After the children of Israel were freed from Egypt and led into the wilderness, God began revealing to them how to establish a right relationship with Him. That relationship would hinge upon their response: whether they would worship Him exactly as He instructed.
Once again, the significance of counting time precisely as God instructed reflects the degree to which a right relationship with God can be established. It is a direct test of obedience—following God’s commands down to the specific pattern He revealed.
When God gave the Israelites instructions to escape slavery in Egypt, He was clear: they had to follow His commands precisely. Indeed, one of the most crucial elements of His instruction was timing. The cover-up that began in Judaism has to do with just that: timing.
God’s Appointed Times
We previously touched on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, but there is much more to uncover about the commanded assemblies that God gave to the Israelites in the wilderness. The first phase of the great cover-up began when Judaism started to lose the clear simplicity of what God commanded in the observance of these assemblies.
One major factor contributing to people’s confusion of how to observe these assemblies is the way most English Bibles have been translated. Many translators came from traditional Christianity, and without fully understanding the Hebrew instructions of the Old Testament, they introduced numerous mistranslations. As a result, a great deal must be corrected and properly understood before the events that led to Judaism’s initial cover-up can be fully grasped.
Indeed, many of these errors in translation stem from a lack of true understanding about what God originally gave to Israel.
“Now the ETERNAL spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel and tell them of the feasts of the ETERNAL, which you shall proclaim as holy convocations. These are My feasts’” (Leviticus 23:1-2).
Right away, there are problems with the translation of the word “feast.” The word used here is not the Hebrew word for a feast. Instead, the Hebrew word means “appointed time” or “appointed place.” In this context, God was establishing appointed times—specific times He commanded the Israelites to observe.
It is precisely because these appointed times were not properly translated and preserved that the matter of time—and thus the understanding of the Messiah—became confused.
The word “convocation” here simply means a gathering or assembling. It refers to these gatherings as being “holy” because they involve coming into God’s presence at the time He set aside for holy use. This is about a commanded assembling before God at a specific appointed time. The term “appointment” clearly indicates it is a meeting set for a specific time.
Now, with the correct translation, the instructions continue:
“Now the ETERNAL spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel and tell them of the appointed times of the ETERNAL, which you shall proclaim as holy convocations. These are My appointed times. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is the Sabbath of the ETERNAL in all your dwellings’” (Leviticus 23:1-3).
Here, God introduced the first of His appointed times: the weekly Sabbath. They were to assemble together before God, weekly, on every seventh day. It states that no work is to be done on that day, signifying that each weekly Sabbath was to be a weekly Holy Day.
This is an important point: throughout the centuries up to the present day, the Jewish people have been meticulous in preserving the weekly cycle. Because they have recognized the importance of observing the seventh-day Sabbath, they have remained zealous about correctly keeping time, never losing the count of the weekly seven-day cycle.
The instruction continues:
“These are the feasts appointed times of the ETERNAL, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their seasons appointed times. On the fourteenth of the first month at even between the two evenings is the ETERNAL’S Passover” (Leviticus 23:4-5).
Once again, we encounter instruction regarding the Passover—and once again, we find issues with translation.
The phrase commonly rendered “at even” is misleading. The Hebrew expression God inspired here, which has already been covered in Exodus 12:6, is “ben ha’arbayim,” which means “between the two evenings.”
The Prelude to the First Phase of the Great Cover-up
Within traditional Christianity, there is little knowledge about these verses where God commands specific assemblies to be observed at specific appointed times. These instructions are crucial. Yet, the first phase of the cover-up—beginning within Judaism—has its roots in one specific command: the Passover, and the precise requirement that it be observed between the two evenings of the 14th day of the first month.
Although this expression, “between the two evenings” (ben ha’arbayim), is unknown in traditional Christianity, it was well understood in Judaism for centuries after the Exodus. However, over time, even within Judaism, the actual meaning was lost or obscured. This misunderstanding lies at the heart of the cover-up that occurred in Judaism.
“These are the feasts appointed times of the ETERNAL, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their seasons appointed times. On the fourteenth of the first month between the two evenings is the ETERNAL’S Passover. Now on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the ETERNAL. Seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the ETERNAL for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it” (Leviticus 23:4-8).
Sometimes more difficult passages in scripture can be clarified by the simpler ones. This is a perfect example. It is clear when Passover was to be observed. It is also very clear that on the fifteenth day, the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread was to begin.
When the original Hebrew meanings are properly understood, the timing of these days is plainly evident. Yet despite the clear instructions in Exodus 12 and Leviticus 23, these verses became the foundation for the cover-up about the Messiah. It is hard to believe how Judaism eventually distorts these scriptures that give plain and simple instructions.
A History that Led to Division in Judaism
There is so much more to the history of this story and what developed over time to bring about such a massive cover-up. The process, which began in Judaism and then moved into traditional Christianity, led to the final cover-up that took several hundred years to fully coalesce. What follows is a summary or overview of what gradually changed over time.
Israel’s relationship with God was turbulent from the beginning, marked by periods of obedience and rebellion. After the Exodus, nearly 435 years passed before King David rose to power as Israel’s second king.
During King David’s reign, God once again began, progressively, to reveal more about the Messiah He would send to mankind—specifically that the Messiah would be a descendant of King David of the tribe of Judah. God made a covenant with David, telling him that from his “seed” (lineage) He would establish a ruler who would reign forever and whose Kingdom would be everlasting.
After David died, his son Solomon became King and was allowed to build the first temple in Jerusalem. After Solomon’s death, the kingdom of Israel split in two: ten tribes came together to form the nation of Israel to the north, while primarily the tribe of Judah formed the kingdom of Judah to the south.
Many in traditional Christianity are unaware that shortly after Israel became a nation ruled by kings, it soon split into two separate kingdoms. Even today, many make no distinction between Judaism, the Jews, and Israel.
Israel originally consisted of twelve tribes. Only one tribe—Judah—became known as the Jews. The first use of the word “Jew” in scripture confirms this distinction:
“In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign. Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and he did not do what was right in the sight of the ETERNAL his God, as his forefather David did. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. Indeed, he made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the ETERNAL had cast out from before the children of Israel. He even sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree. Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to make war, and they besieged Ahaz but could not prevail. At that time Rezin, king of Syria, recovered Elath to Syria and drove the Jews from Elath, and the Syrians came to Elath and dwelt there to this day” (2 Kings 16:1-6).
Much of the important history, biblical instruction, and prophecy in scripture cannot be properly understood without first knowing and grasping this basic information. This passage makes it clear: Israel and Judah (the Jews) were distinct, even warring with each other.
After the rule of Solomon, the third king of Israel and David’s son, Israel divided into two kingdoms. Israel became a separate nation to the north of Judah, while Judah remained in the south with its capital in Jerusalem. Ten of the tribes of Israel broke away to form this new northern nation.
This new nation of Israel to the north never fully returned to a relationship with God once the kingdom split. It drifted further and further away from knowledge concerning God as they abandoned the Holy Days and weekly Sabbath observances and instituted other times of worship. The times and customs they adopted mixed their past beliefs about God with pagan beliefs of other gods from the foreigners in their midst.
Because of their rebellion, God allowed Assyria to conquer them in 722 BC. Most of Israel’s population was relocated toward what is now modern-day Europe. This happened just over 290 years after the death of King David. Afterward, these people were referred to as the “lost ten tribes” because they lost their identity—and their connection to the true worship of God. They retained nothing of what they had known concerning God in the days of King David and King Solomon, thereby losing their identity.
Destruction of the First Temple
About 135 years after the Assyrians captured Israel and removed its people from the region of Samaria, the southern nation of Judah also began to be conquered. This time it was the Babylonians that conquered the region. In 586 BC, the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed.
The temple’s destruction had a devastating impact on the Jewish people since their primary worship of God centered so much around the activities that took place in Jerusalem at the temple itself.
Originally, God gave a system of religious service for the Levites to perform that was centered around the tabernacle. This Levitical system that was established through Moses also included the sacrificial system. Later, this system transferred to the temple in Jerusalem under Solomon’s reign. With the temple gone, the people could no longer observe many of their religious practices.
During their seventy years of captivity, the Jewish people were forced to adapt. No longer able to practice their customs and rituals that centered around the temple, they had to adjust and change many of their practices. They needed to make changes to help them hold onto their religious beliefs. These changes ultimately led to struggles within Judaism itself.
Eventually, those who desired to return were allowed to do so over a period of many years. Finally, in 515 BC, the second temple was built. The rededication of the rebuilt temple ignited a renewed and vigorous desire among the Jewish people to rekindle a closer relationship with God.
However, after the prophet Malachi—who wrote what God had given him between 450–400 BC—the Jewish people did not recognize or receive any further prophets from God. And as time marched on, the slow decline and distortion of their religious practices continued.
Destruction of the Second Temple
The greatest blow to Judaism came in 70 AD. Just one year after Vespasian began ruling the Roman Empire, his son Titus, leading the Roman army, was sent to fight the First Jewish–Roman War. It was during this campaign that Jerusalem and the second Temple were destroyed.
The destruction of the second Temple had a far greater and more devastating impact on Judaism than the loss of the first Temple. Without a temple to serve as the center of their religious practices, and with no way to rebuild it, Judaism changed.
Once again, the entire system of Levitical service and rituals that took place in and around the Temple came to an end. After this second destruction of the Temple, many religious leaders had to flee to different regions of the world following the Roman conquest.
The dispersion of Jewish leaders made it difficult to maintain consistency and unity within Judaism. Different groups began to form over time—each with variations in practice and belief. Some of these divisions had their roots even earlier, following the destruction of the first Temple, but they became far more pronounced after 70 AD.
As their centralized religious structure collapsed, Jewish leaders eventually began to work toward formalizing a common reference for shared belief in the law and customs of Judaism. This effort led to the compilation of the Talmud, which was their way to provide interpretations and applications of the Written Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible.) Additional writings soon followed, offering further interpretations for additional religious practices and customs.
Over time, the sheer volume and variety of rabbinic interpretations led to increasing fragmentation within Judaism. Today, these variations in belief and interpretations of the Bible are categorized into four main groups: Orthodox, Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist.
Back to Passover and the Cover-up in Judaism
Several centuries after the fall of the second Temple, a pivotal event took place. A famous Rabbi, Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (better known as Rashi), wrote what is commonly referred to as Rashi’s Commentary (written between 1040 – 1106 AD). His commentaries became especially important within Judaism and widely reflect some of the major beliefs within Judaism today.
A work titled, The Pentateuch with Rashi’s Commentary Translated into English, was first published in London beginning in 1929. This is considered a scholarly English translation of the full text of the Written Torah and Rashi’s commentary. Today, many Torah editions print the original text side-by-side with Rashi’s interpretations, a reflection of how deeply ingrained his work has become. Some say that it is almost impossible to study the Torah without it.
Some of his written interpretations reflected a growing trend and popular view among rabbis concerning Jewish thought that had slowly evolved over the previous several centuries. His work has become a staple in Jewish education and study.
Rashi’s commentary regarding God’s commands concerning the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread consolidated the final stance taken within Judaism that worked to cement their cover-up about the Messiah. The initial process that began several hundred years earlier, eventually leading to this final position in Judaism, will be covered after first examining Rashi’s faulty conclusions in his commentary.
The timing for Passover was addressed earlier, so the ability to see how he misinterprets scriptures should be clear in what will be covered. A quote from Rashi’s commentary about how to know the proper timing for the observance of Passover is quite convoluted. His explanations, rather than restoring the original meaning, helped entrench a major misunderstanding—one that contributed heavily to the cover-up about the Messiah.
Rashi’s Interpretation of Passover Timing
Earlier, we reviewed God’s original instruction concerning the Passover lamb. It is important to recall it here:
“Then you shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it between the two evenings (ben ha’arbayim)” (Exodus 12:6).
Now consider Rashi’s interpretation, as quoted in The Pentateuch and Rashi’s Commentary (page 102):
“At dusk—from six hours (after noon) and upward is called ben ha’arbayim, when the sun declines towards the place of its setting to be darkened. And the expression ben ha arbayim appears in my sight (to refer to) those hours between the ‘evening’ of day, and the ‘evening’ of night; the ‘evening’ of day is at the beginning of the seventh hour [1 p.m.] from (the time that) ‘the shadows of evening are stretched out,’ and the ‘evening’ of night is at the beginning of night.”
For most people this interpretation of ben ha’arbayim would not make much sense. For anyone familiar with the true biblical meaning of ben ha’arbayim, Rashi’s explanation is clearly problematic. Ben ha’arbayim defines a complete day—from sunset to sunset—not some vague period starting at 1 p.m.
Rashi’s commentary, while dressed in scholarly language, convolutes the simple meaning. His attempt was an effort to offer a “scriptural” basis to support changes that had already taken root within Judaism centuries earlier.
Recall again the instruction:
“These are the appointed times of the ETERNAL, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. On the fourteenth of the first month between the two evenings [ben ha’arbayim] is the ETERNAL’S Passover” (Leviticus 23:4-5).
Over centuries, Judaism had gradually shifted its observance of Passover—moving it from the correct time on the night of the 14th of Nisan (or Abib—the earlier Hebrew name for the first month) to the afternoon of the 14th and on into the night of the 15th. Rashi’s reinterpretation tried to justify this shift by redefining “between the two evenings.”
Leaders of Judaism had long before begun to make changes in the observance of the Passover. The truth behind their motivation stems from what happened when Christianity began to emerge. This was the beginning of a great divide between later Judaism and traditional Christianity.
Christianity was teaching that the prophesied Messiah—the Christ—had come and fulfilled the true meaning of the Passover and was killed on the Passover day. Jewish leadership found this teaching offensive. They even labeled it as blasphemous.
Thus, Judaism, in reaction, began distancing itself from the original timing of Passover to avoid any association with what the emerging Christian movement proclaimed. Rashi’s explanation provided a way to frame this change in a seemingly scriptural light, even though it contradicted the clear biblical record.
Rashi Changed the Definition of Ben ha’Arbayim
By redefining ben ha’arbayim, Rashi introduced profound confusion. The expression “between the two evenings” for the fourteenth day should not be difficult to understand. However, Rashi gave a different definition for that timing, rather than what God had commanded.
Biblically, “evening” (ereb) always referred to a time when the sun was down, not when it was still high in the sky. Rashi, had he been genuine, would have acknowledged this. However, he described the “first evening” as beginning when the sun declined toward setting (around 1 p.m.)—a notion foreign to the scriptures.
He also redefined the “second evening” as the time after the sun had set but before full darkness—a vague, hard-to-measure period.
This confusion over the true timing of Passover within Judaism has only worsened over the centuries since Rashi’s commentary.
Even today, Orthodox Judaism—considered the most traditional and conservative branch—does not keep Passover as originally instructed. One would think that surely Orthodox Judaism would be closer to what God instructed in the Old Testament. Yet, Modern Orthodox teaching states:
“For Orthodox Jews, Passover (Pesach) begins before sundown. It falls on the 15th day of Nisan and is celebrated for eight days. The 15th day begins in the evening after the 14th, and the seder meal is eaten that evening.”
Yet according to Scripture, the Passover lamb was to be killed and eaten during the 14th day, not after it ended.
Moreover, in modern Jewish practice, the lamb at the seder meal is no longer roasted whole or eaten in the manner God commanded the Israelites. Nor is it eaten on the night of the 14th but after sunset once the 15th has begun.
Despite how plainly the Old Testament lays out the correct timing for Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the meaning and observance have been almost completely lost. The timing is not that difficult to understand. But because of what happened early in the first century AD, and later with the destruction of the second Temple in 70 AD, Judaism began to lose knowledge and understanding about the importance of the Passover lamb.
Judaism Began to Change
Before the events of the first century that began moving Judaism away from the knowledge of the Messiah, the Jewish people had observed Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread at the correct time and in the correct manner, exactly as it was originally given during that first Passover. So what changed?
After the Jewish people had received what they believed to be the last prophet sent to them in the period between 450 and 400 BC, Judaism began to splinter into different groups over the next few centuries. Jealousy and envy emerged as some of those in leadership began to vie for predominant power, authority, and recognition. Corruption became so deeply rooted among many of these leaders that, even as the greatest event in all biblical history unfolded before them, they could not recognize it. It happened right in their midst, after 4,000 years of human history.
By the first century AD, several different sects within Judaism had already formed, each with their own beliefs and practices. Among the most notable were the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots.
• The Sadducees believed only in the written Torah (the first five books of the Bible). They denied the existence of angels, demons, or an afterlife. They rejected the belief in the resurrection of the dead.
• Around 150 BC, a new sect arose—the Pharisees. They believed not only in the written law but also in the oral laws and traditions. Many of their beliefs were the opposite of the Sadducees. The Pharisees believed in an afterlife, the resurrection of the dead, and the existence of angels and spirits. They also looked forward to the coming of a future Messiah and a restored Davidic kingdom that would overthrow Gentile rule.
• Essenes were monastic by practice who lived ascetic lives. They were meticulous observers of the Law of Moses, the Sabbath, and ritual purity. They professed the belief in immortality but unlike the Pharisees they did not believe in the resurrection of the body.
• The Zealots functioned more as a political party yet were noted for their zealousness to uphold Judaism and for the extreme measures they would use to free the Jews from Roman rule. They held an uncompromising opposition to pagan Rome and the polytheism it professed. Some were aggressive in resorting to violence and assassination against Romans and those in Judea who supported Roman rule.
Even in the first century, these sects continued to grow—becoming more divided in doctrine and belief. Division and disagreement became the norm.
By the time the first century began, the leaders of these groups could not see, accept, or acknowledge that the Messiah had come or that He had been sent from God. Most of what He taught they fought against because it conflicted with their entrenched doctrines. Over time, their teachings had drifted far from what God had originally given them so long ago.
In their jealousy and fear of losing authority, influence, and power, these leaders fiercely opposed Christ. His growing following threatened their positions within Judaism, and their envy grew so intense that they sought His death.
The Messiah’s Name
At this point, it’s important to clarify the name of the Messiah, since it will be used in scriptural quotes and general discussion from now on.
The one whom God sent to the people of Judah—the Jews—was the greatest Prophet of all time, far above any other. He was the one destined to become the Messiah in actual fulfillment. His name was Joshua the Christ—the Messiah.
God specifically commanded that His Son be named Joshua. The name “Jesus” did not even exist in the English language until the 1600s. His name, Joshua, was the exact same name as the Joshua who succeeded Moses after his death—the one who would finally lead the Israelites into the promised land.
Although a quick Internet search of the origin of the name Jesus says that this name evolved from the Hebrew Yeshua (ישוע), it did not. In Greek, Iesous (Ἰησοῦς) was used, and in Latin, Iesus. These were supposed to be transliterations—phonetic representations—but they were not accurate transliterations. Instead, these words evolved from different derivations within Roman culture and religion.
A transliteration is supposed to preserve the sound of a word, while a translation conveys its meaning. The meaning of the Hebrew name Yeshua (or Joshua) is “the Eternal is Salvation” or “the Eternal’s Salvation.” The Latin and Greek forms do not carry this meaning. Instead, they were represented as being phonetic approximations, but that is not true.
There has always been a word in English and in other languages that more accurately reflects the right phonetic name for Yeshua in Hebrew. Obviously, it is not any name associated with what the Greek or Latin words represented.
The proper transliteration (phonic sounding word) of the Hebrew name Yeshua into English is Joshua. Thus, this book will use the same name as was the name of the Joshua of the Old Testament, who led the children of Israel into the promised land. It is the same name God commanded to be given to Mary’s son.
Throughout the New Testament, the name translated as Jesus is not accurate. It is interesting to see how translators addressed the issue of this word when used in Hebrews 4:8 where it was speaking of Joshua who led the Israelites into the promised land:
“For if Jesus [Joshua of the Old Testament] had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day” (Hebrews 4:8, King James Version).
Early translators either misunderstood the context or deliberately mistranslated it. As nearly all commentaries admit, this verse is speaking of Joshua, the son of Nun—the one who led the children of Israel into the promised land.
Today, nearly all modern English Bible translations use the correct transliteration. They use the word Joshua in English because they know it is about the Joshua who led the children of Israel. Yet, in all other places, whether it is being translated from Greek or Latin, where the name refers to the Messiah, the word “Jesus” is still used.
There are definite reasons why the name Jesus is used throughout the New Testament when referring to the name of Christ. The name Jesus was carried forward in English translations from the Greek Iesous (Ἰησοῦς) and the Latin Iesus. It is all part of the cover-up that began to unfold in the fourth century AD. We will get to that later.
The Envy and Hatred of Joshua
The jealousy and hatred of Joshua, primarily by the leaders of Judaism, was intense. By this time, they were so blinded and entrenched in their own ways that they rejected everything about Him. They refused to even consider the testimony of others who believed He was the Messiah.
They loathed His teachings and were determined to find fault with anything He said. They went as far as to encourage false witnesses to come forward—people who would twist His words and misrepresent what He actually taught.
Although they sent spies and witnessed His miracles firsthand—seeing the blind receive sight, the lame walk, and even the dead raised—they still would not accept Him. They knew that no ordinary man could perform such acts; that such power could only come from God. Yet they so detested everything about Him that they convinced themselves He could not possibly be of God.
The greatest of all miracles that Joshua fulfilled—a miracle tied directly to the timing of His death, burial, and resurrection—was ironically set in motion, at least in part, by these same leaders of Judaism. They witnessed it but could not recognize it for what it truly was: the greatest miracle that God had ever revealed since creation.
Blinded by hatred, they missed what was happening before their very eyes. Not only did Judaism fail to recognize what Joshua fulfilled, but even traditional Christianity has struggled to fully understand the complete truth and significance of this incredible miracle.
Its truth has been buried, and through that burial, the greatest cover-up of all time continues even to this day. The most incredible aspect is that it all centers around the Passover: as the truth about Passover was buried, so too was the true identity of the Messiah hidden.
If someone wants to truly grasp the condition of Judaism during this period nearly 2,000 years ago, they need only to listen to the words of Joshua Himself—what He said about its religious leaders.
Leaders of Judaism Condemned by the Messiah
After God sent his prophet Malachi to the Jews, 400 years passed without another prophet being sent. During this time, the leaders of Judaism had lost most of the fundamental principles of what Judaism was to exemplify—principles that God intended them to uphold. Instead, the leaders turned inward, focusing on pursuing personal recognition, power, and wealth.
It is at this point, nearly 4,000 years after human civilization was established, that God sent Israel the greatest Prophet of all time. The ETERNAL GOD was preparing to give the greatest and most profound progressive revelation ever concerning His plan and purpose for mankind.
This Prophet was not just another messenger—this was God’s own Son. Yet the Jewish leaders could not accept Him. They could not fathom that the promised Messiah would come in such a manner.
Nevertheless, Joshua was the Messiah prophesied to come through the lineage of King David, just as God had promised.
By this time, various religious groups within Judaism—scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots and others—had become fully set in their own interpretations of God’s word. Their teachings varied from one another, and they had become so attached to physical rituals that they lost sight of God’s purpose. They lost sight of how they were to live their life in a right way before God.
It was at this point—this exact moment in God’s plan for humanity—that He chose to send His Son to clearly reveal what had transpired within Judaism. Joshua the Christ exposed their true state.
He said:
“Then there was brought unto Him [to Joshua] a person possessed with a demon, being blind and unable to speak, and He healed him, insomuch that the blind and unable to speak, both spoke and saw. Then all the people were astonished, and said, ‘Is this not the son of David’ [asking if this might be the Messiah]? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, ‘He does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the prince of the demons.’ Now Joshua knew their thoughts and said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to destruction, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. So if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? Then if I by Beelzebub cast out demons, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you’” (Matthew 12:22-28).
Then He continued a few verses later with even more condemnation of these teachers of Judaism:
“Either make the tree good, and its fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt, for the tree is known by its fruit. Oh generation of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you, ‘That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by your words, you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned’” (Matthew 12:33-37).
Now we come to specific statements made by Joshua that are among the most important in determining whether He truly was the Messiah sent by God to mankind. Once again, this centers on the significance of God’s timing and the details He instructed to be observed concerning the Passover lamb.
“Then certain scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we want to see a sign from you [a sign—proof that He was sent from God—that He was the Messiah]. But He answered and said to them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign and there will no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise in judgment with this generation, and will condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the south will rise up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, a greater than Solomon is here” (Matthew 12:38-42).
In these verses, Joshua was not only condemning the Jews, but he was also offering a clue to the “proof” they were seeking—one that would only be revealed after His death. This clue centers on the importance of God’s timing, which will be explained in detail as we continue.
Joshua also gave strong words to the people warning of the sin that was in the lives of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
“The Pharisees, also with the Sadducees, came and testing Him desiring that He would show them a sign from heaven [again, proof He was sent from God—that He was the Messiah]. He answered and said to them, ‘When it is evening, you say, “It will be fair weather because the sky is red.” And in the morning, “It will be foul weather today because the sky is red and lowering.” Oh you hypocrites, you can discern the appearance of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the time [signs that had already been revealed through Him in miracles]. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it, except for the sign of the prophet Jonah.’ Then He left them and departed” (Matthew 16:1-4).
Later, Joshua said plainly to His disciples:
“‘Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Sadducees.’ So they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘It this because we did not bring any bread?’ Then Joshua knowing this, said to them, ‘Oh you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves that you have not brought bread? Do you not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up, and neither the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many baskets you took up? How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread, but of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?’ Then they understood He did not say to them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Matthew 16:5-12).
Joshua describes the leaders of Judaism as having “leaven.” In scripture, leaven represents pride and sin. Leaven is tied into the meaning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, as leaven puffs up bread and is symbolic of human pride that lifts itself up in disobedience to God. It is not physical in meaning, but it is spiritual. Joshua was warning that the doctrine of these religious leaders was corrupt and full of sin.
Finally, there is one more account of what Joshua said that is pertinent to our topic, although there is much more that He had to say about these religious leaders. This once again is something stated directly about the Pharisees, as they were the primary leaders of Judaism at this time:
“In this, when there were gathered together thousands of people, insomuch that they were trampling on one another, He first began to say to His disciples, ‘Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered, that shall not be uncovered. Neither hidden, that shall not become known. Therefore, whatever you have spoken in darkness will be heard in the light, and that which you have spoken in the ear in closets will be proclaimed upon the housetops’” (Luke 12:1-3).
Truth of the Messiah, Covered-up by Judaism
Judaism hated Joshua, rejected that He was the Prophet sent from God, God’s Son who was the Passover. They purposely changed their time of observing Passover in order to disassociate from the Christians who did believe in Him and taught He fulfilled the Passover. Indeed, Judaism rejected the true Passover and thereby unwittingly began to cover-up the true identity of the Messiah.
The question should be asked: Is traditional Christianity following suit?
The meaning of the names Messiah and Christ—both of which mean ‘the Anointed One’—perfectly illustrates the foundation God is establishing concerning His plan for humanity, specifically in anointing a King to fulfill that purpose. In this case, it points to the one whom God would send to save and then reign over mankind—thereby bringing peace and establishing God’s government on earth.
Nearly 60 years after Joshua’s death, God gave a great amount of progressive revelation concerning Christ—the Messiah. This was given to John who wrote the Book of Revelation. John said that when Christ returns, He will bear the title, “King of kings, and Lord of lords.”
It is being revealed here that it is in His second coming that He will begin to fulfill the complete role of being the Messiah for all mankind. At His first coming He fulfilled the complete role of being the Lamb of God—the Passover sacrifice for the salvation of all mankind.
Judaism rejected that King. Traditional Christianity is dangerously close to doing the same thing. The second phase of the great cover-up in the fourth century needs to be fully uncovered so that the same mistakes of Judaism do not lead to a complete rejection of God’s true Messiah.
The only way to unearth what has been covered is to continue digging into those things that led to the cover-up in the first place. Again, it is all a matter of understanding timing and Passover. That Passover was Joshua the Christ. The literal timing of Passover and all that Joshua experienced on that final day holds the key to unlocking what has been hidden in traditional Christianity.
The Church of God - Preparing for the Kingdom of God