A Critique of John Ritenbaugh’s Passover (Id)
Passover On The 14th or 15th?
Pastor — John W. Ritenbaugh
Church of the Great God
10409 Barberville Rd.
Fort Mill, SC 29707-9132
Passover (Part 7)
God’s Festivals and Paganism
John W. Ritenbaugh
Sermon; #018; 69 minutes
Given 02-May-92
Draft Id
This is a Critique of John Ritenbaugh’s Passover (Part 7), a transcript posted on the Church of the Great God’s website in 1992. Besides the main issue of whether the Passover is on the early or late fourteenth of Nisan, of equal importance is whether Passover was restricted to a day or was it amalgamated with the Days of Unleavened Bread since early times.
Quoted are John Ritenbaugh’s sermon posted with a transcript. The excerpts from the transcript are in block form, in PINK, and indented so as to differentiate it from other quotes or comments. The Scriptures, in RED, must be our primary focus and guide, and sometimes the Scriptures, which include the Septuagint and the Targum, say things very different from what we think!
And so with that in mind, we’ll start:
What is so interesting is that the Jews admit the change—from two separate feasts, to one. And, from this point on, I am going to be doing a great deal of reading. I am doing this because you do not have the resource material available to you, in many cases. In some cases, it would be difficult—maybe well nigh impossible—for some of you to get. I hope that you will bear with me. I hope that I can still make this interesting enough that you will listen, and that you will see that there are researchers who will admit to the very things that I have been teaching you here in the past six sermons, and now on into this seventh one.
First of all, from our familiar “friend,” Josephus. From Antiquities of the Jews, book II, chapter 15, section 1, he says: “We keep a feast for eight days, which is called the Feast of Unleavened Bread.” That is partly wrong and partly right; but he, at least, admits there are eight days to the festival.
The Jewish Encyclopedia—now, that ought to be authoritative—published in 1905, under the title “Passover,” from volume 9: “Comparison of the successive strata of the Pentateuchal laws bearing on the festival makes it plain that the institution, as developed, is really of composite character. Two festivals originally distinct have become merged…”
At issue above is whether the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread were separate festivals or were they composite. Quoted above says “the Jews admit the change—from two separate feasts, to one,” but who are these Jews?
These are statements originated by the Samaritans with some devious “Jewish” background and strong antagonism against the Southern Kingdom, charging their predecessors had somehow amalgamated the Passover with the Days of Unleavened Bread and call the Passover the Jewish Passover. In fact, they were dissatisfied with the idea of keeping the Feasts in Jerusalem, so they left their original undertaking and craved an alternate explanation rather than continuing to show their subordination to the Southern Kingdom. So whereas the Jews consider Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread as a composite festival, the Samaritan eventually took the position that they were two distinct festivals.
The Jewish Encyclopedia says: “The Samaritans consider the Feast of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread as two distinct festivals.” (Samaritan).
The origins of Reform Judaism lay in 19th-century Germany and were formulated by Rabbi Abraham Geiger (1810-1874) and his associates (Samuel Holdheim, Israel Jacobson and Leopold Zunz). Since the 1970s, the Movement adopted a policy of inclusiveness and acceptance, inviting as many as possible to partake in its communities, rather than “strict theoretical clarity.”
The Movement is in “a process of constant evolution” and it “rejects any fixed, permanent set of beliefs, laws or practices.” They stated that the old mechanisms of religious interpretation were obsolete. Geiger sought a more coherent ideological framework to justify innovations in the liturgy and religious practice. While Reform Judaism initially developed as lay Jews simply lost interest in the strict observances required of Orthodoxy, with many seeking shorter services, more frequent sermons, and organ music, modeled after Protestant churches. In Germany, one characteristic of their progressive revelation was the institution of a “Second Sabbath” on Sunday, modeled on the Second Passover, as most people desecrated the day of rest. “If you cannot keep the Sabbath on its appointed time, you keep it on the next available day,” and so the Sabbath was shifted from Saturday to Sunday. “God would accept it,” they encouraged each other.
Discrimination and persecution against Jews in Germany were rampant for the next hundred years. Work were hard to come by and such new interpretation made sense in a community struggling to survive. America was opening up to immigrants and in a new Land of the Free, the five-day workweek soon made the Sunday Sabbath redundant. But nevertheless, the Movement had already has its momentum and today the Reform Movement’s largest center is in North America.
Some Reform rabbis have other objectives in the Land of the Free. In 1888, the Jewish Publication Society (JPS), originally known as the Jewish Publication Society of America (JPSA), was founded by reform Rabbi Joseph Krauskopf (picture) among others in Philadelphia. As the years rolled on, JPS became well known for its English translation of the Hebrew Bible, the JPS Tanakh. As JPS moved into the 20th, its popularity grew rapidly. After years of meetings, deliberations and revisions, the entire translation of the Bible was finally completed in 1917.
In 1985, the newly translated three parts of the Bible (the Torah, Prophets, and Writings) were compiled into what is now known as the JPS Tanakh (or NJPS, New JPS translation, to distinguish it from the OJPS, or Old JPS translation of 1917). Hence the Jewish Publication Society (JPS) is credited as both Publisher of the TANAKH 1917 and 1985 editions.
The results of these publications:
Exodus 12:6 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year; ye shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats; 6 and ye shall keep it unto the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at dusk.
The 1988 edition (hard copy) says “at twilight,” published by the New JPS Translation. And as a result it has overwhelming influence in every major English translation:
NKJV: 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. The NAS, NIV, NKJV and NRSV all render this similarly as “twilight.” “The Message Bible” produced by Eugene Peterson, and CJB by David Stern translate this as “dusk” like the JPS.
Today, the CoG Communities, including John Ritenbaugh, Fred Coulter and Frank Nelte are taking great pleasure in following either the Samaritans or those Jews in the Reform Movement. In fact many of their tenets are the same.
Similarly, they propagate that the festivals were distinct and separate originally, but were combined by the wicked Jews, they alleged. Hence today there are many modern authorities where they could draw their support from:
The Jewish Encyclopedia states, “Comparison of the successive strata of the Pentateuchal laws bearing on the festival makes it plain that the institution, as developed, is really of composite character. TWO FESTIVALS ORIGINALLY DISTINCT HAVE BECOME MERGED…” (Vol. IX, “Passover,” emphasis added).
The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible: “the feast contains two originally separate components.”(Vol. III, s. v. “Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread.”
The Encyclopedia Judaica: “The Feast of Passover consists of two parts: The Passover ceremony and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Originally both parts existed separately, but at the beginning of the Exile [in Babylon 603-585 BC] they were combined.
The Jewish Encyclopedia, the Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, the Encyclopedia Judaica mentioned above and many others would sound Jewish, and many a time, provide great information, but they are mainly offsprings of the Reform Movement, who felt they needed to move away from the “Bondage of Judaism” i.e. away from the Orthodoxy. To give themselves more legitimacy, they need to say that the two feasts were originally separated and that the Orthodox had combined them later on, taking the view of the Samaritans.
Briefly:
The Jewish Encyclopedia — Its managing editor was Isidore Singer (1859–1939) and the editorial board was chaired by Isaac Funk and Frank Vizetelly. Singer was born Austria and studied at the University of Vienna and the Humboldt University of Berlin, receiving his PhD in 1884. One who held “extremely liberal views” and one who had described the Sabbath as “heavy burdens,” Singer moved to New York in 1895 where he started work which resulted in the Jewish Encyclopedia.
The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible — Its chief editor was Katharine Sakenfeld (b 1940). She is Professor of Old Testament Literature and Exegesis Emerita at Princeton Theological Seminary, having previously been William Albright Eisenberger Professor of Old Testament Literature and Exegesis. Sakenfeld studied at the University of Rhode Island and Harvard Divinity School before obtaining her PhD at Harvard University. She was ordained as a Presbyterian teaching elder in 1970, and has served as the moderator of the Presbytery of New Brunswick in the PCUSA.
The Encyclopedia Judaica — Its first chief editor was Cecil Roth (1899–1970). He was educated at Merton College, Oxford (PhD, 1924) and later returned to Oxford as Reader in Post-Biblical Jewish Studies from 1939 to 1964. Thereafter he was visiting professor at Bar-Ilan University, Israel (1964–1965), and at the City University of New York (1966–1969).
But fortunately we need not sought these ‘experts” for their final say on such an important issue. Biblical record shows that the amalgamation of Passover with Unleavened Bread started way back to Moses, during the original Exodus, and this interlacing characteristic was reaffirmed by Ezekiel, a prophet sent to the northern stiffnecked Israelites; but the Jews, also stiffnecked, knew this all along.
The first time “Passover” was mentioned is in Exodus 12:11, not at verse 6, even though verse six was describing the process of the Passover, the killing of the lamb. Verse 11 described the same continuing process of the Passover; i.e. the process of Passover runs into the Days of Unleavened Bread! The two feasts overlap right at the beginning.
Exodus 12:6 And ye 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 (ben ha arbayim). — this ben ha arbayim is the time to kill the Passover.
In Deuteronomy 16:6 there thou shalt sacrifice the Passover at evening (ba·erev), at the going down of the sun — this ba·erev is also the time to kill the Passover
Exodus 12:18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening (ba-erev), ye shall eat unleavened bread until the one and twentieth day of the month at evening (ba-erev). — the above ba·erev is also the time to start eating unleavened bread, same as (ben ha arbayim) to kill the Passover.
The time ben ha arbayim to kill the Passover is also the time ba-erev to start eating unleavened bread, and let me repeat: THE TIME BEN HA ARBAYIM TO KILL THE PASSOVER IS ALSO THE TIME BA-EREV TO START EATING UNLEAVENED BREAD. Hence the two festivals were well amalgamated right from the original Exodus. Partaking of unleavened bread started six hours before the start of the fifteenth. PASSOVER AND UNLEAVENED BREAD OVERLAPPED: they start at the same time. Clear and simple! Simple and clear! Partaking of unleavened bread is an integral part of observing Passover!
Second, in Exodus 12:5, it says, “You may take it either from the sheep or from the goats” but in Deuteronomy 16:2 above it includes from “the herd,” which is from cattles or oxens. To include cattles or oxens can only mean to include the Festival of the Days of Unleavened Bread where among other animals, two young bulls were sacrificed. Therefore the idea that the Passover was restricted solely to the fourteenth day is unattainable.
This amalgamation was reaffirmed in Ezekiel 45:21 where it describes the Passover as a seven-day festival!
“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the Passover, a feast of seven days. Unleavened bread shall be eaten.”
Septuagint: And in the first [month], on the fourteenth [day] of the month, ye shall have the feast of the passover; seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread.
The Targum translates and explains the eating of the Passover from the Hebrew in Exodus 12 into the vernacular, in a very simple language, and is crystal clear:
“And you shall eat the flesh on that night, the fifteenth of Nisan . . .” Exodus 12:8
The lamb was killed on the fourteenth, at even, and this is ben ha arbayim (between the evenings) in Exodus 12:6 – the time the sun begins to decline as one evening, and the other evening is after the sun has gone down, which overlaps ba·erev (in Deuteronomy 16:6 – after noon to nightfall). Generally the lamb was killed at 3 PM and then cleaned and roasted thereafter. The Targum confirms the flesh was then eaten that night, the fifteenth of Nisan.
As eating of the lamb and the eating of unleavened bread are parts of the Passover ordinances, the composite feasts run from the late fourteenth into the fifteenth, where it is also the night to be much remembered. Most CoG Communities, in fact, are unaware that partaking of unleavened bread, too, is part of the Passover ordinances, and it started six hours before the start of the fifteenth, when the lamb was killed, and the composite Festival continues from the fifteenth to the twenty-first. Hence Passover and the Days of Unleavened were well interlaced and amalgamated right at the original Exodus.
Ezekiel 45:21 confirms that Passover as a seven-day festival!
“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the Passover, a feast of seven days. Unleavened bread shall be eaten.”
The record from Exodus 12 and the Targum are like twin mirrors: when placed against the CoG Communities, they reflect their nakedness. But these Blind could not see their nakedness because they are blind. Ezekiel 45:21 reaffirms this. Plain and simple.
In summary, the originator of the idea that these feasts as distinct originated from the Samaritans, and had penetrated the Sadducees, who died out during the AD 70 inferno, but resurfaced in the tenth century as Karaites, then the Jews involved in the Reform Movement beginning the nineteenth century in Germany, and since the last century, the CoG Communities.
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A Critique of John Ritenbaugh’s Passover (Part 8)
Josiah, Hezekiah and Deuteronomy
John W. Ritenbaugh
Sermon; #019; 72 minutes
Given 09-May-92
This is a continuing Critique of John Ritenbaugh’s Passover (Part 8), a transcript posted on the Church of the Great God’s website.
The central question in this critique is whether Hezekiel, Josiah and Ezra change the Passover ordinances, whether it should continue as a “domestic Passover” as in Exodus 12, or whether it had moved to a Sanctuary/Temple centered ordinance. John Ritenbaugh, along with Fred Coulter, advocate it should continue as a domestic ordinance.
John Ritenbaugh writes:
Notice these differences between this Passover kept and celebrated in the days of Hezekiah, at the king’s command, with what we have learned from Exodus 12 and Exodus 25 through 40. This is the very first time in the Bible that we have these things appearing.
» This Passover was at the command of the king.
» The lambs were killed at the Temple.
» Levites killed the lambs.
» After the lamb was killed the blood was passed to the priest from the Levites who dashed it on the altar. (It was supposed to be dashed on the door posts of their homes.)
» The Passover was eaten other than was written. (Remember that they had to eat it and then burn up what was left over.)
» Hezekiah prayed for the people. (It was not the priest praying for them, but Hezekiah.)
Remember, the killing of the lamb for Passover is a sacrifice: “It is the sacrifice of the Lord’S Passover,” Exodus 12:27 (see also Deuternomy 16:1-6).
A “domestic Passover” isn’t allowed. Moses wrote:
Deuteronomy 16:5 Thou mayest not sacrifice the Passover within any of thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee;
6 but at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place His name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the Passover at evening, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt.
And it is God who told King Solomon that He had chosen for Himself to move the place of sacrifice to Jerusalem. Let the Scriptures speak:
II Chronicles 7:11 Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s house; and all that came into Solomon’s heart to do in the house of the Lord and in his own house, he prosperously effected.12 And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night and said unto him: “I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself for a house of sacrifice.
And where is this place? It is in Jerusalem: “but I (God) have chosen Jerusalem, that My name might be there,” (II Chronicles 6:6). And many people, seeking the Lord God of Israel, went to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices:
II Chronicles 11:16 And after them, out of all the tribes of Israel, such as set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came to Jerusalem to sacrifice unto the Lord God of their fathers.
All evidence are that any sacrifice in Jerusalem would inevitably include the Passover sacrifice. That’s where God dwells. He has personally chose Jerusalem that His Name might be there, and calls the Temple “a house of sacrifice.”
God didn’t leave us without guidance as to how to conduct an animal for sacrifice. Thus a law is given, ordering all sorts of persons, Israelites and sojourners, to bring their sacrifices to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, on pain of being cut off. They are found in Leviticus. Leviticus 17 says if one were to make a sacrifice, in the camp or out of the camp, the blood must be brought to the tabernacle, and the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the Lord at the door of the tabernacle (verse 6). The critical performance of any sacrifice is that “the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the Lord at the door of the tabernacle.” Incorporated in this chapter below includes Rashi’s comments: —
Leviticus 17:1 And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,
2 “Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them: ‘This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, saying:
3 Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel who killeth an ox or lamb or goat in the camp, or who killeth it out of the camp,
— Rashi: Who slaughters an ox, a lamb, [or a goat]: Scripture is speaking of [slaughtering] holy sacrifices [not of slaughtering ordinary animals], for Scripture continues, “to offer up as a sacrifice” (next verse). – [Torath Kohanim 17:91]
— Rashi: inside the camp: But outside the Courtyard. — [Torath Kohanim 17:89; Zev. 107b]
4 and bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation to offer an offering unto the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord, blood shall be imputed unto that man: he hath shed blood. And that man shall be cut off from among his people,
— Rashi: shall be counted [for that man] as blood: As though he had shed human blood, for which one is liable to the death penalty.
— Rashi: He has shed blood: [This comes] to include one who dashes the blood [of a holy sacrifice] outside [the Temple Courtyard]. — [Zev. 107a]
For a sacrifice, and Passover is inherently a sacrifice, not having its blood brought to the altar for the priests to sprinkle it on the altar is a serious crime. One question we would ask is who qualify to kill an animal for sacrifice inside or outside the camp.
The Jewish Encyclopedia says:
Only those who were circumcised and clean before the Law might participate; and they were forbidden to have leavened food in their possession during the act of killing the paschal lamb.
During Passover, the killing of the lamb took place around the court of the Temple, inside or outside of it, and might be performed by a layman, but he had to be circumcised and ceremonially clean. The blood were usually caught by a Levite, and rows of Levites with gold or silver cups in their hands stood around the Temple court in line to the altar, where the blood were sprinkled by a priest. These cups were rounded on the bottom, so that they could not be set down; for in that case the blood might coagulate. The Levite who caught the blood as it dropped from the animal then handed the cup to the Levite next to him, receiving from him an empty one, and the full cup was passed along the line until it reached the last priest, who sprinkled its contents on the altar.
Let’s continue with Leviticus 17:
6 And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and burn the fat for a sweet savor unto the Lord.
8 “And thou shalt say unto them: ‘Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among you, who offereth a burnt offering or sacrifice,
9 and bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation to offer it unto the Lord, even that man shall be cut off from among his people.
In verse 8, referring to the phase “offereth a burnt offering or sacrifice,” the Good News Translation says “who offer a burnt offering or any other sacrifice.” In Exodus 34:25 the phase “the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover” is used, confirming that Passover is a sacrifice. John Gill says this phase means “any other sacrifice besides a burnt offering.” In summing up, a sacrifice definitely includes a Passover sacrifice and therefore the ordinances stated in Leviticus 17 applies.
“That man shall be cut off from among his people” was a serious punishment, it wasn’t merely excommunicated from the church of God, deprived of the privileges of his house, but that man shall be put to death. What about those who teaches about a “domestic Passover” where the blood were not sprinkled on the altar but only to be brushed against the doorposts and lintel of their houses? Won’t they be guilty of death too? It is a serious thought!
I am going to give you a quote from The Interpreter’s Bible, volume 5, page 868. The author is talking about the law as it is given in the book of Deuteronomy.
The heart of Deuteronomic law is not a legal enactment but a pleading for the generous heart. It is aimed at purification of the religious practices of the people. It is sought to bring this about through centralization of worship in the Temple at Jerusalem, and in this way the corruptions which entered into the religious practice through compromise with Canaanite cults of Baal could be brought under control and purified.
That is exactly what Hezekiah attempted. He attempted, through a centralization of the worship, to somehow bring about a purification. It failed, but it was one good king’s attempt to try to do something to turn the people around, and I have no doubt at all that God accepted it. It was better than no Passover at all. Even though God accepted it, this does not mean God changed His original command. It is very clearly seen the people understood this, because I gave you readings from books by Philo and Josephus that clearly showed that in the days of Christ the people were still offering the Passover sacrifice in their own homes.
The Passover under II Chronicles does not give authority for a change. It is only recording a very unusual circumstance in which the king took control of the situation. He tried to turn the nation around by centralizing the worship so that he could keep track of what the people were doing. This Passover led to even greater reform, but it did not change things for very long.
But King Hezekiah did what was right in the eyes of God. He was following a sanctified Temple worship where God spoke to King Solomon: “I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place (Jerusalem) for Myself for a house of sacrifice” (II Chronicles 7:12).
Biblical record confirms that Hezekiah is a good king:
II Chronicles 30:1 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem to keep the Passover unto the Lord God of Israel.
2 For the king had taken counsel with his princes and all the congregation in Jerusalem to keep the Passover in the second month. — this keeping of Passover on the second month is off the norm, so in this way it was a “commandment of the king” (v12), which also includes sending invitation “to all Israel and Judah,” (v1).
3 For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently, neither had the people gathered themselves together at Jerusalem.
4 And the thing pleased the king and all the congregation.
5 So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the Passover unto the Lord God of Israel at Jerusalem; for they had not done it for a long time in such manner as it was written.
6 So the couriers went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, “Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and He will return to the remnant of you that have escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria. — the command of the king was to establish a decree “to make proclamation throughout all Israel . . . to keep the Passover in Jerusalem,” reinforcing God’s command already established through King Solomon in II Chronicles 7:11 -12.
7 And be not ye like your fathers and like your brethren who trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers, so that He therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see.
8 Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord and enter into His sanctuary, which He hath sanctified for ever; and serve the Lord your God, that the fierceness of His wrath may turn away from you.
9 For if ye turn again unto the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before those who lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land; for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away His face from you if ye return unto Him.”
10 So the couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, even unto Zebulun; but they laughed them to scorn and mocked them.
11 Nevertheless, some from Asher and Manasseh and from Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.
12 Also the hand of God was in Judah, to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes by the word of the Lord.
13 And there assembled at Jerusalem many people to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month, a very great congregation. — so the keeping of Passover includes the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days.
14 And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense took they away and cast them into the Brook Kidron.
15 Then they killed the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month; and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the Lord. — the priests and the Levites purified themselves by offering burnt offerings to the Lord.
16 And they stood in their place according to their order, according to the law of Moses the man of God. The priests sprinkled the blood which they received from the hand of the Levites.
17 For there were many in the congregation who were not sanctified: therefore the Levites had the charge of the killing of the Passover lambs for every one who was not clean, to sanctify them unto the Lord. — laymen who were not sanctified were not allowed to kill the Passover lamb, hence the Levites did it for them. In fact they were not allowed to eat too if not because of king Hezekiah’s prayer (v18-20). “For they ate it in a state of uncleanness,” (Rashi).
18 For a multitude of the people, even many from Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “The good Lord pardon every one
19 who prepared his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.”
20 And the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.
21 And the children of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great gladness; and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, singing with loud instruments unto the Lord.
22 And Hezekiah spoke comfortingly unto all the Levites who taught the good knowledge of the Lord; and they ate throughout the feast seven days, offering peace offerings and making confession to the Lord God of their fathers.
23 And the whole assembly took counsel to keep another seven days, and they kept another seven days with gladness.
24 For Hezekiah king of Judah gave to the congregation a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep, and the princes gave to the congregation a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep; and a great number of priests sanctified themselves.
25 And all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and the Levites and all the congregation that came out of Israel, and the strangers who came out of the land of Israel and who dwelt in Judah rejoiced.
26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem; for since the time of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel, there was not the like in Jerusalem. — seven days of extreme joy plus another seven days of joy for people who were not cleansed were never experienced since the time of Solomon, but that doesn’t mean this was the only Passover kept since King Solomon.
Rashi: for since the days of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel, there had not been the like in Jerusalem: It is possible that a greater multitude had come for the festival to Jerusalem in the days of Solomon, but there had never been such a great rejoicing as this in Jerusalem since the days of Solomon. They were joyful about this [gathering], for if they had gathered in Jerusalem on every festival, it would have been nothing new and they would have had no cause for [special] joy But now, since they had not performed the festival pilgrimage to Jerusalem all the days of Ahaz and the wicked kings of Judah, and they were now permitted to go up to Jerusalem they rejoiced greatly. And since it was so many years since they had gone to Jerusalem, the seven days of the Festival of Matzoth were too few in their eyes and they added another seven days in which to rejoice, and they rejoiced a great rejoicing.
27 Then the priests, the Levites, arose and blessed the people; and their voice was heard and their prayer came up to His holy dwelling place, even unto heaven.
All the Biblical record shows that King Hezekiah did what was right in the eyes of God. He followed King Solomon’s example to celebrate Passover in the Temple in Jerusalem. Although the people were still ceremonially unclean to eat the Passover, Hezekiah prayed for them and God answered his prayers.
Next we have a look at King Josiah:
Here again is a situation similar to the days of Hezekiah. This was a national emergency, and the king simply assumed control. In his zeal he does it in a way he feels will be acceptable to God under the circumstances. He felt that if these people sacrificed the lambs at their own houses, they would have done it to Baal, and not to God.
II Chronicles 35:6 So slaughter the Passover offerings, sanctify yourselves, and prepare them for your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
The phrase “the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses” is referring back to “sanctified,” and not to the killing of the Passover.
You will notice here the term “Passover offerings.” This is not necessarily the slaughtering of the Passover lamb, but at the slaughter of animals in addition to the Passover lamb.
Since partaking of Unleavened Bread is an integral part of observing Passover, the Passover offerings include “sacrifice . . . of the flock and the herd,” Deuteronomy 16:2. As proven earlier the observance of Passover with Unleavened Bread were already amalgamated in the original Exodus. Here this confirms what were already established:
And Josiah gave to the people lambs and kids from the flock, all for the Passover offerings for all who were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks; these were from the king’s substance. II Chronicles 35:7
King Josiah was a good king. And this is what the Scripture says: “And like unto him (referring to Josiah) was there no king before him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him” II Kings 23:25.
Notice the four “ALL”
(1) with ALL his heart;
(2) with ALL his soul;
(3) with ALL his might,
(4) according to ALL the Law of Moses;
If the law and ordinances for a “domestic Passover” was still in force, then changing it to a temple-centered observance would be a violation, a sin, nor matter what the intention was. But Josiah kept a Passover unto the Lord in Jerusalem; and he killed the Passover lamb, and sanctify himself and his brethren, that they may do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses, (II Chronicles 35:6). King Josiah was a righteous king.
If it is true that Deuteronomy 16 actually commands a Temple-sacrificed lamb, it contradicts Exodus 12, Numbers 9, and Leviticus 23, which are clear and easily understood. We also find that Deuteronomy 16 gives the impression that Passover and Unleavened Bread are one festival.
We are going to have to proceed slowly here. Be prepared to take good notes, and to be able to flip back and forth in your Bible as we compare clear statements with obscure ones. Maybe even then you are going to have to listen to the tape another time or two before it will really become clear.
You are going to be surprised to learn that in Deuteronomy 16:1-8 there are at least ten or twelve contradictions. Somebody messed with the scriptures. Who was that somebody? Is it possible we might even know the personality who did it? If we do know the personality who did it, was it done in meanness? Was it done to subvert? Is it possible that it was even done like Hezekiah and Josiah did, with good intentions, and something bad arose out of it?
So the blame is that Ezra messed with the Scriptures. Amazing! Ezra was a high priest and “a scribe skilled in the law.” This is not just heresy but real blasphemy. When Ezra arrived from Babylon, the situation in Judah was discouraging. Religious laxity was prevalent, the Law was widely disregarded, and public and private morality was at a low level. Immediately Ezra faithfully reintroduced the Torah to all those who followed him (Ezra 7:10 and Nehemiah 8). For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. Moreover, intermarriage with foreigners posed the threat that the community would mingle with the pagan environment and lose its identity. Ezra did much revival of what was lost, restoring the laws, statutes and ordinances of God. So important was he in his restoration in the eyes of his people that later tradition regarded him as no less than a second Moses.
According to John Ritenbaugh, and without double talk, Hezekiah and Josiah should have a “domestic Passover” instead of a Temple-centered Passover. And Ezra abated these crimes by tampering and vandalising God’s Word by altering Deuteronomy 16. All these, if true, are serious crimes. So during Judgement Day, John Ritenbaugh, (along with Frank Nelte and Fred Coulter) would be found holier than Hezekiah, Josiah and Ezra?
Or is it the other way round, that John Ritenbaugh, Frank Nelte and Fred Coulter are the ones that fulfil the three shepherds of Zechariah 11:8? “Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul loathed them and their soul also abhorred me.”
((( CRITIQUE OF RITENBAUGH PASSOVER )))
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Pastor — John W. Ritenbaugh
On this altar, the Israelites made sacrifices that God accepted as an atonement for their sin. It was to have four horn-like projections, one at each corner. It had to be large enough to hold sacrifices of bulls, sheep, and goats. But later, for the temple that Solomon built, the altar and much of the other vessels were no longer made of shittim wood and brass but substantially of pure gold (1 Kings 7:48-51):
Both King Hezekiah and King Josiah obeyed the commandments and did what was right in the eyes of God. The Scriptures say so.
Passover (Part 3)
Wait wait, why did you suddenly jump into the Samaritan’s position defining ben ha arbayim as “a period of time between the going down of the sun and complete darkness (dusk).” Are you ignorant that the Orthodox Jews define it differently? Okay let me reiterate how the Orthodoxy define ben ha arbayim:
Ordinarily it was slain [Now, in this case, the “it” was the evening sacrifice. Not the Passover sacrifice, but the evening sacrifice.] at 2:30 p.m., and offered at about 3:30. But on the eve of the Passover [Here he means Unleavened Bread, but he is calling it by the name the Jews applied to the whole Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread. They called the whole thing “the Passover. So, we would say, “On the eve of Unleavened Bread”], as we have seen, it was killed an hour earlier; and if the 14th of Nisan fell on a Friday—or rather from Thursday at eve to Friday at eve—two hours earlier [1:30 p.m.], so as to avoid any needless breach of the Sabbath.
In the above context, the Roman time for Day (yom) is 6 AM to 6 PM, assuming it is spring or autumn; Night (lailah) is 6 PM to 6 AM. — 12-hr day and 12-hr night totalling a 24-hour day.
Pastor — John W. Ritenbaugh
Although Ezekiel’s message was to both the “house of Israel” and the “house of Judah” its main message after chapter 24 was to the “house of Israel.” As with other prophets, Ezekiel came with a message of dire warning about breaking the Sabbath laws. Captivities were the end results. Today, the main message of Ezekiel is to the Northern Kingdom, the so-called Lost Ten Tribes. And not only that, Ezekiel 34 warned against their shepherds: “Woe unto the shepherds of Israel” — (the shepherds of the United States, Britain and related countries), says the Lord, for they feed themselves but not the sheep!
See, you have positioned your readers to get into your position. So much hypocrisy and double talks in your “step by step, verse by verse” right from the start. Earlier you said about making “the ones that are difficult agree with the ones that are clear. Not make the ones that are clear agree with the ones that are difficult.”
The question is, “Can the Jews be trusted?” Now, I do not mean any individual Jew—can they be trusted in regard to anything. I am talking about “Can the religion of the Jews (the practices of the Jews) be relied on as faithful interpreters of the Old Testament?” This is a very important question in regard to the Passover, because every author of every paper that I have ever read in regard to the keeping of a late fourteenth Passover, or a fifteenth Passover, must rely heavily upon Jewish interpretation and Jewish tradition. The reason that they must do so is because there is nothing in the Bible upon which they can clearly, and authoritatively, base their conclusions.
It is interesting to note that the writer intends to arrive at the correct biblical position in this matter by seeking the relevant Scriptures, but the evidence is that this stated intent is only lip service. After all, UCG position has always been centered on what had been practiced historically.
Look at the official UCG logo and it tells a story. The church has the mistaken notion that the center of this Universe is the British Isles instead of Jerusalem, whereas God’s main interest is centered in Jerusalem. Here are the evidence:
The Targum known in Hebrew: תרגום, plural: targumim is an extremely important source of the Scriptures. It plays an important role in translating many of our modern editions. The range of its origin was from 530 BC to 500 AD. When the Israelites returned from their exile in Babylon in the 6th century BC, most of them could no longer speak Hebrew; they spoke Aramaic. Nevertheless, the Scriptures have always been read in Hebrew even if no one in the greater community could speak it.
The Movement is in “a process of constant evolution” and it “rejects any fixed, permanent set of beliefs, laws or practices.” They stated that the old mechanisms of religious interpretation were obsolete. Geiger sought a more coherent ideological framework to justify innovations in the liturgy and religious practice. Reform Judaism initially developed as lay Jews simply lost interest in the strict observances required of Orthodoxy, with many seeking shorter services, more frequent sermons, and organ music, modeled after Protestant churches.
Sermon: Pentecost, Consistency, and Honesty
In another way of saying: When the Exiles returned to Jerusalem, the Law was read by Ezra, verse by verse, and each verse was followed by a recitation by the Levites of the Aramaic version.
The status and influence of the Targums became assured after the Second Temple was destroyed in AD 70, when synagogues replaced the Temple as houses of worship. For it was in the synagogue that the practice of reading from the Old Testament became widely observed, along with the custom of providing these readings with a translation into Aramaic. When Scripture was read aloud in the synagogue, it was translated aloud by a meturgeman, or professional interpreter (hence the name Targum), for the benefit of the congregation. The translator tried to reproduce the original text as closely as possible, but since his object was to give an intelligible rendering of the biblical text, the Targums eventually took on the character of paraphrase and commentary, leaving literal translation behind. To prevent misconceptions, a meturgeman expanded and explained what was obscure, adjusted the incidents of the past to the ideas of later times, emphasized the moral lessons to be learned from the biblical narratives, and adapted the rules and regulations of the Scriptures to the conditions and requirements of the current age. The method by which the text was thus utilized as a vehicle for conveying homiletic discourses, traditional sayings, legends, and allegories is abundantly illustrated by the later Targums, as opposed to the more literal translations of the earlier Targums.
Leviticus 23:9 And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,
Why do we count? We learn several lessons by counting. The foremost is that the count demonstrates our thrill for the impending occasion of receiving our spiritual blessings, celebrated on Shavuot. When the Israelites were in Egypt some 3400 years ago, they had assimilated many of the pagan ways of the Egyptians. A countdown is when we all have obstacles removed between our uncleanliness and our spiritual goal. When the days pass, our spiritual goal is becoming more achievable. We simply countdown the days to indicate how much time is left. Every year in a renewed sense we count the days to show our excitement at receiving our spiritual blessing and look deep within ourselves and work on all of our negative attributes as we receive the Word of God and deeper understanding. Then each year we count up again, because the daily Omer count is a time of spiritual refinement, another spiritual rebirth that needs constant renewals. We are not counting down the days that pass. Rather, we are counting toward the end, climbing one step higher in our spiritual growth each day.
Writes the Jewish Encyclopedia:
Manner of Waving the Omer.
Obviously the above are false on many fronts. The writer shows his hatred for the Jews more than a cool headed willingness to find the truth. Had Hebrew been forgotten and DIED OUT two thousand years ago, how could the Aleppo Codex being developed, which were formulated around the ninth or tenth century? If they have forgotten how to read Hebrew, how could they remember suddenly to incorporate the vowels and turned it into the Masoretic Text? So much bullshit!
Starting with Ezra, the new communities found an answer. After hearing Ezra read a few verses of the Torah scroll in Hebrew, either he or other Levites translated it to Aramaic, hence it set the stage for the Aramaic version of the Bible, called a Targum, which simply means translation. Hence the Targum is an entrenched translation of the Hebrew Bible that was written or compiled in Judea from the Second Temple period until the early Middle Ages (late first millennium).
I just seem to smell a rat, but don’t know where it is. When Daniel prayed his knee bent and he turned his face toward Jerusalem (Daniel 6:10). But for the Samaritans, they turn their faces toward Mount Garizim whenever they pray, except during Passover on top of Mount Garizim, where, exactly at twilight, they turn West to pray at the setting down of the sun. The Samaritans would deny they were sun worshippers, nor idol worshippers, but they are. Even while these people were pretending to worship the LORD, and made unto themselves from the lowest of them priests of the high places, they were in fact, serving their idols. TO THIS DAY (and even in 2019), their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did (II Kings 17:29-41).
Matthew 28:9 And as they (Mary Magdalene and other women) went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “All hail.” And they came, and held Him by the feet, and worshiped Him. — That means, they had all touched Him. But Jesus’ face didn’t shine like Moses! What happened? Moses needed a veil to cover his face when he returned to face his people (Exodus 34:35). And again, Jesus’ face didn’t radiate when two disciples met Him on the road:
How to count Pentecost
In the Scriptures there are a total of nine times where it is used to designate Pentecost. Here they are:
Draft I
Again in Chapter 6 of his book, the Christian Passover:
Passover
It was a strange passover, isn’t it? Actually if you dig deep enough, it is a Samaritan type of passover.
Elsewhere in Rev 21:4 it is translated as a “former” — And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things G4413 are passed away.
I fully agree it is a life and death issue. The Sadducees and the Boethusians faced death when they were exterminated during the AD 70 inferno; the Pharisees, despite their hypocrisy and other faults, survived. Earlier John the Baptist’s warning was recorded by Luke:
John shows that the Passover they were preparing to eat was recognized as the official observance of the Jews: 
True, the end-time Church has the descriptions as being “ten virgins,” and yet “wretched” and “naked.” (I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot; I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of My mouth. 17 Because thou sayest, “I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing,” and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable, and poor and blind and naked . . . “)
The Last Supper — (6 PM) Even, 13th Nisan
Judas left to betray Jesus — (7 PM) Night, 13th Nisan
Christ’s instruction to the disciples — (8 PM) Night, 13th Nisan
More discourse — (9 PM) Night, 13th Nisan
In Gethsemene to pray — (10 PM) Night, 13th Nisan
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy name. Those that Thou gavest Me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
Peter denied Jesus three times — (5 AM) Before Dawn, 13th Nisan
This deliberately literal translation from the Greek is from Steve Mason, Flavius Josephus: The Jewish War, Book II, Chapter 8
Who were the Boethusians?
Matthew 22:16 And they sent out unto Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, “Master, we know that thou art true and teachest the way of God in truth; neither carest thou for any man, for thou regardest not the person of men.
The family name of the Hasmonean dynasty originates with the ancestor of the house, Simon Thassi “the Wise” who was said to have been the grandfather of Mattathias. The high-priestly and princely dignity of the Hasmoneans was founded by a resolution, adopted in 141 BC, at a large assembly “of the priests and the people and of the elders of the land, to the effect that Simon should be their leader and high priest forever, until there should arise a faithful prophet” (I Macc. xiv. 41).
According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, Salome Alexandra was instrumental in arranging the assassination of her brother-in-law, Antigonus, by convincing her husband that his brother was plotting against him. Upon the death of Aristobulus in 103 BC, Alexandra freed his half-brother, Alexander Jannaeus, who had been held in prison.
Salome Alexandra’s next concern was to open negotiations with the leaders of the Pharisees, whose places of concealment she knew. In doing so, she received the reins of government around 76 BC at Jannaeus’ camp before Ragaba, and concealed the king’s death until the fortress had fallen, in order that the rigour of the siege might be maintained. She succeeded for a time in quieting the vexatious internal dissensions of the kingdom that existed at the time of Alexander’s death; and she did this peacefully and without detriment to the political relations of the Jewish state to the outside world. Alexandra managed to secure assent to a Hasmonean monarchy from the Pharisees, who had suffered under Alexander./Pharisees-And-Adulteress-Woman1324x969-58b5c85b5f9b586046cae461.jpg)
The Pharisees, on the other hand, taught that the written Law had been given to the Jews and that they were given the responsibility to interpret the Law as per “….according to the word they tell you… according to all they instruct you. According to the law they instruct you and according to the judgment they say to you, you shall do; you shall not divert from the word they tell you, either right or left” Deuteronomy 17:10-12. After all, the world had changed since the days of Moses. As a consequence, the Pharisees said that the Written Torah was to be supplemented with the Oral Torah, the case law, the interpretation of the Written Law by learned Levites, the rabbis and appointed judges as in Deuteronomy 1:16-17; 17:18. The Sadducees considered the Oral Law an almost blasphemous act, because it seemed to deny the majesty of the Law of Moses.
From Wikipedia
Sadducees rejects the Orah Torah, reject the Prophets and Writings—this sounds exactly like they have taken their reliefs from the Samaritans, who have identical beliefs. And here are more similarities with the Samaritans from the Jewish Encyclopedia, under Sadducees:
Question: Who were the Pharisees?
The deportation and exile of an unknown number of Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar II, starting with the first deportation in 597 BC and continuing after the fall of Jerusalem and destruction of the Temple in 587 BC, resulted in dramatic changes to Jewish culture and religion. During the 70-year exile in Babylon, Jewish houses of assembly (known in Hebrew as a beit knesset or in Greek as a synagogue) and houses of prayer (Hebrew Beit Tefilah; Greek προσευχαί, proseuchai) were the primary meeting places for prayer, and the house of study (beit midrash) was the counterpart for the synagogue.
The Pharisees and their sages believed that the Oral law was simultaneously revealed to Moses at Sinai, and the product of debates among rabbis. Thus, one may conceive of the “Oral Torah” not as a fixed text but as an ongoing process of analysis and argument in which God is actively involved; it was this ongoing process that was revealed at Sinai, and by participating in this ongoing process rabbis and their students are actively participating in God’s ongoing act of revelation. The Oral Torah was to remain oral but was later given a written form. It did not refer to the Torah in a status as a commentary, rather had its own separate existence which allowed Pharisaic innovations./Sanhedrin-GettyImages-91728330-5733700b3df78c6bb0a079d5.jpg)
Thus, in debating and disagreeing over the meaning of the Torah or how best to put it into practice, no rabbi felt that he (or his opponent) was rejecting God or threatening Judaism. On the contrary, it was precisely through such arguments that the rabbis imitated and honored God and as a result, they had popular support among the people. So although the Pharisees were a minority in the Sanhedrin and held a minority number of positions as priests, they seemed to control the decision-making of the Sanhedrin because they were seen as their religious leaders.
— The Charge of Hypocrisy.
In the first century, among the Pharisees were two schools of thought, based on the teachings of two rabbis, Shammai and Hillel. Shammai called for a strict, unbending interpretation of the Law on almost every issue, but Hillel taught a looser, more liberal application. After Hillel died in 20 AD, Shammai assumed the office of president of the Sanhedrin until he died in 30 AD. Followers of these two sages dominated scholarly debate over the following decades. Although the Talmud records the arguments and positions of the school of Shammai, the teachings of the school of Hillel were ultimately taken as authoritative.
Nehemiah 1:1-7 Now it came to pass when Sanballat, and Tobiah (the Ammonite Neh 3:35), and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had built the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;)
These treacherous Jews, however, kept Sanballat and Tobiah informed as to the progress of the work in Jerusalem. Nehemiah’s far-sighted policy and his shrewdness kept him out of the hands of these neighbor-foes. In his reforms, so effectively carried out, he discovered that one of the grandsons of the high priest Eliashib had married a daughter of this Sanballat, and was thus son-in-law of the chief enemy of the Jews (Neh 13:28). The high priest was driven out of Jerusalem on the ground that he had defiled the priesthood.
3. About this time it was that Darius heard how Alexander had passed over the Hellespont, and had beaten his lieutenants in the battle at Granicum, and was proceeding further; whereupon he gathered together an army of horse and foot, and determined that he would meet the Macedonians before they should assault and conquer all Asia. So he passed over the river Euphrates, and came over Taurus, the Cilician mountain, and at Issus of Cilicia he waited for the enemy, as ready there to give him battle. Upon which Sanballat was glad that Darius was come down; and told Manasseh that he would suddenly perform his promises to him, and this as soon as ever Darius should come back, after he had beaten his enemies; for not he only, but all those that were in Asia also, were persuaded that the Macedonians would not so much as come to a battle with the Persians, on account of their multitude. But the event proved otherwise than they expected; for the king joined battle with the Macedonians, and was beaten, and lost a great part of his army. His mother also, and his wife and children, were taken captives, and he fled into Persia. So Alexander came into Syria, and took Damascus; and when he had obtained Sidon, he besieged Tyre, when he sent all epistle to the Jewish high priest, to send him some auxiliaries, and to supply his army with provisions; and that what presents he formerly sent to Darius, he would now send to him, and choose the friendship of the Macedonians, and that he should never repent of so doing. But the high priest answered the messengers, that he had given his oath to Darius not to bear arms against him; and he said that he would not transgress this while Darius was in the land of the living. Upon hearing this answer, Alexander was very angry; and though he was determined not to leave Tyre, which was just ready to be taken, yet as soon as he had taken it, he threatened that he would make an expedition against the Jewish high priest, and through him teach all men to whom they must keep their oaths. So when he had, with a good deal of pains during the siege, taken Tyre, and had settled its affairs, he came to the city of Gaza, and besieged both the city and him that was governor of the garrison, whose name was Babemeses.
6. So when Alexander had thus settled matters at Jerusalem, he led his army into the neighboring cities; and when all the inhabitants to whom he came received him with great kindness, the Samaritans, who had then Shechem for their metropolis, (a city situate at Mount Gerizzim, and inhabited by apostates of the Jewish nation,) seeing that Alexander had so greatly honored the Jews, determined to profess themselves Jews; for such is the disposition of the Samaritans, as we have already elsewhere declared, that when the Jews are in adversity, they deny that they are of kin to them, and then they confess the truth; but when they perceive that some good fortune hath befallen them, they immediately pretend to have communion with them, saying that they belong to them, and derive their genealogy from the posterity of Joseph, Ephraim, and Manasseh. Accordingly, they made their address to the king with splendor, and showed great alacrity in meeting him at a little distance from Jerusalem. And when Alexander had commended them, the Shechemites approached to him, taking with them the troops that Sanballat had sent him, and they desired that he would come to their city, and do honor to their temple also; to whom he promised, that when he returned he would come to them. And when they petitioned that he would remit the tribute of the seventh year to them, because they did but sow thereon, he asked who they were that made such a petition; and when they said that they were Hebrews, but had the name of Sidonians, living at Shechem, he asked them again whether they were Jews; and when they said they were not Jews, “It was to the Jews,” said he, “that I granted that privilege; however, when I return, and am thoroughly informed by you of this matter, I will do what I shall think proper.” And in this manner he took leave of the Shechenlites; but ordered that the troops of Sanballat should follow him into Egypt, because there he designed to give them lands, which he did a little after in Thebais, when he ordered them to guard that country.
Sects During Biblical Times — Samaritans Draft Ic
The Samaritans occupied the country formerly belonging to the half-tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. The capital of the country was Samaria, formerly a large and splendid city. When the ten tribes were carried away into captivity to Assyria, the king of Assyria sent people from Cutha, Ava, Hamath, and Sepharvaim to inhabit Samaria (2 Kings 17:24; Ezra 4:2-11).
14 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. 15 When they came down, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for still He had come on none of them. They were only baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Answer: Part C — Convergence of Catholics and Samaritans
Adam Clarke: Now when the adversaries – These were the Samaritans, and the different nations with which the kings of Assyria had peopled Israel, when they had carried the original inhabitants away into captivity, see Ezra 4:9, Ezra 4:10.
7 A woman of Samaria came there to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
Question: “Who were the Samaritans?”
3 Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and rendered him tribute.
10 And they set up for themselves images and Asherah poles in every high hill and under every green tree;
19 Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.
especially when old, out of the thickets of Jordan and other places where they haunted, see Jeremiah 49:19.
Gill: and let him go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land; it is in the plural number, “let them go”, &c. there might be more priests than one ordered, or, however, others, to attend and assist him in his work; the Jews say, two were sent to circumcise them, and teach them the book of the law; and they give their names, Dosthai, or Dosithaeus, and Zachariah; and Josephus says, the people desired that priests might be sent to them of the captives.
30 And the men of Babylon made Succoth Benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,
36 but the Lord, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, Him shall ye fear and Him shall ye worship, and to Him shall ye do sacrifice.
25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in Mount Ephraim and dwelt therein, and went out from thence and built Penuel.
Huan: It’s most likely that Jeroboam changed the calendar, too, as he would want to avoid taking any lead from Jerusalem. And since Samaria was north of Jerusalem, it could be a bit colder hence an excuse to delay a month later to start a new year. From God’s point of view, since the Bible is written from God’s point of view, it is the eighth month, still keeping the Sacred Text intact without any alteration. To justify himself, Jeroboam could say the barley green ear wasn’t fully ripe and blame the Jews for starting the calendar too early.
This is the last posting of a Critique of Fred Coulter’s The Christian Passover.
There are many errors in the above paragraph. The Sadducees didn’t subscribe to a 14/15 Passover, the Pharisees did. The Sadducees (and also the Samaritans), kept an early fourteenth Passover, because they also define erev as twilight, and ben ha arbayim (between the two evenings) as between sunset and dark. Fred Coulter must be suffering from memory loss, for he wrote in Chapter 10: “The Sadducees, including some high priests and their families, continued to practice the domestic killing of the Passover lambs at the beginning of the 14th.” The oversight is glaring. And where are all his team?—Carl and Jean Franklin, Philip Neal, Albert and Mela Cataga John, Hiedi and Sasha Vogele—sleeping?
Matthew 27:45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. — NOON TO 3 PM
The word “they” in Mark 14:12 refers to those who were killing the Passover lambs at houses, tents, or inns where the domestic Passover would be kept. Mark’s record of the killing of the lambs at the time that Jesus sent His disciples to prepare the Passover confirms that many Jews in New Testament times were observing the domestic Passover. Clearly, Jesus and His disciples did not observe a “special paschal meal” at a different time from other Jews in Jerusalem. Mark’s testimony exposes this teaching as a false doctrine of men.
The killing and roasting took only one and a half hours, he says. Anticipated to feed 13 adults, Fred wrote that they only planned to have a tiny 8-day old lamb, weights only 10-12 pounds. Have any of you roasted a leg of lambs, folks? I would love to hear from your experiences. More so if you have even killed a lamb, drained off the blood, skinned, cleaned and have it roasted, expected to feed thirteen adults after nightfall. If not, try it, it is an opportunity to prove the truth!
“And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity kept the dedication of this house of God with joy….And the children of the captivity kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. The priests and the Levites were purified together, all of them pure. And they killed the Passover lamb for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves. And the children of Israel ate the Passover lamb, all who had come again out of exile, and all such as had separated themselves to them from the uncleanness of the nations of the land in order to seek the LORD God of Israel. And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the LORD had made them joyful…” (Ezra 6:15-16, 19-22).
That the Jews in exile could not observe the Passover is acknowledged by the Karaite Jews and recorded by Samuel Al-Magribi in 1484: “Today, however, by reason of our many sins, we are scattered over the four corners of the earth, we are dispersed in the lands of the Gentiles, we are soiled with their ritual uncleanness and unable to reach the House of the Lord, and our status is equivalent to that of persons ritually unclean or traveling far away. That is why this ordinance of the Passover sacrifice no longer applies to us, and the reason for this is our fathers’ exceeding disobedience to God and our own following in their sinful footsteps” (Nemoy, Karaite Anthology, p. 206)
In order to give “the sense and caused them to understand the reading,” they need to understand the Scriptures in Aramaic, hence this gave rise to the origin of the Targum version of our modern Bible.
What an alarming turn of events! What an absolute disaster this could bring! Only sixty miles north of Jerusalem was a competing religion, a new Jewish/Samaritan religion, with authentic copies of the books of Moses, the first five books of the Bible. Because the founders of this religion had rebelled against the law of God, it was obvious that they did not respect His Word. They would not hesitate to alter the text to suit their own purposes. The Scriptures were in great danger of being corrupted.:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Book-of-Ezra1136x941-56a148f65f9b58b7d0bdd25c.jpg)
Let’s have another look; let’s accept that the Pharisees sat on Moses’ seat as Christ said, instead of stigmatizing them:
Moses knew he would die soon and his understanding had been conveyed to judges, Levites and priests where the true interpretation of the law were taught. So in the book of Deuteronomy Moses spoke and explained unto all Israel “according unto all that the Lord had given him” as to how to keep them, the blessing they would have if they obey, or cursing if they disobey, in a language they could understand. Men may have good intentions, but may do things seen as presumptuously? What is presumptuous or presumptuously?
Ezra edited Deuteronomy 16 from the then old Samaritan version, so Fred Coulter alleged, as the Samaritan version must be the authentic version. Quoting his own work, “The Original Bible Restored,” he says, “Although a few alterations were made in the text of the Old Testament after its canonization, there is no question that Ezra was the one who compiled the books, edited them and canonized them.” But of course, he was mainly referring to the vandalisation of Deuteronomy 16 (mainly verses 1-8).
Draft IIg
Second, Hezekiah was a good king, who was righteous before God. The Scriptures speaks well of him: II Kings 18:3 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did. 4 He removed the high places, and broke the images, and cut down the Asherah poles, and broke in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it; and he called it Nehushtan. 5 He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any who were before him. 6 For he cleaved to the Lord and departed not from following Him, but kept His commandments which the Lord commanded Moses. 7 And the Lord was with him, and he prospered whithersoever he went forth; and he rebelled against the king of Assyria and served him not.
The Levitical duties of the tribe of Levites and the Sanctuary were not instituted at the time of the Exodus. Once instituted, “Thou mayest not sacrifice the Passover within any of thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee” (Deuteronomy 16:5) and in Jerusalem this Holy City was chosen. Hence most of the Exodus 12 requirements were a one-off situation, otherwise every Israelites would still be eating with their loins girded, sandals on their feet, staff in their hands; and they were to eat in haste, pretending to flee from a non-existing Pharaoh and his non-existing armies in an re-enactment of the Exodus.
Hezekiah’s prayers were for the fact that they were late for the Passover, which should be on the first month, but they celebrated it on the second month, which is contrary to the law. But the main reason was stated in II Chronicles 30:18 For a multitude of the people, even many from Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “The good Lord pardon every one 19 who prepareth his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.” 20 And the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.
The description of the sacrificing does not fit the ordinances that God established for the domestic observance of the Passover. There is no mention of the lambs being killed by “the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel,” as in Exodus 12. Rather, the account gives a detailed description of the slaying of the lambs at the temple by the Levites, and the sprinkling of the lamb’s blood against the altar by the priests.
The phrase “as it is written in the book of Moses” is not referring to the ordinances for the Passover, but to the ordinances that God established for peace offerings, which required that the blood of the sacrificial animal be sprinkled against the altar, and the fat and certain organs be burnt on the altar (Lev. 3).
The KJV translates Strong’s H1310 (bashal) in the following manner (and times): seethe (10x), boil (6x), sod (6x), bake (2x), ripe (2x), roast (2x). The KJV and most translations translate the verse “roasted” correctly: ”And they roasted the Passover lamb with fire according to the ordinance.” The Bible says they did the roasting “according to the ordinance.” The same word bashal is used in Deuteronomy 16:7 “And thou shalt roast (H1310 bashal) and eat it in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose.” Only “A Faithful Version” by a “not-sure-what-his-level-of-Hebrew-is” author translates it as “boil.”
The Jewish Encyclopedia — Its managing editor was Isidore Singer (1859–1939) and the editorial board was chaired by Isaac Funk and Frank Vizetelly. Singer was born Austria and studied at the University of Vienna and the Humboldt University of Berlin, receiving his PhD in 1884. One who held “extremely liberal views” and one who had described the Sabbath as “heavy burdens,” Singer moved to New York in 1895 where he started work which resulted in the Jewish Encyclopedia.
“Then the king [Jeroboam, now king of the northern ten tribes of Israel] took counsel, and made two calves of gold and said to them, ‘It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ And he set the one in Bethel, and he put the other in Dan. And this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one, even to Dan. And he made houses of worship on the high places [pagan temples to Baal], and made priests of the lowest of the people, who were not the sons of Levi. And Jeroboam ordered a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that is in Judah. And he offered upon the altar. So he did in Bethel [meaning “house of God”], sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.
Rabbi Denise Eger was also the founding President of the Lesbian, Gay, & Bisexual Interfaith Clergy Association. In the summer of 2010 she was named one of the fifty most influential women rabbis.
Of course, He did. If not, during each Passover thereafter, every Israelites would still be eating with their loins girded, sandals on their feet, staff in their hands; and they were to eat in haste. Then they would also need to pretend fleeing from Pharaoh and his armies in an re-enactment of the Exodus.
And thou shalt tell them: A man, whether young or old, of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among you, who shall sacrifice a burnt offering, or consecrated oblation, and bring it not to the door of the tabernacle of ordinance, to be made an oblation before the Lord, that man shall be destroyed from his people.
At the same movement, while the Jews were killing their lambs for the Passover, and the priests splinking the blood on the altar, Christ’s blood dripped into the Mercy Seat for the sin of the whole world! The biblical narratives indicate that the crucifixion took place outside the city walls—“outside the camp,” and His blood was miraculously brought “into the camp,” revealing why the blood could be killed outside the camp but only its blood brought into the camp for the priest to sprinkle on the altar. If Ron’s attestation is true, the story of Christ’s death and sacrifice would reveal how the Lamb was ordained in details with so much forethoughts right from the foundation of the world. Well planned and well thought-out by our Great God. Are you amazed? I’m stunned. It is the mystery of mysteries.
Chapter 16 had the timeline of what happened during the sixth day, but Fred Coulter had misinterpreted as the time, the evening after sunset. He wrote:
The story of the quail in Exodus 16 is that the Scriptures use erev and ben ha arbayim interchangeability. Everything makes sense when this is deemed as the daylight portion of erev for the Israelites to capture, cook and eat the quails.
The truth is so easy to understand if we use the Jewish definition of technical words. It’s their language, it’s their Sacred Text, it’s written within the Jewish culture. They are the custodians of God’s oracles, we shouldn’t make a habit of stigmatizing them. What if they don’t believe? Nar, let every man be a liar and God be true, the Jews would still be the custodians (Roman 3:1-4). Ben ha arbayim is the time “after noon and until nightfall.”
But only one lamb were selected on the tenth of the first month (Exodus 12:3-5) for Passover. For these Israelites to sudden sacrifice two lambs, one during erev and the other during ben ha arbayim they would need to perform miracles.
Draft IIb
This is correct, ben (h996) ha arbayim (h6153) occur 11 times, so let’s study them in details:
In Chapter 3 earlier, Fred defines ben ha arbayim as the time between sunset and dark.“Between the two evenings’ is usually taken to mean between sundown and dark, a period of about an hour or so….”
But Hillel knew that the man wanted to do the right thing, but he didn’t understand the purpose of the Oral Torah. So Hillel began to teach him the Aleph Bet (Hebrew alphabet). The first day, Hillel taught him the first two letters, aleph and bet.
“And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity kept the dedication of this house of God with joy….And the children of the captivity kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. The priests and the Levites were purified together, all of them pure. And they killed the Passover lamb for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves. And the children of Israel ate the Passover lamb, all who had come again out of exile, and all such as had separated themselves to them from the uncleanness of the nations of the land in order to seek the LORD God of Israel. And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the LORD had made them joyful…” (Ezra 6:15-16, 19-22).
(1) the duties of the priests and Levites were reestablished at the Temple, “as it is written in the Book of Moses” (verse 18). After the Sanctuary was instituted, there is no such a thing about a “domestic” passover.
If Ezra had edited the Scriptures, a comparison would show the difference with the Samaritans’ version: “with authentic copies of the books of Moses, the first five books of the Bible.” The Samaritan religion was established earlier, but close to Jerusalem, just some sixty miles to the north, around 720 BC. They should have the true version, and Ezra’s edited copy will show.
Draft Ih
No, they don’t. Every year Samaritans kept their passover at Mount Gerizim, near today’s city of Nablus in the West Bank, and this mountain isn’t at their homes, so it isn’t a “domestic” passover. Yes, they kept it at the beginning of the fourteenth in the same manner as the Church of God communities today.
In summary, Leviticus 17 says if one were to make a sacrifice, in the camp or out of the camp, the blood must be brought to the tabernacle, and the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the Lord at the door of the tabernacle (v 6).
The KJV translates Strong’s H1310 (bashal) in the following manner (and times): seethe (10x), boil (6x), sod (6x), bake (2x), ripe (2x), roast (2x). The KJV and most translations translate the verse “roasted” correctly: ”And they roasted the Passover lamb with fire according to the ordinance.” The Bible says they did the roasting “according to the ordinance.” The same word bashal is used in Deuteronomy 16:7 “And thou shalt roast (H1310 bashal) and eat it in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose.” Only “A Faithful Version” by a “not-so-sure-what-his-level-of-Hebrew-is” author translates it as “boil.”
According to Fred, “there can be no doubt whatsoever that ben ha arbayim comes after ba erev, or sunset.”
a. Angelic beings, not humans. Jesus said only He had down from heaven John 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, so the twenty four elders could not be humans as identified in Revelation 4:4. During the first resurrection, when Christ return, the saints will rise first, Satan bound (Revelation 20:1-4).They will meet Christ in the air, and when Christ set his feet in Jerusalem, the saints will be with Christ forever (1 Thess 4:16-17). Further, among the restored 18 vital truths to the True Church since 1933 (Mystery of the Ages, Dodd & Mead, 1985, p251), Herbert W Armstrong came in the spirit of Elijah (Malachi 4:5), to establish the foundation of the True Church, and to restore all things (Matt 17:11, Mark 9:12, Acts 3:21). “Rain” and soon a storm appeared; “Drought” and the land suffered three and a half years of constipation! When you look at the preceding two or three verses in Acts 3:19-20, this restitution of all things by Elijah is in the context of Christ returning back to this earth. Hence these truths are solidified and sealed.
Over the last decade or so, the western world watches Huawei’s rise as a formidable world-power with a mixture of awe and apprehension. Huawei Technologies was founded as recently as 1987 by Ren Zhengfei and has made headlines of late as the target of the US government, which claims its telecom equipment poses a threat to America’s national security.
Just this week, Mark Zuckerberg’s ‘private company’ agreed to give French authorities the “identification data” of Facebook users suspected of spreading ‘hate speech’ on the platform, in what would be an unprecedented move on the part of Silicon Valley.
After the riot, the Chinese Government found that their main source of coordination was done through Facebook. A couple thousand people were involved, so the Government went to Facebook, and asked them to cooperate with the Police.
the European Commission, warned that ministers should focus on raising school standards instead of blaming the country’s problems on foreigners. In a speech in Cambridge she suggested that the UK’s poor education system is the reason Britons cannot compete with foreigners for jobs. She said politicians needed to “work on the quality of education and welfare, so that people in this country can find employment and enjoy reasonable social standards”.
Jacob tore his clothes in grief, dressed in rough burlap, and mourned his son a long, long time. His sons and daughters tried to comfort him but he refused their comfort. “I’ll go to the grave mourning my son.”
as said his design was better than mine. I put my case and he apologized profusely. Yes, profusely. He offered to redo the whole thing at his expense. I knew it would be such an unprofitable venture for him so I declined. He offered to do a stool for me as compensation. I reluctantly agreed as he could use loose woods to do one for me at no great expense.
especially where they have much respect for you, more so a foreign visitor.
it’s dark, you know?”
or else I’ll call the police.”
