The Night to be Much confirmed two Observed : If You Are Christ s, are faith By TWO Immutable Things. two immutable things the heirs of promise

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1 C H A P T E R O N E If you are Christ s, then are you Abraham s seed and heirs according to the Promise (Galatians 3 : 29 NKJ) What was that Promise, and why are so many completely unaware of its relevance under New Covenant theology? On a spring night a few miles northeast of what would later become Jerusalem, two individuals engaged one another in a conversation that led to an event that would impact the world in the most profound way. Few throughout history would realize the significance of this seemingly unexplainable event or its unusual accompanying ceremony, nor understand its deep prophetic significance, not only as it involved the children of Israel but all God s people throughout time. The book of Genesis records this event, in Chapters 14 and 15. The individuals in this drama were Melchizedek, priest of the Most High God and Abram, just after returning from the defeat of the four kings who had conquered the cities of the Salt Sea Valley (today s Dead Sea region), capturing Abram s nephew while looting those cities. Melchizedek brought forth bread and wine, and pronounced a blessing upon Abram, following his God given victory over the four-king alliance. (Gen. 14:18) But it was shortly thereafter that a most significant series of events were to occur. In vision, God came to Abram, (15:1) during which Abram began questioning God regarding his not having an heir. God in response reassured him that his direct descendants would be as numerous as the stars of heaven. We know the time of day this took place. God took him outside, they looked up at the array of uncountable stars, and He said, So shall your descendants be. We know from this that their conversation was after it had become dark. The conversation continued. God additionally promised that he and his descendants would inherit that land. He had brought him out from Ur of the Chaldees in Mesopotamia for that express purpose. (Gen.15:7) Abram asked how he might be assured of this, to which God replied with this most unique and profound response. (15:8) Abram was given explicit instructions regarding a very special sacrifice he was to set in order, though not yet knowing what exactly would be taking place. The following day, during daylight, he did as he was instructed, and waited, and waited, and waited. All the rest of that day he stood guard, waiting, until finally, late in the afternoon, Abram experienced an overwhelming and terrifying premonition, a horrible great darkness came upon him, (Gen.15:12), the significance of which will become apparent later in this chapter. The Next Day Begins. After the sun was down, and it was dark (v.17), now fully into the beginning hours of the next day, we are given an explicit account of a most solemn and significant ceremony, that few today remotely understand. Most commentaries fail to explain either its symbology or the specific ceremony, let alone its potent significance. That significance involved not only Abram s physical descendants, but also his Spiritual heirs. The Apostle Paul understood. It seems his modern students do not. Not only do we see in it the Promise as it related to Israel s future as a nation, destined for enormous prestige and prosperity, but also veiled within this unique ceremony, is a revelation of God s plan for extending His Covenant of Promise upon all. A Most Noteworthy Observance. This night was the night in which God Covenanted immutably with Abram. Events on this night and the night previous, attested to and positively established with utmost certainty not only the promise of inheritance to physical Israel, but also

2 the greater Promises to Abraham s Spiritual seed. The symbology of the sacrificial animals which Abram was told to prepare also subliminally reveal the overall plan through which God would prepare a Spiritual Seed down through time. It becomes especially fascinating to realize that the night on which this Covenant was confirmed for all time was a date that would later become associated more with its first fulfillment, than with its first observance. Later writings of Moses reveal the observance s proper name and date. In Exodus 12: 41 the Children of Israel attained their release from bondage in Egypt. (Numbers 33: 3 reiterates that it was the fifteenth day of the first month, the morrow after the Lord s Passover.) It was the exact date of the Abrahamic Covenant, made 430 years prior, while Deuteronomy 16: 1 tells us that they went out by NIGHT! Not only the exact date, but also beginning at the corresponding time of day!, showing God s faithfulness to His Promises! This occasion being known by Moses time and perpetually afterward as The Night to be Much Observed : That evening beginning the fifteenth day of the first month of the Hebrew calendar. We ll see that this exact date appears at least four times in the fulfillment of God s Promises to His peoples. If You Are Christ s, The Apostle Paul, in relating our ethnic heritage as being irrelevant, in his epistle to the mostly Gentile Galatians, explains that it s faith that justifies, lawkeeping alone can t justify. What matters is our faith in Christ and our coming to have the Faith OF Christ, and that Faith making us an heir and thus of the seed of Abraham, as Christ was, (He being his Spiritual Seed). (Gal. 3:29) By TWO Immutable Things. There is a passage in the book of Hebrews which most are familiar with, that relates there are two immutable things that provide to the heirs of promise the absolute assurance of receiving that hope set before us. Few can explain exactly what these TWO things are. It begins in Hebrews 6: where it talks about God having Covenanted with Abraham, in which: He, by two immutable things we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us This passage, which begins in verse 13 and ends in verse 18, doesn t seem to give the modern reader a totally clear picture of what those two things are, (although, when you come to understand what they are, then it does become obvious). The problem is that we, in our time and culture, do not have an understanding of those ancient customs, which were well known in the days of Abraham and the Patriarchs. So, let s examine this passage: Heb.6:13 When God made a promise to Abraham (this is talking about the Abrahamic Covenant being confirmed) because He could swear by no greater, He swore by Himself (that seems to be one thing) saying surely I will bless you and multiplying I will multiply you. So after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. V.16: For men truly swear by a greater and an oath by confirmation to them is an end to all strife. Wherein God willing more abundantly to show to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us. One thing is very obvious. This is not talking about receipt of the physical promises. This is especially apparent when we couple that with this passage in Galatians 3:29: And if you are Christ s, then are you Abraham s seed and heirs according to the promise. It is important we understand what these two immutable things are. It provides the basis of our full confidence and hope. As the Apostle Paul shows, the New Covenant is heavily dependant upon the Original Covenant made with the father of the faithful : Abraham, some 430 years before Mt. Sinai, where the next phase, what we call the Old Covenant was first presented to God s chosen people. The Abrahamic Covenant is the foundation of both Old and New Covenants. The Abrahamic Covenant existed for 430 years before there even was an Old Covenant. The Old Covenant offered physical blessings, not eternal life. The Abrahamic Covenant provides both physical and Spiritual Promises, if you read it carefully. The Apostle Paul under-

3 stood the implicit Spiritual component in what God promised to Abraham. What s especially important is the realization that the Abrahamic Covenant remains in effect today, as the true basis of Faith! Christ is the Spiritual Isaac of the New Covenant. This is essentially the point in Galatians 3:29. The New Covenant promise, that we have hope toward, is very much a part of and based upon the promises made to Abraham. The Sacrifice and the Oath. We are given a very detailed account of this originnal Night to be Much Observed in Genesis 15. This extremely fascinating passage of Scripture is largely overlooked on account of it being so little understood. Beginning in verse 6 of Genesis 15: And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. (Romans 4:3 affirms the same.) And He said unto him, I am the LORD that brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it. And Abram asked, LORD God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? And He said unto him, take an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove and a young pigeon. And he took him all these and he divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against the other, but the birds he divided not. and was extremely effective, anciently, in affirming the absolute certainty of ones word. Not Only His Reputation, But His Life! We recognize the word benediction. It means good words. Well, malediction is the opposite. It means bad utterance, in which the oath maker utters a dire prediction against himself, should he fail to keep his oath! So, when you see a sacrifice of this type, especially one with God being the oath maker, it s something to pay special attention to. The significance was understood in ancient times. The Apostle Paul realized the significance of this solemn occasion, as we can see from Hebrews 6. Now, let s look into this account a little more: Gen.15:9, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old (these were animals in their full maturity their reproductive prime), and a turtledove and a young pigeon. (Note that only the dove is of unspecified or undetermined age.) Each of these were the main types of animals later used under the Old Covenant sacrificial system. And he took unto him all of these and he divided them (lengthwise, vertically) and laid each piece one against the other (mirror image to each other), but the birds (notice) he divided not. (There ll be significance to this later on.) And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. (This shows that it was now daylight, as birds of prey don t fly except in daytime.) And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him. Now, this kind of sacrifice described here is an extremely rare and unusual sacrifice. What men anciently would do, (and Paul alludes to why in Heb. 6:16), when making an oath of this degree of significance, is that they would take the animals, (not necessarily these, but those animals deemed Now, if we read from the context, up in verse 5, we appropriate to the occasion, (and there s a can see that God brought him forth abroad and particular significance to the ones God required be said, look now toward the heavens and tell me the used here)), but they would take the animals and stars if you be able to number them. So at the divide them in half lengthwise and vertically. The time that God spoke the promise, it was dark outside. halves would then be laid out mirror image to one (Was it about midnight, the 14 th?) They went another, creating a path between the parts. In out, and looked up at the stars. During the NEXT making this binding covenant, the one making it day, he set up the sacrifice and waited. Later, as would walk the path between these laid-out parts. we get down to verse 12, we find out when the This was a very ancient practice. In fact, we have sun was going down so, this is the late afternoon, another Biblical passage describing this kind of approaching the beginning of the next day, sacrifice. It s found in Jeremiah 34: The that is, the approach of the Night to be Much practice, called a Maledictory Oath is very rare Observed! The Abrahamic Covenant was form

4 ally confirmed on what we have come to know as the Night to be Much Observed, though it was spoken on the previous evening! How can we know that? Well, Moses wrote of it. The children of Israel came out of Egypt on that EXACT date when the Abrahamic Covenant was made, that Selfsame Day (Exodus 12:41) We have here a substantial self-contained Biblical cross-reference. The Promise was spoken on the evening that later would become Passover, but was confirmed on the next, the original Night to be Much Observed! The Prophetic Component. Abram was most interested in having a direct heir, and line of descendents. That is the main subject of this conversation. (Gen.15:4) It would be hard to miss the obvious prophecy around which the promise to him is made. In verses 13 and 14, in Abram s dark vision, it relates that his descendents would be servants for four hundred (plus) years, and God would deal with their oppressor nation, allowing them to come away with great spoils. They would then return to the land where Abram then was. (v.16) It was in recognition of this prophesy that Moses gave specific instruction for the people to borrow silver and gold and clothing from the Egyptians. God told them exactly when, (Ex.11:2) and they complied just before leaving. (Ex.12:35-36). So, the time Israel started out from their Egyptian captivity was the exact anniversary of the date on which God confirmed His Covenant with Abraham 430 years earlier. That night in which they stepped out in faith, heading toward the Promised Land was the selfsame day God told Abraham they would one day be doing this very thing. That same night in which the two representations of Divine Spirit passed through the path of the shadow of death. THE Most Ancient Observance! So, now when we observe the Night to be Much Observed we have much to be aware of. There is a Covenant, even more ancient than the Mosaic Old Covenant, one made by a Maledictory Oath, before Abram, with God Himself being Maledictor, dedicating Himself to forfeiture of all, even of His own life, should He fail to keep His word! This Covenant, confirmed by an Oath which remains expressly applicable to those who are Christ s, the true heirs of the Promise thru Faith. Let s look again at the Genesis 15 account, in verse 12. A Horror of Great Darkness. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him. This was the afternoon of the 14 th. Now, think about what happened in the later hours of the 14 th in the year of Christ s crucifixion. Christ was on the cross at that hour. And not only was there a three hour period of darkness over the land, but as the horrifying realization of the encroaching blackness of death overwhelmed His consciousness, He screamed out! ( Mark 15:34 ) Abram s premonition foreshadowed those last conscious moments of Christ s physical lifetime. Again, Abram s horror of great darkness corresponding exactly with the time of Christ s impending death! Then the Exodus prophesy, And He said unto Abram, know of a surety, that your seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them (Now, here s a prophecy of their Egyptian captivity, and the fact that they would successfully spoil the Egyptians before they left, but not before God dealt with their oppressors.) and they shall afflict them 400 years, and also that nation whom they serve will I judge. And afterward shall they come out with great substance. (Gen.15:14) Now down in verse 17, there s more detail. This is the most important part. This is during the early hours just after dark, beginning the fifteenth day of the first month, And it came to pass that when the sun went down, and it was dark (these being the same hours when we observe the Night to be Much Observed ).. Behold, a smoking furnace and a burning lamp passed between those pieces (Those being the two separated halves of the sacrifices) In the same day (The fifteenth) the LORD made a covenant with Abram saying, Unto your seed have I given this land from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates

5 So, in verse 5 we see that it was night, the night before the fifteenth. That s when this promise was spoken to Abram. On the daylight portion of the fourteenth, he prepared the sacrifices. Later in the afternoon, this vision of horror and great darkness fell upon Abram, this in verse 12, having obvious correlation with Christ s pre-death experience on the cross at the corresponding hour centuries later! The Furnace and the Lamp. In verse 17 we see that it is now after sunset, into the darkness of the fifteenth. That s when the Covenant was confirmed by an Oath. Hebrews 6:17 & 18 confirms that it was God who made this Oath! The TWO representations: the smoking furnace and the burning lamp, here picturing the Divine Presence. (JF&B 1997, vol.1, page 146) Behold, a smoking furnace and a burning lamp also (the use of the word also doubly indicates there are TWO Beings who are being represented here!) passed between those pieces. Now, the burning lamp we can identify with the Word. Psalm 119: 105 speaks of the Word (being) a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. So, this describes representations of God passing along this path in process of making this Covenant Oath. That should tell us something about the seriousness of what s being presented here. Later, at the beginning of the Exodus, these two were represented semi-unified, as a pillar of cloud (smoke) by day and a pillar of fire (lamp) by night. These two were baptized by blood, passing thru this path of blood. After all, three large animals were slaughtered and bisected on that spot! This on the eve what would later become the First Day of Unleavened Bread. The Israelites were baptized by water, by passing thru the Red Sea the night of the Last Day of Unleavened Bread. (1Cor.10:2) Considering these TWO representations: we have a smoking furnace which in the darkness and selfenvelopment would not have been visible, except for the presence of the burning lamp. It is interesting to consider Matthew 11:27, which shows Christ as being the one who would reveal the Father. Ancient Israel did not deal with, and perhaps did not fully KNOW of the existence of the Being we now know as the Father! (Except to the extent that Christ revealed (threw light upon) His existence!) The Son reveals the Father. Is this a graphic illustration of that component of Truth? Are BOTH Beings: the Father and the Son being represented as passing between, thus personally making this Immutable Covenant? Are BOTH Beings equally committed to this Abrahamic Covenant? And do we, as a result, have strong consolation as heirs according to the Promise? Covenant versus Testament? Lately, and especially since the 1990 s apostasy that swept thru the Church of God, we heard a lot said about Covenant and Testament. We heard that these terms could be used interchangeably. Actually, there is a very distinct difference. Covenental Law DIFFERS from Testamental Law. A Covenant is a Death Oath, and it remains in force and completely unchangeable up until the death of the one who made that Covenant Oath. A Covenant can not be changed until the one who makes it dies. A Testament is distinctly different in this respect: It s like a Will. A person can change his last will and testament as often as he likes, UP UNTIL his death. That s a basic difference. To alter someone s will AFTER they die, would be a serious legal offence. A Testament is in effect after a person dies, where a Covenant is in effect up until the person dies. It s important we understand the subtle difference in terms. A Theological Conundrum. Further on this Covenant / Testament issue, IF Jesus Christ ISN T the one who made the Old Covenant thru Moses, IF He ISN T the God of the Old Testament, then religion has a major problem! In accordance with Covenental Law, the Old Covenant couldn t have been ended except by the death of the one by whom it was made. If it was the one we know as the Father, the Father never died, so the Old Covenant could not have been terminated! It would still have to be in effect! By the same token, IF the Father wasn t represented in the procession of the Maledictory Oath, in confirming the Abrahamic Covenant, then that Covenant could not be still in effect, and Galatians - 5 -

6 3:29 would have it all wrong in its assurance of Christ s seed being Abraham s seed and heirs according to the Promise, because, if it was Christ ALONE who passed thru, Christ DIED!! Those Prophetic Sacrifices! God directed Abram specifically as to what animals he was to take, and in what order. Abram obeyed. (Gen.15:9) An heifer, a she-goat, a male ram, a turtledove and a pigeon. The order AND the selections have prophetic significance. We see representations of ignorance, obstinance, then compliance then lastly, representations of two spirits (John 1:32) These illustrate a spiritual progression, from the Patriarchal era, generally complacent, but spiritually ignorant. (Even in today s world, bovines are thought of as dumb but contented.) Next a female goat: Butt-headed obstinate, typical of Israel s nature during the Old Covenant era. Next, a male sheep, representative of a Christ-likeness, the characteristic of the New Covenant era. God is here illustrating His dealing with humanity thru His Covenant. Specifically the Abrahamic Covenant which remains in effect thru all the Covenant Eras!! These sacrificial animals illustrate the progression of God s overall plan. So, What About the Birds? Abram did NOT divide the birds (Gen.15:10). Rather, he put each one whole on either side of the path, in order for the procession to pass between. But what do the two birds represent? We can draw a clue from the progression we ve seen this far. The male ram brings us up thru the New Covenant era. What comes after that? What would two very similar appearing representations illustrate beyond the New Covenant era? Why TWO? And, why not use two of the same kind? Also, is their order of mention significant? A dove and a pigeon are very similar birds, though ordinarily a dove is usually thought of as being pure white. A pigeon, on the other hand, if pure white, is most likely an albino, and thus unfit for being a sacrifice, in that an albino has a pigmentation defect. So we have two similar representations, but one white, the other likely not. (White, of course, represents the righteousness of Saints. (Re.19:8)) It is here proposed that these two birds represent the Covenant in effect in the Millennial Era, in which God will be dealing directly on a Spiritual level with TWO separate kinds of beings: His Spirit-Born resurrected Saints living together with regenerate, but still physical, Saints in His Millennial Kingdom. These both living together, being dealt with on a Spiritual level on a plane not seen in any previous Covenant Era. The dove is presented first, as these are the first-fruits. The pigeon types next, being prepared for eventual spirit-level inclusion in the family of God. (Note: Of all five, only the dove s age is left unspecified!) More can be drawn from the symbolism. Consider that Christ was crucified BETWEEN TWO Malefactors. ( Old English for bad guys.) One was deemed Kingdom worthy, the other NOT. (Luke 23:43) The One who later became Christ who passed thru this path, passed between the two birds. It s interesting also to notice that the two birds were not cut apart, nor were they bled to death. Abram likely killed them by breaking their necks. Similarly, the two malefactors were not slain with a sword or spear, rather, they were killed by breaking their legs. (John 19:32) They died whole, by the suffocation resulting from that being done to them. Another relevant consideration in this regard is the offering made at Jesus Temple presentation, the offering made on His behalf was two (not just one) doves or two young pigeons! (Lk.2:24) Here calling attention to the potent connection between these symbolic sacrificial illustrations and our Person of interest! He was that Paschal (male ram) Sacrifice and His ministry spanned the eras they represented: the Christian era AND the Millennial administration toward those to be spiritually called. It s also interesting that the Apostle Paul, in explaining the ineffectiveness of animal sacrifices for the actual remission of sins, consistently refers to the blood of bulls and goats (Heb.9:7, & 10:4, etc.) (those specific items presented in the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement) but not mentioning the obvious, the blood of the Lamb! Christ Our Passover. As a final thought, it s noteworthy that Christ verbally presented the New Covenant at Passover,

7 ON the fourteenth, but He formally CONFIRMED it by His death and burial roughly a day later. Also, both these events occurring ON the exact anniversaries (the Selfsame Days ) as the Promise and subsequent Oath, made with Abram some two millennia earlier, being on the same nights as the Passover in Egypt and the beginning of the Exodus. Four Distinct Co-incides. Not only do we find the Night to be Much Observed referred back from the time of Moses in Exodus 12:42, but also again in Joshua 5:11. We find the children of Israel partaking of the produce of the Promised Land for the first time on the morrow after the Passover. They could not take possession under the Covenant until a certain Covenant pre-requirement had been taken care of. Those men under forty years old had not been circumcised. That being attended to after crossing the River Jordan, (see Jos.5:7 ), then they could be given possession. So we see yet another occasion, an important milestone in the fulfillment of God s Promise (formal possession) which took place on this same day, the morrow after the Passover, which began on yet another Night to be Much Observed. 1. First, we have the original night on which the Covenant was confirmed with Abram, 2. Then, the beginning of the physical promise fulfillment on the exact anniversary, when the Exodus began exactly 430 years later, on the morrow after the Passover. (Num.33:3), 3. Then the completion of the physical promise fulfillment 40 years after that, with their taking formal possession of the Promised Land on the morrow after the Passover. (Joshua 5:11) (daily manna ceased thereafter), 4. Then the beginning of the Spiritual fulfillment with Christ s burial being complete, just at sunset at the onset of the morrow after Passover. Each of these being important milestones in God s preparing a people for Himself, all occurring ON what later came to be known as: the Night to be Much Observed also called the Night to be Much Remembered. Do we know what it is that we should be remembering? Some insist we don t need to keep this day! These same ones will invariable be found religiously observing days that have no verifiable Biblical event ever occurring on them! Go figure! So, from all of this, we can see that the Abrahamic Covenant, attested to by the Apostle Paul, (the Apostle to the Gentiles), is the BASIS of our confidence in the hope set before us, and is still VALID, and IS enormously relevant to our New Testament Christian experience. The Two Immutable Things? Concluding this subject, it d be good to reconsider the question posed earlier as to just what are the TWO immutable things Paul is referring to in Heb. 6:17? (Immutable things don t just pass away!) For when God made promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no greater, He sware by Himself So, the first thing was He gave His absolute word. There was none greater who could make this promise. No one else was incapable of being untruthful. But He did something else in addition, and this was that second thing. We find that in verse 17. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an Oath This is that second thing. Not just His saying so, which should have been enough, but He confirmed it by performing this Maledictory Oath, and doing so on what we know as the Night to be Much Observed. So this Promise is doubly locked-in! God s Word and His personal Oath guarantees it! Now we can better understand Hebrews 6:18. Now with this awareness we can better appreciate the certainty of the real hope that is set before us

8 C H A P T E R T W O One would regard it Profoundly Unthinkable that most Jews could be Mistaken in their Most Identifying Tradition. Yet, in Passover Observance, we find Major Controversy! What is the True Time for Keeping this Essential Observance? In the world of Judaeo-Christian Religion, many make note of the fact that Jesus Christ died on the cross at the same time that the Jews in the Temple would have begun slaying their Paschal Lambs. What more potent notice could there have been to flag the identity their Messiah? Yet, they rejected Him as Messiah! Add to that the extraordinary event 1 which occurred at the same hour, that damaged the Temple, precluding the traditional Sacrifice from being slain that year, they had even less excuse to not take notice! A subliminal concept carries with this detail, that of His death occurring at about the time traditional Jews would have begun slaying their lambs, that leads many to conclude that Christ changed the time for observing the Passover under the New Testament format, from late on the fourteenth day to early on it. We know that He and His disciples kept the Passover at a different time than did the traditional Jews of the era. Some say, it was of necessity. He observed it early as He was destined to die at the traditional hour. The major point of this study paper is to answer the question as to whether or not Christ changed the hour for observing the Passover, or if it was the Jews who, some time after their Babylonian exile, mis-interpreted certain key scriptures, which led to a practical change on their part. It seems inconceivable to us that Jews could ever become persuaded of such a traditional shift, especially one so significant as involving their Passover. Yet, we should keep in mind that their fidelity to their religious practices were not always as exacting as we might imagine. There were serious lapses in their religious awareness at times. Even to the extreme degree that they became completely unaware that there even was a Passover! 2 Let alone keeping it, let alone keeping it correctly! Understanding that the possibility exists that Jewish tradition could have morphed from one practice into another, that they indeed could have allowed themselves to adhere to their preferred traditions, even to the extent of violating commandments of God, as Jesus said (Mark 7:9), we need to look more carefully into the matter. Actually, there is much more in scripture on this subject than is typically related to us by our religious institutions. As an aside, we should be reminded that there was another more ancient observance already in place on the night following the Passover, facilitating the transference from one night into another, without being all that noticeable. The anniversary of the Abrahamic Covenant, as Exodus 12:42 indicates, was known and observed, certainly from the Exodus onward, and likely was observed long before. For them to have known that the Exodus 1 Due to the earthquake (Mt.27:51) the Veil of the Temple was torn from top to bottom, thus rendering the Temple strictly off-limits just as the traditional practice of slaying the Paschal Lambs would have begun. A massive stone lintel, which supported this heavy curtain broke and fell, indicating serious structural damage, but also falling in such a position to block open the doors, thus rendering the Holy of Holies exposed to public view! No doubt, all formal activeties stopped at that moment! Rabbi Alfred Edersheim s, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, page 610, cites historical confirmation of this event and its impact on the occasion. See also Fred Coulter s book: The Christian Passover, second edition, pg In the days of King Josiah, workmen restoring the Temple, discovered the book of the Law. (2 Chronicles 34 and 35), exposing their ignorance of God s Covenant, especially the Passover. 2 nd Kings 22 and 23 sheds much more light on this situation. The Temple at that time had been filled with idols, idolatrous practices, (23:4 & 5) and idolatrous priests. No way could these have been expected to retain any vestige of legitimate worship practices. The point here being, that true worship in Israel was an intermittent thing. These lapses required them to read and re-interpret the instructions all over again from time to time. Modern tradition is far from being contiguous with practices observed back thru ancient times.

9 was on the selfsame day as that notable early occasion, at least some had to have been using and observing the same calendar as did Abraham! But as to the question of whether or not Christ changed the time of Passover observance for the Church, when He changed its symbols, there is much to be found relevant to the subject in the pages of scripture. I challenge you to stay with me on this as we consider some of those. We can know with certainty. But first, we have to allow that Jewish Tradition is not the last word. Perhaps the most defining event in the emergence of Israel as a nation was the careful observance of that first Passover in the land of Egypt. Second to it would be the Exodus from their abject bondage. These two are not unrelated events, nor were they concurrent. Though one belief system requires that both these events had to have occurred within the same twelve hour night-time, others insist that the Passover in Egypt was observed as the fourteenth day was just beginning, with the Exodus underway only as the next night had set-in. The Original Promise More than four centuries before these events took place, a specific prophecy was given, confirmed by a God-Sworn Oath to Abraham. The Covenant Promise, that Abraham s descendants would gain their release from bondage, by God s direct intervention, and would receive spoils of their captors. It was this Promise that remained indelible in the people s consciousness. The spoils confirmed their hope! They didn t leave Egypt unaware of exactly where it was they were going. It was this same Promise. Not by co-incidence, it was on the very anniversary date of when God s Promise was confirmed to Abraham, that Israel started out of Egypt. 3 One might wonder what relevance this matter could have to we who are under the New Covenant. Realizing that we who are Christ s are Abraham s seed, and heirs according to the promise, as it plainly states in Galatians 3:29, and 3 Related chapters that expand on this matter are: 1. The Abrahamic Covenant and 7. The Significance of the Term: The SELFSAME Day. Exodus 12:42 affirms this detail. Not by co-incidence either, our release from spiritual Egypt began on this same anniversary! It also, a night worthy to be much observed on both accounts that the Passover was the occasion when Christ first introduced the New Covenant and proposed marriage 4 to His Bride, its relevance should be obvious. If, in fact, our being a part of the Bride of Christ is related to our renewing our commitment to His New Covenant, at Passover, annually, this relevance amplifies even more! But, it s a good question. One we need to settle in our minds, resolving any doubt. Is the Passover, which Christ promised to partake of again, with His true Saints, in the Kingdom, 5 relevant to the Christian experience? If in fact the Passover ought to be observed under the New Covenant, and in 1 st Corinthians 11 it gives instructions as to how to properly commemorate Christ s Paschal death, and in chapter 5:7 it plainly advocates that we keep the Passover, it would then be important to us to know just when this time-specific occasion should be observed! The following computations provide that answer as well as resolving other technical issues that have furnished argument fodder for centuries. Many scenarios have been posed as to how and when the greater family of Israel escaped the grip of the major world power of their day. As often as not, these scenarios are over-simplistic and very unrealistic, disregarding the real-world logistical dynamics. Many readily acknowledge that the hosts numbered well into the 2 to 3 millions, but then fail to consider how long it would ve taken to assemble and move such a massive congregation. Taking into account those biblical facts and details which address the logistical considerations, we can pose plausible answers, those which are rarely, if ever, presented in the typical Sunday school class or from many platitudinous pulpits. Not that those answers don t exist, it s just that few have taken time to analyze the information that is in the scriptures and follow it through to a logical conclusion. How Big Was Israel? Wouldn t it be interesting to know just how big was the nation of Israel? If we had a reasonably good answer, we could determine other things, such as, how long did the Exodus actually take? 4 See chapter 9: The New Covenant Passover and the Bride of Christ. 5 Luke 22:15 18, Matthew 26:29

10 How large was the procession? How long did it take for the column to move past a given point? Incidental to these, having good answers, we could also pose better answers as to just when was the Passover observed, and when did the Exodus take place, and even rule-in or rule-out by which routes they might have traveled? Anyone who has ever been in a situation involving large numbers of people, such as being in a packed sports stadium when the event lets out, or in an evacuation ahead of an impending weather disaster, knows that the number of people involved has considerable impact on how long it takes to move everyone out. Similarly, the numbers involved would have significantly affected how long it took for the Exodus to have taken place. Knowing the facts and factoring the logistics of this momentous event will give us a far greater appreciation of what took place when Pharaoh relented and let Israel go. Halley s Bible Handbook 6 gives the number of Israelites at the time of the Exodus as being some 3 millions. Bible dictionaries state various figures, from two to two and a half millions to three millions. But, from what did they derive these figures? Actually, the scriptures give us two means of estimating the number of Israelites who left Egypt. The method best known is the reference in Exodus 12: which gives the number of men 20 years and older as being 600,000. This figure is substantiated by the incredibly specific number given in the book of Numbers chapter 1: From that count, an approximation can be made of the women and children, to come up with an estimated total population figure. I will call this Method Two. estimating the population corroborate each other, then we should be confident that the number is reliable. From a reliable population figure, it is then possible to project how long the Exodus would have taken. The following exercises, working these numbers, may be a mathematical hoot, but it will provide us with a basis for logical answers to significant questions, that to date have not been definitively put forth. Let s take a good look at the details. In establishing a reasonable size for the Exodus congregation, we need to also take into account, not only the number of people, but the stated fact that there were a significant number of non-israelitish people (referred to as a mixed multitude 7 ), and very much cattle. (Ex. 12:38) How big was the Exodus, and how long would it have taken to be away? The First Method The first method of determining the population of the children of Israel that we ll consider is based on the number of generations of one family, that s presented in 1 st Chronicles 7: This passage lists ten generations, from Ephraim, son of Joseph to Joshua, son of Nun, whom we know from other passages as being that Joshua who helped spy out the land of Canaan some months after the Exodus 8 and who succeeded Moses in leading the children of Israel 9 after Moses died. We should be careful to note that Joshua was a young man at this point in time, so that would allow for at least part of an eleventh generation. It could have been a full eleventh generation, depending on whether Joshua was born early or late in this tenth generation, born in the land of Egypt. But, another separate means is given, one independent of the other, which, when considered, can also provide a cross-check on any estimated population figure. That given method is the number of generations from the time of Jacob s entry into Egypt until they left Egypt. That clue is provided to us in 1 st Chronicles 7: I call this one Method One. If, in fact, these two totally independent methods of 6 Halley s Bible Handbook, Zondervan, 24 th Edition, pg Knowing this, it is possible to make a projection of Israel s growth in population. A factor we need to consider is the exceptional Israelite birth rate, exceeding that of the Egyptians. It was so much greater, that the Egyptians instituted a policy of 7 Exodus 12:38 The mixed multitude likely included peoples of other ethnicities, and more likely, those of mixed ancestry, who could not be identified in being of any particular tribe. 8 Numbers 13:16 9 Numbers 27:18-23

11 population suppression, by killing their newborn males, beginning some eighty years before the Exodus. (Ex.1:7 16) Though it affected the ratio between men and women, it didn t impede Israel s growth rate all that much. First, they weren t remotely successful in finding every male child, and second, it s the women who determine the birth rate. What Egypt did successfully achieve was to reduce the potential military strength of their servant class. (This will tend to increase the number of Israelites when we work into Method Two, in that the normal ratio between men and women would have been artificially altered!) We know that there were ten plus generations from Jacob s entrance into the land of Egypt, at least from Joseph s lineage, which started LATER than the families of Joseph s other sons, being that Joseph was second youngest, and considering his thirteen years in prison before release, his being politically elevated and given an Egyptian wife. And then, Ephraim was Joseph s younger son. Now, can we make a reasonable projection using this method as to the size of Israel s population at the time of the Exodus? How many Israelites could there have been after at least ten plus generations? Some things we need to take into account are: How many families were there in the first generation? How much intermarriage occurred with the populations among whom they lived? And, how many children on average did each family have? One thing we know, is that the more Egypt oppressed them, the MORE children Israel had! (Ex.1:12) Egypt s plan backfired! The first question is answered in Exodus 1:5, which establishes that there were SEVENTY men who came into Egypt with Jacob. Genesis 46:27 shows that this number is inclusive of Joseph and his two sons. Presuming that Jacob and his twelve sons were at this point beyond having any more children (not necessarily the case, but in every instance where an assumption is made, I want to come in on the conservative side, which would tend to result in a smaller population projection.) aren t enumerated specifically, Jacob and his sons did have daughters! (Gn.46:7) Including daughters, that could make as many as 114 grandchildren in that first generation, plus additional families of the daughters of Jacob, which are not enumerated, and are not included in this count. We have then some 114 young people in their first generation in Egypt. Next question: Where did these 114 get their wives or husbands? If we presume from within the group we have a problem. The problem being that all of these are siblings or first cousins of one another! In order to find mates, they would have to have married outside the family of Israel. So that would mean there would have been 114 couples, 114 families, each grandson and granddaughter marrying from the society around them, (and not necessarily an Egyptian, as Egypt had many foreigners living within their society, some of whom being of Hebrew ancestry.) (We should remember that Egyptians were averse to dining with a Hebrew before Jacob and the seventy came into Egypt. (Gen.43:32) So, having this prohibition, indicates that there were many Hebrews in Egypt already, before Jacob and family came there.) Also, we need to remember that Israel was a favored guest in the early years, while Joseph reigned as vizier to the Pharaohs. Joseph lived to be 110 years old, some 70 years beyond the time his family came into Egypt, back when he was about forty. 10 This indirectly addresses the second question, as to the probability of intermarriage with the peoples among whom they lived. That first generation HAD to find mates outside of their immediate clan, otherwise they d have been marrying their sisters or brothers or first cousins! We know that Joseph married an Egyptian and Moses married a woman of Midian. It is likely that outside of the family marriages factored into Israel s population growth, though the model given below is based on a low percentage of outside marriages after the second generation. The third question posed above: How many children on average did each family have? One thing That would leave fifty-seven grandsons to make that first generation in Egypt. But, wouldn t there have been a corresponding number of daughters born to the twelve sons of Jacob? Though they This was nearly a third of the time Israel was in Egypt. Many believe the sojurn in Egypt was 430 years. Actually, that was the entire sojurn awaiting the receipt of the Promise made to Abraham. Israel was in Egypt some 215 years, with only about the last century being under bondage.

12 we do know, is that the twelve sons of Israel came into Egypt having 57 sons themselves. That would make an average of 4.75 sons per family. (57 12) Allowing an equal number of daughters, the average family would have had some nine+ children. The projection below is based on there being only five children per family. Israel s Population by Method One Presuming only five children per family on average and an outside the clan intermarriage rate of only ten percent beyond the first generation, Israel s population would have grown as follows: 1 st generation: 114 families = 228 individuals 2 nd : 114 families x 5 children each = % 3 rd : 313 families x 5 children ea. = % 4 th : 861 families x 5 children ea. = % 5 th : 2368 families x 5 children = 11, % 6 th : 6509 families x 5 children = 32, % 7 th : x 5 = 89, % (Some time during this generation, the male infanticide policy began. 11 For that reason, a smaller family size is carried, with a higher percentage of intermarriage.) 8 th : 49,225 families x 4 children = 196, % 9 th : 118,140 x 4 = 472, % 10 th : 283,536 x 4 = 1,134, % 11 th : 680,486 x 2 = 1,360, % (The eleventh generation was less than a full-generation in Egypt, thus the x 2 children, and that generation would have married only among those who left Egypt.) Allowing that these people lived an average of 60 years, which the 40 years in the wilderness would attest, in that all the adults over 20 had died in the 40 years wandering, then we can approximate their average lifespan being something under 60 years. Generation 11 would be that age group from infancy to 10 years old. Generation 10 would be from 10 to 30. Generation 9 is from 30 to 50, And generation 8, those 50 and older. 11 It was a Pharaoh who didn t know Joseph (Ex.1:9) who first implemented the dastardly plan. As Joseph lived 70 years into the 215 years of sojurn, in Egypt, it would have been another Pharaoh at least two generations removed from that, which would be after the sixth generation. (Joseph himself lived to see the third generation of his son Ephraim, which would have been our fourth! (Gen. 50:23) The total population of Israel, then, would include all of generation 11 and 10, 90% of generation 9, and perhaps only 30% of generation 8. That would make a total aggregate population of : 1,360,973 from generation 11 plus 1,134,144 from generation 10 plus 425,304 from generation 9 plus 59,070 from generation 8 still living These together would total 2,979,491 individuals, or approximately 2.98 million. (Not including the mixed multitude of Exodus 12:38.) Breaking this down into the grouping that is going to be helpful to us in Method Two, there would ve been some 1.92 million under 20 years of age, and 1.06 million 20 years of age and older. This provides a ratio of those under 20 to those over 20 of about 1.8 to 1.0. This will be an important ratio in the next method we are to consider. 12 So, we can see from Method One that Israel s population could reasonably have approached the three million mark numerically. Israel s Population by Method Two In Exodus 12:37, we find that the children of Israel included 600,000 MEN over the age of 20 years. 13 That is re-confirmed a year later in Numbers 1:46. However, both these counts exclude the Tribe of Levi, which represents another 22,000, (Num.3:39) but this figure included all from infancy upward. Using the ratio realized from method One, it would allow 7,860 being over 20 years, which is nicely confirmed in Numbers 3:22, which counted 7,500 Levite males. (In the case of Levi, the under 20 to over 20 ratio was slightly closer to two to one.) (This confirmed comparison (7,860 7,500) illustrates that these two projections are within 5% of each other!) 12 As an aside, knowing that all of the over-twenty age group died in the next 40 years, Israel would ve been burying their aging population at a rate of 510 per week! The corresponding birth rate about matched that, as their total population was very similar at the end of the 40 years as at the beginning. (See Numbers 26:51) 13 This figure is reaffirmed in Numbers 1:19-47 a year later. Keep in mind that this figure EXCLUDES the tribe of Levi, which comprised some 3 to 4 percent of the congregation. (See Numbers 3:39)

13 This provides a second independent method of projecting how many there were in the Exodus. The first century historian, Josephus adds to this the fact that these were men twenty years and older who were fit for war, (Antiquities Book 2:15:1) so we have a number that didn t necessarily include all the men, as some might ve been infirm or elderly! But if we say it did and use this figure, and add-in the Tribe of Levi, we have a total of 607,500 males over 20 years old. Now, with this established, the next consideration would be: How many women and children would there have been? Does this 607,500 man warrior count include the very elderly? In order to not be seen as inflating the total, let s stay on the conservative side, and say it does. That ll keep the number lower. So, 607,500 represents 100% of the men. How many women of that same age group would there have been? How many children? Remembering that for the last several generations the Egyptians killed a percentage of their newborn males, beginning some eighty years before the Exodus, it s unavoidable that an imbalance between the number of women and men in the same generation would have been created. How great would that imbalance have been? Had the Egyptians taken only 1 in 3 on average, it would have created an imbalance in the men / women ratio of 2 men to every 3 women. If they managed to kill half of the newborn males, it would ve created an imbalance of 1 man to every 2 women. Let s stay conservative and use the higher ratio: (2 to 3). That would mean that the number of women would be 150% of the number of men. So, if there were 607,500 men, there would have been 911,250 (150%) women over 20. This now brings us up to a total of 1,518,750 being 20 years old and older. But, how many children would there have been? Remember, from the ratio determined above, of 1.8 children to every 1 adult, the number of children under 20 years of age would be 1.8 times the 1,518,750. That would mean 2,733,750 under 20 individuals. Adding these two figures, it would make the Israelite population totaling 4,252,500. (Disregarding a men / women imbalance, it d still come out above 3.4 million!) A point of logic here, if in fact the Israel ite women did marry from outside their clan, in other words, replacing their murdered males by marrying from another ethnic group, as projected, then that imbalance would be evident numerically only in the final unmarried generation! So the 3.4 million figure is a reasonable minimum! Here now, we have estimates of Israel s population by two different methods, one giving us numbers in the 2.98 range, the other 3.4 to 4.25 million. Could a lesser population figure produce an army of six hundred thousand? Statistically, it s very unlikely! More Uncounted Individuals But, these weren t all. There were yet two other significant population groups that we need to take into consideration that would have participated in the Exodus. First, there is the mixed multitude that went out with them. To warrant mention (Ex. 12:38), these would have to have been a significant number. Would these represent at least ten percent of the population? 14 The second significant population group, usually not considered, is Israel s livestock. Remember, livestock was Israel s primary industry before they came into the land. (Gen. 47:1-6) They had very much cattle according to Ex. 12:38. They were allowed the land of Goshen by Pharaoh for that very reason. The pasturelands there in the Nile Delta were among the best. They kept Pharaoh s cattle also. (Gen. 47:1-6) Their servitude didn t involve mud-brick-making or building work only! But, how much livestock did they have? As to a number of cows, oxen and mules they had, we can only speculate. Israel also had dogs. (Ex. 11:7) (Many being sheep herders, this would be no surprise.) But as to the number of sheep and goats they had, their primary flock animals, we can at least project the minimum they would have possessed. We don t need entirely to guess. The clue to the number of these is found, in of all places, their observance of the Passover! Israel was given specific instructions with regard to the observance of an annual Passover. They were told to, on the tenth day of the first month, select out a perfect lamb of the first year, (not more than 14 The term suggests that Israel was keeping careful track of their genealogy. These mixed were peoples whose lineage and tribe could not be determined with any certainty.

14 one year old), (Ex. 12:5) That they were to select out a lamb according to the size of their household (Ex. 12:3-4), That they were not to divide a lamb between separate households, thus affecting its wholeness. (Ex. 12:46) Being that lambs are typically born in the early spring, in order to have been less than one year old, their Passover lambs would have to have been from that year s lambing. All but an extreme few of last year s lambs would have been thirteen to fifteen months old in any given Passover season. So, these Passover lambs must have been from one to three months old, for the most part. A lamb that age would have been from 10 to 20 pounds, half that being edible meat. 15 If we allow that on average, there were fifteen individuals, two families together, including their children and elderly, per lamb, then we can calculate how many Passover lambs were killed that evening, for Passover, that first year. We know from the above two methods that there were from three to four million Israelites. Working from the lower estimate, would allow 3.0 million people. Dividing that by 15, per lamb, would require that 200,000 lambs (or goats) were killed that evening! Now, in any flock, there is a critical number that can be culled out each year, above which, if an excess were taken, the population of the flock could collapse. So, the question is, how large a flock (of sheep and goats) would it take to sustain that kind of cull of prime yearlings, each year, and not negatively impact the population or the genetic quality of the flock, so as to cause the population of the flocks to diminish? We have here a means of determining, to a certain rough degree, a minimum size Israel s flocks had to have been, in order to provide them with an annual harvest of animals, in process of keeping just the Passover! (When we consider the annual sacrifices added later, this number would have to have been greater than what this exercise will provide. Also, the simple fact that they ate lamb on more occasions than just this one, suggests a larger real number than this estimate will produce!) The below projection suggests the MINIMUM there 15 An interesting side note confirms the ages. Israel was told to select according to their family size. If they were to have selected from year-old stock, there wouldn t have been a size range to select from. Older stock would have been of reasonably consistent size! had to have been. The actual number could have been far greater! First, some things we need to know about sheep: 1. Sheep typically live about 12 to 13 years, 2. Sheep are usually born in the spring, 3. Sheep can be bred at about a year old, but since the breeding season is in the fall, most lambs would be only 7 to 8 months old, by the next breeding season. This makes their first breeding at about 20 months old. 4. This would leave the number of breeding years of the typical ewe at about ten years, 5. Sheep bear every year, usually bearing one lamb. Twins are common, triplets occasional. Now we know that some 200,000 lambs were killed for each Passover. But these were only a portion of the lambs born that year. First, these were just the males, and not all of the males. These were the select males. It is safe to presume that there were lambs in the flock that were not selectable on account of blemishes or deformities. It is also probable that these non-select lambs would not be the ones the shepherds would want to keep to maintain the breeding stock for subsequent years either! So, that means an additional number would have to be born in that generation to provide that year s contingent, needed to maintain the breeding stock. So far, we re dealing with just the number of males born each year. Now, if the number of non-select male lambs was ten percent of the new lambs, then the number of select lambs (those taken for Passover) would have to be increased by ten percent. If the number of males needed to provide that generation s contribution to maintain the breeding stock is taken into account, the number would have to be increased again by 102 percent. (1 in 7 males, 10 years breeding life). We can now calculate how many sheep and goats Israel had to have possessed in order to have enough young lambs to keep the Passover yearly, and not pull down the overall flock population. How Large were their Flocks? Taking the 200,000 Passover lambs, times 110% (adding the non-select ones) times 102% (adding the replacement breeders for subsequent years) we arrive at a total of 224,400. But, these are just the number of males born. How many ewes would

15 there have to be to bear 224,400 males? Presuming an equal number of females born as males, then twice that number would have to be born, meaning 448,800 new lambs each year, to provide these needed number of males to sustain the flock size. The next question is, How many ewes would there have to be in order to bear that many lambs each year? Typically, 100 ewes will bear 125 lambs each year, on account of multiple births by some. That means 359,000 ewes would be needed. (448, x 100). Allowing a ram to ewe ratio of 1 to 7, we can now know how many rams would be needed to maintain a flock of sufficient size to provide their Passover sacrifices, without causing the sheep/goat population to collapse. In summary, the size of their flocks would have to have been: 359,000 breeding ewes 2 to 11 years old 51,300 breeding rams 2 to 11 years old, (1 to 7) 35, 900 yearling ewes to maintain flocks (1 in 10) 5,130 yearling rams to maintain flocks (1 in 10) Israel s total flocks would have to have been at least 451,300 just to sustain against the Passover cull. This is very likely conservative! If their number of dogs was 1 for each 100 people, then they would have had 30,000 dogs, If their cattle to people ratio was 1 for each 25, (again perhaps low), then that would add another 120,000 cattle. Exodus 13:13 suggests they had asses as well. If one to each 50 people, then there d be 60,000 asses. In all of this, no consideration is made for the livestock that the mixed multitude might have had. We now have considered the respective sizes of each of the major segments of populations making up the Exodus. We have: 3,000,000 Children of Israel 300,000 Mixed Multitude (allowing 10%) 451,300 Sheep & Goats (conservatively) 30,000 Dogs (estimated) 120,000 Cattle (estimated) 60,000 Asses (estimated) These all together make a total congregation of 3,961,000 individuals, (people and livestock). This is the size of the huge mass of individuals who left Egypt 3500 years ago pursuing that Covenant of Promise made with Abraham exactly 430 years prior. This figure could likely be conservative. Now we have a reasonable answer to the question, How big was the Exodus? Two independent methods project-out at somewhere around four million! The next important question is, How long did it take? As this question has considerable relevance to the matter of exactly when the Passover in Egypt was eaten, we ll go to that next. How Long Did the Exodus Take? Some four million individuals: the children of Israel, a mixed multitude with them and very much cattle, as it says. (Ex. 12:38) A massive number! We can barely comprehend the logistical dynamics of such a congregation. Those who accept that this event occurred within the confines of those very few hours remaining, after midnight, within the Passover night haven t worked thru these dynamics. For example, if the people leaving got underway at a rate of a thousand a minute, it would have taken over 66 hours! To move that number within the five hours remaining until dawn, would require a rate of 13,333 per minute to depart, and if starting right at midnight which it didn t! Obviously, the idea of a same night Exodus poses clear logistical impossibilities. Let s review some of the things we know about this unprecedented event: They selected their lambs on the tenth, (Ex. 12:3) They killed the Passover at dusk, (Ex.12:6) They roasted it whole, innards intact! (Ex.12:9) They ate the Passover in the evening hours, eating quickly (in haste or trepidation), (Ex. 12:11) They gained their release after midnight, (Ex.11:4) Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, (Ex.12:31) They left in orderly ranks, (Ex. 13:18) They baked unleavened cakes after leaving, having packed their dough and breadboards, (Ex.12:34&39) They left by night, (Ex.12:41-42, Deut. 16:1) It was the 15 th day of the first month, (Num.33:3) Exodus was on the selfsame day, (Ex.12:41-42)

16 They went out in the sight of the Egyptians, as they were burying their dead, (Num.33:4) They were told to remain in their houses until morning, (Ex. 12:22 & 28) and they did! (12:50) They were to burn the remains of the lambs in the morning, (Ex. 12:10) They spoiled the Egyptians before leaving as was prophesied to Abraham. (Ex.11:2, 12:36, Gen.15:14) They were to be urged to leave, (Ex.11:1 & 12:33) Before we continue, there are three things we need to pause and take note of: First, that their sojurn was to have been 430 years, as mentioned in Exodus 12:40. Most read this verse and conclude they were in Egypt that long. As the footnote indicates, in the New King James version, the verse should read: in Egypt and Canaan as it has it in the Septuagint and Samaritan Pentateuch. The 430 years was from the time of the Abrahamic Covenant. Peloubet s Bible Dictionary shows that the sojurn was divided, in their article: Exodus. The 430 years included the portion of their sojurn in Canaan before having come down into Egypt. Second, that they would be utterly driven out by Pharaoh. But notice, in Exodus 11:1, it states two things. We tend to regard this as just one. First, they were to gain their release. That happened after midnight on the fourteenth. But in leaving, they were urged to leave by the people that had just given them the requested spoils. Pharaoh didn t drive them out at this time. It was the people who urged them! Pharaoh drove them out of Egyptian territory a week later. That event also occurred by night, but we re getting a little ahead of the story. The point here is that they were not driven out this first night. They were urged to leave. The being driven event came at the Red Sea! In other words, leaving Egypt was a week long process. Just moving out away from the city where they had lived, in eastern Goshen, on the Pelusiac Branch of the Nile, in a place called Avaris, just across the river from a Pharaohnic capitol, known in a later dynasty as Pi-Rameses. (today s: Tell ed- Daba) These things are known now. Recent ongoing archaeological investigations have exposed much. These are not widely published. The book: Pharaohs and Kings, by David M. Rohl, 1995, Crown Publishers, (ISBN ) is an excellent reference and resource on many specifics. The Overlooked Plague Third, the spoiling of the Egyptians. Some insist it was done prior to the Passover. In order to have left Egypt immediately after midnight, all being gone before daylight, as the Judaic persuasion relates, it would ve been essential that this activity be accomplished before Passover. But another event, that of the ninth plague, precluded that from happening. God instructed Israel to select their lambs on the tenth day, keeping them until the onset of the fourteenth day. The tenth day was key, as that was the day the plague of absolute tangible darkness began. It began in the afternoon of the tenth, lasting three full days, ending mid-afternoon of the thirteenth. The Egyptians sat right where they were for three days, unable to see anything, this darkness was so intense (Ex.10:23) even lamps wouldn t throw light! Now, this has some potent ramifications: First, Israel couldn t have spoiled the Egyptians during this time. How would they have found their way to their doors, and how could the Egyptians have seen to find anything? Some pose that Israel had light in their dwellings (Ex. 10:23), suggesting this meant the entire area, outside as well, where THEY lived. If that were the case, why wouldn t any edge Egyptians migrate on over into Israel s area? No, it was dark everywhere except inside Israel s dwellings like it says. A couple of benefits of that: 1.) It gave Israel a three day rest prior to their leaving. All work stopped, as did all their hard labors! 2.) If you noticed, they were instructed to roast the Passover lambs whole, with the entrails within!! Any hunter knows that to attempt to cook an animal whole, innards-in, the intestines would likely burst while cooking, contaminating the meat. What the darkness period did, is it made the lambs fast, to become cleaned-out prior to being slain. Keeping them in a pen near their dwellings, keeping them in darkness, giving them water only, would give them a fast period, resolving this considerable problem! God knew what He was doing! (Consider also the three hours of darkness over the land during the afternoon while Christ was on the cross! This immediately preceded the death of the True Passover (Firstborn) Lamb of God!) The light came back in the afternoon of the thirteenth day, to allow Israel time to proceed with their God-instructed Passover preparations

17 Placing the ninth plague earlier, it would have to be placed several days earlier, to have been over with by the tenth, so that Israel could select their lambs as instructed! But, there was no long time interval between the ninth plague and the tenth. The ninth was unannounced, notice! It fits exactly between the lamb selection and the time for its preparation for being slain! It started during the daytime and ended during the daytime, three days later. Move em Up, Head em Out! These considerations taken, we are now to a point where we can begin to examine the event of the Exodus itself. This was no small undertaking! It is unprecedented in all of world history. As late as midnight on the fourteenth, Israel believed they weren t going! Their hopes had been dashed time and time again. How does a nation of four million people and livestock pack-up and leave in a matter of hours? How long would it take to accomplish the task? And, what does this have to do with Passover? Well, it takes time to accomplish something like this. Can we determine how much time? We can make reasonable projections if we know certain things. What we do know is the numbers involved, but we d need to know the column dimensions to be able to create a time-model of how long it took. It says in Exodus 13:18 that they left in ordered ranks. We know also that they congregated by tribes. These people individually kept and knew their family and tribal genealogies! (Num. 1:18) This was no mad scramble! Forming-up could not be done inside the city where they lived, it had to be done outside somewhere. There had to be a clear staging area, where individual tribes could form prior to departure. The assemblage, if allowing only ten square feet per person, would have involved 918 acres! (Some 6,262 feet square, or a 1.2 mile square!) Picture that! Are you beginning to comprehend the magnitude? Now, if they left in a column of five files wide, as some suggest, the column would have been 606 miles long, allowing four feet for each person in line behind the previous. That s 3-1/3 times the entire distance they traveled. Obviously, we need to make more realistic projections If we only had a way to determine the dimensions of the column. We do know the aggregate number. If we had at least the width or the length, we could determine the other dimensions. If we knew one of their choke points giving us the column width, we could calculate the length or the approximate time it would take the column to pass a given point. Or if we knew the length or time to pass by, we could calculate the width. If we had a way to know these essential things, then we could know how long the Exodus likely took! Well, actually, there is such information. We are given just such a situation where a column dimension can be determined. The unnoticed source is the Red Sea crossing on the seventh day out. Due to recent discoveries, the location of the Red Sea crossing is now known. It is at a delta of gravel that extends into the Gulf of Aqaba. Two fallen pillars were found there. One had an inscription that could still be read. They were placed by King Solomon to commemorate the location, known in his day but largely rejected today, as it doesn t fit modern preferences. After all, wasn t Mount Sinai over in the Sinai Peninsula? Though the Bible says it was across in Arabia? (Galatians 4:25) In the Land of Midian The Red Sea crossing was at a place about halfway up the eastern side of the Sinai Peninsula where the Gulf is some eight miles across. A large flat open delta extends out into the sea, with a mountain range forming a barrier to the south. It s at a place today called Nuweiba, a place rejected by eminent scholars and archaeologists ever since the time of Constantine, whose mother, after having a vision, intuitively located Mount Sinai as being elsewhere! Nuweiba Delta in the Gulf of Aqaba at the outlet of the Wadi Watir. This delta provided Israel the needed 1.2+ mile square area.

18 Chariot remains have even been located offshore at the site, nevertheless, religious scholars remain pointedly unimpressed and aloof. (see Chapter 9). We should remember that Moses, having fled Egypt forty years earlier, found sanctuary among the peoples of Midian, where he first encountered the mount we know as Mount Sinai. After Israel crossed the Red Sea, he again came into the land of Midian where his father-in-law came to the encampment. (Ex. 18:1-12) The ancient land of Midian is on the eastern side of the Gulf of Aqaba, over in southern Saudi Arabia. Check your maps. The crossing point is about eight miles from shore to shore. It is at a point where the sea floor rises, being much shallower than the gulf to either the north or south. Eight Miles, Ten hours! This distance provides us with answers. We know the time they had for a crossing, and the distance involved. That s two of the vital elements, from which we can calculate the third. We have length, and the time for the column to pass-thru. Then, how wide was the column? We read in Exodus 14:20 of the two participants, the Israelites and the pursuing Egyptian army, moving through the Red Sea all through the night. In the morning, just at dawn, the walls of waters collapsed. Like when leaving Egypt, here now, in their seventh day out, they left (were driven out of) Egyptian territory by night. Thus the second part of the prediction in Exodus 11:1. When Pharaoh s army approached, the pillar of cloud that led them formed behind them, creating a separating barrier that kept the two moving bodies apart. It remained dark behind, but light ahead. If this were in daylight, that wouldn t have been the case. By now, it was the third quarter of the month, and the quarter moon wouldn t have risen until about midnight. just the straight-line distance across. We also need to factor-in the length of the column. It may have been eight miles for those at the front ranks, but it was eight miles plus the length of the column to those in the rear! The last had also to get across, not just the first. So then, the distance we re concerned with must include the crossing distance plus the column length. Those together must not much exceed twenty miles! So, if the crossing distance was 8 miles, then it leaves 12 miles for the column length. That must ve been its approximate length. So if the column was twelve miles, (63,400 feet) long, then the width would have to have been some 630 feet. (40,000,000 square feet 63,400) At ten square feet per individual, some 2 ½ feet by 4 feet, the column would be some 250 individuals wide with 16,000 in each column. Such an assembly could entirely pass through the eight miles in one night time. It Also Was at Night Though some pose that the wind blew all night, thus providing the drying effect so they could cross dry shod, as it says in Ex, 14:29, the practical logistics require that they began through as soon as the waters parted. If God could make the waters stand on both sides, a towering wall for some ten hours, it should be no problem for Him to have extracted the wetness from the sea bottom at the same time. ( Read where He let some of it seep back under the Egyptian chariots!) The time / distance logistics dictate that they begin crossing by early evening, in order for the last in line to be climbing up onto the opposite shore as morning approached. (Ex.14:24 & 30.) The statement in 14:20, that the one came not near the other all that night, suggests both were moving all night. If they were stationary, there d be no need to make this point. Another proof of the fact that the Egyptians were extremely close behind, is found in the dead soldiers being visible to the Israelites on the east shore. There was a strong east wind all night. An east wind is out of the east (see Ex. 10:13 & 19) This would have been contrary to the direction they were going, so for Pharaoh s army to be visible to them on the east shore, they had to have been very close behind. Any body floating would have drifted further from shore, not closer! What we have is an eight mile gap that Israel had to cross during the night time. From dusk to dawn, there was some ten hours. To cover this distance, their speed, prodded by the urgency of their situation, would have been a sustained two miles an hour, nearly double their normal rate. If that was the case, then we can know that they could have covered twenty miles. But we need to take into Before leaving this subject, we should pause to account the length of the column, because it wasn t consider the forces Pharaoh brought with him. The

19 scriptures say 600 chariots and mention his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. (14:17) We tend to think just of his 600 chariot force, 16 which may have been the more impressive component. But being familiar with a typical armed campaign, especially a determined one, Josephus describes them as numbering 50,000 horsemen and 200,000 foot soldiers! (Antiquities 2:16:3) As a cross check, we might want to confirm our dimensional projecttions against this component of the story as well. A moving chariot would need a space of at least 15 by 25 feet. Armed footsoldiers:15 square feet each. Each mounted horseman, about 10 by 15 feet. So, all these together, the Egyptian Army would have needed some 10,725,000 square feet of space. If the army kept a prudent distance from the sidewalls, say 55 feet on either side, (no doubt their horses weren t all that thrilled with their situation), then the Egyptian column would have been some 500 feet wide. That would make their column 21,450 feet long at least. That would be 4.0 miles. So, the Egyptian Army would ve easily fit within the water-walled canyon, being maintained at a mile or so behind Israel. Likely, at least most of the foot soldiers were up in front, the horsemen behind them, and chariot forces last. Chariots and horsemen need wide-open space to be effective. Interesting that chariot evidence found off shore at Nuweiba suggests Pharaoh and his chariot forces entered in pursuit last in the column. If Cecil B. DeMille s version of the collapse of the Red Sea waters was anywhere near correct, and if the water cascaded-in at 100 feet a second, from one end, say west to east, it would have taken 7 minutes to progress across 8 miles. Lots of time for the army to panic and attempt to rush eastward. A geyserwave from the west would also propel spray and wreckage (and bodies) hundreds of feet eastward. We ought to give pause to the potent realities of this most incredible spectacle. From There to Here Now that we have viable and somewhat verifiable dimensions for the Exodus column, we need to ask if it is likely that they could have covered this distance from Avaris-on-Pelusiac in the time frame 16 Does the and all the chariots in Ex.14:7 suggest that there were more than just the elite 600 chariots? proposed? Many say the progression out of Egypt (Egyptian Territory) took seven days, which thereafter became the basis for the seven day Feast of Unleavened Bread observance. Is this possible? We tend to think of the Exodus as taking place in just one night. The act of leaving their former Egyptian homes and city. There is a broader view, that being, that the Exodus encompassed the full seven days. An even broader one yet, that it was the entire forty years! Perhaps we need to consider every possibility. One vote for the latter is that Israel first ate of the produce of the Promised Land on the very anniversary of the time they first started out from Egypt! (Jos. 5:11) 17 If Israel started out as the fifteenth day of the first month was beginning, around dusk, then it would have been six days to Nuweiba on the west shore. (144 hours.) That distance is some 180 miles. Another consideration, besides their rate of travel, is whether or not they took time-out to get sleep. Six days without sleep is humanly prohibitive! The pillar of cloud by day (protecting them from the sun in the open desert) and the pillar of fire 18 by night, suggests constant motion, day and night. I m going to pose to you something novel on this. The suggestion is that they did both. They kept moving, yet they also took time out to rest each day! The way they might have done that is on a rotational basis. Now, we know that the people were organized and orderly. (Ex.13:18) They marshaled into and marched as separated tribes. Thus there were twelve blocks of people, plus another two at least: the mixed multitude and their considerable flocks and herds. Both Exodus 12:37 and 13:20, with Numbers 33: list various encampments. As day three began, they were leaving the populated areas, entering into the wilderness. Normally, a three day journey would be the ultimate distance an armed force with elite chariots and horsemen could cover in one day. A three day journey is what Pharaoh had expected, as a condition of their release, causing him to react upon receiving reports that the Israelites had fled 17 See the chapter on The Selfsame Day for the further discussion of the five major redemption related events that occurred on this most important date. 18 Exodus 13:21 so as to go by day and night.

20 (by the time word got to him.) A three day journey should ve been well short of reaching the ungarrisoned wilderness. He let them go, but later was, by circumstance, put in the position of driving them out. (Ex.11:1) A cross check on this is the fact that Egypt s Army caught-up to them late on day six, having begun pursuit after day three. The army could move at triple the speed. If this were later than day six, it d have been a rather slow army and the entire days of unleavened bread scenario would have serious technical problems! When Did they Sleep or Eat? If they all stopped to sleep at once, the front of the column would ve been marching 9.6 hours longer than those at the very back. The column, 12 miles long, moving at a rate of 1.25 miles per hour would have taken some 9.6 hours to pass. By the same token, those further back in the column would have waited hours, as the column passed, for their turn to fall-in. My suggestion is that they traveled day and night, but rested on a rotational basis, allowing the over-all column to keep moving. Here s how it would work. Instead, what they could have done was, as they reached the day s march-limit, the first tribe would move aside and stop. The rest of the column would continue on by. As the second tribe got beyond the first, they d do the same, allowing the rest to continue on by them. Each tribe would do the same in rotation. As the last passed by the first, the first would fall-in after the end, and each resting tribe ahead would fall-in behind as the column cleared by them. Now, as each tribe moved aside to rest, it would ve taken 8.9 hours for the rest of the column to pass on by, allowing them that much time to rest and prepare their unleavened bread on the road, as Exodus 12:34 & 39 states. In fact, the Exodus became permanently identified with this activity! Succoth would have been the first place where they began doing this with Etham, at the edge of the wilderness, being the second! Now, resting in rotation wouldn t have stopped the column, but it would slow the overall average rate of travel slightly. If the march-speed was 1.25 mph, and if they did one of these rotational rests once each day, then the overall rate would slow by 7%. (14 blocks of marchers, with one tribal block stopped 8.9 hours out of each 24 hours.) So, their actual rate would average at 1.16 miles per hour Could Israel reach Nuweiba from Avaris in 6 days? Six days at 1.16 mph equals 167 miles. Awfully close! Making only the slightest adjustment in the decimal would allow 180 miles. Also, if the stop at Nuweiba was their sixth stop, then they would have only stopped five times prior in the six days travel. That would easily compensate for the projected 13 miles shortfall. The point being, the distance to a Nuweiba crossing was about exactly right for the travel time they had, supporting the seventh-day Red Sea crossing idea advocated by many. Back to Day One! With these components determined, the size of the column, its length especially, we can now review more realistically the dynamics that came to play in Israel s Exodus from Egypt. From the fourteenth day, when the lambs were slain, then roasted, then eaten, being finished just before midnight, literally, all hell broke loose. During their sleep, Egypt s dogs all began going berserk! (Ex.11:7) Followed by shrieks of horror from every household. (12:30) It took time for Pharaoh to comprehend what d happened (remember, this plague wasn t pre-announced to Egypt.) It took more time to summon or send a message to Moses and Aaron. More still to get the message out to all the people that they d gained their release at last! But that would ve taken time as well. If they sent out 500 men, and each could notify 100 people a minute, it would ve taken a full hour to spread the word. This, and at the same time, convince audio-witnesses of the Egyptian horror scene that it was safe to disregard Moses clear instructtion to remain in their houses until morning. This is one problem that same-night Exodus advocates have to explain away. If there was 8 people living in each 400 square foot house, and adding some 100 square feet for each house to create streets and alleys, then the city where Israel lived had to encompass 186 million square feet, or 4,270 acres. At 640 acres per square mile, that s 6.7 square miles, or an area some 2.6 miles square. Stock attendants would have been outside in the fields some distance away. Now, keep in mind that Pharaoh didn t live in beautiful downtown shantytown! His palace was across the Pelusiac Branch of the Nile. His mess-

21 engers had to get themselves across, then find Moses and Aaron in the dark of night, (though admittedly, there was a full moon.) (Lunar calendars have their predictability!) This would have taken some time also. (Maybe Moses & Aaron left the light on for them!) Then there s the problem of getting out of the city. But before doing so, they had to burn the paschal lamb remains, not just throw it on a fire, but stay and be sure that it was consumed. (There was an important reason for this.) Disregarding Moses instruction to remain in their houses until morning was another problem neatly bypassed by same night advocates. They would have had to fill their water-jars at the wells or at the river, round-up their herds and flocks in the dark, go water them at the river, pack what they were taking, and, Oh yes, go trick or treat the Egyptians for their spoils. (They being in such a good mood at this point.) Talk about chaos and gridlock! All of this without allowing them to get any sleep!? Not likely! Or, what about letting go of the Judaic nonsense, and let the scriptures mean what they say, that Israel left as the night following began, giving them all of the fourteenth day daylight to get fully ready and proceed out to the staging area.? 19 From midnight, it would have taken Pharaoh time to realize the magnitude of what had happened. More time to call for messengers and send them to get Moses. Some say Moses and Aaron came to him, others, that Pharaoh just sent a message (saving them having to explain the time it would have taken Moses to have made the round trip across the river, though the language suggests they did go) Numbers 33:3 They departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the month; on the day after the Passover the children of Israel went out with boldness in the sight of all the Egyptians. NKJ Not the day of the Passover! 20 Those who cite Pharaoh s edict that he d kill Moses at their next face to face, use it to pose that there was no aftermidnight meeting, that Pharaoh only sent a memo. There are several possibilities that Moses didn t see his face again. 1) That he could have been crying over the loss of his firstborn prince, and thus faced away, 2) That it was dark in the palace and what lamp there was put behind him, 3) That Pharaoh spoke while face-down on the floor, along with his servants, prostrating themselves, as Moses prophesy said. (Exodus 10:29 & 11:8) We need to keep in mind that all Exodus narratives are not chronological. These two were one and the same occasion But, Forgetting All That! But, if we ignore all these time consuming factors, and somehow instantly translate all Israel to a 620 acre open area, outside the city, just after midnight, already formed-up, would they be able to Exit by dawn, as the same night advocacy insists? Earlier, we determined the column to be some twelve miles in length, that s if they could maintain a constant 630 foot front. If the roadways southeasterly were narrower (and they would be as they passed through towns), then it d have to be longer! We know that in their initial exuberance, they d have moved a little faster than their average 1¼ mph pace. Let s say they could sustain 2 mph for hours. That still means that it d have taken SIX HOURS for the Exodus to be fully out on the road. But, there would be only five hours or so from midnight to dawn! All the time ignoring time needed to get notice to all, spread the word, packup and round-up themselves and their critters! And, Oh yes, we forgot to burn up the lamb remains, or to spoil the Egyptians. Obviously, the same night scenario is impossible. Logistics demand it. The Jews Couldn t Be WRONG? What is most preposterous about this is the implicit suggestion that the Jews could ever be off-base on something so endemic to their cultural expression as the Passover! You think this through. You do the math. Under what possible logistical scenario could that many people ever have massed and left in just those few hours remaining before dawn. Clearly, by Biblical proscription, the Passover and the Exodus occurred on two consecutive nights, not IN the same night. (the term: selfsame day means something else, and notice it doesn t say selfsame night, which it easily could have!) No! Christ didn t change the night for observing Passover. He observed it at its true and original hour. He knew when it truly was. He was there after all! (1 st Cor. 10:4) That rock who followed them in the wilderness, That ROCK was Christ!! He was the one who passed-over, BOTH times: in their situation and Who does in ours! We just need to realize why His True Passover is not meant for everyone just now: Especially not those who have rejected His Messiahship.

22 C H A P T E R T H R E E That Ninth Plague, occurring just before the Deaths of Egypt s Firstborn of both man and beast, contains Details Essential to the Exodus Narrative. A very common misconception permeates religious communities in their perceptions of events relating to the timing and conduct of the Exodus of Israel from bondage in Egypt. The greater segment holds that both the Passing-Over and the Exodus were accomplished within the same eleven hours of darkness in the middle of the first month of the Hebrew Calendar. In other words, that both events occurred within the same night. Now, to accommodate this position, it s necessary to hold that the original Passover evening in Egypt had to have been observed (eaten at least) after the fourteenth day had actually ended (at sunset). This is very important, as there s no-one who advocates that the Exodus was underway in the night portion of the fourteenth day. Despite a clear Scripture that indicates the two events were separated by a full day, there are still many who align with the prevailing Jewish position, placing both within the same evening, that of the fifteenth, with the Passover meal being eaten prior to midnight and the Exodus beginning immediately thereafter. Two other problem areas that need to be dealt with relative to this are: 1) the command by Moses for all to remain in their homes until morning and to burn any remains of their Paschal meal in the morning, (which would have them still there in the morning, which a Scripture states that they did do), and 2) for Israel to have spoiled the Egyptians prior to observing the Passover. The remain inside until morning instruction is resolved and dismissed in the minds of many by declaring that after midnight is the start of morning as in on our method of time reckoning, (though not theirs ) thus they were free to leave as soon as the Passing Over (at midnight) had occurred. But if this actually were the case, why would it have been necessary to even issue and preserve such an instruction? It would have meant nothing, as there was practically no restriction involved at all Despite a few knotty little problems, such as how long it would have taken Pharaoh to take-in reports of and fathom the scale of Egypt s firstborn deaths disaster and to contact Moses and Aaron, informing them of his change of mind and issuing their release, (also notifying all of his army of his new decision so they would respond properly (urging them to leave as opposed to preventing them from leaving). Another consideration lightly considered is their having to round up all their animals and to pack all their belongings in the dark (keep in mind, they began the evening with clear understanding that they weren t going anywhere, (as did Egypt s army!)) (Those who lived in tents couldn t have pre-packed their tents, as some suppose, as they were still in them keeping the Passover that evening!) So, all of this would have to have been done in darkness! Then, how long would it have taken to get the word out to all of Israel s millions 21 that Pharaoh had changed his mind and for them to burn the remains of their Passover meals? (This wasn t a mere formality, there was an important reason for doing this.) Then, how long would it have taken to mass-organize all of them for the orderly Exodus that chapter 13:18 indicates? Genesis 15:14 Fulfilled But it s the spoiling of the Egyptians that poses the greatest challenge to the same night advocates theory. In the wilderness, the massive outpouring of treasure from all the people, when it came time to build the tabernacle, attests to the scale of that spoiling. IF they left Egypt in the same night as they ate the Passover, then the spoiling would have to have been accomplished at least the day before. But, there s a significant problem with that! 21 See Chapter 2: The Passover of the Exodus for the textevidence which reveals how large the population was.

23 When the Lights Went Out! It s in its proper time-setting that the ninth plague presents its additional significance. Had it been any one of the other plagues, we wouldn t have the temporal significance that this one poses, as with it, all activity ceased for a specific period of time. (We should perhaps also give pause to consider the similar three hour interval of darkness that immediately preceded the death of God s Firstborn!) In the case of this plague, we are given its exact duration. That duration is also not without significance. We are also given evidence of its onset in Exodus 10:23, which indicates that all activity ceased, every Egyptian staying put, unable to see anything at all for three days. Had this begun during the night, who would have known of its beginning? Egyptians didn t wake up in the morning into darkness over their lands, it began during the day! So we re able to deduce from how Moses worded it that it began in the daylight hours, and thus would have ended at the corresponding time of day, three days later. Here s the Exodus narrative regarding this plague: 10:21 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. 22: And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: 23: They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. 24: And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you. 25: And Moses said, Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the LORD our God. 26: Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the LORD our God; and we know not with what we must serve the LORD, until we come thither. see thy face again no more. [And he went out from Pharaoh in a great anger.] (Most are aware that the Book of Exodus is not strictly chronological. It s apparently compiled of two major sources, with possibly a third minor source. The compilation of these writings is what accounts for its being broken with regard to its chronological flow. For example, chapter 12 was spoken well in advance of the tenth of the month, yet chapter 11 describes what is to be done, being spoken right at the onset of the fourteenth day. Chapter 11 is the LORD speaking to Moses, but verse 8 alone is Moses speaking to Pharaoh and belongs back with, and describes the same incident as, verse 28 of chapter 10, which is here harmonized into the narrative at the bottom of the previous column, offset by brackets.) But, when did the ninth plague occur, and we need to ask this question with the related question in mind of when did Israel spoil the Egyptians? One thing for sure, Israel did not spoil the Egyptians during this interval of intense darkness, a darkness that could be felt, a darkness in which no one moved about, an unusual kind of darkness in which lamps did not throw light, except within Israel s dwellings! Had the spoiling happened within the three days of darkness, they couldn t have located their treasures, likely kept safely in hidden places, let alone know what it was they were giving them! It isn t that Israelites could see but the Egyptians couldn t, the Israelites could see only within the confines of their dwellings! Another thing we should note is the rapid fire occurrences of each of the plagues. There weren t days in between each of them. They were pretty much back to back, one day to the next, especially the final three: the locusts, the darkness and the passing-over or the deaths of the firstborn. A couple of other incidents that bracket the scene are Pharaohs question, seeing the Israelites out in 27: But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go. [(Moses said) all these the pastures selecting their Paschal lambs on the thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow tenth of the month. The other is that Pharaoh down themselves unto me, saying, Get thee out, and didn t summon Moses within the three days of all the people that follow thee: and after that I will darkness. go out.] 28: And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; Regarding the first incident, we see Pharaoh for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die. making a very curious statement, one that seems to 29: And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well, I will reflect what the Israelites were doing on the

24 morning of the tenth day. In 10:16-17 he makes this statement: Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you. Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and intreat the LORD your God, that he may take away from me this death only. This is unlike his responses to other plagues. Here, during the eighth plague, Pharaoh admitted to his personal sin, asks forgiveness of it and acknowledges that the penalty for that sin is his personal death! Much in keeping with the theme of what Israel was doing when selecting their Paschal lambs. Did Pharaoh ask what they were doing with so many men out in the fields selecting out certain lambs, (this was very unusual) and did he get a true answer? Did he get word that this activity related to coming human deaths? Israel knew what they were doing, and the importance of it. Did they advise their neighbors, and could the situation have been reported to Pharaoh? Did he entertain a premonition from this that the next thing to come was his personal death for defying God? I pose this to suggest that we have an allusion to the activities of the children of Israel the morning of the tenth day hidden within Pharaoh s anxious plea. In other words, it suggests that the eighth plague was underway on the ninth to tenth days of the first month. But even if not, we are still locked-into the timeline imposed by their having to select their lambs on the tenth day. When Lambs were Selected Now, we also should ask ourselves why it was that God instructed Israel to select out their lambs specifically on the tenth? What would it matter if they were to do so a day or two later? Another instruction with regard to their keeping them for three days is also relevant. God told them to slay them on the fourteenth day, and to roast them whole, un-gutted, with their entrails within. (12:9) Any hunter or survivalist is aware that to cook an animal in this manner would result in the intestines bursting, contaminating the meat. But if the animal were to fast for three days, being given only water, it would allow time for the animal to be cleaned out and that wouldn t happen. Their selected animals were taken in and isolated from the flocks, likely kept within the open courtyards of their dwellings, where, in that climate, cooking was typically done, and provided time for this fast to happen. Also, something we should consider: Is the three-plus day interval between selection and slaying in any way related to the three days of darkness? If it s not, then we have a problem: Simply because Israel could not have selected their lambs or kids of the goats out in the fields during the plague of darkness over the land. It doesn t say that Israel s fields had light, only that their dwellings did, and considering that Israel-in-servitude lived among other servant ethnicities, that same darkness must have affected their locales! The light in their dwellings was limited to the interiors. Israel too sat quiet during this interval, with all work in the land suspended, allowing them time to rest up for the exodus to soon come. If we are to place the plague of darkness, it very conveniently fits within the timeframe of the selection of the lambs and the Passover. The darkness likely began in the early afternoon of the tenth and extended to the early afternoon of the thirteenth. This helps explain the necessity of selecting their lambs when they were told to select them. Moses wasn t summoned to see Pharaoh for their final face-to-face during the darkness period, it was immediately after it. With light restored mid day, Israel could then begin to prepare for the Passover. What we need to come to grips with is the simple fact that IF we assign the three days of darkness to any other interval, we must push it back to before the tenth, as it would have to be over with to allow Israel to go out into the pasturelands and select out the appropriate animals. The three days of darkness had to be either fully before the tenth day lamb selection period or after it. The picture we get from the Exodus narrative is that the tenth plague was close behind the ninth, not with half a week or more lapse in between. But where this consideration is particularly useful is in revealing that Israel could not have spoiled the Egyptians on the scale that they did prior to the Passover. Further evidence is in the Egyptian reaction in chapter 12:33 ( We be all dead men ) suggests that the spoiling took place after so many (perhaps a fifth of Egypt s population) had died being firstborn. Granted, they were instructed that they were to spoil the Egyptians long prior, just as they were instructed about the Passover

25 before it happened, (for that matter, there was an fourcenturies old Abrahamic prophecy about their doing this) they were instructed about the spoiling well in advance also. The now in 11:2 refers to when Moses gave the instruction, not necessarily when they carried out the spoiling. Verse 3 suggests what Moses predicted in verse 8, that Pharaoh s court servants would find themselves capitulating (even bowing) before Moses, as Pharaoh himself did, apparently. (Keep in mind the many chronology shifts of the book of Exodus.) Chapter 12 s Account Exodus 12:31 And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said. 32: Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also. 33: And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men. 34: And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders. 35: And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: 36: And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians. Even though this passage is chronologically mixed also (mentioning their exodus before the spoiling) it at least indicates that the spoiling took place after the Passover and after the tenth plague s devastation. Did They Meet One Final Time? Another problem area with same night advocates is the time it would have consumed for Pharaoh to have sent servants to summon Moses and Aaron to him. Moses lived among the people, in Avaris, on the opposite bank of the Pelusiac Branch of the Nile. First, Pharaoh would have to received reports of the magnitude of the disaster, he then would have to send servants by boat across the river to locate Moses, then Moses and Aaron would have to have returned with them by boat and be ushered into the palace. Then, they would have returned to the opposite side again and begun the notification process. All of this would have taken time. Perhaps an hour or two, time which same night advocates can t afford to see lost. So the explanation is posed that, on the strength of both men s hasty and angry utterances toward each other, (Ex. 10:28 & 11:8) that Pharaoh only sent messengers. (Thus saving considerable time.) Allowing a next night Exodus relieves this concern somewhat. I say somewhat because it s still an astounding feat that such a huge population could assemble and leave in an orderly manner, with thousands of animals, even in some 30 hours between an early fourteenth Passover and dawn on the fifteenth. (My paper on the Exodus describes the population projections of the children of Israel and the logistical dynamics of the Exodus.) What is most remarkable, on the magnitude of miraculous, is that three million people and livestock, could assemble and leave their home city in such a short period as 30 hours, let alone in just the proposed five or six! Another comment that should give pause to same night advocates is that the Egyptians watched Israel leave as they were burying their dead. (Num. 33:3-4) To suggest that Egypt would be involved in burying their dead during the same night as their decease, before sunrise, or very shortly thereafter, is also preposterous. The same passage states that the Exodus was on the morrow after the Passover, not in the morrow of the Passover! (the fourteenth) A Noted Anniversary The ninth plague offers insight into the primary question here, as to when the Passover was observed originally and when the Exodus was underway. The selfsame day mentioned in Exodus 12:42, which some regard as saying the two events occurred within the same night, refers instead to the night to be much observed that we read about in Genesis 15:4-18. The Exodus began on the exact anniversary of the Abrahamic Covenant, made 430 years before, after sunset, beginning the fifteenth day of the first month. The Exodus was on the selfsame day as that. But, the ninth plague, when properly placed chronologically, shows that Israel did not spoil the Egyptians prior to the Passover, and thus, there was a day between it and the Exodus. (Num. 33:3-4)

26 C H A P T E R F O U R A Unique Hebrew Expression ADDS Meaning to many Scriptures not Readily Apparent to the Casual Reader. The Majority of these Instances Pose a Degree of Relevance to the Correct Timing of Passover Observance. Though the translated word: even or evening appears several times in the King James Version, it s not always apparent to the reader that the original Hebrew wording conveys a sense not as obvious in the translated form. On the subject of proper Passover observance, this variance can be most significant. The Bible reader needs to be aware in many key places, just which Hebrew expression gives us our translated word. Below are listed out eleven passages, these being the only passages, employing the unique Hebrew expression: ben-ha-arbayim. Understanding the full specific meaning of this expression helps clarify many scriptural passages, that otherwise might exhibit much less definition. When the words at even, or its equivalent, appears in the following places, it was translated from the Hebrew: ben-ha-arbayim. In some places, the marginal references note the fact, (but not in all places), by explaining that the Hebrew literally means: between the two evenings. Ex. 12:6* And ye shall keep up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly shall kill it in the evening. Ex. 16:12 I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread Ex. 29:39&41 The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even: And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even, and shall do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning Ex. 30:8* And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, (the altar, not the lamp. see v.1), a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations. Lev. 23:5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD s Passover. Num. 9:3*, 5 &11 In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, ye shall keep it in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, And they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the LORD commanded The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it (referring to the second Passover), and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Num. 28:4*& 8 The one lamb shalt thou offer in the morning, and the other lamb shalt thou offer at even: And the other lamb shalt thou offer at even: as the meat offering of the morning, and as the drink offering thereof, thou shalt offer it, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the LORD. * In these places, the marginal reference indicates that the original Hebrew is ben-ha-arbayim (between the two evenings), though it does appear in each of all eleven of the above passages. What we need to understand is the specific difference this particular expression conveys into the subject. There is the generic word: evening, which is translated from several different Hebrew words, and there is this one specific Hebrew expression, which also means evening, but not just any part of the evening, it refers to a very

27 specific part of the day: that portion that falls between the two evenings. In many sources, this is defined as the interval beginning at sunset and extending to dusk (the last vestige of daylight). When making cross comparisons between the usages of the words: even or evening in scriptural passages, the student needs to remain aware of this unique expression, and the specific time-limitations it indicates. go Of the above eleven, five refer to Passover, one refers to the time of the lighting of lamps in the Tabernacle, one refers to the supply of quails God brought to the camp (after the end of the Sabbath), and four refer to morning and evening sacrifices. The above passages are from the King James Version (KJV). Below is a chart comparing how other translations render these eleven instances of between the two evenings. New King James Moffat Version Complete Jewish Bible Ex. 12:6 at twilight between sunset & dusk dusk Ex. 16:12 at twilight between sunset & dusk dusk Ex. 29:39 at twilight between sunset & dusk dusk Ex. 29:41 at twilight between sunset & dusk dusk Ex. 30:8 at twilight between sunset & dusk dusk Lev. 23:5 at twilight towards evening Between sunset & complete dark Num. 9:3 at twilight towards evening dusk Num. 9:5 at twilight towards evening dusk Num. 9:11 at twilight towards evening dusk Num. 28:4 in the evening towards evening dusk Num. 28:8 in the evening towards evening dusk While the above translations may be clear to the reader, traditionalist Jews have in subsequent years interpreted the expression between the two evenings, which we would logically understand as meaning that interval between sunset and complete darkness (as one of the newer Jewish Bible translations suggests in one place (interestingly, and appropriately Lev. 23:5)), that interval known as dusk or twilight. No, rather, the Jewish interpretation insists the expression means: the middle of the afternoon : that interval between noon and sunset, disregarding dusk completely! This is a distinction that we need always to be aware of, as it has significant impact on the determination of the correct time of day for their having offered the Passover Sacrifice, and as a result, polarizes many people in their opinions as to when the Passover Meal and Symbols ought to be partaken of in the New Covenant situation. How much credence ought we give to this Jewish interpretation? These are their scriptures, after all! They wouldn t be in any way at variance with God s Word and Commandments, would they? Can we rely upon Christ s assessment of their fidelity to His Word? When He blasted them, in places we can read, such as in Mark 7:9 Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. Was this above re-interpretation, of what would otherwise be clear language, one of the very things Christ was referring to? Did the Jews anciently distort the morning and evening sacrifice to be in the middle of the morning and the middle of the afternoon, and thus doing, actually confuse for all time up to Christ s return, the true hour and the true DAY for partaking of the LORD s Passover? In Acts 3:21 and in other places, we can understand that Christ s ministry was one of restitution. The Elijah Work, which would prepare the way for Christ s second coming would be an instrument of that restorative process. (Mt. 17:11) We know that Christ instituted the New Testament Passover at a DIFFERENT DAY than traditionally observed by the Jews of His time. His observance took place on the evening PRIOR to theirs, after sunset AS the fourteenth was beginning. The Jewish Traditional

28 Passover observance was the corresponding hour of the fifteenth. Beginning not quite one full day later! (Though their lambs were slain prior to sunset, in the latter hours of the fourteenth!) Some see Christ s action as a CHANGE. But, was it? Had Christ allowed the Jewish religion to come to misunderstand the Scriptures, and to drift off in this key area, on account of their rejection of God s clear instructions? They DID reject certain commandments of God! Which ones? It certainly wasn t the TEN, though they did violate their intent wholesale. Were their traditions off? (Mt. 15:3 etc.) We need to remember what the Passover was for. The central event of it was FOR those who would become converted. But the Jewish nation or religion was not destined to be called en-masse at that time, on account of their hardness of heart. They proved that by their REJECTION of the TRUE Passover Sacrifice, and their Messiah, TO THIS DAY!!! Did God allow their understanding to become distorted, away from the TRUTH in certain areas? Had they contaminated their doctrine? (Mt. 16:12) Was there any hope of them reverting back to God s True Doctrine? Read the diatribe against them in Mt. 23:29-39 for a clue. Here s the question. Did Christ CHANGE the time for the observance of Passover, or did He observe it, RESTORING it to its TRUE original hour? Many take the position that there was ONLY ONE Passover observance in the first century: That there was ONLY ONE tradition. That there is NO EVIDENCE of there being any other opinion or practice in the New Testament accounts. Well, in fact, there are at least TWO such instances!!! First, there s the man carrying the waterpot. (Mt. 26:18, Mk. 14:13, & Lk. 22:14) As carrying water was usually a woman s job, this likely was a religious person preparing a Paschal lamb slaying THAT evening. (A strictly male function.) This was just in advance of the beginning of the fourteenth day. This scene was sufficiently extraordinary that it was notable. This man was making ready for a Passover observance at his house that night! Since, in fact, that s what took place there on short notice, all must have been in preparation beforehand! But there s an even better passage that clarifies powerfully that there WERE, in fact, other people observing Passover that same evening, early on the fourteenth, in the early evening hours of it, and not at the traditional Jewish time, which would have been just short of a full day later. In Mark 14, we see Christ entering Jerusalem, as verse 12 states it, when they killed the Passover. Yet, we know that Christ was hauled OUT OF the city and crucified, long BEFORE they killed the traditional Passover! Why would He be shown coming INTO the city at about the time when they killed the Passover, when we know and they knew full well that He d been led back OUT OF it to be crucified the next morning, some eight hours BEFORE THEY (the Jews) would have killed their Passover? Were there TWO THEYs? They who killed it privately at home, a day earlier than the traditional time, doing so after sunset beginning the fourteenth, and ANOTHER they who killed their Passover lambs at the Temple late in the afternoon on the fourteenth, some twenty hours later!? In fact, there IS clear evidence of there being TWO separate traditions, even in the first century, with Christ Himself observing it in accordance with the minority position practiced by only a few of the Jews of Sadduceean persuasion. This explains why Christ saw no need to explain to His disciples why He was observing it differently, nor did the Gospel writers see need to explain any discrepancy to their readers or to us. In fact, there was no change from what they d long understood and practiced. It was only under Judaism, as it developed after the fall of Jerusalem, that the myth was perpetrated, that ALL Jews ALWAYS kept it only one way, in accordance with the Phariseean tradition. This simply is not the case. The early Church knew that, thus no need for any explanation. They had no question! It explains also why the Gospel of John uses the term: The Jews Passover, not as an epithet, but to distinguish between these two practical opinions and differing observances of that era. If we allow the term: between the two evenings to mean between sunset and full darkness, then we will recognize that when Christ observed His New Testament Passover, it was at the correct time!

29 C H A P T E R F I V E A Relatively Little Known Observance associated with Israel s Coming out of Egyptian Bondage is Brought to our Attention in Exodus Chapter 12. What does this Solemn Occasion have to do with The New Covenant? Most of us who observe the important occasions found in the Bible are at least generally aware that we are instructed to keep what is called the Night to be Much Remembered, or the Night to be Much Observed. Explanations regarding this particular evening are found initially in God s instructions to His chosen in Exodus chapter 12. Now, chapter 12 generally is known for its instructions regarding the observance of Israel s first Passover. The first 14 verses of chapter 12 deal specifically with the Passover, its purpose and how it was to be observed at its first occasion in Egypt. But, verses 15 through 20 explain the subsequent observance festival, that of the seven Days of Unleavened Bread, the 15 th day through the 21 st day, which follow the 14 th day evening Passover. Verses 21 through 28 then revert back to more specific instructions for the Passover, and then verses 29 through 32 relate the actual event and Egypt s reaction to the deaths of their firstborn. Beginning in verse 33 through 39 we have the account of the actual beginning of the Exodus. But it s when we get to verses 40 through 42 that we are introduced to a historical connection that few have adequately considered. It is these three verses that open our awareness to an important connection in Israel s heritage. The intervening verses 43 to 50 add a little more infill on Passover observances, before verse 51 affirms one more time the fact of the Exodus occurring on the selfsame day as it states also up in verse 41. the Exodus began on the day following the Passover, not within that same evening. 22 But it s the connection with their ancient history that is the focus of this study. When we consider what Exodus 12:42 states, we are made aware of a most interesting and significant series of events. First, we need to be aware that the term selfsame day used some 11 times in the Old Testament is indicative of an anniversary. (My paper on The Selfsame Day deals with this in greater detail.) In fact, the anniversary referred to in Exodus 12:42 is given as the 430 th anniversary of that very night in which the prophecy of their leaving Egypt after having spoiled their captors was made. (Gen. 15:14) A Most Ancient Observance The Night to be Much Observed is likely the most ancient occasion observed in all of human history. It was instituted a little more than 77 years after the death of Noah when this night first became significant and memorable. (Abram was born 2 years after Noah died, and was about 75 years old when he left Haran.) It was on the return from Abram s military campaign to recapture the spoils and the people taken from the cities of the plain by invaders from the north (which included the abduction of nephew Lot) when the king of Salem (Jerusalem) went out specifically to meet with Abram. Now this King was the venerable Melchizedek, priest of the Most High God. The occasion of their meeting involved the bringing forth of bread and wine by the priest. 23 The Selfsame Day Those who haven t investigated the meaning of the specific term selfsame day will often presume that it means that the Exodus occurred on the same day as did the Passover. However, passages such as Numbers 33:1-3 make it specifically clear that See Chapters 2 & 7 on Passover of the Exodus and The Selfsame Day for the significant evidence as to when these events occurred and the enormous logistical problems they had to deal with. 23 Christ was declared to be a priest forever of the order of Melchizedek. Psalm 110:4, Hebrews 5:6 & 10, 6:20, & 7:1-21

30 The day following, Abram prepared a particular sacrifice, as instructed, after having conversed with the LORD regarding his promised legitimate heir. And in the evening following the bread and wine occasion, Abram witnessed a most profound event, the at-night passing-between of representations of two Divine Beings. The mention in Exodus 12:42 provides us with a way to identify the calendar date of this extraordinary occasion. Son of the Promise The Apostle Paul made specific reference to this solemn occasion we find in Genesis 15 in Galatians chapter 3. Paul recognized that the spiritual aspect of the Promise made to Abraham would be fulfilled in Christ, not through Isaac or the ethnic nation. Christ was the legitimate heir of the Promises, and we who are in Christ, are the true and legitimate descendants of faithful Abraham. Beginning in verse 16: 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. (Christ is the spiritual heir of Abraham) 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. (Notice the startling revelation Paul makes here! That Covenant made prior to the Sinai (Old) Covenant (430 years before it) was confirmed by God in Christ!!) 18: For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. 19: Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. 26: For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27: For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: (ethnicity or gender is irrelevant as it regards being an heir of the Promise) for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29: And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. We must conclude that the Promise made on this noteworthy evening in about 1920 BC is very much applicable to Christians today! (The New Ungers Bible Dictionary dates it earlier than that.) Repetitive Events If a recurrence of events in history is any indication of God s particular regard for an observance, then this night should rank among the highest. We can identify a number of important Promise related events which occurred on the same date as this original night in which the Promise was confirmed by God with Abraham. There are at least four, possibly five! I present them here in sequence. The first, of course, is the event itself when God Covenanted with Abraham: The utterance of which has become called the Maledictory Oath. Paul again refers to this night and the Oath sworn to Abraham by God in Hebrews 6: A possible second could be the occasion in which Abraham committed himself and his household to the Covenant by becoming circumcised. (Genesis 17:9-27) As this is not as date certain as the others, it s posed as just a possibility, but it does make reference twice to it being the selfsame day! But a clear second is the occasion of the beginning of the Exodus. That is dated as the 15 th day of the first month, Abib, in the spring, by night. (Num.33:3) A clear third is the occasion on which the nation of Israel took formal possession of the Promised Land on what is identified as the morrow after the Passover. Joshua 5 explains that they had manna the morning after the Passover (which would have been at dawn of the 14 th day of the first month.) The next evening, after sunset, the selfsame day, beginning the 15 th day, they first ate of the produce of the land. The morning following that, they found no manna present. It had ceased. It last fell on the morning of the 14 th. (As an interesting parallel, Christ, the true manna from the Father, ceased of His physical life on the 14 th.) The fourth commemorative occasion is the completion of the ultimate spiritual aspect of the 24 My study paper on The Maledictory Oath explains this unique kind of sacrifice, in which the one making a promise swears to forfeit all, even his own life, should he fail to keep his promise! Hebrews 6 alludes to that! It s interesting also that the progression of animals cut in two and laid-out with a path between is indicative of the four distinct Covenant eras through redemptive history: Patriarchal, Old Covenant, New Covenant and Millennial.

31 Promise and the fulfilling certification of our Paschal Sacrifice on Passover, the 14 th day of the first lunar month. The full series of events, all occurring within the 14 th day, His trial, death and burial, were brought to a full completion just as the sun was setting, which began the Night to be Much Observed, the start of the 15 th day! (Luke 23:54) So, in a modern circumstance, we also commemorate the just-completed death and burial of Christ, which makes possible our release from the bondage of sin. The effective release from our bondage of spiritual Egypt, starts our trek to the Promised land. True Bread of Life Coming back to the cessation of manna issue, it was Passover season when Christ fed the 5,000. (John 6:4) That incident brought up the matter of His being the true manna from heaven, the bread of Life! (John 6:31-35 & 48-51). That manna effectively ceased (died) mid-afternoon on the 14 th day, having experienced His last conscious morning in the flesh on that day. A related point to this seemingly minor detail is that for manna to have last fallen (ceasing thereafter) the morning of the 14 th day in Canaan, then the day deduced by many to have been that day referred to in Joshua 5:11 could not have been a weekly Sabbath, as so many in our theological genre allege! It was deduced, based on another presumption, that the 14 th day was a weekly Sabbath in that year. But, if it was, then the last day it could have fallen would have been the morning of the 13 th, as no manna fell on seventh day Sabbaths! (Other papers also address this issue some see being raised by Joshua 5:11. Jerechonian Wave Sheaf, Celebrating the Promised Land, Israel s Primitive Observances, When You Come into the Land & The Karaites and You.) Night of Remembrance So we are commanded to keep this most solemn observance. In doing so, we should be aware of its full relevance. The world s future changed on that evening in eastern Canaan over 3900 years ago. Both the future of a race of people, and the future of religion were impacted! Things changed dramatically from that point in time, though it took more than four centuries to really become evident in a dramatic way, and nineteen-and-a-half centuries for its spiritual ramifications to fully emerge. It wasn t just about Israel leaving Egypt. Our perceptions should be expanded from that limited awareness. It should also involve our acceptance of His death on our behalf, releasing sin s deathgrip on our own existence. A balance between solemn gratitude and exuberance. The penalty was paid! But, there is work to do. We are released from our Egypt, but we are not yet fully out of Egypt until we get up and MOVE. An Immutable Extension The Apostle Paul saw the clear connection between our salvation and the Promise made to Abraham. Hebrews 6:13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, 14: Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. 15: And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16: For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. 17: Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: 18: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: 19: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; 20: Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. Continuing in chapter 7: For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; 2: To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; 3: Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually. Galatians 3 wraps it up so well: And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

32 C H A P T E R S I X One of the More Persistent Controversies Regarding Passover Observance is its True Timing. This Article Reviews those Scriptures in which Passover is Mentioned, and Being Presented in a Time-Related Context. The word Passover is used 48 times in the Old Testament, and 28 times in the New. Being that the New is only one-third as long as the Old, the frequency of use in the New Testament, then, is nearly double that of the Old Testament! (This may be only a minor point of consideration.) Passover, then, is not strictly an Old Testament interest! The purpose of this chapter is to illustrate those places where the Passover is mentioned in scriptures, along with something in the context that indicates or references its timing. Not every mention includes a time reference, but those which do pose some interesting considerations relevant to the correct timing of its observance. Many sincere religious people have strong opinions as to when Passover should be observed. The majority are persuaded that the traditional Jewish practice of killing the Passover lamb in mid to late afternoon of the fourteenth day, then eating of it well into the evening hours of the fifteenth, was the correct practice. Others pose that it was correctly killed just after sunset as the fourteenth day is beginning, being eaten later that same evening, some time prior to midnight. Our interest here is to look into those scriptural passages which give evidence as to which opinion is correct. In the New Testament, there is the term: Passover of the Jews. Many perceive this as an attempt on the part of the Gospel writer to label the Passover as being Jewish, and thus, in some manner to him contemptible. Those who realize that the Passover was, in fact, not held in any degree of contempt by the early Church, nor did Christ. (after all, it was He who instituted its ongoing observance through to the Kingdom of God, (Luke 22:16 &19)) We recognize that this term was meant, not to 25 degrade the observance, but rather to distinguish that there were DIFFERENCES in its observances that warrant our notice. Even in the days BEFORE the New Testament observance was established, there were differences in practice between certain Jewish factions. There was the majority observance, and there was a minority practice that was considerably different. Thus the need to make the distinction. THAT should be our first clue as to what we are looking for. Just what differences might there have been? Secondly, what difference might it make for us in practice today? Kill it in the Evening Exodus 12: is the first mention of the Passover directly. In it are many time-specific references. In verse 6, we see the term evening. In verse 12, the word night. In verse 11, it (the Passover itself) was to be eaten in haste, and in verse 29 midnight is identified as a key time-factor. We learn that the Passover was to be a NIGHT TIME observance, with the lambs slain in the evening, (more specifically, a time of day referred to using a unique term: between the two evenings ), 25 roasted for four to five hours, then eaten in haste, and largely consumed by midnight. This time-specific term that identifies more clearly just when all of these related events were to have begun is the word evening ending verse 6. It is the term that ought to be translated, and literally means between the two evenings. (The marginal reference in many versions will attest to this.) A previous chapter, Between the Two Evenings addresses the meaning of this time-specific term.

33 A point of sharp controversy has existed for many centuries as to exactly what this term indicates. This is key to the distinction between the Passover of the Jews (the majority observance) and a few of Sadduceean persuasion who observed Passover differently, as did the early New Testament Church of God. The minority observance started right at the onset of the fourteenth day of the first month, just after sunset. The other observance, the more popular, that of the Jews, (of the Phariseean persuasion) was observed later, beginning with their lambs being slain at the Temple, starting in the mid-afternoon of the fourteenth, some twenty to twenty four hours later, being eaten many hours after sunset, well into the fifteenth day. Whence the Name? Some insist that the Passover name was derived from and is named for the time of the slaying their paschal lambs within the latter hours of the fourteenth day. The premise is that Passover derived its name from the time of the slaying of the lambs, rather than from the time of the Passing-Over of the LORD about midnight. This next passage will address the name source issue. In Exodus 12:11 we see the phase eat the Passover. In verse 21: kill the Passover, yet in verse 27, the passing-over of the Death Angel, as some phrase it, (it was the LORD actually) is identified as being the source of the name of the observance. Can we afford to disregard this detail? That all three elements are essential to the observance: killing, eating, and Passing-Over?! Do these identify that all three ARE components of the Passover, are all part of it, and are to be observed within the confines of one Passover evening, all within the fourteenth? (Passover is not a whole DAY, it s a NIGHT observance.) The Christian Passover allows full inclusion, in practice, the traditional Jewish Passover doesn t! In two places, there s an interesting detail that adds something to the picture. They are Exodus 34:25 and Numbers 9:12 which instruct that: the remains of the Passover lambs were not to be left until morning. Notice, this word morning is morning (Strongs #1242) NOT morrow (Strongs #4279 / ). Morning suggests the dawn of the same day, where morrow suggests the day after. (Keep in mind that biblical days begin and end at sunset.) If they had killed their Passover lambs on the fourteenth, but burned the remains the morning of the fifteenth, the term here would more correctly have been morrow, as it would have been the next day! See for example Numbers 33:3 where Israel ate the Passover on the fourteenth, but left Egypt on the morrow after the Passover: the fifteenth. Some see this morrow as the daybreak of the same day, not the next day, irrespective of the hour. Can we establish from other references which picture of the event is correct? The use of the word morrow as opposed to morning itself sheds a little light. But we should look for more definition before establishing our opinion. Also, if we conclude that the morrow means the morning of the same day, then we create a problem with another aspect of the Exodus, that being, that Israel left Egypt by night! 26 The next place where Passover is time-contexted is Leviticus 23:5. Some have cross referenced this verse with that over in verse 32, without realizing that these two are very different Hebrew expressions. Missing this detail can lead to a wrong presumption. The fact that verse 5 uses between the two evenings exclusively with regard to Passover in this place, is in itself a clue that we need to note an important distinction. Numbers 9: is another time-related passage. Here again, the key time reference is the expression: between the two evenings in verses 3, 5 & 11. Even is at Sundown The next is Deuteronomy 16: where in verse 1 it brings in the element of it being a night time 26 Numbers 33:3 And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the Passover the children of Israel went out with a high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians. (The fifteenth was a full moon!) Deuteronomy 16:1 Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.

34 observance. Verse 6 adds a specific requirement, having them kill their lambs at even, without using the usual expression in this reference of between the two evenings, but rather, by adding the important qualifier: at the going down of the sun. That should be clear, but somehow it isn t to some. It is interesting that in absence of the usual expression, the writer saw need to make the clarification so as to convey the same important sense. This offers us some tangible definition of the term: between the two evenings used in every other place which specifically addresses the important timing of Passover observance. Also, verse 7 uses morning as opposed to the term morrow. A distinction discussed above. Morning could still be the dark part of the same day, not yet daybreak of the day following. The picture is of being still within the same day: the fourteenth. Joshua 5: relates another time-reference, but this one is indistinct. The point in this passage is to relate an event which was keyed to the morrow after the Passover which is regarded in some circles as relating to the offering of the Wave Sheaf. This has relevance to another matter: that of the count to Pentecost, not Passover per se. One thing it does do, it establishes that the Passover was on the day prior, not within the same day! The morrow after the Passover, in Joshua 5:11 should mean exactly the same thing as it does in Numbers 33:3. Christ Observed it EARLY! We move ahead to the New Testament to find more time-related Passover references. They being the synoptic accounts of Christ s observance: Matthew 26:17-19, Mark 14:12-16, & Luke 22:7-15. In all of these we see Passover being observed in the early hours of the fourteenth. The Passover of the Jews, in contrast, would have begun their traditional observance just after Christ expired on the cross extending on into the following evening: the fifteenth. I say, would have because of the exposure of the Holy of Holies to public view that occurred concurrently with Christ s death, when the veil was torn, abruptly shutting down Temple Service activities that Passover Another place we can look to, not specifically in reference to Passover, but being useful in providing definition of the term: between the two evenings, is in Ex. 30:8. Here, the Jews are without excuse! (And where have we heard that statement made before?) When Aaron lights (sets up) the lamps at even This is that expression again: between the two evenings. An obvious reference to the onset of night, fading daylight, after sunset. That s what the Hebrew expression MEANS, literally. It is the redefinition of Jewish theologians, which they assigned to it, that made all the difference. Their interpretation is that this expression meant between noon and sunset! It is generally defined, and correctly so, as being between sunset and complete darkness (the Complete Jewish Bible, 1998), and between sunset and dusk, (Moffatt Translation). Judaism defines the term as being, roughly, midafternoon. This, of course, impacts not only the observance of Passover, but also complicated the time of the offering the morning and evening sacrifices. (Passover is, of necessity for them, split between two different days. The declining hours of the afternoon for the killing of their lambs, with preparations and the roasting of them extending well into the next day, and the eating of the Passover in the evening hours of the fifteenth.) The traditional Jewish Passover, the one referred to in John 2:13 & 11:55, that observance is what s referred to as late fourteenth. We need to be aware of this difference in order to discern what the scriptures are actually referring to when it alludes to the the Jews Passover, as opposed to that which the Church has traditionally followed and has understood the scriptures to mean. Shading the Intent Deuteronomy 16:4 interjects an interesting timecontext dilemma for late fourteenth observers. This passage seems to state the time for slaying the paschal lambs as being the fifteenth at even! It requires them to not leave any of it to remain all night until morning. Post-exilic editing created a wording problem, highlighting their practical error! If they were to kill the Passover in mid-afternoon of the fourteenth, then the wording here is wrong!

35 You see, the time mentioned is correct, they were to have been slain at even. But in referring to the morning of the first day (of unleavened bread the fifteenth), in accordance with traditional practice, they would have slain their lambs mid-afternoon the previous day!! If God had intended they slay their lambs during the afternoon hours of the previous day, He wouldn t have worded it as though they had done so in the evening of this first day, (of Unleavened Bread), the fifteenth, as God s instruction is clear that they kill them between the evenings of the fourteenth. We see evidence here of their altering the original texts to accommodate their later traditional practice! It is logically unworkable, as worded here! We should also note that the unbiblical assignment of the name Passover to the seven Days of Unleavened Bread is another Jewish anomaly. This calculated Deuteronomic re-editing resulted from their traditional mis-interpretation, observing Passover later than it originally was intended. Passover was and should be observed within the fourteenth, the evening of the day before unleavened bread, and not within the fifteenth! Israel ate the Passover on the fourteenth, and left Egypt on the fifteenth. (See the footnote on page 2.) The Jewish perspective on Passover observance is predicated largely upon the assumption that the children of Israel began their departure from Egyptian slavery DURING that very same night, after having just EATEN the Passover: within five to six hours, at most, after it. Some accounts even allege that they were ALL GONE within this short span of time! When we focus on this presumption and what it would really involve, the problem with that scenario becomes quite apparent. For example, it would have required the Egyptians to have begun burying their dead 27 immediately, even before their bodies were cold. It would require them to have dug graves at night, in darkness! Obviously, the idea of an exodus that immediate is patently illogical! The logistical nightmare of three million 28 people receiving word, after midnight, and then gathering up all their travel goods, in the night, rounding-up all their cattle, getting no sleep, forming-up in ranks, by tribes, and leaving in an orderly manner, as it says they did, all by daybreak, is in-comprehensible! The time it would have taken to notify a couple of million people, adequately convincing them all that Moses order to remain in their houses until morning had been countermanded, would be prohibitive and chaotic! Even if notification, then packing-up and assembling could be accomplished instantly, it still would have taken no less than some seven hours for the column of people with livestock to pass out of the city. But from the after-midnight hour, there would have been only about four to five hours to daybreak! Israel then, under their posed scenario, couldn t have substantially left by night as it says they did! Certainly not that night of the fourteenth. Another major consideration against their leaving within the same interval of darkness, within that same night in which they supposedly ate the Passover, is the question of when they could have found opportunity to spoil the Egyptians. Late Passover observers must conclude that this was accomplished prior to their slaying the Passover. But understanding the timing and impact of the ninth plague, the plague of darkness, rules out that possibility. Chapter 3: The Overlooked Plague looks into this situation in detail. These and other formidable logistical problems were the focus of previous chapters in this booklet: The Passover of the Exodus, and Between the Two Evenings. 27 Numbers 33:4 While watching Israel assemble for departure, this passage suggests that the Egyptians were dealing with their recent dead. Israel wouldn t have seen them burying their dead if they were already gone during that Passover night! Also, why would the Egyptians have buried their dead within six hours of their midnight decease? The scriptures allow at least two methods of determining this number. Most obvious is the 600,000 men over 20 years of age, mentioned in Numbers 1:45-46 and Exodus 12:37. In a normal population, these would have represented a third of the total number. In a population having a greater number of children per capita, (Israel s problem ) then the percentage would be even less. Remember also, this count didn t include the Tribe of Levi, the mixed multitudes, or their livestock!

36 C H A P T E R S E V E N A Unique and Distinct Expression Found in the Old Testament, One Which Has Not Been Fully Understood, and Yet Has Affected a Number of Important Doctrines Having Bearings on New Testament Theology! In Exodus 12, and elsewhere, there is a term used which is rendered in our translations as: the Selfsame Day. Key places where this specific term is used involves the date on which Abraham formally committed himself to the Covenant, by undergoing circumcision, 29 the beginning date of the Exodus, 30 and the very first harvest taken from the Promised Land, 31 to name a few. Each of these occasions was given as having taken place on a Selfsame Day. In the case of the Exodus, many have understood the expression to mean that two things happened with-in the same 24 hour day. Another take on the term is to conclude that two different things happened on the same calendar date, but in a subsequent year. This can make a significant difference. Actually, there is an overlooked aspect of this term with many Bible students. Checking Our Concordances. In some places, we find a similar term used, that being, the same day, and yet in other places a different term is used, that being the selfsame day. Some examples are Ex.19:1, as compared to Ex.12:17, 41, & 51. In Exodus 19:1, we find the Children of Israel coming into the Wilderness of Sinai on the same day that they left the land of Egypt. This is Strong s #1931. In Exodus 12:17 are instructions to observe the Days of Unleavened Bread perpetually, beginning on the same day the Exodus would begin. Verses 41 & 51 refer to the Exodus as having begun on the selfsame day, (The NKJ renders it that very same day, but in 29 Genesis 17: 23 & Exodus 12:41 & Joshua 5: the KJV it is selfsame day ). When you look for the Strong s number for the original Hebrew word Selfsame, it lists two words! In an older Strong s, it gives #2088 / A more modern version of Strong s, without explanation, lists NO NUMBER AT ALL! (Nelson Publishers, 1984) What Is Being Missed? A better source, an Englishman s Hebrew Concordance, 32 reveals something quite perplexing. The word translated selfsame in the overwhelming majority of cases, is rendered as bones, rather than selfsame! The word there is found on pages , showing eleven places where the word geh-tzem is rendered selfsame where in 102 other places it is rendered bones! Strong s has the same 11 places having selfsame, and gives 89 instances 33 where eh-tsem is translated bones. Why would this word be translated selfsame only ten percent of the time? And what possible meaning could be drawn from a word normally rendered as bones that would apply to these exceptions? There is a sense in this Hebrew word that comes out in a few places. Ezekiel 37 uses this same word 7 times. This is the famous prophecy of the Valley of Dry Bones. God uses this picture to represent an enduring substance of the whole House of Israel. 34 Other places that convey the sense is Job 21:23, One dies in his full strength.., and Job 7:15, My soul chooses strangling and death, rather than my body (bones). Here, Job is referring to 32 Englishman s Hebrew and Chaldee Concordance, Zondervan, The EHC picks up the marginal references, giving a higher total count. 34 Ezekiel 37:11

37 his continuing existence. We see that this word refers to something that endures, a physical remnant, giving evidence that something once existed! Nothing physical endures longer than our skeletal remains to give evidence of our having existed. When the word geh-tzem, (normally bones ) is rendered selfsame, it suggests a historical remnant of something that previously was. When the application is to a calendar date, we are being given evidence suggesting a reference to an event that happened in the past. The Selfsame Day As What? This is what many are unaware of, that the use of this term suggests a reference to something from the past. When we see the words, the selfsame day, we ought to ask ourselves, the self-same day as what? The use of this term suggests the anniversary of some event. This NEW event, happening on the selfsame day, occurred on the anniversary of some prior (and related?) occurrence. That realization enhances the significance of the statement for us. This is evident in places, such as Exodus 12:41, which reveals that the Exodus from Egypt began on the very anniversary of when God formally and irrevocably 35 confirmed the Covenant by oath with Abram, the same occasion in which a prophecy of the Exodus was given, four centuries earlier! Many have assumed this reference in Exodus 12:41 suggests the Children of Israel left Egypt ON the same day they ate the Passover. Though these two things were in close proximity, that wasn t the point at all! Looking For an Anniversary. When we see the term selfsame day used, we ought to be looking for some sort of anniversary. Leviticus 23:21 exposes this characteristic clearly, to give one example. And you shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: you shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute forever This is not talking about a one-time observance, but a re-occuring annual one. In fact, as it turns out, the use of the term selfsame day in Exodus 12:41 puts us on the path to a very interesting connection. The reference in Ex.12:41 ties the beginning of the Exodus to the precise day on which God made the Covenant Oath with Abram, 430 years earlier. A Specific Time of Day. The passage this refers back to is Genesis 15:8 to 18. Here is where Abram wants to establish the certainty of God s promises. God has Abram set out several specific sacrifices. (My article on the Abrahamic Covenant explains the significance of these special and unique sacrifices, so I won t take time to do that here.) God confirmed His Covenant just after the day had begun, but it was in the day just ending, that He uttered the specific prophecy concerning the escape of his descendants from Egypt. That escape was fully underway on that selfsame day, when his descendants, the children of his grandson Israel, realized their release from Egypt, exercising FAITH, by putting their feet on the road out of there! Was it the same hour that the Exodus began? It would be particularly relevant if it were. God makes such a point of it, it would be a logical conclusion. (The fact that Israel first began eating of the produce of the Promised Land on this same anniversary 36 re-enforces the conclusion.) The first steps toward the realization of God s Covenant Promise began taking place on the very anniversary of when that Prophecy was confirmed! Israel began leaving Egypt as darkness had begun, just into the beginning hours of the fifteenth day of the first month. 37 Hebrew scholars should be very familiar with the OATH that made the Abrahamic Covenant an unchangeable reality. Here again, they should be without excuse. This connection between Ex.12:41 and Gen.15:17 is made for them and us, by God, in the inspired texts of Scripture! There s another interesting parallel, that of Exodus 30:8. Here we see Aaron attending to the daily lighting of the lamps and burning of incense, in the same timeframe: the onset of evening. The lamp and the smoking furnace (incense burner?) passed through Abram s sacrifice about the same time of day! At the approach of full darkness. 35 Galatians 3:29. Hebrews 6: Joshua 5:11 37 Numbers 33:3, Deuteronomy 16:1

38 After The Sun Had Set. The Complete Jewish Bible (an English version of the Tanakh by the Jewish New Testament Publications, 1988), renders these verses in Genesis 15:12 as follows: As the sun was about to set, a deep sleep fell upon Avram, horror and great darkness came over him. ADONAI said to Avram, Know this for certain: your descendants will be foreigners in a land that is not theirs. They will be slaves and held in oppression there for four hundred years. But I will also judge that nation, the one that makes them slaves. Afterward, they will leave with many possessions.after the sun had set, there was thick darkness, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared, which passed between these animal parts. That day ADONAI made a covenant with Avram: I have given this land to your descendants etc. So, we have here yet another correlation, of two related events, that establish when a particular event took place, explicitly placing it at the specific time of day: That interval between sunset and dark. The Exodus began the day after Passover, as Numbers 33:3 indicates, and as Deuteronomy 16:1 adds, it happened by night! It couldn t have been the few dark hours of the SAME night, though this is a common perception, as there were insufficient hours remaining in Passover night, from midnight on, to accomplish such an undertaking. From the time word spread throughout the camp, that Pharaoh had let them go (yet again), less than four hours remained until the eastern sky began to lighten. If Israel left Egypt by night, then it had to be after sunset the following night! This is an inescapable conclusion, when you consider the number of things that had to be done and made ready before they could begin leaving. All together, it had to have taken several hours. How Long Would it Have Taken? First, considering the logistics. If Israel was the 2.5 to 3 million congregation that the two separate means given in scripture for estimating their numbers show us, a number of logistical dynamics are inescapable. Using the lesser figure, including the mixed multitude 38, and livestock, and allowing a 1000 foot wide column front, it would make a column of 500 files wide by 5000 ranks deep. If we allow a four foot interval for each rank, then the column would have to have been 3.8 miles long. If each rank stepped off one second behind the previous, then it would have taken 1.4 hours for the last in line to begin moving from the time the first in line did, and another 3.8 hours for the last to move forward to where the first had been. Thus, in just starting out, it would have taken 5.2 hours for the entire column to pass the starting point, and for the end of the column to be on the way. (Much longer if the column was less than 1000 feet wide!) This also disregards the fact that much additional time would have been necessary for them to formup after they had been made aware of their release, as they did leave in ordered ranks 39, suggesting they marshaled-out in a wide area outside the city where there was room to do so. (Ancient cities were crowded, especially servant areas.) Another fact was that they were told to remain inside their homes until morning light 40, which they did, 41 and by morning, they had to burn all remains of their Paschal lambs 42. All of this would have taken time! But, before marching out, they first had to: Wait for the midnight Passing-Over to be done, Wait for Pharaoh to come to realize what had happened, and to receive reports as to its extent, Wait for Pharaoh s servants to go locate Moses, Notify all 2.5 million that they were free to go, somehow convincing everyone that the order to remain in their houses had been countermanded, Burn any uneaten remains of their Paschal lambs, Pack all the stuff they were to take, tents, food, clothing, valuables, etc, (doing all this in the dark!) Round up and move their livestock (in the dark!), Water their livestock, (at night at the river!), Fill their own water-jars and water-pouches, Evacuate Joseph s remains from entombment, Make and bake unleavened bread for the road, Assemble and form-up (they left orderly!) Exodus 12:38 39 Exodus 13:18 40 Exodus 12:22 Deuteronomy 16:4 41 Exodus 12:28 42 Exodus 11:10 43 Exodus 13:18

39 Spoiling the Egyptians. In addition to all these, they had to find time to spoil the Egyptians, which was not done prior to Passover, as some claim! 44 The Abrahamic prophecy 45 suggests they would do so after God judged that nation. The placement of Exodus 12:35 suggests the same timeframe. (Also, note the timing of the ninth plague, the Plague of Darkness. The ninth plague fit exactly between the time after Israel selected their lambs the morning of the tenth and the afternoon of the thirteenth!) Obviously, we re looking at a monumental effort that would have taken them many hours time to accomplish. What a cruel joke it would have been for God to let them all spend more than half of the night with the understanding that they WERE NOT GOING, ordering them to remain in their dwellings until morning, then some time after midnight, 46 demand a frantic breaking-down and packing-up of their households, requiring they be gone out within just those couple of hours remaining before dawn! This, some theologians pose as having been what God required them to do! All of these could not possibly have been accomplished in the few remaining hours of the night after they ate the Passover and the LORD having passed-over at midnight. From the time they d heard that Pharaoh finally relented, there would have been less than 4 hours remaining until dawn! By the most conservative estimate, all these would have consumed at least seven hours, just to get ready to depart, and then marching out would have required at least another five to six hours to accomplish. For the last to leave, it would have taken to at least fourteen hours past that midnight hour! NOT On the Same Night. No, the children of Israel did not leave Egypt in the remaining night hours of that same night in which they ate the Passover. They left the NEXT night! This being consistent with Numbers 33:3 and Deuteronomy 16:1. They ate the Passover on the 14 th, they left Egypt on the 15 th. The terms same day and selfsame day do not both mean the same thing! The selfsame day is a specific term with a distinct meaning. It alludes to an anniversary. Realizing that the term the selfsame day could NOT be referring to both the Passover and the Exodus having occurred within the same nighttime, we are compelled to look for a better answer. That answer is in the realization that the term is not referring to two things having happened in the same 24 hour day, instead, it refers to two things that happened ON the same calendar date, but in different years. In this case, one important event occurring on the 430 th anniversary of the other. Not only are we being told of an anniversary event, but one which was the exact fulfillment of that prophecy given back on the original occasion. It also enlightens another occasion, occurring on the selfsame day forty years later. Israel first began eating of the produce of the Promised Land on the 470 th anniversary of when God promised that they would do so! Each of these three things occurred on the same calendar date. (The event in Genesis 17:23 may have been a fourth thing. We might note that Abraham s direct physical heir wasn t conceived until after Abraham formally committed himself and his house to the Covenant!) The real issue with the selfsame day 47 is our realization that God caused His Promises to Israel to be fulfilled exactly on time. He brought them to pass on the very same calendar date that the Promise was originally confirmed by oath! 44 See chapter 3: The Overlooked Plague which addresses this issue. For an even more detailed look at the timing of the Exodus, see chapter 2: Passover of the Exodus. 45 Genesis 15:14 46 Note: Midnight and Morning were two different times of day. Had God intended they leave immediately after midnight, He would not have instructed them to stay inside their houses til morning, or burn the Paschal remains by morning. The wording has them still there as morning dawned The Eleven places where geh-tzem is translated as the Selfsame Day : Genesis 7:3, 17:23 & 26, Ezekiel 40:1, Exodus 12:17, 41 & 51, Leviticus 23:14 & 21, Deut.32:48, Joshua 5:11. Additional translations, Joshua 10 :27 until this very day Ezekiel 2 :3 unto this very day Ezekiel 24 :2 of this same day Leviticus 23 :28,29,30. in that same day

40 C H A P T E R E I G H T How the Vanishing Samaritans Celebrate the Passover on Sacred Mount Gerizim. An Impartial Observer describes for us the details of the Ancient Tradition, Preserved by peoples who were NOT Jews! It was early in my Christian walk that I happened upon a back issue of the National Geographic Magazine that I thought might be particularly interesting. It was in Johnson s Bookstore, in Springfield, Massachusetts, in their Used Book Annex, where this old magazine drew my attention. It was the January, 1920 issue. I bought the issue thinking that it might prove informative, but after reading it, found it to not address matters as I d expected it might. I filed the magazine at the time (about 1975) but thankfully, kept it, not wanting to waste my 35 cents! Taking a Second Look Subsequent to hearing an audiotape of a message by Jim Rector a couple of decades later, titled Perspective on Passover, 48 (an advocate of the late Passover tradition) in 1997, which laid out in detail the issue of the 14 th / 15 th Passover from his point of view, I then, laboriously made a transcript of it, being challenged to pursue the matter further. Mr. Rector s extra-lengthy message addresses the question of whether the Passover ought to be observed early on the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, or much later in that day. After this, and in re-reading the magazine article decades later, having become better informed about the issues that affect our genre, it took on a whole new relevance. In this preamble, I want to share what this National Geographic article reveals, which does much more than I d originally realized in addressing the true historic Passover Tradition. 48 Copies are available on request from this writer. Mr. Rector made the most comprehensive presentation of the early/late controversy of any that I have come across We have people today which advocate either a late Passover (where they killed their lambs late in the afternoon of the fourteenth day) or an early tradition, which supports their being slain as the fourteenth day is just beginning. The latter view is the more widely embraced position in the modern Churches of God community. But with his challenging presentation to consider, this old National Geographic article took on a relevance not realized originally. (At which point, I was very glad that I kept the magazine, now nearly a century old)! The author of this particular Geographic article, John D. Whiting, attended this observance on four occasions, as he states in his article s page 41: Twice before the great world conflict (which we know as WW1) and twice during it. They re NOT Jews! The particular people involved, referred to as Samaritans, may raise a subliminal qualification in the minds of some of us, based on the awareness that the Assyrians transplanted other ethnic peoples into the region north of Judaea, subsequent to their conquest of the northern kingdom of Israel in the 8 th century BC. 49 Perhaps for that reason, many don t regard them as being a likely place to find vestiges of true ancient Biblical religious customs. After all, they re NOT JEWS! (Which in fact they are not!) But this is addressed in the article itself. But, the Assyrians didn t remove all of the Israelite inhabitants. There were many, likely the poorer classes, who were left, along with some of their 49 See 2 nd Kings 17:

41 priesthood. And, 2 nd Kings 17:26 shows that at least some of the priests who remained were still practicing the ordinances of God. It is this realization which makes the Geographic article even more relevant, not less so. While the cover title introduces the article as The Last Blood Sacrifice, a Samaritan Rite in Palestine, the actual title on its page 1 gives it as The Last Israelitish Blood Sacrifice How the Vanishing Samaritans Celebrate the Passover on Sacred Mount Gerizim. Now, this should provide a clue to knowledgeable peoples. It reveals that there are peoples who are of the ancient Kingdom of Israel who are not, and never were, Jews. In other words, it recognizes that this remnant of the northern House of Israel are not ethnic Jews. The Jews are the descendants of the southern House of Judah. The religious world is largely ignorant of the distinction. Apparently, the Geographic staff was not so uninformed, at least not at this early date, before they became populated with higheracademics steeped in modernistic teachings, and infected with their current evolutionary biases. Not All Israelites are Jews! The term Jew developed after Israel s monarchy divided, after the reign of Solomon, and applied to those of the Kingdom of Judah. The unified nation was originally called the Kingdom of Israel. The term Jew was never correctly applied to those who descended from the other ten tribes which comprised the northern Kingdom. There s a distinction between Israelite and Jew, which we should keep in mind. Most of the religious world does not, and as a result, can become confused when discussing matters related to the peoples of the Land. The term Jew should not be applied to peoples before the time of King Solomon, though it is commonly done. customs associated with Passover observance. This NG article will help expose certain of those differences. And, keep in mind, neither the observer, nor the Samaritans had any reason to favor either of the persuasions that affect our congregations (or our scholars at least). These Samaritans claim to be ethnic Ephriaimites, direct descendants of the Tribe of Ephraim, one of the sons of Joseph, whose mother was ethnic Egyptian. These people claim to have retained the religious customs more faithfully than their Jewish counterparts, independently perpetuating them from the time of the sons of Eli the Priest, which was just prior to the anointing of Samuel, PRIOR to the nation opting to have a king. The kingdom later becoming divided facilitated that Samaritan separateness, being not under the jurisdiction of Jerusalem and its official priesthood. We know by the later captivity of the Kingdom of Judah by Babylon, more than 125 years after the House of Israel was taken into captivity by Assyria, that their priesthood deviated considerably from the Scriptural Model. This makes a parallel tradition, which kept itself separate from that influence, of major interest to us today. It helps us identify what was the ancient practice. If in fact their claim is true, we have here a separate community of religious peoples maintaining the customs independently, not being an offshoot of the later-developed Jewish religion, instead being a separate branch, originating back from a period well before the redefinitions and transformations of Jewish religious thought and practice that took place during the Ezra / Nehemiah period which followed the Jews Babylonian captivity. That tradition was reformed long after their return from their 70-year Babylonian captivity. These Samaritans (the capitol of the northern In other words, these Israelitish Samaritans claim kingdom was Samaria) were not ethnic Jews, but to have maintained their religious customs from an did originally possess and practice the same earlier time, long before the development of the religious customs as their southern counterparts. Jewish Tradition as we know them from first While we might assign the more faithful rendition century sources. of ancient Biblically commanded customs to the Original vs Schism Jews, that presumption overlooks the fact that there were differences even within their own community The Jews also claim absolute faithfulness with in the first century and likely before. Even in the respect to adherence to the customs, yet we see

42 notable differences between the Jewish Tradition and this Israelitish Tradition. We see a difference in the TIMING of their respective observances. No doubt, this divergence was sustained by, as the interesting and poignant comment on page 23 explains, that being... the animosity that invariably exists between an original and a schism. (And, where have we seen that lately?) The negative regard the Jews had for their Samaritan counterparts was instrumental in preserving differences, and may help explain their low regard for those who in many respects believed as did they! The separate priesthoods of the Samaritans as opposed to that of the Jews in Jerusalem may to certain degree compare to the different affiliations (alignment behind one preeminent leader over another) and illustrate some of the same polarities we find between our various organizations today. Jewish Tradition Under Jewish Tradition, as presented in the late Mr. Rector s Perspective on Passover we are told that the Jews killed their Paschal lambs in midafternoon, from about 3:30 pm and onward on the fourteenth day of the month of Abib (also known as Nisan). However, the time required to roast these lambs, prior to the eating, took them past sunset and well into the fifteenth. (Days began at sunset.) The Geographic article addresses the time required to roast them adequately. Their definition of the Hebrew text s ben ha arbayim (between the two evenings) was to certain Jews, the majority party at least, that interval between noon and sunset. The Samaritan understanding of this term, however, doesn t agree with the prevalent Jewish definition, as we ll see. Quoting from the article, page 29 left, The Samaritans maintain that they are a remnant of and descendants of the once great Tribe of Ephraim, and that the split between them and the Jews came about through the maladministration of the priesthood by Eli s sons. From the same page, next to last paragraph, is this key observation, While the Jews have scattered all over the world since the captivities, and have absorbed much that s foreign the Samaritans have during the same lapse of time lived in the land of their forefathers, among Semitic peoples akin to the Hebrews, and because of this fact have handed down to the twentieth century a glimpse of the old Jewish Church almost in its purity. Interesting, if true! Page 25 mentions that the Samaritans celebrate their Passover with, or nearly with, the Jews, excepting for a calendar discrepancy that occasionally puts theirs a month behind. There is no discrepancy however, as to their calendar DATE being the 14 th day of Abib (Nisan). This would indicate that at least one of the calendar issues that exist today also existed in their day. What calendar issue was it? It appears neither relied on the Biblically proscribed Abib. 50 Neither Used the Abib? The Jews used a different method for determining the insertion of their intercalary month than did the Samaritans. Likely, this provided yet another issue justifying Jewish contempt toward their Israelitish brethren, the Samaritans. 51 Where these two persuasions diverge more significantly regarding Passover is a result of the definition of ben ha arbayim. The Samaritans maintain that between the two evenings means between sunset and full darkness, the twilight hour. (Page 34) This view was not unique to them. Certain of the Sadduceean persuasion held to the same, as did Christ and His disciples, as is evident by their after-sunset Passover Supper in the Upper Room as the 14 th day had begun. The Sun Is Set! With respect to the slaying of the animals, page 34 reads, With his eyes upon the setting sun, he reads the first twelve verses of the twelfth chapter of Exodus As the reading proceeds, it is so 50 The Calculated Hebrew Calendar of our generation also disregards the abib (the first ripe barley) in determining which years are to be intercalary years. 51 The intercalary month is the necessary addition of a 13 th month in certain years to adjust the lunar calendar to the solar calendar. Twelve lunar months is about eleven days short of a solar year. The Biblical method of determining an intercalary year was to employ the first ripening barley to determine when to do so, but some Jews used a predetermined (calculated) formula, while the Samaritans employed other means, apparently related to solar events.

43 arranged that as the passage then shall all the convocation of the assembly of Israel slay it between the two evenings is spoken, at the word slay, with one deft stroke downward, each of the three slaughterers cuts one throat and jumps to the next. Page 35 offers, This custom having been handed down in unbroken succession And if there is further illustration needed as to when these lambs are being slain, page 37 states, The work of removing the offal, the heart, liver, and lungs is done by lantern light. (Obviously after some period of time needed to properly bleed and skin the animals.) Further indication of the timing (it being not in mid-afternoon), the article states, in regard to the cooking of the meat, It is now only about four hours before midnight (Why is that fact important?) This is about 7:00 to 7:30 pm as they begin to roast the lambs! Three to four hours later, the lambs are eaten, that being shortly before midnight. (see pages 39 and 41). and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord s Passover. (Ex. 12:8 & 11) With these observations on the part of the author, there can be no doubt as to the timing of the Israelitish Samaritans observance of Passover: Quite different than that of their counterparts to the south, at least as it involved those who slew their Paschal lambs in mid-afternoon of the fourteenth, some 21 hours later! Another thing we can determine from this quote (Exodus 12:8) above, is that they recognized that the eating of it as being the LORD s Passover, not just the killing and preparation of it. Again, unlike the Jews, most of whom slay their lambs in mid-tolater afternoon of one day (though within the 14 th ) but eat it after sunset which takes them into the next day! The earliest their lambs would be roasted would be near 8:00 pm, well into the 15 th. If in fact the proper time for the slaying of the Paschal lambs is NOT at or right after the going down of the sun, but in mid-afternoon as most Jews are reported to have traditionally practiced, why would these Samaritans have so consistently maintained a sunset (twilight) sacrificing through all their generations? If Moses and Aaron, if all of the priests up to the time of Eli and Samuel, did things as the post-exilic Jews are reported to have done, why would the Samaritans have changed to such an inconvenient time of day as at and after sunset? An Ongoing Controversy What we can see from this article is that the fourteenth / fifteenth Passover controversy is not of recent origin. Nor was the observance in the first century without challenges or differences of opinion. Those Pharisaic historians, whose party gained political ascendancy after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, would have liked us to believe that no traditional divergence had existed. But we have here in this National Geographic article an eyewitness account, by a secular author, not of any Church of God affiliation, writing some nine decades ago, enlightening an issue long debated in the Churches of God. We need also to consider the perspective that these observations give on: How the name Passover originated? (From the lambs, or from the LORD passing over?) (At what time of day did the LORD pass over?) Whether only the sacrificing, or both it and the eating, must be accomplished on the 14 th? What ben ha arbayim actually means? Distinct Similarities It s rather curious here in the Geographic article, how that there is little reference made to any difference between Samaritan practice and the Jewish religion. The claim is made (page 23) that except for the occasional intercalary matter, no significant difference exists! It is largely that the Samaritan religion is centered around Mount Gerizim and the Jewish religion is centered around Mount Zion. Also, the Samaritan s canon is restricted to the Pentateuch, rejecting the rest of what we call the Old Testament as uninspired! Perhaps from this we can better understand the schism between these two religious bodies. Yet, we are led to believe by the Rector sermon, and other similar sources, that the Jews in unison ALWAYS observed the Passover by slaying the lambs in mid-afternoon of the 14 th, while eating

44 their Passover meals several hours into the 15 th. The late Mr. Rector spoke as though there were no exceptions. The question this article raises, in what it fails to make reference to, is that maybe the Jewish observance, reported by him to ALWAYS have been kept from ancient times, (even Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, claims he) was not really as universally practiced as has been reported by certain historians, such as Josephus (himself a devoted Pharisee), and perhaps others. Is there no reference to serious discrepancies because these Israelitish Samaritans failed to notice any? In other words, were segments of Jewry keeping it in a similar manner as the Samaritans, and was the Phariseean practice touted as what had always been, when in fact it was not the case in more ancient times? One important difference was in converting the Passover observance into a Temple Ceremony, where originally it was a private, home-based observance, as Jesus last Passover suggests. Is Passover a Week? Another interesting thing to note is the Samaritan s use of the plain and explicit name of the observance following: that of the Days of Unleavened Bread, (page 46) unlike the Jews, some of whom misnamed that entire week as Passover. Was that an effort on their part to mask the alteration they made in post-exilic times, of reinterpreting the hour for slaying their Passover lambs, making it logically acceptable for the time for eating their sacrifice extending over into the next day, the fifteenth? We need to consider the possibility that, like with the Sabbath in Ezekiel 20:20-25, God allowed the Jews to drift off date, rather than have them pollute His Sabbaths with their corrupted practices. (Can a parallel be drawn with nominal Christianity opting to shift to Sunday?) Christ had, after all, cursed the fig tree (representing the Jewish religious system of that time) on account of contemporary Jewry having become so hopelessly contaminated with erroneous teachings that THAT tree was unable to produce any more fruit useable to God? It didn t even have the ability to identify their own Messiah! Rejected THEIR Passover? The first century Jews had, after all, REJECTED (or were about to reject) their True Passover Lamb. What basis remained for them to keep the Passover correctly any longer? Why would WE even look to these Jews as being faithful examples of Scriptural fidelity? Did Christ not know their circumstances? Full well ye reject the commandments of God that ye may keep your own tradition. (Mark 7:9) and Why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? (Matt. 15:3) Only human will power would have been in play to keep them on track if they were to have remained faithful to Scriptural instructions in observing God s Holy Occasions. On Jesus words we know they had, by the first century, long abandoned the traditions of their forefathers. So much so, that they couldn t even recognize the individual that fulfilled all of their prophecies concerning Him: their own Messiah! By Jesus day, another worship system had been placed, that of rigid Traditionalism held firm by the entrenched apostate Priesthood of the time. A Time-Related Observance One valuable piece of information we can glean from this Geographic article and the author s observations is the amount of time it takes to kill, prepare, roast and eat the Passover Sacrifice. These people were not dragging their feet in any of this. They worked and fully completed all of the Ceremony in haste as Exodus 12:11 instructs. From sunset, it requires some 4½ to 5 hours to complete, including a half hour or so to eat. This brought them to the midnight hour, an undeniable comparison to the original Passover Observance in Egypt. If one was to begin from the traditional Jewish hour of mid-afternoon 3:30 pm or later it would leave something under 3 hours remaining to sunset. But with 4½ to 5 hours to prepare and roast the lambs (taking them from the Temple, where they were slain, to their respective homes), there is no possible way that the slaying and the eating could take place within the same day!

45 Yet, somehow, this doesn t register as a question? That would explain why the Jews regard the slaying as the essential part, with the actual eating of it irrelevant to the observance. (And considering the vast number of lambs slain at the Temple in the first century (credible sources suggest thousands)), the slaying process could extend well into the final hours of the fourteenth day! Selected on the Tenth Day Has anyone offered a comprehensive explanation of why the Passover lambs were to be selected on the tenth day, kept, and slain on the fourteenth? (Exodus 12:3) Do those four days illustrate the four millennia between the identification of the Lamb of God and His actual bloody death on the Cross? (A thousand years is as a day: 2 nd Peter 3:8) He was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Rev. 13:8) He was chosen from the beginning, but wasn t actually offered until four millennia had elapsed from Creation. Or, were the three days between co-incident with the three days of the ninth plague? Could these be the reasons for that specific instruction? 52 A Mis-Cue! One particular point of interest is Mr. Whiting s concluding paragraphs. Quoting, he says, Thus the sacrifice and ceremony commemorating the Exodus are ended 53 Each celebrant now goes to his tent for a few hours sleep. Early the next morning the congregation again gathers for prayers, the day 52 See the chapter 3: The Overlooked Plague for further thoughts on this consideration. 53 This statement on its face introduces the common Jewish mis-perception, that the Exodus took place ON Passover night. (a logistical impossibility see chapter 2 Passover of the Exodus ) No, in fact, it represented their official RELEASE from bondage, (to us, the bondage of sin) but the daylight portion of the fourteenth was occupied with spoiling the Egyptians and packing up their belongings for actually leaving Egypt as the fifteenth was beginning. See Numbers 33:3 for Moses clear statement on that matter. The two events were separated by one full day! It should be noted that the Exodus, per se, was a seven day event, it was not accomplished (leaving Egypt s land entirely) until the Red Sea was crossed and Egypt was defeated! being observed as a Sabbath; the first day of the feast of unleavened bread. A Preparation Day Between Now, if the magazine s author had understood what was told him correctly, it would have suggested that the daylight part of that day was the fifteenth, (days end and begin at sunset), but he apparently did not. It is the fifteenth day that is the first Day of Unleavened Bread which would begin at the sunset following the day of the slaying of the Paschal lambs, not the very next morning! The daylight portion of the fourteenth is the Preparation Day for those unleavened days. Daybreak following that night began the time devoted to deleavening their homes, which could in a sense be regarded as one of the unleavened days, as it was devoted to the activity of removing their leaven, though the fourteenth was not a High Day itself. Another likely reason for such a gathering is that no leaven was to be involved when the Passover lamb s blood was offered, (Exodus 34:25) which would logically explain their congregation meeting at a location separate from their abodes for this ceremony. It would not at all be inappropriate to begin the Preparation Day for the upcoming seven Days of Unleavened Bread with a congregational prayer, which apparently is what these observers did. But that would not attest to the daylight portion of this day being a High Day. Passover Day, the fourteenth, was not designated in Scripture as a Holy Day, rather a work day and preparation day, as was the case with the Children of Israel (they were not Jews at this time!) first spoiling and then leaving Egypt. 54 Now let s go to the National Geographic article Some pose that Israel spoiled the Egyptians before the Passover, but chapter 3, The Overlooked Plague shows how that would have been impossible to accomplish in the intense darkness of the ninth plague s three full days! 55 While the National Geographic Magazine devoted forty six pages to the article, I include but twenty five here, (plus the magazine s cover) including all pages with text, but omitting most of those which present only full page photographs, which are not essential to the subject itself.

46 Key Points Regarding the Samaritans: (For those who haven t read the Nat. Geo. article.) NG Page 1: Samaritans remnants of a once numerous sect, whose persistent continuation and literal performance of the Passover Sacrifice have attracted the attention of students for three centuries. NG Page 23 top left: The Samaritan religion is closely akin to that of the Jews, the chief differences being that the cult of the former centers about Gerizim, while that of the Jews centers about Zion NG Page 23 top left: the Samaritan canon of scripture is restricted to the Pentateuch, or Five Books of Moses NG Page 23 top left: The later writings, including the Prophets and Psalms, the Samaritans repudiate as uninspired. NG Page 23 top left: In view of the similarity in their beliefs and practices, it seems strange that there exists and has always existed the fiercest animosity between Jew and Samaritan, but it is the animosity that invariably exists between an original and a schism. NG Page 23 middle left: The Samaritans maintain that they are the remnants and descendants of the once great Tribe of Ephraim, and that the split between them and the Jews came about through the maladministration of the priesthood by Eli s sons. NG Page 23 top right: The Samaritans assert their (Pentateuch scroll) was written by Abishua, the greatgrandson of Aaron although it is believed to be the most ancient copy of the Pentateuch in existence. NG Page 23 middle right: While the Jews have scattered all over the world since the captivities and have absorbed much that is foreign, in many instances adapting their religious practices to their new environment, the Samaritans have during the same lapse of time lived in the land of their forefathers, among Semitic peoples akin to the Hebrews, and because of this fact have handed down to the twentieth century a glimpse of the old (Israelite) Church almost in its purity. A notable instance of the survival of an ancient religious ceremony is the celebration of the Passover Sacrifice. NG Page 23 lower right: One of the distinctive differences between the Samaritans and the Jew lies in their methods of computing the calendar, the Samaritans base their calculations on the moon but they are at the same time also governed by the movement of the sun. NG Page 25 left: For the above reasons the Samaritans celebrate their Passover with, or nearly with, the Jews, while at other times their fourteenth of Abib comes a month behind. NG Page 26 lower right: It s about three hours before dark and since the Samaritan time count starts from sunset NG Page 34 top right: The aged high priest With his eyes upon the setting sun, he reads the first twelve verses of the twelfth chapter of Exodus, wherein are given the first commands regarding the observance of the Passover. As the reading proceeds, it is so arranged that, as the passage, Then shall all of the congregation of the assembly of Israel slay it between the two evenings is spoken, at the word slay, each of the slaughterers cuts one throat and jumps to the next Thus the passage between the evenings the Samaritans translate to mean between sunset and dark, the twilight hour 56 NG Page 39 bottom left: It is now only about four hours before midnight (when) the spits are simultaneously lowered into the oven NG Page 41 middle left: The present paper is written after having witnessed the Passover ceremony four times twice before the great world conflict and twice during it NG Page 41 middle right: Thus the three to four hours between putting the lambs to roast and the feast roll quickly by. 56 This represents the primary difference between Samaritan observance and Traditional Jewish (Phariseean) observance, though there was a contingent whose observance employed the same definition of between the two evenings, (twilight) including those of Sadduceean persuasion. Christ and His disciples observed it similarly

47 C H A P T E R N I N E One of the Controversies of the modern age has been the Actual Route the Children of Israel travelled in escaping Bondage in Egypt. Many suggestions have been put forward, some plausible, some ridiculous. What can we Know from the Biblical Narrative and from Modern Investigation? Once beyond the doubts that there even was an event such as we read of in the Book of Exodus, where a whole nation, enslaved within the most powerful nation of the time, gained their release by a series of unusual events that ultimately brought that host nation to ruin, both economically and militarily, misperceptions remain abundant. But the story doesn t begin where we might expect, because you see, it was prophesied to happen some 430 years beforehand. Less than 80-years after the death of Noah 57 Abram addressed a great concern he had regarding his progeny, more precisely, his lack of an heir of his own lineage. In follow-up to the Oath that was made on that eventful evening, a prophecy was made, which states: 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; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance... But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: (Gen. 15:13-16) A Sojourner Himself Abram himself was in a country that was not his own. He was born and grew up in Haran, 58 but on God s instruction, relocated with his clan to Canaan s land, and for a time was in Egypt. But the land in which Abram sojourned was to be inherited by his descendants some four centuries in the future. 57 Abram was born about 2-years after Noah s death, and was some 75-years old leaving Haran and about 77 at the event described in Genesis Haran was within the Fertile Crescent some 250 miles east of Nineveh and 400 miles north of Jerusalem. Haran was some 400 miles south of the Mountains of Ararat From the passage in Exodus 12:40 it is commonly supposed that the Children of Israel sojourned in the land of Egypt the entirety of the 430 years. But, as a marginal reference in my Nelson NKJ explains, that the passage isn t fully represented as stated. The Septuagint and Samaritan Pentateuch, among others, retain the full wording: in Canaan and in Egypt. That s an important factor in establishing the correct chronology of the interval in question. In Canaan and in Egypt While their entire sojourn was 430 years, not all of that time was in Egypt, nor was their time in Egypt all under bondage. We know that Jacob came with his clan into Egypt when he was 130 years old, when Joseph was 40. Joseph lived to the age of 110. Moses was born 65 years after Joseph died. So from the time the children of Israel (Jacob) entered Egypt, we have 70 years in which Joseph remained alive. Then 65 years to the birth of Moses and we know the Exodus occurred when Moses was 80 years old! 70 plus 65 plus 80 equals 215 years. That portion of Israel s sojourn spent in Egypt was about half of those 430 years. The first half then having been spent in the land of Canaan. Josephus confirms the same. In his Antiquities of the Jews XV:2, he writes: They left Egypt in the month of Xanthicus, on the fifteenth day of the lunar month; four hundred and thirty years after our forefather Abraham came into Canaan, but two hundred and fifteen years only after Jacob removed into Egypt. Another misconception was that the fast-growing nation was in bondage the entire time. We need to remember that the children of Israel were magnanimously accepted in the land, and that it was

48 under a Pharaoh who didn t know Joseph 59 that the oppression began. Since Joseph, second in power, at least in Lower Egypt, Visier of his Pharaoh, remained alive for 70 years after his family entered Egypt, a Pharaoh who didn t know him had to have been at least a generation later. That would make the beginning of their bondage period about a century after their entrance into the land. Where Israel Lived The children of Israel resided in Goshen, on the eastern side of the Nile Delta on a branch of the Nile called the Pelusiac Branch. The Old Testament refers to the city location as Rameses, but that was its later name. Unfortunately, people today have identified the Pharaoh of the Exodus as being a Ramesses, based on this reference. 60 (Scripture names no Pharaoh!) The supposed Ramesses reign was in the 19 th Dynasty, a period too late for the Exodus by more than 270 years. The Exodus occurred in the 13 th Dynasty, and the Pharaoh of the Exodus was more likely Dudimose, the last Pharaoh of the 13 th Dynasty. 61 The children of Israel lived in an area referred to as Avaris. 62 This city included Joseph s palatial residence, appropriate to a man of his importance, which was located just across the Pelusiac from the Royal city, which much later attained the name of Pi-Rameses, when a later dynasty chose it as their capitol. The Pharaoh of Joseph s day was likely Nimaatre Amenemhat III, of the 12 th Dynasty. The Route to Mount Sinai Some pose a northerly route, skirting the shores of the Mediterranean. (What they call the Sea of Reeds.) Others pose that they crossed at the lowest end of the Gulf of Aqaba at the Strait of Tiran at the very southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. Some fantastic speculations have been posed to support each of these extreme positions. Most who have studied these matters are of a more logical persuasion, accepting that they traversed the Sinai Peninsula, and crossed the Gulf of Aqaba at about its mid-point, involving a travel distance of some 180 miles from Avaris / Rameses to the western shore where they paused as the Egyptian army approached. Point of Origin We have a good consensus on where the Exodus began, but only recent decades have brought us hard evidence as to the actual route taken. The area of interest in this article is the route the Exodus took. A wide variation of opinion exists as to the actual route to the Red Sea crossing. 59 Exodus 1:8 60 There were two Pharaohs named Ramesses in the 19 th Dynasty and another nine in the 20 th. 61 See the book: Pharaohs and Kings, a Biblical Quest by David M. Rohl, Crown Publishers, New York, 1995, ISBN: , page 333, et al. Mr. Rohl s work seeks to reconcile Egyptian Chronology with Biblical Chronology, which the traditional Egyptian Chronology does not do. 62 Thought to be named after Joseph, the name meaning Hebrew man. Joseph s palace and burial chamber has been found there in recent decades. The children of Israel took Joseph s remains with them in the Exodus. (Ex. 13:19) As we can see, what later became called Rameses is located in the eastern Nile Delta, on the north bank of the Pelisiac Branch. Avaris, however, was on the south bank of the river. Avaris is where much of the servant class resided, as opposed to the Royal City where the more elite Egyptians resided.

49 As the larger area map above shows, the children of Israel began their trek in a southerly direction, defying logic. God led them on an unconventional route, to avoid Egypt s military outposts. (Ex. 13: 17-18) Many of the Amarna letters have been analyzed and their contents carry strong similarities to the accounts of Kings Saul and David in the books of 1 st and 2 nd Samuel. 63 This being the case, that the early years of the Israelite Monarchy were concurrent with the brief Amarna Period in Egypt, traditional Egyptian Chronology is proven to be greatly mis-aligned. Pharaoh Akhenaten s reign ended well before Ramesses II, perhaps some 60 years before, according to conventional Egyptian chronology. These Amarna tablets confirm that Ramesses II could not have been the Pharaoh of the Exodus. This map of the Sinai Peninsula plots a mid-sinai route, ultimately leading to the Nuweiba Delta, which proved more than adequate for their brief encampment prior to the opening up of the sea for crossing. It also identifies the true Mt. Sinai, in Arabia, where the Apostle Paul also locates it. The traditional site of Mt. Sinai, at approximately the same latitude, but back across in the Sinai Peninsula, is completely bogus! Reading it ALL WRONG! One problem in verifying that the Exodus did happen centers around accredited Egyptologists looking for evidence in all the wrong places. Conventional Egyptian chronology is known to not align with Biblical chronology. One glaring example was discovered in the Amarna letters. At the former location of the capitol of Pharaoh Akhenaten (aka the heretic Pharaoh) a cache of tablets were found that comprise the Royal Library of what is referred to as the Amarna Period. Little remains of this city, but in the Amarna letters (clay tablets) found, there are letters from a short-lived king of Israel, a brief successor after the death of King Saul and his son Jonathan, but before David took power. In these letters pleading for assistance against the Habiru (Hebrews) then assaulting him, there are references to David s father Jesse and his general Joash Having trekked roughly 180 miles from Avaris, on day six the Israelites arrived at this delta at Nuweiba on the western shore of the Gulf of Aqaba. This unusual feature in the region was more than adequate for the entire congregation to assemble before the way through sea was opened. The Nuweiba Delta is accessed through a long narrow canyon that figured into the events of that 63 Pharaohs and Kings, Chapters 9 & 10.

50 night as the seventh day of the Exodus began. The canyon is known as the Wadi Watir. The wadi s narrowness allowed the approaching Egyptian Army to be held back behind a wall of darkness (Ex. 14:20) which they couldn t reasonably outflank due to the terrain. This view, looking eastward, shows the delta and the Gulf of Aqaba in the distance. From here, it was about 8-miles across the Gulf of Aqaba to what was then the land of Midian. We are told that they spent the night crossing, with the pursuing Egyptians drowned toward morning as the walls of water on either side collapsed upon them. (Ex. 14:22 & 29) The children of Israel saw dead bodies floating and on the shore later that same morning. (Ex. 14:30) Chariot Remains are Found! While the Gulf of Aqaba is quite deep, at the point of crossing it s relatively shallow. There is an under-water rise extending across the Gulf, where numerous chariot wrecks have been found by divers. No such confirming evidence has been located in any of the other proposed crossing sites. Two examples of many are shown here. This example of a coral encrusted upright axel, with wheels still attached, is interesting also in that it shows a sandy bottom. Reliable and Reasonable Conclusions So, what can we conclude this far? 1) That the Exodus was prophesied long before the actual event took place, 2) That Israel s sojourn was less than the widely believed 430 years in Egypt. It was about half that, 3) That Israel did not endure bondage all of their days in Egypt, 4) That Ramesses II was NOT the Pharaoh of the Exodus, 5) That Pharaoh Akhenaten s Royal Archives include correspondence with King Saul of Israel, Akhenaten being a predecessor of Ramesses. 6) That the children of Israel actually did travel through the wilderness, 7) That it took them six days to reach the Red Sea crossing point, 8) That chariot remains proves the Biblical account of the Exodus and Red Sea crossing. 9) That Mount Sinai is in Arabia. ============================== An Enlightening Resource It is well established that the Traditional Egyptian Chronology doesn t align with Biblical Chronology. That fact disturbed the book s author, David Rohl, who sought to straighten out the many discrepancies which create doubts on the accuracy of Biblical narratives. David M. Rohl investigates the many fundamental assumptions which have been made to create the accepted Egyptian Chronology with intent of bringing it into alignment with the Biblical accounts. While a very technical work the depth of investigation and courage demonstrated to challenge many longheld traditional views is an enlightening study to all who seek, as the author did, to identify the major events and players of the Bible. This book is available in many public libraries, and is published by Crown Publishers, Inc, New York, 1995, ISBN: