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Historical Passovers
Session Two of Two
Passover – The Fourteenth of Abib
Josiah
Ezekiel

Transcribed and edited from video

www.answersoflife.com

And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which YHWH will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of YHWH’s passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.
Exo 12:25-27

In Session One we talked about the historical Passovers, and surveyed five different Passover events, including the original Passover in Egypt, and then a Passover that occurred at Mt. Sinai one year later after the Israelites left Egypt. Then some thirty nine or forty years later, we found another Passover when Joshua took the Children of Israel into the Promised Land.

We followed that up with some seven hundred years later, in the time of Hezekiah in the First Temple, and that Passover is described in the Books of Kings and Chronicles. We also found a Passover in the Second Temple during the time of Zerubbabel, which was around 525 BCE.

I told you all in the first presentation that there was two more and this session will survey those final two Passovers that we find listed in the Tanakh. The first one is in the Book of Joshua, going back to the first Temple period. Some fifty years later in the writings of Ezekiel, we find in vision a discussion about the Passover. I have put these two together because of the Jubilee implication of them which you will see as the presentation develops.

Historical Passovers
1^st Temple

• Josiah
  Means founded of Yah
  Reigned 641/609 BCE – Thiele
  Josiah killed by Necho II
  Tammuz (July – August) 609 BCE
  Egyptians en-route to engage
  Babylonians at Harran
  624 – 623 BCE Jubilee Year
  Josiah reforms during 18^th year 623-622 BCE

The first Passover this time will be in the account of Josiah. Josiah’s name of course, means founded of Yah. Josiah reigned from 641 to 609 some thirty one years; you can find a good accounting of his regnal years in Edwin Thiele’s writing “The Mysterious Writings of the Hebrew Kings”. Josiah was operating toward the end of the First Temple period.

Let’s take a look at some of the political and environmental highlights from the Timeline of the Kings and Prophets chart.

Josiah reigned after his father Amon, who reigned after his father Manasseh, who reigned after his father Hezekiah, after his father Ahaz. We have a legacy and a long string of family that are residing as the King of the Southern Kingdom of Judah, as was prophetic.

Josiah actually had four sons, three of which became future kings. Josiah’s first son was Johanan but he wasn’t one in the regnal lineup, however Jehoahaz was. Jehoahaz’ birth name was Shallum, but he only reigned a few months before he was replaced by Jehoiakim, whose birth name was Eliakim. Pharaoh Necho actually changed Eliakim to Jehoiakim.

Jehoiakim’s son took over as Jehoiachin, but at the end when Nebuchadnezzar was ruling the land, just before the final ten year period in the kingdom, another of Josiah’s son whose name was Mattaniah by birth took over and was put in place by Nebuchadnezzar and his name was changed to Zedekiah. This is during the period of time when the Neo-Babylonian Empire was coming on strong. It was nearing its zenith in power by controlling the major part of the Levant and that part of the world.

The Assyrian Empire had sunset of course at this point in time, the Northern Kingdom had already been taken captive some hundred and thirty years previous. The Southern Kingdom is about to go into captivity, although Josiah came on the scene after a couple of very wicked kings, Manasseh being the worst of the bunch, but Josiah’s father wasn’t much better. Amon ended up leaving, I think he was actually killed and Josiah took over.

With that bit of background, let’s get back to the account of the Passover. Josiah was killed by Pharaoh Necho II, and most everyone that has read through the Kings and Chronicles accounts probably realize that fact. A good date has been set for Josiah being killed. There is secular evidence in the Babylonian Chronicles that it happened in what we would call the year 609 BCE in the summer months of July and August, or in the Babylonian month named Tammuz. The Egyptians were en-route to engage the Babylonians to the Battle of Megiddo, which was a significant battle.

Josiah decided he didn’t want Pharaoh Necho to participate in that; it’s unclear why Josiah engaged Necho at all. It is thought that Necho was perhaps going to become the dominate power and Josiah was trying to thwart that. The bottom line is that Josiah ended up getting shot with an arrow and died in the process.

All of this account that we are going to go into occurs at the end of the Jubilee year. I will show you the connections to that. It’s the reason that I put Josiah and Ezekiel together because there is a Jubilee year connection to both. We will see that a little later as we get to the end of Josiah’s account.

Josiah’s reforms occurred during his eighteenth year which was immediately at the end and after the Jubilee. We will get into the account by starting in 2 Chronicles.

Historical Passovers
1^st Temple

• Josiah

Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years. And he did that which was right in the sight of YHWH, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left.
(2Ch 34:1-2 RNKJV)

I always enjoy reading these accounts. You get a summary right up front in almost all of the kings that you read about. They did what was right in the sight of YHWH which there isn’t very many accounts that say that. In contrast, they did that which was evil or wicked in the sight of YHWH, which is the majority. Actually, all of the kings of the North fall into the wicked category. There are only a small handful of the Southern kings that fall into the right side of YHWH. Josiah happens to be one, and he is not following the wicked ways of his father and his father’s father Manassah and Amon. Both of those kings fell into severe idolatry and Baal worship. They took the kingdom in a real wrong direction. Josiah came as a reformer and put in place when he was eight years old because of the early death of his father. Actually, the people put him in place. Going on in 2 Chronicles:

Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of YHWH his Elohim.

In other words, he is working on the Temple.

And when they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered the money that was brought into the house of Elohim, which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin; and they returned to Jerusalem. (2Ch 34:8-9 RNKJV)

It would appear reading between the lines a little bit here, they were bring in the Temple tax that was imposed upon the land and they were bringing it back to the Temple in Jerusalem. They are going to make an accounting of it and start paying the workers so they can get completion of the Temple renovation.

The account in the Septuagint adds a detail to this which is useful.

And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josias, in the eighth month,

The eighth month is added in the Septuagint, you don’t see that in the Masoretic Text.

the king sent Sapphan the son of Ezelias the son of Mesollam, the scribe of the house of YHWH, saying, Go up to Chelcias the high priest, and take account of the money that is brought into the house of YHWH, which they that keep the door have collected of the people. (2Ki 22:3-4 Brenton)

This eighth month that is added in the Septuagint is useful in our chronology. Sometimes you have to be a little careful of the numbers in the Septuagint; I haven’t really found too many severe dates in the Chronicles and Kings. Although if you go back to the Book of Genesis there are definitely some numerical problems with how some of the early fathers in the early times before the flood were accounted for. I suspect this is a good accounting which is the eighth month because there is a lot of work that is going to be done between the eighth month of Josiah’s eighteenth year, in other words, just after Tishri.

Tishri would likely be the month that we will see to be the regnal year for accounting. Josiah’s eighteenth year started in the seventh month, the eighth month is just one month into his eighteenth year. When we get to the Passover which is the first month, it is still his eighteenth year. We will see the work that goes on and some of the activities along the way.

• Hilkiah finds the Book of Torah
  Deuteronomy 29:21

Going on in the account:

And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of YHWH, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of YHWH given by Moses. And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of YHWH. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan. And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All that was committed to thy servants, they do it. And they have gathered together the money that was found in the house of YHWH, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen. Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. (2Ch 34:14-18 RNKJV)

The workers are being taken care of, but the side benefit is that they found the Book of Torah that apparently had been lost. It’s not surprising because Amon and Manassah destroyed all of the good works of Hezekiah; the original father put in place and took the kingdom into idolatry. They didn’t want the Books of Torah around. So Hilkiah finds this Book of Torah, what is it? What does it meant that they found the Book of the law or the Book of Torah? I think there is controversy about what this is, but it is likely that it is the Book of Deuteronomy particularly chapter’s twelve through twenty six. It could have been the full accounting, I don’t know. The first eleven chapters of Deuteronomy is Moses giving the background and history of what happened in Egypt, how they left, and how they came into the Promised Land. They weren’t quite in the Promised Land when this second law, Deuteronomy, was given. It is likely the Book of Deuteronomy that has been found here.

And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of YHWH. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
(2Ki 22:8 RNKJV)

And YHWH shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law: (Deu 29:21 RNKJV)

This is the same terminology that is being used in Chronicles.

Going on in Chronicles:

And the king went up into the house of YHWH, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he ^{the king} read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of YHWH. And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before YHWH, to walk after YHWH, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book. And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it.

This is an interesting statement, “And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it”, meaning you will be abiding by this Torah is what he is saying.

And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of Elohim, the Elohim of their fathers. And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve YHWH their Elohim. And all his days they departed not from following YHWH, the Elohim of their fathers. (2Ch 34:30-33 RNKJV)

This is good news here, there is a reformation going on where people are following YHWH’s Torah.

A couple of highlights:

If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of YHWH thy Elohim, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto YHWH thy Elohim with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. (Deu 30:10 RNKJV)

You see even in the Book of Deuteronomy that there is a reference to the Book of the Law, “written in this book of the law”. You are also going to find that the Book of the Covenant will be mentioned. The reason I am bringing this differentiation up of the Book of the Covenant versus the Book of the Law, is that there are some commentaries that would try to sell you on the idea that this Book of the Covenant was the covenant that was established at Sinai with Moses in the fourth month after they left Egypt, because that is referred to as the Book of the Covenant in the context of it. The Book of the Covenant at Sinai though, effectively encompassed Exodus chapter 20 through 24, the covenant was made based on those four chapters of statutes and regulations. Here is what it says in Exodus 24:

• cf. Sinai book of the Covenant Exo 20 – 24

And he took the book of the covenant ^{no specific FOT or Passover instructions}, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that YHWH hath said will we do, and be obedient. (Exo 24:7 RNKJV)

Some have tried to make this finding of the Book of the Law in the time of Josiah, the Book of the Covenant back in the time of Moses. The problem with it is, this Book of the Covenant in this period of time in Exodus chapter twenty four, only included a reference to keeping the three Holy Day seasons. There were no instructions for the Passover in this case, or the Feast of Unleavened Bread, or Pentecost, or any of the other Holy Days.

That all came later in the Book of Leviticus, yes that occurred later on at Mount Sinai but the original Book of the Covenant and the four chapters in Exodus 20 – 24 are what this Book of the Covenant is about from an Exodus standpoint. This would be an early version of the covenant before they came to Moab and the Book of Deuteronomy was written. That is a little bit of background hopefully for your edification sake. Going on in the account in Josiah:

Historical Passovers
1^st Temple

• Josiah
  Passover reinstituted

Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto YHWH in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the house of YHWH, And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy unto YHWH, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders: serve now YHWH your Elohim, and his people Israel, And prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers, after your courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son.

They had other writings. You have to say that they must have had some part of Chronicles and Kings to get the writings of David according to the courses.

And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the families of the fathers of your brethren the people, and after the division of the families of the Levites. So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare your brethren, that they may do according to the word of YHWH by the hand of Moses. And Josiah gave to the people, of the flock, lambs and kids, all for the passover offerings, for all that were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks ^{H1241=baqar=beeve or ox kind} : these were of the king’s substance. (2Ch 35:1-7 RNKJV)

This is all good reform, they were keeping the Passover. It says they kept it on the fourteenth; we are going to see some more detail about that. I think the good news about this is that the Passover is being reinstituted, because it had effectively been abandoned by his father and his father’s father. Note what they are sacrificing. There is thirty thousand, those are probably lambs that are being talked about, but also three thousand bullocks. Those are beef cattle or oxen kind of animals. What I want to remind you of and we are going to look into this with just a little bit of detail, because it’s useful to see what they were doing. They were getting ready to keep the burnt offerings and peace offerings in the Temple with this particular Passover service.

Josiah’s reforms are taking place here, it’s his eighteenth year.

• Josiah’s reform – his 18^th year
  Last mention of the Ark of the Covenant until Rev 11:19

And the temple of YHWH was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. (Rev 11:19 RNKJV)

The ark of his testament is the same as the Ark of the Covenant. There has been quite a lot of investigation of where actually the Ark actually is. I don’t think we have to look too far, I suppose there could still be a hard copy of it someplace hidden away and maybe it will be discovered one day. It surely appears to me that the Ark, according to Revelation 11, is now in heaven. It is being taken care of by YHWH.

• Not a domestic household Passover
• Daily burnt offering and peace offering included lambs and oxen

What is being set up here is not a Domestic Household Passover as we would know as to how the Israelites kept when they went into their houses and painted blood on the lintel and the doorposts for the preparation of the death angel. This is not a Domestic Household Passover; this is really going to be a Temple Passover service. They have daily burnt offerings and peace offerings that include lamb and oxen. Going back to Numbers 28 we can see a little bit about that because it says:

And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of YHWH…ye shall offer a sacrifice made by fire for a burnt offering unto YHWH; two young ^{H1241=baqar=beeve or ox kind} bullocks, and one ram, and seven lambs of the first year…ye shall offer daily, throughout the seven days (Num 28:16-24 RNKJV)

This is a good example of keeping the Passover on the fourteenth, but now you are going to offer sacrifices of young bullocks and rams throughout the seven days. That is exactly what is getting ready to happen here in Josiah’s Passover reformation.

Historical Passovers
1^st Temple

• Josiah
  Passover reinstituted
  Josiah’s reforms – his 18^th year
  Not a domestic household Passover

So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the king’s commandment. And they killed the passover, and the priests sprinkled the blood from their hands, and the Levites flayed ^{H6584=strip, spread out} them. And they removed the burnt offerings, that they might give according to the divisions of the families of the people, to offer unto YHWH, as it is written in the book of Moses. And so did they with the oxen ^{H1241-baqar=beeve or ox kind}. And they roasted ^{H1310=bashal=boil up, be done in cooking} the passover with fire according to the ordinance: but the other holy offerings sod ^H1310=same they in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and divided them speedily among all the people. And afterward they made ready for themselves, and for the priests: because the priests the sons of Aaron were busied in offering of burnt offerings and the fat until night; therefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests the sons of Aaron.
(2Ch 35:10-14 RNKJV)

There is quite a bit going on, it’s easy to read over this and miss some of the details so we will try to talk about a few of those details. They are keeping the Passover according to the Book of the Covenant. The Parallel account to this in 2 Kings 23 uses this terminology, Book of the Covenant. It’s easy for me to see that they are using the Book of Moses, or the Book of Torah that is really the Book of Deuteronomy interchangeably for this Book of the Covenant.

• Kept the Passover according to Book of the Covenant

And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto YHWH your Elohim, as it is written in the book of this covenant. (2Ki 23:21 RNKJV)

I want to remind those that haven’t seen the presentation on the difference of roast and sod. They are using the word “roasted” here as what they did for the Passover but it really is the word “bashal” which means to boil up. There is specific Hebrew word used for “roast the Passover” in the account in Exodus, and that word is “tsaliy”. We see it in Exodus 12 verse 9.

• Roasted ^{H1310=bashal=boil up} the Passover

The instruction that Moses is providing says:

Eat not of it raw, nor sodden ^H1310=same at all with water, but roast ^H6748=tsaliy with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof ^{not flayed}. (Exo 12:9 RNKJV)

Moses says to roast, tsaliy the whole animal, but notice that the Levites are flaying out these sacrifices in verses 1- to 14 of Chronicles 35. They are not keeping the Domestic Household Passover, they are stripping or spreading out the sacrifice, they are going to offer it as burnt offering to YHWH, and then have a peace meal offering dinner afterwards.

The account really tips us off that this was a Temple Passover service; this is not a Domestic Household Passover service. I think that is important to see at this point in time, there is such a controversy among the believing community of whether the Passover was really on the part of the fourteenth going into the fourteenth or whether the sacrifices were conducted at the end of the fourteenth going into the fifteenth. It is an amazing controversy and people have looked at this, the scriptures are clear in how it talks about this and these accounts.

Hezekiah has some of this embedded into it but by Josiah’s time, it appears to me they are combining the fourteenth day and fifteenth day and we get evidence of that coming up.

They are bashalling part of these sacrifices because it says they put it in pots and cauldrons. I believe though, when you look at the word “bashal” you find that it can mean certainly means to boil up, or be done in cooking with water, but it can also generally be referenced in the connotation of cooking. Nevertheless, if you are going to use the Domestic Household Passover terminology, you would “tsaliy” it, you would roast it with fire, it’s very specific of what Moses’ instructions were.

I want to remind you of the first eight verses in Deuteronomy. I won’t detail this because this has been detailed in a previous presentation about Deuteronomy 16 and ba-erev on the website at www.answersoflife.com .

Historical Passovers
1^st Temple

• Josiah
  Passover reinstituted according to Book of the Covenant
  Temple Passover observed per Deu 16
  5. No sacrifice within your gates vs at home
  6. Sacrifice at sunset vs between the evenings
  7. Boil or sodden the sacrifices vs roast whole over fire
• Deu 16 provides instructions for DOUB burnt offerings and Peace offerings
• Shows implementation of Passover offerings in Num 28:17-24
• Not 14^th domestic household Passover sacrifice

Observe the month of the aviv, and keep the passover unto YHWH thy Elohim: for in the month of the aviv YHWH thy Elohim brought thee forth out of Egypt by night. Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto YHWH thy Elohim, 1. of the flock ^{H6629=sheep and goats} and the herd ^{H1241=beeve and ox}, in the 2. place which YHWH shall choose to place his name there. Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: 3. that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life.

It’s noteworthy that you came out, and this is talking about when you come out of the land of Egypt, not when you have the Passover service the night before.

And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coast seven days; 4. neither shall there any thing of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the morning. (Deu 16:1-4 RNKJV)

This is likely the instruction in the Book of Torah, the Book of the Law that Josiah is talking about, that they found hidden away in the Temple. Let’s look at what the instructions were that they saw here. It’s easy to read through this, and try to assign it to the Domestic Household Passover but when you detail it out, it is quite obviously is not talking about the Domestic Household Passover.

1. Sacrifice flock and herd vs flock only

The flock and the herd are the sheep and the goats, yes you can sacrifice the domestic service, but the herd you don’t. The domestic household Passover service is not the Passover of the cow. It is the Passover of sheep and goats, or lambs. Beef and oxen are used in sacrifices, but not until the seven days of sacrifices start.

2. YHWH choses location vs home

Moses’ instruction that came from YHWH said very specifically that you do this at home. There is one service at home, and there is one service that YHWH chooses, and that became the Temple certainly, but this instruction in Deuteronomy says it is the place YHWH chooses.

3. Memorial for the night Israelites left Egypt vs memorial for first born

There are two memorials during the Passover season. The very first one is the memorial service of the Passover at home, which is about the firstborn being delivered. The firstborn of the Israelites being delivered, they are the ones that YHWH claimed as his own when the Israelites left, these are the firstborn, his chosen. You shall be a kingdom of priests, the Israelites leaving Egypt was the memorial for the fifteenth, the second night.

4. No overnight leftovers same as domestic household Passover

The fourth item is common to both the Domestic Household Passover as well as the Temple, and that is that you don’t leave leftovers until the next morning. When the scripture says “neither shall there any thing of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the morning.” Get rid of it, burn it up.

Those are the first four differences and we will continue on to the next four verses in Deuteronomy.

5. Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which YHWH thy Elohim giveth thee: But at the place which YHWH thy Elohim shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, 6. at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt. And 7. thou shalt roast ^{H1310=bashal= boil up} and eat it in the place which YHWH thy Elohim shall choose: and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents. Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to YHWH thy Elohim: thou shalt do no work therein. (Deu 16:5-8 RNKJV)

It should be self-evident that the conclusion of this, in the last verse it says for seven days, on the seventh day you shall have a solemn assembly, you shall do no work therein. Six days you shall eat unleavened bread. That is the summary of what this is about.

5. No sacrifice within your gates vs at home

As we do a brief examination of Deuteronomy, really as a reminder that there should be no sacrifice within your gates versus at home. Those are two differences of the Domestic Home Passover service versus the Temple service.

6. Sacrifice at sunset vs between the evenings

There is a sacrifice at sunset but it doesn’t say in the Hebrew, if you look at “even” is not beyn ha-arbayim or between the evening. It is simply at even, at the end of the day on the fourteenth you want to do this sacrifice.

7. Boil or sodden the sacrifice vs roast whole over fire ^{H6748=tsaliy=roast}

The last item is that you shall roast and eat it. Roasting would be the correct English word, but it isn’t the correct Hebrew word when you look at where the translation comes from. You bashal it, meaning to boil it up or you cook it, however, keep in mind what Moses said to do was to tsaliy it. If you are going to have a Domestic Household Service you tsaliy (roast) it so this must be talking about the Temple service when it says to bashal (boil) it.

Those reminders of what I presented in greater detail in the other presentations:

Presentation reference:
Passover, Ba Erev Evening, Deu 16
Passover Combined with DOUB – Pt 6

You can find it on our website at www.answersoflife.com in the Spring Holy Day Presentation Series

The bottom line is that Deuteronomy 16 provides instructions for the Days of Unleavened Bread, burnt offerings and peace offerings. It shows the implementation of Passover offerings that are detailed in Numbers Chapter 28. This is not the fourteenth Domestic Household Passover service that Deuteronomy 16 is talking about. I hope that makes it clear and perhaps gives food for thought for some that may see this, and have not had that understanding. It wasn’t too many years ago when I read Deuteronomy 16 and thought it was talking about the Household Passover service as well, this isn’t something that I have known for a long time, maybe four or five years ago it started to come out that this was talking about something different.

Historical Passovers
1^st Temple

• Josiah
  Passover reinstituted according to Book of the Covenant
  Temple Passover observed per Deu 16
  Combined 14^th and 15^th ordinances
  Not since Samuel was such a Passover held
  Passover kept during 18^th year of Josiah – Nisan 1^st month
  cf. vs 19 with LXX
  Book of the Law found 8^th month of Josiah’s 18^th year cf. 2 Kings 22:3 LXX
  Still 18^th year at Passover
  Tishri – Tishri regnal calendar used

So all the service of YHWH was prepared the same day, to keep the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of YHWH, according to the commandment of king Josiah. And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days. And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ^{Vs 19} In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover kept. (2Ch 35:16-19 RNKJV)

There are some significant highlights on this section of the scripture. It should be clear when you read the first verse, “So all the service of YHWH was prepared the same day, to keep the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of YHWH”. They did all of this on the same day, not two separate days. They combined the fourteenth and the fifteenth ordinances here. They kept the Passover, and the burnt offerings were completed. That part of the sacrifice was on the same day. It is easy to read over part of the scripture, but if you read it in other translations, it will even become clearer, but that is exactly what it is saying. The service of YHWH was prepared the same day, on the fourteenth.

Not since Samuel was there such a Passover held, so this goes back some eleven hundred years before there was a Holy Day Passover service of this magnitude and significance. If you go back to the time of Solomon, four hundred or so years previous, but in Solomon’s day there was a Feast of Tabernacles that was significant that had hundreds and thousands of sacrifices that were offered but that wasn’t a Passover. There are no Passovers that you find in the historical records of anything quite like this. I suspect there is some part of it that might be considered unorthodox also, because of the combining of the fourteenth and fifteenth services.

Combining is something that is noted when you study into the details of the Passover. Originally the two services and memorials were separate. The Passover for the Domestic Household was separate on the fourteenth from the Temple Passover service that started on the fifteenth through the twenty first. With the long history of the Israelites, the Passover on the fourteenth and the Days of Unleavened Bread starting on the fifteenth got combined, and here is a good example of this.

Keep in mind this Passover was kept in the eighteenth year of Josiah, and this is obviously the fourteenth of Nisan. That means the first month, and it is still the eighteenth year, so Josiah was not using Nisan as his regnal calendar, he would have been using Tishri as his regnal calendar. I want to mention that in this last verse the eighteenth year of his reign is actually verse 19 in the Masoretic Text. When you read it in the Septuagint, it is a different rendering and much more extensive.

In 2 Kings as a comparison to what we just read:

Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to YHWH in Jerusalem. Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of YHWH.
(2Ki 23:22-24 RNKJV)

Again, this Book of the Law, according to the Septuagint found in the eighth month, Josiah purged the land, so there is also controversy that Josiah started this on Nisan 1. He purged the land, he fixed the Temple, he went to Huldah the Prophetess, and there was a lot of activity that would have had to be compressed into a two week period that frankly, I don’t think is possible. It makes much more sense that he started in the fall in the eighth month, and there was a period of months, five months or so to accommodate all of the activities that are mentioned when you actually detail this account of what has unfolded. Again, this was a Tishri to Tishri regnal calendar for the anniversary dates for Josiah.

Historical Passovers
1^st Temple

• Josiah
  Passover reinstituted according to the Book of the Covenant
  Temple Passover observed per Deu 16
  cf. LXX – 2 Ch 35:19
  Josephus commentary

If we take a look at the Septuagint on verse 19, it is interesting and I have highlighted the same verse, verse 19 is one line long in the Masoretic Text, but look at what the Septuagint adds to this.

In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josias this passover was kept ^{vs 19 Masoretic Text}, after all these things that Josias did in the house. And king Josias burnt those who had in them a divining spirit, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and the sodomites which were in the land of Juda and in Jerusalem, that he might confirm the words of the law that were written in the book which Chelcias the priest found in the house of YHWH There was no king like him before him, who turned to YHWH with all his heart, and all his soul, and all his strength, according to all the law of Moses, and after him there rose up none like him. Nevertheless YHWH turned not from the anger of his fierce wrath, wherewith YHWH was greatly angry against Juda, for all the provocations wherewith Manasses provoked him: and YHWH said, I will even remove Juda also from my presence, as I have removed Israel, and I have rejected the city which I chose, even Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.
(2Ch 35:19 Brenton)

Manasseh’s transgressions were so great that YHWH wasn’t going to forget them. He gave a respite, and if you read the account Huldah said that he would have a peaceful life and YHWH’s vengeance won’t take place until after Josiah’s death. That is exactly what happened. The Septuagint account adds quite a bit of detail to what is going on here in this period of history.

I have a couple of charts for Josephus’ commentary on this that is useful. Josephus always adds a dimension that I enjoy gathering. Josephus isn’t scripture but he does have a good historical record and he has done a lot of good work.

But the multitude punished those that slew Amon, his father and buried him with his father, and gave the kingdom to his son Josiah, who was eight years old.

Keep in mind if he was in his eighteenth year, he was still a young man when this reformation was going on. It was a real credit to what Josiah’s character was all about which is what Josephus is getting ready to describe.

His mother was of the city of Boscath, and her name was Jedidah. He was of a most excellent disposition, and naturally virtuous, and followed the actions of king David, as a pattern and a rule to him in the whole conduct of his life. And when he was twelve years old, he gave demonstrations of his religious and righteous behavior; for he brought the people to a sober way of living, and exhorted them to leave off the opinion they had of their idols, because they were not Elohim, but to worship their own Elohim. And by repeating on the actions of his progenitors, he prudently corrected what they did wrong, like a very elderly man, and like one abundantly able to understand what was fit to be done; and what he found they had well done, he observed all the country over, and imitated the same.

And thus he acted in following the wisdom and sagacity of his own nature, and in compliance with the advice and instruction of the elders; for by following the laws it was that he succeeded so well in the order of his government, and in piety with regard to the Divine worship And this happened because the transgressions of the former kings were seen no more, but quite vanished away; for the king went about the city, and the whole country, and cut down the groves which were devoted to strange gods, and overthrew their altars; and if there were any gifts dedicated to them by his forefathers, he made them ignominious, and plucked them down; and by this means he brought the people back from their opinion about them to the worship of Elohim…After these things, Josiah went also to such other Israelites as had escaped captivity and slavery under the Assyrians, and persuaded them to desist from their impious practices, and to leave off the honors they paid to strange gods, but to worship rightly their own Almighty Elohim, and adhere to him. Jos Ant 10.4.1-5

What a nice testimony from Josephus. Also, if you want to do more study on this and do your own investigation, there is another book that you will find. It is an apocryphal book and is 1^st Esdras, chapter 21 in the first twenty three verses parallel much of what we just read.

I want to bring in the Jubilee into this presentation because there is an account written about in the Jewish Encyclopedia as well as the Seder Olam and Maimonides. You put these all together and you get information about the Jubilee’s during this period of time. There is a nice synopsis in the Jewish Encyclopedia under the Sabbatical Year and Jubilee that I want to pull from our Sabbatical a Jubilee presentation because it is pertinent to what is going on.

Review – 1^st Temple Era
Jubilee Year Proclamation
Jewish Encyclopedia
From Ezekiel Proclaims Jubilee in 574 BCE – Part 4

• 1^st and 2^nd Temple destroyed on closing of Sabbatical year
  1^st Temple – year after sabbatical year
  2^nd Temple – end of a Sabbatical year
• 16^th Jubilee occurred in 18^th year of Josiah
  641-40 – 18 ^accession sys – Thiele
  623-22 BCE
  Jubilee – 624-23 BCE ^{ending Tishri 10}
  Josiah’s 18^th year ^{starting Tishri 1}
• 1^st year of Southern Kingdom exile was 36^th year of Jubilee cycle
• Jubilee year was 25^th year of Jehoiachin captivity
• Jubilee years was 14 years after destruction of Jerusalem
• Ezekiel proclaims Jubilee in 574 BCE

The First and Second Temple, the Talmud says, were destroyed on the closing ^{following – Rambam} of the Sabbatical year. The sixteenth jubilee occurred in the eighteenth year of Josiah, who reigned thirty-one years; the remaining thirteen years of his reign, together with the eleven years of those of Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin and the eleven years of that of Zedekiah, fix the first exilic year as the thirty-sixth year of the jubilee cycle, or ^{(the Jubilee year)} was the twenty-fifth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin, or fourteen years from the destruction of the Holy City, The Babylonian captivity lasted seventy years. (Jewish Encyclopedia, Sabbatical Year and Jubilee – Talmudic and Samaritan Calculation)
Jubilee – references in b. Talmud:
b. Arakhin 12a, b – Jubilee includes time of Ezekiel
b. Arakhin 32b – 33a, b – Jubilee includes time of Jeremiah
b. Megillah 14b – Jubilee in the time of Josiah

Pretty interesting account from the Jewish Encyclopedia, of course they took their work from some of these other sources that I have mentioned as well as from the references that are made in the Talmud.

What this is saying, if you sum it all up, the First and Second Temple were destroyed on the closing of a Sabbatical Year. Indeed that is the case, the First Temple was destroyed the year after a Sabbatical, and the Second Temple was destroyed at the end of a Sabbatical year.

The sixteenth Jubilee occurred in the eighteenth year of Josiah. When you look at the date of how things work out, and apply what we have discovered with Ezekiel’s declaration of a Jubilee year, in the presentation series that I have previously done, this all starts to match together.

The sixteenth Jubilee occurred in the eighteenth year of Josiah, and after I read this a month or so ago as I was preparing this presentation, I started researching that and sure enough that is the case. It is something that I hadn’t gotten to yet in the Sabbatical and Jubilee studies but indeed it is true. Josiah started his reign in what we would call in the Gregorian year 641 – 640; keep in mind that we always have to adjust for Nisan or Tishri years, and accession versus non accession years. It appears that Josiah used the accession system according to Edwin Thiele’s work.

• Josiah’s regnal anniversary is Tishri 1

Eighteen years after the start of his reign takes us to 623/622, it turns out that is a year after the Jubilee year which was 624/623 BCE. However, I will show you how the two actually match up in this account in the Jewish Encyclopedia is really correct. Josiah’s eighteenth year starts on Tishri 1, but keep in mind the Jubilee year doesn’t end until Tishri 10. A few other things that you can summarize from this account in the encyclopedia, is that the first year of the Southern Kingdom exile was indeed the thirty sixth year of the Jubilee cycle. We saw that in the Sabbatical and Jubilee studies.

• Jubilee anniversary is Tishri 10

The Jubilee year was the twenty fifth year of Jehoiachin’s captivity, and the Jubilee year was fourteen years after the destruction of Jerusalem. Ezekiel proclaimed Jubilee in the year 574 BCE. With that reminder as background, let’s take a look at how this fits with Josiah. I have taken Josiah’s years and tagged them into the same Sabbatical and Jubilee calendar going backwards in time, it turns out that the Jubilee cycle that occurred what would have been in 624/623 if we use the same fifty year reference point that we discovered Ezekiel made in 574 some fifty years previous, would be exactly 624/623. It turns out that Josiah’s regnal anniversary is right at the end of that but within it. The vertical white line inside the first circle represents Tishri 1.

• Ten day overlap

Josiah’s anniversary is falls on that line as Tishri 1 and the Jubilee anniversary is actually Tishri 10, so a little bit to the right of this line is an overlap so Josiah’s eighteenth year which is when this anniversary starts, has a ten day overlap with the Jubilee.

• Passover in Nisan of Josiah’s 18^th year 622 BCE

This reference document that you see appears to be correct. There is an overlap of Josiah’s eighteenth year when it started with the Jubilee. The Passover that occurred in Nisan was some six months later during his eighteenth year so keep in mind the years of Josiah in this case, have a boundary on them which is Tishri to Tishri. Half way in the middle would be the month of Nisan or Abib. That is indeed when this Passover occurred.

It’s interesting that all of this reformation and restart occurred after a Jubilee year. I don’t believe they were keeping the Jubilee then but YHWH knew when it was. There was a reformation and a reset. There was a destruction of the Baal system and groves that had developed. That all happened during the Jubilee year that would have been on the calendar at that point in time. Again, Josiah probably didn’t know it was on the calendar, I’m not sure if the priests knew, they might have because it sure appeared that Ezekiel knew it was on the calendar when we get to him.

• Josiah died Tammuz (Jul-Aug) 609 BCE

With that little bit of background, we can also highlight when Josiah died, it says it was in his thirty first year. I previously researched and presented that it was in 609 and indeed it was. It appears that to be correct.

Josiah died and his son Jehoahaz was put in by the people, but he wasn’t very popular with Pharaoh Necho. Pharaoh Necho took him out, he only reigned 3 months and that is when Jehoiakim got put in place and Jehoiakim’s birth name was Eliakim. All of that happened and this chart from this point on is what we used in the Sabbatical and Jubilee part for the geo politics during the time of Ezekiel, and the downfall of the Southern Kingdom and destruction of the Temple.

• Ezekiel goes into captivity

With that we can put a marker on this chart as a foundational item. We know when Ezekiel was taken captive during the siege and deportation that Nebuchadnezzar carried out in 597 BCE.

That started Ezekiel’s count of the captivity being the first year, and that also started the count of Ezekiel being in captivity. That is important here because we are going to go on to Ezekiel and talk about the Passover that Ezekiel highlights for us.

In the slide on page 22 we can see the anchor points where Josiah died and Ezekiel was taken captive as two of the same starting points so I can continue on to the next Jubilee cycle which occurs in 574/573. This Jubilee is part of the Sabbatical and Jubilee study that we did about a year ago, and there were a couple of highlights about it that I want to bring up.

The first highlight is that the Temple was destroyed the first time following a Sabbatical year and the thirty sixth year in the Jubilee cycle according to Rambam Maimonides. That occurred in 587. You see that the Jubilee count is 36^th year in the account just as Rambam said. Also, when we get out to the twenty fifth year, we see in the Seder Olam a comment about this. It says:

And so it says (Eze 40:1): “In the 25^th year of our exile, on the day of the New Year, on the tenth of the month, 14 years after the destruction of the city of Jerusalem”. When did he (Ezekiel) have this vision? At the beginning of a Jubilee period – Seder Olam

We see this as the fourteenth year after the fall of Jerusalem, that all matches up. None of this is new news; I have presented it previously with the Jubilee study.

What I want to use these items as a bridge because Ezekiel now has a vision. We have talked about his vision really from the standpoint of it being a Jubilee vision in Ezekiel chapter 40. I want to examine this vision in more detail, because he talks about the Passover service that is going to be celebrated in this Temple vision that he sees.

Historical Passovers
Ezekiel’s Temple Vision

In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of YHWH was upon me, and brought me thither. In the visions of Elohim brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, by which was as the frame of a city on the south. (Eze 40:1-2 RNKJV)

That is going to be our starting point. Take a look at the Temple complex that he is now seeing in vision on page 23. I discovered this artist’s rendering of this a few weeks ago and looked into it. It is a most impressive piece of work. It is useful if you want to take a closer look at this to go to the website that has it. It is Biblaprints.com in a section called free animations. It has some number of free animations. They are all well done but the Temple part of it has actually a guided tour that you can take through this Temple complex. It uses scriptures and measurements from Ezekiel’s account, and it is really a thoroughly well researched tour. It’s probably worthy of taking a look at if you like such things. In any case, it is a picture of what Ezekiel’s Temple looked like from the vision dimensions and measurements that are given in this account starting in Ezekiel chapter 40.

People have probably read over it, and through it, because it uses rods and cubits as a dimensional items and it is detailed in what it presents. I want to take a look at this account because Ezekiel is talking about a Jubilee reset. This whole thing is starting because it’s a Jubilee vision that he has.

Historical Passovers
Ezekiel Vision 574 BCE Jubilee Year

• Ezekiel
• Jubilee reset for Israel (ch. 40-48)
  New Temple layout (ch. 40-43)
  Refined Temple administration and worship protocol (ch. 44-46)
  Stream of living water (ch. 47)
  Food and healing from the tree of life (ch. 47)
  Reallocation of land (ch. 47-48)

Let’s get a little bit of background about where Ezekiel fits in the Timeline of the Kings and Prophets.

Ezekiel is contemporary with Jeremiah and Daniel, and was the prophet that lived in the Southern Kingdom but was taken as a prisoner into exile in 597 BCE, so Ezekiel lived at the end of the Southern Kingdom; he then lived in Babylon for the remainder of his life. It isn’t thought that he came out of Babylon, and if you recall the accounts he saw in vision at the river Chebar, the vision about all of this, if you read all of Ezekiel you find that he was talking to the elders there. He had messages and visions from YHWH all along the way.

Jeremiah, by contrast, was the prophet that lived in Jerusalem until the conquest by Nebuchadnezzar and the actual fall of Jerusalem, and the burning down of the Temple. Jeremiah lived through all of that in Jerusalem, and was taken out by Nebuchadnezzar’s general but then he was turned loose. I think it is thought that Jeremiah went to Egypt as a result.

We know a lot about Daniel because he lived in Nebuchadnezzar’s court. He was the second in command there, the Secretary of State or something like that. He was a man well respected by King Nebuchadnezzar. What is going on here in this period of time is that there is no Temple. Fourteen years previous Jerusalem has fallen and we are in this period of exile. The Israelites, both the North and the Southern Kingdoms are in captivity during this period of time that we are getting ready to look at during Ezekiel’s vision.

• Jubilee reset for Israel
  New Temple layout

With that in mind, this reset that we start with, this Jubilee reset is useful to keep in mind. When you diagram what these nine chapters of this vision are about, you see that there is a new Temple layout provided in a great amount of detail in Chapters 40 to 43.

• Refined Temple administration and worship protocol

You find there is a refined Temple administration and how they worshiped was changed. How the Levites were assigned more administrative responsibilities, except the Zadok Priests were assigned to go into the Holiest part of the Temple.

• Stream of living water
• Food and healing from the tree of life.
• Reallocation of the land

The stream of living water comes out of this Temple and it is physical, it seems as though it is seen in vision as a physical representation of the stream of living water that we see in the end of Revelation in chapters 21 and 22. There is a stream of living water that comes out of here, and the tree of life is part of this vision that Ezekiel sees, food for healing from the tree of life. I think that is really notable that YHWH wants to bring that into what is being presented here in this vision. A reallocation of land, yes, the Israelites get to return and have a reallocation of the land.

• Alternatives
• Allegorical

What is interesting about all of this is, what does it mean? When you start studying into it, you find all kinds of conjecture and it falls into three or four categories. The first one is that this is all allegorical. It is talking about heaven; it’s the heavenly presentation in physical terms, and it could well be that YHWH has in mind.

• Tribulation Temple

There are quite a number of people that think this is a tribulation Temple that something like this is going to be built just before the millennium during the tribulation period and there will be animal sacrifices. Animal sacrifices are definitely talked about here.

• Millennium Temple
  prepare – do, make, become
  prepare the Passover

There is also some number, particularly I would say in the Messianic groups that think this to be a Millennial Temple. During the Millennium this is what the Temple is going to look like, by the way, we are going to have sacrifices in the Millennium because that is the section that we are going to go into. In chapter 45 it talks about the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles, and the blood sacrifices that are going to be offered.

Those are maybe the three categories that I have run into for the most part, my wife Linda and I have looked at this. We have studied the Book of Hebrews and have a hard time justifying that there are going to be animal sacrifices in the Millennium. The sacrifices are past, the Book of Hebrews makes that clear, they are abandoned and abolished. We are going to go through those scriptures. The work around that we thought was correct for this is that when we read through Ezekiel 45 it says:

And it shall be the prince’s part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall prepare ^{H6213=asah=make, do accomplish, become} the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel. (Eze 45:17 KJV)

We have seen this in the light of what the word prepare means. It is the Hebrew word “asah” which means to make, do accomplish, become. Certainly, if we think the prince is Yahushua, then he has become at this point in time. When this was written Yahushua had not become the sacrifice, he hadn’t accomplished his mission of giving his life for us. It made sense that Ezekiel would write it like this because Yahushua had not actually given his life yet. That was yet to happen and that is what this is a future view of. Yahushua was the prince, and he will prepare, or make, do or become, the sin offering. When actually this Temple got built, there wasn’t really going to be blood sacrifices because Yahushua had already become them. That was our thinking up until a few weeks ago. As I started to add all of this together, we have come up with a different understanding. It may not be yours but I am going to present it.

This is something like what we had thought previously, to prepare and become the sin offering, was something like in the New Testament accounts when the Passover of Yahushua occurred.

And He sent Peter and John, saying, Having gone, prepare for us the Passover, that we may eat.

He was saying, go get it ready, go put it together.

And they said to Him, Where do You desire that we prepare?
(Luk 22:8-9 KJ3)

We were seeing these words “prepare” even though one is Greek and one Hebrew in the same vision if you will.

Let’s take a look at what is inside of some of these accounts, so go back to Ezekiel 40.

And he brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate. And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew thee; for to the intent that I might shew them unto thee art thou brought hither: declare ^now all that thou seest to the house of Israel.(Eze 40:3-4 KJV)

I am bringing you here to show you these things, is what YHWH is saying. What he is telling him is, and I have added the word “now”, now is not in the Hebrew text but I know that we don’t want to add to the scriptures but the context of this is to; go declare now, all that you see to the house of Israel.

• New Temple after the Babylonian exile
• Ezekiel’s vision addressed directly to the exiles in captivity – all Israel

We are going to see that here as we unfold this in some of the instructions that are given to Ezekiel during this vision that is going on. Ezekiel’s vision is addressed directly to the exiles in captivity. In other words, all of Israel, not just the Southern Kingdom, and the Northern Kingdom were mixed in with them in different places, but he is supposed to go tell these exiles about all of this.

In Ezekiel chapter 43 we get another clue of what the intent is here, and what the context is.

And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places. (Eze 43:7 KJV)

Why did they get taken into captivity? Because they were worshipping in high places, they couldn’t kick that habit to have false gods before them. Ezekiel is being told “My holy name is what stands”, the house of Israel shall no more defile it. They are in captivity, he is talking about “now”, and he isn’t talking about the future.

Going on in Chapter 43:

In their setting of their threshold by my thresholds, and their post by my posts, and the wall between me and them, they have even defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed:

It’s talking about “now”, the situation they are in now and why they are in captivity.

wherefore I have consumed them in mine anger. Now let them put away their whoredom, and the carcases of their kings, far from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever.

He is giving them a promise, if you put your idolatry, he would dwell with them forever.

Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel ^now, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern. And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them ^now. (Eze 43:8-11 KJV)

I see this as a lot of now statements that I haven’t seen before, I have not recognized that YHWH is telling them that he is going to give them another opportunity, and he did. Is he going to give them a second class or second rate opportunity to come back into the land? No, he is going to give them his full benefit of love, compassion, and blessings. That is what YHWH wants.

I started to see this in the light of, here is what the people in captivity have an opportunity to go and be a part of. There is a new alternative and I had seen this previously, but had never given it much attention and there aren’t many people that see this vision this way, but I am just explaining to you what has come to my wife Linda and I as a result of looking into it in greater detail.

This new Temple is what Ezekiel is being led to write about so that they would have the pattern when they came out of exile. This new Temple is to be what they were to be given after they come back out of exile. They should have learned their lesson, YHWH wants to give them a full benefit of blessings, and this is all being addressed to the captivity in Israel now. With that in mind, let’s look at what this Passover service is about that Ezekiel mentions. It is talking about at the season of the Passover; the Days of Unleavened Bread.

And upon that day shall the prince ^{H5387=exalted one, king, governor (134 occurrences)} prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin offering. (Eze 45:22 KJV)

• Prince is not Yahushua the Messiah

The verse that comes a few chapters before this talk about a prince, when you study this, it oftentimes is thought that the prince is Yahushua. I no longer think that. The prince that is being talked about here is a “naw-see”, it’s an exalted one, and that is where people think that the exalted one is Yahushua. It’s an exalted one, a king or a governor. It occurs some 134 times in the Tanakh, and if you look, I haven’t looked at all 134 occurrences but I have looked through the list, and every time you see this word “naw-see” or prince, it’s talking about a human. It isn’t talking about Yahushua; it’s talking about a king or a governor, somebody that is in charge. This prince that is talked about here is somebody that is being placed here as a king or governor. Just a few chapters previous, in Ezekiel 34 we see the word “naw-see” used exactly in that context.

And I, YHWH, will be their Elohim, and My servant David a prince ^H587=same among them; I, YHWH, have spoken. (Eze 34:24 NKJV)

This is in the greater context of Ezekiel’s prophecies, but Ezekiel himself uses this same word “naw-see” in reference to David as a governor, or as a king. I think that is what is being talked here, it’s not talking about Yahushua coming, it is talking about the leader of the people.

Going on in Ezekiel 45, actually a few verses previous:

Thus saith the Master YHWH; Let it suffice you, O princes ^H5387=same of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute judgment and justice, take away your exactions from my people, saith the Master YHWH. (Eze 45:9 KJV)

Here is the word prince used for the princes or the kings or leaders of Israel, and this is more of about the “now”, he is saying in this vision to take away your exactions from my people. They are taxing the people, trying to leverage the finances of the people, and that is what these leaders were doing. It is somewhat their history of how they treated the people; the leaders of the Israelite nations treated the people by taxing them, and taking advantage of them financially. It is one of the reasons they went into captivity, they were doing the same thing.

This is another reason to think that this is talking about what is happening “now” on the ground in Ezekiel’s time, not some future time before the millennium and a tribulation period, or even after in the millennial period. This is talking about “now” what is going on. In Ezekiel 45:9 in the New King James, it makes it a little clearer.

‘Thus says YHWH Elohim: “Enough, O princes of Israel! Remove violence and plundering, execute justice and righteousness, and stop dispossessing My people,” says YHWH Elohim. (Eze 45:9 NKJV)

It’s what they were doing, a couple of questions have to do with this being a no sin offering that is being made here would include Yahushua.

• No sin offering for Yahushua

You see that the prince is to prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock. If this prince were Yahushua, he would not be preparing for himself a sin offering, so this prince that is being described here can’t be Yahushua. It has to be a human, a kingly or governor type of prince. That is one item, and the princes are being admonished here for their behavior, Yahushua wouldn’t have been admonished for his behavior. Also, if this were a Premillennial or Millennial Temple that is being described, would these things be said? Would these things be said if it was a Millennial Temple for example? I don’t think so, we are going to go into the millennium, if there is a Temple going to be built in the Millennium, it isn’t going to be built under the auspices of people that were dispossessing his people. If you stop dispossessing your people we will build this Temple in the Millennium. This is talking about the “now” on the ground as Ezekiel is being given this vision.

Some of the accounts specifically about the Passover with that background in mind:

Historical Passovers
Ezekiel Vision 574 BCE Jubilee Year

• Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread and Feast of Tabernacles specified
  Passover and DOUB reinstituted
  Punctuation controversy

Thus saith the Master YHWH; In the first month, in the first day of the month, thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary: And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering, and put it upon the posts of the house, and upon the four corners of the settle of the altar, and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court. And so thou shalt do the seventh day of the month for every one that erreth, and for him that is simple: so shall ye reconcile the house. In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. And upon that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin offering. And seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to YHWH, seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days; and a kid of the goats daily for a sin offering. And he shall prepare a meat offering of an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and an hin of oil for an ephah.
(Eze 45:18-24 RNKJV)

You see all of these blood sacrifices, so if a person makes the conclusion that this is particularly a Millennial Temple, then obviously they are making blood sacrifices. Could that be the case? I used to think so, except I thought the blood sacrifices had been prepared by Yahushua. Many people that have studied this think that this is about the Millennium and blood sacrifices because it says a lot about that. Let’s take a look at a couple of parts of this.

One of the controversies has to do with the fourteenth and the fifteenth Passover because the people that are the Fifteeners say that it is obviously “In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days”; because that is what it says here. Unleavened bread shall be eaten; well there is a little punctuation change that makes this altogether different. There are several versions of translations that highlight this. So we change the punctuation, just one word and I will show you what happens.

• Punctuation controversy

“On the fourteenth day of the first month you shall observe the feast of Passover; for seven days unleavened bread must be eaten.” (New American Bible-Revised Edition)

“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall celebrate the feast of the passover, and for seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten.”
(Revised Standard Version)

You see that is notably different than “on the fourteenth day of first month you shall have a Passover a feast of seven days”. When you change the punctuation of this the meaning of it changes.

“In the first month, the fourteenth day of the month, you shall observe the solemnity of the pasch (the Passover): seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten.”

This is something like the thief on the cross:

cf. Luk 23:43 – Yahushua said to him, Verily I say unto thee today, shat thou be with me in paradise.

Many people like to change the punctuation to that and make it into an immortal soul statement but we aren’t going say more than that.

• By the way, the punctuation was not in the original text so the punctuation has been added by man, and man has punctuation according to context, and the context that a person sees as the translation, perhaps changes where the punctuation goes.

Sometimes it matters, so when we take a look at this with the better punctuation, I think the correct punctuation. “a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. And upon that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin offering.

• Sacrificial system modified
• Torah controversy

There is a Torah controversy about this also, because when we look at what this sin offering is about, “seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days”, that’s different than what Torah says, so therefore this must be the millennium. Well, I think not.

• YHWH changed the statute

YHWH can change the statute, he can change the offering statute, and after all, didn’t he change the firstborn who were originally the selected ones to be the leaders and the priests to the Levites? He did that in Numbers chapter 3. Why did he do it, by the way? He did it because the original firstborn all participated in making the golden ox that Aaron was working on when Moses went up the mountain to get the Ten Commandments.

The original firstborn disqualified themselves because they wanted to build a golden statue. YHWH can change the ordinance if he wants to.

I want to show you the comparison of this. We will take a look at the Passover ordinance that we see here in Ezekiel in chapter 45 versus the Passover sacrifice that we see in Numbers 28 in the original Torah.

The first thing that you notice is that there is a bull for purification/sin offering for purification and a sin offering for the prince and the people. There is no reference to that at all in Numbers.

The Days of Unleavened Bread and the Passover where we are focusing has a substantial difference in this account in Ezekiel, the new vision account. There are seven bulls daily, seven rams daily, and one goat sin offering daily, versus the original Torah in Numbers. There were two bulls daily versus one ram daily and seven lambs daily. There are some differences in the quantity in the meal offerings as well.

When we jump to the Feast of Tabernacles, which isn’t our focus, Ezekiel says to use the same sacrificial numbers as you do for the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread.

That actually ends up different, one of the main differences is in the seven bulls daily and the seven rams daily in the Feast of Tabernacles, you have a decreasing number of bulls according to the Book of Torah in the Book of Numbers.

Historical Passovers
Ezekiel Vision 574 BCE Jubilee Year

• Jubilee reset
  Ezekiel’s message is to captives in Babylon
  Call for Israel to repent
  New national order for Israel
  New temple layout
  Refined Temple administration and worship protocol
  Reallocation of land
  Living water and tree of life provided
  Full commitment to YHWH required

This Jubilee reset is really an opportunity for the Israelites to come back and have a Temple that is much grander in scope rather than lesser in scope than what they ended up with. Ezekiel’s message is to the captives in Babylon, it’s a call for Israel to repent, and it is a new national order for Israel. By the way, this isn’t the first time that something like this happened, the Israelites left Egypt and the firstborn were to be the priests and the leaders. That got changed; they got outsourced, and got changed to the Levites not very long after they were out of Egypt. They rebelled, they built a golden calf and made a statue out of it and started worshipping false gods.

The whole experience of the Promised Land was a failure. They fell into idolatry, both kingdoms were taken out. All of the blessings were taken away and both of the kingdoms, North and South were in captivity. YHWH would like them to repent, I think I see this as one last opportunity, and it is going to be a grand in scope opportunity. I see this being a Temple like you have never seen, with features that you have never seen, and YHWH’s love and compassion and greatness is to be exalted here. This is a call in this period for a call of national repentance, change and reformation.

A new national order if you will, for Israel, there is a new Temple layout, a refined Temple administration and the worship protocol has been changed. There is a reallocation of land, if you look at how the borders are laid out in Ezekiel; it isn’t the same way the borders were laid out when they first went into the Promised Land.

A real notable feature is this living water and tree of life. These are physical representations, this living water, this physical water that was to come out. The tree of life was physical trees that were to be provided there for healing and for food. This would have been quite a blessing for these Israelites to be able to capitalize on, but it required a full commitment to YHWH.

• What happened
  Most became complacent in Babylon
  <60K returned – a remnant heard Ezekiel
  Focused on personal houses vs YHWH’s house
  Apathetic Torah observance
  Frustrated by locals
  Modest Temple constructed
  YHWH’s offer rejected – Temple corruption set in
  Priesthood morphed into two party system
  A new covenant required

It didn’t work out, what happened is that they became complacent in Babylon so after seventy years in captivity they had an opportunity to come back. Most stayed, it’s remarkable that most of them stayed. Less than sixty thousand total returned, fifty thousand under the first wave with Zerubbabel, and less than ten thousand, probably only five or six thousand in the next couple of waves that came back.

Perhaps only a remnant heard Ezekiel, did Ezekiel let the Israelites know this message? Here is the Temple that you can have and you can rebuild when you come out of captivity. Remember that YHWH told Ezekiel to go tell them, I suspect he did, and I suspect the elders knew of this, and the problem is that they got focused on their own personal houses when they came back versus YHWH’s house.

They had apathetic observance of the Torah regulations. They took on foreign wives, they weren’t keeping the Sabbath, they were charging interest for loans and so forth. They were forgetting the Sabbaticals, and certainly they were frustrated by the locals. What was the end result? They had a modest Temple that was constructed; there are scriptures that show us this.

They had opportunity for a grand design, but because of their lackadaisical apathetic halfhearted attempts, it didn’t work out. YHWH’s offer for this was basically rejected, Temple corruption set in right away during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. Ezra and Nehemiah continually tried to get them to adhere to Torah regulations, and to quit marrying foreign wives. Ultimately, several hundred years later, the priesthood morphed into a two party system. Hellenism set in, the Greeks took over, so fast forward to the time of Yahushua, a new covenant was required, and I think at that point in time they’d had their third opportunity for repentance. A new covenant ended up being required which Yahushua gave his blood for.

• Did they know of Ezekiel’s vision?

I suspect some of them did but here are a couple of scriptures that show the end result:

Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? (Hag 2:3 KJV)

This second Temple didn’t turn out to be very grand in scale when they first built it. Harrod came along and certainly magnified and improved it, but that was a Gentile’s effort, not YHWH’s.

But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice ^{H6963=qol=call aloud, bleating, cracking, cry, proclaim} ; and many shouted aloud ^H6963=same for joy: So that the people could not discern the noise ^H6963=same of the shout of joy from the noise ^H6963=same of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise ^H6963=same was heard afar off. (Ezr 3:12-13 KJV)

This loud voice is the Hebrew word “qol” and it means to cry aloud, bleating, cracking, cry, proclaim, so there was quite a commotion going on between two sets of people. One that were sad because of what they saw, and the other that were glad, they were shouting for joy that there is at least another Temple. They were competing and the sound was heard from far off. The end result of this is that this was a modest Temple, virtually all of the commentaries and the in-depth criticism of these scriptures, if you look through in this period of time, talk about a modest Temple by comparison. Ezekiel was being shown by YHWH what could have been, but was not realized, it was a missed opportunity.

Historical Passovers
Ezekiel’s Vision 574 BCE Jubilee Year

• Missed opportunity

Jeremiah even talked about this:

Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remainder of the elders who were carried away captive—

This is during the exile, and at the time Jerusalem was falling.

to the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon. For thus says YHWH: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says YHWH, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. (Jer 29:1, 10-13 NKJV)

Unfortunately they didn’t do that. It reminds me though, what YHWH’s grandeur and blessings can be. This is an opportunity I think what YHWH had offered for these Israelites who returned if they would only honor him. Look what this says here, look what we have before us:

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which Elohim hath prepared for them that love him. But YHWH hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of YHWH. (1Co 2:9-10 KJV)

We have no idea or comprehension how great and grand YHWH’s design is, and what he has offered before us. We see it, it’s almost like we see it only in vision, and we have faith and hope that is certain. We know that Yahushua has given his life for us and that is the foundation of our hope. We have no idea what he has in store for us ahead, we have no comprehension of. Neither did the Israelites in these days, YHWH had the vision to make this a great and grand location in Jerusalem but he wanted it to be so. He wanted obedience and unfortunately they missed the opportunity. What had to happen is that Yahushua had to give his blood because of disobedience. That is exactly what happened so we come forward, fast forward to the Book of Hebrews, Hebrews is rich in what this is all about.

Historical Passovers
Ezekiel Vision 574 BCE Jubilee Year

• Yahushua replaced the Levitical system
• Levitical system disannulled

For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. For it is evident that our Master sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. For there is verily a disannulling ^{G115=athetesis=cancellation, put away} of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. (Heb 7:12-18 KJV)

A disannulling, an athetesis, a cancellation, putting away, that is exactly what has happened, the old covenant has been cancelled, it has been put away, all of the sacrificial system and the Levitical system is cancelled. We don’t have a Levitical system anymore, we have a Melchisedec system.

• Levitical system disannulled
  G115=cancellation, put away
  2 occurrences

This Levitical system that is being talked about being is disannulled here, this word athetesis is only used in two places and it happens that the other place it is used is in Hebrews Chapter 9.

Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away ^G115=same sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Heb 9:25-26 KJV)

• Sin and Levitical system put away

There is no more need for the Levitical priests to do any of this.

• Levitical system disannulled

For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith YHWH, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith YHWH. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith YHWH; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them Elohim, and they shall be to me a people… For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth ^{G3822=palaioo=make worn out, declare obsolete} and waxeth old ^{G1095=gerasko=to be senescent} is ready to vanish away ^{G854=aphanismos=disappearance, abrogation (repeal or abolition of a law)}. (Heb 8:8-13 RNKJV)

That which decays, “palaioo”, it’s made worn out, it is declared obsolete. It waxes old, it becomes senescent, it becomes senile, that old covenant is senile and it is ready to vanish away. Aphanismos means to disappear, or to abrogate. Abrogate means to repeal or abolish the law. It says it is ready to vanish away so it is if it hasn’t quite vanished when Hebrews was written. Why is it said that way? Well, the Temple was still standing until 70 CE. Hebrews was written before that, so the Temple is still standing and it is ready to vanish away, and the system associated with it is going to vanish away with it.

For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not ^{desire – NKJV}, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O YHWH…He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are set apart through the offering of the body of Yahushua the Messiah once for all. (Heb 10:1-10 RNKJV)

This will of the New Testament we are set apart.

• Sin is to be forgiven and forgotten – not memorialized
• No millennial sacrificial memorials

There is not going to be blood sacrifices in the Millennium. That is all done away with, to think that is in conflict with what these scriptures are saying. YHWH has no pleasure in burnt offerings, and that is quoted here in Hebrews and it comes out of Psalms 40.

Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not; but a body hast thou prepared me: whole-burnt-offering and sacrifice for sin thou didst not require. Then I said, Behold, I come: in the volume of the book it is written concerning me, I desired to do thy will, O my Elohim, and thy law in the midst of mine heart. (Psa 40:6-8 Brenton)

The volume of the book is talking about the Tanakh, the Old Testament, if you will, and it all points to Yahushua. Without Yahushua none of this is possible, there will be no millennial sacrifice being conducted here in the Millennium, these scriptures say clearly that we are done with that.

And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of YHWH; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected ^{G5048=teleioo=to complete, accomplish, consummate, finish, fulfill} forever them that are set apart ^{G37=hagiazo=make holy, purify, consecrate, sanctify} ….This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith YHWH, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Yahushua, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of YHWH ^Temple; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
(Heb 10:11-22 RNKJV)

We are sprinkled with the blood of Yahushua to rid our conscience of guilt.

• No further need for any sacrificial sin offering

Highlights in both cases, both Hebrews 8 and 10 comes out of Jeremiah 31, which is a prophecy of this covenant that we now have in place.

For this is my covenant which I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith YHWH, I will surely put my laws into their mind, and write them on their hearts; and I will be to them an Elohim, and they shall be to me a people…. for I will be merciful to their iniquities, and their sins I will remember no more. (Jer 31:33-34 Brenton)

• Sin offering abolished

The message has an interesting translation of verse 18 in Hebrews 10, it says:

Once sins are taken care of for good, there’s no longer any need to offer sacrifices for them.
(Heb 10:18 MSG)

All of this points to Yahushua; I’m struck by this examination in Ezekiel and what it has uncovered for my wife Linda and me. It really points to the necessity of Yahushua, and it all points to what I would call the gospel message which Paul outlines in 1 Corinthians 15.

The Messiah died for us, he died for our sins, and we don’t have animal sacrifices anymore.

I have probably struck a provocative tone to some that might listen to this. You need to do your own homework; that is for sure. I might be wrong about this; I am only presenting what I have seen in the scriptures from studying them, particularly this section the last couple of months.

Do your Own Homework

We must do our own homework and if you come up with a different understanding that is certainly fine and well but what 2 Peter advises us to do.

For we have not followed cunningly devised ^{G4679=Sofidzo=to render wise with deliberate deception, continue plausible error=sophist} fables, when we made know unto you the power and coming of our Master Yahushua Messiah, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. (2Pet 1:16 KJV)

I always enjoy looking and talking about the “sofidzo” because in the time of the first century there were teachers that were called sophists. Sophists were those that were of higher intellects supposedly. They had the higher education; I suppose they got an education out of Alexandria. The word “sofidzo” in English means to render wise with deliberate deception and continue plausible error.

In the dictionary today says, and it might be an extension to consider that the word “sophisticated” comes out of this. I suspect that the etymology of sophistication gets back to “sofidzo”.

Sophism (Merriam Webster) – an argument apparently correct in form but actually invalid; especially such an argument used to deceive.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be the intent to deceive; there are many good arguments about some of these scriptures about a Millennial Temple as an example. People start building an argument and perhaps build it on a sandy foundation and make wrong conclusions. Just beware, do your own homework, check these scriptures out and make your own determination whether these things be so.

All scripture is given by inspiration of YHWH, and is profitable ^{G5624= helpful advantageous} for doctrine ^{G1319=instruction, learning} for reproof ^{G1650=admonish, conviction} for correction^{, G1343=equity of character or act, justification}. (2Ti 3:16 KJV)

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy ^{G5385=Jewish sophistry} and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rediments of the world, and not after Messiah.
(Col 2:8 KJV)

And this I (Paul) pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve ^{G1381=test, discern, examine} things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Messiah. (Php 1:8-10 KJV)

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