Rambling Reflections on the Concept of Time,
Calendar Systems, the First Passover,
and the Passover When the Lord Jesus Was Crucified

Download PDF:
https://od.lk/f/MV8zNTMzMDU0MDVf
https://od.lk/fl/MV8xODI0MzMzNl8

Please share this website with all your friends and family members. Thank you, and God bless.

All New Testament verses quoted in this article are from the English Majority Text Version, and Old Testament verses are from the King James Version, unless otherwise noted.

Dear Church,

On the occasion of the approaching Passover in 2025, we would like to share a few rambling reflections with you on the concept of time, calendar systems, the first Passover, and the Passover when the Lord Jesus was crucified. We hope that today’s reflections will help you perceive the marvelous arrangement of the God throughout the course of history in all creation made by Him.

We refer to what is shared today as “rambling reflections” rather than a sermon because what is said is not an exposition of the Word of God, nor does it follow a specific topic or structure, but rather consists of personal study, contemplation, and discovery.

“Time” is a fundamental concept in life, referring to the continuous progression of all events from the past through the present and into the future.

From a scientific perspective, time is considered a dimension of space-time, a fundamental physical quantity that cannot be separated from space in Einstein’s theory of relativity.

From a philosophical perspective, time is a continuous flow, a means by which change and development in all things are measured. Time can also be understood as a frame of reference used by humans to organize events in sequence and to perceive the past, present, and future.

Whenever we speak of time, we often think of units of time measurement such as seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years. These are the seven commonly used units for measuring time. We also think of “calendars” as systems used to measure and record time.

According to scientists, time began when the material world was formed. The most widely accepted theory regarding the formation of the material world is the “Big Bang” theory. In the early 20th century, scientists hypothesized that the material world began approximately 13.8 billion years ago with the explosion of a “singularity.”

The term “singularity” consists of three key aspects: “singular” means unique, “point” refers to a concentration, and “infinite” means without limit. To this day, the Big Bang has become a scientific theory and the standard cosmological model, supported by extensive observational evidence.

Scientists describe the “singularity” as a state in which the density of matter and energy becomes infinite or nearly infinite, rendering conventional physical laws, such as Einstein’s general theory of relativity, inapplicable. At this point, everything, including matter, energy, space, and time, was compressed into an extremely tiny and intensely hot state, beyond the capacity of current mathematics or physics to describe.

According to some modern theories, before the Big Bang, there was no “space” in the conventional sense to contain matter. Instead, all the matter and energy of the universe are believed to have been concentrated in a point so minuscule that it was nearly immeasurable. The density at this point was infinite, the temperature was also infinite, and there was no discernible structure or form that could be described.

Science does not know the origin of the singularity, nor does it know the cause of the Big Bang.

For God’s people, all things were created by God, and that creation is called the creation of God, recorded in the Holy Bible. The Holy Bible is confirmed by the Bible itself to be the Word of God, written by human beings under God’s direction to help mankind know God, His will, and His works.

The Bible affirms that both the material world and the spiritual realm were created by God through His seven spoken commands, as recorded in Genesis chapter 1. Based on the genealogical records of humankind in the Bible, we understand that creation took place only about 6,000 years ago. This means the age of the universe cannot possibly be in the tens of billions of years.

The methods of calculation based on empirical observation used by scientists to determine the age of the universe through various means have yielded the number 13.8 billion years. However, the act of creation by God is a miracle, surpassing all physical laws.

Scientists could use many methods to estimate the age of the fine wine at the wedding in Cana, made by the Lord Jesus, and conclude that the wine had existed for decades or even hundreds of years. Yet in reality, the Lord Jesus had just turned water into wine in an instant.

Scientists could also use various methods to determine the age of Adam at the moment he was created and conclude that he appeared to be around 30 years old. But in truth, God had created him only moments earlier.

Therefore, every scientific calculation, though accurate according to physical laws, is entirely inapplicable to the creation of God.

Theological studies refer to the age determined by scientific measurement regarding the universe, the wine made by the Lord Jesus, and Adam at the moment of his creation by God as “apparent age” to explain the discrepancy between the actual age of a thing and the age it “appears” to have based on natural measurement methods.

Right in the very first verse of the Holy Bible: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1), the Bible identifies that time, space, and matter were created by God:

• “In the beginning” refers to time.

• “The heavens” refers to space.

• “The earth” refers to matter.

In the original Hebrew, Genesis 1:1 consists of seven words (read from right to left), transliterated as follows: bereshit bara Elohim et hashamayim ve’et ha’aretz.

בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃

1. Bereshit = in the beginning or at the beginning;

2. bara = created;

3. Elohim = God;

4. et = a grammatical particle, an uninflected word unit that serves a syntactic or semantic role in a sentence, such as indicating relationships, time, or manner. In Genesis 1:1, it is used to mark the two direct objects: “the heavens” and “the earth.” It is not translated into other languages;

5. hashamayim = the heavens;

6. ve’et = and + grammatical particle;

7. ha’aretz = the earth.

The number seven symbolizes spiritual completeness. The seven words in Genesis 1:1 represent the completeness of God’s creation.

When reading the first chapter of the Bible, Genesis 1, we see the following words and phrases referring to time:

• In the beginning;

• day;

• night;

• evening and morning;

• the First Day;

• the Second Day;

• the Third Day;

• the Fourth Day;

• the Fifth Day;

• the Sixth Day.

The term “in the beginning” in Genesis 1:1 marks the beginning of time and all creation. We can understand that before God created all things, there was nothing else besides God, and there was no time. Before creation, God existed eternally in the past. There was only one unique self-existent being, and that being was God’s eternal self-existence. Therefore, His name is the Self-Existing and Eternal One.

Through Genesis chapter 1, we understand that a day consists of “evening and morning,” also referred to as “night” and “day.” Evening is placed before morning because darkness precedes light. According to the Bible, a new day begins after the sun sets on the current day.

When we read Genesis 2:2-3, we see the term “the Seventh Day,” and we understand that it was God who ordained each week as a cycle of seven days.

Although time began on the first day of creation when God defined it by “evening and morning” (Genesis 1:5), it was not until the fourth day of creation that God created the sun, moon, and stars. These celestial bodies functioned to “divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years” (Genesis 1:14), meaning to calculate and arrange the “calendar.” A “calendar” is a system for measuring time based on astronomical cycles. Therefore, while time was counted from the first day of creation, the fifth day of creation can be seen as the first day of the calendar based on the movement of celestial bodies, as they only appeared on the fourth day.

For this reason, when God established the calendar for the people of Israel through Moses, as recorded in Exodus 12:2, the first day of the first month of that calendar can be understood as the Fifth Day of the week if the creation week is considered the model for subsequent weeks. In the modern seven-day week, the Fifth Day corresponds to the position of the fifth day in the creation week, numbered from the first to the seventh day.

The year in which God established the calendar for the people of Israel was also the year He brought them out of Egypt. Although there is no specific date in the Bible or in history to determine the exact year, based on details in the Bible and historical records, we can calculate that it was the year 1446 BCE, equivalent to the year 2315 in the Hebrew Calendar.

“And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.” (1 Kings 6:1).

Scholars often place the fourth year of Solomon’s reign around 966 BCE, based on archaeological history and synchronization with other dynasties [1], [2], [3]. Working backwards: 966 BCE + 480 years = 1446 BCE, the year the Israelites left Egypt. Therefore, the first Passover, which occurred on the 14th of Nisan in the year 2315 according to the Hebrew Calendar, was a Wednesday, corresponding to March 12, 1446 BCE on the Gregorian Calendar we use today, or March 25, 1446 BCE on the Julian Calendar.

Based on details in the Bible and historical records, we know that the Lord Jesus was crucified on the Passover of the year 27, which corresponds to the year 3787 according to the Hebrew Calendar. We kindly ask the people of God to read or listen to the sermon “The Day of the Lord’s Death and the Day of the Lord’s Resurrection,” which we have posted on preachingfromthebible.net [4] for more details. The Passover that year fell on Wednesday, the 14th of Nisan, 3787 according to the Hebrew Calendar, which corresponds to April 7, 27 on the Gregorian Calendar, or April 9, 27 on the Julian Calendar.

Based on the data presented above, we can understand the following:

1. Time began when God began the act of creation, with the first day being defined by “evening and morning” (Genesis 1:5). However, the calculation of time based on the astronomical cycle was only possible from the fourth day, when God created the sun, moon, and stars to “divide the day from the night and let them be for signs, for seasons, for days, and for years” (Genesis 1:14). Humanity, created on the sixth day of creation, later used the cycles of celestial bodies to measure time.

2. The fifth day of creation can be seen as the first day of the calendar based on the movement of celestial bodies, as they were used to determine the calendar and only appeared from the fourth day of creation. The first day of the celestial-based calendar also corresponds to Thursday in the week. Therefore, the 14th day of the first month of the creation year was a Wednesday.

3. Later, God established the 14th day of the first month of the year as the Passover. This feast represents the death of Christ as a sin offering to atone for humanity, according to the will of the God.

4. When God issued the calendar for the people of Israel through Moses, the first day of the first month in that calendar could be understood as Thursday in the week if the creation week is taken as a model for subsequent weeks. Therefore, the 14th day of the first month of that year was a Wednesday.

5. The Lord Jesus was crucified on the cross to fulfill the atoning death for humanity on the Passover of the year 27. That day was also a Wednesday.

6. Both the first Passover and the Passover when the Lord Jesus was crucified fall on a Wednesday, which seems to have very profound theological meanings.

7. The Lord Jesus had to die on Passover, which fell on a Wednesday, in order to rise again on the evening of Saturday, completing one week and transitioning into a new week. During that time, His fleshly body spent exactly three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, in fulfillment of His own prophecy:

“For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:40).

The fleshly body of the Lord Jesus was buried in the earth before sunset on Wednesday and rose again before sunset on Saturday. His fleshly body was in the earth during the nights of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday and the days of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

The first Passover, when the God instituted the Passover for the people of Israel, and the Passover when the Lord Jesus was crucified both occurred on Wednesday, coinciding with the creation of the sun, the moon, and the stars on the fourth day of the creation week. This coincidence can suggest the following theological meanings:

1. Heavenly Light and Redemption: On the fourth day of the creation week, God created the sun, the moon, and the stars to give light to the earth and separate day from night (Genesis 1:14-19). This may symbolize the spiritual light of God shining into the dark world. The first Passover and the Passover when the Lord Jesus died both fell on Wednesday, representing the prophecy and fulfillment of the salvation that the God has given to humankind, bringing the light of salvation into the darkness of sin.

2. Signs and Seasons: Genesis 1:14 says that the heavenly bodies were created to mark seasons, days, and years. In both the first Passover and the Passover when the Lord Jesus died, heavenly signs appeared. In the book of Exodus, there was the sign of darkness covering the entire land. When the Lord Jesus was crucified, darkness also covered the earth from the sixth hour to the ninth hour (Matthew 27:45).

3. Predetermined Timing: The fact that these events occurred on the same day of the week can be understood to mean that the God’s plan of redemption was foreordained from the foundation of the world. The heavenly bodies were created to mark time, and the God used the same marker (the fourth day) for His important redemptive acts.

4. The renewal of the Creator: The fact that God created the celestial bodies on the fourth day and then used that same day for the Passover and the sacrifice of Christ may symbolize that the same Creator is carrying out the work of renewal and restoration of creation.

5. Dominion over cosmic powers: In the ancient world, the sun, moon, and stars were often worshiped by humanity as gods. By creating them on the fourth day and then choosing that same day for the redemptive acts, God demonstrates His supreme authority over all powers in the universe.

6. The perfection of the redemptive cycle: From creation to the final redemption through Christ, maintaining the same day of the week for these important events may signify the perfection and continuity in God’s plan of salvation.

7. A symbol of the restoration of the universe: The connection between the creation of the celestial bodies and the final redemptive act of Christ may imply that salvation is not only for humanity but also for the entire created universe (Romans 8:19-22).

These connections suggest a profound harmony in the heavenly plan, where timing, symbols, and purpose are perfectly arranged by the God throughout the history of salvation.

The event of the physical body of the Lord Jesus rising at the end of Saturday, the Sabbath, marking the end of one week, and entering into the First Day, marking the beginning of a new week, can be seen as symbolic of:

1. The transition between the two covenants: The resurrection occurs at the boundary between the Sabbath (Saturday, representing the Old Covenant) and the first day of the week (Sunday, representing the New Covenant). This symbolizes the fulfillment of the Old Covenant in the law and the beginning of the New Covenant in Christ.

2. The new creation: The first day of the week is the day when God began His work of creation. The event of the Lord Jesus rising just before the start of the first day and appearing to His disciples early on that morning can symbolize the beginning of a new creation: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

3. The fulfillment of the covenant and true rest: Christ completed His redemptive work at the end of the Sabbath, symbolizing the fulfillment of the law and bringing true rest to those who believe in Him, beyond the ceremonial rest of the Sabbath day.

4. The transition from darkness to light: The transition from the end of Saturday to the beginning of Sunday also symbolizes the shift from darkness (death) to light (life), from the old to the new, from sin to salvation.

5. The completion of a cycle and the beginning of a new one: The resurrection at the point of ending the old weekly cycle (Saturday) and beginning a new cycle (Sunday) symbolizes that Christ has completed one historical period (the period under the law) and has begun a new era (the period of grace).

6. The complete fulfillment of salvation: The full three days and three nights in the earth symbolize the complete and perfect fulfillment of the work of atonement, with nothing left to add. For the penalty for sin was fully executed.

7. The Lord Jesus opened an eternal Sabbath: After His resurrection, the Lord Jesus opened an eternal Sabbath, that is, eternal rest from the suffering of this life, for those who believe in the salvation of God.

“Then there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For he who has entered into His rest also rested himself from his works, as God did from His own. Therefore let us be diligent to enter into that rest, lest anyone falls in the same example of disobedience.” (Hebrews 4:9-11).

The resurrection of the Lord Jesus at the end of Saturday is not only historical evidence but also a theological mark of the completeness of the salvation plan, the triumph of life, and the promise of an eternal kingdom. Every detail in the time of the Lord Jesus’ death and resurrection carries profound symbolic meaning, linking the Old Testament and the New Testament into a complete picture of redemption.

We conclude this reflection here.

May the Word of God sanctify us and strengthen us. May we all stand firm in faith and remain faithful to the Lord until the day Christ returns. May the love, grace, and fellowship of the Triune God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, cover all of you. Amen!

Timothy Christian Huynh
Priscilla Christian Huynh
04/05/2025

Notes:

[1] https://www.johnbmacdonald.com/blog/solomon-to-exile-in-10-minutes

[2] https://totallyhistory.com/solomon-timeline/

[3] https://library.biblicalarchaeology.org/article/how-we-know-when-solomon-ruled/

[4] https://preachingfromthebible.net/the-day-of-the-lords-death-and-the-day-of-the-lords-resurrection/

About Using “*God” or “the God” and “holy spirit”

Wherever the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts of the Bible uses a definite article with a noun to denote GOD, we translate it into English as “*God” or “the God” to refer to God the Father. We understand that “God,” without a definite article, was used as a collective noun for all and any of the three Persons of the Godhead. And “God,” with a definite article, was used to refer to God the Father.

In the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, the term “holy spirit” (πνευματι αγιω) without the definite article “the” (το) is used to denote the power of God, which is given by God the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit” (το πνευματι το αγιω) is God, and “holy spirit” (πνευματι αγιω) is the power that comes from God.