Pentecost Confusion
is caused by adding to God's word.
This is the third post in this series about the annual festival of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was manifested with great power and signs to the first century church. (Acts 2:1-13)
The previous post discussed the spiritual intent of this feast. This post will address why there is such confusion amongst Jews and Christians about when to keep Pentecost.
The Wave Sheaf, The Sabbath And Pentecost
As stated in the previous post, you count to the annual Sabbath of Pentecost by counting seven weekly Sabbaths from the day the first sheaf is symbolically ‘waved’ to God:
And you shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: (Lev 23:15)
The wave sheaf offering starts the count to Pentecost, which is the day after the seventh Sabbath, making a total of 50 days. No grain is to be harvested in Israel until that first sheaf of ripe grain is presented, or waved, to God.
Most Jews start this harvest after the annual Sabbath of the first Day of Unleavened Bread, which is the 15th of the first month of the Hebrew Calendar. However, those Christians who keep the Sabbath and Holy Days generally count it from the weekly Sabbath that falls within the Days of Unleavened Bread.
Both groups have their very logical and well thought out reasons for choosing to count it the way they do. Due to the apparent ambiguity in scripture, these groups’ various explanations are often long and detailed, which can be very confusing and exhausting.
This post, however, won’t need to go into that kind of detail, because, as you will see, scripture is very clear about what to do to determine when Pentecost is.
However, it has taken me over 40 years of keeping Pentecost to be able to explain it in this relatively simple way! Unlearning something is always more difficult than learning it the first time.
When something appears to be very complex, I often find it a good idea to ask “what are the assumptions being made here?” When studying scripture, people make many assumptions which often go way beyond what the word of God actually says. When we stick to the text, without adding any of our own explanations, then the clarity of an issue is often revealed, which, as is explained below, is the case in how to count Pentecost.
The Wave Sheaf
The confusion about when to cut the Wave Sheaf comes about because the command (in Lev 23:15-17) does not specify if the Sabbath being mentioned is the annual or weekly Sabbath.
In addition, there is no mention about the Wave Sheaf being cut during the Days of Unleavened Bread. What we are told is that it is a sheaf of the first ripe grain of the harvest, but it does not say when this wave sheaf is to be cut.
This is a bit embarrassing for the Jews who claim the harvest must start after the annual Sabbath of the First Day of Unleavened Bread. Yet they have their “Oral Law” (which is now written down in the Mishna and Talmud) that fills in the details of what they consider is missing in the Law, and that states that it is the annual Sabbath that one starts to count from.
As discussed previously, this “Oral Law” is very important to the Jews, but it was a major point of contention in the first century Christian Church, with both Jesus and the Apostles rejecting much of what was in it.
While Sabbath keeping Christians and Sunday keeping Christians, have different renditions of how to read this command, both agree that the Jewish “Oral Law” is not authoritative for them today.
Sunday keeping Christians agree that we should start to count Pentecost from Passover, but they have changed Passover to Easter. And Easter is defined as being the “first Sunday after the first full moon after the March equinox, of March 21st”. Their counting, therefore, has nothing to do with the Hebrew Calendar, as Easter is not calculated according to it.
Easter and its calculations are not in scripture, so those Christian Churches who keep Easter are effectively working according to their own “Oral Law” to determine when Pentecost is to be kept.
Practical Considerations About Harvesting
Why did God not clarify whether the Wave Sheaf was to be waved after the annual or weekly Sabbath Day? The simple reason could be that grain does not ripen every year at the same time. Grain needs to be sown in winter, but if the ground is too dry, or too wet, or too cold, then the farmer knows to wait until the conditions are better. Some harvests therefore are early, others are late. Each year is different.
For this reason, there are many Jews and Christians who determine the first month of the year by when they actually see the first ripe grain in Israel. If the harvest is late, then they add another month to the year. I don’t know what they do if the harvest is early, although that may be rare.
But who today has the authority to determine when the harvest is about to start, or what a ripe grain is, or which field to choose the grain from, or what type of grain (modern or ancient varieties) is considered appropriate… etc?
Grain on the sunny side of the hill, or with very good soil will grow more quickly and ripen earlier than other grains. Should this, or some other field that is perhaps “more representative of the entire nation’s crop” be used to determine the first month of the year?
All these, and many other questions, are endlessly debated and argued by sincere Jews and Christians, all of whom just want to obey God. Yet, perhaps we need to think that God did not clarify if it was the annual or weekly Sabbath for the simple reason that a harvest can occur only when the grain is ripe?
Growing grain cannot be determined by a calendar. Although the calendar will give you a rough idea as to when to plough and when to harvest, it will not give you an exact date- that can only be determined by the individual farmer, on his land, using his seed, and it will be dependent upon the seasonal conditions of each particular year.
How then do we calculate Pentecost? To determine that, we need to ask about the real spiritual purpose for Pentecost, and the real physical reason for a calendar. To do that, we need to understand some basic history about calendars.
The Hebrew Calendar
The origins of the Hebrew Calendar go back to the time before Abraham, yet when it first came into use is uncertain. The Hebrew Calendar is a bit more complex than our modern Solar based calendar, but don’t worry, I won’t be going into the details of how this calendar works, so please persevere over the next two paragraphs!
Unfortunately, as soon as you tell some people that the Hebrew calendar is “lunisolar”, meaning that it is based on a 19-year cycle that involves both the Sun and the Moon, their eyes glaze over. When you then tell them that it also involves adding seven leap years (being an extra month in each leap year) into this 19-year cycle, then they get a headache, and want to talk about something else!
However, mathematicians and astronomers love it, for once you understand it you can see that there is a great dynamic symmetry, which is quite easy to comprehend- but there is no need for us to go into any details here.
The Hebrew calendar is also a very accurate and reliable calendar, which is why similar calendars were used by most nations for thousands of years without too much trouble, before the solar calendar was invented.
We still have the vestiges of the lunisolar calendars in the names and lengths of the months. For example, the word month means moon, as all months in the lunisolar calendar started at the new moon. The names October, November and December mean 8, 9 and 10 respectively, which are derived from the fact that they were the eighth, ninth and tenth moon of the ancient lunisolar calendar.
The solar calendar, however, has no correlation with the moons, except it has maintained the division of 12 months as did the lunisolar calendar. The length of the months has also been messed about with by the solar calendar, so months now bear no correlation to the moons, except in some of their names.
Why Dump The Lunisolar Calendar?
So, if it was not the complexity of the lunisolar calendar that caused it to go out of favour, nor its inaccuracy, why was it abandoned?
The reasons for this change were both religious and political, for the Solar calendar was initiated by the Sun worshiping Roman Emperor Julius Caesar, in 43BC. This “Julian Calendar” was established to worship the Sun, and it was focused around the solar cycles of the Summer and Winter solstices, and the Spring and Autumn equinoxes.
And if you have ever wondered why the world celebrates “New Year” in the middle of winter, you can blame Julius Caesar too, for he also changed the new year from being celebrated in Spring, on the 1st of March, to the first of January, just after the winter solstice.
Unfortunately, the Julian Calendar was not particularly accurate, but as Rome ruled much of the world it was the calendar that prevailed back then, and it still is the foundation of the modern calendar.
However, the errors in the Julian Calendar became so obvious that in 1583 the Roman Catholic Pope Gregory updated the calendar (since called the Gregorian Calendar) by deleting ten days during one year, and adding an extra day every four years. 1583 was thus called “the year of confusion”!
Yet, many non-Catholic countries did not adopt this “Catholic” calendar. So, for many years the world had two or more calendars- which did wonders for trade between the nations!
Even though most of the world now uses the Gregorian Calendar, it is still a Sun worshipers’ calendar. It has no relationship to scripture, as it is based solely on the cycles of the Sun.
The history of calendars since 43BC is like reading one of the funniest, most tragic and stupid jokes ever played on mankind. So much confusion, and cost, and division inflicted on people for no reason- for nobody actually worships the Sun any more, and Rome is not the world ruling empire that it was!
Even so, Rome has left its ludicrous religious stamp on our society in how we count the years and celebrate God’s festivals. This may have been prophesied by Daniel:
And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: ….(Dan 7:25)
How To Count Pentecost
To start the count to Pentecost the Jews use the Hebrew Calendar, as do the Sabbath and Holy Day keeping Christians, whereas the Sunday Christians use the Sun worshipers’ calendar. Yet, scripture does not actually mention the calendar, but simply states that you are to count from the time of the harvest for the next seven Sabbaths, and then keep the feast of Pentecost:
And you shall count to you from the next day after the sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete. To the next day after the seventh sabbath you shall number fifty days. (Lev 23:15-16)
What this simple directive is saying is that you
determine when the first grain is ripe in the land,
then count from there seven Sabbaths.
That is all you need to do.
The assumption from all religions that you must use the calendar, or the feast days, to start the count to Pentecost is the cause of all the confusion.
Just do what scripture says to do, is generally a good idea, and it is the case here also.
Scripture tells us that we must count to the fiftieth day. It is not required by scripture to be on a set date, but scripture tells us to determine it by when the harvest starts. This is a very practical law for a harvest festival, as it allows for variations in seasons, soil, sowing times etc.
All over Israel different farms would start their harvest at different times, but the count to Pentecost would start from the first Sabbath after the first grain in the land is ripe.
Seven is a number that indicates completeness, and seven Sabbaths is therefore a symbolic complete harvest. However, some grain may still be harvested after Pentecost, as it may have been sown later, have had less rain, have poorer soil etc.
The only thing required to make this simple counting to Pentecost work, is that somebody needs to determine what is the first ripe grain in the land.
People would simply report when their grain is getting ripe, and tell the Priest. The Priest would then come out and inspect it, and if it was ripe they would cut a sheaf of grain and take it to the Temple to wave it before God on the day after the Sabbath. Then everyone could start to harvest whenever their grain was also ready.
But why wait until after the Sabbath before waving the sheaf of grain? That Sabbath would be the time to announce to those who attend the synagogue that the harvest will begin, such news would then soon spread throughout the community to those who may not have made it to the synagogue.
The seven weeks of the harvest symbolize a complete harvest. The period also ends with a double Sabbath on Pentecost, when people rejoice and give offerings of thanks to God for his provision.
This Pentecost double Sabbath provides some extra rest for everyone at the end of a particularly busy period of hard physical work.
Could anything be simpler, and more practical, for a grain harvest festival?
What About The Calendar?
The calendar gives a rough idea when grains should be sown and harvested, but the calendar should not be expected to conform to the growth of grain. A calendar is a very accurate astronomically calculated system and it would be very inappropriate to mess it up just because one year had a particularly wet or dry season.
If the calendar is reliant upon the first ripe grain being ready for harvest, then if there was no grain due to drought, then how would you calculate the beginning of the year?
The answer is that in a time of drought when there is no grain, then there is obviously no festival of Pentecost, for there is no wave sheaf.
We therefore need to realize that Pentecost is not linked to the calendar.
The other six Annual Sabbath Holy Days are set on the calendar, as they don’t need to relate to the seasonal variations, but Pentecost is a grain harvest festival, and is obviously strongly affected by many agricultural considerations.
The Desert Example
I often wondered why Pentecost was not mentioned in Exodus, or anywhere else, as the time for the Ten Commandments being given.
The answer is “that is what the Jews say”.
However, if you read the Exodus account, you will see that Pentecost (nor any of its other names) is not actually mentioned as being the time when the Ten Commandments were given. Even so, you add up the days mentioned in the text, then it certainly seems like it would have been about that time of the year.
But if you read the first detailed command about keeping Pentecost, it simply states that it is to be kept when the Children of Israel came into the promised land, which is logical, as being in the desert they would not have had any harvest:
“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, (Lev 23:10)
The Jews say that the first Pentecost, just after the Exodus, was on the 6th of Sivan, (the third month of the Hebrew Calendar) even though they were in the desert at the time, and obviously did not sow or harvest any grain.
I have little doubt that the 6th of Sivan was when the Ten Commandments were given, but as there was no wave sheaf, or grain, then it would not have been possible to keep an actual harvest festival until they came into the land of Israel, after wandering in the desert for 40 years.
For this simple reason Pentecost is not mentioned in Exodus as the time when the Ten Commandments were given.
What Do We Do Today?
If what I have concluded above is true, then in the time of the Kingdom of God (when Christ will rule from Jerusalem) Pentecost will be kept, and it will be calculated from the start of the cutting, and waving to the Lord, of the first ripe grain in the land.
Perhaps all other countries in the world will keep Pentecost on a different day, when they have ripe grain in their land? Or perhaps they will keep Pentecost at the same time as those in Jerusalem, but as a symbolic harvest period to be in unity with Israel? We will have to wait till then to know, for scripture only tells us what the people in Israel were to do back then, and are to continue to do today.
Given the above understanding of the physical directives for Pentecost, we obviously need to ask:
“What do we who don’t live in Israel do today in order to keep Pentecost?”.
I suggest that the way we can keep Pentecost, is to look to the spiritual significance of the harvest, which is what the first century Christian church did in order to keep Passover away from Jerusalem, as is explained in this previous post.
As with all the Holy Days, the seven weeks leading up to Pentecost, and the festival itself, are not just about the physical harvesting and sacrifices that were required on these days, but the transcendent spiritual purpose and meanings behind them.
The grain harvest festival at Pentecost celebrates the provision by God of the food we need for physical life. Jesus however elevates this festival into a spiritual harvest:
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’?
Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.
Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life,
so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.
For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labour. Others have laboured, and you have entered into their labour.
(John 4:34-38)
Our work as Christians is not to harvest grain, but to do God’s will, and to reap the fruit that gives eternal life.
This harvest festival of Pentecost is to focus our minds on the spiritual harvest of souls, and on the spiritual food we need for eternal life- which is what the next post in this series will address.
So interesting, Martin!