TWO CRITICAL ISSUES BEING MISSED BY ALL:
1) Insight Book, Vol 1 under "day" page 592 says: "The Hebrews were not the only ones who reckoned a day from evening to evening; the Phoenicians, Numidians, and Athenians also did so. The Babylonians, on the other hand, counted the day from sunrise to sunrise; while the Egyptians and the Romans reckoned it from midnight to midnight (as is commonly done today)." Note it is a documented historical fact that the Egyptians counted their day from midnight to midnight. Question is, while the Isralites were in Egypt, did they do the same thing? The answer is: YES! I reflect on their concept that "evening" began when the Sun began to set at noon. If you conceive that in the concept of the Sun's travel around the earth that it begins to "set" begins at noon, then you would conceive that it must begin to rise at midnight. Thus midnight, to you, would clearly have the concept of a new day or new"morning" at least with respect to the DATE. Thus the Israelites when they left Egypt had a concept of two evenings, one beginning at noon, the other at sunet, and two mornings, one beginning at midnight and the other at sunset.
If so, then this solves the issue over the confusion of Nisan 14 vs Nisan 15 in connection with the seder meal vs. the solemn assembly. That is, if you follow Jewish tradition regarding the passover meal itself, it ends specifically at midnight. Historical references as pointed out by Leolaia clearly shows the lambs were sacrificed from 3 p.m. But the seder meal itself was not eaten until after sunset. The key point here is, though, that if the Israelites were following Egyptian tradition to change the date from the 14th to the 15th at midnight, then it was still Nisan 14th from sundown to midnight. Thus passover was eaten on the 14th until midnight, but the Israelites, that same night, are recorded as leaving on the 15th.
So that is a critical part of where the confusion is for many, the presumption that the Israelites changed their date at sunset when they began their sabbath day. Is this the correct concept though?
Of course! We all know the same night the Israelites ate passover is the same night they left Egypt. But they left Egypt on the 15th. The WTS, though, correctly notes many refereces that the passover seder was eaten on the 14th. That is precisely correct. Only the 14th extended up to midnight when that meal ended. In that way, you can eat passover on the 14th and still leave Egypt the "same night" on the 15th. The WTS ignores the scriptures that clearly show the Israelites left Egypt on the 15th and focus on the passover being eaten on the 14th, only they believe the date changes at sunset.
Thus they end up celebrating passover on the wrong day. When the Jews celebrate passover on the 15th per their calendar, like every sabbath day, they actually begin that day at sundown the previous day. Passover to them is not just the seder meal, but also the solemn assembly commanded to be celebrated on the 15th. So just as they identify the sabbath as Saturday, they actually begin that sabbath day on Friday after sundown.
So that's another point. Jews actually eat the passover meal the previous day from sunset to midnight on the day that appears on their calendar.
Further confirming the date change at midnight is Exodus 12:18 "In the first month, on the FOURTEENTH day of the month, in the evening, you are to eat unfermented cakes down til the twenty-first day of the month in the evening." Thus the seven days of UFC are 1-14/15th, 2-15th/16th, 3-16th/17th, 4-17th/18th, 5-18th/19th, 6-19th/20th, and 7-20th/21st. See? Eight calendar days but only seven ceremonial days. That's because the first part of every day belongs to one date but ends on another date that changes at midnight. This solves all the issues and confusion over 14th vs 15th. No problem eating passover on the 14th up until midnight and then leaving Egypt on the 15th.
2) Note how the WTS twists Luke 22:7 which clearly states: "The day of undermented cakes now arrived, on which the passover [victim] must be sacrificed; 8 and he dispatched Peter and John..." Now. When did he dispatch the two disciples? Clearly it was earlier that day since one of them had to take the lamb to the temple to be sacrificed beginning around 3 p.m. Even so, it was not until after sundown that Jesus and the other disciples arrived to eat the passover meal, which was eaten from sundown until midnight. Key point here is that the day the disciples were sent out was a different day the passover was eaten! The WTS though claims that the 2 disciples were sent out on the 13th! WRONG. This directly contradicts Luke 22:7 that clearly shows they were sent out the day the lambs were killed. Now note how easy that works when you have the correct understanding,.
Jesus could send them out say in the morning where they begin the prepare the meal. At some point one of them, likely Peter, takes the lamb to the temple to get in that long line so the priests could slaughter the lamb. When he returns, the lamb is quickly roasted and readied for the passover meal that evening. The lambs are killed on Nisan 14th, a day of preparation. But when sunset occurs, a new day begins. This day is a sabbath day, the first day of UFC. Even so, it remains the 14th until midnight. So see how that works when you have the correct understanding? You can send out the 2 disciples on the day the lambs were killed, Nisan 14th, and still eat passover on the 14th, yet celebrate the solemn assembly the very same day on the 15th. Thus when the Bible commanded not to leave anything from the meal "until morning" it was a reference to midnight. When it commanded not to leave the homes until "morning," it was also a reference to midnight. So even though they left at night after midnight, they did not disobey that command not to leave until "morning", since morning for them back then was the same as morning for us, which begins at 12:01 a.m.
A further note here is very critical. PASSOVER IS EATEN ON THE 1ST DAY OF UNFERMENTED CAKES, A SABBATH DAY! Once you realize that passover is eaten on the 1st day of UFC, which is a special sabbath day, then you know Jesus could not have died the same day he eats passover, and you know he was arrested on the 15th. So what day of the week did Jesus die? Two criteria:
A) He must die on a Thursday because he is in the tomb for "three nights" (Matthew 12:40). We know he rose on a Saturday night, so this is academic. If Sataurday night was the third night, then two nights earlier is the first night: Saturday, Friday, Thursday.
B) He must die on a day of "preparation for passover", that is, a preparation day prior to one of the two special "high sabbaths" of passover, one of which was the 15th and the other the 21st, the 1st and 7th days of UFC. Since The special days of preparation just prior to these dates would be Nisan 14th and Nisan 20th.
So our only question is, in 33 CE, was Nisan 20th a Thursday? The answer is, of course: YES!
How does that work out with the rest of the context of his death? Well, he would be resurrected a week later. After his resurrection he was around for 40 days then rose. Pentecost is 50 days after the 15th. So those in the upper room would have been up there waiting for holy spirit for 10 days! But if he rose the following Sunday, they would have been in the upper room for only 3 days! See how that fits the context of Pentecost much better than when you have Jesus rising a week earlier than he actually did?
SO IN SUMMARY:
1. The passover seder meal is eaten on the sabbath day of the first day of unfermented cakes, which begins on Nisan 14th after sunset, from sundown to midnight, after which the DATE changes to Nisan 15th. Thus Jesus was arrested on Nisan 15th, early Saturday morning in 33 CE.
2. "Between the two evenings" is a specific reference to around 3 p.m., the hour Jesus died on the following Thursday, Nisan 20th, after which he spent parts of "three nights" in the grave, which were Thursday night, Friday night and Saturday night, the night he rose.
3. Otherwise, in comparing and harmonizing scriptures, when the bible refers to "evening" it can mean any time from Noon to nightfall. Further, references to when the sun is going down can also be an exchangeable reference to after noon, which is the end of the day. The normal Jewish day begins and ends at NIGHTFALL, not sunset. Only the sabbath days begin at sunset but also end at nightfall. Please confirm this if you wish. This means the sabbath day is about 1 hour longer than the normal day, and "preparation" is shorter, having given its "evening" to the sabbath. The sabbath day is holy and there is a specific beginning and end to a sabbath day. The sabbath ends officially when a candle is lit ending the sabbath, which is at NIGHTFALL. The sabbath day traditionally begins about 18 minutes before sunset.
What the Samaritans and Kariate Jews did after the temple period ended is irrelevant. We know in the 1st Century, the Jews took their lambs to the temple and they were killed from the "ninth to the eleventh hours" which in no way contradicts the context of the gospel account. But if Jesus ate the traditional passover, which he did, then he was arrested on the 15th. The WTS is blindsided by needing Christ to fulfill being the passover lamb and somehow, to them, as long as he dies within 24 hours of Nisan 14th, that is fulfilled. Well, Passover was a full week with two special sabbath days, so he still would be considered the passover lamb if he died anytime that week. Apparently, the fulfillment parallels the type of day and the time of the day of the sacrifice. The lambs were killed at 3 p.m. on the 14th, Jesus died at 3 p.m. on the 20th. The 14th is a day of preparation, the day before a sabbath; Nisan 20th is a day of preparation. That's enough to fulfill his connection with being the passover lamb.
Thanks, one and all for your comments. Clearly this can be a confusing issue when so many references are "lost in translation" as far as Jewish tradition goes.
