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                       Our mathematical system has a number which represents nothing -- i.e. the number "0".
               This number "0" is critical to make our system of arithmetic work, both in holding the "0" place
               before the number "1" and creating the decimal number system where the number "1" coupled with
               a "0" creates the number 10, etc.


                       Strange as it may seem to those of us in the modern world, the ancient Hebrew, Greek and
               Latin (Roman) civilizations did not have the number "0" in their numbering systems. They did
               NOT, they could NOT use the mathematical system -- that we have come to use so automatically --
               with their numbers. They did not know how to do arithmetic the way we do nor could their num-
               bers allow them to do our kind of arithmetic.

                       The fact that the ancient world in general did not use the number system which included the
               number "0" can be proven by the following observations --

               1) There is no year "0" between 1 B.C. and 1 A.D. Evidently, there was no number "0" in the sys-
               tem of arithmetic that was used by the Catholic monk who invented the A.D. - B.C. dating system.

               2) The Abacus, the ancient counting machine still commonly used in the Orient, does not have a
               ball to represent the number "0".


                       If you are familiar with a simple Abacus you will note that it is a pure counting machine. It
               has a number of balls that represent 1 each and some that represent 10 each. As you count, a ball is
               moved from one side of the machine to the other, and when you want to count from 9 to 10 the 9
               balls which have been moved from one side to the other are moved back to where they started
               from and a ball representing 10 is moved to its opposite side. There is NO BALL that represents
               the number "0". Nine balls representing 10 each will allow a count to 99, and at this point one
               could have 9 balls representing 100 each and continue the count to 999, etc.


                                                   "Meta" and "Pro"

                       Let's now look at two Greek words which must be clearly understood before we can cor-
               rectly determine the chronology of the last week before Jesus Christ was crucified and resurrected.
               Turning to Matthew 26:2 we read --

                       You know that AFTER [meta] two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be de-
                       livered up to be crucified.

                       Also, in mark 14:1:


                       AFTER [meta] two days it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
                       In the Jewish method of counting, Nisan 13 is the day specified by the term "after two days
               is the passover." This may seem strange because it makes the 14th of Nisan the first day before the
               Passover -- the day we are told in the book of Exodus IS the day of the Passover! How can we
               make any sense out of this apparent contradiction? To answer this question we must first under-
               stand that the New Testament was written in Greek by first-century Jews and NOT in English by
               21st-century Westerners! And we must also understand that the language of the New Testament

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