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Judges 20:1
All the Israelites from Dan to Beer Sheba and from the land of Gilead left their homes and assembled together before the LORD at Mizpah.
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Deuteronomy 12:32
( 13: 1) You must be careful to do everything I am commanding you. Do not add to it or subtract from it!
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2 Chronicles 24 9
An edict was sent throughout Judah and Jerusalem requiring the people to bring to the LORD the tax that Moses, God’s servant, imposed on Israel in the wilderness.
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Ezra 6:8-12
“ I also hereby issue orders as to what you are to do with those elders of the Jews in order to rebuild this temple of God. From the royal treasury, from the taxes of Trans-Euphrates the complete costs are to be given to these men, so that there may be no interruption of the work.Whatever is needed– whether oxen or rams or lambs or burnt offerings for the God of heaven or wheat or salt or wine or oil, as required by the priests who are in Jerusalem– must be given to them daily without any neglect,so that they may be offering incense to the God of heaven and may be praying for the good fortune of the king and his family.“ I hereby give orders that if anyone changes this directive a beam is to be pulled out from his house and he is to be raised up and impaled on it, and his house is to be reduced to a rubbish heap for this indiscretion.May God who makes his name to reside there overthrow any king or nation who reaches out to cause such change so as to destroy this temple of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have given orders. Let them be carried out with precision!”
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Esther 9:20-21
Mordecai wrote these matters down and sent letters to all the Jews who were throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,to have them observe the fourteenth and the fifteenth day of the month of Adar each year
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Daniel 6:8
Now let the king issue a written interdict so that it cannot be altered, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed.
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2 Chronicles 36 22
In the first year of the reign of King Cyrus of Persia, in fulfillment of the promise he delivered through Jeremiah, the LORD moved King Cyrus of Persia to issue a written decree throughout his kingdom.
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1 Corinthians 11 2
I praise you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions just as I passed them on to you.
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Esther 8:8-10
Now you write in the king’s name whatever in your opinion is appropriate concerning the Jews and seal it with the king’s signet ring. Any decree that is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring cannot be rescinded.The king’s scribes were quickly summoned– in the third month( that is, the month of Sivan), on the twenty-third day. They wrote out everything that Mordecai instructed to the Jews and to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces all the way from India to Ethiopia– a hundred and twenty-seven provinces in all– to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, and to the Jews according to their own script and their own language.Mordecai wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. He then sent letters by couriers on horses, who rode royal horses that were very swift.
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Leviticus 23:2
“ Speak to the Israelites and tell them,‘ These are the LORD’s appointed times which you must proclaim as holy assemblies– my appointed times:
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Esther 3:12-15
So the royal scribes were summoned in the first month, on the thirteenth day of the month. Everything Haman commanded was written to the king’s satraps and governors who were in every province and to the officials of every people, province by province according to its script and people by people according to its language. In the name of King Ahasuerus it was written and sealed with the king’s signet ring.Letters were sent by the runners to all the king’s provinces stating that they should destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews, from youth to elderly, both women and children, on a particular day, namely the thirteenth day of the twelfth month( that is, the month of Adar), and to loot and plunder their possessions.A copy of this edict was to be presented as law throughout every province; it was to be made known to all the inhabitants, so that they would be prepared for this day.The messengers scurried forth with the king’s order. The edict was issued in Susa the citadel. While the king and Haman sat down to drink, the city of Susa was in an uproar!
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Daniel 4:1-33
( 3: 31)“ King Nebuchadnezzar, to all peoples, nations, and language groups that live in all the land: Peace and prosperity!I am delighted to tell you about the signs and wonders that the most high God has done for me.“ How great are his signs! How mighty are his wonders! His kingdom will last forever, and his authority continues from one generation to the next.”( 4: 1) I, Nebuchadnezzar, was relaxing in my home, living luxuriously in my palace.I saw a dream that frightened me badly. The things I imagined while lying on my bed– these visions of my mind– were terrifying me.So I issued an order for all the wise men of Babylon to be brought before me so that they could make known to me the interpretation of the dream.When the magicians, astrologers, wise men, and diviners entered, I recounted the dream for them. But they were unable to make known its interpretation to me.Later Daniel entered( whose name is Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom there is a spirit of the holy gods). I recounted the dream for him as well,saying,“ Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, in whom I know there to be a spirit of the holy gods and whom no mystery baffles, consider my dream that I saw and set forth its interpretation!Here are the visions of my mind while I was on my bed. While I was watching, there was a tree in the middle of the land. It was enormously tall.The tree grew large and strong. Its top reached far into the sky; it could be seen from the borders of all the land.Its foliage was attractive and its fruit plentiful; on it there was food enough for all. Under it the wild animals used to seek shade, and in its branches the birds of the sky used to nest. All creatures used to feed themselves from it.While I was watching in my mind’s visions on my bed, a holy sentinel came down from heaven.He called out loudly as follows:‘ Chop down the tree and lop off its branches! Strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit! Let the animals flee from under it and the birds from its branches!But leave its taproot in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze around it surrounded by the grass of the field. Let it become damp with the dew of the sky, and let it live with the animals in the grass of the land.Let his mind be altered from that of a human being, and let an animal’s mind be given to him, and let seven periods of time go by for him.This announcement is by the decree of the sentinels; this decision is by the pronouncement of the holy ones, so that those who are alive may understand that the Most High has authority over human kingdoms, and he bestows them on whomever he wishes. He establishes over them even the lowliest of human beings.’“ This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare its interpretation, for none of the wise men in my kingdom are able to make known to me the interpretation. But you can do so, for a spirit of the holy gods is in you.”Then Daniel( whose name is also Belteshazzar) was upset for a brief time; his thoughts were alarming him. The king said,“ Belteshazzar, don’t let the dream and its interpretation alarm you.” But Belteshazzar replied,“ Sir, if only the dream were for your enemies and its interpretation applied to your adversaries!The tree that you saw that grew large and strong, whose top reached to the sky, and which could be seen in all the land,whose foliage was attractive and its fruit plentiful, and from which there was food available for all, under whose branches wild animals used to live, and in whose branches birds of the sky used to nest–it is you, O king! For you have become great and strong. Your greatness is such that it reaches to heaven, and your authority to the ends of the earth.As for the king seeing a holy sentinel coming down from heaven and saying,‘ Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave its taproot in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze around it, surrounded by the grass of the field. Let it become damp with the dew of the sky, and let it live with the wild animals, until seven periods of time go by for him’–this is the interpretation, O king! It is the decision of the Most High that this has happened to my lord the king.You will be driven from human society, and you will live with the wild animals. You will be fed grass like oxen, and you will become damp with the dew of the sky. Seven periods of time will pass by for you, before you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.They said to leave the taproot of the tree, for your kingdom will be restored to you when you come to understand that heaven rules.Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you. Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps your prosperity will be prolonged.”Now all of this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar.After twelve months, he happened to be walking around on the battlements of the royal palace of Babylon.The king uttered these words:“ Is this not the great Babylon that I have built for a royal residence by my own mighty strength and for my majestic honor?”While these words were still on the king’s lips, a voice came down from heaven:“ It is hereby announced to you, King Nebuchadnezzar, that your kingdom has been removed from you!You will be driven from human society, and you will live with the wild animals. You will be fed grass like oxen, and seven periods of time will pass by for you before you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.”Now in that very moment this pronouncement about Nebuchadnezzar came true. He was driven from human society, he ate grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until his hair became long like an eagle’s feathers, and his nails like a bird’s claws.
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Leviticus 23:4
“‘ These are the LORD’s appointed times, holy assemblies, which you must proclaim at their appointed time.
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2 Chronicles 35 18
A Passover like this had not been observed in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel had observed a Passover like the one celebrated by Josiah, the priests, the Levites, all the people of Judah and Israel who were there, and the residents of Jerusalem.
