Proving the Date of PENTECOST!

by John D. Keyser

The festival of Shavuot -- or Pentecost, which means "fiftieth day" -- is the most mysterious of all YEHOVAH God's annual holy days. It is cloaked in mystery -- and even the date of its observance is highly controversial!

Why is there more argument over this holy day than any other -- with the possible exception of Passover?

The ancient Sadducees -- who claimed this holy day always fell on the first day of the week -- counted fifty days from the weekly Sabbath falling within the seven-day festival of Unleavened Bread. The Pharisees, it is asserted, claimed it fell on the fiftieth day after the Passover holy day -- the first day of Unleavened Bread! Modern end-time remnants of YEHOVAH's Church get all mixed up on how to count, how much to count and when to count from -- so most of them wind up observing this day on a Sunday every year -- the very day the Roman Catholic Church observes "Whitsunday," their Pentecost, counting fifty days from Easter Sunday!

To summarize the evidence that is actual fact, consider the following:

Which Day Started the Count?

The modern-day proponents of both theories totally overlook the fact that the apostle John reveals that there were TWO SABBATHS ON ONE DAY -- the weekly Sabbath AND the first high day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread!

That the day after Yeshua's death was a weekly Sabbath can be clearly demonstrated by Luke 23:56, which reads: "On SHABBAT the women rested, IN OBEDIENCE TO THE COMMANDMENT." What "commandment" is this? The FOURTH COMMANDMENT of course! In reference to this verse the Jewish New Testament Commentary makes this clarifying statement: "It is sometimes claimed that the New Testament says nothing about keeping the fourth commandment. This verse contradicts that claim, so it is important for a Jewish understanding of the New Testament. ON SHABBAT THE WOMEN RESTED, IN OBEDIENCE TO THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT (Exodus 20:8-11, Deuteronomy 5:12-15; also Exodus 16). Of course they did! They observed Shabbat EVERY WEEK" (David H. Stern, p. 150). Obviously the WEEKLY SABBATH is the focus of verses 54 and 56 of Luke 23.

Now, having established the weekly Sabbath is the focus of these verses, let's go to John 19:31 in the Jewish New Testament and read what the apostle John has to say: "It was the Preparation Day, and the Judeans did not want the bodies to remain on the stake on SHABBAT, since it was an especially important Shabbat." The New King James Version makes it clearer: "Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the [weekly] Sabbath (FOR THAT [WEEKLY] SABBATH WAS A HIGH DAY)." What "high day" was this? My Bible references it to Exodus 12:16 -- the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread! Now consider this -- if that day had been a regular week day, John would have said "FOR THAT DAY WAS A HIGH DAY." But he says "for that SABBATH was a high day"!

The fact that the weekly Sabbath day here mentioned was also the first high Holy Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, is understood by numerous researchers. Writes Samuele Bacchiocchi, "Rabbinical sources...indicate that the weekly Sabbath was called a "high day" when it COINCIDED WITH PASSOVER, because, as well stated by Charles C. Torrey, 'its inherent solemnity was greatly heightened by the celebration of the foremost feast of the year'" (The Time of the Crucifixion and Resurrection, chapter 3). "This information," continues Bacchiocchi, "is important because it disproves the claim that the weekly Sabbath was never called or referred to as a 'high day.'"

H. L. Strack and P. Billerbec, in their book Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud und Midrash (Munich, 1922-1928) state that in later Rabbinic literature the seventh-day Sabbath is regarded as a "high day" if it falls on Nisan 15, and they show numerous examples in support of this.

Bo Reicke, author of The New Testament Era: The World of the Bible From 500 B.C. to A.D. 100 understood this when he wrote --

"Since a holy day was approaching (Mark 15:42), the Jews asked the procurator to have the bodies taken away (John 19:31-37). Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy member of the Council, saw to Jesus' burial in a tomb that belonged to him...Immediately after the subsequent Sabbath came the morning of the Day of First Fruits, which had to be observed by the presentation of a sheaf (Hebrew, omer) in the Temple (Lev. 23:11) and which was also the day [Nisan 16] from which the Feast of Weeks, celebrated fifty days later [according to the Jews], was calculated. On this morning some women sought to show their respect to the Lord by bringing spices and perfumes, but found that he was no longer in the tomb (Matt. 28:6; John 20:2)" (Fortress Press, Philadelphia. 1981, pp. 187-188).

Samuele Bacchiocchi, in his series God's Festivals in Scripture and History (Part 1) expands upon his previous statement that the weekly Sabbath AND the first Holy Day of Unleavened Bread coincided in the year of the Messiah's death -- notice!

"It is interesting to note that in the particular year of Christ's death and resurrection, the two different methods of reckoning [i.e., the Sadducean and Pharisaic] concurred on the date of Pentecost. This is because, according to the Johannine chronology of the passion...Passover (Nisan 15) fell on a [weekly] Sabbath, and the offering of the wave sheaf on Sunday (Nisan 16). This fulfilled the Pharisaic interpretation of Leviticus 23:15, which counted the fifty days from the day after Passover (Nisan 16). Amazingly, it also fulfilled the Sadducean interpretation, which counted the fifty days from the first Sunday [actually, the First Day of the Week -- the term 'Sunday' was unknown at this time] after Passover" (page 170).

The Bible dictionary, Insight On the Scriptures (article, Passover), noted the same fact --

"This word [pa-ra-skeu-e' -- 'preparation'] seems to mark, not the day preceding Nisan 15, but the day preceding the weekly Sabbath, which, in this instance [year of the Messiah's death], was 'a great one,' namely, not only a Sabbath by virtue of being Nisan 15, the first day of the actual Festival of Unfermented Cakes, but also a weekly Sabbath."

A plural form of the word "Sabbath" is found in Matthew 28:1: "After the sabbath, when it was growing light on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to view the grave" (The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures). If correctly translated this verse should read -- "After the sabbaths [plural], when it was growing light on the first day of the week..." Also, the phrase "when it was growing light on the first day of the week" is translated from the original Greek, which literally says "to the [day] lighting up into one [first] of sabbaths" -- notice the plural form once again.

The phrase "into one [first] of sabbaths" is a reference to the first day from which the count to Pentecost begins -- which count is made up of seven Sabbaths or weeks followed by 50 days. This count always begins on the day of the Wave Sheaf Offering, which falls on Nisan 16.

The exact same thing is found in Mark 16:2 where the Greek literally says: "And exceedingly early to the one [first] [day] of the sabbaths they are coming upon the memorial tomb..." which in English usage reads "And very early on the first day of the week they came to the memorial tomb..." (The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures).

The word "sabbath" is also in the PLURAL in Luke 24:1 and John 20:1, showing that this particular weekly Sabbath was also a high day.

Now that we have established the fact that a weekly Sabbath and the first holy day of Unleavened Bread both fall on the same day -- Nisan 15 -- how do we determine the date of Pentecost? As we have already noted, according to traditional Sabbatarian "Pentecost" keeping it falls in the THIRD Hebrew month called Sivan -- roughly in the early days of Sivan. For "Saturday Sabbath" keepers it falls on the SUNDAY, fifty days after the first Saturday during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

However, if we keep YEHOVAH's true weekly Sabbath according to His lunisolar calendar, but are as of yet unaware of the clear MISTRANSLATION of Leviticus 23:15-16, Pentecost will always fall on the morrow after the seventh Sabbath complete. This means that it falls on Sivan 9 because the weekly Sabbaths in YEHOVAH's calendar ALWAYS fall on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th days of every month.

There are, however, TWO inherent and insurmountable problems caused by YEHOVAH's monthly Sabbath arrangement and the "count fifty" Pentecost:

1) Without an understanding of the correct translation of Leviticus 23:15-16 Pentecost will ALWAYS fall on Sivan 9. This being the case, there is no need to count seven weeks or to number fifty days -- it is UNALTERABLY FIXED. This fails to fit the sense of counting to determine WHEN "Pentecost" is "fully come" (Acts 2:1).

2) In YEHOVAH's true calendar the "morrow after the seventh Sabbath" from the Wave Sheaf is NOT the fiftieth day! Why? Because of the uncounted days of the month that are NOT part of YEHOVAH's seven-day weeks. According to this scenario the "morrow" after counting seven Sabbaths complete is 52-53 days after the Wave Sheaf (Yom Omer), so it CANNOT, therefore, be the "morrow" after "seven complete Sabbaths" (weeks) AND the fiftieth day as well!

So how do we resolve these problems? Let us now examine the seminal passage in Leviticus 23:15-16 to discern the pronounced difference between the ancient feast of Shavuot and the relatively MODERN and PROBLEMATIC "Pentecost."

Before we start tackling Leviticus 23:15-16 we need to examine TWO important Hebrew words -- the words "MIN" and "AD" found in these verses:

1) The Hebrew word "min" is a preposition that, when combined with other words, means "FROM."

2) The Hebrew word "ad" is a preposition, adverb or conjugation that has many uses for describing TIME, SPACE or DEGREE.

Now notice the BEGINNING of Leviticus 23:16 --

"EVEN UNTO the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall you number fifty days...."

Here the first Hebrew word "AD" is translated into the English "EVEN UNTO." There is, however, a problem with this! The phrase "EVEN UNTO" deals with SPACE while all of the measurements in verse 16 -- "the morrow," "the seventh Sabbath," and "fifty days" all deal with TIME, not SPACE! Therefore, the English translation for "AD" as "EVEN UNTO" is in error and CANNOT be correct since it deals with "SPACE" and not "TIME."

But what if the Hebrew word for "FROM" was at the beginning of verse 16? If this was the case it would be the STARTING POINT for the fifty-day count rather than the misrepresented ending point. So, in fact, is the Hebrew word for "FROM" here at the beginning of verse 16? Yes, it is -- in the very beginning of verse 16! The Hebrew phrase is AD-MIN-MOCHORATH -- which is most accurately translated as "FROM the morrow"! Even though the word "MIN" is in the original Hebrew, it has purposely been omitted from every English translation except the Ferrar Fenton and a couple of other versions! This, of course, makes a HUGE difference in determining the date of Pentecost!

Ferrar Fenton, who was a noted ancient Sanskrit, Greek, Hebrew and Latin scholar, translated Leviticus 23:15-17 as follows:

"You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath that you bring the Wave-sheaf, seven Sabbaths. They must be complete. Then AFTER [MIN -- FROM] the seventh Sabbath, you shall count fifty days, when you shall present a new offering to the EVER-LIVING. You shall bring from your dwellings two wave cakes of two tenths of fine [WHEAT] flour. They shall be fermented, -- baked in an oven for the EVER-LIVING."

The original Hebrew scriptures, therefore, clearly show that AFTER counting seven Sabbaths (weeks) from the Wave Sheaf Offering on Nisan 16 there is a SECOND NUMBERING of FIFTY DAYS up unto the actual Feast of Shavuot. That second count of fifty days does NOT conclude, but rather COMMENCES on the morrow after the seventh Sabbath. This CORRECTLY places Shavuot/Pentecost -- the feast of the WHEAT HARVEST -- at the very end of the FOURTH month of Tammuz -- right where it belongs -- in the middle of the SUMMER wheat harvest and at the beginning of the grape harvest, MIDWAY between the SPRING and FALL harvest seasons.

The Three Harvests in Palestine

But Pentecost is not only observed on the wrong day, by most Messianic Jewish believers, as well as most Christian groups which claim to observe YEHOVAH's Holy Days, its vital message is also not generally understood, and its observance is done with little or no understanding!

What is the real meaning of this Holy Day? What is its vital significance in YEHOVAH's Plan?

In the Scriptures it is called Shavuot, which means "Weeks" (Deuteronomy 16:10). That is, it takes its name as "Feast of Weeks" because it includes the counting of the weeks that lead up to it! (Deuteronomy 16:9-10).

But how many believers and "Christians," or even Sabbath-keeping Christians, do you know who faithfully "count the omer" every year, between Passover and leading up to Pentecost? How many? Or, should I say, how few?

Indeed, as Yeshua the Messiah himself said: "Enter ye in at the strait [narrow] gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:13-14).

One major reason so many Christians are ignorant of these things, and the Biblical commands to "count the omer," and to observe Shavuot/Pentecost, is because of much latent and deeply hidden feelings of anti-Semitism -- hostility toward anything and everything "Jewish" in nature! Yet, Yeshua the Messiah declared, unequivocally, "Salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22) -- and he himself was a Jew! (The term "Jews" here refers to Israelites -- NOT to the Jews of today who are NOT of Israelite stock.)

Shavuot or Pentecost is also called, in the Scriptures, "the day of First-fruits" (Numbers 28:26), as well as "the feast of harvest, of the first-fruits of thy labours" (Exodus 23:16), and "the feast of weeks, of the first-fruits of WHEAT harvest" (Exodus 34:22). Why the emphasis on "first-fruits"?

At the time of the Messiah there were THREE physical harvests in Palestine annually. The first was the BARLEY HARVEST, which ripened earlier than the other grains and was ready for harvesting on the day of the Wave Sheaf Offering -- see Exodus 9:31; II Samuel 21:9; Ruth 1:22 and II Kings 4:42. The second harvest was that of WHEAT -- maturing some four months later in the summer at the time of Pentecost -- see John 4:35.

Agricultural information resources indicate that wheat crops historically take 100-plus days to harvest, causing both a winter or spring sowing to be harvested in the summer months. The correlation between Pentecost (Feast of Weeks) and the wheat harvest is found in Exodus 34:22; Ruth 2:23 and Exodus 9:32. States Exodus 34:22: "And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the firstfruits of [the] WHEAT HARVEST."

The third physical harvest was that of ingathering at the year's end, coinciding with the Feast of Tabernacles. At this time the fruits of the land were harvested -- see Leviticus 23:39.

These three harvests were spread across the year -- in the SPRING, SUMMER and FALL and correspond to YEHOVAH's pattern of Feasts in the Spring, Summer and Fall. As Leviticus 23:4 confirms: "These are the FEASTS of YEHOVAH, even set-apart gatherings, which you shall proclaim IN THEIR SEASONS." There are NO annual feasts during the cold, dead WINTERS, rather the solemn feasts -- based on HARVESTS of new life -- occur "THREE TIMES in the year."

There are three fulfillments of the meaning of "firstfruits." The wave-sheaf of BARLEY is the FIRST firstfruits in the spring. The two wave loaves are the SECOND firstfruits in the summer, and the grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and honey, which begin getting harvested after Pentecost, are the THIRD firstfruits in the fall. The Jews called Pentecost "atzeret" or the "closing day" of the Passover season. This is because it is the LAST DAY of the grain harvest. Pentecost is the day that divides the grain harvest from the fruit harvest.

The "weeks of the harvest" mentioned in Jeremiah 5:24-25 are the WEEKS from the day of the Wave Sheaf Offering to the day of Pentecost. It is a type of the harvest of ISRAELITES out of "Egypt" and into YEHOVAH's barn or way of life which has a second fulfillment and gathering which may occur on Pentecost again in the future (Ezekiel 20:40-41). Jeremiah 2:3 says, "'Israel was holiness to the LORD, the FIRSTFRUITS of His increase. All that devour him will offend; disaster will come upon them,' says the LORD." Also, Psalm 126:6: "He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his SHEAVES with him."

The BARLEY HARVEST was the comparatively small SPRING HARVEST that came after the "former rain" moderately watered the grain fields in the Spring as a type of the holy spirit. Then, in the FALL came the THIRD or FRUIT HARVEST which ended on the Last Great Day (Shemini Atzeret) just like Pentecost ended the BARLEY HARVEST. Grapes, olives, figs and pomegranates were gathered in (Exodus 23:16) after the heavy "latter rain" of the Fall. Both come in the first month (Joel 2:23) -- one in Tishri and one in Nisan. As YEHOVAH God's holy spirit is poured out in abundance, all of Israel will be saved (Joel 2:28-29). The small Spring harvest of Israelites -- the "little flock" (Luke 12:32) -- which began on the day of the Wave Sheaf Offering and ended on the Feast of Pentecost, typified the 2,000 years between the Messiah's first appearance and his second.

The harvest typifies salvation at "the end of the world (age)" (Matthew 13:39). The two WAVE LOAVES offered on Pentecost represent the CHURCH -- which is "built upon the foundation of the APOSTLES [New Testament saints of Israel] and PROPHETS [Old Testament saints of Israel]" (Ephesians 2:20). The Church will be harvested at the Messiah's return, notice!

"Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the [good wheat] harvest of the earth is fully ripe" (Revelation 14:15, RSV).

"Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn" (Matthew 13:30, RSV).

But just as these loaves contain LEAVEN (Leviticus 23:17), so the Church is NOT PERFECT (I John 1:8; Romans 3:23). Only Yeshua the Messiah was perfect (Hebrews 4:15; 5:9; 7:26; 9:28)! The leaven may also illustrate the presence of "TARES" (weeds) (Matthew 13:38) -- false Christian Israelites living among both the Old and New Testament saints of Israel. During the 100-plus-day period from the Wave Sheaf Offering to Pentecost, the wheat must grow and mature until it is ready for harvest. Similarly, Christian Israelites must grow and mature during their lives in preparation for salvation. If the heads of wheat were not entirely ripe, they could be dried with FIRE or parched -- a type of refinement (Malachi 3:1-7; I Corinthians 3:13-15; Revelation 3:18), just like immature Christian Israelites must suffer trials and tribulations during their lives.

Few indeed understand it, but Pentecost or Shavuot pictures, in a sublime and amazing way, the Christian Israelite's journey through life, leading up to the second appearance of the Messiah! Passover pictures our repentance, and forgiveness of sin, and acceptance of the Messiah as our "sacrificial lamb" -- the Lamb of YEHOVAH God which takes away the sins of Israel (John 1:29). The Messiah is our "Passover," sacrificed for us (I Corinthians 5:7). The Israelites' journey out of Egypt -- a type of "sin" and bondage to sinful human nature -- pictures the Christian or Messianic Israelite believer's journey as a believer in the Messiah, coming out of sin, and wickedness, and journeying forward through the desert -- a type of this world's tangles, troubles, trials, and temptations.

Finally, the Israelites standing before Mount Sinai, as YEHOVAH God came down to the mountain-top, and revealed Himself to them, and entered into a binding covenant with them as His people, was also a type -- a type of the return of YEHOVAH God's Shekinah Glory in an awesome blaze of glory, to gather Israel and to punish the evil and rebellious nations of the world!

The Coming in Glory at Mount Sinai

Among the Jewish people, the festival of Pentecost, or Shavuot, celebrates as well the time of the giving of the Law, the Torah, by YEHOVAH God to His people Israel at Mount Sinai. Israel left Egypt on the 15th of Nisan, at the full moon at the middle of the month (Numbers 33:2).

On the third month, which is Sivan, they came to the "wilderness of Sinai"  on the 15th day -- exactly two months after leaving bondage in Egypt (Exodus 19:1). Because of their tradition that the giving of the Law occurred at Shavuot, rabbinical authorities have to interpret this verse to mean that the Israelites arrived at Sinai on the first day of the third month, since Shavuot could have been on the fifth, sixth or seventh of the same month and there was at least a three day period of ceremonial cleansing in the interval. The text itself, however, does not support this interpretation. It uses the phrase "on (or in) the same day". The same day as what? The Hebrew is as unambiguous as the English translation: it is "in the same day" () that the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt. To what day does this phrase refer?

"So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt" (Exodus 12:17).

Clearly, the reference is to the first day of Unleavened Bread, Nisan 15. Notice in Exodus 12:17 the use of the phrase "same day" () just as Exodus 19:1 uses "in the same day" (). Repeatedly in the account of the exodus, the day (yom) the Israelites went out of Egypt is used with the demonstrative adjective.

3 "And Moses said to the people: Remember this day () [is just the untranslatable accusative marker] in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out of this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. 

4 "On this day you are going out, in the month Abib" (Exodus 13:3-4).
41 "And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years -- on that very same day ( literally, "in the bone [i.e. substance] of this day) -- it came to pass that all the armies of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt" (Exodus 12:41).
51 "And it came to pass, on that very same day (), that the LORD brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt according to their armies" (Exodus 12:51).

It should be clear that when all of these passages use the phrase  in some form, and all clearly refer to the 15th of Nisan, the day of the Israelites' departure from Egypt, then Exodus 19:1 means that they came to the wilderness of Sinai on the fifteenth day of the third month. Since this is AFTER the traditional Shavuot, the giving of the Law could not have occurred on that day. The question then becomes -- how long a period of time elapsed between their arrival and that momentous day when the Law was thundered from the top of the mount?

If we continue reading Exodus 19, we see that the Israelites were commanded by Moses to consecrate themselves and wash their clothes for they were to meet with YEHOVAH God in 3 days.  "For on the third day, YEHOVAH will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people" (Exodus 19:10-11). By this we can conclude that YEHOVAH descended on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people exactly 3 days after they arrived at the mountain.

On the THIRD month -- 15th day -- the Israelites arrive at Mount Sinai. For 2 DAYS the Israelites prepare and are presented before YEHOVAH God to receive His covenant on the 3RD DAY.

Moses went up to YEHOVAH God on the mount, and YEHOVAH offered to make Israel His special covenant people (v. 3-6), and the people agreed (v. 7-8). The next day Moses returned the people's words to the LORD, and YEHOVAH told Moses, "Go unto the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes, and be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai" (v. 9-11).

YEHOVAH God came down, in glory, and met with the people, and gave them His inexpressible, glorious Covenant, summarized in the Ten Commandments -- and they became His official "bride," entering a marriage covenant with them (Jeremiah 3:14). Therefore, the time of Pentecost is connected in the Scriptures with ancient Israel receiving the Law, and becoming YEHOVAH God's "bride," and the LORD Himself descending from heaven with great glory!

Moses recorded of this spectacular event: "And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in FIRE: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder...And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount" (Exodus 19:18-20).

We tend to read over these Scriptures and fail to register their awesome portent!

This awesome event was a very type of the return of YEHOVAH God's Shekinah Glory to Jerusalem at the end of the age!

Notice! YEHOVAH God came down to earth -- to the top of a mountain! At this time, He made His people Israel His "bride." They entered a unique, special covenant! But later, Israel broke that covenant, and transgressed YEHOVAH's commandments. In fact, within forty days they turned to idolatry, and commanded Aaron to fashion them a golden calf to worship, thinking Moses had disappeared, and perhaps been eaten by a wild animal upon mount Sinai, or had fallen into a crevasse and perished. So much for their commitment to their recent "betrothal" to YEHOVAH God! Pressured by the people, Aaron complied with their wishes, but he clearly told them -- "Tomorrow is a FEAST to YEHOVAH" (Exodus 32:5). This feast day was Shavuot or Pentecost!

Because of this wickedness, when Moses returned from communing with YEHOVAH God on the top of mount Sinai, he broke the tablets containing the Ten "Devarim" or Ten Words of YEHOVAH God -- commonly called the "Ten commandments." If he had delivered the tablets to Israel, in their naked, exposed, wicked state, they would have been guilty of adultery. Moses knew they were not worthy of such a wedding gift. So when he returned to the mountain top, for another forty days, he again communed with YEHOVAH, and YEHOVAH gave him another set of tablets -- two stones containing the Ten commandments. This time, Israel was faithful for a while.

The Fake Pentecost

Why do the Jews (and some Christian churches) observe Pentecost at the wrong time? How did this come about?

Quoting from The Works of Philo, "The Special Laws II" page 584, “The Seventh Festival" XXX. (176), we read the following:

"The solemn assembly on the occasion of the festival of the [wave] sheaf having such great privileges, is the prelude to another festival of still greater importance; for from this day the fiftieth day is reckoned, making up the sacred number of seven sevens, with the addition of a unit as a seal to the whole; and this festival, being that of the first fruits of the corn [wheat], has derived its name of Pentecost from the number of fifty."

Explains Arnold Bowen -- 

"From the above we see that the waving of the sheaf was a solemn assembly Festival, and from this day (16th of Nisan) was a prelude to another Festival of greater importance, referring to the Morrow after the seventh Sabbath complete. This is because FROM IT (the Morrow after the 7th Sabbath) the 50^th day was reckoned. THE 50^th DAY WAS NOT RECKONED FROM THE WAVE SHEAF, but from the Morrow after the seventh Sabbath, and that’s why it was of greater importance. Please read the quote carefully.

"The Israelites observed the 16th of the 1st month (Nisan) as a feast and solemn assembly when they waved the sheaf, and it was called a prelude or introduction to ANOTHER feast that was more important than the first feast that was held on the 16th. Why was it greater or more important? Because it was from this more important feast that the 50th day is reckoned -- which consists of seven sevens plus one making up the sacred number which equals 50, which means Pentecost. How much plainer can it be?????" (Philo and the Fake Pentecost!).

Bowen goes on to say that "this 2nd feast that is more important than the 1st feast, or 16th of Nisan, is the morrow after the seventh Sabbath complete -- and is the day that people today are keeping in error for the true Pentecost. According to chapter 30 above, they are keeping the feast that is greater or more important than that of the wave sheaf -- but it is NOT Pentecost even though it is greater, because Pentecost is numbered or reckoned from this day. The traditional feast that people are erroneously keeping today is the one that Philo says is more important than the wave sheaf because the 50th day, which is the GREATEST FEAST, is reckoned from it, and Pentecost is the GREATEST feast! This is in harmony with Leviticus 23 where it says 'even unto the morrow AFTER the seventh Sabbath shall you number fifty days and then bring a new meat offering'” (ibid.).

Which groups in the Judaism of Philo's day were making an observance out of the day at the end of the "seventh Sabbath complete" instead of at the end of the following 50 days?

Quoting from The Works of Philo page 704, chapter eight (65) "On the Contemplative Life," we read about a group of Orthodox Judahites called Therapeutae and Therapeutrides. Philo says,

“they devoted their whole lives and themselves to the knowledge in contemplation of the affairs of nature in accordance with the most sacred admonitions and precepts of the Prophet Moses" (VIII (64)).

After saying this Philo continues by saying, 

“In the first place, these men assemble at the end of seven weeks, venerating not only the simple week of seven days, but also its multiplied power, for they know it to be pure and always virgin; and it is a prelude and a kind of fore-feast of the greatest feast, which is assigned to the number fifty" [i.e., Pentecost] (VIII (65)).

Who were these Therapeutae or Therapeutrides? Notice what the Encyclopedia Britannica has to say:

"Therapeutae, Greek Therapeutai (“Healers,” or “Attendants”), singular Therapeutes, Jewish sect of ascetics closely resembling the Essenes, believed to have settled on the shores of Lake Mareotis in the vicinity of Alexandria, Egypt, during the 1st century AD. The only original account of this community is given in De vita contemplativa (On the Contemplative Life), attributed to Philo of Alexandria. Their origin and fate are both unknown. The sect was unusually severe in discipline and mode of life. According to Philo, the members, both men and women, devoted their time to prayer and study. They prayed twice every day, at dawn and at evening, the interval between being spent entirely on spiritual exercise. They read the Holy Scriptures, from which they sought wisdom by treating them as allegorical, believing that the words of the literal text were symbols of something hidden. Attendance to bodily needs, such as food, was entirely relegated to the hours of darkness.

"Members of the community lived near one another in separate and scattered houses. Each house contained a chamber, or sanctuary, consecrated to study and prayer. The Therapeutae had, in addition to the Old Testament, books composed by the founders of their sect on the allegorical method of interpreting Scripture. Philo’s account refers to the composition of “new psalms” to God in a variety of metres and melodies. For six days a week, members lived apart, seeking wisdom in solitude.

"On the Sabbath they met in the common sanctuary, where they listened to a discourse by the member most skilled in their doctrines and then ate a common meal of coarse bread and a drink of spring water. The sect revered the number 7 and its square, but the most sacred of numbers was 50. Thus, on the eve of the 50th day they observed an all-night festival, with a discourse, hymn singing, and a meal, followed by a sacred vigil.

"The main distinction between the Therapeutae and the Essenes is that the latter were anti-intellectual, while 'wisdom,' Philo says, was the main objective of the Therapeutae. The Therapeutae shared with the Essenes a dualistic view of body and soul."

There are a couple of things to take note of in the above passage from the Encyclopedia Britannica: The Therapeutae treated the Bible (Old Testament) as being allegorical, "that the words of the literal text were symbols of something hidden." Also, it appears, the Bible was not the sole source of understanding for the Therapeutae; they also used "books composed by founders of their sect..." Doesn't this sound like the Jews of today with their book the Talmud -- which they quite often treat as being superior to the Bible? Apparently, on the Sabbath, the Therapeutae listened to discourses "by the member most skilled in their doctrines" instead of being taught from the Bible!

The Jews (and some Christian churches) today are keeping the prelude to the GREATEST FEAST (Pentecost) just like the Therapeutae, which they have assigned to the number 50 instead of counting 50 days AFTER this prelude. Writes Arnold Bowen, "We have gone from the Wave Sheaf feast that was on the 16th of Aviv or Nisan to a greater feast/prelude that was on the morrow AFTER the 7th Sabbath complete to the GREATEST feast (Pentecost) which is assigned to the number 50. 

"According to Philo, there were two feasts before Pentecost, the Wave Sheaf and the Morrow after the seventh Sabbath. And both were called preludes or introductions to another feast; the first one was the 16th (Wave Sheaf) which introduced the second feast which was the Morrow after the seventh Sabbath complete, and this second feast was of greater importance than the first because from it the GREATEST feast (Pentecost) was reckoned.

"According to Philo, the second feast (the one after the seventh Sabbath complete) was a kind of “fore-feast” of the GREATEST feast (Pentecost) that took place after numbering 50 days -- including the one after the 7th Sabbath" (Philo and the Fake Pentecost!).

This is what is being observed by the Jews today instead of the "Greatest Feast" (Pentecost) -- which falls 50 days "after seven Sabbaths complete."

At some point in time, back in the mists of the centuries, the Morrow after the seventh Sabbath became the preeminent observance overshadowing and replacing the correct day of Pentecost at the end of the 50 days. Judaism, as we know it today, made a connection with the Therapeutae, thus transmitting down to us the incorrect date for Pentecost plus other non-Biblical doctrines.

Hope of Israel Ministries P.O. Box 853 Azusa, CA 91702, U.S.A. www.hope-of-israel.org

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