of man and beast!

Now let's see about the firstborn, because we are going to see all those offerings in Deut. 16 are these very offerings of the firstborn, which were to be offered on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. I think you're going to find this very interesting, and those offerings were peace offerings!

Numbers 3:11: "And the LORD spoke to Moses saying, 'And I, behold I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that open the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore, the Levites shall be Mine, because all the firstborn are Mine. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I set apart to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They shall be Mine. I am the LORD'" (vs 11-13). He set them aside and protected them!

Then on the first day of Unleavened Bread they are to offer the offerings commemorating that redemption, and the fact that everything that opens the womb of man and beast belongs to God.

Verse 40: "And the LORD said to Moses, 'Number all the firstborn of the males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names. I am the LORD, you shall take the Levites for Me, in the place of all the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the domestic livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the livestock of the children of Israel.' And as the LORD commanded him, Moses numbered all the firstborn among the children of Israel. And all the firstborn males by the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those numbered of them, were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three" (vs 40-43).

The long and short of it is that was a difference of 273[transcriber's correction] of the firstborn in all of Israel, and the whole tribe of Levi, which was 22,000 (v 39).

So, here is what God said, and here is part of where they are redeemed, not only with an offering, but with money.

Verse 44: "And the LORD spoke to Moses saying, 'Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the domestic livestock of the Levites instead of their domestic livestock. And the Levites shall be Mine. I am the LORD. And for those that are to be redeemed of the two hundred and seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel, who are more than the Levites, you shall even take five shekels each by the head, according to the shekel of the sanctuary you shall take. (The shekel is twenty gerahs.) And you shall give to Aaron, and to his sons, the silver of the redeemed left over among them.'" (vs 44-48).

Verse 49: "And Moses took the redemption silver from those who were over and above the ones who were redeemed by the Levites. He took the silver from the firstborn of the children of Israel: one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. And Moses gave the silver from those who were redeemed to Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses" (vs 49-51).

That's something when we understand. There is a commemoration of the firstborn on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Numbers 8:14: "So, you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel. And the Levites shall be Mine. And after that the Levites shall go in to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. And you shall purify them and offer them for a wave offering. For they are wholly given to Me from among the children of Israel, instead of those that open every womb, the firstborn of all the children of Israel. I have taken them for Myself. For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are Mine, both man and animal. On the day that I struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt I set them apart for Myself" (vs 14-17).

You do not commemorate the redeeming of the firstborn on the Passover Day by the Passover sacrifice. That is when they were protected and spared. God redeemed them on that day. But the commemoration of it is on the 15th!

Let's see that the firstborn are connected with the redemption of the firstborn, the sacrifice of the redemption of the firstborn is connected with the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Exodus 22:29: "You shall not delay to offer the first of your ripe fruits and of your vintage. You shall give the firstborn of your sons to Me. Likewise you shall do with your oxen and with your sheep; it shall be with its dam seven days. On the eighth day you shall give it to Me" (vs 29-30).

Exo. 34 shows the minimum age when it could be offered, eight days! When does circumcision take place? Eight days!

Exodus 34:18: "You shall keep the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. You shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, in the time of the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt. All that opens the womb is Mine…" (vs 18-19).

This is the dedication beginning the Feast of Unleavened Bread. We're going to see what sort of offering that they brought. There were several offerings, and they literally brought the firstborn of the clean beasts that belonged to God. Those were offered in sacrifice. Then we are going to see that the firstborn also brought a special offering for themselves in thanksgiving to God, which we will see are peace offerings.

Verse 19: "All that opens the womb is Mine; all firstlings of male livestock, of oxen or sheep. But the firstling of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb. And if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem…." (vs 19-20).

When did they redeem them? On the Feast of Unleavened Bread!

"…And none shall appear before Me empty" (v 20).

Deuteronomy 15:19: All the firstborn males that come from your herd and from your flock, you shall set apart to the LORD your God. You shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. You shall eat before the LORD your God year by year in the place, which the LORD shall choose, you and your household" (vs 19-20).

This is different than the Passover sacrifice! They could kill it and eat it at their homes. That was the command!

What this is talking about is the peace offerings representing the redemption of the firstborn! They would bring the firstborn of the clean animals and they would sacrifice them.

Verse 21: "And if there is a blemish in it, lame, or blindness, or any ill blemish, you shall not sacrifice it to the LORD your God. You shall eat it inside your gates. The one who is unclean and the one who is clean shall eat it alike…" (vs 21-22)—unclean by touching a dead body or by an issue from a man, or menstrual period of a woman; they could all eat it.

"…as the gazelle, and as the deer. Only you shall not eat the blood of it. You shall pour it on the ground like water" (vs 22-23).

Now we come to the difficult to understand, Deut. 16. We will start on this, but we won't go through it all, because we need time to absorb this.

Deuteronomy 16:1: "Keep the month of Abib… [the whole month] …and observe the Passover to the LORD your God…."

• When were they to keep the Passover? On the 14th!
• What animal were they to use? From the flock—goat or lamb—less than a year old!

"…For in the month of Abib, the LORD your God brought you forth out of Egypt by night" (v 1). When was that? The 15th!

What we have here in v 1 is the 14th and the 15th. Now, here's where the difficulty comes beginning in v 2. We will read all the verses and then come back and analyze it in part 4 of this series.

Verse 2: "And you shall, therefore, sacrifice the Passover offering…" This is not the Passover lamb of the 14th! These are offering that they started offering late on the 14th in preparation for commemoration of redeeming the firstborn.

Continuing in the Schocken Bible:

Verse 2: "You are to slaughter the Passover offering…"

Notice what it says in v 1: "…You are to observe the Passover to YHWH your God…"

Verse 2: "You are to slaughter the Passover offering to YHWH your God, (from) the flock and herd…"

That cannot be the 14th Passover! Cannot be, because it was to be a of the flock only!

What did we just read in Deuteronomy 15:19 (FV): "All the firstborn males that come from your herd and from your flock…"

So, we have it over here in Deuteronomy 16:2: "…flock and herd…"

That's what it's talking about, the peace offerings! And they were not leaven any until morning. That's where the instruction for the Passover peace offering, offered late on the Passover Day coming into the 15th! That's where the confusion comes from.

Deuteronomy 16:7 in the KJV is a blatant mistranslation. It says roast! This is not roast, it is:

Verse 7 (FV): "And you shall boil… [that's what they were to do with the peace offerings] …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."

They stayed up and observed the Night to Be much Observed all night! That's what it's talking about.

Schocken has exactly correct, v 7: "You are to boil it and you are to eat it in the place that YHWH your God chooses. Then you are to face about, at daybreak, and go back to your tents."

This is not the Passover night, this is the first night of the Feast of Unleavened Bread!

Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version (except where noted)

Scriptural References:

• Numbers 9:1-3
• Leviticus 23:5
• Leviticus 9:3-14
• Leviticus 23:1-7
• Exodus 12:5-6, 8-14, 18, 16-17, 21-22. 28. 37-43, 51
• Exodus 13:1-4, 11-18
• Exodus 12:24-27
• Numbers 3:11-13, 40-51
• Numbers 8:14-17
• Exodus 22:29-30
• Exodus 34:18-20
• Deuteronomy 15:19-23
• Deuteronomy 16:1-3
• Exodus 15:19
• Deuteronomy 16:2; 7

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Numbers 12; 5; 10
• Daniel 9
• Exodus 12:7
• Numbers 33:3; 3:39

Also referenced:

Booklet: The Fourteen Rules of Bible Study by Fred R. Coulter

Books:

• The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter
• The Five Books of Moses: A Schocken Bible Volume I by Everett Fox

Sermon Series: Scripturalism vs Judaism

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 7/28/20