Many today have the idea that Yahshua’s plan of redemption was finished when He was impaled on Passover day. His death, they believe, marked the end of the old Jewish system, the virtual end of Israel as the chosen of Yahweh, and the end of the laws of the Old Testament. They firmly believe that Yahshua’s death on the tree, followed by His resurrection, marked the beginning of the Christian era. Along with that assumption is that the New Testament Scriptures, and only those Scriptures, are in effect today.

Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, Yahshua as the Passover lamb held the key role in a continuation of Yahweh’s design for His human creation.

The Passover is the first of the yearly observances of Yahweh and in the New Testament represents the beginning of the rest of Yahweh’s plan, not the complete scrapping of everything He had done up to that point. Granted, the original hopes for an exclusive, special people who would follow and worship only Him had now changed. Because of Israel’s continual rebellion, Yahweh opened His calling up to all who would repent and turn to Him, Israel included. Romans 9:27 is clear that a remnant of Israel shall be saved. Yahweh is certainly not finished with Israel. Therefore, when we look at the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread that follows, we see a progression — and not an ending — of a salvation plan that was established at creation itself.

Passover is a memorial of an actual event that occurred long ago in Egypt. Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are also shadows of events to occur later in the New Testament. What Yahshua did by becoming the Passover Lamb was fulfilled only in part. He spoke of a yet another fulfillment of Passover in the future. Throughout history we see the importance of this special observance. From ancient days to the Kingdom, the Passover is key to Yahweh’s blueprint for salvation of His creation. When the Egyptian firstborn from every house died, Yahweh sent a clear message of obedience to all of mankind. It was the firstborn that got twice the family inheritance, which was known as the birthright.

With the death of Egyptian firstborn, Yahweh dramatically demonstrated that those not covered by the blood of the lamb will have no life or inheritance in the Heavenly Father’s Kingdom. The other lesson we learn is that we are covered by that blood only if we follow Yahweh’s instructions explicitly. If anyone in Israel had not done exactly as Yahweh commanded, not putting the blood on the top of the doorpost but only on the sides, for instance, he would have faced the same consequences as the Egyptians. Yahweh had to see the blood on the lintel, as well as on the doorposts, Exodus 12:23. The entire door frame had to have a blood covering, symbolic of a complete protection from death by the blood of the lamb. For us, it means that if we aren’t totally covered by the blood of Messiah, we face everlasting death. Rather than having less meaning for us today, the Passover and Feast have much more serious implications than they ever had for ancient Egypt and Israel.

The physical consequences anciently for disobedience now translate into serious spiritual consequences for us if we are not in obedience.

Looking back in history, we see that Yahweh began a re-calling of His people at the Passover, ultimately to take them out of the Egypt of sin and unto Himself. He does the same today in the New Covenant observance of the Passover. It is an annual reminder for all who would be His elect not to get involved in the sin of this world or it will enslave us, just as Israel was enslaved in Egypt because they had repeatedly refused to obey their Heavenly Father. Passover offered a chance to rededicate their lives to Him, to turn back again in sincerity.

Exodus 12:19-20 is a warning against anyone who would not take the Feast of Unleavened Bread seriously as well. Therefore, each time that we participate in the Passover and Feast that follows, we undergo a renewal with Yahweh. That is why it is so important to keep these annual set times. Most important of all, they are called His. They honor Him. And they are central to the redemption of His people. At that time of year we rededicate our lives to the Father as we recount the sacrifice of the Son, and remove leaven from our lives in the seven-day Feast that follows Passover. Yeast is only one substance that we are to refrain from consuming during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Other leavening agents include: cream of tartar, baking powder, baking soda, and calcium phosphate. Any chemical that causes fermentation would be classified as leavening. What leavening symbolizes is what is important. Leavening in the Scriptures pictures hypocrisy, false teachings, and wickedness. When leaven is removed, these evils that it represents are symbolically removed as well. His people are called peculiar in Titus 2:14 and we should be different. The context of this verse is of Yahshua’s sacrifice at Passover and what it does to renew our dedication to Him. If you are not seen as “peculiar” by the world around you, then you need to reassess your walk with Yahshua. Yahweh’s people should be a light of righteousness to those around them. And the further this world sinks into the abyss, the more your light should stand out in the darkness.

Yahweh’s people should be vastly different from the world. Yahweh’ standards are right and true and stand forever. And if we don’t meet them, we face our own personal judgment. The insidious, moral collapse occurring everywhere is nothing less than the action of leavening. It permeates and works slowly to induce a change. And spiritually, it spells corruption of the heart. Leavening induces a chemical change. In a chemical change, the nature of the substance itself is altered. To be constantly exposed to the leaven of hypocrisy, false teachings and wickedness of the world will eventually create a spiritual change in a person, not unlike the chemical change brought on by leavening.

The lesson of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is to make us aware that influences exist and are real and can change us if we are not circumspect. To be unaware of leaven is to be unaware of the Satanic influences that will destroy us spiritually.

You cannot constantly be bombarded by trash day in and day out and not expect to get some of it on you, to be influenced by it, and even come to consider it normal. That is what we see in our society today. Many are searching for meaning today, but in all the wrong places. Yahweh says here is the way, walk in it. The Passover was a night when Yahweh executed judgment on the false religion of Egypt, and hence the false religions of the world. The lessons remain for us. Revelation shows that Many of the same plagues unleashed on Egypt will again be loosed on this earth in the last days. To keep the Passover correctly and on the right day is a serious matter. Salvation itself is tied to this observance. That is why Yahweh’s people will not ever neglect it. Many think of Yahweh not as a Heavenly Father, but as a kindly old Grandfather, who would never harm anyone and who puts up with His spoiled children forever. But Yahweh punished even believers in the New Testament with sickness and death for observing Passover carelessly, 1Corinthians 11:27-31.

Come out of a world deceived by traditions and practices that are not in the Scriptures. Come to truly know your Heavenly Father by keeping the only days commanded in His Word. The seven annual Feasts and Sabbaths of Leviticus 23 are the real Scriptural holidays that the True Worshiper should be observing.

Then I asked him, “Do you happen to practice communion?”

“Yes, every Sunday,” he responded.

“Then you keep a trace of the Passover,” I told him. “The problem is that what you and many others observe has become disconnected from the original truth and meaning of the death memorial of Yahshua.”

The Passover as the original event of His death is an annual observance, not a weekly, semimonthly or monthly event. It commemorates the slaying of the Passover lamb on the 14th of Abib, which looked forward to the ultimate sacrifice of Yahshua the Messiah. He fulfilled what the lamb only foreshadowed. He provided the greater sacrifice that not just covered the sin, but also removed its penalty for those who trust in Him.

He as our example kept the Passover annually, as did His earthly parents and His ancestors before that. The Passover is a New Testament observance every bit as important as it was in the Old Testament. Even more so, considering the ramifications for sin.

The Passover is not an option but a necessity for our salvation. Anyone in Israel who did not observe it was cut off, Numbers 9:13. Yahweh’s people require the protection and payment for their sin that Yahshua’s blood provides.  Without it we must pay our own penalty of eternal death. That is why the Passover is essential for us today.

His blood was foreshadowed by Israel’s placing the blood of the lamb on the doorposts, which protected them from the death angel. Similarly, Yahweh’s “Israel” today must be protected from everlasting death through His shed blood. Passover is filled with meaning directly related to our very salvation. Churchianity lost that significance when it traded the Passover observance for the Easter celebration allegedly honoring His resurrection. But there is no command in Scripture to keep a memorial to His resurrection. No one in the Bible ever did.

In the communion they have also torn the memorial of the cup and bread away from Passover and created a hybrid to add additional spiritual dimension to the mostly secular Easter observance, complete with its own time and meaning.

Keeping the Passover daily, weekly or monthly would have done Israel no good. Yahweh would not have honored it because He had told them exactly when to keep it, and He never allowed anyone to fiddle with His laws. His command is the same for us today:

“These are the feasts of Yahweh, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their seasons. In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is Yahweh’s Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Yahweh: seven days you must eat unleavened bread. In the first day you shall have an holy convocation: you shall do no servile work therein,” Leviticus 23:4-8.

Substituting other rites and times for what is commanded is a fatal act. Revelation 22:18-19 warns, “For I testify unto every man that hears the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, Yahweh shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, Yahweh shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

Yahshua and His disciples all kept the Passover religiously, and He even said He would keep it again with them in the Kingdom,Matthew 26:29. Clearly this is an observance that has not gone away. This is one of the seven annual observances that are appointed in the Bible.

None of the world’s holidays have any Scriptural sanction. None of them were kept in the days of the Bible. None of them are commanded. But Yahweh’s holy days were commanded, kept and promised for a future fulfillment.

Which are you going to keep?

Passover Observed In the New Testament

∙ Yahshua ordained Passover
Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:12-25; Luke 22:7-20

∙ Yahshua observed Passover
Matthew 26:17-20; Luke 22:15; John 2:13, 23

∙ Yahshua’s family attended the Passover annually
Luke 2:41-42

∙ Yahshua impaled at the time of Passover
Matthew 26:2; Mark 14:1,2; John 18:28

∙ Yahshua is even called “our Passover”
1 Corinthians 5:7

∙ Passover continues after Yahshua
1Corinthians 10:16-17

Lessons in Leavening

Eating nothing but flat bakery goods for a week may seem strange in modern society. But is it any stranger than people dressing up in rabbit suits, coloring eggs supposedly laid by rabbits, and hiding them all over the house and yard and telling children to go search for them—all to celebrate the resurrection of the Savior? Where is there any possible connection between the ritual and the observance?

Yahweh’s people have a solid Scriptural basis for what they observe. Churchianity cannot say the same when its celebrations like Easter are rooted in ancient practices of heathens and their fertility deities, then rewrapped, relabeled and inconceivably tied to a supposed Biblical holiday.

It is the Father’s Decree

Following the Passover Yahweh commanded, “You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall you eat unleavened bread.” (Exodus 12:20) Yahweh tells us to remove what is leavened and eat only what is unleavened in an effort to teach us significant lessons.

“Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel” (Exodus 12:15).

It takes some diligence to do this as there are different kinds of leavening to watch for (see listing below).

But why does Yahweh have us avoid leavening? Why not hot sauce? Or meat? If leaven strictly represented sin, obviously it would not have been placed in other offerings presented before Yahweh (Leviticus 7:13).

We must look closely at the characteristics of leaven, its typology and metaphor to get the real teaching.

How Leavening Works

The main thing leavening does, and it does it quite well, is to spread rapidly throughout a substance.

In Matthew 13:33 Yahshua used this process to describe a parable about the Kingdom. Here His symbol of a woman refers to the assembly of believers. The truth grows as the leavening is placed in different areas. We see it at work when a believer learns of the truth and then tells friends and relatives, who in turn do the same. And thus the truth can grow exponentially.

Specifically, Yahshua was emphasizing the action of leavening – how it works and how it increases.

Yahweh’s Kingdom will grow in the same way. We are the firstfruits among many brethren. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end (Isaiah 9:7).

Matthew 13:31-32 shows how small it starts and how large it grows.

“But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which Yahweh hath prepared for them that love him” (1Corinthians 2:9).

We haven’t even fathomed what is designed for our future. If you have ever had the experience of traveling and coming around a bend and seeing a magnificent panorama of mountains and valleys open up before you – it takes your breath away. Perhaps that is what it will be like when Yahweh’s plan is revealed. No human experience will be able to compare to what Yahweh will one day show us!

We look through a dark glass now. We can only see shadows and images of the real thing. It is not always clear but we do the best we can. Once everything comes into sharp focus by the revealing of Yahweh, we will see why Yahweh has us doing what we do now in simple obedience.

Now let’s look specifically at what leaven represents. In Matthew 16:5-12 Yahshua discusses how the doctrine of these religious men was compared to leaven and how leaven spreads.

In Mark 8:14-15 we have the same analogy but directed at yet another type of leaven. What is the leaven of Herod? Actually it refers to the Herodians. They were members of an aristocratic Jewish group who supported the Roman government and favored the policies of Herod Antipas. They tried to trap Yahshua in not paying taxes to Rome (Matt. 22:15, 21 – “give unto Caesar”).

The leaven metaphor here deals with an evil disposition that these who were trying to entrap Yahshua had: hypocrisy, malice and wickedness. In fact, Paul talks about the same in 1Corinthians 5:6-8.

Take note how flat bread even looks humble. The opposite of prideful glory.

Verse 2 – These Corinthians were proud of themselves. “Puffed up” comes from a Greek word meaning to swell up. Leaven can refer to several things: bad doctrine; hypocrisy, malice, wickedness; self glory, insincerity; and falsity.

Why would Yahweh command leaven in the peace offering and the wave loaves for Pentecost? Certainly not because of what leaven represented, but for what leaven can do. It starts with just a little and grows. The baker would keep back a little sourdough to leaven the next batch. The use of yeast in breads is a more recent practice.

We are used in the same way by Almighty Yahweh to create a new batch of believers. The Word spreads by the influence of one or two and then grows by infusion of right teachings and good examples of living. This Feast teaches on many levels the ways and designs of Almighty Yahweh.

Get the Leavening Out

During the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Yahweh commands that no leavening be eaten or found on our premises: “Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eats that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land. You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall you eat unleavened bread,” Exodus 12:19-20.

A leavening agent (sometimes called just leavening or leaven) is a substance used in dough and batter that causes them to rise. Nearly all breads, rolls, doughnuts, and cakes are made this way and are leavened. Some pies are, too.

Included here is a list of common leavening agents found in a variety of foods that must be used up or removed by the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Incidentally, it is not acceptable to remove leavening from your property only to bring it back once the Feast is over, Exodus 12:15, 13:7. The lesson is to remove corrupting activity entirely from our lives, which leaven represents here. To bring it back at the end of the Feast confounds the purpose of the lesson.

Here are leavening agents in products to avoid during the Feast of Unleavened Bread:

yeast
baker’s yeast
active dried yeast
baking powder
baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
cream of tartar (potassium bitartrate)
sourdough
ammonium carbonate
ammonium bicarbonate
potassium carbonate
potassium bicarbonate
dipotassium carbonate

Also on the list:

Beer/wine/alcohol (leavened by yeast)
Preparation H (contains yeast)
Cat and dog foods with yeast
Toothpastes with baking soda

False Leavening

The following are foods or ingredients not leavened, although they may be mistaken for leavening or leavened food. They pose no problem for Unleavened Bread:

• Puffed cereals Some food products are “puffed up” by mechanical means but cannot be used as a contact spreading agent.  They are just puffed up by air and are not chemically leavened.  They include: popcorn, beaten eggs, and air puffed cereal like puffed rice or wheat.
• Brewer’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is an inactive yeast, meaning the yeasts have been killed and have no leavening ability. This is the yeast remaining after beer making. It is used as a nutrient supplement to increase the intake of B vitamins.
• Yeast extract, autolyzed yeast extract When yeast cells die, they automatically break up, a process called autolysis in which the yeasts’ digestive enzymes break their proteins down into simpler compounds. What remains is a collection of protein, fats, vitamins, minerals, and monosodium glutamate (MSG), a flavor enhancer.
• Soda pop Although its name says “soda,” soda pop is not leavened as if with bicarbonate of “soda.” It is made with carbonated water, which has been infused with carbon dioxide in a non-leavening process.

The lesson of leaven is clear. Remove the corrupting influence that leads to sin. Become pure and unleavened in a world of impurity and corruption.

Some believe that the Passover should be observed in the afternoon on the 14^th of Abib, contending that “between the evenings” means any time from noon to sunset. Others maintain that it means at dusk at the beginning of the 14^th of Abib. A proper understanding of the term “between the evenings” will show us the proper time to observe the Passover.

Between the Evenings – Ben ha arbayim

The phrase “between the evenings” is from the Hebrew ben ha arbayim. It is this phrase that describes the time that the Passover lamb or goat was slaughtered on Abib 14. The exact definition of ben ha arbayim has long been debatable. The goal of this article is to establish a well-defined and scripturally supportable definition of ben ha arbayim.

There are two differing definitions attached to ben ha arbayim. The Pharisees, in accordance with their man-made Talmudic adherence, defined ben ha arbayim as any time from afternoon to sunset. Conversely, the Sadducees, Karaites, and Samaritans, in accordance with the Biblical Torah (law), all interpreted ben ha arbayim as being the time from sunset to complete darkness.

Exodus 12:6 reads, “And you shall keep it [the Passover sacrifice] up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening” (literally, “between the evenings.”). The Pharisees interpreted this as meaning between midafternoon, when the sun’s heat abated, and sunset, whereas the Sadducees took it to mean between sunset and dark” (Interpreter’s One Volume Commentary, note at Ex. 12:6).

Another authority says, “In the evening. Hebrew, between the evenings. From very early days opinions have differed as to the exact time of the sacrifice. The Samaritans and the Karaites construed it as the time between sunset and complete darkness. The Pharisees held to the traditional explanation that it was from the beginning of lengthening shadows to sunset, approximately 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., and with this the Talmud agrees” (Wycliffe Bible Commentary, note at Ex. 12:6).

And yet another source explains, “Between the evenings – Different opinions have prevailed among the Jews from a very early date as to the precise time intended. Aben Ezra agrees with the Caraites and Samaritans in taking the first evening to be the time when the sun sinks below the horizon, and the second the time of total darkness; in which case, ‘between the evenings’ would be from 6 o’clock to 7:20…According to the rabbinical idea, the time when the sun began to descend, viz. From 3 to 5 o’clock, was the first evening, and sunset the second; so that ‘between the evenings’ was from 3 to 6 o’clock. Modern expositors have very properly decided in favor of the view held by Aben Ezra and the custom adopted by the Caraites and Samaritans” (Commentary on the Old Testament, The Second Book of Moses).

It should be noted that the Pharisees, the political-religious leaders during the time of the Messiah, based their understanding not only the TANAKH, but also on their own rabbinical teachings that are found in the Talmud. The Messiah in Matthew 15 and Mark 7stated that the Pharisees transgressed Yahweh’s Word because of their traditions, referring to their rabbinical teachings found in the Talmud.

On the other side, the Sadducess and Karaites used only the TANAKH to establish their beliefs. Why is this important? Because we know that Yahshua kept the Passover not on the day that was reckoned by the Pharisees, but on the day established by Yahweh’s law and followed by the Sadducees, who were in charge of the Temple. Because Yahshua kept the Passover on the 14^th of Abib as did the Sadducees, then He kept the Passover memorial between sunset and complete darkness. That could only have occurred at the start of the 14^th to meet the requirement that the entire Passover be observed on the 14^th (Num. 28:16).

Other Arguments Answered

Let’s look at some examples where ben ha arbayim is used in the Scriptures.

“I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even (between the evenings) you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; and you shall know that I am Yahweh your Elohim” (Exodus 16:12).

Exodus 16:12 states that Yahweh gave quail to the children of Israel between the evenings. Some speculate that this was done prior to sunset, thus being easier to capture the quail before nightfall. It is also a fact, however, that at sunset or dusk such birds are less active and more docile and confused because they have more difficulty seeing at twilight, thus making them easier to capture. There is, however, no evidence that this event occurred in midday or sunset.

In the Old Testament Yahweh instructed the Levites to offer one lamb in the morning and another lamb “between the evenings.”

“And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering. And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even (between the evenings), and shalt do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savor, an offering made by fire unto Yahweh” (Ex. 29:40-41).

Both lambs were to be offered on the same day. Some say that this proves that “between the evenings” is before sunset, because at sunset one day ends and another day begins.

This argument also lacks definitive evidence that “between the evenings” refers to midafternoon. Scripturally, at sunset one day ends and another day begins. If a lamb was offered at the start of the day after the sun set (ben ha arbayim), and the other lamb was offered the following morning of that same day, both would be offered the same day. See Exodus 29:41 and Numbers 28:4, 8 for additional reference to the daily sacrifices.

Another example of ben ha arbayim is when Aaron the High Priest was commanded to light the menorah between the evenings.

“And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even (between the evenings), he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before Yahweh throughout your generations” (Ex. 30:8).

The lamp that Aaron was commanded to light every morning and evening (between the evenings) was located in the Holy Place within the tabernacle. This particular place could not have natural light. The only source of light within the Holy Place was that light that the seven-branch menorah produced.

Therefore, because the holy place of the tabernacle had no natural light it would make no difference whether it was lit midafternoon or at sunset. This again lacks anything definitive one way or the other for ben ha arbayim.

The last example of ben ha arbayim that we will look at is in connection with the Passover lamb.

“And you shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening [between the evenings]” (Ex. 12:6).

This passage alone does not precisely pinpoint the time of ben ha arbayim. However, by looking at the entire context of the Passover the exact time will be made clear, along with the proper meaning of ben ha arbayim. A few facts must be established to understand this crucial Hebrew phrase and the timing of the Passover.

Fact One: the entire Passover service, and everything connected with it, must be kept on the fourteenth of Abib.

“In the fourteenth day of this month, at even (between the evenings), you shall keep it [Passover] in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall you keep it” (Numbers 9:3).

The Passover cannot start on the thirteenth or go through the fifteenth. Yahweh says unequivocally that His Passover is on the fourteenth day of Abib. And ALL rites and ALL ceremonies of the Passover must take place on the 14^th, Numbers 9:3.

Further, no part of Passover can be on the 15^th because the Feast of Unleavened Bread is commanded to be on the 15^th day of Abib (Lev. 23).

Fact Two: Yahweh’s day begins at sunset, and thus the Passover began at sunset. The importance of this fact will be clear after fact three.

Fact three: the death angel that killed the firstborn of both man and beast “passed over” at midnight on the fourteenth day of Abib. “And it came to pass, that at midnight Yahweh smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle” (Ex. 12:29).

If the children of Israel had waited to slaughter the lamb between midafternoon and sunset on the fourteenth day, all their firstborn would already have died, because it is written that the death angel came through at midnight (Ex. 12:29). Another contradiction: Slaughtering the Passover lamb between midafternoon and sunset on the 14^th would also demand that the death angel would have had to pass through at midnight on the fifteenth day of Abib, not the 14^th, which also opposes Scripture. All Scriptures maintain that the Passover is on the fourteenth day of Abib. Not one verse in the Bible allows otherwise. Yahweh reserved the 15^th for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which specifically had to be kept in the wilderness and not in Goshen with the Passover, Leviticus 23: 6; Ex. 5:1.

Understanding Yahweh’s Passover is much like a puzzle. The complete, accurate picture becomes clear when all the pieces are put together correctly. It is a matter of Scriptural fact that Abib fourteen began at sunset and that the death angel came through at midnight, which would have been approximately six hours after sunset. Therefore, the lamb had to be slaughtered at or after sunset on the fourteenth, but before midnight on that selfsame night. Thus, we can quantitatively establish that ben ha arbayim means from sunset to complete darkness, not from midday to sunset.

Modern Translations Support Sunset

Most modern versions, including the TANAKH, New Revised Standard, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New King James, and New International Version, use the word “twilight” in Exodus 12:6 to describe ben ha arbayim. The Britannica World Language Dictionary defines twilight as, “The light diffused over the sky from sunset to dark and from dark to sunrise, caused by the reflection of sunlight from the higher portions of the atmosphere; hence, any faint light.”

In addition to the above Bible translations, the Revised English Bible, James Moffatt Bible, Lamsa Bible, Five Books of Moses, Harper Collins Study Bible, and Insight on the Scriptures all say that ben ha arbayim is from sunset to complete darkness.

Notice:

• “Have it in safe keeping until the fourteenth day of this month, and then all the assembled community of Israel must slaughter the victims between dusk and dark” (Ex. 12:6, Revised English Bible).

• “Lamb or a kid, but you must keep it till the fourteenth day of the month, when every member of the community of Israel shall kill it between sunset and dark” (Ex. 12:6, James Moffatt).

• “And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at sunset” (Exodus 12:6, Lamsa Bible).

• “Between the evenings: at Twilight” (The Five Books of Moses, note at Ex. 12:6).

• “Twilight, lit. “between the two settings,” apparently between sunset and the last of the residual light in the sky” (HarperCollins Study Bible, note at Ex. 12:6).

• “From the foregoing, and particularly in view of such texts as Exodus 12:17, 18, Leviticus 23:5-7, and Deuteronomy 16:6, 7, the weight of evidence points to the application of the expression “between the evenings” to the time between sunset and dark” (Insight on the Scriptures, article: Passover).

Likewise, the same support is found in many concordances and lexicons.

• “Between the evenings, i.e. prob. between sunset and dark” (The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon).

• “Even, Evening, Eventide – “To be or grow dark. The evening, when the day begins to be obscured. Between the evenings, the time when…the paschal lamb was slain” (Wilson’s Old Testament Word Studies).

• “Evening, twilight, dusk, the fading of the day; twilight can be extended to the dark of the night” (Zondervan NIV Exhaustive Concordance).

• “Through the idea of covering with a texture; to grow dusky at sundown” (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible).

Summary

Overwhelming Scriptural and scholarly verification concludes that ben ha arbayim is from sunset to complete darkness. That is when the Passover observance was to commence, both anciently and today. This is provable from Biblical context, modern translations, and the majority of Biblical word studies.

But was it wine that was in the Passover cup? There was once a group that could not decide, so they offered both wine and grape juice at the Passover memorial. Are we not commanded to discern what is right and proper from what is not? According to IKings 18:21,we are.

Have you ever investigated the meaning of the Passover cup and its symbolic contents?

Life in the Blood

A basic principle in the Bible is that the only possible atonement for the act of sin is a giving up of life. And the ONLY way we can be free of sin’s death penalty, which we have all earned because of our sins, is through blood, which contains life, Leviticus 17:11.

Israel’s sins were covered under an elaborate system of sacrifices in which animal blood was shed. That system gave way to a better sacrifice in the New Testament. Yahshua shed His blood on the torture stake as the perfect sacrifice. His blood paid the death penalty for our sins, just as the blood of animals was shed under the Old Covenant merely to cover Israel’s sins (but not take them away). Read Hebrews 9:13-15.

Contrary to what many believe, the principle of sacrifice remains, only now instead of animal sacrifice, it is the sacrifice of the Savior and the shedding of His blood that we trust in.

What Represents Blood?

Our Savior instituted a new symbol at that New Covenant Passover–the cup. This symbol represented the blood of the perfect Lamb, which was He Himself.

The question is, what liquid represented His pure, sinless life? Wine? Grape juice? Water? Is there any way we can know?

Yes, there is! Does it really matter? It certainly does, because one is right and proper, the rest are wrong and of no effect. Some readJohn 4:46 and say the cup should contain water, because Yahshua changed water into wine at Cana. They also opt for water in the cup because both blood and water came out of the Savior’s side when He was pierced by the Roman soldier while on the stake.

But the cup must symbolize blood. At best, John 4:46 shows only an association between water and wine, not water and blood.

The fact that both water and blood issued from His pierced side proves nothing in relation to the Passover cup. If He had shed only water on the torture stake, then we could conceivably call water his shed “blood.” But His blood is what saves us, not water. Therefore, we must find something other than water as the proper symbol for His blood.

Grape Juice Analogous to Blood

The Old Testament never mentions a cup for Passover–only the lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs. You might be wondering, but what about the drink offering?

The drink offering used in regular Old Testament sacrifices comes from the Hebrew word “nacak,” and it means to pour out. Although called a “drink” offering because it was liquid, it was not drunk but always “poured out” at the altar. Paul wrote to Timothy that he was ready to be offered (Greek “spendomai,” poured out like a drink offering”) at the end of his ministry. The drink offering, therefore, can give us no clue as to the contents of the cup that was drunk in the New Covenant Passover service.

An important indication of the cup’s contents, however, is found in the Hebrew word for blood, “dam.” Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance Hebrew Dictionary defines “dam” or blood: “(as that which when shed causes death) of man or an animal; by anal. the juice of the grape; fig. (especially in the plur.) bloodshed(i.e. drops of blood).”

‘Wine’ Never Used for ‘Cup’

Both Yahshua and Paul referred to the Passover beverage simply as “cup” or “fruit of the vine.” They NEVER used “wine” in referring to the cup.

Fermented wine is the Greek “oinos,” used 28 times in the New Testament, but NEVER for the contents of the Passover cup.

What we can deduce, then, is that “fruit of the Vine” properly represents His blood (Luke 22:20). But is that fruit of the vine fermented, or is it the pure, unadulterated juice of the grape? Had the New Testament writers used “gleukos,” the other word for fermented wine (occurring one time in Acts 2:13), the meaning would be clear.

But just as they did not use “oinos” (fermented wine), neither did they employ “gleukos” in reference to the Passover cup. Why? Is there a reason they did not use “wine” when speaking of the Passover cup?

Wine Symbolic of Retribution, Celebration

Let’s look at the symbolic attributes of wine and see whether this substance would be appropriate for the solemn, redemptive Passover observance. In the prophetic Book of Revelation we find clear, symbolic meaning in wine. In 14:8 wine represents wrath unleashed for Babylon’s fornication. Verse 10 reads, “The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of Elohim, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation…”

Wine (“oinos”) symbolizes the fierceness of Yahweh’s wrath in Revelation 16:19. He calls it “wine of her [Babylon’s] fornication” in 17:2. The use of wine (“oinos”) in other parts of the New Testament is significant as well.

In the New Testament wine is used in celebration, during times of rejoicing. The first miracle Yahshua performed was to change water to wine at a wedding feast, John 2. It is a celebration drink.

Upon Abraham’s victorious return from battle with the kings, Genesis 14:18, Melchizedek greeted him with bread and wine (“yayin”–a fermented drink).

Similarly, in Deuteronomy 14:26 we find that wine is expressly used for REJOICING at Yahweh’s joyous Feasts (“wine” here is the Greek “shekar,” an intoxicant, but we are commanded against drunkenness, Eph. 5:18).

Wine, therefore, would be inappropriate for the solemn, deadly SERIOUS and even frightening observance of the Passover (recall that the death angel struck absolute FEAR into the hearts of Israel).

Paul chastized the once pagan Corinthian Assembly for coming together at Passover to gorge themselves on food and drink. He showed in 1Corinthians 11 that the Passover was a solemn occasion and not a festive time. It is a time for sober introspection, v. 28.

Wine at the Passover would be inappropriate in light of what Paul was teaching about sobriety and humility at Passover. Both wine (yayin) and “strong drink” were expressly forbidden during worship services, “that you may put difference between holy and unholy, between clean and unclean.” This was a statute Yahweh gave forever, for “all generations” (Lev. 10:9-11). Under the New Covenant, an elder is not to be “given to wine,” 1Timothy 3:3.

Intoxicants simply have no place in a worship setting.

Wine: Chemically Altered and Leavened

Wine is not a firstfruit of the grape. It is a byproduct. Wine is produced when yeast, a leavening agent, acts on the sugar molecule of fruit juice to produce ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide. Wine, then, is juice that has been chemically changed into something different. It is not the original, pure fruit of the vine, but a secondary byproduct. As a symbol for the pure, uncorrupted, sinless blood of Yahshua, a modified substance like wine would be inadequate. “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Messiah?…” (1Cor. 10:16)

More importantly, wine has been leavened in the same way bread is leavened by yeast. The Passover was to be eaten only with unleavened bread, Exodus 12:8. Nothing leavened was to be used at the Passover Memorial.

Unleavened bread represents Yahshua’s body unchanged by the corruption of sin, Mark 14:22. Similarly, the cup represents His pure blood, untainted by outside influences of the sinful world. Would a chemically altered drink like wine best represent His pure, unadulterated blood, or would the virgin juice from the grape?

Blood of the Grape

Biblically, the symbolism between blood and the pure juice of the grape is unmistakable.

In Genesis 49:11 we find a reference to the “blood of grapes.” A citation to drinking the “pure blood of the grape” is found inDeuteronomy 32:14.

Isaiah 63:1 speaks prophetically of the returning Messiah Yahshua, who comes from Edom (“red”) with dyed garments (red from blood) from Bozrah (meaning “vintage”–the yield of grapes from a grape crop).

Verse 2 reads, “Wherefore are you red in your apparel, and your garments like him that treads in the winefat?” “Winefat” is the Hebrew “gath,” which means to tread out grapes. It is not “yekeb,” which would be a wine-vat or a container storing wine.

“I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with Me: for I will tread them in Mine anger and trample them in My fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garment, and I will stain all My raiment,” Isaiah 63:3.

“Winepress” is a misnomer. It is in fact a trough for squeezing grape juice, with a drain at one lower end. The grapes were pressed down and the juice flowed out the drain. Here, the juice that flows from the grapes is equated with the blood of those whom Yahshua will destroy when He returns. Their blood is equated with the “blood of the grape”–grape juice.

The analogy is complete in Revelation 14:20, where “blood came out of the winepress.” “Blood” here is the Greek “haima,” and according to Strong’s Concordance Greek Dictionary means: “Blood, lit. (of men or animals), fig. (the juice of grapes) or spec. (the atoning blood of [Messiah]).”

Savior as a Firstfruits

Yahshua is the firstfruit sacrifice for man, 1Corinthians 15:20. The people were to offer the firstfruits of their produce to the priests,Deuteronomy 18:4–“…the firstfruit also of your corn, of your wine…” “Wine” here is “tirosh.”

For more uses of “tirosh” as freshly pressed juice of the winepress, see 2Chronicles 31:4-5 and Nehemiah 10:37-39; 13:5, 12. Just as the winepress is really a giant grape juice press, so wine is also used metaphorically for grapes. “As the new wine [Heb. “tirosh,” fresh grape juice] is found in the cluster…” Isaiah 65:8. We don’t find wine in a cluster, but we do find grapes that way.

“New wine” signifies the best–that juice which squeezes out by the sheer weight of the grapes in the winepress, before the treading. Thus, it is the firstfruits of the grape batch.

Yahshua is called the firstfruit of the dead, and the true vine. This pure firstfruit can only equate with the first of the freshly squeezed grape juice, not with a byproduct or wine, adulterated through chemical change.

Pure, unadulterated juice is the only proper symbol of the pure, saving blood of Yahshua the Messiah in the Passover. Grape juice is the only symbol that fits all the criteria and offers the only symbolism that is unique to His pure, precious blood.

Paul tells us that the Savior represents the first of the harvest: “But now is the Messiah risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept” (1Cor. 15:20).

Firstfruits offerings were commanded of Israel in Deuteronomy 18:4: “The firstfruit also of your corn, of your wine, and of your oil…” “Wine” here is the Hebrew “tirosh,” meaning freshly pressed juice. Similarly in Isaiah 65:8 we read of the “new wine [“tirosh,” fresh grape juice] found in the cluster” (see 2Chron. 31:4-5; Neh. 10:37-39; 13:5, 12).

Yahshua is actually the first of the firstfruits, 1Corinthians 15:23, and the true vine, John 15:1. This pure Firsfruit can only equate with the first of the freshly squeezed grape juice, not with the byproduct known as wine, which has been mixed with yeast spores and changed through aging and chemical action.

Can Grape Juice Be Preserved?

Some years ago a number of wine producers and processors of grape juice were contacted with the question, “Could grape juice have been preserved in the Holy Land 2,000 years ago from the fall of the year until early spring?” The response was equally divided. Those producing wine expressed doubts that grape juice could be preserved. Those producing grape juice stated it was possible even under primitive conditions, to do so. Furthermore, grapes in Israel had a high content of sugar, which was an advantage in preservation, some pointed out.

The Living Bible Encyclopedia in Story and Pictures explains how grape juice could be preserved: “The means for preserving grape juice were well known. Kato (De Agri Cultura CXX) has this recipe: ‘If you wish to have must [grape juice] all year, put grape juice in an amphora and seal the cork with pitch. Sink it in a fish pond. After 30 days take it out. It will be grape juice for a whole year’” (vol. 16, pp. 2088-2089).

Another method of preserving grape juice was to concentrate the juice by boiling it into a syrup. Stored in a cool place, this concentrate would not ferment. Adding water later yielded a sweet, unfermented grape juice. This was common in ancient times.

Still another way to have grape juice all year was to finely chop raisins, which are dried grapes–and then add water to produce the reconstituted juice.

Yahshua Kept His Promise

As Yahshua was participating in His memorial with His disciples, He said: “Drink you all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Matt. 26:27-29). About to die, Yahshua said He would not drink of the “fruit of the vine” until He was with them in the Kingdom. If the Passover cup contained wine, as some allege, then He broke that promise. Why is that? Simply this:

John 19:28-29 reveals that Yahshua’s thirst was satisfied when on the tree they gave Him “vinegar” (“oxos” in Greek), which is described as an inferior, common wine drunk by soldiers and laborers. (The Complete Biblical Library) “When Yahshua therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the Spirit” (John 19:30).

Yahshua had refused the wine (“oxos”) four times, but just before His death He did receive the wine. Had the previous Passover cup contained wine instead of “fruit of the vine” (grape juice), He would have broken His word not to drink of it again after the Passover and before the Kingdom.

Grape juice had to have been in the Passover cup. Pure, unadulterated “blood of the grape” is the only proper symbol for the pure, saving blood of Yahshua the Messiah in the Passover.

The root meaning of “Passover” (Hebrew Pacach, Strong’s No. 6452) is to “hop, skip over.” Its name is derived from the death angel’s “passing over” the homes of the Israelites on the 14^th at midnight, Exodus 12:29. The Passover memorial and subsequent applying of the protective blood to the homes of the Israelites was observed at dusk prior to the angel’s passing over. Here is confirmation of these facts from the Scriptures.

A key passage to knowing the time of Passover is Deuteronomy 16:6: “But at the place which [Yahweh your Elohim] shall choose to place his name in, there you shall sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt.”

The time of year the Passover was observed was Abib, the month of green ears of barley, Deuteronomy 16:1. “Going down” of the sun is the Hebrew bow. This key Hebrew word shows what time of day the Passover memorial is to be taken. “At even” is the Hebrew ben ha arbayim meaning between the evenings or between sunset and dark. We will look at the meaning of the Hebrew bowfirst.

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance Hebrew Dictionary shows the meaning of bow (935): to go in, enter, come, go, come in. It means the sun as it goes down into the horizon.

The following verses illustrate the translation of the Hebrew word bow. These passages confirm that bow means at sunset or when the sun goes into the horizon, according to Brown, Driver and Briggs Hebrew Lexicon:

Genesis 15:12, the sun was about to set, and verse 17; when the sun set;

Genesis 28:11, the sun had set;

Exodus 17:12, until the sun set;

Exodus 22:26, before the sun sets;

Leviticus 22:7, as soon as the sun sets;

Deuteronomy 23:11, at sundown; 24:13, at sun down; 24:15, same day before the sun sets;

Joshua 8:29, at sunset; 10:13, did not press on to set – [hasted not to go down]; 10:27, at sunset;

Judges 19:14, the sun set;

2Samuel 2:24, the sun was setting.

Note that the lamb was to kept UNTIL the fourteenth (“until” is the Hebrew “ad,” meaning “as far as,” “even unto,” Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance No. 5704). According to the preposition, it was not to be kept up to the END of the fourteenth, but up to the BEGINNING of the fourteenth.

Here is how various translations render Deuteronomy 16:6:

New American Standard

“But at the place where [Yahweh your Elohim] chooses to establish His name, you shall sacrifice the Passover in the evening at sunset, at the time that you came out of Egypt.”

New Revised Standard

“But at the place that [Yahweh your Elohim] will choose as a dwelling for his name, only there shall you offer the passover sacrifice,in the evening at sunset, the time of day when you departed from Egypt.”

Complete Jewish Bible

“But at the place where [Yahweh your Elohim] will choose to have his name live – there is where you are to sacrifice the Pesach offering, in the evening, when the sun sets, at the time of year that you came out of Egypt.”

The Bible in Basic English

“But in the place marked out by [Yahweh your Elohim] as the resting-place of his name, there you are to put the Passover to death in the evening, at sundown, at that time of the year when you came out of Egypt.”

New King James Version

“But at the place where [Yahweh your Elohim] chooses to make His name abide, there you shall sacrifice the Passover at twilight, at the going down of the sun, at the time you came out of Egypt.”

Young’s Literal Translation

“Except at the place which [Yahweh your Elohim] doth choose to cause His name to tabernacle — there thou dost sacrifice the passover in the evening, at the going in of the sun, the season of thy coming out of Egypt.”

NIV

“There you must sacrifice the Passover in the evening, when the sun goes down, on the anniversary of your departure from Egypt.”

Tanak  “But at this place where [Yahweh] your Elohim will choose to establish His  name, there alone shall you slaughter the Passover sacrifice, in the evening, at   sundown, the time of day when you departed from Egypt.”

James Moffatt on Exodus 12:6:  “But you must keep it till the fourteenth day of the same month, when every  member of the community of Israel shall kill it between sunset and dark.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible   “You must only sacrifice the Passover animal at the place where [Yahweh your  Elohim] chooses to have His name dwell. [Do this] in the evening as the sun sets at the [same] time [of day] you departed from Egypt.”

(NOTE: These Bible translators had no doctrinal agenda to promote or gain in their translation of this verse. They simply translated the Hebrew in the clearest, most precise way they could.)

Leviticus 23:5 reads, “In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is Yahweh’s passover.”

The word even is the Hebrew ereb = even (6150) rendered “evening, night, sunset” (Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon. It is translated thusly = “even” 72 times, “evening” 47 times, “night” 4 times)

Hebrew scholars confirm that ben ha arbayim means dusk, twilight:

Ben Yehudah’s English and Hebrew Dictionary, page 98, says “dusk” is English for the Hebrew phrase “beyn-ha-arbayim.”

J.H. Hertz, a Jewish commentator who edited the Pentateuch and Haftorah, translated “between the two evenings” as “dusk,” inLeviticus 23:5, Exodus 12:6, Numbers 9:1 and 11.

The Jewish Family Bible according to the Masoretic text (editors Rabbi Morris A. Gutstein, Ph.D., D.H.L. and Rabbi David Gravbart D.D., Ph.D.) translates “between the two evenings” as “dusk.”

Dictionaries define dusk as the time after sunset and before total darkness:

Oxford English Dictionary (OED): dusk = “dark from the absence of light. The dark stage of twilight before it is quite dark at night; to become dim, grow dark.”

Dusk is synonymous with twilight:

OED: twilight = “The light diffused by the reflection of the sun’s rays from the atmosphere before sunrise and after sunset.”

The Sadducees, the Karaites, and Samaritans, who were in charge of temple worship, observed Passover at sunset at the start of the 14^th, not mid-afternoon of the 14^th. The Pharisees later changed the Passover to the 15^th, adding many other non-scriptural traditions the rabbinical Jews still follow today.

The Interpreter’s Bible confirms that the Hebrew expression, “ben-ha-arbayim” has been reinterpreted by the Jews, revealing that the rabbinical teaching of from noon onward is a newer teaching. Notice: “The usage of the time referring to that after sunset and before darkness is the older practice,” page 919.

When the Spoiling of the Egyptians Occurred

The people were not told to spoil the Egyptians until just before the last plague fell, as we read in Exodus 11:1-2:

“And [Yahweh] said to Moses, I will bring but one more plague upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt; after that he shall let you go from here; indeed, when he lets you go, he will drive you out of here one and all. Tell the people to borrow, each man from his neighbor and each woman from hers, object of silver and gold.”

This is the first time that Moses is allowed to tell the entire congregation of Israel that they are to spoil the Egyptians. Moses told only the elders of Yahweh’s plan before this time, Exodus 3:16, 22. Later, the King James reads, “Speak now in the ears of the people…” Exodus 11:2. Up to this point Moses had not made this known, but now—just before Passover—the people shall learn that they are to borrow from the Egyptians.

Passover is on the 14^th, Feast of Unleavened Bread is on the 15^th—two separate observances

*Passover is SPECIFICALLY commanded as the 14^th of Abib: Lev. 23:5; Num. 9:3,5, 11; 28:16; 2Chron. 30:15; Ezra 6:19;Josh. 5:10

*Feast of Unleavened Bread is SPECIFICALLY commanded as the 15^th of Abib: Lev. 23:6; Num. 28:17

A revealing admission is found in the Encyclopaedia Judaica, Vol. 13, article “Passover,” page 169: “The feast of Passover consists of two parts: namely, Passover ceremony, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Originally, both parts existed separately; but the beginning of the exile they were combined.”

The Jewish Encyclopedia on page 553, dealing with Passover and the days of Unleavened Bread, says, “Two festivals, originally distinct, have become merged.”

Hastings Bible Dictionary says on page 686, article “Passover,” “Passover is always carefully distinguished from mazzoth [unleavened], which begins on the following day.” Hastings points out that each constitutes a separate observance, each on an entirely different day.

The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, page 729, article, “Passover, “ states:“Originally, both were separate feasts…”

Yahshua ate the Passover with His Disciples at the start of the 14^th  exactly as the Law mandated, or else He risked being “cut off”:

“On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to [Yahshua], saying, Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover? He said Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, The Teacher says, ‘My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples,’” Matthew 26:17-18 NRSV.

The parallel account in Mark reads, “The Teacher asks, where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples…Make preparations for us there, “ Mark 14:14-15.

Luke 22:7 quotes the Messiah saying to Peter and John, “Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it.” To the owner of the house they are to ask, “The Teacher asks you, ‘where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’” NRSV.

Later we are told in Matthew 26:20-21 at evening Yahshua took His place with the twelve, “and while they were eating…” Verse 26 again reveals,” While they were eating…” NRSV

Mark 14:18 reads, “And when they had taken their places and were eating, [Yahshua] said, Truly I tell you, one of you will betray Me who is eating with me.” Mark 14:20 reveals, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowwl with me.” NRSV