Category: Easter

The Math of Passover & Unleavened Bread

Some time ago, a popular Sacred Name group published a list titled “10 Key Passover Facts,” found in their Jan-Feb 2018 magazine.

We will address Fact #5, which reads:

While leavening is not prohibited on Passover day, Abib 14, it is disallowed with the Passover memorial, Exodus 12:8. The Passover is a time of removing leavening in preparation for the Feast of Unleavened Bread that follows.

Modified Version
For many, this would seem to be a reasonable statement because this reflects the present-day acceptance, by most, of a modified version of the Hasidic/Pharisaic practice of Passover and Unleavened Bread which encompasses the dates of Abib 14-21 with the result of an observance consisting of 8 days. Continue reading “The Math of Passover & Unleavened Bread” →

New Moons – Visibility or Calculation?

When it comes to the issue of determining New Moons by visibility or calculation, there are a number of questions one should consider when trying to ascertain Yahweh’s truth of the matter.

It seems that various religious leaders have convinced many people that not only must one actually see the visible crescent of the new moon but must also determine the greenness of the barley crop for the New Year.

These religious leaders purport to know and understand the true criteria for the determination of Yahweh’s calendar. They also claim their knowledge and understanding comes directly from Scriptures.

In addition, these religious leaders claim that their formula for determining New Moons emanates from Scriptures and is very simple. So simple that Yahweh has provided the means for virtually anyone to determine the beginning of months and years regardless of circumstance.

Well, almost anyone. You might not be so fortunate if you don’t have 20-20 vision or are not a farmer.

Continue reading “New Moons – Visibility or Calculation?” →

38. Passover – Egyptian Confirmation

Unknown to most followers of Yahweh, there is a remarkable witness that provides evidence for the practice of the 7-day Festival of Passover and Unleavened Bread occurring on Abib 14-20.

This witness comes from an extra-biblical work, the Book of Yashar, also known as Sefer Ha-Yashar.

The present copy of the Book of Yashar is by no means to be assigned the authority of Scriptures. However, what the text says regarding the Passover of the Exodus nevertheless proves quite informative and interesting.

Book of Yashar
81:5 And the children of Israel TRAVELED FROM EGYPT AND FROM GOSHEN AND FROM RAMESES, AND ENCAMPED IN SUCCOTH ON THE FIFTEENTH DAY of the first month.

Continue reading “38. Passover – Egyptian Confirmation” →

What Is Truth?

This question is one of the most profound statements found in Scriptures and uttered by the most unlikely of persons.

The New Testament names him Pontios Pilatos, or as many would recognize him, Pontius Pilate. He was the Roman prefect (governor) of Judaea under the emperor Tiberius, from 26-36 C.E.

The circumstances occurred when Yahushua the messiah was brought before Pontius Pilate by the Jewish religious leaders to exact an execution to be legally carried out by the Roman state.

The historical evidence dates this event to Abib 14, Passover day, of 30 C.E., corresponding to Thursday, April 6.

Was it possible that Pilate was capable of grasping some sense of truth from Yahushua?

Continue reading “What Is Truth?” →

36. Passover – Atonement on the 9th?

Although all of the evidence from Scriptures unequivocally makes “between/among the arabim (evenings)” begin at sunset and end at dark, there is one challenge made by the advocates of
System B (the Hasidic position) which must be addressed: their interpretation of Leviticus 23:26-32.

This single passage is the mainstay defense used by all of those claiming that at least one arab (evening) represents the last few hours of a day (System B and System D).

Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)
Though the section begins by stating that “on the tenth day of this seventh month is a Day of Atonement,” a sacred convocation, and a day of humbling, i.e., fasting,1 it later gives a statement which is popularly translated to mean: Continue reading “36. Passover – Atonement on the 9th?” →

32. Passover – Exodus Interrogated III

In our last post, 31. Passover – Exodus Interrogated II, we uncovered an additional eight points of evidence dealing with our investigation of the Festival of Passover and Unleavened Bread:

8. There are a total of 7 days of eating unleavened bread.

9. The first and seventh days are High Sabbaths.

10. It was during the night of Passover, Abib 14, that the Israelites came out of Egypt, the house of bondage.

11. The Hebrew terms arab (evening) and byn ha-arabim (between the evenings) are synonymous and mean the time period just after sunset and before dark which begins the scriptural day.

12. One is to eat unleavened bread from the beginning of Abib 14 until the beginning of Abib 21 for a total of seven days of eating unleavened bread.

13. After the killing of the Passover lamb, the sprinkling of blood on the door frame, and the Passover meal at the beginning of Abib 14, the Israelites were not to leave their houses until morning.

14. It was the destroyer named Yahweh who killed all the Egyptian firstborn.

15. The day of Passover is to be observed as an ordinance or statute until a future world-age lasting time.

We will now proceed to solve this case with our third and final installment.

Continue reading “32. Passover – Exodus Interrogated III” →

31. Passover – Exodus Interrogated II

So far the interrogation from 30. Passover – Exodus Interrogated I has produced the following primary evidence:

1. Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron on Abib 1 of the New Year.

2. The Passover lamb was to be taken on Abib 10.

3. Lamb was to be kept until the beginning of Abib 14.

4. Lamb was to be killed just after sundown at the beginning of Abib 14 and its blood smeared on the doorframe. It is immediately cooked, and eaten.

5. All remains of lamb were to be burned by early morning prior to sunrise of Abib 14.

6. Yahweh would pass through Egypt during the night of Abib 14 killing all the firstborn except Israelite houses smeared with the blood of the lamb.

7. Abib 14 is a Festival Day.

It’s time to continue with the interrogation.

Continue reading “31. Passover – Exodus Interrogated II” →

29. Passover – What Now?

So far, this Passover Series has endeavored to lay the groundwork for a much-needed and long-overdue discussion regarding the correct method for observing the Festival of Passover and Unleavened Bread.

What has been lacking from any previous discussions, especially among the various Sacred Name groups of today, is the history of the earliest Christians and their Passover practice during the first few centuries C.E.

One of the reasons for this oversight is the fact that many are not even aware that such a history exists!

To counter the ignorance of historical evidence, this Series has brought the true Passover practice of the Quartodecimans to light, along with the importance of being included as a consideration in the ongoing quest for Yahweh’s truth of the matter.

Continue reading “29. Passover – What Now?” →

28. Passover – Evolution to Today II

What had begun in c.196 C.E. as a challenge to the Quartodeciman practice of Passover/Unleavened Bread (System A) by Victor, bishop of Rome, was finally granted full authority throughout the Roman empire at the behest of Emperor Constantine.

Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea in 325 C.E.

Authority from Constantine
One of the results of this conference was the declaration by Constantine that the Hasidic view for the seven days of Unleavened Bread, as instituted by Pope Victor, was the correct system under the Torah.

Continue reading “28. Passover – Evolution to Today II” →

27. Passover – Evolution to Today I

We will now focus on the evidence demonstrating the mechanics of the Christian Hasidic construct as represented by Roman assembly System E and its evolution resulting in the present-day Modern Hybrid System G as practiced by the many Sacred Name groups of today.

Just after the establishment of the System E construct, the Syrian hybrid System F was developed which was an attempt to merge the Quartodeciman System A with the Roman System E.

Eventually a more recent innovation of Passover and Unleavened Bread was created which is being followed by many present-day followers of Yahweh, the Modern Hybrid System G.

We shall begin our discussion by examining the evidence for the Roman assembly System E construct. The evidence will demonstrate the change by the western assemblies to the Hasidic method for the seven days of Unleavened Bread.

Continue reading “27. Passover – Evolution to Today I” →

26. Passover – Roman Corruption II

Regarding the Roman construct (System E) of the Festival of Passover and Unleavened Bread, we will now address the protagonists of this Christian Hasidic practice who opposed the Quartodecimans (System A) and the Quasi-Quartodecimans (System D).

Irenaeus
Irenaeus (c.140-202 C.E.), presbyter and bishop of the diocese of Lyons, Gaul (France),1 was a vital player in the formulation of this new Roman assembly view.

Though early in his life he lived in Asia among the Quartodecimans and personally knew Polycarp, in his adult life he helped direct the western assemblies toward their new path.2

Continue reading “26. Passover – Roman Corruption II” →

25. Passover – Roman Corruption I

The Quartodecimans argued that Christians should observe only the 14th as the Passover supper and Eucharist mystery (cup and bread) because the messiah and his disciples kept that same day.

Nevertheless, there was strong resistance by the Roman assembly.

The Quartodeciman (System A) and Quasi-Quartodeciman (System D) practice was made more difficult to overcome by the fact that they were both based upon the same apostolic authority (the apostle John).1

It soon became obvious that if the Roman assembly was to gain political dominance in the West, as well as over many of the eastern assemblies, a new strategy was required.

In response, during the last decade of the second century C.E., the western leaders and theologians developed a new approach: the Roman assembly Passover and, after the Council of Nicaea in 325 C.E., canonized as the Roman Catholic Passover (System E).

Continue reading “25. Passover – Roman Corruption I” →

24. Passover – Anatolius Speaks!

Proof that the seven days of Unleavened Bread for the Quartodecimans extended from the 14th until the end of the 20th day of the first lunar month is established from records provided by their offshoots, the quasi-Quartodecimans of System D.

The most important source for their view is found in the records of Anatolius of Alexandria.

To his words we can add the statements provided by the Audians and several bishops representing assemblies located in different parts of Europe.

Anatolius of Alexandria
Like the Quartodecimans, those who kept System D observed the 14th until the end of the 20th for the seven days of Unleavened Bread.

The most famous advocate of this system was Anatolius of Alexandria (c.230-283 C.E.).1

Continue reading “24. Passover – Anatolius Speaks!” →

23. Passover – Which 7 Days?

The seven days of Unleavened Bread remained an important period for all the early Christian assemblies.
It was by means of these seven days that they determined when to observe Passover.

For the Quartodeciman practice (System A), being the original view of the early Christian assemblies, and its quasi-Quartodeciman offshoot System D (the early western view), these seven days began with the 14th and extended until the end of the 20th day of the first lunar month.

We begin to uncover this important detail by demonstrating three facts:

• The Quartodecimans observed the 14th of Abib as a high Sabbath (great festival day) and as the first of the seven days of Unleavened Bread.

• The quasi-Quartodecimans kept the same seven days of Unleavened Bread as observed by the early Quartodecimans.

• Both the early Quartodecimans of System A and the quasi-Quartodecimans of System D deferred to the apostle John as their ultimate authority for establishing which days were to be observed for the seven days of Unleavened Bread.

Continue reading “23. Passover – Which 7 Days?” →

22. Passover – The Quartodecimans II

An important fact regarding the Quartodecimans that has been missed by most followers of Yahweh is that the Quartodecimans claimed and demonstrated authority from Yahushua the messiah and Scriptures for their practice of Passover.

Though they considered themselves not to be under the written Torah of Moses, they followed the guides of the Torah of Moses with regard to “all the festivals.”

Chrysostom (347-407 C.E.)
Chrysostom, a strong advocate of the Roman Catholic System E, for example, demonstrates this point in his work titled Adversus Judaeos, where he condemns the Quartodeciman Christians because of their practice of celebrating such scriptural High Sabbath days as the Day of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Festival of Tabernacles.1

Continue reading “22. Passover – The Quartodecimans II” →