The True Count to Pentecost Rediscovered

Hope of Israel Ministries (Ecclesia of YEHOVAH):

The True Count to Pentecost Rediscovered!

We can prove many wheat harvests in the summer, throughout the Scriptures, but is there one shred of evidence for a wheat harvest in the "spring"? The answer is no. Since there is no Scriptural wheat harvest in the spring, it must be understood that Pentecost is counted from the morrow after the seventh Sabbath/intermission, instead of from the wave sheaf it’s self.

by Arnold Bowen

This amazing discovery takes the guesswork out of how to count to Pentecost by conclusively proving, from Scripture, that the numbering of the 50 days begins on the morrow AFTER the seventh Sabbath complete (Leviticus 23:16), instead of numbering from the wave sheaf. By doing this, it places Pentecost at the end of the FOURTH month instead of the beginning of the THIRD month.

Did you know that there is not even a THIRD month FEAST OF ANY KIND found in Scripture, but there is in the fourth month?

Did you know that there is not even a conclusive WHEAT HARVEST or harvest of any kind in the THIRD month found in Scripture, but there is in the fourth month?

Did you know that the law that was written with the finger of YHVH was not given to Moses until the END OF THE FOURTH MONTH which is 50 days AFTER the seventh Sabbath complete?

Did you know that Shavuot/Pentecost was one of the three major Pilgrim feasts that were called Chags in the Hebrew, where the children of Israel were commanded to travel up to Jerusalem each year and there is not even a Chag found in Scripture in the THIRD month, but there is in the fourth month?

Did you know that there is the historical evidence of EYEWITNESSES, who lived at the same time of our Savior and the Apostles, that show them keeping Pentecost 50 days AFTER the seventh Sabbath complete?

Did you know that Acts chapters 20 and 21 shows that it is a MATHEMATICAL CERTAINTY that the Apostle Paul and thousands of believing Jews were keeping Pentecost BEYOND the traditional 50 day count?

Did you know that the Children of Israel kept Shavuot/Pentecost on the day that the Law was given and they called it a Chag/Feast to YHVH, and it was exactly 50 days AFTER the 7th Sabbath?

Did you know that in light of all of this, along with the evidence that I am going to produce in this article, people will still keep their tradition of Pentecost in the THIRD month?

Did you know that what you do not know can DESTROY you? Hosea 4:6 says "My people are DESTROYED for lack of knowledge."

Did you know that if we reject knowledge, YHVH will reject us? This is also found in Hosea 4:6. In other words, if we do not know something or have no knowledge of it we are damned, and if we reject the knowledge that is presented to us we are also damned. Did you know that it is our duty to search out a matter, and if we do not we will be held accountable?

Conclusive Proof

I will conclusively prove that Leviticus 23:16 should be understood that the count to Pentecost is 50 days AFTER the seventh Sabbath complete -- NOT 50 days after the wave sheaf!

Here are some of my notes focusing on what the Bible teaches is the true count to Pentecost, which is 50 days after the 7th Sabbath complete -- not 50 days after the wave sheaf or 1st Sabbath.

Leviticus 23:16: “Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto YHVH”

Following is an abundance of evidence from scripture and nature that conclusively proves a later Pentecost. It is MATHEMATICALLY (AND PHYSICALLY) IMPOSSIBLE for the children of Israel to have reached Mount Sinai in time for the traditional third month Pentecost. (Read our article, Old Myths Die Hard -- Was the Law Given at Mount Sinai On the Traditional Shavuot?).

Some had asked the question, doesn’t Acts 1:5 favorite the traditional count to Pentecost? At first glance it does, but in reality it actually disproves the traditional count to Pentecost!

Below are some of my notes on the subject:

Acts 1:2-3: “Until the day in which the Messiah was taken up, after he had given Commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen, and to whom [the apostles] he also showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them 40 days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of the Almighty:”

This raises a major question, were there any other days (in addition to the 40) that he was not seen of them, before he was taken up?

The answer to the above question is yes!

There were over 10 days in which he was not seen of them, in addition to the 40 days, and this makes the traditional Pentecost impossible because when you add over 10 days that he was NOT seen of the apostles, to the 40 days that he was seen of them, you have over 50 days -- not even counting the days in which he told them to go tarry at Jerusalem until they receive power from on high!

In John 20:19 it was the FIRST time he appeared to the apostles, but Thomas was not with them. The SECOND time was AFTER EIGHT days (John 20:26) and Thomas was then with them. The THIRD time was at least five days after this, counting at least four days for the journey from Jerusalem to the sea of Tiberius, and the day that they fished all night to the next morning, before they saw him (John 21:1 through verse 14).

Many days had passed before they saw him the third time at the sea of Tiberius, John 21:14.

This all proves that the traditional Pentecost theory of numbering 1 day AFTER the seventh Sabbath instead of 50 days after the seventh Sabbath according to Leviticus 23:16, is impossible. Remember Pentecost means 50 not 1.

At any rate, the above reveals that there were at least 12 days during which the apostles did not see him after his resurrection and when you add these 12 days to the 40 days that they did see him, you come up with a total of 52 days -- which is beyond the traditional Pentecost count. And they still had to go to Jerusalem and tarry for the holy spirit that they were to receive not many days hence or after that (Acts 1:5). I have more on this in another article.

Shavuot/Pentecost and the Wheat Harvest

If someone wanted to argue that Pentecost is in the third month, would it be asking too much for that person to produce ONE scripture supporting a wheat harvest in the 3rd month Springtime? After all, that is what Pentecost is -- first fruits of the wheat harvest. Would it be asking too much to show where there was even a Feast in the 3rd month?

Leviticus 23:16 can be understood two ways, the traditional way is to count 50 days from the wave sheaf of the barley harvest, and another way it can be understood is to count 50 days from the morrow after the seventh Sabbath. To prove which understanding is correct, we must turn to nature and other Scriptures aside from the one in question.

We know that Pentecost has to do with the wheat harvest, and I challenge someone to show me where there is a wheat harvest, mentioned in the Scripture, for a 3rd month Pentecost.

If someone can find a Winter wheat harvest in Scriptures, or a feast/Chag in the THIRD month, then there is at least a 50-50 chance that the 50 days after the wave sheaf could possibly be right, OTHERWISE IT IS NOT EVEN AN OPTION.

The reason I say 50-50 chance is because we definitely have a conclusive pinpointed Summer wheat harvest in the 4th month -- which is found over and over throughout the Scriptures -- and we also have a conclusive feast/Chag mentioned in the fourth month, and therefore it could be understood either way. If someone can find a Winter wheat harvest or a feast/Chag in the third month, then they could argue it was 50 days after the barley sheaf/Winter wheat harvest, and we could argue that it is 50 days after the seventh Sabbath complete, which would be a Summer wheat harvest.

In other words, if someone can produce a scripture for harvesting wheat in the Spring, instead of Summer, then it could go either way. But until someone finds a conclusive Winter wheat harvest or a feast/Chag in the third month, IT IS NOT EVEN AN OPTION. We must prove what the Scripture in Leviticus 23:16 is speaking of. Now “if” there were no Summer wheat harvest found in Scripture, and you had plenty of Winter wheat harvests found in Scripture, and “if” there was a third month feast/Chag then the obvious understanding would be to count 50 days after the barley wave sheaf for the Winter wheat harvest and a third month Pentecost. Simple. On the other hand if there is no Winter wheat harvest mentioned in Scripture, (and there’s not) and there's no third month feast/Chag mentioned in Scripture, then the obvious conclusion is to begin the 50 day count from the morrow after the seventh Sabbath complete and then bring the new meat offering from the Summer wheat, the only wheat spoken of in the Scriptures. Simple!

Scriptural Proof

Below you will read many Scriptures which will harmonize with counting 50 days after the seventh Sabbath, not after the wave sheaf, such as when Aaron made proclamation of a Pilgrim feast/CHAG which was 50 days after the seventh Sabbath complete. The only Pilgrim Feast this could have been was Pentecost because it was in the fourth month when Aaron proclaimed this. There is no CHAG found in the 3rd month for the traditional Pentecost.

All the Scriptures that I have found are referring to Summer wheat which is sowed in the 1st month and reaped in the 4th.

Winter wheat takes 7 months to harvest and our Savior says "are there not 4 months then cometh the harvest" -- referring to Summer wheat. This also explains why the wheat was not destroyed in the 1st month in Egypt, because it had not came up yet.

We can prove many wheat harvests in the Summer, throughout the Scriptures, but is there one shred of evidence for a wheat harvest in the Spring? The answer is no. Since there is no Scriptural wheat harvest in the Spring, it must be understood that Pentecost is counted from the morrow after the seventh Sabbath/intermission, instead of from the wave sheaf itself.

All the males were commanded to appear before YHVH three times in the year, these three feasts being centered around the three major harvests. The first one is Unleavened Bread/barley harvest, which takes place in the Springtime, or Spring feast, then the second one takes place in the Summer, at the Summer wheat harvest called Pentecost or Summer harvest. The first fruits of the Summer wheat harvest is offered, not Winter wheat which is harvested in the Spring, two weeks after the barley, and is still in the Spring season. The third one is in the Fall.

Everywhere in Scripture and history from Josephus and Philo -- who lived at the time of these harvest -- wheat was always a Summer harvest. Study these EXAMPLES closely.

(1) In the book of Josephus it tells how that it was Summer time when the fruit of the land being almost ripe enough for reaping that Samson set fire to the fruit of the land i.e. "wheat" and grapes etc. and in the book of Judges it plainly tells that it was in the time of wheat harvest when Samson did this. Read the following from Josephus and the book of Judges.

Chapter 8 Concerning the Fortitude of Samson, and What Mischiefs He Brought Upon the Philistines. 7. (295): "At this injurious treatment Samson was so provoked that he resolved to punish all the Philistines, as well as her; so it being then summer time, and the fruits of the land being almost ripe enough for reaping, he caught three hundred foxes, and joining lighted torches to their tails, he sent them into the fields of the Philistines, by which means the fruits of the fields perished."

(2) In the book of Judges Chapter 15:5 it says:

“1 But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in. 2 And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her. 3 And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure. 4 And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails. 5 And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing grain, with the vineyards and olives”.

In other words the time of wheat harvest is in the Summer, NOT Spring. This proves that this wheat harvest is speaking of Summer wheat harvest and not the Spring harvest of Winter wheat. Josephus knew enough about how many foxes etc. because he knew the Scriptures. I wonder why he didn't know that the wheat harvest was in the Spring instead of Summer?! Or maybe he knew that the wheat harvest in his time was in the Summer and not Spring. You Judge, and remember the people knew about farming in those days, and to say whether he was a Pharisee or Sadducee makes no difference concerning the harvest and nature.

(3) The following quote from Josephus also proves the wheat was Summer wheat and not Winter wheat:

1. (323): "In the meantime Herod’s affairs in Judea were in an ill state. He had left his brother Joseph with full power, but had charged him to make no attempts against Antigonus till his return; for that Macheras would not be such an assistant as he could depend on, as it appeared by what he had done already; but as soon as Joseph heard that his brother was at a very great distance, he neglected the charge he had received, and marched towards Jericho with five cohorts, which Macheras sent with him. This movement was intended for seizing on the corn [grain], as it was now in the midst of summer;"

Notice the last verse of this quote.

(4) This next quote which lists the 4 seasons, proves they were known back then:

“And in addition to the four elements the seasons of the year are also four, which are the causes of the generation of animals and plants, the year being divided into the quadruple division of winter, and spring, and summer, and autumn. The aforesaid number therefore being accounted worthy” (Philo, On The Creation, XVII. (53)).

Notice he says these four seasons Winter, and Spring, and Summer, and Autumn, are cause of the generation of animals and plants. In other words you have three harvest feasts each year, barley in the Spring, wheat in the Summer, and the annual fruits of the trees etc. in the Autumn.

I have heard the argument that all harvests were in the Summer time, but that is not acceptable because Philo says, “And in addition to the four elements the seasons of the year are also four, which are the causes of the generation of animals and plants, the year being divided into the quadruple division of winter, and spring, and summer, and autumn."

The bottom line is that someone should have a Scripture, or some kind of proof, that there is a Spring wheat harvest instead of a Summer wheat harvest to support their 50 day count after the wave sheaf instead of 50 days after the seventh Sabbath complete for Pentecost.

I can give many Scriptures and history from people that lived at this time that there is a Summer wheat harvest which would have to be 50 days after the seventh Sabbath instead of 50 days after the first Sabbath.

50 days after the first Sabbath can only produce a Spring wheat harvest and 50 days after the seventh Sabbath can only produce a Summer wheat harvest. Which one does the Scripture teach? We know what tradition of men teaches.

(5) It says in the book of Nehemiah Chapter 13:15:

"In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day: and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals."

Nehemiah saw men treading grapes in these wine presses and the grapes are not ripe until Summer; therefore the sheaves they were bringing in had to be Summer sheaves NOT Spring sheaves. The Winter wheat was gone by this time and so was the Springtime!

(6) Our Savior says that after four months comes the harvest. This has to be speaking of the Summer wheat harvest which matures in four months after sowing. It is sown in the first month Abib/Spring and is reaped in the fourth month/Summer which is seven Sabbaths plus 50 days and then you can bring a first fruit from it. Therefore it is Summer fruit. This is why the hail did not destroy the wheat in Egypt because it had not come up yet because it was planted in the first month. In John 4: 35 it says:

“say not ye...there are yet four months then cometh the harvest”

The traditional Winter wheat is at least 6 or 7 months to harvest -- not four months to harvest as our Savior said. Therefore, he was referring to the Summer wheat harvest and, as I have said, Winter wheat can NOT be pinpointed in scripture and therefore is not even an option for Pentecost wheat.

(7) John-12:24-33 says:

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.... 27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.... 32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. 33 This he said, signifying what death he should die”.

There is no doubt he is comparing himself with a corn of wheat and how it must die to bring forth fruit. The fruit of his dying was the spirit being poured out on the day of Pentecost. It takes 4 months, or 50 days after 7 Sabbaths for a corn of wheat to produce fruit (John 4: 35) therefore the fruit of the holy spirit was not 50 days after his death!

Once again a corn of wheat CANNOT bring forth fruit, or a harvest in 50 days and I cannot picture our Savior using an untrue analogy or typology. He was buried in the 1st month when Summer wheat is planted, and a harvest of souls was reaped 50 days AFTER 7 Sabbaths.

It was the same time that the Law was given to Moses. Also it was when Aaron used the word CHAG, which is only used for Pilgrim feast, and it was in the Summer time and it was 50 days after the seventh Sabbath, the same day that the Law was given on Mount Sinai. (Exodus 32:5 and Exodus 31:18.)

Philo says that the harvest comes after the grapes are ripe and the grapes are not ripe until Summer. He also tells of some men that was keeping a prelude or fore-feast of the greatest feast i.e. Pentecost, 50 days after the wave sheaf. That means that the morrow after the 7th Sabbath is NOT Pentecost, but a fore-feast or start of the 50 day count to Pentecost. (See our article, Philo On Shavuot/Pentecost).

He also says that wheat was the last of all the grains that are sowed in the field to ripen and come to harvest. This was Pentecost wheat that he was referring to, and it has to be Summer wheat to ripen last, after Winter wheat. (Philo, Special Laws, 11 (186)).

The wheat harvest and Tabernacles are to be observed at the years end/turning (Exodus 34:22) and that does not happened until June 21 (after the traditional Pentecost). In other words you have a turning March 21 (Spring equinox) and then you keep Passover in the Spring, and you have another turning June 21st (Summer solstice) and you keep Pentecost in the Summer, and then you have another turning September 21 (Autumnal equinox) and the days of Tabernacles in the Fall.

If you try to keep the traditional Pentecost in the third month/Sivan 6, it is not at the year’s end or turning, which happens on June 21 -- and it is not in harmony with Torah Law. When they came into the land they were to reap the harvest thereof/barley, wave sheaf, count seven Sabbaths/intermissions complete, number 50 days, then bring a new meat offering from “their” labors that “they” sowed in the field -- i.e. wheat.

In other words if they sowed the Summer wheat in the first month when they came into the land they could reap a harvest for a first fruit 50 days after the seventh Sabbath from their labors which they sowed in the field, but NOT in 50 days from the time they sowed, for nature will not allow the wheat to mature in 50 days (Exodus 23:16). There is so much proof supporting that the count should began 50 days after the seventh Sabbath instead of 50 days after the first Sabbath.

The bottom line is, can anyone locate a Spring wheat harvest for a 3rd month Pentecost in the Bible? If not, maybe it is not there and is only a tradition of men.

Here are a few Scriptures to support the Summer fruit/wheat harvest:

(a) Proverbs 10:5: “He that gathereth in SUMMER is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in HARVEST is a son that causeth shame.”

Notice summer and harvest is synonymous.

(b) Proverbs 26:1: "As snow in Summer, and as rain in Harvest, so honour is not seemly for a fool.”

Again summer and harvest is synonymous.

(c) Isaiah 16:9-10: “Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting for thy SUMMER fruits and for thy HARVEST is fallen [Summer harvest not Spring harvest]. And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field; and in the VINEYARDS there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no WINE in their presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease.”

Notice here the Summer fruits of the harvest AND the wine are connected.

(d) Isaiah 17: 5-6: “And it shall be as when the HARVESTMAN gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the VALLEY of Rephaim. Yet Gleaning Grapes shall be left in IT (Valley), as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith YHVH the Mighty One of Israel”.

Notice here, the harvest men gather the wheat in the Valley and what's left of the grapes they left in the Valley which proves the grapes were ripe before the harvest as Philo says; they just didn't go back and GLEAN them.

(e) Isaiah 18:4-5: "For so the MASTER said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect and the sour grape is ripening in the flower,"

The Tanach reads, "for the said YHVH to me: I will be at ease and I will look after my place of Foundation; like crisp warmth after the rain, like a mist in the heat of the harvest. For before the harvest, when the flower is finished and the bud turns to grapes approaching ripeness,"

Notice here that this is speaking of a Summer wheat harvest and says “before the harvest the grapes are approaching ripeness". The grapes are not approaching ripeness in the springtime.

The phrase "THE harvest" not a harvest of wheat seems to imply that there was only one major wheat harvest and that was in the Summer, which rules out any possibility of counting only one day after the seventh Sabbath complete.

(f) Isaiah 18:6-7: "They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them. 7 In that time shall the present be brought unto YHVH of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name YHVH of hosts, the mount Zion”.

I believe “the present” that is spoken of here is the first fruit of the Summer wheat harvest because it shows that the present/first fruit is brought during the Summer. The above and nature demands an understanding of Leviticus 23:16 to mean 50 days after the seventh Sabbath complete.

(g) Jeremiah 8: 20: “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”

This verse shows that the harvest was in the Summer NOT Spring because it does not say the harvest is past and Spring is ended. This proves, once again, that it is a Summer harvest not a Spring harvest.

(h) Jeremiah 40:10-12: “As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah to serve the Chaldeans, which will come unto us: but ye, gather ye WINE, and SUMMER FRUIT, and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that ye have taken. 11 Likewise when all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the Ammonites, and in Edom, and that were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan; 12 Even all the Jews returned out of all places whither they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, unto Mizpah, and gathered WINE AND SUMMER FRUITS VERY MUCH.”

Notice the wine/grapes and the Summer fruit/wheat is in the Summer time and not the Springtime. By the way, in Jeremiah 39:2 it explains that this was in the fourth month when the people harvested these crops -- notice:

"In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the city was penetrated."

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www.hope-of-israel.org

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