Posted on 04/10/2009 10:32:45 AM PDT by DouglasKC
Consider these important facts. First, Easter Sunday is traditionally revered as the day of Jesus' resurrection—although the Bible clearly states that He had already risen before Sunday dawned in the city of Jerusalem.
Second, even though Good Friday is generally observed as the traditional day of His crucifixion, Christ Himself told the disciples that He would be in the grave for all of three days and three nights. How can three days and three nights possibly fit between a Friday-afternoon crucifixion and a Sunday-morning resurrection?
Third, the word Easter is not found in the Greek New Testament. Nor is there biblical mention of or instruction to observe Lent.
Finally, unlike the specific instruction to commemorate Christ's death, there is absolutely no commandment in the New Testament to observe the date of Jesus' resurrection. Yet today's religious customs are so ingrained in the church calendar that many would consider it heretical to question them.
Most of the world is scarcely aware that the original apostles did not institute or keep these customs, nor were they observed by the early Christian Church. Try as you might to find them, Lent, Good Friday and Easter are not so much as mentioned in the original Greek wording of the New Testament. (The word Easter appears only once in the King James Version of the Bible—in Acts 12:4—where it is flagrantly mistranslated from the Greek word pascha, which should be translated "Passover," as most versions render it.)
The justification for the Lenten 40-day preparation for Easter is traditionally based on Jesus' 40-day wilderness fast before His temptation by Satan (Harper's Bible Dictionary, "Lent"; Matthew 4:1-2; Mark 1:13). The problem with this explanation is that this incident is not connected in any way with Jesus' supposed observance of Easter. The 40-day pre-Easter practice of fasting and penance did not originate in the Bible.
Many people still follow such practices, assuming that such activities honor God and are approved by Him. But, we should ask, how does God regard such extrabiblical customs? Consider God's instructions to those who would worship Him:
"Take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.' You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it" (Deuteronomy 12:30-32, emphasis added throughout).
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia notes: "The term Easter was derived from the Anglo-Saxon 'Eostre,' the name of the goddess of spring. In her honor sacrifices were offered at the time of the vernal [spring] equinox" (1982, Vol. 2, "Easter").
Many battles were fought over its observance date, but the Council of Nicea finally fixed the date of Easter in A.D. 325 to fall on the first Sunday after the full moon on or after the vernal equinox (March 21).
Not generally known is that "the preparation for Easter season, beginning on Ash Wednesday and continuing for a week after Easter Day, was filled with pagan customs that had been revised in the light
of Christianity. Germanic nations, for example, set bonfires in spring. This custom was frowned on by the Church, which tried to suppress it . . . In the sixth and seventh centuries [monks] came to Germany, [bringing] their earlier pagan rites[,] and would bless bonfires outside the church building on Holy Saturday. The custom spread to France, and eventually it was incorporated into the Easter liturgy of Rome in the ninth century. Even today the blessing of the new fire is part of the Vigil of Easter.
"Medieval celebrations of Easter began at dawn. According to one old legend, the sun dances on Easter morning, or makes three jumps at the moment of its rising, in honor of Christ's resurrection. The rays of light penetrating the clouds were believed to be angels dancing for joy.
"Some Easter folk traditions that have survived today are the Easter egg, rabbit and lamb. During medieval times it was a tradition to give eggs at Easter to servants. King Edward I of England had 450 eggs boiled before Easter and dyed or covered with gold leaf. He then gave them to members of the royal household on Easter day. The egg was an earlier pagan symbol of rebirth and was presented at the spring equinox, the beginning of the pagan new year.
"The Easter rabbit is mentioned in a German book of 1572 and also was a pagan fertility symbol. The Easter lamb goes back to the Middle Ages; the lamb, holding a flag with a red cross on a white field, represented the resurrected Christ [rather than the sacrifice of His life, as a fulfillment of the Passover lamb, that paid for the sins of the world (John 1:29)]" (Anthony Mercatante, Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, 1988, "Easter").
Easter traditions are embraced by many who profess Christianity. Yet none of these practices are found in the Bible or the customs of the early Church. Jesus and His apostles did not establish or perpetuate such practices, which obscure the true biblical meanings and observances of this time of year. In fact, a fourth-century church historian, Socrates Scholasticus, wrote in his Ecclesiastical History that neither the apostles nor the Gospels taught the observance of Easter, nor did they or Jesus give a law requiring the keeping of this feast. Instead, "the observance originated not by legislation, but as a custom" (chapter 22, emphasis added).
Even as early as the close of the second century, the theologian Irenaeus bore witness in his letter to Victor, bishop of Rome, that some early Roman bishops forbade the observance of Passover on the 14th of Nisan. This was the date of the biblical observance practiced each spring by Jesus and the apostles. At the time that the Nisan 14 Passover observance was banned, ecclesiastical authorities introduced Lent and Easter into Christian practice.
A century later the Syriac Didascalia recorded the attempts of teachers in Rome to reconcile Jesus' words that He would be entombed "three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:40) with a Friday-afternoon crucifixion and a Sunday-morning resurrection. According to their reasoning, Jesus' sufferings were part of the three days and three nights of Scripture. Friday morning from 9 to noon was counted as the first day, and noon to 3 p.m. (which was darkened) was considered the first night. Three in the afternoon to sunset was reckoned as the second day, whereas Friday night to Saturday morning constituted the second night. The daylight part of Saturday was the third day, and the night portion to Sunday morning was the third night.
In other words, the three days and three nights in the grave that Jesus said would be the sign that He was indeed sent from God were transformed into a period of two days and two nights, or a total of no more than 48 hours. This has subsequently been reduced even further in modern times by figuring from late afternoon Friday to early Sunday morning, which takes away another 12 hours or more. Such reasoning has to discount or somehow explain away Jesus' clear promise that He would be entombed three days and three nights.
Easter and Lent are nonbiblical and were not observed by the apostles or the first-century Church. The biblical record shows, however, that the early Church diligently kept other observances, the New Testament Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread, just as Jesus and the apostles had done (Matthew 26:17-19; Acts 20:6; 1 Corinthians 5:8; 11:23-26). These were supplanted in later years by the customs and practices of Easter and Lent.
Passover is an annual reminder of Jesus' sacrificial death to pay the penalty for our sins (Matthew 26:26-28). The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a celebration that focuses on a Christian's need to live in sincerity, truth and purity (1 Corinthians 5:8). The nonbiblical festivals of Lent and Easter, added decades after the time of Jesus Christ and the apostles, only cloud the true significance of Christ's life, death and resurrection and the purpose of His coming.
The Passover, instituted in Exodus 12, continues by Jesus Christ's example and command—but with a change of symbols. Jesus' death fulfilled the symbolism of the sacrificial Passover lamb (Matthew 26:17-28; John 1:29). However, the New Testament Passover has been improperly replaced as an annual memorial of the death of Christ by Easter. We are commanded to commemorate Christ's death, not His resurrection (1 Corinthians 11:23-28).
Jesus Christ's promise was fulfilled exactly as He said, a fact that is made clear when we study and compare the Gospel accounts. These records give a clear, logical explanation that is perfectly consistent with Christ's words. Let's focus on Jesus' last days on earth to gain the proper perspective and understanding of how and when these events occurred.
Jesus said that, like the prophet Jonah, He would be entombed three days and three nights and that He would be raised up the third day after His crucifixion and death (Matthew 12:39-40; 17:23; 20:19). Putting these scriptures together, we see that He was resurrected at the end of the third day after His death. Luke 23:44 shows that He died around the ninth hour (Jewish reckoning), or 3 p.m. He would have been buried within the next few hours so that His body could be entombed before the approaching Sabbath (John 19:31).
Jesus' resurrection could not have been
on a Sunday morning because John 20:1-2 shows that He had already risen before Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning, arriving "while it was still dark." Therefore, neither could His death have occurred Friday afternoon, since that would not allow for His body to be in the grave three days and three nights. Clearly, the Good Friday-Easter Sunday explanation and tradition is without scriptural foundation.
Notice also that John 19:31 mentions that the Sabbath immediately after Jesus' death was "a high day"—not the weekly seventh-day Sabbath (from Friday evening to Saturday evening), but one of the annual Sabbaths, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (see Leviticus 23:6-7), which can fall on any day of the week.
In fact, two Sabbaths—first an annual Holy Day and then the regular weekly Sabbath—are mentioned in the Gospel accounts, a detail overlooked by most people. This can be proven by comparing Mark 16:1 with Luke 23:56.
Mark's account tells us, "Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him" (Mark 16:1). However, Luke's account describes how the women who followed Jesus saw how His body was laid in the tomb. "Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils" for the final preparation of the body. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment" (Luke 23:56).
Mark tells us that the women bought the spices after the Sabbath, "when the Sabbath was past." Luke, however, tells us that they prepared the spices and oils, "and they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment." How could the women have bought spices after the Sabbath, yet then prepared them and rested on the same Sabbath?
That is obviously impossible—unless two Sabbaths are involved, with a day between them. Once we realize this, the two accounts become clear (see "The Chronology of Christ's Crucifixion and Resurrection," p. 18). Christ died near 3 p.m. and was placed in the tomb near sunset that day—a Wednesday in the year 31. That evening began the "high day" Sabbath, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which fell on Thursday that year. The women rested on that day, then on Friday purchased and prepared the spices and oils for Jesus' body, which could not be done on either the Holy Day or the weekly Sabbath. They then rested again on the weekly Sabbath before going to the tomb before daybreak on Sunday morning, at which time they discovered that Christ had already been resurrected.
The fact that two Sabbaths are involved is confirmed by Matthew 28:1, where the women went to the tomb "after the Sabbath." The Sabbath mentioned here is actually plural in the original Greek and should be translated "Sabbaths." Some Bible versions, including Alfred Marshall's Interlinear Greek-English New Testament, Ferrar Fenton's translation, Green's Literal Translation and Young's Literal Translation, make this clear.
Once we realize that two Sabbaths were involved—first an annual Holy Day, which was observed from Wednesday evening until Thursday evening, and the normal weekly Sabbath from Friday evening to Saturday evening, the fulfillment of Christ's words becomes clear.
The Savior of all humanity died near 3 p.m. on Wednesday and was buried shortly before sunset that day. From Wednesday sunset to Thursday sunset is one day and one night; from then until Friday sunset is two days and two nights; and from then until Saturday sunset is three days and three nights. Jesus Christ was resurrected at the end of this three-day and three-night period, near sunset on Saturday. Thus He was already risen long before the women came to the tomb before daylight on Sunday morning.
Jesus Christ's words were thus perfectly fulfilled, as verified by the Gospel accounts. He was not crucified on Friday afternoon, nor was He resurrected on a Sunday morning. The biblical evidence shows the Good Friday-Easter Sunday tradition to be a fabrication.
A correct harmonization of all the facts demonstrates that Jesus died near 3 p.m. that Wednesday afternoon, was entombed near sunset and was resurrected near sunset on Saturday, exactly three days and three nights later—just as He had stated. These are the facts, the correct biblical chronology that verifies the identity of Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
The chart on page 18 gives a day-by-day chronology of these events as described in the Gospel accounts.
Actually, the principal festivals and holidays observed by mainstream Christendom are a poor and pale reflection of true biblical teachings. Easter and Lent are a poor substitute for the wondrous truths revealed by keeping God's feasts.
The New Testament Church continued to observe the annual Passover to commemorate the death of Jesus Christ, but used the new symbols of bread and wine that He instituted (1 Corinthians 11:23-28). Today the members of the United Church of God commemorate this eminently important event in the same manner, in accordance with Christ's instructions. Again, the Bible contains no record of the Church observing Easter or Lent during the time of the apostles, nor any biblical command to observe Good Friday or Easter Sunday, especially since Christ did not die on Good Friday and was not resurrected on Easter Sunday. Instead, the apostles faithfully followed Christ's instructions to observe the biblical Passover "in remembrance" of Him (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24-25). GN
Exd 16:23 And he said unto them, This [is that] which the LORD hath said, To morrow [is] the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake [that] which ye will bake [to day], and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.
The events in Exodus 16 happen BEFORE the Israelites got to Mt. Sinai, where God spoke the ten commandments. BEFORE the old covenant was instituted. This proves beyond a doubt that the sabbath existed BEFORE the old covenant.
Of course I was very careful to say "before Moses' time". The fact that Exodus 16 is the first time the word, 'sabbath' is used in Scripture, and that Moses HAD TO EXPLAIN WHAT IT WAS TO THEM in verses 23-30 indicates that it was new to them. They were not used to keeping the Sabbath prior to this. If this law was so well known, why the need of such instruction? Was Moses so ignorant of the basic laws of God as to be told them in this manner? The fact is that it was a new law, set before the people for the very first time. The very fact that the word "sabbath" occurs the FIRST TIME in Exodus 16 where Israel was commanded to cease or rest from work shows it was not used before that.
That this commandment was incorporated into the Tablets of Stone, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, the legal document of the Old Covenant AS THE SIGN OF THAT COVENANT, does not alter the fact that you have absolutely no proof that Abraham observed the Sabbath as part of Ten Commandments. The Sabbath was made the sign of the covenant and therefore it had to be part of the covenant document, the Tables of Stone, of which it was the sign.
If the Abrahamic Covenant and the Mosaic Covenant were the same thing then Paul's question in Galations 3:21 concerning the "law" that was added 430 years after the promise to Abraham would be totally unnecessary. And the question in Gal 3:19 is nonsense if there is no difference at all in the promise to Abraham and the Law of Moses. You deny the distinction that Paul makes. That alone should give you pause. Why does Paul explain the difference between two things if they are the same? Gal 4:24, 25 that I quoted to you earlier removes all doubt as to the distinction that Paul makes between the Abrahamic Covenant and the Mosaic Covenant, and what he means by "the law" in this whole context:
Galatians 4:24,25It was two different covenants.
These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.
Deuteronomy 5:3
3 It was not with our fathers that the LORD made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today.
Heb 8:6-9 is the Apostolic interpretation of Jer 31:31,32. Hebrews clearly states: WHEN the Old Covenant was made; with whom the Old Covenant was made; and the fact the New Covenant would be different than the Old Covenant.
Heb 8:7,8
"The time is coming, declares the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
9It will not be like the covenant
I made with their forefathers
WHEN I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
The passages from Genesis that you cite supposedly as a proof of the sabbath as a creation ordinance, as I have repeatedly pointed out, do not contain the word, "sabbath".
Cordially,
lol...denial is more than just a river in Egypt...
Exo 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exo 20:9 Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work:
Exo 20:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
Exo 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Gen 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
Gen 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
Gen 2:3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
Gee I don't know. Seems to me that Christ created the sabbath and told Israel that he had made the sabbath holy in the beginning of creation and blessed it.
Here's the point again: The sabbath existed BEFORE the ten commandments. Your position is that it didn't "exist" until the old covenant was instituted. That's not true. In the last post, despite your denial, it's plain that it in fact exist since the beginning.
As for Moses and Israel NOT knowing about the sabbath that could be accurate. Israel was in captivity in for centuries. They had been corrupted by the pagan gods of Egypt as evidenced by the story of the golden calf.
But consider this:
(KJVR) And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
The phrase translated "in process of time" is interesting. The literal translation is:
(LITV) And in the end of days, it happened that Cain brought an offering to Jehovah from the fruit of the ground.
The sabbath is the "end of days". And what is happening? An offering to God is being done.
The modern King James translation says the same thing:
(MKJV) And in the end of days, it happened, Cain brought to Jehovah an offering of the fruit of the ground.
The JfB commentary says of this verse:
Gen 4:3 in process of time--Hebrew, "at the end of days," probably on the Sabbath.
Adam Clarkes commentary says:
In process of time - מקץ ימים mikkets yamim, at the end of days. Some think the anniversary of the creation to be here intended; it is more probable that it means the Sabbath, on which Adam and his family undoubtedly offered oblations to God, as the Divine worship was certainly instituted, and no doubt the Sabbath properly observed in that family.
Treasury of scriptural knowledge:
in process of time: Heb. at the end of days, Either at the end of the year, or of the week, i.e., on the Sabbath. 1Ki_17:7; Neh_13:6
So yes, the sabbath WAS observed and the Lord has preserved a record of it despite mans efforts to cloud the issue.
And then there are references to "week"
Gen 29:27 Fulfill the week of this one and we will also give you this other one, for the service which you will serve with me, yet another seven years.
Gen 29:28 And Jacob did so, and he fulfilled the week of this one, and he gave to him his daughter Rachel, to him for a wife.
How did they know what a "week" was if they didn't know about God's creation week?
Of course I was very careful to say "before Moses' time". The fact that Exodus 16 is the first time the word, 'sabbath' is used in Scripture, and that Moses HAD TO EXPLAIN WHAT IT WAS TO THEM in verses 23-30 indicates that it was new to them. They were not used to keeping the Sabbath prior to this. If this law was so well known, why the need of such instruction?
Whose is to say no one kept the Sabbath prior to the Egyptian captivity? It is likely that Abraham observed God's Sabbaths because we know that God had commended him for keeping his statutes, laws and commandments [Genesis 26:5]. And we know that the Sabbath itself, was instituted in Eden. Why wouldn't God have informed the folks of it?
Let's look at this verse in [Genesis 12:1-3] Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. Abraham was 75 years old when this covenant with God was established (verse 4) and this first promise from God was given.
25 years later Isaac was born [Genesis 21:5] and Isaac was 60 when Jacob and Esau were born [Genesis 25:26]. We are told in [Genesis 47:8-9] that Jacob was 130 years old when he and the others went down to Egypt [Genesis 46:27].
So.....25 years from the covenant to the birth of Isaac, plus 60 years to the birth of Jacob....130 more to the arrival in Egypt. 215 years have now elapsed since God chose Abraham to receives His promises and blessings.
Now....[Genesis 15:13] 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; But [Exodus 12:40-41] seems to say something different; 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.
Stick with me....I'm laying some groundwork. :)
What about [Galatians 3:17]??? 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. After what?
The Ten Commandments were given at Sinai 430 years after the making of the promise to Abraham (verse 18) For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. And this was reconfirmed with Isaac and Jacob.
Now....let's get back to that 400 year "thingy". [Acts 7:6] And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years. Abraham's seed was Isaac through whom the promise was given so......the four hundred years evidently begins with Isaac (the seed) but why is there a 5 year discrepancy? (Isaac was born 25 years after the promise was given....not 30). What happened when Isaac was 5 years old?
[Exodus 12:41] 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. What in the world is the "Self same day"? The Tanakh says "To the very day"! Abraham received the promise on the 14th of the first month at even.....Passover.
It was this event (Passover) that the four hundred years from Isaac was reckoned: [Genesis 22:2] And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; (site of present Jerusalem) and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. Five year old Isaac is taken to the mountain without question by Abraham.....on the very day....the self same day. The 14th of the first month at even....Passover!
Isaac would have been selected on the tenth day of the first month [Exodus 23:3]. Abraham arose the following day (the 11th) and saddled his donkey and took with him two servants and his son, Isaac. (Verse 4) says "on the third day" since taking off he looked up and saw the place. This would have been the 14th. Verse 5 says that Abraham, leaving the young men....he and Isaac began to go on, yonder and in (verse 6) we are told that the wood was laid upon him....and Isaac carried the wood to be used in his own sacrifice.....The Passover. (verse 7) Isaac asks, " And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"
God does things pretty much on His own timetable and in verses 16-18 He says this: And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. This would have also been the self same....the very day that the Children of Israel left Egypt, the 14th day of the first month at even....and the very day He first gave His promise to Abraham....Passover, 430 years earlier.
So....the total time in Egypt would have been 430 minus 215....or 215 years....long enough for the Israelites to have forgotten their Sabbaths and Feast Days that God had instituted earlier through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is why Moses had to explain to them what the Sabbath was and what Passover was. They, as a people, had obviously forgotten.
This of course should be [Exodus 12:3]
When did I ever say that the Abrahamic covenant and the Mosaic covenant were the same??
Gal 4:24, 25 that I quoted to you earlier removes all doubt as to the distinction that Paul makes between the Abrahamic Covenant and the Mosaic Covenant, and what he means by "the law" in this whole context: Galatians 4:24,25 These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.
Paul wasn't referring to the Mosaic covenant and the Abrahamic covenant here. He was referring to the Mosaic covenant (the old covenant) and the new covenant. He's saying that those who think they are gaining righeousness, who think they're being justified before God, through law keeping are slaves to sin.
Wow...what a great post! I had never put the Passover connection together between Isaac and the Passover in Egypt. Thank you for explaining it so well.
It was this event (Passover) that the four hundred years from Isaac was reckoned:
without question by Abraham.....on the very day....the self same day. The 14th of the first month at even....Passover!
Isaac would have been selected on the tenth day of the first month [Exodus 23:3]. Abraham arose the following day (the 11th) and saddled his donkey and took with him two servants and his son, Isaac. (Verse 4) says "on the third day" since taking off he looked up and saw the place. This would have been the 14th.
This would have also been the self same....the very day that the Children of Israel left Egypt, the 14th day of the first month at even....and the very day He first gave His promise to Abraham....Passover, 430 years earlier.
So....the total time in Egypt would have been 430 minus 215....or 215 years..
ALL of the above words are a complete figment of your IMAGINATION! You take ONE verse:
Galatians 3:
17What I am saying is this: the Law, which came (A)four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise.
And PRESUME that it fits your imaginary scenario – that the Law came 430 years after the day Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac. That might seem reasonable, except for these verses:
Genesis 15:
13God said to Abram, "Know for certain that (A)your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where (B)they will be enslaved and oppressed (C)four hundred years.
Exodus 12:
40Now the time that the sons of Israel lived in Egypt was (BG)four hundred and thirty years.
41And at the end of four hundred and thirty years, to (BH)the very day, (BI)all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.
Acts 7:
6"But (A)God spoke to this effect, that his DESCENDANTS WOULD BE ALIENS IN A FOREIGN LAND, AND THAT THEY WOULD BE ENSLAVED AND MISTREATED FOR FOUR HUNDRED YEARS.
These verses leave no room for ANY scenario, except the TRUE one: They LIVED in Egypt for 430 years, of which 400 years was in bondage. There is no way that those 430 years can morph into 215 years.
DG
This, of course should say, "Who's to say". Please pardon my non punctuation.....t'was a busy day.
Circular reasoning and rank speculation. You are simply assuming what you are supposed to prove; namely, that men did keep the Sabbath prior to the Egyptian captivity. That your assertion is based on nothing but your own presupposition is evident from your rhetorical question. You don't say where it is WRITTEN that men kept the Sabbath before Moses, you just ASSUME it because it is part of your doctrinal system. You say that it is "likely" that Abraham observed God's Sabbaths because God had commended him for keeping his statutes, laws and commandments [Genesis 26:5]. More circular reasoning. You just ASSUME that Genesis 26:5 is a reference to the Ten Comandments (an assumption that is contratry to Paul's clear statement in Galations 3:17 that the law was ADDED 430 years AFTER Abraham) but Marriage, Altars of sacrifice, Priesthood, Circumcision, were all Commandments and law of God expiciltly given to the patriarchs by God, and I can point you to where they are WRITTEN. But the Sabbath command that you ASSUME was kept by all men prior to Moses - where is it? Where is it WRITTEN? It just isn't there. There is no command concerning the Sabbath prior to Exodus 16. You are making an argument from SILENCE, an argument moreover, that contradicts Paul's clear statements, "before the law was added" in Romans 5 and Galations 3. The words "the law was added" make no sense if the law was already there. The law was added at Sinai or Paul is talking nonsense. Please note
Romans 5:13-14where Paul gives Moses as the starting point for the law.
"For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses."
The same for your assertion that the Sabbath was instituted in Eden. This has already been answered in previous posts, but again, the word, "sabbath" does not even appear in the Book of Genesis. The only commandments given to Adam and Eve before the Fall were to tend the garden and to be fruitful and multiply, and not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Scripture does not refer to them transgressing because they broke the Ten Commandments or the Sabbath. It was not any of the Ten Commandments that Adam and Eve broke that brought sin into the world.
Scripture does not say WHEN God sanctified the seventh day, the verb only indicates that it was after God rested. Genesis 2:3 gives the reason, because he rested vs.3, but not WHEN God sanctified it. There is zero evidence that God revealed the Sabbath in Eden and there is absolutely no evidence that anyone kept the Sabbath prior to Exodus 16. Moses wrote about it around 2500 years after God rested, and at the time he wrote the day was sanctified; but it is up you to prove that it was sanctified around 2500 years before Moses was born.
The law was only given to Israel (430 years after Abraham) not the whole world.
Deuteronomy 4:8
8"Or what great nation is there that has (A)statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today?
and WHEN they were given to Israel:
WHEN I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt
So....the total time in Egypt would have been 430 minus 215....or 215 years....long enough for the Israelites to have forgotten their Sabbaths and Feast Days that God had instituted earlier through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is why Moses had to explain to them what the Sabbath was and what Passover was. They, as a people, had obviously forgotten.
So....the total time in Egypt would have been 430 minus 215....or 215 years....long enough for the Israelites to have forgotten their Sabbaths and Feast Days that God had instituted earlier through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is why Moses had to explain to them what the Sabbath was and what Passover was. They, as a people, had obviously forgotten.
Here you are asserting that the fact that the Israelites were rebuked for not remembering the commandment proves it was practiced long before. What your very elaborate explanation overlooks is the obvious. The real reason is found in the immediate context of the passage in the preceding verse.
23 He said to them, "This is what the LORD commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.' "
24 So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. 25 "Eat it today," Moses said, "because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. You will not find any of it on the ground today. 26 Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any."
27 Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. 28 Then the LORD said to Moses, "How long will you [c] refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? 29 Bear in mind that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where he is on the seventh day; no one is to go out." 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
Keep in mind that the command was not just to stay home and rest on the Sabbath, but to gather twice as much the day before, bake the day before. God was giving them a day in which they could enter into rest. However they already broke it the very next day by not remembering and he was angry at them saying," why don’t you keep my commandments." But I dare say that you have to reject this simple contextual explanation, if for no other reason than that it doesn't fit your presuppositions and doctrinal system.
Your arguments from silence ignore and contradict those clear places in Scripture that do indicate WHEN and TO WHOM the Ten Commandments were given.
Cordially,
From your own keyboard to God's ears: "...told Israel". That's exactly right. But Israel didn't exist yet "in the beginning of creation". Moses, writing 2500 years later was giving the reason for the sanctification of the Sabbath that ISRAEL was being given, 2500 years later. See also · 1,110
Cordially,
They can't answer this question without relying on false tradition, misinterpretation of scripture and mythology. There is no place in scripture where the Lord ever commands us to forget His Feast Days and Sabbaths. Why does Zechariah pointedly explain we will be observing Tabernacles in the millennium [Zechariah 14:16-19] if it is such a silly thing to do now?
You don't say where it is WRITTEN that men kept the Sabbath before Moses, you just ASSUME it because it is part of your doctrinal system.
Part of my doctrinal system or not....God gave me a brain and He also told me that He instituted the Sabbath in Eden. If folks cannot realize that the Seventh Day that He blessed [Genesis 2:2-3]....and made Holy, is the same day that we honor as the Sabbath today....then I can understand the quandary. Many folks have simply been unable to think it through. Here....I'll try to help them out.
God never made it Un-holy. God never Un-blessed it. This is the reason "I assume" He still wants us to observe it. This is also the reason "I assume" He had Abraham, Isaac and Jacob observe His Sabbaths and Feast Days also. You see? I use my brain. That is also God given. This allows me to understand the importance of honoring the Sabbaths and Feast Days He instituted.....to be observed forever!
Here....let me help them out some more...........
Why does the Apostle tell us to keep the commandments if it is such a silly thing to do? [1 John 5:1-5] Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
Am I also "assuming" John is including the Sabbath commandment here? You know.....the only God told us to remember. In fact.....I'm almost certain he is including the fourth commandment because he has three more opportunities to dis-include it:
[Revelation 12:17] And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
[Revelation 14:12] Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
[Revelation 22:14] Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
After John told us the importance of keeping God's commandments in his first book he later went on to teach his own disciples the importance of God's Feast days and observing Passover on the correct day. This is all a matter of historical writings of the early church fathers. He then reiterates in his last book the importance of again, keeping The Lord's commandments. He does not tell us he has taken out the fourth......so here I am again I'm "assuming" that God wishes His Sabbath commandment to be honored also.
Silly me.
I've found your problem. You have misunderstood the phrase "Your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs." The years of Abraham's offspring being strangers in a land which is not theirs.....begins with the birth of Isaac. The Hebrew cantillation signs show the phrase "400 years" refers back to the words "your descendants..............". The text should properly be rendered as, "Know that your descendants will certainly be strangers in a land that is not theirs....400 years.
Abraham would have been born about the year 1948 A.M. (Anno Mundi) "Year of the world". (An interesting sidelight is the current nation of Israel being born in 1948 A.D.) Isaac would have been born 100 years later (2048 A.M.) and this begins the 400 years which will end at the Exodus and the giving of the Law at Sinai.The thirty year discrepancy between [Galatians 3:17] and the previous verse in Genesis has already been explained in my previous post regarding the 5 year old Isaac being offered as a sacrifice.
[Genesis 12:1-3] explains the original covenant: Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (Verse 4) So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
What is the difference between "Sojourn" and and "Captivity"? This is from "The Apostles Bible" [Exodus 12:40-41] And the sojourning of the children of Israel, while they sojourned in the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass after the four hundred and thirty years, all the forces of the Lord came forth out of the land of Egypt by night. The descendants of Abraham had indeed "Sojourned" 430 years since he had received the promises from God in [Genesis 12:1]......in a land that was not theirs. But, it later became "The Promised Land".
Notice how most translations emphasize "The very day! The very day, of course was the 14th of the first month at even....Passover. And what did Paul say happened also at about that time? [Galatians 3:16-18] 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. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
We are told that when Jacob left for Egypt his son Levi and grandson Kohath were with him [Genesis 46:11]. When Kohath arrived in Egypt he had a son himself, Amram [Exodus 6:18] and he lived to be 137 years old. Amram also had a son and he named him Moses. Moses was 80 years old when the Exodus took place. Let's find out what may have been the longest time span here between Jacob coming to Egypt, 70 souls in all....and Moses leading the children of Israel out of Egypt during the Exodus.
Kohath lived 133 years [Exodus 6:18] and his son, Amram, 137 [Exodus 6:20]. What if Kohath had been born just as Jacob and Levi were arriving in Egypt? Lets also assume that Amram had Moses during the very last years of his life. Let's now add the 80 years of Moses to these two lifetimes......133 +1 137 + 80.....and we get 350 years.
If the time in Egypt had been 400+ years as you say... we are missing some souls in the genealogy. We have determined that it had been 215 years from the promise given to Abraham to the time of Jacob's arrival in Egypt (post #1101) and we know that the total time from the Promises to Abraham to the Exodus was 430 years......so it would seem that 215 additional years for the generations of Levi, Kohath, Amram and Moses would be more likely. As for the actual time of captivity/slavery....we do not know. When Joseph died the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly [Exodus 1:-7]. If the slavery began during the second generation after Joseph died it probably lasted 100/150 years or so. This would be time enough for the Israelites to forget their Sabbaths and Feast days.
God promised to Abraham that he would take his descendants out of the land in which they had been enslaved, 430 years after the promise was originally given.....not after they had been enslaved 430 years! And He did it exactly to the day He first gave the promise to Abraham....the 14th day of the first month at even.....Passover!
This should say (Post #1104).
The real question is, why do you want to continue live under the Sign of the Old Covenant written on the Tablets of Stone, like a woman who continues to wear the wedding ring of her deceased husband at the same time she wears the wedding ring of her new husband? It's creepy.
In the first place you would have to prove that the Ten Commandments were ever given or applied to any Gentile as a Gentile outside Israel, because in Scripture the Ten Commandments are always, without exception, connected with Israel's special status before God as a unique nation, and the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were written, the words of the Covenant, were the specific document that constituted the legal covenant terms that was the basis of God's special relationship with the nation of Israel.
Where are we told in scripture they were done away with?
Galatians 3:19 -25
Matthew 5:18
3. 2 Cor. 3:7-11
Hebrews 8:13; Jer 31:31, 32
Galations 4:21-31
Romans 5: 13, 20
John 1:17
Ephesians 2:15
and numerous other passages concerning the nature of the Old Covenant, the Ten Commandments, WITH WHOM the Old Covenant was made, WHEN it was made, and the difference between the Old and New Covenants have been proved on this thread.
They can't answer this question without relying on false tradition, misinterpretation of scripture and mythology.
The above referenced Scriptures are not mythology. You have thus far been unable to produce any sort of rational, coherent, Scriptural argument as to why the Old Covenant law that the language of above referenced Scriptures teaches had both a historical beginning and historical ending did not really have a historical beginning and historical ending.
There is no place in scripture where the Lord ever commands us to forget His Feast Days and Sabbaths.
Who is the "us" you are referring to? Are you a Jew living prior to the time of Christ's death? What makes you think that the terms of the Old Covenant were ever binding on Gentiles, strangers to that Covenant, or that a revoked, obsolete covenant binds anyone after Christ terminated it by his death and instituted the New Covenant under which we now live? There is no place in the New Covenant where the Lord ever commands us to keep the Old Feast Days and Sabbaths.
Why does Zechariah pointedly explain we will be observing Tabernacles in the millennium [Zechariah 14:16-19] if it is such a silly thing to do now?
And it also says in verses 20 and 21 that there will be sacrifices in the LORD's Temple. Maybe you think the Levitical priesthood is going to be brought back, too.
God never made it Un-holy. God never Un-blessed it. This is the reason "I assume" He still wants us to observe it. This is also the reason "I assume" He had Abraham, Isaac and Jacob observe His Sabbaths and Feast Days also. You see? I use my brain. That is also God given. This allows me to understand the importance of honoring the Sabbaths and Feast Days He instituted.....to be observed forever!
If the Sabbath was for Gentiles and Adam, Noah and Abraham, et al, then why is the Sabbath a sign to remind them of their exodus from Egypt? . Was Adam or Abraham ever a slave in Egypt? Did God give Adam stone tablets with the Ten Commandments on them? Where are they? What happened to them? Why is Moses the first one to see a stone tablets written by the finger of God? You ignore the clear passages that show WHEN the Sabbath began, TO WHOM it was given, and WHEN it ended. I prefer the clear statements of Scripture over your assumptions. If God instituted it to be observed forever then why don't you still practice circumcision?
Here....let me help them out some more...........
How does it help anyone to build up the wall of partition between Jew and Gentile that Christ tore down?
Why does the Apostle tell us to keep the commandments if it is such a silly thing to do? [1 John 5:1-5] Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
Where is the word, "Ten"?
Am I also "assuming" John is including the Sabbath commandment here? You know.....the only God told us to remember. In fact.....I'm almost certain he is including the fourth commandment because he has three more opportunities to dis-include it:.. [Revelation 12:17] ,,.. [Revelation 14:12] ... [Revelation 22:14] ...
How does one dis-include something that is not there in the first place? Why do you assume that these are references to the Ten Commandments when the word "Ten" is not there, and John wrote after the Old Covenant was abolished and superseded by the New? Does God have any commandments beside the ten?
After the cross, nine of the Ten Commandments are referred to by the Apostles. One is missing. One is 'dis-included'. The Sabbath commandment.
After John told us the importance of keeping God's commandments in his first book he later went on to teach his own disciples the importance of God's Feast days and observing Passover on the correct day.
Jesus was born under and lived under the law so that he could fulfill it. Otherwise he could not have been the Messiah. If we must follow the example of Jesus in all things like keeping the Sabbath, then do you follow the example of Jesus in keeping circumcision?
Cordially,
Perhaps it is because we do not desire to convert it into an idol as some.
Cordially,
You didn't say it in so many words, but you brought up Abraham, saying that the sabbath existed AND was kept BEFORE the old covenant existed...before the ten commandments were given. To admit that the two covenants were different destroys your position because the Sabbath was the sign of the Old Covenant, not the Covenant with Abraham, and its sign was different. Abraham was NOT given the sign of the Mosaic Covenant. The Mosaic Covenant, the Ten Commandments on Tablets of Stone were the legal document on Tablets of Stone which came 430 years after Abraham.
Cordially,
.............and her Protestant daughters.
[Leviticus 26:1] Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.
Folks.....this admonishment against idolatry did not end at the resurrection. Nor did the Sabbath and Feast Day observances.
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