Blog 34: Passover's Link to the Eighth Day
Elohim established Israel’s unique calendar on the fourth day of creation. It belongs to all His image bearers to remember and celebrate God’s Spirit ordering life and overcoming tohu and bohu. Solemnized in this calendar, our salvation, from decay to life, belongs to every believer, commemorating with joy all that Yeshua has done and will do upon His return. Through the blood of the Lamb, the Passover sacrifice memorializes YHWH’s protection of His people from judgment, freeing us to walk with Him and hear His voice. Its corresponding counterpart is found in the last holy day of the seventh month, the Eighth Day.
The holyday timeline shows spring’s Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread (1 + 7) mirrored in autumn’s Feast of Tabernacles and Eighth Day (7 + 1). Israel experienced the Feast of Unleavened Bread when they fled Egypt toward the Yam Suph, guided by the cloud and pillar of fire. Likewise, Sukkot, meaning “tents,” reminded Israel that after Sinai, YHWH dwelt in a tent with them in the wilderness, guiding them by the cloud, protecting, and providing for them. Both holyday periods of YHWH shaping Israel are marked by the number seven. But what connects Passover to the Eighth Day?
When the configuration of the holydays is viewed chiastically, what Passover begins is fully completed on the Eighth Day, making their outcome the same. The outer frames of the chiasmus also point to the central axial pair: Passover points to Pentecost, and the Eighth Day points to the Feast of Trumpets. This symmetrical literary pattern is also seen in John’s eight Gospel signs. Additionally, in the sequence of YHWH’s names, YHWH-jireh is the first and reaches fullness in the eighth, YHWH-shammah. The covenant God who sees and provides, associated with Passover, reveals the fruit of His work in YHWH-shammah, the Eighth Day’s covenant God living with us on earth. Similarly, Zechariah’s eight night visions show, in the first vision, the world at ease and Israel oppressed by foreign powers, stirring YHWH’s jealous love. In his eighth vision, Babel’s system has been destroyed, leaving restored Israel to carry God’s atoning forgiveness to all people, and God’s Spirit is at rest.
Following the completion of seven days, the number eight represents a new beginning. Circumcision on the eighth day marked a human’s new beginning as a member of the covenant blessings, signifying the putting off of the flesh and becoming circumcised in heart to do the will of God. The ultimate restoration of new creation humans who live in fellowship with their Creator occurs through the resurrection that happens at the end of seven days, beginning the eighth day. Remembering that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, the resurrection is our change from mortality to immortality, from corruption to incorruption, and our full return to God, living by and through the power of His Holy Spirit. It reverses our exile from the Garden. What the blood of the Lamb provided—the freedom to walk with YHWH to His holy mountain, receive His instructions, and journey in His presence to the land—results in His people embodying His laws and His will before the nations.
In John’s Gospel of the Signs, the introductions to the first and eighth signs (chapters 1 and 20) reveal the Holy Spirit moving and invite us to “Come and see” and “Follow Me.” At the end of John’s book, Yeshua commands, “You follow Me.” The chaotic disorder of human lives separated from God and His divine wisdom is brought into order by the power of Yeshua’s outstretched arm (Gen. 1:2). The Lamb’s blood washes those who hear His voice. The wedding motif of the first sign continues through to the eighth, representing the marriage of the Lamb to His perfected bride, the new Jerusalem, where God dwells. From this city built by God, life flows to the ends of the earth. Because of the marriage union of the Lamb and the bride, who say, “Come,” there is a new birth of a new humanity. Then, “And let him who hears say, ‘Come'” (Rev. 22:17).
Takeaway:
Passover’s connection with the Eight Day shows cause and effect. The Passover sacrifice at Eden’s entrance allows us to pass through the fire of the swords, enter God’s Garden, hear His voice, and walk with Him. In the Garden, the new covenant priests and holy nation embody God’s will, uphold the ethics of His law, and serve the Lamb’s invitation to all nations to hear His voice and enter the new Jerusalem. Passover restores our ability to hear God’s voice and brings us back from exile.
Fun Factors:
The beginning (1) and end (8) of John’s signs show that growth activates Light’s power to transform matter into spirit, with an exponential 360° return multiplied times ten.
John 2:11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him. [Verse totals: 115 letters (5 x 23) in 23 words, totaling 13787, 17 x 811, or divided into 137 (the atonement number) and 87, 22 + 32 + 42, or 3(22 + 52), saying “the certainty of the holiness of living in God’s house because of His atoning blood.]
John 2:11b “manifested His glory” = 3430 or 10 x 73
3430’s 16 divisors can be divided into two sets of 3600. 3600 = 360 x 10 or 122 x 52
3430 added to its reverse, 343, is 3773; 37 x 73 = 2701, letter sum of Genesis 1:1
John 2:11c “His disciples believed in Him” = 3907, the 540th prime, 3907 added to its reverse, 7093, is 11,000, the product of the lunar calendar’s midpoint sacrifice (3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, 19) 11 x 1,000.
John 2:11 b + c: “manifested His glory” (3430) + “His disciples believed in Him” (3907) = 7337. 73 x 37 = 2701, letter sum of Genesis 1:1
John 20:31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name = 14642 = 2 × 7321.
7321 is the 933rd prime, the 458th Pythagorean prime; 7321 = 3721 + 3600, or 612 + 602.
7321 is the 61st centered square number; 61 is the center of a triangle of 153; 6 + 1 = Sabbath.
7321 added to its reverse 1237 is 8558, 22 × 389 or 22(172 + 102), indicating the Word of God’s victory in the generations of humanity.
7321 minus 1237 is 6084 = 782; 78 = 3 × 26, the surety of YHWH. (Leviticus 23:39’s “and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest” equals 1237.)
7321 minus 1237 is 6084 = 782; 78 = 3 x 26, the surety of YHWH
John 21:22‘s “You follow Me” equals 1335, or 15(82 + 52), symbolizing our restoration (15) to His holiness (52) through the power of His 8 Holydays, marking the harvest of humanity. We can walk with Him out of exile, hearing the divine voice. Yeshua commanded a reversal of our plight: “Fill the jars with water,” with a sum of 2755, and “Draw out now and carry to the master of the feast,” totaling 5572, through Passover’s good wine (see Blog 26). John 2:10’s “good wine” = 421, the 82nd prime and 40th Pythagorean prime; 421 equals 142 + 152, the power of Passover’s (14) Eighth Day restoration (15). And 421 is the 15th-centered square number. The Eighth Day is the first of a new week, yet the eighth step from seven to eight; 4 + 2 + 1 = 7; 4 x 2 x 1 = 8; and 7 + 8 = 15. The first sign is the eighth sign, humanity fully restored.