Posted 3-1-01
The instructions for the Feasts are given in Leviticus chapter 23. In my last post I showed that Pentecost is counted "from the morrow after the Sabbath." I showed that the Hebrew usage of the word for "Sabbath" means the Weekly Sabbath.
This year the First day of Nisan is on Sunday, March 25th. Counting inclusively, the 14th day of Nisan is Saturday, April 7th---which is the Passover of Leviticus 23 since it is the 14th day of Nisan. Many calendars, including Jewish calendars will have Sunday, April 8th listed as "Passover." The Jews consider Nisan 15 the Passover since that is the day the death angel "passed over" the firstborn in Egypt.
So, if Saturday, April 7th is the Passover--Nisan 14, then the next day is Sunday, April 8th the 15th of Nisan and the First day of Unleavened Bread. Unleavened Bread is always a 7 day Feast. This year it runs from Sunday, April 8th through Saturday , April 14th.
Now the question arises as to which is the "morrow after the Sabbath." Is it Sunday April 8th or Sunday April 15th.
I believe that God ordained that the "morrow after the Sabbath" would always be after the WEEKLY SABBATH OF THE DAYS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD. Technically speaking , and according to the original instructions given in Leviticus 23, the 14th of Nisan which is the Passover , is "separate " from the 7 Days of Unleavened Bread. In later times the whole 8 days together came to be called collectively the "Passover."
However, in reading the ORIGINAL instructions in Leviticus 23 the Passover date is given 1st and then the instructions for Unleavened Bread are given. IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARDS the instructions for counting the Feast of Firstfruits re the "morrow after the Sabbath" are given. THEREFORE, BASED ON THE ORDER OF THE INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN TO MOSES , I conclude that the "morrow after the Sabbath" IS ALWAYS COUNTED AFTER THE WEEKLY SABBATH OF UNLEAVENED BREAD. God, of course , ordained that there will always be 7 days of Unleavened Bread. These 7 days ALWAYS MUST INCLUDE A WEEKLY SABBATH.
Therefore, the weekly Sabbath of the Days of Unleavened Bread this year is Saturday, April 14th. The "morrow after the Sabbath" and the Feast of Firstfruits when the wave shief is to be offered is Sunday, April 15th. That is the FIRST DAY OF THE 50 DAY COUNT TO PENTECOST.
(Note also that this is the Christian Easter Sunday this year. This happens to coincide with the actual day of Jesus' resurrection this year. It does not always line up this way. Maybe God ordained the dates for this year , since most would not be aware of the Biblical Feast of Firstfruits and how to count it.)
Seven weekly Sabbaths will be counted and 7 COMPLETE WEEKS FROM SUNDAY TO SABBATH WILL BE COUNTED. Remember the scripture stated that " seven Sabbaths shall be COMPLETE." This means 7 full weeks of Sunday through Sabbath will be counted. Then the count continues until the day after the 7th Sabbath, making a total of 50 days.
This count puts Pentecost this year on SUNDAY, JUNE 3RD, 2001. Brethren, mark your calendars.
I thought that the death angel passed over Israelites at midnight on Passover, Nisan 14. Lev. 23:5 says, "In the fourteenth day of the first month at even (6 PM when the 14th starts) is the LORD's passover." Jewish days start with 12 hours of night. Six hours later is midnight. Another 6 hours is the beginning of the 12 hours of day. The 14th ends at sunset. Six hours into the 14th is the only midnight that belongs to Nisan 14th. Therefore "at even" in Lev. 23:5 means when the 14th starts. Ex. 12:6 says, "the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening." Verse 8 says, "they shall eat the flesh in that night." Verse 12 says, I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn
The Israelites seem to have taken both Nisan 14 (from midnight through the following daylight) and 15 (night then day) to borrow from the Egyptians and totally clear out of Rameses. After the death of the firstborn at midnight on Nisan 14, the Passover, Pharaoh told the Israelites to "rise up, and get you forth from among my people" (Ex. 12:31). Ex. 12:42,43 says, "It is a night (Nisan 14) to be much observed unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the LORD to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations. And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover."
There were 600,000 men plus children (Ex. 12:37) and animals to move out. It seems to have taken them till the daylight portion of Nisan 15 to borrow from (plunder) the Egyptians, pull up stakes and completely clear out of Rameses. Nu. 33:3 says, "And they departed (naca, went away) from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover (made the Feast of Unleavened Bread at Sinai) the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight (it was now daylight) of all the Egyptians." Lev. 23:6 says, "on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD."
> > (Note also that this is the Christian Easter Sunday this year. This happens to coincide with the actual day of Jesus' resurrection this year. It does not always line up this way. Maybe God ordained the dates for this year, since most would not be aware of the Biblical Feast of Firstfruits and how to count it.)
Isn't Resurrection Day actually Nisan 16 (Monday, Apr. 9, 2001), the Feast of Firstfruits? I think Jesus was crucified on "the preparation of the passover," Nisan 13 (Thursday in 30 AD). John 19:14,16 says, "it was the preparation of the passover....Then delivered he him therefore to them to be crucified." Jn. 19:31 says, "The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the SABBATH DAY, (FOR THAT SABBATH DAY WAS IN HIGH DAY)." That sabbath was Passover, Friday, not Saturday, the weekly Sabbath. Therefore, the feast days are also sabbaths. Jesus was "three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Mt. 12:40). These were Thursday (day), Friday (night then day), Saturday (night then day), and Sunday (night). There were 2 sabbath days together, Friday (Nisan 14) and Saturday (Nisan 15). That is why the women didn't buy spices on those days. I think Resurrection Day was Sunday, Nisan 16, don't you?
> > " seven Sabbaths shall be COMPLETE." This means 7 full weeks of Sunday through Sabbath will be counted. Then the count continues until the day after the 7th Sabbath, making a total of 50 days.
> > This count puts Pentecost this year on SUNDAY, JUNE 3RD, 2001.
If Passover is a sabbath, then I think all the feasts are sabbaths, days of rest. I think we should start counting the 7 weeks from "the morrow (Firstfruits) after the sabbath (Unleavened Bread), from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave-offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat-offering unto the LORD. Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves...they are the firstfruits unto the LORD" (Lev. 23:15-17). On the Talmudic Jewish Calendar, the Feast of Firstfruits would be Monday, Nisan 16 (April 9, 2001). The 7th week afterward brings us to Monday, Sivan 6 (listed as Shavuoth, Pentecost, May 28, 2001). The 50th day would be Tue. Sivan 7 (also listed as Shavuoth, Pentecost, May 29, 2001). If we count by Jewish inclusive reckoning, Sivan 6 (May 28, 2001) would be the 50th day.
I have a problem. Since you study the Bible a lot, maybe you can help me with it. To me, it seems more likely that Pentecost is really Sivan 7, but the 2300 days of the Tribulation have to start on Sivan 6 or they won't fit. They are counted by inclusive reckoning from the Feast of Weeks/Pentecost in 2001 to the Feast of Trumpets in 2007. The year 2007 seems right, because the Sign of the End of the Age was the Six-Day War of 1967. 1967 + 40 = 2007 (Mt. 24:32-34). Also, the Oslo Accords were signed Sept. 13, 1993. Adding the 7 good and 7 bad years, as when Joseph was in Egypt, we come to Sept. 13, 2007. The Oslo Accords were ratified in Israel 3 days later, on Tishri 1, 5754. Tishri 1, 5754 + 7 + 7 = Tishri 1, 5768 (Feast of Trumpets), Sept. 13, 2007. Do you think it is possible that the 50 days countdown to Pentecost could be counted by Jewish inclusive reckoning, and thus end up on Sivan 6? Agape
Time will prove what you believe to be in error. You will never see it in your lifetime.
The setting Christ chose for his play is when the Pre-Trib Rapture is at hand. It is "at hand" in the 1st chapter (1:3) and "at hand" in the last chapter (22:10). At the end, Jesus signs off with "Surely I come quickly." Christ's vantage point from which to view events past and future is when the Rapture is at hand. That pinnacle may be Ascension Day, 10 days before the Rapture on Pentecost (Rev. 2:10). He may open Heaven's door at that time and stand there to judge who belongs in the Bride of Christ group and who gets left behind. James 5:9 says, "Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door."
Christ comes quickly at the Rapture. Rev. 2:5 says, "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of HIS PLACE (Heaven, John 14:2-4, Rev. 1:13,20), except thou repent."
In 96 AD, when John introduced Christ in Rev. 1:4, he said this was "from him WHICH IS (at the Rapture), and WHICH WAS (at the First Advent in 30 AD), and which IS TO COME (at the Second Advent)." In the first chapter, we find out that Christ began his dramatic production with a Preview of coming events. When Christ addressed those who have just been raptured in the Preview, he said, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, WHICH IS (at the Rapture), and WHICH WAS (at the First Advent), and which IS TO COME (at the Second Advent), the Almighty."
After John played out the Preview of the Rapture and saw Christ in all his glory in Heaven with the churches (candlesticks, v. 20) all around him and the star performers of the churches still in his hand, Christ told him what he was going to write about. He said, "Write the things WHICH THOU HAST SEEN (things before the Rapture), and the things WHICH ARE (at the Rapture), and the things which shall be HEREAFTER" ("hereafter" the Rapture, Rev. 4:1).
Scripture is written with here a little and there a little so the unbeliever will fall backward and be taken. Isa. 28:13 says, "But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken." We have to compare similar accounts to get the full picture.
The Rapture happens in 4:1, when Christ says, "COME UP HITHER." How do we know what happens when Christ says this with his voice like a trumpet? Rev. 11:12 tells us. When Moses and Elijah heard "COME UP HITHER...THEY ASCENDED UP TO HEAVEN." Where do we find saints ascending? in I Thess. 4:15-17. It says, "we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (Old English for precede) them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." How do we know where we go after we meet Christ? We go where Moses and Elijah go when they hear "Come up hither." We ascend up to Heaven.
John 14:2,3 says, "In my Father's house (Heaven) are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." This is the Rapture, and it takes place in Rev. 4:1. It says, "behold, a door (the 'open door' set before the Philadelphians in Rev. 3:8) was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard (of Christ, Rev. 1:10,11) was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter" (after the Rapture).
The rest of Rev. 4 and all of Rev. 5 shows us what happens in Heaven after the Rapture. Then in Rev. 6, the Tribulation begins. It is after the Rapture.
Rev. 1:19 says, "Write the things WHICH THOU HAST SEEN (things before the Rapture, the seven churches, Rev. 2-3:22), and the things WHICH ARE (at the Rapture, Rev. 4:1-5:14), and the things which shall be HEREAFTER" (after the Rapture, Rev. 6-22:5).
Rev. 22:6-21 goes back to the time of the setting of the play, when the Rapture is at hand. It shows a time when it becomes too late to preach the gospel to anyone. It shows the division of those that go to the heavenly city and those that get left behind.
Rev. 22:6-21 says, "the lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must SHORTLY BE DONE. BEHOLD, I COME QUICKLY (at the Rapture, maybe 10 days future, Rev. 2:10): blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book (the ones that are Raptured)....THE TIME (of the Rapture) IS AT HAND. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I COME QUICKLY...Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may ENTER in through the gates (i.e., Heaven's door) into the city (New Jerusalem). For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie."
How different are the instructions for the greater course of this age from these? Mark 16:15 says, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." When the time arrives that the Rapture is "at hand," the instructions are totally different. Christ has already chosen his Bride. I Peter 4:17 says, "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?"
Rev. 22:11,12 says, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I COME QUICKLY." Verse 17 says, "the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Verse 20 says, "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus."
That day draws near. The Sign of the End of the Age was when Israel grew leaves (Sinai, West Bank, Golan Heights, Gaza Strip) and fulfilled the fig tree parable of Mt. 24:32-34 in the Six-Day War of 1967. Only one generation remained at that time. 1967 + 40 = 2007. I think the 2300-day shortened 70th week of Daniel runs from the Feast of Weeks/Pentecost in 2001 (Sivan 6 is May 28) to the Feast of Trumpets in 2007 (Sept. 13). Agape
Jer. 8:20 says, "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." Dan. 2:34,35 says, "Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain (Christ's kingdom), and filled the whole earth." Amos 8:2 says, "he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more." Micah 7:1 says, "Woe is me! for I am as (symbolic language) when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage (in Tishri, i.e., 2nd Rapture): there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit" (firstripe grapes in spring, Song of Sol. 2:10-14, i.e., 1st Rapture).
In the 2nd mystery of the kingdom of heaven, the tares among the wheat, Jesus explained in Mt. 13:38-43: "The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest (the summer harvest) is the end of the world (age); and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world (age). The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom (I think it begins on Tishri 1, 5768, Sept. 13, 2007) all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear."
Isa. 9:6 says, "For unto us a child is born (inheriting his human nature from his mother), unto us a son is given (inheriting his deity from his Father): and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." In John 10:30, Jesus said, "I and my Father are one." II Cor. 5:19 says, "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself."
> > Pentecost,this feast is the completion of a firstfruits harvest.The 50 day countdown of the Omer this year will probably be the final countdown of this age.The number 50 is a jubilee number,a time of rejoicing!
I agree if we say the final countdown of this era. I think the age ends and then the harvest of the Tribulation saints takes place as Christ's kingdom begins. I first thought the Rapture would be 50 years after Israel became a nation. I forgot that every Pentecost has its own 50-say countdown. Jubilee fits the Rapture so well. Thanks for reminding me of this. Agape
I thank the Lord he gave us some Prophets, and some, Evangelists, and some, Pastors and Teachers, for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Ephesian 4:11,12 Agape.
My question is as we see the conflicts in the middle east heat up does this coincide with Obadiah 15-18. the descendants of the house of Esau (Palistinians) are completely annihilated, along with destruction of Syria (Isaiah 17:1), against Moab-the province of Jordan (Isaiah 15:1) and Egypt (Isaiah 19:1).
Its seems that all the actors are in place for this part of the play, and isn't it interesting that the actors (nations) in this script are omitted in Ezekiel 38-39. Could this scene that is now upon us with Syria, Jordan, Palistinians come with the pre-trib rapture...to be proceeded by the much bigger pre-wrath scenario with Ezekiel 38-39?...
I think all nations will have a part in the attack on Israel we see in Eze. 38. Verse 6 says, "and many people with thee." Zech. 14:1-3 says, " the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather ALL NATIONS against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle."
Joshua's long day prefigures Jesus' long day, the first day of the millennial Day of the Lord. Christ's name Y'shua is from Joshua in the Hebrew. Jos. 10:11 says, "as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Bethhoron, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven (as the asteroids of Rev. 8:8,10 will be cast down) upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword."
The passage in Obadiah is when "the day of the LORD is near (it is the next day) upon ALL THE HEATHEN: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee." In Isa. 17, the ruin of Damascus is when in "that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel" (v. 7). This is the Sign of the Son of Man of Mt. 24:30; Rev. 6:14f. It happens after the 6th seal is broken at the end of this age, just before the beginning of the millennial Day of the Lord. In Isa. 15, it is the same time for "they shall raise up a cry of destruction" (v. 5). Isa. 19 mentions Egypt and one city "shall be called, The city of destruction" (v. 18). "And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river (Nile) shall be wasted and dried up" (v.5).
Eze. 29:2-5,11,12 tells us more about Egypt. It says, "Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt: Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself. But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales. And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers...I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia. No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years. And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate."
> > Could this scene that is now upon us with Syria, Jordan, Palistinians come with the pre-trib rapture
Not that I can see. The Beast rides forth on a white horse as a prince of peace as the Tribulation begins. It is about a year later when he rides a red horse that he takes peace from the Earth (Rev. 6:4). Agape
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Updated 3-1-01