Letter to the Brethren: April 6, 2023

Dear Brethren and Co-Workers in Christ:

Greetings from Grover Beach, California.

We had a fine Passover and Night to be Observed here.

Today is the First Day of Unleavened Bread–we sent information about that last week in the Letter to the Brethren: March 30, 2023.

The Last Day of Unleavened Bread starts Tuesday evening and runs through Wednesday evening April 12th in 2023.

Seventh Day of Unleavened Bread

The seventh day of Unleavened Bread begins at sunset April 11th and runs through sunset April 12th.

The seventh day of unleavened bread occurs on the 21^st of Nisan/Abib of the Hebrew calendar.

On the 21^st of Nisan/Abib, God had the Red Sea parted (Exodus 14:20-21). God called for the children of Israel to cross on dry land under the cloud (Exodus 14:20-22,29), where they were symbolically baptized (1 Corinthians 10:1-2). They endured their fleeing with their enemies behind them and the waters stopped on both sides of them. During the daylight hours of the 21^st, the Egyptian army pursued them and was destroyed (Exodus 14:23-28).

Understand that it was on the Seventh Day of Unleavened bread that the Hebrews crossed the Red Sea and the army of Egypt was destroyed. The Seventh, the last, Day of Unleavened Bread pictures fully leaving the dead works of sin behind.

A Christian sequence of events starts from our acceptance of Jesus, repentance, and baptism (Acts 2:38-39). Christians endure to the end (Matthew 10:22) attaining to the first resurrection (Revelation 20:6) to be called to the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9).

The crossing of the Red Sea may have other lessons for Philadelphian Christians. As they flee to a place in the wilderness just prior to the start of the Great Tribulation, Satan will be angry with them (Revelation 12:13-16). During the time the Philadelphian Christians are being protected (Revelation 3:7-13), bad things will be happening in the world around them (Revelation 12:14-17). They will often need to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).

Furthermore, the New Testament also seemingly shows a fulfillment of the destruction of Pharaoh’s army in the destruction of the world’s armies who will fight against the returning Jesus (Revelation 19:19-21).

The Seventh Day of Unleavened Bread helps picture the end of the world’s systems and the emergence of the Kingdom of God.

Were the Days of Unleavened Bread done away? Consider something else that Herbert W. Armstrong wrote:

Not Abolished With Old Covenant

Observe that the Days of Unleavened Bread are a PERIOD, having two high-day SABBATHS. And this PERIOD is established FOREVER — while the Israelites were still in Egypt — before the ceremonial law of Moses had been given or written — before God even proposed the old covenant! What the law of Moses, or the old covenant, did not bring or institute, THEY CANNOT TAKE AWAY! In Fenton’s translation, the 17th verse is translated: “consequently KEEP THIS PERIOD AS AN EVER-LASTING INSTITUTION.” The whole period is included.

This ALONE ought to prove that the HOLY DAYS — and the seven Days of Unleavened Bread — are binding today, and FOREVER!

Now, if these texts apply to the 15th, not the 14th, as they assuredly do, and is here conclusively proved, then is the Passover established FOR-EVER? Indeed it is! But THESE texts above refer to the FEAST and not the PASSOVER. In the paragraph beginning Exodus 12:21 the PASSOVER is again referred to, and verse 24 establishes it FOREVER! …

To observe Passover alone, and then fail to observe the seven Days of Unleavened Bread, means, in the symbolism, to accept Christ’s blood, and to continue on in sin — to say … the LAW is done away, we are under grace, meaning license, to continue in sin!

The seven Days of Unleavened Bread picture the keeping of the Commandments, which is another way of saying the putting away of sin. (Armstrong HW. What You Should Know About the Passover and Festival of Unleavened Bread. Good News, March 1979)

Early Christians did not believe that the Days of Unleavened Bread were done away. The Apostle Paul endorsed properly keeping the Feast with unleavened bread (1 Corinthians 5:7). He and others still marked/observed it and observed it outside of Judea:

⁶ But we sailed away from Philippi after the Days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days joined them at Troas, where we stayed seven days. (Acts 20:6)

If Christians were not keeping the Days of Unleavened Bread, the Holy Spirit would not have inspired this to be recorded like this. Now Philippi was a Gentile town in Macedonia. It was ruled by the Romans–thus keeping these days was NOT limited to a place like Jerusalem. In at least two places in the New Testament, we see that the Days of Unleavened Bread were to be kept in Gentile areas (1 Corinthians 5:7; Acts 20:6).

Consider also the statement “it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread” in Acts 12:3. Since the Gentile author Luke addressed the Book of Acts to another Gentile (Acts 1:1), why would he have mentioned these days if they were unknown to the Gentile Christians and had ceased to exist?

Perhaps it should be added that the spurious 3^rd century Epistula Apostolorum claims Jesus taught His followers should keep the Days of Unleavened Bread until He returns. While we cannot rely on that document, it does indicate that some were keeping those days into the 3^rd century.

Information from outside the Bible reports that the Apostles Paul, John, and Philip, along with Polycarp of Smyrna and other early Christians, kept the Days of Unleavened bread (Pionius. Life of Polycarp, Chapter 2).

Despite this, Canon 38 of the Council of Laodicea of the fourth century (c. 363-364) prohibited the observation of the Days of Unleavened bread (Synod of Laodicea. Translated by Henry Percival. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 14. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1900). Those in the Church of God could not comply with many decrees of this Council which went against the Bible and the early traditions of the faithful.

Therefore, various Sabbath-keepers continued to keep the Days of Unleavened bread afterwards (Pritz. Nazarene Jewish Christianity. Magnas, Jerusalem, 1988, p. 35; Jerome as cited in Pritz, pp. 58,62,63; Ephiphanius. The Panarion of Ephiphanius of Salamis: Book II (sects 1-46) Section 1, Chapter 19, 7-9. BRILL, 1987, p. 117-119) and into the Middle Ages and beyond (Liechty D. Sabbatarianism in the Sixteenth Century. Andrews University Press, Berrien Springs (MI), 1993, pp. 61-62; Falconer John. A Breife Refutation of John Traskes Judaical and Novel Fantyces, pp. 57-58, as cited in Ball B. Seventh Day Men: Sabbatarians and Sabbatarianism in England and Wales, 1600-1800, 2nd edition. James Clark & Co., 2009, pp. 49-50).

As we in the Continuing Church of God do not accept that the Council of Laodicea spoke for the true Christian church, we still keep the Days of Unleavened Bread. We eat some unleavened bread for each of the seven days as the Bible admonishes (Exodus 12:15; 13:6; 23:15; 34:18). This bread can be made of different grains/nuts—the use of wheat is not biblically-required.

While some like to allegorize away many portions of the Bible, although there certainly is a spiritual understanding to the Holy Days, there is also a physical one. And the physical observance helps us to better understand the spiritual lessons.

The Days of Unleavened Bread help picture that we Christians are to strive to put sin and hypocrisy out of our lives (cf. Matthew 16:6-12; 23:28; Luke 12:1). By keeping them physically, it helps us to better learn the spiritual lessons that God intended.

New Hall in India

Deacon Sani Mao sent the following email and photos:

Dear Sir,

We inaugurated our meeting hall on the New Year’s Day on the 23rd of March, 2023.

We are expecting to perform baptism for 2 ladies …

In my counselling I have made them read John 3:1- 21. They have a fair idea of the 10 Commandments and the coming Kingdom of God.

Sincerely

K. Sani Mao

Deacons Mary and Sani Mao

Manipur, India Congregation

We have had growth in India and I hope to be able to personally visit the brethren we have there.

Leaders Meeting in Kenya

Evangelist Evans Ochieng sent the following:

Pastor Dr Bob,

Greetings from Kenya.

We had a very good leaders meeting yesterday till late night. The meeting went until midnight because of many things we were discussing about the church growth and development. We also talked about the Passover and feast of Tabernacle. I was happy because the leaders show the importance and goodness for being in CCOG. Since we are at end time,  Satan is trying to  destroy the growth of the church in order to put another gospel which is not even another. The leaders looked into that seriously and see its course. The leaders looked into it deeply. We also talked more about oneness of the church.

                      FEAST OF TABERNACLE

We shall have 9 feast sites in Kenya and one in Tanzania. Got Kachola, Mau, Bomet, Njoro,Molo, Chilani, Daktech, Kisii and Kihancha.

Those were in the meeting were Evans Ochieng, Joel Owuoti, Granton Otieno, Charles Agwenge, Andrew Ojowi, Jacob Kungu,

Charles Otieno and Jack Peres and Kennedy Odhiambo. …

Evans.

Ps here are photos of those who were in the meeting.

While there are always challenges in Kenya, we continue to move forward as we work to fulfill Matthew 24:14 & 28:19-20.

New Spanish Language Video

Today, received the following in an email:

English title:  Did Christ rise on a Sunday?

 

Spanish title:  ¿Resucitó Cristo un domingo?

 

Spanish YouTube link:  https://youtu.be/AN5npovyGWk

One thing that was interesting is that I saw it while working on COGwriter posts for today–and there was one related to that.

So, I added the above link and changed the title of that post to: Was Jesus resurrected on a Sunday? También en Español!

We regularly have been adding many videos in the Spanish language–for more, check out the CDLIDDSermones channel.