• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Stand In Faith

  • Home
  • The Kingdom of God
  • Spiritual Warfare
  • 144000
  • About
Home » new covenant

new covenant

Christian Passover

Leave a Comment

What is Christian Passover? Even after being a dedicated Christian for over 45 years, I didn’t understand Passover; and, like most Christians, I believed that Easter replaced Passover. But in the last few years I’ve discovered Passover’s spiritual importance and how Christians should celebrate it.

Most Christians know God fulfilled Passover about 2000 years ago when the Lamb of God voluntarily sacrificed Himself for our sins. That’s true, but the ongoing, Christian meaning of Passover is that disciples are to follow the Savior’s example, themselves becoming lambs of God, “living sacrifices.” How?

In this article you’ll learn:

  1. Past: How Jesus physically fulfilled Passover. This includes how He fulfilled the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits, both of which directly result from His sacrifice as our Passover Lamb.
  2. Present: How God calls His disciples to celebrate Christian Passover in their own lives, with purity, obedience, and sacrifice.
  3. Future: Since God fulfilled the Spring feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits) exactly as prophesied, what can we expect concerning the Autumn feasts in our future?

“Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”

1 Corinthians 5:7

1.     Past: How Jesus Fulfilled Passover

Terminology: Jewish Passover vs Christian Passover

Jewish Passover

Since the exodus from Egypt, God commanded Israel to annually celebrate Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Christian Passover

Starting at the Last Supper on the evening before His crucifixion, Jesus fulfilled the symbolism of the Jewish Passover and instituted a New Covenant version–Christian Passover.

Christian Passover doesn’t replace the Jewish Passover. Rather, it builds on the original Passover’s foundation and adds expanded meanings onto it.

When to Celebrate Christian Passover?

According to Leviticus 23:5-8, we determine the Christian Passover season dates according to the monthly cycle of the moon. The Christian Passover preparation begins on Nisan 14, and the festival runs from Nisan 15-21, with Sabbath days on Nisan 15 and 21.

The Hebrew Calendar

Nisan? For centuries many doctrinal misunderstandings and errors occurred because our Gregorian calendar is different from the Hebrew calendar, so (trust me) it’s important for you to briefly understand the Hebrew calendar before proceeding.

From Sunset to Sunset

Ever since the first day of creation in Genesis chapter one, days in the Bible go from sunset to sunset—not from midnight to midnight as we’re accustomed.

(example above from Hebrew4Christians.com)

God’s Appointed Times

Explanatory Note About God’s Names

First (because it’s a stumbling block to some people) this section is a quick side-note to explain why I use the names YHWH and Jesus in this article.

YHWH

In Exodus 3:14 we learn that “YHWH” is Almighty God’s personal name. There are many opinions about how to pronounce YHWH, with Yahweh or Yehovah being the most popular.

In this article, rather than referring to Him using the generic word ‘God,’ which allows people to imagine whatever their concept of God is, I’ll often use the specific name of YHWH. YHWH is the God who covenanted with Israel. He is the Father of Yeshua the Messiah.

Yeshua

There are almost as many opinions about how to correctly say our Savior’s name. He is called Yeshua, Yahushua, Issa, Iesue, and Jesus. In this article I’ll refer to the Lord by the name Jesus, not because it’s more correct, but because this article’s target audience are Christians who know Him by this name.

The Seven Moedim (Appointed Times)

In the Bible (Leviticus 23) YHWH ordained seven ‘moedim’ for His people. YHWH’s appointed times, or ‘Moedim’ (pronounced mo-a-deem) are sacred assemblies for His people (Leviticus 23:2).

The 4 Spring moedim teach us about God’s plan for redeeming mankind from sin and death through the Messiah. Christian Passover is a spring moedim; we celebrate it to remember (and personally identify with) Jesus’ sacrifice as the Lamb of God. The other 3 Spring moedim are:

  • Unleavened Bread
  • Firstfruits
  • Pentecost

The 3 Autumn moedim promise how YHWH will resurrect His saints and establish the Messiah’s kingdom on the earth.

Here are the 4 Spring and 3 Autumn moedim:

The 7 Moedim from holyimpactministries.com

God fulfilled the Spring moedim in the past; He will fulfill the Fall (Autumn) moedim in our future.

Lunar Month of Nisan

Passover is in the lunar month of Nisan, which is the first month in the Hebrew calendar. Nisan always coincides with March/April.

The first day of each Hebrew month starts at sunset when Israel sights the first sliver of the new moon. Then, two weeks later, the full moon is on the 15th of each month. Here’s a depiction of one lunar cycle; one Biblical month.

Moon Phases image from goodnet.org

Passover on Nisan 14

From the following verses we learn Passover occurs ‘between the sunsets’ on Nisan 14. The Feast of Unleavened Bread follows immediately afterward, for the next 7 days, from Nisan 15-21:

These are the LORD’s appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you shall proclaim at their appointed times. The Passover to the LORD begins between the sunsets on the fourteenth day of the first month. On the fifteenth day of the same month begins the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread.

Leviticus 23:4-6

Every year, the Jewish Passover Day (Nisan 14) is when the lambs are killed. But, it is not itself a Sabbath Day.

Rather, Nisan 14 is a preparation day, to prepare the lamb (and vegetables, etc.) for the Passover ‘Feast of Unleavened Bread.’ This feast begins after sunset, as the ‘high Sabbath’ begins on Nisan 15.

The Passover feast is the ‘Feast of Unleavened Bread,’ and Nisan 15 is a ‘high Sabbath’ day.

Events on Christian Passover Day – Nisan 14, from Sunset to Sunset

This is a brief, chronological summary of events that happened on Nisan 14, Christian Passover Day, in the year Jesus died on the cross:

  1. Jesus and His disciples met for the Last Supper at the beginning of Nisan 14, just after sunset. This was a Tuesday evening.
  2. After dinner, Jesus and His disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. Judas led a a mob there to arrest Jesus.
  3. Pontius Pilate convicted and condemned Jesus to be crucified early on Wednesday morning.
  4. By 9am Jesus was crucified. At about 3pm (still on Nisan 14) He died on the cross.
  5. His disciples hastily laid His body in a nearby tomb before Nisan 14 ended at sunset. This was before the Feast of Unleavened Bread began at sunset, the beginning of Nisan 15. (John 19:31, 42)

The Last Supper

Jesus and the 12 disciples met in an upper room for (what Jesus knew was) His last meal.  During this meal He emphasized to them (and demonstrated) the Christian Passover concepts of purity, obedience, and sacrifice.

Purity: Mikveh and Foot-Washing

Before entering the sacred temple area for Passover, Jews ritually purified themselves by immersion in a mikveh, a ritual bath. Archaeologists discovered hundreds of mikvehs around Jerusalem for this purpose.

Jerusalem Mikveh Exhibit

Whoever has already bathed needs only to wash his feet, and he will be completely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.

John 13:10

From this verse (John 13:10) we know Jesus and His disciples bathed to cleanse their bodies before walking to the upper room for the Last Supper.

Ancient Stepped Mikveh in Jerusalem
Another Ancient Stepped Mikveh in Jerusalem

Obedience:

Jesus didn’t want to die on the cross. Even so, knowing He was going to be crucified as the Lamb of God within just a few hours, Jesus said,

I do exactly what the Father has commanded Me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.

John 14:31

Sacrifice: Bread and Wine

At the Last Supper, Jesus used leavened bread (artos, Strong’s #740) and wine to symbolize His body and blood.

The Melchizedek Priesthood

The symbol of bread and wine wasn’t new in Hebrew history. In the book of Genesis, Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He ‘brought out bread and wine’ when he blessed Abraham in Genesis 14:19.

According to Hebrews 5:10, 6:20, and 7:1-28, Jesus is our High Priest ‘according to the Order of Melchizedek.’

So, what did it mean when Jesus ‘brought out bread and wine,’ and how does it relate to Christian Passover? Months before, in Galilee, Jesus told His followers:

I AM the Living Bread of Life

Truly, truly, I tell you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is My flesh.”

“Unless you eat My flesh and drink My blood you have no life in you…”

Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is real food, and My blood is real drink.

Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your fathers, who ate the manna and died, the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this teaching, Jesus asked them, “Does this offend you? Then what will happen if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before? The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. However, there are some of you who do not believe.

John 6:53-63
Jesus is the Living Bread

So, what did it mean when Jesus ‘brought out bread and wine,’ and how does it relate to Christian Passover? The bread and wine in the Last Supper were elements of an ancient blood covenant ritual. It is a ‘New Covenant in His blood.’

The New Covenant

Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant they broke, though I was a husband to them, declares the LORD.

But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.

No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD.

For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.

Jeremiah 31:31-34
Who Are the Parties Making the New Covenant?

Who did YHWH covenant with in the New Covenant? Contrary to popular opinion, the Church didn’t replace Israel as God’s chosen people when Jesus instituted the New Covenant.

According to Jeremiah 31:31 above, the New Covenant is between YHWH and the houses of Israel and Judah.

Spiritual Israel

New Covenant disciples are citizens of spiritual Israel.

Jesus is God’s High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek. He mediated the New Covenant between YHWH and the houses of Israel (10 tribes) and Judah (2 tribes). The apostle Paul revealed that Gentile believers are reconciled to God because they’re grafted-in to the ‘lost 10 tribes’ of Israel.

At the Last Supper Jesus revealed that His body and blood would be sacrificed to renew the covenant that God made with Israel at Mount Sinai—the covenant Israel had broken.

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, spoke a blessing and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is My body.”

Then He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (Matthew 26:26-28)

This is the Christian Passover ceremony.

The New Covenant Is A Blood Covenant

Bread and wine are ‘blood covenant‘ symbols. In ancient times, whenever two men made a formal covenant, they sacrificed an animal. They spilled its blood (its life) and then roasted and ate its body in a covenant meal. Eating this meal constitutes an unspoken agreement that whoever breaks the covenant will be cursed to die, just as the sacrificed animal died.

In like manner, when we eat the Christian Passover bread and drink the Christian Passover wine (in the Feast of Unleavened Bread) we’re symbolically eating the body and drinking the blood of the Christian Passover sacrifice, the Lamb of God.

When you eat the bread and drink the wine in the Christian Passover ceremony you are literally entering into a covenant with YHWH.

That’s why the apostle Paul warned:

Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Each one must examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.

1 Corinthians 11:27-30
Our Responsibility In the New Covenant:
  • Believe in the Messiah as our Christian Passover sacrifice
  • Have God’s law written in our mind and on our heart (and walk accordingly)
  • Know YHWH.  
YHWH’s Responsibility In the New Covenant:
  • Reconcile believers to Himself—both Jew and Gentile. Reconciliation is available to anyone who believes. Belief in YHWH’s Christian Passover sacrifice is the only method of reconciliation with YHWH. (John 14:6)
  • Replace believers’ heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Make it possible for them to live according to God’s instructions.
  • YHWH now inhabits a spiritual house made from ‘living stones,’ making all stone temples obsolete.

As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight, you also, like living stones, are built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:5

Arrest, Trial, Crucifixion, Burial

The themes of purity, obedience and sacrifice continue:

Purity

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.

1 Peter 1:19

Obedience

“Not My will, but Thine be done.”

Luke 22:42

In His anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.

Luke 22:44

He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.

Philippians 2:8

Regardless of the cost and pain, Jesus completely obeyed the Father and submitted Himself to the Father’s will.

Sacrifice

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth.

Isaiah 53:7

Feast of Unleavened Bread, from Nisan 15-21

The Feast of Unleavened Bread is the actual Passover meal, when we eat the roasted, sacrificial lamb.

Historical Christian Passover Week Details

Note: the year 30AD is not certain, but the Nisan 14-18 details are correct.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread occurs every year after sunset, at the beginning of Nisan 15. This is about 4 hours after the lamb’s blood (its life) is taken.

Jesus died on the cross on Wednesday at about 3pm. This was exactly the same time as the Levitical priests in the temple were killing the Passover lambs to cover the nation’s sins. Just after sunset on that Wednesday, all families in Israel would be eating roasted lamb in Passover Seder meals. A ‘Seder’ (pronounced say-der) is the ritual feast commemorating the exodus from Egypt under Moses.

A bright, white full moon at the beginning of this feast on Nisan 15 represents the Messiah’s resurrected glory.

Why Unleavened?

Whereas Jesus and His disciples ate leavened bread at the Last Supper, this is the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Why unleavened? There are two reasons:

  1. In the exodus from Egypt they didn’t have time to leaven their bread. So this is a remembrance of their leaving in haste.
  2. Leaven represents sin. While Jesus was in His mortal body, it was corruptible, like ours. In fact, in this sinful world Jesus suffered temptation in every way we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15) But after His body died, it was no longer possible to tempt Him to sin. He is forever incorruptible. His body has (symbolically) changed from leavened to unleavened.

In the New Covenant YHWH gives us a heart of flesh and writes His law in our mind and on our heart. So, unleavened bread also represents our changed nature, from sinner to saint. We can now walk in sincerity and truth…

Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with the old bread, leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and of truth.

1 Corinthians 5:7

Why is the Feast of Unleavened Bread 7 Days?

The Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Tabernacles have many similarities:

  • Both feasts last 7 days (Tabernacles lasts 7 days, but adds an 8th day)
  • Both begin and end with “a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work”

Ever since the 7 days of creation in Genesis, the number 7 represents the fullness, completeness, and perfection of YHWH’s creation. For example, every 7th day speaks of complete rest; there are 7 colors in God’s rainbow, and 7 notes in the musical scale.

Why these feasts last 7 days is a mystery, but here’s my belief; the 7-day duration of these two holy feasts tells me that they have eternal significance.

  • Throughout all eternity we’re grateful to YHWH because He provided us the bread and wine of the New Covenant in the Feast of Unleavened Bread. We owe everything to YHWH’s love and grace, and to our Passover Lamb, Jesus.
  • For all eternity we’re the ‘tabernacle’ of YHWH; that is, He will dwell in us and we will be His temple, built of living stones.

Should Christians Celebrate Moedim?

In a word, yes. For Christians who don’t believe the moedim apply to them, Zechariah 14:16 tells us all nations will celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles annually in the millennial age to come–after the Battle of Armageddon.

Then all the survivors from the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.

Zechariah 14:16

Think about it objectively…

  • God required Israel to celebrate His moedim in the past, and He will require require all nations to celebrate Tabernacles in the future Millennium.
  • It’s therefore highly unlikely that God thinks it’s okay for His people today to disregard His moedim, and to replace them with non-Biblical ‘Christian’ holidays.

Firstfruits, Nisan 18

Firstfruits celebrates the first portion of the harvest of mankind in the kingdom of God.

The Sign of Jonah

The Jewish leaders asked Jesus for a sign to confirm God sent Him. In response, Jesus told them,

A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.”

Matthew 12:39, 16:4, Luke 11:29

Now the LORD had appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish.

Jonah 1:17

The sign of Jonah is that Jesus would be in the grave three days and three nights.

His disciples placed Jesus’ body in the tomb on Wednesday afternoon, Nisan 14, before sunset. Three days and 3 nights later, Jesus arose from the dead on Saturday afternoon, Nisan 17, before sunset.

Timing

While fulfilling the sign of Jonah, Jesus also fulfilled the timing requirements for the Firstfruits moedim.

And the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘When you enter the land I am giving you and reap its harvest, you are to bring to the priest the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest. And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD so that it may be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath.”

Leviticus 23:9-11

After the Nisan 17 sunset, ending the Sabbath, Jesus ascended into heaven and waved the sheaf of firstfruits before YHWH on Nisan 18.

Firstfruits Offering in Heaven

As the spotless Lamb of God Jesus fulfilled Passover and Unleavened Bread. When YHWH resurrected Jesus’ body, transforming it into an incorruptible, heavenly body, Jesus ‘entered the land’ in the spiritual realm. As the resurrected High Priest according to the Order of Melchizedek, Jesus brought many resurrected saints with Him as the Firstfruits offering in the heavenly sanctuary…

At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split. The tombs broke open, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After Jesus’ resurrection, when they had come out of the tombs, they entered the holy city and appeared to many people

Matthew 27:51-53

Some believe these resurrected saints are the 24 elders John saw in Revelation 4:4.

2. Present: Christian Passover

How should Christians apply the spiritual truths of Passover?

Christian Passover – Purity

Just as Jesus and His disciples ritually purified themselves before Passover, we must purify ourselves before we can…

offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

Romans 12:1

How to Purify Yourself

The Passover sacrifice of Jesus makes it possible for us to overcome all shame and an evil conscience. This enables us to ‘have confidence’ to enter YHWH’s presence without guilt or shame…

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way opened for us through the curtain of His body. And since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Hebrews 10:19-22
The Tabernacle

God told Moses to build the tabernacle “according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” (Exodus 25:40) God showed Moses the divine pattern that everyone must follow to enter YHWH’s presence.

Enter through the Door at the bottom. Proceed up to the Holy of Holies.
The Temple

Later, Israel’s temples followed this same pattern…

Christian Passover – Spiritual Application
  1. First, enter through the Door. Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. (John 10:7)
  2. Sacrifice on the brazen altar. Jesus was offered once for all time as a permanent sacrifice for sins. (Hebrews 10:12)
  3. Sanctification (mikveh) in the brazen laver (large tub) of water. We have been sanctified through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time. (Hebrews 10:10)
  4. After sacrifice and sanctification you can enter the Holy Place to praise YHWH, receive revelation (the Word), and enjoy the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

In the same way, before we can enter YHWH’s presence we must partake of the Passover sacrifice by faith. Then, we can mikveh (cleanse) our mind and conscience through introspection, repentance, and prayer.

Other New Testament scriptures concerning our purification: Ephesians 5:27, Colossians 1:22, Hebrews 9:14

The ‘bottom line’ is that nothing impure or unholy may enter YHWH’s presence.

Christian Passover – Obedience

Jesus frequently said, “If you love Me keep My commandments.” He also warned,

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven. But only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 7:21

Similar verses include: 1 John 2:17, John 9:31, Mark 3:35, Matthew 7:24, 12:50, and Revelation 2:26.

Cheap Grace vs Costly Grace

Dietrich Bonhoeffer became a martyr for Christ after he opposed Hitler during WWII. He wrote “The Cost of Discipleship,” contrasting cheap grace with costly grace.

Cheap Grace

Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner. Grace alone does everything they say, and so everything can remain as it was before…Well, then, let the Christian live like the rest of the world, let him model himself on the world’s standards in every sphere of life, and not presumptuously aspire to live a different life under grace from his old life under sin…. “Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. It is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession…Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

“The Cost of Discipleship” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Sadly, most of today’s visible Church wants ‘cheap grace.’ Its leaders merchandise the gospel for their own benefit, while ‘tickling the ears’ of large crowds on the broad way that leads to destruction. (Matthew 7:13-14)

Costly Grace

Costly grace is… costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: “ye were bought at a price,” and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life but delivered him up for us.

“The Cost of Discipleship” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

God’s grace was costly. We respect the price He paid by becoming morally pure according to His Spirit in us…

This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.

Jeremiah 31:33

Don’t Tolerate Sin In Your Life!

If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Hebrews 10:26-31

Obedience to God isn’t always easy or pleasant…God’s will led Jesus to die on the cross. In like manner, God’s will may lead us to sacrifice our money, our property, and our lives. But following God’s will is the only path to success and glory in God’s eternal kingdom.

Christian Passover – Sacrifice

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Romans 12:1-2

How to Become a Living Sacrifice

  1. Purity: partake of the bread and wine of the Passover sacrifice by faith. Then mikveh (wash, cleanse) your mind and conscience through introspection, prayer, and faith in the Messiah’s sacrifice for your sins. Do this until you can stand before God without any shame or guilt.
  2. Obedience: having purified your conscience, don’t be defiled by allowing leaven (sin) in your life. Be holy, as YHWH is holy (1 Peter 1:16). Be sure to mix holiness with genuine humility; remember, pride is a sin.
  3. Sacrifice: having cleansed your conscience by faith in the Christian Passover Lamb, put away all leaven in your life. Then you can offer yourself as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. God will mightily use you to advance His kingdom on the earth.

Job Openings in God’s Kingdom

All of these saints will be ‘living sacrifices’ unto YHWH during the years ahead:

3. Future: The Autumn Feasts in Our Future

At the exact moment the Levitical priests were killing the Passover lamb in the temple, our Christian Passover Lamb was dying on the cross. He arose from the grave after fulfilling the sign of Jonah, just in time to wave the sheaf of Firstfruits in heaven on the Sabbath following Passover.

God fulfilled the Spring feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits) exactly as prophesied. Since YHWH fulfilled the Spring feasts so exactly, what can we expect concerning the Autumn feasts which haven’t been fulfilled yet?

Obviously, (just like the Spring feasts) we can expect the Autumn feasts to be fulfilled on the exact dates when the Jews are celebrating them. The Autumn feasts all take place in the Hebrew month of Tishri, the 7th month, which occurs in September/October on the Gregorian calendar.

Trumpets, Tishri 1, Leviticus 23:24-25

Many reputable teachers believe this will be the day when “the Last Trump” will sound and all dead and living saints will be resurrected or ‘snatched-up’ to heaven and changed in the twinkling of an eye. (1 Corinthians 15)

Day of Atonement, Tishri 10, Leviticus 23:26-32

Whereas Passover deals with personal redemption, the Day of Atonement is the national-level ‘covering’ of sin, with offerings for the priesthood, the nation, and the sanctuary.

I believe the Battle of Armageddon, when Messiah returns with the armies of heaven to defeat the armies of the Antichrist, will occur on a Day of Atonement.

Following the resurrection of Jesus’ disciples on Tishri 1, I believe this is the day when ‘all Israel’ will be saved, in fulfillment of Zechariah 12:10.

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come from Zion. He will remove godlessness from Jacob. And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.

Romans 11:25-27

The Year of Jubilee, when all debts are cancelled and properties are restored, will begin on a Day of Atonement. (Leviticus 25:8-12)

Tabernacles, Tishri 15-22, Leviticus 23:33-43

  • Saints commanded to dwell in booths (tents or temporary shelters) for 7 days to remember how Israel dwelt in booths when they came out of Egypt
  • Joining ‘the camp of the brethren’ for a week every year is practical training for the ‘Greater Exodus,’ when believers will flee from the Antichrist (Revelation 12:13-17, Jeremiah 23:7-8)
  • Also known as the Feast of Ingathering (of the final harvest) in Exodus 23:16
  • Many reputable teachers believe the Wedding Supper of the Lamb occurs during this feast
  • God will require all nations to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem every year during the millennial reign of Messiah (Zechariah 14:16-19)
  • The 8th day symbolizes the saints dwelling in YHWH’s presence for eternity

Christian Passover – Conclusion

Most Christians know Passover was fulfilled about 2000 years ago when the Lamb of God voluntarily sacrificed Himself for our sins. That’s true, but the ongoing, New Covenant meaning of Christian Passover is that disciples should not only partake of the bread and wine, but they should themselves follow the Savior’s example, becoming lambs of God, “living sacrifices.”

They can do this by:

  1. Purity: partake of the bread and wine of the Christian Passover sacrifice by faith, and then mikveh (wash, cleanse) your mind and conscience through introspection and prayer. Do this until you can stand before God without any shame or guilt.
  2. Obedience: don’t let any leaven (sin) defile you. Be holy, as YHWH is holy (1 Peter 1:16). Be sure to mix holiness with genuine humility; remember, pride is a sin.
  3. Sacrifice: having cleansed your conscience by faith in the Christian Passover Lamb, and having put away all leaven in your life, offer yourself as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. God will mightily use you to advance His kingdom on the earth.

What Do You Think?

Did this article answer all your questions on this topic? Please leave a comment below and tell me:

  • Did this article satisfy you?
  • Or, did it leave you wanting more?

Related Questions and Answers

Q: Should Christians celebrate Old Testament festivals?

A: Yes. The New Covenant is between YHWH and Israel–sealed by the blood of Jesus. Jesus fulfilled the Spring festivals exactly according to their dates and prophetic patterns and He will likewise fulfill the autumn festivals in our future. God gave the annual festivals in Leviticus 23 to His people so that we’d understand God’s plan of redemption, and He commanded His people to keep these festivals. Christians are grafted into Israel (Romans 11:17-24), so let’s keep the Biblical festivals, not blindly and mechanically according to their letter, but intelligently, according to God’s spiritual intent, as I’ve illustrated in this article about how to spiritually observe Passover and the Spring feasts.

Q: This article doesn’t jive with the church’s Good Friday and Easter holidays. Why not?

A: Good Friday, Easter, Ash Wednesday, Lent, and all other ‘church’ holidays are both absent from and contrary to scripture. For any objective person, it’s easy to trace their evolution from Babylonian roots. Though many of these holidays seem harmless, and even reverent, they illegitimately substitute themselves for the truths that YHWH’s moedim provide. Thus, they deprive you of the moedims’ revelation and truth, and they deprive YHWH of the form of worship He commanded us to present to Him.

YHWH designed His moedim to teach you His plan of redemption, including how and when events will unfold in our future. Just as Jesus fulfilled the Spring feasts, so will He fulfill the Autumn feasts.

Therefore, instead of following the world in celebrating pagan holidays, Christians should follow YHWH’s appointed times (holidays) found in Leviticus chapter 23.

Filed Under: Moedim Tagged With: Armageddon, Autumn Feasts, Babylon, Day of Atonement, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, God's appointed times, greater exodus, Jubilee, living bread, living stones, millennial reign of christ, new covenant, satan, Spiritual Israel, Temple, Trumpets

A Christian View of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread

Leave a Comment

For Christians, what is the significance of Passover Week, which is the Feast of Unleavened Bread? I’ve studied God’s ‘appointed times’ for many years but recently I discovered some new information that greatly expanded my understanding and appreciation of this mandatory event in God’s annual calendar.

Table set for the Feast of Unleavened Bread

So, for Christians, what is the significance of Passover Week? During the Feast of Unleavened Bread Christians should:

  • ‘Eat’ the Passover Lamb
  • Identify and remove all leaven from our household: i.e., man-made traditions and teachings
  • Prepare for the ‘Greater Exodus’ that’s coming in our future

In chapter 23 of the Biblical book of Leviticus, God commanded His people to celebrate seven ‘appointed times’ every year. These events are prophetic types that reveal God’s plan for mankind’s redemption and the re-establishment of His kingdom over all the earth. The 7 ‘appointed times’ are:

  1. Passover (or Pesach)
  2. Unleavened Bread
  3. Firstfruits
  4. Pentecost
  5. Trumpets
  6. Atonement
  7. Tabernacles

Click the Passover link above to read my detailed article about Passover itself.

But in this article I’ll focus on the Week following Passover, and how the Feast of Unleavened Bread applies to Christians today.

Eat the Passover Lamb

For an excellent introduction to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, including the correct timeline for Jesus’ final week on earth, I recommend this video:

The Old Testament Passover Experience and Its Symbolism

Here is the Old Testament passage where God ordained the Passover Feast of Unleavened Bread, from Exodus 12:1-17:

“Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month is the beginning of months for you; it shall be the first month of your year.

Select a Passover Lamb

Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month, each man must select a lamb for his family, one per household. If the household is too small for a whole lamb, they are to share with the nearest neighbor, based on the number of people, and apportion the lamb accordingly.

Your lamb must be an unblemished-year-old male, and you may take it from the sheep or the goats. You must care for it until the fourteenth day of the month when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight. They are to take some of the blood and put it on the two sideposts and tops of the doorframes of the houses in which they eat the lambs.

Eat the Roasted Passover Lamb that Night

They are to eat the meat that night, roasted over the fire, along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

Do not eat any of the meat raw or cooked in boiling water, but only roasted over the fire—its head and legs and inner parts. Do not leave any of it until morning; before the morning you must burn up any part that is left over.

Be Ready to Travel

This is how you are to eat it: You must be fully dressed for travel, with your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. You are to eat in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover. On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn male, both man and beast, and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.

The blood on the houses where you are staying will distinguish them; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will fall on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

A Perpetual 7-Day Memorial

And this day will be a memorial for you, and you are to celebrate it as a feast to the LORD, as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day, you are to remove the yeast from your houses. Whoever eats anything leavened from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel.

On the first day, you are to hold a sacred assembly, and another on the seventh day. You must not do any work on those days, except to prepare the meals—that is all you may do.

So you are to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your divisions out of the land of Egypt. You must observe this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.

Passover and the Exodus from Egypt

If you’ve seen The Ten Commandments movie, starring Charlton Heston, you know the first Passover happened as the death angel killed all the firstborn children and animals of the Egyptians. The death angel ‘passed over’ each Israelite family that applied an innocent lamb’s blood to the doorposts of their houses.

That evening, the Israelites roasted and ate the sacrificial lambs, along with bread that didn’t have time to leaven, just before they hurriedly departed Egypt and miraculously crossed the Red Sea.

The Passover Commemoration

In Exodus 12 (above) and Leviticus chapter 23, God told Israel to commemorate their deliverance from Egyptian bondage every year by sacrificing a lamb on the 14th of Nisan (the first month) and eating it’s roasted flesh that evening.

Christian Passover Seder Table

In Jewish tradition this meal is known as the Passover Seder (pronounced say-der). It’s during this “Feast of Unleavened Bread” when the freshly-killed Passover lamb is eaten.

The 15th of Nisan began at sundown, a few hours after the lambs were killed. Unlike our days that begin at midnight, Biblical days start at sundown, as in this verse from Genesis chapter one.

“And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.“

Genesis 1:5

A Perpetual Feast

The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a permanent ordinance, for all time.

This is a day to remember. Each year, from generation to generation, you must celebrate it as a special festival to YHWH. This is a law for all time.

Exodus 12:14

God said for His people to celebrate this feast perpetually–for all time. The Roman church in the second and third centuries, especially under Constantine, had no authority to discard Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, or to replace them with Good Friday and Easter.

But thankfully, Christians today are re-discovering God’s appointed times and their spiritual application under the New Covenant.

Jesus Is Our Christian Passover

As you learned in the video above, Passover isn’t a day.

In the annual Passover commemoration, “The Lord’s Passover” is the actual sacrifice of our lamb for our sins, whether it’s a yearling sheep, or Jesus, the Lamb of God.

At 3 pm on the 14th of Nisan, the Passover lambs were killed in God’s temple. At exactly the same time, Jesus was dying on the cross as the Lamb of God. Thus, Jesus fulfilled the symbolism of the Passover lamb.

Christian Feast of Unleavened Bread Fulfills the Old Testament Symbolism

Get rid of the old yeast, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

1 Corinthians 5:7

Jesus not only perfectly fulfilled the symbolism of the Passover Lamb, delivering us from our bondage to sin and the fear of death, but He was sacrificed at exactly the same time as the Jewish priests were sacrificing the Jewish Passover lambs in the temple.

Then, Jesus was buried in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb just before sundown on Nisan 14. Sundown is the start of Nisan 15, which then begins the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

To Live You Must Eat My Flesh | I am the Living Bread

During His ministry Jesus totally astonished all of His followers when He said,

Truly, truly, I tell you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is My flesh. (John 6:47-51)

At the last supper He said,

“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” (1 Corinthians 11:24)

Jesus is our Passover sacrifice. Just as the Israelites ate their sacrificial lamb during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, so Christians must feed on the Lamb of God–who is now a life-giving Spirit.

“The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam a life-giving spirit.”

1 Corinthians 15:45

Identify and Remove Leaven: Manmade Traditions and Teachings

Many Jews and Christians struggle to understand God’s commandment to purge all the leaven from our houses for one week each year. For an excellent perspective on what leaven is, and what it symbolically represents, watch this video:

In light of the teaching in this video, during the annual Feast of Unleavened Bread God primarily wants us to introspectively examine our hearts to identify and remove any ‘leaven.’ That is, we need to remove every man-made teaching or tradition that contradicts or replaces God’s word.

Christian Feast of Unleavened Bread: Prepare for the ‘Greater Exodus’ in Our Future

Just as the children of Israel fled Egypt in ‘the exodus’ under Moses, the Bible tells us there’s a Greater Exodus in our future.

The ancient exodus from Egypt began during the week after Passover. Then God delivered one people; the people who became the nation of Israel.

But, in a future (Christian) Feast of Unleavened Bread week, God will begin to deliver His people out of all the nations of the earth in the ‘Greater Exodus’. This ‘Greater Exodus’ will totally eclipse and replace the ancient exodus from Egypt in the minds of all God’s people forever.

As Jeremiah prophesied,

Yet behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when men will no longer say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of Egypt.’ Instead they will say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and all the other lands to which He had banished them.’ For I will return them to their land that I gave to their ancestors.

Jeremiah 16:14-15

Timing of the Christian Feast of Unleavened Bread–the Greater Exodus

For reasons I explain in my End Time Events Sequence, the Greater Exodus will happen during the Christian Feast of Unleavened Bread, just after the great tribulation begins.

The ‘abomination of desolation’ will initiate the 3.5-year great tribulation. Since the 7th Trumpet at the end of the tribulation will certainly coincide with the autumn feasts of Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles, this means the abomination of desolation will coincide with the spring feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread, exactly 3.5 years earlier.

Just as God delivered Moses and the Israelites from Egypt on the 15th of Nisan, I expect God will initiate the Greater Exodus in our future on Nisan 15. Just as God told the Israelites the words below, so they will apply to us in the future.

“This is how you are to eat it: You must be fully dressed for travel, with your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. You are to eat in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover.“

To learn more about the Greater Exodus, here are two references:

  1. The Sequence of End-Time Events
  2. The video below from Lion & Lamb Ministries

Conclusion: Christian Feast of Unleavened Bread

The perpetual Feast of Unleavened Bread teaches us that we must always remember:

  • Our Passover Lamb’s sacrifice that gives us forgiveness and life
  • To cleanse our mind and heart from the leaven of every man-made teaching or tradition that contradicts or replaces God’s word
  • The deliverance God provides for our souls, as well as our bodies in the future, Greater Exodus.

Filed Under: Moedim Tagged With: Autumn Feasts, Feast of Unleavened Bread, God's appointed times, greater exodus, Israel, living bread, new covenant, Pentecost, Trumpets

When is the Next Year of Jubilee? | The 70th Jubilee | Leviticus 25:10

11 Comments

70th Year of Jubilee Begins on 9/13/2024?

When is the next Biblical Jubilee year… the 70th Jubilee? This article presents compelling archaeological and prophetic evidence suggesting the 70th Jubilee year will start on the ‘Day of Atonement’ in September 2024.

If this is true, we can work backward in time to determine Daniel’s 70th week started in September 2017, the 120th anniversary of a 50-year cycle since creation.

Also, we can know the 3.5-year ‘Great Tribulation’ will start during Passover in late March 2021.

This day will initiate the anniversary of the 70th Year of Jubilee since Joshua led Israel to enter the promised land in 1406 BC. On this day Jesus will begin the fulfillment of our Year of Jubilee–our release from bondage in this world.

So, did Daniel’s 70th week start in September 2017? Will it lead up to the fulfillment of the 70th Year of Jubilee, starting on September 13, 2024? Continue reading to answer these questions.

What is the Year of Jubilee?

According to Leviticus 25:8, the Biblical Year of Jubilee happens once every 49 years. It starts on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement–the holiest day on God’s calendar. This is when the High Priest enters God’s presence to ‘cover’ the sins of the whole nation.

Jubilee Year in the Torah

In the books of Moses (the Torah) Jubilee occurred every 49 years. During Jubilee all debts were erased and all properties in Israel were restored to their original clans and families.

God told Moses to start the 49-year Jubilee cycle “when you enter the land that I am giving to you.” Also, “the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD..” (Leviticus 25:2)

New Covenant Year of Jubilee

Enter Our Promised Land

Just as Israel celebrated Jubilee after entering their promised land under Joshua, we have a spiritual promised land to enter. What better time to enter our promised land than on the 70th Jubilee anniversary?

In the New Covenant, the Year of Jubilee represents entering our promised land, when God glorifies His overcomers.

This restoration includes: complete deliverance from our sinful nature, glorification, immortality, and our eternal, heavenly inheritance in God’s kingdom.

Return to Your Property and Your Clan

consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be your Jubilee, when each of you is to return to his property and to his clan.

Leviticus 25:10
My Belief about Property and Clan
Return to His Property

What property are we to return to?

I believe our spirits pre-existed in the eon before Adam, but we fell into sin before God destroyed the earth, making it without form and void. God is redeeming us during this eon. The rewards we earn as a disciple during this life will cause us to exceed our previous state of glory and joy in YHWH’s presence. This is what I believe “return to his property” means in Leviticus 25:10, when Jubilee is fulfilled. For more details about God’s Plan across the eons, read my free book Overcomers’ Treasure Map.

Return to His Clan – Spiritual Israel

What clan are we to return to? When gentiles are grafted into Israel we are grafted into one of Israel’s ‘lost’ 10 tribes, in spiritual Israel. Within each tribe of spiritual Israel are families, or ‘mishpachah,’ which is translated ‘clans’ in Leviticus 25:10 above.

In spiritual Israel your tribe and clan ancestry isn’t lost to YHWH. When Jubilee is fulfilled, we will each reunite with our ancient clan within one of the 12 tribes of spiritual Israel.

During the Year of Jubilee the Land Itself Will Observe a Sabbath

when you enter the land that I am giving to you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD.

Leviticus 25:2

When YHWH fulfills Jubilee, the earth itself will enter into Sabbath rest.

All of creation eagerly awaits the manifestation of the (144,000) sons of God. When Jubilee Year comes, creation will be delivered from the bondage of decay into glorious freedom:

The creation waits in eager expectation for the revelation of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

Romans 8:19-21

Not only will the overcomers return to their ancient property and clan, but YHWH will return creation to its original state in the Jubilee Year. During the Millennial Reign of Messiah the earth will be like the Garden of Eden, prosperous and peaceful.

God’s ‘Appointed Times’ Reveal God’s Plan and Sequence of Events

In Leviticus chapter 23 God established 7 ‘appointed times’ for His people. These appointed times symbolically portray God’s plan of redemption and deliverance. They also reveal how God will re-establish His kingdom on the earth.

God’s Appointed Times

  1. Passover
  2. Unleavened Bread
  3. Firstfruits
  4. Pentecost
  5. Trumpets
  6. Atonement
  7. Tabernacles

Jesus fulfilled the first 4 (Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and Pentecost) on the exact days and times while the Jews were celebrating them.

Therefore, it’s reasonable to assume God will fulfill the remaining 3 (Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles) exactly on their annual anniversaries in our future.

The Biblical 49-Year Jubilee Cycle

Starting the year Israel entered the ‘promised land,’ the Jubilee-year cycle occurs every 49 years, beginning on the Day of Atonement.

Here are the details from Leviticus 25:

Shmitah Years – Sabbath Every 7th Year

When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD…For six years you may sow your field and prune your vineyard and gather its crops. But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land—a Sabbath to the LORD…The land must have a year of complete rest.

Leviticus 25:2,3,5

Jubilee Year – Every 49 Years (7 Shmitah periods)

And you shall count off seven sabbaths of years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbaths of years amount to forty-nine years. Then you are to sound the trumpet far and wide on the tenth day of the seventh month, on the Day of Atonement. You shall sound it throughout your land. So you are to consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be your Jubilee, when each of you is to return to his property and to his clan.

Leviticus 25:8-10

The 50th Year in the 49-Year Jubilee Cycle

The Jubilee-Year cycle repeats every 49 years (7 shmitahs), but the actual Year of Jubilee is the 50th year. That is, the 50th year is the same as (it overlaps) the first year in the next 49-year cycle. Here’s a diagram to illustrate this overlap:

http://endtimepilgrim.org/70wks12.htm

So, in this diagram, both year #1 and year #50 are Jubilee years.

Here’s another example: Every week has 7 days. According to the Bible, Sunday is the first day and Saturday is the seventh day. The next Sunday would be the eighth day, but it’s also the first day of the next week.

If this 49 versus 50 concept is still confusing, watch this video for a good explanation.

When is the next Year of Jubilee?

Do a Google search on this topic and you’ll see there’s a lot of ignorance, disagreement, and confusion about this question. It’s a mystery.

According to Leviticus chapter 25, the Biblical Jubilee year cycle started when Israel entered the Promised Land.

Then the LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD.”

Leviticus 25:1

I discovered a BibleArchaeology.org article which convincingly proves that Joshua led Israel to enter the Promised Land in 1406BC. A search on their website will provide many references to 1406BC. Here is one of them:

“The commencement of the conquest can be dated exactly. With the exodus datable to 1446 BC, the conquest automatically is dated to 1406 BC, because for “40 years the sons of Israel walked in the wilderness” before entering Canaan (Josh 5:6). Since the crossing of the Jordan River transpired on the 10th day of the first month, a date of 28 April 1406 BC is fixed as the day in which the Israelites crossed into Canaan (Josh 4:19).”

BibleArchaeology link

Jubilee Year Starting in 2024?

Based on this 1406BC start date and a 49-year Jubilee cycle, the next Jubilee Year will start on Yom Kippur in the year 2024. It will be the 70th Jubilee.

Here are my calculations:

2024AD + 1406BC = 3430 years.

3430/49=70

The pattern and dates fit exactly, just as they would if they match God’s plan.

In his 1260d.com website, Dean Coombs provides detailed corroboration that the 70th Year of Jubilee will start in September 2024.

2017 and the 50-Year Cycle

In the 20th century important events happened for the Jews and the nation of Israel. Events occurred in 1917 and 1967, 50-years apart, making people wonder if something big would also happen for Israel in 2017… 50 years after 1967 and 100 years after 1917.

I enjoyed Israel’s 70th birthday in May 2018 in Jerusalem with Dr Michael Heiser and Derek & Sharon Gilbert of Skywatch TV. As you can see in my iPhone video below, Israelis filled the streets, celebrating with overflowing joy on the day the American Embassy moved there from Tel Aviv. Being there was an awesome experience!

https://standinfaith.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Jerusalem-VideoVga.mp4
May 14, 2018 Celebrating Israel’s 70th Birthday
and Moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem

Recognizing Israel’s Capital and Moving the US Embassy

On December 6, 2017 President Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and announced plans to move the US Embassy. But, other than the Revelation 12 Sign in the heavens, I can’t find any other ‘big’ events that happened regarding Israel in 2017… at least not on the same level as the 1917 Balfour Declaration or the 1967 Six-Day War.

The 50-Year Cycle

People naturally associate this 50-year 2017/1967/2017 cycle with Leviticus 25:11, which says, “You shall have the fiftieth year as a Jubilee.” They assume that since every fiftieth year is a Jubilee, therefore 1917 and 1967 must have been Jubilee years because God did good things for Israel on these events which were fifty years apart.

Not a Jubilee Cycle

As I’ll explain below, I do recognize this important 50-year cycle. But I don’t believe it’s the Jubilee-Year cycle.

For a compelling presentation why 49 is correct for Jubilee Year calculations instead of 50, see Jubilee Year Cycle (49 or 50?)

The 50-Year Cycle – Since Creation

The 50-year cycle started at creation, not at 1406 BC when the Jubilee cycle started.

So, what does the 50-year cycle symbolize? The apostle Peter wrote,

Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

2 Peter 3:8

Therefore six days represent 6000 years. Also, 6 days reminds us of the 6 days of creation before God rested on the 7th day.

Most Bible teachers believe this means mankind will have 6000 years before the ‘7th-day’ millennial reign of Christ begins. 6000 is evenly divisible by 50, resulting in 120. 6000/50 = 120

The number 120 will immediately remind Bible readers of what God said in Genesis 6:3… After 200 angels mated with human women, producing ‘nephilim’ giants (for more about this see the Book of Enoch chapter 6), God said:

My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days shall be 120 years.

Genesis 6:3

The Perfect Resolution of the 49-Year and 50-Year Cycles

Let’s connect the dots…

50-Year Cycle

The 50-year cycle begins with the Biblical creation in Genesis, ending (after 6000 years) on its 120th anniversary in 2017.

After 6000 years, the 120th anniversary of the 50-year 1917/1967/2017 cycle coincides with the beginning of Daniel’s 70th week in September 2017.

49-Year Cycle

In contrast, the Bible reckons the 49-year Jubilee cycle from when Israel entered the promised land in 1406 BC, ending on its 70th anniversary in 2024.

The 70th anniversary of the 49-year Jubilee cycle coincides with the end of Daniel’s 70th week in September 2024.

Coincidence?

The 120th and 70th anniversaries of the two cycles are symbolically significant in themselves. But for them to frame the beginning and end of the 2017-2024 period is too auspicious to ignore or discount. I cannot believe this is coincidental.

When Does Daniel’s 70th Week Start?

What event initiates Daniel’s 70th week?

Daniel 9:27 famously states, “And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week“. But, who is the “he” who makes this firm covenant? And what is this ‘covenant with the many’ for one week?

  • The common view is “he” refers to the Antichrist, who will make a ‘covenant with many’ for 7 years.
  • A common assumption is the ‘covenant with many’ is a 7-year peace treaty between the Antichrist and Israel.
  • But, others believe “he” refers to Jesus, who confirmed the New Covenant in His own blood, poured out for many. (Matthew 26:28, also Mark 14:24)

With so many unknowns I’m not confident we can know who “he” is, or what the ‘covenant with many’ is. As a result, we may not recognize the event that starts Daniel’s 70th week.

But, Jesus said we’ll see the Antichrist commit “the abomination of desolation.”

So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination of desolation,’ described by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

Matthew 24:15

Therefore, if we see the ‘abomination of desolation’ during Passover week in 2021, we’ll know my assumptions and calculations were correct. We can be confident the 70th Jubilee Year will start September 13, 2024.

Plan B

But what if my assumptions and calculations are not correct? If we don’t see the Antichrist commit the abomination of desolation during Passover week in 2021, what then? Below are some ‘Plan B’ options that fit the prophetic puzzle criteria.

Is Daniel’s 70th Week Contiguous?

One of my assumptions is that Daniel’s 70th week is a contiguous period of 7 years. But, Daniel’s 70th week may be divided into separate periods.

For example, some divide the 70th week between Jesus’ earthly ministry, 2000 years ago, and the future Great Tribulation. Therefore, there’s no way to be sure when the Great Tribulation begins until we see the Antichrist commit the abomination of desolation.

Prophetic Criteria to Define Daniel’s 70th Week

Assuming Daniel’s 70th week is a contiguous 7-years, what other 7-year periods could qualify as Daniel’s 70th week beside 2017-2024? Here’s a vital clue to help narrow it down:

And from the time the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation set up, there will be 1,290 days.

Daniel 12:11 BSB

According to this verse, the span of 7 years in Daniel’s 70th week will have a total of exactly 2550 days. This includes 86 lunar months, not 87. This criteria narrows the 7-year periods that are eligible to fulfill the prophetic requirements.

(Click the link under the chart below for a detailed explanation of this 86-month, 2550-day requirement.)

Calculate 2550 by adding 1260 + 1290. Here’s the logic:

  • There are 1260 days in the first half of the 7 years. (3.5 years x 12 months x 30 days per month)
  • There will be 1290 days in the second half of Daniel’s 70th week, after the Abomination of Desolation.
86 moons in Daniel’s 70th Week

What 7-Year Periods Qualify for Daniel’s 70th Week?

Using the 2550-day criteria, I used TorahCalendar.com to determine the exact Gregorian calendar dates for Yom Teruah (Tishri 1) and Yom Kippur (Tishri 10), from 2017 to 2041. Then I used a Microsoft Excel formula [(date1 minus date2) +1] to calculate each 7-year duration between 2017 and 2041.

(Technical Note: since Hebrew days begin at sunset one day and end at sunset the following day, each Hebrew day overlaps two dates on our Gregorian calendar. For example, Tishri 1 in 2020 will begin at sunset on 9/18/2020 and end at sunset on 9/19/2020. As you can see in the table below, I used the latter of these two dates as my convention for all calculations. This means I used the 2nd of two valid Gregorian dates for each Tishri 1 date, which is why the 2549-day durations below also fit the 2550-day criteria. If I’d reckoned Tishri 1 dates to begin at sunset on the previous day the 2549 numbers would’ve been 2550 instead of 2549.)

Results: From 2017 to 2041 there are nine 7-year periods that meet the 2550-day criteria; they are highlighted in green below. Beginning with 2017-2024, these are the best candidates for Daniel’s 70th Week.

The Abomination of Desolation Starts the Great Tribulation

Finally, while it’s extremely interesting to study these things, we can’t be positive we’re actually in Daniel’s 70th week until we see the ‘abomination of desolation.’

Jesus said,

So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination of desolation,’ described by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve anything from his house. And let no one in the field return for his cloak.

How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not occur in the winter or on the Sabbath. For at that time there will be great tribulation, unmatched from the beginning of the world until now, and never to be seen again. If those days had not been cut short, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened.

Matthew 24:15-22

Conclusion – the 70th Year of Jubilee

God’s end-time dates are a mystery.

If the abomination of desolation starts the Great Tribulation during Passover, in March/April 2021, then we’ll know:

  • Daniel’s 70th Week started in 2017
  • the 70th Jubilee Year (and the Millennial Reign of Yeshua the Messiah) will start on the Day of Atonement on 9/13/2024.

A Bright Future

Regardless, we are certainly living at the end of the age, and birth pangs are increasing for everyone on earth. The good news is that God will defeat all His enemies and God’s people have nothing to worry about.

When these things begin to happen, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.

Luke 21:28

There is nothing man can do to us if we are in Christ.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:35-39

Finally, my advice is to be watchful. Abide in God’s Spirit continuously, listening and obeying His voice. Strive to make yourself ready for the Lord’s imminent appearing.

Filed Under: Moedim Tagged With: 144000, abomination of desolation, Autumn Feasts, Daniel's 70th week, Day of Atonement, God's appointed times, Jubilee, millennial reign of christ, new covenant, our inheritance in Christ, Pentecost, principalities and powers, Spiritual Israel, The Great Tribulation, Trumpets

Primary Sidebar

Musings & Teachings

  • Why I Will Not Receive the COVID-19 Vaccine
  • “Be Blameless and Harmless” in the Great Tribulation | Philippians 2:15
  • The Lord’s Prayer | How Did Jesus Pray? Line-By-Line Meaning Explained
  • Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness
  • The Kingdom of Heaven Suffers Violence | Matthew 11:12 | Luke 16:16
  • Anticipating Christian Pentecost
  • Measure the Temple of God and the Altar | Revelation 11:1
  • Christian Passover
  • The First and Second Rapture of the Church
  • A Christian View of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread
  • Why No Discipleship Curriculum in the Bible?
  • When is the Next Year of Jubilee? | The 70th Jubilee | Leviticus 25:10
  • Our Authority Activates God’s Power
  • End Time Events Sequence | End Times Prophecy Timeline
  • Prediction of Life in the Next Millennium
  • Christianity’s Golden Calves
  • Fear of the Future | How to Overcome It
  • Watch and Pray
  • 5 Steps to Divine Healing | Free Download
  • The Heavenly Council – The Unseen Hands Controlling World Events
  • The One-World Religion | 2 Thessalonians 2:3 | The Great Falling Away
  • A Christian Concept of War
  • What’s Worth Dying For? One Veteran’s Opinion
  • Keeping the Sabbath
  • Kickoff – Stand In Faith

Footer

Categories

Tags

144000 (5) abomination of desolation (2) Antichrist (2) Armageddon (5) Autumn Feasts (5) Babylon (2) Daniel's 70th week (3) Day of Atonement (2) divine healing (2) Dragon cast down (3) false religion (4) Feast of Unleavened Bread (3) Firstfruits (2) first resurrection (2) glory of God (6) God's appointed times (6) greater exodus (3) Innumerable multitude (3) Israel (4) Jubilee (2) living bread (4) living stones (3) Manifestation of Sons of God (2) Mark of the Beast (3) martyrs (6) millennial reign of christ (7) new covenant (3) our inheritance in Christ (2) Pentecost (6) perfection (1) prayer (4) principalities and powers (7) rhema (3) Sabbath (2) satan (9) satan's world system (3) Spiritual Israel (2) spiritual warfare (3) strong delusion (2) Temple (3) The Great Tribulation (5) the rapture (2) Trumpets (7) Two Witnesses (3) worry (3)

Copyright © 2021 All Rights Reserved