YAHSHUA DIED AND ROSE ACCORDING TO TORAH...
...AND NOT ACCORDING TO MEN!
Brethren, below is the correct diagram of His death and resurrection,
directly from the kodesh instructions given in Torah:
...but in their traditions, Roman-chrisitians and others say otherwise.
Who is correct, men or YAHWEH?
Shalom, and greetings to all in Yahshua's powerful name!
How many of you ever wondered why it was prophesied that none of Yahshua's bones would be broken (Psalm 34:20, John 19:36), and why THIS seemingly small detail is so important?
The answer is spoken when we were given instructions about the passover lamb, Exodus 12:46 says, "In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house, nor shall you break one of its bones."
Dearly beloved bretrhren, Yahshua was our passover lamb, and in order to fulfill (in the sense of "meet," and NOT of bring an end to) the requirements to be our lamb, none of his bones could be broken-and they weren't! YHWH focuses on the detail, and how we can be SURE that Yahshua is our Mashiach because every last detail of his life and death fits with Torah!
Now, on a different thought, and to addess the theme in the title of this message, another question that comes up sometimes is the question of when did Yahshua really die and resurrect, and how can a Friday death and Sunday resurrection mean three days and nights in the grave (Matthew 12:40)...because this is what many of us were taught in the roman christian denominational churches where we grew up.
Dear "called-out" of Yahweh, this simple question was actually asked at the church I used to attend, and here was the pastor's answer: "Friday is one day, he was buried Friday. Saturday is the second day, he was in the grave all day Saturday. Sunday is the third day, he rose that day. Thus, for at least part of three days, he was in the grave."
However, my beloved sheep of Yahweh, this explanation just doesn't cut it. Matthew 12:40 says the following: "For as Yonan [Jonah] was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights, likewise will the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights." Ok, so the three days MIGHT be explained by what my pastor said, if you were to stretch it a little. But, no matter how hard you try and stretch it, a Friday death and Sunday resurrection does NOT equal three NIGHTS!
Friday night and Saturday night is simply, two nights! My friends, 1+1 cannot add 3. So, we have a problem here. Either the church is in error, or the Scriptures are in error!
I don't know about you, but I'd rather the church was in error. If the Scripture is in error, then how can we believe in YHWH? How can we believe any of His Word? Our entire faith will be for naught!
So, for the sake of arguing and then settling things right, let's just say that the church is in error, not YHWH. How could they come to this error? Well, it's actually very simple my dear friends, particularly when we recognize the church's lack of understanding of Torah and feast days---given the fact that they affirm all of that has been abolished. See, Yahshua died right before "the Sabbath" started. He also rose right after Sabbath ended (or as it was ending). "Sabbath and sabbath"? How could that be? Let's see what Scriptures really say:
"And when evening had come, and because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath; Yosĕph of Ramathayim, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the reign of Elohim; came, and boldly went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Yahshua." -Mark 15:42-43
"And when the Sabbath was past, Miryam from Maḡdala, and Miryam the mother of Ya'akov, and Shelomah bought spices, to go and anoint Him. And very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen." Mark 16:1-2
To all of this we just read, the Roman Church and her many protestant daughters say, "well, Sabbath is on Saturday, and if he died right before Saturday and rose right after it, he must have died on Friday and rose on Sunday!"
Ok, this declaration at first glance makes sense. BUT....there is a caveat, and once we recognize and address the caveat, we realize the Scriptures are not wrong and that our understanding has simply been misguided.
Many people tend to overlook the fact that, aside from Yahweh's weekly Shabbat or "day of rest," there are also other times throughout the year where He commands His People to rest....and those are the Annual Holy Days or HIgh Sabbaths. Passover, when we all know Yahshua died, is one of those periods of Annual Sabbaths.
Passover or Pesach was celebrated in conjuction with the Holy Feast of Unleavened Bread. According to Scripture, the passover lamb was slaughtered on the 14th of Abib in the afternoon, and eaten that inmediate evening after, which would technically be the 15th (the Hebraic day starts at sundown and ends on sundown 24 hours later----more on that below).
So the 15th of Abib was the official start of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and this day, no matter what day of the week it fell on, was to be a Solemn Sabbath day of rest and "holy convocation." Likewise, the last day of the feast was also to be a Sabbath day. These Sabbaths are precisely what are called "High Sabbaths" in Scripture.
"In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, there shall be a passover offering to YHWH, and on the fifteenth day of that month YHWH's Feast of Unleavened Bread. You shall eat unleavened bread for seven days.
"On the first day you shall celebrate a sacred occasion: you shall not work at your occupations. Seven days you shall make offerings by fire to YHWH. The seventh day shall be a sacred occasion: you shall not work at your occupations." Leviticus 23:5-8
Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, knowing that Yahshua was to be our passover lamb for eternity, this makes perfect sense. He would have been killed on 14 Abib, on passover, right before the high sabbath of 15 Abib, which is the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Then, two days after this high sabbath was the regular weekly Sabbath, the one at the end of which Yahshua rose from the grave. It's very simple.
Let's put this together once again. Yahshua was killed on 14 Abib, and put into the grave right around the dawn of 15 Abib, which we would consider the evening of the day he was killed.
Then he stayed in the grave the evening (end) of the 14th to the evening (end) of the 15th-one day, which was the high Sabbath-the evening (end) of the 15th to the evening (end) of the 16th-two days-the evening (end) of the 16th to the evening (end) of the 17th, which was the weekly Sabbath----"three days" ("and three nights" too, exactly like Scripture requires, because these 24 hour periods include their corresponding night-times).
So, Yahshua was in the grave ALL of the 15th, ALL of the 16th, and ALL of the 17th of Abib ... and he rose from the grave at the end of the 17th of Abib; just as 18 Abib, the first day of the week, was beginning. NOW the seeming contradiction is solved!
So on what day was he killed?
Again, to figure this out, we need a correct understanding of the way the Yahweh and the Hebrews keep their day. It is certainly not "midnight to midnight" as we keep our day today, but it is "sunset to sunset."
For example, let's say today is March 31. At sunset today, we will still consider it March 31, but the Hebrews would consider it "April 1" (although it is not April for the Hebrews, it is Abib. I say this only for clarity's sake to foster proper understanding).
Let's start from the end and go backwards. Beloved, Yahshua resurrected as the (weekly) Sabbath was ending and the first day of the week was starting. So, that means He rose at the end of Saturday/beginning of Sunday. Counting back three full 24 hour periods, this means he was placed into the grave at the beginning of Thursday. Remember now, Thursday would have started in the evening, as the sun set, not at midnight! All of this means that Our Master and Saviour Yahshua was killed on the afternoon of a Wednesday. And although He was placed into the grave only a few hours later, the Hebrews (and Yahweh) would have considered this the beginning of a new day---"Thursday"! I've made the chart above timeline to make it easier to understand for those of us who might be more of visual learners than anything else.
Dear brothers and sisters, and "called-out" of Babylon, I honestly hope that I have made this absolutely clear. The so-called christian "Good Friday" is NOT the day Yahshua was killed----regaldless of how long they have been teaching it and keeping it, it's just a fake "holy day" made up by the church with no scriptural basis whatsoever, because they did not understand the Word of Yahweh from the beginning!
A little knowledge of YHWH and His Torah, in cases like these, makes everything 100% clear; and I really hope that this message has clearly shown that, without Torah, we overlook SO much of the significance of Yahshua, of who He was, and of what He did and still does for us as slain lamb, priest, king, mediator, savior, rescuer, and shepherd.
Knowing the KODESH TRUTH always makes all of us feel good, because now we can be confident that YHWH was never in error when He said that His Son would be in the grave for three FULL days and three FULL nights.
And be it so for all eternity, according to His Law and Testimony!
In Yahshua's wonderful name,
Rafael