PENTECOST—THE FORGOTTEN DAY!

This year is an exception, and proves nothing, as the calendar shows the Pharisees count and God’s count end on the same day. Whenever the Passover, the 14th of Nisan, falls on a Friday the two systems will be in agreement.

As the Pharisees always have this day on the 15th of Nisan, Pentecost will always fall on the sixth day of the third month, Sivan, meaning that the weekday on which it is observed will change because the numbered day of the month is fixed, just as our present Gregorian calendar is fixed.  Why would God have you count weeks and days to correctly observe Pentecost if it always fell on the same numbered day?

Here is how the Jews figure this count: The first day of Unleavened Bread, a high day, is on the 15^th day of the month of Nisan which has 30 days. The last 15 days of the month, plus 29 days of the second month Iyar, plus 6 days of the third month, Sivan equals 50 days.

Jewish tradition has always observed Pentecost on the 6th of Sivan. They claim the proof for this belief lies in their history (tradition), which designates the 6th of Sivan. The Jews have been keeping this day for many years and were the first to observe this day; therefore, they say they cannot be wrong.

UNDERSTANDING THE WORD SABBATH

When correctly understood, it was not the Jews who established the day on which to observe Pentecost but God. A careful look at the instructions is needed. As already noted, the count was to begin on the day AFTER the Sabbath when the wave sheaf was waved.  Was this a high day or a weekly Sabbath?  The answer is found by comparing the Hebrew word for the weekly Sabbath in Leviticus 23:3, Strong’s #H7676, with the word for Sabbath in Leviticus 23:24, which was a high day, #H7677 (The Feast of Trumpets).

Clearly the original Hebrew has two different words translated in the King James Bible with the same English word, Sabbath. #H7676 is Shabbat, designating a weekly Sabbath rest. #H7677 is designated as an action of rest. It can be seen that there is a difference in Exodus 16:23 where God reveals the correct use of Sabbath day. Here the translators used these two words together, showing their difference, and how they should be understood. “Then he said to them, ‘This is what the Lord has said: Tomorrow is a Sabbath, (#H7676), of rest (#H7677), a holy Sabbath (7676) to the LORD.”

As a result of the difference in the wording of these verses it will be understood that God has made a difference in these two words, Sabbath, #H7676 and Sabbath rest, #H7677. In the Old Testament the word Sabbath #7676 is used 107 times. It is used to point to the seventh day Sabbath, or it is used to describe a kind of rest that God wants understood. It is incorrect to point to Exodus 31:13-14 to prove that this word is also used for high days as well as weekly Sabbaths and are called by the same number, #H7676, because the plural of Sabbaths is used. “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you. You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people.’”

The next three verses define what is meant by the plural Sabbaths of the previous verses, and clearly deal with the observation of the seventh day Sabbath of creation, not the high days. The high days are individual days observed once a year. The weekly Sabbath is observed many times in a year, being the reason for the bible using the plural “Sabbaths.” Continuing to read verses, 15 through 17 it becomes clear that the plural of Sabbaths is clearly defined as the seventh day Sabbath of creation.

BIBLE COUNT TO PENTECOST

Does the Bible contain an actual day count that without question resolves this dilemma of how to count Pentecost? The answer is found in two scriptures in the New Testament. John 20:17 and Acts 1:3. Here is where the example of the actual count is found, proving that the counting of fifty days begins on the day after the weekly Sabbath, not on the high day. As already pointed out the wave sheaf of pure grain was representative of Christ as a sinless offering. John 20:1 states that it was a Sunday (first day of the week) that Christ went to the Father.

There is no controversy about the count being fifty days in both the Jewish tradition and the weekly Sabbath count. It must be realized that the accepted crucifixion day of a Friday is a myth, and not supported by the Bible record. This is proved in the article “The Good Friday Myth.” The calendar for 30AD shows the Passover—the day of His crucifixion—and the 14th of Nisan were on Wednesday. Therefore the first day of Unleavened Bread was on a Thursday, a high day as John plainly states in John 19:31 “Therefore, because it was the preparation day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.”

The following calendar shows two stars within the yellow circle that point to the fourteenth of the first month, a Wednesday of that week.

CHRIST, THE WAVE SHEAF OFFERING

Using the Jewish count, which began on Thursday, the high day, ends with the 50th day being on a Friday. As Christ was dead and in the tomb on that day He could not come before the Father for His acceptance as the pure grain offering required. The count could not begin until He was resurrected by the Father, just as the original wave sheaf had to be waved by the high priest for acceptance of God before the new grain could be eaten.

The article titled “The Good Friday Myth” proves that Christ was resurrected late on the weekly Sabbath, and then waited until early Sunday morning to go to the Father for acceptance, which was the fulfillment of the Wave Sheaf Offering. It was on the first day of the week that He showed Himself to His followers and is confirmed in John 20:1 “Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.”

NEW TESTAMENT COUNT TO PENTECOST

In Acts 1:3 the count of days from His first appearance to His ascension is found. “to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of things pertaining to the kingdom of God.”

This means that the count of fifty began on a Sunday, the day after the weekly Sabbath. His ascension was forty days later, on a Thursday. Pentecost was then ten days later, on a Sunday, the fiftieth day, proving the count began on a Sunday, following the first Sabbath of Unleavened Bread, not the high day.  Is there any stronger proof than that given by our Savior? 

THE PROPHETIC PICTURE OF PENTECOST

The New Testament church understood the prophetic picture centered about this important day of Pentecost that they looked forward to with great anticipation. Unfortunately, this understanding has been lost to modern Christianity.  When viewed as a prophetic picture of what was to come, as it was meant to be, Pentecost can be truly understood. It shows the important future event that God’s called out ones look forward to, and is in the original instructions about when, how, and why this day was to be observed. It reveals the true importance to all those who believe and trust in the sacrifice of Christ.

What is the significance of Pentecost beyond this new era of those now called to repentance and a new type of life?  Much as we will see by the typology presented by God in the wave sheaf offering followed by seven weeks to Pentecost. These original seven weeks were the time of the wheat harvest. The first and smaller harvest was of barley, which requires five months to maturity; and the wave sheaf was taken from that harvest.

THE TWO LOAVES

The seven weeks of the wheat harvest represented all those called from Pentecost 30 AD to the return of Christ.  To understand what this day should mean to us the instructions of the Old Testament must be looked at in Leviticus 23:17, 20 “You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the first fruits to the LORD. The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits as a wave offering to the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.”

There were two loaves to be waved; one for the Old Testament believers, and one for the New Testament believers. Notice the difference between the wave sheaf offering of pure grain and the second offering of two loaves baked with leaven.  As the Bible always pictures leaven as sin it becomes clear that these two loaves represent those who have come out of this world’s way of life, which is the epitome of sin. Read the article: “Understanding Leaven.”

Note that the grain for these two loaves does not come from the first fruits given to the Priesthood, but from the grain used for daily bread. This picture tells that these two loaves do not represent a special class of people, but are taken from the ordinary citizen. To prepare these two wave loaves the wheat first went through the grinding process and was then mixed with leaven, then shaped into loaves ready for baking. These loaves represent the life lived in the present world of pain and death. We are those individual grains of wheat born into a world where sin is a way of life, with the philosophy of “get yours anyway you can,” even if it means stealing, lying, or killing to achieve their ends, keeping in mind that their thin veneer of respectability was not broken, and was there to hide their evil intent.

THE FATHER’S PLAN

The essence of the Father’s plan allows us to experience a world of chaos so that we can see the tragic result of His laws being broken with impunity. The breaking of God’s laws is the real cause of all of man’s ills.

Without the baking process the leaven would completely destroy the flour. Man in his present condition is destroying himself.  Without the Father sending His son to this earth a second time to prevent us from destroying ourselves and this earth, this world as we know it would end. Matthew 24:22 says, “And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.”

There are those called of the Father John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.” Rev. 17:14 tells us in the simplest terms how the plan of God is being executed. “These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen and faithful.” These are the ones being prepared by the Father for the job of assisting Christ in the coming millennial kingdom.

John 15:1-2, 5-6 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine dresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

THE BAKING PROCESS

Think of how the baking process works. As the heat of the oven begins to kill the leaven of the outer layer of bread it, represents the change to a new lifestyle. The obvious first change that one makes from a life of sin is to begin to understand what living by God’s law means. As the heat of the oven continues to penetrate the loaf, killing the leaven (sin), as we continue to overcome our sinful nature. When all of the leaven is killed, we can see the end result in Ephesians 4:13. “till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;”

THE TRUE MEANING OF PENTECOST

Consider the Father as the master baker who knows how to control the heat of the oven to bring forth a perfect loaf. The churches of this world spend their religious fervor on celebrating days like Christmas, Lent, and Easter, when these were never mentioned as days to be celebrated in the Bible. They were never celebrated by the early church. The Christians of the New Testament place their joy in looking forward to the day of Pentecost. Why this extreme difference? As Christ was raised to life on the day the high priest waved the pure grain to be accepted by God, they knew that the two wave loaves baked with leaven represented them and the day on which they were to be resurrected. That day was Pentecost!

For further study on this subject read: “The Good Friday Myth,” “Man’s Purpose,” and “The Wave Sheaf Offering.”

Don Roth (Revised June 14, 2021)