Pentecost - Feast Of Weeks

This booklet is written with the idea of providing a means to get started in this study. It is by no means an effort to answer every question or give you all the proof you need. To truly understand, you need to do some research on your own. Most of the Scriptures quoted are from The Interlinear Bible, by Jay P. Green, Sr., as general editor and translator.

Introduction

Pentecost, as it is called in the New Testament, has several different names, among them Shavuot and Feast of Weeks. Why does this day have several names? Should we be observing it today? If so, how? When? We are told to count it. Count what? How?

The Jews have numerous traditions and interpretations of this day. Let's look first at their customs and see if they have any merits.

Jewish Customs

Gates of the Seasons, Peter S Knobel, editor -

From page 76 - "Shavuot occurs on the sixth of the Hebrew month of Sivan. The name Shavuot ('weeks') derives from its celebration seven weeks (a week of weeks) after Pesach. In the Torah it is also designated by the names Chag Hakatsir, the Harvest Festival (Exodus 23:16), and Chag Habikurim, the Feast of First Fruits (Exodus 34:22)."

"Current observance is based on the Talmudic identification of Shavuot with the events at Sinai. Therefore it is called Zeman matan toratenu, the season of the giving of the Torah. On Shavuot, the Jewish people celebrate their covenantal relationship with God and reaffirm their commitment to a Jewish life of study (Talmud Torah) and practice (mitzvah)."

From page 77 - "It is customary to decorate one's home and the synagogue with greens and fresh flowers on Shavuot. The greenery is a reminder of the ancient practice of bringing first fruits (Bikurim) to the Temple in Jerusalem. It also calls to mind our hopes for an abundant harvest."

"When the Temple stood, Jews brought offerings of first fruits, Bikurim, to the Temple on Shavuot. Today, parents bring their children to participate in Confirmation. These young people are the first fruits of each year's harvest. They represent the hope and promise of tomorrow."

From page 78 - "The Book of Ruth (Megilat Rut) is read on Shavuot. The story of Ruth takes place during the barley harvest at the Shavuot season."

From page 131 - "The Biblical verse (Leviticus 23:15) states that the counting of the fifty-day period from Pesach until Shavuot begins on the day after the Sabbath. According to the Talmud (B., Menachot 65ab), the Sadducees (Boethusians) took the word Sabbath literally and began to count the day after the Sabbath which occurred during Pesach, which meant that the date of Shavuot varied from year to year. However, the Pharisees understood the word Sabbath to refer to the first day of Pesach and therefore began the counting on the second day of Pesach, thus establishing a fixed date for Shavuot."

The Jewish Festivals, Hayyim Schauss -

From page 41 - "The real importance of the holiday, however, centered in the ceremony of the omer, the first sheaf of newly cut barley that was offered to the priest on the first day of the harvest of a sacrifice, as a gift to God."

From page 42 - "It is not hard for us to picture the simple, joyous scene on that occasion; we can see festive Jewish peasants from hilly Ephraim or from the Valley of Jezreel, winding up the hill in a joyful procession, bearing the omer, the first sheaf of barley, to the 'high place.' The priest takes the sheaf and, chanting prayers and blessings, waves it over the altar, symbolically giving it to God."

From page 86-87 - "Shovuos - it is the festival when home and synagogue are decked in green, and all the world is fragrant with plants and flowers, for it occurs in the most beautiful and balmiest season of the year."

"The word Shovuos means weeks, and was therefore used to designate the festival that ended the weeks of the grain harvest…. The grain harvest started with the reaping of the barley and after seven weeks ended with the cutting of the wheat, an occasion for a festival holiday."

"The beginning of the grain harvest was marked by sacrifice, at the sanctuary, of the omer, the first sheaf of the newly cut barley; fifty days later, at the close of the harvest period, two loaves of bread, baked from the wheat of the new crop, were offered as sacrifice. This bread-offering was called 'the first-fruits of wheat harvest,' and the festival was therefore also called Yom ha-Bikkurim, the day of offering the first loaves of the new crop to God."

From page 87-88 - "The Pentateuch does not state on what day of the month Shovuos is to be observed. It says only that it is to be celebrated fifty days after the offering of the omer, the first sheaf of the barley harvest, which was to be offered on 'the morrow after the Sabbath.' Thus, the Sadducees, the party of conservative priests, interpreted this as meaning that the omer was to be offered the first Sunday of Pesach, and that Shovuos, therefore, would always fall on the seventh Sunday after Pesach. However, the Pharisees, who sought to interpret the Torah in accordance with the conditions of the day, interpreted the word Sabbath, in that case, as meaning not Saturday, but the day of rest, the first day of the festival. According to the Pharisees, therefore, it was necessary to offer the omer on the sixteenth day of Nisan; Shovuos, coming on the sixth day of Sivan."

From page 89 - "The holiday first attained importance when it became the festival of the giving of the Torah, of God revealing Himself on Mount Sinai."

Jewish Days, Francine Klagsbrun -

From page 131 - "Although the first and second seders are alike in almost every respect, one additional element in the Haggadah is included in the second seder. That is counting the Omer, which begins on the second night. The ritual opens with a benediction, and then participants recite, 'Today is the first day of the Omer'."

"The Omer, which literally means 'sheaf,' was a barley offering brought to the Temple on the second day of Passover to mark the start of the grain harvest season. The Bible mandates counting from the beginning of this harvest to the time when the wheat crops would ripen. The 50th day would celebrate the wheat harvest with an offering of two loaves of bread. That day became the festival of Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, and a time to celebrate not only the harvest, but - more important - the giving of the Torah."

"Counting the Omer, known in Hebrew as sefirat haOmer, connects the two holidays, Passover and Shavuot, and links the Exodus to the revelation on Mount Sinai. Throughout the Omer weeks, observant Jews count aloud each day as they did the first."

From page 157 - "How did these festivities of fruits and grains turn into a celebration of the Torah? Part of the genius of the talmudic sages was their ability to overlay old agricultural holidays with historical meaning. In the case of Shavuot, the rabbis calculated that the festival fell during the same three-month time period in which the Children of Israel had reached the wilderness of Sinai after leaving Egypt. They fixed the date for both events as the sixth of Sivan and made the Sinai experience the essence of the holiday."

Jewish Holidays and Festivals, Dr Isidor Margolis and Rabbi Sidney L Markowitz -

From page 113 - "The holiday of Shavuoth comes on the sixth and seventh day of the Hebrew month of Sivan (May or June). The holiday has four names:

· CHAG HASHAVUOTH - Holiday of weeks, because it is celebrated the day after completing the count of seven weeks since the Omer was brought on the second day of Passover. · Z"MAN MATAN TORASEINU - Season of the giving of the Torah. Moses received the Tablets of the Torah from God on Mount Sinai at this season. · CHAG HABIKKURIM - Holiday of the first ripe wheat. In ancient Israel, the Jews brought their first ripe wheat to the Temple in Jerusalem as a sign of appreciation for what God did for them. · ECHAD M'SHALOSH REGALIM - One of the three Walking Holidays."

From page 114 - "Shavuoth was the second Walking Holiday, when all male Jews in the Land of Israel went up to the Temple in Jerusalem to celebrate the holiday, and to bring a gift."

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1984, volume 4, page 2318 -

"Pentecost - It is but once mentioned in the historical books of the Old Testament (2 Ch 8:12.13), from which reference it is plain, however, that the people of Israel, in Solomon's day, were perfectly familiar with it… The requirements of the three great festivals were then well understood at this time, and their authority was founded in the Mosaic Law and unquestioned. The festival and its ritual were minutely described in this Law. Every male in Israel was on that day required to appear before the Lord at the sanctuary (Ex 34:22.23). It was the first of two agrarian festivals of Israel and signified the completion of the barley-harvest (Lev 23:15.16; Dt 16:9.10), which had begun at the time of the first ripe sheaf of the first-fruits (Lev 23:11). Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks, therefore, fell on the 50th day after this occurrence. The wheat was then also nearly everywhere harvested (Ex 23:16; 35:22; Nu 28:26), and the general character of the festival was that of a harvest-home celebration. The day was observed as a Sabbath day, all labor was suspended, and the people appeared before Jehovah to express their gratitude (Lev 23:21; Nu 28:26). The central feature of the day was the presentation of two loaves of leavened and salted bread unto the Lord (Lev 23:17.20; Ex 34:22; Nu 28:26; Dt 16:10)."

"The Old Testament does not give it the historical significance which later Jewish writers have ascribed to it. The Israelites were admonished to remember their bondage in that day to reconsecrate themselves to the Lord (Dt 16:12), but it does not yet commemorate the giving of the Law at Sinai or the birth of the national existence, in the Old Testament conception (Ex 19). Philo, Josephus, and the earlier Talmud are all ignorant of this new meaning which was given to the day in later Jewish history. It originated with the great Jewish rabbi Maimonides and has been copied by Christian writers. And thus a view of the Jewish Pentecost has been originated, which is wholly foreign to the scope of the ancient institution."

"The old Jewish festival obtained a new significance, for the Christian church, by the promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Jn 16:7.13). The incidents of that memorable day, in the history of Christianity, are told in a marvelously vivid and dramatic way in the Acts of the Apostles."

The Pentateuch and Haftorahs, Dr J H Hertz, editor -

From pages 520-521 - "Lev 23:11- on the morrow after the sabbath. Better, on the morrow after the day of rest. The interpretation of this phrase was the subject of heated controversy in early Rabbinic times between the Pharisees and Sadducees. The latter took the word 'sabbath' in its usual sense, and maintained that the Omer was to be brought on the morrow of the first Saturday in Passover. The Pharisees argued that 'sabbath' here means, 'the day of cessation from work'; and the context shows that the Festival of Unleavened Bread is intended: therefore, the Omer was to be brought on the sixteenth of Nisan. This is supposed by the Septuagint, which renders 'on the morrow of the first day', and by Josephus. 'The offerings of the sheaf took place on the sixteenth, the first busy work-day of the harvest, in relation to which the preceding day might well be called a Sabbath or rest-day, though not all labour was prohibited. This is alone compatible with the context, and is free from the objections to which all the other opinions are open' (Kalisch)."

From page 521 - Feast of Weeks - Shavuos. One of the three agricultural festivals, the feast of the first harvest. Jewish tradition, however, connects it with the Covenant on Mount Sinai, and speaks of the festival as 'the Season of Giving of our Torah'. The Israelites arrived at Sinai on the New Moon. On the second of the month, Moses ascended the mountain; on the third, he received the people's reply; on the fourth, he made the second ascent and was commanded to institute three days of preparation, at the conclusion of which the Revelation took place. Hence, its association with the Feast of Weeks, which became the Festival of Revelation."

"Verse 15 - and ye shall count. 'We count the days that pass since the preceding Festival, just as one who expects his most intimate friend on a certain day counts the days and even the hours. This is the reason why we count the days that pass since the offering of the Omer, between the anniversary of our departure from Egypt and the anniversary of the Law-giving . The latter was the aim and object of the exodus from Egypt' (Maimonides). In other words, the Deliverance from bondage was not an end in itself; it was the prelude to Sinai (Exod. III, 12)."

"Unto you. From this addition, the Rabbis deduce that each Israelite had the duty of counting for himself; hence the 'counting of the days of the Omer' even after the Omer itself was no longer brought to the Temple. The season between Passover and Shavuos (or Pentecost, which in Greek means 'the fiftieth day' after the first day of Passover) is known as Sephirah, Period of Counting. It is a period of semi-mourning, because repeatedly dire calamities befell the Jewish people at this time." "Verse 16 - new meal-offering. 'With the destruction of the Second Temple, the agricultural aspect of the Festival receded, and Shavuos became primarily the Feast of Revelation. An echo of nature, however, still lingers in the present custom of adorning the Synagogue with flowers' (H. M. Adler)."

From page 816 - "Unlike Passover and Tabernacles, the Feast of Weeks has no distinctive ceremony. In many rites, the Book of Ruth, presenting a charming picture of agricultural life in ancient Palestine, is read. In many congregations it is also customary to spend the first night of Shavuos in reading selections from the Torah and the Prophets, as well as from Rabbinic literature. The special book of service for this purpose is known as Tikkun leyl Shavuos. A more universal custom is to decorate the synagogues with flowers and plants on this Festival. On Shavuos, the Jewish child was first initiated into the study of the Jewish religion and the Hebrew Language."

The Torah: A Modern Commentary, W Gunther Plaut, page 924 -

"The Omer Period. The entire period from Pesach to Shavuot is known as the omer (or sefirah, 'counting') period. In the course of centuries it has acquired associations that have no background in biblical law. Traditional Jews do not marry during this period, which is said to be one of mourning for persecutions that occurred in the spring. (But at what season of the year have persecutions not taken place?) Most probably this custom goes back to ancient superstitions."

"The Feast of Weeks (Shavuot). In the Talmud it is referred to as Atzeret, a word rendered 'solemn gathering' in Leviticus (23:36) where it refers to the final day of the fall festival. This name has also been explained as 'closing feast.' The Rabbis no doubt had that explanation in mind when the spoke of Shavuot as 'the Atzeret of Pesach' - thereby stressing the connection between the two festivals, one marking the beginning, the other the climax of the grain harvest."

"The Bible describes Shavuot only as an agricultural festival. Later tradition regards it as the anniversary of the giving of the Torah at Sinai. According to Exodus, chapter 19, the revelation occurred early in the third month; but an explicit identification of the festival as anniversary of the revelation is not found until well after the beginning of the Christian era. Thereafter, the stress on the historical meaning of the holiday overshadowed the agricultural aspect. The latter survived only in the custom of decorating the synagogue with greens and flowers. The prayers and hymns of Shavuot all glorify the Torah. And the occasion was fittingly chosen by Reform Jews for the ceremony of confirmation, at which the pledge of Sinai is renewed."

The Oxford Companion to the Bible, Bruce M Metzger and Michael D Coogan, editors, page 582 -

"The word Pentecost (Greek 'fiftieth') appears twice in the Septuagint as one of the designations of the 'feast of weeks' (Exod. 34.22; Deut. 16:10) which comes between Passover and Tabernacles. In the Hellenistic period, the feast also called for renewal of the covenant God made with Noah (Gen. 9:8-17). Later after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, the feast began to lose its agricultural association and became linked with Israel's sacred history by celebrating the giving of the Torah on Sinai. In synagogue worship, it became customary to read the book of Ruth and Exodus 19-20."

"Luke gives new significance to the first Pentecost following the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. For Luke (Acts 2) it is the fulfillment of Jesus' promise that his followers would receive power when the Holy Spirit would come upon them."

"Luke does not tell us where the followers of Jesus were assembled when the Spirit came, but the subsequent scene seems to be in the Temple court. The Spirit's coming was attended by 'a sound like the rush of a violent wind' filling the house where they were gathered, and is marked by the appearance of 'tongues, as of fire'; then the followers 'were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages' (Acts 2:2-4). While the reported charge of drunkenness (v. 13) may suggest the kind of ecstatic speech that Paul describes in I Cor 12-14, Luke understands these' other tongues' as foreign languages and articulate witness. Within Israel, near and distant neighbors are finding their unity in the gospel. For Luke, what happens at Pentecost is a promise of what will happen among all the nations when the gospel will be preached to the gentiles."

"For Christianity, Easter as the new Passover and Whitsunday as the new Pentecost became the basics for the liturgical year."

Jewish Literacy, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, pages 592-593 -

"In Hebrew, omer means sheaves of a harvested crop. When the Temple stood, priests would offer there, on behalf of all Israel, newly harvested barley (an omer) on the second day of Passover. Their doing so signaled the beginning of Israel's harvest season, a period that lasted seven weeks."

"Although one would think of the harvest period of joyous, in Jewish life the Omer is considered a time of semi mourning. To this day, no scholar is sure why this is so…. Whatever the origins of the custom of semi mourning, traditional Jews do not get haircuts or celebrate weddings during this period."

"An interesting Shavuot custom, whose origins are unknown, mandates that only dairy foods be eaten on the holiday's first day. A popular folk tradition explains that, in the aftermath of the Exodus, the Jews had slaughtered many animals, but after receiving the Torah, they learned that this meat was unkosher, so they ate dairy instead. In imitation of them, we likewise refrain from eating meat. Somehow this explanation hardly seems definitive, but it will have to do until someone comes up with a more convincing one."

The Works of Josephus, Flavius Josephus, Antiquities, book 3, chapter 10, section 5, pages 79-80 -

"But on the second day of unleavened bread, which is the sixteenth day of the month, they first partake of the fruits of the earth, for before that day they do not touch them. And while they suppose it proper to honour God, from whom they obtain this plentiful provision, in the first place, they offer the first-fruits of their barley, and that in the manner following: They take a handful of the ears, and dry them, then beat them small, and purge the barley from the bran; then they bring one tenth deal to the altar, to God: and casting one handful of it upon the fire, they leave the rest for the use of the priest and after this it is that they may publicly or privately reap their harvest. They also at this participation of the first-fruits of the earth, sacrifice a lamb, as a burn-offering to God."

Comments And Questions

Before we look at the pertinent scriptures, read through these questions. Keep them in mind when considering what the scriptures say and see if they mesh together.

If it is on a set date, like Sivan 6, why should we have to count anything? Why didn't Yahweh simply give the date as He did with the other set-apart days?
Can it be proven that the Torah was given on this date?
Did Yahweh say anything about commemorating the giving of the law? What is the origin of decorating with greenery?
Where did the idea of Confirmation originate?
Are we to interpret Yahweh's word in accordance with the conditions of the day, as it says the Pharisees did?
Is there any reference in Scripture about celebrating two days, not just one?
Does the "Feast of Revelation" appear anywhere in Scripture?
Are superstitions to play a part in the worship of Yahweh?
Is there proof that the Children of Israel arrived at Sinai on the New Moon?
Does this have any relationship to the covenant of Noah?
Where in the Scripture does it mention eating only dairy foods?
Are Easter and Whitsunday of Christianity in the Scripture?
Who gave the Jews the right to put the emphasis on the giving of the Torah when that was nowhere in the commands of Yahweh for this day? They changed what He gave.
Exactly what is the wave sheaf?
What does the wave sheaf offering mean?
What is the relationship between the wave sheaf and the Passover? Or the Days of Unleavens?

Scriptures

Exodus 23:14-17
14 - Three times in the year you shall make a feast to Me.
15 - You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I have commanded you, at the set time of the month of Abib. For in it you came out from Egypt, and they shall not appear before Me empty.
16 - Also the Feast of Harvest, the first fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. Also the Feast of Ingathering, at the end of the year, at your gathering your work from the field.
17 - Three times in the year every one of your males shall appear before the Master Yahweh.

Exodus 34:22-23
22 - And you shall observe a Feast of Weeks for yourself, the firstfruits of the harvest of wheat; also the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year.
23 - Three times in the year every male of yours shall appear before the Master Yahweh, the Elohim of Israel."

How was it to be observed?

Leviticus 23:15-21
15 - And you shall number to you from the next day after the sabbath, from the day you bring in the sheaf of the wave offering; they shall be seven perfect sabbaths;
16 - to the next day after the seventh sabbath, you shall number fifty days; and you shall bring near a new food offering to Yahweh;
17 - you shall bring in bread out of your dwellings for a wave offering, two loaves; they shall be of two tenths parts of flour; they shall be baked with leaven; first fruits to Yahweh.
18 - And besides the bread, you shall offer seven lambs, perfect ones, sons of a year, and one bullock, a son of the herd, and two rams; they are a burnt offering to Yahweh, with their food offering and their drink offerings, a fire offering of sweet fragrance to Yahweh.
19 - And you shall offer one he-goat for a sin offering, and two lambs, sons of a year, for a sacrifice of peace offerings.
20 - And the priest shall wave them, besides the bread of the first fruits, a wave offering before Yahweh, besides the two lambs; they are holy to Yahweh for the priest.
21 - And you shall make a proclamation on this same day; it is a holy gathering to you. You shall do no work of service. It is a never-ending statute in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

What constituted the first fruits offering?

Leviticus 2:14
And if you bring near a food offering of first fruits to Yahweh, fresh ears roasted with fire, kernels from a garden, you shall bring near your first fruits for a food offering.

To help understand this, "fresh ears" is Strong's #24 - abib, meaning green, i.e. a young ear of grain. "Kernels" is #1643 - geres, meaning to husk; a kernel, i.e. grain or beaten grain. "Garden", Strongs #3759 - karmel, is a planted field (garden, orchard, vineyard or park); by implication garden produce; full (green) ears; fruitful field.

According to the Dictionary of Talmud Babli, Yerushalmi, Midrashic Literature and Targumim, by Professor Marcus Jastrow, volume 1, we find -

From page 5 - "abib - early stage of ripening, esp of grains; season of beginning barley-crop; also the offering of the first fruits (on Passover)."

"Observe the ripening of the equinoctial season that it be in the month of Nisan (rule for intercalation)."

From page 273 - "geres - grits."

From page 671 - "karmel - a well-cultivated plot; early ripened and tender barley; soft yet brittle, neither green nor dry, but between the two."

Numbers 28:26
And in the day of the first fruits, as you offer a new food offering to Yahweh in your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no work of service.

Deuteronomy 16:9-12, 16
9 - You shall number to yourself seven weeks. When the sickle begins to reap in the standing grain, you shall being to number seven weeks.
10 - And you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to Yahweh your Elohim according to the measure of the free-will offering of your hand, which you shall give according as Yahweh your Elohim blesses you.
11 - And you shall rejoice before Yahweh your Elohim, you and your son, and your daughter, and your male slaves, and your slave-girl, and the Levite that is inside your gates, and the alien, and the fatherless, and the widow that are among you, in the place which Yahweh your Elohim shall choose to cause His name to dwell there.
12 - And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt; and you shall take heed to do these statutes.
16 - Three times a year shall all your males appear before Yahweh your Elohim in the place which He shall choose. In the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and in the Feast of Weeks, and in the Feast of Tabernacles. And they shall not appear before Yahweh empty.

So the instructions for this day included:

To appear before Yahweh.
Do not appear empty.
Two loaves of bread, made from the newly cut grain, baked with leaven.
Animals sacrificed.
A holy convocation.
The loaves and animals were to be waved by the priest.
No work of service.
The people were to rejoice.

What was the purpose of the first fruits? What did they mean?

Numbers 28:8, 11-13
8 - And Yahweh spoke to Aaron, saying, and I, behold, I have given to you the charge of My heave offerings, of all the dedicated things of the sons of Israel. I have given them to you for the anointing, and to your sons, by a never-ending statute.
11 - And this is yours, the heave offering of their gift with all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel. I have given them to you, and to your sons, and to your daughters with you, by a never-ending statute; every clean one in your house shall eat it.
12 - All the best of the oil, and all the best of the new wine, and wheat, and the first fruits of them which they give to Yahweh, I have given you.
13 - The first fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring in to Yahweh shall be yours; every clean one in your house shall eat of it."

The firstfruits of all the produce, as well as the first born of both man and beast, are very important to Yahweh and He gives special instructions regarding all of them.

These are the practices that continued for years. Later the Jews let these go by the wayside and changed the emphasis of the day. Is that what Yahweh wanted? No. He said this was a never-ending statute. So did they have the right to end or de-emphasize what He said?

The New Testament

Yahshua did not change any of these things. But some exciting events did take place on this high day right after His death and resurrection.

Acts 2:1-8, 37-41
1 - And in the fulfilling of the day of Pentecost, they were all with one mind in the same place.
2 - And suddenly a sound came out of the heaven, as being borne along by a violent wind! And it filled all the house where they were sitting.
3 - And tongues as of fire appeared to them who were being distributed; and it sat on each one of them.
4 - And they were all filled of the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave ability to them to speak.
5 - And Jews were living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation of those under the heaven.
6 - But this sound occurring, the multitude came together and were confounded because they each heard them speaking in his own dialect.
7 - And all were amazed and marveled, saying to one another, Behold, are not all these, those speaking, Galileans?
8 - And how do we hear each in our own dialect in which we were born?
37 - And hearing, they were stabbed in the hearts and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men, brothers, What shall we do?
38 - And Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized, each of you on the name of Yahshua Messiah to forgiveness of sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 - For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all those afar off, as many as Yahweh our Elohim shall call.
40 - And with many other words he earnestly testified and exhorted, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation.
41 - Then those who gladly welcomed his words were baptized. And about three thousand souls were added that day.

At this event, the apostles received a down-payment - a measure of the spirit.

Romans 8:23
And not only so, but we ourselves having the first fruit of the Spirit…

When Yahshua died and was resurrected, He became the very first of the first fruits - which is what the wave sheaf was. Yahshua was resurrected on Sabbath evening and ascended to the Father on Sunday, the same day as the wave sheaf was to be offered.

I Corinthians 15:20-23
20 - But now Messiah has been raised from the dead; He became the first fruit of those having fallen asleep.
21 - For since death is through man, also through a Man is a resurrection of the dead,
22 - for as all die in Adam, so also all will be made alive in Messiah,
23 - but each in his own order: Messiah, the first fruit; afterwards those of Messiah at His coming.

And what are the hopes and plans for us?

James 1:18
Having purposed, He brought us forth by the word of truth, for us to be a certain firstfruit of His creatures.

Revelation 14:1, 4
1 - And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion! And with Him were a hundred and forty-four thousands, with the name of His Father having been written on their foreheads.
4 - These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones following the Lamb wherever He may go. These were redeemed from among men as first-fruit to Yahweh and to the Lamb.

So how does this high day fit into the scenario of Yahweh's plan? Yahshua became the first of the first-fruits on this day. Could this day be a foreshadow of the day when we will also receive the full measure of His Spirit and become a true first fruit? At this point it is not totally clear - there is still more study and learning to be done, to see how things fit together. Why is the wave sheaf day important? Because it is a memorial of the ascension of Yahshua Messiah and the fact that He was accepted as the first of the first-fruits by the Father. That was necessary part of the plan of salvation before the harvesting of the spiritual first-fruits could be started. That harvest is pictured by Pentecost - the high day when Yahweh will reap His harvest.

Counting

For many years, we were confident that we understood how to count the omer to Pentecost. For example, this year Passover day is on Friday (April 26). The first high day is on Sabbath (April 27). That would be the Sabbath within the Days of Unleavens. The wave sheaf would be the next day( April 28). That is when the counting for Pentecost begins - the day after the Sabbath. Start counting with that as day #1. Since it always begins on the first day of the week, day #50 will also be a Sunday. The 50th day this year - Pentecost - will be June 16.

There are many, including the Pharisees of Yahshua's time and the Jews of today, who believe that the wave sheaf was to be done on the day after Passover, the first high day, the 16th of the month.

We believe that the wave sheaf is symbolic of Yahshua. He was to be "waved" or accepted by the Father. Is there any scriptural indication when this was done?

John 20:1, 17
1 - But on the first of the sabbaths Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, darkness yet being on it. And she saw the stone had been removed from the tomb.
17 - Yahshua said to her, Do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father, but go to My Father, but go to My brothers and say to them, I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and My El, and your El.

Matthew 28:9
But as they were going to tell it to His disciples, behold, Yahshua also met them, saying, Hail! And coming near, they seized His feet, and worshipped Him.

Early on the first day of the week, Yahshua did not want to be touched until He had appeared before the Father. Later that same day, they did touch Him, so He must have been the "wave sheaf" some time between those two events - on the first day of the week. Not the sixteenth of the month, on the high day. (In our article "Passover - When and How?", we show how Yahshua died and was entombed near sunset on Wednesday, was in the tomb three days and three nights, resurrected near sunset on the Sabbath and was already gone when the women reached the tomb early on the first day of the week. The first high day, the 16th, would have been on Thursday in that year).

But some questions arose in 2001. The Passover was on a Sabbath. So did the count start the following day - on the first high day? Or the following Sabbath - on the last high day?

In past years, we said that the important point was the Sabbath that occurred during those seven days. We had a dilemma in 2001 for the only Sabbath within those days was the last day, meaning that if we used that day to start counting, then the count would begin outside the seven days of unleavened bread. In fact, it is not important that the Sabbath be within the seven days: it is the wave sheaf day that must be in the Days of Unleavens.

Why is this important? The wave sheaf was to be done before any of the grain was cut for use in food preparation. They needed grain with which to prepare the unleavened bread for the week.

Are there any indications in Scripture where this situation could possibly have come up? Any idea of what they did? Let's go even further back for a little review first so the whys and wherefores will be clear as we go along.

After giving instructions for the Passover and the departure from Egypt, Yahweh gave the ordinances of the Passover.

Exodus 12:43-49
43 - And Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the Passover. No alien may eat of it.
44 - And every man's slave, a purchase of silver, you shall circumcise him, then he may eat of it.
45 - And alien and a hired servant may not eat of it.
46 - It shall be eaten in one house. You shall not carry any of the flesh outside from the house. And you shall not break a bone in it.
47 - All the congregation of Israel shall prepare it.
48 - And when a foreigner shall stay with you and will do the Passover to Yahweh, let every male of his be circumcised, and then he may come to prepare it, and he shall be like a native of the land. But any uncircumcised one may not eat of it.
49 - One law shall be to the native, and to the stranger, the one staying in your midst.

After observing that first Passover, they left the land of Egypt. The next time there is mention of the Passover being observed was one year later. How did they do it? The same way? Or were changes made?

Numbers 9:1-5, 11-12
1 - And Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,
2 - Also the sons of Israel shall prepare the Passover in its appointed season.
3 - In the fourteenth day of this month, between the evenings, you shall prepare it according to all its statutes, and according to all its ordinances.
4 - And Moses spoke to the sons of Israel to prepare the Passover.
5 - And they prepared for the Passover in the first month of the fourteenth day of the month, between the evenings in the wilderness of Sinai, according to all that Yahweh had commanded Moses, so the sons of Israel did.
11 - In the second month, on the fourteenth day at dusk, they shall keep it, they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs;
12 - they shall leave none of it until morning, nor break a bone of it. According to all the statutes of the Passover, they shall keep it.

This was one year after leaving Egypt. At that time, they must have still been circumcising the males. Why? Because it was a requirement for the observance of the Passover.

At the time the children of Israel arrived at the land the first time and sent spies to check it out, all the males were circumcised. But out of fear, the people refused to go into the land at that time. All those over age twenty were to die and not enter the land. So only those under twenty would go into the land. They were already circumcised. They wandered for forty years. So these would have been between the ages of forty and sixty when they finally did enter the land.

During the forty years of wandering, did they continue the practice of circumcising the baby boys? It was an ordinance from Yahweh that they do so.

Joshua 5:3-9
3 - And Joshua made flint knives for himself and circumcised the sons of Israel at the hill of the foreskins.
4 - And this is the reason Joshua circumcised: all the people who had come out of Egypt, who were males, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness, in the way, as they came out of Egypt.
5 - For all the people who had come out were circumcised. And all the people who were born in the wilderness in the way, as they came out from Egypt, had not been circumcised.
6 - For the sons of Israel had walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the men of war who had come out of Egypt, who did not listen to the voice of Yahweh, to whom Yahweh had sworn to them, not to show them the land which Yahweh swore to their fathers, to give to us, a land flowing with milk and honey - these were consumed.
7 - And he raised their sons up in their place. Joshua circumcised them, for they had been uncircumcised; for they had not been circumcised in the way.
8 - And it happened, when all the nation had finished being circumcised, they remained in their places in the camp till they revived.
9 - And Yahweh said to Joshua, Today I have rolled the reproach of Egypt off of you. And he called the name of that place Gilgal to this day.

Then consider this. If they did not circumcise the males age 40 and under - either the newborns or the strangers who joined them along the say, then they must not have keep the Passover during those years of wandering! But now they did, once they had done the circumcisions.

Joshua 5:10-12
10 - And the sons of Israel camped in Gilgal, and prepared the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening, in the plains of Jericho.
11 - And they ate the old grain of the land on the morrow of the Passover, unleavened bread and roasted grain, in this same day.
12 - And the manna ceased on the next day after they ate of the old grain of the land. And there was no more manna to the sons of Israel, but they ate the produce of the land of Canaan in that year.

Exactly what are some of the words used here? "Old grain" is Strongs #5669 - abuwr, meaning passed, i.e. kept over; used only of stored grain. From where? From people they had met on the way? From the city they took on the west side of the Jordan? "Unleavened bread" is Strongs #4682 - matstsah - sweet (i.e. not soured or bittered with yeast); spec an unfermented cake or loaf, or the feast of Passover (because no leaven was then used). "Roasted grain" is Strongs #7033 - qalah - to toast; i.e. scorch partially or slowly. They had to do this part of the process because the grain, still somewhat green when cut, will not make flour without being parched first. "Produce" is Strongs #8393 - tebuw'ah - income, i.e. produce - fruit, gain, increase, revenue.

But how could they eat of this yet? Yahweh had set rules in place.

Leviticus 23:10-14
10 - Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them, When you come into the land which I am giving to you, and have reaped its harvest, and have brought in the sheaf, the beginning of your harvest, to the priest,
11 - then he shall wave the sheaf before Yahweh for your acceptance; on the morrow of the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
12 - And you shall prepare a lamb in the day you wave the sheaf, a perfect one, a son of a year, for a burnt offering to Yahweh.
13 - And its food offering shall be two tenths parts of flour mixed with oil, a fire offering to Yahweh, a sweet fragrance; and its drink offering, a fourth of a hin of wine.
14 - And you shall not eat bread and roasted grain and fresh ears until this self-same day, until you have brought the offering of your Elohim; it is a never-ending statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

The best way to understand the events in the year that they went it to the land, is to know that the 14th - the Passover - was on a Sabbath. Sunday, the 15th, was a high day. The people brought a small amount to be waved before Yahweh and then they were allowed to cut the grain. That is not saying that they worked hard all day harvesting - simply cutting what was needed for a meal. That day began the fifty-day count to Pentecost.

The next day, the manna ceased and they could use all the new grain they wanted.

From http://www.cbcg.org/ritenbaugh_1.htm from the article An Analysis of the Logical Errors Committed by John Ritenbaugh in the Article Countdown to Pentecost, by Carl D. Franklin -

"the wave sheaf '…pictures Christ - the first fruit of God's first spiritual harvest of souls - ascending after His resurrection to be accepted before God as the offering for our forgiveness and as our High Priest….' …Christ's ascension occurred during the Days of Unleavened Bread. …direct link between Christ's sacrifice on the Passover day and His ascension as our Wave Sheaf during the Days of Unleavened Bread. The Wave Sheaf Day and its meaning cannot be detached from Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread."

Regarding Joshua 5:10-12 - "From these verses, the Penteacost Study Material concludes:

" 'Since the children of Israel did eat of the produce (grain) of the land on the day after the Passover (the 15th of Nisan), and since they could not have eaten of the grain until after they had offered up the omer - they must have, therefore, offered the wave sheaf on the morning of the 15th which would have been a Sunday.

" 'This, in turn, would mean that the Passover day (the 14th of Nisan) as a weekly sabbath, and this would show that in those years when the last day of Unleavened Bread coincided with the weekly sabbath, God directed the priests to count Pentecost from the Sunday following the weekly sabbath which immediately preceded the days of Unleavened Bread. Thereby the wave sheaf would always fall within the days of Unleavened Bread'."

Arguments And Responses

Some people totally disagree with all this. They feel that we are wrong in our understandings. So let's look at some of their arguments and see what the Scriptures say about each one.

Argument #1

The grain in the land was not "their" harvest, because they did not sow it - other people did. But if Yahweh gives you something, isn't it yours? Or do you have to wait a certain amount of time before it actually becomes yours? If so, how long? Based on what Scripture?

Psalms 105:44 - "And He gave to them the lands of the nations; and they inherited the labor of the peoples."

If they "inherited the labor" then it would be the harvest of their labor!

Joshua 24:13 - "And I have given you a land for which you have not labored, and cities which you have not built, and you live in them. You are eating of vineyards and oliveyards which you did not plant."

Would this not apply to the grain, other fruits and vegetables, as well? Where are the limits placed on the foodstuffs that He gave them?

Deuteronomy 8:7-9
7 - For Yahweh your Elohim brings you into a good land, a land of streams of water, of fountains and depts. that spring out of valleys and hills,
8 - a land of wheat and barley and vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey,
9 - a land in which you shall eat bread without want; you shall not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron; and you shall dig copper out of it mountains.

Argument #2

Because they were not "in" the land, meaning they were not each settled in their own house.

But they crossed into the land, set up their house (tent) and lived in it. Weren't they living in the land? It may not be their final, permanent home, but it was their home at the time. And what were they to do?

Numbers 15:18-21
18 - Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land which I bring you,
19 - then it shall be that when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall lift up a heave offering to Yahweh.
20 - You shall lift up a cake of your first dough as a heave offering; as of the threshing floor, so you shall heave it.
21 - You shall give of the first of your dough to Yahweh, a heave offering for your generations.

Argument #3

The grain sown by the inhabitants would not be acceptable to Yahweh and there are two scriptures used to prove that.

Leviticus 22:24-25
24 - As to anything bruised, or beaten, or enlarged, or anything cut, you shall not bring it near to Yahweh; even you shall not do it in your land.
25 - And you shall not bring near the bread of your Elohim from the hand of a son of a stranger, or any of these, for their corruption is in them, they are blemished; they are not acceptable for you.

The word "bread" does not mean bread alone, as we think of it in English. It is Strongs #3899, lechem, meaning food, especially bread or grain; fruit, meat, victuals. But notice that it says "of these". These what? What is the context? Animals that are not to be offered. It is referring to damaged or blemished animals, not grain, in the verses both before and after these two. Nothing is said about damaged grain.

Leviticus 18:24-30
24 - Do not defile yourself with all these, for with all these nations have been defiled, which I am expelling before you.
25 - and the land is defiled, and I will visit its iniquity on it; and the land is vomiting out its inhabitants,
26 - and you, you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not do any of all these disgusting acts; neither the nations nor the alien who is staying in your midst.
27 - For the men of the land who are before you have done all those disgusting things, and the land is defiled;
28 - lest the land vomit you out for your defiling it, as it has vomited out the nation that was before you.
29 - For anyone who does any of these disgusting things, even the persons who are doing them, shall be cut off from the midst of their people.
30 - And you shall keep My charge, so as not to do any of the disgusting customs which were committed before you; and you shall not defile yourselves with them; I am Yahweh your Elohim.

Again, what is the context? The context is not things done to the land itself, but sexual sins among the people. Did the actions of the people affect the grain? Then it should have affected the earlier-mentioned vineyards and oliveyards, too. If it were contaminated, how was it okay for them to eat of it?

Any time the altar or the temple became defiled, there were elaborate instructions on how to purify them. Whenever a person became defiled, they had to follow certain rules for purification. What are the instructions for purifying the land? Where does Yahweh list the steps to be taken?

Argument #4

They could not have done the things required by first-fruit offerings because they had not built an altar.

What about the one that Yahweh designed and that they carried with them everywhere they went? It was portable.

Exodus 27:1-8
1 - And you shall make the altar of acacia timbers; five cubits long and five cubits wide. The altar shall be square, and its height three cubits.
2 - And you shall make its horns on its four corners. Its horns shall be a part of itself. And you shall overlay it with bronze.
3 - And you shall make its pots to remove its ashes, and its shovels, and its sacrificial bowls, and its flesh-forks, and its pans. You shall make all its vessels to be bronze.
4 - And you shall make a grating for it, a network of bronze. And you shall make four rings of bronze on the four ends of the net.
5 - And you shall put it under the ledge of the altar from beneath. And the net shall be as far as half of the altar.
6 - And you shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia timbers. And you shall overlay them with bronze.
7 - And its poles shall be brought into the rings. And the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar, for carrying it.
8 - You shall make it hollow with boards; as He showed you in the mountain, so they shall make it.

Though it is not recorded in Scriptures, the priests made sure the tabernacle was set up shortly after they entered the land. Why? Where else would they keep the ark? It didn't just sit out in the open. There were daily sacrifices to be done, morning and evening. And also there were specific sacrifices and offerings to be done on the high days - the first ones the same day as the wave sheaf. They would have been ready.

Argument #5

Something as important as the wave sheaf and the possibility of changing the count of Pentecost would have to be mentioned in Scripture - Yahweh would not leave out those instructions.

Really? If that is true, then why are there so many arguments over the calendar? And over the names? Why doesn't Scripture define for us exactly what the new moon is so that we would not have the disagreements over that? Is it the crescent or the conjunction? Some even say the full moon. Or why aren't there clear definitions as to what "afflict your soul" in regards to Atonement means? There are plenty of questions we have that do not have clear answers in the Scriptures, so that is not a plausible defense.

Argument #6

The Israelites were using the grain even before they crossed the Jordan. They were told to have food for several days. It could not have been manna because that would not keep.

Joshua 1:10-11
10 -Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,
11 - Pass through the camp and tell the people, saying, Prepare food for you. For within three days you are crossing over this Jordan to go into possess it, the land which Yahweh your Elohim is giving you, to possess it.

In the argument here posed, the author does not define the word "food". That is one he skips over although he gives the number. It is Strongs #6720 - tseydah - food - meat, provision, venison (from 6718). Then #6718 is tsayid - the chase; also game; lunch (esp for a journey) (from 6679). #6679 - tsuwd - to lie alongside (i.e. in wait); by impl to catch an animal; to victual (for a journey)

Could it be that they had more than just manna to carry with them? Is it not possible that they had meat as well? They could have cooked it, dried it or smoked some.

Argument #7

They did not carry out any of these instructions until they had cleared out the inhabitants and their sites of worship and were totally settled in the land.

Deuteronomy 7:1-5
1 - When Yahweh your Elohim shall bring you into the land to which you are going, to posses it, and He casts out many nations from before you, the Hittite and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hivite and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite; seven nations larger and mightier than you;
2 - and when Yahweh your Elohim shall give them up before you, and you strike them, you shall utterly destroy them; you shall not cut a covenant with them, nor show mercy to them;
3 - nor shall you intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughter to his son, nor shall you take his daughter to your son.
4 - For he will turn your son away from following Me, that they may serve other gods; and the anger of Yahweh shall glow against you, and He will destroy you quickly.
5 - But you shall deal with them in this way: you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their cult-stones; and you shall cut down their pillars; and you will burn their carved images with fire.

If that is to be taken literally, then how was it that they did any of those "when you come into the land" instructions at all? Because they never fulfilled these instructions.

Joshua 9:1-2, 14-15
1 - And it happened, when all the kings who were beyond the Jordan in the hills, and in the Lowland, and in all the coast of the Great Sea in front of Lebanon, heard of it, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite,
2 - they with one mouth gathered themselves to fight with Joshua and with Israel.
14 - And the men took of their provision, and did not ask at the mouth of Yahweh.
15 - And Joshua made peace with them, and cut a covenant with them, to keep them alive. And the leaders of the congregation swore to them.

And before Joshua died, he gave them final instructions. These words were included to show that they did not do as Yahweh had instructed in the beginning.

Joshua 23:11-13
11 - And you shall be very watchful for yourselves to love Yahweh your Elohim.
12 - But if you at all turn away and cleave to the remnant of the nations, of those who are left to you, and intermarry with them, and go in to them, and they to you,
13 - know certainly that Yahweh your Elohim shall not continue to expel these nations from before you, and they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which Yahweh your Elohim has given you.

If they were not to do the wave sheaf until all these things were completed, then did they ever do it?

Argument #8

The Israelites were unfamiliar with preparing this non-manna food and probably had to test it to see what to do with it.

What about the women who were girls of ten to twenty when the wanderings began? They would have had experience with the grain and would now be fifty to sixty. They would have knowledge and could teach the others.

Argument #9

To harvest, thresh, and prepare the wave sheaf offering and food to eat constitutes too much work to be done on a high day, so it should be done on the following week.

But they were not gathering a massive amount - simply an omer was the requirement. What about the priests? The slaughter and sacrifice of the animals involves much more work. And what does Yahshua say about that?

Matthew 12:5
Or have you not read in the Law that on the sabbaths the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are guiltless?

Yahweh had given the instructions for the wave sheaf. Would it not be right to do it as said? Not put it off a week simply because it might be too much work? He knew it would fall that way from time to time. Are we going to do as He said?

Slowly, year by year, we discover how much we do not know about Yahweh's plans. As we learn - then accept and obey - we realize He will reveal to us the hidden points. But we must show first that we are willing to obey as we learn. If at any point we stop obeying, He will stop revealing truth to us. There is still much to learn about His high days - it is not all totally clear. The research and study go on.