Some very good letters came in response to "The Lord's Supper." Some questions. Some insights. Some things I didn't want to get into in the article because it was to be kept "Gentile" as it relates to the "Church." But are important to realize, nonetheless.

Topics:

• Unleavened bread
• Thursday crucifixion
• Passover in March

This last item, while covered last, may likely be the most significant as one of the "Signs of the Time" we are NOW living in. Something which shows JUST HOW CLOSE Christ is "at the doors."(Mt 24:33)

Comment:
Yes, we celebrate the Pesach, (Passover),being fed up with pagan Ishtar (easter).

Comment:
I agree that unleavened bread fits for the Lord's Supper in a way that other types of "bread" used do not.

Comment:
Your article on the Lord's Supper was one that needed to be written. It is a fact that man has preverted and placed almost all God's special days and things at a time convenient for man.. Not giving heed to how God placed them.

Comment:
I could not wait to read your post, being jewish and a believer for 17 plus years! yes, yes,yes, the Lord's supper, communion, whatever, does need to change in some churches. He is our unleavened bread, no yeast (sin) and if you look at a piece of matza, it has been pierced, it has stripes where it has been baked, it has black marks as bruises,it is poor man's bread, yet baked with perfect supervision in obedience with the Law. Yes, there needs to be a change in the church re: the use of leavened bread!

I could go on and on about the Passover, the four cups of wine - sanctification, judgment redemption and praise. The afikomen is the middle matza held in a bag, called a matza tosh (bag in hebrew) and this bag has three compartments, the middle compartment is where the matza is pulled from, broken in two, one half is wrapped in a white linen cloth and hidden, the other half is eaten among all. the children after the meal go to search for the white linen clothed unleavened bread, and whoever finds it brings it back to the elder, where the meal cannot continue until the afikomen has been redeemed with a monetary reward to the child that found it. Can you see Jesus Yeshua here?

Isn't it a picture of beauty and yet, jews all over the world celebrate Passover with a seder every year, yet God has veiled their eyes until the fullness of the Gentiles. So we wait, we pray, we love, we hurt, we trust, we beseech, and we wait.

A.
One of the saddest passages of Scripture to me, with regards to the Jews is, "then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. (Zec 12:10)

They label the three compartments of the matsa tosh "Priests, Levites, Israelites." Not seeing the "Father, Son, & Holy Spirit." The middle afikomen pouch which they break, hide and redeem, really representing Jesus Christ; "afikomen" meaning "He came."

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Q.
For the fact that the Last Supper was on Wednesday evening, and Jesus was crucified on Thursday, I would direct the reader to a book by Dave Hunt, "How Close Are We?" Particularly chapter 16, "Forget 'Good Friday'."
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So how do we interpet Mark 15:42 - Mark 16:6 There is only one day (the sabbath) between these??

A.
The most notable verse in this passage being questioned is Mk 15:42, "Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath..." They needed to get Jesus down off the cross and bury Him quickly. For our consideration we need to also be aware of Jn 19:31, "..because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day).."

The term "sabbath" could apply to the 7th day of the week, Saturday (to us). Equally to special feast days. It means, literally, "rest." The first Sabbath kept was when God rested the 7th day.(Gen 2:3) However, there were many special days in Israel, which were days of rest, which didn't necessarily fall on the 7th day of the week.

Not only was this Passover, it was also feast of Unleavened bread. As well as, the beginning of the "Firstfruits" which culminated at Pentecost. And then, of course, Saturday...the regular weekly Sabbath.

Lev 23:5-6 14th day of the month is Passover. 15th is Unleavened bread. Ex 12:18 it says "on the 14th day..at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread. The Jewish day began at sunset the previous day. So, the "evening" of the 14th was actually the beginning of the 15th day.

Sunday was the 10th. Wed PM was the beginning of the 14th day...Passover. Also known as the "preparation day" ...for Unleavened bread. According to Lev23:7-8, the first and 7th days of Unleavend bread, they were to do no "customery work" ...in other words, "Sabbath" And being one of the special Annual Feasts it was a "high day"(Jn19:31)

For the scholarship regarding Daniel's prophecies, and the actual date Jesus was crucified, I will again, direct the reader to Hunt's book. But, to simply sort the events out here:

1. Palm Sunday was Nissan 10
2. Lord's Supper was Wed evening, Nissan 14 (Thursday)
3. Jesus died Thursday afternoon as the Passover lambs were being slaughtered (Nissan 14) and "preparation" for Unl-Bread
4. Passover lambs and Unleavened bread were eaten Thursday evening, Nissan 15 (Friday) First day of Unleavened Bread. the "High" day. (Sabbath)
5. Nissan 16, the Saturday ("regular") Sabbath

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Q.
I have been wondering how Easter came to be 2 weeks before Passover too?!! Do you know who or how our dates for Easter are picked? I think that it has something to do with the moon!

Q.
There is something else interesting that I have found in looking at the Jewish Calender. They are still counting forward, toward their Messiah's coming. This is the year 5757 for them. That being the case, then according to some astroglers, this comet we are seeing now passed in 1530 BC, our time , placing it around the time of Moses birth 4200 years ago. That would have to be researched for certainty, but it is close enough to make one wonder if there is really something special about Hale-Bopp that we don't have any knowledge of at all.

Comment:
P.S. Pesach 1997 was on March 24th, as the Jewish Calendar is a month out, due to there being no Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, to set the calendar by the moon, but that is another story!

Comment:
You may be interested to know that Easter is always the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox, and Passover _used_to_be_ the first full moon after the vernal equinox. The Jewish Calendar, in Biblical times (OT & NT), was regulated by astronomical and agricultural observation. However, after the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70, it became more difficult for the Jewish authorities to...get out the word as to when the new month had begun..

..the calendar came to be regulated, not by observation, but by _calculation_, and the formula was kept a closely guarded secret. Eventually, however -- around A.D. 359 -- Hillel II published the formula for the calendar, so Jewish people everywhere could calculate it on their own.

It's a very good calendar. However, it does have some error, and that error has accumulated through the centuries.

A.
I've been making some observations of my own recently. A common thread is evident in the Jewish Feasts. The propensity for the Jewish leaders (rabbis) to "add" things to God's Law. For instance, to the Sabbath they added many regulations. And then, to circumvent their man-made regulations, they created loop-holes. Jesus came along, not observing the man-made loop-holes (laws), and was castigated.

God dispersed His people, so, again, the religious leaders devised "formulae" for keeping time.

As I was observing the recent lunar eclipse, and Hale-Bopp comet, I was already concluding that March was the correct time for Passover and Resurrection Sunday. Here are some thoughts to consider:

The two "most important" Jewish feasts are Passover/Unleavened bread and Sukkot (Tabernacles). The importance of Passover is now history. The importance of Tabernacles is found in Zech 14:16~ as it represents the presence of the Messiah..."God with us."(Isa7:14,Mt1:23)

It is thought that Jesus was born in September, corresponding with Sukkot. He died at Passover. The primary feast during the Millenium when Christ is ruling on David's throne, is to be Sukkot.

It is speculated that Hale-Bopp made its last visit during the Exodus from Egypt. Passover. When Jesus was born, the wise men followed His "star." (Another ?? comet) Sukkot. This year, during the lunar eclipse, Hale-Bopp was also easily visible in the northwestern ski. Passover.

Joel 2:31 says, "the moon [shall be turned] into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord."

In 1996 there were 2 lunar eclipses. One at Passover, the other at Sukkot. This year we have had a "blood moon" eclipse in March, Passover. And another is to be in September, Sukkot. I don't recall how many of these were/will be "blood moons." But does anybody see anything significant here?

So, the Jewish leaders have messed up the calendar so it's a month off. But God is setting the record straight again. The things in the heavens are for "signs and seasons."(Gen1:14) He's giving the universe notice. It's about time for "those days" and He is "calibrating" the "stop watch."

And He is emphasizing the matter. The Jewish (eastern) mind thinks of things in three's. Elisha became angry with Joash when he hit the ground with the arrows "ONLY" three times.(2Kgs13:18) "You should have struck 5 or 6 times..."

God has given us 3 lunar eclipses in 3 (major) Jewish Feasts in a row. The 4th is on its way. God is saying that it is a Sure Thing. He's gone beyond the "traditional three." His promises "WILL" come to pass. It is NOW time! Don't mistake it! It is ABOUT TO HAPPEN!! "At the doors."

However, Sukkot is only PART of the "third" Feast called "INGATHERING.. at the end of the year."(Ex23:14-16) It foreshadows Christ's Millenial reign..."God with us. "My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (Ezek 37:27)

Before Sukkot comes Yom Kippur, "Atonement." Affliction of souls.(Lev23:27) Foreshadowing God's "purifying the sons of Levi" during the time of His wrath.(Mal3:1-3) Purging out the rebels.(Ez20:38) And who can "endure" it?! (Mt24:22)

However, before Atonement, at the beginning of the "Ingathering," is the blowing of trumpets.(Lev23:24) Rosh Hashanah. Many associate this with Mt24:31. But that "gathering" of Israel from the "four winds" is "immediately after the tribulation of those days."(vs29) Rosh Hashanah is at the "beginning" of the Ingathering..heralding it! Could this be the "last trumpet" when Believers are "changed?" (1Cor15:52) ..to be "caught up together..to meet the Lord in the air?" (1Ths4:17)

O Glorious Day! Even so, Come Lord Jesus! (Rev22:20)

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