Introduction to the Sequence of the Passover and Unleavened Bread in God's Calendar (No. 098B)

The Christian Churches of God (CCG) observes and abides by God’s Temple system and His Laws as Christ did with his disciples and the early Church, including observing the Temple calendar and monthly New Moons as Sabbaths (as non-working days), and annual Feasts. See Statement of Beliefs No. A1; and God's Calendar (No. 156).

As we approach the New Year in God's calendar and the festive Passover, we must understand how Passover relates to the spiritual Temple the One True God Eloah, as Ha Elohim, is building through His son Jesus Christ, who is the Temple's High Priest of the order of Melchisedek (F058). The whole Passover season symbolises the preparation of the first-fruits of God for the first-fruits' harvest, Pentecost. It is also very important that we understand how to prepare for Passover. Preparation begins prior to the first of Nisan/Abib, which is the New Year and goes for 21 days. It begins with the period of the Sanctification of the Temple (No. 241) and continues on into the seventh of Nisan/Abib, which is the Sanctification of the Simple and Erroneous (No. 291) (see below). The preparation continues on to the Lord's Supper which occurs on the evening of 14 Abib with the commemoration service on the afternoon of 14 Abib of Christ’s death and then, the evening of 15 Abib commences the Holy Day of the Passover and the feast Days of Unleavened Bread, which is a feast of seven days, with the Last Holy Day on 21 Abib. This preparation and worship also continues into the days of the Omer Count to Pentecost (No. 173). That period commences on the Sunday of the Wave Sheaf Offering (No. 106B) of the green ears of the Barley Harvest and proceeds for Fifty Days which ends on the day of Pentecost, which is always a Sunday. It is the wheat harvest. The feast period is called the Feast of Weeks and is the Sabbath of the Seventh week of 49 days and the 50^th day which is termed Pentecost from the term to count Fifty. Those who are baptised and placed into the body of Christ are to serve in God's Temple as priests under Christ. Failing to properly prepare for the Passover and keep the full feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread out of our gates (Deut. 16:5-8) is a breach of God’s Laws and Covenant by neglecting one's duties within the Melchisedek priesthood (see the paper The Covenant of God (No. 152)).

It should be obvious that when the Lord God instructs His people to gather before Him three times a year for His Feasts, it is to be on the day and at the time He commands. We are not to change or modify His instructions to suit our desires. We obviously do not have biblical authority to delay or postpone holy days any more than we have to postpone the seventh-day Sabbath to a Sunday or any other day of the week.

This year the rabbinical Hillel calendar that is based on Jewish tradition is once again not in agreement with the Temple calendar. In the year 2024 the Hillel calendar is out by a whole month from the Temple calendar, because they use the Babylonian intercalations in 2023 with an Adar II, which places the Passover into the Second Month in 2024 and places the Jewish Hillel Calendar a month out for all Feasts and monthly datings in that year. The Temple Calendar does not intercalate until 2024.

After the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE in accordance with the Sign of Jonah... (No. 013) and the Jews having rejected the Messiah, the Jews deliberately corrupted the Temple calendar using a contrived observation system and using false witnesses to separate the Calendar which until then had been based on the New Moons in the Temple system, as was the Samaritan system also. The Jews developed their own calendars within the various Jewish sects. That was so up until 344 CE, when two Babylonian rabbis brought the pagan Babylonian intercalations to Chief Rabbi Hillel II. R. Hillel then had the priests work on the system developing postponements to accommodate non-biblical Jewish traditions. It has the feasts in the wrong months in many years of the 19 year cycle in comparison to the Temple calendar. Most years the Temple calendar and the Hillel calendar are out of sync by 1-2 days even when they are in the correct months. In his book, "The Comprehensive Hebrew Calendar" by Arthur Spier, on page 15 it states that postponements are not the exception, but the rule. Observing the Hillel calendar that came into existence in the post-Temple period is a serious error and a sin in that it disobeys direct instructions from God in the way of its calculation and usage. There is no doubt that the postponement system according to the Encyclopedia Judaica and other reference works was not fully in place until the eleventh century and is not really the product of Rabbi Hillel II from 358 CE, even though it is commonly attributed to him (see The Calendar and the Moon-Postponements or Festivals? (No. 195), and Hillel, Babylonian Intercalations and the Temple Calendar (No. 195C)).

Most in the Church of God offshoots who adhere to the Hillel calendar are unaware of its fallacious postponement rules. For example, on page 15 in The Comprehensive Hebrew Calendar quoted above, of the four postponement rules it states postponement rule #1 as: "When the Molad Tishri occurs on a Sunday, Wednesday, or Friday, Rosh Hashanah is postponed to the following day." The Hillel calendar starts the new year in the 7th month and then counts backwards to determine the beginning of the 1st month in the new year, contrary to Ex. 12:3. On page 16 it shows the count backwards can be 176-178 days (in common years) or 191-193 days (in leap years). "Common" years are 12 months in length while "leap" years are 13 in length. This postponement rule also causes the 1st day of Passover to be postponed to the next day if it occurs on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday.

The Temple calendar that Christ observed with his disciples is with us today. He stated that the gates of the grave will not prevail against his called out ones (Mat. 16:18). He shepherds those given to him by his Father to keep and to worship on the correct days that are declared holy by God. Those not part of the elect given to Christ, and who worship the wrong Godhead, in either Ditheism (No. 076B), Binitarianism or Trinitarianism (No. 076) are simply not allowed to keep God's Calendar (No. 156). Hence, unless they repent, they cannot enter the Kingdom of God and the First Resurrection (No. 143A).

During the Temple period, up to and including Christ’s ministry, Abib 1 or Nisan 1, which was the beginning of the new year, was determined by the new moon (conjunction) nearest the vernal equinox providing that the Passover sacrifice on the 14th of Abib at the ninth hour (approximately 3 p.m.) in the afternoon of the 14th when the first Passover lamb (representing the Messiah) was killed and presented to the High Priest at the Temple DID NOT precede the vernal equinox. This was to prevent two Passover sacrifices from being observed within the same calendar year (see the study paper God’s Calendar (No. 156) and The Passover (No. 098)).

It is not difficult to understand the Temple calendar and it contains no postponements (see the study paper Tishri in Relation to the Equinox (No. 175)). It has been maintained through the centuries and is with us today. The Temple calendar first determines the beginning of the New Year at 1 Abib (Ex.12:3 and Esther 3:7), and then moves forward in progression to determine month two by the new moon conjunction, etc. It never counts backwards to determine a Holy Day, as the Hillel calendar does. See paper New Moon and Holy Day Calendar (No. C3) for a complete outline of God's Sacred Calendar for all years from 2004 to 2032.

The chart below details all of the possibilities for the timing of Passover beginning with the Lord's Supper at the beginning of the 14th of Abib through the 21st of Abib that could occur, and how the week will flow in relation to which day of the week that the 14th of Abib/Nisan occurs. In the Temple calendar the first day of Passover (15th of Abib/Nisan) can occur on any day of the week whereas within the rabbinical postponement Hillel calendar system, the Holy Day of the 15th of Abib is not allowed to occur on a Monday, a Wednesday, or a Friday (lines 1,3,5).

It is during this period of time from the 14th-21st that we are to be outside our city gates as Passover is one of three pilgrimage Feasts. See Deut.16:1-17. We are not to be at our work for the duration of the Feast.

Day of Week	#14th of Abib/Nisan The Messiah Died 9th Hour (approx. 3PM)	*15th of Abib/Nisan 1st Day ULB Holy Day	16th of Abib/Nisan 2nd Day ULB	17th of Abib/Nisan 3rd Day ULB	18th of Abib/Nisan 4th Day ULB	19th of Abib/Nisan 5th Day ULB	20th of Abib/Nisan 6th Day ULB	21st of Abib/Nisan 7th Day ULB Holy Day
*1	Sunday	*Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	**SUNDAY

2	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	**SUNDAY	Monday

*3	Tuesday	*Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	**SUNDAY	Monday	Tuesday

4	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	**SUNDAY	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday

*5	Thursday	*Friday	Saturday	**SUNDAY	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday

6	Friday	Saturday	**SUNDAY	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday

7	Saturday	**SUNDAY	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday

# The Lord’s Supper is observed the evening before, at dark, at the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th of Abib.
* Within the rabbinical postponement Hillel calendar system, the holyday of the 15th of Abib is not allowed to occur on a Monday, a Wednesday, or a Friday.
** Sunday-Wave Sheaf Offering and the Omer count (50 days) to Pentecost begins.

Preparation for Passover:

1st of Nisan/Abib. It is the beginning of the New Year in the Temple Calendar (Ex. 12:3 and Esther 3:7 quoted above). It is the solemn feast day mentioned in Ps. 81:3-4:

3) Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.

4) For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob (KJV).

Sanctification of the Temple of God. Prior to the Passover, we are told to keep the first day of Nisan as a day of solemn assembly (see the paper The Moon and the New Year (No. 213)). The restoration of the worship of the Living God commences with the House of God and from the priesthood. Preparation starts from 1 Nisan. At the beginning of God's festive season Israel was commanded to sanctify the Temple prior to the Passover. There was a process of sanctification leading up to the Passover. In some cases, the Passover was actually delayed because this sanctification was not done correctly. The significance of the process has serious implications for Christianity (see the paper Sanctification of the Temple of God (No. 241)).

The 7th day of Nisan/Abib. On 7 Abib we fast for the simple and erroneous. This process is for those who have not yet come to understand the glory and Mysteries of the Kingdom of God. It is part of the sanctification process of the Temple system commanded by God. The major aspect of the Passover is that there must be reconciliation of the House of God such that all are reconciled to their brothers before they go to the altars of the Passover. So also does the Church activate the Sanctification of the Nations (No. 077) in this process.

All these days are mandatory and the Feast is the commanded Solemn Assembly for which they prepare. The answer is that we do this because it was part of the sanctification process of the Temple system commanded by God, and that which Christ undertook to do when he prepared for the Passover. He undertook this cleansing and sanctification of the Temple (No. 241B). This was symbolised, physically, by the fact that he drove the moneychangers from the Temple. This process led up to the setting aside of the lamb on the Tenth day of Abib ready for its slaughter on the Fourteenth day of Abib at 3PM (when Christ was killed) and its consuming as the Passover Meal in the Night of Watchings on the Fifteenth day of Abib. (See also the paper Commentary on Joel (No. 021B).)

The last day of the primary phase of the Sanctification of the Temple – which Temple we are – is the Seventh of Abib. Once that has happened the sanctification continues on until the end of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (see the paper Sanctification of the Simple and Erroneous (No. 291)).

The 14th of Nisan/Abib. We know by heart the activities and the service of the Last Supper the Lord gave as the Lord’s Supper. We know that this is one of the only two sacraments of the Church (see the paper The Sacraments of the Church (No. 150)). The other sacrament is baptism (see the paper Repentance and Baptism (No. 052)). The Lord's Supper is held in the evening at the end of the 13th of Nisan/Abib after dark and the beginning of the 14th of Nisan/Abib. The blood of the New Covenant and the entry to the Holy of Holies of the High Priest who was Messiah is the forerunner to us all becoming sons of God. This service is for those who are baptized into the body of Christ. (See the papers The Lord’s Supper (No. 103), Significance of the Footwashing (No. 099), and Significance of the Bread and Wine (No. 100).)

In the 9th hour at approximately 3pm in the afternoon of the 14th when the Messiah was put to death on the stake, a congregational service is held commemorating the death (see the paper The Death of the Lamb (No. 242)).

After the service and before the end of the 14th of Nissan an offering is taken up in accordance with Deut. 16:16-17 (see Tithing (No. 161)). Three times a year God commands us to gather together at the place that God places His name (Spec. the males, some females may have to stay home with the sick on occasions where they cannot travel). The three Feasts are: the Feast of the Passover and Unleavened Bread; the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost; and the Feast of Tabernacles. We are to leave our homes and go to the place He chooses. Deuteronomy 16:16-17:

¹⁶"Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God at the place which he will choose: at the feast of unleavened bread, at the feast of weeks, and at the feast of booths. They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed; ¹⁷every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which he has given you. (RSV) (See Offering No. 275)

The 15th of Nisan/Abib and Days of UnLeavened Bread. The Night To Be Much Observed. The Night To Be Much Observed is a very important event in the biblical calendar. It has been completely forgotten in mainstream Christianity and trivialised in the Churches of God in the twentieth century. Judaism has also introduced error and a false calendar system to destroy the intent and fact of its being kept in accordance with the Law of God on the correct day. Only a few Churches of God observe it according to the calendar of the Second Temple Period and as it was observed at the time of Christ and the earlier Churches of God through to the Reformation in Europe.

It is also called the Night of Watchings and this name has specific intent.

The entire Passover sequence is examined in the paper The Passover (No. 098). The traditional period referred to as the Passover in the early Christian Church is the period covering from the night of the Lord’s Supper when Christ was taken captive after the meal he had with the disciples on the night of the preparation day before he was arrested and tried before the Jewish Sanhedrin and before Pilate and then crucified. He was crucified and died on the afternoon of the Fourteenth of Nisan in accordance with the Passover slaughter. He died at 3 p.m. on the afternoon at the time the lambs were killed for the Passover meal that evening which commenced the Night To Be Much Remembered on the Fifteenth of the First month. Josephus records that there were a couple of hundred thousand of lambs killed in the afternoon of the Fourteenth from 3 p.m. onwards. The first one killed was presented to the High Priest. The Passover in the early church was a generic term which covered from 14 Nisan to the Wave-sheaf Sunday no matter what the number of days were. The remaining days were classified simply as Unleavened Bread, which commenced with the Passover of 15 Abib and went on to 21 Abib for seven days (see the papers The Night to be Much Observed (No. 101) and Seven Days of the Feasts (No. 049).

The Wave Sheaf Offering. The Wave-Sheaf Offering needs to be kept in order to understand the full implications of Christ’s sacrifice and the power that he was given in terms of his resurrection from the dead (see the paper Timing of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection (No. 159)). The congregation assembles at 9:00am on Sunday within the Feast of Passover (see the Passover chart above) to commemorate the Messiah's ascension to heaven (Jn. 20:17), as the wave sheaf offering. The Wave-Sheaf Offering is an ancient requirement of Israel within the Torah. The ordinance is found in Leviticus 23:9-14, and also in Exodus 29:24-25 and other texts. It is poorly understood by scholars and ignored by many (e.g. it is absent as a category in Schürer’s index in The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ). It is often thought of as being “done away,” as a part of the sacrificial aspects of the law. So why is it to be kept now? It is a day that commences the count to Pentecost. Whilst we don’t physically wave the sheaf of grain, we celebrate the acceptance of Christ before the Throne of God. In the same way we no longer sacrifice the animals at the Temple but we celebrate the actual days on which they were made. The days themselves represent aspects of the Plan of God fulfilled in Christ and the elect. The Wave Sheaf in like manner represents part of the Plan and part of the Story (see paper The Wave Sheaf Offering (No. 106B)).

The Omer Count to Pentecost. The seven weeks of the Omer are counted from the Sunday within the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Pentecost is then celebrated on the First Day of the week, namely Sunday, of the eighth week.

This period is the basis of the celebration of the Church, and at the end forms the celebration of the giving of the Law at Pentecost. The fast of Moses was for forty days and forty nights. However, the end of the first period of his obligations was during the Omer count, and he was not on the mountain for the period up until the New Moon of Sivan on the Third month. The end of this period of his obligations, which was by mixed fasting, was with the first provision of the Law at Sinai and before Moses’ fourth ascent, and his later return with the tablets of God. The first forty-day period began from the New Moon of Iyar or Zif or Sha’aban – the Second month – and proceeded to the day of Pentecost.

This is the basis of the fast of Ramadhan in Islam. The fast derives its name from the fact of Moses’ devotions and the emulation of the behaviour of Christ prior to his ascent. It is not a full fast in Islam as eating is undertaken each evening after dark and before dawn. The Church of God has persons who fast for full days and nights over this period and who do not fast at all on other days. Both practices are and have always been acceptable. However the Fast of 7Abib is a full 24 hour fast. The period of prayer and dedication is over the Omer count from the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It is numbered from the Wave Sheaf but not begun until the period after 21 Abib or Nisan in the Churches of God, or in Judah in the Temple Period, or Rajab in Ishmael and Keturah. Moses began the Omer count from Unleavened Bread in Abib. The period is fifty days from the Wave Sheaf to Pentecost. Hence, the first period was not forty days. If we are to take the period as ending at Pentecost with the Law then this must be counted from the New Moon of Iyar, the first day of the Second month. Moses was not on the Mountain of God. He had to take Israel and the mixed multitude – which was to extend under Christ to include the elect of the Gentiles – out of Egypt and through the wilderness to the Mountain of God and the Law. On the last day the nation moved only a very short distance, arriving at the place of the Law on 1 Sivan, being already in almost the location at the foot of the mountain. See papers The Ascents of Moses (No. 070) and The Omer Count to Pentecost (No. 173)

Pentecost. The New Moon of the Third month of the Sacred Year usually falls in the seventh week of the Omer count to Pentecost. In most years, the following Sabbath and the first day of the week that follows it make up the two-day Feast of Weeks or Pentecost. It is a two-day pilgrimage Feast and we are to be out of our city gates (Deut. 16:5-8 and 16-17). As we should know, Pentecost means to “count fifty”. In this period we build up to the receipt of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. There are a number of things that we seek to perfect in this Omer count. The love and unity of the brethren is of great importance and also follows on from our love of God.

We should have kept the Passover, having sanctified ourselves from the New Year on the 1^st of Abib. We should have fasted on the 7^th of Abib. God wants obedience more than sacrifice. When He says to sanctify the congregation with a fast and to keep the 7^th of Abib for the simple and erroneous, He means just that.

The entire period of twenty-one days in the First month of Abib is a period of sanctification. We have to keep it to understand this fact. We have to remove the leaven of malice and wickedness and keep the Feast in sincerity and truth (see the paper The Old and the New Leaven (No. 106a)). In this way the count to Pentecost is commenced on a sound basis. The procedure is then commenced to the Feast, where we are given the leaven of the Kingdom of Heaven. Christ said that the Kingdom of Heaven is like leaven that was given to the woman, who placed it within the three measures of meal until the whole was leavened (Mat. 13:33). Bullinger’s explanation of this text in The Companion Bible is the exact opposite of the words of Christ.

The offerings at Pentecost pointed towards the Church – the Temple of God. The leaven in the loaves of Pentecost pointed towards the dual nature of the Scriptures, and of man in his walk with God through the Holy Spirit. It also alludes to the duality of the heavenly and earthly Host in the City of God (see the paper The City of God (No. 180)). The three measures of meal represent the threefold aspect of the Kingdom of God. Christ was present as King, Priest and Prophet (see the paper Jesus the Christ, King, Priest and Prophet (No. 280)). So too are we called out and chosen to become a nation of kings and priests, and the work of prophecy is among us as the third element of the Church and its people. See the papers The Leaven at Pentecost (No. 065) and Pentecost at Sinai (No. 115).

No man has the authority to postpone a holy day, not even the Pharisees or rabbis, whose authority was taken from them, symbolised when the high priest tore his garments at the questioning of Christ at his trial (Mark 14:63; cf. Lk. 10:1,17). Also when the 70 were ordained and sent out and they found that even the demons were subject to them and that the sons of the High Priest, Sceva, as we later find out, had their authority taken from them, symbolised by the demons turning on them. The Hillel calendar never was God’s Sacred Calendar. Using it to determine when to keep God’s Holy Days is a serious sin and tremendous error with enormous spiritual consequences. If we do not keep the Day of Atonement on the correct day we are cut off from our people. In other words we are taken out of the Church of God. We cannot maintain the First Resurrection keeping the Hillel Calendar and we must understand that.

Follow in the footsteps of the Messiah (1Pet. 2:21) and not man’s footsteps.

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