News Letter 5858-047
The 6th Year of the 4th Sabbatical Cycle
The 27th year of the 120th Jubilee Cycle
The 5th day of the 12th month 5858 years after the creation of Adam
The 4th Sabbatical Cycle after the 119th Jubilee Cycle
The Sabbatical Cycle of Sword, Famines, and Pestilence
The 3rd year Tithe
January 28, 2023
Shabbat Shalom to the Royal Family of Yehovah, |
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The moon was seen this past Monday evening, making the Sabbath the 5th day of the 12th month. I want to encourage you all to download our free monthly perpetual calendar charts, where you can learn to count the days. And start to count each Holy Day so you become the expert that Yehovah wanted you to be.
I also want to point out a truth you all know but maybe have not put into words. At Sightedmoon.com, we have learned this firsthand and continue to learn it, seeing it done to us week in and week out. The world and Satan are quick to criticize and find fault with us. The accuser of the brethren never stops doing this. How many of you are constantly accusing us of your imaginations? How many of you are doing Satan’s work for him? Being tares rather than co-workers.
Rev 12:7 And there was war in Heaven. Michael and his angels warring against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels warred,
Rev 12:8 but did not prevail. Nor was place found for them in Heaven any more.
Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, the old serpent called Devil, and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Rev 12:10 And I heard a great voice saying in Heaven, Now has come the salvation and power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers is cast down, who accused them before our God day and night.
Far too many are slow to praise and find the positive in anything we do here. Understand you’ll all experience criticism many times in your life. But those who are lucky enough to succeed or become quote-unquote successful, likely experience more criticism than the rest. You’ll find the one thing people love more than pointing out another’s mistakes is when they can do it to someone who’s achieved more than them. However, the person who criticizes others is only revealing the lack of understanding within themselves. Those who are happy within themselves need not point out the faults in others.
We have received so much criticism about out warning of 2020. We warned it was a sword coming. Only recently did we examine the word sword to discover it meant drought. So many criticize us for condemning the mass hysteria that took over since 2020 over every conspiracy rabbit hole that could be thought of. Many left the Torah and have never come back because of this. So many.
And yet the things I am learning about the 10 Days of Awe and what is about to come are dumbfounding and horrific. Why are so few actually looking for the meaning? Because so many are in the deep end of the pool, accusing those jumping off the high diving board. No, we can’t do the perfect half-gainer, but we are up on the high diving board and not in the shallow end of the pool.
Also, I want you to let your friends in the United Kingdom know that I will be there from February 10-12. If they want to learn about how prophecy is revealed by understanding the Jubilee Cycles, then they should attend this event. We will be presenting two brand-new teachings that I have not presented before. This will be one not to miss. My good friend Stephen Spykerman is also going to present on Friday evening.
I also want to remind you that we are culling our email list. If you want to continue to receive our notifications of the Newsletter then you need to open the email we send you and click on the link to go to the Newsletter. This shows our server we are not spamming you and will help our score rating so we can reach others. Thank you for helping us do this work, just by clicking on the link. Thank You.
Eureka!!!
In our most recent teaching about the Sabbatical and Jubilee Cycles, I mentioned that there were 100 more Tombstones out there that I was aware of but I could not locate. Well this week a group of ladies, just ordinary people began to look for that 100 ancient tombstones from Zoar. And to my amazement they found them and have told me about them and are in the process of checking which ones I have already documented and which ones are brand new to our research.
I am so excited. Multiple more proofs to confirm that we have the correct understanding as to when the Sabbatical and Jubilee years are. SO although I have prepared our powerpoint slides for the UK with the current list, I doubt I will have time to add these new ones. A preliminary count shows me that there are 19 new tombstones of which I have no records of. There are multiple others that have no or partial dates which we cannot use for the Jubilee Cycles.
We need more people to step up and volunteer to do things. The lady who saw my notes at first pulled back thinking this was way over her head. And yet it was this same lady who found them and is pursuing this further. Do not say you can’t do something, but rather say can I help do this work with you all. The lady organizing the UK speaking engagement is brand new to all of this.
THE TWELFTH NEW MOON
The Equinox Does Not Determine the Holy Days
The Calendar debate is about to get into full swing once again this year. Have you proven beyond all doubt which one you should be using?
The following article is from the Jerusalem Post in 2007. With some edits.
THE JEWISH calendar has been a lunar one, confirmed by the sighting of the new moon and the use of the first fruits of Barley to begin the year. In matters of time, the month is a natural phenomenon, as are the day and the solar year, although the three are difficult to correlate. The month is actually 29.530588 days long and the solar year 365.2422 days, which makes calculation difficult. In the early Roman Empire the year was still counted as a lunar one and correlation with the seasons was chaotic and unwieldy. It was so until the time of the Emperor Julius Caesar, who was advised by astronomers to scrap the lunar count and fix a solar year of 365 and 1/4 days. That fraction of a day was not practical so it was decreed to have three years of 365 days, and one of 366 days every four years. Known as the Julian Calendar, it had the desired effect of regulating the days and months with the seasons. The new reckoning was introduced in 45 BCE and was expected to be correct for time everlasting.
But it was not to be.
THE CALENDAR year was more than 11 minutes too long, which meant an increase of one day in about 130 years. Thus by medieval times, after a period of say, 1,000 years, the calendar year was already seven days in advance of the sun. By the time reform came, under Pope Gregory XIII, the calendar was 10 days ahead of the solar system, and consequently in March 1582, the new Gregorian Calendar took 10 days out of the month of October of that year. It was not an easy reform to swallow, and Great Britain was the last major country to adopt it, not doing so until nearly 200 years later in 1752. It was then that popular riots called for “the return of our 11 days,” that led to the Treasury being forced to move the tax year 11 days forward from the quarter-day of March 25 to April 5.
As the Julian year had been too long by about three days in 400 years, the Gregorian Calendar solved the problem by declaring that the leap day should be ignored at every century year and only used in those centuries divisible by 400, as is still the practice today.
SO FAR, so good, but how does that impact on the Hebrew calendar?
The Hebrew calendar also known as the Hillel Calendar was created in 358 C.E and is used by all Jews and most messianic groups. When confirming the calendar by sighting of the moon became impractical, tradition has it that a fixed calendar was set down by the Patriarch Hillel II in 358.
In other words, the Jewish calendar was 18 days out of sync with the heavenly facts. How did this happen? Quite simply because the original calculations, whether by Hillel II or others, were based on the Julian Calendar of their time and, as we have seen, the Julian Calendar would now also be about 15 days out of line with the sun. Does this really matter? As the equinox or tekufa of Spring, continues to progress ahead of the sun, by more than 11 hours a year, we shall find that in time it will approach nearer and nearer to the astronomical summer, and the festival of Pessah will no longer fall in our tekufa of Nissan. It can be calculated that this will occur in about 640 years, and then we will be in breach of the Torah law. The festival may still be in the spring, but the tekufa of Spring will be in the summer. SO GREAT BRITAIN was not the last country to adopt the Gregorian correction of the Julian calculations. The Hebrew calendar has not yet recognized the discrepancy
The Hillel Calendar was created in 358 C.E. The Postponement rules tell you that it was created so the moon would not be seen in anther part of the world before it was seen in Jerusalem. Yes before the crescent moon could be seen in Jerusalem. The Hillel calendar was created due to the persecution and murder of the witnesses and the Jews in diaspora. But the Hillel calendar had a built in flaw because it was built upon the Julian calendar which had to be fixed by Pope Gregory in 1558. But because it is based on the Julian calendar, it is flawed.
Imagine Yehovah creating a flawed calendar. Unthinkable.
Here at sightedmoon.com we go by;
the Sabbath from Sunset Friday to Sunset Saturday as the Holy Days.
the Holy Days of Leviticus 23 with no others being added to it.
the Barley being Aviv in time to be waved on Wave Sheaf day which is the Sunday during the days of Unleavened Bread. This alone is how we determine the start of the year.
The sighting of the moon each month to begin the month, so that we can count to those Holy Days in the 1st and 7th month.
Vernal Equinox and Tekufah
Q: Is the equinox (Tekufah) mentioned in the Tanach (Hebrew Bible)?
The claim has been made by proponents of the equinox calendar theory that the word equinox actually appears in the Tanach. They are referring to the word Tekufah or Tequfah which appears in the Hebrew Bible four times. Tekufah is in fact the post-Biblical word for “equinox”, however, it never has the meaning of “equinox” in the Tanach. In Biblical Hebrew, Tekufah retains its literal meaning of “circuit”, that is something which returns to the same point in time or space [from the root Nun.Quf.Pe. meaning “to go around”]. To claim that Tekufah means equinox in the Tanach, just because it had this meaning in later Hebrew, is an anchronism. This would be like saying that there were handguns in ancient Israel because the word EKDACH, the post-Biblical Hebrew word for handgun, appears in Isaiah 54:12. Let us consider another example of this anachronistic use of language: Before the invention of the electronic computer during World War II, the word “computer” referred to a man who sat at a desk calculating (computing) mathematical equations. Imagine if we found an 18th century document mentioning “computers” and proclaimed to the world that there were really electronic computers in the 18th century. This is exactly what the equinox-followers are doing with the word Tekufah. To better understand this, let us consider the four appearances of Tekufah in the Tanach.
Tekufah in Exodus 34:22
The first appearance of Tekufah is in the list of Pilgrimage-Feasts (Hagim) in Ex 34:22 which refers to the agricultural character of the Feast of Booths (Sukkot):
“And the Feast of Ingathering at the circuit of the year (Tekufat HaShannah).”
Being mislead by the Post-Biblical Hebrew meaning of Tekufah, some have interpreted “circuit of the year” anachronistically to refer to the Autumnal Equinox (it is doubtful whether the ancient Israelites even knew of the equinox and they certainly had no way of calculating when it would be). This anachronistic reading leads to the suggestion of fixing the beginning of the year so that Sukkot (The Feast of Ingathering) falls out at the time of the Autumnal Equinox. However, a closer investigation shows that “circuit of the year” has nothing to do with the equinox. The list of Pilgrimage-Feasts also appears in a parallel passage in Ex 23:16 which describes Sukkot as follows:
“And the Feast of Ingathering at the going out of the year (Tzet HaShannah), when you have gathered in your work from the field.”
Exodus 34 is actually an almost verbatim paraphrase of Exodus 23 and it is important to compare and contrast these two passages; the differences are often very enlightening. Comparing Ex 34:22 and Ex 23:16 it is clear that the “going out of the year” and the “circuit of the year” refer to the same time. The “going out/ circuit” of the year is described in Ex 23:16 as “when you have gathered in your work from the field”. This agricultural ingathering is also described in Dt 16:13:
“You shall keep the Feast of Booths for seven days, when you have gathered in from your threshing floors and from your wine presses.”
The Feast of Booths/ Ingathering is described as the “going out of the year” because it takes place at the end of the yearly agricultural cycle of planting, harvest, threshing, and ingathering. At the same time, Sukkot is described as taking place at the “circuit of the year” because once the agricultural cycle ends it then immediately recommences (making a circuit, returning to the same point in time) with the planting of the fields after the first rains (sometimes during or shortly after Sukkot itself).
Tekufah in Psalms 19:7
The term Tekufah (circuit) appears in Psalm 19 in reference to the sun, but here too it has nothing to do with the equinox. Psalm 19 describes the heavens and sun, which from their unique vantage point are witness to all things in creation, and thus (metaphorically) testify to the incomparable glory of God. Verses 5-7 describes the sun:
“(5)… He [YHWH] placed a tent among them [the heavens] for the sun. (6) Which is as a bridegroom going out of his chamber, and which rejoices as a strong man running a race. (7) From the end of the heavens is its [the sun’s] going out and its circuit (Tekufato) is to their [the heavens] ends, and none is hidden from its heat”
Verse 6 describes the sun as a bridegroom that bursts forth out of his chamber and as a hero that runs along a path. Verse 7 then describes the “going out” of the sun at one end of the heavens and the “circuit” (Tekufato) of the sun at the other end. Clearly what is being described is the daily path of the sun which rises at one end of the heaven (its going out) and sets at the other end (its return), “and none is hidden from its heat” during the course of the day. What has confused some readers is that the going out or exiting of the sun refers to sunrise, but this unusual terminology is used throughout the Tanach. For example, we read in Judges 5:31:
“Thus shall all the enemies of YHWH be destroyed; and all those whom he loves shall be as the going out of the sun (KeTzet HaShemesh) in its might”. (Jud 5,31)
Those loyal to YHWH shall shine forth with glory as the “going out of the sun”, that is sunrise. It may seem strange that sunrise is referred to as the “going out” of the sun. After all, in Exodus we saw that the going out of the year was the end of the year, whereas the going out of the sun is the beginning of the day. However, this is consistent with Biblical usage and in fact the common Biblical way of saying sunset is the coming in or entering of the sun. This is related to the ancient Israelite conception of the sun which at night was thought of as metaphorically dwelling in a celestial chamber (Ps 19:5). At dawn the sun goes out of this metaphorical chamber and the earth is lit while at night the sun comes into the metaphorical chamber and it is dark. This is also the thought behind the comparison of sunrise to a bridegroom coming forth from his chamber. Ps 19:7 refers to the going out of the sun (sunrise) at one end of heaven and its circuit (return to the same place, to its nightly chamber) at the other end, that is sunset (for a similar thought see Ecc 1:5). We see that here too Tekufah (circuit) has nothing to do with the equinox.
Tekufah in 2Chronicles 24:23
As seen above the “Tekufah (circuit) of the year” in Exodus referred to events in the autumn (the time of the ingathering). The same expression (circuit of the year) is also used to refer to events which take place in late spring as we see in 2Chr 24:23:
“And it was at the circuit (Tekufah) of the year that the army of Aram went up and they came to Judah and Jerusalem…”
In this instance the “Circuit (Tekufah) of the year” comes in place of the common expression “Return (Teshuvah) of the year” which appears several times in the Tanach as “the time when kings go out [to war]” as in:
“And it was at the return (Teshuvah) of the year, and Ben-Haddad counted Aram and went up to Afek to war with Israel.” (1Ki 20:26).
“And it was at the return (Teshuvah) of the year, at the time the kings go out [to war] and David sent Yoav… and they smote the Amonites and besieged Rabbah…” (2Sam 11:1)
The time that the kings went out to war was the late spring before the oppresive heat of summer and after the winter rains which made the mud roads in the Land of Israel impassable. We see here that Tekufah (circuit) of the year is used interchangeably with the more common Teshuvah (return) of the year. Whenever this annual set time for kings to go out to war comes around it is a “circuit of the year”, returning to the same point in time as last year.
Tekufah in 1Samuel 1:20
The term Tekufah (circuit) also appears in 1Sam 1:20 which says:
“And it was at the circuits (Tekufot) of the days, and Hannah conceived and bore a son…”
Here the “circuits” of the days refers to “the same time the following year” [or possibly to the completion of the term of pregnancy?]. It is worth noting that Tekufah is plural in 1Sam 1:20 as tekufot “circuitS”. If we apply the anachronistic meaning of Tekufah as equinox then we get the absurd translation: “And it was at the equinoxes of the days, and Hanah concieved and bore a son…” This emphasizes how important it is to understand Scripture in its historical and linguistic context.
None of the four appearances of Tekufah in the Hebrew Scripture have anything to do with the equinox. Instead, this term is used in Biblical Hebrew in its primary sense of a “circuit”, that is a return to the same point in space or time. Only in Post-Biblical Hebrew did Tekufah come to mean “equinox” and to read this meaning into the Tanach creates an anachronism.
It Was A Riddle Not A Command is a great book that I wrote in 2019, to answer the question people were asking, that “No Man Can Know the Day or The Hour,” therefore how could I know these dates that I was sharing back then and still am. Once you understand this simple Hebrew idiom then the calendar issues go away. You will know and then you will understand why the Hillel Calendar will not be used.
When you order It Was A Riddle Not A Command, you will be asked if you would also like The Mystery of the Jewish Rapture 2033. It is only by understanding the Holy Days of Leviticus 23, that you can know when the Resurrection of the Saints will take place. The Holy Days tell you the very day your loved ones, who followed Yehovah, will be raised. The Jubilee Cycles tell you the very year. This should be common knowledge. The fact I have to write it in a book is telling you it is not. So get both books and the audio today and begin to understand two great truths right away. With the audio you can listen to it being read to you while you drive, walk or exercise.
THIRD YEAR TITHE
Third Year Tithe
Thank you to each and everyone who has supported the Widows this 6th year of the Sabbatical Cycle. Whether you did it through Sightedmoon or on your own, thank you. You have just one month left to complete the commandment. Yes it is a commandment. If you want the blessings then you must obey.
Receiving the widow’s tithe has been absolutely life changing for me!
I want to give a huge, HUGE bouquet to each and every one of you who has contributed, but also not to forget those who wanted to contribute but were unable. I’ve also been in that position of wanting to contribute towards something but was unable to do it.
So I feel that those people shouldn’t be forgotten!
We are all the same in the Kingdom of Yehovah and HE knows our hearts! We pray for them as well, that they will be in a better financial position to be able to contribute.
Also, a big thank you to Joseph for being a reluctantly but willing conduit for blessing the widows and orphans.
May Yehovah bless you with love, joy and shalom.
M
Let me share with you what one widow recently wrote to me about the recent flooding in Kentucky. Notice how your generosity towards this Widow was used to help those in that flood.
Thank you Bro Joe for all your efforts to be a blessing which I for one truly appreciate. And pray Father will bless you 1000fold in return. The devastation an hour from me is so hard to fathom. I found out today that a couple of sisters I had gone to church with and had moved back home to Hazard lost everything but what one could put in 2 Walmart bags. I wanted to help in some way but did not know what I could do until I saw their post, So was able to give them 100$. The sister I gave it too had come back to London to stay with a friend and replied you don’t have this to give – but I told her, Yes, I do. I have been blessed and I will bless you. An answer to prayer for me as I wanted to help somehow. My son just came and told me that he had heard that there have been some suicides by those who have lost everything. So sad for everyone, especially to the family who had 4 children torn away from them. As bad as this is, I know worse is coming.
Brethren I do want to encourage you not to let up in your support. We all want to receive the blessings, which only come when you comply with the law. This 6th year is the prelude to the 7th year of rest. The Sabbatical year also has things that you are to do to be in compliance with the Kingdom laws. 2024 is the start of the 10 Days of Awe and you do not want to be found out of His Grace at that time.
2022 is the 6th year of the 4th Sabbatical cycle. And anyone who has been reading our website for any length of time will know how to prove beyond all doubt when the Sabbatical and Jubilee years are. Once you have done that, then you will know when the 3rd and the 6th year of the Sabbatical Cycles are. We are told to raise a tithe every third year for the widow, the orphan and the Levite in your gates.
Here is a very severe warning from Yehovah to each of us.
Exo 22:21 You shall neither vex a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry. And My wrath shall become hot, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall be widows, and your sons fatherless.
We have now sent out (as of December 15, 2022) our 8th round of gift offerings that you have sent in for the widows and orphans. We have also supported a couple of other ministries that aid us in doing this work. This will fulfill the Levite part of the commandment. It was our desire to get the funds to them as we are told to do in Deuteronomy.
Deu 14:28 At the end of three years you shall bring forth all the tithe of your increase the same year, and shall lay it up inside your gates.
Deu 14:29 And the Levite, because he has no part nor inheritance with you, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are inside your gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied, so that Jehovah your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
We will soon be making another gift to them. If you do not know of anyone in the faith who is a widow or orphan then you can send it to us. Make sure you write me to let me know that those funds are for the widows and I will see to it they get it. But if you do not write me then I will not know where to apply your donation.
May each one of you who has given to this cause, be blessed as Boaz was blessed by Yehovah for his generosity. May each one of you be known for your support of the laws that will make the Kingdom of Yehovah strong and righteous. And may Yehovah bless you so that what you give is never missed and you never lack for your generosity towards Yehovah’s heart.
THE SABBATH 101
The Sabbath 101
I have been asked a number of times for the basics of keeping Torah. I have told those asking where to look but still more come and they are overwhelmed by the amount of articles, videos and books to go through. I never set out for it to be like that. But we have been posting a weekly newsletter since 2005. That is about 938 newsletters which have been viewed 9,701,688 times. We have written 8 books selling 5,439 copies as of this week. We have created about 552 videos, which have had 2,778,234 views as of today.
Just looking at these numbers tells me we are doing something right. And at the same time we continue to dive deeper into the things we are teaching. But for the new person it can be over whelming.
I had the great opportunity to visit Batman, Bat-woman and Alfred, and I even stayed in the Bat-cave. Batman has compiled a number of teachings that are geared for the new person and those just starting out in this walk. He also put together three of the books we now offer at Sightedmoon. I want to make all of these available for you to take advantage of, but you can’t tell Batman.
Here is the video section.
You can order one of two books. Scripture Lessons for the Kingdom & More Scripture Lessons for the Kingdom
Scripture Lessons for the Kingdom is exactly that, short lessons for those new to Torah. We have taken many of the lessons from the website and condensed them down into one to two-page lessons. While these do not cover everything, they will cover the basics and give you a good starting place for your journey into the Word of YHVH. We hope you enjoy this book and look forward to hearing back from you and your stories about this journey.
AND
We also have a third book about the covenant titled I Do. It is an e-book only format.
The servants of the groom are announcing the wedding, but will the bride prepare herself properly to say “I do”? I do is a short book that both teaches and challenges one who has accepted the betrothal to the Lamb to do that which will prepare them for that great day when the groom arrives.
PROMOTIONS
Promotions
Our Book The Abomination That Makes Desolate has now received two reviews. I want to encourage all of you who have read it to please send in your reviews to Amazon and help others to decide to read this book as well as all of our others books. Please give a few minutes of your time to help promote this work.
Top reviews from the United States
Sweetpea
4.0 out of 5 stars Not so optional
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 17, 2023Verified Purchase
This book is a must read for the serious student of Torah. It contains absolutely vital information. But, do expect a spanking. He takes his frustration out on the saints a bit excessively, in my opinion.Plus, having lost my eldest son to the SADS after an abominable so-called “covid vaccine”, and realizing that sorcery is a key feature of end time Babylon the Great, I see Mr Dumond overlooking how this fulfills prophecy, rather than the supposed plague itself.
And, I believe Biblically supported cosmology (aka flat earth, but not the society), simply because it is the truth, and that points to some serious conspiracy truths.
There are many more, such as the truth of the revisionists” point of view in the world wars.
However that may be, this author is still correct in calling us to concentrate on Torah. Yeshua our Savior did not concentrate on the evils of Rome, as was hoped of Him. He rather concentrated on false doctrine, and misrepresentation of Torah and Prophecy. He came to set us free.
So, today, we should be turning to The Father, to Yehovah, and making positive truth identity in keeping His Instruction.
This book will help you see where The Holy Place is and how to look for the Abomination spoken of by Daniel and reiterated by Yeshua. Invaluable.
I gave it four stars because of the Judgments passed on the believers that are coming to understand Yeshua and how He told us to follow Him (in obedience to His Father).
We are all on this journey, and at different stages in our growth. I just think this could have been done more thoughtfully, more gently.
But, by the same token, understand that Joseph Dumond is not your enemy. He has an amazing message, and astonishing research.
I found a few typographical type errors, but the E-book was a very nice edition. Enjoy, pray, apply.
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars LOOKING AHEAD
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 22, 2023
Scripture says, “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) This 2nd book in the Elijah Trilogy by Joseph Dumond is as informative and challenging as the 1st, The Restoration of All Things and all of his books. So much to happen in the time left between now and the end of this 6th millenium. We can see the Scriptues played out before our very eyes. You can see and understand as the author puts forth a correct understanding of Daniel’s 70th week prophecy. Where will the Abomination take place? When? Understanding the Sabbatical and Jubilee years will give insight to the time we are in on the Fathers Biblical cycles. Do yourself a favor-read for yourself. Will you be prepared if you don’t?
We will be promoting ads, books, and upcoming meetings in this section. I hope you will check it each week, copy and paste it to your social media pages, and help us share this message. We need each of you to help here as much as possible. Make sure you copy the blurb for each ad when you do. Thank you in advance.
You can take each promotion and share it with your loved ones. They might start to watch. You can enter their names and they would have to confirm that they’re interested. But you can plant the seeds by putting these promotions on your social media page and sharing them with the ones you care about.
We are working on more promotions for the Ten Tribes of Israel, Heaven, Hell and It Was A Riddle Not A Command.
They all take a lot of work and James and I are going as fast as we can with them. When you do see a mistake, let us know so we can try to fix it.
The Elijah Trilogy
The Abomination that Makes Desolate must surely qualify as one of the most misinterpreted subjects in the entire Bible. In truth, it is a mystery, as evidenced by the fact that even the prophet Daniel himself did not fully comprehend its meaning. (Daniel 12:8-9)
Here is the link you can post on your page and help us to begin to promote this book everywhere we can. It is now published and available!!!!
The 10 Days of Awe, was written in draft. It needs to be organized and the writing finalized. Once this is done then it will need to be edited. I see this coming out in 2023. Do keep us in your prayers. I have a lot on my plate and I do need to get this out ASAP. 2023 and 2024 are right in front of us and this book deals with those things that come at that time.
The Restoration of All Things
The Restoration of All Things. Here is the link you can post on your page and help us to begin to promote this book everywhere we can.
https://sightedmoon.org/restoration-of-all-things
The Key To End-Time Prophecy is the Jubilee Cycles
The Key To All End-Time Prophecy is the Jubilee Cycles. With the understanding of when every Sabbatical and Jubilee year was throughout history, you can then begin to see patterns develop of when Yehovah brought about major historical events. When you know when the Flood took place in that Jubilee Cycle, you can compare it to our current 120th Jubilee Cycle. Then when you do the same for the time of Lot, and read the scripture in Luke, you can get an idea of when the Kingdom of Yehovah will be set up.
The Coming of the Kingdom
Luk 17:20 And being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered and said, The kingdom of God does not come with observation. 21 Nor shall they say, Lo here! or, behold, there! For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst. 22 And He said to the disciples, The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you shall not see it. 23 And they shall say to you, Lo, here! or, behold, there! Do not go away, nor follow. 24 For as the lightning which lights up, flashing from the one part under heaven, and shines to the other part under heaven, so also shall the Son of Man be in His day. 25 But first He must suffer many things and be rejected of this generation. 26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it also shall be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark; and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 So also as it was in the days of Lot: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; 29 but the day Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from the heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Even so it shall be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 In that day he who shall be on the housetop, and his goods in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise, he who is in the field, let him not return to the things behind. 32 Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Whoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it, and whoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. 34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two in one bed, the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. 35 Two shall be grinding together, one will be taken, and the other left. 36 Two shall be in the field, one will be taken, and the other left. 37 And they answered and said to Him, Where, Lord? And He said to them, Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.
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The Sabbatical and Jubilee Cycles reveal End-Time Prophecy
SABBATH MEETINGS
Sabbath Meetings
There are many people in need of fellowship and who are sitting at home on the Sabbath with no one to talk to or debate with. I want to encourage all of you to join us on Shabbat, and to invite others to come and join us as well. If the time is not convenient then you can listen to the teaching and the midrash after on our YouTube channel.
What are we doing and why do we teach this way?
We are going to discuss both sides of an issue and then let you choose. It is the work of the Ruach (Spirit) to direct and to teach you.
The medieval commentator Rashi wrote that the Hebrew word for wrestle (avek) implies that Jacob was “tied”, for the same word is used to describe knotted fringes in a Jewish prayer shawl, the tzitzityot. Rashi says, “thus is the manner of two people who struggle to overthrow each other, that one embraces the other and knots him with his arms”.
Our intellectual wrestling has been replaced by a different kind of struggle. We are Wrestling with Yehovah as we grapple with His Word. It is an intimate act, symbolizing a relationship in which Yehovah and I and you are bound together. My wrestling is a struggle to discover what Yehovah expects of us, and we are “tied” to the One who assists us in that struggle.
Today, many say Israel means “Champion of God”, or better — the “Wrestler of God”.
Our Torah sessions each Shabbat teaches you and encourages you to constantly challenge, question, argue against, as well as view alternative views and explanations of the Word. In other words, we are to “wrestle with the Word” to get to the truth. Jews worldwide believe that you need to wrestle with the Word and constantly challenge Dogma, Theology, and views or else you will never get to the Truth.
We are not like most churches where “The preacher talks and everyone listens.” We encourage everyone to participate, to question and to contribute what they know on the subject being discussed. We want you to be a champion wrestler of the Word of Yehovah. We want you to wear the title of Israel, knowing that you not only know but are capable of explaining why you know the Torah to be true with logic and facts.
We have a few rules though. Let others talk and listen. There is no discussion about UFO’s Nephilim, Vaccines or conspiracy-type subjects. We have people from around the world with different world views. Not everyone cares who is the President of any particular country. Treat each other with respect as Fellow wrestlers of the word. Some of our subjects are hard to understand and require you to be mature and if you do not know, then listen to gain knowledge and understanding and hopefully wisdom. The very things you are commanded to ask Yehovah for and He gives to those who ask.
Jas 1:5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and with no reproach, and it shall be given to him.
We hope you can invite those who want to keep Torah to come and join us by hitting the link below. It is almost like a Torah teaching fellowship talk show with people from around the world taking part and sharing their insights and understandings.
We start off with some music and then some prayers and it’s as though you were sitting around the kitchen back in Newfoundland having a cup of coffee and all of us enjoying each other’s company. I hope you will grace us with your company someday.
Sabbath services begin at 12:30 PM EDT where we will be doing prayers songs and teaching from this hour.
Shabbat Services will begin at about 1:15 pm Eastern.
We look forward to you joining our family and getting to know us as we get to know you.
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TORAH PORTIONS
Torah Portions
We read through the entire Torah along with the Prophets and the New Testament, once over the course of 3 1/2 years. Or according to the Sabbatical Cycle which means we read it all twice over a 7 year period. This allows us to cover more in-depth rather than being rushed to cover as much as is covered on an annual basis. We allow all to comment and take part in the discussions.
Septennial Torah Portion
If you go to Torah Portion at our archived section, you can then go to the 6th year which is the 6th year of the Sabbatical Cycle, the one we are in now, as we state at the top of every News Letter. There you can scroll down to the proper date, and see that this Shabbat we could very well be midrashing about:
Numbers 10
Job 26-29
Hebrew 11
If you missed last week’s exciting discoveries as we studied that section you can go and watch past Shabbats on our media section.
Ben Ha Arbayim
Ben Ha Arbayim or Between the Evenings-When is it?
In this teaching, the bold and loud statements by Fred Coutler of the Church of God have done much harm and confusion. His radical statements will be examined, so read them carefully and prayerfully.
Shabbat Shalom, Brethren and Family,
I did not realize when I posted the Newsletter for this Shabbat how many were confused by the chronology of Passover and when it is to be eaten. I have had phone calls and many emails, all of them stating I am wrong. All of them base their position on the Ben Ha Arbayim or between the evenings understanding. Or should I say misunderstanding? I have also received many thanking me for making the chronology of the events of Passover very plain.
It is my desire that we all keep each feast as we are commanded in Torah. But over time, Satan has confused and muddied many of the scriptures.
Let me say right here I am not going after any one person or group. I feel it is of utmost importance to keep the Passover. And to keep the Memorial that Yehshua established. But we are warned by Paul in 1Co 11:28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. 29 For the one who is eating and drinking unworthily, eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Master. 30 Because of this many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we were to examine ourselves, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Master, that we should not be condemned with the world.
When such an issue arises, it forces me to double-check my understanding again. And then to search for the reason why so many have it another way and which one is right.
And because of the importance of the issue, I have felt compelled to issue this Newsletter before the next Shabbat to give those who need it time to sort out this issue before Passover comes at the end of this coming week. This was also a major point of discussion in our Midrash last week.
We are commanded to go and tell our brother when we see him sinning in both the Torah and Brit Chadasha, New Covenant.
Lev 19:17 ‘Do not hate your brother in your heart. Reprove your neighbour, for certain, and bear no sin because of him.
Mat 18:12 “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, would he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains, going to seek the one that is straying? 13 “And if he should find it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. 14 “Thus it is not the desire of your Father who is in the heavens that one of these little ones should be lost. 15 “And if your brother sins against you, go and reprove him, between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 “But if he does not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word might be established.’ 17 “And if he refuses to hear them, say it to the assembly. And if he refuses even to hear the assembly, let him be to you like a gentile and a tax collector.
Let us now read in Clark’s commentary what these two verses actually mean.
Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible
Thou shalt not hate thy brother – Thou shalt not only not do him any kind of evil, but thou shalt harbor no hatred in thy heart towards him. On the contrary, thou shalt love him as thyself, Leviticus 19:18. Many persons suppose, from misunderstanding our Lord’s words, John 13:34, A new commandment give I unto you, that ye love one another, etc., that loving our neighbor as ourselves was first instituted under the Gospel. This verse shows the opinion to be unfounded: but to love another as Christ has loved us, i. e., to lay down our lives for each other, is certainly a new commandment; we have it simply on the authority of Jesus Christ alone.
And not suffer sin upon him – If thou see him sin, or know him to be addicted to anything by which the safety of his soul is endangered, thou shalt mildly and affectionately reprove him, and by no means permit him to go on without counsel and advice in a way that is leading him to perdition. In a multitude of cases, timely reproof has been the means of saving the soul. Speak to him privately if possible; if not, write to him in such a way that himself alone shall see it.
Luke 17:3 So watch yourselves. “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.
1 John 2:9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.
1 John 2:11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
1 John 3:15 Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
If we do not tell our Brother of their sins when we see it, it is the same as hating our Brother and walking in darkness and the same as if we had murdered him.
In the 613 Mitzvot, this command to warn your Brother is found in Mitzvot #30
(30) Do not cherish hatred in your heart. “You shall not hate your brother in your heart.” (Leviticus 19:17) Could it be that the rabbis actually got one right? This is apparently a no-brainer, the converse of #26, “You shall love your neighbor as you do yourself.” But look at what follows: it almost sounds like a contradiction: “You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.” In light of this close contextual connection, we shouldn’t automatically assume Moses has moved on to a different subject. Actually, I believe the second phrase defines what it is to “hate your brother.” And the truth that emerges if we make this connection has stunning relevance for us today: we are not to be tolerant of false teaching, but are rather to “rebuke” those in error—to neglect this correction is to hate our brother. Remember the rabbinical mitzvah (#27) that said Do not stand by idly when a human life is in danger? This is the practical outworking of the principal: if your brother is in spiritual error, if he espouses doctrines that Yahweh’s Word says will kill him in the end, then to withhold rebuke and admonition is to hate him. By tolerating his heresy, you are sending him to hell, like indulging a diabetic’s sweet tooth.
What does it mean to “bear” sin? The Hebrew word is nasa, meaning to lift or carry. It is “used in reference to the bearing of guilt or punishment for sin” leading to the “representative or substitutionary bearing of one person’s guilt by another.” (B&C) Yehovah did not want false teaching tolerated in Israel because the guilt—and thus the punishment—incurred would eventually be borne by the entire nation. He would have spared them that pain. He would spare us that pain.
This ought to shed new light on Yehshua’s confirmation of the principle that loving Yehovah and our fellow man is the path to life. “One day, an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: ‘Teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life?’ Jesus replied, ‘What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?’ The man answered, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ‘Right!’ Jesus told him. ‘Do this and you will live!’” (Luke 10:25-28 NLT) Friends don’t let friends fall prey to false teaching.
I am going to let you read from someone who has done the research on this subject that I am not able to explain satisfactorily. Please forgive me for my inability to explain this to those whom I have been communicating with. May Yehovah guide us all into the truth. Please read this in order to understand and not to argue and fight.
http://www.hope-of-israel.org/arbayim.htm
Hope of Israel Ministries (Ecclesia of YEHOVAH):
The Mystery of Ben Ha Arbayim —
When Was the Passover Killed?
Some proponents of observing the Passover insist that the Hebrew expression Ben Ha Arbayim — translated literally as “between the two evenings” — has to refer to dusk or twilight, the period of time after sunset and before dark. The Jews and orthodox Judaism, however, maintain that this expression refers to the period between noon and sunset. Which is the truth? Since the Passover lamb was killed “ben ha arbayim,” this question is of vital importance in determining when Passover should be observed! Let us lay aside the opinions of men, and tradition, and prove from the Scriptures exactly when the Passover was to be killed!
In Exodus 12:6, YEHOVAH, God commands Israel, “And you shall keep it [the Passover lamb] up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.” Many have been perplexed by this expression, “in the evening.” The margin of my National Bible says, “from the ninth to the eleventh hour.” In Israel, the day had twelve hours, beginning around 6:00 AM our time as the first hour. Therefore, the ninth to the eleventh hour would have been from 3:00 PM in the afternoon till 5:00 PM.
However, another Bible I have has a marginal rendering of this expression, saying, “Hebrew, between the two evenings.” The question is, does this period of time refer to the afternoon of Nisan 14, especially from 3:00-5:00 PM? Or does it refer to the BEGINNING of Nisan 14, which begins about 6:00 PM the previous evening, from the time the sun sets until dark sets in — a period of about forty minutes or so?
Some who observe “Passover” at the beginning hours of Nisan 14, shortly after sunset, claim this expression means twilight, between sunset and dark. Is this really true?
In his book entitled The Christian Passover, Fred R. Coulter, former minister of the Worldwide Church of God, asserts that this expression is “the vital key to understanding.” He claims that the Scriptural meaning of ben ha arbayim is the period of time after sunset, normally referred to as dusk or twilight — definitely NOT “late afternoon”! Coulter simply rejects out of hand Jewish explanations and exegesis on this expression, as well as the studies of most scholars. Coulter claims that the traditional Jewish explanation of this term, such as that of Rabbi Rashi, a renown scholar of the Torah, simply contradicts Exodus 12:8, which, he says, shows that the entire Passover was to be kept on the 14th of Nisan, and the Passover lambs were to be eaten on the night of the 14th, not the 15th!
These are very strong words. Coulter claims that Exodus 16 is the KEY PROOF that he is right, and all the rabbis and scholars are wrong. He accuses various scholars, including Robert Kuhn and Lester L. Grabbe, formerly with the Worldwide Church of God, of “either ignoring or overlooking the plain commands of God which were given in the original Passover and which have been preserved in His Word” (p. 28, The Christian Passover ).
What is this “proof” which he refers to?
The Mystery of the Word “Evening”
Asserts Fred Coulter, the Hebrew term generally translated “evening,” or “even” — ba erev — means “sunset.” Therefore, according to him, all the common Bible translations are in error, as well as Strong’s Concordance and every Hebrew lexicon in existence! Coulter does not bother to “prove” that ba erev should be translated “sunset.” He simply asserts it is so, saying so dogmatically, without providing any evidence whatsoever. Coulter declares that “the meaning of ba erev is without controversy,” and further says it means “sunset.”
But is this really true?
The apostle Paul says that we are to “prove ALL things” (I Thess.5:21). Otherwise, slick, oily, and imperious deceivers will twist Scripture and have us believing white is black and sweet is sour, truth is error and error is pure truth! Isaiah, the prophet, warns,
“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5:20-21).
The Jews and rabbis most emphatically do NOT agree with Coulter’s claim that ba erev should be translated “sunset.” This is a blatant untruth. Therefore, his assertion that his statement that ba erev means “sunset” is “without controversy” is simply amazing, to put it mildly. According to the Jewish rabbis and all scholars, the term ba erev simply means “evening,” in a general sense. Notice! Here is the proof to back up my statement:
Says the Gesenius Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon of the Old Testament, of the term erev,
“(1) evening (m. and fem., I Sam. 29:5) . . . at evening . . . Dual, arbayim, the two evenings; only in the phrase, ben ha arbayim, between the two evenings, Exodus 16:12; 30:8, used as marking the space of time during which the paschal lamb was slain, Ex. 12:6; Lev. 23:5; Num. 9:3; and the evening sacrifice was offered, Ex. 29:39, 41; Num. 28:4 . . .” (p. 652).
Gesenius shows that the word erev simply means “evening,” and makes no mention at all of its meaning “sunset.” However, he points out that the expression ben ha arbayim, “between the two evenings,” is controversial.
“…according to the opinion of the Karaites and Samaritans…the time between sunset and deep twilight. The Pharisees, however (see Josephus Bellum Jud. vi. 9, par 30), and the Rabbinists considered the time when the sun began to descend to be called the FIRST EVENING (Arabic ‘little evening’; when it begins to draw towards evening); and the SECOND EVENING to be the REAL SUNSET” (p. 652, emphasis mine).
Coulter, having asserted that ba erev means “sunset,” then proceeds to the next step in his explanation: He states that there is a “legitimate, Biblically sound, chronologically defined, Scripturally documented way to prove, beyond any shadow of doubt whatsoever, that ben ha arbayim originally meant the time period from sunset to dark” (p. 37). He says this “proof” is in Exodus 16. Let’s take a look.
The Mystery of the Quail
Coulter quotes Exodus 16:6, “And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, AT EVEN, then shall ye know that the LORD hath brought you out from the land of Egypt.” Coulter inserts in parentheses, after the words “AT EVEN,” the following interpolation: “ba erev, or sunset-ending that Sabbath on which this message was given” (page 41, The Christian Passover). Notice! He defines ba erev as “sunset.”
Coulter is building a “case.” Once he gets the reader to accept this “re-definition” of the expression ba erev, he has the reader at his mercy. For he then refers to verse 8 of Exodus 16. Notice, once again: “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, AT EVEN [Heb. ben ha arbayim, “between the two evenings”] ye shall eat flesh . . .” (verses 11-12). “And it came to pass, AT EVEN [ba erev ] the QUAILS came up, and covered the camp” (verse 13).
Coulter says YEHOVAH God sent the quail at ba erev, which he says is “sunset.” Therefore, since the quails came at sunset, and were EATEN at ben ha arbayim, “between the two evenings,” Coulter reasons that this “proves” that ben ha arbayim must refer to the time after sunset, or dusk!
The problem with this interpretation is that ba erev does not mean “sunset,” as a point in time, but means “EVENING”! Therefore, this passage in Exodus 16, which Coulter admits is the “KEY” to the whole question, turns out to be an argument based solely on his own personal definition of ba erev. Therefore, Coulter’s case falls flat on its face! He has proved nothing.
Says The New Westminster Dictionary of the Bible:
“It [the daylight portion of the day] was divided into morning, noon, and evening (Psa. 55:17; cf. Dan. 6:10)” (“Day,” p. 214).
This authority adds:
“The festival [Passover] began on the 14th of Abib at EVENING, that is, in the beginning of the 15th day, with the sacrificial meal (Lev. 23:5-6). A lamb or kid was slain between the evenings, that is, TOWARD SUNSET (Exo. 12:6; Deut. 16:6; cf. between the 9th and 11th hours . . .” (“Passover,” p. 705).
In the remainder of this article, we will prove beyond any reasonable doubt that this authority is correct — and that the Jewish tradition is correct. Rather than be misled by Coulter’s definition of “at even,” let’s see what the Scriptures themselves tell us about this expression. And, afterward, let’s see how the Scriptures themselves interpret the expression “between the two evenings.”
Letting The Bible Interpret “At Even”
Can the term ba erev mean later afternoon? Coulter says it means “sunset.” However, if you look in a Bible Concordance such as Strong’s, you will find this expression is translated “evening” 49 (7 x7) times in the Old Testament! It is never translated “sunset.” Let us notice some of the places where it is used, and how it is used.
In Genesis 24, Abraham sends his faithful servant to find a wife for Isaac back in his own original country, so he will not marry a Canaanite woman. When the servant travels back to the land of Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor, he stops. We read:
“And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the EVENING, even the time that the women go out to draw water” (Gen. 24:11).
What time would women go out to draw water? This would refer to late afternoon, not after sunset when it is getting dark outside. Women would not wait until it is growing dark, or till dusk or twilight, before getting their water from the well. Remember, these were communal wells, and supplied water for the entire community, and would have been used by many women. They would certainly allow themselves plenty of time so that they would not be lined up at the well, in the dark, waiting their turn to draw water.
Let’s look at another example. Turn to the story of David and Goliath. Notice:
“And there went out a a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span…And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us….
“And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days” (I Samuel 17:4-16).
When did Goliath approach the Israelite army, to utter his defiant challenge? Do you think he waited until sunset, or twilight, the period after sunset, to make his boast? Logically, this challenge would have been uttered before the Israelite army mid-morning and mid-afternoon — long before sunset!
Jeremiah the prophet, however, makes it very plain that the term “evening,” or ba erev in the Hebrew language, can mean afternoon. Notice his words!
“Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out” (Jeremiah 6:4).
When are shadows lengthened or stretched out? At high noon, there is no shadow cast. As the sun goes toward the western horizon, the shadows are lengthened out. As the sun nears the horizon, the shadows become their longest. But after sunset, there are no shadows cast at all — for it is the sun which casts shadows. Therefore, here we find proof positive that the term ba erev or “evening” refers to the time of late afternoon, before sunset!
Now then, with this understanding, notice how this word is used to denote the beginning and ending of a “day.”
The Day of Atonement and Passover Week
In Leviticus 23:27 we read: “Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement . . .” There is no question that the Day of Atonement is the tenth day of Tishri — nobody argues otherwise. But now notice how YEHOVAH God Himself delimits and defines this period of time! Notice how YEHOVAH God uses the term “at even” to refer to the END of a day rather than the beginning hours!
In Leviticus 23:32 we read, “. . . in the ninth day of the month AT EVEN, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath [the Day of Atonement].” The expression “at even” here is obviously used to mean the ENDING portion of the ninth day. Thus the Day of Atonement starts after the concluding portion of the ninth of Tishri. It lasts until the concluding portion of the tenth of Tishri. The “evening” of the 9th would be the afternoon, up until sunset; the evening of the 10th would be the afternoon of the 10th, until sunset. A grade school student could see that principle. The Day of Atonement begins at sunset, when the 9th day of Tishri ends, because the Day of Atonement IS the “tenth day” of the month!
However, in stating this fact, the Bible says the Day of Atonement, the 10th of Tishri, begins “in the ninth day of the month, AT EVEN . . .” Clearly the “AT EVEN” here has to refer to the ending of the ninth day, NOT ITS BEGINNING! If this expression referred to the twilight portion of the day, beginning the day right after sunset, then the Day of Atonement would be the 9th day of Tishri!
Another Biblical example of this truth is found in the instructions YEHOVAH God gives on when to keep the days of Unleavened Bread. Notice! We read: “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month AT EVEN, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even” (Exodus 12:18). If “at even” here meant the beginning of Nisan 14, then this verse would be saying the 14th of Nisan is the first Day of Unleavened Bread, and we should therefore be observing the Feast from Nisan 14 to Nisan 20 — not from Nisan 15 to Nisan 21! Obviously, “on the fourteenth . . . AT EVEN,” refers to the END of Nisan 14! And the 21st day “at even” refers to the ENDING of the 21st day of the month! Even those who argue that Passover should be observed at the beginning of Nisan 14 admit that the Feast of Unleavened Bread is from Nisan 15 to 21. They admit that the “even” mentioned in Exodus 12:18 refers to the END of the day. Logically, then, the same should be true, in speaking of the Passover (Exodus 12:6)!
Letting the Bible interpret the Bible, then, “on the fourteenth day AT EVEN” plainly means at the END of the fourteenth — as Exodus 12:18 says. The Bible is consistent. YEHOVAH God does not contradict Himself. “The Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35). Therefore, the rule of consistency proves that the term “even” or “evening” as used in both Exodus 12:18 and Exodus 12:6 means the same thing in both verses — that is, the word “even,” as used in verse 6, which deals with the slaying of the Passover lambs, also means at the ENDING PART of Nisan 14. However, since the actual expression in Exodus 12:6 is a variation of the term “evening” in Hebrew — a term which would technically be translated as “between the two evenings,” let us see just how this term relates to the term “evening” in the Scriptures.
Evidence from Deuteronomy
When, then, was the Passover to be killed? Before or after sunset? Let’s understand!
Notice Deuteronomy 16:4. This verse shows that the Passover is a part of the days of Unleavened Bread, leading right into them. We read: “And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coast seven days; neither shall there any thing of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day AT EVEN, remain all night until the morning.” Here the 14th of Nisan is called “the first day.” That is because it is the late afternoon of the 14th that the Passover was sacrificed, leading right into the First Day of Unleavened Bread that same sunset!
This shows, too, that the “first day” when all leaven was to be put out of the houses of the Israelites was Nisan 14 (Exodus 12:15; compare Deut.16:4 and Exodus 12:18-19). From the end of Nisan 14 they ate unleavened bread until the end of the 21st day of Nisan.
Now, notice verse 6 of this chapter. Here is the solution to the problem! Here Moses is told by YEHOVAH God, “But in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the Passover AT EVEN, at the GOING DOWN of the sun . . .”
Letting the Bible interpret the Bible, then this expression ba erev or “evening” when the Passover was killed, and the expression ben ha arbayim, which also denotes the time the Passover lambs were killed, was the same moment or time period described as “the going down of the sun.” Literally, the expression “at the going down of the sun” can only mean when the SUN IS IN THE PROCESS OF DESCENDING IN THE WESTERN SKY! That is, from the time the sun BEGINS to DESCEND, at high noon, until SUNSET — when it has completed its descent to the point where it is below the western horizon and has disappeared from sight!
Notice! It is the “going down” — present progressive tense — showing the action of the sun moving down in the western sky. This period of time must be, has to be, by logical, careful analysis, from the moment after NOON, at the earliest, lasting until the sun disappears behind the horizon, or the actual moment of SUNSET! Once the sun has “set,” it is no longer “going down” — it has, rather, “GONE DOWN”!
The expression “at the going down of the sun” means “as the sun goes down” — showing it was during the action of the sun moving down in the sky toward the western horizon. In English, this is the present progressive tense. If YEHOVAH God had meant to convey the idea that the lambs were to be killed AFTER the sun went down, that is, after sunset, then He would have stated it differently. He would have said, “AFTER the sun goes down,” or, “After the sun HAS GONE down.” The sun “goes down” until it “sets.” After it “sets,” it has technically “gone down.” YEHOVAH God commanded that the lambs be slain as the sun sinks in the western sky — not after it has already plunged beneath the horizon! The Jews have always faithfully done this, as long as the Passover was sacrificed, throughout their history.
The Septuagint makes it perfectly clear. We read:
“Thou shalt not have power to sacrifice the Passover in any of the cities, which the Lord thy God gives thee. But in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, to have his name called there thou shalt sacrifice the Passover at even AT THE SETTING OF THE SUN . . .”
The command is plain that the lambs had to be slain ON THE FOURTEENTH of Nisan, in the late afternoon, BEFORE the sun had set! But if the lambs were not slain till AFTER SUNSET of the 14th, they would have been slain on the FIFTEENTH! That would have been a violation of the commandment! Also, if they were slain at the beginning of the 14th, after sunset of the 13th of Nisan, that would not have been during the “going down” or “setting” of the sun.
Could anything be plainer? Even a small child can understand this truth! Why is it that so many cannot grasp these plain and simple Spiritual, Biblical truths?
“The Going Down of the Sun”
This same expression is used elsewhere in the Old Testament. “And when the sun was going down . . .” (Gen. 15:12). The Hebrew Scriptures state: “AS THE SUN WAS ABOUT TO SET . . .” Clearly, this expression refers to the time BEFORE SUNSET, not afterward!
“And afterward Joshua smote them (the Canaanite kings), and slew them, and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees UNTIL THE EVENING. And it came to pass at the TIME OF THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN, that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast them into the cave wherein they had been hid, and laid great stones in the cave’s mouth, which remain unto this very day” (Josh. 10:26-27).
The Septuagint also makes this verse clearer. Notice!
“And Joshua slew them and hanged them on five trees; and they hung upon the trees until the evening. And it came to pass toward the setting of the sun, Joshua commanded, and they took them down from the trees, and cast them into the cave into which they had fled for refuge, and rolled stones to the cave, which remain until this day.”
This event shows that the expression “going down of the sun” refers to the time right up until sunset or sundown, but not after. The Israelites were commanded, in the law of YEHOVAH God, not to allow the dead bodies of criminals to hang on a tree at night. God told Moses, “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but you shall BURY HIM THE SAME DAY” (Deut. 21:22-23). Since each day begins and ends at SUNSET, to bury such a criminal “THE SAME DAY” means he had to be buried PRIOR TO SUNSET! Thus, we read again of Joshua who slew the king of Ai. “And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree UNTIL EVENING; and AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree. . .” (Joshua 8:29, RSV)
This same expression is used in the Bible of the death of king Ahab. As Ahab was fighting the Syrians, he was struck by an arrow from a bowman and was sorely wounded. “And the battle increased that day: and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians, and DIED AT EVEN: and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot. And there went out a proclamation throughout the host about the going down of the sun, saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his own country” (I Kings 22:35-36).
The Hebrew Tanakh, or “Holy Scriptures,” has this verse, “as the sun was GOING DOWN . . .”
Again, the reference is to the time just prior to sunset or sundown, as the sun’s disk begins to move toward the horizon and set in the west.
YEHOVAH God’s Covenant with Abraham and the 400 Years
After YEHOVAH God brought Abraham out of the land of the Chaldees, He made a covenant with him, promising him that his children would someday be innumerable like the stars of heaven. Then, that afternoon, YEHOVAH had Abraham sacrifice a heifer of three years age, a she goat of three years, and a ram of three years, and a turtledove, and a pigeon. These sacrifices were a type of the coming sacrifice of Yeshua the Messiah, who became a Son of God at his resurrection. His ministry lasted exactly three years, which is the age of the sacrificed heifer, she goat, and ram. After he completed the sacrifice, Abraham drove away the birds that attempted to alight on the carcasses of the sacrifices (Gen. 15:1-11). Then we read:
“And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell over Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward they shall come out with great substance…In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land . . .” (Gen. 15:12-18).
Why did a “horror” or a “nightmare” come over Abraham, as the “sun was going down”? This is the same expression we have just been studying. This “horror” came over Abraham at the same time the future Passover lambs would be slain — at the identical time when Yeshua the Messiah our Passover would be slain for us! No wonder Abraham felt this sense of horror — the innocent “lamb of God” would be slain at the very time the Son of God would die upon the tree of crucifixion!
These sacrifices pictured the Messiah, and they were performed in the late afternoon, as the sun was going down, and descending in the sky. Four hundred years later, on the very same day, YEHOVAH God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt!
“Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the LORD to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations. And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the Passover . . .” (Exo. 12:40-43).
What Abraham was permitted to preview, some 400 years earlier, to the very self-same day, was the ordinance and sacrifice of the Passover! Therefore, for the typology to be complete, just as these sacrifices he performed were done in the afternoon, at the going down of the sun, before sunset, even so the Passover lambs some 400 years later would be slain in the afternoon of Nisan 14, and eaten on Nisan 15 — the very night of the Passover, when the LORD “passed over” the children of Israel, and slew the firstborn of the Egyptians — the very night YEHOVAH God freed His people from slavery and bondage by the act of the “Passover”!
A New Look at “Between the Two Evenings”
Since the term ben ha arbayim, “between the two evenings,” is so controversial, let us see how this expression is used in the Scriptures. According to the Word of YEHOVAH God, there were four things which were to be performed at the time period known as “between the two evenings” — it was the time the Passover was to be killed, the time of the evening sacrifice, the time the lamp-stand in the Temple was lit, and the time the incense was offered.
Notice, now, how this expression denotes the time of the “evening sacrifice.”
In the book of Numbers, YEHOVAH, God gives instructions concerning the daily sacrifices which were to be offered before Him. YEHOVAH God commanded, “And thou shalt say unto them, This is the offering made by fire unto the LORD; two lambs of the first year without spot DAY BY DAY [Heb. ‘IN A DAY’], for a continual burnt offering. The one lamb shalt thou offer IN THE MORNING, and the other lamb shalt thou offer AT EVEN [Heb. ben ha arbayim, or between the two evenings] . . .” (Num. 28:3-4).
Notice carefully! Both these offerings were to be offered DAILY, “day by day,” “IN A DAY” — that is, WITHIN THE SAME DAY! The first one is the morning sacrifice, and the second one is the EVENING sacrifice. In order for the evening sacrifice to be offered the SAME DAY as the morning sacrifice, it had to be offered BEFORE SUNSET! Otherwise, it would have been the NEXT day! What could be clearer? Thus, here we find incontrovertible, inexorable, yet simple proof that “between the evenings” has to refer to the period of time BEFORE SUNSET, not after sundown, as the Samaritans taught!
Notice it again! In this plain passage of Scripture, we are told that the DAILY SACRIFICE involves both a morning and an “evening” sacrifice, and the “evening” sacrifice occurs “between the two evenings.” Yet this passage says plainly that these two sacrifices were “IN A DAY.” The morning sacrifice, which was done first, was in the SAME DAY as the “evening” sacrifice, which was made that same day, “between the two evenings”! Since the day ENDS at sunset, this expression ben ha arbayim HAS to refer to late AFTERNOON! If it referred to dusk, or twilight, after sunset, as some claim, then it would be THE NEXT DAY!
How clear it all is, when we simply let the Bible interpret the Bible! It’s really NOT complex at all. It’s simply a matter of following the Bible and not a man, even if that man happens to some self-anointed “scholar” or swaggering minister who is “wise in his own eyes” and a “legend in his own mind.” The question is, will we follow the INSPIRED WORD OF YEHOVAH GOD — or will we follow the opinions of a man?
Lighting of the Lamp, and the Incense
The lighting of the Lampstand in the Temple, and the incense offering, both also occurred at ben ha arbayim, or “between the two evenings.” Interestingly, at the time of the morning sacrifice, which was offered at 9 o’clock in the morning, the Temple lamps were “dressed,” and incense was also offered, together with the morning sacrifice (Exodus 30:7). Then at the time of the evening sacrifice, we read:
“And when Aaron lighteth [Heb. “setteth up” or “causeth to ascend”] the lamps at even [“between the two evenings”], he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations” (Exo. 30:8).
Therefore, the daily sacrifice, the incense offering, and the lamp lighting and trimming, was done every day, throughout the generations of Israel, as long as there was a Sanctuary or a Temple, at the appointed time called “between the two evenings.”
Can we establish this as being in the mid-afternoon, or about 3:00 o’clock, by another approach to the subject?
The Appointed “Time of Prayer”
The daily sacrifice was a time of “prayer” at the Temple, and the daily sacrifice and incense were physical types of prayer and sacrifice of ourselves to the service of YEHOVAH God. The apostle Paul speaks of prayer as “the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name” (Heb.13:15). David declared, “Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice” (Psalm 141:2).
In the book of Revelation, we read:
“And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand” (Rev. 8:3-4).
Thus it is clear that “incense” and the time of prayer are connected in the Word of YEHOVAH God. They are connected with each other, and with the time of the “evening sacrifice” (Psalm 141:2). What is this “time”? Is it after sunset, or before? Is it after dark, or during the afternoon? Let us continue.
It was customary for the people of Israel to be at the Temple, and to pray, at the time of the offering of the incense, and the evening sacrifice. We read in the book of Ezra, Ezra the priest declared:
“And at the evening sacrifice I rose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God” (Ezra 9:5).
Likewise, Elijah the great prophet of YEHOVAH God, at the time of the evening sacrifice, prayed to YEHOVAH, and fire came down from heaven and devoured his offering atop Mount Carmel. The scene was Mount Carmel in northern Israel. The prophets of Baal have been crying out to their god to bring fire down from heaven to consume their sacrifices. But nothing happens. We pick up the story:
“And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any answer, nor any that regarded. . . . And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God” (I Kings 18:29, 36-39).
Here again, prayer to YEHOVAH God is connected with the evening sacrifice — it is the time of “evening prayer.” As David said in the Psalms, “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice” (Psalm 55:17). Daniel also prayed three times a day to YEHOVAH, at the hours of prayer (Daniel 6:10). One of these times was the time of the evening sacrifice — as Daniel records:
“Yea, while I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation” (Dan. 9:21).
This custom continued into New Testament times. Luke records of Zecharias, the father of John the Baptizer:
“According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of the incense” (Luke 1:9-10).
When Was the “Time of Prayer”?
Thus the time of incense, the time of the daily sacrifices, morning and evening, was the time of prayer. But when was the “hour of prayer”? Does the Bible tell us elsewhere when the appointed, traditional, customary “time of prayer” at the Temple occurred? Yes, it does! The book of Acts, in the New Testament, gives us the literal, undeniable answer:
“Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the NINTH HOUR” (Acts 3:1).
“And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, and said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard . . .” (Acts 10:30-31; also 10:1-4).
The ninth hour of the day, Jewish time, would be 3 o’clock in the afternoon, our time. This was therefore the time of evening devotions, the evening sacrifice, the evening incense offering, the time of the lighting of the lamps in the Temple — and it is the time called “between the two evenings,” or ben ha arbayim!
The morning time of devotion and prayer, was the time of the morning sacrifice, the morning incense, and morning lamp trimming in the Temple. It was the time Peter and the disciples went to the Temple, to worship, on the Day of Pentecost, in 31 A.D. At that time of prayer, the Holy Spirit descended from heaven and lighted on the disciples, like a flame of fire, and enabled them to speak in many different languages, miraculously (Acts 3:1-13). Peter said to the assembled multitude, worshipping at the Temple:
“But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day” (Acts 3:14-15).
What is the real significance, then, of these times of prayer — 9 o’clock in the morning and 3 o’clock in the afternoon? We read in the gospel of Mark:
“And it was the third hour [9:00 AM], and they crucified him. . . . And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? . . . And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom” (Mark 15:25, 34-38).
Yeshua the Messiah was nailed to the tree of crucifixion, at 9 o’clock in the morning, where he remained all day, suffering, until 3 o’clock in the afternoon, when he died. Thus he was nailed to the tree as the “morning sacrifice,” and died at the same time as the “evening sacrifices” were normally killed. He died at the very time of ben ha arbayim, or “between the two evenings.” But there is even more to the story. Yeshua the Messiah died at the very time of the Passover sacrifices in Jerusalem, which also were offered at ben ha arbayim — in the afternoon, before sunset!
During the Time of the Messiah — an Eye-Witness Speaks
During the time of the Messiah, the Jews were slaying their Passover lambs at the Temple of YEHOVAH God — about 250,000 lambs at each Passover celebration during the first century. We are not told precisely how so many lambs were killed during the afternoon of Nisan 14, but undoubtedly hundreds of priests were conscripted into service, so that the logistics of the problem could be met. Additional areas on the Temple Mount, including the sacred area of the Mount of Olives, where the red heifer sacrifice was performed, may also have been drafted into service to accomplish the task. However it occurred, Josephus the Jewish historian who lived during the first century, relates:
“So these high priests, upon the coming of their feast which is called the Passover, when they slay their sacrifices, from the ninth hour to the eleventh, but so that a company not less than ten belong to every sacrifice . . . and many of us are twenty in a company, found this number of sacrifices was two hundred and fifty six thousand five hundred: which, upon the allowance of no more than ten that feast together, amounts to two million seven hundred thousand and two hundred persons that were pure and holy” (Wars of the Jews, Book VI, 9:3).
Josephus, the Jewish historian of the first century, used Jewish time reckoning, so when he says the lambs were killed from the “ninth to the eleventh” hour, he means from about 3 o’clock in the afternoon until about 5 o’clock.
Yeshua the Messiah — Perfect Passover Lamb, Perfect Proof!
Yeshua the Messiah was killed at 3:00 PM in the afternoon of Nisan 14, according to Scripture. At the ninth hour, when the Jews began killing their Passover lambs, Yeshua himself hung on the tree.
Matthew’s gospel states, “Now from the sixth hour [noon] there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour [3:00 PM]. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabach-thani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias [Elijah]. And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him. Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost” (Matt. 27:45-50).
Yeshua, the Saviour and Messiah, YEHOVAH God’s Anointed One, the “Lamb of God” (John 1:36), IS YEHOVAH’s suffering servant who gave his life for the sins of the world, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah, who wrote:
“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are HEALED.
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a LAMB to the slaughter [the Passover lamb!], and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was CUT OFF from the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
“And he made his grave with the wicked [the two robbers slain with him], and with the rich in his death [he was given Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb]; because he hath done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make HIS SOUL [LIFE] AN OFFERING FOR SIN, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days [be resurrected!], and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand” (Isaiah 53:4-10).
As Paul put it plainly: “For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us” (I Cor. 5:7-8). Yeshua the Messiah fulfilled the symbolism of the ancient Passover lambs perfectly. He was YEHOVAH God’s “lamb without blemish.”
The Perfect Proof
Certainly the Messiah, the Passover Lamb, had to be slain at the proper time! Those who claim that the Passover is to be observed at the BEGINNING of Nisan 14, and admit that the lambs were slain in the afternoon of Nisan 14, have a very serious problem. According to their chronology, Yeshua was therefore not slain until some twenty or twenty four hours LATER than the time they claim the Passover is to be observed!
On the other hand, those who claim that the Passover lambs were slain after sunset of Nisan 13, during the dusk or twilight of the beginning of Nisan 14, have an even greater problem. According to their reckoning, the Messiah died about 20 hours AFTER the Passover lambs were to be slain, at the beginning of Nisan 14 — thus invalidating and compromising his claim to being our Messiah! By their reckoning, his death was at the wrong time, and did not therefore perfectly fulfill the Passover typology!
If that were the case, then the Messiah could not truly have been our Saviour, YEHOVAH God’s Passover Lamb — he would be a fake, a fraud, an impostor, a counterfeit!
But thank YEHOVAH God, the Messiah was the PERFECT fulfillment of the Passover. Therefore, he was slain at the VERY MOMENT the Passover lambs were being slain at the Temple of YEHOVAH God! He was slain at the VERY TIME YEHOVAH God commanded for the Passover to be killed — “between the two evenings”!
Even as these sacrificial lambs were being slaughtered at the Temple, in 31 A.D., YEHOVAH God’s own True Passover Lamb, Yeshua the Messiah, was being slain for all of us who accept his shed blood for the forgiveness of our sins (II Cor. 5:20; I Cor. 5:7-8). Thus Yeshua the Messiah fulfilled the TYPE of the Passover lambs PERFECTLY — RIGHT ON TIME, exactly on schedule!
If the lambs were sacrificed the previous evening, as some claim, then Yeshua missed the correct time by twenty hours — and did not fulfill the type of the Passover perfectly! If that were true, then he could not be our SAVIOUR! He would be an impostor! But Yeshua fulfilled EVERY Scripture that prophesied of his coming TO THE MOST INFINITE DETAIL, in every respect — PERFECTLY in all points!
Now, let’s look at this question from the reverse angle. We know the Messiah was our Passover lamb (I Cor. 5:7). Therefore, we know that he must have died at the right time, when the Passover was to be killed. The fact that the gospels plainly show that Yeshua was killed at precisely 3:00 PM on the afternoon of Nisan 14, then, PROVES that the original Passover lambs were to be killed at that same time! This is further proof, then, that ben ha arbayim has to mean the late afternoon!
Here, then, is the ultimate proof — the example of Yeshua the Messiah himself, our Passover lamb! HE was slain at 3:00 PM in the afternoon; he HAD to fulfill the commandment to be slain “between the two evenings” (Exodus 12:6). Therefore, ben ha arbayim, “between the two evenings,” MUST refer to a time which includes 3:00 PM in the afternoon!
What More Proof Do We Need?
If the Pharisees were wrong in sacrificing the Passover in the late afternoon, then Yeshua would have been wrong to say they sit in Moses’ seat and that we are to follow their interpretation of the Law (Matt. 23:1-3). If they were wrong in the time they sacrificed and observed the Passover, then Yeshua would have been derelict in his duty as the Son of YEHOVAH God and the one “greater than Moses” for never chiding or faulting them for such a heinous error of the greatest magnitude.
If the Pharisees were wrong, then the apostle Paul, who said he was a Pharisee, and that he kept the law of YEHOVAH God “blamelessly” as a Pharisee (Phi. 3:6), would have been a liar. But both Yeshua, and Paul, endorse the teachings of the Jews, and the Pharisees, as the correct teachings concerning the time of killing the Passover, and observing the Passover. They never faulted the Pharisees on this teaching.
To know and understand the truth of YEHOVAH God is a wonderful blessing. To obey YEHOVAH God is even better! The times of ignorance YEHOVAH has winked at, but now commands all who learn the truth to repent of error, and to correct their mistakes.
It may not seem to men to be a very important thing as to when they observe Passover, or how they keep it. But it is important in the sight of YEHOVAH God. YEHOVAH God Himself sets the parameters of true worship — not men, ministers, priests, or other human beings. Will we obey YEHOVAH in this matter? Or will we follow men? Will we serve YEHOVAH God? Or follow Baal?
I know that many have gone through traumatic changes, in recent years, concerning church doctrines, teachings, and fellowship. Some don’t want to see any more “changes” for a long time — even if they happen to be wrong! But isn’t the truth of YEHOVAH God worth more than all the accolades of men? Isn’t fellowship with YEHOVAH God the Father and Yeshua the Messiah, by observing His Passover at the correct time — which He appointed “for ever” (Exo. 12:14-16), and He does not change (Mal. 3:6) — worth far more than fellowship with erring, sinning, human groups and churches which are too traumatized or too intransigent, to face this truth honestly?
Thank YEHOVAH God for His wonderful, inexpressible, glorious Truth!
— Edited By John D. Keyser.
Hope of Israel Ministries — Preparing the Way for the Return of YEHOVAH God and His Messiah!
Hope of Israel Ministries
P.O. Box 2186
Temple City, CA 91780, U.S.A.
www.hope-of-israel.org
Pidyon Ha’bon
The Redeemer
I had almost completed this week’s News Letter when my friend Donald McGrew began to write me on facebook wanting to talk about Passover being on the 13th instead of the 14th. I was busy packing books and DVDs for overseas and for the prisons that had requested them and answering other emails at the same time. So I was in truth not paying much attention to the discussion Donald was trying to have with me. It is a big subject and one that I have devoted many newsletters to and really did not want to have at this time.
Now Donald had come to my first teaching in Eastern Kentucky when I was there in I think 2010. He later came to our teaching a year or so later in Missouri. And he also attended our Sukkot in 2013 where we made the videos of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years teachings, which was the first time I was able to explain in detail the whole matter over the course of 8 days.
This Donald with his granddaughter in Jericho on tour with me in 2016 for Sukkot.
In 2013 after each of my presentations all the people would rush out and head back to the campsite. I had felt they were eager to leave these long teachings and go and have fun. There were over 100 people there and few stuck around to ask questions. So at night when I would walk around the camp, I would see Donald and about 6-10 others sitting around the campfire all studying their bibles. When they saw me they would shout out a question and wait for me to answer then go back to studying.
When I joined them to ask what they were doing they all said they had to prove the astounding things I had taught them that day whether it was true or not. They had never heard such things before. And they were proving what I said was indeed true and they were dumbfounded they had never seen it before. And as I walked around the camp to other groups most of them were doing the same or discussing the day’s lessons. It was pretty awesome for me to see this. But it was Donald and his group that I have never forgotten and one other lady sitting under the Succah alone going over everything as well. Those are some my sweetest memories of that Sukkot. Until I saw Donald’s group studying, I was under the impression no one was interested in what I had to say.
What I am telling you is, that Donald is a true Berrean.
Back to our facebook conversation. After a bit, Donald wrote me something in the conversation he was mostly having and the same one I was not paying much attention to. And it was like Yehovah had hit me across the side of the head with a 2 x 4 and said wake up and look at this. Donald had switched his position about the time of the Passover meal and was now agreeing with me that it was at the end of the 14th, the start of the 15th. But how he arrived at that was stunning. It was the very thing I was writing about in this News Letter and was about to wrap up.
Now thanks to Donald I have to rewrite this week’s News Letter and share these juicy truths with you all.
In Christian theology, Jesus is sometimes referred to as a Redeemer. This refers to the salvation he is believed to have accomplished, and is based on the metaphor of redemption, or “buying back”. Although the Gospels do not use the title “Redeemer”, the word “redemption” is used in several of Paul’s letters. Leon Morris says that “Paul uses the concept of redemption primarily to speak of the saving significance of the death of Christ.”[1] The English word redemption means “repurchase” or “buy back”, and in the Old Testament referred to the ransom of slaves (Exodus 21:8).[2] In the New Testament, the redemption word group is used to refer both to deliverance from sin and freedom from captivity.[3]
When I searched the word Redeem I found the following;
40 verses found, 56 matches
| Exodus | 4 verses found | 8 matches |
| Leviticus | 12 verses found | 17 matches |
| Numbers | 3 verses found | 4 matches |
| Ruth | 2 verses found | 8 matches |
| 2 Samuel | 1 verse found | 1 match |
| 1 Chronicles | 1 verse found | 1 match |
| Nehemiah | 1 verse found | 1 match |
| Job | 2 verses found | 2 matches |
| Psalms | 8 verses found | 8 matches |
| Isaiah | 1 verse found | 1 match |
| Jeremiah | 1 verse found | 1 match |
| Hosea | 1 verse found | 1 match |
| Micah | 1 verse found | 1 match |
| Galatians | 1 verse found | 1 match |
| Titus | 1 verse found | 1 match |
The word Redeemer
18 verses found, 18 matches
| Job | 1 verse found | 1 match |
| Psalms | 2 verses found | 2 matches |
| Proverbs | 1 verse found | 1 match |
| Isaiah | 13 verses found | 13 matches |
| Jeremiah | 1 verse found | 1 match |
The word Redeemed
61 verses found, 62 matches
| Genesis | 1 verse found | 1 match |
| Exodus | 2 verses found | 2 matches |
| Leviticus | 10 verses found | 10 matches |
| Numbers | 5 verses found | 5 matches |
| Deuteronomy | 6 verses found | 6 matches |
| 2 Samuel | 1 verse found | 1 match |
| 1 Kings | 1 verse found | 1 match |
| 1 Chronicles | 1 verse found | 1 match |
| Nehemiah | 2 verses found | 2 matches |
| Psalms | 7 verses found | 8 matches |
| Isaiah | 13 verses found | 13 matches |
| Jeremiah | 1 verse found | 1 match |
| Lamentations | 1 verse found | 1 match |
| Hosea | 1 verse found | 1 match |
| Micah | 1 verse found | 1 match |
| Zechariah | 1 verse found | 1 match |
| Luke | 2 verses found | 2 matches |
| Galatians | 1 verse found | 1 match |
| 1 Peter | 1 verse found | 1 match |
| Revelation | 3 verses found | 3 matches |
I can only see 9 times the word redeem or one related to it is used in the New Testament. All the rest are found in the Old Testament.
According to Talmudic tradition, the first-born acted as officiating priests in the wilderness, until the erection of the Tabernacle, when the office was given to the tribe of Levi (Num. iii. 12, 13, 45-51; Zeb. 112b; compare Onelos to Ex. xxiv. 5). In consequence of the deliverance from the tenth plague, when “the Lord slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt” but spared the first-born of the Israelites, the following commandment was given: “Sanctify unto me all the first-born, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine” (Ex. xiii. 2), which is explained in greater detail in verses 12-15. The first-born of clean beasts were thus made holy and were unredeemable, while the first-born of unclean beasts and of man had to be redeemed from the priests (Num. xviii. 15-18; Deut. xv. 19-22; compare Neh. x. 37).
The concept of the redeemer is used in the Book of Ruth to refer to the kinsman-redeemer, and in the Book of Isaiah to refer to God, the “Redeemer of Israel”.
In Job 19:25, Job makes the statement, “I know that my Redeemer liveth.”
This passage mentions an unnamed man who was the guardian-redeemer for Naomi and Ruth. Other Bible translations call him a family guardian or kinsman-redeemer. This description comes from the Hebrew word go’el, meaning “redeemer.” A go’el was a male relative who was responsible for caring for a deceased relative’s possessions, including land, houses, livestock, and even the widow. If the deceased had debts, the go’el would pay them. If the deceased was childless, the go’el would marry the widow and produce offspring who would carry on the name and family lineage of the deceased man. When they came of age, those children would inherit the deceased man’s property. The possessions and people who were cared for by a go’el were said to be “redeemed.” The go’el’s responsibility, then, was supremely sacrificial: He invested much in supporting his deceased relative’s estate and family but received little to nothing in return. Israel’s social system and survival as a people depended on men who performed their duty as a go’el. So important was this role that Isaiah 43:14 describes God as Israel’s go’el or redeemer, a concept that carries over to the New Testament understanding of Jesus’ life and ministry.
Ruth 4:1-12
1 Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate and sat down there just as the guardian-redeemer he had mentioned came along. Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down. 2 Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said, “Sit here,” and they did so. 3 Then he said to the guardian-redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelek. 4 I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do so. But if you will not, tell me, so I will know. For no one has the right to do it except you, and I am next in line.” “I will redeem it,” he said. 5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the dead man’s widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property.” 6 At this, the guardian-redeemer said, “Then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it.”
7 (Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalizing transactions in Israel.) 8 So the guardian-redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it yourself.” And he removed his sandal. 9 Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, “Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelek, Kilion and Mahlon. 10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from his hometown. Today you are witnesses!” 11 Then the elders and all the people at the gate said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. 12 Through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah. Boaz was a well-to-do farmer who owned land and crops and had numerous employees. Why would he be interested in a poor Moabite widow such as Ruth, despite Jewish law forbidding intermarriage with Moabites? It so happens that Boaz was a fifth generation descendant of Perez, who was the son of a Canaanite widow named Tamar. Tamar’s first two husbands died. They were both sons of Judah, one of the great-grandsons of Abraham himself, the father of the Jewish people. Judah promised to give her his third son, but he neglected to fulfill that promise. So Tamar used some loopholes in the law, plus a little trickery, to get Judah to father twin sons, one of whom was named Perez. (Genesis 38 has the full details.) Thus, Tamar provided for her future security and family line. Perhaps this was why Boaz was sensitive to the plight of disadvantaged foreign widows such as Ruth. And he was brave enough to ignore social stigma to follow through on his promises to care for her.The Hebrew word for redeem is used 22 times in Ruth and 104 times throughout the Old Testament. It means to restore, repair, or avenge. God is the ultimate redeemer (Isaiah 49:26).
In the Old Testament, God redeemed people from slavery (Exodus 6:6), disobedience (Isaiah 44:22), harm (Genesis 48:16), enemies (Psalm 107:2), captivity (Isaiah 43:14), and death (Hosea 13:14). In the New Testament, God sent Jesus to provide redemption for all people: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23-24).
The Pidyon Ha’bon
Why did Yehovah have to pay a redemption price and to whom?
To redeem the firstborn is called The Pidyon Ha’bon.
The source for an Israelite’s obligation to redeem his firstborn son through giving the kohen (priest) specifically five shekels is the Book of Numbers (18:15-16): “You shall redeem the firstborn of man . . .the redemption [shall be performed] from the age of a month, according to the valuation, five shekels of silver.”
Several explanations are given for the specific amount of silver shekels used for the pidyon haben. The following is from the Talmud:
Joseph – Rachel’s firstborn son – was sold by his brothers for twenty silver pieces, the equivalent of five shekels. This established that the standard “price” for a (firstborn) human is five shekels, which are given to the kohen, God’s representative, to redeem the child.
Genesis 37:26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother? We’d have to cover up the crime. Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he is our brother—our own flesh and blood!” And his brothers agreed. So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty pieces of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt.
A pidyon haben, or “redemption of the [firstborn] son,” is a ceremony wherein the father of a firstborn male redeems his son by giving five silver coins to a kohen(a priestly descendant of Aaron), thirty days after the baby’s birth.
What is the reason for this procedure?
Exodus 13 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”
:13And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break its neck: and all the first-born of man among thy sons shalt thou redeem.
And it shall be, when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand Jehovah brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage: and it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that Jehovah slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both the first-born of man, and the first-born of beast: therefore I sacrifice to Jehovah all that openeth the womb, being males; but all the first-born of my sons I redeem. And it shall be for a sign upon thy hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand Jehovah brought us forth out of Egypt.
The first place we see the word redeem is in Exodus 6:6
Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am Jehovah, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments: and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah your God, who bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
Originally, the Israelite firstborn were the sanctified priestly class. They were inducted into God’s service when they were spared from the Plague of the Firstborn that struck Egypt. However, when Israel—firstborn included—served the Golden Calf, the firstborn forfeited their status. The priesthood was transferred to the tribe that did not participate in the Golden Calf hoopla—the Levites, and particularly the children of Aaron.
Now we have 20 pieces of silver being the price for Joseph being redeemed from the cistern. That amount equalling 5 shekels as we were just said. Joseph represents the northern 10 tribes. It is upon his children that the name of Israel is given. Let my name Israel be carried on in them.
Gen 48:15 “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”
We have another interesting story that we can also connect to this and to the redemption of Israel. That is the story of Hosea. Hosea represents Yehovah seeking His wayward bride who has gone a whoring after other men. Hosea, represents Yehovah, who is redeeming Israel.
Hosea Brings His Wife Back to Himself
3 The Lord said to me, “Go. Show your love to your wife again. She is loved by another man. And she has committed adultery. But I want you to love her just as I love the people of Israel. They turn to other gods. And they love to offer raisin cakes to Baal and eat them. In spite of that, I love my people.”
2 So I bought Gomer for six ounces of silver and 430 pounds of barley. 3 Then I told her, “You must wait for me for a long time. You must not be a prostitute. You must not have sex with any man. And I will be faithful to you too.”
4 So the people of Israel will live for a long time without a king or prince. They won’t have sacrifices or sacred stones. They won’t have sacred linen aprons or statues of family gods. 5 After that, the people of Israel will return to the Lord their God. They will look to him and to a king from the family line of David. In the last days, they will tremble with fear as they come to the Lord. And they will receive his full blessing.
Now 6 ounces is equal to 170.1 Grams of Silver. And 1 shekel is equal to 100 grams. So gomer is being bought or redeemed for about 10 shekels of silver. And Gomer represents Israel (Ephraim and Manasseh) who have gone a whoring after other gods.
The question we are addressing this week is Why did Yehovah have to pay a redemption price? And to whom did He pay it?
We are told in Exodus 4:22-23
Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’”
In The Prophecies of Abraham,we have shown you many times how Egypt represents the end time whore.
When Abraham and Sarah go down to Egypt Pharaoh takes Sarah for his wife. This is similar to Egypt taking the children of Israel for slaves and in the end time how the Great end time Whore will take the remnant of Israel for captives. You are this very day witnessing the same events of the children of Israel living in Egypt and the tables being turned to make them slaves. Today the UN and the EU whores are fighting everything the US is doing under Trump. And now Trump is cutting off funding to the UN and so is the State of Isreal and the UK is pulling out of the EU agreement. The BREXIT divorce. The USA has pulled out the Paris Agreement.
When you step back from the banter of the headline news you should be able to see that in each of these cases, the EU and the UN stand to lose billions of potential income that the USA and the UK were providing to these various causes.
The EU and the UN will soon turn their forces upon the USA and the UK and turn what is left of them after the wars, (The remnant) into slaves.
It is during this time that the two witnesses will act and cause all sorts of plagues to fall upon this great whore in the same way Moses and Aaron did in the Exodus story.
Now again I ask you ‘Why does Yehovah have to pay anything at all.” I can see Hosea paying for Gomer who is owned by her new lover.
Oops, I think I just learned something Gomer was owned by the one she had given herself to, the other lover. Gomer represents Israel, who has gone after all sorts of other lovers who do not love her. Hosea or Yehovah loves Israel, who is His first born. Meaning Yehovah will have others nations as HIs children at some point in time.
Paul has this to say in Romans 6:12:
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
Slaves to Righteousness
What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
When we give into sin then we submit ourselves to Satan. We submit ourselves to the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The very same tree Adam and Eve submitted themselves too and the rest of mankind. Just imagine if you can, that each time you sin, all of your descendant that come from you from that point on will be enslaved by Satan for your sins.
And yet we have sinned and we have submitted ourselves to our new lord Satan.
In Matthew, we read how he has authority to give kingdoms to whomever he chooses.
Mat 4:8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
We also read in the letters from both John and Paul how Yehshua Himself admits that there is one who rules this earth now and it is not Yehshua.
John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.
John 14:30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.John 16: 7-11 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment because the ruler of this world is judged.
1 Corithians 10:18-22 Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
Eph 2:1-3 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
Eph 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
1 John 5:19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
Rev 9:11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon..
Rev 20:1-3 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
Now getting back to the Exodus story we need to understand that Yehovah did not destroy the firstborn of Egypt. But Yehovah protected Israel from the destroyer who was at this time killing all the firstborn in Egypt.
Exodus 12:23 says that when God passed over the doors of the houses which had been marked with the blood of the Passover lamb, He would not allow the destroyer to enter into the house to kill the firstborn of that house.
So it was not Yehovah who struck down the firstborn sons of Egypt, but a being referred to as “the destroyer.”
Yehovah’s primary activity in the tenth plague was not in killing the firstborn sons of Egypt, but in protecting people from the destroyer that had come to kill all things.
Yehovah paid a price to this destroyer and that price was Egypt.
Isa 43:3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
The Se’udat-Siyum
We now need to take another look at what took place on the night Yehshua was betrayed and relook at the events of this night. I have not seen this until Donald tipped me off whether or not he realized it.
Nisan13 was Tuesday. Do not forget the day begins with sunset. Tuesday is the day before the preparation day for Passover. At the end of this the 13th of Nisan, and the start of the 14th, which is the start of the preparation day, that the disciples had the special meal that we call The Last Supper.
There was a tradition which in Hebrew is called, seudah maphsehket; this translates essentially to “last supper”. This last supper was about remembering that it was indeed not ALL Hebrews who were in danger from death at God’s hand in Egypt, but ONLY the firstborn sons. So a special nighttime meal was adopted whereby this meal would be eaten and then there would be a 24 hour fast that followed……thus the name “last supper”. The next meal to be eaten was the Passover meal after the 14th had passed and the start of the 15th of Nisan was just beginning.
It is at the start of the 14th day of Nisan at this seudah maphsehket that Yeshua says to commemorate this day by drinking wine that symbolizes His blood that establishes the New Covenant, and by eating unleavened bread that symbolizes His body.
After having the last supper, the next event is that Judas betrays Him and shortly after midnight Yehshua is arrested. It is still The Preparation day. In the wee hours a little before sunrise, He is tried and convicted of blasphemy by the Sanhedrin. It is still Preparation Day. After the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, confirms his death sentence Yehshua is scourged and then nailed to the tree by Roman soldiers. It is still The Preparation Day, Wednesday, Nisan 14, 31 C.E.
When Yehshua dies at 3 pm in the afternoon on this Preparation Day, it is the exact same time the slaughter of the Passover Lambs begins in the Temple grounds. Somewhere around ¼ million sheep will be killed and their blood collected between the hours of 3 pm and 6 pm. It is still the Preparation Day because the sun has not yet set and after sunset then the Passover meals are eaten with these lambs which have just been killed and roasted in the Temple area.
The Fast of the First Born
Let’s understand one thing very clearly: The final meal Yeshua had with his disciples was NOT THE PASSOVER! The Passover was very plainly not yet come. John, in describing this final meal Yeshua had with his disciples, said, “Now BEFORE the feast of the Passover” (John 13:1). He plainly shows this meal or banquet was BEFORE the true Passover, which was scheduled to be eaten and observed the next night, Nisan 15 (John 18:18). The next day the Jews would still be “preparing” for the Passover (John 19:14, 31). Therefore, what exactly WAS this “last meal”?
What few have realized, not being familiar with Jewish customs of the time of Yeshua, is that this meal could not have been the Passover, since Passover lambs would not be slain until the following afternoon, and then eaten in the homes of the Jews on the night of the actual “Passover” — when YEHOVAH God slew the firstborn in the land of Egypt and “passed over” the Israelites — Nisan 15. Yet obviously, this final meal was very important — a meal of close fellowship and spiritual significance.
A Jewish Look at the Last Supper
Says David H. Stern, in the Jewish New Testament Commentary:
“The Last Supper is considered by most scholars to have been a Passover meal or Seder. Many Pesach themes are deepened, reinforced and given new levels of meaning by events in the life of Yeshua the Messiah and by his words on this night. However, Joseph Shulam has suggested that it may not have been the Seder but a se’udat-mitzvah, the CELEBRATORY ‘BANQUET accompanying performance of a commandment’ such as a wedding or b’ rit-milah.
“Here is the background for his argument. When a rabbi and his students finish studying a tractate of the Talmud, they celebrate with a se’udat-mitzvah (also called a se’udat-siyum, ‘banquet of completion,’ i.e., graduation). The Fast of the Firstborn, expressing gratitude for the saving of Israel’s firstborn sons from the tenth plague, has been prescribed for the day before Pesach, Nisan 14, at least since Mishnaic times. When it is necessary to eat a se’udat-mitzvah, this takes precedence over a fast. With a modicum of foresight a rabbi can plan to complete a tractate on Nisan 14 and thus avoid having to fast; doing so is not construed as cheating, and in fact it has become the custom. “The tradition of the Fast of the Firstborn dates at least from Mishanic times. But, Shulam reasons, if it goes back a couple of centuries more to the time of Yeshua, and if the si’udat siyum custom applied in the first century to the completing of any course of study, then Yeshua might have arranged to have himself and his talmidim [students, disciples] finish reading a book of the Tanakh on Nisan 14. Or, since Yeshua knew he was going to die, he may have regarded it as appropriate to complete his disciples’ earthly ‘course of study’ with a BANQUET. This solution would also resolve the perceived conflict between Yochanan [John] and the Synoptic Gospels over the timing of the Last Supper” JNT, p. 77).
In other words, there is much more to this passage in I Corinthians 11, and its meaning, than we have supposed. Although there is no doubt that Yeshua the Messiah presented the new meanings of the bread and the wine as representing his broken body and shed blood, given on our behalf, at the last supper, and that these symbols are directly involved in the Passover Seder, held on Nisan 15, it is also a fact that this final meal was ONE DAY before the Passover. It is also a fact that Yeshua did not tell his disciples that they should institute a NEW COMMANDMENT, or a new “holy day,” and begin observing Nisan 14, at the eve, as a memorial of this “last supper.” However, he was having a “final banquet” with them — a special and unique “fellowship meal” with them, where all were relaxed, reclining, at ease, and experiencing a very close oneness with each other. This was similar to a Passover Seder in some respects — but yet different.
The Greek Word “Artos”
Interestingly, when Yeshua held this final dinner with his disciples, the word John used to describe it was diepnon, which means “supper, the principal meal, dinner.” It is used of the last supper Yeshua held with his disciples, and other main meals of the day (see Mark 6:21; Luke 14:12, 16, 17, 24; 22:20; John 12:2; 13:21, 4; I Cor. 11:20-21; Rev. 19:9, 17). This word is NEVER used of an annual Festival, or of the Passover. However, it simply refers to the MAIN MEAL of the day, usually at evening.
Furthermore, at this final dinner or banquet, there is no mention of a lamb being eaten — which would have been necessary if this were the Passover. The gospel accounts would hardly have neglected to mention such an important feature.
But even more interesting is the fact that Jewish custom of that time, and always, has dictated that UNLEAVENED BREAD was not to be eaten during the days before the FEAST of Unleavened Bread, so that the Feast would be set apart as distinct and real. For unleavened bread to have been eaten BEFORE the Festival would have diminished its importance during the Feast itself! Therefore, if Yeshua and his disciples had eaten “unleavened bread” on the night of Nisan 14, they would have violated Jewish custom and practice. It is very interesting, therefore, to notice that when Yeshua sat down at dinner, at that final meal with his disciples, “as they were eating, Yeshua took bread, and blessed it [many Greek copies have, “gave thanks”], and brake it, and gave to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body” (Matt. 26:26). The word for “bread” here is artos, and means, “bread (as raised), a loaf.” This same word is used in Matthew 4:3-4, “man does not live by bread alone,” in Matthew 6:11, “our daily bread,” and Matthew 16:12,”the leaven of bread,” etc. This word is often used of LEAVENED BREAD!
Generally, whenever UNLEAVENED bread is meant, this word is preceded by the Greek word for “unleavened,” which is azumos, meaning “unleavened, uncorrupted.” But in the three synoptic gospel accounts of the last supper of Yeshua and his disciples, Matthew 26:26, Mark 14:22, Luke 22:19, the writers always use ONLY THE WORD ARTOS, meaning BREAD — without the modifying word azumos to designate “unleavened.” Therefore, the clear indication is that AT THE LAST SUPPER YESHUA USED NORMAL LEAVENED BREAD, when he blessed and broke it, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body”!
Here is further proof that this dinner was not and could not have been the PASSOVER!
The Real Bread at the “Last Supper”
Further proof that Yeshua and his disciples did NOT and could not have eaten the “Passover,” with its unleavened bread, at the “last supper” on the eve or beginning of Nisan 14, is plain and simple Jewish law (halakha) of the time. It is a historical fact that when the Scriptures use the expression “kept the Passover” (Ezra 6:19) it refers strictly to the slaying of the Passover lamb, on the 14th of Nisan, whereas the expression “eat the Passover” was fulfilled the coming evening of Nisan 15 which was the beginning of the eating of unleavened bread on “the night to be much observed.” The reason why this evening was called “the night to be much observed” was because the Passover meal was always eaten as the first meal in the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Also, according to Jewish law of the times (halakha), it was absolutely forbidden to eat unleavened bread during the 24-hour period prior to the first night of Unleavened Bread! This was a distinction made by law to sanctify (set apart) the sacred meaning of the Feast from whatever they may have eaten for bread on the previous days. This means that Yeshua and the disciples could not have eaten unleavened bread the evening prior to the “night to be much observed”!
Also, the gospels indicate that Yeshua was keeping the Fast of the Firstborn during the daylight hours of the crucifixion day — this was a daytime fast observed by all firstborn Jews on the Preparation Day in remembrance of YEHOVAH God protecting the firstborn of Israel while killing the firstborn of Egypt; this also explains Yeshua’s remark in Matthew 26:29, “I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” Obviously, Yeshua did not drink any wine the following day. Furthermore, this explains why he refused to accept the vinegar mixed with gall mentioned in Matthew 27:34. The Hebrew text of Matthew’s gospel written by the Spanish Jewish scholar Shem-Tov ben-Shaprut (c. 1380 A.D.) reads: “and gave him wine mixed with gall. But when he began to drink it he perceived and would not drink it.” Yeshua must have remembered he was observing the Fast of the Firstborn. The Greek word for “taste” used in this verse produced a false impression. Yeshua remembered before he drank and swallowed.
Clearly, then, the “bread” which Yeshua broke and gave to his disciples during the beginning portion of Nisan 14, in the evening, at his final “supper” with them, must have been and indeed was LEAVENED BREAD!
But can this be? Can leavened bread, as well as unleavened bread, represent the body of Yeshua the Messiah?
The answer is a resounding YES!
In Leviticus 23:17, regarding the feast of Pentecost, we read: “Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be BAKEN WITH LEAVEN; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.” Leaven, in this case, certainly does not represent SIN, as nothing “contaminated” or “sinful” could ever be offered to YEHOVAH God. To offer “sins” to YEHOVAH would be sacrilegious — blasphemy — like offering swine’s flesh (Isa. 66:3, 17).
Notice, therefore, what the Jamieson, Faussett and Brown Commentary has to say on this passage in Leviticus 23:
“These loaves were made of “fine” or wheaten flour, the quantity contained in them being somewhat more than ten pounds weight. As the wave-sheaf gave the signal for the commencement, the two loaves solemnized the termination of the harvest season. They were the first-fruits of that season, being offered unto the Lord by the priest in name of the whole nation (see on Exo. 34:22). The loaves used at the Passover were UNLEAVENED, those presented at Pentecost were LEAVENED — a difference which is thus accounted for, — that the one was a memorial of the bread hastily prepared at their departure, while the other was a TRIBUTE OF GRATITUDE TO GOD for their daily food, which was leavened…” (vol. 1, p.498).
However, even “leavened bread” is a TYPE of the body of the Messiah, and represents “his flesh” which he gave for the sins of the world. To the Jews, unleavened or flat bread represented affliction and poverty, as when the Israelites came out of Egypt; but leavened loaves of bread, as were sacrificed at Pentecost to the Lord (Leviticus 23:17), typify ABUNDANCE, richness, wealth. The typology should be clear. The Messiah crucified was in affliction, flatness, abject, beaten, bruised, pierced, pummeled — the perfect type being unleavened bread. The Messiah as the richness of the abundance of life, life-giving bread, is pictured by the leaves of beautiful, sweet-smelling leavened bread! Don’t all of us enjoy a beautiful loaf of home-made leavened whole wheat bread straight out of the oven steaming? Therefore, the richness of leavened bread also symbolizes Yeshua the Messiah, the “bread of life.” Notice!
“The BREAD of Life”
In John chapter 6, when Yeshua fed the multitude from a few loaves of bread and a few fishes, he declared,
“For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world….I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believth on me shall never thirst….
“I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
“I am the LIVING BREAD which came down from heaven: if any man eat of THIS BREAD, he shall live forever: and the bread which I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world….
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
“This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live forever” (John 6:33-58).
Yeshua, then, is the “bread of life.” This is a reality. This is not just Passover. Throughout the year, every day, day in and day out, Yeshua the Messiah remains and IS the “bread of life” which came down from heaven! We should be eating of this “bread” DAILY as we study the Scriptures! Yeshua went on to declare:
“It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).
Thus even regular bread is a type of the richness of the life-giving bread of Yeshua the Messiah! In this sense, the leaven represents fullness and abundance. True Christians, as members of the body of the Messiah, also are “one bread” IN the Messiah!
30 Pieces of Silver
Now with everything you have been shown thus far consider the following.
Zech 11:10-14 And I took my staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples. So it was annulled on that day, and the sheep traders, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord. Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter. Then I broke my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
In Mathew, we learn how Judas has agreed to betray Yehshua.
Mat 26:14-16 Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.
Next, we read about the betrayal of Yehshua in John 13:21-30
After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus’ side, so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.
We then read the rest of what Judus has done in Mat 27:3-10
Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself. But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.” So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers. Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.”
I will share next what is commonly said about this transaction and then share my thoughts on it.
In Zechariah 11:12–13, 30 pieces of silver is the price Zechariah receives for his labour. He takes the coins and throws them “to the potter”. Klaas Schilder notes that Zechariah’s payment indicates an assessment of his worth, as well as his dismissal.[18] In Exodus 21:32, 30 pieces of silver was the price of a slave, so while Zechariah calls the amount a “handsome price” (Zechariah 11:13), this could be sarcasm. Barry Webb, however, regards it as a “considerable sum of money.”[19]
Schilder suggests that these 30 pieces of silver then get “bandied back and forth by the Spirit of Prophecy.”[20] When the chief priests decide to buy a field with the returned money, Matthew says that this fulfilled “what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet.” Namely, “They took the thirty silver coins, the price set on him by the people of Israel, and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me” (Matthew 27:9–10). Although many scholars see Jeremiah’s name as included in error,[21] Jeremiah’s purchase of a field in Jeremiah 32 may indicate that both prophets are in mind.[22] Craig Blomberg argues that Matthew is using typology in his quotation, rather than “any kind of single or double fulfillment of actual predictive prophecy.” According to Blomberg, Matthew is telling his readers that, “like Jeremiah and Zechariah, Jesus attempts to lead his people with a prophetic and pastoral ministry, but instead he ends up suffering innocently at their hands.”[23] William Hendriksen argues that Matthew is referring to Jeremiah 19.[24]
Blomberg also suggests that Matthew may also be saying that “Jesus’ death is a ransom, the price paid to secure a slave’s freedom,” and that the use of the blood money to buy a burial ground for foreigners (Matthew 27:7) may hint at the idea that “Jesus’ death makes salvation possible for all the peoples of the world, including the Gentiles.”[25]
The 1877 Handy Book for Bible Readers states that “Argurion, argenteus, denarius. This word occurs in two passages–(A) the account of the betrayal of our Lord for “thirty pieces of silver” (Matt. xxvi. 15; xxvii. 3, 5, 6, 9). These have usually been considered to be denarii, but on no sufficient ground. The parallel passage in Zechariah (xi. 12, 13), is translated “thirty [pieces] of silver”; but which should doubtless be read, “thirty shekels of silver”, whilst it is observable that “thirty shekels of silver” was the price of blood to be paid in the case of a servant accidentally killed (Exod. xxi. 32). The passage may therefore be explained as “thirty shekels of silver”, not surrent shekels, but tetradrachms of the Attic standard of the Greek cities of Syria and Phoencia. These tetradrachms were common at the time of our Lord, and of them the stater was a specimen.”
Slave-Captives-Death-Redemption
There is something very special about this Fast of the First Born and the money paid to redeem the firstborn. And then when we actually see it played out in real time at the crucifixion we should be able to draw understanding from it. But we do not because of so much confusion about the events and because we have not obeyed for over 2700 years. So we have lost much understanding.
Yehovah had to pay the ruler of this world, Satan the destroyer, for those whom Yehovah was redeeming the same as Hosea did for his adulterous wife whom he bought back.
The price of redeeming the firstborn was set at 5 shekels. The price for Gomer was equivalent to about 10 shekels. The 30 Silver coins …
The word used in Matthew 26:15 (???????, argyria) simply means “silver coins,”[9] and scholars disagree on the type of coins that would have been used. Donald Wiseman suggests two possibilities. They could have been tetradrachms of Tyre, usually referred to as Tyrian shekels (14 grams of 94% silver), or staters from Antioch (15 grams of 75% silver), which bore the head of Augustus.[10] Alternatively, they could have been Ptolemaic tetradrachms (13.5 ± 1 g of 25% silver).[11]There are 31.1035 grams per troy ounce. At spot valuation of $17.06/oz (the closing price on Monday, December 12, 2016), 30 “pieces of silver” would be worth between $185 and $216 in present-day value (USD).
The Tyrian shekel weighed four Athenian drachmas, about 14 grams, more than earlier 11-gram Israeli shekels, but was regarded as the equivalent for religious duties at that time.[12] Because Roman coinage was only 80% silver, the purer (94% or more) Tyrian shekels were required to pay the temple tax in Jerusalem. The money changers referenced in the New Testament Gospels (Matt. 21:12 and parallels) exchanged Tyrian shekels for common Roman currency.[13][14]
I am trying to say that the redemption price is connected to the 30 pieces of Silver. Exactly how I will leave for you to ponder.
This day called the Fast of the firstborn is directly connected to the Fast of the Day of Atonement. As we showed you last week, the goat that represented Yehovah was killed on the Day of Atonement. This is the sacrifice that shows us we will be killing Yehovah. We were to kill the goat that represented Him, the same as we were to take the other goat, that looks just like the one that represents Yehovah, and cast it into the wilderness with all the guilt from our sins placed upon it. This Goat represented Satan the destroyer.
So because of these two Holy Days are connected in that the lamb that is killed also represents Yehovah at Atonement, so we are to fast at this time. It is the Fast of the Firstborn.
But although we have the symbolism here in the redemption of the firstborn, and we have it already stated that the 30 pieces of silver were to be used to buy the potters field as graves for the strangers. It has been stated that this field represents the rest of the gentile world.
Now let us go back once again to Genesis 15.
Gen 15:17-21 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”
Yehovah made this blood covenant by Himself. He swore by His own life. There is no higher authority than He.
Then at Mount Sinai Yehovah again reaffirms this covenant with all of Israel whom He had just bought with the lives of the Egyptians from the destroyer. In Exodus starting in chapter 19 and going all the way to 34 is the covenant with all of Israel and we all agreed to obey it. Now, this too was a blood covenant which means that if either party breaks those things they have agreed to in it then they would pay with their lives.
Israel did break this agreement and is guilty of sin and thus must pay for this with their lives.
But Yehovah has shown us just how much He loved Israel and not just Israel, but all of mankind, by giving His own life as payment for us breaking the covenant of Mount Sinai.
He has redeemed us with His own blood. The redemption price of the firstborn as shown to us each time we keep the Pidyon Ha’bon and again each year we keep the last supper not as the Passover meal which is the next night but as this special night in which He paid for us on this day by His own blood.
We know this is what He did because of the fact that the dead who were held prisoners by Satan up until that time had not and had never come back to life from the grave until Yehshua came out of the grave at the end of the Sabbath.
This is the first time other than Lazarus, and a few others, that anyone has come out of the grave.
Mat 27:50-53 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.
And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
This was the first chag of Unleavened Bread. It is the first wave offering and it is the first time any of the Saints were brought back to life.
Paul tells us how Yehshua led the captives.
Eph 4:8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”
1 Cor 15:20-26 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
This event that took place after the payment had been executed is the redemption of mankind from the grave. It took place on the wave sheaf day. It is what the wave sheaf represents. Those Saints who obeyed were brought back to life on wave sheaf day. All of those from the time of Adam until this day in 31 C.E. were brought back to life and then ascended to heaven at 9 AM that Sunday morning with Yehshua.
Those captives were those who were held by Satan in death. They are now free and ascended with Yehshua to heaven.
The next wave offering to take place happens at the end of the tribulation on Shavuot when the next wave offering of two loafs of bread are waved. This is the one that all those since 31 C.E. until that time who have died and even those who are alive will be brought back to life and or changed in the twinkling of an eye and rise to meet Him in the air.
1 Cor 15:50-57 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Again death is captivity and captivity means to be a captive of Satan. What is to be thrown into the lake of fire in the end?
Rev 20:11-15 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Rev 20:4-6 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
I do hope I have been able to convey this new to me and some of you, understanding. I hope you can see the Great and mightiness of Yehovah in everything He is doing. Yehovah is our redeemer and Yehovah is the one who paid the redemption price with His own blood for us and for all mankind.
Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.
Isaiah 41:14 “Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel; I will help you,” declares the LORD, “and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
Jeremiah 50:34 “Their Redeemer is strong, the LORD of hosts is His name; He will vigorously plead their case So that He may bring rest to the earth, But turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.
Amos 4:13 For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind And declares to man what are His thoughts, He who makes dawn into darkness And treads on the high places of the earth, The LORD God of hosts is His name.
Isa 43:14-15 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I send to Babylon and bring them all down as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.
I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.”Isa 44:6 Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.
Isa 49:26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine. Then all flesh shall know that I am the Lord your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
Look at this verse above again and note what it is saying to you. ‘I am Yehovah Yehshua and your Redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob’.
Isa 54:5 For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.
Isa 43:3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
Let me show you this scripture in the Hebrew. And I want you to think on it some over this coming week.
Isa 43:3 For I am Yehovah, the Holy One of Israel, your Yehshua. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
Jer 31:10-11 “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’
For the Lord has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.Jer 50:33-34 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah with them. All who took them captive have held them fast; they refuse to let them go. Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is his name. He will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon..
If we let the Word of Yehovah (the Bible) interpret itself and keep the man out of it, the Bible plainly tells us the truth.
Shalom!
So does that mean you now have 180 Sabbatical proves instead of 80 with the new gravestones the ladies found for you or did you mean you have a hundred now in total? Thank you, Joseph
Good morning, Joe,
I’m not sure what is going on but the past two weeks the newsletter has been truncated.
For this week I received the information contained in the teaching video regarding criticism, the advertisement of the event in Britain, and then the link to the Perpetual Calendar.
That is the end of the newsletter.
Last week it was much the same thing for the letter on the Early Passover and true also if I go to the newsletter archives.
The prior week’s letter on Servant Leadership was fine and is so in the archives also.
Please check this out.
Thank you,
Jim
Very good. i love the video on criticism.