EASTER
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Hosea 4:6
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that thou shalt be no priest to Me: seeing thou have forgotten the law of your God. I will also forget your children.
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Luke: 16:8
8 And the Lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.
These two scriptures showed one thing: that God's people need to have a desire for knowledge, or else they may be destroyed. Though Jesus spoke these word in dealing with the parable of the unjust steward and His priest. Jesus also showed this same mind set in calling the saints sheep.
In Isaiah 53 he said, 53 we all like sheep have gone astray, each one his own way and God has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all." Sheep are probably the dumbest animal upon the earth and they will follow anything. This is proven over and over again throughout the bible. God called Moses and showed many miracles through his hands, yet he was delayed 40 days coming down from the mountain. When he finally came down, they (the sheep) were worshipping a Golden Calf; He took His people (the sheep) to the gates of the promise land, the land He swore to their forefathers, even after seeing all God's powers, the people would not go into the land; God sent His son Jesus, and the sheep (His people) rejected Him and killed Him. Paul said to the people: who has bewitched you to turn and follow another gospel? Even after hearing the truth, they turned to follow another gospel. Jesus said, these people honor Me with their mouth and lips but their heart is far from Me.
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Jesus said, by your traditions you have made the word of God of none effect.
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You may ask, what does this have to do with Easter? I say: EVERYTHING!
For years we, as Christians, have celebrated Easter (Passover) as Good Friday to Easter Sunday. For years we have awakened early on Easter Sunday to go to sunrise services. But as sheep we follow this tradition with no wisdom or understanding of what Jesus and His Father said.
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Genesis 1:5
5 And the Lord called the light Day and the darkness He called Night. And the evening and the morning was the first Day.
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Matthew 12 verses 38-40
38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from Thee, 39 But He answered and said unto them, an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. 40 For as Jonas was 3 days and 3 nights in the whales belly; so shall the Son of Man be 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth."
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Let's follow up on what God said in Genesis and on what Jesus said in Matthew. The first thing we find is just as the Jewish calendar, day starts at evening, so said God in Genesis. The second thing we see is Jesus said He was going to spend 3 days in the earth and also 3 nights. If the Jewish calendar day starts at evening (6pm), why do we go to sunrise services if the Jewish day starts at evening (6pm)? Then Jesus rose from the grave at evening and not morning.
If Jesus said 3 days and 3 nights, why do we celebrate Good Friday to Easter Sunday morning?
Friday morning to Friday night is 1 day, Saturday morning to Saturday night is 2 days and Sunday morning. "Oops." I hope you get the picture. Because this is only 3 days and 2 nights. The word said, not one word that proceeds from His mouth, would return back void; it would accomplish what He set it out to do. If Jesus said 3 days and 3 nights that was what He meant. No matter how hard you try, you cannot get 3 days and 3 nights out of Good Friday to Easter morning. Jesus did not just say this one time, but on numerous occasions.
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Mark 8:31
31 And He began to teach them, that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after 3 days rise again.
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Matthew 27: 62-66 "Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate. 63. Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while He was yet alive, After 3 days I will rise again. 64. Command therefore that the sepulcher be made sure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say unto the people. He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. 65. Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as you can. 66. So they went, and made the sepulcher sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch."
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Matthew 28:4
4 And for the fear of him the keepers did shake and became as dead men."
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As we can see from the scriptures above, Jesus said He would raise after 3 days, also Pilate guarded the tomb for 3 days. When the women come to the tomb, the guards or keepers were still there. Therefore, we know without a doubt Jesus was in the grave for 3 full days and 3 full nights.
Through the knowledge that we have gained above, we can safely say that Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday by our USA calendar. Why do I say that? Because if Jesus was going to be in the grave for 3 days and He raised the first day of the week, then converting from the Jewish calendar to the American calendar would show that Jesus was crucified on Wednesday (day of preparation of Passover). Jesus would have to be in the tomb by 6pm, because 6pm was the beginning of the new day. Jesus would now be in the grave from 6pm Wednesday (unleavened bread) to 6pm Thursday = day 1, from 6pm Thursday (day preparing spices) to 6pm Friday = day 2, from 6pm Friday (Sabbath) to 6pm Saturday = day 3. And on the first day of the week at 6pm Saturday (first fruits) Jesus raised from the dead. We will attempt to verify this below.
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John 19 verses 30-31
30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished; and He bowed His head and gave up the ghost. 31 The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day; (for that sabbath day was a high day), besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away."
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From John 19 above, we can see that Jesus was crucified on the preparation day and that the next day was not the regular sabbath, but it was a high sabbath (one of God's feast days). This verified that the next day was Unleavened Bread.
John 19:14 proved this also: "And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour; and he said unto the Jews, behold your King." We see from this, Jesus was being prepared as the Passover Lamb.
John 18 verses 38-40
38 Pilate said unto Him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and said unto them, I find in Him no fault at all.
39 But you have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the Passover: will you therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews. 40 Then cried they all again, saying, Not this Man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber."
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This leads us to now understand that the very next day after Passover had to be the day of Unleavened Bread. Because the day after Passover was always Unleavened Bread. The two sets of scriptures below will verify this.
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Leviticus 23 verses 4-6
4 These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their seasons. 5 In the fourteenth day of the first month (Nisan) at even is the Lord's Passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of Unleavened Bread unto the Lord: seven days you must eat unleavened bread."
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Matthew 26 verses 17-19
17 Now the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, unto Him, Where will You that we prepare for You to eat the passover? 18 And He said, Go into the city to such a man, and say to him, The Master said, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at your house with My disciples. 19 And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover."
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This verified that the first day, the crucifixion day was Passover, the second day a High Sabbath was Unleavened Bread, Now I will verify that the third day was a day that the women prepared spices (they couldn't go to the tomb because it was being guarded for 3 days) and fourth day was the regular sabbath day. Then we would have Jesus spending 3 full days and 3 full nights in the grave, fulfilling three of God's feast days while in the grave.
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Luke 23:55
55 And the women also, which came with Him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulcher, and how His body was laid. 56. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment."
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As we can see from this, after the Body was put in the sepulcher, the bible tells us the High Sabbath was near at hand and no work could be done on that day. The women would then have to wait for the next day to prepare the spices and ointment, and since the tomb was being guarded for 3 days, they could not take the spices to the tomb. They would now have to wait another day also because the next day would be the regular sabbath, no work could be done, and the tomb was still being guarded. So, they had to wait till the first day of the week.
John 20:1
1 The first day of the week comes Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher and see the stone taken away from the sepulcher."
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Matthew 28:1
1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher."
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Mary showed up on the first day of the week, which means the day before had to be the regular sabbath. Since in those days the day began at 6pm, and we know it was getting dark, and that women were not allowed on the street at night. We must now believe that Mary came to the tomb around 6am as it was getting light, when they looked in the tomb, Jesus was not raising. He was already gone. (this is why the tomb was empty). Also we will find below scripture to prove that the first day of the week was first fruits. Because the first day of the week after passover was always first fruits.
Leviticus 23 verses 9-11
9 And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, 10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say to them, When you be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits. of your harvest unto your priest: 11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest will wave it."
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The bible then tells us in Leviticus 23 verses 15 and 16 that after the sabbath, on first fruits, to count seven sabbaths and one day. This would be fifty days, this would be another first fruits, also known as the day of Pentecost.
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Finally, we conclude that Jesus fulfilled exactly what He said He would. Jesus said He came to fulfill every jot and title of the law. He not only had to fulfill the commandments, but God's feast days also. This is the proof that He was the Messiah. The passover meal was always eaten on the day of preparation, which Jesus did at the beginning, (somewhere between 6-9pm Tuesday). In order to understand this, we must first understand that Israel had two calendars; the civil and sacred calendars. The civil calendar being used because of the time in Egypt, for birth and days starting at morning. But, in Exodus 12 God changed all that and said "their first day on the sacred calendar would start at evening," thus the sacred calendar began.
After eating the passover meal, then within the next 24 hours Jesus was betrayed and went through His trials and was crucified. Somewhere between 3-5:59pm the same day Jesus gave up the ghost and they rushed His body to the tomb to keep Him from being on the cross throughout the Sabbath day. (Read above) John 19: 31, and in verses 41-42 said, "they took Him to a sepulcher near at hand because of the preparation day and the sabbath drew near."
In Luke 23:54 it says, "the sabbath drew on." Which meant they had to have Jesus' body into the sepulcher by 6pm Wednesday, which was the start of Unleavened Bread (the first day). Then at 6pm on Thursday was the start of the day that they prepared spices (the second day). Then at 6pm on Friday was the start of the Jewish Sabbath (the third day). Then somewhere around 6-6:01pm Saturday Jesus raised from the dead fulfilling First fruits. (the fourth day). Then we count 7 sabbaths and one day (the day of Pentecost), the Holy Spirit fell in the book of Acts to start the Church age.
In Jesus death He fulfilled 5 of God's feast days, showing the world that He was the Messiah, and how great God is! This is why the bible says, at an appointed time Jesus came, those feast days only lined up like that once in a lifetime and will never line up like that again. Many will reject this knowledge because God said they would in Hosea 4:6, but before you reject this knowledge; read Isaiah 1:14 "Your new moons and your self appointed holidays (feast days), my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them."
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As Christians we need knowledge, not just any knowledge, but God's knowledge. This is why in 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 it says, "we are unleavened, for Christ our passover was sacrifice for us," in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 twice said that "Christ is the first fruits," and in the gospels it said, "Jesus is greater than the sabbath." All these things were accomplished in His death and resurrection at the cross. Let's not continue worshipping in vain by doing sunrise services and Good Friday when they have nothing to do with God. The truth shall set you free. Choose God's way, not men's traditions. The word says, your traditions will make the word of God of none effect.
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CHART
USA CALENDAR
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12 am - Tuesday
6 am
12 pm
6 pm - (start of the day of preparation of the Passover = Jews Wednesday) - passover meal, betrayal, trial and crucifixion
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12 am - Wednesday
6 am
9 am - (Jesus put on the cross)
12 pm - (darkness over the earth till 3pm and Jesus gave up the ghost and Jesus must be in the grave before 6pm)
6 pm - (Unleavened Bread = Jews Thursday - High Sabbath) - start of 1st day in the grave (no work)
12 am - Thursday
6 am
6 pm - (preparation of the spices = Jews Friday) - start of 2nd day in the grave
12 am - Friday (American church Good Friday, the day the church say Jesus was crucified)
6 am
12 pm
6 pm - (Sabbath = Jews Saturday) - start of 3rd day in the grave (no work)
12 am - Saturday
6 am
12 pm
6 pm - (First fruits = Jews Sunday) - Jesus raised from dead 6:01pm
12 am - Sunday
6 am - (women went to the tomb with spices) = Sun Rise; American church sunrise service
12 pm
6 pm - 7 Sabbaths and 1 day later was: The (day of Pentecost) - Holy Spirit fell to start the Church
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You can choose to follow the tradition of men or what Jesus said.
Jesus said He was going to be in the belly of the earth for 3 days and 3 nights. I choose to follow Jesus, make your choice.
The resurrection: Proof of the resurrection is this, if Jesus did not raise? Why didn't the Pharisees or the Romans go out and present Jesus body? If they would have presented His body, then we would not be in church today (the story would be over). Pilate, the Romans and even the Jewish leaders all had access to the body. They had guards at the tomb, so everyone knew and had access to the body. Please don't say they went to the wrong tomb. He was buried in a known tomb, so go to the right one. Please don't tell me over 500 people hallucinated all at the same time. Please don't tell me they resuscitated Him, you don't resuscitate someone from a Roman crucifixion. Please don't say someone stole the body, they guarded and sealed the tomb for 3 days. The proof is there; He Has Risen!!!
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Jesus body was raised from the grave!!
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