Wednesday, March 24, 2021

The Easter Controversy

Did Saint Patrick celebrate Easter?

Saint Ilid, a Jewish Child of Truth, who had been forced out of Rome by Claudius Caesar, brought the Good News to modern England in 54 AD, when Saint Cyllin (later King Cyllin) and his sister Saint Eigin returned to Roman Britain.

(This term "Saint: has been misused by the False Church of Rome to designate people, like the twelve Original Apostles of Truth, as people who are to be prayed to.  By Saint, I mean in the sense used in the Book of Truth (The Bible).  It is a term used to describe anyone who is part of the Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him).)

Along with Saint Cyllin and his sister Saint Eigin, he formed a community to teach the people of Roman Britain how to follow the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) by total immersion in the teachings of the Apostles of Truth.  

In this community, they did not just hear about the teachings of the Apostles of Truth.  They put them into practice on a daily basis.  This was the beginning of Celtic Christianity.

The British Isles continued to follow these practices through the centuries, even during times of great persecution by the governors and emperors of the Roman Empire.

However, in the mainland of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, many had left the House of Truth when the only other option was persecution and death.  They began abandoning the practices of the Apostles of Truth while the Apostles of Truth were still alive. 

The Man of Truth had came to teach people how to follow the Law of Truth (Torah aka The Law) fully (Matthew 5:17-19).   Paul the Jew (Shaul aka Saul aka the Apostle Paul) warned the Children of Truth to withdraw from wicked leaders who taught otherwise (1 Timothy 6:3-5).

Paul the Jew warned the Children of Truth in Rome to avoid those who taught any doctrine contrary to that taught by the Apostles of Truth, because these deceivers did not serve the Man of Truth (Romans 16:17-18).  Some in Rome had used empty lies to overthrow the faith of others (2 Timothy 2:16-18).

There were heresies rising up in other congregations that Paul the Jew had started as well (1 Corinthians 11:18-19).  They had not resisted sin to the point of shedding their blood like the Man of Truth (Hebrews 12:2-4). Some of those in Macedonia had made shipwreck of their faith as well (1 Timothy 1:19-20).

Paul the Jew had warned the congregation at Ephesus that false teachers would rise up from among them to bring division by leading people away from the Man of Truth (Acts 20:28-32). Some of them had cast off their faith in the Man of Truth to turned aside to follow after the Father of Lies (HaShatan aka Satan Aka The Devil) (1 Timothy 5:11-15).

Some at Ephesus had departed from following the teachings of Paul the Jew (2 Timothy 1:15).  Some of them wore religious garb and were well educated, but they resisted the truth and denied the power of the Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost) in confirming the Good News (2 Timothy 3:5-8).

Many religious leaders went out from among the Apostles of Truth, because they were not part of the Children of Truth (1 John 2:19).  

Diotrephes opposed John the Jew (Yochanon son of Zebedee aka The Apostle John) and kicked him out of the congregation in Ephesus that he had helped start (3 John 1:9-10). 

Diotrephes was the first monarchical bishop in history.  

He set himself up to be called Pope, which means father, over priests, who were also to be called father, contrary to the commandment of the Man of Truth (Matthew 23:9-11).  He sought to lord it over the Children of Truth like the Gentile religious leaders did, contrary to the commandment of the Man of Truth (Luke 22:25-26). 

Diotrephes is the real founder of the False Church of Rome, not Peter the Jew (Sh'mon aka Simon aka Simeon aka Cephas aka The Apostle Peter).

Peter the Jew was never greeted by Paul the Jew in his letter to the Romans (Romans 16).  There is no mention of him when Paul the Jew had ended his house arrest in Rome (Hebrews 13:23-24).  Neither was he in Rome at the end of the life of Paul the Jew (2 Timothy 4:22).

Peter the Jew focused mainly on the Jews (Galatians 2:7).  He had been sent to the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire (1 Peter 1:1).  From there, he went outside of the Roman Empire to Babylon, which had one of the largest concentration of Jews in the world (1 Peter 5:12-13).

Peter the Jew died in Babylon (2 Peter 1:13-15).  Paul the Jew was still writing his epistles when it came time for him to die (2 Peter 3:15-16).

So, a great schism formed between those who continue to follow the practices of the Apostles of Truth and those who had abandoned them.  Many people left Roman Paganism to join both of these groups.

This caused great disruption and civil unrest throughout the Roman Empire.

After about two hundred years of effort to force everyone, but followers of Rabbinic Judaism, back into Roman Paganism, the Roman Empire had nearly gone bankrupt.

However, co-emperor Constantius did not support these efforts, like the other three co-emperors in his reign.

When he died in Roman Britain in 305 AD, his son Constantine became co-emperor in his place.  He immediately put an end to the persecution.  

Co-emperor Constantine wanted to put an end to this internal turmoil by creating a single religion that most of the people inside the Roman Empire would accept. 

In 312 AD, Constantine officially left Roman Paganism to embrace Christianity.  However, he was not sure how to follow the teachings of the Apostles of Truth, since there was so much disagreement among these factions. 

So, leaders from all over the Roman Empire sent representatives to the Synod of Arles in 314 AD to discuss with other leaders what should be presented to Emperor Constantine as the teachings of the Apostles of Truth.  The Children of Truth in Roman Britain sent three representatives.

The Synod voted on creating a version of Christianity that replaced the practices of the Jewish Apostles of Truth with many of the practices of Roman Paganism.  The representatives from Roman Britain vehemently dissented.

Then in 324 AD Constantine became the sole emperor of the Roman Empire.  He made creation of an official Roman version of Christianity a top priority.

So, the Council of Nicaea met in 325 AD to create an official version of Christianity endorsed by the Roman Government.  Every part of the Sasanian Empire to the east of the Roman Empire also sent representatives to the Council of Nicaea.  This made 318 representatives in total.

When the Council was over, there were only two representatives who rejected the official Roman version of Christianity.  They were both excommunicated from the official Roman church and banished from the Roman Empire.

Roman Britain was the only part of the Roman Empire that refused to send representatives to the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD to create an official version of Christianity endorsed by the Roman Government.  

They had refused to go because they wanted nothing to do with this pollution of the teachings of the Apostles of Truth with the customs of Roman idolatry that had been endorsed in Synod of Arles.

Around the time that the Romans left Britain for good in 411 AD, Saint Patrick brought the Good News to the people of Ireland.  He taught the people of Ireland using the same teachings and practices as Saint Ilid.

Then the Pope sent a monk named Augustine to modern England in 597 AD to convince the people of the British Isles to adapt the practices of mainland Europe, which was under the control of the False Church of Rome. 

When he arrived he found that there as very little that Celtic Christianity shared with the False Church of Rome.  

The False Church of Rome had used the practices of Roman Paganism in the worship of the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD).  However, Celtic Christianity was still using the practices of the Apostles of Truth.

Augustine observed that in the British Isles, they were still meeting to worship on the Sabbath instead of Sunday.  They would only eat the same animals as the Jews. 

The biggest problem was holidays.  

The Children of Truth in the British Isles did not even know of many of the holidays practiced by the False Church of Rome like Ash Wednesday.  Instead, they observed the same holidays as the Jews.

However, there was a little overlap in the holidays.  

Both groups observed Pentecost, some years on the same day, but in completely different ways.  They also both observed the death, burial and resurrection of the Man of Truth, but in completely different ways.

This disagreement over practices for commemorating the death, burial and resurrection of the Man of Truth was called the Easter Controversy.

However, it is really misnamed.  Celtic Christianity was not disagreeing with the False Church of Rome over the timing of a holiday called Easter as commonly reported.  Celtic Christianity did not have a holiday called Easter.

Easter was the name of the goddess fertility that the False Church of Rome had applied to Resurrection Sunday.  When the resurrection was celebrated in Celtic Christianity, they greeted each other with "Happy Firstfruits!".

While the False Church of Rome observed the death of the Man of Truth with Good Friday, Passover was used by Celtic Christianity.  While the False Church of Rome kept Holy Week, Celtic Christianity kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Why?

Like Paul the Jew had done with the almost entirely Gentile congregation in Philippi, Saint Ilid had kept the Feast of Unleavened with the people of Roman Britain (Acts 20:5-6).

Like Paul the Jew had done with the congregation in Corinth, Saint Ilid had taught them to use Passover to observe the death of the Man of Truth (1 Corinthians 5:7-8). 

Like Paul the Jew, Saint Ilid had used First Fruits to celebrate the resurrection of the Man of Truth (1 Corinthians 15:20-23). 

Like Paul the Jew had done with the congregation in Ephesus, Saint Ilid had taught them to observe Pentecost in the same manner as the Apostles of Truth (1 Corinthians 16:8).

Like Paul the Jew, Saint Ilid had turned the people of Roman Britain from idol worship (Galatians 4:8). 

Now Augustine sought to get them to return to observing the very holidays from idol worship that the Children of Truth in the British Isles had been taught to forsake by people like Saint Patrick (Galatians 4:9-10).

So, Saint Patrick never observed Easter.  

Neither did the rest of the British Isles, until after Augustine began introducing it in 597 AD.  

He began by talking to those who had rejected the Good News.  He assured them that if they would join the False Church of Rome, then many of their practices could be incorporated into their counterfeit version of Christianity.  These practices were incorporated into things like Halloween.

Easter continued to be considered a Pagan holiday in the Seven Kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England until it officially replaced Firstfruits at the Synod of Whitby in 664 AD.

Easter and other like holidays continued to be rejected throughout much of the rest of the British Isles for hundreds of years.  Celtic Christianity continued to observe holidays like Passover instead.

Celtic Christianity has faded into obscurity, but there has been a continuous thread of people in the British Isles who have retained the practices of the Apostles of Truth that Saint Ilid first brought to them.

Christmas and the like have been outlawed numerous times in Scotland and England. The congregation on the Island of Lewis, just off the northwest coast of Scotland, has continued to meet on the Sabbath to this day.

The Pilgrims were Brownists who continued to observe the practices of the Apostles of Truth.  The Feast of the Pilgrims that became Thanksgiving was the Feast of Tabernacles. 

Even today, there has been a return to the practices of the Apostles of Truth in remembrance of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Man of Truth, especially in America.

Like the days after Saint Patrick, this is causing conflict between those who are returning to the practices of the Apostles of Truth and those who want to continue to the practices of Roman Paganism adopted by the False Church of Rome. 

So, what are you going to do?

The Children of Truth should do what is acceptable to the Man of Truth, and reprove these unfruitful works of darkness, instead of continuing in them (Ephesians 5:8-11).

This is not about doing something to get saved, but rather making a change in your life that is pleasing to the Father of Truth because you have been saved.

However, if you have never been saved, then none of this matters.  

Changing the holidays that you use to observe the death, burial, and resurrection of the Man of Truth will make no difference, until you come into the House of Truth.

Surrender control of your life to the Man of Truth because you believe that the Father of Truth raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9).

Come into the House of Truth!

 

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Monday, April 6, 2020

Passover 2.0

What should you do if you cannot properly observe Passover?

Every year there are people who cannot observe Passover at the specified time for various reasons.

Those reasons often include illnesses, hospitalization, becoming unclean for some reason, being unable to travel, and not being able to get the required elements to observe Passover.

This is usually a small percentage of people who observe Passover, but this year COVID-19 is making this percentage much larger.

Thanks to COVID-19, many more observers than normal are unable to observe Passover due to illness and hospitalization.  There is also a greater chance for those with a family member who has been afflicted with COVID-19, to be made unclean from being in the same room as someone who has died.

Really, even going to the hospital can do that, because it is near impossible to know rather or not a dead person has been wheeled down the hospital corridors since the previous sunset.

Thanks to the COVID-19 Panic, many people are not able to travel due to being locked down in their homes.  In Israel, people have been told that they must observe Passover in their own homes, even if that means observing it completely alone.

Obviously, these shelter-in-place, and even more extreme quarantine measures, along with recovering from sickness, make it impossible for people to really remove the leaven from their homes.  Especially, if they normally make a focused effort for a week to clean their house like the mother of the Reluctant Jew

In like manner, the COVID-19 Panic has disrupted the availability of Passover essentials like Matzah.  Local stores that normally caring them did not get their usual supply.  It is hard to find Matzah on-line that will arrive in time for Passover.  Fresh vegetables and herbs used on the Seder Plate are not even available in many areas.  Meat sections of local stores have been picked clean, making it impossible to get so much as a lamb shank this year.

So, what are people to in these circumstances?  Go ahead and have a Passover Observation without properly removing the leaven from their homes and without all of the required elements?  What other option is there?

The Law of Truth (Torah aka The Law) provides a better option for times like these.

If you are hindered from observing Passover in the first month due to circumstances like these, then you are to observe it in the second month, in the exact same way that you normally would have observed it in the first month (Numbers 9:10-12).  My family calls this Passover 2.0.

(Hospitalizations have forced us to celebrate Passover 2.0 with the Impossible Girl many times.)

King Hezekiah (Chizquiyah) had all of Israel celebrate Passover 2.0, because they were unable to make the preparations in time for Passover 1.0, and it turned out to be one of the best Passovers ever (2 Chronicles 30).

So, there is no reason to partially observe Passover this month due to not be able to prepare properly.  Instead, just wait until next month.  It will give you time to get properly prepared. 

You might be wondering, why would good Christians be participating in the observance of Passover?

Passover was not just for the Jewish people, but also anyone who has joined themselves to the Jewish people (Numbers 9:14).  Passover is not just a Jewish thing.

Passover is the first act in the Greatest Play Ever, which tells the story the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ).  Passover is all about the death of the Lamb.  There would be no Resurrection Sunday without Passover.  The Man of Truth is our Passover lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7).

You might be thinking, what does the Savior of the Gentiles have to do with Jews?

The Man of Truth is first and foremost the Messiah of IsraelIt is a Jewish thing to follow him.

The better Passover can only be celebrate when you have had the better circumcision that is not made by human hands.  This is the real Passover 2.0.

This is what Moses (Moishe) foretold (Deuteronomy 30:6).  This is what the Man of Truth made possible (Colossians 2:11).

So, come into the House of Truth, where your heart will be circumcised (Romans 2:29).  This will be your best Passover ever!

You will be able to celebrate Passover 2.0, when you submit the Messiah of Israel, because you believe that the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9-10).  Both Jews and Gentiles are invited to celebrate Passover 2.0 (Romans 10:11-13).

Come into the House of Truth!


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Saturday, March 31, 2018

The Observance Of Passover

Do people have to keep Passover to be saved?

I have been keeping Passover (Pesach) for many years now.

I did not grow up keeping Passover, and did not even understand that it was an annual observance, until after I read the Original Covenant (Tanakh aka The Old Testament) for the first time, after I came into the House of Truth.  Before that, I had always thought that it was a one-time event, which had occurred when the Hebrews were delivered from the bondage of Egypt.

Strictly speaking that is true.  The original Passover was when who ever had the blood of the lamb on their door, their house was passed over when the first born were killed (Exodus 12:6-11).

However, I learned that they were commanded to commemorate that they were passed over, with an annual holiday called "Passover" (Exodus 12:42-43).

Still I saw no need to keep Passover, nor did I know anyone who did, nor did I have any clue how to keep Passover.

After many years, I felt lead by the Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost) to keep Passover .  So I started reading up on how to keep Passover.  At that same time, my wife told me that a friend of ours in our congregation had grown up keeping Passover.  So, he and his wife agreed to let us come over to their house, and keep Passover with them at their house.

I was excited, but nervous when the day came.  I had created my own Hagaddah, because I did not know where to get one at.  I had made my own Seder plate, because I did not know where to get one of those either.  I had learned how to cook everything as authentically as it was in ancient Egypt as possible.  I just did not want to get anything wrong.

When the Seder (the Passover ceremony) started, our friends were so gracious.  I had thought that it would be awkward to do, but it seemed so natural, like I had been doing it my whole life.  Also, it turned out to be a lot more fun than I would have thought, since it was such a solemn event that was being commemorated.

We ended our Seder with a hearty proclamation of "Next year in Jerusalem!".

After that, there was no going back.  Passover was an annual observation for my household from then on.

Overtime, the holidays from the Book of Truth totally replaced holidays with Pagan customs, like Easter.  Once we had tasted the better things that come from the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD), those other things simply lost their appeal.

No one told us that we had to do these things.  We discovered them ourselves in the Renewed Covenant (B'rit Chadashah aka The New Testament), and were lead to put them into practice by the Spirit of Truth.

Yet, since that time I have heard countless people say things like, the Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him) must keep Passover.  I have even heard some say, that no can be saved unless they keep Passover.

Are they right?  Do the Children of Truth have to keep Passover?

The best place to answer this question is by examining what the Law of Truth (Torah aka The Law) says about the observance of Passover.

First, circumcised men must observe Passover (Exodus 12:43-44).  Uncircumcised men must not observe Passover (Exodus 12:48).

So, Passover was observed again in the days of Joshua, after those born in the wilderness were circumcised (Joshua 5:5-10).

So, if men must observe Passover to be saved, then they must be circumcised to be saved.

Second, Passover must be observed in the place where the Father of Truth placed His name (Deuteronomy 16:5-7).  That place is Jerusalem (1 Kings 11:36).

So, King Hezekiah revived the observance of Passover again in Jerusalem after many years (2 Chronicles 30:1-5).  Years later, King Josiah revived the observance of Passover again in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 35:17-19).  Then Ezra revived the observance of Passover again in Jerusalem, after the Jews returned from the captivity in Babylon (Ezra 6:18-19).

Centuries later, the parents of the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) went to Jerusalem for the observance of Passover every year (Luke 2:41).  Then the Man of Truth went to Jerusalem for the observance of Passover when he was grown (John 2:13).

So, if people must observe Passover to be saved, then they must observe it in Jerusalem every year to be saved.

Third, Passover must be observed with sacrifices made by the priests and Levites (Numbers 28:16-24).  The priests and Levites must perform these sacrifices in the Temple (Deuteronomy 16:2-6).

So, King Hezekiah had to delay the observance of Passover to the second month, because the priests and Levites were not ready (2 Chronicles 30:1-3).   King Josiah had the priests and Levites kill the Passover lambs in the Temple in accordance with the Law of Truth (2 Chronicles 35:10-17).  Ezra had to delay the observance of Passover until after the Temple was rebuilt, so the priests and Levites could kill could kill the Passover lambs (Ezra 6:17-20).

So, if people must observe Passover to be saved, then the Temple must be in operation for them to be saved.
 
So, if people must observe Passover as prescribed by the Law of Truth to be saved, then no one has been able to be saved since the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD. 

So, to say that people must observe Passover to be saved, is a thick slice of stupid with extra sauce on it.

Whoever says that we must observe Passover to be saved, is trusting in their own ability to keep the Law of Truth, instead of what the Man of Truth has done (Galatians 2:16).  They have fallen from grace (Galatians 5:4).

Whoever claims to be a teacher of the Law of Truth, and says that people must observe Passover in some matter other than what is written in the Law of Truth, which is the only way Passover can be observed without the Temple in operation, show that they plainly do not understand the Law of Truth (1 Timothy 1:5-7).

In fact, if the letter of the Law of Truth is going to be followed, then no one is saved, who observes Passover, because the Law of Truth would forbid them from doing so without the Temple in operation.

The truth is, that we cannot observe any of the Feasts of Truth as prescribed in the Law of Truth, without the Temple in operation.  We are playing with broken toys.

However, we can have a rehearsal of the Feasts of Truth that make up the acts of the Greatest Play Ever.  This is what Paul the Jew (Shaul aka Saul aka The Apostle Paul) did with congregation in Corinth (1 Corinthians 5:6-8).

Even this is completely optional, for we are completely saved by faith in the Man of Truth, without observing any of the Feasts of Truth (Colossians 2:10-16).

Still, there is great benefit in the observation of Passover, if we are doing so, because we are following the leading of the Spirit of the Law of Truth.  While the letter of the Law of Truth would kill us over the observation of Passover, the Spirit of the Law of Truth will give us life in the observation of Passover (2 Corinthians 3:6).

Passover has a significance for the Children of Truth, that is lacking for those who do not know the Man of Truth.  They are not just reliving deliverance from Egypt, but they are remembering their deliverance from sin by the Death of The Lamb.  They understand that the blood of The Lamb on the cross, will cause them to be passed over for destruction, just like the blood of the lamb on the door posts of the homes in Egypt, caused those homes to be passed over.  They are remembering the better Passover that came from the blood of the Man of Truth being shed on the cross.  They understand that they killed the Man of Truth, just like those passed over in Egypt killed the lamb.

They also understand the significance of the other two Feasts of Truth that occur with Passover.  They understand that removing the leaven from their homes, is really a rehearsal of the Man of Truth removing the sin from their hearts.  They understand that they should wish each other "Happy Firstfruits", because the raising of the First Fruits is about the raising of the Man of Truth from the dead.  They understand that a dead Man of Truth could not complete the work of their salvation, so he had to rise from the dead on Resurrection Sunday.

They experience the observance of Passover in a profound way, that can only come from knowing that the Man of Truth is their Passover lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7).

Rabbinic distort has robbed many Jews of the joy of Passover, because they do not understand that following the Man of Truth is a Jewish thing.   In like manner, many of the Children of Truth have been robbed of the joy of Passover, because they do not understand that the observation of Passover is not just a Jewish thing.  The real joy of the observation of Passover comes from following the Man of Truth.

So the observation of Passover has many benefits for the Children of Truth, but salvation is not one of them.  The observation of Passover did not bring us to salvation.  Salvation brought us to the observation of Passover.

People are saved when they come into the House of Truth.  They come into the House of Truth by the Lamb that takes away their sin, the Man of Truth (John 1:29).  They come into the House of Truth, when they believe the message of the observation of Passover, that the Father of Truth raised the Man of Truth from the dead, so he could be their risen King (Romans 10:9).

Come into the House of Truth!








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Saturday, April 15, 2017

Who killed Jesus?

Who killed the Man of Truth?

Every Spring, churches across America and around the world, put on Passion plays, about the death, burial, and resurrection of the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ).  I have noticed over the years, that these plays have become much more focused on the Jewish culture of the time, when these events occurred.  The action in their plays center around the three Spring Feasts of Truth that were being observed by the Man of Truth and his Jewish disciples: Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits.

They show in these plays, that the death of the Lamb at Passover, was really about the death of the Man of Truth.  They show in these plays, that removing the leaven for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, was really about sin being removed by the Man of Truth spending time in the grave.  They show in these plays, that the raising of the Firstfruits was really about the resurrection of the Man of Truth.

Although these plays are often put on to celebrate Resurrection Sunday, it is no longer fashionable to call them "Easter plays".  It is as if churches woke up, and suddenly realized that it's a Jewish thing to celebrate the Feasts of Truth that were being observed when these events occurred.  They now realize that the Jewish followers of the Man of Truth would have said, "Happy Firstfruits!" to each other, instead of "Happy Easter!", to celebrate his resurrection from the dead.

They have been coming to understand, that these three Feasts of Truth are part of the entire set of the seven Feasts of Truth, which form The Greatest Play Ever.  They just have not yet caught on, that it's not just a Jewish thing to celebrate these Feasts of Truth, but that they are meant for all of the Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him).

Whenever I see one of these plays, I lose all composure and weep uncontrollably, when I hear the nails being hammered.  One year, by the time I stopped weeping, the Man of Truth was ascending back to Heaven.  However, for centuries, Jews have been weeping, whenever these Passion plays have been put on in Europe, for a completely different reason.

The Passion plays in Europe, especially Germany, for most of history were presented in a completely different manner, than the ones that I have seen in America.  The Passion plays in America were presented to remind people, of what the Man of Truth did to save them from their sins.  The Passion plays in Europe were presented to provoke people, into anger against their Jewish neighbors for the death of the Man of Truth.

These European Passion plays were very effective at putting all of the blame for the death of the Man of Truth on the Jewish people.  Sometimes, the Gentile crowds would be whipped into a frenzy before the play was even over.  They would then attack their Jewish neighbors, often beating them, raping their wives, killing their children, and burning their houses, while angrily shouting "Christ killers!".

So Passion plays in Europe brought tears to the eyes of Jewish people, because of the brutality that was heaped upon them for killing the Man of Truth.

Was this treatment of Jews justifiable?  Did they really kill the Man of Truth?

A good place to start is by examining the case made against the Jews by their accusers.

Even the Jewish supporters of the Jewish King of Galilee, had joined with the Jewish religious professionals, to form a plot to kill the Man of Truth (Mark 3:6).  

Judas (Judah aka Yahudah) the Jew accepted a bribe from the Jewish Priests, to betray the Man of Truth to them (Matthew 26:14-16).  Judas the Jew then betrayed the Man of Truth to the Jewish Temple Guards (Matthew 26:47-50).  The Jewish Temple Guards then arrested the Man of Truth, and took him to the Jewish High Priest (Matthew 26:55-57).  The Jewish High Priest, the Jewish Priests, the Jewish Elders, and the Jewish Council, then put on a trial where false witnesses, which they had paid, made false accusations, so they could put the Man of Truth to death (Matthew 26:59-62).  Then these Jewish leaders sentenced him to death for blasphemy, when the Man of Truth confirmed that he was the Messiah of Israel (Matthew 26:63-66).  Then these Jewish leaders and Jewish Temple Guards mocked and persecuted the Man of Truth (Matthew 26:67-68).

The next morning, these Jewish leaders took counsel to get the Man of Truth killed, and then took him to Roman governor, to carry out their plot (Matthew 27:1-2).  Then these Jewish leaders made many accusations to the Roman governor against the Man of Truth (Matthew 27:11-14). 

Even the Jewish King of Galilee persecuted the Man of Truth, and sent him back to the Roman governor, instead of saving him from death (Luke 23:6-11).

When the Roman governor sought to release the Man of Truth, these Jewish leaders stirred up the Jewish crowd to release a murderer instead (Matthew 27:15-21).  Then these Jews demanded that the Man of Truth be crucified (Matthew 27:22-23).  These Jews even agreed to be responsible for the death of the Man of Truth, instead of the Roman governor (Matthew 27:24-25).

Then the Jewish leaders, the Jewish crowd, and even the two Jewish thieves, who were being crucified with the Man of Truth, mocked him, while he was dying on the cross (Matthew 27:38-44).  These Jews continued to mock the Man of Truth, right up to the moment that he died (Matthew 27:46-50).

While this might be an airtight case against those individual Jews involved, it is a very flimsy case against the entire Jewish race.  There are many problems with this case.  This case falls apart rather quickly, when you consider all of the facts.

First, the only Jews involved in the death of the Man of Truth, were those in Jerusalem.  Even though Jerusalem was packed with Jews, from the Roman providences that made up Israel (Judaea, Antipas, Philippi, Decapolis), for Passover (Pesach), there were still far more Jews outside of Israel, than in it.

Only those who lived in the land of Israel were required to be in Jerusalem for Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles, each year (Exodus 23:14-17).   The Temple in Jerusalem was the only place where anyone could kill the Passover lamb (Deuteronomy 16:3-6).

Those Jews, who were scattered among the nations, were not required to be in Jerusalem for Passover, because they were not in the Promised Land.  They were exempt from being in Jerusalem for Passover, because they were too far away to make the journey each year - even for the make-up Passover of the second month (Numbers 9:10-12).  This is why a great number devout Jews from all over the Roman Empire, and beyond, showed up in Jerusalem for Pentecost (Shavuot), which occurred more than a month after the Man of Truth rose from the dead (Acts 2:1-11).  This is why Jews who were too far away, would collect their offerings that they gathered for each of these three first Sabbaths, until they could send them to Jerusalem with someone (1 Corinthians 16:1-3).  [ The word "day" is not in the original Greek manuscripts, and is italicized in the King James Version to so indicate.  It literally says "First Sabbath" in the original Greek manuscripts.  This insertion of "day" for clarity has lead to a lot of confusion about who changed the Sabbath.]

Second, not every Jew who was in Jerusalem, was involved in the death of the Man of Truth.

The Jewish Apostles of Truth were not involved in his death (Matthew 10:2-6).  Neither were the women who lamented for the Man of Truth while he hung on the cross (Mark 15:40-41).  All of those Jews, who were beating their breasts in sorrow when the Man of Truth died, were not part of those involved in his death (Luke 23:48-49).  Not even all of the Jewish leaders were involved in the death of the Man of Truth (Luke 23:50-52).  His mother certainly was not involved in bringing about the death of the Man of Truth (John 19:26-28).  The two Jewish leaders, who buried the Man of Truth, obviously were not involved in the death of the Man of Truth (John 19:38-40).

The truth is, that a very small part of all of the Jews in the world, were involved in the death of the Man of Truth in any manner at all.  Even among those Jews, who were involved in the death of the Man of Truth in some manner, the majority of them were deceived by Jewish religious professionals and politicians.  The truth is, that possibly less than one hundred Jewish men, out of several million Jews on the Earth at that time, were purposely involved in the death of the Man of Truth.

Third, all of those Jews, who were involved in the death of the Man of Truth, have all died, and most of them did not even leave any descendants.

Those Jews, who were involved in the death of the Man of Truth, had told the Roman governor, that they and their children would bear all of the punishment for his death (Matthew 27:25).  The Man of Truth had warned them, that they would be punished for his death, because he was the one spoken of by the Prophets of Truth, whom their ancestors had put to death (Luke 11:47-51).  This was all accomplished by the Romans, thirty nine years after the death of the Man of Truth.

The Romans surrounded the city of Jerusalem, and then destroyed it completely (Luke 19:41-44).  Jerusalem was surround by four Roman legions, plus the mercenary armies that the Romans hired, soon trapping those Jews, involved with the death of the Man of Truth, in Jerusalem, while those Jews, who followed the Man of Truth, escaped by heeding his warning (Luke 21:18-21).  All of those Jews, who were involved in the death of the Man of Truth, and their children, were either killed or sold into slavery by the Romans, as vengeance from the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) upon those Jews, for killing the Man of Truth (Luke 21:22-24).

Many of those Jews, and their children, died at the hands of the Romans, while making sacrifices in the Temple (Luke 13:1-3).  Many of those Jews, and their children, died from being crushed by stones, when the Romans brought down the walls of Jerusalem (Luke 13:4-5).  Many of those Jews, and their children, were crucified by the Romans (Luke 23:28-31).

So there are no Jews left on the Earth, who were responsible for the death of the Man of Truth.  Even the surviving descendants of those Jews, who were involved in the death of the Man of Truth, make up a very small minority among all of the Jews, who live on the Earth today.  So, there is absolutely no justification for this persecution of Jews for the death of the Man of Truth.  The Jews, who live on the Earth today, did not kill the Man of Truth.

These accusations of "Christ killers", directed against the Jews, have no basis in fact.  They are plainly work of the Spirit of Anti-Jewism.

So, who killed the Man of Truth?

Some people have said, that the Romans actually killed the Man of Truth, and then the Jews were scapegoated.  They say, that if anyone should be persecuted for killing the Man of Truth, then it should Italians, particularly, those who live in Rome.

Is it justifiable to blame the Romans?  Did they really kill the Man of Truth?

A good place to start is by examining the case made against the Romans by their accusers.

The Roman governor could have refused to go out to even talk to the accusers of the Man of Truth, since they would not come into the Roman Judgment Hall (John 18:28-30).   The Roman governor could have refused to have a trial, since only the Roman governor could condemn the Man of Truth to die by crucifixion (John 18:31-32).   The Roman governor could have released the Man of Truth, since he did not even know what Jewish law, that the Man of Truth was being accused of breaking (John 18:33-35).  The Roman governor could have let the Man of Truth go, since he found no evidence, that the Man of Truth had broken Roman law (John 18:36-38).

The Roman governor could have let the Man of Truth go, since not even the Jewish King of Galilee had found any evidence, that the Man of Truth had broken Roman law (Luke 23:13-15).

The Roman governor could have let him go, since he knew that the Man of Truth had only been delivered to be killed out to envy (Matthew 27:15-18).  The Roman governor could have let him go, since the Father of Truth had warned his wife in a dream, to have nothing to do with the death of the Man of Truth (Matthew 27:19).  The Roman governor could have let him go, instead of a murderer, because he had found no evidence, that the Man of Truth had broken Roman law (Matthew 27:20-23).  Instead, the Roman governor washed his hands of all responsibility for the death of the Man of Truth (Matthew 27:24).

The Roman governor had the Man of Truth scourged (John 19:1).  It was Roman soldiers, who put a crown of thorns on the head of the Man of Truth, before mocking him, and beating him (John 19:2-3).  The Roman governor could have released the Man of Truth after this, since he still found no evidence, that the Man of Truth had broken Roman law (John 19:4).

The Roman governor then brought the Man of Truth out before the Jewish crowd, wearing the crown of thorns (John 19:5).  The Roman governor could have released the Man of Truth after this, since he still found no evidence, that the Man of Truth had broken Roman law (John 19:6).

The Roman governor could have let him go, since he was told, that the Man of Truth was the son of the Father of Truth (John 19:7-8). The Roman governor had the authority from Rome to release the Man of Truth, or to have him killed (John 19:9-10).  Yet, the Roman governor was more afraid of the Roman Emperor, than the Father of Truth (John 19:12-15).  So, the Roman governor sentence the Man of Truth to death (John 19:16).

It was Roman soldiers, who made the Man of Truth carry the means of his death to the execution site (John 19:17)!

It was Roman soldiers, who made someone else help the Man of Truth, carry the means of his death for the rest of the way, when the Man of Truth became too weak to continue (Mark 15:21)!  It was Roman soldiers, who offered the Man of Truth a mild sedative when he arrived at the execution site (Mark 15:22-23)!

It was Roman soldiers, who drove the nails into the hands and feet of the Man of Truth, when he was crucified (John 19:18)!  It was Roman soldiers, who placed the accusation of the Roman governor, above the Man of Truth on the cross (John 19:19-22)!  It was Roman soldiers, who parted the clothing of the Man of Truth, and gambled for his tallit (John 19:23-24)!

It was Roman soldiers, who mocked the Man of Truth for the accusation made against him, while he was dying on the cross (Luke 23:36-37)!

It was Roman solders, who gave the Man of Truth vinegar, when he said, that he was thirsty, and then watched him die (John 19:28-30)!

When the Man of Truth died, it was a Roman Centurion, who admitted, that they had just killed the son of the Father of Truth (Mark 15:37-39)!  When the Man of Truth died, it was a Roman Centurion, who admitted, that they had just killed a righteous man (Luke 23:46-47)!

While this might be an airtight case against those individual Romans involved, it is a very flimsy case against the entire Italian race.  There are many problems with this case.  This case falls apart rather quickly, when you consider all of the facts.

First of all, the only Romans involved in the death of the Man of Truth, were those in Jerusalem.  Even though Jerusalem was packed with Roman soldiers, from the Roman providences that made up Israel (Judaea, Antipas, Philippi, Decapolis), who were assigned to keep the peace during Passover (Pesach), there were still far more Romans outside of Israel, than in it.

Not too surprisingly, Romans were scattered all of over the Roman Empire, including places like Philippi, a colony for retired Roman soldiers in Macedonia (Acts 16:12-21).  Not too surprisingly, most Romans were hundreds of miles away in Rome, when these events occurred (Romans 1:15).

Also, Romans were not just Italians, but people of many ethnic groups, including Jews like Paul the Jew (Shaul aka The Apostle Paul) and Silas the Jew (Silvanus) (Acts 16:29-38).  Everyone born in certain cities outside of Israel, like Tarsus, were Romans. because of the special status of those cities, no matter what ethnic group that they belonged to (Acts 21:39-40).  Some men were Romans. because they paid a lot of money to become Romans, while other men were born as Romans (Acts 22:26-29).

Second, not every Roman who was in Jerusalem, was involved in the death of the Man of Truth.

There were Roman soldiers in Israel, who sought to know what the Father of Truth required of them (Luke 3:14).

For example, a Roman Centurion had the greatest faith in the Man of Truth in all the land of Israel (Matthew 8:8-10).  This Roman Centurion loved the Jewish people, and had greater respect for the Man of Truth, than most of the Jewish people (Luke 7:2-7).

Another Roman Centurion in Israel feared the Father of Truth, gave money to help the poor among the Jews, and prayed continually to the Father of Truth (Acts 10:1-4).  One of the Roman soldiers, under this Roman Centurion, was also devoted to the Father of Truth, whom the Roman Centurion sent on a mission to learn from a Jewish Apostle of Truth  (Acts 10:5-8).  The Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost) gave a vision to this Apostle of Truth, concerning the Roman soldier that had been sent to him (Acts 10:19-20).  This Roman Centurion feared the Father of Truth so much, and loved the Jewish people so much, that the Father of Truth had sent an Angel of Truth to warn this Roman Centurion, that he needed to hear the message spoken by this Jewish Apostle of Truth (Acts 10:21-22).  This Roman Centurion, waited with other Romans, to hear from the Jewish Apostle of Truth (Acts 10:24).  This Roman Centurion had so wanted to know the will of the Father of Truth, so much that he had been seeking the Father of Truth through prayer and fasting, just to find out what His will was (Acts 10:30-33).  These Romans were so quick to believe in the Man of Truth, that they were baptized in the Spirit of Truth, before the Jewish Apostle of Truth was even done telling them about the Man of Truth (Acts 10:34-44).

A man could be both a follower of the Man of Truth, and a Roman, at the same time (Acts 22:8-25).  The Law of Truth (Torah aka The Law) was even kept by some Romans (Acts 23:27-29).

The truth is, that a very small part of all of the Romans in the world, were involved in the death of the Man of Truth in any manner at all.  Even among those Romans, who were involved in the death of the Man of Truth in some manner, the majority of them were following orders, without any ability to know anything other than what they were told.  The truth is, that possibly less than one hundred Roman men, out of several million Romans on the Earth at that time, were involved in the death of the Man of Truth in any manner at all.

Third, all of those Romans, who were involved in the death of the Man of Truth, have all died.

When the Romans surrounded Jerusalem, they took tremendous casualties digging the trench to surround the city (Luke 19:43).  When the walls of Jerusalem fell, many Roman soldiers were crushed by the huge stones (Luke 19:44).  The Romans were forced to bring in other Roman legions, and even hire mercenary armies, in order to lay siege to Jerusalem (Luke 21:20).

The Romans had great difficulty making the Temple desolate, for the Temple Mount served as a fortress within the walls of Jerusalem (Matthew 23:38).  The Romans had to defeat the last of Zealots, who had taken control of the Temple, before they could remove the stones of the Temple off of the Temple Mount (Mark 13:1-2).  The Romans took many casualties, before they brought an end to the worship of the Father of Truth at the Temple in Jerusalem (John 4:21).  It was very costly for the Romans to take away the place where the Jews worshiped - The Temple (John 11:48).

The Roman Legion, that probably crucified the Man of Truth, was Fretensis - Legion X.  This Roman legion was almost entirely decimated in the Great Revolt, when Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed, thirty nine years after the death of the Man of Truth.  In fact, the Great Revolt was one of the costliest wars in Roman history.  Rome ended up being forced to send a sixth of its military to Judaea to fight the Great Revolt.  When it did so, smaller revolts broke out across the Roman Empire, because there was no military prescence to enforce the Pax Romana (Peace of Rome).  The Romans suffered terrible casualties for their involvement in the death of the Man of Truth.

So there are no Romans left on the Earth, who were responsible for the death of the Man of Truth.  Even the surviving descendants of those Romans, who were involved in the death of the Man of Truth, make up a very small minority among all of the Italians, who live on the Earth today.  So there is absolutely no justification for persecuting Italians for the death of the Man of Truth.  The Italians, who live on the Earth today, did not kill the Man of Truth.

So, who killed the Man of Truth?

The Man of Truth was not the victim of some Jewish plot, but had already planned to be killed in Jerusalem, by the efforts of the religious and political leaders of the Jews (Matthew 16:21).  The Man of Truth was not the victim of the Roman brutality, but had already planned to be abused, mocked, flogged, and killed by the Romans (Luke 18:31-33).

These events that lead up to the death of the Man of Truth, had all been written about by Moses (Moishe), and the rest of the Prophets of Truth (Luke 24:19-27).  The Man of Truth was not the victim of anyone, but he willing laid down his life for others (John 10:15-18).

Those involved in his death, did not know what they were doing (Luke 23:34).  No one, not even the Roman governor, could have brought about the death of the Man of Truth, without the consent of the Father of Truth (John 19:11).  If the Father of Lies (HaShatan aka Satan Aka The Devil) had really understood what was being done, then he never would have tempted people into killing the Man of Truth (1 Corinthians 2:6-8). The Man of Truth died as part of the secret plan of the Father of Truth to save the human race.

The Man of Truth was fulfilling the plan of the Father of Truth to save the human race, when he allowed himself to be killed by the Romans, at the insistence of the Jews (Acts 2:21-23).  So, the Man of Truth willing obeyed the commandment of his Father, to die on a cross (Philippians 2:8).

The Man of Truth chose to die on a cross for every person, who has ever sinned against the Father of Truth (Romans 5:6-8).  The Man of Truth died for everyone, who ever sinned by transgressing the Law of Truth (1 John 3:4).

The Law of Truth is holy, and every commandment in it is holy, just, and good (Romans 7:12).  If one person could ever keep the Law of Truth without breaking it once, then they would be righteous and live forever (Romans 10:5).   If one person could ever keep the Law of Truth without breaking it once, then the Man of Truth would not have needed to die on the cross (Galatians 2:21).

So, who killed the Man of Truth?

I did.  My sin made his death necessary.  My hands are the hands that drove the nails into his hands.  This is why I cannot watch a Passion play without weeping uncontrollably, whenever I hear the hammer hitting the nails.

However, the truth is that I am not alone in killing the Man of Truth.  The entire human race is guilty of killing the Man of Truth, for every single person has made his death necessary with their sin (Romans 3:23).

So, the Man of Truth is the Lamb, that the Father of Truth gave to take away the sins of the world, so people can come into the House of Truth (John 1:29).  So, the Man of Truth is the true Passover Lamb, for everyone who comes into the House of Truth (1 Corinthians 5:7).

The Man of Truth will be the Lamb who takes away your sins, if you will come into the House of Truth, by making him the king of your life, because you believe that his Father raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9-10).  Jews, Romans, and everyone else, can come into the House of Truth (Romans 10:11-13).

Come into the House of Truth!









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Sunday, April 24, 2016

Resurrection Sunday

When should the Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him), celebrate the resurrection of the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ)?

Most people, who call themselves "Christians", celebrate a holiday of some sort in the Spring to commemorate the resurrection of the Man of Truth.  The day that most of these groups commemorate the resurrection of the Man of Truth falls on a Sunday.  They do not agree on which Sunday, or even what to call the holiday. 

So we will call the day, that various groups commemorate the resurrection of the Man of Truth, "Resurrection Sunday".  This will give the same generic name to a common event, that is observed on different days, by different groups, with different names.

Some of them use the Roman system, to determine when to celebrate Resurrection Sunday.  Some who use the Roman system, call Resurrection Sunday, "Easter", while others using the Roman system call Resurrection Sunday, "Passover". 

The waters are furthered muddied by, who celebrate "Easter", doing so on the same day, that others using the Roman system, who celebrate "Passover".  In some places where the Roman system is used, the words "Easter" and "Passover" are used interchangeably for Resurrection Sunday.

Other people who call themselves "Christians", uses one of the Jewish systems to determine when to celebrate Resurrection Sunday. 

Various groups within Judaism, celebrate "Passover" based on different criteria.  Broadly speaking, there is the Rabbinic system, that uses the Rabbinic calendar, and the Observation system, that is based on the facts on the ground in Israel. 

Inside the Observation system, there is contention about what constitutes the conditions, that determine the day when the month "Abib", that contains "Passover" begins.  Even when people determine what day "Passover" falls on using either of these systems, there is still disagreement over whether "Passover" should be celebrated at the beginning or the end of the day. 

So there can be as much as a full month some years, between when "Passover" is celebrated by those who use the Rabbinic system and those who use the Observation system.  This Jewish "Passover" does not fall on a Sunday most years, but it is used to determine "The Feast of Firstfruits", that does fall on a Sunday, which can also be thought of as Resurrection Sunday.

Yet others use the Greek system, to determine when to celebrate Resurrection Sunday.  Those who use the Greek system, only call Resurrection Sunday, "Passover".  It is based on a completely different formula than the Roman system, so that Greek "Passover" almost always falls after Roman "Easter/Passover", sometimes by more than a month.  Because of the confusion of "Easter/Passover" in the Roman system, sometimes people mistakenly call Greek "Passover", "Greek Easter", even though the Greeks call it "Passover".

Just to add to the confusion, the "Passover" that those using the Roman system are celebrating, is usually a few days after the Passover that Jews are celebrating.  Just to tangle the whole mess a little bit more, the "Passover/Easter" of the Roman system, is actually not on the Passover of the Jewish system, but instead usually falls on "The Feast of Firstfruits" on the Jewish system.  Part of the confusion arises from many Jewish people referring to three different holidays, that run together over an eight day period, collectively as "Passover".

Needless to say, this leads to a lot of confusion. 

For example, in this year, 2016, most people who call themselves "Christians" in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Germany, and parts of France celebrated "Easter" on March 27 as Resurrection Sunday, while those in the rest of Western Europe celebrated "Passover" as Resurrection Sunday on the same day.  However, those who use one of the Jewish systems, will celebrate "Passover" on April 21, or April 22, and celebrate Resurrection Sunday as "The Feast of Firstfruits" on April 24.  Lastly, those who use the Greek system, will celebrate Resurrection Sunday as "Passover" on May 1. 

So those who call themselves "Christians", are using three different dates, in three different months, with holidays that have three different names, to celebrate the exact same event.  What a tangled mess!

The first step to untangling this mess, is a little history, of how things got to be in such a mess to start with.  We will begin by examining the calendar systems, used by these various groups to determine when Resurrection Sunday occurs.

Before there were calendars, people just went by lunar cycles, called months (from the word, "moon").  Each month started, the day after the moon went dark, and lasted until the moon went dark again.  In like manner, a year was measured from one summer to the next.  Since twelve months spanned an average of 354 days, some years contained 12 months and other years contained 13 months.

The original calendar was the Babylonian calendar.  This was a lunar calendar.  This calendar had 12 months per year, with alternating lengths of 30 and 29 days per month.  There were 354 days in a year, regardless of the seasons.  The Assyrians and Persians used this calendar was well.  Even today, the Muslim calendar uses this purely lunar calendar, without any seasonal adjustment.  That is why a Muslim holiday like Ramadan, can be in Winter one year, and be in Summer a decade later.

The Greeks used the Macedonian calendar, that improved upon the Babylonian calendar. This lunar calendar was based on the 19 year Metonic cycle, invented by the Greek astronomer and mathematician, Meton.  This calendar used months, that started on the day after the calculated astronomical "New Moon" (Dark Moon), resulting in 12 lunar months per year, resulting in 354 day years like the Babylonian calendar.  However, to ensure that the first month of each year always contained the Spring Equinox, Meton added a leap month, after the sixth month, in years 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, and 17 of the nineteen year cycle.  Lastly, he added a leap month at the end of the 19th year of the cycle.

Julius Caesar found the Macedonian calendar hard to work with.  In particular, he wanted a calendar system that could be used to make food rationing in the winter easier, by making it easier to calculate the number of days until barley, the first crop to ripen after winter, would be ready for harvest.  So he had a solar calendar created, where the position of the Earth relative to the Sun, would be approximately the same each year, on the same date on the calendar.  This solar calendar had months of alternating lengths of 31 days and 30 days, with the last month, February having 29 days.  He knew that a solar year was approximately 365 and one quarter days, so every fourth year, leap year, there would be a leap day added to February, making it to be 30 days long.  The first month of this calendar, March, also contained the Spring Equinox, but it set the Spring Equinox to March 21, because the Spring climate change began about three weeks earlier.  So there were three months for each of the four seasons.  This calendar was known as the Julian Calendar.

When Augustus became the Roman Emperor, the Roman Senate renamed the sixth month to August in his honor, just as they had previously renamed the fifth month to July, in honor of Julius Caesar.  Augustus did not like that his month had one less day than the month of Julius Caesar, so he made August to have 31 days, changed the months after August to alternate between 30 days and 31 days, and changed February to have only 28 days in a normal year.  He kept the leap day, so every fourth year, leap year, February had 29 days.  Even though this modified Julian calendar would be more properly called the Augustan calendar, the name never stuck, and it is still referred to as the Julian calendar to this day.

After a number of centuries, it became apparent that the Julian calendar had a subtle problem.  The Spring Equinox would slowly, but surely, occur later on the calendar over time.  This phenomenon is called Julian shift.  By the time of Pope Gregory, around 1580 AD, the Spring Equinox was occurring around March 31, ten days late, due to Julian shift.  So Pope Gregory, had the Gregorian calendar invented, by making the Gregorian correction, of not having a leap year in century years that were not evenly divisible by 400.  For example, 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not leap years, but 2000 was a leap year.  He also had 10 days skipped in 1582, to return the Spring Equinox to occurring on March 21.  The Gregorian calendar is the common calendar, used by the world today to conduct business, even though many places, will also use another calendar, for determining when religious holidays occur.

Before 70 AD, the Sanhedrin determined whether or not there would be a leap month, based on facts on the ground in Israel.  This set the date for Passover.  Due to the long distance that people traveled to attend Passover, from places like Rome and Babylon, they would typically forecast, which years would have leap months, a few years in advance.  The exact details of how they determined this, are not known, but they kept historical data, about which years had leap months in the past, and probably used that data, as a basis for their determinations.

By 200 AD, most people who called themselves "Christians", consulted with their Jewish neighbors, to determine when the Jews were celebrating Passover, and used that date, to fix when to celebrate Resurrection Sunday, on the following Sunday, that they also called "Passover".

However, this all changed with the council of Nicaea in 325 AD.  In this council, the False Church of Rome, decided that "Passover" should have a universal date among everyone, who called themselves "Christians", and the only rule that they agreed upon for deciding that date, was that it could not be based, on when the Jews celebrated Passover.

Not everyone who called themselves "Christians", went along with this decision, particularly those who did not belong to the False Church of Rome.  For example, the congregations started by Saint Patrick, were reported, as still basing Resurrection Sunday on Passover, in 592 AD.

Eventually, the False Church of Rome settled on a formula, that defined "Passover" as the Sunday following the first full moon after the Spring Equinox.  The Spring Equinox was always defined as March 21, even in years when it occurred on a different date.  The Julian calendar was still in use at this time.

Not long after that, Hillel II introduced the Rabbinic calendar, that is still in use today.  Jerusalem had been destroyed in 70 AD, and the Jews had been dispersed by the Romans throughout their empire in 135 AD.  The Sanhedrin could no longer rely on the facts on the ground in Israel, to make adjustments to their forecasts.  So he lead the Sanhedrin in creating a calculated calendar, that Jews could use, where ever they were scattered.

This Rabbinic calendar was based on the Macedonian calendar, with a few more adjustments of its own.  The months were given Babylonian names, like "Nisan" for the first month, and the leap month was moved, to always occur at the end of each leap year.  The leap years still followed the 19 year cycle of Meton, with years 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 19 being leap years.  Also, the beginning of the first month would be adjusted sometimes by a day or two, to make sure that special Sabbaths in the Feasts of Truth (Moedim aka Feasts of the Father of Truth) did not fall on the regular weekly Sabbath.  This Rabbinic calendar is used by the Rabbinic system for determining the date of Passover to this day.  So those who use this system, have "Passover" being celebrated on April 22 this year, and Resurrection Sunday is on the Feast of Firstfruits, April 24, this year.

The False Church of Rome continued to have the same date for "Passover", which was called "Easter" in the westernmost countries of Europe, even after the False Church of Rome split into Roman and Greek halves in the Great Schism of 1054 AD.  However, because the Greek half did not recognize the authority of the head of the Roman half, Pope Gregory, when he made his correction in 1582, they continued to use the Julian calendar, instead of the Gregorian calendar, for determining the date of "Passover", until this day.  For this reason, the Greek half of the False Church of Rome is using 3 APR as the date of the Spring Equinox, 13 days after the astronomical Spring Equinox, as the basis for calculating "Passover" this year.  So those who are using the Roman system, Resurrection Sunday is on "Passover/Easter", March 27, this year, while those who are using the Greek system, Resurrection Sunday is on "Passover", May 1, this year.

Finally, since Israel became a nation in 1948, and the invention of electronic communications, it has been possible again, to determine the date of Passover, based on the facts on the ground in Israel.  This calendar, based on observation of the conditions in Jerusalem, is the Observation calendar.

One of the problems with the Observation calendar is, that it is subject to weather conditions and other such phenomenon.  For example, the first visible sliver of the New Moon for determining the first month of this year, was spotted in Perth, Australia and other points east of Jerusalem on April 8, but it could not be seen there due to hazy skies.  It still could not be seen on April 9, but most who used the Observation calendar defaulted to April 9 as the first day of the first month, because they knew, that the time between new moons could not be more than 30 days.  So strictly speaking, they still made a determination based on calculation, instead of observation.  So, not all of those using the Observation system, did agree on exactly when Passover was, with some using Apr 22, while other used Apr 23.  However, they still agree, that Resurrection Sunday is on the Feast of Firstfruits, April 24, this year.

So this explains why things are such a convoluted mess, but it does not really tell, when Resurrection Sunday should be celebrated.  The best way to determine that, is to examine the holidays, that the Children of Truth celebrated in the Renewed Covenant (B'rit Chadashah aka The New Testament).

It has been noted, that the word "Easter", appears in English Bibles, so it is reasoned that the Children of Truth were familiar with Easter (Acts 12:4).  However, the Greek word translated as "Easter" in this verse is actually "Pascha".  "Pascha" is the Greek word for the Hebrew word "Pesach", which is called "Passover" in English.  It was translated as "Easter", because that is what the English called Resurrection Sunday, which other people using the Roman system, called "Passover", as previously noted.  So it was "Passover", that the Children of Truth were familiar with, not "Easter".

This is further confirmed by the preceding verse, which explicitly states, that this occurred during "The Feast of Unleavened Bread" (Acts 12:3).  Years later, Paul the Jew (Shaul aka Saul aka The Apostle Paul) celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread with the almost completely Gentile congregation at Philippi (Acts 20:6).  In like manner, half-Jewish, half-Gentile, congregation at Corinth was also in the habit of celebrating the Feast of Unleavened Bread (1 Corinthians 5:8).

It might seem odd, that the Gentile Children of Truth in the Renewed Covenant were celebrating the same holidays as unbelieving Jews.  The reason for this begins by understanding the name, that they identified themselves by.  The Children of Truth called themselves, "Christians", as confirmed by Peter the Jew (Cephas aka Simon aka Simeon aka The Apostle Peter), in his epistle (1 Peter 4:14-17).  This word "Christian" that he wrote, literally means "Christ follower (Messiah follower)".

Simply put, these Gentile Children of Truth identified the Man of Truth, as their one and only Rabbi, and they were determined to follow him, by doing what he did (Matthew 23:8-10).  Since their Rabbi celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread, then they also celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Matthew 26:17).

In order to understand, exactly what the Feast of Unleavened Bread has to do with Resurrection Sunday, it necessary to examine the Feast of Unleavened Bread a little more closely.  In order to understand the Feast of Unleavened Bread, it helps to understand the calendar of the Book of Truth (The Bible), which we will call the Biblical calendar. Like many things, the best place to begin, is at the beginning.

The very beginning of understanding any calendar, is understanding the structure of a day.  On the Biblical calendar, evening and morning are joined together as one calendar day (Genesis 1:5). The period without sunlight is called nighttime and the period with full sunlight is daytime.  There are two transition periods when it is neither nighttime nor daytime.  These are guard bands that provide complete separation between the time of no sunlight and the time of total sunlight.  The transition from daytime to nighttime, that begins at sunset, and lasts about an hour to nightfall, when all sunlight is gone, is evening.  The transition from nighttime to daytime, that begins about an hour before sunrise, daybreak, and lasts until sunrise, when total sunlight begins, is morning.  Since the evening begins each calendar day, and evening begins at sunset and ends at nightfall, then the transition from one day to another begins at sunset and ends at nighttime.  So sunset is typically used to mark when one day ends and another begins.

However, that is not totally correct, because the evening that comes at the end of a day, can also be regarded, as being the last part of that day (John 20:1-19).  The evening is technically the midpoint of the transition is between daytime to nighttime, when the light of the day, and the darkness of night, have became even.  So the last half of the evening, that ends with nightfall, is the start of a day, and the first half of the evening, that follows sunset, is the end of a day.  For this reason, some Rabbis use a 25 hour day for the Sabbath, where the Sabbath begins at sunset on Friday, and ends at nightfall on Saturday, just to be safe.  In reality, evening is a guard band between days, that is more of a grace period to account for human frailty.  So people should strive to get everything done by sunset on Friday, but have a little grace if something unexpected causes them to be a few minutes late.

The next thing to understand on the Biblical calendar, is the structure of a month, which is either 29 or 30 days.  The Hebrew word for "month", "Chodesh", also means "new moon" or more literally "renewed moon".  Each month starts when the moon is made new.  The period from one new moon to the next varies from 29.26 to 29.80 days, so a month on the Biblical calendar will either be 29 or 30 days.  In the Law of Truth (Torah aka The Law), the first day of the new month was to be marked with the blowing of trumpets over the sacrifices (Numbers 10:10).

The moon is made new, strictly speaking from an astronomical point of view, about one second after it becomes completely dark.  The moon is completely dark only at the moment of conjunction, when the Moon is directly between the Earth and the Sun, in its orbit.  The moon at the moment of conjunction is called the dark moon.  The crescent of the new moon becomes visible as early as twelve and half hours after the dark moon, under near perfect conditions, such as appearing as large as possible, because it is at the point nearest the Earth in its orbit, known as perigee, is well above the horizon, the skies are clear, and the viewer has excellent eyesight.

However, there is nothing in the Book of Truth, that says the moon is made new, when the crescent is first observed in Jerusalem, or anywhere else.  The fact is, that the moon is made new, whether anyone observes it or not, like in the case of the new moon, that was not observed on either the twenty-ninth day, or thirtieth day in Jerusalem this year, due to hazy skies, that was referenced earlier.   So if the moon goes dark one night, it is certain, that the moon is new the next night, whether the crescent is observed or not, and a new month on the Biblical calendar has began.  It would be even more accurate to say, that the a new month begins on the Biblical calendar, on the evening after the moon goes dark.

The next thing to understand on the Biblical calendar, is the structure of a year, which is either 12 or 13 months.  The year begins with the month, that the Father of Truth passed over the homes with the blood of a lamb on their door, when He killed the firstborn throughout the land of Egypt (Exodus 12:1-13).  This is the month of Abib, which literally means "the green ear of grain", meaning the month that the barley becomes ripe (Exodus 13:3-5).  The first month of the year is the month, when the barley will be ripe enough to be roasted and eaten, on the Feast of Firstfruits (Leviticus 2:14).

Since twelve months are usually 354 days, occasionally a thirteenth month, a leap month, has to be added, to ensure that the barley will be ripe enough to be offered on the Feast of Firstfruits.  This can be checked by squeezing a grain of barley between the thumb and forefinger, in the land of Israel.  If no liquid comes out, then it will be ripe enough.  It can also be reliably calculated by determining, if the Feast of Firstfruits would occur at least eleven days after the Spring Equinox, in Jerusalem.  If it would, then it is the first month of the new year, otherwise it is a leap month, and the new year will begin on the first day of the next month.

So in summary, a day begins at evening, a month begins on the day when the moon is renewed, and the year begins with the month, when the barley will be ripe enough to be offered at the Feast of Firstfruits.  So an explanation of the Feast of Firstfruits is needed.

The first step to understanding the Feast of Firstfruits, is the repeating cycle of seven days, that define the regular Sabbath.  The Father of Truth rested from His work of creation on the seventh day, so He set it apart as different than the other days, because He ceased from that work (Genesis 2:1-3).  In the same way, He gave the seventh day of each week as a Sabbath, a day for people to rest from their normal work, by ceasing from that work (Exodus 20:8-11).  The Father of Truth did not set aside a day of ceasing, the Sabbath, because He was tired, but because people need a day to rest each week, by ceasing from their work (Mark 2:27).  People enter into the rest that the Sabbath was made for, when they cease from their own work, like the Father of Truth ceased from His work (Hebrews 4:10).

The next step to understanding the Feast of Firstfruits, is the special Sabbaths.  The word "Sabbath" does not mean "seventh".  You do not count to seven in Hebrew like this: one, two, three, four, five, six, Sabbath.  Sabbath means "ceasing", because on a Sabbath, people are to cease from their normal work.  Certain holidays on the Biblical calendar are also a Sabbath, regardless of which day of the week they fall on.  For example, the day of Atonement, the tenth day of the seventh month, can fall on any day of the week, but it is also a Sabbath (Leviticus 16:29-31).  So every week ends with a regular Sabbath, but there are also special Sabbaths, that fall on certain days of certain months, that can fall on any day of the week, that are called "High Days" (John 19:31).

The next step to understanding the Feast of Firstfruits, is the relationship of the Feast of Firstfruits to Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  Passover always occurs on the fourteenth day of the first month (Leviticus 23:5).  The Feast of Unleavened Bread always begins on the Fifteenth day of the first month, and lasts for seven days, with the first and last days being special Sabbaths (Leviticus 23:6-8).  The Feast of Firstfruits occurs on the day after the regular Sabbath (Saturday), which is a Sunday, that follows the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:9-11).

It is certain that the regular Sabbath is being referred to, instead of one of the special Sabbaths of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because the day of the month would have just been given, to make it completely clear, like when the day of the month was given for the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, even though it always occurs the day after Passover (Leviticus 23:5-6).  So it is the Sunday, that follows the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, that begins the day after Passover, when the barley grain must be ripe enough, to offer as the firstfruits of the land of Israel.

So Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits are all clumped together in a normally eight day period, in the first month of the Biblical calendar, that always occurs in the Spring.  Firstfruits always occurs on a Sunday, that usually occurs during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Now, we are ready to show why the Children of Truth in the Renewed Covenant, celebrated Resurrection Sunday during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

The Passover lamb was to be eaten with unleavened bread on Passover (Exodus 12:8).  For this reason, Passover is referred to as the first day of unleavened bread, even though it occurs the day before the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Mark 14:12).

So "the Feast of Unleavened Bread" came to sometimes be used to refer to the entire eight days, including Passover (Matthew 26:17).  For the same reason, the entire eight day period, that includes the Feast of Unleavened Bread, is sometimes referred to as "Passover" (Luke 22:1).  Sometimes the fourteenth day of the month is called "the day of preparation", so that "Passover" really refers to the Feast of Unleavened Bread (John 19:31-42).  On the Rabbinic calendar in use today, Passover is seven days long, which is really the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

So "the Feast of Unleavened Bread", that the Children of Truth in the Renewed Covenant used to observe Resurrection Sunday, could have included Passover, and could have alternatively been called, "Passover".  This would seem fitting, because just as the Passover lamb is eaten without leaven, so also the Man of Truth was sacrificed without sin (Hebrews 4:14-15).

It was during the celebration of Passover, when the Man of Truth told the Children of Truth, that the unleavened bread represented his body, that would be broken for them, and the wine represented his blood, that would be shed, to bring about the Renewed Covenant (Luke 22:15-20).  So it was the death of the Man of Truth, that they were to make known, by eating unleavened bread and drinking wine in his memory, every time they celebrated Passover (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

The Passover lamb was to be roasted whole for Passover (Exodus 12:5-9).  To this day, the Greeks roast a lamb whole for "Passover", their name for Resurrection Sunday, because that is what they say, the Apostles of Truth told them to do, to remember the death of the Lamb.

The Man of Truth is the lamb that takes away the sins of the Children of Truth (John 1:29).  The Children of Truth in the Renewed Covenant observed Passover, because the Man of Truth, is their Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7).  The Gentile Children of Truth have participated in the better Passover.  They recognized, that they will be passed over, when the Father of Truth brings death to the Children of Lies for their sins.

So the Man of Truth has made it possible, for sin to be completely taken away from the lives of the Children of Truth, when he died for them (Romans 6:4-11).  Therefore the Children of Truth in the Renewed Covenant celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for a complete week, because they were committed to living a life, that was completely free from sin (1 Corinthians 5:6-8).  They recognized that removing the leaven for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, that immediately follows the Passover, was really about removing the sin, that immediately follows taking the deal, that was made possible by the death of the Man of Truth.

The Man of Truth rose from the dead, on the day after the regular Sabbath, a Sunday, that followed the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is the Feast of Firstfruits (Matthew 28:1-7).  So, the Children of Truth in the Renewed Covenant celebrated the Feast of Firstfruits, which normally occurs during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because the Man of Truth was the firstfruits of those, who will be raised from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:20).  The Feast of Firstfruits, that always falls on a Sunday, where the raising of the firstfruits, foreshadowed that the Man of Truth would be more than a dead Jesus, is the real Resurrection Sunday!

So, the Children of Truth in the Renewed Covenant used Passover to commemorate the death of the Man of Truth, the Feast of Unleavened Bread to mark that his death took away their sin, and the Feast of Firstfruits to celebrate his resurrection from the dead.  They greeted each other with "Happy Firstfruits!" on Resurrection Sunday!

Easter, and other such so-called Christian holidays, that include traditions that come from idol worship, were never celebrated by the Children of Truth in the Renewed Covenant.  They celebrated the Feasts of Truth found in the Law of Truth, that form the greatest play ever.  Since, they were known as "Christians", then the Feasts of Truth are the real Christian holidays.  These real Christian holidays were not only celebrated by the Children of Truth in the Renewed Covenant, but were also part of Celtic Christianity, in its original form.  These are the holidays, that Christians are suppose to use to celebrate everything about the Man of Truth, including Resurrection Sunday!

However, the resurrection of the Man of Truth is nothing to celebrate, until you come into the House of Truth.  The resurrection of the Man of Truth only guarantees judgment for everyone, who does not come into the House of Truth (Acts 17:30-31).  You come into the House of Truth, when you follow the Man of Truth, by doing what he commands, because you believe, that the Father of Truth resurrected him from the dead (Romans 10:9).  All who come into the House of Truth, will be resurrected to eternal life, just like the Man of Truth was resurrected, on Resurrection Sunday (1 Corinthians 15:20-23)!

Come into the House of Truth!

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