In the beginning of the feasts of the LORD we specifically see God’s faithfulness to follow through and execute what He unequivocally said that He would do. In these days we see the lengths God goes through to keep His word and the power at His command to do so.
God’s plan of salvation for mankind is seen in the holy days and begins at this time of the year with Passover, Night to be Much Observed and the First Day of Unleavened Bread.
The Exodus
The Passover is Instituted
Exodus 12:1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
Exodus 12:2 “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.
Exodus 12:5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats.
Exodus 12:6 Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight.
This word that is translated twilight in the NKJV and in the evening in the KJV Between the evenings (YLT …. slaughtered it between the evenings)
Now as we continue we see when they were to actually eat the lamb. Continuing in vs 7
Exodus 12:7 And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.
Exodus 12:8 Then they shall eat the flesh on that night
So remember that the Israelites killed the lamb at the very beginning of the 14th just after sunset and now they were told that they were to eat it on that very same night. Of course this makes perfect sense and goes hand in hand with the next verses:
Exodus 12:10 You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire.
Exodus 12:11 And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s Passover.
So now notice what happened on that night and subsequently what the Israelites did on that night
Exodus 12:12 ‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.
Exodus 12:13 Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
The Israelites were in their homes eating the Passover lamb and benefiting from the protection that was being afforded them because of the blood on the lintel and doorposts – this was all on the night of the 14th – that is the time from sunset until morning.
We see this a little more clearly in vs 21 when Moses begins to pass on the instructions to the people:
Exodus 12:21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb.
Exodus 12:22 And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning.
Exodus 12:23 For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you.
So they were to remain in their homes until the morning of the 14th lest they be subject to the death angel as were all of the Egyptians.
After all of the firstborn had been killed the Egyptians were anxious to have them leave. We see this continuing in :33 of Exodus 12
Exodus 12:33 And the Egyptians urged the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.”
So here we are now at the morning of the 14th in:
Exodus 12:34 So the people took their dough before it was leavened [in other words unleavened], having their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes on their shoulders.
Exodus 12:35 Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing.
This all happened during the daylight hours of the day of Passover as the Israelites made “haste” to get out of Egypt at the urging of the Egyptians. In addition to taking spoils they made unleavened bread for the journey. This was now happening during the daylight portion of the 14th
Exodus 12:36 And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.
Exodus 12:37 Then the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth
Exodus 12:39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought out of Egypt; for it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt [at the urging of the Egyptians] and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves.
And skipping down to :41 we see …
Exodus 12:41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years—on that very same day—it came to pass that all the armies of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.
Exodus 12:41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. KJV
Exodus 12:42 It is a night of solemn observance to the LORD for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is that night of the LORD, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generations.
Exodus 12:42 It is a night to be much observed unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the LORD to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations. KJV
Night to be Much Observed/Night to be Much Remembered is the start of the days of Unleavened Bread at sunset. This is the night that we get together to have a meal.
The point being made here is that something happened exactly 430 years before on the very same day, the selfsame day!
Moses who wrote the first five books of the bible is making a point here. He is saying that there is correlation here! This did not just happen by accident.
Let’s finally go back to the event in question:
Covenant With Abram
With the end in mind we will fill in some details as we go along
Genesis 14:18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. [at the end of the day; normally you don’t drink wine if you want to be productive, we will see better evidence later]
Genesis 14:19 And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;
Genesis 14:20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all.
Melchizedek (means King of Righteousness and He is also King of Peace) brings bread and wine [does this sound familiar?]
We are at the end of the 13th day of Abib, just at the beginning of the 14th which is when Passover was to begin
Continuing on the conversation with Melchizedek
Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
Genesis 15:2 But Abram said, “Lord GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
Genesis 15:3 Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”
Reference back to Genesis 12:2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.
Genesis 15:4 And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This one [Eliezer of Damascus] shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.”
Genesis 15:5 Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
Now the 14th of the 1st month is well and truly under way
Genesis 15:6 And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
Genesis 15:7 Then He said to him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.”
Genesis 15:8 And he said, “Lord GOD, how shall I know that I will inherit it?”
Sacrifice is prepared and made:
Genesis 15:9 So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
Genesis 15:10 Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.
The sacrifice is made during the daylight portion of the 14th as we will see here in the next verse:
Genesis 15:11 And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
Vultures normally find their food by smell – that of the rotting carcass. Takes some time to generate the smell that comes with decomposition – so some time definitively passed.
Genesis 15:12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him.
Now we are at the end of the 14th
Genesis 15:13 Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.
Parenthetic thought: strangers in a land that is not theirs, (and will serve them, and they will afflict them) four hundred years. [this was concurrent to the 430 years]
Genesis 15:14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
Genesis 15:17 And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces.
So now we are at the beginning of the 15th (the Night to be Much Observed/First Day of Unleavened Bread)
Genesis 15:18 On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—
One sided. God would fulfill no matter what. God made this covenant and ratified it on the 14th with the sacrifices. He said that HE would bring these things about – no matter what. Abraham did not have to go through the cut pieces.
Abraham was not going to be held accountable like God. This is Grace and not works, because we cannot earn our salvation — it is up to God to save us.
New Testament Parallels
Genesis 14:18 Melchizedek
Who is Melchizedek? He is the pre-incarnate Christ.
Hebrews 7:1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,
Hebrews 7:2 to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,”
Hebrews 7:3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.
Genesis 14:18 Bread and Wine
Matthew 26:26-29 Jesus Christ institutes new symbols of bread and wine at the beginning of the 14th
Genesis 15:9-10 Covenant Ratification
Hebrews 9:16 For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
Hebrews 9:17 For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives.
Hebrews 9:18 Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood.
Genesis 15:12 Sun Going Down
The new covenant is ratified with death of Jesus Christ at 9th hour which is the daylight portion of the 14th when sacrifices were made with Abram.
Genesis 15:12 Horror and Darkness
Matthew 27:45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.
John 1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
John 1:5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
Matthew 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”
Matthew 27:50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
Matthew 27:51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,
Genesis 15:17-18 The sun went down and it was dark and the LORD made a covenant
So now we are at the beginning of the 15th (the Night to be Much Observed/First Day of Unleavened Bread)
One sided. God would fulfill no matter what. God made this covenant and ratified it on the 14th. He said that HE would bring these things about – no matter what.
Now this time it is the spiritual seed that He is referring to and again it was a one-sided covenant that God would fulfill.
It is by GRACE that we are truly saved, because we cannot earn our salvation, the penalty was paid by Jesus Christ.
And what we see throughout the Bible is that God kept His word AND reinforced the promises that He made to save and deliver His people. He does this time and time again.
So no matter what situation Abraham or the seed of Abraham found itself in God would save them and deliver them and make his descendants great (RACE)
Joshua 5
Joshua – mantle passed, he continued in the way he was taught
Joshua 5:9 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” Therefore the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day.
Through circumcision so they could take Passover
Joshua 5:10 Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho.
This is the beginning of Passover
Joshua 5:11 And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and parched grain, on the very same day.
The selfsame day (KJV) exactly 470 years later
Joshua 5:12 Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.
It was then that God delivered them to the Promised Land and saved them from those that occupied the land (Joshua 6; Jericho)
Esther 3
Esther 3:12 Then the king’s scribes were called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and a decree was written according to all that Haman commanded—to the king’s satraps, to the governors who wereover each province, to the officials of all people, to every province according to its script, and to every people in their language. In the name of King Ahasuerus it was written, and sealed with the king’s signet ring.
Esther 3:15 The couriers went out, hastened by the king’s command; and the decree was proclaimed in Shushan the citadel. So the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Shushan was perplexed.
They were in Shushan, so they got it first, on that day.
Esther 4:13 And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews.
Esther 4:14 For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
Esther 4:15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai:
Esther 4:16 “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which isagainst the law; and if I perish, I perish!”
Fasting normally starts at the beginning of the day (which is night)
the next beginning of the day is: the 14th of the first month Abib
Esther 5:1 Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, across from the king’s house, while the king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, facing the entrance of the house.
Esther 7:5 So King Ahasuerus answered and said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing?”
Esther 7:6 And Esther said, “The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman!” So Haman was terrified before the king and queen.
Esther 7:10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath subsided.
Galatians 3
Galatians 3:15 Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it.
It is true with men that no one can add extra conditions and requirements to it or take away what is there and already agreed upon. By implication how much more if God is a part of it`
Galatians 3:16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “AND TO YOUR SEED,” who is Christ.
Galatians 3:17 And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect.
What he is saying here is that the sacrificial law that was added after the Exodus which was 430 years after a specific covenant was agreed to, cannot make that promise null and void. This covenant is still in effect to today and the promises that were made WAY back when are still applicable to Abraham’s seed.
Now notice who is Abraham’s seed:
Galatians 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Once we have been baptized into Christ, have hands laid on us and receive the holy spirit and have put on Christ, we are His. All the lines of separation have been removed. Once we are Christ’s by faith then we bypass any bloodlines and are considered a part of Abraham and the eternal promises made to him.
Exodus 13:3 And Moses said to the people: “Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out of this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten.
It is by the power and might of God and His faithfulness that our salvation comes.
That is the lesson of the selfsame day!