THE MASS:
Its Ancient
Roots
Part Ia: Holy Meals:
Shabbat, Matzah, and Pesch
1234 BC
2000 1900 1800 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100
Developments during this Era
Food stuffs and animals (Cain and Abel) together become a forum for
remembrance and strength among a People formed by their God, Yahweh.
The earliest forum or meal recalls the Sabbath. It is the shabbat meal;
the night before the day of rest for the Jews.
Yahweh prepares to save the Jews from prolonged captivity in Egypt and
promise them a safe haven in the Promised Land. They are to recall
both the event celebrating their deliverance, being Passed Over, and
their journey, the Exodus.
The Jewish Shabbat Meal
Date:
Every Shabbat at Sundown on Friday
Place:
In every Jewish home
Time:
No later than 18 minutes before sundown
Attending:
Families
Preparation: Leviticus 23:3 commands the Jews to "do no manner of
work" on the Shabbat, Shabbat is primarily a day of rest and spiritual
enrichment. The word "Shabbat" comes from the root Shin-Bet-Tav,
meaning to cease, to end, or to rest.
Environment: Two Shabbat candles are lit and a blessing is recited . This
ritual, performed by the woman of the house, officially marks the beginning
of the Shabbat. The candles represent the two commandments: zachor (to
remember: the creation of the world in Ex. 20:11) and shamor (to observe:
the deliverance from slavery in Egypt in Deut. 5:15). Shabbat night dinner is
usually the most festive and tasty of the week. There are no particular
specifications as to what can be served, except for the usual rules of kosher
which refers to traditional Jewish fare and avoidance of those that are
prohibited (e.g., pork, shell fish, etc.).
The First of the Jewish Sacred Meals
Biblical Origin of the Sabbath Meal
Shabbes, "rest" or "cessation") is the seventh day of the Jewish week and
a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before
sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after the appearance of three
stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from
week to week and from place to place, depending on the time of sunset at
each location. In polar areas where there is no sunrise or sunset at certain
times of the year, a different set of rules applies.
Shabbat recalls the Biblical Creation account in Genesis, describing God
creating the Heavens and the Earth in six days and resting on the
seventh. It also recalls the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai when God
commanded the Israelite nation to observe the seventh day and keep it
holy.
Shabbat is considered a festive day, when a Jew is freed from the regular
labors of everyday life, can contemplate the spiritual aspects of life, and
can spend time with family. Traditionally, three festive meals are eaten: on
Friday night, Saturday morning, and late Saturday afternoon. The day is
also noted for those activities prohibited on Shabbat according to Jewish
law.
Shabbat is given special status as a holy day at the very beginning of the
Torah in Genesis 2:1-3. It is first commanded after the Exodus from Egypt,
in Exodus 16:26 (relating to the cessation of manna) and in Exodus 20:8-11
(as the fourth of the Ten Commandments). Shabbat is commanded and
commended many more times in the Torah and Tanakh; special sacrifices
are to be offered on the day. Shabbat is also described by the prophets
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Amos and Nehemiah.
Genesis 2:1-3
Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed.
Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had
been doing, he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had
undertaken. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,
because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.
Exodus 16:26
Moses then said, "Eat it (manna) today, for today is the Sabbath of
the LORD. On this day you will not find any of it on the ground. On
the other six days you can gather it, but on the seventh day, the
Sabbath, none of it will be there.“
Exodus 20:8-11
Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day. Six days you may
labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of
the LORD, your God. No work may be done then either by you,
or your son or daughter, or your male or female slave, or your
beast, or by the alien who lives with you. In six days the LORD
made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them;
but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the LORD has
blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
The History of Shabbat,
The Feast of Matzah (Unleavened Bread) and Passover
Jacob
Terah and
Family migrate
from Ur to Haran
1925
+
Abraham
1835
Esau
1835
Isaac
1895
1995 BC
2000
Ur 1820
1975
1950
1925
1900
1875
1850
1825
18
Dinah
Reuben
Simeon
Levi
Judah
Issachar
Zebulun
Dan
Naphtali
Gad
Asher
Benjamin
1734
Manasseh
Ephraim
1727
Sold into Egypt
Joseph +
1744
Jacob and Family migrate to Egypt
Jacob
1705
+
1634
1688
Esau
?
1715
Famine
00
1775
1750
1725
1700
1675
1650
1625
Hyksos Period 13th - 17th Dynasties
16
Israel in Egypt
Hebrews forcibly
conscripted into
hard labor gangs
1450
+
The People of Israel Prosper in Egypt
00
1575
1550
13th Dynasty Begins
Ahmose
1567
1525
1500
Thutmose II
Thutmose I
1526
1512
1475
Thutmose III
1450
1425
Amenhotep II
Thutmose IV
1411
1450
1425
14
EXODUS AND CONQUEST
PERIOD OF THE JUDGES
Othmiel
1381
1367
Mesopotamians
Ehud and Shamgar
1327
Moabites
1309
1229
Joshua
1321
Ten Commandments
at Sinai
+
The Exodus
Canaanites
Israelite males
are circumcised;
celebrate Passover
first time;
Jericho falls
1234
+ +
1228
Divides Canaan
among Tribes
1275
Moses
1375
1350
Tutankhamen
Akhenaton
Amenhotep III
Aya
1362 1352
1379
+
1348
Introduced
monotheistic
worship
Married his
sister Nefertiti
1211
1234
1355
Aaron
1358
00
1209
1235
1235
1325
Horemheb
1300
19th Dynasty
Seti I
Rameses I
1320
1304
1318
1275
Ramses II
1250
1225
Merneptah
1237
1223
12
Seti II
1210 1200
The Passover Seder Meal
The Hebrew month of Nissan, 14th day
In every Jewish home worldwide
Sundown on the Eve of Passover the Seder Meal was
be eaten
Attending:
Families; plus guests to finish the Passover lamb
Preparation: A yearling lamb was sacrificed, blood drained, skinned,
roasted with entrails, no bones to be broken, entirely
consumed;
Environment: Table, with candles, wine cups and red wine, the
Passover lamb and other kosher foods; a Passover
Haggadah
Date:
Place:
Time:
The Hebrew Calendar
English
Number
Length
Civil Equivalent
Nissan (Abib)
1
30 days
March-April
Iyar
2
29 days
April-May
Sivan
3
30 days
May-June
Tammuz
4
29 days
June-July
Av
5
30 days
July-August
Elul
6
29 days
August-September
Tishri
7
30 days
September-October
Cheshvan
8
29 or 30 days
October-November
Kislev
9
30 or 29 days
November-December
Tevet
10
29 days
December-January
Shevat
11
30 days
January-February
Adar I (leap years only)
12
30 days
February-March
Adar
(called Adar Beit in leap years)
12
(13 in leap years)
29 days
February-March
The Passover in the Old Testament
The Fourteenth Day of the First Month
From the scriptures Passover begins at twilight (the time between sunset
and darkness) on the fourteenth day of the first month of the Hebrew
calendar. This month is known by the names Abib or Nisan. In the Bible,
days begin not at midnight, but at sunset or evening (Genesis 1:5;
Leviticus 23:27, 32).
Leviticus 23:5
On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD'S
Passover.
Exodus 12:5-6,11
Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You
may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it
until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole
assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. . . .
And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on
your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It
is the LORD'S Passover.
Numbers 9:2-5
Let the children of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time.
On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall keep it at
its appointed time. According to all its rites and ceremonies you
shall keep it. So Moses told the children of Israel that they should
keep the Passover. And they kept the Passover on the fourteenth
day of the first month, at twilight, in the Wilderness of Sinai;
according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so the
children of Israel did.
Numbers 28:16
On the fourteenth day of the first month is the Passover of the
LORD.
Joshua 5:10
Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover
on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on the plains of
Jericho.
2 Chronicles 35:1
Now Josiah kept a Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem, and they
slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the first
month.
Ezra 6:19
And the descendants of the captivity kept the Passover on the
fourteenth day of the first month.
The Meaning of the Old Testament Passover
The Old Testament Passover is a memorial to God passing over the
houses of the children of Israel when He killed the firstborn of man and
beast in Egypt, during the night of the fourteenth. The Passover is not a
memorial to the exodus of Israel from Egypt.
Exodus 12:12-14
For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will
strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast;
and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am
the LORD. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses
where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you;
and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike
the land of Egypt. So this day shall be to you a memorial; and
you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your
generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting
ordinance.
Exodus 12:21-27
Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them,
Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families,
and kill the Passover lamb. And you shall take a bunch of hyssop,
dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the
two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you
shall go out of the door of his house until morning. For the LORD
will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the
blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass
over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your
houses to strike you. And you shall observe this thing as an
ordinance for you and your sons forever. It will come to pass when
you come to the land which the LORD will give you, just as He
promised, that you shall keep this service. And it shall be, when
your children say to you, What do you mean by this service? that
you shall say, It is the Passover sacrifice of the LORD, who passed
over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck
the Egyptians and delivered our households. So the people bowed
their heads and worshiped .
The Feast of the Unleavened Bread (Matza)
Date:
The Hebrew month of Nissan 14 for Seven Days
Place:
In every Jewish home
Time:
Beginning at sundown in the Shabbat Nissan 14
Attending:
Families and the Hebrew nation
Preparation:
Unleavened bread reflected the fact that the Israelites
had no time to put leaven in their bread before their hasty departure from
Egypt; it was also connected to the barley harvest (Leviticus 23:4-14).
Environment: The first and the seventh days of Matza are holy (annual
Sabbaths) and that an assembly must be called for worship as a body.
They were to remove the sin (leaven) from their lives (not eat any or have
any in their house) for the seven days (which is a complete unit of time; a
week).
THE HEBREW MONTH OF NISSAN
Nissan14
Nissan 15
Nissan 16
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
SABBATH
First Day
of the Week
Nissan 17
MONDAY
Nissan 8
TUESDAY
Nissan19
Nissan 20
WEDNESDAY THURSDAY
Nissan 21
FRIDAY
Nissan 22
SATURDAY
SABBATH
Day of
Preparation
for Passover
Day of
Preparation
for Sabbath
DAY ONE
DAY TWO
Feast of
Unleavened
Bread
begins at
sundown
Sabbath ends
SABBATH Sunday
begins
begins
with
sundown
PASSOVER
begins/
eaten
at sundown
DAY THREE
DAY FOUR
SUNDOWN
DAY FIVE
DAY SIX
DAY SEVEN
Feast of
Unleavened
Bread
ends at
sundown
Sabbath ends
SABBATH Sunday
begins
begins
with
sundown
The Feast of the Unleavened Bread
The Fifteenth Day of the First Month
The Feast of Unleavened Bread begins on the fifteenth day of the first
month of the Hebrew Calendar. The first and the seventh days of the feast
are Sabbath days. No regular work is to be done and a holy convocation or
assembly is to take place.
Leavened bread products are avoided and not eaten throughout the week
long festival. They are replaced with unleavened bread.
Leviticus 23:6-8
And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of
Unleavened Bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat
unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy
convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. But you shall
offer an offering made by fire to the LORD for seven days. The
seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary
work on it.
Numbers 28:17-18
And on the fifteenth day of this month is the feast; unleavened
bread shall be eaten for seven days. On the first day you shall have
a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work. . . . And on the
seventh day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no
customary work.
So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this
same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of
Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your
generations as an everlasting ordinance. In the first month, on the
fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened
bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.
Exodus 12:17-20
For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since
whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cut off
from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native
of the land. You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings
you shall eat unleavened bread.
The Fifteenth Day of the First Month is the Exodus
Israel left Egypt during the night of fifteenth day of the first month. They
began leaving Egypt at twilight, 24 hours after killing the Passover lambs.
Numbers 33:1-5
These are the journeys of the children of Israel, who went out of
the land of Egypt by their armies under the hand of Moses and
Aaron. Now Moses wrote down the starting points of their journeys
at the command of the LORD. And these are their journeys
according to their starting points: They departed from Rameses in
the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day
after the Passover the children of Israel went out with boldness in
the sight of all the Egyptians. For the Egyptians were burying all
their firstborn, whom the LORD had killed among them. Also on
their gods the LORD had executed judgments. Then the children
of Israel moved from Rameses and camped at Succoth.
Deuteronomy 16:1
Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the LORD
your God, for in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you
out of Egypt by night.
Deuteronomy 16:6
But at the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His
name abide, there you shall sacrifice the Passover at twilight, at the
going down of the sun, at the time you came out of Egypt.
The End of
History of the Mass, Ancient Roots Part Ia
Go to
History of the Mass, Ancient Roots Part Ib