The Passover, the 15th, and the Seven Days
Leviticus 23:5-7
Context: The time setting…Whenever this was written by Moses, it was probably several years after the original Goshen Passover, perhaps near the beginning of the 40 year wandering, but editable up until the end of the 40 years.
This passage lists all the appointed times that the LORD wanted kept…seven holy days, with extra days attached, in the case of “khags”: Seven for UB, to for Weeks (Pentecost), if the weekly Sabbath is attached to the first and only day of Pentecost, and eight combined for the “khag” of Tabernacles and Last Great Day, with Trumpets and Atonement being one day celebrations.
(AFV)
Lv 23:5 In the fourteenth day of the first month, between the two evenings, is the LORD’S Passover,
Lv 23:6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD. You must eat unleavened bread seven days.
Lv 23:7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any servile work therein,
At question: Which day is the first day of Unleavened Bread? And is that day holy?
Either the Passover, which is clearly on the 14th, is the first day of UB, or the 15th is the first day, or/or the 15th is when the Passover seder meal was eaten.
The context here in Leviticus 23 is the specific times, specific months and specific days that are to be kept: the “moedim”, the “appointed times”, the “feasts of the LORD” throughout the year. Go to verses 5, 6, and 7. Notice that the 14th, at even, is when the Passover is kept…verse 5 is clearly speaking of the Passover being on the 14th day of the first month, at even (Nu 28:16-18 says almost the exact same thing, minus “at even”, “at dusk”, or “between the two evenings”[the more literal version]).
So, HERE’S THE PROBLEM: Verse 6 IMPLIES that the first day of Unleavened Bread is the fifteenth…then verse 7 continues on…”On the first day is a holy convocation…”. Verse 8 concludes the thought that the seventh day is also a holy convocation. Regarding verse 6, I say “implies” because, as we have just seen by comparing this verse with Deuteronomy 16:4, WHICH day is the first day…? Use each passage in its context to confirm the point.
Hold your place there, and go read Exodus 12, focusing on verse 10. Go back and forth, noticing, in context, that the “flesh” that was “not to remain” is the Passover sacrifice in both instances. Read Dt 16:1-7 and compare that to Exodus 12:6-12. We have addressed “by night” (Dt 16:1); “of the flock and of the herd”(Dt 16:2);”…sacrifice the passover, at even, at the going down of the sun”(Dt 16:6) when we compare Exodus 12:6…”keep it up until the fourteenth day…kill it in the evening/between the two evenings”…and, ”until the morning”(Ex 12:6,10,22). And we will go into more detail regarding Ex 12:18 as well when we get to Ex 12…
Back to comparing Dt 16:4 with Ezekiel 45:21-25, with 2 Chronicles 35:1-16, which state which DAY was/is/will be the first day of the seven days of UB, when the Passover was killed…compare those passages with Lv 23:5-7
NOTICE that, according to “The Fourteen Rules for Bible Study”, Rule 6…”What does the passage NOT say”… Verse 15 DOES NOT SAY that the fifteenth day is “the first day” of UB. It’s not in that verse. Granted, it is certainly implied, by our reasoning, because day 15 follows day 14, and then verse 7 immediately says, “In the first day you shall have a holy convocation…”, believing that verse 6 heavily implies that the 15th is the first day of UB.
But, the “Scripture cannot be broken”…Jn 10:35. It CANNOT CONTRADICT ITSELF! I’m not a Hebrew or Greek scholar, and, when this was written by Moses, there were not, as we understand it, punctuation or verse and chapter breaks, or even vowels. But by comparing the various passages on the same topic, we can get a clear picture of the meaning intended by the Creator. This is where the concepts of cross-contextual confirmation or cross-contextual insertion come into play. We must understand the different contexts or milieu that these separate times and events took place in, in order to get to the correct interpretation, without contradicting any one of the individual passages.
All of us who love the Truth, and I include all those who are reading this, want to “rightly divide the Word” without putting our own interpretation into the Scripture.
And what has been done throughout the last 70 years or so, we have mixed the passages together, mixing one word or phrase from Exodus 12 into the Passover passages in Leviticus 23, Numbers 33, and Deuteronomy 16, etc., mixing the contexts from each Passover passage into one interpretation, trying, sincerely, our best to perceive the original intention of our Creator.
The point in this passage is just this: Verse 6 does NOT say that the 15th day is the first day of Unleavened Bread.
So, the way that it must be interpreted, in this viewpoint, is that the 15th day of the first month is, in fact, the second day of the seven days of Unleavened Bread. This is the only conclusion that we can come to in light of the previous passages we’ve looked at. Why did Moses not specifiy it this way? I don’t know. But there probably was a continual misinterpretation through centuries of translations, from Moses’ original words. And I could certainly be accused of cross-contextual insertion by forcing this meaning into this verse, which I believe might be a form of eisegesis. But I have supplied evidence to counter that accusation if it were to be applied.
From the viewpoints of both the Jews and the 8 Dayers, this seems quite clear to say that the 15th is the first day of UB. And what I’m introducing here may seem confusing and contradictory, but, as we are exposing all the other scriptures that back up the fact that the 14th day IS the first day of UB, as Dt 16:4 clearly says, it will all fit together at the end.
Which interpretation or viewpoint is correct, out of the three, up to this point?
Viewpoint 1) the Jews (and many Messianics): The Passover lamb was killed over a several- hour-long afternoon period, until sundown, on the daytime portion of the 14th (which will be seen in the New Testament passages). And then they ate it after sunset on the 15th…a seder meal where they recite the Exodus story. That day, now the 15th, is also the first holy day of the seven days of the feast of Unleavened Bread, making the seventh day on the 22nd.
The problem? They conflate the actual passing over of the LORD to kill the firstborn, with the seder meal which they ate on the 15th. Although the lamb was killed on the 14th, it was not commemorated until the 15th, in this scenario. So, the original passing over, or Passover, occurred at midnight of the 14th, yet was spoken about, or commemorated on the 15th. But according to Nu 33:3, they left on the 15th, “the day after the Passover”…from Ramses. We go to Ex 12 to establish this:
Ex 12:12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.
Ex 12:23 For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians. And when He sees the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you.
Ex 12:29 And it came to pass at midnight the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the captive that was in the prison, also all the firstborn of livestock.
Another cross-contextual confirmation:
Num 33:3 And they set out from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the next day after the Passover day, the children of Israel went out with a high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians,
Viewpoint 2) The 8-Dayers agree with the conclusion above, that the Passover lamb had to have been killed as the 13th day ended so that the blood of that sacrifice could be used to put on the doorposts to protect against the death of the firstborn, who died at midnight of the 14th without that protection. They then believe, like the Jews, that the 15th is clearly the first day of UB, according to Lv 23:6. So, the remaining nighttime portion of the 14th, after a Passover service, is NOT a part of the seven days of Unleavened Bread, and it resumes at sunset as the 15th starts. They commemorate this leaving of Egypt with a meal that celebrates this achievement, which also is tied to the 15th holy day events that occur on the daytime portion of the 15th. They then end their seven day festival at the end of the 22nd, the same as the Jews. Yet they do damage to the narrative of Ex 12 to make it make sense (with what I call cross-contextual insertions).
Viewpoint 3) The third viewpoint is what I now call the Neo-Quartodeciman viewpoint (read to the end of this study to see why). In this scenario, the viewpoint of the 8-Dayers is confirmed when it comes to the passing over occurring at midnight of the 14th, but using the passages already covered (Ez, 2Ch, Dt, Mk, etc), they keep the 14th daytime portion as the first holy day and the 20th as the last holy day, making the 15th, in effect, the second day of the seven days of UB. Coordination of all these passages leads to a unified reading of Exodus 12:1 through Exodus 13:16, as well as the New Testament passages…using cross-contextual confirmation, without cross-contextual insertion.
Next, we will go to the original Passover passage and interpret what that passage MUST mean, without contradicting any of the other passages, and then correctly interpret each of the other passages in such a way as to not contradict ANY of the passages…and thus, understand how the original Passover colors all the others, and then understand each of those other passages in light of their context, without misinterpreting the individual contexts.
Please turn to Exodus 12 and take 8 to 10 minutes to read Exodus 12:1 through Exodus 13:16…