“Speak to all the assembly of Isra’el and say, ‘On the tenth day of this month, each man is to take a lamb or kid for his family, one per household.”-Exodus 12:3
God tells Israel that on the 10th day of the month of NISAN, the people are to select a lamb for the Passover sacrifice.
The 10th day of NISAN is 4 days BEFORE Passover and again the people are only to select…NOT kill…..the lamb they will sacrifice for Passover.
A couple of points about this lamb.
First, it had be a male and had to be one years old.
A one year old male sheep is actually a fully grown ram.
It has horns and is pretty darn big…weighing in at about 50 pounds or so.
This isn’t some fuzzy cute little creature that a grade school child could easily carry around.
It is also different than the lamb chops you would have for dinner.
Supermarket lamb chops are no more than about 6 months old and thus are NOT adult sheep.
So we can do away with these Mary Had a Little Lamb images.
This was one sizable animal we’re talking about.
Second, this ram had to be in perfect health.
It had to be the best of the bunch minus any injuries, broken bones, and/or scars.
So on the 10th of Nisan, the ram is selected but not killed until Passover evening four days later-the 14th of NISAN.
It is important to know that God has assigned a numerical date for Passover and NOT a fixed day of the week.
According to the Jewish calendar, Passover always occurs on the 14th day of NISAN.
Contrast this with the “Christian Passover” or Good Friday which always takes place on the Friday before Easter.
Good Friday will always occur on the same day (obviously a Friday) but on a different date.
Passover may occur on a different day from year to year, but is always on the SAME date (NISAN 14).
This is just like Halloween which is ALWAYS on the same date (October 31st) but falls on a different day from year to year.
The biggest spiritual takeaway here is of course the fact that Yeshua was executed exactly on Passover day, the 14th of Nissan.
I find the contrast between Jews and Christians with regards to Passover to be quite interesting.
When those Jewish people who have yet to accept Yeshua as Messiah observe Passover, they are unknowingly celebrating the very day of Yeshua’s death in the exact manner as God has commanded.
On the other hand, the gentile church has abandoned this God-ordained remembrance altogether.
Why?
Because of some tradition set down by a Roman politician about 1700 years ago to appease pagan Sun worshippers and anti-Semitic church bishops.
I’m sorry but I’m not going to mince my words here.
The truth is the Church has taught its attendees to ignore the Biblical feasts as being obsolete and irrelevant because they’re part of the Old Testament.
These Bible feasts were established by God as COMMEMORATIONS for the purpose of teaching and preparing believers for their ultimate fulfillment.
Yeshua fulfilled the meaning of Passover by He, Himself becoming the sacrificial Passover ram.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
It was the day of Preparation of the Passover;
it was about noon.
“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.
But they shouted,
“Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.
Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
-John 19:14-16
“Behold the Lamb of God,
who takes away the sins of the world.”
-John 1:29
“Get rid of the old yeast,
so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are.
For Messiah, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
-1 Corinthians 5:7
I believe in a Thursday Crucifixion.
https://midseventiethweekrapture.blogspot.com/2016/10/jesus-wasnt-buried-same-day-he-was.html
There are several amazing things about that week. First, I was always curious over why the people were lined up when Yeshua came on the donkey. Apparently, the high priest was to come that day (the 10th) to bring the “official” passover lamb from Bethlehem (house of bread) to await the examination done on all lambs. All the people lined up to see him return. Yeshua simply came out first, as the true lamb, so the people were doing their usual thing and calling “hosanna”. This is why the leaders all told the disciples to make them stop..
Then how is it that the meal shared with Yeshua and his disciples was called a Passover meal, since Passover was the day He died and the meal taken of the lamb was actually the Feast of Unleavened Bread, on the evening of the day of the crucifixion? We also have a notation during the meal that when Judas left, they thought he was going out to buy things to prepare for the Passover so how could they be eating the Passover? One thought is a tradition that when a course of study under a rabbi is finished, they would have a “graduation” meal together. Perhaps that is what occurred. Because how could Yeshua eat the Passover lamb when He was the Passover lamb? (We know He said that He desired to eat this Passover with them – but couldn’t that mean exactly that – even tho He wouldn’t be, since he was being sacrificed)
As you have often noted, Ric, there are many parts of the gospels and Tanack that are not easy to understand when we, as Gentiles, don’t have a proper historical view. Keep up the good work and May Yah give us understanding.