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CHURCH OF GOD
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THE TRUE PENTECOST
Pentecost pictures the beginning of the New Testament Church of God when God the Father poured out His Holy Spirit for the first time begetting His called out and chosen ones to establish the very foundation and building of the body of Christ. This occurred on Sunday, June 17, 31 A. D. when our Father for the first time in a unique, dramatic and powerful manner manifested this wonderful blessing as it descended upon the 120 disciples who were assembled in a room in the Temple in Jerusalem in obedience to Christ. Since that beginning the Church of God has been in the growth and ripening states and will come to the acceptable ripeness through the grace and help of Jesus Christ when He returns to fulfill this awesome and wonderful responsibility of bringing about a new and wonderful world in which mankind will come to be at peace with one another and righteousness will begin to reign over the whole earth. A COMMAND FROM CHRIST Jesus Christ remained here on earth after His resurrection for 40 days before ascending to heaven (Acts 1:3). Just prior to His departure, He told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem for this blessing to take place in their lives: And being assembles together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father �which,� He said, �you have heard from Me� (Acts 1:4). This is also recorded in the book of Luke: �Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endowed with POWER from on high� (Luke 24:49). Though there is no written record of Christ stating what day they were to receive this Promise they knew the wait would be 10 days from then, Pentecost! The 120 disciples gathered together at the designated place for they had observed this Festival all of their lives and understood exactly the right day and time to be there for the receiving of this wonderful blessing. And they did as we find in Scripture: Now when the Day of Pentecost had FULLY COME, they (the 120) were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributed and resting on each (margin) of them. And they were ALL FILLED with the Holy Spirit � (Acts 2:1-4). Both commandments had been fulfilled and they then received God�s Holy Spirit that made them His begotten people and the very first of the firstfruits of the many who would be added to them over 2000 years of time. All are then to be resurrected as the completed first harvest in God�s plan. COUNTING PENTECOST God has seven annual Holy days. Six are on the same day every year according to the Hebrew calendar. They vary, of course, on the Roman calendar from year to year. As already noted, Pentecost, however, must be counted: �And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day (Sunday) that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. Count 50 days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall [observe the Feast of Firstfruits]� (Leviticus 23:15-16, New King James throughout). Jews and Christians who spoke Greek came to call the Holy day pentekoste, which means �fiftieth.� Pentecost was called the �Feast of Firstfruits� in the Old Testament (Exodus 34:22). The Greek word pentecost is derived from two Greek words: pente meaning �fifty� and cost meaning �to count.� Literally translated Pentecost means: �count fifty.� (Smith�s Dictionary of the Bible, article: Pentecost). Normally, there is no question on which Sunday for the Church to begin counting Pentecost. Notice the instruction from God: �You shall also count for yourselves from (Hebrew, �beginning with�) the day after the Sabbath, from (�beginning with�) the day you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering there shall be seven complete Sabbaths.� � In a normal sacred year, all one needs is to locate the weekly Sabbath falling during the Days of Unleavened Bread, and on the morrow after (on Sunday) begin counting the fifty days. THE PROBLEM Counting to 50 is not the problem. The problem is to understand where the beginning point should be. Over many years until this present time too many people have felt merely because God records the method by which Pentecost is counted, they are qualified to come to independent conclusions about when Pentecost should be kept! They are wrong! They have attempted to take to themselves a responsibility that God placed ONLY in the hands of His called, chosen, and faithful ministers, and in our time, His late apostle, Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong, and those who have remained faithful to those teachings that God made known through him! The instructions for counting Pentecost are given in the book of Leviticus � the book for the Levites. The Levites were God�s priests doing the work of the ministry of the Old Testament. Leviticus is written, not so the common lay-members of the Church could �second guess� God�s ministry, but so His ministers could know how Pentecost is to be properly counted. The ministers then were to make this known to the whole congregation. Though sincere as they may be, it is sad that some ministers and lay-members no longer recognize and accept the office of the man God used to restore the true foundational doctrinal teachings within His Church in this end-time.
GOD NOT THE AUTHOR OF CONFUSION Almighty God is not the author of confusion! (I Corinthians 14:33.) The proper dates of the Passover, Pentecost, and other Holy Days, are vitally important in God�s Master Plan of salvation for mankind. It is not logical nor does it make sense He would leave His people all confused and observing them at different times! God has placed specific offices in His true Church from its very beginning to determine just such things as the exact date of the Passover and where the count should begin regarding Pentecost (Ephesians 4:11-13)! There are no other dates acceptable in God�s Church! The office of the apostle is listed first among the levels of the ministry (I Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11). And it should be a recognized fact that God gives a greater measure of His Spirit to the highest office holder and a lesser measure to the lower offices. As long as the fruits reveal the apostle is faithful to God and His teachings; the lower offices are to follow those teachings. Otherwise this can lead to rejection of God (I Samuel 8:7). God has used only apostles from the very first century to place and determine doctrine in His Church! The only exception has been in some cases the prophets in Old Testament times. There are no apostles or prophets today! The year, 2001, was one of those rare years that presented a problem to some. Jews and some in God�s Church were confused regarding the time to begin the count. Once again this is occurring in this present year, 2005. WHICH SABBATH The Pharisees interpreted �the day after the Sabbath� (as do Jews today) as the day after the first annual Sabbath of the Feast of Unleavened Bread �- always on the 16th day of the first Hebrew month, Abib, no matter what day of the week it may be. The Sadducees, most of whom were priests, said the wave offering should be made on the day after a weekly Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This would always be on a Sunday and not on a specific day of the month. When we examine the context and the New Testament, the correct meaning of the Sabbath becomes clear. THE FIRSTFRUITS WAVE OFFERING
The firstfruits wave offering pictured the resurrected Christ and His ascension into heaven to be accepted as the First of the firstfruits. Jesus Christ was resurrected at the close of the weekly Sabbath (Saturday evening), but He ascended to His Father in heaven sometime early Sunday morning (the following day after the Sabbath), as revealed by comparing John 20:17 with Matthew 28:9. Christ was the first of the spiritual firstfruits: �But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the FIRSTFRUITS of those who have fallen asleep� (I Corinthians 15:20). With this in mind, Christ would have had to ascend on a Friday, the 16th of Abib, if the Pharisees were correct. (The first annual Sabbath of Unleavened Bread was Thursday that year). But He was NOT resurrected UNTIL the close of the Sabbath (that evening), and He ascended into heaven on a Sunday morning �- on the morrow after the weekly Sabbath! Modern Judaism observes the wrong day. The Jews have PRESERVED the Hebrew calendar and Scriptures, but do NOT fully understand those Scriptures. God opened the mind of His late apostle to understand those Scriptures along with the correct use of the Hebrew calendar God had preserved through the Jews (Romans 3:2). WHICH SUNDAY We had before us the question in the recent occasional year, 2001, which Sunday should we have begun the count to determine the Day of Pentecost? In most years, only one Sunday falls during the Feast of Unleavened Bread; therefore that Sunday is clearly the day the firstfruits should have been offered. But when the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins on the beginning of the weekly Sabbath (evening) and ends at the close of the same Sabbath (sunset), the question that has perplexed and misled some: should the firstfruits wave offering be on the following day, Sunday, the first day of the Feast, or Sunday the day after the seventh day of the Feast? To be explicit � which Sunday should the Church use to begin the count to determine Pentecost when the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins on a weekly Sabbath, as it did in 2001, and now in 2005? We have understood for years that we always let Scripture reveal answers to our questions. Remember God led the prophet Isaiah to tell us the answers are found here and there (Isaiah 28:10, 13). We find the answer to this perplexing question when Israel first entered the Promised Land. So the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the 14th day of the month (weekly Sabbath) at twilight on the plains of Jericho. And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover (Sunday), unleavened bread and parched bread on the very same day (Joshua 5:10-11). The Authorized Version (King James) of the Bible says they ate �old corn,� but �old� is not in the Hebrew text (NRSV, NJPS, International Version, etc.). Note the writings of the following Commentaries: SONCINO COMMENTARY: Joshua 5:11 � THE PRODUCE OF THE LAND. Since the manna ceased to fall, as stated in the next verse. The Rabbis held that the new harvest is meant, the Israelites first having brought the wave-offering of the �sheaf� (omer), in accordance with Leviticus 23:10-14, the morrow after the Passover here being identical with the morrow after the Sabbath there.� CRITICAL, EXPERIMENTAL COMMENTARY, Volume II, Page 13: Joshua 5:11 � they did eat of the old corn � [not �old corn� as in the English Version]. This was conformably to the law (Leviticus 23:5-14). Parched corn � new grain (see on Leviticus 23:10), probably lying in the fields. �� ADAM CLARKE COMMENTARY, Volume II, Page 23: Joshua 5:11 They did eat of the old corn of the land] The Hebrew word abur, which we translate old corn, occurs only in this place in such a sense, if that sense be legitimate. The noun, though of doubtful signification, is evidently derived from abar, to pass over, to go beyond; and here it may be translated simply the produce, that which comes from the land into the hands of the cultivator; � On the morrow after the Passover] That is, on the 15th day; for then the Feast of Unleavened Bread began. But they could neither eat bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, till the firstfruits of the harvest had been waved in the tabernacle; (see Leviticus 23:9, &c.;) �� SINLESS CHRIST The very strong implication of Scripture makes known the Sunday falling within the Feast of Unleavened Bread would symbolically be the right one because it depicts an �unleavened� and perfectly sinless state that pictures the sinless Jesus Christ. The wave sheaf offering, the very first of the cuttings of the barley or wheat, was a representation of Jesus Christ after His resurrection appearing in Heaven before God the Father for His acceptance by Him (John 20:17; Matthew 28:9; I Corinthians 15:20). Based on the meaning of the Days of Unleavened Bread it strongly implies that Christ would not have been accepted by the Father; for these Days of Unleavened Bread pictured His totally unleavened state. HARVEST SEASONS In Canaan, grain ripened in the spring, and the Canaanites would have harvested it as soon as they could. However, they were preparing for a siege, and the new grain was just becoming ripe. Therefore, all their old grain would long since have been harvested and stored in the city (Joshua 6:1). The Israelites were eating newly harvested grain on the day after the Passover. PHYSICAL LABOR INHERIT IN HARVESTING A friend of mine wrote me the following: �There are those who are bothered about the physical labor inherit to harvesting as an objection to conducting the omer ritual on the weekly Sabbath. Please consider the following: Offering the wave omer on a Holy day does not demand that the rest of the harvest progress on that day. The remainder of the harvest would certainly be deferred until the Holy day had ended. 2) The Passover, by all accounts, is allowed to transpire on the Sabbath Day. This involves the slaughtering and cooking of 1000s of lambs on Holy time. This is vastly more physical labor than would be inherent in harvesting and preparing the small amount of barley for the wave omer. Remember the Levites were required to work on the Sabbath and Holy Days as they were the servants of Jesus Christ fulfilling their charges on those Days: Jesus said to the Pharisees, �Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath, the priests in the temple profane (margin: desecrate) the Sabbath and are blameless� (Matthew 12:5)? (End Quote) Since eating new grain was permitted only after the firstfruits wave offering (Leviticus 23:14), we can conclude that the firstfruits wave offering had been that very morning or in the very beginning of the new day the night before of the first Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which that year was a Sunday. As they offered the firstfruits on the Sunday DURING the Feast, the Feast must have begun that year on the first day of the week. The morrow after the Passover was very special because it was the first day of Unleavened Bread and they had begun eating the newly harvested grain of the land. And before they could partake of that new grain, the special ceremony of the wave sheaf offering first had to take place! �You shall eat neither bread nor parched corn nor fresh grain UNTIL the same day that you have brought an offering to your God, �� (Leviticus 23:14). Since the wave sheaf offering always occurred on a Sunday (that is, �the morrow after the Sabbath�), this tells us that the year the Israelites entered Canaan, the Passover Day fell on a weekly Sabbath, and the WAVE SHEAF OFFERING was on a Sunday, the first Holy Day of Unleavened Bread! Just like this year, 2005! This Scripture reveals that it was the FIRST SUNDAY �WITHIN� the Days of Unleavened Bread God�s Church that should have BEGUN THE COUNT to determine the Day of Pentecost: �And you shall (begin to) count for yourselves from (beginning with) the day that you brought forth the SHEAF OF THE WAVE OFFERING: seven SABBATHS shall be completed. Count 50 days to the day AFTER the 7th Sabbath: then you shall offer a NEW GRAIN OFFERING� (Leviticus 23:15-16). Again, I repeat: To determine the correct date for Pentecost, we MUST BEGIN the count with the Sunday DURING the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The day of the Wave Offering, the Sunday DURING the Feast of Unleavened Bread, was DAY ONE. Day SEVEN was a weekly Sabbath. DAY 49 would be the 7th Sabbath, and the 50th day would be on a Sunday, the day after the 7th Sabbath. Pentecost is therefore always on a Sunday. In the year, 2001, it was Sunday, May 27. Pentecost for God�s people is too important for any of us to observe it on the wrong day. After all it does picture us as a few of the sickled firstfruits that are soon to be harvested when Christ returns to this earth to bring about our change in the resurrection. Remember the 120 Disciples of Christ when He began His Church almost 2000 years ago? They were in the right place and on the right Day obeying the command from Christ. Is that not what we want? Is that not what we live for? Do NOT permit anyone to mislead you to believe otherwise. You could miss out! Please realize that the true Feast of Firstfruits, or Pentecost, for this year is to be observed on Sunday, June 12, 2005. It is our prayer that our good and wonderful caring God will bless all of His true people with a most profitable and meaningful Holyday.
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Among such people are those who have not remained faithful to the teaching regarding where the count should begin to determine the right day in such as year as this! They use a different method of counting and will have observed Pentecost, 2005, one week late, as some have also used the wrong means of calculation to determine the date of the Passover and observe it on the wrong date! |
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