Sunday, May 25, 2025

PENTECOST— NOT ON SIVAN 6

 

William Dankenbring's Pentecost - Sivan 6th:

An Answer by Keith Hunt

                                                                   
     I am putting aside all work (this was in 1987 when I was
publishing and editing "The Truth of the Matter" magazine (which
I did for 7 years, 1987 to 1994) to answer the recent arguments
by Mr.William Dankenbring that we should be observing the day of
Pentecost on Sivan 6th with many of the Jews. Not ALL of
Dankenbring's arguments will be answered in this article, but the
foundational one will be. Others must wait for future writings.
Most of  Mr. D's arguments are NOT new to me - I encountered most
of them some years ago in my in-depth study into the question of 
WHEN the feast of Pentecost should be observed.

     I will tell the reader and searcher for God 's truth on this
matter that the truth of the matter is not what  W.D. wants you
to believe! I will tell you right up front - Dankenbring IS
IN TOTAL  ERROR! This I tell you not out of some casual reading
of Mr.D's articles and some emotional reaction, but because I
have deeply studied the subject and can see at a glance where
William D. has jumped the track of sound research and study.

     I am finding as I read more and more of Dankenbring's paper
"Prophecy Flash" a man I believe thinks he is 100% correct in AIL that he
teaches - that God is dealing with him in some special way above
all other ministers of God, if he even believes there are any
other ministers of God besides himself. Well, now the time has
come for Mr. D to be stripped of his ostentatious, pretentious,
presumptuous, egotistic, grandiose and vainglorious put on.

     First, let's hear from William D. as he writes about those
who would "judge" him:


PROPHECY FLASH
            
A Newsletter of insight and understanding of Biblical prophecy
for our time


Volume 2, Number 10                        December 25, 1988

The Smoke Clears

Pentecost - the Truth Revealed

              The time has come to answer the few remaining
questions a few people have regarding the right day to observe
the feast of Pentecost -- and to expose the fallacious errors of
those who stubbornly cling to error.  Let's be HONEST with the
truth of GOD!

                       William F. Dankenbring
       
                                    
After reading my articles on Pentecost, several have written to
me expressing their thanks and gratitude for God's new revelation
of the truth.  A few, however, have taken snipe shots at the
new truth God has revealed, and, their feet permanently planted
in concrete, refuse to budge on this vital issue of obedience to
the law of God.  Some have even issued "personal attacks," 
not aimed at disproving the truth but attacks on me, and the
articles I have written.  When they cannot face the truth, they
resort to the time-tested ploy of finding fault with the
messenger, or the wrapping, or other extraneous issues.
                                    
For shame! If  God sent a messenger to you with a priceless gift,
wrapped in a plain brown wrapper,  would you turn up your nose at
the package and discard it, simply because it came in a plain
brown wrapper, which you found offensive?

Personalities, and writing styles aside, shouldn't we focus on
the main issues, and not criticize extraneous subjects, such as
writing style, alleged "sensationalism," and "typographical
errors"?  What would Jesus think if He were peering over your
shoulder, as you took "potshots" at His revealed truth, and
attacked it indirectly by criticizing the packaging material,
wrappings and its "price"?

Self-righteous people have always looked down their noses at
others, whom they wish to put down, by making vicious, spiteful
little "put downs," innuendoes, and derogatory, disparaging
comments about "personal" things --such as their dress, hair
style, shoes, the car they drive, mannerisms, etc.  What is the
difference between that sort of behavior and attacking a sincere
servant of God by accusing him of charging for articles, too many
typographical errors, sensationalism, and going out on a limb?

Comment (Keith Hunt): 
Now,  Mr. Dankenbring, let it be known clearly by you and all who
read this article. I am not interested in how you dress, one
black shoe and one brown shoe - what hair style you have - what
car you have - or if you bite your nails, or fidget when you
speak. I could care less if you have too many typographical
errors in your paper, or if you are the world's poorest
speller, or if your sentence structure leaves something to be
desired. I am interested in your Biblical theology - what you are
teaching to others as the truth of God. For that (your teachings)
I will put you to the acid test.  I will "judge" you Mr. D, but I
hope to do it as Jesus said, "Judge righteous judgment."  I will
test you by the greatest test machine ever given to man,  God's
Holy WORD!
I have never met you William D. I have never ever seen you. I do
not know what you look like - you could have one green eye and
one red eye for all I know about your looks. I do not know how
old you are or what kind of a voice you have. I have never heard
you speak.
None of the above matters to me. What you write and teach others
as the truth of the matter DOES MATTER TO ME! You write as if
everything that comes from your pen is God breathed and inspired
of the Lord, but I find you to be in total error on many things
that you claim is "God's revelation of the truth."  Many people
are writing to me about the things you are teaching - many are
being led to believe you are correct although they admit they are
not very good at deep Bible research.
God has given to me the ability to do deep Bible study and find
the truth of the matter on those things that count, and COUNTING
Pentecost correctly does matter. It is time to reveal your errors
and set free those whom you would entangle with clever sounding
words.
Answer this Mr. D. Why do you publish so many letters that praise
you so? Is it not to continue to stoke and pamper your vain ego.
I do not mince my words with you WD - you are a pompous FALSE
PROPHET whose false teachings must be exposed for what they are -
HERESY!

THE TRUNK OF THE TREE ARGUMENT - Dankenbring writes:

People who are studying into the Pentecost question have asked me
for more information about the "sabbath" in Leviticus 23:15-18. 
In my articles I mention that the word can also be translated
"week."  Some have asked me for more proof, and clarification on
this point.

I appreciate their questions very much3 and will answer them as
best I can.  I think you will find the answer very revealing and
even astonishing when you see how others have been tripped up and
have fallen on this very point.  Much as king Saul fell on his
own sword, and was mortally wounded in the process, so some have
fallen on this one Hebrew word, and have mortally wounded
themselves in the resulting accident.

Notice.  God tells Moses and the children of Israel. "And ye
shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the
day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven
sabbaths shall be complete:  Even unto the morrow after the
seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days" (Lev. 23:15-18).

What about this word "sabbath" and "sabbaths"?  In the Hebrew it
is the word shabbath.  Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the
Old Testament defines this word as "to rest, to keep as a day of
rest (to sit down, or sit still); to cease, to desist, to leave
off; to celebrate the sabbath; the sabbath; and, perhaps a week,
like the Syrian and Greek (Matt.28:l)  Lev.23:15; compare
Deut.16:9."

PROPHECY FLASH VOL.2, #10


Comment (Keith Hunt): 
I want the reader to note very carefully here, Mr. D. MUST HAVE
YOU believe that the word "sabbath" in Lev.23:15-16 should be
understood as "WEEK."  It is crucial - for WFD to himself
believe, and have YOU believe the Hebrew word for "sabbath" can
mean WEEK! If this theory can be shown to be in total error then
Dankenbring's argument for a Sivan 6th Pentecost FALLS LIKE  A
HOUSE OF CARDS! His idea crumbles like a sand castle washed
away by the tide of the sea. All his other arguments are
WORTHLESS and USELESS if he cannot maintain the teaching that the
Hebrew word "sabbath" can also mean WEEK. And he must also
convince you that even if that Hebrew word could have a double
meaning (which I will prove to you that it does not) then it
aught to be translated in Lev.23:15-16 as "week" and not as
"sabbath", and that opinion could be up for grabs.

I shall now show you the truth of the matter regards this Hebrew
word. It is very clear to those who will search for it.
Dankenbring did not do his homework, and so he has fallen into
the very trap and snare he accuses others of falling into. It is
WFD who has fallen on the sword of king Saul and has mortally
wounded himself, and sad to say some others who have
been bewitched by his scholastic sounding words.
     
Remember - disprove Mr. D at this point and his foundation is as
quicksand and all the rest of his words are vain ramblings.

WFD quotes from GESENIUS' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the OT(Old
Testament) to give his readers the "proof" that the Hebrew word
for "sabbath" can mean also "week."  I want the reader to note
carefully the wording of this Lexicon - it says, "perhaps a week,
like the Syrian and Greek....."
Did you catch it? Did you see it? It says, "PERHAPS a week...."
Perhaps is not definite, does not mean sure - perhaps does not
imply CERTAINTY! Perhaps means MAYBE!!
Perhaps means POSSIBLY it is so, but possibly it is NOT SO! Well
friends,  I will show you that Gesenius'  "perhaps" is WRONG, 
and if Gesenius had been willing to spend a little more time and
effort in researching this Hebrew word as used in the OT he would
never have even entered his phrase "perhaps a week" in his
Lexicon.

I have written before  about so called "scholars" of this or that
learning. I have told you not to be afraid of them - do not
tremble before them - do not think that they are infallible
little gods. Some may think they are the king-pin of the
Hollywood scholastic circle but in the word "infallible" is the
word "fall."  I have told you before how "behind closed doors"
and sometimes not so closed, but in open magazines, these same
"scholars" verbally pull each other's hair, scratch each other's
eyes out, kick each other and punch one another as they disagree
among themselves.

Concerning this Hebrew word, remember it is HEBREW we are dealing
with - OT  Hebrew at that and not modern Hebrew. What the Svrian
or Greek languages do is not the Hebrew. Do not get led off with
people clouding the issue at hand by leading you off into what
the Greek or Syrian may say about how they use their word for
"sabbath."  It is the OT Hebrew that counts - the language that
Lev.23 was written in that will clear the smoke.

Now,  let' s go to TWO other famous Lexicons - probably more
famous and better used than Gesenius', and we shall see what they
have to say about this Hebrew word for "sabbath."

STRONG'S CONCORDANCE OF THE BIBLE:

7673.....SHABATH.....a prim. root; to repose, i.e. desist from
exertion......cease.......

Strong gives NOT ONE WORD about this Hebrew word also meaning
"week."


THEOLOGICAL WORDBOOK OF THE OT:

Shabat   cease, desist, rest...cessation...Sabbath...keep the
sabbath.....Sabbath observance......

The above work has much to say about this word, BUT NOWHERE does
it claim this word can also mean "week."
Not one word in this respected and popular Lexicon to say that
the Hebrew word for "sabbath" can also mean "week."  I guess not!

The scholars writing in that work had done their homework well -
they knew that there was no justification WHATSOEVER for anyone
to teach or believe or theorize that this Hebrew word as used
throughout the OT can mean "week" or that it should be so
translated ANYWHERE in the OT as "week."

Sure, some Hebrew words have and are used in the OT with more
than one meaning or shade of meaning, that's why the scholars at
times argue among themselves as to how a word should be
translated. But with the Hebrew word in question there should be
NO argument, not even a "perhaps." Why am I so sure about this? I
will tell you and show you. By  looking at EVERY PLACE in the OT
where a certain word is used - looking at the context it is used
in - will tell you if the word should be understood to have MORE
than one meaning,  something like how we use the English word
"present."  This English word can mean you are present with
someone at a dinner,  or it can mean you received a present or
gift for your birthday.
There is a Bible concordance that gives you every Hebrew word in
the OT and EVERY PLACE  it is used. It is called  THE
ENGLISHMAN'S HEBREW-CHALDEE CONCORDANCE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.

On page 1235 of the above Englishman's Concordance EVERY place
where this Hebrew word "shabbath" is used in the OT is listed. 
You can look up each verse and the context of the verse. 

Then you can try putting the word "week" in place of the word
"sabbath" in any of those passages of Scripture and see if it
"fits" or makes any sense.  I say IT DOES NOT!

Take Exodus 16:23, "the rest of the holy WEEK."  The single ONE
day - the 7th day is here being spoken about as the holy rest day
to the Lord, not some holy "week."

Look at Exodus 16:26, "the seventh day which is the WEEK......" 
No way!  What about verse 29,  "the Lord has given you the
WEEK....."  How ridiculous!

Then take Exodus 20 and the fourth commandment and put in the
word "week" instead of "Sabbath" and see how silly it becomes. 
"Remember the WEEK.....the WEEK of the Lord your God.....the Lord
blessed the WEEK day......"

Go to Leviticus 25:6 and do the same, "the WEEK of the land shall
be....."  and so with Lev.26:43,  "The land....shall enjoy her
WEEKS......"
Try the same thing with Deut.5:12,  "Keep the WEEK day....."   Go
to Isaiah 56 and 58 and do the same,  "keeps the WEEK from
polluting it.....the eunuchs that keep my WEEKS....everyone that
keeps the WEEK.....turn away your foot from the WEEK.....call the
WEEK a delight....."

How about Jeremiah 17:21,  "bear no burden on the WEEK day...." 
and verse 22,  "hallow you the WEEK day...."

THERE IS NOT ONE PLACE IN THE ENTIRE OT WHERE THE HEBREW WORD FOR
"SABBATH" SHOULD BE UNDERSTOOD OR TRANSLATED ANY DIFFERENT THAN
WHAT IT MEANS - SABBATH, TO REPOSE, DESIST, CEASE, REST.


There is not one place in the OT where the Hebrew for "sabbath"
should not be understood as referring to a holy 24 hour day or a
holy one year rest for the land. Few would ever think of
translating this Hebrew word other than Sabbath in all passages
listed by the Englishman's Concordance, except in Lev.23:15,16
and that only to try to uphold their Sivan 6th Pentecost idea.
And there they must leave the natural and only meaning for this
word as shown by all other verses where this word is used in the
OT, and force a meaning into it - a meaning it never has anywhere
else - to say it means here in Lev.23:15 "WEEK." This is the
height of semantic folly.

It is then,  no wonder that the well respected and famous
Lexicons of STRONG'S and THE THEOLOGICAL WORDBOOK never even
mentioned as a possibility,  this Hebrew word could mean "week." 
They knew that such an idea was completely unfounded by the
Scriptures and the use of this word in the OT. Why they never
entertained even the thought of a "perhaps" as did Gesenius.

Perhaps Gesenius was barking up the wrong tree - maybe the same
tree that Dankenbring has found himself barking at. They and many
Jews and others have put themselves on a limb that cannot stand
the weight of Scripture. God saw to it that ancient Biblical
Hebrew had a word for "sabbath" that never, EVER means "week." 
And in so doing no confusion could arise in understanding
Lev.23:15,16. The small child could understand.  The  great feast
of FIRSTFRUITS or Pentecost, will always be on the day after the
7th - always on a SUNDAY or the first day.


DANKENBRING'S TRANSLATIONS. He writes:

Notice.  In the verses in question, this word appears three times
-- "sabbath," "sabbaths," and "sabbath."  Now take a look at how
different translators have rendered this word in their English
translations.

The New American Bible has it:  "Beginning with the day after the
sabbath, the day on which you bring the wave-offering sheaf, you
shall count seven full WEEKS, and then on the day after the
seventh WEEK, the fiftieth day,  you shall present the new cereal
offering to the Lord,"

How clear that shabbath can be translated "week," and the plural
form, "weeks.

Other evidence for this translation of "weeks" can be found in
many English versions of the Bible. The Modern Language Bible in
The Layman's Parallel Bible translates the word "sabbaths" in
Leviticus 23:15 as  "week" 

The Moffatt translation of the Bible also renders "sabbaths" as
"weeks" in Leviticus 23:15.  So does the Revised Standard
Version.  The Jerusalem Bible follows suit, and so does the
New English Bible and the Goodspeed translation.  In addition,
the Good News Bible has "weeks," and  Amplified Bible. The
Companion Bible points out that the  "seven sabbaths" of verse 15
means "Seven weeks." It says to compare Matthew 28:1 and Luke
18:12, where in the Greek language "sabbath" also means "week."

At least four English translations render the words in the King
James Version ("sabbath," "sabbaths," "sabbath") as "sabbath,"
"WEEKS," "WEEK."  They are The New American Bible. the Douay
Version.  the Septuagint Version, and the Holy Scriptures (Jewish
version),

The Jewish Scriptures, in fact, have this crucial verse as
follows:  "Seven WEEKS shall there be complete; even unto the
morrow after the seventh WEEK shall ye number fifty days...."

PROPHECY FLASH vol.2  #10

Comment (Keith Hunt): 
Now, WFD brings out the TRANSLATIONS to give his idea some
substance. Ah, I begin to shake and tremble at such artillery -
why he even quotes from the JEWISH BIBLE!  I say this of course
with tongue in cheek.

Dankenbring wants to quote translations - okay - I will also.
From the NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (Children's Edition) we read,
"From the day after the SABBATH......count of seven full weeks. 
Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh SABBATH, and
then....."

NEW KING JAMES VERSION, "And you shall count for yourselves from
the day after the SABBATH..... seven SABBATHS  shall be
completed. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh
SABBATH then....."

AMPLIFIED BIBLE, "And you shall count from the day after the
Sabbath.....seven SABBATHS (seven full weeks) shall they be:
Counting fifty days to the day after the seventh SABBATH...."

THE HOLY BIBLE, LAMSA TRANSLATION, "seven SABBATHS shall be
complete: Even to the morrow after the seventh SABBATH you shall
count fifty days...."

NEW JERUSALEM BIBLE, "From the day after the SABBATH.......you
will count seven full weeks. You will count fifty days, to the
day after the seventh SABBATH....."

FENTON TRANSLATION, "You shall count for yourselves from the day
after the SABBATH.....seven SABBATHS.  They must be complete.
Then after the seventh SABBATH you shall ......."

So if we want to argue from the point of TRANSLATIONS,  I can
present as good a case for what I teach as WFD can for what he
wants to believe.

William D. quotes from the Bible published by the Jewish
Publication Society as proof that Sabbath in Lev. 23:15,16 should
be translated "week."  Well,  I will give you the famous
Hebrew-English translation of modern times by Jay P. Green ,Sr. 
published in 4 volumes by the Hendrickson publishing company of
Peabody, MA.

" And you shall number to you from the day after the SABBATH
(#7676 in Strong's), from the day you bring in the sheaf of the
wave offering seven SABBATHS (#7676 in Strong's) perfect they
shall be, to the day after the SABBATH (#7676) seventh you shall
number fifty days......."

Why do we have the Jewish Publication Society rendering
Lev.23:15,16 the way they do when all internal Bible evidence is
against such a rendering of the Hebrew word for Sabbath as
"week"?  Very simple.  The body of Jews who observe the feast of
Pentecost on Sivan 6th (and there are by the way many Jews who do
not) are the followers of Pharisee theological interpretations. 
At the time of Christ the Sadducees disagreed with the Pharisees
as to when to observe Pentecost. The Sadducees understood
Lev.23:15,16 correctly and said Pentecost is always on a Sunday,
the Pharisees said no, it should he observed on Sivan(3rd
month)6th. After the fall of the Temple and Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
the Pharisee teaching and theology gradually took over the main
populous of Jews. That main populous of Jews publish books,
one of which is their rendition of the Old Testament.
So in line with their handed down idea of keeping Pentecost on
Sivan 6th they have to translate the Hebrew word for Sabbath in
Lev.23:15 as "week." They count 50 days from the first annual
sabbath day of the Days of Unleavened Bread. It always comes out
to Sivan 6th.

All the feast days in Lev.23 God gives a calendar date to, all
EXCEPT Pentecost!  It would have been very easy for the Eternal
to have said, "On the 6th day of the third month you shall have a
holy convocation......"  But He did not!  Why?  Because it is the
only feast day that must be COUNTED each year.  While it falls
always on the FIRST day of the week, as the FIRSTFRUITS feast, it
does not always have the same calendar date each year.

DANKENBRING'S INTERNAL EVIDENCE. He writes:

Internal Bible Evidence

Not only do we have the testimony of Biblical Scholars and
translators that "sabbath" can be translated "week," and
"sabbaths" can be translated "weeks," but we have internal Bible
evidence as well........

Notice.'  In Deuteronomy 16:9  God commands us, "SEVEN WEEKS
shalt thou number unto thee:  begin to number the SEVEN WEEKS
from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn. 
And thou shalt keep the FEAST OF WEEKS unto the Lord thy God .  
....." (Deut.16:9-10).

Here the word for "weeks" is the Hebrew shabua.   This Scripture
is an exact parallel with Leviticus 23:15-16.  Thus we see that
"sabbaths" and "weeks" are clearly and obviously interchangeable
in this context.

Thus we have the testimony of scholars;  the testimony of Bible
translations into English; the testimony of the Septuagint
version, translated into Greek about 250 years before Christ; and
the testimony of the Holy Scriptures themselves! What more
"proof" do we need?

PROPHECY FLASH vol.2 #10

Comment (Keith Hunt): 
WFD says Deut.16:9-1O is an "exact parallel with Lev.23:15-16." 
In so thinking he then finds it quite easy to think the two
Hebrew words used in these passages are interchangeable. 
NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH!!

What these two passages are giving us is two different ways to
COUNT to Pentecost!  Both ways must come out to the SAME day. God
is giving us a double test to make sure we get the correct day
for Pentecost. Both passages start the counting from the day of
the WAVE SHEAF.

The charts I give at the end show the wrong ways to count to
Pentecost when we take both sections of scripture in hand and
also the right and ONLY way that Pentecost can be counted
to harmonize these two passages of Lev. and Deut.

Now,  to prove the Hebrew word for "week/s" is totally different
and separate from the Hebrew word for "sabbath"  and that the two
words are NEVER EVER interchangeable in the OT Hebrew. The Hebrew
for sabbath NEVER means "week" and the Hebrew for week NEVER
means "sabbath."

ONCE MORE LOOK AT STRONG'S CONCORDANCE:

Notice what is written about the words under the numbers 7620 and
7651 - shabua and sheba/shibah.

THE THEOLOGICAL WORDBOOK OF THE OT, on pages 898 and 899,  have a
long and details study article on the Hebrew OT words used for
seventh, seventy, sevenfold, seven times, and the Hebrew word
"shabua."  This word appears just 20 times in the OT.  The
ENGLISHMAN'S CONCORDANCE TO THE OT lists every one of these
twenty times.

THERE IS NOT ONE WORDS FROM THESE WELL RESPECTED LEXICONS OF THE
HEBREW WORDS OF THE OT, TO EVEN HINT AT THE IDEA THAT THE WORD
FOR "WEEK/S" ALSO MEANS "SABBATH."  WHY?  SIMPLY BECAUSE THOSE
SCHOLARS OF THE ABOVE WORKS HAD DONE THEIR HOMEWORK WELL, AND
KNEW THE WORD FOR WEEK WAS NOT THE SAME AS FOR SABBATH.

In all the places where this Hebrew word is used (as listed by
the Englishman's Concordance) NOT ONCE should we ever think of
translating it as "sabbath."  The CONTEXT of each passage gives
the CLEAR teaching of  7 - yes SEVEN, not sabbath.

Number 7651 in Strong's is used dozens of times, but it never
means "sabbath."

So, what do we find upon deep research?  The ancient OT Hebrew
had ONLY ONE WORD for "sabbath" which never at any time as used
in the OT means "week."  We find a DIFFERENT word used in the OT
Hebrew for our word "week" which never means "sabbath."

These words are NOT, let me repeat, not, interchangeable!


DANKENBRING, STILL GOT SMOKE IN HIS EYES, he writes:


Unfortunately, those who will refuse to admit the truth about
this word, will sometimes stoop to subterfuge and artful
deception to attempt to "win" their argument.  One such pseudo-
scholar claims that since Leviticus 23:15 uses the word
"shabbath" and Deuteronomy 16:9 uses the word "shabua,"  for
"week," this itself "PROVES" -- at least to his brain -- that
"sabbath" must always refer to the "sabbath" day.  Otherwise, it
would be too confusing for his poor mind -- imagine, a God who
uses two words, both sometimes meaning "week," but one sometimes
also meaning "sabbath"!  His poor deluded mind will not admit of
such a possibility, although all linguists know that many words
can have several different definitions, depending on the context.
This fact is true of Hebrew, Greek, English, and virtually all
major languages on our planet!

In English, the word "saw" can refer to seeing with the eyes, a
tool for cutting wood, or an ancient wise saying or proverb. 
Many English teachers have used the expression, "What's that in
the road ahead?"  and turned it around, to say, with a slight
change in punctuation, "What's that in the road, a head?"

The fact that the word "sabbath" in Hebrew can also be translated
"week," even as the corresponding Greek and Syrian words can,
should not surprise us in the least.  What surprises me is that
some so-called Bible "scholars" with an axe to grind, will stoop
to claim "sabbath" cannot refer to "week" because "shabua" means
"week"!  How absurd!

Who are they to attempt to tell God what words He can and cannot
use?  Who are they to assert that the Bible does not interpret
the Bible, and that Deut.16:9 cannot therefore be used to
"interpret" Leviticus 23:15?

But, as Paul wrote, "We are not as many, which CORRUPT the word
of God, but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God
speak we in Christ" (II Cor.2:17).

Paul admonishes every one of us, "Study to shew thyself approved
unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, RIGHTLY
DIVIDING the word of truth.  But shun profane and vain babblings"
(II Tim.2:15).

PROPHECY FLASH vol.2 #10

Comment (Keith Hunt): 
I realize that WFD will still not be able to see the error of his
way, even after all the clear painstaking Biblical evidence I
have presented, but will probably maintain it is I that have the
smoke in my eyes.  Well, Mr. D  may not want to see through the
smoke but you the reader can, if you will, and want to study to
show yourself approved unto God.

There is no need to admit as WFD would want you to that God used
two words, both sometimes meaning "week"- but one sometimes also
meaning "sabbath." For it is JUST NOT SO!
God used one word in Lev.23:15,16 that only EVER means "sabbath"
as clearly shown by how it is used throughout the OT, and never
at ANY TIME in the OT means "week."  God used in Deut.16:9 a
Hebrew word that means "week/s" and never means "sabbath."

The Lord chose TWO DIFFERENT and NONE INTERCHANGEABLE words with
TWO different ways to COUNT to Pentecost (Lev. and Deut.) - both
coming out or ending on the SAME DAY of the week - the FIRST DAY
or Sunday!  What could be as natural as the feast of FIRSTFRUITS
being represented by and taking place or observed on the FIRST
DAY of the week?  I submit to you it is natural and also logical.

It is so simple, a child can figure it out! As God uses the word
that only means Sabbath in Lev.23:15,16 the day after the 7th
sabbath (which must be 7x7 = 49 days according to Deut.l6:9) MUST
ALWAYS BE A SUNDAY!  To have the counting starting from the wave
sheaf day on any other day than the day after the weekly Sabbath
during the feast of Unleavened Bread would NOT COME OUT to a
Sunday, 50 days later.

Duet.16:9 tells us to count in WEEKS or 7 x 7 days from the same
wave sheaf day. Lev.23 tells us to count in SABBATHS (but still
having 49 days) while Deut.16 tells us to count in 7 weeks of 7
days to a week.  For both methods of counting to stay together
and have 7 sabbaths with 49 days and the 50th day to be after the
7th sabbath, there is only ONE way. 
The wave sheaf day had to be the day after the weekly sabbath
during the feast of Unleavened Bread.  Counting 7 sabbaths and 7
x 7 day weeks from that day brings you to 49 days and a weekly
sabbath day, then the next day - Sunday - the 50th day is
PENTECOST!!

Ah, so simple! The Sadducees of Jesus' day had no trouble at all
in understanding how to count to Pentecost. They kept it on a
Sunday!  

The Pharisees were wrong in how to count to Pentecost - many of
their modern followers such as WFD and many Jews are just as
wrong today. As Jesus said, "Can the blind lead the blind, or
will they not both fall into the ditch."

The counting of Pentecost was to start with the Wave Sheaf day.
The wave sheaf was a type of Christ.  Jesus was the real WAVE 
SHEAF, the FIRST of the FIRSTFRUITS (1 Cor.15). The wave sheaf
was cut and presented to the priest to be waved before the Lord,
as part of the Temple ceremony on that day after the Sabbath. 
Jesus fulfilled all those types. When  did He as the real wave
sheaf present Himself to the God the Father to be accepted? Why,
it was on the 1st day of the week - Sunday - after 3 days and 3
nights in the grave - the Sunday after the weekly Sabbath during
the feast of Unleavened Bread.  That is clearly how the four
Gospels relate the facts to us.  So it was the OT wave sheaf was
waved before the Lord, presented before God, on that first day of
the week,  and from that day 7 Sabbaths and 49 days were counted
to a weekly Sabbath, after which was the 50th day or Pentecost -
a  first day of the week - a Sunday.

WRONG WAYS TO COUNT TO PENTECOST:

For our illustration we shall say the first Holy day of the feast
of Unleavened Bread (the 15th day of the first month) is a
THURSDAY.
Counting from that Thursday Sabbath and going forward counting
six more Sabbaths (the third one being the last day of UB, which
in our illustration would fall on a Wednesday), would indeed
bring us to the 7th Sabbath on a weekly Sabbath day.

This way understands the correct way to read Lev.23:15,16 -
counting 7 holy day Sabbaths but fails to take into account the
instruction God gave in Deut.16:9 that there must be 7
"weeks" or 7 x 7 days = 49 days and then the 50th day is
Pentecost. Count the number of days from the first Sabbath of the
feast of Unleavened Bread (we said it would be a Thursday in our
above example) - it is only a total of 31 days to the 7th Sabbath
- the 32nd day would then be Pentecost. 
This counting is incorrect!

Thur Sab/ Fri/ Sat Sab/. . . Wed Sab . . Sat . . . . . . Sat . .
UB feast begins for seven days

. . . . Sat . . . . . . Sat                  
       

7 Sabbaths if we started with the first annual Sabbath of
UB (seven Sabbaths but only 31 days). No religious group has ever
counted to Pentecost this way.
                           
Incorrect counting as Deut.16:9 is not taken into account


Second incorrect way to count to Pentecost:
                                              
Putting the wave sheaf on Nisan 16th and counting 7 x 7 or 49
days as instructed in Deut. 16:9 brings the 50th day or Pentecost
to the Jewish calendar date of Sivan(third month) 6th. This
counting takes Deut.16:9 as literal 7 weeks (7 x 7 days) but
refuses to understand Lev.23:15,16 as literal 7 holy 24 hour
Sabbath days - refuses to understand the word "sabbath" as
meaning what it means in every other verse where it is used
throughout the OT. This counting as done by the old Pharisees,
their modern followers in Jewry, Dankenbring and some others, is
also incorrect!

Thur/Friday 16th/ Sat
      1st day     2nd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
   
15th day of the first month that begins the UB feast we are
putting on a Thursday for our illustration, and the counting
begins the day after or Friday the 16th day of the first
month (Abib or Nisan).                                            

                              
Each dot represents a day. We have 49 days or 7 x 7 but we will
always come out to the 6th day of the 3rd month in the Jewish
calendar.  
By taking our example with a Jewish calendar you will see that
the 49 days does have 7 sabbaths, but the 50th day of Pentecost
will not be immediately after a Sabbath. It will always
be the 6th day of the 3rd month. 
God could have easily said in Lev.23 that the feast of
Firstfruits would be the 6th day of the 3rd month, as all the
other feast days were given calendar dates, but Pentecost was not
given a calendar date, because it had to be counted each year.  
This way to count was the Pharisee teaching.

The above way to count to Pentecost is also incorrect.


THE CORRECT WAY TO COUNT TO PENTECOST

Thur Nisan 15th/Fri/Sat/Sunday Wave Sheaf . . . . . Sat . . . . .

UB feast begins for seven days

. Sat . . . . . . Sat . . . . . . Sat . . . . . . Sat . . . . . .

Sat . . . . . . Saturday(7th Sabbath) 49th day and 7th Sabbath

from WS(wave sheaf) day and the next day is the 50th day which is

PENTECOST - First day of the week or a Sunday.

This way to count to Pentecost has the wave sheaf presented to
the Lord on the day after the Sabbath - weekly - during the feast
of UB. This way takes as literal the instruction in Deut.16:9 to
count 7 weeks (7 x 7 days = 49 days) as well as the literal
understanding of Lev.23:15,16, to count 7 Sabbaths (days of rest
as used in the entire OT) and the day following the 7th Sabbath
is Pentecost or the feast of Firstfruits. Always on a Sunday.

This is the only true and correct way to count to Pentecost.     
 
           .....................................
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Friday, May 23, 2025

THE JEWISH PENTECOST—AN HISTORICAL LOOK

 

Jewish History/Traditions of Pentecost

Get ready for Surprises!

                      AN HISTORICAL LOOK AT PENTECOST

               FROM THE BOOK "Festivals of the Jewish Year"

                                                  by

                                      Theodor H. Gaster
                                       (Written 1952/53)



THE FEAST OF WEEKS


The Festival of the Covenant


     In, the Bible, the Feast of Weeks plays a somewhat minor
role beside the major seasonal festivals of Passover on the one
and and Booths (or Ingathering) on the other. It is simply the
end of the barley harvest, and its distinctive feature is the
presentation to Jehovah (apart from special sacrifices) of an
offering consisting, according to one version of the Law (Deut.
16:10), of whatever one feels prompted to give, or, according to
another (Lev.23:17), of two loaves made out of the new corn. The
festival, we are told, is to take place a full seven weeks after
the sickle has been first applied to the standing grain (Deut.
16:9).
     It is easy to dismiss this early phase of the festival as
nothing but the product of a crude, unsophisticated age, and to
think one has explained the presentation of firstfruits by
collecting parallels from other parts of the world, without
stopping to penetrate to their significance. The truth is,
however, that even at this primary stage, though the form of
expression may be primitive, the underlying meaning of the
festival is at once subtle and profound. Two ideas are combined,
and each is capable of an extension and development of
far-reaching import.

     The first is based on the common Oriental principle that
land belongs to him who "quickens" it, or brings it under
cultivation. Since, it is here affirmed, the earth obviously
depends for its fertility not only on the labors of men but also
on the cooperation of God, who furnishes it with rain, wind and
sunlight, He too is necessarily a part owner of it. The
presentation of firstfruits is thus no mere token of thanksgiving
or mere submissive rendering of tribute, although, to be sure, by
a blunting of religious sensitivity, it may (and often does)
degenerate into this. It is the payment to God of the dividend on
His investment. To withhold that payment is an act not of impiety
but of embezzlement.
     Translated into broader terms, what is here proclaimed is
that the relation between God and man is not one of master and
servant but of mutually dependent partners in a joint enterprise
of continuous creation. This idea gives new validity to human
existence and at the same time provides a signal and momentous
alternative to that more common conception which, projecting the
image of God from the model of kings and magicians, regards Him
merely as a supernal lord and benefactor of mankind. For the
conventional attitude of subservience, worship and adoration
there is substituted a concept of God which is at once more
robust and more mystical and which, indeed, modern religion might
do well to recapture.

     The second idea which underlies this early phase of the
festival stems from the fact that primitive man regards anything
new and unused as being fraught with potential peril, much as an
infant might regard a new toy. The firstfruits of the harvest
(and likewise the firstborn both of men and of beasts) are
therefore consigned to the gods or spirits so that the newness
may be taken away and the rest thereby rendered "safe." The
important thing, however, is not so much the why as the how of
the ritual; the danger of a new thing is removed by bringing it
into contact with some eternal being to whom it is not new,
inasmuch as he transcends the limitations of our own temporal
existence. Behind the symbolism of the primitive procedure,
therefore, there lies once again a permanent, universal message:
the only immunity against the terror of new things is to try to
see them in the light of eternity, and the only protection
against the perils of human existence is to dedicate the prime
portion of it to God.    
     Thus, even in its rudimentary stage, the Feast of Weeks
possessed its own spiritual values. For Judaism, however --
especially after it had outgrown its Palestinian origins--these
alone were not sufficient. The presence and activity of God had
to be recognized at this season - not only in the phenomena of
nature but also, and on parallel lines, in some crucial event of
history. Accordingly, in the first centuries of the Common Era,
inspiration and ingenuity combined to produce the necessary
development.

     ***The Scriptural narrative states clearly (Exod.19:1) that
the children of Israel reached Mount Sinai in the third month, to
the day, after their departure from Egypt. This, it was now
argued, does not mean that a full three months elapsed, but only
that the event took pace in the "in third month of the year," and
in that case the giving of the Ten Commandments might MIGHT (with
a little latitude and fancy) be made to coincide with Feast of
Weeks. The festival thus became the birthday of Israel, the
anniversary of the day on which the Covenant had been concluded 
between God and His people and the Law first revealed. Such, ever
since, has been its primary significance; it is known, in fact,
as "the season of the giving of our Law."***

(Did you notice it? Did you see what the writer said? With a
little LATITUDE and FANCY .... the third month is tied together
with the giving of the Law. There is absolutely NOTHING in the
books of Moses that ties together the giving of the Law [Ten
commandments] with Pentecost, as adopted by the "traditions" of
the Jews. In fact Jesse on her Website [which is located on this
my Website] has a study PROVING that the giving of the Ten
Commandments could not have been on Pentecost. The idea that the
Law was given on Pentecost is just an idea from the Jews, with no
basis in actual fact; it indeed has become a tradition that had
to use a little LATITUDE AND FANCY FOOT WORK, as the writer
admits - Keith Hunt)

     The parallelism between the historical and agricultural
aspects of the festival is far closer than might at first be
suspected, and is carried through with rare ingenuity and
resource. According to Jewish teaching, the important thing about
the session at Sinai was not only the giving of the Law but also
the receiving of it, the two acts of offer and acceptance
constituting a Covenant (or contract) between God and Israel.
Here too, therefore, the idea of collaboration is involved: if
the Law issues from God, its fulfillment lies with Israel.
Inspiration and aspiration, revelation and perception, are the
two sides of a single coin: on the one side is the face of God;
on the other, that of man. What Saint Theresa said of the
relation of the Christian to Christ was expressed by Judaism,
many centuries earlier, in its concept of the covenantal
partnership of God and Israel: In the world of men, Israel is
God's hands and feet and eyes.
     Nor is it only in this major respect that the natural and
historical aspects of the festival run parallel to each other.
For if the former marks the end of seven weeks' collaboration
between God and man in the reaping of the material harvest, what
the latter celebrates is the end of a corresponding spiritual
harvest, which began with the deliverance from Egypt and reached
its climax with the conclusion of the Covenant. And just as the
ingathering of the crops is the necessary condition of life and
prosperity during the ensuing year, so the event at Sinai is the
necessary condition of Israel's continuing existence and fortune.
Moreover, if, in the primitive agricultural rite, man offers to
God two loaves of the new bread as a symbol of cooperation, in
the historical counterpart - by a fine and inspired inversion -
God offers to man the two tablets of the Law.

(As the writer has stated, the third month DID see Israel
receiving the Law of God, and later in the settlement of Israel
in the promised land, you also had the end of the first grain
harvest [of barley and wheat]. Hence it was not a large step for
some religious Jews to put together the giving of the law of God
ON Pentecost, which then became one of the "traditions" of the
Jews, which is based on no actual fact - Keith Hunt)

     Lastly, as the harvest is renewed from year to year, so too
is the historic experience of Sinai. Jewish teaching (as we have
pointed out repeatedly) is insistent on the point that the
festivals are not mere commemorations. All the generations of
Israel, say the sages, were released from Egypt, and all were
present at the mountain. By this they did not mean, as is so
often supposed, that all of time was telescoped into a single
moment, but rather that a single moment was projected into all of
time. Both the revelation of God and His covenant with Israel are
essentially continuous and are no more confined to the single
event at Sinai than is the process of nature to a single harvest.
     The twofold character of the festival finds eloquent
expression in the services of the synagogue: on the first day,
the lesson from the Pentateuch (Exod.19-20) deals with the
promulgation of the Ten Commandments; on the second day, with the
institution and observance of the Feast of Firstfruits (Deut.15:
19--16:17); while on both days an extra portion is read
describing the special sacrifices which were anciently presented
on this occasion (Numb.28:26-31). The dominant theme is, however,
the Giving of the Law. Interspersed throughout the morning
prayers are elaborate medieval poems (piyyutim) in which the
Scriptural account of that event is tricked out with all the
embellishments of rabbinic fancy. The following extract, taken
from the Ashkenazic liturgy for the first day, will serve as a
fair specimen:

Loud rang the voice of God, and lightning spears 
Pierced all the heavens; thunder shook the spheres, 
And flames leaped forth; and all the angels blew 
Their trumpets, and the earth was riven through. 
Then all the peoples writhed, aghast and pale,
Like as a woman in her birth-travail.
And, lo, the mountains leaped and looked askance 1
On little Sinai, and began to dance,
Certain each one that it would be the place 
Which God would choose to hallow and to grace. 
Like calves did Lebanon and Siryon leap, 2 
Bashan and Carmel like as frisking sheep; 3
Tabor, too, and each high hill; but He
Who dwells on high to all eternity 4
Looked not on them but on the humble mound, 
And while that shame did all those hills confound, 
To little Sinai bent the skies and came,
And crowned it with His mist and cloud; and flame 
Of angels wreathed it. Then, amid the sound
Of thunder, under them that clustered round 
Its foot gave forth His mighty voice; and they 
Replied: O Lord, we hear and will obey. 5
And when that they stood waiting, came the word, That word that
splits the rocks: I AM THE LORD.

     Sometimes, indeed, the Law is made to recite its own
"biography," as in the following passage from the same poem:

Ere that He stayed the heavens in the height 6 
I was firm-stayed and stablish'd in His sight.
......

1 Cf. Ps. 68:17.
2 Cf. Ps. 29:6. 
3 Cf. Ps. 114:4; Nah. 1:4. 
4 Cf. Is. 57:15. 
5 Cf. Exod. 24:7. 
6 Cf. Prov. 8:2S.
......


Ere that in glory He the clouds bestrode, 7
I was the vehicle on which He rode.

Ere that His stronghold in the vault He made, 
I was the vault in which His power was laid.

Ere that His arm did first outstretch the sky, 
A bracelet on that selfsame arm was I.

Ere that the sunlit welkin was His place, 
I was well kindled by His holy grace.

And lo, He held me on His knees of old, 8
Ere first the cloudmist did His feet enfold.

     Moreover, a standard element of the traditional liturgy is
the recital of rhymed versions (Azharoth) of the 613 commandments
contained in the Pentateuch; while in Reform congregations it is
customary also to "confirm" adolescents on the Feast of Weeks,
the confirmands thereby pledging adherence to the Covenant which
was then concluded with their forebears.

     But it is not only as a historical event that the revelation
at Sinai figures in the services of the festival. Supplementing
the lessons from the Pentateuch are others from the Prophets, and
in these the truth is brought home that inspired men in all ages
can obtain a vision of God, and that the wonders wrought when
Israel was delivered from Egypt will be repeated in the future
when she is at last redeemed from the dark night of her present
existence.

     On the first day, the Lesson from the Prophets (haftarah) is
taken from the opening chapter of the Book
......

7 Cf. Ps. 68:5.
8 An allusion to Prov. 8:30, which Jewish tradition renders,
"Then was I beside him as a nursling."
......


of Ezekiel, where the prophet relates how, when he was "among the
captives" in Babylon, he was granted a vision of the heavenly
creatures adoring God in the firmament and how, by progressive
stages, his vision penetrated to the very "Glory of the Lord"
surrounded by the same radiance and holding the same promise as
"the bow which is in the cloud in the day of rain." Similarly, on
the second day of the festival, the lesson is taken from the
great Prayer of Habakkuk (Hab.3), in which that prophet, writing
during the difficult days of the Assyrian Exile, recalls the
historic revelation of God at the time of the Exodus and
expresses the conviction that such deliverance will always be
vouchsafed to His people and that the divine providence will
never fail:

I have heard tell of Thee, Lord; 
Lord, I have seen Thy work.
In the midst of the years revive it,
In the midst of the years make known 
That even when Thou art raging 
Compassion comes to Thy mind.

When from out of the Southland 
God was about to come,
And the Holy One from Mount Paran, 9 
His splendor covered the heavens,
And the earth was filled with His sheen. 
A glow there was as of dayspring;
Rays shot forth from His side; 
While still in the darkness yonder 
Lay hid the full force of His power.

Disaster went stalking before Him, 
And Pestilence cleared His path. 10
......

9 Cf. Deut.33:2. 
10 An allusion to the ancient belief that major gods were
escorted by two attendants.
......


He halted, and shook the earth; 
Looked, and convulsed the nations. 
Primeval mountains were split, 
Old, old hills sank low,
And all the ancient highways 
Were utterly effaced.
The tents of Cushan quivered; 
Midian's curtains shook

Thou didst tread the sea; Thy chargers 
Were the surge of the ocean waves. 11 
Against the streams, O Lord,
Was it against the streams
Once more Thine anger was kindled? 
Was Thy wrath against the sea, 12 
When Victory rode Thy chargers, 
When Victory rode Thy wains?

Thy bow was made utterly empty;
Thou didst spend all the shafts of Thy quiver; 
The streams gushed madly in uproar;
The earth was riven in sunder. 13
The mountains saw Thee; they quailed; 
The torrents overflowed; 14
The deep gave forth its voice. 
The sun forgot its station; 
The moon stood still in the height,
......

11 In the traditional text, this verse follows vs.14, where it
comes in awkwardly. I believe that its correct place is here. 
12  An allusion to the ancient myth relating how Baal had once
fought the rival power of the sea and streams. The myth is told
on the cuneiform tablets recently discovered at Ras Shamra, in
Syria; see my Oldest Stories in the World (New York, 1952), pp.
209 ff.  
13  The traditional text of this verse is corrupt and
unintelligible. The present rendering depends on the assumption
that a few letters have accidentally dropped out. 
14 i.e., the mountain-chutes (cf. Job 24:8). But many scholars
think that the verse should read (by a very slight change in the
Hebrew text), "The clouds poured streams of water," in accordance
with the parallel passage in Ps.77:18.
......


At the glint of Thy darts as they went, 
At the lightning flash of Thy spear.

In fury the earth Thou bestrodest; 
Didst thresh the nations in wrath; 
Forth to the fray didst Thou sally 
For the victory of Thine army,
The victory of Thy troops. 15
Thou smotest the head of the wicked, 
Didst smite him from top to toe; 
Didst split the heads of his captains 
As they like a stormwind rushed
To blow me away in their onset, 
The while their war-song sounded 
Like as [the roar of a lion] 16 
At devouring the hapless unseen.

I have heard it; mine inwards tremble; 
My lips have twitched at the sound; 
Rottenness enters my bones,
And all my footsteps fail.

Yet now can I face with calm 
The day of adversity,
The charging down of armies 
That troop against me in force.

     
Here, too, the God of history is also the God of nature, and His
bounty consists not only in the deliverance of His people from
their assailants but also in the provision of increase upon
earth:
......

15 The English Bible renders, "For the salvation of Thine
anointed," assuming that this means the king; but the allusion is
to warriors who were customarily anointed before battle. 
16 Here, too, it would seem that a few letters have dropped out;
cf. Ps.7:2; 17:12; Is.5:29.
......


Though the figtree now be fruitless, 
And produce be none in the vines, 
Though the yield of the olive now fail, 
And the field produce no food;
Though the sheep be cut off from the fold, 
And no cattle there be in the stalls;
Yet I in the Lord will exult,
In the God Who saves me rejoice!

The Lord, the Lord is my substance; 
He will make my feet like the hinds', 
And will cause me yet to trample 
Upon the backs of my foes!


     The same message is conveyed also by the choice of the
Sixty-eighth Psalm as the special "anthem" of the festival. For
the purpose of that psalm (one of the most difficult and obscure
in the entire Psalter) is, once again, to universalize the events
of the Exodus and Revelation and to rehearse them as an assurance
of God's continuing providence and bounty; and here, too, the
divine salvation is said to be made manifest not only in history
but also in nature:

O God, when Thou wentest forth before Thy people, 17 
When Thou didst march through the wilderness, 
Earth trembled, and skies dropped rain
At the presence of the God of Sinai, 
At the presence of Israel's God.

So, too, dost Thou alway pour
The shower of Thy bounties, O God,
On the people Thou callest Thine own; 18
......

17 Or, army. 
18 Literally, "Thine inheritance"; cf. Deut.32:9. "For Jehovah's
portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance."
......


And whene'er it hath waxen faint, 
Thyself hast set it firm.

When Shaddai 19 went scattering kings, 
It seemed as though dark Zalmon 20 
Had suddenly turned snow-white! 
Mount Bashan, too, is a mount divine, 
Yea, a cloud-capped mount is Mount Bashan. 
Why, then, should ye look with envy,
ye cloud-capped mounts, 
At the mountain which a god hath fancied 
for his dwelling?
Surely, Jehovah too
Can take up an eternal abode? 21


     Lastly, the double-sidedness of the festival is brought out
by the custom of reading the Book of Ruth as a prelude to the
afternoon service. For the two dominant features of this Biblical
idyl are: first, that it plays against the background of the
barley harvest; and second, that it relates how a woman who was
formerly a pagan came to embrace the faith of Israel and to throw
in her lot with Jehovah's people (1:16, "And Ruth said, Entreat
me not to leave thee and to turn back from following thee, for
whither thou goest I will go, and where thou lodgest, I will
lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God."). The
story thus epitomizes the two main features of the Feast of
Weeks: the ingathering of the harvest and the acceptance of the
Law and Revelation of God.
......

19 Here the name of an ancient pagan god of Palestine.
20 A mountain in Samaria (Judg.9:48). The name means "dark," and
the reference is to some ancient myth, at present unknown, in
which the god Shaddai was said to have turned this mountain white
as snow.
21 The point of these lines, it would seem, is to indicate the
superiority of Jehovah's sacred mountain, viz. Zion, to those of
the earlier gods of the pagans.
......


MORE TRADITIONS ADDED

(Note all this carefully! You are seeing how Judaism REACTED and
COUNTERNANCED the spreading of Christianity - adding and making
up from certain Scriptures THEIR teachings of Pentecost. We have
seen how they added with some fancy and latitude the mixing of
Pentecost with the giving of the Law. Now they go even further
and add more to their traditions of how they will teach the
observance of Pentecost - Keith Hunt)

     In the early centuries of the Common Era a further element,
scarcely less interesting, was injected into the celebration of
the festival; it became, to a certain extent, a conscious
counterbalance to the Christian festival of Whitsun, with which
it approximately coincides.

     In Christian tradition, Whitsun is the birthday of the
Church, the anniversary of the date on which the Holy Spirit was
miraculously poured forth upon the original disciples of Jesus.
The event is narrated in the second chapter of the Acts of the
Apostles, in the New Testament. At Pentecost, we read, ".... they
were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a
sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all
the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them
cloven tongues, like as of fire, poised above each of them. And
they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak
with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."

     To this Christian version of Pentecost, Judaism now opposed
its own. Not the Church, but the community of Israel had been
founded on that day. Not to a select few, but to a whole people
had come the revelation of God. Not over the heads of favored
disciples had the tongues of fire appeared; ".... all the people
saw the thunders and the flames" (Exod.20:18). Not the astonished
onlookers, but God Himself had spoken in a multitude of tongues;
for, so the sages asserted, every word uttered from the mountain
had been pronounced in seventy-two languages at the same time!
     Moreover, if Christianity emphasized at this season the
figure of its resurrected saviour, Judaism replied by giving
special prominence to that of David, the messianic king. The
Feast of Weeks, it was maintained, was the anniversary of David's
death. The Book of Ruth, which (as we have seen) was prescribed
reading for the festival, ends with the genealogy of that monarch
(4:I3ff.); and on the second evening the pious would stay up late
into the night reading the Psalms of David.

     Nor this alone. If, according to the dominant faith, Christ
would return at the end of days and fight the great Dragon of the
Deep and bring renewed salvation to men, so too, in the equally
fervent conviction of the Jews, would David or his scion appear
to usher in the Messianic Age. In the twelfth century this belief
found eloquent expression in the liturgy of the festival, for
into the morning service of the first day, immediately after the
reading of the first verses from the portion of the Law, there
was introduced the famous Aramaic poem, Akdamuth. Written by a
certain Meir ben Isaac Nehorai (probably of Orleans), this poem
described, in highly fanciful terms, the ultimate victory of God
over the monsters Leviathan and Behemoth, and the lavish banquet
at which He would regale the faithful in heaven:

As maidens to the dance are led 
God will lead them, and outspread, 
Like viands at a royal feast,
Shall be the flesh of that fell Beast, 
That raging monster of the sea 
Who dared assail His sovereignty. 
For when that monster coils and curls 
And beats the angry sea and hurls 
Defiance at his sovran Lord, 
Unsheathed then shall be the Sword, 22 
And He that made him shall arise 
And smite him, till that dead he lies. 
The oxen on a thousand hills 28
......

22 See job 40:19 
23 See Psalm 50:10.
......


Shall be our meat, the while He fills 
Gleaming goblets crystalline
With that most rare and perfect wine 
Which in His cellar He hath stored 
Since first creation knew its Lord.


     There is a remarkable similarity between the contents of
this poem and the description of the heavenly Jerusalem which is
contained in the Book of Revelation in the New Testament--a
correspondence so close as to suggest the possibility that the
Aramaic composition may have been designed as a deliberate
counterpart to the Christian apocalypse. In the Book of
Revelation, for example, we are told that the author was caught
up "in the spirit" and beheld "a throne set in heaven, and One
sitting on the throne" (4:2); while in the "Akdamuth" we read
how, on the eve of the first Sabbath:

When all creation's work was done, 
At twilight, with the setting sun, 
In radiance God's Glory came 
And sat upon a throne of flame.


     In the Book of Revelation, we are informed that the throne
of God was surrounded by heavenly creatures "having each six
wings," who "had no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord" (4:6,8). Similarly, the "Akdamuth" describes how:

Flaming, six-wing'd seraphs sing
His praise, and through the welkin ring 
Ceaseless, in a sweet accord,
The words: Thrice-holy is the Lord.


     Besides the heavenly creatures, says the Christian book, the
throne is encircled by angels to the number of "ten thousand
times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands." Moreover, the
heavenly creatures continually prostrate themselves before God,
offering to him "golden bowls full of incense, which are the
prayers of the saints," the while the voices of the celestial
choir resound "like the voice of many waters ... as they cry,
Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth" (5:11, 5:8-9,
19:6). This picture is reproduced, with characteristic Jewish
touches, in the Aramaic poem:

A thousand thousand angels throng 
To serve Him and, a myriad strong, 
The heavenly host each morning press 
To make to Him their sweet address.

God takes the prayers which forth have flown 
From Israel's lips, and weaves a crown,
Or wears them for phylacteries 
Between His everlasting eyes.

Like as the surging of the deep
Through all the wide-flung heavens sweep 
The thunders of the cherubim
As they His royal glory hymn.


     Lastly, a prominent feature of the Christian vision is the
picture of the New Jerusalem "coming down out of heaven from God,
having the glory of God," gleaming like precious stones and
bathed in celestial light, and graced by the presence of the
Divine Bridegroom come at last to claim His bride and to summon
the guests to the marriage supper (19:7-9, 21:10-11). The same
picture reappears in the Jewish poem, where it is said that God
will set up His marriage bower in Jerusalem, and entertain the
righteous:

Lo, when the exiles He hath led 
To Jerusalem, there shall be shed
Upon that city, day and night, 
The splendor of His radiant light; 
And silver-lined clouds shall be 
Spread o'er it for a canopy,
When He doth like a bridegroom ride 
At last, at last, to claim His bride. 
Then round about, on golden chairs 
(Each one approach'd by seven stairs) 
The righteous as His guests shall dine, 
And perfect bliss shall be their wine; 
And o'er their heads, for chandeliers, 
Shall hang the radiance of the spheres, 
A beauty which no lips can tell, 
Whereon no earthly eye can dwell, 
A starry glory which of old
No prophet's vision e'er foretold.
And they beside the Lord shall walk 
In Eden's close, and softly talk
With him, and to themselves shall say: 
This is He for whom alway
We waited through captivity; 
This is our Lord, yea, this is He.


     But it was not only in the loftier realm of doctrine that
the Feast of Weeks was influenced by contemporary Christian lore.
The usages of the Church (themselves borrowed from earlier pagan
custom) seem likewise to have been imitated by the synagogue. In
many parts of Europe, for instance, it is customary to deck the
churches at Whitsun with wreaths and bunches of flowers; in
Catholic districts of Germany, even private dwellings are adorned
with green twigs on this occasion. In Italy, rose leaves are
often scattered from the ceilings of churches during the progress
of the services; they are popularly explained as representing the
"tongues of fire" which the original disciples beheld at Antioch
when the Holy Spirit descended upon them. Simharly, in Russia it
is (or was) customary to carry flowers and green twigs on
Whitsun; and in many Latin countries, the festival is known as
Pascha Rosatum. All of this appears to be but a Christian
transformation of the ancient Roman festival of Rosalia,
celebrated in the preceding month. At this festival it was the
practice to adore Venus by decorating her images with roses.
Sometimes, indeed, the custom takes on a more sinister
complexion. In Rumania, for instance, the festival is commonly
known as Rusaliile. This, it is explained, is the name of three
ancient princesses who were forced to remain spinsters. In
revenge, they return to earth for three days each year to plague
mankind, destroy the harvest and blow away the roofs of houses.
During this period, no manual work may be performed, no one may
smile, and children may not make faces. To exorcize the malicious
ladies, branches of wormwood are placed under the pillow at night
or worn in the belt!

(Oh yes, the popular Christian church was very skilled at taking
pagan customs and adopting them; it was done all the time, with
practices like Christmas and Easter, Halloween, and Thanksgiving
festivals, all kinds of other "saint" days and celebrations that
were from the heathen, but sprinkled with "holy water" to make
them clean, and then given to the people as blessed of God. The
Jews were also skilled at doing the same thing. Now you see why
Jesus uttered the words He did in Mark 7:7 and its context -
Keith Hunt)

     The Jewish form of this common custom is to adorn the
synagogue with flowers on the Feast of Weeks, and the lilies
which are used for this purpose are sometimes taken (by an
inspired sublimation) to symbolize that "lily of the valley"
which, in the allegorical interpretation of the Song of Songs, is
none other than Israel itself.

     Another Pentecost custom which has its counterpart in
Gentile usage is that of eating dairy dishes, especially those
made with cheese. The usual explanation of this custom is
fanciful enough. In Psalm 68 - which is prescribed as the
"anthem" of the festival - the mountain on which the Law was
given is described (vs.15) as "a mountain divine, a Bashan-like
mount, a mount of gabnunim, a Bashan-like mount." The word
gabnunim (which does not recur in this form elsewhere in Scrip-
ture) really means "gibbous, many-peaked," but it was fancifully
connected with the Hebrew gebinah, "cheese," the conception of a
mountain made of cheese being a commonplace of folktale.
     Accordingly, it was maintained that the eating of cheese was
a reminder of the giving of the Law at this season! In reality,
cheese and dairy dishes are eaten at this time because the
festival has a pastoral as well as an agricultural significance.
Thus, at the analogous Scottish celebration of Beltane, on May I,
dairy dishes are commonly consumed, and churning and
cheese-making are a common feature of spring harvest festivals in
many parts of the world. In Macedonia, for instance, the Sunday
before Lent is known as "Cheese Sunday"; in several districts of
Germany cheese and dairy dishes are (or were) standard fare at
Whitsun.
     That such usages are extremely ancient is shown by the fact
that at the Roman rural festival of Parilia (April 21), which
fell at the same time of year as marks the beginning of the
barley harvest in Palestine, milk and must were drunk, and the
image of the pastoral god Pales was sprinkled with the former.
Moreover, that a rite involving the seething of a kid in milk was
part of the Canaanite prototype of Pentecost is strongly
suggested by the fact - noted already by Maimonides - that in two
passages of the Pentateuch (Exod.23:19, 34:26) where this
practice is prohibited to the Israelites, it is somehow connected
with the offering of firstfruits; and the rite of seething a kid
in milk seems actually to be mentioned in a recently discovered
Canaanite text possibly designed for a spring festival.

(The truth of "seething a kid in its mother's milk" is given in a
study on this Website. You can see how mankind, both heathen,
Jewish, and "Christian" so-called, how borrowed and adopted, have
added, to the word of the Lord, and to the observing of His
Festivals, which He has strictly forbidden us to do in
Deut.12:29-32 - Keith Hunt)
 

PENTECOST DATE?

     If, however, anthropology and comparative religion throw
light on many features of the festival, there is one which still
remains a puzzle, namely, its precise date. 

     In the earlier code of the Pentateuch, it is said, quite
vaguely, that it is to take place seven full weeks after the
beginning of the harvest. This is the kind of vague and general
dating which one would naturally expect in a primitive
agricultural society unconscious of a fixed and stable calendar.
     Later, however, the date is given more precisely: the
festival is to be celebrated seven full weeks "after the morrow
of the sabbath" (Lev. 23:I5).

     Scholars have long disputed the meaning of this term.
According to the Sadducees and the Samaritans, the word "sabbath"
is here to be taken literally and refers to the first sabbath in
Passover. Pentecost would therefore always fall on a Sunday. 

(AND THIS IS THE CORRECT UNDERSTANDING as I prove in a number of
studies under "Pentecost" on this Website - Keith Hunt)

     The Pharisees, on the other hand, contended that "sabbath"
was but a loose term for "festival," and this interpretation has
prevailed in Jewish usage. The counting of the fifty days
therefore begins with the second day of Passover.

(VERY IN-CORRECT! For the Pharisee Pentecost then falls on a
fixed calendar date every year. God said we had to COUNT to
Pentecost each year, a fixed calendar date does away with having
to count, hence such a Pharisee idea is contrary to God's
instructions - Keith Hunt)

     A novel view was put forward, some fifty-five years ago, by
the distinguished Jewish Assyriologist, the late Morris Jastrow.
According to this scholar (later followed by many others), the
original meaning of the word sabbath was "full moon," i.e., the
moment when the moon comes, as it were, to a stop (Hebrew:
shabat), its waxing changing to waning. Jastrow supported this
view by reference to an Assyrian calendar now in the British
Museum, where the term was applied to the fifteenth day of a
lunar month. Since Passover in fact begins at full moon, "the
morrow of the sabbath" would denote, quite simply, the second day
of the festival. The objection to this is, however, that there is
no evidence to prove that the term sabbath regularly bore this
meaning. All that is really implied by the statement in the
Assyrian calendar is that in a given month, on a particular
occasion, the sabbath (in whatever sense we take it) happened to
coincide with the full moon, not that this was the standard term
for that event.

     Lastly, an ingenious theory has recently been propounded by
Professors Julius and Hildegarde Lewy. According to these
scholars, the ancient Semites used more than one calendar, and
for practical purposes these had often to be accommodated to one
another. One of the prevalent systems was to reckon time by
pentacontads, that is, in stretches of fifty days, while another
was to reckon by lunar months. The two methods were reconciled by
regarding the interval between the end of a pentacontad and the
next new moon as a "vacant" period, outside the ordinary
calendar. Such a period would have been called "Sabbath" or
standstill, and the reference to "the morrow of the Sabbath"
would be a relic of this ancient computation.
     Whether this theory is right or wrong, further discoveries
alone will tell. In the long run, except to professional students
of antiquity, this is not particularly important. What matters is
not the origin of the festival, but the meaning and value which
it has acquired in the course of its subsequent history. And
these are values which transcend any single date or, for that
matter, any single epoch.

(The truth is Israel from the time of Moses HAD a calendar. And
the word "sabbath" was literal. You can only have 7 "sabbaths"
and 7 "weeks" [7 x 7 = 49 days] working out to be COUNTED and
then the day after, or the 50th day, being Pentecost or as the
Greek word is "count 50" - all working together to always come on
a Sunday, but not on the same calendar date every year. Well for
the full in-depth truth on counting to Pentecost, see my studies
under "Pentecost" on this Website - Keith Hunt)

                        ...........................

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Thursday, May 22, 2025

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS NOT GIVEN ON PENTECOST!!!

 

Faith Once Delivered
Keith Hunt's StudiesJesse's Articles

The Ten Commandments Were Not Given on Pentecost!

by Jesse Ancona
  1. Introduction
  2. Who said the Law was given on Pentecost?
  3. A Desire for Meaning
  4. The Biggest Problem
  5. Adjusting the Chronology
  6. Example 1: Quails sent after sunset Saturday
  7. Example 2: Calendar with Latest Possible Wavesheaf
  8. A Last Fit of Desperation
  9. Example 3: The Most Honest Interpretation of Scripture
  10. Why Does it Matter?
  11. How Does This Affect Our Salvation?
  12. List of Assertions and Assumptions
  13. Bibliography

Introduction

I was writing a very general introduction to the Biblical Holy Days found in Leviticus 23, using the example of North American holidays, and put in a throwaway mention of the Ten Commandments having been given on Pentecost (an idea many modern Jewish people also believe), when Keith Hunt corrected me, and told me there was no Biblical evidence this was so.

So, I thought I’d take a look. What is the situation? Is the chronology of the book of Exodus so unclear that we don’t know when the Law was given, so it might have been on Pentecost, but we can’t prove it one way or the other? Or is it simpler than that? Keith said that you could not prove, from Biblical chronology, that the Ten Commandments were given on Pentecost. I decided, not only to see if that was true, but if it were true, to look at the converse: could a person prove that they weren’t? Or were we to be left with a mystery?

Who Said the Law was given on Pentecost?

When I first presented an earlier version of this paper to a small group of holyday-keepers on Pentecost, two of them did not see the significance of the topic. One had never heard the idea that Pentecost was the day the Ten Commandments were given, and the other had heard of it, but only in passing, and it had made little impression.

Those of us who were taught by the Worldwide Church of God in earlier days, before the death of its founder, learned that the Ten Commandments were given on the day of Pentecost. Considering that this church has given rise to literally hundreds of sects (commonly called "offshoots"), many of whom repeat most of the original teachings, this affects a great number of people. 

But where did this idea come from? A general book on the Jewish people (Ausubel, 1953, p. 36) says, under Shavuot:

"The consecration of Israel as a "holy people" at the foot of Mount Sinai when Moses presented it with the stone-tables of the Covenant is commemorated in the Festival of Shavuot, the two-day "Feast of Weeks," often referred to in sacred Hebrew writings as zeman matan toratenu, "the season when our Torah was given us." 

In a book that looks at the history of the festivals more critically, we find the belief originated more in a felt necessity than in validity (Gaster, 1952, pp. 61-62):

"Thus, even it its rudimentary stage, the Feast of Weeks possessed its own spiritual values. For Judaism, however – especially after it had outgrown its Palestinian origins – these alone were not sufficient. The presence and activity of God had to be recognized at this season not only in the phenomena of nature but also, and on parallel lines, in some crucial event in history. Accordingly in the first centuries of the Common Era, inspiration and ingenuity combined to produce the necessary development. 

"The Scriptural narrative states clearly (Ex. 19:1) that the children of Israel reached Mount Sinai in the third month, to the day, after their departure from Egypt. This, it was now argued, does not mean that a full three months elapsed, but only that the event took place in the third month of the year, and in that case the giving of the Ten Commandments might (with a little latitude and fancy) be made to coincide with the Feast of Weeks."

Yet another book, which goes into more depth (Schauss, 1938, pp. 88-89), reports:

"It appears that as far back as the second Temple, Shovuos was a twofold festival. It was the festival of the wheat harvest, when a sacrifice was offered from the new wheat crop; it was also considered the observance of the pact entered into between God and mankind. At least, that is the interpretation presented in the previously-mentioned "Book of Jubilees." The festival is celebrated, according to this book, as a symbol that the pact God made with Noah, in which he promised no further general flood, is renewed each year. ... How widespread this interpretation of Shovuos was in the days of the second Temple we do not know ... . But the book does show us that in the days of the second Temple there was already a demand for a new interpretation of Shovuos on an historical basis. ... The holiday first attained importance when it became the festival of the giving of the Torah, of God revealing Himself on Mount Sinai." 

A Desire for Meaning

So, for the Jewish people, believing the Law was given on Pentecost adds significance to an otherwise little-noticed holiday, and gives it a greater meaning than a harvest in a land many no longer live within.

For Christian holyday-keepers, believing the Law was given on Pentecost makes for a nice symmetry: the day God gave the physical law written on tablets of stone being the same day that God gave His Holy Spirit to the New Testament Church (Acts 2) – on Pentecost. It is a satisfying, neat idea, and works out very poetically for all kinds of typologies: it just doesn’t happen to be true.

The Biggest Problem

In researching this, I found a huge difficulty, right away, and I was gratified to later find that Gaster also emphasizes the plain meaning of the scriptures. The chronology is counting from the Exodus, not following the numbering of the months. 

In Exodus 16:1, it says, 

"the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin...on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt."

This is clearly counting from their departure. Two full months after their departure is the 15 Sivan.

Then, just before the giving of the Law, we see in Exodus 19:1:

"In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai."

This is also clearly counting from their departure, so would be the third full month to the day, from when they left Egypt, or 15 Tammuz.

So, to even go down the path of what Gaster cheekily calls "a little latitude and fancy," we must decide, from the beginning, to ignore the plain meaning of Scripture, which is obviously counting full months from the day of the Exodus.

This point alone should be enough to disprove the giving of the Law on Pentecost, since that day always falls in the month of Sivan, however calculated, and the earliest the Law could have been given, according to the Bible, would be the middle of the following month!

However, let us, like the rabbis, assume "the third month" of Exodus 19:1 means "the third month of the year." Since we will be making many assumptions to reconcile the giving of the Law with Pentecost, let us keep track of them. This interpretation of the third month, I will call Point #1.

Adjusting the Chronology

We know Israel left Egypt in the first month, the month of Nisan (or Abib), which God said was to be the first month of the year to them (Ex. 12:2). While I believe they left on the 15th of Nisan, others differ, and this point bears slightly on the chronology. We will call them leaving on Nisan 15 Point #2.

We have Israel leaving Egypt in the middle of Nisan, then coming to the wilderness of Sin on the 15th day of the second month. There are two ways to take this: either two months had passed from their leaving Egypt (the more natural reading), so this would have been in the third month of the year (now called Sivan), or, the 15th of the second month of the year, now called Iyyar. Since we are going with the rabbis in this argument, we are, of necessity, assuming this refers to 15 Iyyar. A month after leaving Egypt, they were in the wilderness of Sin. Then, just before the Ten Commandments are given, we see in Exodus 19:1-3:

"In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.

"(v. 3) For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the wilderness of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount. (v. 3) And Moses went up unto God..."

We don’t know, in verse 2, how many days they camped at Sinai before Moses went up the mountain, but we will assume, for the sake of argument, that they had just pitched their tents, and this whole chapter is talking about the same day (Point #3). 

Exodus 19: 10-11: 

"And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, (v. 11) 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.

So, with these assumptions, God spoke to Moses on 15 Sivan and said the people were to prepare themselves that day, the next day, and on the third day the Lord come to them. So we are talking about the 15th, 16th, and 17th of Sivan, and the Ten Commandments were given on 17 Sivan. 

Continuing in Ex. 19:16:

"And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount..." and in Exodus 20 we have God speaking the words of the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20: 1-17).

So, this occurred on the third day, beginning with the 15th of Sivan, as it said, "today, and tomorrow. ... And be ready against the third day" (Ex. 19:10, 11).

By the modern Jewish reckoning of Pentecost on Sivan 6, the Ten Commandments were given 11 days after Pentecost! But is there any other reckoning by which the Ten Commandments could have been given on Pentecost?

Let’s look at the various ways of counting 50 from the wavesheaf: there are three: 1) from the first High Sabbath during the Days of Unleavened Bread, 2) from the weekly Sabbath during Unleavened Bread, and, rarer, 3) from the last High Sabbath during Unleavened Bread. For 1) and 3), dates are all that is required; for 2), we need to know which day of the week Passover fell on.

Example 1: Quails sent after sunset Saturday

(Click on link to see sample calendar in popup window)

While we don’t know what day of the week the first Passover occurred on, an argument could be made that the murmurings of Israel on the 15th day of the second month (Ex. 16:2), were on the Sabbath, after which the quails came (v. 13) , then the first manna the next morning (v. 13-15), and the sixth day there was twice as much (v. 22) against the Sabbath. But it is not totally clear that the sixth day was also the sixth day after the manna was first given. But we will look at this as an assumption for our first example (Point #4a).

Even assuming this day was a Sabbath, we do not know how many days were in the month that the children of Israel were using. We know it was lunar, in that the months began with the new moon, and we can fairly safely assume it was lunar-solar (Point #5), as all the ancient Mesopotamian calendars were, in that it kept pace with the seasons, so harvest time occurred around the same time every year. 

Luni-solar calendars normally alternated days of 29 and 30 (O’Neil, p. 88), to keep with the moon, then intercalated a month every few years, to reconcile with the sun. The modern Jewish calendar has 30 days in Nisan, 29 in Iyyar, and 30 in Sivan, though, again, we do not know how many days were in the month at the time of the Exodus.

Clearly, any reconstruction is going to be based on many assumptions. Let’s just, for the sake of argument, accept 15th Iyyar was a Sabbath, and Nisan had 30 days, and Iyyar had 29 (Point #6).

In this case, Passover (the 14th) would have been on a Wednesday, making Friday the wavesheaf day of the modern Jewish people and the early Pharisees. This would count to a Pentecost on Sivan 6, which is the fixed day most of them keep it on. For those whose wavesheaf is calculated after the weekly Sabbath during Unleavened Bread, in our first example, (Quails Saturday after sunset), the wavesheaf would be Nisan 18, and Pentecost Sivan 8. For those who calculate the wavesheaf after the last day of Unleavened Bread, the wavesheaf would be on 22 Nisan and Pentecost on 11 Sivan. Finally, to stretch a case, imagining someone who did such counting, and did it exclusively, that is starting the following day, instead of beginning with the wavesheaf, Pentecost would be on 12 Sivan.

Example 2: Calendar with Latest Possible Wavesheaf

(Click on link to see sample calendar in popup window)

In this example, let’s discount the assumption that the quails give us the day of the week, and go with the week that would give us the latest possible wavesheaf by the calculations of those who reckon the wavesheaf as falling after the weekly Sabbath (Point #4b). This is also the latest possible wavesheaf, as it is the day of the wavesheaf for those who keep it after the last day of Unleavened Bread.

This would be one where the Passover occurs on the Sabbath. Discounting those who would have the wavesheaf on the first Day of Unleavened Bread (we’re going with the latest day possible), this makes the wavesheaf on 22 Nisan, for a 12 Sivan Pentecost, or, at the latest, with exclusive counting, 13 Sivan.

Since 17 Sivan is the earliest possible date for the giving of the Ten Commandments, assuming that Moses spoke to God the very same day the Israelites camped, and that they did not camp for a longer time, there is no way, by any method of reckoning, that the Ten Commandments could have been given on Pentecost.

A Last Fit of Desperation

Or could it? Is there any twists we could introduce to make it closer? We could shave a day off Nisan, and assume both Nisan and Iyyar had 29 days (Point #7), which would bring everything closer by 1 day, but 14 Sivan is still three days away from the 17 Sivan. Since the lunar month averages a bit more than 29.5 days, lunar calendars alternate 29 and 30 days (O’Neil, p. 88): there is no way they would ever have one month of 28 days, let alone two, but even with two months of 28 days, we’re at 16 Sivan versus 17 Sivan, and we have made so many assumptions from the insupportable to the downright ludicrous, that we could not honestly push it even this far!

Example 3: The Most Honest Interpretation of Scripture

(Click on link to see sample calendar in popup window)

A final scenario, I present to you, that contains none of the unfounded assumptions. The natural reading of the Bible is used, counting full months from the Exodus (Point #4c), and no monkeying with the months is allowed. The only assumptions are that there is a lunar-solar calendar, with alternating 29 and 30 day months. In this example, the calendar with the latest possible wavesheaf is given, as it is obvious from a glance, that even this makes no difference. 

Why Does it Matter?

What difference does all this make? This question is certainly a technical point on a technical topic, but the significance is much more spiritual than technical.

Firstly, it shows how easy it is to assume that what we have been taught, whether by the rabbis, by our original church, or by books, is correct, without even being aware that we are making an assumption. I didn’t question this point until I was challenged on it, and then I realized I’d never looked into it.

What difference does it make? Or, to put it, using a phrase I resoundingly dislike, "it isn’t a salvational issue," is it? In one sense, of course it isn’t. Chronologies, by themselves, do not matter. If you fail Math, you don’t lose your salvation, but it doesn’t mean you’re right, either.

How Does This Affect Our Salvation?

The immediate response to the question of how it affects our salvation would be to say, "it doesn’t." In another sense, though, we must not be so cavalier. The motivation behind this whole exercise was to prove what is right, according to the scriptures, which the Bible calls noble (Acts 17:10, 11). So, even to search the scriptures on a small point shows a willingness to listen to God and not to man.

And, if you go through the assumptions of the arguments one has to make to assert the Law was given on Pentecost, there is more than "a little latitude and fancy" at play here. There is an attitude of mind that "I want to believe what I want to believe, and if it isn’t there, I’ll make it be there," and that attitude of mind is serious indeed, and I do believe that such an attitude is a salvational issue, for "whatever is not of faith is sin" (Rom. 14:23).

It is important that we constantly examine our assumptions. This is part of examining ourselves to see if we are in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5).

And there is another matter in this: why did this question come up? Because people wanted something that wasn’t there. They wanted Shavuot to be more than a harvest festival: they wanted an historical connection, and we saw that, before the great assertion that the Law was given on that day, some rabbis made the more fanciful assertion that the promise to Noah and the world was given on that day. Clearly, the rabbis were looking for something to give significance to the day.

In a similar way, many of the holyday-keeping churches may be following an assumption that began with a desire for symmetry, typology, and the same kind of historical significance the rabbis sought.

If we follow our desires first, rather than scripture, we will fall into all kinds of error. And this impulse to be taught what we want to hear, to fulfil our own desires and lusts is definitely not godly, but sinful (2 Tim. 4:3).

Lastly, even in small, technical points like this one, we show our hearts by the way we approach it, as our Lord Jesus Christ himself said: "he who is faithful in little is faithful in much." (Luke 16:10). So let’s not be too quick to dismiss small things and rush to comprehend the large. 

As the old Chinese saying is more accurately translated, "The journey of a thousand miles consists of putting one foot in front of the other." And each step, though small in and of itself, helps to take us across a vast distance.

©2002, Jesse Ancona. All rights reserved. For permission to copy or use any material on this page, please email Jesse Ancona at jesseancona@hotmail.com. No permission is required for fair use, which includes short quotations in other work with citation. For information on citation of Internet sources using the Harvard System, see Library - BRIDGES: Harvard System - Electronic Material.

List of Assertions and Assumptions:

  1. Anti-scriptural Assumption: that Ex. 16:1 and Ex. 19:1 do not refer to the full number of months counting from the Exodus, as they plainly do, but that they refer to the months by their number, so the second month since the Exodus is really just the second month of the year, and the third month since the Exodus just the third month of the year. This is the major assumption: without it, the rest are unnecessary. It is also the one that takes what Biblical chronology we have, and twists it into another meaning for another purpose. Though a casual reading of the text might make one mistakenly think the second or third month was meant, deliberately taking this interpretation is the most dishonest assumption of them all.
  2. Assertion: the children of Israel left Egypt on the 15th of Nisan (Num. 33:3-5). Though some disagree with this, and think they left on the 14th, there is much evidence that they left on the 15th (Coulter, 1999, pp. 70-84; Hunt, 1998)
  3. Assumption: that Ex. 19:1-10 refers to the same day, and the Israelites hadn’t camped any longer, whereas it could have been days or weeks, making the giving of the Ten Commandments much farther away from Pentecost.
  4.  Each Sample Calendar is based on a different scenario with the following criteria:
    1. Assumption for Example 1: Quails in Ex. 16:2 were sent Saturday after sunset. 
    2. Assumption for Example 2: In the year of the Exodus, the wavesheaf occurred on the latest possible day. While this is statistically unlikely, it is at least possible.
    3. Assertion for Example 3: The scripture is to be taken at its plain meaning, and the second and third months were full months, to the day, from when the children of Israel left Egypt. In this example, the calendar of Example #2 is used, with the latest possible wavesheaf day, to demonstrate how unimportant these matters are when the scriptures are taken at face value.
  5. Assertion: Israel’s calendar was luni-solar, as were all ancient Mesopotamian calendars (O’Neil, p. 88).
  6. Assumption: Nisan had 30 days, and Iyyar had 29 days, as in modern times; not clear, but very likely the months alternated 29 and 30 days, to keep with the moon, as did all luni-solar calendars (O’Neil, p. 88).
  7. Ridiculous, Desperate Assumption: that Nisan and Iyyar both had less than 29 days! This would cause the months to fall out of synch with the moon. Highly unlikely. No calendar is given for this idea, as it falls outside any rational possibility.

Bibliography

Ausubel, Nathan, 1953. Pictorial History of the Jewish People from Bible Times to our own day throughout the world. New York: Crown Publishers.

Coulter, Fred R., 1999. 2nd ed. The Christian Passover: What Does It Mean? When Should It Be Observed – the 14th or the 15th? Hollister, California: York Publishing Co.

Gaster, Theodor H., 1952, 1953. 1978 pb ed. Festivals of the Jewish Year: A Modern Interpretation and Guide. New York: Morrow Quill Paperbacks.

Holy Bible, The (KJV).

Hunt, Keith M., 1998. Passover Study #20 [online]. Available from – http://www.keithhunt.com/passover20.html [Accessed 19 May 2002].

O’Neil, William M., 1978. 2nd ed. Time and the Calendars. Sydney: Sydney University Press.

Schauss, Hayyim, trans: Jaffe, Samuel, 1938. 1962 ed. The Jewish Festivals: History & Observance. New York: Schocken Books.


         IF THE PHRASES 2ND MONTH AND 3RD MONTH ARE MEANING THE SECOND AND         

         THIRD MONTH AFTER ISRAEL CAME OUT OF EGYPT, OR LEFT RAMESES ON THE 15  

         TH DAY, THEN YOU HAVE WITH 30 DAYS TO THE MONTH— 60 DAYS, AND WITH 

         "TODAY" "TOMORROW" AND THE "THIRD DAY" A TOTAL OF 63 DAYS.  WAY MORE 

         THAN 50 DAYS TO COUNTING TO PENTECOST. EVEN IF ONE OR MORE OF THESE 

         MONTHS HAD 29 DAYS, IT IS STILL MORE THAN 50 DAYS.  THIS WOULD BE 

         CALENDAR MONTHS— THE  FIRST TO THE SECOND TO THE THIRD MONTH.

        WE ARE NOT TOLD WHAT DAY THE PASSOVER WAS ON, SO WE CAN NOT KNOW 

        WHEN THE WEEKLY SABBATH FELL IN THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD, OR 

        WHEN THE WAVE SHEAF DAY WAS, IF THERE HAD BEEN A WAVE SHEAF DAY, WHICH 

        FOR THAT FIRST PASSOVER AND FEAST OF UNLEAVENED THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN 

       NO RULES TO COUNT TO PENTECOST, AS THOSE RULES WERE GIVEN LATER TO 

       ISRAEL.

       GOD WAS NOT CONCERNED WITH THEM KNOWING THE LAW OF GOD WAS GOING TO 

       BE GIVEN ON PENTECOST DAY, OR THE FEAST OF FIRST-FRUITS, OR FEAST OF WEEKS, 

      AS IT WAS LATER KNOWN AS.  GIVING THE LAW OF GOD TO ISRAEL WAS THE 

       IMPORTANT MATTER,  NOT THE DAY IT WAS GIVEN.

       Keith Hunt


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