Numbers 28:16 “‘In the first month, on the 14th day of the month, will be Jehovah’s Passover.
Encouraging scriptures for the day
by Kosonen 543 Replies latest jw friends
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Kosonen
Leviticus 23: 5 In the first month, on the 14th day of the month, at twilight is the Passover to Jehovah.
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Kosonen
The WT organization’s interpretation of what is the main theme of the Bible is the following:
“The main theme of the Bible is that Jehovah’s name will be vindicated as he fulfills his purpose for the earth by means of his Kingdom under Christ.”
(Paragraph 8, https://www.jw.org/finder?srcid=jwlshare&wtlocale=E&prefer=lang&docid=2023605 )
Is that really the main theme of the Bible?
Or what does the Bible say ?
God himself gives the first prophecy after sin came into the world as a foundation for what the Bible is about:
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring. He will crush your head, and you will strike him in the heel.”
Who would become the offspring that nullifies Satan's deeds?
Colossians 2:2 “the sacred secret of God, namely, Christ.”
1 Corinthians 15:20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep in death. 21 For since death came through a man, resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. 22 For just as in Adam all are dying, so also in the Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each one in his own proper order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who belong to the Christ during his presence. 24 Next, the end, when he hands over the Kingdom to his God and Father, when he has brought to nothing all government and all authority and power. 25 For he must rule as king until God has put all enemies under his feet. 26 And the last enemy, death, is to be brought to nothing. 27 For God “subjected all things under his feet.” But when he says that ‘all things have been subjected,’ it is evident that this does not include the One who subjected all things to him. 28 But when all things will have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also subject himself to the One who subjected all things to him, that God may be all things to everyone.
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PioneerSchmioneer
Kosonen,
With the aid from my friend who is a rabbi, and I quote:
"The problem is merely an ancient one due to the loss of the Temple. In ancient times the celebration did indeed begin on Nisan 14th in the afternoon with the slaughter of thousands of sheep and home preparation of meals. But the evening meal, the seder, that started that night, was the beginning of the 15th, and always the start of the Festival of Unleavened Bread. And that day that started at sundown was always a Sabbath. You could not do any work, any lighting of fires, any cooking, even the slaughtering of the lamb had to be done before that moment. With the Temple gone, Jews today merely observe the Passover seder which begins on the 15th, and it is always considered a Sabbath."
He mentioned the verses in Exodus that you pointed out are often used by Fundamentalists Christians to try to teach Jews that they have the "wrong day," which in reality the Temple is just gone and there is no slaughtering of lambs happening on the 14th.
As Exodus 12:18 says, "in the evening" of the 14th, they would begin the "Festival of Unleavened Bread," because at sundown the 15th of Nisan began and Jewish days begin at sundown.
As I mentioned in my previous post, in John's gospel, the author has Jesus die on Nisan 14, the same day the Jews are slaughtering the lambs. The rabbi said this was correct because the Jews would not be outside demanding the death of a criminal on a Sabbath or Passover or any Jewish holy day. The gospel mentions the Jews demanded the rush of the affixiation process of the criminals on the crosses by having their legs broken because the next day was the Passover--and a "great Sabbath," meaning the next day was going to be Saturday, the regular Sabbath and Passover, which is always considered a Sabbath, no matter what day of the week it lands on.--John 19:31.
In other words, stating that Jesus died on "Preparation Day" in the Gospel of John and not on Passover unlike in the Synoptic Gospels shows that the Jews didn't eat the Passover on Nisan 14.
Josephus, who you yourself quoted, described Nisan 14, Preparation Day, in fact the very last one before the Temple fell in 70 CE, and stated that "from the ninth hour to the eleventh" (from 3 pm to 5 pm) 256,500 lambs were slaughtered in the Temple for the Passover meal.--War of the Jews, VI.9.3.
That would not be possible on a Sabbath because people could not prepare a meal on Passover because you cannot light a fire to prepare a meal on a Sabbath, which the first day of Passover always is. (Ex 35:3) Passover, as my rabbi friend says, has to be on the 15th.
That's where the confusion lies.
Again, John's gospel merely moved Jesus' death to Nisan 14 as a narrative teaching device as the synoptic gospels and the Church Fathers agree that Jesus died on Nisan 15, Passover, and that that particular Passover on which he died was on a Friday, not a Saturday.
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PioneerSchmioneer
And for those wondering, the answer is YES, the Memorial that Jehovah's Witnesses observe is technically on the wrong day, but it isn't totally their fault.
Jehovah's Witnesses did not originate the "annual" practice of observing communion/eucharist on Nisan 14. The idea is partially based on Quartodecimanism, a practice of the early Jewish Christians who observed the Mosaic Law since it was part of their culture and around Easter they celebrated Passover with all the rituals beginning on Nisan 14. They would follow through the rest of the days with the Feast of Unleavened Bread, etc, and of course begin with a seder.
Since the Jewish Christians observed Passover once a year, some Gentile Christians argued that the Church at large should observe the Eucharist/Holy Communion only once a year on the same date. But this was eventually argued against as Gentiles were not required to follow the law (and Passover is not Holy Communion and not a ritual for Gentiles).
Some Adventists, from whom the Bible Students sprang, experimented with returning to observing the Eucharist in a "purer" form, but chose to have it quarterly instead on annually. Jehovah's Witnesses, however, as they pulled away from the Adventists, decided it should be observed annually.
But why did they choose Nisan 14 and not 15 since the Jews observe Passover on the 15th?
It's not entirely clear, but as long as you remember this text, we can straighten things out for everyone (I will use the NWT this time):
In the first month, on the 14th day of the month, at twilight is the Passover to Jehovah. On the 15th day of this month is the Festival of Unleavened Bread to Jehovah.--Leviticus 23:5, 6.
So as long as you remember that the "Festival of Unleavend Bread" is on the 15th, then everything is going to be fine.* Let's begin...
On the first day of the Unleavened Bread, [Nisan 15] the disciples came to Jesus, saying: “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?”...When evening came, he was reclining at the table with the 12 disciples.--Matthew 26:17-20, NWT.
Now on the first day of the Unleavened Bread, [Nisan 15] when they customarily offered up the Passover sacrifice, [Nisan 14] his disciples said to him: “Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?”...After evening had fallen, [Nisan 15] he came with the Twelve.--Mark 14:12, 17, NWT.
The day of the Unleavened Bread [Nisan 15] now arrived, on which the Passover sacrifice must be offered [Nisan 14]; so Jesus sent Peter and John, saying: “Go and get the Passover ready for us to eat.”--Luke 22:7-8, NWT.
Now most people who are not Jewish often never notice these differences. They might read past this thinking they are talking about one in the same thing. But the sacrifice of the lamb would take place one day and then everything would close down on the next because it was a Sabbath.
“‘On the 15th day of this month is the Festival of Unleavened Bread to Jehovah. Seven days you should eat unleavened bread. On the first day, you will observe a holy convention. You should not do any hard work. But you are to present an offering made by fire to Jehovah for seven days. There will be a holy convention on the seventh day. You should not do any hard work.’”--Leviticus 23:6-8, NWT
People had to have all the lambs slaughtered on Nisan 14 and prepared because by the time one sat down to eat the Passover Seder, it was Nisan 15, and a Sabbath. No work could be done. You had better have your lamps lit and fires going because you could not light new ones until the next evening. You had to have enough food to last you until the next day too, because you could not prepare new food. That was work, and you could not work on the Sabbath. Nor care for a dead body or bury it.
Thus the "Festival of Unleavened Bread" is when you eat the Seder, the event that occurs on Nisan 15. On the afternoon before then, on Nisan 14, as Josephus reported in War of the Jews, lambs were prepared by the thousands for the Passover meal that would begin that night, which was...Nisan 15.
With the Temple gone and after the Diaspora, the Seder plate now carries merely a shank bone in remembrance of those days (and perhaps to mourn the fact that it is gone). There is no more lamb cooked for Passover meals (soup, chicken and sometimes brisket has come to replace it).
Nisan 14 is still important. On that day Jewish houses are cleared of all last remnants of Chametz or leaven, the last preparation in making a house "kosher for Passover."
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*--I already discussed above that for the sake of catechesis, in the gospel of John, the author takes up the theme "the Lamb of God," and for the this reason, unlike in the Synoptic Gospels, the date for Jesus sacrifice is moved to Nisan 14, the same day that the lambs are slaughtered. This is why I am only concentrating on Matthew, Mark, and Luke, for these gospels state that Jesus died on the night of the Passover Seder meal, Nisan 15.
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Kosonen
Hi Pioneerschmioneer, your post has intrigued me a few days. It is confusing. Some scriptures are hard to put together. So I admit that I am not so good in explaining this topic. But I want to point out that the Passover lamb was very quickly prepared. It was basically killed without separating the head. And the guts were not taken out. So the preparation was quick, just kill the lamb and let out the blood, then put it whole on the fire.
So the Passover meal did not require much preparation. So I think the Preparation day was the Passover day for the next day that was allways a day of rest, the 15th day.
Exodus 12:8 ‘They must eat the meat on this night. They should roast it over the fire and eat it along with unleavened bread and bitter greens. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled, cooked in water, but roast it over the fire, its head together with its shanks and its inner parts. 10 You must not save any of it until morning, but any of it left over until morning you should burn with fire.
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PioneerSchmioneer
It took a lot more prep work, usually a month (and still does even without a sacrifice) to prepare because of the limited amount of time one had between the time of slaughter, the fact that all sacrifices had to be done in one place by an entire nation in one spot, and that everyone had to dine before a specific moment.
The historian Josephus records contemporary Passover celebrations in which he estimates that the participants who gathered in Jerusalem to perform the sacrifice in the year 65 CE were “not less than three million” (Josephus, Wars, 2:280). The Talmud (Pesachim 64b) similarly records:
King Agrippa once wished to take a census of the hosts of Israel. He said to the high priest, “Cast your eyes on the Passover offerings.” He took a kidney from each, and 600,000 pairs of kidneys were found there, twice as many as those who departed from Egypt, excluding those who were unclean and those who were on a distant journey, and there was not a single paschal lamb for which more than ten people had not registered; and they called it: “The Passover of the dense throngs.”--The Paschal Sacrifice (Korban Pesach), My Jewish Learning.
The sacrifice of each lamb was divided among a set of three (3) Jewish laypersons in order for it to work and take the lamb home, and it would be even more vital and far more difficult to do if the Passover fell on a literal Sabbath, limiting what a layperson could and could not do:
The people taking part in the sacrifice were divided into three groups. The first of these filled the court of the Temple, so that the gates had to be closed, and while they were killing and offering their Passover lambs the Levites on the platform (dukhan) recited the Hallel (Psalms 113-118), accompanied by instruments of brass. If the Levites finished their recitation before the priests had completed the sacrifice, they repeated the Hallel, although it never happened that they had to repeat it twice. As soon as the first group had offered their sacrifice, the gates were opened to let them out, and their places were taken by the second and third groups successively.
All three groups offered their sacrifice in the manner described, while the Hallel was recited; but the third group was so small that it had always finished before the Levites reached Psalm 116. It was called the "group of the lazy" because it came last....When the sacrifice was completed and the animal was ready for roasting, each one present carried his lamb home, except when the eve of the Passover fell on a Sabbath, in which case it might not be taken away. If the 14th of Nissan fell on the Sabbath, the first group stationed itself on the mount of the Temple in Jerusalem, the second group in the ḥel, the space between the Temple wall and the Temple hall, while the third group remained in the Temple court, thus awaiting the evening, when they took their lambs home and roasted them on a spit of pomegranate-wood, On all other days, they could do it before nightfall (and if the 15th of Nissan fell to be on the Sabbath they would have to).--Passover Sacrifice: The Three Groups of Lay People/The Home Ceremony--Wikipedia.
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Kosonen
Hebrews 10:25 not forsaking our meeting together, as some have the custom, but encouraging one another, and all the more so as you see the day drawing near.
For about a month now I have visited Jehovah’s witness’ meetings. But instead of each time going back to the same congregation, I have each time visited a different congregation. Here in my area there are about 20 congregations. It has been interesting. Among them are Russian, French, Spanish, Swedish and Finnish speaking congregations. And tonight I am planning to go to an English speaking congregation. Otherwise most congregations are Swedish, because this is in Sweden.
Until now I have enjoyed it, despite being disfellowshipped almost 16 years ago. As disfellowshipped I think it suits me better to visit each time a different congregation than going back to the same congregation.
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Kosonen
Was Moses directly speaking with Jehovah or was there an angel that spoke with Moses in a way that it had the appearance of Jehovah God speaking directly with him?
What conclusion can we make from the following scriptures?
Exodus 23:20 “I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you on the way and to bring you into the place that I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him, and obey his voice. Do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgressions, because my name is in him. 22 However, if you strictly obey his voice and do all that I say, I will show hostility to your enemies and oppose those who oppose you. 23 For my angel will go ahead of you and will bring you to the Amʹor·ites, the Hitʹtites, the Perʹiz·zites, the Caʹnaan·ites, the Hiʹvites, and the Jebʹu·sites, and I will annihilate them.
Galatians 3:19 Why, then, the Law? It was added to make transgressions manifest, until the offspring should arrive to whom the promise had been made; and it was transmitted through angels by the hand of a mediator.
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PioneerSchmioneer
While there is no text in the Exodus or the rest of the Torah that literally says that the Mosaic Law "was transmitted through angels by the hand of a mediator," as written at Galatians 3:19, it is obvious that the apostle Paul believed in the Jewish concept from which this stemmed.
It is part of Jewish Tradition that Torah was delievered from Sinai not from God directly but by means of angels.
It can be found, for instance, in the Book of Jubilees where at 1:26-2:1 "the angel of the presence" tells Moses to write down all the details of the Mosaic Law, from the stories of creation found in Genesis to all the other details of the Law afterward.
It should be of interest that the Greek Septuagint, which was the version of the Torah that Christians were using in the first century, especially when quoting to write the New Testament, reads at Deuteronomy 33:2:
The Lord is come from Sina[i]...on his right hand his angels with him.
While the verses at Exodus 23 don't claim that the angel leading and guarding the Hebrews is bringing the Mosaic Law, the ones added to the Greek LXX reading seem to be influenced by Jewish Oral Tradition that reshaped the Hebrew text (Sinai is where the Law came from):
God came from Sinai...Lightning flashing at them from God's right.--RJPS 2023, from the Masoretic Text.