Prophetic fulfillment of Passover and Atonement

[Esaias]

I am reposting this from the debate section, since that area has been cluttered with an endless merry-go-round of nonsense, for some reason.

Just a quick blurb about this subject.

The Feasts or Appointed Times of the Lord have four levels of signification. The first of course is the historical. Passover was a commemoration of the Exodus from Egypt, for example. The second is Christological. The Passover looked forward to the cross as Christ became soteriological Passover Lamb accomplishing our deliverance, for example. The third is experiential. We must each of us have a personal Passover or Calvary experience, whereby not only do we 'eat' the Passover (the cross applied to our lives) but we must also take up our own cross and 'die to self' on our personal, God-ordained Golgotha, ie we identify with Christ in his death, for example. And the fourth is eschatological. Paul says the feasts are 'shadows of things coming', ie still future from when he wrote those words. (I understand this last point will be debatable by my preterist friends, but that's not what this thread is about, so bear with me a moment.)

Now, we know that Christ died on Passover. As such, he fulfilled the Passover. Yet, in Hebrews we read that Christ also fulfills the Atonement. Now, the Day of Atonement was in the fall, and did not take place during Passover. For years I had wondered 'Why, if Christ fulfills the Day of Atonement, did he not die on the day of Atonement?'

First of all, he had to die on a particular day, so it couldn't be both. It would have to be one or the other.

Second, the Day of Atonement was meant to secure the ongoing atonement of the nation. But without Passover there would be no nation to be atoned for. So, the Day of Atonement depends on the Passover.

Third, the Day of Atonement occurs in the seventh month. The Passover occurs in the first month. To determine the seventh month, one has to know when the first month is. Thus, again, Atonement depends on Passover.

Fourth, the Passover is merely part of a larger Feast, the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This feast is a seven day feast that actually spans eight days. The first day is the Passover day itself, when the lamb is killed and roasted. That night, the Lamb is eaten. This would be the 'first day of unleavened bread' properly speaking. This day was a Sabbath, and the day after that would be the presentation and waving of the 'omer' or 'sheaf of the firstfruits'. So the third day, technically speaking, of the whole festal period is the 'omer' day. Then, the last day, or seventh day of the week of Unleavened Bread, is also a Sabbath.

What we see here is a pattern: The first, the third, and the seventh. The first is when the Lamb is slain. The third is the presentation of the representative firstfruit. The seventh is the culmination or completion.

The Feasts themselves follow a similar pattern of first, third, and seventh. The first month is Passover/Unleavened Bread, the third month is Pentecost or feast of firstfruits, and the seventh month is Trumpets (announcing the beginning of the seventh month), Atonement, and Tabernacles (another 8 day feast).

So then, within the first Feast period of Passover/Unleavened Bread, there is contained in a seed form the entire cycle of yearly Feasts. Or to put it another way, the Passover/Unleavened Bread cycle is a typological representation or template for the entire Feast calendar for the whole year.

So, in conclusion, the Day of Atonement is contained in seed form within the Passover cycle, and is dependent upon the Passover for it's existence and timing. Thus, when Christ died at Passover, he fulfilled in typological form the entire yearly Feast cycle.

This corresponds not merely to the day he died, but to the entire week.

On Passover he died. He was in the tomb during the first Sabbath of Unleavened Bread. He rose the third day as the 'omer' of the resurrection, the proto-typical firstfruit signalling the Pentecost harvest of 'firstfruits' would be acceptable. Likewise, his resurrection is a type of the new life we receive by the gift of the Spirit, which was poured out on the feast of firstfruits aka Pentecost. He appeared to his disciples several times over the next week much to their amazement, signifying a 'Tabernacles' experience much as God tabernacled with Israel in the wilderness (which is what Tabernacles' historical purpose was to commemorate).

So, in a sense, the Passover week was a Christological fulfillment of the whole yearly Feast cycle. And thus, he was able to fulfill the Atonement without having to actually die on the actual Day of Atonement.

Note1: I realise some hold to either a Wednesday crucifixion or a Thursday crucifixion. This thread is not designed to debate that issue (we can do that in another thread if anyone wants?) but merely to point out how Atonement is satisfied even though his death was not on the Day of Atonement.

Note2: During the Exodus event, Israel wound up at Marah on or right about what would be the seventh day of Unleavened Bread. Then they arrived at Sinai shortly before the day of what would be Pentecost. Pentecost is fifty days from Passover (technically from the omer day). Jesus stayed with the apostles for forty days after his resurrection, leaving them ten days to wait in preparation and prayer until Pentecost when the Spirit was poured out. The time he spent with them he spoke to them about the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Israel's history in those first fifty days between the Exodus and Sinai give interesting lessons concerning the kingdom of God: The tree making the bitter waters sweet, the twelve wells and seventy palm trees of Elim, the giving of manna in the wilderness of Sin, the striking of the Rock at Rephidim, the coming of Amalek, the appointment of lesser judges (governmental structure) after the arrival of Jethro, and the arrival at Sinai and preparations to receive the Law and Covenant.

Note3: Jesus was with his disciples forty days after his Passover. Israel wandered in Sinai for forty years after their Passover.

Note4: It is likely that when Jesus was baptised by John, he fulfilled much of the typology of the Day of Atonement. This by the way leads into the question of whether Jesus died in the middle of the seventieth week of Daniel, or at the end of the seventieth week. I am starting to see that Jesus did not die in the midst of the seventieth week, but that he was baptised in the midst of the seventieth week, thus (from God's perspective) ending all sacrifice and offering for sin, then completing the seventieth week with his death. I admit this is something I am not certain about, and may be a dead end rabbit trail, but I am currently looking into this to see where it goes.

[Esaias]

On another thread entitled "Genesis and the Law" I pointed out how Genesis was the first book of the Law despite being simply historical narrative. And, the purpose was to provide the historical background and Divine origin of the various laws, commandments, statutes, and judgments codified in the Sinaitic covenant, as well as to provide the legal basis or precedent if you will for the covenant, as being based in the relationship God had with Israel's ancestors like Abraham, Noah, and Adam.

Recently I was doing some research into the Passover (thus the reason I am posting in this thread). As I mentioned in the previous post, Christ fulfilled the Passover. But one thing has always bothered me...

The original Passover occurred on the first evening of the 14th of Abib. That is to say, the early part of the 14th, the beginning of the night portion of the 14th, is when the Passover lambs were killed and the blood was applied to the doors of the Israelite dwellings. Whereas Christ was crucified during the daytime portion of the 14th.

The Judeans had over time moved the Passover celebration from the first evening of the 14th to the first evening of the 15th. That is to say, they had a distinction between the "Egyptian Passover" - viewed as a one time event - and the Judean Passover, which was the memorial service in remembrance of the original Passover in Egypt. And Jews today recognise this difference.

To put it into perspective, let's pretend for a moment that during the Exodus, Passover occurred on a Friday. (This is purely for the sake of discussion, Passover could fall on any day of the week.) So they were to kill the lambs and put the blood on the doorposts Thursday evening/Thursday night, cook and eat the lamb/bitter herbs, and wait until the morning. Then, Friday morning, they were to get everything ready to leave Egypt. Friday evening they would begin their march out of Egypt, eventually making their way to the Red Sea. Thus, they officially began to leave Egypt Friday night, the beginning of the 15th day of Abib (which would be the first day of Unleavened Bread).

Fast forward in time. Let's say for the sake of discussion that Passover once again fell on a Friday (which it did numerous times, as the day of Passover moves throughout the week from year to year). So, now, the Judeans are killing the Passover memorial lambs on Friday during the daytime, and then eating the memorial meal Friday night. This is in fact how they still keep Passover - on the evening of the 15th of Abib (the first day of Unleavened Bread). Now Christ was crucified during the daytime portion of the 14th of Abib. That is, as the Passover lambs were being killed at the Temple, Christ was crucified, during the second half of the 14th and NOT during the first half or nighttime portion of the 14th as it was done in Egypt at the first Passover.

In fact, at the time the original Passover was being eaten, Christ was eating a meal with His disciples where He instituted the bread and the wine. He told them He wanted to eat the Passover with them. Yet, when all Judeans were eating the Passover (the night of the 15th) He was dead and in the tomb.

He couldn't have eaten a Passover memorial meal the night before during the Last Supper because no priest would have accepted a Passover lamb to be killed for Passover PRIOR to the daytime portion of the 14th (Friday day). So obviously Jesus and His disciples did not eat a Passover meal in cojunction with all the rest of Judea. Instead, He had a pre-Passover meal the evening before.

Or did He?

The Last Supper corresponds exactly in time to the original Passover meal. He stated during the meal that the bread was His flesh and the wine was His blood. Thus they were in a sense eating the new covenant Passover with Him, corresponding to the meal of the original Egyptian Passover.

During the day (Friday day time), He was crucified. This corresponds with the preparation for Israel to leave Egypt. Christ was making the provision for His people to leave the eschatological Egypt of sin and the "world system". That night, he was placed in the tomb. That night in Egypt, Israel stepped out and left Egypt. It is through His death and burial that we successfully leave the old world of bondage to sin behind.

But wait, there's more!

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 the 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. It is a night to be much observed unto the LORD for bringing them 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.
(Exo 12:40-42)

The "night to be much observed" was the evening or first portion of the 15th of Abib, the beginning of the first day of Unleavened Bread. It was the night that the nation of Israel officially came up out of Egypt. It was the night of the confirmation of their deliverance. The night before, the firstborn of Egypt had been struck down by God, and all Egypt told Israel to get out. So THIS night is the "night to be observed" as the anniversary of the actual Exodus.

But notice "the self same day." Moses in his record of events here points out that the very day, the exact time of the Exodus, on the 15th of Abib, the first day of Unleavened Bread, was EXACTLY TO THE DAY 430 years - TO THE DAY - after Israel began their sojourning. Notice that it doesn't say they were in Egypt for 430 years, only that they were pilgrims or sojourners for 430 years.

The Greek is interesting:

And the sojourning of the children of Israel, while they sojourned in the land of Egypt and the land of Chanaan, was four hundred and thirty years.
(Exo 12:40, Brenton's)

And the dwelling of the sons of Israel, which they dwelt in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, they and their fathers -- four hundred thirty years.
(Exo 12:40, Apostolic Bible Polyglot)

Now the dwelling of the sons of Israel and their fathers who dwelt in the land of Canaan and in the land of Egypt was four hundred thirty years.
(Exo 12:40, Concordant Literal Version)

The sojourning of Israel was 430 years TO THE DAY of the 15th of Abib that year in Eqypt when they left.

Why "to the day"? The "self same day"? Obviously, Moses knew about a particular 15th of Abib that occurred some 430 years previously marking the BEGINNING of the sojourning of the covenant people of God. And apparently, so did the apostle Paul:

Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.
(Gal 3:15-17)

Paul identifies the law as coming 430 years AFTER the covenant made with Abraham. The Sinaitic Covenant was ratified at Sinai some three months after the exodus, during the same Exodus year, around the time of Pentecost. Since the Sinaitic covenant was enacted 430 years AFTER the Abrahamic Covenant, and since the Exodus occurred on the 15th of Abib first day of Unleavened Bread) EXACTLY THE SAME DAY 430 years afterwards, it follows that the Covenant with Abraham was made on the 15th Day of Abib, the first day of Unleavened Bread, 430 years before the Exodus.

[Esaias]

Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.
(Gal 3:15-17)

Paul identifies the law as coming 430 years AFTER the covenant made with Abraham. The Sinaitic Covenant was ratified at Sinai some three months after the exodus, during the same Exodus year, around the time of Pentecost. Since the Sinaitic covenant was enacted 430 years AFTER the Abrahamic Covenant, and since the Exodus occurred on the 15th of Abib first day of Unleavened Bread) EXACTLY THE SAME DAY 430 years afterwards, it follows that the Covenant with Abraham was made on the 15th Day of Abib, the first day of Unleavened Bread, 430 years before the Exodus.

And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale. And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.
(Gen 14:17-24)

Here we have Abraham meeting Melchizedek the priest of Jehovah who makes a sacrificial fellowship meal of bread and wine and blesses Abraham. What happened next?

After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
(Gen 15:1-6)

God tells Abraham to look at the stars. Thus, we know this took place AT NIGHT. God makes a Promise to Abraham, and Abraham believes the Promise. But now watch what happens:

And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon 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 shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
(Gen 15:7-20)

This was the NEXT DAY, or rather, it was during the daylight portion of the same day that Abraham was told to look at the stars and number them if he could, etc. It was during this day that a sacrifice was prepared, the sacrificial animals were killed, and they sat there all day with Abraham driving away the vultures. Then, as it became dark, a "great horror and darkness" came upon Abraham. It was at this time, AT NIGHT after sunset, that God made a covenant with Abraham. This is the actual making of the Covenant. The covenant had been promised several times previously, and would be repeated afterwards, but HERE we see the actual Covenant itself being made or ratified as a legal covenant.

This is the start of the 430 years according to the apostle Paul, and according to Moses it was exactly 430 years before the Exodus, ON THE EXACT SAME DAY, the 15th of Abib, or the first day of Unleavened Bread.

The day before was when Melchizedek gave bread and wine and blessed Abraham. This would coincide with the 14th of Abib, at night. During the later daytime portion of the 14th, Abraham was to prepare and offer a sacrifice. During the night of the 15th, the Covenant was ratified.

Jesus kept the Passover as the Last Supper not only coinciding with the original Egyptian Passover but the meeting of Abraham with Melchizedek when the priest brought forth bread and wine. As Jesus hung on the cross and finally died He was coinciding with the sacrifice made by Abraham. As He was officially laid in the tomb and buried this coincided with the ratification of the Covenant with Abraham.

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.
(Luk 1:68-75)

[Esaias]

So what is the significance of all this?

I strongly implies (if not outright showing) that the Divine Calendar was in operation long before Sinai, long before there were any Israelites on the earth. It shows that Christ did not just give a "new covenant flavor" to the Sinaitic festivals, but instead actually restored their original intent and meaning. The Levitical and Israelitish aspects of the Holy Feasts of Jehovah were adaptations of the pre-existing Divine Calendar to their immediate history and circumstances. But the Calendar itself, with the Divine "appointments", was in place long before the Exodus and the deliverance of Israel from Egypt.

And, as Paul said, the Sinaitic Covenant does not and cannot disannul the pre-existing situation.

The 7 day week is wholly and completely a non-astronomical time keeping system. There is no natural cycle that would induce men to keep a seven day week. So where does it come from? Obviously, direct from God as a matter of Divine Revelation! God created the heavens and the earth in six days, and rested the seventh day. He blessed and hallowed (sanctified) the seventh day (the Sabbath of the LORD). This is what establishes a seven day cycle we call the week. This was done before the Fall, it is from the beginning.

So we see that the Divine Time-keeping system, the Divine Calendar, was in place FROM THE BEGINNING.

In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
(Gen 7:11)

Here, in Noah's day, before the Flood, we see that people understood things like "years" and "months", and had a system for calculating which month was which and which year was which. This clearly means there was a calendar of some sort in place way back then. The question is, which calendar? The Flood began in the second month (second moon cycle). Which time of year was this? God told Israel that Abib (the spring time) would be the first month of the year for them. Was that same calendar in use in Noah's day?

Almost all ancient societies began the year in the spring time. The current Roman-Gregorian calendar begins in mid-winter with January, but it wasn't always this way (even for the Romans and Greeks). Why would everyone be using a spring new year to begin the count of months? Why would everyone be using months (moon cycles) anyway?

Notice what God did in the Creation Week:

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
(Gen 1:14-18)

God Himself ordained the first calendar during the Creation Week. He established the heavenly bodies (sun, moon, and stars) as the time keeping system. A few days later He rested and blessed the seventh day as the Sabbath, thus creating the seven day week. The calendar was thus established at the beginning. Notice the word "seasons" in the above passage. The word is "moedim". It means this:

properly an appointment, that is, a fixed time or season; specifically a festival; conventionally a year; by implication, an assembly (as convened for a definite purpose); technically the congregation; by extension, the place of meeting; also a signal (as appointed beforehand): - appointed (sign, time), (place of, solemn) assembly, congregation, (set, solemn) feast, (appointed, due) season, solemn (-ity), synagogue, (set) time (appointed).
Strong's Dictionary of the Hebrew

The word moedim is the same word found here, translated as "feasts::

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.
(Lev 23:2)

God has "moedim", or "appointed times, appointments, gatherings". The heavenly bodies were originally created to identify and mark them off, back in the beginning. God met Abraham and made a covenant with him during one of those Divine Appointments, which was later included in the Sinaitic Covenant as the Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread. The Feasts or "Appointments" of Jehovah are part of the very creation itself, they date back to the beginning. They were recognised by the Melchizedek priesthood long before any Levite ever existed. God's people, from the beginning, have been using God's own calendar.

Interestingly, the calendar is prophetic, it is literally prophecy contained in the form of a series of recurring appointments. And they all point to Christ and His work. Which agrees with the Revelation:

And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
(Rev 19:10)

The very spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus. The message of who He is, what He did, is doing, and will do, is the very breath and purpose and center of prophecy. Prophecy is the Divine Plan of God revealed to His servants. The Divine Calendar with His Feast days (appointments) tell the story of Jesus, they contain the testimony of Jesus. The testimony of Jesus is not just some Jewish ideology that was "altered" to make it more universal and appealing, it was and is the Divine Plan for all mankind going back to the beginning!

[Amanah]

Worshipping God on His appointed Sabbaths and feast days gives beauty and meaning to life. Following His calendar is being more connected to what you read in the bible, rather than following worldly traditions that make no biblical sense.

[Esaias]

Originally Posted by Amanah

Worshipping God on His appointed Sabbaths and feast days gives beauty and meaning to life. Following His calendar is being more connected to what you read in the bible, rather than following worldly traditions that make no biblical sense.

Amen! You become a part of something going back to the beginning. You start to get in sync with God, His people through the ages, and His Divine Plan.