Written and Compiled by
Keith Hunt
We saw in part one of this specific study that the arguments
presented by some from Joshua 5 are simply NOT there, either in
Joshua five itself nor in other parts of the books of Moses. We
saw that Israel would not have been out gathering in the barley
harvest from a land they had not yet entered to conquer let alone
live in and plant seed for them to then harvest later.
We saw it was NOT their harvest in the first place that was
standing in the fields. We saw that Israel would have needed OLD
grain from the previous year, and from which they themselves
had stored from buying it from others, so they could have baked
UNleavened Bread to eat with the Passover, which always comes
BEFORE any Wave Sheaf offering. We saw that no harvesting of any
grain could be accomplished or started, before the Wave Sheaf
offering had been offered of that new grain. And we saw that that
law of the Wave Sheaf was for when they had entered and settled
the land, had planted their own crop and were harvesting their
own crop.
All of this and the relevant Scriptures proclaiming these
truths we looked at in the first article on this specific
question and study. Yet, there is MORE to see and note and
examine regarding the importance of God's instructions to Israel
in regards to the physical grains etc. that were to be offered to
God as pertaining to the whole Tabernacle/Priesthood/Sacrificial
system.
The following study article by Paul Yoos will go over a few
things we have already covered in part one, but will add other
important points we need to mark and remember as to the
laws of God regarding many of the physical aspects of the
offerings and sacrifices brought before the Lord. I will add some
additional comments as we proceed. All capital lettering for
emphasis is mine.
Joshua Chapter Five and Wavesheaf Day
"All the Churches of God calculate the day on which to
observe Pentecost by first determining which day is to be
considered the Wavesheaf Day......." (Mr.Yoos then reiterates
somewhat the argument presented by Gerald Flurry that we looked
at and answered in the first part of this study - Keith Hunt).
"Those who follow this interpretation (Flurry's, as we saw
in part one - Keith Hunt) of Joshua 5: 10-11 believe that
therefore it is correct to use the Sunday during the Days of
Unleavened Bread as a reference point (the Sunday that starts the
Feast of Unleavened Bread when the Passover Day is on a Saturday
- Keith Hunt), instead of the Sunday which follows the SABBATH
during the Days of Unleavened Bread, in the determination of the
Wavesheaf Day.
Does scripture support this 20th century interpretation?
(The Sadducees priestly sect, who go back about a few hundred
years B.C time, never taught this idea, hence that is why he
states "Does scripture support this 20th century interpretation?"
- Keith Hunt).......
Some also ASSUME that the 'old corn' is actually NEW grain
that the Israelites harvested for THEMSELVES on the 15th of
Nisan, an ANNUAL SABBATH. Not only do the Israelites supposedly
reap the NEW grain (cutting it free with a sickle), but they also
THRESH it (loosening the grain from the husk), WINNOW it (sifting
the grain from the straw and chaff), GRIND IT into flour , then
KNEAD the dough with many gallons of water which is brought
from the wells, and finally BAKE it into cakes over FIRES made
with wood that they gather."
(The waving of the Wavesheaf signified that the first
cutting of the new harvest was accepted by God and as soon as
that was done the people could start to harvest the new grain.
This is clearly what is taught in the books of Moses. No new
grain harvest could be harvested UNTIL the Wavesheaf had been
offered, then it was understood that harvesting could begin.
nothing is ever said in the books of Moses about there being an
exception to this law of God. Hence that law found always require
that the Wavesheaf Day was a common work day, and that the
Wavesheaf Day would then NEVER be on ANY Sabbath. To think that
the Israelites started to harvest and bake unleavened bread on
the 15th of Nisan, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened
Bread, an annual Sabbath day, is totally illogical to put it
nicely and absolutely ludicrous and preposterous thinking to put
it bluntly - Keith Hunt).
"Joshua 4: 12-13 tells us that, '40,000 men of war,' from
the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the one-half tribe of Manasseh,
led the children of Israel westward over the Jordan River. A
census of the men of war was taken prior to the crossing of the
Jordan river, '....from twenty years old and upward....all that
are able to go to war in Israel...in the plains of Moab by Jordan
near Jericho' (Numbers 26: 2-4).
Chapter 26 of Numbers details the number of men of war from
each tribe: a total of 601,730 men (verse 51). The Levites are
counted separately; all the males from one month old and upward
total 23,00 (verse 62). No males from the other 12 tribes,
younger than 20 years of age, are counted. If we were to only
DOUBLE the number that represented the numbered MALES, i.e.,
624,730, we would have over a million children of Israel who
crossed over the Jordan River. MANY ACRES of standing grain would
have needed to be REAPED to feed all these people. All this was
SUPPOSEDLY done on a SABBATH DAY (i.e., the first Day of
Unleavened Bread)....."
(I think Mr. Yoos is being VERY generous with his numbers.
You must remember that no counting of FEMALE children is
included. I think we could easily say there were OVER two
million, maybe up to three million or even more, in Israel from
the age of 20 and under. Families back then tended to have more
than one or two children. Take into account the widows, and
those above the age of "war" together with all the elderly, you
probably had a people of many millions. Again, to think that they
would have gone out harvesting on the annual Sabbath of the
15th to feed all these people with unleavened bread for that day,
or for any day of that UB feast, just blows by mind to blubber.
And to think those who had planted that harvest, the inhabitants
of the land, just sat there and allowed them to do it without
ambushing them, is not being realistic. Besides all that when you
are going in to conquer a people, one of the last things on
your mind is to harvest the standing grain in the fields. Old
grain in the storage sheds is much easier to use and much less
work. When you have conquered the people in a city it is much
simpler to use the grain already there and in storage from
previous harvests, than worry about harvesting new grain as well
as fighting battles of war - Keith Hunt).
" .......We can ascertain what DAY of the MONTH of Nisan
this 'Passover' mentioned in Joshua 5: 10-12 is, but we do NOT
SEE EVEN A HINT AS TO WHAT DAY OF THE WEEK THIS MIGHT BE.......
Verses 10, 11, and 12 of Joshua 5 tells us that the
Israelites kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread, starting with the
beginning of the 15th of Nisan, by EATING MANNA (also from the
old corn or grain they had unleavened bread on that day also -
Keith Hunt). They continued .....by preparing and eating
unleavened cakes and parched corn. They used the 'old corn'
(Strong's #5669) confiscated from the storage places of the
already captured cities on the east side of Jordan....."
(Yes, let us remember Israel had already conquered people
and land on the East side of Jordan , and so had old grain from
the old harvest to observe this Passover with unleavened
bread as commanded by the Lord, and also the 7 days of the
Unleavened Bread feast with unleavened bread. The manna ended and
ceased on the morrow AFTER they had eaten of the old grain, and
they ate the old grain the day after the Passover day. The manna
ceased on the 16th day. Yes they used old grain for unleavened
bread at the start of the feast of Unleavened Bread, which was
the day after the Passover day, the 15th, just as they had used
old grain for the unleavened bread that was commanded to be eaten
with the Passover meal on the 14th day - Keith Hunt).
"This Hebrew term translated 'old corn' is used only here
in Joshua 5. It does not appear anywhere else in the Old
Testament. The word translated 'fruit of the land' or 'increase'
or 'fruit' is an entirely DIFFERENT word. It is identified as
Strong's Hebrew Dictionary number 8393.
Leviticus 23: 10 does NOT require the Israelites to offer a
Wavesheaf BEFORE they eat this 'old corn.' In addition, the
non-Israelitish inhabitants of the land, and not the invading
Israelites, had harvested this 'old corn,' so it could not be
called 'your harvest' as Leviticus 23:10 requires to be true
BEFORE a Wavesheaf is necessary.
In Exodus 23:16 God defines what He means by "your harvest."
Verse 16 reads: "And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of
YOUR LABORS, which YOU HAVE SOWN in the field: and the feast of
ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when YOU have
gathered in YOUR LABOURS out of the field......."
(Here once more we should be able to see that NONE of this
was in place in Joshua 5. The Israelites HAD NOT yet inherited
the land, they had still to go over Jordan to conquer the
land on the west side of Jordan. We see from reading the book of
Joshua that the two and one half tribes that had inherited the
east side of Jordan were to go with, those of fighting age, the
rest of the tribes to help them fight and settle the west side of
Jordan. Planting and harvesting was one of the last things on
their mind at this time. So they did indeed eat of the old corn,
and the fruit of the land that year. They lived off the land as
we say. The conditions for offering a Wavesheaf were simply not
in place - Keith Hunt).
To continue with the article by Mr. Yoos:
".......In fact, the Israelites could not have chosen to
have a Wavesheaf offering; it would have been illegal for them to
do so. Would SOMEONE ELSE'S harvest be ACCEPTABLE as an
Israelite's Wavesheaf offering? NOT TO GOD! Notice His clear
command in Leviticus 22:24-25: 'You shall NOT offer unto the
Lord that which is bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut;
neither shall you make ANY OFFERING thereof in your hand. Neither
from a STRANGER'S hand shall you offer the bread of your God of
any of these; because their CORRUPTION is in them, and blemishes
be in them: they SHALL NOT be acceptable for you"
(Some, by reading the modern translation, would want to
argue that this is only talking about "animals" and not grain.
But the same principle and law is not really any different for
the one as for the other. For a holy God, to want to make Israel
His holy people, then it is only logical sense that His holy food
would need be ONLY coming from a holy people who have planted and
harvested grain, in accordance to the holy laws laid down by a
holy God to a holy people. But for the people of Israel to simply
eat from the land, as for everyday living, which was not going to
be offered in a religious ceremony offering way to God, for His
food, would be a totally different matter. We read in the first
chapters of Deuteronomy that Israel did at times, buy food, meat,
from other nations, see Deut.2:28, hence possibly not that pure,
corrupted and blemished, but it was for daily eating consumption,
not for religious sacrifice and offering of food to God. The
principle is that which we find in Deut.14:21, 'You shall not eat
of any thing that dies of itself: you shall give it unto the
stranger that is in your gates, that he may eat it; or you may
sell it unto an alien: for you are an holy people unto the Lord
your God.....' God would allow Israel to eat of the stranger's
animals, grain, fruits etc. but He was too holy to accept any
of the stranger's produce as food for Himself through Israel's
religious tabernacle offerings - Keith Hunt).
Continuing with Paul Yoos' article:
"......Let us look at the requirements of the Wavesheaf
offering. What were the Israelites actually commanded to do on
Wavesheaf Day? Leviticus 23:10-13 says: 'Speak unto the
children of Israel, and say unto them, When you be come into the
land which I give unto you, and you shall reap the harvest
thereof, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of YOUR
HARVEST unto the priest: And you shall wave the sheaf before the
Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the Sabbath the
priest shall wave it. And you shall OFFER that day when you wave
the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a
BURNT offering into the Lord. And the MEAT(meal) offering thereof
shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an
offering made by FIRE unto the Lord for a sweet savour: and the
DRINK offering thereof shall be of WINE, the fourth part of an
hin.'
This offering, the male lamb and its accompanying meat
offering (i.e., grain), mingled with oil, needs an ALTAR upon
which to be BURNT. NO ALTAR WAS BUILT UNTIL AFTER THE
DESTRUCTION OF THE CITIES OF JERICHO, ALI, AND BETHEL as detailed
in Joshua chapters 6,7, and 8. Only in Joshua 8:30 are we told
that an altar is finally erected, according the instructions
given by Moses with the elders to the people of Israel (Deut. 27:
1-6).
No other altar was erected before that time. Deuteronomy
12:13-14 tells us WHERE offerings may be brought: 'Take heed to
thyself that you offer NOT your burnt offerings in EVERY PLACE
that you see: But in the place which the Lord shall chooses in
one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings,
and there you shall DO ALL that I command you.' Deuteronomy 26:2
repeats this requirement."
(All this is VERY IMPORTANT to note, for most of the
SACRIFICIAL Priesthood system was "put on hold" and suspended for
the duration of the 40 years wandering around in the desert. It
was not UNTIL they had gone OVER Jordan and settled somewhat the
land, that an altar and burnt offerings and all the laws
concerning such offerings were to be followed in all their
details as given by God through Moses. All those conditions were
not yet in place in the situation of Joshua chapter 5, hence no
wavesheaf offering and all that was to accompany it would have
taken place. Those who try to explain that a wavesheaf did take
place in Joshua 5 are not only reading into those verses
something that is clearly NOT stated, but are rejecting other
parts of the laws of Moses that would plainly teach the exact
OPPOSITE is true. This, together with the fact that NO DAYS of
the week are mentioned in Joshua 5, make such reasonings merely
human conjectures to try and prove that what has become only the
TRADITION of a certain sect of the Festival keeping Churches of
God, is somehow divinely inspired and part of the laws of the
Lord - Keith Hunt).
Continuing with the study by Yoos:
"What confirmation do we have that this altar was indeed
the FIRST altar built by the Israelites AFTER they crossed over
the Jordan River? Joshua 22: 10-29 shows the war that almost
erupted between Reuben, God, and the 1/2 tribe of Manasseh, when
the other Israelites thought that the altar, which Reuben, Gad,
and the 1/2 tribe of Manasseh had erected, was to serve as an
ALTERNATIVE place for burnt, meat or peace offerings (verses 27,
28, 29 and 34).
This altar would NOT serve as a location for such offerings.
It was to serve ONLY as a WITNESS. If someone else had attempted
to build another altar to serve as a location for offerings to be
burnt, a serious conflict would have erupted at that time." (This
is also an important point of proof that all Israel knew that no
tribe or group of people could just decide to start to institute
the sacrificial laws, including all as we have seen that was to
accompany the wave sheaf offering, where and whenever they
desired. All such laws had to commence only when all the
conditions were in place as given by the laws of Moses, and the
wave sheaf offering was to come from Israel's own planting and
harvesting of their own crops, when they had inherited and
settled the land - Keith Hunt)........
"At what point did the Israelites cease their WAR-MAKING
activities and begin to put down ROOTS in the land? They did not
FORMALLY receive a tribal inheritance until Joshua 14. Numbers
32:18-32 shows that Reuben, God, and the 1/2 tribe of Manasseh
only CONDITIONALLY received their inheritance BEFORE the other
tribes received theirs. In Joshua 22:1-4, these 2-1/2 tribes are
shown to have fulfilled their obligations TO FIGHT ALONGSIDE
their brethren, AFTER they subdued the land on the WEST side of
the Jordan.
In Joshua 21: 43-45 and Joshua 22: 1-4 we see that THEN all
the tribes have REST and could cease their war-making activities
and begin to CULTIVATE the land. It is only THEN that the
Israelites were both REQUIRED and PERMITTED to fulfil all the
commands of God concerning OFFERINGS, as detailed in Deuteronomy
12.
Cabel of the tribe of Judah is the FIRST to receive his
inheritance (Joshua 14:6), while the soon-to-be expelled
inhabitants still control it. Chapter 14 through 22 describes how
the land in the WEST side of the Jordan is subdued and divided
among the tribes. By this time, they have spent SIX years in the
Promised land. How do we KNOW that it has taken so long for them
to inherit the land? In Joshua 14:7, Cabel says he was 40 years
old when he spied out the land before the 40 years of wandering
in the wilderness. Numbers 9:1, 10:11, 13:2 tell us that the
Promised Land was searched in the SECOND year of the Israelites'
sojourn in the wilderness.
Thirty-nine years later they entered the Promised Land. In
Joshua 14:10 Cabel is 45 years older than he was when he spied
out the land; he is now 85 years old. He and the others have now
been in the land for SIX years, and 'yet there remained among the
children of Israel SEVEN tribes, which had not YET RECEIVED their
inheritance' (Joshua 18:2).
So even at this time, the Israelites were not fully settled
in the land. GOD HAD PREDICTED IT WOULD BE A SLOW PROCESS, as
Exodus 23:29-30 tells us: 'I will NOT drive them out before you
in ONE YEAR; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the
field multiply against you. BY LITTLE AND LITTLE I will drive
them out from before you, UNTIL you be INCREASED, and INHERIT the
land.' "
(What we see written here in Ex.23: 29-30 is very important
for it clearly tells us that God never intended the people of
Israel to inherit and settle the land in a few months after
entering the land of promise. It was not even God's intention to
have them settle the land in one year! The Lord did not state
anywhere in any specific time period for Israel to fully inherit
the land. We have seen that when that time did come to start to
enter and settle the land under Joshua, that it took a number of
years before it was all accomplished. There was much moving
and fighting that the tribes had to do before the land was under
their control. God views time much different than we do. Five or
more years to us can be a long time, but to God it is less than
the blinking of an eye. Only after all of Israel had inherited
their portions of the promised land did they rest to settle it,
to plant crops, to harvest their own crops, and to then establish
ALL the sacrificial rituals of the grain and animal sacrifices as
specifically laid down and commanded in the laws and books of
Moses - Keith Hunt).
I finish Mr.Yoos' study with these two paragraphs:
"The Wavesheaf offering also needed OIL and WINE offered
with it. The word 'oil' does not even appear in the book of
Joshua. The word 'wine' appears only in Joshua 9: 13-14, but in
this account it is the property of non-Israelites. As we already
noticed in Leviticus 22: 24-25, the product of a STRANGER'S
harvest would NOT be acceptable as an offering to God.
As has been detailed in this essay, some of the churches of
God use Joshua 5 to support a belief that can only be supported
if the words of Scripture are twisted out of their plain
meaning. Verses 10, 11, and 12 DO NOT STATE that either a
HARVEST or a WAVESHEAF offering occurred. These verses cannot be
used to support using Sunday during the Days of Unleavened Bread,
instead of the 'morrow after the Sabbath' during the Days of
Unleavened Bread, as both the beginning of the count towards
Pentecost and as the Wavesheaf Day......"
First of Firstfruits Typology
Let me finish this second study on this aspect of counting
to Pentecost by once more making this point of Firstfruits
Typology very clear. Many will write pages and pages on trying
to prove that the Firstfruits Wavesheaf MUST be during the days
of the 7 days of the feast of Unleavened Bread. They will tell
you correctly that the Wavesheaf represented the risen Christ
ascending to God the Father on that first day of the week after
His resurrection. They will wax eloquent with words of this sort
or another sort, this typology or that typology, this analogy and
that analogy, to try and prove to you that the Wavesheaf must be
during the days of the feast of Unleavened Bread. Yet, the plain
truth is that NOT ONE WORD in the entire Bible tells us that
the Wavesheaf offering HAD TO BE during the Unleavened Bread
feast.
I have proved in an earlier study that the key to counting
to Pentecost is the SABBATH, and after that Sabbath (that many
Jewish sects in Christ's time and even today could not and
cannot agree on as to what Sabbath this is talking about. Only by
putting all the Scriptures together on the subject and by the
example of Christ's death and resurrection in the Gospels can
the answer to found) then the Wavesheaf offering was to be made.
The argument of differences between the Jewish sects of Jesus'
time was over the SABBATH, which one was it? Was it the
first high day Sabbath of the 15th of the first month, was it the
last Sabbath of the 21st of the first month, was it the weekly
Sabbath immediately after the feast of Unleavened Bread was over,
or was it the weekly Sabbath that was within the days of the
Unleavened Bread feast? Which was "the Sabbath"? There are
Jewish sects to this very day that teach one of the above is the
correct Sabbath, and then after that Sabbath you were to offer
the Wavesheaf offering. But, they all agreed the key was the
SABBATH, not the typology of the Wavesheaf, for they did not see
that the first of the firstfruits wavesheaf offering was
typifying the Messiah. They only saw it as the celebration of the
new harvest now to be started.
Jesus gave the answer as to WHICH Sabbath. He was
resurrected very shortly AFTER the WEEKLY Sabbath (see my studies
on that new found truth) that fell DURING the feast of
Unleavened Bread, and was presented to the Father that Sunday
morning after the weekly Sabbath that was within the 7 days of
the feast of UB.
Now, some as I've said will write pages to try and prove the
Wavesheaf must be during the feast of Unleavened Bread. They will
say that as it represents Christ then surely it must be presented
during a feast of God. They cannot give Scripture proof to you as
there is none. They can only give you their fancy human arguments
and humanly thought up typology or analogy or plain human
reasonings. But the simple fact is that NOT ONE verses anywhere
in the word of God says that the Wavesheaf offering always had to
be WITHIN the feast of Unleavened Bread.
Now, let me use my human reasoning and some typology I could
use out of the thoughts of my own mind. I will show you that
anyone can use typology from their own heart to say
anything they want to say or teach.
The Days of Unleavened Bread are days that we are to
unleaven our lives, put away sin, put in righteousness, come out
of sin, cast it away, be clean and pure, and walk away from sin.
Most feast observing Churches of God understand this is what the
feast of UB teaches us. Now, I could go one step further and say
that by typology, as the Wavesheaf was taken from Barley
grain, and as Barley grain is very pure and wholesome (see the
study called Barley Harvest People) and so in a sense, sinless.
As the Barley firstfruits represents Christ, and as He certainly
was sinless, only perfect wholesome righteousness without sin,
then the offering of the sinless and perfect first of the
firstfruits Wavesheaf should be made NOT during a feast of sin
and putting out sin, a feast picturing putting away sin, but
should be made immediately AFTER the feast which is a feast of
reminding us of sin, as Jesus had nothing to do with sin, for He
was utterly sinless, and needed no reminder each year to put out
sin.
Yes, I could argue from human thought typology that the
Wavesheaf of the righteous and sinless Christ should have nothing
to do with a feast that reminds us of sin, that we are sinners,
that we need to be constantly getting it out of our lives and
walking in the ways of righteousness.
Jesus had no need of such yearly feast reminder, for He
never was a sinner at any time, hence the Wavesheaf would better
be offered OUTSIDE the feast of sin reminder, as He had no need
to be reminded that He was a sinner. So perfect righteousness
should be offered outside of a feast dedicated to remind us of
sin and getting rid of it.
Well I could typology argue from that point of view, while
others argue from another point of view, which is all human
points of view in the first place, one probably being no better
than the other.
The SABBATH is the key, just as all the Jewish sects
understood it was. I have proved elsewhere that the Sabbath is
the WEEKLY Sabbath that falls within the 7 days of the feast of
Unleavened Bread. There is EVER only ONE weekly Sabbath during
any feast of UB. Find that weekly Sabbath in any UB feast, be it
near the beginning, during the middle, or near the end, or
even at the very end of the feast, and then the very next day,
which will always then be a Sunday, and you will have found the
Wavesheaf day. From that day, with that day, as day number one,
you start to count 50 days. You will go 7 weekly Sabbaths as 49
days, and the day after that 49th day is the 50th day, the very
feast of Firstfruits or Pentecost, always a Sunday, the first day
of the week to be reminded of the first of the firstfruits. Jesus
being the first of the firstfruits to rise from the dead to
immortal life, and we Christians, children of God, from Adam
to the coming in glory of Christ, being the remaining
first-fruits of the first harvest unto God the Father. When the
last trumpet shall sound and the dead in Christ shall rise and we
which remain alive shall be changed, and both shall be caught up
in the air, to meet the Lord in the clouds, and so shall we ever
be with Him. Amen!
....................................
Written July 2000
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