When Would You Start the Count in 2019?
I'm already looking ahead and wondering in which Gregorian-Roman calendar year will again be the occurrence of a thirteenth (13th) moon into a leap year on the biblical calendar, as happened with this year Wednesday sunset 9th March 2016 visible new moon.
This I’m choosing to do in harmony with primarily the Karaite Jewish findings and conclusion on the availability of significant amounts of barley arriving to the maturing stage of abib/aviv in a significant amount of barley fields (Exodus 9:25, 31, 26) in Israel, taking Matthew 23:1-3, John 4:22 and Romans 3:1-2 into account.
“Then spake Yahshua to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not” (Matthew 23:1-3).
“Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22).
“What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of Yahweh” (Romans 3:1-2).
IF the next occurrence of a thirteenth (13th) moon into a leap year on the biblical calendar will be in the Gregorian-Roman calendar year 2019 with the Thursday sunset 7th March visible new moon, this would make the weekly seventh day Sabbath sunset 6th April visible new moon the starting point of the biblical first lunar month, making Sunday 7th April the biblical lunar first day of the first month Abib (Aviv) in 2019.
An evening earlier at Friday sunset 5th April 2019, will meet the moon at the waxing age of about thirteen (13) hours likely much too young to be able of being seen from land, with the naked eye. And so, Sabbath day sunset 6th will most likely be the acceptable date for a successful naked eye sighting of the April 2019 new moon at the growing/waxing age of about thirty-seven (37) hours young, according to http://astro.ukho.gov.uk/moonwatch/.
IF a significant amount of barley in a significant amount of barley fields in Israel would not have as yet arrived to the early ― FIRM DOUGH, ZADOKS 86 ― maturing stage, referred to in the Hebrew Bible as the Aviv, in time for the Thursday sunset 7th March 2019 visible new moon, and, the new moon a month later in April does not become visible at Friday sunset 5th at the waxing age of about thirteen (13) hours likely much too young to be seen from land, then, Sunday 7th April 2019 will certainly be the new-moon-first-day of the first month of the barley Aviv on the biblical calendar; the new moon at the time of the barley Aviv having been naked eye sighted at Sabbath day sunset 6th April 2019 at the waxing age of about thirty-seven (37) hours young.
This would certainly be a rehearsing four (4) years later of the way it happened just last year 2015, when the new moon at the time of the barley Aviv was seen on a Saturday evening from Sabbath day sunset 21st March and the biblical lunar first day of the first month of the barley Aviv was a Sunday first day of the week on 22nd March.
This would make for the Passover memorial service to once again be observed on a Friday evening from sunset 19th April 2019, which is a holy Sabbath evening, just as it was observed last year 2015 on a Friday evening from sunset 3rd April, which was a holy Sabbath evening. Passover day daylight therefore, would once again be occurring on a weekly holy seventh day Sabbath daylight 20th April 2019, just as it did last year 2015 on a weekly holy seventh day Sabbath daylight 4th April.
The seven days Feast of Unleavened Bread always coming in immediately after the Passover day, would automatically set the fifteenth (15th) of Aviv start of this seven day Feast with the Sunday of 21st April 2019 first day of the week, immediately following the Saturday of 20th April 2019 weekly holy seventh day Sabbath on which the fourteenth (14th) of Aviv Passover day would have occurred. The last day of this Feast would end up being a weekly holy seventh day Sabbath 27th April 2019, just as the last day of this Feast last year 2015, was a weekly holy seventh day Sabbath 11th April.
Irrespective of What Day Number
Not the Gregorian-Roman calendar date but the day of the week is the similarities between last year 2015 and the year 2019 yet ahead being focused on here and the purpose for this treatise. And, this is in light of the question, which is the Sunday first day of the week that the wave sheaf is to be observed and the fifty days countdown is to start in the year the Feast of Unleavened Bread starts with the Sunday first day of the week and ends with the weekly holy seventh day Sabbath? Is it on the Sunday first day of the week with which this Feast started or is it on the Sunday first day of the week immediately following the weekly holy seventh day Sabbath this Feast ended with?
It is the understanding in certain circles of the modern Jewish world, from the days of ancient Israel, that whether this seven day Feast falls this way in the week, starting with the Sunday first day of the week and ending with the Saturday weekly holy seventh day Sabbath or not, the day on which the wave sheaf offering was performed and the fifty (50) days countdown to the Pentecost (fiftieth day) Feast of Weeks started, was ALWAYS the Sunday first day of the week that can never not be among the seven days of this Feast. And that is, irrespective of what day number of this Feast that that Sunday first day of the week would end up to be.
Whether it is as the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth or seventh and last day of this Feast that that Sunday first day of the week would end up to be, this was ALWAYS the day of the week on which the wave sheaf rite was performed and the fifty (50) days countdown started DURING this seven day Feast.
It happened in the year of our Saviour’s death, for example, that the fourth and middle day of this seven day Feast was the Sunday first day of the week, when and on which the first ascension of our Saviour to heaven occurred DURING the Feast of Unleavened Bread as our new covenant Wave Sheaf (Leviticus 23:9-14; John 20:1-17). This was just after He was resurrected from death, near the weekly holy seventh day Sabbath sunset (Matthew 28:1-6) ending the third day of this Feast in that year.
Wave Sheaf on Morrow after Sabbath
Leviticus 23:
9 And Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying,
10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:
11 And he shall wave the sheaf before Yahweh, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
12 And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto Yahweh.
13 And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto Yahweh for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin.
14 And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your Elohim: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
John 20:
1 The first day of the week cometh Miriam Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
2 Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Yahshua loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Master out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.
3 Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre.
4 So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre.
5 And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.
6 Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie,
7 And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.
8 Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.
9 For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.
10 Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.
11 But Miriam stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,
12 And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Yahshua had lain.
13 And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Master, and I know not where they have laid him.
14 And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Yahshua standing, and knew not that it was Yahshua.
15 Yahshua saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.
16 Yahshua saith unto her, Miriam. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
17 Yahshua saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my Elohim, and your Elohim.
Fiftieth Day on Morrow after Sabbath
Leviticus 23:
15 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:
16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto Yahweh.
17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto Yahweh.
18 And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto Yahweh, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto Yahweh.
19 Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings.
20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before Yahweh, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to Yahweh for the priest.
21 And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
Numbers 28:
26 Also in the day of the firstfruits, when ye bring a new meat offering unto Yahweh, after your weeks be out, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work:
Deuteronomy 16:
9 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.
10 And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto Yahweh thy Elohim with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto Yahweh thy Elohim, according as Yahweh thy Elohim hath blessed thee:
Acts 2:
1 And when the day of Pentecost (fifty, fiftieth [day]) was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place (Leviticus 23:9-21; Numbers 28:26; Deuteronomy 16:9-10).
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Acts 20:
16 For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia: for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost (fifty, fiftieth [day]).
1 Corinthians 16:
8 But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost (fifty, fiftieth [day]).
Sabbath Referenced is the WEEKLY
I am of the conviction that one will not find anywhere in the annals of history, whether Jewish, biblical scholarship or otherwise, that ancient Israel ever found themselves understanding the reference made to the weekly seventh day Sabbath surrounding the wave sheaf command, as having anything to do with determining which Sunday first day of the week the wave sheaf was to have been performed, which marks the start of the fifty (50) days countdown to the Pentecost (fiftieth day) Feast of Weeks.
The phrase, “on the morrow after the Sabbath,” was simply a guide as to on which day of the week that the waving of the sheaf was to have been performed by the priest.
The Hebrew word #7676 shabbath, transliterated as sabbath in Exodus from chapter 16 onward, in reference to the seventh day of the week, is the same Hebrew word #7676 shabbath which is transliterated as sabbath in the above quoted verses from Leviticus 23 surrounding the commanded wave sheaf and method of arriving to the Pentecost (fiftieth day) Feast of Weeks.
While the first and last days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread are annual holy days of rest and convocational worship, Yahweh in His own purpose and reason did not at all make mention of the word sabbath in reference to these days, just as He did not in reference to the holy fiftieth day the count ends with. The word rest either, does not appear anywhere in the Leviticus 23 command concerning these first three annual holy days from the Hebrew word #7677 shabbathown translated as “rest” later down in verse 32 concerning the Day of Atonement. The only other place the word “rest” appears in this chapter from the Hebrew word #7677 shabbathown, is in the dawning part of this chapter at verse 3 concerning the weekly holy seventh day Sabbath. It is not until He arrives to the Day of Atonement that the Hebrew word #7676 shabbath for the weekly holy seventh day Sabbath is again heard from our Creator’s mouth, in verse 32.
The setting in which I’m seeing it at www.BibleHub.com, the first two words in the reading of verse 32 concerning the Day of Atonement in the Hebrew Bible, is shabbath (#7676) shabbathown (#7677) for the phrase, “a sabbath (#7676) of rest (#7677). The last word in this verse is the word sabbath listed under the same #7676.
The annual holy sabbath blowing of trumpets on the new-moon-first-day of the lunar seventh (7th) month in verse 24, the annual holy sabbath first day of the Feast of Tabernacles on the fifteenth (15th) day in verse 39, as well as the annual solemn holy sabbath eighth day on the twenty-second (22nd) day immediately following the seven day Feast of Tabernacles in the same verse 39, are referred to in the Hebrew Bible as shabbathown (#7677) where we see the word sabbath in these verses, without the word shabbath (#7676), which is used in reference to the weekly holy seventh day and the annual holy Day of Atonement as Sabbath (#7676, Shabbath) of rest (#7677, Shabbathown).
While either of these words #7676 shabbath and #7677 shabbathown aren’t being used by our Creator in reference to the two annual holy days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the annual holy fiftieth day, one might wonder which one of these words might have been His choice had He chosen to use one of them. It would sure have been the Hebrew word #7677 shabbathown, as a food preparation was permitted of ancient Israel to be done on the holy days of His annual Feast. This is unlike the annual holy Day of Atonement fast (NO eating and drinking) He refers to by the same word #7676 shabbath that He uses in reference to the weekly holy seventh day in verse 3 of Leviticus 23.
Food preparation for the weekly seventh day Sabbath was to have already been done on the weekly sixth and last day of work (Exodus 16) and any eating and drinking was not expected of ancient Israel on the annual Day of Atonement fast (Leviticus 23). Hence, probably why Yahweh refers to both the annual holy Day of Atonement and the weekly holy seventh day by the same Hebrew word #7676 shabbath, being His expectation for both these days were no different where work is concerned, including cooking. The annual holy days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread are therefore different in the line of food preparation, as seen in Exodus 12:16:
“And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you” (Exodus 12:16).
This is probably why we do not see our Creator saying, on the morrow after the shabbathown (#7677), which would have been referring to the morrow after one of the annual holy days of this Feast. And which would not have allowed for the fifty days count to ALWAYS start and end on the morrow after the weekly seventh day Sabbath that He intends for and designed for it to occur. But He declares instead and clearly so, that it is “on the morrow after the shabbath (#7676)” that He desired for the offering of the wave sheaf and the starting of the fifty days count on the first day of the week. The fiftieth day, in this way, will ALWAYS be occurring on the morrow after the seventh Saturday weekly seventh day Sabbath in the count, as He has commanded.
It is certain, therefore, for those who are willing to understand with an open and obedient heart, that, where we read the phrase “on the morrow after the Sabbath,” is referring to the Sunday first day of the week that immediately follows the Saturday weekly seventh day Sabbath. This was the first day of the week the people were to have brought a sheaf of the first harvest of barley to the priest for him to had wave before Yahweh our Creator on their behalf, and the same day with which they were to have started the fifty days countdown to the Pentecost (fiftieth day) Feast of Weeks that must as well end up occurring “on the morrow after the Sabbath (#7676).”
Timing Not Specified in the Command
There’s no direct clue seen in the command as to when is the precise timing in the year for that “morrow after the Sabbath” on which the people were to have brought the first fruit sheaf of barley to the priest to be waved on their behalf. The only clue is perhaps and would certainly have to be when our Creator enters His command concerning this observance.
After He’s through with His commanded regulations surrounding His Feast of Unleavened Bread in Leviticus 23, the wave sheaf is immediately the next item He comes in with on His way to how He desired for ancient Israel to arrive to when to celebrate the Pentecost (fiftieth day) Feast of Weeks. This is the same location we see that He placed the wave sheaf command in Deuteronomy 16 on His drive to the Feast of Weeks.
Three times in the year, at the time of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the time of the Pentecost (fiftieth day) Feast of Harvest/Weeks, and at the time of the Feast of Ingathering/Tabernacles, our Creator commands of His called out chosen for a convocational appearance before Him in praise, worship and thanksgiving.
“Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year. Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:) And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field. Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Sovereign Yahweh” (Exodus 23:14-17).
“Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before Yahweh thy Elohim in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the [Pentecost = fiftieth day] feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before Yahweh empty: Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of Yahweh thy Elohim which he hath given thee” (Deuteronomy 16:16-17).
So, the timing for “the morrow after the sabbath” on which the sheaf was to have been waved, could have only been around the time of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The wave sheaf appears not to be a separate observance outside of any of these three times in the year celebrations, but instead, an observance having to do with the timing of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Being, it is right after laying down His dictates for the Feast of Unleavened Bread that our Creator lays down His dictates for the waving of the first fruits sheaf of barley by the priest. Meaning, the waving of the first fruits sheaf of barley is to be performed by the priest on that morrow first day of the week at the timing of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
The day on which the focus was in ancient Israel for the observance of the wave sheaf, was that Sunday first day of the week which was ALWAYS one of the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and NOT on that preceding weekly Sabbath the focus was. The focus on that Sabbath was and is only to ensure of the right day of the week that must be that day in the Feast of Unleavened Bread after the Sabbath, whether or not that Sabbath is in this Feast. It is the day following the Sabbath, a Sunday first day of the week that must be in this Feast for the waving of the first fruits sheaf of barley and the starting of the fifty days count.
“One technical point to consider is that the word “morrow” is the operative term in the phrase the “morrow of the Sabbath”” (Nehemia Gordon, The Truth about Shavuot, 22nd May 2015, https://www.NehemiasWall.com/truth-shavuot).
Wave Sheaf Timing in Judaism
“On the day after the sabbath (vv.11, 15, cf. V. 16) ― the meaning of this phrase has been the subject of much controversy. Is the sabbath in question the ordinary sabbath, i.e., the first Saturday after the beginning of the festival of unleavened bread? Or is the sabbath the first day of unleavened bread when heavy work was forbidden? According to the first interpretation “the day after the sabbath” means Sunday; according to the second it means the sixteenth day of the month. Orthodox Judaism and most modern commentators favour the second suggestion. Some Jewish sect, however, and a few modern writers favour the first suggestion. The exegetical arguments are finely balanced. It seems slightly more natural to equate “the sabbath” with Saturday than with the first day of the feast. Furthermore, if one accepts that Leviticus is based on the Jubilees calendar, it would seem more likely that the first sheaf was offered on Sunday (the day after the sabbath) than on the second day of the feast” (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament, The Book of Leviticus, page 304).
“Scripture does not provide an absolute date for Shavuot. Instead, 50 days (or seven weeks) are reckoned from the day the sheaf offering (‘Omer) of the harvest was brought to the Temple, the 50th day being Shavuot. According to the Talmudic rabbis, the sheaf offering was brought on the 16th of Nisan; hence Shavuot always fell on or about the 6th of Sivan. Jewish sectarians, such as the Sadducees, rejected the rabbinic tradition concerning the date of the sheaf ceremony, preferring a later date, and celebrated Shavuot accordingly” (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Macropaedia Knowledge Indepth, Volume 22, Fifteenth Edition, Copyright © 1992, Judaism, page 448).
“In late Second Temple times there was a famous debate between three different Jewish factions about the meaning of the Hebrew phrase “morrow of the Sabbath” and hence about the timing of Shavuot. All three factions agreed that the “morrow of the Sabbath” was associated with the Feast of Unleavened Bread, although the precise connection led to the festival being observed on different days. The seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread runs from the 15th day to the 21st day of the First Hebrew Month (Nissan) and marks the Exodus from Egypt, as well as the beginning of the barley harvest in Israel. All three factions connected the “morrow of the Sabbath” with the Feast of Unleavened Bread, but differed as to the exact timing and connection. The three factions who argued over the timing of Shavuot were the Pharisees who wrote the Mishnah and the Talmud, the Essenes who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Sadducees who made up the Temple Priesthood. The Pharisees argued that Shavuot is to be counted from the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which they designated a “Sabbath.” According to the Pharisees, “morrow of the Sabbath” means the “morrow of the 1st day of Unleavened Bread.” The ancient Pharisees and their modern day successor the Orthodox rabbis begin the 50-day count to Shavuot on the second day of Unleavened Bread, which is always the 16th day of the First Hebrew Month. As a result, the Pharisee Shavuot always fell out in ancient times from the 5th to the 7th day of the Third Hebrew Month (Sivan). After the destruction of the Temple, the Pharisees became the predominant surviving faction among the Jewish leadership and their interpretation is followed by most Jews until this very day. In 359 CE, the Pharisee leader Hillel II established a pre-calculated calendar and ever since the Pharisee Shavuot has always been observed on the 6th of Sivan. The Essenes who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls began the 50-day count to Shavuot on a different Sabbath from the Pharisees. In their reckoning, the Omer offering was to be brought on the morrow of the weekly Sabbath, in modern terms: “Sunday.” The Essenes began their count on the Sunday after the seven-days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As a result, they always began their count on the 26th day of the First Hebrew Month. The Essenes had a 364-day solar calendar, which began every year on a Wednesday and had fixed lengths for each month. Based on the Essene calendar, Shavuot always fell out on the 15th day of the Third Hebrew Month. The Essenes are presumed to have been wiped out when the Romans invaded Judea in 66-74 CE and only their documents survive today. The third faction, the Sadducees, agreed with the Essenes that Shavuot must be counted from a weekly Sabbath, but disagreed as to which one. The Sadducees believed the 50-day count must begin on the weekly Sabbath that falls out during the seven-days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. According to their reckoning, the counting towards Shavuot could begin anywhere from the 15th to the 21st day of the month, depending on what day of the week the Feast of Unleavened Bread began. If Unleavened Bread began on a Sunday, the count would begin on the 15th day of the month. If Unleavened Bread began on a Saturday, the count would begin on the 16th day of the month, and so on. Based on this counting, Shavuot could fall out from the 4th to the 12th of the Third Hebrew Month. Karaite Jews have accepted the Sadducee reckoning as the only one to be consistent with the plain meaning of the biblical text. The Sadducees and Essenes agreed that the 50-day count to Shavuot had to always begin on the morrow of a weekly Sabbath. They only differed as to whether this referred to the Sunday during the Feast of Unleavened Bread or the Sunday following the Feast of Unleavened Bread. In contrast, the Pharisees believed the 50-day count must begin [from the day immediately after] an annual “Sabbath,” rather than [from the day immediately after] a weekly Sabbath” (Nehemia Gordon, The Truth about Shavuot, 22nd May 2015, https://www.NehemiasWall.com/truth-shavuot).
Determining the wave sheaf start of the fifty days count with the annual date of the 16th of Aviv/Nisan second day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, or any other annual date of Aviv/Nisan for that matter, will certainly end up the fiftieth day occurring most times, NOT on “the morrow after the Sabbath” that the scriptural command legislates the count is to end with. Such a method or any other form of starting the count, other than from the morrow after the WEEKLY Sabbath, ends up the fiftieth day landing on almost a different day of the week each year.
The count must consist of a total of SEVEN weekly Sabbaths we see commanded in the Torah, comprising of forty-nine days. The fiftieth day is to be the day immediately following the SEVENTH weekly Sabbath of the forty-ninth day in the count.
Judaism is not united as to which Sabbath that must precede the morrow on which their forefathers understood the wave sheaf was to have been observed and start the fifty days countdown. Certain among them, as we’ve seen in the above quote, instruct that it is on the day that immediately follows the annual holy first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread; meaning that it is on the second day of this Feast, 16th of Aviv, that the wave sheaf is to be observed. While certain others among them, including Karaite Judaism, CORRECTLY instructs, in keeping with the Bible, based on the Hebrew word #7676 shabbath for where we see the word sabbath in the phrase, “on the morrow after the sabbath,” that the waving of the sheaf by the priest was done on the morrow that followed the WEEKLY Sabbath.
The Essenes, apparently, were a breakaway from the age old Israelite biblical truth practice of ascertaining the waving of the sheaf must ALWAYS occur DURING the Feast of Unleavened Bread. A breakaway which took effect in about the second century BCE, that our Saviour would have met and lived through during His human sojourn here on earth. The mere existence of this breakaway lasted for until about the first century CE where history shows to have been the end of the Essenes. Their end came after some two to three hundred years of such religious practice without a single one of the other Jewish departments furthering their stipulated Sunday after the Feast of Unleavened Bread timing for the wave sheaf that had already been opposed.
However, the variances practically existent in Judaism to date, as evidenced in the annals of history, whether Jewish, biblical scholarship or otherwise, NEVER ever ends them up with the wave sheaf observance falling outside of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This is because that their understanding from how it has ALWAYS been done from the days of their ancient Israelite forefathers is that, the wave sheaf observance is ALWAYS a DURING the Feast of Unleavened Bread occasion.
There are those on the other hand, outside of Judaism, who sees the weekly Sabbath as the key in the phrase, “on the morrow after the Sabbath,” and not “the morrow,” which follows the weekly Sabbath, as the key. This means that, it is that weekly Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread that they are setting as their guide, irrespective of which day number of this Feast that that weekly Sabbath turns out to be, to arrive to the morrow that follows that weekly Sabbath for the wave sheaf start of the count. By doing so, as happened last year 2015 when the Feast of Unleavened Bread started with a Sunday first day of the week on 5th April and ended with a weekly seventh day Sabbath on 11th April, they ended up with the start of the fifty days count on the Sunday of 12th April, which was after the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven day time period had already ended, expired and gone. An occurrence nowhere found especially in Jewish history for the wave sheaf to end up being observed outside of the Feast of Unleavened Bread in modern Judaism for nearly two thousand (2,000) years to date. The Essene Jews alone who are recorded to have done it this way (a totally unscriptural concept) during the some three centuries of this Jewish formation from about the second century BCE to the first century CE.
Does at least a speck of biblical and historical evidence exist to the contrary of how modern Judaism for these many years been arriving to the timing for the wave sheaf to occur ALWAYS DURING the Feast of Unleavened Bread?
The understanding of modern Judaism from ancient Israel is our only physical piece of concrete evidence AND OUR EXAMPLE, that the wave sheaf start of the fifty days countdown, has ALWAYS been, and WILL continue to be a DURING the Feast of Unleavened Bread occasion.
They Sit in Moses’ Seat
If historical evidence, Jewish, Bible scholarship or otherwise are all in agreement that the timing of ancient Israelites’ bringing a first fruits sheaf from their barley crop to the priest to be waved on their behalf, was ALWAYS DURING the Feast of Unleavened Bread, then it is obviously a misinterpretation of scripture (should I say in fulfilment of Psalm 56:5 and 2 Peter 3:16?) and a falling short of obedience to our Saviour’s command recorded for us in Matthew 23:1-3, to be seeing the weekly seventh day Sabbath, during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, as the key or operative to determine which morrow for the wave sheaf observance.
We must not forget too, at the same time, that there are a number of erroneous practices in Jewish circles that was already existent among them before our Saviour started His salvation mission on earth. Spiritual derogative practices that He Himself attested to and tongue lashed them on a number of occasions for. In spite of which, He still expects and have commanded of us to heed their instructions and practices that can be found to be plain truths from the mouth of Moses, informing that salvation is of them, to whom His Apostle Sha’ul says was charged with the oracles of Yahweh.
This would include too, the criteria by which they, including the Karaite Jews, determine the barley aviv arrival of the biblical first month of the year and the timing of the wave sheaf, for ALWAYS to be DURING the Feast of Unleavened Bread. That is, irrespective of what day number of this Feast Yahweh works out that Sunday first day of the week to be, in observance of His commanded wave sheaf start of His fifty days countdown to His Pentecost (fiftieth day) Feast of Weeks.
“Then spake Yahshua to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not” (Matthew 23:1-3).
“Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22).
“What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of Yahweh” (Romans 3:1-2).
The understanding of modern Judaism, the Jews, from their ancestors is our only physical piece of concrete evidence that the wave sheaf and start of the count has always been and will continue to be a DURING the Feast of Unleavened Bread occasion.
Convinced As Yet?
"...Pentecost, sometimes called the Feast of Weeks, was a one-day ceremony which celebrated the end of the grain harvest (innitiated with the offering of the sheaf of barley DURING the Feast of Unleavened Bread) and the beginning of the fruit harvest...," Layman's Bible Book Commentary by Roy Lee Honeycutt, Jr., Volume 3, page 55.
"Passover and the ensuring days of Unleavened Bread came somewhat unusually this year [1992] in that Passover fell on a Sabbath (observed on April 17, Friday night). The days of Unleavened Bread began Sunday, April 19 and went through Sabbath 25th. DURING the days of Unleavened Bread, a wave-sheaf is offered on the "morrow after the Sabbath," known as Sunday (April 19)... That is, the count begins with Sunday as day one, and continues for fifty days, ending on another Sunday, the day of Pentecost. Some get confused and believe the count begins with the Sabbath. The Bible is clear the count begins with the day (Sunday) AFTER the weekly Sabbath. This wave-sheaf day falls WITHIN the days of Unleavened Bread. The count does NOT begin with the Sabbath falling within Unleavened Bread, but with the day after as day one. This day after is the day that MUST fall WITHIN the Feast... It was likely Yahshua ascended to the Father after sunset (ending the Sabbath, beginning the first day of the week) during the dark part of the first day of the week. This day would be the first day of His acceptance by the Father, and our count begins with that day, Sunday, ending 50 days later on another Sunday, the correct day for Pentecost... The day of the wave-sheaf offering had to fall WITHIN the days of Unleavened Bread, for the entire week was a special time of convocation and thanking Yahweh for His blessing upon the upcoming harvest that it would be bountiful, as exemplified by the wave-sheaf... The Feast of Weeks is counted from the wave sheaf offering of [Sunday] 19th April [1992]. This is the day after the Sabbath, and the day (Sunday [19th April 1992]) falls WITHIN the days of Unleavened Bread. It is day one in the count toward the 50th day of Pentecost on Sunday 7th June [1992]" (YNCA News, Volume 5, No. 5/May 1992).
"Pentecost is the wheat harvest and is based on the wave sheaf offering having been made seven weeks earlier DURING the days of Unleavened Bread. Pentecost begins the harvest of the wheat that matures later, usually in May/June, seven weeks after the wave sheaf was offered DURING Unleavened Bread" (Elder Donald Mansager, YNCA News, Volume 17, Issue 5, May 2004).
"It is obvious that in having to count fifty days, Pentecost WILL VARY within the third month. By giving us this method of calculating, Yahweh tells us that although the morrow (WITHIN the Days of Unleavened Bread) after the weekly Sabbath may [not] be [the same] date within Abib [each year], we are ALWAYS to observe Pentecost 50 days from that day. Even though man does not always understand, Yahweh’s Word has a purpose. Yahweh does not try to complicate or confuse those truly seeking to obey His commandments (1 Cor. 14:33)," Elder Donald R. Mansager, YAIY Beacon, May-June 2007, pages 3-4; www.YAIY.org.
“Pentecost or Feast of First-fruits was counted from the wave sheaf offering DURING the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Leviticus 23:15-16” (Biblical Holy Days, Copyright © 2007, Chapter 3, page 32; www.YAIY.org).
A footnote commentary on Leviticus 23:6 in the Concordia Self-Study Bible NIV reads as follows:
“Feast of Unleavened Bread. See note on Exodus 23:15. DURING the Feast the first sheaf of the barley harvest was brought (see vv. 10-11).”
A footnote commentary on Leviticus 23:9-12 in the Holman KJV Study Bible, Copyright © 2012, reads as follows:
“The Feast of Firstfruits occurred DURING the week of Unleavened Bread and was both commemorative and prophetic. The community of faith was to acknowledge [Elohim]’s provision by giving Him the first of their income. The waving of the sheaf was to be an outward sign of an inward attitude; therefore it was accompanied by the bringing of sacrifices. The people could only eat from the fruit of the land after they acknowledged [Elohim] as its source. The prophetic element of this feast was fulfilled in the risen [Yahshua ha’Mashiach], who is the firstfruits of those believers who have died (1 Cor. 15:20).”
Learning from the Hebrew Scholar, Nehemia Gordon in an above quote he relates from Jewish history that the Sadducees were the ones who made up the temple priesthood and practiced the Sunday-morrow occurring DURING the Feast of Unleavened Bread as the day of the wave sheaf start of the fifty days countdown to the Pentecost (fiftieth day) Feast of Weeks, this should tell us that the time period of their serving as the temple priests included the time period of our Jewish Savior’s lifetime here on earth as a human being and the ones with whom Judas Iscariot entered into a financial agreement in the temple to have our Savior arrested. Being the sect of Jews who made up the temple priesthood, of course, made them the responsible body for the governance of temple worship in Israel. Their direction in temple worship as the priesthood of the day, would include making sure, that when farmers were to have cut and bring a sheaf of barley from their harvestable barley crops to the priest for waving to Yahweh, on their behalf, was to have always been on the morrow after the weekly Sabbath, i.e. on the Sunday which always occurs DURING the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread that they historically practiced that rite and led the nation of Israel in doing likewise. This is how our Savior, as a human being, met it being done, lived with and apparently had no qualms with. Hence, our Savior becoming our New Covenant Wave Sheaf on no other day than specifically the morrow (Sunday) first day of the week DURING the Feast of Unleavened Bread, does sum it all up, in agreement with how the Sadducees temple priesthood did it while He was here on earth, that the morrow after the weekly Sabbath, is the morrow which is always the Sunday occurring DURING the seven-days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Peradventure the next occurrence of a lunar thirteenth (13th) month into a biblical leap year ends up to be the March 2019 visible new moon, and, Yahweh our Creator were to end up starting His Feast of Unleavened Bread with a Sunday first day of the week in April of that year just as last year 2015, on which morrow after which Sabbath are you convinced by now, from this discussion, to acknowledge the wave sheaf start of the count in that year?
My trust, hope and confidence is that, there’ll be a united front among ALL parties in ensuring that THAT SUNDAY 21st April 2019 first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, will be the recognized and observed wave sheaf day start of the fifty days countdown to the Pentecost (fiftieth day) Feast of Weeks on Sunday 9th June 2019; IF this date (Sunday 21st April 2019) were to end up being the date for the start of the Feast of Unleavened Bread in that year!
Augustus Paul Andrew
25 Emergency Housing Scheme
Balisier Lane, Bath Estate, Roseau
Commonwealth of Dominica
(767) 245-8369/316-1525
www.facebook.com/YahwehsRedeemedInYahshua
September 2016 (biblical calendar 6th month Elul)
WEDNESDAY 20TH MARCH 2019 UPDATE:
HERE IS THE 2019 BIBLICAL CALENDAR ANNUAL WORSHIP DATES
• Saturday evening 6th April 2019 is the new moon of Abib/Aviv barley evening worship service after confirming having seen the new moon with the naked eye.
“And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith Yahweh,” Isaiah 66:23.
• Friday SUNSET (weekly Sabbath day evening) 19th April 2019 is the congregational Passover memorial observance of our Savior's death on Passover day 14th Abib/Aviv.
• Sabbath day SUNSET 20th April 2019 ushers-in BOTH the 7-day Feast of Unleavened Bread from the annual Sabbath day Sunday 21st to the weekly Sabbath day 27th April 2019 AND the Wave Sheaf day start of the fifty days countdown from the same annual holy Sabbath day Sunday 21st April 2019 DURING the 7-day Feast of Unleavened Bread to end with the annual Pentecost (fiftieth day) holy Sabbath Feast of Weeks Sunday 9th June 2019. Be careful that some of those who are acknowledging CORRECTLY the April 2019 visible new moon as the new moon of Abib/Aviv barley first month of the biblical calendar year, have set the fifty days of counting ERRONEOUSLY to start and end differently from the CORRECT dates indicated here.
• Feast of Unleavened Bread EVENING worship services, including acknowledging our Savior on THE FIRST EVENING as our NEW COVENANT WAVE SHEAF:
Saturday evening 20th to Friday evening 26th April 2019, NIGHTLY.
• Feast of Unleavened Bread holy Sabbath DAYLIGHT worship services:
WAVE SHEAF Sunday 21st and weekly holy seventh day Sabbath 27th April 2019.
• Pentecost (fiftieth day) holy Sabbath Feast of Weeks EVENING worship service:
Weekly holy seventh day Sabbath sunset 8th June 2019.
• Pentecost (fiftieth day) holy Sabbath Feast of Weeks DAYLIGHT worship service:
Pentecost (fiftieth day) Sunday 9th June 2019.
• New moon day annual Sabbath Feast of Trumpets:
Sunday sunset 29th to Monday sunset 30th September 2019, IF the seventh new moon becomes visible Sunday sunset 29th September 2019.
• Annual holy Sabbath Day of Atonement fast (NO eating and drinking):
Tuesday sunset 8th to Wednesday sunset 9th October 2019.
• Annual 7-day Feast of Tabernacles:
Sunday sunset 13th to Sunday sunset 20th October 2019. The first day Monday 14th October 2019 is an annual holy Sabbath day of congregational praise, worship and thanksgiving.
• Annual holy Sabbath Eighth Day/Last Great Day:
Sunday sunset 20th to Monday sunset 21st October 2019.
Augustus Paul Andrew
Roseau
Commonwealth of Dominica
Wednesday 19th March 2019 (biblical 12th day of the 13th moon)
Ms. Bellot
My brother I tilt my hat to you for your fully loaded and relavant treatise which depicts the correct day of Shavuot (penticost), Praise Almighty Yahweh.