The Night to be Much Observed (No. 101)

The Night To Be Much Observed is a very important event in the biblical calendar.

It has been completely forgotten in mainstream Christianity and trivialised in the Churches of God in the twentieth century. Judaism has also introduced error and a false calendar system to destroy the intent and fact of its being kept in accordance with the Law of God on the right day. Only the remnant of the Samaritans and a few small Churches of God observe it according to the calendar of the Second Temple Period and as it was observed at the time of Christ and the early church.

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

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

The way the Passover was celebrated in the time of the Temple period is recorded by Josephus. The Passover lambs were slaughtered from the ninth hour to the eleventh hour (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, Bk. VI, Ch. IX, Whiston, Kregel, 1981, p. 588). In the time of Cretius Josephus records two hundred and fifty six thousand five hundred lambs slain in Jerusalem at the one Passover with no less than ten persons to a lamb (ibid.).

We know exactly that the Samaritans and the Sadducees both denied any oral tradition and both kept only the written law. Josephus tells us that John Hyrcanus abolished the decrees of the Pharisees and established the Sadducees in control and although confined largely to the aristocracy, their decrees were instituted. The Pharisees were popular with the multitude because they were more moderate in their punishments. (cf. Antiquities of the Jews, Bk. XIII, Ch. X (Whiston, ibid., p. 281)). Josephus was himself a Pharisee and writes more favourably about them than he might, but still records the traditions which we read of in the NT. The postponements were not at this time in place as we see from the Mishnah. The traditions, introduced in stages by the Pharisees from after the Babylonian captivity, were rejected by all the other sects. The suppression of the Pharisees was continued under John Hyrcanus’ son Alexander Jannaeus but after his death his wife Alexandra supported the Pharisees for nine years. They managed to control her skilfully and again tried to introduce their traditions. On her death Aristobulus and his older bother Hyrcanus, whom Alexandra had made high priest, fought a war of succession. Hyrcanus was deposed and with him went the power of the Pharisees (ibid. p. 289). Hyrcanus was supported by Antipater the Idumean and finally Pompey had to intervene in the dispute. Offended by his arrogance Pompey attacked Aristobulus and entered Jerusalem and the Temple even going into the Holy of Holies. It was at that time used for treasure storage also which he left intact. He restored Hyrcanus and his party who had participated and who had slain a great number of the incumbent priesthood.

The Pharisees in this way regained power but were arrogant and deceitful. They were involved in dishonest intrigue and false prophecy under Herod. He had their principle men executed along with Bagoas the eunuch, Carus the Sodomite, and his catamite and the principle people of Herod’s own family who had acquiesced in the false prophecy regarding the cessation of his rule. Those executed appeared to be at the very least Pheroras’ wife, and her mother and sister, and Doris the mother of Antipater (A of J, ibid., p. 358). Thus under the Herodians, the Pharisees had limited power even though they numbered about six thousand in the sect.

The Temple was run according to the ancient calendar which was observed by the Sadducees and the same as was observed by the Samaritans. After the dispersal the rabbinical sects who took over from the Pharisees tried to introduce the postponements and thus the Samaritans are then alleged to have had differing lights for the beacons on the new moons. During the Temple period the beacons were lit as the new moon was always determined by conjunction which is not an observation system. There is no evidence that the Samaritans ever changed their method of calculation of the New Moon in history either during or after the Second Temple period. They still keep the same system today (cf. the paper God’s Calendar No. (156) (2nd ed.)).

The Legislation

The relevant legislation for the Passover is found in Exodus 12.

Exodus 12:1-51 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. ³Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: ⁴And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. ⁵Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: ⁶And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. ⁷And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. ⁸And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. ⁹Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. ¹⁰And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. ¹¹And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD'S passover. ¹²For 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 against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. ¹³And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. ¹⁴And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. ¹⁵Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. ¹⁶And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. ¹⁷And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever. ¹⁸In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. ¹⁹Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land. ²⁰Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread. ²¹Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. ²²And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. ²³For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. ²⁴And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. ²⁵And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. ²⁶And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? ²⁷That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD'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. ²⁸And the children of Israel went away, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. ²⁹And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. ³⁰And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead. ³¹And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said. ³²Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also. ³³And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men. ³⁴And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders. ³⁵And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: ³⁶And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians. ³⁷And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. ³⁸And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle. ³⁹And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual. ⁴⁰Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. ⁴¹And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. ⁴²It is a night to be much observed unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the LORD to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations. ⁴³And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof: ⁴⁴But every man's servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof. ⁴⁵A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof. ⁴⁶In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof. ⁴⁷All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. ⁴⁸And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof. ⁴⁹One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you. ⁵⁰Thus did all the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. ⁵¹And it came to pass the selfsame day, that the LORD did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies. (KJV)

This text established the exact time sequence also. From verse 18 we see that the seven days of Unleavened Bread are counted from the Fourteenth day of the First month, seven days until the Twenty-first day of the month. This seventh day of the feast, the Twenty-first day of the First month is itself a Holy Day. Thus the evening of the Fourteenth commences the First Holy Day of Unleavened Bread which we are told is the Fifteenth day of the First month. We are thus speaking of the end of the Fourteenth day of the First month which is Abib or Nisan. Verse 16 shows that there is a holy Convocation on the First Day of Unleavened Bread which we see from Leviticus 23:6 is the Fifteenth day of the First month. There can be no confusion as to the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread or as to the time of the killing of the Passover from these texts.

We see another aspect of the day from Acts 27.

Acts 27:27-36 But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country; ²⁸And sounded, and found it twenty fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms. ²⁹Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day. ³⁰And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship, ³¹Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved. ³²Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off. ³³And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. ³⁴Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you. ³⁵And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat. ³⁶Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat. (KJV)

Now this activity did not occur in the First month but after the fast of the Seventh month at Atonement. However, we may deduce here that the day termed the Fourteenth was clearly determined from evening to evening. The night of the fourteenth preceded the day of the fourteenth. This confirms the position that the day was seen as being from evening to evening and not morning to morning; or midnight to midnight; or any other system. Moreover, the concept of the salvation of the Angel of the Lord, to whom Paul belonged and served, is also seen from the text at Acts 27:23.

The concept of the New Year in Tishri as Rosh Hashanah is a post-Temple pagan practice which entered Judaism in the third century of the current era. Rabbi Kohn, Chief Rabbi of Budapest, writing from 1894, makes mention of this important fact in the work Sabbatarians in Transylvania stating it entered at a third century and “post-biblical” period (referring to Talmud Rosh haShanah 8a at n. 18 to ch. 7) (Ed. W. Cox, tr. T. McElwain and B. Rook, CCG Publishing, USA, 1998, pp. v, 58, 106ff, et. seq. and nn.) Biblically the New Year is in Abib which is the First month.

The Mishnah (ca. 200 CE) states that there are four new years and that the First day of Nisan is the new year for kings and festivals. Thus we see that the datings regarding Ezra and Nehemiah were according to 1 Nisan and not 1 Tishri (cf. Reading the Law with Ezra and Nehemiah (No. 250)). Tishri was used at that time for the reckoning of years, for Sabbatical years and for Jubilees (Rosh Hashanah 1.1 E (3)). We see that the notion of Tishri, which came in from Babylon, was first recorded in the Mishnah as being put forward by R. Eliazar and R. Simeon (ibid. 1.1 D). It was not observed as New Year in the Temple period. The Mishnah also makes an attempt to divorce the beginning of the tithing of cattle to 1 Elul (ibid. 1.1 C). The House of Shammai held the new year for trees was 1 Shebat whereas the House of Hillel held it was the Fifteenth day of that month. The New year on the Full Moon is a directly pagan practice also introduced from Babylon no doubt associated with the plantings by moon charts. All of this determination is post-Temple Period rabbinical Judaism. Only here in the Third century do we see Tishri being advanced by the rabbis. It and the postponement system now hold sway over Judaism contrary to the word of God.

The Night of Watchings

The term Night of Watchings comes from the text at Exodus 12:42.

Exodus 12:42 It is a night to be much observed unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the LORD to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations. (KJV)

The word translated as observed is Shimmurim hence meaning night of watchings and the word occurs only there. The concept of watching comes from the passing over of the death Angel and the watching for the deliverance of our people. The word SHD 8107 shimmur meaning observance is derived from the root 8104 shamar meaning to hedge about (as with thorns) hence to guard to protect, attend.

It carries on to the concepts of taking heed to the self and being circumspect.

The concept is not so much to sit up and guard but to be guarded as hedged about with thorns. It also means to watch for the event in question.

That is the concept of the Passover where we are protected through the blood of the lamb from the wrath of God symbolised in this concept. Thus our observation comes in the keeping and the explanation of the symbolism of the text. It is not necessary that we stay up all night observing as we are protected from the death angel in the Passover. Both the Lord’s Supper of the Fourteenth and the meal of the Fifteenth of the First month (Abib or Nisan) together protect us. The intention is however that this night is prolonged in study and vigil. It would be quite inappropriate for example to go to bed early on this night.

The text in SHD 8107 lays this night aside as a special observation being derived from 8104. The zeal of watching all night is commendable but it is not entirely necessary. Of course Israel had to stay alert waiting for the movement orders. Some no doubt would have slept as they could.

The word shimmur is derived from the concept in 8104 and means observation rather than the concept of standing guard as we might derive from 8104 shamar.

The variant on 8107 shomer (cf. SHD 7763) also carries another meaning from the word shabar in 7763 which carries the meaning to scrutinise meaning to watch with expectation.

If Judah had been alert and observing for the Messiah they would not have gone into captivity. Thus the night has meaning as a night of observation regarding his coming and pointed towards the Crucifixion and the internment and commenced the period up to the Wave-sheaf offering.

Rather than stay awake in vigil, which is certainly permissible, it is better to spend the night explaining the meaning of the observation involving the coming of the Messiah to the children. That is the true meaning of the observation we are to undertake.

The way the meal is eaten is to reinforce our imminent deliverance from the world’s systems.

Exodus 12:11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD'S passover. (KJV)

Compare the method of eating this meal with the way Christ and the Disciples ate the meal of the preparation evening or Chagigah.

John 13:25 He then lying on Jesus' breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it? (KJV)

Mark 14:50-52 And they all forsook him, and fled. ⁵¹And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him: ⁵²And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked. (KJV)

Clearly from these two quotes the activities of the Lord’s Supper and his arrest are not on the Passover evening. The texts show that it was the preparation evening of the Fourteenth day of the First month making ready for the Passover which would be slaughtered on the afternoon of the next day from the ninth to the eleventh hour or from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. He was placed in the tomb at evening at the beginning of the Fifteenth day of the month and the First day of Unleavened Bread when the Passover lamb was prepared to be roasted and eaten that night.

Deuteronomy 16:2 allows the Passover meal to be either of the flock or the herd and thus may be other clean meat than lamb. It is to be roasted and eaten at the place chosen for the purpose.

Deuteronomy 16:5-7 commands us to eat the Passover meal outside of our gates. We are forbidden to eat the Passover in our own gates. We are then to turn into our tents in the morning. This is on the Fifteenth of the First month, the First Holy Day of Unleavened Bread Thus we may go to our tents meaning the normal place of domicile. The text is not necessarily interpreted as being outside of any shelter at all. For example staying out all night out of doors for an eighty year old would be dangerous. It means that the Passover must be kept out of the gates, in temporary accommodation as we see from other texts.

The Samaritans kept and still keep the Passover of the Lord on the Fourteenth day of the First month (called Nisan) determined from the conjunction, and slaughter the lamb in the afternoon at about 3.00 p.m.

Then they prepare it and eat it on the Fifteenth day of the First month (called Nisan or Abib) after sunset. The preparation and eating is done clothed with their mantles and the staffs in their hands.

They do it outside of the gates and on Mount Gerizim. It is a pilgrimage feast and they have to go out of Nablus to the mountain.

They do this on Mount Gerizim because of Deuteronomy 27:4-7 in their version of the Hebrew text. Verse 4 of the Masoretic text states Mount Ebal (meaning heaps) as the mount for the erection of the law. This was also the Mount of Cursing. Mount Gerizim was the Mount of Blessings and the mount of worship of the Samaritans and hence it retains its religious significance in that aspect. The contention is that the MT was altered from Gerizim to read Ebal.

It is generally argued that Ebal is a falsification in the Masoretic Text and should read Gerizim. The verses in Deuteronomy 27:11-26 show that Gerizim is for blessing and Ebal for cursing. The contention is that peace offerings are not done on a mountain for cursing and the altar was to be erected on this mountain.

The Samaritans keep the Sabbaths and feasts according to the Pentateuch and Decalogue, while Judaism follows the 613 mitzvoth. The so-called mainstream Christians follow the pagan Easter system with the minor later variations to the calendar calculations.

Most scholars also agree that the religious practices of the Samaritans are the same as the Jews in the Second Temple Period. The Samaritans still follow the Second Temple Period practices on their sanctuary place.

They had a Tabernacle there. It was destroyed by the Maccabee John Hyrcanus I. He subjugated the Idumeans on the same expedition and forced them to convert to Judaism. He did not need to deal with the Samaritans other than destroy their Tabernacle because their calendar system was the same as the Sadducean system according to which the Temple was being run. The Pharisees had not as yet got their traditions to the point of organising the postponements and back to back Sabbaths were common over the entire Temple period as the Mishnah demonstrates (cf. the paper God’s Calendar (No. 156)).

The Samaritans also refused to follow the Hanukkah and Purim feasts.

They calculated the New Moons eight months before according to the conjunction. After the destruction of the Second Temple the Jews seem to have ignored or conveniently “lost” their ability to calculate the New Moons in order to bring in the postponements. The Rabbis refused to accept the calculation of the Samaritans and concocted their own calculation with postponements and observation of the crescent.

Christ was accused of being a Samaritan precisely because he did not accept the traditions of the Pharisees (Jn. 8:48).

The Night to be Much Observed is a night of teaching the children the purpose of the evening and what they should be doing on this evening.

Exodus 12:25-38 And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. ²⁶And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? ²⁷That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD'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. ²⁸And the children of Israel went away, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.

The watching for deliverance at the night of the Passover was kept as a memorial forever (Ex. 12:14). On that night we are to watch for our deliverance. On this evening Christ was buried and lay for three days and three nights in the earth from Wednesday evening until Saturday evening when he was resurrected by the one True God and on Sunday morning he ascended into Heaven as the Wave-sheaf offering at 9 a.m. beginning the countdown to Pentecost and our harvest of the Church in the Holy Spirit.

With this act God took the firstborn of the world and Salvation was extended to the Gentiles.

²⁹And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. ³⁰And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead. ³¹And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said. ³²Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also. ³³And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men. ³⁴And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders. ³⁵And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: ³⁶And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians. ³⁷And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. ³⁸And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle. (KJV)

This mixed multitude became part of Israel.

Thus Salvation was to be extended in Messiah to the Gentiles also. The Lord’s Supper is part of the procedure of this festival. The Lord’s Supper is the first night of the Fourteenth of the First month and then the second night of the Fifteenth is the Passover meal which symbolises the unification of the world under Messiah within Israel.

It will be remembered among all our people for ever:

Exodus 13:14-16 And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage: ¹⁵And it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the LORD slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of beast: therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all that openeth the matrix, being males; but all the firstborn of my children I redeem. ¹⁶And it shall be for a token upon thine hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt. (KJV)

It also looks forward to the next Exodus which shall occur with the mighty hand of God.

Isaiah 66:18-24 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory. ¹⁹And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. ²⁰And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD. ²¹And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the LORD. ²²For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. ²³And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD. ²⁴And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh. (KJV)

Thus this night is not only in the past. It is in the future and Scripture cannot be broken.

Jeremiah 6:16-19 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. ¹⁷Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken. ¹⁸Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. ¹⁹Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it. (KJV)

We are required to re-establish the old ways and return to the law and abolish the calendars of the pagans and the Babylonian mysteries established under the traditions of the rabbis under Hillel II in 358 CE.

Ecclesiastes 3:15 That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past. (KJV)

We are required to restore the truth once delivered.

Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. (KJV)

He who tries to wrest the Scriptures to change the law and to change times and seasons is not one of the kingdom of God. As the Sabbath stands so do the New Moons and the Feasts of God. The Day of Atonement can no more be postponed than the Sabbath or the New Moons or the Passover. It shall be eaten in one house (Ex. 12:46).

Exodus 12:42It is a night to be much observed unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the LORD to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations. (KJV)

Watch therefore for you know not at what hour the bridegroom cometh (Mat. 25:13).

Mark 13:30-37 Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done. ³¹Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. ³²But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. ³³Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. ³⁴For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. ³⁵Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: ³⁶Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. ³⁷And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch. (KJV)

This Generation referred to by Christ in Mark 13:30 is the last generation. In one generation, or forty years, all the wars of the end will come to pass. During that forty years the Measuring of the Temple and all the works of the end will be accomplished (cf. the paper Measuring the Temple (No. 137)). Messiah will return and the Law will be restored. Watch therefore for you do not know when the master comes.

Song of Songs 5:2

I sleep but my heart is awake;

It is the voice of my beloved!

He knocks, saying,

"Open for me, my sister, my love,

My dove, my perfect one;

For my head is covered with dew,

My locks with the drops of the night."

(cf. the paper Song of Songs (No. 145)).

In 2027/28 we will see the jubilee and the restoration.

And so we too have a duty to the living God.

Acts 20:28-35 Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God which he obtained with the blood of his own Son. ²⁹I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; ³⁰and from among your own selves will arise men speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. ³¹Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. ³²And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. ³³I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. ³⁴You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities, and to those who were with me. ³⁵In all things I have shown you that by so toiling one must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, `It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" (RSV)

So too let it be said of all.

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