How Do You "COUNT" Pentecost?
For 40 years the Worldwide
Church of God kept Pentecost on a
Monday. Then in 1974 new understanding led the Church
to begin
observing
Pentecost on Sunday. But now amazing new
under-
standing
shows that even that arrangement is wrong because the
Church has been counting from
the WRONG DAY! Here is the
proof
-- the PLAIN TRUTH about Pentecost observance!
William F.
Dankenbring
Amazing --
but true! Once human beings begin a
pattern of error, it is exceedingly difficult to correct the effor, and to come
to the truth! Nevertheless, Herbert W.
Armstrong wrote several years ago, "We are all human. We are all fallible. I have been wrong. I have made mistakes. The same is true of all those God is using in
HIS WORK."
He goes on,
"God says, 'PROVE
all things.' That means you are fallible.
This means all the
'great' men are fallible! ALL are human.
ALL can be wrong --
and nearly all
are. The whole world is
DECEIVED
(Rev.12:9). . . .
"The very recognition of that
fact is the beginning of right
knowledge. We do recognize it -- that we ourselves could
be
wrong. That is the first step toward coming
out of the fog of error
and
deception, starting toward truth."
Herbert
Armstrong went on,
"The second step, if you would know TRUTH, is to be to admit
being
deceived or in error, and to reject it and accept truth new to
me
-- when proved even though unpopular . . . To find and
live
the TRUTH requires a HUMBLED mind" (January 1985,
Good News).
Does that sound incredible? Unbelievable? But why should it? The apostle Jude wrote 1900
years
ago, "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common
salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you
that ye should EARNESTLY CONTEND (fight, struggle, strive) FOR THE FAITH which
was once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3).
It
is not easy to be a true, genuine Christian.
It is not easy to stand apart, to be separate from the crowd, to accept
and practice NEW TRUTH, even when unpopular!
Nevertheless,
the facts prove that beyond any shadow of doubt, the
Notice,
now, the amazing, exciting TRUTH!
God's
Original Commandment
Notice
God's original commandment about counting the day of Pentecost God said,
"And on the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord's passover. And on the
fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord:
seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
In the first day ye shall have an holy
convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. But ye shall offer an offering made by fire
unto the Lord seven days: in the seventh day is an
holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein" (Lev.23:5-8).
Here
the beginning of God's annual festival plan is given to us. The first day of unleavened bread, God says,
is a "holy day" -- an annual Sabbath.
No servile work is to be done on it or on the seventh day of the feast.
Continuing,
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel,
and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and
shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits
of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord,
to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave
it. And ye shall offer that day when ye
wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt
offering unto the Lord . . . And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn,
nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto
your God: it shall be a STATUTE FOR EVER THROUGHOUT YOUR GENERATIONS in all
your dwellings" (vs. 9-14).
Why
is it that this eternal commandment of God has been totally overlooked and
ignored by the people of God, the
The
"wave offering" was to be done first; and then the people were
permitted to begin partaking of the new spring harvest, and the fruits of the
harvest!
God
continues: "And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave
offering; seven sabbaths (weeks) shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after
the seventh sabbath (week) shall ye NUMBER FIFTY DAYS. . . . And ye shall
proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an HOLY CONVOCATION unto you: ye
shall do no servile worth therein: it shall be a STATUTE FOR EVER in all your
dwellings throughout your generations" (Lev.23:15-21).
Here
the festival of Pentecost is described.
For years the
For
example, if you were told to count from one to ten, would you begin with one --
or with two? Common understanding and
practice is that you would begin counting, "one, two, three, four,"
and on to "ten." This is INCLUSIVE counting.
In
1974, after years of controversy and argument, the light finally dawned upon
Herbert Armstrong, and he learned that the very translators of the Bible
admitted that "inclusive" counting was the original meaning of the
Hebrew. Therefore, since he had always
begun counting Pentecost by beginning with a Monday, and therefore ending on a
Monday, when he switched to beginning on a Sunday, the fifty days now ended on
a Sunday, the first day of the week.
It
seemed to take the
It
was the question, what Sabbath Day do you count from? What did God mean, "From the morrow
AFTER THE SABBATH"? (Lev.23:15). What Sabbath was that?
Whicb Sabbath Do We Count From?
Some
believe that the sabbath intended is the regular
weekly sabbath (Lev.23:3). However, others believe that the Sabbath in question
is the first high holy day Sabbath of the Feast of
Unleavened Bread. In verse 7 of this
chapter, God plainly shows that the first day of Unleavened Bread was ordained
as a Sabbath -- no servile work was to be done therein, and it was an "holy convocation."
Immediately
following this commandment God introduces the offering of the "sheaf of
the firstfruits" (verse 10). Verse
11 then explains, continuing on with this same thought, "And he shall wave
the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it" (Lev.23:11).
It is obvious that the CONTEXT ITSELF at least indicates that this sabbath is the First Holy Day of the Feast of Unleavened
Bread! Otherwise, confusion would have
set in. If God had meant the regular
weekly sabbath, and thus change the thought, He would
have said "the weekly sabbath," in order to distinguish it from the
annual Sabbath which He had just ordained and mentioned in verse 7 of this
chapter!
Notice, now, the story flow and sequence of events during this
pivotal springtime festival of seven days. First the Passover was slain on the evening
of the 14th of Nisan, symbolizing Jesus Christ our Passover Lamb (I
Cor.5:7). Then the first day of
Unleavened Bread was observed as an annual Sabbath with a holy meeting. Then, the following day, as an integral part
of the spring festival, "on the morrow AFI'ER" that Sabbath, the very
NEXT morning, the wave sheaf offering was performed by the priest! This event was an integral part of the spring
festival. It was not delayed till the
morrow after the weekly sabbath.
How
did the Jews interpret this expression, "the morrow after the
sabbath"?
How
Did the Pharisees Count Pentecost?
In
the days of Christ there were two leading religious sects in
It
should be obvious that neither Christ nor the apostles went alone with the
Sadducees in their doctrines. In fact,
when Paul defended himself before a court of Pharisees and Sadducees, he
exclaimed boldly, "Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, and the son
of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead am I called in
question" (Acts 23:6). Paul himself
had been a Pharisee all his life until his conversion, and still called himself
a "Pharisee" long after his conversion.
The
Sadducees did not believe in angels, spirits, such as demons, or in an
afterlife -- the resurrection. They obviously
had gone way far astray in doctrine, but the Pharisees were very conservative
guardians of the law and traditions of the fathers (Gal.1:13-14).
Jesus
said of the Pharisees, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses'
seat" (MatL23:2). THIS MEANS HE
RECOGNIZED THEIR AUTHORITY AS EXTENDING DOWN FROM MOSES!
Jesus
Himself therefore acknowledged the authority of the Pharisees as holding
authority from God, although they were abusing and misusing it! He said to His
disciples, All therefore whatsoever they BID YOU OBSERVE, THAT
OBSERVE AND DO . . . " (Matt.23:3).
How
did the Sadducees and Pharisees decide this matter of counting Pentecost?
The
Jewish Historian Josephus
The great Jewish historian Josephus who lived
during the first century joined the Pharisees at the age of 19 and remained a
member for the rest of his life. He was
a great Jewish general, leader, and was a member of the priestly family.
In his description of the festival of Pentecost
(the name "Pentecost" derives from the Greek
Septuagint
translation of the Old Testament, and means "Fiftieth Day"), Josephus
writes:
"But ON THE SECOND DAY OF UNLEAVENED BREAD, WHICH IS
THE SIXTEENTH DAY OF THE MONTH, they first partake of the fruits
of the earth, for before that day they do not touch them . . .
"When a week of weeks has passed over after this sacrifice (which
weeks
contain forty and nine days,) on
the FIFTIETH DAY, which is called
Pentecost . . . (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 3, 10, 5-6).
There was obviously no doubt in the mind of this
Jewish leader of 2,000 years ago how to count Pentecost!
The Jameson, Faucett, Brown Commentary says
about the sheaf of first fruits, "The offering described in this passage
was made on the sixteenth of the first month (Abib or Nisan), the day following
the first passover Sabbath, which was on the fifteenth . . . and the second day
of the festival, the sixteenth of the
month."
This authority continues, "'ye shall count
. . . from the morrow after the sabbath' -- i.e., after the first day
of the passover week, which was observed as a Sabbath."
Adam Clarke in his authoritative commentary says
of Leviticus 23:15,
"Ye shall count
unto you -- seven Sabbaths. That is,
from the sixteenth of
the first month to the
sixth of the third month. These seven weeks, called
here Sabbaths, were to
be complete, i.e., the forty-nine days must be finished,
and the next day, the
fiftieth, is what, from the Septuagint, we call PENTECOST."
The Source of the Pentecost Error
How, then, did the Church of God get mixed up
counting Pentecost from the wrong day -- that is, from the weekly Sabbath?
This error can be traced back to the liberal
sect of the Sadducees. "The
Sadducees celebrated it on the fiftieth day (inclusive reckoning) from the
first Sunday after Passover (taking the 'sabbath of Leviticus 23:15 to be the
weekly sabbath) . . . The Pharisees, however, interpreted the 'sabbath of
Leviticus 23:15 as the Festival of Unleavened Bread, and their reckoning became
normative in Judaism after 70 AD" ("Pentecost," The New Bible
Dictionary).
The interpretation of the Sadducees placed
Pentecost on a Sunday -- the day of the "sun," or sun-god! But God never intended His Festival to
coincide every year with the day of Baal!
Unger's Bible Dictionary points
out: "The Jews, at least as early as the days of Christ, connected with
the Passover, and commemorated on the 6th Sivan, the giving of the
Decalogue. It was made out from Exodus
chapter 19 that the law was delivered on the fiftieth day after the Exodus. . .
The Pentecost was essentially linked to the Passover -- that festival which,
above all others, expressed the fact of a race chosen and separated from other
nations -- and was the solemn termination of the consecrated period."
Says Unger, "The precise meaning of the
word Sabbath in this connection, which determines the date for celebrating this
festival, has been from time immemorial a matter of dispute. The Boethusians and the Sadducees in the time
of the second temple, and the Karaites since the 8th century of the Christian
era, have taken 'Sabbath' in the sense of the seventh day of the week, and have
maintained that the omer was offered on the day following
that weekly Sabbath which might happen to fall
within the seven days of the Passover.
THIS WOULD MAKE PENTECOST ALWAYS COME ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE
WEEK."
Yes, right on the day of Baal, and Mithra, the
pagan sun-god!
Unger continues, "Against this many
arguments are presented, showing that such an opinion involves many arbitrary
and improbable arrangements. Commenting
on Lev.23:15-22, K. and D. say that 'Sabbaths' (v.15) signifies weeks. Consequently, 'the morrow after the seventh
Sabbath' (v.16) is the day after the seventh week, not after the.seventh 'Sabbath.'
It is therefore evident that the Jews who during the second temple kept
Pentecost fifty days after the 16th Nisan, rightly interpreted the injunction
in Leviticus 23:15-22."
WHO WERE THE SADDUCEES?
The rabbis say that the Sadducees took their
name from their founder Zadok, who lived around 300 B.C. Schurer suggests that
the priestly house of Zadok, under the Persian and Greek kings, began to place political
considerations above religious considerations.
In the time of Antiochus Epiphanes (175-163 B.C.), a large number of
priests were friendly to Greek or Hellenistic customs. The high priests Jason, Menelaus and Alcinius
were pronounced Hellenizers.
When the Maccabees triumphed, the Hellenistic
priests were forced into retirement and driven into politics. They continued to be ready to neglect
Jewisb customs and traditions of the elders, and to embrace Greek
culture and influence. These
"Sadducees" were favored when John Hyrcanus, Aristobulus and
Alexander Jannaeus were in their supremacies (134-76 B.C.). The conduct of political
affairs was largely in their hands under the Romans and the Herods, for the
high priests during this period were Sadducees (Acts 5:17).
The Sadducees were comparatively few in number
and were the major opposition to the Pharisees.
Most of their followers were wealthy, whereas the multitudes followed
the teachings of the Pharisees. The
Sadducees held that the written law of God alone was binding and were very
severe in the administration of justice (Ant XX, 9, 1). They not only denied the resurrection of the
body, and an afterlife, but did not believe in the existence of angels or
demons (Acts 23:8; MatL22:23-33), and did not believe in rewards or penalties
in the next life (Josephus, Antiquities, X, VIII, 1, 4).
This Jewish sect had strayed far from the Word
of God and divine revelation. John the
Baptist called them, along with the Pharisees, "a generation of
vipers." We read, "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and
Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, 0 generation of vipers,
who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? bring forth therefore
fruits meet for
repentance" (MatL3:7).
The Sadducees counted Pentecost from the day
after the weekly Sabbath which falls within the Feast of Unleavened Bread. However, two Scriptures prove conclusively
that we are to count from the day after the first holy day of Unleavened Bread
-- and not the weekly Sabbath!
The Offering of the
Wave Sheaf
In Leviticus 23, God
tells us that "When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and
shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits
of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord,
to be accepted for you: ON THE MORROW AFTER THE SABBATH the priest shall wave
it" (vs.10-11).
"And ye shall eat
neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, UNTEL THE SELFSAME DAY that ye
have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute FOREVER
throughout your generations in all your dwellings" (v.14).
Notice! God said His people were not to eat of the
new harvest UNTIL AFTER they had performed the wave sheaf offering on the
"morrow after the sabbath."
What
"sabbath" was this? The annual
or weekly Sabbath?
Turn over to Joshua,
chapter 5. Notice! "And the
children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and KEPT THE PASSOVER on the fourteenth
day of the month at even in the plain of Jericho. AND THEY DID EAT OF THE OLD CORN OF THE LAND
ON THE MORROW AFTER THE PASSOVER, unleavened cakes, and parched corn IN THE
SELFSAME DAY. And the manna ceased on
the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the
children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of
Canaan that year" (Josh.5:10-12).
Now notice carefully! God had commanded them to NEVER eat of the
harvest of the land until AFTER the wave sheaf offering, on the "morrow
after the sabbath" (Lev.23:10-11,14). This was a statute FOR EVER (verse
14).
But notice! When they entered the Promised Land, they ate
of the harvest "ON THE MORROW AFTER THE PASSOVER!" In other words,
the morrow after the First Day of Unleavened Bread! Remember, Passover was celebrated at the END
of the 14th of Nisan, at evening, and was actually eaten on the 15th day of
Nisan, after sunset. Thus it led right
into the First Day of Unleavened Bread (see Exodus 12:13-16). This is why there were "seven" days
of unleavened bread, including Passover, and not "eight" days.
Therefore, as this mysterious verse in Joshua 5
shows, it was the "MORROW AFTER THE PASSOVER" -- or the day after the
First Holy Day of Unleavened Bread -- when the Israelites ate of the "old
corn of the land, unleavened cakes, and parched corn IN THE SELFSAME DAY"
(Joshua 5:11). This verse indicates that
they ate of the harvest of the land that year, after wandering 40 years in the
wilderness and eating manna, on NISAN 16 -- the day of the wave sheaf offering,
the day after the first holy day of Unleavened Bread! What could be clearer?
Clearly, then, the "morrow after the
sabbath" of Leviticus 23:11 and the "morrow after the Passover"
of Joshua 5:11 are the SAME DAY -- the day after the ANNUAL SABBATH --NOT THE
WEEKLY SABBATH! This verse PROVES it
beyond doubt!
Why COUNT Fifty, Then?
Some
have wondered why, if Pentecost always falls 50 days after Nisan 16, we are
admonished to "count" fifty to arrive at the correct date. It would always be Sivan 6. However, this
question misses the essential point that Pentecost is not an entirely separate
festival, but is closely interrelated with the Passover festival. Whereas the "wave offering" occurs
at the beginning of the spring harvest, Pentecost comes at the conclusion of
the spring harvest!
The
Jews count each day that passes from Nisan 16, with an air of expectancy and
anticipation for the final spring harvest holy day -- the day on which the Ten
Commandments were given on Mount Sinai -- the day on which God
"married" Old Testament Israel, taking her for His bride -- the day on which Israel became
"His" in holy wedlock, confmning a covenant of marriage with Him
(Jer.7:22-23; Ezek.16:8).
Says
Unger, "In accordance with the injunction in Leviticus 23:15, 16, the Jews
regularly count every evening the fifty days from the second day of passover
until Pentecost, and recite a prayer over it. The three days preceeding the
festival, on which the Jews commemorate the giving of the law, are called the
three days of separation and sanctification, because the Lord commanded Moses
to set bounds about the mount, and that the people should sanctify themselves
three days prior to the giving of the law (Exodus 19:12,14, 23)" (Unger's
Bible Dictionary, "Festivals").
Why
did the people "count" each day as it passed? It was not to determine what day Pentecost
would occur on, but as a special observance in itself, "counting
down" the days until the final Festival of the springtime harvest would
arrive, with all its rejoicing and happiness!
The
world uses the same idea when it "counts" the days until its chief
holiday, Christmas. Songs have been
written about how many days are left until Christmas. This builds and heightens anticipation and
suspence and adds to the thrilll and
excitement of the final day, when it at last arrives. So it was with Pentecost! God intended for
there to be a building air of
excitement
and growing thrill of anticipation from the beginning of spring harvest, and
the offering of the wave sheaf, until the fmal arrival of Pentecost fifty days
later! It is like the building
excitement of a wedding day!
That first Pentecost, under Moses, occurred on
the Day the Ten Commandments were given at Mount Sinai, the very day God
"married" ancient Israel and entered into a covenant relationship
with them, taking them as His people, and them taking Him as their one true
God!
I had always wondered why of all God's
festivals, Pentecost seemed to occur alone, all by itself. Now I see that it does not occur by
itself. It is closely tied in with and
related to the spring Passover festival!
It is the FINAL DAY of the spring Harvest, which begins with Passover!
What a wonderful truth this is!
When Was Chnst Accepted?
Jesus Christ, the Messiah, our Saviour, plainly
told us, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: ALL therefore
whatsoever they BID YOU OBSERVE (such as counting Pentecost!), THAT OBSERVE AND
DO" (MatL23:2-3).
These powerful instructions from Jesus Christ
Himself ought to settle the matter on what day we should count Pentecost from.
However, some might object that if we do this,
then the "wave sheaf" offering would not fall on Sunday, the day
after the weekly Sabbath. Some claim the
wave sheaf typifies Christ as the "firstfruits from the grave," being
"accepted" of God the Father on Sunday, the first day of the
week. They refer to Jesus' words to
Mary, the Sunday morning after He arose from the grave, "Touch me not; for
I am not yet ascended to my Father. . ." (John 20:17).
Some assume that since Jesus had not yet
ascended to the Father, that means He was not yet "accepted" by the
Father! His ascending to the Father they
claim is the fulfillment of the "wave sheaf" offering!
But is that assumption or idea really true? Was the sacrifice of Jesus NOT ACCEPTED of
the Father until AFTER THE RESURRECTION and ASCENSION?
There are several problems with this interpretation. First there is no proof Jesus
"ascended" to God the Father on that Sunday. Rather, the Scriptures show He did not
"ascend to heaven" until some forty days later (Acts 1:3-11), in the
sight of all the apostles. In the
original Greek language, Jesus' words to Mary, "Touch me not," did
not refer to simple touching, but clinging to Him, hanging on to Him, embracing
Him. He was telling her not to hold on
to Him. Later, however, Thomas even felt
His hands, where the nails had been driven (John 20:27).
The truth is, Jesus' sacrifice for our sins was accepted
the moment He died for our sins -- not several days "later." His
"acceptance" had nothing to do with His "ascension," which
did not occur until forty days later!
The sacrifice of Jesus for our sins was accepted by Almighty God, our
Father, immediately. This fact was
corroborated by God with a display of power and divine intervention, when
Christ died. The earth quaked. The vail of the Temple was torn in two. Dead saints even arose from their graves, and
walked about (Matt.27:51-54)!
Let's understand!
Jesus was crucified on a Thursday. Friday of that week was the First Day of
Unleavened Bread, an annual Sabbath.
Therefore, the wave sheaf offering, which was performed the day after the
people of God ate the Passover, symbolizing their partaking of God's
deliverance and the blood of the Lamb, was performed on Nisan 16, the weekly
Sabbath that week. But this wave sheaf
did not symbolize Christ's acceptance -- that had occurred at the very moment
He died! Rather, it typified a whole
SHEAF of grains being waved and accepted by God the Father -- it symbolized the
"FIRSTFRUITS" of God's people -- the SAINTS (James 1:8; Rom.8:23;
Rev.14:4). The sheaf was a bundle of
many grains -- not just one. It typified
MANY PEOPLE being accepted of God the Father, because of the sacrifice of
Christ, recently completed! Until that
sacrifice, none could be "accepted"!
The only way to the Father is through the Son!
It is a false assumption that the acceptance of
the offering of Christ did not occur until THREE DAYS after the death of Christ
on Thursday. That is sheer
nonsense! God accepted His death as
payment for our sins as soon as He died.
The wave sheaf offering had to do with the acceptance of Christ's
sacrifice, or with His resurrection. It
was a type of US -- THE FIRSTFRUITS that God has called, who belong to
Christ! For more proof on these
subjects, write for the article “How Long Was Jesus in the Grave?”, “Jesus’
Last Week,” “Counting the Omer,” “The Wave Sheaf Mystery,” and “Why Did Jesus
Say, Don’t Touch Me?”
The plain truth is that the wave sheaf offering
occurred right after the first annual holy day of the Feast of Unleavened
Bread. We were reconciled to God by the
DEATH of His Son. As Paul wrote,
"God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their
trespasses unto them . . . For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no
sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (11
Cor.5:19-21).
More Incredible Proof
The New Westminster Dictionary of the Bible puts
it plainly. It says of Pentecost, or the
Feast of Weeks:
"It was so called because its date was set
7 complete weeks after the consecration
of the harvest season by
the offering of the sheaf of the first-ripe barley (Lev.23:
15-16; cf. Deut.16:9-
10). This sheaf was waved on the morrow
after the Sabbath
(Lev.23:11). The
Boethusians (associated with the Sadducees) interpreted this Sabbath
as meaning the weekly
Sabbath which occurred during the Festival of Unleavened Bread;
and some modem scholars
have adopted this view. The opinion has
even been held
that it denoted merely the
weekly Sabbath which fell immediately before the
harvest. THE OLDER AND BETTER OPINION IS THAT IT
DENOTES THE 1ST
DAY OF THE FESTIVAL OF
UNLEAVENED BREAD. The Greek translators
understood it so
(Lev.23:7, 11, LXX), as did also those who directed the services of
the 2d Temple (Jos. Antiq.iii.10,5); this lst day was kept as a
Sabbath; no work was
done on it and there was
a holy convocation; and such rest days, no less than the 7th
day of the week, were
called Sabbath (Lev.23:32; 25:2); ON THE MORROW
AFTER THE PASSOVER the
new grain was used, which could not be eaten until the
sheaf had been waved
before the Lord (Lev.23:14; Josh.5:10-11, RSV)" ("Weeks, Feast
of," page 989).
Here the truth is succinctly expressed. Notice that this authority admits, first of all,
that the OLDEST AND BEST view is that Pentecost is to be counted from the day
after the first annual Sabbath of the Days of Unleavened Bread -- not from the
day after the weekly Sabbath. Notice,
secondly, that those wbo directed the sacrifices of the Temple of
Zerubbabel, the 2nd Temple, also so understood it. This was the Temple in existence during the
time of Christ, and remained in existence until 70 A.D. when it was destroyed
by the Romans. Therefore, the Temple
services of Pentecost, during the time of Christ were conducted on SIVAN 6,
FIFTY DAYS AFTER NISAN 16, JUST AS THE PHARISEES TAUGHT THE PEOPLE!
The Sadducees, even though many of them were
priests, had NO POWER TO CONTRAVENE this reality! They were compelled to go along with the
Pharisees, who controlled the Temple rituals and religious customs of the
ENTIRE NATION OF JUDAH! Thirdly, notice
that the translators of the Septuagint, the earliest translation of the Holy
Scriptures, into the Greek language, which was often quoted by the New Testament
writers, and often used by early Christians, also understood it that way.
What could be clearer?
PROOF OF THE
SEPTUAGINT
The Jewish priests from Jerusalem who translated
the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek also understood Pentecost to be counted from
Nisan 16. But why should the fact that
the translators of the Septuagint Version understood it that way be
significant? Just what was the
Septuagint, anyway?
The Septuagint is the Old Greek version of the
Hebrew Scriptures, and the earliest complete translation of them. It was called the Septagint commonly
designated LXX, because 70 or 72 translators were reputed to have been employed
on translating the Pentateuch during the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus, 285-246
B.C.
According to Josephus, the king of Egypt made
application to Eleazar, the high priest at Jerusalem, for 72 interpreters, 6
from each tribe, to make the translation of the Hebrew books of the law into
Greek. They arrived in Alexandria,
Egypt, were assigned a quiet house on the island of Pharos in the harbor, and
transcribed and interpreted the law in 72 days (Antiq. XII,2,1-13). From Egypt
the LXX spread to all parts of the Hellenistic-Jewish world. The entire Old Testament was completed by
around 150 B.C.
Says The Bible As History, by Werner
Keller, "Great celebrations were organized in honour of the visitors from
Jerusalem, as whose wisdom and knowledge the king and his courtiers were
greatly astonished. After the
festivities they betook themselves to the extremely difficult task which had
been assigned to them, and for which there was neither prototype nor
dictionary. They set to work out at sea,
on the island of Pharos off Alexandria . . . Each of them worked in a cell by
himself. When the scholars had completed
their work and the translations were compared with one another all
seventy-two are said to have corresponded exactly, word for word" (p.312).
Obviously, God inspired the original translation
of the Torah, or the Five Books of Moses, in the Septuagint! The basic proof for this, however, is not the
words of Werner Keller, but the fact that Christ and the apostles quoted from
and used the original Septuagint in the vast majority of their quotations from
the Old Testament! What better authority
do we need? Says the New Westminster
Dictionary of the Bible,
The LXX became the 0.T. of the Christians, who used it in their controversies
with the Jews . . . The
quotations from the 0.T. in the N.T. ARE USUALLY
CITATIONS FROM YYIE LXY, either verbatim or with unimportant verbal
changes; in other
cases the N.T. writers apparently themselves translated
from the original
Hebrew. The Ethiopian eunuch whom Philip
met was
reading the LXX
(Acts 8:30-33)" (ibid, p.972).
Jesus
and the apostles usually quoted from the original Septuagint thus bestowing
upon it authority as a good translation of God's inspired Word. This acknowledgement of its authority and
usefulness on the part of the New Testament writers, under God's inspiration
(11 Tim.3:16), is additional strong evidence that the wave sheaf offering was
to occur on the day after the first Day of Unleavened Bread, and not the weekly
sabbath day. The Septuagint translates
the original Hebrew in this way. Since
the writers of the New Testament and early Christians all commonly used the
Septuagint, this fact establishes the reliability and authenticity of the
Septuagint, and its usefulness in areas of Biblical research, including the
matter before us at this time.
Says
Unger's Bible Dictionary, "Representing a PRE-MASORETIC HEBREW TEXT, THE SEPTUAGINT IS
ACCORDINGLY OF BASIC TEXTUAL AND EXEGETICAL VALUE" ("Versions of the
Scriptures," p.1147).
Visit
a theological library at a college or university or seminary. Or a large public library. And obtain a copy of the Septuagint,
translated into English. Look up
Leviticus 23 and the verses dealing with the Holy Days, and the counting of
Pentecost. If you do this, you will see
plainly that the Pharisees were correct in counting from Nisan 16. But of course. Jesus Himself said so. For He said the Pharisees sat "in Moses'
seat," and that we should do everthing they bid us observe as regards to
the Law of God.
Jesus
Himself kept Pentecost at the same time all the other Jews in ancient Judea
did. The Pharisees are the ones who
created the synagogues throughout the land.
And Jesus Christ, on one fme Pentecost day, met in a synagogue with His
fellow Jews, all observing the same day of Pentecost as the Pharisees
commanded. We can read the story in the
book of Luke.
Notice! "He went to Nazareth,
where he had been brought up, and ON THE SABBATH DAY he went into the
synagogue, AS WAS HIS CUSTOM. And he
stood up to read. The scroll of the
prophet Isaiah was handed to him" (Luke 4:16-17).
The Greek word for Sabbath here is literally,
"day of the Sabbaths," or "day of weeks." In other words,
this particular Sabbath day was PENTECOST!
The fact that Jesus Christ, our Saviour, was meeting with other Jews, in
a synagogue, on Pentecost, is further evidence that Jesus followed the customs
and counting methods of the Pharisees concerning Pentecost! If He had met on the day the Sadducees
sanctioned, the Galilean synagogue would have been EMPTY! He would have been the only one there,
preaching to Himself alone!