PASSOVER AND THE TEMPLE VEIL

By Evangelist Daniel Goodwin

 

“By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;”
Hebrews 10:20

 

“Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;”

Matthew 27:50-51

 

“For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:” 

1 Corinthians 5:7

            

   As we remember Passover this month and give thanks for the Lord Jesus Christ who was and is our Passover, let me unlock for you a mystery that it holds for us about the dividing of time.  You see, most people believe the New Testament began at the birth of Jesus.  Even the Gregorian calendar we use today began counting years at the birth of Christ, but what if this is not accurate?  Is it possible that this has thrown us off for centuries?  What if the New Testament began closer to 30 A.D. and our calculations have been wrong?  What if this is not actually the year 2018?  

 

Is there a mystery in the Passover that reveals when the Old Testament ended?  What if the New Testament actually began some 33 years later at the death of Christ?  It is my firm belief that the New Testament clock actually began after the cross, not before.   Please allow me to challenge your thinking on this with the following discourse.

 

   God created everything from nothing in six days.  God rested on the seventh day.  I believe that these seven days of creation in Genesis 1 are prophetic of 7,000 years of human history on the earth.  I believe each of the days of creation represent a thousand years.  I believe 6,000 years will pass and God will rest, and the Millennium will be ushered in.  We are very close to the end of that 6,000th year.  I believe the rapture takes place and Daniel’s 70th week will start when the church reaches the 2000th year. Can you see the importance of starting the New Testament at the right place? 

 

The following Scriptures support the 7000-year scenario

 

   2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  

 

 Hosea 6:1-2 “Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.” 

 

   This is a passage dealing specifically with the nation of Israel.  “After two days” is prophetic of the 2,000 years of the New Testament.  The third day is the 1,000-yearmillennial reign of Christ, where Israel will once again be the center of things on earth. 

 

   Psalm 90:4 “For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.”

 

   Psalms 90:12 “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”

 

   Did you know that Moses wrote this Psalm, and that he will be one of the two witnesses during the Tribulation?  This adds an interesting light on the context of the passage!

 

 

 

The seven days of creation are not only literal, but also prophetic of 1,000-year periods of time.  Many throughout history believed this and some have even written about it.  Let me give you a few quotes from some men of old concerning a 7,000 year earth.

Quotes from the Past

In 150 A.D., Irenaeus wrote in his book Against Heresies, “For the day of the Lord is as a thousand years; and in six days created things were completed; it is evident, therefore, that they will come to an end in the sixth thousand years.”

 

In 300 A.D., Lactantius wrote this in his book Divine Institutions, “Because all the works of God were finished in six days, it is necessary that the world should remain in this state six ages that is 6,000 years. Because having finished the works, He rested on the seventh day and blessed it; it is necessary that at the end of the sixth thousandth year all wickedness should be abolished out of the earth and justice should reign for a thousand years.”

 

In 1552 A. D., Bishop Latimer wrote, “The world was ordained to endure, as all learned men affirm, 6000 years.  Now of that number, there are passed 5,552 years [as of 1,552], so there is no more left but 448 years.” (Till the year 2000)

 

 

The Transfiguration

 7,000-year Prophetic View

 

Matthew 17:1-3“1And after six daysJesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, 2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. 3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.”  

 

   Here we have the story of the transfiguration.  All Scripture has three interpretations: the literal, the figurative, and the prophetic.  This is a literal event that happened, but it also has figurative lessons to apply to our lives as well as a prophetic teaching.  Verse 1 says, “And after six days. . .”  There we have Christ appearing after six prophetic days, which are 6,000 years according to 2 Peter 3:8.  In the prophetic light of this passage, we see Jesus coming in the clouds and showing His glory to the three disciples, a type of the rapture. 

 

Matthew 17:1, "And after six days. . ." indicates a 6,000 year time span before the rapture. In Matthew 17:3, Elijah and Moses show up after the 6,000 years, and after Christ shows us His glory at the rapture.  They are the two witnesses who show up in Jerusalem after the rapture, and are responsible for the conversion of the 144,000 Jews at the middle of the Tribulation.            

   When we go up in the rapture, Moses and Elijah come down to Israel.  They will preach and testify to the Jews for 3 ½ years. They will be the only light on the earth.  They will be killed by the Antichrist right at the middle of the Tribulation and their bodies left in the streets for all to see.  All the TV news channels will be talking about them.  The whole world will rejoice that they are dead. 

 

   Now, why the transfiguration and why did Moses and Elijah meet with Jesus?  Here is what I believe. I believe Moses and Elijah had to see Jesus Christ in His glorified body, because they are coming back to testify and be witnesses of the Messiah.  You have to have seen something if you are a witness, don’t you?  I also believe it is possible that they are the two men in white apparel at the tomb after the resurrection and the two men at the Ascension (Luke 24:4 and Acts 1:10).   Are you aware that there were only three people in the Bible that fasted for forty days: Jesus, Moses, and Elijah; and they are all together at the transfiguration? 

 

God set the precedent for the Sabbath way back in Genesis 1.  

 “For hespake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.”  Hebrews 4:4

 

God kept the Sabbath when nobody was even looking!  God rested on the seventh day!  Do you think there is any chance He is going to be late for His Sabbath rest after 6,000 years of history?  Not on your life, God “is” going to have His rest after 6,000 years!  The question is, how close to the 6000th year are we? Do you see the importance of starting the New Testament at the right place?

 

 

 

  Many have bought in to the belief that the New Testament started at the birth of Jesus Christ.  The problem with that is; it is just not Biblical. The New Testament began when Christ died on Calvary,and the veil of the temple was rent in two. We see this clearly in Daniel 9:24-27.

 

   Daniel 9:24 “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city…”

 

Daniel’s 69th week didn’t end at the birth of Christ, it ended with Messiah being “cut off” at Calvary.  There is one week (7 years) left to be fulfilled for Israel and it is Old Testament.  It is what we call the Tribulation, Daniel’s 70th week.  The point is, the entire 70 weeks are Old Testament and the 69th week did not end at the birth of Jesus but at Calvary. We have been using the wrong starting point in counting the New Testament years. 

 

The Death of the Testator

 

   Hebrews 9:15-17  “15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. 16 For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17 For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.”

   When a man records his will, certain conditions are in place. They are considered legal but not binding until the death of the testator.  Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.  This was sealed in the foreknowledge of God. At the cross of Calvary the Testator died for the sins of the world, and the New Testament Age began.  

 

I believe there are 4,000 years in the Old Testament, and 2,000 years in the New Testament.  The Old Testament ended at Calvary when the veil was rent in two.  It is very possible that Calvary was 3,993 years from Adam and the seven-year Tribulation is the final seven years of the Old Testament yet to be fulfilled after the rapture.  May the Lord find us “watching” when He comes. 

 

A CLOSING THOUGHT

Passover is a four-day event beginning on the 10thof Nisan with the choosing of a lamb, and ending on the 14th  with the killing of the lamb.  The Old Testament is day 1-4 of the creative week in Genesis 1 where the world is looking forward to the lamb of God who arrives on day 5 of the creative week.