Passover, Unleavened Bread and 430 Years

Fred R. Coulter—March 26, 2016

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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services. This year we're trying to provide you with everything you need for a good Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Let's begin here by coming to Luke 13. One of the mistakes that religionists, especially Christianity, make is that they like to separate it out, rather than combine the Word of God—Old and New Testament.

The Word of God goes all the way back to creation and all the way forward to the Kingdom of God on earth, and then on into the new heavens and earth. So, it is a complete book from beginning to end.

Luke 13:22: "Now, He [Jesus] was going through the cities and villages teaching, while making progress toward Jerusalem. And one said to Him, 'Lord, are those who are being saved few?'…." (vs 22-23). Notice that He didn't answer the question. Lots of times He doesn't answer the question directly.

"…Then He said to them, 'Strive with your whole being to enter in through the narrow gate…'" (vs 23-24). That ties in with Matt. 7. Think about what Christianity in the world is. They have the broadest, the easiest road possible. You just say you believe in Jesus. You claim the forgiveness of sin. You've started, you've finished, it's over, it's done and there's nothing left to do. You just go live your life the way you want to live it.

"'…for many, I say to you, will seek to enter in, but shall not be able…. [there comes a time, which is coming] …Once the Master of the house has risen up and has shut the door, and you begin to stand outside the door and knock, saying, "Lord, Lord, open to us"; then shall He answer and say to you, "I do not know you or where you are from." And you shall begin to say, "We ate and drank in Your presence, and You have taught in our streets"'" (vs 24-26). This is right to the people who were there.

Think about it, multitudes followed Jesus wherever He went. He healed the sick, He raised the dead, but He was teaching His apostles and His disciples. When you come to Acts 1, how many really believed Him? 120!

Verse 28: "There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you yourselves are cast out. Then they shall come from the east and the west, and from the north and the south, and shall sit down in the Kingdom of God" (vs 28-29). All of this is the result of preaching the Gospel to the whole world;  as Jesus said: 'Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all nations.' He also told them to feed the sheep, feed the lambs.

Verse 30: "And behold, there are the last who shall be first, and the first who shall be last."

What is the connection between salvation and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? A lot of people like to be New Testament Christian, but come here to Gal. 3 and let's see that there is a connection between the Old Testament and New Testament, and that those who are of the faith are Abraham's seed.

Galatians 3:26: "Because you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither bond nor free; there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (vs 26-28). That's what it will be in the Kingdom of God. We are still all of those things in the flesh.

Verse 29: "And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

• What was the promise?
• When was the promise given?

It was given a long time before the institution of the New Covenant.

We will see the promises that God gave to Abraham. He starts the covenant, He guarantees the covenant, but that is only half of the story.

Genesis 12:1: "And the LORD said to Abram, 'Get out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father's house into a land that I will show you.'"

He had to leave everything. What are we to do when we count the cost? We're to love Jesus and the Father more than our physical family, friends, and neighbor, and everything. Although you don't move to a different country, you still live in the world, but now you are not of the world. But it's the same requirement.

Verse 2: "And I will make of you a great nation. And I will bless you and make your name great. And you shall be a blessing. And I will bless those that bless you and curse the one who curses you. And in you shall all families of the earth be blessed" (vs 2-3).

Take that, going back in time to creation, and going forward into the Kingdom of God, "…all families..." This is completely inclusive, but it's going to be according to God's schedule.

Then Abraham said, 'Lord, why are You asking me to do this? I've got everything right here.' No!

Verse 4: "Then Abram departed, even as the LORD had spoken to him. And Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five-years-old when he departed from Haran." We're going to solve some numeric problems.

Gen. 15 is the institution of the covenant by God. This is the first half of the ratification by God. That becomes important.

Genesis 15:1: "After these things the Word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, 'Fear not, Abram, I am your shield and your exceedingly great reward.' And Abram said, 'Lord GOD, what will You give me since I go childless…'" (vs 1-2).

That's a reasonable question since God said, "…in you shall all families of the earth be blessed." We will see at this time he was 85-years-old, so 10 years. He's saying to God, 'I don't have any children.'

It was legal, so Abram proposed this: "'…and the heir of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?' And Abram said, 'Behold, You have given no seed to me; and lo, one born in my house is my heir.' And behold, the Word of the LORD came to him saying, 'This man shall not be your heir; but he that shall come forth out of your own loins shall be your heir'" (vs 2-4). Here is the start of God's part in ratifying. Remember this:

• every word of God is true
• God never contradicts Himself
• God never lies

If He makes a promise, regardless of how far back it is, He will fulfill it, regardless of how far forward that it has to be carried out.

Verse 5: "And He brought him outside and said, 'Look now toward the heavens and number the stars…'" You can only see them at night.

How do we know when a day begins? Gen. 1 says that evening and morning is a day. When Jesus told Peter on the Passover night that he was going to deny Jesus three times before the cock crowed, so He said, 'Today, in this night,' showing that Jesus followed that time schedule. Night is the first part of the day.

So, He said, "'…if you are able to count them.'… [impossible task] … And He said to him, 'So shall your seed be.' And he believed in the LORD. And He accounted it to him for righteousness. And He said to him, 'I am the LORD that brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.' And he said, 'Lord GOD, by what shall I know that I shall inherit it?'" (vs 5-8).

Then he was instructed to make this special sacrifice, v 9: "And He said to him, 'Take Me a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.' And he took all these to himself, and divided them in the middle, and laid each piece opposite the other; but he did not divide the birds" (vs 9-10). He laid them for a path.

This is what the Bible calls a maledictory oath. Here is the reason: No covenant is of any force until the covenant-maker shows by sacrifice that he will fulfill it! In other words, if you promise, and you don't have anything to backup that promise, that's why it's a covenant. That's different than a testament.

Many of us here have a last will and testaments. Some of us don't. What can you do with last will and testament? You can change it anytime you want to. This has caused a lot of lawsuits in families. A covenant you can't change. You can make a secondary covenant, alongside it, but you can't change it.

• You can't add to it
• You can't take away from it

So, here is God guaranteeing His word. So he "…laid each piece opposite the other; but he did not divide the birds."

Verse 11: "And when the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. And it came to pass, as the sun was going down…" (vs 11-12).

We have night, we have morning, we have all day, now we have the sun going down. So that is one full day, from sunset to sunset.

Verse12: "And it came to pass, as the sun was going down, that a deep sleep fell upon Abram. And, behold, a horror of great darkness fell upon him!"

I don't know what he really thought of that. But what is happening here is that God is making him experience a near-death situation, which is the experience of foretelling God's own death when He came as Jesus Christ.

If you have A Harmony of the Gospels, you go through and look at the sequence of the Passover and three days and three nights, and so forth. Jesus died at 3 o'clock.

As the sun was going down, they were wrapping the body and getting it ready to put into the tomb. They put it in right at sunset. There's no way you could know this was a prophecy of that until Jesus actually died. But what God was doing here was guaranteeing His future death to completely fulfill His promise that every family on earth—past, present and future—would receive a blessing through Him!

Verse 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.'"

I also want you to listen carefully, because the parenthetical statement, "…and shall serve them and they shall afflict them…" is only part of the 400 years, not all of the 400 years. The children of Israel were only in Egypt for a little over 200 years. How are we going to understand this difficult problem when we come to the chronology of figuring it out? That's what we're going to do.

Verse 14: "'And also I will judge that nation whom they shall serve. And afterward they shall come out with great substance. And you shall go to your fathers in peace. You shall be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.' And it came to pass—when the sun went down…" (vs 14-17).

What happens when the sun goes down? You're in to the next day! There's a two-day sequence here. We'll project ahead and we'll see how this works with the children of Israel in just a little bit, and put it all together.

Verse 17: "And it came to pass—when the sun went down and it was dark—behold, a smoking furnace and a burning lamp passed between those pieces. In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, 'I have given this land to your seed, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites…'" (vs 17-19)—then He names all of the Canaanites there.

He guaranteed it with His own personal walking between those animals. Once that covenant was made, you can't add to it and you can't take away from it.

• What did Abraham do?
• Was there a sacrifice?

Abraham did not walk through those animal parts. This was God's part! So let's come ahead here. We won't get into the thing with Ishmael. We still have the problem today.

Genesis 16:16: "And Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram." That means that this sacrifice here took place when Abram was 85.

Notice that from the end of Gen. 16 to the beginning of Gen. 17 is a total of not quite 14 years.

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.'" That's exactly what we are to be (Matt. 5:48).

• Perfect how? As our Father in heaven is perfect!
• How is that done? The New Testament tells us!

Verse 2: "And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly." Remember, there were two parts to the covenant:

• physical seed
• spiritual seed

I won't go into that because I have that all coming in the new book From a Speck of Dust to a Son of God: Why Were You Born? You go through and read all of Gen. 17. God makes Abraham a father of many nations. Sarah's name was changed from Sarai to Sarah. Abraham's name was changed from Abram to Abraham at this point.

You read it all. God promised when Abraham was 99-years-old that he would have a son. The Lord and two angels came to Abraham in his tent.

Genesis 18:7: "And Abraham ran out to the herd and brought a calf, tender and good. And he gave it to a young man. And he took butter and milk, and the calf, which he had dressed, and set it before them.…" (vs 7-8). This took a period of time to do.

Sidebar: Kosher says 'you can't have dairy products with meat products; therefore, we have two sets of dishes. Dairy over here, meat over here.' Yet, they [the Jews] claim to come from Abraham. But what did Abraham do? Had it all together! Guess who ate it? God and the two angels!

So, if you make a law and forbid people to eat them together, then you are constituting God and two angels as sinners. They never think of that, but there it is right in the Bible they claim to follow. This also shows they don't follow it.

Verse 9: "And they said to him, 'Where is Sarah your wife?' And he said, 'Behold, in the tent.' And He said, 'I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and lo, Sarah your wife shall have a son.' And Sarah heard at the tent door, which was behind Him. Now, Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in days, and it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore, Sarah laughed within herself…" (vs 9-12). Then the Lord said, 'Why did you laugh, Sarah?' I didn't laugh. 'Yes, you laughed.' So Isaac's name means laughter.

Now then, I want you to follow this chronology of age, so we get the time.

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" (vs 1-2).

Set times means the same thing as appointed times. God does things according to schedules and that's why it's important to understand why we need the Calculated Hebrew Calendar. That's why we have the new booklet out about the Calculated Hebrew Calendar. We've been getting quite a few requests for it, so if you haven't requested it, by all means request it.

The calendar and the Passover are the things that Satan attacks all the time, over and over and over again. Why? Because the true children of God, in the flesh, waiting for the resurrection, are those who love God and keep His commandments and know that Jesus is our Passover sacrifice.

• we keep the Sabbath
• we keep the Passover
• we keep the Holy Days

The Passover is the key thing, because that is our part of the New Covenant that we participate in every year.

Verse 3: "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. And Sarah said, 'God has made me laugh, so that all who hear will laugh with me'" (vs 3-6).

Gen. 22 is the other half of the covenant ratification. God had that sacrifice for Himself (Gen. 15). That was for Him. That was the shed blood to guarantee that He would do it.

When we come to the New Testament, what do we have? The shed blood of Jesus Christ to guarantee the spiritual sons, and forgiveness of sin. God did that Himself. Just like He walked through those sacrifices (Gen. 15).

Now Abraham and that promised seed of Isaac—physical seed—had their part of the covenant to ratify, as well.

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, 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'" (vs 1-2).

This is what Abraham had to do. Because with a covenant between two people, there has to be ratification by both parties, not just one.

Verse 3: "And Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, 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 Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, 'You stay here with the donkey, and I and the boy… [also referred to as a lad] … will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.' And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his son. And he took the fire pot in his hand…" (vs 3-6). He didn't have fire in his hand;

"…he took the fire pot 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. But where is the lamb for a burnt offering?'" (vs 6-7). Both were involved in this.

Verse 8: "And Abraham said, 'My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering.' So, they both went on together." He had to walk in absolute faith.

Heb. 11 says that he was 'willing to offer Isaac, whom he received in a figure from a dead body, because he counted God able to resurrect him from the dead.' That's a lot of faith! Here you are, you have the promise. Then at 85-years-old you're told you're going to have it. You come up here 15 years, at 100-years-old and you have your son.

Now God says, 'You go out and sacrifice him.' How many people today would do that? First of all, they don't understand covenants. Second of all, they don't understand God.

Verse 9: "And they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there… [they were to make it of whole stones] …and laid the wood in order. And he bound his son Isaac and laid him on the wood, upon the altar. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son" (vs 9-10)—right at the last minute! Isaac did not have to die. There was a substitute sacrifice that God provided. We'll apply that to the New Testament here in just a little bit.

Verse 11: "And the angel of the LORD called to him from the heavens and said, 'Abraham! Abraham!' And he said, 'Here I am.' And He said, 'Do not lay your hand upon the lad…'" (vs 11-12).

• How old was Isaac?
• Are we told? No
• How old was Abraham? We are not told!
• How do we find when this event occurred?
• How do we find how old Abraham was?
• How do we find how old Isaac was?
• How do we find how long was it from the time that God initially called Abraham when he was 75-years-old?

All of those questions will be answered in a bit, but not here. We have to be able to put other facts together to come to that conclusion, which most people would say—by not understanding the facts—that God contradicted Himself, which He did not.

Verse 12: "And He said, 'Do not lay your hand upon the lad, nor do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God…'" After all those years of love and obedience and everything like that. Faithfulness does not just last to a certain point in life and then ends before you die. You have to be faithful to the end!

"'…seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.'…. [he had Ishmael, but he was not the son of promise] … And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram was entangled in a thicket by its horns.…" (vs 12-13). Either God sent it there or created it there, either one.

"…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).

Isn't that interesting? "…In the mount of the LORD..." This is why they say the place that this took place was where later the temple was built. Very likely, because the temple was on the mount of the Lord.

This amounts to the ratification of the covenant with God by Abraham. God did His part (Gen. 15). Abraham did his part with the promised son (Gen. 22). This gets real interesting here.

Verse 15: "And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said, 'By Myself…'" (vs 15-16)—because you did this, I am making this covenant absolute.
That's why many times you look and see how the descendants of Israel had turned their backs on God and yet God has not abandoned them. Instead, He punishes them, because His Word is true.

• He made the covenant
• He will not turn His back on it
• He will not change it

"…'because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son; that in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed like the stars of the heavens…'" That's the spiritual seed. You can read of it the coming book.

You can read of it in The Christian Passover book as well and in The Day Jesus the Christ Died. Why do we have it in all of those books? It's like the hub of a wheel. Everything connected to the wheel comes back to the hub. If you don't have the hub, the rest of it doesn't work. So that's why it comes from many different ways.

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

All of the rest of Genesis is the story of the children of Israel. You get into Exodus and what happened to them when they got into Egypt. We won't go through the story of Joseph and the sons and everything. If you read all of that, the rest of the book of Genesis, and understand, they will be in the Kingdom of God.

I want you to read that because look at the problems that they had as people and a family. Remember, the brothers sold Joseph into slavery into Egypt and God caused that to be, by the way. They lied to their father and took his tunic, took goat's blood and put it on. They didn't have forensic testing in those days. They told Jacob, 'Joseph is dead.'

You can read the rest of the story how God worked it out and turned the tables on the brothers. Can you imagine how Jacob felt all those years? Lying offspring! Hello! Did Jacob lie to his father for the birthright? A little payback time? But God resolved it.

When they got into the land of Egypt and Joseph brought his father Jacob to the pharaoh, the pharaoh said, 'How old are you?'  Jacob said, '147-years-old and it's been bitter.' He sat there for seventeen years moaning for Joseph. God is greater than all of us and able to turn all of those things around for good!

We will solve the problem of how old Isaac was and how old Jacob was when they ratified the covenant, and how can we find out?

(go to the next track)

Let's make a correction: When all else fails, when you're talking about the Bible, look up the Scriptures, because you might not remember it correctly, which I didn't do. I did have a correct date, but misapplied.

Genesis 47:8: "And Pharaoh said to Jacob, 'How many are the years of your life?' And Jacob said to Pharaoh, 'The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years… [when he came into Egypt he was 130-years-old] …Few and evil have been the years of my life… [think about all the troubles that he went through] …and I have not attained to the number of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage'" (vs 8-9).

Verse 28: "And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. And the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were a hundred forty-seven years." So, correction duly noted.

• What day is the Passover Day according to the Calculated Hebrew Calendar? 14th day of the first month, which begins at sunset, ending the 13th!
• When does the first day of Unleavened Bread begin? It's the 15th day, so it begins at the end of the 14th!

The children of Israel kept the Passover.

• How long did they stay in their houses? Until morning!
• When did the death angel or the Lord sending the evil angels come? Midnight!

So you know that anyone who says that they left right after midnight doesn't know what they're talking about. But they say that because they want to squeeze both days together and you can't do that.

• When does the 15th day begin? At sunset on the 14th, begins the 15th!
• What is the meaning of the Passover in Exo. 12 for the children of Israel? God passed over the houses of the children of Israel, because the blood of the lamb on the side-posts and the lintel of the door!
• What did they do when they left their houses at sunrise? They were spoiling the Egyptians!
• Where were they going? They were going to the city of Rameses!

Exodus 12:36: "And the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and they granted their request, and they stripped the Egyptians. And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth…" (vs 36-37).

Where were their houses? In the land of Goshen, scattered in the land of Goshen. So, they all had to come to Rameses to leave in an organized march.

"…the men being about six hundred thousand on foot, apart from little ones. And also a mixed multitude went up with them, 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. Now, the sojourning of the children of Israel in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years" (vs 37-40). How did we get 430 years?

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."

That parenthetical statement is an insert because they weren't in Egypt 400 years. It was a little over 200 years. We'll answer that question when we solve the 400/430 question.

It said "…your seed…" What did God say concerning Isaac? What was the promise to Abraham? 'You shall bear a son from your own loins.' His seed! Isaac, Jacob, and all the sons of Jacob were the seed of Abraham. That includes them all, before they were born. God views things a little differently than we do. 'They shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs 400 years.' Just bypass the parenthetical statement.

• How do you get 400 and 430?
• How old was Abraham when the covenant was given here in Gen. 15? He was 85!
• When was Isaac born? When Abraham was 100!

That's 15 years; so now we've got 15 years.

How do we arrive at 430? We've accounted for 415! Because the second part of ratifying the covenant by Abraham and Isaac, we are not told the length of time or how old Isaac was when that occurred. So, we have to deduce it.

We have 415, and we have 430, and the covenant was not ratified by Abraham until Isaac was 15-years-old. He had to be 15-years-old when that took place. God is counting from the time when the covenant would be confirmed with the 400 years, counting that time. The chronology carries it 15 years until Isaac was born, and 15 years after he was born was when it was confirmed. So, that's the 30 years.

• How old was Abraham when he and Isaac confirmed the covenant? 115!
• How old was Abraham when he was called out of Ur of Chaldees? 75!
• What was the length of time between called out of the Ur of Chaldees and the final ratification of the covenant? 40 years!
  • 75 to 115 is 40 years
  • 40 is the number of trial and testing

It all fits together. But if you just read Gen. 15, and then read Exo. 12 you would think that God made a mistake. How do you get 400 and then 430?

This is how you do it. You put all the Scriptures together. You lay out the facts that are stated there. Then you can come to a positive deduction of how old that Isaac was when that occurred, when you have another figure to work with.

What does this tell us about Gen. 15? and probably Gen. 22?

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, all the armies of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt."

What can we conclude from this? When was the promise guaranteed by God that they would be delivered? Remember the two-day sequence in Gen. 15? After the sun had set, God guaranteed it, 400 years! Then we have 15 and 15, so that's 430.

What day was it that God guaranteed it on? If they began leaving, which they did, at the beginning of the 15th day from Rameses, leaving at night, then when God walked between the parts of the animals to confirm the covenant that had to be the 15th day of the 1st month. Therefore, the promise given the day before, where He said, 'You're going to have a son. Now step out here and look at the stars, count them.' That had to be the night of the 14th!

This is the prime Passover, beginning of Unleavened Bread, right in Gen. 15. Let's carry it forward. When was Christ crucified? 14th! When were those animals butchered? On the 14th, day portion! You're not going to do it at night.

Jesus' blood was shed on the day portion of the 14th, the Passover Day. He died as the sun was starting to go down at the 9th hour, being 3 p.m. our time. Then Joseph of Arimathea had to go to Pilate to get the body, so he could get it off the cross. Nicodemus came with Joseph of Arimathea and he brought a hundred pounds of aromatics and oils to wrap the body.

The shroud is a total absolute lying fraud of such a magnitude that even the lying Catholics ought to be ashamed of that, but they're not.

The burial wrappings were linen, rolled and wide, and they would wrap the body. Put in some of the spices, wrap a little more, put in some spices, and so forth, the whole body. Between the time Jesus died, was taken off the cross, and doing that was three hours. Because at Passover time, day is equal to about twelve hours and night is equal to about twelve hours. Then Jesus was put into the tomb and sealed right at the same time that we have in Gen. 15 to guarantee His death! So, we have the 14th and 15th

• we have the 14th and 15th with Israel
• we have the 14th and 15th with Christ, the crucifixion and His burial

In addition to that, that had to happen in a year when the Passover Day, the 14th day, was in the middle of the week, the fourth day of the week in order to be in the tomb three days and three nights. So, there you have the whole pattern. Isn't that interesting how all of that ties together?

Let's review the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, what it means:

Exodus 13:14: "And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, 'What does this mean?'…." That was putting all the leaven out of their homes, eating unleavened bread, and the sanctifying of the firstborn.

They were spared on the 14th and then on the day portion of the 14th, then they started in the afternoon with the redemption of the firstborn offerings (Deut. 16). Though they're called Passover offerings, they are not the Passover sacrifice. There is a distinct difference.

The Passover offerings, late on the 14th, were in preparation for The Night to Be Much Observed unto the Lord and sanctifying the firstborn, because you had to redeem them. You had to redeem the firstborn of the males. The females were used for the Feast. The firstborn of the clean animals you gave to the priesthood. You redeemed your sons and you redeemed the unclean animals.

So strict was this command of God that He said, 'If the unclean animals, you don't redeem, you're going to break its neck.' That's a pretty stiff penalty. One way or the other you're not going to have use of it, unless you eat donkey meat and then you're really under bad news if you do that.

"'…you shall say to him, 'The LORD brought us out of Egypt by the strength of His hand, from the house of bondage'" (v 14).

The first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is in commemoration of leaving Egypt. The Passover is commemoration of passing over.

• two nights
• two distinct actions
• two different meanings

It's the same way with us today in the New Testament. Our sins are forgiven through the sacrifice and shed blood of Jesus Christ. He is our sacrifice; He is the Passover lamb.

Exodus 12:41: "And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years… [we've accounted for that time] … 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… [not an invention of men] …for bringing them out from the land of Egypt.… [this is not the Passover night; this is the next night] …This is that night of the LORD to be observed by all the children of Israel in their generations" (vs 41-42). The Church is spiritual Israel!

I know for people who are just brand new that all of this seems rather strange. Like I mentioned last week, but they accept all the lies of all the holidays of this world and don't think that's rather strange.

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

Let's come to the New Testament. When John the Baptist came on the scene, they were expecting the Messiah. They were also expecting Elijah, the promise of Mal. 4.

John 1:19: "And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, 'Who are you?'"

• Who would send them? The Jews!
• That was who? The Sanhedrin!
• Who was in charge of the Sanhedrin? The high priest!

This was an official inquiry. It's like a congressional investigation. We're going to send people out in the field to find out what's going on. So, that's what they did.

Verse 20: "Then he freely admitted, and did not deny, but declared, 'I am not the Christ.'" Why would he say he was not the Christ? Because that's who they were looking for!

What was their version of the coming of the Christ to save the Jews? Their version was that the Messiah would come and recognize the priesthood and all of the Levites, and that they would join forces, raise up an army, and get rid of the Romans. So, they were anxious to find out. They had no idea of the things to come, except that they were prophesied in the Old Testament.

What did Jesus have to do later, after His resurrection to the disciples for them to understand? He had to open their minds to understand! This is preconceived notion that they had. They knew in general that He was going to come. So he declared, 'I am not the Christ.'

Verse 21: "And they asked him, 'Then who are you? Are you Elijah?' And he said, 'I am not.'…." This is just like a congressional hearing. Here they are, here are all the officials, 'we want to know what's going on.'

"…Then they asked, 'Are you the Prophet?'.… [Who is the Prophet? Where is that found? Deut. 18, 'send one like unto Moses, the prophet.'] …And he answered, 'No.' Therefore, they said to him, 'Who are you? What do you say about yourself so that we may give an answer to those who sent us?'" (vs 21-23). An official report!

Let's back up just a little bit here. Remember the miracle that occurred, and the vision with Gabriel, by John the Baptist's father Zacharias. Had a vision, couldn't tell them what it was because he didn't believe the angel. The angel said, 'You're not going to talk until after the child is born.' This was probably on a Pentecost, at least the week of Pentecost.

Think about all the priests, all the Levites, everybody that was there. What a fantastic thing this was. 'What happened? What happened?' Can you imagine all of the women—without telephones of course—just think how fast it would have spread with cell phones! They were all talking about Elizabeth at 70-years-old got pregnant!

What's going to happen? The child is born. Great furor with John the Baptist being born. Came time to circumcise him and they asked what they were going to name him? His wife said John. They came to him, he couldn't speak, yet; so he said, 'Give me a writing tablet,' and he wrote John. Then as soon as he did that, he could talk. 'It's going to be John.' It spread like wildfire among all of them.

Then Jesus is born. You add all of this together, so you have the priesthood, just on pins and needles for all of these years, for 30 years trying to figure out what on earth does all of this mean and how is this going to happen. Then all of a sudden John the Baptist appears on the scene, who is a son of a priest, who never went to the temple, who was never trained in any of the rituals, coming down to a river, the River Jordan, and telling everybody to repent and 'believe on the One Who is coming after me.' They have to have an answer. What are we going to tell them?

Verse 22: "Therefore, they said to him, 'Who are you? What do you say about yourself so that we may give an answer to those who sent us?' He said, 'I am a voice crying in the wilderness, "Make straight the way of the Lord," as Isaiah the prophet said'" (vs 22-23). How about that?

There was the first prophet Elijah, as we find in the book of Kings. There was prophesied to be another Elijah to come, and they wanted to know. But think of it, John the Baptist did not know that he was the Elijah to come. Though Jesus told the disciples later he was Elijah, the spirit and power. He didn't know. He knew he was a voice in the wilderness. That's what he knew.

If John had known he was Elijah, he would have told them. He would have said, 'Yes, I'm Elijah.' There was a lot of mystery and forces going on here.

Verse 24: "Now, those who had been sent belonged to the sect of the Pharisees, and they asked him, saying to him, 'Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?'…. [they were looking] …John answered them, saying, 'I baptize with water, but there is one Who stands among you Whom you do not know. He it is Who comes after me, but Who has precedence over me; of Whom I am not worthy to loose the thong of His sandal.' These things took place in Bethabara across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. On the next day, John sees Jesus coming to him, and he says, 'Behold the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world'" (vs 24-29).

Notice that he didn't say sins, he said sin. Why? As in Adam we all die. The human nature that we have goes all the way back to Adam.

Romans 5:6: "For even when we were without strength, at the appointed time Christ died for the ungodly…. [Passover Day] …For rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, although perhaps someone might have the courage even to die for a good man. But God commends His own love to us because, when we were still sinners, Christ died for us " (vs 6-8). Now we enter into the meaning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Verse 9: "Much more, therefore, having been justified now by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His own Son, much more then, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom we have now received the reconciliation" (vs 9-11).

That's what the Passover and Unleavened Bread is all about: True reconciliation to the true God.

Verse 12: "Therefore, as by one man…" I know some of the men who like to put women down, read, 'Eve was deceived and she sinned, and therefore, all women are the cause of our problems.' No, Adam didn't have to eat, but he did. He knew better, so it's by him.

"…sin entered into the world, and by means of sin came death; and in this way death passed into [Greek means into, became a part of our very being] …all mankind; and it is for this reason that all have sinned." We receive what is called 'the law of sin and death.'

Everything in the whole Bible, Old Testament and New Testament, comes around the Passover. Also think on this: There are seven divisions in the Bible:

• Law
• Prophets
• Psalms
• Gospels (4)

7.   Acts

The fourth division is all about Christ and why He came, His death, His resurrection and the preaching of the Gospel. Day four! We go forward with the Days of Unleavened Bread.

Here's a good one that you can use for those who wonder: Why do you keep this Feast? The children of Israel came out of Egypt and that was the personification of sin and from under the power of pharaoh, who is a personification of Satan the devil. We are called out of the world to walk in newness of life. We have to have our sins forgiven through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That is God's part!

What is our part? Baptism, baptized into the death of Christ! That makes the covenant ratified by God, ratified by us through the sacrifice of Christ.

In Corinth they had a terrible problem with incest; they were to: 1-Corinthians 5:5: "To deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying is not good. Don't you know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?" (vs 5-6).

Here explains why we get rid of leaven during the Days of Unleavened Bread. Leaven during this time is a type of sin, a type of human nature that puffs up:

• pride
• vanity
• works of the flesh

Unleavened bread is a type of Christ. Even the Psalm says, 'Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.' Jesus broke the unleavened bread during the Passover ceremony and service and said, 'Take eat, this is My body. This do in the remembrance of Me.' Likewise with the wine! They drank it and He said, 'This is My blood, which is shed for the remission of sins of many. This do in remembrance of Me.' This is what the people in Corinth were supposed to be doing.

During the Feast of Unleavened Bread, they were allowing sin in the congregation. 'A little leaven leavens the whole lump.' You can see how this works when you have fruit. You have fruit in a bag, one of them starts spoiling. You leave it there and the whole bag of fruit spoils. That's the way sin works!

Verse 7: "Therefore, purge out the old leaven, so that you may become a new lump…" This is talking about our behavior. You become a new lump, or a new person. "…purge out the old leaven…"

• How do you do that? You get rid of sin!
• What is a type of sin? The leaven!
• Where is it? Everywhere!
• Where is sin? Everywhere!

You can't even watch the television without watching some kind of sin.

"…become a new lump, even as you are unleavened.…" (v 7). Paul is saying, 'You've unleavened your homes. You've gotten that out of your houses, but what's your conduct?' It's not that getting rid of the physical leaven out of your houses is going to change your character. It is getting the leaven out of your heart and out of your mind through the Spirit of God! How is that done?

"…For Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us" (v 7). Those of modern Christianity, 'Yes, He was our sacrifice. We'll admit that. Yes, He was sacrificed on the Passover Day. Yes, we'll admit that.' But they won't admit the next verse:

Verse 8: "For this reason, let us keep the Feast…" A command by Paul to Gentiles to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread! How do we know?

"…not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and Truth" (v 8). Who does that come from? Christ, the Spirit of God!

So, just as the children of Israel were to march out of Egypt, we are to come out of the world in our way of living, thinking, acting and everything like that, even though we live in the world. "…but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and Truth." That's what the Feast means.

We are to look at sin and put it out. We are to put in the Truth and righteousness.

Colossians 3:1: "Therefore, if you have been raised together with Christ… [out of the watery grave] … seek the things that are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your affection on the things that are above, and not on the things that are on the earth. For you have died… [How did you die? In the watery grave of baptism!] … and your life has been hid together with Christ in God. When Christ, Who is our life, is manifested, then you also shall be manifested with Him in glory. Therefore, put to death your members which are on earth… [then he lists all of them]: …sexual immorality, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil desires, and covetousness, which is idolatry" (vs 1-5).

All of these are sins of the mind. That is a harder thing to do and needs the Holy Spirit of God to do it. You put that out!

Verse 10: "And have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him Who created him."

Verse 12: "Put on then, as the elect of God, Holy and beloved, deep inner affections, kindness, humility, meekness and long-suffering." And so forth. All of the characteristics of the Spirit of God. You put the spiritual sin out. God has forgiven them, but they are still in our mind and we have to get rid of them. Stop and think:

Where would we be without the Passover and Unleavened Bread, the Feasts of God and the weekly Sabbath? We'd be right back in the world!
What has happened to people who have quit? They're right back in the world!
Can they come back? Yes, if they truly repent, but they've got to understand what they have done!

This connects the whole Bible together!

Scriptural References:

• Luke 13:22-26, 28-30
• Galatians 3:26-29
• Genesis 12:1-4
• Genesis 15:1-19
• Genesis 16:16
• Genesis 17:1-2
• Genesis 18:7-12
• Genesis 21:1-6
• Genesis 22:1-18
• Genesis 47:8-9, 28
• Exodus 12:36-40
• Genesis 15:13
• Exodus 12:41
• Exodus 13:14
• Exodus 12:41-43
• John 1:19-29
• Romans 5:6-12
• 1-Corinthians 5:5-8
• Colossians 3:1-5, 10, 12

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Matthew 7
• Acts 1
• Genesis 1
• Matthew 5:48
• Hebrews 11
• Deuteronomy 16
• Malachi 4
• Deuteronomy 18

Also referenced:

Books:

• A Harmony of the Gospels by Fred R. Coulter
• From a Speck of Dust to a Son of God: Why Were You Born? (coming soon)
• The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter
• The Day Jesus the Christ Died by Fred R. Coulter

Booklet: Calculated Hebrew Calendar

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 4-13-16
Formatted: bo—04-15-16

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