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Birth of Christ and PassoverElder David A. Bednar, one of the current Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said in the April 2014 General Conference address ("Bear Up Their Burdens With Ease"): "Today is April 6. We know by revelation that today is the actual and accurate date of the Savior's birth." See also D&C 20:1 - "The rise of the Church of Christ in these last days, being one thousand eight hundred and thirty years since the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the flesh, it being regularly organized and established agreeable to the laws of our country, by the will and commandments of God, in the fourth month, and on the sixth day of the month which is called April." Some highlights from a sermon called "Passover—Was It Symbolic of His Coming?", from the
January 1994 Ensign:
The law of Moses “was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ” (Gal. 3:24), wrote
the Apostle Paul, offering “a shadow of good things to come” (Heb. 10:1). How?
One example is the actual sacrificing of the Passover lamb, which was in similitude
of the death of Jesus. (See 1 Cor. 5:7.) It appears that the symbolism also included
the timing of the Savior’s death: the Passover lamb was killed between 3:00 and
5:00 P.M. on the afternoon of the fourteenth day of the spring month specified in
the law of Moses (see Ex. 12:1–6), which was when the Lamb of God actually died
as a sacrifice (see John 19:14; Matt. 27:46). We are assured that not only the death
but also the coming of Christ was typified in the law. Nephi rejoiced, “Behold, my
soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ; for, for
this end hath the law of Moses been given." (2 Ne. 11:4; emphasis added.)
Leviticus 23:5 - In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord's passover. Numbers 9:5 - And they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel. Numbers 28:16 - And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of the Lord. Numbers 33:3 - And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians. Deuteronomy 16:1 - Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the Lord thy God: for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night. The aspect of the fourteenth day comes into play when we examine the timing of all the destructions which supposedly took place among the Nephites in the Book of Mormon. This is discussed in the PDF document called Comparing the Bible and Book of Mormon" |