GOD'S PATTERN REVEALED IN PASSOVER
To prepare your heart, these articles (1-15) on the age of the Earth need to be read in sequence to make sense. This particular article will now make a quantum leap to determine an important step in establishing our time-chart.
To remind you where we left off in Article 5:
We discussed the institution of the first Passover in Egypt which slew the first-born son and beast belonging to every household which was not covered by the blood of a lamb. Pharaoh lost his first-born son, heir to his throne. Passover was the first of the Lord's three Feasts each of which reflected an aspect of their flight from Egypt to entry into the Promised Land - Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. In this article we are primarily interested in God's timing of the Passover Feast. God was so particular about its' timing that He found it necessary to institute a new calendar, which was exactly out of phase with the previous civic calendar,
‘And Jehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying: This month shall be to you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: In the tenth of this month they shall take to them each man a lamb for a father's house, a lamb for a house. And, if the household is too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next to his house take according to the number of the souls, each one, according to the eating of his mouth, you shall count concerning the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You shall take from the sheep or from the goats. And you shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month. And the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take some of the blood and strike on the two side posts and upon the upper door post of the houses in which they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire and unleavened bread. They shall eat it with bitter herbs. Do not eat of it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire, its head with its legs, and with its inward parts. And you shall not let any of it remain until the morning. And that which remains of it until the morning you shall burn with fire. And you shall eat of it this way, with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in a hurry. It is Jehovah's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And I will execute judgements against all the gods of Egypt. I am Jehovah. And the blood shall be a sign to you upon the houses where you are. And, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And the plague shall not be upon you for a destruction when I smite in the land of Egypt. And this day shall be a memorial to you. And you shall keep it as a feast to Jehovah throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by a law forever’ (Exodus 12:1-14).
I highlighted the last portion because the feasts are still operative in God's timetable for the church and the world. Passover was fulfilled in Jerusalem when the Lord was crucified. Pentecost was fulfilled when 120 disciples were filled with the Spirit on the same day as the Jews celebrated their own Pentecost in Jerusalem. The church is still awaiting the fulfilment of the prophetic Feast of Tabernacles, in the 7th month, which involved total redemption on the Day of Atonement. Hopefully the reader is aware that we are still awaiting the day of fullness of our redemption (Luke 21:28). 'And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruit of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, awaiting adoption, the redemption of our body' (Romans 8:23) - You may wonder why it was not fulfilled shortly after the Day of Pentecost by the New Testament church:
For the same reason that there was an enormous delay of 40 years before the children of Israel crossed the Jordan into the Promised land. They could have achieved it in a few months. However, the people had murmured against Moses and Aaron angering God. Reading the account of the Exodus from Egypt we discover that God waited 40 years until the old generation died off with only two men of faith, Caleb and Joshua, remaining alive to cross over into the Promised Land. In parallel, we see that the early church also quickly went into decline as church leaders bickered over issues and formed new congregations drawing people to themselves, dividing the flock. We are still reaping what they sowed. Today, many closely associated congregations are acting autonomously and have different doctrines, agreeing to disagree to maintain peace and friendship.
Agreeing to disagree may be keeping the bond of peace in one way, but it's surely not what God means by unity of the Spirit. That is not the quality of unity of the Spirit that exists between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. What harmony can there be between a wife and husband if all they do is to agree to disagree for the sake of peace? To illustrate a point, it really means that your spouse is willing for you to do your own thing when she does not really approve. You become a law unto yourself. For instance, a wife may allow her husband to go bowling with the boys Saturday nights and says so when she really wished that he would spend quality time with her on Saturday night after a hard week on her feet. When they discover years later that resentments and a wall had slowly grown between them, they wonder why.
Not only did God change Israel's calendar in preparation for the first Passover, but God was very specific about the 1st, 10th and 14th day. The Passover lambs, used in Egypt by every household, were symbolic of Jesus, the Lamb of God, who was destined to be killed on the evening of the 14th day in Jerusalem approximately 1500 years later. While the Jews celebrated the Feast of Passover with a roasted lamb or kid the Father’s lamb was being ‘roasted’ on the cross outside the walls of Jerusalem,
‘… For also Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us’ (1Corinthians 5:7).
Concerning timing: Has the scripture ever struck you in relation to the number of times that the Jews tried to kill Jesus, but He always managed to slip away (Luke 4:30; John 7:6-8'8:59). God protected Him until the appointed time to be betrayed by Judas. The betrayal was in God's timetable. It's all about timing.
What was the Exodus from Egypt all about? The Hebrews, though at first kindly received by the Pharaoh in the time of Joseph, were by succeeding Pharaohs reduced to harsh labour and bitter slavery. Moses came to deliver them, demonstrating to Pharaoh the displeasure of God when Pharaoh didn’t let the people go to worship God. Subsequently, God promised the Hebrews to bring them out with ‘a mighty hand’ and bring them into the Promised Land of milk and honey. Their slavery in Egypt represents the slavery of mankind to worldly things from which we need deliverance by salvation through Jesus Christ.
When the Hebrews put blood on the door posts they were unknowingly claiming salvation through the blood of Christ that was to be applied retrospectively to all who obeyed. Their entire journey through the wilderness and the difficulties they faced is a picture of the pilgrimage that every Christian undertakes through life. It’s a mix of hardship and joy. It also pictures the journey of the church through the wilderness of the last 2000 years marked by dark periods such as the crusades and the inquisition. Nevertheless, the hope of the Promised Land, heaven, has always been the hope of every Christian. Africans slaves sang about the Promised Land, their hoped-for refuge in heaven.
Consider the important features of events of the Exodus in the newly proclaimed month of Nisan (Exodus 34:18), known as Abib after the Babylonian captivity, and how it parallels the pathway of salvation of the individual, and the pilgrimage of the church through time. It is God who declared a new beginning of months!
Every household was to keep a lamb out of sight for four days – the number 4 in the 4 days to hide the lamb from view incidentally also signified that this is important for the whole world to come to terms with. God made the incident of crossing the Red Sea so spectacular that few have not heard about it. Some Jews and the world belittle the event and call it the crossing of the Reed Sea. The real site of the crossing has been convincingly demonstrated in a wonderful and very convincing documentary DVD. The site of the crossing is not what many have officially recognized through the ages, https://www.arkdiscovery.com/red_sea_crossing.htm It truly required a miracle to cross the Red Sea. The Red Sea was emphatically not the Reed Sea.
The number 2 (2x7 = 14) indicates that the process of redemption through the Passover Lamb had to pass through two phases in history; The Creative and Redemptive Weeks. The substance of the Passover Feast was played out when Jesus was crucified. The original Passover, on the 14th day in Goshen, Egypt, foreshadowed the slaying of God’s lamb on the evening of 14th day of world history as shown in our next diagrams. No wonder God told the Hebrews to keep the Feast as a memorial. It was for the sake of our understanding who live close to the end of time. The coming of the Messiah, who would redeem, was foretold already to Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:15) and yet the coming of Jesus was hidden for 4000 years once sin entered in – 4 of God’s 1000-year days - until the day He was revealed by John the Baptist (See the diagrams below on The Exodus from Egypt and The Obvious Parallel as it pertains to us who live at the close of world history).
The allegory between the intended sacrifice by Abraham of his only son Isaac, who carried the wood to the place of sacrifice, and Christ carrying His own cross to Calvary is not to be missed. When Isaac asked his father for the whereabouts of the sacrifice Abraham told him that God Himself would provide a lamb (Genesis Chapter 22). That incident happened on Mount Moriah (in Jerusalem but not the Temple Mount now thought to have been the Roman fort https://youtu.be/oBFSCVw00NQ). There the Temple of Solomon was eventually built and it is also where Christ was crucified outside the Jerusalem city walls about 2050 years later. These kinds of parallels or types can be found throughout Scripture.
Superimposing the pilgrimage of the church in the wilderness (of the Exodus) onto the pilgrimage of the Christian church (since the first blood was shed on behalf of man by God providing skins for Adam and Eve) we obtain the next diagram (An Obvious Parallel). The church has been aware of this parallel for years, but few have taught their congregations. If you have not been aware of this before then praise the Lord for revealing it to you now, remembering that this is a broad framework the Lord has given us. The exact timing to the end of the Church Age has some provisos (qualifications) which I shall address in Articles 12 and 15, and in my forthcoming book "End Times: According to Scripture".
Having accomplished that we can see why God changed the Hebrew calendar calling it the beginning of months. The 1st day of the new calendar coincides with the first day, the beginning of creation. It is the cornerstone for the beginning from which we can count the days of creation forwards (‘In the beginning God’ – Genesis 1:1). This hopefully will be news for most Christians.
The numerals 2 X 7 = 14 leads us to the conclusion that the two 7’s can now be included in the time line (The Creative Week and the Redemptive Week) with the corner stone for the beginning, day 1, already in place.
This leads us to a further diagram that stretches from the beginning of time to the end of the ageing Earth (The Hidden Parallel):
The 14th day in Egypt is a landmark that coincides with the 14th day of the slaying of the Passover lamb in the New Testament. From the moment that Adam sinned Jesus was ordained and hidden from the world’s view for 4 of God’s 1000-year days until He was revealed by John the Baptist. This is why the Hebrews had to hide their lambs for four days in Egypt - it took four of God's days (4000 years) for Jesus to be revealed following Adam's sin! The lamb was hidden from 4000 BC until His first advent in Bethlehem when the heavens were opened and the angels announced His birth. He came to be killed at the evening of the 14th of God's days to coincide with the Jew's Passover on the 14th of the month Abib. It is no coincidence that God created sunlight on the 4th day mirroring the appearing of the Son Of God four 1000-year days after sin entered the world.
AN AMAZING OBSERVATION ABOUT THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS WHICH WAS PROPHETIC OF THE 4000 YEARS BETWEEN ADAM'S SIN AND THE COMING OF CHRIST
"On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days"
(John 11:17). Have you ever wondered why it was odd for Jesus to deliberately delay another two days once He heard that his friend Lazarus was sick in Bethany (John 11:6)? By the time Jesus eventually got there Lazarus had been in the tomb for 4 days. Doesn't sound nice does it? But Jesus had to walk a prophetic timetable appointed by the Father.
The 4 days of delay were prophetic of the four 1000-year days between Adam and Christ. Adam, representing the whole of mankind, was dead in sin for 4 days before Christ went to the cross which brought resurrection life to all of us!
Oh my, my! When we put the scheme together on our time chart we discover that Adam and Eve lived for another 3-4 days before they sinned and were found out. Does that mean that Adam and Eve lived for more than 3000 years before they fell into sin? Is there any reason why that shouldn’t be so? Are you not hoping to live eternally in the presence of God? Have you not accepted that in your resurrection body you will live with Christ on planet Earth for 1000 years before He creates the New Heaven and the New Earth? Can you imagine living for 1000 years and then in eternity forever? So why not Adam and Eve before they sinned while they were totally innocent? Please read on for this will be developed further!
Of course we can’t imagine such long lifespans. The world won't believe Methuselah's 969 years either. It sounds ridiculous. It’s not in our experience. Our average life span is only about 75 years.
In the early days of the Patriarchs, before the Flood, a short lifespan of only 300-400 years would have been the exception. On that scale Able was murdered by his brother Cain when he was very, very young indeed. No wonder we find it incredible. Methuselah, who lived for 969 years, if he had been told, would only shrug his shoulders and say, ‘Why not? I lived for almost 1000 years’.
Have you not heard that there is no marriage, or sex, or births in heaven? Why then could Adam and Eve not live for more than 3000 years in the presence of God without having children (until after the Fall). In the presence of God time will mean nothing and every moment will be joy. This will be extended further in another article.
Have you ever noticed how quickly time passes when you are having a good time? We went overseas on holidays for 70 days and we did a lot of things, but how short it seemed. We couldn’t believe how quickly time passed and we were already on the cruise home. Have you ever felt the presence of God during worship in church? There is a tingle and an almost physical presence of God, and it’s over much too soon. You want it to keep going and remain in the presence of God, but then it’s time for announcements or communion and the euphoria of His presence is gone.
How much more rapidly time passes in the physical presence of God. Time would have passed quickly in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve had no shortage of things to do and enjoy. If I had been Adam, I would have loved to have spent time with the animals and go for swims in the rivers without getting sunburnt, without being afraid of sharks or crocodiles and other nasties, not to mention having the company of Eve to share everything with. Imagine getting a canoe ride on the back of a docile reptile while eating freshly picked naturally-ripened fruits. It’s every child’s dream, but that was not an impossible experience before animals became aggressive (once God cursed The Creation after the Fall).
ADAM AND EVE HAD A GOOD TIME IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN BEFORE THE FALL
Of course, we have no idea what Adam and Eve looked like because all the world's races were derived from their DNA. All we know about Adam and Eve is that they were ageless, and that their DNA and bodies were unblemished until the day they disobeyed God. Of their descendants we know that Esau was red and hairy, Ham was dark, Elisha the prophet was bald, and that Jesus had a Middle Eastern appearance. Jesus would have merged in a crowd of Jews without standing out. In the film 'The Shack', the author used 'poetic licence' to convey that principle very effectively by using a different race for each member of the Trinity. The concept of 'white supremacy' is foreign and abhorrent to God who created all men equal in His sight. God is after the heart, not our appearance (1Samuel 16:7).
The origin of different languages was also sourced in God, at the Tower of Babel when God decided to scatter them (Genesis 11:9). The Lord taught me that one day, when I began to 'babble' in unknown tongues. All alone in my car I began to talk in a variety of foreign sounding languages. A stretch that sounded Chinese, then French, then Polynesian, then Kalahari-type bush-man talk with clicks, like I heard in a film 'The Gods Must Be Crazy', all sorts. I was fascinated listening to myself, but I couldn't understand a word of it. However, thoughts did enter my mind while I was doing it. Thoughts like, 'God really did invent many languages at the tower of Babel. They didn't just happen'. Now I could also understand why Adam didn't have to be taught to speak. He just could, the day he was created.
After the Tower of Babel God scattered people to the four corners of the Earth to prevent them from uniting against Him.
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