Could God’s holy days, which portray His plan of salvation, exclude the sacrifice of Jesus? How could Jesus’ supreme sacrifice be less than holy? Didn’t God make the Israelites anoint their doors with lamb’s blood to avoid death? Didn’t that clearly represent Christ’s offering for mankind? Yes!
The Passover lamb was to be kept from Nisan 10 to 14 (Exodus 12: 1-6). Then he was to be assassinated on the 14th. They were going to kill him at night. How do we know for sure which night is being discussed? Because God the Father gave us a PERFECT EXAMPLE!
When did God decree that Jesus could declare “it is finished” and die on the tree? Why at the same time that THE JEWS were sacrificing their Paschal lambs in the Temple! The Jews had always killed the Paschal lambs during the last hours of the 14th. It was towards the end of the 14th, not the beginning of the 14th, that the Paschal lambs were slaughtered.
After the lambs were slaughtered, they were prepared (which took some time) to be eaten, naturally, that night, which began on the 15th and the FEAST OF UNRARED BREAD. None of the paschal lamb was to remain until morning (Exodus 12: 8-10).
God decreed that only unleavened bread should be eaten with the paschal lamb, and that only unleavened bread would be found on all our property for seven days: “nor will there be any meat, which you sacrificed on the FIRST DAY TO COUPLE, stay all night until morning … you shall sacrifice the Passover at sunset, at sunset … “(Deut. 16: 1-7; Matt. 27: 45-46).
Here God clearly shows that He considered the Passover sacrifice, made at “sunset.” as the FIRST DAY of the SEVEN DAYS OF UNREAVED BREAD (Mark 14:12). If we are going to blindly follow the popular tradition of the Church that kills the Paschal lamb at the beginning of the 14th, rather than at the end of the 14th, then we end with eight days of unleavened bread! Does it make sense that the lamb should be eaten with unleavened bread and then somehow for a whole day, can you eat yeast again? How absurd! At least one kid could figure this out. And that is what we all need to be again, as humble little children, hungry for God’s truth, eager to please our Father and let Him its it will be done, and the commandments kept, rather than trying to defend vain traditions (Mark 7: 7).
The Word of God shows that from the end of the 14th (beginning of the 15th) to the 21st day of the first holy month is seven days (Exodus 12:18).
The paschal lamb is sacrificed at the end or evening (between the two afternoons in Hebrew) of the 14th and is eaten at the beginning of the 15th with unleavened bread: “For even Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us: Therefore, let us celebrate the feast … with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth ”(1 Cor. 7-8). Christ is our PASSOVER, not our“ Lord’s Supper. ”Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples offered him the perfect opportunity to replace the traditional lamb with a ceremony of bread and wine symbolic of its body and blood offered (Even the rabbis decreed after the destruction of the Temple that it was permissible not to eat a paschal lamb).
By participating in these holy emblems, what are we remembering? Are we commemorating the night of Jesus’ betrayal or are we commemorating the DEATH of Jesus? We must eat the BREAD in memory of the body of Jesus that was sacrificed at the end of the 14th and we must drink the WINE in memory of the blood shed by Jesus for us at the end of the 14th (1 Cor. 11: 23-26). [And Jesus clearly associated His hour of trial and crucifixion with wine, not grape juice. See John 2:3-4].
We must remember Jesus’ sacrifice as our very personal Paschal Lamb – the Lamb of God! Passover, with bread and wine replacing the lamb, is the annual holy day, observed at mealtime on the night of the 15th, commemorating the sacrifice of Jesus.
Passover is both a memorial and a feast (Exodus 12:14). The PASSOVER MEMORIAL is the FIRST of the seven days of Unleavened Bread (not eight), and the FIRST of God’s seven holy days that describe His plan of salvation for all mankind.
It is important to note and clarify this with the first feast of God and the new year: How would the Church of God know when to celebrate the holy days of God or even what they are if it were not for the Jews? God has made the Jews his custodians and entrusted his truths to their care, specifically to the Pharisees (Matt. 23: 2; Rom. 3: 2-3; 9: 4).
God’s holy days are faithfully proclaimed from the Seat of Moses each year “in their times” (Lev. 23: 4) by His Jewish stewards who keep God’s SACRED CALENDAR. How would we know which “season” is which, or which month is the “beginning of the months,” if God had not commanded the JEWS to preserve that knowledge for us? (Genesis 1:14; Exodus 12: 2; Romans 3: 2-3).
Fortunately, God is quite capable of ensuring that the Jews, in spite of themselves, will continue to fulfill this special calling (Num. 23:19; Rom. 11:29). So everyone can put away their “calculators” (that just creates confusion, everyone determines for themselves what is right and what is wrong). God’s “business” has a full-time “Jewish accountant” who is the only one responsable for the calendar.
Let’s not try to interfere with God’s affairs as He chose to direct them. God, through His Jewish agent, has preserved the knowledge of His holy days and the correct dates to observe them for all who really want to know and participate in the celebration of God’s truth.
For additional vital information on biblical festivals, I recommend the following free literature (although I disagree with them on the dates of Easter and Pentecost):
Pagan holidays or holy days of God: which ones?
God’s plan for the holy days: the promise of hope for all mankind
Easter and Pentecost differences resolved!