Christmas

Is It The Messiah's Birthday?

Do you know the origin of Christmas? What about the Christmas tree? Santa Claus?   Mistletoe? Holly-wreath?  The yule log? The custom of exchanging gifts? Does Christmas really celebrate the birthday of the Messiah? Was He born on December 25th? Did the early church of the New Testament celebrate Christmas?

Stop and think! Very few know why we do the things we do, or where our customs came from! We were born into a world filled with customs. We grew up practicing them, taking them for granted, but never questioning why!

Christianity has supposed Christmas to be the chief of the "Christian" holidays. Without asking questions, people have blindly assumed its observance must be one of the principle teachings of the New Testament. The world has supposed that the Messiah was born December 25th. It has been supposed that we exchange gifts because the wise men presented gifts to the newborn-child, leaving an example for all to follow.

The word "Christmas" means "Mass of Christ" or, as it later became shortened, "Christ-Mass." It came to us as a Roman Catholic mass. Where did they get it? From the heathen celebration of December 25th, as the birthday of Sol the sun god! It is, actually, an ancient rite of baalism, which the Scriptures condemn as the most abominable of all idolatrous worship!

Christmas is not so much as mentioned anywhere in the New Testament. Paul, the apostles, and the early true church, never observed it!

The idea that Yahshua was born December 25th, is one of the fables the Apostle Paul prophesied (II Tim. 4:4) would deceive the world in these latter days.

The truth is, Christmas is not the Messiah's birthday at all! And this festival, important as it seems to so many, is of pagan- Babylonian-origin! But does that make any difference? Isn't it all right to go ahead and observe it anyway? Isn't the "Christmas spirit" a good and splendid thing, regardless of how it got started?  Isn't it okay if you are worshipping the Savior in your heart?

Was Yahshua even born in the winter season? When He was born "there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night" (Luke 2:8). This never could have occurred in Palestine in the month of December. The shepherds always brought their flocks from the mountainsides and fields and corralled them not later than October 15, to protect them from the cold rainy season that followed that date. Notice that the Scriptures prove in Song of Solomon 2:11, and Ezra 10:9, and 13, that winter was a rainy season not permitting shepherds to abide in open fields at night.

Adam Clarke Commentary, Vol. 5., page 386. “It was an ancient custom among Jews of those days to send out their sheep to the fields and deserts about the Passover (early-spring), and bring them home at commencement of the first rain.”

Continuing, this authority states: "during the time they were out, the shepherds watched them night and day. As… the first rain began early in the month of Marchesvan, which answers to part of our October and November [begins mid October], we find that the sheep were kept out in the open country during the whole summer. And, as these shepherds had not yet brought home their flocks, it is a presumptive argument that October had not yet commenced, and that, consequently, our Lord was not born on the 25th of December, when no flocks were out in the fields; nor could He have been born later than September, as the flocks were still in the fields by night. On this very ground, the nativity in December should be given up. The feeding of the flocks by night in the fields is a chronological fact... See the quotations from the Talmudists in Lightfoot."

Jesus and His Times, by Reader's Digest, page 24.  "During the winter (generally from November till Passover), when pasturage became slim and the rain and cold weather threatened, the sheep could no longer be kept outdoors and so were placed under cover. Because Luke mentions that the shepherds were 'out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night,' it is very likely that the traditional date for Christmas is inaccurate."

The Bible As History, by Werner Keller, page 354,  "At Christmas time Bethlehem is in the grip of frost, and in the Promised Land no cattle would have been in the fields in that temperature. This fact is borne out by a remark in the Talmud to the effect that in that neighbour-hood the flocks were put out to grass in March and brought in again at the beginning of November. They remained out in the open for almost eight months. Around Christmas time nowadays both animals and shepherds are under cover in Palestine."

If Yahweh had wished us to observe and celebrate His Son's birthday, would He have so completely hidden the exact date?  Of course not.  And He would have included instructions for us to do so.

There is not one word in the New Testament, or anywhere in the Scriptures, telling us to observe Christmas. The church of the first century, under the inspired teachings of Peter and Paul and the other apostles, never observed it. There is no scriptural authority for its observance.

Then where did we get "Christmas"?

http://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=2933 The Catholic Encyclopedia, article  "Christmas."  Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church.. . The first evidence of the feast is from Egypt." 

"Pagan customs centering around the January calends gravitated to Christmas."

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, James Orr, M.A., D.D., General editor vol. 1, page 24. "December 25th, celebrated as Christmas only since the fourth century AD, was chosen by early Christian leaders for both practical and symbolic reasons. In the pagan Roman Empire it had been the date of the beginning of the year's most popular feast, the Saturnalia, a time of wild holiday abandon. It was also astrologically significant, occurring as the winter sun began to move back toward its zenith in the summer heavens. It was the day, in other words, when all could see that the cycle of the seasons would continue and that life would begin again after the symbolic and literal death of winter."

The Bible As History, Werner Keller, page 353,  "December 25th is referred to in documents as Christmas Day in 354 for the first time. Under the Roman Emperor Justinian, it was recognized as an official holiday. An old Roman festival played a major part in the choice of this particular day. December 25th in Ancient Rome was the "Dies Natalis Invicti," the "birthday of the unconquered," the day of the winter solstice and at the same time, in Rome, the last day of the Saturnalia, which had long since degenerated into a week of unbridled carnival and therefore a time when the Christians could feel most safe from persecution."

Schaff-Herzog Religious Encyclopedia, Philip Schaff and Johann Jakob Herzog, page 93, “It is admitted by the most learned and candid writers of all parties that, within the Christian Church, no such festival as Christmas was ever heard of till the third century, and that not till the fourth century was far advanced did it gain much observance.”

"Upright men strove to stem the tide, but in spite of all their efforts the Apostasy went on till the Church, with the exception of a small remnant, was submerged under pagan superstition…that Christmas was originally a pagan festival is beyond all doubt."

These authorities show Christmas was not observed by "Christians" for the first two or three hundred years. It got into the Western, or Roman Church, by the fourth century A.D. It was not until the fifth century that the Roman Church ordered it to be celebrated as an official "Christian" festival!

Then how did this heathen custom creep into a so-called Christianity?

The Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia explains it clearly, in its article on "Christmas:" "How much the date of the festival depended upon the Pagan Brumalia (Dec. 25) following the Saturnalia (Dec. 17-24), and celebrating the shortest day of the year and the "new sun" ... cannot be accurately determined. The pagan Saturnalia and Brumalia were too deeply entrenched in popular custom to be set aside by Christian influence... The pagan festival with its riot and merrymaking was so popular that Christians were glad of an excuse to continue its celebration with little change in spirit and in manner. Christian preachers of the West and the Near East protested against the unseemly frivolity with which Christ's birthday was celebrated, while Christians of Mesopotamia accused their Western brethren of idolatry and sun-worship for adopting as Christian this pagan festival."

The Winter Solstice, John Matthews, page 14 - "Fire and light. These are the two poles around which the festival of Midwinter revolves. From the time of the first Neolithic farmers, through to the Celtic tribes, and later the Romans who invaded the land of Britain in AD 43 and remained until AD 436, the common practice was the celebration of the Midwinter sun (a god whose necessary power was sovereign). Thus ceremonies were almost always based around the need to preserve light and to ensure the return of the sun."

From page 23 of the same source, we find - "Saturnalia itself developed from the older rituals of Midwinter into a riotous assemblage of fun, laughter, and gift giving. It is, indeed, from this festival that we receive the idea of giving gifts at Christmas and not from the gifts of the Magi as commonly supposed."

Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, revised by Ivor H. Evans, page 964, article “Saturnalia” - "The ancient Roman festival of Saturn, celebrated on the nineteenth of December and eventually prolonged for seven days, was a time of freedom from restraint, merry-making and often riot and debauchery. During its continuance public business was suspended, the law courts and schools were closed and no criminals were punished."

Funk and Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend, Maria Leach, editor, page 974, - “The usual was suspended during the Saturnalia: no punishments were handed down by the courts; schools were closed; war-making ceased; the toga was replaced by an undergarment; masquerading and change of dress between the sexes occurred; gambling, especially dicing, was fully countenanced; social distinctions not only were not observed, but often reversed, as in the instance of masters serving their servants; speech and action (as in many fertility ceremonies) were to some extent unbridled. The whole series of observances obviously place the Saturnalia among the fertility rites; everything tended towards increasing the fruitfulness of nature and of the people of ensuring the rotation of the seasons by observing the turn of the sun northward again. The gift of imitation fruit has apparently to do with increase; the candles indicate the making of new fires customary at the solstices; the dolls, as has been noted as early as Varro, are the remains of the custom of human sacrifice."

Remember, the Roman world had been pagan. Prior to the fourth century, believers were few in number, though increasing, and were persecuted by the government and by pagans. But, with the advent of Constantine as emperor, who made his profession of Christianity, in the fourth century, placing Christianity on an equal footing with paganism, people of the Roman world began to accept this now popular Christianity by the hundreds of thousands.

But remember, these people had grown up in pagan customs, chief of which was this idolatrous festival of December 25th. It was a festival of merrymaking, with its special spirit. They enjoyed it! They didn't want to give it up!

And that is how "Christmas" got into so-called Christianity! We may call it by another name, but it's the same old pagan sun-worshipping festival still! The only change is in what we call it! You can call a rabbit a "lion," but it's a rabbit, just the same.

Encyclopedia Britannica, article Christmas - "Certain Latins, as early as 354, may have transferred the birthday from January 6th to December 25th, which was then a Mithraic feast, . . . or birthday of the unconquered sun . . . The Syrians and Armenians, who clung to January 6th, accused the Romans of sun-worship and idolatry, contending that the feast of December 25th, had been invented by disciples of Cerinthus."

What is meant by a Mithraic feast? What's that got to do with Christmas?

The Winter Solstice, John Matthews, page 53, - "Mithras was a solar deity who had been sent to earth by the God of Light to slay a huge bull whose blood was the source of all fertility on earth. Worshipers underwent extremely rigorous rites of baptism and self-sacrifice that ended when they reached a semi-divine status. The central event of the cult was the slaying of the bull, which was seen as a cosmic parable of creation and redemption.”

"Mithras's birth was attended by shepherds, and at the end of his time on Earth, when Mithras returned to his father, he took a last supper with his followers, later remembered by believers in a communion of bread and wine. At the end he was believed not to have died but ascended to heaven, whence it was believed he would return at the end of time to raise the dead from their tombs for a final judgment."

But if we got Christmas from the Roman Catholics, and they got it from paganism, where did the pagans get it?  Where, when, and what was its real origin?

The idea came from Babylon – from Nimrod, great-grandson of Noah.  He built the tower of Babel, and many cities, into a great kingdom.  But he was a rebel – an evil person.  So much so that he married his own mother, Semiramis.

After Nimrod died, Semiramis spread the idea that Nimrod still lived as a spirit being.  She claimed that a full-grown evergreen tree grew overnight out of a dead tree stump.  That tree symbolized his new life.  Nimrod, who would leave gifts on it, would visit the evergreen every December 25th.

Semiramis became known as the Babylonian “Queen of Heaven”.  She and the “reborn” Nimrod began to be worshiped as “Mother and Child.”  The same worship went on into other countries, with various names.

In the 4th and 5th centuries, the pagans of the Roman world were “accepting” Christianity.  But they were adding all their old customs and beliefs.  The “Mother and Child” idea really became a popular part of worship.  Even Christianity.  Just consider the words of the hymn “Silent Night, Holy Night.”  People look at these things as sacred, but they have no idea where the customs came from.

Yahweh commands His faithful ministers, "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgressions!" (Isaiah 58:1) Shocking as these facts are, they are the plain facts of history and the Scriptures.

The real origin of Christmas goes back to the ancient Babylon. It is bound up in the organized apostasy with which Satan has gripped a deceived world these many centuries! In Egypt, it was always believed that the son of Isis (Egyptian name for "Queen of Heaven") was born December 25th. Paganism celebrated this famous birthday over most of the known world for centuries before the birth of Yahshua.

December 25th is not the birthday of Yahshua the true Messiah! There is no proof that the apostles and early true believers ever celebrated His birthday.  There is no command or instruction to celebrate it in the Scriptures.  Nowhere do the Scriptures tell us to worship "Mother and Child." The apostles and early true believers never did it!

Mary was highly blessed by Yahweh, and this has been acknowledged by all generations from that time, but this does not mean she is to be deified, worshiped, made a divine being, when she was merely human. The wide-spread worship of Mary, as "the Mother of God," the doctrine of the immaculate conception, which refers to her a counterfeit mediatrix between man and Yahweh, is a continuation of this ancient Babylonian idolatry, begun by the clever deceptions of Semiramis, wife of Nimrod! It is inextricably bound up with the "Christmas" idea!

Now let’s look at some of the trappings of Christmas and their origins.

 

MISTLETOE

Among the ancient pagans the mistletoe was used at this festival of the winter solstice because it was considered sacred to the sun, because of its supposed miraculous healing power. The pagan custom of kissing under the mistletoe was an early step in the night of revelry and drunken debauchery-celebrating the death of the "old sun" and the birth of the new at the winter solstice. Mistletoe, sacred in pagan festivals, is a parasite!

Christian Customs and Traditions: Their History and Significance, by Clement A. Miles, page 731, regarding mistletoe - "It was regarded as mysterious and sacred from earliest times from the Mediterranean to the Baltic, a bestower of life and fertility, a protection against poisons, and potent for numerous medical and magical uses, an allheal, an aphrodisiac."

Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, revised by Ivor Evans, page 718, “kissing under the mistletoe was an English Christmas custom in the early 17th century. The mistletoe was to be hung overhead. If a female stood under it, the male was to pick a berry and give her a kiss. When the berries ran out, the kissing was to stop.”

An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, J. C. Cooper, page 106, “Mistletoe The life-essence; divine substance; the all-healing; immortality.  As neither tree nor shrub it symbolizes that which is neither one nor the other, which, by extension, is the realm of freedom from limitation, so that anyone under the mistletoe is free from restrictions, but also free from protection, and re-enters the world of chaos.”

 

HOLLY

Holly berries were also considered sacred to the sun-god.

Funk and Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend, Maria Leach, editor, page 501, -- "Holly is an evergreen tree or shrub with thorny leaves, white flowers, and red berries. The use of holly in religious ceremonies is of considerable antiquity; probably its use as a Christmas decoration was adopted by early Roman Christians from the Roman Saturnalia."

Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, revised by Ivor Evans, page 538, “Holly.  The custom of decorating churches and houses with holly at CHRISTMAS-time is of great antiquity and may derive from its earlier use by the Romans in the festival of the SATURNALIA, which occurred at the same season, or from the old Teutonic custom.”

An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, J. C. Cooper, page 83, “Holly  Good will; joy; an attribute of sun gods.  In Rome the holly was sacred to Saturn and used in the Saturnalia as a symbol of health and happiness.”

YULE

The yule log is in reality the "sun log". "Yule" means "wheel": a pagan symbol of the sun. Yet today professing Christians speak of the "sacred yuletide season!"

Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, revised by Ivor Evans, page 1173, “Yule, Yuletide.  The name of a heathen festival at the winter SOLSTICE.” 

“Yule log, or Yule Clog.  A great log of wood formerly laid across the hearth with great ceremony on Christmas eve and lit with a brand from the previous year’s log.  There followed drinking and merriment.”

The Winter Solstice, John Matthews, page 98, - "The word yule has been variously interpreted as deriving from the Saxon word heal wheel, referring in this context both to the circling of the year and the circular motion of the sun.”

"The Yule Log is above all a reminder of the importance of fire in the depth of the cold and darkness of Midwinter."

Even the lighting of fires and candles as a "Christian" ceremony is merely a continuation of the pagan custom, encouraging the waning sun-god as he reached the lowest place in the southern skies!

An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, J. C. Cooper, page 197, “Yule It is also the festival of the Dying God, whose birthday is December 25, and who, as Tammuz, Attis and Dionysos, is symbolized by the aniconic log, ritually burned at the end of the old year, signifying the death of Winter and the rebirth of the power of the sun; the fire drives out death and, with its creative force, rekindles the solar power; it also burns out the old life of each person and creates the new, giving a fresh start at the new year; the ashes are scattered on the soil from which new life and the Spring will emerge.  The Yule Log is of oak, the Cosmic Tree of the Druids.”

“December 25, the winter solstice, with the rebirth of the sun, has always been a significant celebration in solar worship.”

 

CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS

Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, revised by Ivor Evans, page 224, “CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS.  The Roman festival of Saturn was held in December and the temples were decorated with greenery; the DRUIDS are associated with MISTLETOE, and the Saxons used HOLLY and IVY.  These customs have been transferred to the Christian festival.  The holly or holy-tree is called Christ’s thorn in Germany and Scandinavia, from its use in church decorations and its putting forth its berries about Christmas time.”

 

“The decorated Christmas tree was in use among the Romans and was introduced into England from Germany soon after Queen Victoria’s marriage with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in 1840.  SANTA CLAUS and his reindeer came to England at the same time.”

 

CHRISTMAS STAR

Sacred Origins of Profound Things, Charles Panati, page 137, Star of Bethlehem:  New Testament, Matthew 2:1-12 - “In Christianity, this is the primary star symbol, which guided the Magi, the first Gentiles to worship Jesus, to his birthplace: “The magi came from the East to Jerusalem, saying, ‘where is he that is born king of the Jews?  For we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him’” (Matt. 2:2).”

“This early symbol, the first connected with Jesus’ birth, is of major importance to Christian theologians.  Some half-century before Saint Paul would bring Christ’s teachings to the Gentiles, a star prophetically had drawn three Gentiles to the new ‘king.’  As the Douay-Confraternity Bible makes clear in a footnote to the biblical text:  ‘The first-fruits of the gentiles seek the new-born king of the Jews, and pay Him honor as Christ and god.’  Thus the ‘star in the east’ is the glow of Christianity on the horizon.”

It is not coincidental that the word ‘magi’ mirrors our word ‘magic.’  In Old Persian, magi (singular magus) were members of a priestly caste, magicians with occult powers.  The Star of Bethlehem is correctly an occult symbol.”

 

CHRISTMAS TREE

An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, J. C. Cooper, page 35-36, “Christmas Tree The evergreen tree is the Winter Solstice; the New Year and a fresh beginning.  It is the tree of rebirth and immortality, the Tree of Paradise of lights and gifts, shining by night.  Each light is a soul and the lights also represent the sun, moon and stars shining in the branches of the Cosmic Tree.  The pine tree, sacred to Attis, Atargatis, Cybele, was hung with gold and silver ornaments, bells, etc., with the sacred bird in the branches and sacrificial gifts underneath; the tree was afterwards burnt.  The Yuletide tree (q.v.) was the fir, sacred to Woden/Odin.”

 

SANTA CLAUS

But could Santa Claus be a creature of paganism as well? Yes. And his real character is not so benevolent and holy as many suppose!

The name "Santa Claus" is a corruption of the name "St. Nicholas" a Roman Catholic bishop who lived in the 5th century. Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. 19, pages 648-9, 11th edition, "St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra, . . . a saint honored by the Greeks and Latins on the sixth of December . . . A legend of his surreptitious bestowal of dowries on the three daughters of an impoverished citizen... is said to have originated the old custom of giving presents in secret on the eve of St. Nicholas [Dec. 6]. Subsequently transferred to Christmas Day. Hence the association of Christmas with Santa Claus."

Through the year, parents punish their children for telling falsehoods. Then, at Christmas time, they themselves tell their little children this "Santa Claus" lie! Is it any wonder many of them, when they grow up and learn the truth, begin to believe Yahweh is a myth, too?

Is it "Christian" to teach children myths and falsehoods? Yahweh says, "You shall not bear false witness!" It may seem right, and be justified by human reason, but Yahweh says, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death!’ (Proverbs 14:12,16:25)

"Old Nick" also is a term for the devil! Is there a connection? Satan appears as an "angel of light:" to deceive!

The Scriptures are silent about telling us to observe Christmas, or recording any such observance by the apostles or early true Church, but it does have something to say about the Christmas tree!

Jeremiah 10: 2-6 says: 2-"Thus says Yahweh, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 3-For the customs of the people are vain; for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. 4-They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not."

There is a perfect description of the Christmas tree, termed by Yahweh as "the way of the heathen-the custom of the people." We are commanded not to learn that way or follow it! It is also viewed in this passage as idolatry. The fifth verse shows that these trees cannot speak, cannot walk, must be carried. 5-"Be not afraid of them, for they (the trees) cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good" They are not gods to be feared. Some people misread this to make it say there is no harm in having a Christmas tree, but that is not what it says.

 

GIFTS

But when it comes to the most important part of all in this Christmas observance, the Christmas shopping season, the buying and exchanging of gifts, many will exclaim triumphantly, "Well, at least the Scriptures tell us to do that! Didn't the wise men give gifts when Messiah was born?"

First, let's look at the historic origin of trading gifts back and forth, then see exactly what the Scriptures do say about it.

The Bibliotheca Sacra, Vol. 12. Pages 153- 155, - "The interchange of presents between friends is alike characteristic of Christmas and the Saturnalia, and must have been adopted by Christians from the Pagans, as the admonition of Tertullian plainly shows."

The fact is this custom fastened upon people of exchanging gifts with friends and relatives at the Christmas season has not a single trace of "Christianity" about it! This does not celebrate Messiah's birthday or honor it or Him! Suppose someone you love has a birthday. You want to honor that person on his or her birthday. Would you lavishly buy gifts for everyone else, trading gifts back and forth with all your other friends and loved ones, but ignore completely any gift for the one whose birthday you are honoring? Rather absurd, when viewed in that light, isn't it?

Yet this is exactly what people the world over are doing! They honor a day that is not Messiah's birthday by spending every dime they can scrape together in buying presents to trade back and forth among friends and relatives.

Now consider what the Scriptures say about giving gifts when Messiah was born. It is in Matthew 2:1-2,11. 1-"Now when Yahshua was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2-saying Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.  11- And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshiped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh."

Notice, they inquired for the child, who was born king of the Jews! Now why did they present gifts to Him? Because it was His birthday? Not at all, because they came several days after the date of his birth! Was it to set an example for us, today, to trade gifts back and forth among ourselves? No, notice carefully! They did not exchange gifts among themselves, but "they presented unto him gifts." They gave their gifts to the child, not to their friends, relatives, or one another!

Why? Adam Clarke Commentary Vol. 5, page 46: "Verse 11. "(They presented unto him gifts). The people of the east never approach the presence of kings and great personages, without a present in their hands. The custom is often noticed in the Old Testament, and still prevails in the east, and in some of the newly discovered South Sea Islands."

They were not instituting a new custom of exchanging gifts with friends to honor Messiah's birthday. They were following an old and ancient eastern custom of presenting gifts to a king when they come into his presence. They were approaching Him, born king of the Jews, in person. Therefore custom required they present gifts-even as the Queen of Sheba brought gifts to Solomon,even as many people today take a gift along when they visit the White House for an appointment with the President.

No, the custom of trading gifts back and forth does not stem from this Scriptural incident at all, but rather, as quoted from history above, it is the continuance of an ancient pagan custom.

Christmas has become a commercial season. It's sponsored, kept alive, by the heaviest retail advertising campaign of the year. You see a masqueraded "Santa Claus" in many stores. Ads keep us deluded and deceived about the "beautiful Christmas spirit." The newspapers, which sell the ads, print flowery editorials exalting and eulogizing the pagan season, and its "spirit." A gullible people has become so inoculated, many take offense when told the truth! But the "Christmas spirit" is created each year, not to honor Messiah, but to sell merchandise! Like all Satan's delusions, it appears as an "angel of light" to make it appear good. Billions of dollars are spent in this merchandising spree every year. It's part of the economic system of Babylon!

We are Yahweh's people Israel! Yes, we're in Babylon, as Scriptural prophecy foretold, and we don't even know it! "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues"  Rev. 18:4.

Yahshua, the Messiah, could not have been born in December, as we have seen. There is no mention in Scriptures of anyone observing His birthday. Yahweh lists for us, in Leviticus 23, the days He wants us to observe. Christmas, and all the other holidays the world observes, are not listed there. Should we observe them?

In Deuteronomy 4:2, Yahweh says, 2-"You shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish ought from it, that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh your Elohim, which I have commanded you."

Do you think that observing Christmas should not be a problem? Is it because you say you're worshipping your Savior, not the pagan gods and rituals? Then maybe you'd better consider more of Yahweh's words.

Deuteronomy 12:29-32 - 29 "When Yahweh your Elohim shall cut off the nations from before you, where you go to possess them, and you succeed them, and dwell in their land; 30 Take heed to yourself that you be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before you; and that you inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise. 31 You shall not do so unto Yahweh your Elohim: for every abomination to Yahweh, which he hates, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters have they burnt in the fire to their gods.32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: you shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it."

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Congregation of YHWH, Irving, TX.
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2013-22 Biblical Feast Days - Calendar Card

This Calendar Card is not based on the Hillel II Jewish Calendar, neither does it contain the postponements found in the Hillel II Jewish Calendar.

This Calendar Card is not based on AVIV BARLEY.


This Calendar Card is based on the Conjunction New Moon, not the Crescent.

Click on picture for larger image

Note: The Hillel II Jewish Calendar calculation is based on the "molad" or average date of the Conjunction New Moon then the Postponement rules are applied(see which-biblical-festival-calendar-do-you follow).

The effect of the postponement rules is to move the beginning date of each New Moon. This results in confusion especially when some months coincide with the Conjunction New Moon and some months the postponement rules appear to support the Crescent New Moon.

2018 Biblical Feast Days

New Year -  April 16, 2018 (VE-Vernal Equinox 03/21/2018)

1st month New Year
1st Conjunction New Moon on or after vernal equinox
Conjunction New Moon  - April 16, 2018 (VE-Vernal Equinox 03/21/2018)

Passover - 14th Day of 1st month - April 29, 2018 - observed the previous evening at beginning of the 14th Day after sunset on Saturday April 28, 2018.

April 30, 2018 - 1st Day of Without Leavening - High Holy Day - observed as a Special Sabbath (no servile work-meal preparation is permitted Exodus 12:16).

April 30, 2018 thru May 6, 2018 - 7 Days without eating anything containing a Leavening Agent.

May 6, 2018 - 7th Day of Without Leavening - High Holy Day -  observed as a Special Sabbath (no servile work-meal preparation is permitted Exodus 12:16).

May 6, 2018 - Wave Sheaf Omer -1st Day of Counting from the Wave Sheaf Omer - fifty days to Pentecost.

June 24,2018 - Pentecost-Shavuot - 50th Day of counting from the Wave Sheaf Omer.

October 9, 2018 - Trumpets-Yom Teruah - High Holy Day - observed as a Special Sabbath (no servile work-meal preparation is permitted Exodus 12:16).

 October 18, 2018 - Atonements-Yom Kippurim - High Holy Day - observed as a Special Sabbath (no work-no exceptions).

October 23, 2018 - 1st Day of Tabernacles-Succoth - High Holy Day - observed as a Special Sabbath (no servile work-meal preparation is permitted Exodus 12:16)..

October 23, 2018 thru October 30, 2018 - 8 Days of Tabernacles-Succoth

October 30, 2018 - 8th & Last Great Day of Tabernacles-Succoth - High Holy Day - observed as a Special Sabbath (no servile work-meal preparation is permitted Exodus 12:16).

http://www.thecongregationofyhwh.org/ updated 05-24-18

DAYS OF UNLEAVENS

(The Scriptures quoted are from The Interlinear Bible, a literal translation by Jay P. Green, Sr., as general editor and translator, with the transliterated Hebrew names of the Father and Son, Yahweh and Yahshua.)

Although they may not observe it, most people have at least heard of the Passover. However, they know very little, if anything about the week that follows it, known to many as the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

The Hebrew word for bread, lechem, is not used in the Scriptures that talk about this festival. The Hebrew word used in place of the English “unleavened bread” is #4682, matsah. It means sweetness; sweet (i.e. not soured or bittered with yeast); an unfermented cake or loaf.

The definition is explained as meaning “unleavened bread”, but there are many other food products that can also be leavened, and this would have to do with those as well. These would be items such as cakes, cookies, waffles, crackers, cobblers, donuts, etc. That is one reason we simply say unleavens and not just bread. Today there are myriads of products that contain leaven of which we may not be aware at all.

The Hebrew word for “leaven” is #4682, se’or. It means barm or yeast-cake (as swelling by fermentation).

INSTRUCTIONS FROM SCRIPTURE

Exodus 12:1-14 and 21-28 contain the instructions regarding the observance of the Passover. Between those two sections is the first mention of the Days of Unleavens.

Exodus 12:15-20 15-Seven days shall you eat unleavens; even the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eats leaven from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. 16-And in the first day there shall be a set-apart convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be a set-apart convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every soul may eat, that only may be done of you. 17-And you shall observe unleavens: for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall you observe this day in your generations by an ordinance forever. 18-In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, you shall eat unleavens, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. 19-Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eats that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land. 20-You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall you eat unleavens.

Exodus 13:6-7 6-Seven days you shall eat unleavens, and in the seventh day there shall be a feast of Yahweh. 7-Unleavens shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leaven be seen with you, neither shall there be leaven seen with you in all your quarters.

Exodus 23:15 You shall keep the feast of unleavens: (you shall eat unleavens seven days, as I commanded you, in the time appointed in the month of the aviv; for in it you came out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty).

Leviticus 23:5-8 5-In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is Yahweh’s Passover. 6-And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavens unto Yahweh: seven days you must eat unleavens. 7-In the first day you shall have a set-apart convocation: you shall do no servile work therein. 8-But you shall offer an offering made by fire unto Yahweh seven days: in the seventh day is a set-apart convocation: you shall do no servile work therein.

WHAT ARE AND ARE NOT LEAVENING AGENTS?

Farm Journal’s Homemade Breads, Alice Joy Miller, Editor –

Page 11 – “Yeast, a microscopic plant that lives all around us in the air and soil, needs air, moisture and sugar or starch to grow, and it thrives in the moist, sticky environment of bread dough. As yeast grows, it converts sugars and starches into carbon dioxide and alcohol in a process known as fermentation.”

Page 13 – “Baking soda, or bicarbonate of soda, was the first chemical leavener used in this country. It must be combined with an acid, such as buttermilk, yogurt or molasses, to produce the carbon dioxide that makes dough rise. Baking soda reacts immediately when moistened and always should be sifted or mixed with dry ingredients before liquid is added.”

“Baking powder is a mix of baking soda, an acid such as cream of tartar, and an absorbent such as cornstarch. When mixed with liquid, baking powder releases some carbon dioxide immediately. Like baking soda, it must be sifted or mixed with dry ingredients before being added to liquid.”

Page 14 – “Starters such as sourdough starter, beer starter and salt starter are unpredictable at best. Before yeast became commercially available, cooks would set a mixture of flour and liquid in a warm place in the hope of capturing the yeast that’s present in the air. In a few days, with luck, the starter would begin to ferment and bubble, and then it could be used to make bread.”

“Starters were kept ‘going’ by replenishing them each time bread was made. Sometimes starters produced big, high loaves of bread, and sometimes not. That’s why once the integrity of the starter was proven, it was passed along to neighbors and friends.”

Cream of tartar alone will not leaven. It is a fine white powder derived from a crystalline acid deposited on the inside of wine barrels. It is added to candies and frostings to give them a creamier texture; to egg whites before beating to improve stability and volume; or as an acid to aid the leavening properties of baking soda.

Brewer’s yeast is a by-product of the fermentation of beer. It is rich in vitamins, especially in B-complex. It will not leaven anything.

Yeast extracts are the proteins derived from inactivated (killed) yeast. They are used as a flavor enhancer and will be listed on labels as “yeast extract”, “yeast autolysate” or “torula yeast”, describing the ways in which it is made. This extract does not contain any live yeast cells and will not have any leavening effect.

Eggs, of themselves, are not leavening agents. Boiled, scrambled, fried, etc, they do not rise. Simply stirred into a batter that does not contain any other leavening agent, they alone will not leaven the baked product.

BUT – if the whole eggs are beaten till light and foamy, they will add air to make things like popovers rise. Egg whites separated and beaten fluffy and full of air, will cause expansion when a batter is heated. For example, egg whites are often the only “leavening” in an angel food cake.

All the other above-mentioned leavening agents are simply mixed into the flour and/or dough. But beaten egg whites require that you make a deliberate change in the egg and alter its characteristics. Why is that being done? In order to get a light, fluffy product, right? Why? Is it an attempt to get around the law of Yahweh?

Beverages such as carbonated drinks or beer will leaven a baked product. A 7-Up in a cake rather than baking powder will result in a light, soft texture, also due to carbon dioxide. So, for this one week, these drinks would be considered leavened.

In Deuteronomy 16:3, unleavened bread is referred to as the bread of affliction. The word “affliction” is # 6040, ohnee, meaning depression or misery. The children of Israel were just coming out of misery when Yahweh took them out of Egypt. Some will look at that and say that it is a bread of misery – not something to be enjoyed. But consider: due to their traveling, they could not have their usual bread. The unleavened product reminded them of freedom. They had just come out of depression and misery. We are to do this for seven days to be reminded that Yahweh is also rescuing us from misery and depression – of sin. So can’t we dispense with soft bread and cakes for just one week and stop trying to circumvent the rules Yahweh has set in place?

CHAMETZ

When the Jews refer to leavened things, you will hear the word chametz. The root for that word is #2556, chametz, meaning to be pungent, i.e. in taste (sour, i.e., literally, fermented, or figuratively, harsh). In other words – to be leavened.

But the Jews’ definition is somewhat different.

Living Judaism, by Rabbi Wayne Dosick, page 164 –

“In Hebrew, leaven is called chametz. But everything – not just leavened bread – that is prohibited on Pesach is also called chametz. The Rabbinic sages went far in defining chametz when they delineated the Pesach food prohibitions. The rabbis specified five grains that are chametz (presumably because leavened bread can be made from them): wheat, barley, spelt, rye, and oats. To these were added rice and legumes (including peas, beans, corn, maize, lentils, millet and mustard), which expand when cooked.”

“Thus prohibited on Pesach are leavened bread, cakes, cookies, biscuits, crackers, cereals, coffee (if mixed with grain), and anything else made from any one of the five grains, including beer and liquor. The only exception is the matzah. Although it is usually made from wheat, production is carefully supervised by rabbinic authorities who make sure that the wheat flour comes in contact with water (the process which would cause the wheat to rise) for only a specified number of minutes, precluding leavening.”

PREPARATION

This festival will be much easier to handle with some advance planning. About a month ahead of time (or maybe two), do an inventory of your kitchen. What leavening agents or leavened products are in your pantry, cabinets, freezer or refrigerator? Set them aside or make a mental note of what is there. That leaves time for you to use those things up before that week arrives. Also keep these days in mind every time you go to the grocery store and don’t buy any more than you can use up before that week begins. That way, you won’t have to throw away unused items on which you spent your money. Because it will have to be thrown out because Yahweh says we are not to have anything leavened for that week.

Cleaning for the Days of Unleavens isn’t exactly mentioned in the Scriptures. So where does the idea come from?

Think about it. What is the best way to be sure we have all of these products out? It would be to clean the cabinets, refrigerator, freezer, etc. If we are to remove anything leavened, that includes crumbs, too, doesn’t it? So what about the oven, the microwave, any area where you eat, etc? But especially the toaster! What about fast food in the vehicle? That’s your property, too, isn’t it? Though I have never seen any quotes nor do I have any proof, I feel that this is where the idea of spring housecleaning originated.

Oh, and don’t forget to empty the vacuum cleaner bag!

LIVING WITH UNBELIEVERS

What if others in your household do not believe as you do and do not plan to observe the days of unleavens? If you are responsible for the meals, check out our recipes – you may not have to disrupt your usual plans as much as you think. If the other person(s) in your household insists on leavening, that is their choice. It doesn’t mean that you have to eat it, too. Just think carefully before you eat something.

As for cleaning, do as much as you can. If you have a separate room, make sure that is clean. Set aside a space for unleavened items from which you may eat freely.

At work, you can make sure that there is no leavening in your cubicle or desk. If you are allowed to have foods there, keep some unleavened item to snack on to help avoid the office donuts!

WHAT CAN BE EATEN?

You can eat any grain product that is unleavened. In the stores, you can find such items as matzos and other cracker-like products. But be sure to carefully check all labels, even if they do say kosher for Passover. Don’t forget items such as breading on fish, chicken fried steak, fried chicken, chicken nuggets, etc. Of course, graham cracker piecrusts contain leavening and so do some of the regular piecrusts. You may have to do some searching. It will be necessary to check the ingredient labels on everything. Leaven will be found in strange places and sometimes they can be very unexpected.

By the way, check ingredient lists yearly. The ingredient list can change as products may be altered or improved.

We need to plan ahead for these days because we can’t go make a sandwich or grab some fast food at the last minute.

Try baking your own bread or crackers. Handle it quickly though. Don’t let the batter or dough sit uncovered, as it will pick up air-borne yeast spores. If you cannot roll out and cook all the dough in one pan and have to finish in another baking, just make sure any left behind is well covered. Feel free to experiment with herbs and seasonings as well.

CONNECTION TO PENTECOST

Though Pentecost (Feast of Weeks) is another festival, it is tied to the Passover/Unleavens season, where its countdown begins on the day of the wave sheaf offering. The description is as follows:

Leviticus 23:9-11,14 9-And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 10-Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them, When you come into the land which I am giving to you, and have reaped its harvest, and have brought in the sheaf, the beginning of your harvest, to the priest, 11-then he shall wave the sheaf before Yahweh for your acceptance, on the morrow of the sabbath the priest shall wave it. 14-And you shall not eat bread and roasted grain and fresh ears until this self-same day, until you have brought the offering of your Elohim, it is a never-ending statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

Deuteronomy 16:9-10,16-17 9-You shall number to yourselves seven weeks. When the sickle begins to reap in the standing grain, you shall begin to number seven weeks. 10-And you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to Yahweh your Elohim according to the measure of the free-will offering of your hand, which you shall give according as Yahweh your Elohim blesses you. 16-Three times in a year shall all your males appear before Yahweh your Elohim in the place which He shall choose: In the Feast of Unleavens, and in the Feast of Weeks, and in the Feast of Tabernacles. And they shall not appear before Yahweh empty, 17-but each with his gift in his hand, according to the blessing of Yahweh your Elohim, which He has given you.

Yahweh has three distinct festival seasons. These festivals are all in celebration of the harvests: the barley harvest for Unleavens; the wheat for the Feast of Weeks, and the fruits (grapes, figs, olives) and nuts for Tabernacles. The people were to bring offerings for those festivals. They were not to appear empty – they were to bring the first fruits of each product.

The offering, called the wave sheaf offering, of the barley was to be offered “on the morrow of the sabbath”. There have been two ways of looking at this. Is it to be the Sunday after the weekly Sabbath or the annual Sabbath (the first day of Unleavens) that starts the count? The phrase “the sabbath”, or “ha-Shabbat” in Hebrew always appears in the context of the weekly Sabbath, not for any of the annual Sabbaths. It is stressed as the Sabbath.

The next argument presented has been whether or not that Sabbath must appear in the Days of Unleavens. The importance in Scripture seems to be on “the morrow of the sabbath”, the first day of the week and not the Sabbath itself.

This discussion arose when Passover came on the weekly Sabbath and the first Day of Unleavens was on Sunday. Did the count start on that first day, the morrow of the Sabbath? Or should it be postponed to follow the only Sabbath that appeared within the Days of Unleavens, the last day of the festival? Some ay it must be following the last day, thus putting the wave sheaf outside the week of Unleavens.

In the years when the days fall that way, the Congregation of YHWH of Irving starts the count on the first Day of Unleavens on the first day of the week. Besides being an annual Sabbath, the wave sheaf would also be that day. If this is to be a harvest festival, why would the wave sheaf offering be postponed until that festival would be over? Yahweh told them not to come empty to that festival, but with their gift in their hand.

Starting with the morrow of the Sabbath (the morrow falling within the festival) as day #1, count 7 weeks (or weekly Sabbaths). The fiftieth day will also fall on the first day of the week – the morrow of the Sabbath. That would be the Feast of Weeks.

(For more detailed information on this counting, please see our article “Pentecost – Feast of Weeks”)

WHY UNLEAVENS?

The festival of Unleavens is a week that Yahweh specified no leaven was to be eaten. Those Israelites leaving Egypt didn’t have a choice. The only form of leaven they had available was sourdough and they had no time for that to rise.

Yahshua used leaven as an analogy that the disciples would understand.

Matthew 16:6,12 6-Then Yahshua said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. 12-Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of the bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

Luke 12:1 In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trod one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware you of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

What Yahshua is saying is that their attitude of superiority and hypocrisy – their sin – was likened to leaven. That sin caused them to “puff up” with importance and arrogance, just as leaven “puffs up” the bread. Putting the leaven out of our homes and meals is likened to putting sin out of our lives. That is where the unleavened bread comes in.

John 6:35 And Yahshua said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that comes to me shall never hunger: and he that believes on me shall never thirst.

He is the bread. He was sinless. Wouldn’t that mean that He was unleavened?

His last evening as a human was the Passover, which required unleavened bread.

Matthew 26:26 And as they were eating, Yahshua took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat: this is my body.

Luke 22:19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and broke it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.

The eating of the unleavened bread is a symbol of taking Yahshua into our lives; of trying to become more like Him every day. We should be trying to live a leaven-free (sinless) life every day, not just for seven days only.

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Copyright ©2012

Congregation of YHWH, Irving, TX.
224 North Story Road  Suite #138

Irving, Texas 75061

Mailing Address:

P.O. Box 170309

Dallas, Texas 75217-0309

Telephone: 1-800-867-0150

http://www.thecongregationofyhwh.org/ updated 05-24-18

LIVE STREAMING - BIBLE STUDY AND SERMON LINKS

The links to the following website is provided with the permission of www.thecongregationofyhwh.org.  These speakers have had a profound impact on the content of the articles found on this website and I would like to encourage you to listen to each and everyone of the linked Video files and learn.


 Live Video Streaming of Sabbath Services
Each Saturday at 1pm (cdst) Bible Study - 3pm (cdst) Sermon

LIST OF SPEAKERS:  
DM - Dennis Martin - Sermon 1st & 3rd Sabbath
BW - Bob Widmer - Study 4th Sabbath
YB - Yohance Branch - Study 2nd Sabbath - Sermon 4th Sabbath
CH - Curtis Holland - Sermon 1st Sabbath
DG - David Gibson - Study - rotating Sabbaths
CS - Carlos Serrato, jr. - Study - rotating Sabbaths
TD - Ted DeFelice - Study - rotating Sabbaths

Archived Sabbath Services Video files click on the following link:

The Congregation Of Yhwh Sabbath Service Video Files


updated 05-24-18

reprinted with permission:

 

Copyright ©2018

Congregation of YHWH, Irving, TX.
224 North Story Road  Suite #138

Irving, Texas 75061

Mailing Address:

P.O. Box 170309

Dallas, Texas 75217-0309

Telephone: 1-800-867-0150

http://www.thecongregationofyhwh.org/ updated 05-24-18

IS YAHSHUA THE PASSOVER LAMB?

______________________________________________________________________

(Unless otherwise noted, the Scriptures quoted are from The Interlinear Bible, a literal translation by Jay P. Green, Sr., as general editor and translator, with the transliterated Hebrew names of the Father and Son, Yahweh and Yahshua.)

Have you ever heard your Savior referred to as the Passover lamb? Yet, there are assemblies that teach that very seriously. They have built doctrines – and even religions – around that idea. Do other Scriptures truly support their doctrines?

There is only one verse that they quote as proof-text of this doctrine. In the King James Version of the Bible, this one verse says:

I Corinthians 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven; that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

Their “doctrine” is made up of several components –

1. Yahshua was the Passover Lamb.
2. Yahshua died at the same time the Jews were killing the Passover lambs.
3. The Passover lamb was a sin sacrifice.
4. The Passover lamb brought forgiveness.
5. The partaking of the bread and wine – called by some the “Lord’s Supper” – brings forgiveness today.

Are these statements true? Is the idea factual? Or could there be more to the story? Yahshua died for our sins – that is true. But was it as the Passover lamb? Was the Passover lamb a sin sacrifice? Are these the same thing or is there a difference? What is the context surrounding Paul’s statement?

SIN SACRIFICES

Exactly what was a sin sacrifice? What animal was used? How was it done? These sacrifices are not done now, so today’s world is not familiar with them and the preachers seem to ignore the definitive Scriptures. So first, a foundation must be laid.

There are several chapters in Leviticus that outline various types of sacrifices. Leviticus 4 is concerned with the sin sacrifice rules. Differences appear in the rules depending upon who is seeking atonement and presenting an animal to be sacrificed.

Verses 3-12 give instructions for the priest that is anointed –

1. A young unblemished bullock is to be offered.
2. The priest himself shall lay his hands on the bullock.
3. The priest himself shall kill the bullock.
4. The priest shall sprinkle of the blood 7 times before the veil of the sanctuary.
5. The priest shall put blood on the horns of the altar in the tabernacle.
6. The priest shall pour the remaining blood at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering at the door of the tabernacle.
7. The fat that covers the inwards, along with the kidneys, shall be burnt on the altar of the burnt offering.
8. The remainder of the animal shall be burned outside the camp.

Verses 13-21 give instructions if the sacrifice is for the congregation as a whole –

1. A young bullock is to be offered.
2. The elders shall lay their hands on the head of the bullock and the bullock shall be slain.
3. The priest shall sprinkle blood 7 times before the veil of the sanctuary.
4. The priest shall put blood on the horns of the altar in the tabernacle.
5. The priest shall pour the remaining blood at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering at the door of the tabernacle.
6. The fat shall be burnt on the altar.
7. The remainder of the animal shall be burned outside the camp.

Verses 22-26 give instructions if the sacrifice is for a ruler –

1. An unblemished male kid of the goats is to be offered.
2. The ruler shall lay his hand on the head of the goat.
3. The ruler shall slay the animal at the place of burnt offerings.
4. The priest shall put blood on the horns of the altar of burnt offerings.
5. The priest shall pour the remainder of the blood at the bottom of the altar.
6. The priest shall burn the fat upon the altar.

Verses 27-35 give instructions for the common man –

1. An unblemished female kid of the goats or the lambs is to be offered.
2. The sinner shall lay his hand on the head of the animal.
3. The sinner shall slay the animal at the place of burnt offerings.
4. The priest shall put blood on the horns of the altar of burnt offerings.
5. The priest shall pour the remaining blood at the bottom of the altar.
6. The priest shall burn the fat on the altar.

In these four instances, who was covered by these sacrifices? Only those persons specified. In the first two instances, everything was burned. In the last two, those words do not appear, but nothing is said about the individual taking it home to eat.

In these verses, there was no specific time designated for these sacrifices.

Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible, Herbert Lockyer, Sr, editor, pages 935-936 –

“Sin Offering. This bloody offering, also known as a guilt offering, was presented for unintentional or intentional sins for which there was not possible restitution (Lev. 4:5-13; 6:24-30). If the offering was not accompanied by repentance, divine forgiveness was withheld (Num. 15:30). Expiation or covering (forgiveness) of sin was represented by the blood smeared on the horns of the altar of incense or burnt offering and poured out at the base of the altar.”

“The penalty for all sin, death, was vicariously inflicted on the sacrificial animal. Guilt for the worshiper’s sin was transferred symbolically to the animal through the laying on of the offerer’s hands.”

THE PASSOVER LAMB

Going back to the beginning, to the first Passover in Egypt, there were specific instructions given. The story is in Exodus 12. Read the entire chapter to refresh your memory of all the instructions and to see if there is any verse that states that this Passover was to be for the forgiveness or covering of sins. Yahweh told them about choosing the lamb, slaughtering it, how to cook it and eat it, and what to do with the blood. What was the purpose of all this?

Exodus 12:7, 11-13, 22-23 7 – And they shall take from the blood, and put it on the two side doorposts and on the upper doorpost, on the houses in which they eat it. 11 – And you shall eat it this way: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Passover to Yahweh. 12 – And I will pass through in the land of Egypt in this night. And I will smite every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man to livestock. And I will execute judgments on all the gods of Egypt, I am Yahweh! 13 – And the blood shall be a sign to you, on the houses where you are. And I will see the blood and I will pass over you. And the plague shall not be on you to destroy, when I smite in the land of Egypt. 22 – And take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin and apply some of the blood in the basin to the upper doorpost and to the two side doorposts. And you shall not go out, anyone from the door of his house until morning. 23 – And Yahweh will pass through to smite Egypt. And He will see the blood on the upper doorpost and on the two side doorpost, and Yahweh will pass over the door. And He will not allow the destroyer to come into your house to strike you.

So what are the main points of this lamb and this observance? The noticeable ones are –

1. There was to be one lamb per household set aside on the 10th day of the first month.
2. If necessary, households could join together.
3. The animal was to be an unblemished lamb or goat of the first year.
4. The lamb was to be kept till the 14th of the month and all were to kill it at their homes between the evenings – between sunset and dark.
5. Blood was to be put on the upper and side door posts of the house where the lamb would be eaten.
6. Roasted lamb was to be eaten that night by everyone, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
7. The lamb was not to be boiled but the whole animal roasted with fire.
8. Any remainder was to be burnt.

Does the Passover lamb fit the instructions for the sin sacrifice? No, there are differences.

Did you note the purpose of the blood? It was put on the door frame –it was not sprinkled, put on an altar, or poured at the base of an altar. The head of the family killed the lamb. Neither the fat nor anything else was removed from the animal. It was roasted whole. The entire family ate of the lamb. It was to protect the lives of those inside the houses from the death angel. Nothing more. There is no mention of forgiveness of sin. There is no reference anywhere in Scripture about the Passover lamb being for forgiveness. So how is that connection reached?

There is no mention in Exodus 12 regarding any sin. The blood was not shed as an atonement for sin, but as a marker to show which houses were not to be touched by death.

YAHSHUA’S SACRIFICE

So does Yahshua fit either of these – the sin sacrifice or the Passover lamb? If so, which one? They are too different for Him to fit both of them.

There is a reference to Yahshua being a lamb.

John 1:29 On the morrow, John sees Yahshua coming toward him, and said, Behold the Lamb of Elohim, who takes away the sin of the world!

Forgiveness of sin is mentioned here, but nothing about Passover – no connection.

So why did Yahshua die?

Isaiah 53:5-6, 10-12 5 – But He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was on Him; and with His wounds we ourselves are healed. 6 – All we like sheep go astray; we have turned each man to his way; and Yahweh has made meet in Him the iniquity of all of us. 10 – But Yahweh pleased to crush Him, to make Him sick, so that if He should put His soul as a guilt offering. He shall see His seed; He shall prolong His days; and the will of Yahweh shall prosper in His hand. 11 – He shall see the fruit of the travail of His soul; He shall be fully satisfied. By His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify for many, and He shall bear their iniquities, 12 – Because of this I will divide to Him with the great, and with the strong He shall divide the spoil; because He poured out His soul to death, and He was counted with transgressors; and He bore the sins of many, and made intercession for transgressors.

(Matthew 1:21) And she will bear a son; and you shall call His name Yahshua; for He shall save His people from their sins.

(Acts 5:30-31) 30 – The Elohim of our fathers raised up Yahshua, whom you laid hands on, hanging Him on a tree. 31 – Elohim has exalted this One as a Ruler and Savior to His right hand, to give to Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins.

(I Corinthians 15:3) For I delivered to you in the first place what I also received, that Messiah died for our sins, according to the Scriptures.

(Hebrews 9:28) So being once offered to bear the sins of many, Messiah shall appear a second time without sin to those expecting Him for salvation.

As all the lambs that were offered for sin sacrifices or for Passover, Yahshua also was unblemished and sinless.

(Hebrews 4:15) For we do not have a high priest not being able to sympathize with our infirmities, but One having been tried in all respects according to our likeness, apart from sin.

(I Peter 1:19) But with precious blood of Messiah, as of an unblemished and unspotted lamb.

(I Peter 2:21-22) 21 – For you were called to this, for even Messiah suffered on our behalf, leaving behind an example for us, that you should follow His steps; 22 – who did not sin, nor was guile found in his mouth.

Yahshua’s blood was poured out – with a purpose.

(John 19:34) But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a lance; and at once blood and water came out.

(Matthew 26:27-28) 27 – And taking the cup, and giving thanks, He gave to them, saying, Drink all of it. 28 – For this is My blood of the New Covenant which concerning many is being poured out for forgiveness of sin.

(Romans 5:9) Much more, then, being justified now by His blood, we will be saved through Him from wrath.

(Ephesians 1:7) (Yahshua) in whom we have redemption through His blood the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.

(Colossians 1:14) (Yahshua) in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

(Hebrews 9:22) And almost all things are cleansed by blood according to the Law; and apart from shedding of blood no remission occurs.

What were the accusations against Yahshua? Why did the Jews insist that He die?

(Matthew 26:65-66) 65 – Then the high priest tore his garments, saying, He blasphemed! Why do we have any more need of witnesses? Behold, now you have heard his blasphemy. 66 – What does it seem to you? And answering they said, He is liable to death.

(John 19:7) Then the Jews answered him, We have a law, and according to our law he ought to die, because he made himself Son of Elohim.

If anyone claimed to be a son of Elohim, they considered that to be blasphemy.

Where was that law to which they were referring? Where were blasphemers to die? Was there a specific place?

(Leviticus 24:14-16) 14 – Bring out the reviler to the outside of the camp. And all those who heard shall lay their hands on his head, and all the congregation shall stone him. 15 – And you shall say to the sons of Israel, saying, When any man curses his Elohim, then he shall bear his sin. 16 – And he who blasphemes the name of Yahweh shall certainly be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly cast stones at him. As to the alien, so to a native, when he blasphemes the Name, he is put to death.

And where did Yahshua die?

(John 19:20) Therefore, many of the Jews read this title, because the place where Yahshua was crucified was near the city. …

Notice that? If it were near the city, then it was outside the city (or camp).

(Hebrews 13:12-13) 12 – Therefore, that He might sanctify the people by his own blood, Yahshua also suffered outside the gate. 13-So now let us go forth to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.

DID YAHSHUA AND THE LAMBS DIE AT THE SAME TIME?

The last point of this discussion will center on the fact it is claimed that Yahshua is the Passover because He died at the same time the priests were killing the Passover lambs at the temple. Can that be supported with Scripture? Did Yahshua keep the Passover earlier than all the other Jews so that would be possible?

(Note: This discussion and searching in the Scriptures can be confusing because the terms Passover and Unleavens were used interchangeably. By the time of Yahshua, the word “Passover” had come to have three definitions: 1 – the Passover lamb/meal; 2 – the fourteenth day of the first month; and 3 – the eight-day festival season, lumping the Passover and the seven days of Unleavens into one entity.)

(Mark 14:12) And before the day of the unleavens, when they killed the Passover, His disciples said to Him, Where do you desire that going we may prepare that You may eat the Passover?

There are several points here. “Before the day of the unleavens” shows that the Passover day was lumped into Unleavens, making it an eight-day festival. Since they ate unleavened bread with the lamb, they referred to it as a day of Unleavens as well. “When they killed the Passover” tells us that it had to be that day, not one of the seven days of Unleavens. The disciples are asking Him about preparing the Passover. And note when they did it – on the day Scripture said it was to be done. Not on a different day or a day earlier.

(Luke 22:7-8) 7 – And the day of the Unleavens came, on which the Passover must be killed. 8 – And He sent Peter and John, saying, Going, prepare for us the Passover that we may eat.

When? The day the Passover must be killed. The word “must” is the Greek word #1163, dei. It carries the meaning of being mandatory, compulsory, obligatory. It includes the meaning “under compulsion of law”. The Strong’s definition says it is (was, etc.) necessary (as binding).

So how can anyone say that the majority of the Jews kept the Passover a day later than Yahshua? Based on one verse.

(John 18:28) Then they led Yahshua from Caiaphas into the praetorium, and it was early. And they did not enter into the praetorium, that they might not be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.

This scene took place after the Passover, “early” as it says, the next morning. So what does it mean “that they might eat the Passover?” Remember the idea that the word Passover could refer to the entire eight days? There were additional sacrifices offered every day of the seven days of unleavens that the priests were to eat of (Numbers 28:17-25). Who are “they” in John 18? The chief priests!

The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Alfred Edersheim, Book II, page 482 –

“Equally untenable is it, that Christ had held the Paschal Supper a day in advance of that observed by the rest of the Jewish world – a supposition not only inconsistent with the plain language of the Synoptists, but impossible, since the Passover Lamb could not have been offered in the Temple, and, therefore, no Passover Supper held, out of the regular time.”

Where does it say in Scripture that they would be ceremonially unclean if they entered the judgment hall? Such a Scripture does not exist! According to their traditions, they became unclean by entering the home or precincts of a Gentile.

The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, page 568 –

“(from Chag, or Chagag, to bring the festive sacrifice usual at each of the 3 Great Feasts). There would have been no reason to fear ‘defilement’ on the morning of the Passover Sacrifice; but entrance into the Proetorium on the morning of the first Passover-day would have rendered it impossible for them to offer the Chagigah, which is also designated by the term Pesach.”

The problem here was not the Passover meal, but the offerings made during the week of Unleavens of which the priests were instructed to eat.

Another point to consider: if they were to eat the Passover meal that night, the same day Yahshua died, what were the chief priests doing? They were the ones responsible for arresting Yahshua, the ones taking Him from place to place, the ones who made the demands for His death, and they were present at the crucifixion site.

(Mark 15:31) And also the chief priests and the scribes mocking to one another said the same, He saved others; he is not able to save himself.

(Matthew 27:41-42) 41 – And in the same way the chief priests with the scribes and elders, mocking him, said, 42 – He saved others; he is not able to save himself. If he is the king of Israel, let him come down now from the cross and we shall believe him.

Now if they were to be killing the lambs that day, why were they there at the place of His crucifixion and not at the temple making preparations? There were certain duties to be carried out during the day to be ready for that event. The day the lambs were offered, the priests were to be at the temple.

The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, page 487 –

“…time for the ordinary Evening-Service and Sacrifice. Ordinarily this began about 2:30 P.M. – the daily Evening-Sacrifice being actually offered up about an hour later; but on this occasion, on account of the Feast, the Service was an hour earlier. … The Priest’s Court was filled with white-robed Priests and Levites – for on that day all the twenty-four courses were on duty, and all their services would be called for, although only in the Course for that week would that afternoon engage in the ordinary service, which preceded that of the Feast.”

Notice – “on duty”. Did that duty include being sure another human being was being sacrificed? If they were “on duty” why were they not at the temple?

SYMBOLS

Looking back at Exodus 12, what were the symbols of that first Passover? Lamb, unleavened bread and bitter herbs. That would have been the meal of which Yahshua and His disciples partook on that last Passover evening. Then He instituted something new to represent His soon-approaching sacrifice for sin – unleavened bread and wine. The unleavened bread was to represent His sinless body and the wine portrayed His blood. Wine does not appear in the instructions for that first Passover. Does it appear with any other sacrifices – along with unleavened bread or a food offering?

(Numbers 15:1-5, 11-12) 1 – And Yahweh spoke to Moses saying, 2 – Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, When you have come to the land of your dwellings, which I am giving to you, 3 – then you shall prepare a fire offering to Yahweh, a burnt offering or a sacrifice, in fulfillment of a vow, or as a free-will offering, or in your appointed seasons, to make a sweet fragrance to Yahweh, out of the herd, or out of the flock. 4 – And he who is bringing his offering to Yahweh shall bring near a food offering of flour, a tenth part, mixed with a fourth of a hin of oil; 5 – and wine for a drink offering, a fourth of a hin shall you prepare for the burnt offering, or for a sacrifice, for the one lamb. 11 – So it shall be done for one ox, or for the one ram, or for a lamb of the sheep, or of the goats. 12 – You shall prepare according to the number. So you shall do for everyone according to their number.

When sin sacrifices were offered, unleavened bread (the food or meat offering) and wine were offered as well. That is what Yahshua offered the twelve at the table. His body being offered completed the sacrifice for our sins, but not at the same time as the Passover lambs.

So does partaking of the bread and wine today bring forgiveness? No, we have seen that it was Yahshua’s blood that does that. The bread and wine are only symbols. We are simply commemorating what He has done for us – for the world.

Now let’s go back to Paul’s words in I Corinthians 5. If Yahshua is not the Passover lamb, then why does Paul say that He is? Or does he? Remember, he was not writing in English. What did he actually say?

I CORINTHIANS 5:7

First of all, look at the context of the entire chapter, at the verses above and below verse 7. Paul is talking about the people and chastising them for being puffed up – leavened – in their attitudes and sins. They have a man in the assembly openly and blatantly committing sin. This was during the Passover/Unleavens season because he says, “as you are unleavened.” The subject of the chapter is not the Passover! The subject of the chapter is about becoming unleavened, meaning to get leaven – sin – out of their midst and out of their lives.

Once again, the King James says:

(I Corinthians 5:7) Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Messiah our Passover is sacrificed for us.

Now let’s look at the same verse in a literal translation, not one that has been rearranged to English grammar standards. Keep in mind that Greek and Hebrew sentence structure is not the same as English. And there was no punctuation in either of those languages. Translators have added it wherever and however they saw fit.

(I Corinthians 5:7) Purge out then the old leaven that you be a new lump as you are unleavened also for the Passover of us for us was sacrificed Messiah.

Do you see any difference? Look at the last phrase carefully. Does it say that Yahshua is the Passover? No, it doesn’t. Paul states that they were to purge out the old leaven and become unleavened for the Passover/Unleavens. Then he adds a phrase at the end of that – the reminder that Messiah was already sacrificed for them – and for us. There is no other Scripture to substantiate the “doctrine” that Yahshua was the Passover lamb. Not one.

By examining the instructions for the original Passover and the sin sacrifices, as well as the Scriptures about Yahshua, it is clear that they are all different. Yahshua does not fit totally into any category. His was a separate, one-time sacrifice, never to be repeated.

But there are glimpses of Him in other sacrifices. Following are a few examples.

The blood of the Passover lamb described in Exodus was to protect the firstborn from physical death. Yahshua’s blood protects His followers – the first fruits – from spiritual death.

(John 6:53-54) 53 – Then Yahshua said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you do not have life in yourselves. 54 – The one partaking of my flesh and drinking of my blood has everlasting life, and I will raise Him up at the last day.

(Revelation 20:6) Blessed and set apart is the one having part in the first resurrection. The second death has no authority over these, but they will be priests of Elohim and of Messiah, and will reign with Him a thousand years.

During the Days of Unleavens, the first-fruit of the barley – the wave sheaf – was offered. Yahshua was offered up as the Wave Sheaf and became the first of the first-fruits among mankind.

(Colossians 1:18) And He (Yahshua) is the head of the body, the church; who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that He be pre-eminent in all things.

(I Corinthians 15:20) But now Messiah has been raised up from the dead; He became the firstfruit of those having fallen asleep.

At Shavuot – the Feast of Weeks – the people brought offerings – first fruits of the wheat and other crops they might have. As the first of the first fruits, Yahshua redeemed His people.

(I Corinthians 15:22-23) 22 – For as all die in Adam, so also all will be made alive in Messiah, 23 – but each in his own order: Messiah, the firstfruit; afterward those of Messiah at His coming.

(Titus 2:13-14) 13 – looking for the blessed hope and appearance of the glory of our great Elohim and Savior Yahshua Messiah, 14 – who gave Himself on our behalf, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify a special people for Himself, zealous of good works.

(Revelation 5:9) And they sing a new song, saying, Worthy are you to receive the scroll, and to open its seals, because you were slain, and by your blood purchased us to Elohim out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

(Revelation 14:1-4) 1-And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion! And with Him were a hundred and forty-four thousands, with the name of His Father having been written on their foreheads, 2-And I heard a sound out of the heaven, as a sound of many waters, and as a sound of great thunder. Also I heard a sound of harpers harping on their harps. 3-And they sing as a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders. And no one was able to learn the song except the hundred and forty-four thousands, those having been redeemed from the earth. 4-These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones following the Lamb wherever He may go. These were redeemed from among men as first-fruit to Elohim and to the Lamb.

Animals slaughtered on Atonement provided a covering for the sins of the people. Yahshua’s sacrifice was more than a covering. He blots out and removes our sins. He cleanses us.

(I John 1:7) But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of His Son Yahshua Messiah cleanses us from all sin.

(Revelation 1:5) Even from Yahshua Messiah the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him loving us and having washed us from our sins by His blood.

(Hebrews 10:1-18) 1-For the law had a shadow of the coming good things, not the image itself of those things. Appearing year by year with the same sacrifices, which they offer continually, they never are able to perfect the ones drawing near. 2-Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered because those serving did not still have conscience of sins, having once been cleansed? 3-But in these there is a remembrance of sins year by year, 4-for it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5-For this reason, coming into the world, He says, Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but You prepared a body for Me. 6-You did not delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as to sins. 7-Then I said, Lo, I come, in the heading of the book, it was written concerning Me, to do your will, O Elohim. 8-Above, saying, you did not desire nor were pleased with offering and burnt offerings and sacrifices about sins, which are offered according to the law. 9-Then He said, Lo, I come to do your will, O Elohim. He takes away the first in order that He may set up the second; 10-by which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Yahshua Messiah once for all. 11-And indeed every priest stands day-by-day ministering, and often offering the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12-But He, offering but one sacrifice for sins, sat down in perpetuity at the right hand of Elohim, 13-from then on expecting until His enemies are placed as a footstool of His feet. 14-For by one offering He has perfected in perpetuity the ones being sanctified. 15-And the set-apart spirit witnesses to us also. For after having said before, 16-This is the covenant which I will covenant to them after those days, says the Master: giving my laws on their hearts, and I will write them on their minds; 17-And I will not at all still remember their sins and their lawless deeds. 18-But where forgiveness of these is, there is no longer offering concerning sins.

As seen in all these Scriptures, Yahshua’s sacrifice was unique. No others are necessary. No animal sacrifice can match – or even come close – to what He has done for us. His sacrifice has done away with the need to slaughter any animals in our worship of Elohim.

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