Passover And The Sabbaths

Scripture

“On the fourteenth day of the first month, you must celebrate the LORD ’s Passover. On the following day—the fifteenth day of the month—a joyous, seven-day festival will begin, but no bread made with yeast may be eaten.
~Numbers 28:15-16, NLT

Quote

Our hope is not in our goodness, our ability or our strength. Our hope is in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

~William Franklin Graham

I going to introduce a topic that most folks don’t want to talk about. Neither Jews nor Christians observe the holy days exactly as they were in the Old Testament. The 14th day of the first month would be hard to pinpoint on a Christian calendar but we do know it would be in the Spring and probably April. The Israelites left Egypt in Aviv {Spring} and that would be in the first month of Nisan. The Passover was not a Sabbath, it was the preparation day for a Sabbath. The Feast Of Unleavened Bread begins the very next day and it begins with a Sabbath. It also ends a week later with another Sabbath. If Jesus was and I believe it to be so, crucified on Thursday, Friday would have been a Sabbath {First day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread} and this means a double Sabbath with Saturday being the normal weekly Sabbath. This means that Jesus was literally in the tomb three days and three nights which is what He said is Matthew 12:40. One thing is certain, the day following His crucifixion was Sabbath no matter what day of the week He was crucified.

What’s the big deal? No big deal but the truth messes up our Catholic influenced calendar. Good Friday may in fact be good Thursday. Thank God, this controversy does not affect the gospel. Jesus died for our sins and rose again. Hopefully, this is something on which we all agree. But if you go strictly by scripture and forget tradition, you will have problems with Good Friday. I know, I am pouring water uphill or proverbially spitting in the wind but it’s a gift! Yes, I am in a minority in my thinking but I don’t care. Consensus is not truth, nor does it verify truth. Truth is truth, whether man concurs or not. God is the author of truth and truth stands on its own; it doesn’t need a second from the congregation.

Will, a part of aging is forgetting and yesterday I forgot to get my hair cut and I forgot to shave. Since I retired, I only shave twice a week: Saturday night in preparation for Sunday and on Wednesday. When I got in the truck for church yesterday, I noticed the three day beard. My eyesight is so bad that without my glasses, I don’t see the whiskers.


Don’t forget to say a prayer for Bill and Cassie Harrison today. They will be at Vanderbilt for a procedure.


My favorite daughter in law is excited about our trip Sunday Evening to the TOP OF THE RIVER. We have 22 signed up but David and Rebecca are going to drive so we have room for 7 more.


WORKDAY at the Boys Ranch this Saturday at 9:00 am. I’m not a good dry wall man or painter: I will probably be doing yard work.


 

Don’t forget to pray for our pastor. His has tough decisions to make on a daily basis.


I am reading a book on prayer because I need all the help I can get on the ministry of prayer. I was really convicted by the first chapter. If you have a moment, I want to pray for you today:

Abba Father, we know Your name is holy; it is not a common name. We bow before You in respect and adoration. We ask You to bless the readers of today blog. Grant them wisdom to make tough decisions. Give them grace to meet each challenge. Give them boldness to share their faith. Give them the strength and desire to help another today in Jesus name.  AMEN!

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