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Pentecost 1998
“Pentecost Never on Monday—Always on Sunday”
May 16, 1998
“Now, let’s pick it up here in Joshua 5:10 (King James) ‘And
the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on
the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.
And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the
Passover…’ (Josh. 5:10-12). Now what’s the day after the
Passover? The 15th. They could not eat of it until
when? What was the instruction back in Leviticus 23? Until the wave
sheaf. So this shows that this wave sheaf was on the holy day, in
this particular case, because the 15th day fell on a
Sunday. The Passover was on a Sabbath, and the 15th
day was on a Sunday*. So you must begin with the day after the
Passover because if you do not, as explained in great detail in
Dwight Blevins paper entitled
Understanding God’s Command for the Wave Sheaf, then you
start counting Pentecost outside of the Days of Unleavened Bread”
(Coulter, “Pentecost Never on Monday—Always on Sunday,” p. 4).
*See Appendix O
of The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter for a
detailed exegesis of Joshua 5:10. This is an Adobe Acrobat file.
“Pentecost Never on Monday—Always on Sunday”
May 16, 1998
You’d think by now after all the years we’ve gone through it that people
would know how to count Pentecost. And yet there are still some who believe
in a Monday Pentecost as well as those who believe in a sixth of Sivan
Pentecost, which still is creating problems for people and so I promised
that I would do one more on counting Pentecost. This is kind of like
when we were going through the Passover when we had ba evev and ben ha arbayim and ba erev and ben ha arbayim forever and ever. So if anyone wants to know
how to count Pentecost hereafter we’re going to give them about six tapes
and three or four charts and say go figure it out. (Laughter)
So, we’ll do that.
Let’s just give a little history on a Monday Pentecost. Nope, before
we do that let’s see how to count it right first. Ok, let’s go to
Leviticus 23. And in this case I’m going to read out of the Schocken
Bible because he has an excellent translation of that part. This
continues the story right from the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And at
least every one in the Church of God, well I won’t say that, not everyone.
The Sabbath that we begin counting from is the Sabbath during the Feast of
Unleavened Bread. So let’s do this, let’s take the chart, which says “Count
Pentecost”. I have two of them. One for the year Christ died, on
the backside. And the other one, “Count Pentecost”. And what
we’re going to see, we’re going to see that the same sequence of days
occurred during the Exodus as it did when Jesus was crucified.
Now, let’s look at the Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which
is the 17th day of the first month. That is the Sabbath,
that is then the Sabbath when you start counting the day after. Now,
let’s ask the question as we’re beginning here. When does the morrow
after the Sabbath begin? Cause we have to deal in whole days.
The morrow after the Sabbath begins right at sunset, doesn’t it? It
ends the Sabbath and the first day of the week begins. Let’s also
understand something else. Sunday is not an inherently pagan day.
Pagans did not create Sunday. God created the first day of the week
and Sunday is a day of worship which Pagans use as well as Protestants, and
most of the Protestants are not as pagan as others, but never the less it is
their own religion. So people have it…one man has an aversion to it
saying that, “Well, Sunday is a pagan day and God wouldn’t do anything on a
pagan day.” Well what are you going to do when the first day of the
Feast of Unleavened Bread falls on a Sunday? And Pentecost always
falls on a Sunday as we will see.
Now first before we understand how not to count, let’s first understand how
to count, alright. Leviticus 23. Let’s turn there now and we’ll
begin in verse 10. Yes, it is a rare occurrence for the first day of
the Feast of Unleavened Bread to occur on a Sunday, but it does happen on
rare occasions. We’ll cover that when we get to Joshua 5.
Ok, verse 10, Leviticus 23, “Speak to the Children of Israel and say to
them…” Now let’s just mention here that anything that Moses says is
not his sayings. The law of Moses is the law of God. The Jews
take their laws and say that their laws are the law of Moses. So you
need to understand that there is a distinction. And he says, “…When
you enter the land that I am giving you, and you harvest its harvest…”
Now the crops were already planted so when they came in they harvested the
harvest that was there, because when they took the land it became their
land, their harvest, their crop. Now continuing on, “…you are to
bring the premier sheaf…” Now this one, I like the translation here,
the premier sheaf, and we know this is a type of Christ. So the
premier sheaf or the very first one that is cut, which is the one that
represents Christ, “…the premier sheaf of your harvest to the priest.
He is to elevate the sheaf before the presence of [the LORD], for acceptance
for you…” (Lev. 23:10-11, Schocken). And I think that’s interesting
how he would…we think in terms of just waving, but what he would do was
elevate it so it’s more like typifying a resurrection than just waving back
and forth. He would pick it up and then wave it, I’m sure once he got
it up, but he elevated it.
Now notice when he is to do it, “…on the morrow of the Sabbath…”, so
it is ha shabbath, meaning “the weekly Sabbath”. It cannot mean
the holy day Sabbath and we’ll show you why in a little bit when we go
through here. “…The priest is to elevate it. You are to
perform-a-sacrifice on the day of your elevating the sheaf: a sheep,
wholly-sound, in its (first) year, as an offering-up to [the LORD], and its
grain-gift: two tenth-measured of flour mixed with oil, a fire-offering to
[the LORD], of soothing savor; and its poured-offering of wine: a fourth of
a hin. Now bread or parched-grain or groats, you are not to
eat, until that same day, until you have brought the near-offering of your
God -- (it is) a law for the ages, into your generations, throughout all
your settlements” (vs. 11-14). Now all during the Exodus they ate no
bread. They ate no grain. They had manna. Now let’s
continue on counting cause we’ll come back to Joshua 5 where it talks about
that in just a minute. Now let’s understand something about a harvest.
Not all grain is ripe at the same time, and so that’s why there are seven
weeks of harvest and this the barley harvest.
Now let’s continue on here in verse 15 so we get the count. “Now you
are to number for yourselves, from the morrow of the Sabbath, from the day
that you bring the elevated sheaf, seven Sabbaths-of-days, whole (weeks) are
they to be…” Now that means it has to run from the first day to the
seventh day for a week. Anything that does not run from the first day
to the seventh day is a deficient week, and we’ll see what happens with
that.
Now, how many here are acquainted with double entry bookkeeping. Ok,
most of you are one way or the other. That is so you have a check and
a balance so you know what is correct. Well in counting Pentecost we
have the same equivalent of double entry bookkeeping but we actually have
three checkpoints to go by, and we will see those, ok.
Let’s continue, “…until the morrow of the seventh Sabbath you are to
number—fifty days…” (vs. 16). Now let’s drop down to verse 21 so that
we get this very clear. “And you are to make-proclamation on that same
day [which then is the 50th day], a proclamation of holiness
shall there be for you, any-kind of servile work you are not to do—a law for
the ages, throughout your settlements, into your generations.”
Now let’s go back and let’s look at this and let’s count it, ok. How
many here work from Monday to Friday? How would you feel if your boss
paid you Tuesday through Friday? You wouldn’t be working there very
long would you? And you would come to him and say, “Look, you shorted
me a day.” He says, “No you worked from Monday to Friday but we don’t
count Monday.” Now that’s how silly the argument is on counting
Pentecost. So when it says from the morrow after the Sabbath it means
including that day. You must include that day. Now let’s look at
these checkpoints we have.
1) You are to have seven Sabbaths of days. In other words
seven weeks. That’s the first checkpoint, seven weeks.
2) Next checkpoint is, they are to be whole weeks.
3) Verse 16, after the seventh Sabbath you are to have the 50th day. So that’s number 3.
All three of these must agree. Alright now, let’s understand
something in counting. Counting is different than addition or
subtraction. If you have nine plus three, that equals twelve, does it
not? If you take three away from 12 you have nine. But when you
go to high school you have how many grades? Nine, ten, eleven, twelve.
You have four years, right? See, so when you count, counting is always
different than adding or subtracting, and all computer people know this
because zero is a number and you must count zero, correct? If you
don’t count zero you’re in trouble.
Now let’s see how to count this. Let’s take the chart “Count to
Pentecost” the one of the year of the Exodus and let’s begin. Let’s
see that we have all three checkpoints. On the morrow after the
Sabbath, which is the 18th, and notice we’ve got seven days.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and it ends in a Sabbath. Now
notice on the column, I have a big bold number one. So we count seven
complete weeks: one, two, three, four. Now at the fourth Sabbath
notice I’ve got a gray black and dark here. The reason that that is,
is because this is the 15th day of the seventh month, which we find in Exodus 16, which tells us that this
day is a Sabbath. So therefore you can count backward from this day
and find the sequence of events during the week of the Exodus. So
that’s how we’re able to determine it very accurately, ok. So there’s
the fourth Sabbath. Fifth Sabbath, sixth Sabbath, then the seventh
Sabbath. Now notice we must have on the morrow after the seventh
Sabbath. So then we have Pentecost, Ten Commandments given on the day
of Pentecost or the 50th day.
Now let’s go back and count differently, ok. Let’s go back and count
differently. Let’s do it the way the Jews do it for sixth of Sivan,
ok. Which then, they count beginning on the day after the holy day.
So the holy day is the 15th day of the first month. We go back up there and then come to the 16th,
and that is day number 1. Then they have their first Sabbath. So
they have to ignore it, so they go by weeks. So let’s just come
straight down by weeks and let’s see what happens. Sixteen,
twenty-three, thirty. You all got that, coming straight down?
Then we come to the second month, seven, fourteen, twenty-one, twenty-eight,
and five. Now what is the checkpoint that is missing that cannot work
in this event? That can’t have the morrow after the Sabbath because
the day before it is on a Thursday, and Thursday is not a Sabbath. So
there’s one checkpoint that is missing. The other checkpoint that is
missing, you have what? You have deficient weeks. Now you may
have the 50th day, but you do not have all three checkpoints. So you need all three.
It’s like in bookkeeping. Auditor came in and he was looking at the
books and here was this large account that said ESP, ESP account. He
says, “Well, my. All your books balance but I have a question about
this ESP account. What is this account?” “Oh, it’s very simple.
Whenever we have an error, we just put it over there. Error Some
Place, that’s what ESP means.” (Laughter) Yes, and so this is
what happens with that kind of thing, ok.
Now, now that we know how to count it correctly, let’s go to Joshua 5 and
then we’ll come back and we’ll look at some other things just so we can
understand. Joshua 5, and this tells us about when the entered into
the land. Now we have three booklets on counting Pentecost.
1) “How to count Pentecost”.
2) “From Which Sabbath to count Pentecost”, dealing
specifically with the Joshua 5 problem, and then we have the one…
3) “The True Meaning of Acts 2:1”. And the true meaning
of Acts 2:1 becomes very important as we’ll see later when we get into the
New Testament.
Now, let’s pick it up here in Joshua 5:10 (King James), “And the children
of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of
the month at even in the plains of Jericho. And they did eat of the old corn
of the land on the morrow after the passover…” (Jos. 5:10-12). Now
what’s the day after the Passover? The 15th . They
could not eat of it until when? What was the instruction back in
Leviticus 23? Until the wave sheaf. So this shows that this wave
sheaf was on the holy day, in this particular case because the 15th day fell on a Sunday. The Passover was on a Sabbath, 15th day was on a Sunday. So you must begin with the day after the Passover
because if you do not, as we go in great detail explain in the booklet, then
you start counting Pentecost outside of the days of Unleavened Bread.
Because when you have the first day of Unleavened Bread on a Sunday, the
seventh day of Unleavened Bread is on a weekly Sabbath, and if you use that
weekly Sabbath, the last day, then the Feast of Unleavened Bread is all over
with. So the way that you count Pentecost in that event is, since
Passover day is an unleavened bread day, then you use that Sabbath and begin
counting on the first day of the week right after that Sabbath, and that’s
when on rare occasions the first holy day is the first day toward the count.
On rare occasions.
So notice verse 12, “And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had
eaten of the old corn of the land…” So they probably had a combination
of old corn and new corn combined together. “…Neither had the children
of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of
Canaan that year.” So in that case then what you have is this…
Let’s go back and look at that. I’m going to do another chart to mail
it out. I’ll do one for Joshua 5 but we’ll do it right here.
That means…now let’s come back and we’ll look at it here. This means
that the 14th day would come on a Friday, so let’s come up here and look at it on a Friday.
And in this case just to show how it would be, it would be the 16th,
but it’s actually the 14th because there’s a two-day difference
there, you understand that? I’ll work up a chart to show it, Friday
the 14th and Sabbath the 15th, ok. And if
Sabbath were the 15th then, no, 14th is the Sabbath,
15th is the first day of the week, and that’s the first day for
the count. That way they you have the count all the way down so that
it comes out on the morrow after the seventh Sabbath, and you must use that
Sabbath, being the Passover day as the Sabbath for counting toward Pentecost
to get it on the right day. So I’ll have a chart made when we mail
this out we’ll have it all figured out for Joshua 5 there.
Now, I want to read to you something here, and I want you to listen very
carefully to some of these sections. But first I’m going to give you a
little history on Monday Pentecost within the Worldwide Church of God.
Now it was explained that the way that you count, the way that they counted
to get to a Monday Pentecost was, they did not count the first day.
And they said you must deal in whole days, and since the wave sheaf was
waved in the morning therefore you don’t have a whole day. Well that’s
philatious reasoning because the whole day begins at sunset. They did
have a whole day. And then they said to justify it, you count the way
bankers count. You count away from. Just like I said on this
Monday through Friday thing. So they avoided counting the first day of
the week, and then they counted and they ended up with a deficient count.
So they would have the first day being on Monday, so then the 50th day would be on a Monday but they had the two things wrong that we saw.
Number one, they didn’t have complete weeks, and number two it wasn’t the 50th day after the seventh Sabbath. So those two things were wrong.
Now when they had a big flap concerning it, in Worldwide Church of God in
1952, 53, or 54, I forget exactly which year it was, the whole original
congregation up in Eugene had come to the conclusion, with the exception of
Grandma Romer, that Pentecost should be on a Sunday if you counted it
properly. Well, Herbert Armstrong asked Hermon Hoeh to get this
situation squared around and to prove that it was on a Monday. So what
Hermon Hoeh did was this…he went to Leviticus 23 and he took the word sabbat, which means “Sabbath” and can never mean weeks, and said it
meant “week”. So therefore you can have it “on the morrow after the
seventh week”. So that’s how they justified it. So it was very
poor scholarship.
Then what happened, Herbert Armstrong sent Raymond Cole up to Eugene to
enforce the law and they lost almost the whole congregation up there except
for Grandma Romer. Well with that really being so hard in it, and
another justification was this…well since Herbert Armstrong is God’s
apostle, God must have inspired it to be so, so therefore we will find out
why it is so. And I really believe that if Herbert Armstrong would
have been shown the truth at that time instead of not told the truth by the
researchers, that he would have accepted it properly at that time and we
wouldn’t have had all of the difficulties through the years that we had with
Pentecost. And I also, some people say, “Well, we were blessed all the
years that we kept it.” And I remember Herbert Armstrong said, “Well,
God bound a Monday Pentecost for 40 years because we declared it.”
Well, no God didn’t bind it for 40 years, He just overlooked the error for
40 years. And it came out many, many times during those 40 years.
Finally when it came to a head, when it looked like it was going to split
the church, then they finally in 1974 got around to doing it correctly.
Ernest Martin is the one who forced the problem. And I remember
reading his paper, and I told him directly, I said, “I can understand why
Herbert Armstrong would never listen to you. In the first two chapters
of what you wrote you just attacked him as stupid, an idiot.” And I
said, “What you should have done was started in the third chapter, what was
done in the days of Jesus, and he would have listened to you.” And he
tried to persuade me in other things, but I wasn’t persuaded by him, but
never the less, anyway. That’s when Herman Hoeh confessed what he did.
That he said, “Well he was God’s apostle so I justified it. And I
changed “Sabbath” to “weeks”. So that’s how we ended up with a legacy
of a Monday Pentecost.
Now then there are still some people who believe in it and they send out
things and print it out. And this is by “Giving and Sharing” by
Richard Nichols and it’s entitled, “Why I Believe In A Monday Pentecost”.
And I thought it was interesting that he could not use the title “Why The
Scriptures Teach A Monday Pentecost” because it doesn’t. So let’s…I
want you to listen to what he says here, and I want you to listen how the
slight of hand takes place in his presentation and his thinking.
Now he says here about numbering, he’s got that correct. Let me read
it here, about numbering. Yes, he has that it is to count or to
number. Now then he goes to Leviticus 15. Let’s go to Leviticus
15. That’s why I started in Leviticus 23. You must go to where
the source is first and then look at the others. Leviticus 15, now
this has to do with counting, sure enough. And it has to do…but not
with Pentecost…it has to do with being unclean. Leviticus 15:13-14,
let’s pick it up here. Now it says, verse 13, “And when he that hath
an issue is cleaned of his issue; then he shall number to himself seven days
for his cleansing…” In other words if he’s got a wound and it’s
running and it’s healed, then after it’s healed and it’s cleansed then he’s
to number seven days.
Alright, let’s just do this. Let’s take a look at our chart.
Let’s just take the week beginning with day 18 and we’ll go seven days, even
though in this case it could be any day of the week that it would take
place, ok. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, ok. He
shall number seven days. “…And wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh
in running water, and shall be clean.” So he would do that then on the
seventh day. “And on the eighth day he shall take to him two
turtledoves [which then is over here on the 25th], or two young
pigeons, and come before the LORD unto the door of the tabernacle of the
congregation, and give them unto the priest: and the priest shall offer
them, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest
shall make an atonement for him before the LORD for his issue” (vs.13-15).
Now let me read what he says. “Notice the instruction. Count
seven days then come before the Lord.” Now that’s a correct statement
to that point. Now here comes the slight of hand. “In Leviticus
23 we are told to count from the morrow after the Sabbath, the weekly
Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, even unto the morrow after the
seven Sabbaths we are to number 50 days and you shall offer a new meal
offering unto the Lord. Count 50 days, then come before the Lord.”
Now did you see what he did? He actually trapped himself in his own
logic and didn’t even realize it, because what he really did was prove a 50th day Pentecost by, if you count seven weeks and then the morrow after, then
you come before the Lord. But he is saying now you do this by counting
50 days first and then come before the Lord. Now it does not say that.
It says on the self-same day you shall proclaim it to be a holy convocation,
not the next day. So that’s how he comes to it.
Now notice. “Count 50 days then come before the Lord. The
question is, do you count a day before it starts, or when it is completed?”
You count the day as it is occurring. He didn’t ask the right
question. You don’t count it before it starts. Obviously when
it’s completed you count it but you’re into the next day, correct?
Notice his reasoning, “In baseball…” Now what does baseball have to do
with Pentecost? (Laughter) “In baseball do you score a run when
the base runner starts to run the bases or when he touches home plate?”
But you see baseball has nothing to do with counting Pentecost. “Our family
sometimes plays board games tallying, that is counting the points with four
marks and then a fifth mark cross over the four. One, two, three,
four, five. One, two, three, four, five. When you earn a point
you make a tally. God counts days the same way. In Genesis 1,
time after time, days are counted as follows: the evening and morning
were the first day.” When was the day counted? Beginning with
the evening and then the day and when it’s finished that’s the first day.”
But it’s the first day all the way through from beginning to end of the
first day, correct? Yes.
Now notice, then he says, “Days are counted at the end of the day when they
are completed. Likewise in the Pentecost count in Leviticus 23, each
of the 50 days are counted at the end of the day then after the completion
of the 50th day count we are to come before the Lord and it’s
simple and scripturally correct to count 50 days then keep Pentecost.”
It is not simple and it’s not scripturally correct because it says in
Leviticus 23, on the selfsame day you shall proclaim a holy convocation,
which is the 50th day.
Now there’s some other things that he gets into here. Here’s another
one concerning circumcision. “A baby is eight days old when he has
lived eight days, which is the ninth day of his life in progress. I am
50 years old, 51st year in progress.” So what he’s saying is this. When a baby is
circumcised it’s the ninth day not the eighth day, when God says he’ll be
circumcised on the eighth day. See, “…a baby boy is eight days old
when he’s lived for eight days, which is the ninth day of his life in
progress.” No, the day you are born, do you count the day that
you are born? Why certainly you do. What is your birthday?
“Well let’s see. I was born on the 21st so my birthday is
the 22nd.” See, no, if you’re born on the 21st it’s the 21st. So you count it. So when they’re
circumcised they’re circumcised on the eighth day, not the ninth day.
So notice how his reasoning is here.
Then he mentions something else that Dr. Hoeh wrote concerning the year 161
and the calendar, which is another one of Dr. Hoeh’s slight of hand.
Ok, let’s see what else he has here. Let’s come to Deuteronomy 16:9.
“Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven
weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn.” Now when would
they put the sickle to the corn? The morrow after the Sabbath.
They had a special ritual that they would do, which was this…
Out on the Mt. of Olives they had a special barley patch where they grew the
barley for the premier sheaf. And during the Feast of Unleavened
Bread, when it came to the regular Sabbath during Unleavened Bread, you can
find this in Edersheim, they would have a procession that would go out to
this special patch where they would have the ceremonial cutting of the very
first sheaf. That’s the premier sheaf. That’s when they began to
cut the grain. And what they would do they would go out right toward
the end of the Sabbath, and they would have men stationed up on top of the
hill, and they would call out three times, “Has the sun gone down? Has
the sun gone down? Has the sun gone down?” As soon as they go
affirmative the sun had gone down, they cut the sheaf, wrapped it with a
special tie, and brought it into the temple area to be waved the next
morning.
So when that was cut, that’s the beginning of the harvest. So then
you have seven weeks. But what is missing here in Deuteronomy 16?
You don’t have the 50th day. So this is talking about the harvest. And it says, “And thou
shalt keep the feast of weeks…” Now the feast of Pentecost is
also called the Feast of Weeks because you count seven weeks and then the
next day is the Feast of Weeks. “…Unto the LORD thy God with a tribute
of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the LORD
thy God, according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee” (vs. 10)
And all of the rest of it there pertains to it.
Now let’s notice what they’re saying here. “Deuteronomy 16:9 refers
to the putting of the sickle to the corn. This phrase includes
harvesting for oneself.” Well, I suppose it could but it’s primarily
referring to the wave sheaf offering. “One could not harvest for
oneself without first offering the wave sheaf.” Well we know that but
they could cut the next day, couldn’t they? Yes they could. As
soon as that was cut that evening, the next morning they could be out
harvesting. “So there is a day devoted to the offering of the wave
sheaf, the wave sheaf Sunday as we refer to it. The next day is the
day when the harvest is for oneself and this could be what is referred to in
Deuteronomy 16:9.” So there again he’s…everything that he says is to
justify a Monday Pentecost. The main thing that he says that you count 50
days and then you keep the 51st day. But that’s not what the scriptures tell us.
Now, this harvest was barley harvest, and the barley harvest is…barley
always ripens before everything else. And the firstfruits of this
harvest was right there during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The
harvest continued down until the finality of the harvest on the 50th day. There were other things being harvested as things went along,
which you will see there in…let’s to to 2 Chronicles 32, where that they
brought their firstfruits of the other things whenever they came in.
But that had nothing to do with the barley harvest. The barley harvest
is a special grain harvest.
2 Chronicles 32…I beg your pardon…31. 2 Chronicles 31. Let’s
pick it up here in verse 1, “Now when all this was finished…”, that is
the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month that they had there, “…all
Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the
images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places
and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh,
until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of
Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.”
And then king Hezekiah appointed the priests, verse 3, gave portions for
morning offerings, Sabbath offerings, new moon and feasts, verse 3.
Verse 4, he commanded the portions be given to the Levites and so forth.
Verse 5, “And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of
Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and
honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly.” So those things would come along in
different times. “And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also
brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which
were consecrated unto the LORD their God, and laid them by heaps.
In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps…” So
here’s when the main harvest starts coming in, after the third month.
See it’s the barley harvest, the very first is the harvest for Pentecost, so
all the other firstfruits are not counted in this firstfruit harvest because
that is a type of the church, as we will see. So you’ll have to stick
around for Pentecost to get the rest of the story on that, ok. But all
of the others harvested. And notice they brought them in, “…third
month they began to lay the foundation of heaps, and finished them in the seventh month” (vs. 5-7) So here all the things were brought in
and they had to made the temporary… they had to build a foundation and then
cover them so that they would be able to store them. And so they
finished it in the seventh month, which then was obviously the Feast of
Tabernacles. So all the firstfruits of the different crops come in at
different time but since barley is a very first ripe of anything that comes
in that is why the feast of Pentecost is keyed to the barley harvest.
Now let’s go on, let’s see the…let’s turn it to the other one now, turn it
to the other side, and we’re going to see a progression as we come along
here. Let’s first of all go to Mark 16. Let’s come to the New
Testament, and we’re going to see that there is a counting. Mark 16:1.
Now the first day of the week is the wave sheaf offering day. Let’s
pick it up here in verse 1, Mark 16, “And when the sabbath was past, Mary
Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had brought sweet spices, that they might come and
anoint Him. And very early in the morning the first day of the
week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.” We’re
going to see a little later that Mary Magdalene actually left her house
while it was still yet a little dark. But while this is going on the
sun is rising. “And they said among themselves, ‘Who shall roll us
away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?’ And when they looked,
they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. And
entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side,
clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. And he
saith unto them, ‘Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was
crucified: He is risen; He is not here: behold the place where they laid
Him.’” (Mark 16:1-6). Now we’re going to see that the angels also
moved around. We are going to see, in this case, one angel appeared,
in another case we’re going to see where there were two angels that
appeared. Both are correct. “‘But go your way, tell His disciples and
Peter that He goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see Him, as He
said unto you.’” So they went away quickly and so forth.
Now let’s come down here to verse 9. “Now when Jesus was risen…” ,
and actually this is in the past tense and could read, “Now after Jesus had
risen” would be the correct translation. Had risen “…early the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene…” This is
where they get where Jesus rose the first day of the week. But He was
already raised as we will see when we look at the chart here, because He was
in the grave three days and three nights. “…Out of whom He had cast
seven devils. And she went and told them that had been with Him, as they mourned and
wept. And they, when they had heard that He was alive, and had been
seen of her, believed not” (vs. 9-11).
Now let’s come to the account in the book of Luke. Let’s come to Luke
24:1, “Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing
the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.
And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered
in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as
they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in
shining garments: and as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces
to the earth, they said unto them, ‘Why seek ye the living among the dead?
He is not here, but is risen: remember how He spake unto you when He was yet
in Galilee…” (Luke 24:1-6). And so then they finally remembered the
words.
Now let’s come to John 20 and we’ll go through almost…
Part 2
John 20:1, “The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early,
when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away
from the sepulchre. Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and
to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, ‘They have
taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not were they have
laid Him.’ Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and
came to the sepulchre.” Now when John refers to himself he refers to
himself as that other disciple. “So they ran both together: and the
other disciple did outrun Peter…” So there’s that little competition
between Peter and John going on there. “…And came first to the
sepulchre. And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen
clothes lying; yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter following
him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, and the
napkin, that was about His head, not lying with the linen clothes, but
wrapped together in a place by itself” (John 20:1-7).
Now this must have been quite a sight. The best way I can envision
this is this. We find over here in chapter 19, let’s go back here for
just a minute, chapter 19:38. “And after this Joseph of Arimathaea,
being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought
Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. And
there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and
brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.
Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes…” (John
19:38-40). So what it was, it was not like the shroud of Turin, one
big sheet. But what it was, it was rolls of linen almost like you
would say gauze but it would be linen. So then would put the spices
around Him and roll this around, like around His legs, and then come around
and wrap His body, and then come up and wrap His arms and His hands, and
come all the way up to His neck. Then they had the separate one that
was put on His head.
So what I vision is this, and I will just have to say this is my opinion,
otherwise it would not be such a startling thing to them. I believe
that all of the clothes were still wrapped in the shape of His body but the
body was not in it. Because when He was resurrected from the dead He
could come through that wrapping with no problem, as we will see later He
came through doors. So coming through the linen cloth would not be a
problem at all. So I think that he saw the form of those wound cloths
that did contain His body but now did not have the body and I just wonder if
they were just kind of sagging in the middle to show that there was no body
in there, or maybe they just fell flat after Christ resurrected out of it.
Then over in another corner, folded up, was the napkin or whatever it was
that He had on His face. So this is two signs of the resurrection.
Number 1, the wound up clothes were they’re undisturbed, but then if the
cloth is folded up and put over in a corner, what does that tell you?
Someone had to have deliberate thought in doing it, correct? Now, if
someone came in to steal the body, they would have taken everything, right?
They would have taken all of the burial clothes, just take the whole body,
get it out of there so there wouldn’t be anything in there at all.
And so I…as we read on here, verse 7, John 20 again, let’s read it.
“And the napkin, that was about His head, not lying with the linen clothes,
but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in also that
other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and
believed.” So it had to be something pretty spectacular in order for
him to believe. So it had to be something like I described. If
you can come up with something better let me know. Ok, now all this
happened on the first day of the week. Let’s continue on, verse 9,
“For as yet they knew not the scripture, that He must rise again from the
dead” (John 20:7-9). How many times, if you go through the gospel
account did He say, “The Son of man is going to be delivered and He’s going
to be killed and He’s going to rise from the dead the third day.” But
they didn’t understand it. They did afterwards.
“Then the disciples went away again unto their own home. But Mary
stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, and seeth two angels in white sitting…’
So here the angels were probably there manifesting themselves at different
times, being invisible at different times. “…One at the head, and the
other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto
her, ‘Woman, why weepest thou?’ She saith unto them, ‘Because they
have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him.’ And
when she had thus said, she turned herself back [that is to come out of the
sepulchre], and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus”
(vs.10-14). Now remember the two disciples in Luke 24. They
didn’t recognize Jesus either. So I don’t know how Jesus made Himself
appear or whether it was that their vision was cloudy and didn’t recognize
who it was or whatever it was.
So “Jesus saith unto her, ‘Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou?’
She, supposing Him to be the gardener, saith unto Him, ‘Sir, if thou have
borne Him hence [or taken Him away from here], tell me where thou hast laid
Him, and I will take Him away.’ Jesus saith unto her, ‘Mary.’
She turned herself, and saith unto Him, ‘Rabboni’; which is to say, Master.
Jesus saith unto her, ‘Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended to My Father:
but go to My brethren, and say unto them, ‘I ascend unto My Father, and your
Father; and to My God, and your God.’” (vs. 15-17).
Now this is the first day of the week, the wave sheaf offering day.
Now exactly what time this was we don’t know but it was before He ascended
to the Father to be accepted. Now let’s take our chart here and let’s
look at it. We have the Passover day, 14th day, and I’ve got it night and day, night and day so you see the sequence
there. Jesus put into the tomb as the 14th ended and the 15th began. So Jesus was actually dead a little more than three days.
He was in the tomb three days and three nights. So I have one night,
one day. Come over here to the next one, two night, two days.
The next one, third night, third day, and He rose from the dead right at the
end of the Sabbath. Now what He did and where He was at that time
after He was resurrected I suspect that He spent that night in prayer
thanking God for all that was done. And I think that the 23rd Psalm is the one that fits that most of all.
Let’s go ahead and read that. Psalm 23, hold your place here in John
20, we’ll be back. Because you see when Jesus came in the flesh to be
born of the virgin Mary, the two of Elohim made a covenant. The One
who became Jesus Christ had the covenant with the One who became the Father.
And the Father covenanted that He would resurrect Him from the dead.
And I imagine that He was very thankful when that occurred because He
completely gave Himself up. And so I’m sure that this 23rd Psalm is the one which pictures what Christ was doing at that time in
thanking God.
Let’s notice it, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
That means “will not be lacking anything”. “He maketh me to lie down
in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth
my soul [that has to be the resurrection]: he leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness of his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with
me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table
before me in the presence of mine enemies [and boy didn’t God do that right
after the resurrection, what a table was set]: thou anointest my head with
oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever”
(Psa. 23:1-6).
Now then, Psalm 24, I believe is the ascension Psalm. Let’s read that
one. “The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the
world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the
seas, and established it upon the floods. Who shall ascend into the
hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath
clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity,
nor sworn deceitfully.” And of course Christ is the only one who had
no vanity, correct, because all men are vain, right? This has to refer
to Christ and His resurrected state. “He shall receive the blessing
from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob.
Selah. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be lifted up, ye
everlasting doors [now I think this is when Chris ascended and was accepted
of the Father]; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in
battle.” And of course He was mighty in battle with that crucifixion,
wasn’t He? Yes He was because He overcame everything. “Lift up
your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and
the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The
LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory” (Psa. 24:1-10).
So on that very first day…Let’s look at the chart again here. On that
very first day of the count toward Pentecost Christ ascended and was
accepted of the Father. Now we’ll see that that had to be the first
day. Now here’s something that’s very important. And when I
began to understand about the true counting of Pentecost it dawned on me.
Because at that time we did not count Sunday as one of the days. And
what were you missing? The most important event. The acceptance
of Christ. The very first to be accepted of God the Father. So
therefore you had to count that day. If you don’t count that day then
you’re not counting Christ. And so in my mind, that was one of the
very first things that helped me begin to understand. Then all the
rest began to flow after that.
Question is the article I read from, he’s changed that. They do count
it properly now, but they say now you have to come to the end of the 50th day, and then keep the 51st day. That’s how they justify it.
The wave sheaf is offered about the third hour in the morning, though
Christ was resurrected at the end of the Sabbath. And I said that He
said that he would be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.
That would be as dead.
Now let’s continue on, let’s go to John 20 and see how that we have some
counting going on here. I also have that there on the chart, John 20.
Now let’s come back here. Let’s review again here verse 17 when Jesus talked
to Mary. He said, “Touch Me not because I’m not yet ascended to My
Father…” And the reason is, is that He told her that is that He didn’t
want to be defiled by being touched by a human being before He was accepted
of God the Father. Obviously that would be very important. So,
“…but go to My brethren, an say unto them, ‘I ascend unto My Father, and
your Father; and to My God, and your God.’ Mary Magdalene came
and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had
spoken these things unto her” (John 20:17-18).
Now verse 19, “Then the same day at evening…” And this means “as
evening was coming”. “…being the first day of the week…” Still the same day. So there we have it, first day
of the week, and I put that on the chart, at evening Christ appears to the
disciples. Here’s how He appeared, “…when the doors were shut
the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in
the midst, and saith unto them, ‘Peace be unto you.’” Now just
try and picture yourself if you were there, and all of a sudden Jesus
manifest Himself. Just walk right through matter. So to be a spirit
being is something totally different than what we can contemplate. Now
some people didn’t like the hat-pin test, about being born again, so I
suggested that they take the walk-through-the-wall test. (Laughter)
If you’re born again try walking through the wall, ok, that’ll do you.
All right, so when He had… That would be quite startling. Can
you imagine the heart pounding that would take place.
“And when He had so said, He shewed unto them His hands and His side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the
Lord. Then Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be unto you: as My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you. And when He had said this, He
breathed on them, and saith unto them, ‘Receive ye the Holy [Spirit]
Ghost:…” (vs. 20-22). That’s when, I believe, the apostles received
the begettal of the Holy Spirit. Now when we come to Pentecost, they
received the power for preaching, because there is a gift that is given when
there is, as Paul said, this grace to teach the Gentiles. So there is
a gift that is given for those who are teaching. And so that was given
to them on Pentecost. This is the begettal given to them at this
point. And they were the first ones to receive it. I don’t
believe that the other disciples received it until the day of Pentecost.
Then He goes on, verse 23, “Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted
unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are
retained.” And we have an example of that with Simon Magus, Acts 8.
“But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus
came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, ‘We have seen the
Lord.’ But he said unto them, ‘Except I shall see in His hands the
print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and
thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe’” (vs. 23-25).
So that wound in His side must have been some pretty gaping wound in order
to say, “I’m going to put my hand in His side.” Now, he says that
“unless I do that I will not believe.”
“And after eight days…” So let’s count eight days. You go one,
two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight and you come to the 25th.
So then on the 25th day of the first month He appears unto the
disciples again. The eight day. So we have one day which we know
then is the first day of the week, then we have the eighth day, which is
also the next first day of the week. Isn’t that interesting, one week
apart.
So here’s what happened, “…again His disciples were within, and Thomas with
them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst,
and said, ‘Peace be unto you.’ Then said He to Thomas, ‘Reach
hither thy finger, and behold My hands; and reach hither thy hand, and
thrust it into My side: and be not faithless, but believing. And
Thomas answered and said unto Him, ‘My Lord and my God.’ Jesus saith
unto him, ‘Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of
His disciples, which are not written in this book” (vs. 26-30). Now we
don’t know what all the sign were that He did.
Let’s come to Matthew 28 first. Now we know that He ascended on the
40th day, but there are some other things that He did during
those 40 days. We don’t have a chronology of it, but at least we have
some accounts of it. So let’s look at those. Matthew 28:16,
“Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where
Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw Him, they worshipped Him:
but some doubted” (Matthew 28:16-17). Now that is after those two
occurrences. So there were still some who doubted, because you see, no
one has beat death, no one. So it was hard for them to believe.
Now let’s come to 1 Corinthians 15 and let’s see something else. And
let’s see that there were many witnesses that were… And we’re going to see
in this case 500 at one time. Now I don’t know exactly when that
occurred. We don’t have that down, it doesn’t tell us.
1 Corinthians 15 and let’s pick it up here in verse 4, “And that He was
buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
and that He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: after that, He was
seen…” Now the twelve there, that would include Matthias who saw Him on one
of these occasions, because Judas was already dead. So this would have
to include the replacement Matthias. “…After that, He was seen of
above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto
this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, He was seen of
James; then of all the apostles. And last of all He was seen of me
also, as on one born out of due time” (1 Cor. 15:4-8). And of course
that was at a later time and a special calling with Paul. So we don’t
know when all of these events occurred, but we do know that they all
occurred within a 40 day period. Now let’s see that by going to Acts
1, and then we’ll get on into Acts 2.
Acts 1:1, “The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus
began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after
that He through the Holy [Spirit] Ghost had given commandments unto the
apostles whom He had chosen: to whom also He shewed Himself alive after His
passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and
speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:” Now one of
those days was over here in John 21 where they were out fishing. And
you can read the account there, it’s just across the page, where they were
out fishing and Jesus came and He stood on the seashore and He set up a fire
and put some fish on it. How did He get the fish? He didn’t
fish, but He had fish on the fire when they came. So I guess He
created them. You know God can do anything, nothing’s impossible for
God. And so then He had the session there with Peter about loving Him,
and so forth. So “…many infallible proofs being seen of them forty
days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts
1:1-3).
“And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they
should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father,
which, saith He, ye have heard of Me” (vs. 4). Now it’s very
important that the Church begin at the temple. Look at all of the
resistance they had even though it began at the temple. Now why was it
important that it begin at the temple? Because that’s where God placed
His name, correct? So if anything that God is going to do would begin
at the temple to show it had His authority. It couldn’t be done over
here in the western hemisphere and then someone come over and say, “Guess
what, God spoke to me?” So it had to be done there in Jerusalem.
So here’s what He told them, “For John truly baptized with water; but ye
shall be baptized with the Holy [Spirit] Ghost not many days hence.
When they therefore were come together, they asked of Him, saying, ‘Lord,
wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?’” Look
Lord, you’re alive, that’s the purpose you were born. So they were all
anxious. They were all zealous and ready to go. And He said unto
them, “No, relax, it’s going to be two thousand years.” (Laughter) No
He didn’t tell them that. “…He said to them, ‘It is not for you to
know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power.
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy [Spirit] Ghost is come upon
you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea,
and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.’” Which then
is a prophecy coming down to our day. “And when He had spoken these
things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of
their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as He went
up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, ‘Ye men
of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?’…” Well, I imagine
that was something. How high do you have to go to disappear?
I’ve thought about that flying in the planes, you know. When you’re
way up high you can’t see anything. But you get down when you’re
coming in closer, and closer, and closer, and coming in for a landing then
you can begin to see the highways. And then you begin to see that
there are little specks moving on the highways. Those are trucks and
cars. And then you get down closer and I imagine it would be what, 500
ft., 600 ft., then the cloud take them out of the way. I tell ya,
that’s something. Can you imagine what they thought, standing there
and all of a sudden, up goes Christ. Then two angels tell them, “Look,
He’s going to come back in the same way.” So they returned to
Jerusalem and so forth.
Now then they had to select the one who replaced Judas. Now let me
just mention here. Let’s cover that account in selecting Judas, the
one to replace Judas rather. Verse 23. “And they appointed two,
Joseph called Barsabas who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.” Now
they had to be those who were witnesses who saw Jesus, who was part of the
whole teaching that they had. So these were two of them. “And
they prayed and said, ‘Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men,
shew whether of these two Thou hast chosen, that he may take part of His
ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he
might go to his own place. and they gave forth their lots…” Now
the reason that they took lots in this particular case was, because it had
to be the choice of God, not the choice of men. That’s why you don’t
see lots cast any other time, just this one time. This is a one time
special event to replace Judas Iscariot with one who had been with the
teaching of Christ all along. “…And the lot fell upon Matthias; and he
was numbered with the eleven apostles” (vs. 23-26). So now then they
had twelve again.
So what do we have up to this point? We have day one. We have
day eight. We have many things that transpired in between that and day
forty. Now let’s look at the chart and see day forty. And
actually when you come down it is the same day in which He was put in the
tomb, the same day of the week, on a Thursday. You see that?
This is on “Count Pentecost 30 A.D.” You come all the way down to the
40th day, Christ ascended. And I thought it was
interesting, I never knew that it was on the same day of the week in which
He was put into the tomb. So that, one, when He’s put in the tomb He
exited the world as a dead person. On the 40th day He
exited the world as a spirit being. So I guess that’s the most
significance you can get of that.
Now let’s come to Acts 2 and let’s begin in verse 1, and here is where they
make another error in their reasoning. Now let me read it in the King
James. Remember we’ve got a whole booklet going through detailing in
very particular detail the true meaning of Acts 2:1. Let’s read it
first in the King James. “And when the day of Pentecost was fully
come, they were all with one accord in one place.” Now the way that
those who keep a Monday Pentecost reason is this. They say, “Yes, this
was the 50th day already past, because it says “fully come”.”
Therefore it was counted beyond and now they kept the 51st day.
Now I can see how they could possibly get this out of the King James,
however the Greek has this meaning: And when the 50th day
was being (present tense) fulfilled. That puts an entirely different
complexion on it, doesn’t it? That’s what it means in the Greek
literally. “And when the 50th day was being fulfilled.” And the way that’s written in the Greek, it is
a special, it is a special what is called articular infinitive, which then
is a verb with a definite article. You’ve never heard of such a thing
in English. (Laughter)
Now that is given because that is giving the beginning of the statement so
that everything else that comes below that is taking place during the
fulfilling. That’s what this is telling us. So there can be
absolutely no mistake that this was on the 50th day as the day
was being fulfilled.
Now since I cover this in great detail on the video for the 49th day I won’t get into it to cover anymore of it. But let’s come over
here to verse 37. At the conclusion of Peter’s preaching, and notice,
notice how they reacted. “Now when they heard this they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the
apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ Then Peter said
unto them, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy
[Spirit] Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and
to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall
call.” So you can put right in there John 6:44. God has to do
the calling. “And with many other words did he testify and exhort,
saying, ‘Save yourselves from this untoward generation.’ Then [verse
41 is the key now] they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the
same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” (vs.
37-41). Which day? The 50th day.
Now let’s go back to Leviticus 23 and we’re going to see the same thing
again, the 50th day and the selfsame day. Just like in Acts
2 and during the accomplishing or the fulfilling of the 50th day,
and on that same day 3000 souls were added. So it’s the same day.
We have the same thing here back in Leviticus 23. And it says you
shall number “…seven sabbaths shall be complete…”, verse 15 the last
sentence. “Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath [now the
morrow after the Sabbath is always the first day of the week] shall you
number fifty days…” (Leviticus 23:15-16).
Now you come over here to verse 21, “And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame
day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you…” So there we
have in both cases the 50th day, the same day. So there can
be no dispute that it is the 50th day and it is the same day, not
the 51st.
Now I want to read a quote to you from “The Karite Anthology”, which are
exerpts from their code of law. Now the Karites were the
scriputralists of the Jews. They rejected the traditions of the
Pharisees. Now here’s what they say concerning Pentecost. Now
notice very carefully what they say and you will understand that the Jews
knew that it should never be on a Monday, or also on a Friday or a
Wednesday, as it is with the sixth of Sivan count with the Pharisical method
of counting. I’m going to quote from page 220 under the section,
Pentecost.
“The last day of the count, i.e. the 50th day, scripture commands us to regard it as a holy day, as a holy convocation,
as the Feast of Weeks, as the Feast of Firstfruits, as the feast of the
harvest. It is called a holy day, or holy convocation because it is
part of the eighteen days mentioned in the section beginning with, “These
are the holy days of the LORD holy convocations”, Leviticus 23:18, and
ending, “Theses are the holy days of God which you shall proclaim to be holy
convocations”, Leviticus 23:37. Moreover the term “holy convocation”
is applied specifically to the 50th day in two places. In
the first verse, “You shall make proclamation on the selfsame day that their
shall be a holy convocation to you”, Leviticus 23:21. [We just read
that.] And the second verse where we find it is, “On the day of the
firstfruits you shall have a holy convocation”, Numbers 28:26.”
Now let’s turn there and read that in Numbers 28:26. Now this shows
when all of the offerings in the temple were to be offered. “Also in
the day of the firstfruits, when ye bring a new [meal] meat offering unto
the LORD, after your weeks be out…” So the 49 days are over so
this has to be the 50th day. The seven weeks are complete.
Now remember we have the three things to verify what it is how to come to
the 50th day.
1) Seven weeks.
2) Fifty days.
3) And the 50th day is on the morrow
after the seventh Sabbath, and you must have the seven complete weeks.
“…After your weeks be out, ye shall have an holy convocation…”
Now continuing on with the quotes here from “The Karite Anthology”.
“It is called the Feast of Weeks because it marks a conclusion of the count
of seven weeks as it is written, ‘with your seven weeks’. After your
seven weeks the preposition ‘with’ having the force of meaning ‘after’ as
‘with’ the coming of all Israel and ‘with’ the completion of the days of
purification. So it is after the weeks are complete.” And that’s
how it’s translated here in the King James.
“It is called the day of the firstfruits because on this day there takes
place the offering of two loaves of shewbread made of the first ears of new
wheat.” So now we have wheat in addition to the barley. So we
have both here. We have barley, which is the main crop, and then a
beginning of wheat as they look at it here in this section.
Continuing, “It is also called the feast of harvest because it is at that
time when the grain reaches the state of being ready for harvest and for the
people to begin to do the harvesting.” Continuing now, “That is why
the offering brought consist of two loaves of bread made of the first ears
of the new grain. ‘And the feast of the harvest of the firstfruits of
your labor which you’ve sown in the field’”, then that is quoted from Exodus
23:16.
That this day of Pentecost could not possibly fall on a Sabbath, here’s the
proof. “Where the count of 50 days of which this day of Pentecost is
the last [not the 51st]”. So it can never, never, never be
on a Monday. I don’t care what Richard Nichols does. I do not
care what Raymond Cole does. It can never be on a Monday. I do
not care the mistakes that Herbert Armstrong had in the past concerning it,
at least he was willing to repent and change and make it correct. No
one else was willing to do that.
Now continuing on, “Where the count of the 50 days of which this day of
Pentecost is the last, permitted to begin on the second day of the Feast of
Unleavened Bread [which is what the Pharisees do], whatever day of the week
it might happen it to be on, as the dissenters assert [that’s their
reference to the Pharisees], the day of Pentecost would accordingly fall on
varying days of the week, sometimes on the Sabbath, sometimes on other days
depending on the day on which the Feast of Unleavened Bread happens to
begin. It follows therefore that it must always fall on the same day
of the week, namely on Sunday and never otherwise.” The reason being
the three things which we have said. 1) The seven complete weeks, 2)
The morrow after the Sabbath, and then the third one, is that it has to be
50 days. So you take those three things with triple entry accounting
and you can only come out on a Sunday.
Now continuing what they say here, “If they should fall back on the faulty
principle, which they have set up for themselves, namely, that Passover must
fall on a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, it is merely based upon a gross
misinterpretation of the statement of the book of Ezra.”
Continuing now, “The Karites have another argument in this matter which we
shall see here namely that all other holy days are set definite days of
definite months whereas this feast of Pentecost is not. It necessarily
follows as we have said above, it must forever fall on the same weekday
without variation, namely on Sunday.” Now that’s right from the Karite
Jews, the scripturalists of their day, rejecting the Pharisaic way of doing
it, and they never came out on a Monday. There is no historical record
other than the days when the Pharisees’ sixth of Sivan falls on a Monday, do
you have a Monday Pentecost. Any other way is just twisting and
turning the scriptures, reasoning in a circle to try and prove your own way.
So now, if you take the chart, and we can look at it again. Let’s
come to the one “Count Pentecost” on 30 A.D., and you see how it is all laid
out here. Remember how we had it. Day one, He appeared to the
disciples in the evening. Day eight, He appeared to the disciples in
the evening. Between day eight and day forty He appeared with many
infallible proofs, and then He ascended up into heaven on the 40th day. Now I want you to look at the chart again and let’s understand
something here. That He was in the tomb, sealed in the tomb beginning
on the 15th, which was on then the fifth day of the week.
So He was out of this world as a dead person, so to speak, as a human being
for the three days and three nights beginning there on the 15th in the tomb. And then He ascended on the fifth day of the week, day 40.
Come all the way down with the chart to day 40 and you will see it’s the
same day of the week, the fifth day of the week. Now it’s very
interesting that number five is the number of grace. And since it is
by grace you are saved, by grace the death of Jesus Christ is applied to you
for the forgiveness of sins and Jesus ascended into heaven on that 5th day of the week, being the 40th day. And He, by the grace of
God is our high priest and propitiates our sins continually at the throne of
God.
So you can know and understand that Pentecost is never on a Monday.
It is always on a Sunday, the first day of the week.
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