THE TEMPLE - ITS MINISTRY AND SERVICE #13
THE PASSOVER - Part two
Continued from previous page:
There is also a significant tradition that some were wont to
select it four days before the Passover, and to keep it tied in a
prominent place within view, so as constantly to remind them of
the coming service.
THREE THINGS
We have already explained that according to the Rabbis, 1
three things were implied in the festive command to 'appear
before the Lord'--'Presence,' the 'Chagigah; and 'Joyousness.' As
specially applied to the Passover, the first of these terms
meant, that every one was to come up to Jerusalem and to offer a
burnt-offering, if possible on the first, or else on one of the
other six days of the feast. This burnt-offering was to be taken
only from 'Cholin' (or profane substance), that is, from such as
did not otherwise belong to the Lord, either as tithes,
firstlings, or things devoted, etc.
The Chagigah, which was strictly a peace-offering, might be
two-fold. The first Chagigah was offered on the 14th of Nisan,
the day of the Paschal sacrifice, and formed afterwards part of
the Paschal Supper. The second Chagigah, was offered
on the 15th of Nisan, or the first day of the feast of
unleavened bread. It is this second Chagigah which the Jews were
afraid they might be unable to eat, if they contracted defilement
in the judgment-hall of Pilate. 2 In reference to the first
Chagigah, the Mishnah lays down the rule, that it was only to be
offered if the Paschal day fell on a week-day, not on a Sabbath,
and if the Pascal lamb alone would not have been sufficient to
give satisfying supper to the company which gathered around it.
As in the case of all other peace-offerings, part of this
Chagigah
......
1 Chag. ii.1; vi.2.
2 Jobn xviii.28.
3 Pes. vi.4.
......
(All this 'Chagigah' was a Pharisee doctrine which had NO bearing
on any thruth found in the direction of observing the Passover
and Unleavened Bread Feast as laid out in the books of Moses
Exodus to Dueteronomy - Keith Hunt)
might be kept, though not for longer than one night and two days
from its sacrifice. Being a voluntary offering, it was lawful to
bring it from sacred things (such as tithes of the flock). But
the Chagigah for the 15th of Nisan was obligatory, and had
therefore to be brought from 'Cholin.'
(Edersheim in explaining the Pharisee traditions does not attempt
here to show how this "second" 'Chagigah' that is supposed to be
"obligatory" could possibly be done by a MILLION or two people
coming to celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem each year. The
logistics of such a so called "obligatory" sacrifice would be
IMPOSSIBLE to perform in a 24 hour day even if the priests worked
without stopping for the entire 24 hours. Obviously the law of
Lev.23:7,8 applied to the priests in the Temple NOT to every
single person observing the feast - common sense and logistics
would plainly tell us so - Keith Hunt)
The third duty incumbent on those who appeared at the feast
was 'joyousness.' This expression, as we have seen, simply
referred to the fact that, according to their means, all Israel
were, during the course of this festival, with joyous heart to
offer peace-offerings, which might be chosen from sacred things.
1 Thus the sacrifices which every Israelite was to offer at the
Passover were, besides his share in the Paschal lamb, a burnt-
offering, the Chagigah (one or two), and offerings of
joyousness--all as God had blessed each household. As stated in a
previous chapter, all the twenty-four courses, into which the
priests were arranged, ministered in the Temple on this, as on
the other great festivals, and they distributed among themselves
alike what fell to them of the festive sacrifices and the
shewbread. But the course which, in its proper order, was on duty
for the week, alone offered all votive, and voluntary, and the
public sacrifices for the whole congregation, such as those of
the morning and the evening? 2
(Again common logic would tell us the burnt-sacrifice [see Lev.1-
17] was offered sometime during the Feast - not on any specific
day of the Feast per se - it would be logistically impossible,
even with all 24 courses on duty, to offer a anywhere near a
million or more burnt sacrifices in just one 24 hour day - Keith
Hunt)
PHARISEES SPECIAL TRADITION
OF PREPARATION FOR PASSOVER
The special preparations for the Passover commenced the
evening of the 13th of Nisan, with which, according to Jewish
reckoning, the 14th began, the day being always computed from
evening to evening. Then the head of the house was to search
......
1 Deut. xxvii.7.
2 "Succah" v.7.
with a lighted candle all places where leaven was usually kept,
and to put what of it he found in the house in a safe place,
whence no portion could be carried away by any accident. Before
doing this, he prayed: 'Blessed art Thou, Jehovah, our God, King
of the Universe, who hast sanctified us by Thy commandments, and
commanded us to remove the leaven.' And after it he said: 'All
the leaven that is in my possession, that which I have seen and
that which I have not seen, be it null, be it accounted as the
dust of the earth.' The search itself was to be accomplished in
perfect silence and with a lighted candle. To this search the
apostle may have referred in the admonition to 'purge out the old
leaven.' 1 Jewish tradition sees a reference to this search with
candles in Zeph. i.12: 'And it shall come to pass at that time
that I will search Jerusalem with candles.' If the leaven had
not been removed on the evening of the I3th, it might still be
done on the forenoon of the 14th of Nisan. The question what
substances constituted leaven was thus solved. The unleavened
cakes, which were to be the only bread used during the feast,
might be made of
......
1 i Cor. v.7.
......
(Now, this searching for leavened on the beginning of the 14th as
Edersheim noted above, was actually the time of the real
Passover, the time that Jesus and His disciples clearly observed
it as recorded in the Gospels. The proof of that I give you in
the many in-depth studies on the Passover, found on this Website.
This beginning of the 14th search for leaven was nothing more
than a Pharisee tradition that had no bearing on any law or truth
found in the Old Testament books - Keith Hunt)
these five kinds of grain-wheat, barley, spelt, oats, and rye -
the cakes being prepared before fermentation had begun. Anything
prepared of these five kinds of grain - but only of these - would
come within range of the term 'leaven,' that is, if kneaded with
water, but not if made with any other fluid, such as fruit-
liquor, etc.
TIME OF ITS COMMENCEMENT
(Remember we are reading about the traditions of the Pharisees
that Edersheim is elaberating on - not anything found in the laws
of Moses or anywhere in the Old Testament - Keith Hunt)
Early on the forenoon of the 14th of Nisan the feast of the
Passover may be said to have begun. (This is the Pharisee
Passover, as they observed it - Keith Hunt) In Galilee, no work
was done all that day; in Judaea it was continued till mid-day;
the rule, however, being that no new work was to be commenced,
though that which was in hand might be carried on. The only
exception to this was in the case of tailors, barbers, and those
engaged in the laundry. Even earlier than mid-day of the 14th it
was no longer lawful to eat leaven. The strictest opinion fixes
ten o'clock as the latest hour when leaven might be eaten, the
more lax eleven. From that hour to twelve o'clock it was required
to abstain from leaven, while at twelve it was to be solemnly
destroyed, either by burning, immersing it in water, or
scattering it to the winds. To secure strict obedience and
uniformity, the exact time for abstaining from and for destroying
the leaven was thus made known: 'They laid two desecrated cakes
of a thank-offering on a bench in the porch (of the Temple).
So long as they lay there, all the people might eat (leavened);
when one of them was removed, they abstained from eating, but
they did not burn (the leaven); when both were removed, all the
people burnt (the leaven). 1 ("Pes" 1. 5.)
(Now read all this section again. Do you follow when all this was
being done? It was DURING the hours of the DAY-LIGHT of the 14th
- actually in the morning to noon. This was all the laws and
traditions of the Pharisees!! There is not ONE WORD in the Old
Testament about STOPPING eating leaven as the above laws of the
Pharisees regulated it. The laws of Moses prove that NOT EATING
leaven and ONLY EATING unleaven did not start until the
commencement of the 15th of the month. You could under the laws
of Moses eat leavened bread up until the beginning of the 15th.
Also the laws of Moses state nothing about STOPPING WORK before
the 15th. It is the 15th that is a Holy Day - a Sabbath - and the
beginning of that day is when secular work needs to be stopped.
Are you seeing now why Jesus told His disciples once: "'...should
beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.' Then
understood they how that He bade them not beware of the leaven of
bread, but of the DOCTRINE of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees"
[Mat.16:11-12]. The Pharisees and the Sadducees, had a few things
correct, but by and large they taught perverted and wrong
doctrines of theology. By their traditions they made void the
commandments of God [Mark 7:7-9] - Keith Hunt)
SELECTING A LAMB
The next care was to select a proper Paschal lamb, which, of
course, must be free from all blemish, and neither less than
eight days, nor more than exactly one year old. Each Paschal lamb
was to serve for a 'company,' which was to consist of not less
than ten, nor of more than, twenty persons (Again no such law can
be found in the books of Moses. It was to be for a family or as
many as the lamb would be sufficient for - Keith Hunt). The
company at the 'Lord's Passover Supper' consisted of Himself and
His disciples. Two of them, Peter and John, the Master had sent
early forward to prepare the Passover,' that is, to see to all
that was needful for the due observance of the Paschal Supper,
especially the purchase and sacrifice of the Paschal lamb.
Probably they may have purchased it in the Holy City, though not,
as in the majority of cases, within the Temple-court itself,
where a brisk and very profitable traffic in all such
offerings was carried on by the priests. For against this the
Lord Jesus had inveighed only a few days before, when He 'cast
out all them that sold and bought in the Temple, and overthrew
the tables of the money-changers,' 1 to the astonishment and
indignation of those who would intensely resent His interference
with their authority and gains. 2
(As we move along in Edersheim's expounding of the observing and
slaying of the Passover lamb, you will have noticed above that he
openly says Jesus and the disciples observed the Passover, for
indeed the Gospels clearly say Jesus' disciples came to him
asking where they might observe the Passover, and He sent Peter
and John ahead to prepare the Passover. This all being true,
Edersheim NEVER once has the bells ringing in his brain that to
expound the Passover of the Temple [which the Pharisees did on
the afternoon of the 14th and going into the night of the 15th]
is NOT the Passover which Jesus with His disciples observed AT
THE START OF THE 14TH of the month. All of this truth I expound
for you in detail in my Passover studies on this Website - Keith
Hunt)
SLAYING OF THE LAMB
While the Saviour still tarried with the other disciples
outside the city, Peter and John were completing their
preparations. They followed the motley crowd, all leading their
sacrificial lambs up the Temple-mount. (NO SUCH TEACHING is found
in the Gospels as what Edersheim has just stated - Keith Hunt).
Here they were grouped into three divisions. Already the evening
sacrifice had been offered. Ordinarily it was slain at 2.30 P.M.,
and offered at about 3.30. But on the eve of the Passover, 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-
......
1 Matt. xxi.12,13.
2 John ii.13-18.
......
two hours earlier, so as to avoid any needless breach of the
Sabbath. On the occasion to which we refer the evening sacrifice
had been slain at 1.30, and offered at 2.30. But before the
incense was burned or the lamps were trimmed, the Paschal
sacrifice had to be offered. 1
(Now Edersheim goes into what was done on the afternoon of the
14th, unless he thinks this was done on the afternoon of the
13th, and that would not make sense as the Pharisee Passover was
not eaten until the evening of the 15th. You would hardly kill
the lamb 24 hours or more before eating it. Edersheim is here so
filled with Pharisee Judaism practice, he moves from what Jesus
and the disciples observed and into the Pharisee observation of
the Passover without blinking an eye. He does not seem to stumble
on the plain fact of ther Gospels that Jesus and His disciples
observed the Passover at the beginning of the 14th and the
Pharisees observed it, starting from just after noon, when the
slaying in the Temple was begun, on into the night of the 15th.
The religious Jews to this day, being from the Pharisees, observe
the Passover on the 15th, beginning hours of the 15th of the
month. The ORIGINAL Passover, was in the beginning hours of the
14th, as proved over and over again on this Website in the
Passover studies, and as observed by Jesus, as the Gospels
clearly state - Keith Hunt)
It was done on this wise:
The first of the three festive divisions, with their Paschal
lambs, was admitted within the Court of the Priests. Each
division must consist of not less than thirty persons (3 x 10,
the symbolical number of the Divine and of completeness).
Immediately the massive gates were closed behind them. The
priests drew a threefold blast from their silver trumpets when
the Passover was slain. Altogether the scene was most
impressive. All along the Court up to the altar of burnt-offering
priests stood in two rows, the one holding golden, other silver
bowls. In these the blood of the Paschal lambs, which each
Israelite slew for himself (as representative of his company at
the Paschal Supper), was caught up by a priest, who handed it to
his colleague, receiving back an empty bowl, and so the bowls
with the blood were passed up to the priest at the altar, who
jerked it in one jet at the ba of praise was raised, the, Levites
leading in song, and the offierers either repeating after them or
merely responding. Every first line of a Psalm was repeated by
the people while to each of the others they responded by a
'Hallelujah,' or 'Praise ye the Lord.' This service of song
consisted of the so-called 'Hallel,' which comprised Psalms
cxiii. to cxviii. Thus--
......
1 According to the Talmud, 'the daily (evening) sacrifice
precedes that of the Paschal lamb; the Paschal lamb the burning
of the incense, the incense the trimming of the lamps' (for the
night).
......
The Levites began: 'Hallelu Jah' (Praise ye the Lord).
The people repeated: 'Hallelu Jah.'
The Levites: 'Praise (Hallelu), O ye servants of Jehovah.'
The people responded: 'Hallelu Jah.'
The Levites: 'Praise (Hallelu) the name of Jehovah.'
The people responded: 'Hallelu Jah.'
Similarly, when Psa. cxiii. had been finished - Psa. cxiv.
The Levites: 'When Israel went out of Egypt.'
The people repeated: 'When Israel went out of Egypt.'
The Levites: 'The house of Jacob from a people of strange
language.'
The people responded: 'Hallelu Jah.'
And in the same manner, repeating each first line and
responding at the rest, till they came to Psa. cxviii., when,
besides the first, these three lines were also repeated by the
'Save now, I beseech Thee, send now prosperity;' and
'Blessed be He that cometh in the name of Jehovah.'
May it not be that to this solemn and impressive 'hymn'
corresponds the Alleluia song of the redeemed Church in heaven,
as described in Rev. xix. 1,3,4,6? (How people read things into
the Bible - a classic example by Edersheim. He says "heaven" -
the Bible says the Lamb stood on MOUNT ZION - a HUGE DIFFERENCE!!
Keith Hunt)
The singing of the 'Hallel' at the Passover dates from very
remote antiquity. The Talmud dwells on its peculiar suitableness
for the purpose, since it not only recorded the goodness of God
towards Israel, but especially their deliverance from Egypt, and
therefore appropriately opened 1 with 'Praise ye Jehovah, ye
servants of Jehovah' and no longer of Pharaoh. Hence also this
'Hallel' is called the Egyptian, or 'the Common,' to distinguish
it from the great 'Hallel,' sung on very rare occasions, which
comprised Psalms cxx. to cxxxvi. According to the Talmud, the
'Hallel' recorded five things: 'The coming out of Egypt, the
dividing of the sea, the giving of the law, the resurrection of
the dead, and the lot of the Messiah.' The Egyptian 'Hallel,' it
may here be added, was altogether sung on eighteen days and on
one night in the year. These eighteen days were, that of the
Passover sacrifice, the Feast of Pentecost, and each of the eight
days of the Feasts of Tabernacles and of the Dedication of the
Temple. The only night in which it was recited was that of the
Paschal Supper, when it was sung by every Paschal company in
their houses, in a manner which will hereafter be explained.
If the 'Hallel' had been finished before the service of one
division was completed, it was repeated a second and, if needful,
even a third time. The Mishnah remarks, that as the Great Court
was crowded by the first two divisions, it rarely happened that
they got further than Psa. cxvi. before the services of the third
division were completed. Next, the sacrifices were hung up on
hooks along the Court, or laid on staves which rested on the
shoulders of two men (on Sabbaths they were not laid on staves),
then flayed, the entrails taken out and cleansed, and the inside
at separated, put in a dish, salted, and placed on the fire of
the altar of burnt-offering. This completed the sacrifice.
......
1 Psa. cxiii.
......
The first division of offcrers being dismissed, the second
entered, and finally the third, the service being in each case
conducted in precisely the same manner. Then the whole service
concluded by burning the incense and trimming the lamps for the
night.
(Now once more let's use a little logic: let's say this all
started on the afternoon of the 13th, and was resumed again on
the afternoon of the 14th; let's give all of that to the Pharisee
observance of the Passover. Crazy yes, as some would have had
their Passover lambs slain at the Temple 24 hours before eating
it, others just a few hours before. But for argument sake, we'll
say it was such. The number of lambs slain according to Josephus
was about 200,000, which would be about right if Josephus was
correct in saying that 2,000,000 plus attended the Passover in
Jerusalem. There is NO WAY all those lambs could have been slain
in the Temple; just not physically possible in a 24 to 30 hours
time period, even if the priests worked all night. The conclusion
is as proved in the Passover studies - the Passover lamb DID NOT
have to be slain in the Temple! No law of Moses EVER regulated
such an idea. Slaying the Passover lamb in the Temple was purely
a Pharisee idea and practice. Every family or group had the God
given right and authority to slay the Passover lamb for
themselves! - Keith Hunt)
When all had been finished in the Temple, the priests washed
the Great Court, in which so much sacrificial blood had been
shed. But this was not done if the Passover had been slain on the
Sabbath. In that case, also, the three divisions waited - the
first in the Court of the Gentiles, the second on the Chel, and
the third in the Great Court - so as not needlessly to carry
their burdens on the Sabbath.
But, as a general rule, the religious services of the
Passover, like all positive religious injunctions, 'made void the
Sabbath.' In other respects the Passover, or rather the 15th of
Nisan, was to be observed like a Sabbath, no manner of work being
allowed. There was, however, one most important exception to
this rule. It was permitted to prepare the necessary articles of
food on the 15th of Nisan. This explains how the words of Jesus
to Judas during the Paschal (not the Lord's) Supper could be
misunderstood by the disciples as implying that Judas, 'who had
the bag,' was to 'buy those things' that they had' need of
against the feast.' 1
(Once more Edersheim fails to see that as he admits, Jesus said
those words during the Paschal Supper, that it was the beginning
of the 14th, and had nothing to do with the Sabbath of the 15th.
So the disciples would think nothing of Jesus telling Judas to
buy things for the Feast [of unleavened bread] as the day they
thought he was being sent out to buy things against the feast,
was the 14th, which was not a Sabbath day. They thought he was
going to buy things during the day-light hours of the 14th. The
Pharisee Passover, as the Gospel of John shows, was still coming
after Jesus had been crucified [John 18:28,39; 19:14]. These
verses make sense only when you understand Jesus observed the
true original Passover at the beginning of the 14th, and the
Pharisees observed the Passover starting in the afternoon of the
14th into the evening of the beginning of the 15th - Keith Hunt)
OUR LORD'S CELEBRATION
OF THE FEAST
(Now Edersheim goes back, with nay a blink of the eye, to how
Jesus celebrated the Passover. Some people cannot see the truth
even if it bit them on the behind - Keith Hunt)
It was probably as the sun was beginning to decline in the
horizon that Jesus and the other ten disciples descended once
more over the Mount of Olives into the Holy City. Before them lay
Jerusalem in her festive attire. All around pilgrims were
hastening towards it.
......
1 John xiii.29.
......
White tents dotted the sward, gay with the bright flowers of
early spring, or peered out from the gardens and the darker
foliage of the olive plantations. From the gorgeous Temple
buildings, dazzling in their snowwhite marble and gold, on which
the slanting rays of the sun were reflected, rose the smoke of
the altar of burnt-offering. These courts were now crowded with
eager worshippers, offering for the last time, in the real sense,
their Paschal lambs. (Well no, the Temple ritual of Passover
lambs by the Pharisees was not till the next day. But those who
knew the truth, were killing their own Passover lambs - Keith
Hunt). The streets must have been thronged with strangers, and
the flat roofs covered with eager gazers, who either feasted
their eyes with a first sight of the Sacred City for which they
had so often longed, or else once more rejoiced in view of the
well-remembered localities. It was the last day-view which the
Lord had of the Holy City - till His resurrection! Only once more
in the approaching night of His betrayal was He to look upon it
in the pale light of the full moon. He was going forward to
'accomplish His death' in Jerusalem; to fulfil type and prophecy,
and to offer Himself up as the true Passover Lamb - 'the Lamb of
God, which taketh away the sin of the world.' (Yes, and it was
the BIGINNING of the 14th of the month - Keith Hunt). They who
followed Him were busy with many thoughts. They knew that
terrible events awaited them, and they had only a few days before
been told that these glorious Temple-buildings, to which, with a
national pride not unnatural, they had directed the attention of
their Master, were to become desolate, not one stone being left
upon the other. (Edersheim did not live to 1967 when the Jews re-
took all of Jerusalem, and after moving away rubbish they
discovered that "one stone not left on another" of the Temple,
had NOT be fulfilled in 70 A.D. - that behold part of the Temple
wall remained - today it is commonly called "The Wailing Wall" -
Keith Hunt).
Among them, revolving his dark plans, and goaded on by the
great Enemy, moved the betrayer. And now they were within the
city. Its Temple, its royal bridge, its splendid palaces, its
busy marts, its streets filled with festive pilgrims, were well
known to them, as they made their way to the house where the
guestchamber had been prepared for them. Meanwhile the crowd came
down from the Temple-mount, each bearing on his shoulders the
sacrificial lamb, to make ready for the Paschal Supper.
(Wow, did you get it again? Now Edersheim moves back to teaching
the Jews in the Temple were coming out to observe the Passover!
No, the Pharisee Jews were going home to light candles and look
for leaven in the home, as Edersheim earlier told you about, and
as those Pharisee Jews still do to this every day. But the people
of God who knew the truth, they were with their families or their
group, sacrificing the Passover lamb for themselves, and
observing the Passover night, just as Jesus and His disciples
were about to do - Keith Hunt)
......................
To be continued
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