The Amazing
Truth about
PENTECOST!
Some observe Pentecost on
Monday each year; some observe it on Sunday; some observe it on Sivan 6, the
same day as the Jews. Who is right? Here is additional evidence to prove how and
when the Worldwide Church of God erred, and why.
William
F. Dankenbring
In
my original article entitled "What Is The Correct Day to Observe
Pentecost?", written in 1988, I presented astounding new truth --
completely new to the Church of God -- as to which day we should be observing
Pentecost. I presented in that article
several independent key proofs from the Bible, ancient history, and the
tradition of the Jews, to reveal which day Pentecost should be observed. The article was, to say the least, not a bit
appreciated by the Tkach administration, and at first
the silence was deafening. It was
obvious that they were not interested in change -- at least, not when it came
to Pentecost. As the years went by, they
changed many other doctrines -- and eventually jettisoned the Sabbath and holy
days altogether, as commanded assemblies of God. But they never changed on Pentecost. Why?
Since
that time, none of the off-shoot churches have changed, either. They all seem either mesmerized by the
Armstrong mystique -- or they are afraid if they change, they will lose many
members -- or both.
The
question arises, how did error arise in the first place? And why? Those who observe Pentecost on a Monday each
year insist that God would not have left His Church in error on this matter for
forty years, from 1934 to 1974! Thus
when the Worldwide Church of God switched to a Sunday Pentecost, some were
horrified, and refused to go along with the change. Some left the Church, including evangelist
Raymond Cole, and began another Church, called Church of God, the Eternal. From the beginning, however, not very many
followed them. Why did they refuse to
change in 1974 when the majority in the Church changed?
In
their paper "The Plain Truth about Pentecost," they point out
"Truth is a revelation from God," and then proceed to quote the first
issue of the Plain Truth magazine, February 1934, "The real TRUTH
is simple and plain, not hard and difficult." They go on to quote Christ
when He told the disciples that God has hidden the truth from "the wise
and prudent" but has revealed it "unto babes" (Matt.11:25).
Of
course, I have no disagreement with the above statements. However, from that point on the paper begins
to "beg the question," assuming that God revealed the truth to
Herbert Armstrong during the formative years of the Church.
The
paper states: "Was God's Church led into gross error in the matter of
Pentecost? How was it that we came to
keep Pentecost on Monday, when all 'scholars' -- whether they be Jewish, Protestant or Catholic -- disagree? Anyone could have picked up the Jewish
Encyclopedia (published in 1905) or a Bible dictionary and found that mi-mohorat,
by scholarly interpretation, would certainly place Pentecost on Sivan 6 or a
Sunday, depending on which Sabbath was understood."
The
author says later, "Was the truth . . . hidden for forty years?" In
another paper entitled "The Faith Once Delivered about Pentecost,"
the writer asks, "Does it require 'much technical research' or a
'scholarly team of researchers,' to come to understand God's Truth? Has God
allowed His Church to keep the wrong day of Pentecost for decades because it
didn't have access to all the facts of modern scholarship?"
The
author quotes Herbert Armstrong as saying in a Bible Study,
Interestingly,
therefore the author assumes that Herbert Armstrong had to be right in the very
beginning -- God would not have allowed him to make an error on such a
point. So when Herbert Armstrong admitted
he had been wrong all those years, from 1934 to 1974, in summer of 1974,
and confessed his error, the author of the paper -- Raymond C. Cole -- and many
others denied him the opportunity to change his mind! They insisted he had been right all along,
and was NOW going into error by changing!
The author states, "Either he was inspired by Jesus Christ in the
foundation of this Church, or he has not been God's servant all these
years."
Such
powerful sounding statements, of course, prove nothing, one way or the
other. They are mere opinions! It seems obvious to me that for hundreds of
years, perhaps throughout the Middle Ages, and into the early twentieth
century, God had allowed His Church to lose sight of the need to observe all
the festivals of God, including Pentecost.
During the Middle Ages, there is no historical
evidence that God's people observed Pentecost correctly -- or even at all -- or
any of the other annual Holy Days! The
Church of God Seventh Day, which Herbert Armstrong said was the "
Is
it even true that God reveals His truth, all at once, at the foundation or
beginning of the church? There is no
precedent for such a claim, either in history or in the Bible! Rather, even the history of the Worldwide
Church of God shows God reveals his truth one doctrine at a time, gradually,
and we are commanded therefore to "GROW in grace and knowledge" (II
Pet.3:18). Learning truth is a
PROCESS. It does not happen instantaneously!
The
fact is that initially Herbert Armstrong erred on a few points, and had to
change! He did not always understand
about the identity of the
The
fact is, originally he followed the Jewish reckoning in counting
Pentecost. But about 1936-37, apparently
he stumbled onto the statement that the "Sadducees" controlled the
For
a man to "err" in such a matter as "counting" Pentecost, should not be so surprising or unbelievable. It would be easy to do. As Herbert Armstrong himself has said, God
revealed His truth "a little at a time," not all at once!
Why
should some people find it so difficult to believe that the Church was in error
on the date of Pentecost for forty years, when history shows us the Church did
not even realize the NEED to observe Pentecost for HUNDREDS of years?
Such
"logic" I find personally baffling -- dumfounding.
I
might point out that since from 1934 to 1974 was a period of "40
years," it may well be that God was actually "trying and
testing" the Church for 40 years, before the change was made as to the day
to observe it. But even in changing from
Monday to Sunday, the Church still remained in darkness on the most important
point of all -- and that is, from which SABBATH the "5O days" were to
be counted!
As
I showed in the original article "What Is The Correct Day To Observe
Pentecost?", the Pharisees always calculated
Pentecost by counting from the first annual Sabbath of the Festival of
Unleavened Bread, right after Passover!
And Jesus plainly told His disciples, "The scribes and Pharisees
sit in Moses' seat: All therefore what THEY bid you observe, THAT OBSERVE
AND DO" (Matt.23:2-3). Notice! He said the "Pharisees" -- NOT
the Sadducees!
The
Pharisees taught the entire congregation of
The
apostle Paul was a learned scholar, and a "Pharisee of the
Pharisees," he himself said. Thus
his practice must have been to observe Pentecost the same time as all the
Pharisees, and the whole nation of
If
Paul, upon his own conversion, had to change the day he observed from the
practice of the Pharisees, to that of the Sadducees, then why is there no
mention of such a thing in all of his writings in the New Testament? If the customary day being observed by the
Jewish nation, Sivan 6, was incorrect, then why does the entire New Testament
neglect to inform us of that fact? And
why didn't Jesus Christ not once rebuke the Pharisees for being in error
on this vital doctrine? He rebuked them
for many lesser things -- like being overly concerned about washing of hands,
giving gifts, wearing extra-long "fringes" on their garments,
choosing the chief seats in synagogues, but not once did He ever correct them
on keeping Pentecost on the wrong day!
Strange,
isn't it! In fact, it is utterly
amazing! How could our Saviour have
remained SILENT on such a vital point of truth, if, indeed, they were teaching
error?
Yet,
as Paul himself wrote, "What advantage then hath the Jew? . . . Much ever
way: chiefly, because that UNTO THEM (NOT HERBERT ARMSTRONG, or Herman Hoeh, or
Raymond C. Cole, or any other man, or the
Paul
went on, "For what if some did not believe? shall
their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?" (v.3). Even if the
Jews were not true believers, Paul is saying, that did not negate the faith and
truth of God, which the Jews were to preserve intact. And down through the centuries, even though
they often disobeyed God, the Jews are the only nation or people who have
PRESERVED faithfully the accurate "oracles of God" -- the Law and the
Prophets, the sacred calendar, and the entire Old Testament!
It
is too bad that Herbert Armstrong did not have the wisdom to consult the Jewish
Encyclopedia, and to talk with various rabbis and
Jewish and Biblical scholars back in 1936-37, before forsaking their date for
Pentecost in favor of the Sadducees; but that is water under the bridge. Because of his neglect, he went off on his own,
and did not consult others, and led the whole Church into error on how to count
Pentecost -- and God permitted it! Why? Perhaps to teach us all the lesson of
humility!
The
truth is simple: God doe not force us to be wise, or to do right. He lets us make mistakes -- many of
them. To claim otherwise is to ignore
all the record of human history, and even the examples of David (with
Bathsheba) and Solomon (who erred in his old age), and all the kings of
Unfortunately,
Herbert Armstrong was one who himself admitted that he lacked
"wisdom." Often he lamented
this fact. He told me once in his office
that none of the men under him -- his own son, Rod Meredith, Herman Hoeh, or
any others -- had "wisdom."
They were all deficient in this commodity, and so was he! The problems of the Church over the years, of
course, would prove this to be true.
What
is the key to wisdom? Solomon was
inspired to write, "Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude
of counsellors they are established" (Prov.15:22). He also wrote:
"Where no counsel is, the people fall (or, commit error): but in the multitude
of counsellors there is safety" (Prov.11:14). Sadly, Herbert Armstrong never sought a
"multitude of counsel," as wise king Solomon, under divine
inspiration, recommended. He often went
off on his own, and neglected, in particular, the Biblical and historical
insights of the Jews, rabbis, and scholars!
In
the paper "The Faith Once Delivered about Pentecost," the author
admits, "Decades ago all the world's scholars stated, as they still do
now, that Pentecost is either on a Sunday or on Sivan 6, depending on which
Sabbath -- annual or weekly -- is intended in Leviticus 23." That is a very true statement. It is a shame, therefore, that in 1936-37
Herbert W. Armstrong never consulted them, for wisdom, and their knowledge of
Hebrew! But instead he trusted to
supposed "inspiration" by itself.
Thus he set a pattern of error in the Church which was followed for 40
years, until 1974, when he admitted that all
those years he had "counted" incorrectly!
Consider,
however: That itself was a major
admission, and confession of error, for a man who had taught error for forty
years, and who was already in his eighties! I have to give Herbert Armstrong credit. He may have indeed found it very difficult --
but when proved wrong, and when he "saw" it, he was always
willing to change!
How many of his supposed "disciples" and the
ministers whom he ordained, can say the same thing -- and have proved it by
their "fruits"? I don't know
of any!
How
can we know, I ask you, whether any "inspiration" we receive is from
God or not? Should we merely assume it
is? Should we proudly boast of God's
"inspiration," even when we may be in the process of making an
egregious error? If we did, we would be
the laughingstock of the world! I am
sure that even Christ and God the Father sometimes laugh at the antics,
foolishness, and silly comportment of men on this earth, including sometimes
their own "representatives" who are only human, after all!
The
author of the paper goes on, "Yet God REVEALED to Mr. Armstrong that
Pentecost is on Monday. If he had relied
on 'flesh and blood,' he would never have come to a Monday
Pentecost."
Flesh
and blood? It appears to me that he only
relied really on his own "flesh and blood" -- his own mind, which God
says, is "deceitful and desperately wicked above all things"
(Jer-17:9). The apostle Paul says we are
to "prove all things" (I Thess.5:21). Therefore, before we jump on
board the bandwagon, and ASSUME THAT God "revealed" to Herbert
Armstrong a Monday Pentecost, in 1936-37, despite all the evidence of Biblical
scholarship and Jewish practice and tradition, let us patiently search all the
evidence, get all the facts, and QUESTION WHETHER OR NOT God really did any
such thing!
To
assume, and blindly follow a man, is dangerous!
It is the height of folly!
This
reminds me of the story of a group of blind people that went out hiking in the
treacherous mountains, along a precipitous trail. The leader was partially blind, but his
entourage was composed of completely blind people! At one point, he ascertained that he was
leading the group in the wrong direction, and changed direction, and began to
go along a different path. Some in the
group, however, still blind, refused to change direction, and insisted that his
original course was right. So they
continued to grope along the pathway leading to a sheer precipice. The others, who changed direction, had come
part of the way back to the right path.
But, to come all the way back, they would have to make one more
significant change.
Unfortunately,
the partially blind leader died before that final change could be
made! It was left to his
successor whether or not to come all the way out of error, or not!
of
course, in this parable, the blind leader whose blindness was partially healed
was Herbert Armstrong; the group who remained blind and stubbornly maintained
their original path is those who cling to the Monday Pentecost, despite the
fact they have no real proof or evidence to support it! The "new leader" who must decide
whether the group will repent, and come all the way out of error, was
Joseph Tkach, and Herman Hoeh. Since the
death of Joseph Tkach, and the split up of the Worldwide Church of God into
many churches, it is left up to the various leaders who remain to get back on
the right trail! To this point, they are
still stumbling around in the darkness!
What
few have realized is that the observance of a Sunday Pentecost, based on
counting from the "weekly Sabbath" that falls within the Feast of
Unleavened Bread, leads to many difficulties and embarrassments. For example, sometimes the weekly Sabbath
occurs on the last day of the Feast, and the first day of the Feast is
Sunday. What happens then? Does the Church count from the Sabbath that
occurs before the Feast, thus beginning with the Sunday which is the first day
of the Feast, an annual holy day? Or
since the Feast ends on a weekly Sabbath, does the Church count from that
Sabbath, beginning the count from the Sunday after the Feast?
In
1995 this head-scratcher posed difficulties for the off-shoot Churches. One, Church of God International, decided to
follow the second method. But someone
pointed out that Worldwide was counting from the Sunday which was the first day
of the Feast, so CGI changed its mind, and conformed to Worldwide's
thinking!
How
would you decide? Since there is not one
word in the Bible addressing this difficulty, does God just leave it up to each
church to figure out their own method?
Or could the problem be that they are all counting from the wrong day --
Sunday -- and should be counting from the day after the annual Sabbath, as the
Jews have done for the past 3,400 years?
Think
about it!
On
the other hand, we should give credit to where credit is due. The Monday Pentecost people, despite their
own error, have done a creditable job of pointing out some of the errors of the
present position of the Worldwide Church of God on changing to a Sunday
Pentecost. In particular, they point out
that in 1974 the Passover fell on a weekly Sabbath. What happened that year?
Illustrating
the problem cited above, in 1974 we had the following interesting and unusual
state of affairs:
Pentecost
Dates of Various Church Groups
Worldwide COG
COG, The Eternal
Sadducees
Pharisees
Essenes
May 26 (Sunday) June 3 (Monday) June 2 (Sunday) May 27 (Monday) June 9 (Sunday)
What confusion!
The Worldwide Church of God, which bases its
"Sunday" observance and counting from the weekly Sabbath on the
Sadducee tradition, departs from them when Passover is on a Sabbath and
observes Pentecost one week before the Sadducees would have!
Obviously, from the above chart, everybody seems
to have their own opinion on how to figure and count Pentecost! But since Jesus said the Pharisees sat in
Moses' seat, and told the disciples therefore to do as THEY commanded in such
matters (Matt.23:2-3), it is obvious that if we obey Christ Himself, then we
will be observing Sivan 6, which is 50 days from the First Day of Unleavened
Bread!
Remember, to sit in "Moses' seat"
means to have the authority that Moses had.
Moses was the "lawgiver" for ancient Israel. He received the Law from God and gave it to
the nation. Even so, then, the Pharisees
had authority from God to expound and explain the law and pass it on to the
people, as the legal representatives occupying the office of Moses!
The Problem of Counting
Perhaps the most humorous aspect of this
"Pentecost Problem," is how mixed up and confused people get when it
comes to "counting" fifty days.
It is really hilarious! It would
really be funny if it were not so tragic.
Originally, Herbert Armstrong thought that when
you count "from" a particular day, the first day of the count would
be the next, or following day. Thus one
day "from" Sunday would be Monday.
Seven days "from" Sunday would be the next Sunday! This is commonly referred to as
"exclusive" counting, since the day you are "counting from"
is not included in the count. On this
basis, Herbert Armstrong originally decided that in counting from Sunday, fifty
days, brought us to a Monday.
What was wrong with that conclusion?
The Hebrew expression in Leviticus 23:15,
"from the morrow after the sabbath," is mi-mohorat ha-shabbat. it
occurs 28 times in the Bible. On 26 out
of 28 times, it is translated "on the morrow" and "unto the
morrow." Dr. Herbert G. May of the committee on The Common Bible,
and all the world's most renown translators, feel that in Leviticus 23:15 the
expression mi-mohorat ha-shabbat should have been translated
"beginning on the morrow after the sabbath." This would have
alleviated much confusion!
In other words, the expression refers to
"inclusive" counting, where the day which you count from is also the
first day of the count! Thus, if I tell
you to count from one to ten, you would begin with "one," and go on
to "two, three, four, five," and so forth.
The same Hebrew word is used in Leviticus 23:11,
where we read that the wave-sheaf offering was waved "on the morrow after
the sabbath." Here, as everywhere else where this expression is used in
the Bible, to translated it "from the morrow" would distort and
violate the meaning.
Obviously, the men who translated the word mi
into the English word "from" understood it to mean counting from one
to fifty, beginning with the number "one." Why did it take Herbert
Armstrong forty years to wake up to this fact?
This is one of the riddles of modern Church history.
Interesting, isn't it, that it took the
leadership of the Worldwide Church of God FORTY YEARS TO LEARN HOW TO COUNT!
If only Herbert Armstrong back in 1934 hadn't
trusted to his own resources, and own mind, and had checked and researched
other leading authorities, he might well have corrected this error in counting
before it ever got started! But as the
old expression goes, "If wishes were horses then beggars could ride!"
An Astonishing Confession
The Worldwide Church of God's "Pentecost
Study Material," page 73, makes the amazing admission: "We have to
face the fact that ALL HISTORY IS AGAINST US." This was a candid admission that in all
history, there is no evidence whatsoever of anybody keeping a Monday Pentecost,
except the Worldwide Church of God!
Interestingly, however, the Church of God, The Eternal, which maintains
the Monday Pentecost today, doesn't seem to care that all history is now
against them!
If Raymond Cole and others want to truly get
back to "The Faith Once Delivered about Pentecost," as their article
title claims, then they must go back much farther than 1934; they must go back
2,000 years, and more -- to the time of Christ, Paul, and even back to the time
of Moses!
What is really so interesting to me, however, is
the incredible paradox that today, both those who observe Monday as Pentecost,
and those who observe Sunday -- both groups -- understand and agree that the
counting is to be "inclusive," "beginning with" the day of
the wave sheaf offering. That is to say,
both begin counting with the same day -- Sunday -- the day after the weekly
sabbath which falls during the Feast of Unleavened Bread -- and yet come out to
TWO DIFFERENT DAYS!
Hilarious!
Marvelous! In other words, now we
come to the whole crux of the matter -- the real issue. According to the Church of God, The Eternal,
we are to finish counting fifty days, and THEN -- THE NEXT DAY after we finish
counting -- is PENTECOST! In other
words, Pentecost is the FIFTY FIRST DAY!
Considering the fact that the word Pentecost itself, in Greek,
literally means "FIFTIETH DAY," that is indeed a very strange
conclusion! In other words, they claim
that the fifty-first day is Pentecost, not the fiftieth day! And yet the word Pentecost itself means
"fiftieth day" -- not "fifty-first day"!
Every Biblical authority says that Pentecost is
the fiftieth day after the offering of the Wave Sheaf! But the Church of God, The Eternal claims
that Pentecost is the fifty-first day after the Wave Sheaf offering! I must confess that I find this incredible --
yet I have read it with my own eyes!
To attempt to rationalize and justify this kind
of reasoning, the author points to Leviticus 15:13. Notice!
"And when he that hath an issue is CLEANSED of his issue; then he
shall number to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes, and
bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean. AND ON THE EIGHTH DAY he shall take to him
two turtledoves and come before the Lord" (Lev.15:13-14).
Here we see seven days "counted." Then
on the eighth day, an offering is brought to the Lord God. But what on earth does this example have to
do with Pentecost? Here we are plainly
told the person counts seven days, and THEN THE EIGHTH DAY brings an offering. No such command is given relative to
Pentecost! There God merely says,
"Count fifty days." He does not say, "Count fifty days, and THE
NEXT DAY is Pentecost," or "bring an offering the fifty-first
day." Not at all!
Ridiculous!
The author also claims Leviticus 25 shows the
truth of a Monday Pentecost. Notice this
passage. "And thou shalt number
(Heb., "count") seven sabbaths (weeks) of years unto thee, seven
times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto
thee forty and nine years" (Lev.25:8). Here, exactly forty-nine years are
numbered or counted. Verse 10 then
states, "And ye shall hallow the FIFTIETH YEAR."
Here the "Jubilee" year is the year
following the forty-nine year "count" -- or the fiftieth year. Why?
Because God here plainly says so!
But no such command, or remark, is made in the commandment of counting
Pentecost! They are two entirely
separate things. If God had merely said,
"Count forty-nine years," then the Jubilee year would have been the
forty-ninth year. But He plainly said
Jubilee was the fiftieth year, not the forty-ninth!
Why do people get so mixed up on counting? It defies human explanation! Here we have normally reasonable, rational,
intelligent human beings -- both counting "fifty" from the same day
-- and both winding up on two different days!
Obviously, there is more to this question than
merely lack of mathematical ability.
Human emotions come into play, personal feelings, angers, resentments,
feelings of betrayal, self-righteousness, and a whole gamut of human emotions. This is why God says, "The carnal
(human, fleshly) mind is ENMITY against God: for it is not subject to the law
of God, neither indeed can be" (Rom.8:7).
Jeremiah wrote, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jer.17:9).
The Real
Problem with Sunday Pentecost
In studying the papers of the Church of God, The
Eternal, on Pentecost, I found a most remarkable thing: They brought out
salient, powerful objections to the Sunday Pentecost of the Worldwide Church of
God. In particular they point out that
Pentecost, or Whitsunday, is "the Sunday that marks the 50th day after
Easter" (Encyclopedia Britannica).
They point out that Hastings' Dictionary of
the Bible, article "Pentecost," says, "Pentecost is traditionally
represented as Sunday . . . Wieseler plausibly suggests that the festival
was fixed on Sunday by the later Western Church to correspond with
Easter. Among the Jewish Christians
observance of the Hebrew feasts continued doubtless with fresh significance
derived from the new revelation."
The apostate Roman Catholic Church changed the
celebration of the Passover, replacing it with Easter Sunday, thus celebrating
the ancient pagan festival of the sex goddess Ishtar, or "Easter."
They then corrupted Pentecost, and put it on a Sunday, 50 days following
Easter.
Interestingly, in 1975 the Worldwide Church of
God and the Roman Catholic Church both celebrated "Pentecost" on the
very same day -- May 18th! They both
celebrated Pentecost on the same day in 1976, also -- June 6th! In 1979, again, the pagan Roman Catholic
Church and the Worldwide Church of God again celebrated Pentecost the very same
day -- June 3rd!
Is this mere coincidence?
In 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, and 1984, again, the
Worldwide Church of God and the Roman Catholic Church both celebrated Pentecost
on the same day!
Notice the following table of dates:
PENTECOST
OBSERVANCE
Year Jews Worldwide
Church of God Roman Catholicism
1975 May 27
May 18 May 18
1976 June 4 June 6
June 6
1979 June 1 June 3
June 3
1980 May 21
May 25 May 25
1981 June 8 June 7
June 7
1982 May 28
May 30 May
30
1983 May 18
May 22 May
22
1984 June 6 June 10 June
10
Is the Worldwide Church of God now beginning to
endorse Roman Catholicism? Why do they
observe the same day Rome observes? You
figure it out!
Almighty God thunders to His people: "For
what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion
hath light with darkness? And what
concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with and
infidel? And what agreement hath the
Temple of God with idols? for YE ARE THE TEMPLE OF THE LIVING GOD; as God hath
said, I will dwell with them, and walk with them; and I will be their God, and
they shall be my people.
"WHEREFORE COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM, AND BE
YE SEPARATE, SAITH THE LORD, AND TOUCH NOT THE UNCLEAN THING; and I will
receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and
daughters, saith the Lord Almighty" (II Cor.6:14-18).
God says further, of this Satanic system, which
observes Pentecost on the wrong day: "COME OUT OF HER, MY PEOPLE, THAT YE
BE NOT PARTAKERS OF HER SINS, AND THAT YE RECEIVE NOT OF HER PLAGUES"
(Rev.18:4).
Do you want to be partaker of the sins of this
Babylonish system? Do you want to
receive of her plagues?
If you follow the present Sunday Pentecost
reckoning of the Worldwide Church of God, then you are laying yourself open for
all the plagues of Almighty God, and will be judged right along with her for
her detestable, filthy, abominable sins!
Think about it, you who are so smug and secure and
content with your affiliation with the Worldwide Church of God! Think about it, too, those of you who belong
to various off-shoot churches that came out of Worldwide, but still endorse
these errors of Worldwide! And think about it, you Messianic Jews, and other
groups, who also go along with a Sunday Pentecost!
It's time to WAKE UP!
Notice what God Almighty says about those who
observe His festivals on the wrong day, and incorrectly -- "Your new
moons, and YOUR appointed feasts MY SOUL HATETH: they are a trouble unto
me; I am weary to bear them" (Isaiah 1:14).
It is not the prerogative of any human being to
change, alter, diminish, cancel out, abolish, or move, any holy day ordained by
Almighty God! God Himself set them and
established them in their seasons. He
Himself ordained them, an He set the Jewish people, with the Levitical
priesthood, as their divinely appointed guardians (Rom.3:1-2). No man and no "Church" has the
right or the authority to change or alter that which God Himself has established!
God warns us against those who would rise up,
and who would "think to change times and laws" (Daniel 7:25).
Those who observe Pentecost the same day, many
years, as the Roman Catholic Church does, have been duped by Satan the devil
into embracing one of the "holy days" of Rome!
God says for His people to COME OUT of the Roman
system and partake not of her sins! To
observe Pentecost on a wrong day is a SIN in the sight of Almighty God! It is plain and absolute disobedience to His
divinely ordained commandment!
Isn't it time to WAKE UP?
The Pharisees and Pentecost
The Jewish historian Josephus of the first
century, himself a Pharisee, plainly shows in his Antiquities of the Jews
that the Pharisees reckoned Pentecost by counting from the day after the first
Annual Sabbath of the Days of Unleavened Bread.
Louis Finkelstein in his book The Pharisees
-- The Sociological Background of Their Faith, writes of them:
"Despite this variability in the monthly date of Shabuot
(Pentecost), the Pharisees
considered the festival the
anniversary of the Revelation on Mt.
Sinai. The festival,
they held, always occurred 'in the
season' of the Revelation, and was intended to
celebrate that most important event in
human history. There was some
disagreement,
even among the later Rabbis,
regarding the precise date of the Revelation.
But this
disagreement did not involve any
question regarding the nature of Shavuot.
ACCORD-
ING TO ALL PHARISEES, THE REVELATION
OCCURRED ON THE FIFTY-
FIRST DAY AFTER THE EXODUS; AND THAT
ANNIVERSARY WAS
MARKED BY SHAVUOT (PENTECOST)"
(p.642, emphasis mine).
Here is perfect confirmation that Pentecost, the
anniversary of the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, was calculated from the
day after the First Day of Unleavened Bread.
Pentecost is exactly 50 days, counting from the wave sheaf offering, on
Nisan 16. That brings us to Sivan 6.
Nisan 15, the "First Day of Unleavened
Bread," is the day the Israelites began their Exodus from Egypt. "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" (Num.33:3).
Pentecost is the 50th day from Nisan 16; and the
anniversary of the Revelation, marked by Shavuot (Pentecost), according to the
Pharisees, who were all in agreement on this, was 51 days from Nisan 15.
What could be more perfect?
Devout Jews, today, observe Pentecost on Sivan 6. They have no question about it. It is a very meaningful day to them. They keep it on the very same day the ancient Pharisees kept it. This was the commonly observed day in the time of Jesus Christ, when the Pharisees were in charge of the religious affairs of the people of Judea, most of whom highly respected and looked up to the Pharisees. The Essenes, on the other hand, were a small sect dwelling in the desert and remote regions and never attracted much attention. The Sadducees, meanwhile, were primarily a political-religious "modernist" party which traced back to the secular priests who bought and bribed their way into the job of "high priest" during the days of the Maccabees. They later were cohorts of Herod and allies of Rome, and did not believe in an after-life or resurrection. They had few followers among