5.8 Three Days and Three Nights

Index

• Introduction
• The Sign on which His Claim is based
• Chart showing falsifications
• The Sign of Jonah and its meaning
• When did the Crucifixion take place?
• Main Chart of Events
• When did the Resurrection take place?
• Resultant Controversies and Problems
• Effects of this Great Misconception

Matt . 12 : 40. “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

Aпу claim to True Messiahship stands or falls by the exact fulfilment of this very Sign.

But – – – stretch as you may – 3DAYS AND 3 NIGHTS can never ever be found in man’s most common teaching of a “Good Friday” Crucifixion and an “Easter Sunday” Resurrection – can you figure it

Read the astounding Scriptural account of the facts on which Messiah based His claims of being the TRUE Saviour … for, UNLESS He failed the Test set by Himself … then

– Messiah was NOT crucified on ‘GOOD FRIDAY’

– Neither was He resurrected on ‘EASTER SUNDAY’.

____________________________________

It is commonly supposed that Messiah was crucified on “Good Friday” and that He was raised from the grave early on “Easter Sunday”.

For centuries Christians have blindly followed this belief and attended ceremonies on these two very popular, and to them, significant “holy days” – ‘Good Friday’ and ‘Easter Sunday’. Very few indeed, thought of questioning these customs and traditions. The Bible, however, tells us to prove all things. With the great explosion of knowledge in the last century, and in fulfilment of the prophecies of Daniel given many centuries earlier, this has notably been the tendency and many ‘vain traditions of man’ have been exposed in the process by this in-depth search of the Scriptures. Through the prophet Daniel it was foretold that “….they that understand among the people, shall instruct many” – just prior to the final closing scenes of this era (Daniel 12:4; 11:33; Mark 7:7).The reader will be astounded by proof from the Bible as to what the real facts behind these traditional ‘Easter’ customs are.

WHAT DID MESSIAH SAY CONCERNING HIS BURIAL AND RESURRECTION?

The inquiring Pharisees were asking Him for a SIGN – they required evidence as proof that He was the promised Messiah. “But He answered and said unto them, ‘an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there shall NO sign be given to it, but the sign of the Prophet Jonas. for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth”, (i.e. grave) (Matt. 12:39).

Jonah 1:17, “…. and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights”.

YAHU’SHUAH offered this exclusive sign as evidence of His Messiah-ship. This evidence was not just the fact that He would be resurrected from the grave. No, His challenge claimed more; infinitely more …. a Resurrection claim was issued with a specific TIME STIPULATION!

If He could be proven wrong regarding this period of time that He had stipulated to be in the grave; if He did not fulfill the sign of the Prophet Jonah exactly as to the time factor required before He would be “spewn” out of the grave by the Resurrection (as Jonah after three days and three nights was spewn out of the belly of the fish to become the saviour of Nineveh); then the enemy would have had the full right to call Him a liar and an imposter. He would then have had no claim to being the Messiah, the Saviour. Then you would be worshipping Him in vain and you would be destined for eternal DEATH (hell) without a Saviour!

Consider please, the tremendous importance of this Sign. YAHU’SHUAH staked His claim to being your Saviour upon fulfilling this Sign by remaining exactly three days and three nights in the tomb.

Can one wonder why the enemy has done his utmost to deny that the Saviour had really fulfilled the type (Sign) of Jonah to the very letter? Can one wonder why the Christians who had come into the ranks of the early True Church at Corinth, tried to bring the whole of the Resurrection doctrine into dispute? (1 Cor. 15:12 – 20). This is probably the same reason why the Jews who opposed His Messiahship, paid the Roman soldiers who were at His Grave, to give a false account concerning the Resurrection? (Matt. 28:11 – 15). Can one wonder why modern Christian religious teachers today, are still eternalizing the same falsifications of the Resurrection Victory of the True Messiah, triumphantly overcoming Death “after three days and three nights in the Grave?”

By these false doctrines and traditions the silent insinuation is formatted that Messiah is an imposter – the very thing He intended to disprove by giving this Sign! In fact, Muslim teachers have used this inconsistency in the teachings of Christians, to ‘prove’ that He was not the True Messiah.

YAHU’SHUAH however, has put the seal of the lie where it belongs, in saying,  John 8:44  “The devil is your father… He was a murderer from the start; he was never grounded in the Truth; there is NO truth in him at all…….. because he is a liar and the father of lies.”.  Here He was correcting His accusers who denied Him as the True Messiah

HOW IS THIS SIGN OF MESSIAH INTERPRETED AND FALSIFIED?

Traditional Christian interpretation holds, that Messiah was crucified on “Good Friday”, buried just before sunset on the same day and that He arose at about sunrise on “Easter Sunday.”

Let us now analyze the TIME PERIOD, according to this common teaching of man that He was supposed to have been in the grave:

	IN THE GRAVE
	DAYS	NIGHTS
FRIDAY Buried just before sunset SATURDAY In the Grave SUNDAY Risen before sunrise	– One Day –	One Night One Night –
Total	One day	Two nights

Because of the peculiar position that this theory places commentators in, they have come up with varying suggestions as to how this period should really be counted. They then make the following wild statements and adjustments to the above record of Time reckoning:

	Add to above table
	IN THE GRAVE
	DAYS	NIGHTS
FRIDAY Count part day before sunset SATURDAY Already counted SUNDAY Risen before sunrise – yet Count the FULL day	One Day – One Day	– – –
Cumulative Total	Three days	Two nights

However, this unwarranted stretching of time does not clear their dilemma, because, stretch as you may. THREE NIGHTS can never ever be found in this interpretation of a Friday Crucifixion – Sunday Resurrection.

Some expositors go even further and claim that, “in the original Greek language, the term ‘three days and three nights’ means THREE PERIODS…” YAHU’SHUAH never said anything that may be construed as meaning three ‘periods’ only. He stated exactly what He meant, namely. that He would be in the grave for three days (of 12 hours each = 36 hours), and three equivalent nights (= 36 hours), making a total of 72 hours – or 3 x 24 hours.

These same critics admit that in the Hebrew language, in which the account of Jonah’s experience had originally been recorded in the Tanach (‘Old’ Testament), the term “three days and three nights” means a period of 72 hours. YAHU’SHUAH referred to this exact incident of Jonah (which all agree here, means 72 hours) and stated, “AS Jonah was…. so shall the Son of Man be”.

YAHU’SHUAH was well aware of this system of time reckoning and explicitly stated, “Are there not twelve hours in the day…. but if a man walks in the night, he stumbles”. (John 11:9,10). He was not referring to Greek time or any other heathen time calculation (like the Roman instituted reckoning of the ‘day’ from midnight to midnight instead of the Scriptural way of sunset to sunset). YAHU’SHUAH was a Jew by birth and the Jews, unto this day, reckon the day from sunset to sunset.

WHAT IS WRONG?

The Truth regarding this Time reckoning of the period that Messiah was in the Grave, will also reveal much about an entire section of Divine Institution which has gone lost for the Church. The fact that it involves the actual Reconciliatory Salvation brought about by YAHU’SHUA’s Death, should be sufficient reason for any serious follower of Messiah to take this matter serious. Even if it just brings the believer to the realization that there is an entire vitally important section of the True Faith that have been concealed by this misinterpretation and distortion of this vital Sign of “Three Days and Three Nights.”

YAHU’SHUAH warned against “making the Word of the Almighty of none effect through your traditions” (Mark 7:13). His true followers should be guided by the Bible and not by tradition. The Bible in its original transcript does not say that YAHU’SHUAH was crucified on Friday or that He rose on Sunday! Modern translators however, are fast changing this by planting the word ‘Friday’ in their new translation versions, when the original text refers to “the Preparation” day. In doing this, they actually prove, that translators are guided by, and impose their own understanding of the Faith on readers and students of the Bible. This is a very natural human tendency – and there would be nothing wrong in it, providing that the translator was founded on the Original One True Faith of the Creator God of Israel. In such a translation the reader may well assume that he has ‘Bible’ proof for the Friday-crucifixion theory! But, is this what the Scriptures really tell us? From this instance the reader should realize how important it is to use different Bible.

When we realize how the “Preparation Day” and the true Crucifixion Day fits into the actual Bible Calendar, we will discover an entire new Revelationary section of the One True Faith and its Divine Purpose. In this way, we will discover that the Bible, when studied in its true perspective, tells a completely different story to what modern man is generally teaching and believing about the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Messiah.

THE “SIGN” OF JONAH

Jonah was a “type” of the Saviour to come. After 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the fish, he became the ‘saviour’ of the gentile city, Nineveh.

Jonah’s experience must have been well known to the average Jew of Messiah’s time. After all, he was one of their countrymen – and who gets swallowed by a whale, to survive and be spewed out in another country after three days? If His opposers realized that YAHU’SHUAH was pointing out to them that Jonah was a ‘type’ of the Messiah Whom they were actually waiting for, they would have realized Who He was when this Sign was fulfilled by His Resurrection from the Grave 3 days later.. The Crucifixion week, which culminated in a huge earthquake in Jerusalem, and the day turning to night in broad daylight, surely did not go unnoticed. The religious leaders were also well aware that His Grave was empty on Sunday morning!

And if the modern day teachers would study the Bible more closely, then they too would not deny the fact that Messiah was in the grave for the full 72 hours that He stipulated. The Jews would not believe Him,. neither does main stream modern Christianity believe Him!

After YAHU’SHUAH had driven the money changers from the Temple in Jerusalem, “the Jews intervened and said. ‘What sign can you show us to justify what you have done?’ He answered, ‘Destroy this sanctuary and in three days I will raise it up’. He was of course speaking of the Sanctuary that was His BODY” (John 2:18-21. See also Luke 9:22; 11:29-30, Mark 9:31, Matt. 17 verses 22,23).

At His trials, YAHU’SHUAH was thus also accused of “claiming to destroy the Temple of the Almighty and rebuilding it in three days”. In this way He was made out to be a revolutionary!

It is true that YAHU’SHUAH claimed to *raise it up’ Himself, although He was talking of His Body (which would of course be in the grave). This fact is overlooked by most students of the Bible, yet, an astounding Revelation is locked up in this statement of YAHU’SHUAH.

“In three days I … (Who?) … I (YAHU’SHUAH) will raise it up”. This statement of .Messiah was taken seriously by the Jews. They consequently obtained permission from the authorities to seal the Sepulchre and place a Roman soldiers watch at the Grave (Matt. 27:64).

But…. had they known Who He really was, they would never have tried to hold Him to the grave with their frail human devices of chains and locks! Had they known Who YAHU’SHUAH truly was, they would have realized that no Power on earth or in Heaven would hold Him to the grave, because …. HE IS THE ETERNAL MOST HIGH HIMSELF!

Yes, YHVH Who is the Eternal Creator and King (John 1:1.3 and 10;
Rev. 17:14), was the One Who indwelt that ‘Human Temple’, (Col. 2:9).He (YAHU’SHUAH). would raise it up from the grave – The Eternal CANNOT die, but, His ‘Humanity’ could die – hence Messiah’s Words,”…. I will raise it up”. John 2:19, 1 Tim./1:17.1 Tim. 3:16. (Write also for FREE copy of ‘Who is the Eternal?’)

And yet, after all hell broke loose on this earth as He blew out His last holy and innocent breath; while the earth was cast into three hours of darkness in the midst of day; as His Power once more rocked the earth to snap man’s frustrated attempts to hold Him to the grave, and the seasoned guards at His Tomb fell like dead men to the ground – yet, Satan could give man the courage to invent a lie! For a large sum of money (Matt. 28:12), the soldiers were bribed into saying that the disciples had stolen His Body from the grave!

“The soldiers took the money and carried out their instructions, and to this day that is the story among the Jews”. (Matt. 28:15).

Satan knew that he had lost and that the Resurrection had brought the final damnation upon himself and upon his ‘children’. He knows too that his time is short, but he does not give up so easily, neither has his hatred for the True Messiah, YAHU’SHUAH, abated in any way! He planned very thoroughly and infiltrated the ranks of the Messianic followers in Corinth, starting a movement against the Resurrection Truth, as stated previously! (1 Cor. 15:12).

When blatant lies failed, the enemy brought in a more subtle argument against the Resurrection, to deceive those who would not deny that Messiah did arise from the Grave, They now claimed, “Yes, He did arise from the dead BUT NOT AS HE SAID He would. “He was not in the grave for three days and three nights at all, you see. He was only there part of the time!” How subtle! Without saying anything further, the impression has been founded that YAHU’SHUAH is a Liar and, after all, “only a fallible human being!”

WHEN DID THE CRUCIFIXION TAKE PLACE?

On which day was Messiah Crucified?

We read in Mark 15:42-47 about the events on that afternoon of the Crucifixion. “And now when the even was come. because it was THE PREPARATION, that is, the day before the Sabbath … and he (Joseph) bought fine line, and took Him down. and wrapped Him in the linen and laid Him in a sepulchre, which was hewn out of a rock”.

Does that not confirm the common belief that He was crucified on FRIDAY, seeing that Friday is the day ‘before’ the weekly Sabbath? We know that it states that His Body was laid in the grave ‘just before the Sabbath broke’, which is roughly at between 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. according to Bible time reckoning.

If the burial was on Friday, between 5 to 6 p.m., then 72 hours forward would bring us to between 5 to 6 p.m. on Monday afternoon for the Resurrection. By counting forward 3 nights, we also come to Monday for. This we cannot accept, as we read in John 20:1. “It was very early on the first day of the week (Sunday) and still dark. when Mary (Hebrew Name: Miriam)  of Magdala came to the Tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the Tomb”. YAHU’SHUAH had already risen earlier! (Also Luke 24:1; Mark 16:2).

On the other hand: if He had risen on Sunday, as is commonly taught, then it leaves us with one hour maximum for Friday (in the grave), plus 24 hours for Saturday, plus a maximum of 12 hours for Sunday (reckoning from sunset to sunset). Whichever way we count, it leaves us with a maximum total of 37 hours, or ONE day and TWO nights in the Grave – as previously explained in this study.

Shall we now stop right there and find fault with the time reckoning of YAHU’SHUAH, or shall we search through the scriptures for the answer? Something is wrong somewhere and that is obvious, isn’t it? – but what and where?

THE LIE EXPOSED

Let us then start from the earliest time that we know (according to the Bible), that He was already risen from the Grave. From here we will work BACK in time, to find a rough starting point for the time of the Crucifixion. Let us presume, therefore, that He rose at roughly 5 a.m. on Sunday morning. According to John 20:1 and Mark 16:2, it was still dark, just as the sun was rising, when the women visited the Grave and,…. found it empty! He had already risen earlier…. it may have been much earlier! Counting BACK 72 hours from here, would bring us to roughly 5 a.m. on Thursday morning. Well this also cannot be, for we know that He was buried just before SUNSET, which is between 5 and 6 p.m. We must therefore set the time back even further, seeing that we have scriptural proof that YAHSHUAH definitely did not arise later than sunrise on Sunday. He could therefore have risen much earlier than sunrise.

This brings us to WEDNESDAY at 5 to 6p.m. (See chart).

Could this have been the time that YAHU’SHUAH was crucified? Could it possibly have been on a Wednesday just before sunset?

But, you may say, remember that the next day was the Sabbath and Thursday most certainly is not the Sabbath. Well, this is the very fact that has confused people – a fact which will reveal an entire section of the One True Biblical Faith of YHVH. This has completely been overlooked, because Christians have lost sight of the meaning of the SACRED BIBLICAL FEAST DAYS and what these really typify.

This Thursday was not the Sabbath that was Instituted at Creation, the weekly Sabbath, but it was a Sabbath that was instituted at the first Passover in Egypt (Exodus 12:14 – but read in context from verse 1). This Feast Day Sabbath would become one of a series of SEVEN of these ANNUAL SABBATH FEASTS (Hebrew: Chagim or Mo’adim). which would be revealed to Moses at Sinai as part of the entire Religious and Law System of YHVH (Leviticus 23:15. 24.32.31 & 39).

These annual Feasts were Sacred Sabbaths, called HIGH days. (John 19:31) which could occur on any day of the week. They were to be kept for ever! It is to these Sabbaths that the enemy has blinded people.

This Sabbath holds the key to the whole mystery! It had nothing to do with the creation Sabbath which is a weekly Sabbath. This Sabbath of the 15th of Aviv, is to be kept ONCE A YEAR only. This Sabbath is the Sabbath that was the day after the Passover Sacrifice. (Lev. 23: Ex.12).

This Sabbath was and is to this day, part of the Jewish festive period of Pesach (Passover). In Christianity this period has become known as ‘Easter’ and retains, at best, some vague similarities to Pesach, the Biblically ordained Feast.

This Pesach institution required that a Pesach lamb had to be slaughtered on the 14th day of the Jewish month of Aviv (which later became known as Nisan). According to the revelation of God’s religious System, given at Sinai 50 days after the Exodus from Egypt (which was preceded by the Pesach Lamb Sacrifice), this Pesach Sacrifice was to be followed by the 7-day Festival of Unleavened Bread. The first of these 7 days (15th Aviv) was to be a Feast Sabbath and the last (21 Aviv).

This entire 8-day Festival became known as ‘Pesach’ (Passover) when the Death Angel of YHVH ‘passed over’ (skipped) the homes of those Israelites in Egypt which displayed the blood of the Sacrificial Lamb on their door posts.

All churches accept that the Passover lamb slaughtered yearly by the Israelites, typified the True Lamb that had to come. John the Baptist pointed to YAHU’SHUAH and said, “Behold The Lamb of the Most High”. (John 1:29). All churches also believe that Messiah was crucified at Pesach Time. John confirms this at the Crucifixion, in John 19:14.”…. it was the PREPARATION of the Passover (14th Abib) and about the 6th hour (noon, and he said unto the Jews. ‘Behold your King'”.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread required that all leaven had to be cast out of Israelite homes by the14th (the Passover) – hence this day (14th Aviv) became traditionally known as the PREPARATION DAY. To this day, the weeks preceding Pesach is a very busy time for the lady of a Jewish home – the entire house (with emphasis on the kitchen) is cleaned out and cooking utensils are changed for the Festive period. (It may not be co-incidental that ‘spring clean’ of the home became a common term for Westerners – as Aviv in Hebrew means ‘Spring’ season). The father of the household inspects the home on this day in a special family ritual and the mother prepares food and special symbolic emblems for the evening’s Pesach Seder (supper). It is this Supper (Pesach Seder) that YAHU’SHUAH and His disciples prepared for – the ‘Last Supper’, before His Ordeal the next morning.

The month of Aviv was calculated from the appearing of the New Moon and irrespective of which day of the week this occurred, the Jews would count 14 days when the Pesach (Passover) commemoration would then start. The Pesach Sabbath is determined by the monthly phases of the moon, and not by the weekly cycle

In the year of the Crucifixion, the 14th of Aviv fell on a WEDNESDAY and the Thursday was the ANNUAL Sabbath Feast Day, a HIGH day. (study chart).

Further confirmation of these facts is also found in John 19:30, 31, which describes the events that took place immediately after the Crucifixion:

Click here to see full-size chart

“It was Preparation Day and to prevent the bodies remaining on the cross during the Sabbath – since that Sabbath was a day of special solemnity (High Day) …. ” (John 19:30-31; Ex. 12:16; Lev. 23:6). Sabbath means ‘Rest -and that Thursday was a SABBATH-a solemn Festive Day – a day in commemoration of Israel’s deliverance from bondage in Egypt –YAHU’SHUAH now having become our Deliverer from our exile and bondage.

WONDERFUL BIBLE PROOF

When these annual Feast Sabbaths were celebrated, it could well happen that there would be TWO Sabbaths in that certain week – the annual Sabbath. which could fall on any day of the week, and the weekly Sabbath -These, two Sabbaths, in certain years of course, could coincide – but otherwise, the weekly Sabbath (Saturday), was never called a ‘High Day’.- neither was it called a ‘Feast Day’, unless it coincided with the annual Chag or Feast Day.

The fact that there were two Sabbaths in the Crucifixion week is wonderfully proven by two apparently contradictory verses in the Bible.

The 1st of these is found in Mark 16:1 :

“When the Sabbath was OVER, Mary (and others) …. bought spices with which to go and anoint Him”.

The 2nd is found in Luke 23:56:

After His body had been laid to the tomb. “….they returned and prepared spices and ointments, and rested the Sabbath day according to the Commandment”.

We shall firstly apply these statements to the commonly accepted theory of Friday Crucifixion and Sunday-Resurrection, to see if it fits the picture. If Messiah was crucified on Friday, then according to the first verse, the women should have bought the spices on Saturday evening (i.e. ‘after the Sabbath’). This would enable them to prepare it and go to the grave before sunrise on Sunday morning. But… read the 2nd verse! This states that, after they had prepared the spices, they rested on the Sabbath according to the Law! This would mean that the following day (Sunday) was also a Sabbath, so that they could not have gone to the grave until after Sunday. But Luke 24:1 explicitly states that the women went to the grave ‘on the first day of the week’ (Sunday), before dawn! So this theory does NOT fit.

HEAVEN WAS TO BE THE JUDGE – HEAVEN WOULD DECLARE THE OUTCOME

“The Angel spoke and he said to the women. There is no need for you to be afraid. I know you are looking for YAHU’SHUAH, Who was crucified. He is not here. for He has risen, ‘AS HE SAID He would.’ ” ( Matt. 28:5.6).

“AS HE SAID”, dear reader. May these words be repeated a thousand times before proceeding! His time reckoning was not faulty. *AS HE SAID’, means that He had kept His Word. Had He.not kept His word. then how could we trust Him to keep all the wonderful Promises He made to His followers for the future? By having fulfilled this Sign He gave those who doubted Him, we may be sure that every Promise of His will come true. The Eternal cannot lie, and YAHU’SHUAH IS THE ETERNAL – manifest in flesh! (1 Tim. 3:16; Titus 2:13; Rev. 1:8). Refer our Library of studies on the Oneness and the Deity of Messiah

“AS HE SAID”

The fact that Messiah was in the Grave the full length of time. as He said, is confirmed by

1 Cor. 15:3-4 :  “…. I taught you what I had been taught myself, namely that Messiah died for our sins, in accordance with the Scriptures”. ‘ (Whenever the New Testament refers to ‘the Scriptures’, it is referring to the Tanach – ‘Old Testament’, where the Sign of Jonah is recorded, to which Messiah referred as a type of His Messianic Reconciliation)

Refer http://www.revelations.org.za/Gospel.htm

According to which Scriptures? What was the Apostle Paul referring to? Remember that these words were written by Paul long before the New Testament even existed in consolidated format.. YAHU’SHUAH often used to refer to the ‘Scriptures’ also. These were the ‘Scriptures’, which they (of that time) had access to – i.e. the OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. And only one  verse in the Old Testament refers to this stipulated 3-day time factor. This was the verse that YAHU’SHUAH referred to in the book of Jonah. Chap. 1. verse 17, “And Jonah was in the belly of the fish THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS”, after which he was spewed out near the city of Nineveh, because God wanted him to go and preach to the citizens of that evil city.. What is the deeper significance in this Sign? That, by rising from the Grave as ‘a New Man’, YAHU’SHUAH could now ‘remarry’ His divorced Bride, Israel, from which He was prevented by His Own Law after having given her a ‘Bill of Divorce’ Jeremiah 3:8 “I had repudiated disloyal Israel for all her adulteries and given her divorce papers.”

Yes. His Death and Resurrection was in accordance with the Scriptures – not contrary to it!

For centuries people have blindly followed the lie, in believing that Messiah arose on Sunday. There is absolutely NO Scriptural foundation for this belief.

 WHEN DID THE RESURRECTION THEN TAKE PLACE?

Seeing that He was buried at roughly 5p.m. on Wednesday, then 72 hours hence will bring us to roughly 5p.m. on the weekly Sabbath. (Saturday) afternoon, as you will see clearly from the chart.

It was therefore a Sabbath Resurrection and not as is commonly believed and taught by Christians, a Sunday Resurrection!

RESULTANT CONTROVERSIES AND PROBLEMS

This teaching of ‘Three Days and Three Nights’ has been one of many Restorative Truths proclaimed by the Hebraic Roots Restoration Movement which arose over the last few decades. This Restoration Movement is simply a miraculous fulfillment of ancient Bible Prophecies which projected a Return to the One True Faith of YHVH, God of Israel, in the End Times.

As stated above, this Truth opens a whole section of neglected Bible Truths – neglected and unproclaimed by Christianity. Our topic, in this case, reveals the Eternal Salvation and Redemption Plan as depicted by these Sacred Festive Seasons and Days. Once the Bible student becomes aware of this Cycle, the Revelationary Truth of how Messiah fulfilled these Feasts Days so spiritually meaningful and inspiringly becomes clearly evident. His Words and actions also then take deeper meaning.

However, the new restorative Truths also bring with it new controversies and problems. Far from rejecting progressive Truth because of these discrepancies, the honest seeker after Truth should realize that ultimate Truth will remain elusive, until Messiah returns to fully restore the One True Faith. Neither should the believer and true follower of YAHU’SHUAH take the defeatist attitude that, because we do not have the ultimate Truth, “it is not really incumbent on us to observe these Sacred Feasts.” Scripture is clear that we will be judged by the amount of Truth that we have received.

One such controversy which has given rise to great confusion and division amongst restorative believers, is the seeming discrepancy regarding the Pesach Seder which Messiah partook of one evening before the Jewish nation of His time, i.e. at the start of 14 Aviv while the Jews partook of it on the night (start) of 15 Aviv.  Resultantly this raises questions about the Annual Feast Sabbath of 15 Aviv and the 14th

• How could YAHU’SHUAH have fulfilled the designation of the ‘Pesach Sacrificial Lamb’ by partaking of the Pesach Seder one night before the Jews?
• If Exodus 12 determines that the Pesach Lamb should be slaughtered at the start of the 14th Aviv, why was Messiah crucified only in the end of the 15th day, some 18 hours later?
• Does this mean that the Rabbis have tampered with the Sacred Calendar and that we should therefore not follow the Jewish Calendar?
• On which night should Messianic Hebraic Restorers partake of the Pesach Seder Supper, the 14th or the 15th?

These are all sincere questions and problems. The publisher of BIBLE REVELATIONS can at best, offer an opinion on these probably unsolvable issues.

It is my understanding that, because of these discrepancies, YHVH appointed an authoritative Voice on the issue by giving the Tribe of Judah (the Jews) the mandate to be the guardians and ‘managers’ of His System (Genesis 49:10; Psalms 60:7; Romans 3:2; Matthew 23:2) “until Shiloh comes to Rule”.

We should therefore in the interim, and for the sake of unity amongst His people, subject ourselves to this authoritative rule of the Rabbis of Judah. The lack of this leadership amongst the multitude of ‘Messianic Israel’ groups has caused a Babylonish confusion amongst these groups and a wild dash for leadership voicing. Unity is the furthest from their many spiritual achievements.

The chart is designed on basis of the Jewish Calendar, which after all, is the basic foundation of it all. The discrepancies regarding the 15th Aviv Sabbath versus the 14th, has been highlighted by an arrow on the chart. It seems, that YHVH has allowed Rabbinical tradition to move forward the Pesach Seder to coincide with the evening of the 15th Aviv Annual Sabbath – the 1st Day of Unleavened Bread, in order to make it physically possible for the Messiah to observe the Pesach Seder (“Last Supper”) on the proper Biblical date, the 14th of Aviv – i.e.. one night before the Jews in Jerusalem.

Without this, there would have been several impossible fulfillments for YAHU’SHUAH:

– He could impossibly have fulfilled the Sacrificial slaughter of the Pesach Lamb (by His Death) and yet partake of the Pesach Seder Himself. If the 14th indeed was the Day for the Pesach Seder, then the lamb should have been slaughtered at the end of the 13th day of Aviv, in the Crucifixion week, Tuesday afternoon before sunset. Certainly, that is when YAHU’SHUAH and His disciples slaughtered their Pesach Lamb – while he Himself, fulfilled it only 24 hours later in His own Death on the Stake. Thus, while the Jews were slaughtering their Pesach Lamb, He was dying on the Stake! Do we need more perfect fulfillment? But, it required a controversy regarding the Date. As regards the 14th being a Sabbath or not, is not very clear. Exodus 12::14 declares it a ‘Feast for YHVH’ and a Festival for ever’ – presumably a Sabbath, thus. The 15th, in Leviticus 23 is clearly declared a Feast Sabbath, being the 1st Day of Unleavened Bread, and separate from the 14th. Today, and even in Messiah’s time 2000 years ago, the 15th was celebrated for the Pesach Seder.- the 14th (Crucifixion Day) being the Day of Preparation.

On which night should modern Messianic Hebraic Roots Restorers observe the Seder Meal (‘the Lord’s Supper”)? If the current Restoration process entails a Return in unity to the One True Faith, then, like Jews, while there are certain discrepancies and uncertainties, it should wisely be best to follow YAHU’SHUAH’s clear instructions and follow the leadership of the Rabbis (Matthew 23:2). This, of course, is not a very popular suggestion amongst awakening Returnees to the One True Faith – and there should not be any doubts as to why this route has been so discredited by the Accusers of God’s elect!

One fact is for sure, in the Kingdom they will ALL sit on at the same table and at the same time. We may as well start practicing this attitude here – the lack of which may well disqualify us for entry into His Kingdom of Peace – not disunity.

A dreadful consideration is that if the 14th is to be a Sabbath, then YAHU’SHUAH, the God of the Sabbath and the Festivals, was slaughtered on His own Sabbath! – just one more mockery added to the long list!

OTHER SINCERE OBJECTIONS

A. Mark 16:9. “Now when YAHU’SHUAH was risen early the first day of the week. He appeared first to Mary Magdalene”. (King James version, Sacred Name restored). This could very well seem to mean that He was resurrected on Sunday Morning. It could however, also mean, “when YAHSHUAH was (already) risen early the first day … He appeared to Mary …” Indeed, when He appeared to Mary. He WAS RISEN already! In fact, He was risen, late on Saturday afternoon, ‘As He said’, and as confirmed by the Angel at the empty Tomb in the dawning hours of Sunday.

B. Matt. 28:1. “In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn towards the first day of the week,” the women came to the grave. “And behold there WAS a great earthquake.” (King James). This seems as if the Resurrection took place at the very time of their arrival. However, as confirmed in the margin of the reference edition, the more correct translation should read, “And behold, there HAD BEEN a great earthquake …” (earlier thus — it does not say when exactly). By reading the Bible chapter in context we note that just a few verses later, in verse 6, the Angel confirms. “He is not here .. .”The quake and the Resurrection had already taken place earlier.”

ONE FINAL PROOF

For the skeptic there is one more proof, straight from the Bible — a specific time stipulation determining the exact time of the crucifixion some 500 years in advance.

This time stipulation was given by the Prophet Daniel in a prophecy concerning the appearance and mission of the Messiah. This prophecy is recorded in the Book of Daniel, chap. 9:24-27. The reader is advised to study this portion carefully.

We read in verse 27, “And .He shall confirm the Covenant with many for one week; and in the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease.”

Here is a clear indication that by His Crucifixion He would make an end to the system of animal sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. He would be the TRUE Lamb and His life would be ‘cut off in the ‘middle’ of the week — WEDNESDAY!

May this reading open your understanding to the Truth and may it expose the subtlety of the enemy of our One True Faith. The lie, as exposed by this study, has spread throughout Christianity. People have unconsciously accepted it without even questioning the matter. These are the last days of this dispensation and the true saints are seeing through the lie. Satan and his children will rage and fight to cover the lie, but this Message is sweeping the world. Tracts have gone throughout the world. The Oxford University Press has given a chart revealing this Truth in their “Companion Bible.

EFFECTS OF THIS GREAT MISCONCEPTION

The revelationary TRUTH as reviewed in this study also sheds much light on other popular misconceptions amongst most Christians

• It proves the error in the popular ‘Easter’ festivities.
•  The greatest argument for the change of the Sabbath from Saturday to the first day of the week. utterly and completely collapses in the light of this Truth. It is claimed that the Sabbath was changed to Sunday because ‘Messiah was resurrected on Sunday’—a fallacy which is disproved by the Bible.
•  The Truth in this matter brings much clarity and meaning to the Great Passover Festival and its relation to the 7-day Festival of Unleavened Bread. These Festivals form part of the SEVEN Great Festivals which have been completely lost by Christians.
•  The deeper meaning of the Pesach Seder (‘The Lord’s Supper’) which was instituted at this Passover, becomes apparent. This Supper forms one of the original foundation pillars of the entire Biblical Calendar Cycle of Redemption and more specifically of the Biblical Pesach Festival to be held at the exact time, once a year, and not daily, weekly, quarterly etc.