Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Counting to Pentecost
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Leviticus 16:1-2
Even as the instructions in Leviticus 16 follow a significant failure on the part of the priesthood, we can also credibly link the Day of Atonement with an infamous failure of the whole nation, the Golden Calf incident. By piecing together the dates and spans of time from the scriptural record, a significant possibility arises. Notice these time markers: » Israel left Egypt on the fifteenth day of the first month (Exodus 13:3-4). » Sometime within the following week—between the sixteenth and the twenty-second day—the fifty-day count to Pentecost began. » It is generally accepted that Pentecost occurred when God gave the law to Israel from Mount Sinai. No verse directly says this, but the text puts Israel at Sinai in the general timeframe of Pentecost. Exodus 16:1 shows that Israel was already near Sinai on the fifteenth day of the second month. Israel was still camped at Sinai “in the third month” (Exodus 19:1), when Pentecost occurs. » After giving the law, Moses was on the Mount with God for forty days and nights to receive the tablets of stone (Exodus 24:18; Deuteronomy 9:9). » When Moses came down and saw Israel worshipping the Golden Calf, he broke the stone tablets and spent a second period of forty days and nights beseeching God not to destroy Aaron and the rest of the nation (Deuteronomy 9:15-20). » Moses returned to the mountain for a third forty-day period to receive a new copy of the stone tablets (Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 10:10). The three forty-day periods mean that there were 120 days between Pentecost and the new copy of the tablets. Adding the fifty-day count to Pentecost brings us to 170 days. The count to Pentecost began between the sixteenth and twenty-second days from the beginning of the year, so the time between Abib 1 and the new copy of the tablets was between 186 and 192 days. This span of days is significant because the Day of Atonement falls on the tenth day of the seventh month, 187 days into the Hebrew calendar. The Day of Atonement, then, may have occurred when Moses returned with his face reflecting God's glory (Exodus 34:29-32). It may also have been the day when he gave the law to Israel a second time, after their blatant sin. Again, this timeline is not definitive, but we are in the ballpark. If this timeline is valid, then the Day of Atonement contains a reminder of a colossal failure, such that the law had to be inscribed a second time by the finger of God. God does not waste effort, and He does not repeat Himself or duplicate things unnecessarily. Thus, the Day of Atonement could well provide a reminder that the whole nation was on the brink of destruction, and it was through God's mercy and Moses' intercession that the people and high priest were not all blotted out. It is no wonder that the Day of Atonement is such a solemn day! It is tied to the failure of Aaron's sons, and perhaps to the more widespread failure of the nation, resulting in the addition of the sacrificial law. It may also have been when the Creator had to repeat His holy law. The law defines sin, and breaking it requires atonement. When the author of Hebrews 10:3 writes that the sacrifices were a reminder of sins each year, he may have had some highly significant national failures in mind.
David C. Grabbe
Who Fulfills the Azazel Goat— Satan or Christ? (Part Four)
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Leviticus 23:10-16
Following the basic instructions about Pentecost's location on the calendar in Leviticus 23:10-16, we find that when Israel came into Canaan, they were to count beginning with the day following a Sabbath. Without further instruction, there could be a whole year's worth of Sabbaths to choose from! However, within Leviticus 23, the annual Sabbaths are arranged chronologically beginning with Nisan (also called Abib). This, combined with information obtained from other portions of the Bible, has led all concerned to conclude that the Sabbath in question is early in the year, located near the beginning of a spring harvest, and is one of three within the Days of Unleavened Bread. The church of God and the various sects of the Jews are in agreement on this. The count is to continue fifty days with the fiftieth day being the Day of Pentecost. As a Greek word, the name Pentecost does not appear in the Old Testament, only in the New, and it means "fiftieth." In the Old Testament, Pentecost is called "the Feast of Weeks" or "the Feast of Firstfruits." Carefully note that God points only to a Sabbath—it must first be found—in order to begin the count. This fits nicely within God's directive in Exodus 31:13 that the Sabbath is a sign between Him and His people. Day One of the count does not begin with a Sabbath, but with the day following it. However, without first isolating which Sabbath, one cannot know which "morrow"—which day after. If one does not use the correct Sabbath, it may set Pentecost's observance as much as seven days off God's intended target. The Sabbath in question here can be neither the First nor the Last Day of Unleavened Bread, though both are annual Sabbaths. Why? Because using either of those holy days, both of which fall on fixed dates, effectively eliminates a person's need to count! This is because, when one begins counting fifty days from a fixed date, one will always end on a fixed date. If we begin to count with the day following Nisan 15 (the First Day of Unleavened Bread), we will always end on Sivan 6. If we commence our count on the day following Nisan 21 (the Last Day of Unleavened Bread), we will always finish on Sivan 12. If God wanted us to observe Pentecost on a fixed date, He would have told us so, even as He did with all the other festival dates in Leviticus 23. One man suggested that counting from a fixed date is still counting. Yes, that is true. But if one does that, the count only has to be done once in all of history, and Pentecost's location is found forever. The man's suggestion is similar to interpreting that the command to eat unleavened bread during the Days of Unleavened Bread no longer applies because the Israelites did it when they first came out of Egypt! Even as unleavened bread must be eaten each year, the clear implication from Leviticus 23 is that God wants us to count to Pentecost afresh each year. God wants us to count to Pentecost year-by-year beginning with the day following a Sabbath whose date changes from year to year. This can only be the weekly Sabbath that falls on or between the two holy days during the Days of Unleavened Bread. The starting point has been located. Even though the count does not actually begin with the Sabbath, the Sabbath's location is of primary importance, not the day after. The day after would never be located without first locating the correct Sabbath.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Pentecost, Consistency, and Honesty
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Leviticus 23:11
The question is, which Sabbath do we need to isolate to arrive at the correct date for Pentecost? The Sabbath we choose to begin the count is significant, or else we could arbitrarily decide to count from any Sabbath. Confusion would be the result. Even though the Old Testament instruction seems ambiguous on this point, it is reasonable to conclude that, since the counting instructions given in Leviticus 23:11, 15 and Deuteronomy 16:9 are given in relation to the Days of Unleavened Bread and Pentecost, the Sabbaths of Unleavened Bread are significant. Because Unleavened Bread is seven days long, one and only one weekly Sabbath, with its varying date, will always fall within it. If we were to deny this link between Unleavened Bread and when the count to Pentecost begins, God's counting instructions become unusable. Everyone could do what is "right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25), and confusion and division would result. Although the wavesheaf is normally offered during the Days of Unleavened Bread, the connecting link between the wavesheaf and Unleavened Bread is the Sabbath. The Sabbath day is the sign between God and His people (Exodus 31:12-17), not just in identifying who they are, but in this case, it also serves as the focal point in counting to Pentecost. Because we must first identify the Sabbath to begin the count, it is the Sabbath that must fall within the Days of Unleavened Bread, not necessarily wavesheaf Sunday. In the odd years when Passover falls on a weekly Sabbath, the only weekly Sabbath day within Unleavened Bread is also the holy day at its end. Nevertheless, this Sabbath, a double Sabbath, is of greater importance for beginning the count, not the wavesheaf offered the next day. The weekly Sabbath provides a consistent and correct pattern for beginning the count to Pentecost. Another reason that we should count from the weekly Sabbath is the appearance of the definite Hebrew article ha that normally precedes "Sabbath." In the entire Old Testament, this designation, hashabbath, indicates the weekly Sabbath about 95% of the time. In Leviticus 23, a form of "Sabbath" appears in Hebrew twelve times and "Sabbaths" twice. The article ha appears before "Sabbath" three times, and each time it refers to the weekly Sabbath. Two of these occurrences concern the Sabbath in question (verses 11, 15). Once it appears before "Sabbaths" (verse 15), also referring to weekly Sabbaths.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Countdown to Pentecost 2001
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Leviticus 23:15-16
This late spring holy day must be counted. God instructs us to count 50 days from the day that the wavesheaf was offered. This explains why this day is commonly called Pentecost, which means "count fifty." The Sabbath (verse 15), the day after which we start to count, is not an annual holy day, but the weekly Sabbath that falls during Unleavened Bread. We know this because Pentecost must be counted every year. If this Sabbath were an annual Sabbath, Pentecost would always fall on a fixed date. It always falls on the same day of the week—the first day, Sunday—because one begins to count on a Sunday.
Earl L. Henn
Holy Days: Pentecost
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Leviticus 23:15-16
Probably one of the best arguments against the lunar Sabbath concerns Pentecost. God instructs that the Day of Pentecost, correctly counted, will always occur on the day after a Sabbath: You are to count seven complete weeks starting from the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the presentation offering. You are to count 50 days until the day after the seventh Sabbath and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. (Leviticus 23:15-16 [HCSB]) So, the requirement that Pentecost fall on the day after the seventh Sabbath becomes a “check point” to ensure that we have counted correctly. A person keeping the lunar Sabbath will never find an occasion where the count of those fifty days brings him to the day after the Sabbath he is keeping. Try it for yourself with paper and pencil; it will soon become clear that absolutely no scenario exists where Pentecost falls on the day after a lunar Sabbath. It will never happen. If the concept of the lunar Sabbath were correct, the requirement that Pentecost fall after a Sabbath would be impossible to meet. The model that lunar Sabbatarians use to determine the Sabbath does not mesh with the instruction concerning Pentecost, as stated in Leviticus 23:15-16.
Charles Whitaker
The Lunar Sabbath or the Seventh-Day Sabbath: Which?
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Leviticus 23:15
This verse teaches how to count Pentecost, but it also reveals who should count Pentecost. Who is the “you” in verse 15? In verse 6, “you” is the person who is to eat unleavened bread. This “you,” then, is each one of us. The addition of “for yourselves” makes it even more emphatic that we are to do the counting. It is not done by a calendar, not by the ministry, but “for yourselves.” Just as the ministry does not eat unleavened bread for us because God commands “you” to eat it, it follows that they are not to count Pentecost for us either. We eat unleavened bread every year, so we should also be counting Pentecost for ourselves every year. “You” and “for yourselves” are not in and of themselves significant words, but here they become significant because God said them. Does this counting seem to be a small thing? Yes, it does seem inconsequential. But we are to live by every word that God gives to us, not just those we consider important. The name “Laodicea” originates from two Greek words: laos meaning “people” and dike meaning “to judge” or “to decide.” For a Laodicean, they, the people, take it upon themselves to decide what is important instead of submitting to whatever God says. Why would God have each of us count Pentecost in place of looking at a calendar—the way most of us have always determined which day to observe? Each of us counting every year when calendars are easily available does not seem to make much sense. But that is irrelevant. What is relevant is that we do what God commands us to do, to be careful to obey all He commands. Consider an experience Herbert W. Armstrong recounted in the May 1981 Good News article entitled, “Why Many Don't Understand Pentecost”: I had learned in my intensive, almost night-and-day study of the Sabbath question that we are commanded also to keep the seven annual Holy Days. I DID NOT KNOW WHY! I knew only that God said, “DO IT!” My wife and I did—alone! For seven years! We have his good example to do whatever God tells us to do and trust that God, who loves us, has a reason for what He commands, even if we are clueless as to why. Herbert Armstrong was one who followed all those admonitions in Deuteronomy to be careful to obey whatever he saw commanded by God, even if it meant changing years of error he adamantly taught. Do we follow that example, or are we Laodiceans deciding for ourselves rather than counting for ourselves as God specifically commands?
Pat Higgins
Every Word?
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Leviticus 23:15
This verse teaches how to count Pentecost, but it also reveals who should count Pentecost. Who is the "you" in verse 15? In verse 6, "you" is the person who is to eat unleavened bread. So, this "you" is each one of us. The addition of "for yourselves" makes it even more emphatic that we are to do the counting. It is not done by a calendar, not by the ministry, but "for yourselves." Just as the ministry does not eat unleavened bread for us because it says you are to eat it, it follows that they are not to count Pentecost for us either. We eat unleavened bread every year, so we should also count Pentecost for ourselves every year. Does this counting seem to be a small thing? Yes, it does seem inconsequential, but we are to live by every word, not most of the words, that God gives to us. Notice a paragraph from John W. Ritenbaugh's article "Countdown to Pentecost 2001," in the December 2000 Forerunner: We are to live by every word of God. However, I have learned through this Pentecost-counting test that has come upon the church that people consider certain areas as "little" and thus of no account. They dismiss them as not worthy of serious consideration. One might be tempted to think that all the points discussed so far are minor ones that God could easily overlook because Israel had such a sincere attitude at that point in their relationship with Him. Perhaps it is good to be reminded of God's reactions in other instances when people have set aside seemingly "minor points" in favor of some other way of doing things. The article recounts examples that show what God thinks of those who dismiss the little things. Based on one flaw, God rejects Cain's offering. In Leviticus 10:1-3, two sons of Aaron are instantaneously struck dead when they ignore one simple instruction about incense. David transports the ark in the wrong manner, and when Uzzah, probably involuntarily, touches it to keep it from hitting the ground, God strikes him dead. Both Ananias and Sapphira fudge a bit by not telling Peter the whole truth, and God strikes them dead, too. We should soberly consider these examples because they reveal the importance God places on His "minor" instructions. Yes, we are to live by every word God gives to us. Why would God have each of us count Pentecost rather than just look at a holy day calendar—the way most people determine the day? At a glance, it does not make much sense to count, does it? But that is irrelevant. What is relevant is that we do what God commands us to do. Should we not consider that God must have a special reason for determining Pentecost by a method different from all the other holy days? For all the others, God gives a specific date, so we have to look at a calendar to know when to observe them. But Pentecost must be counted, and as Leviticus 23:15 commands, each of us must do the counting. We really do not know why this difference exists. How many centuries did ancient Israel, and after them, the Jews, keep the holy days? Yet, to this day, they still do not know the most important reasons behind them. Each of us counting Pentecost for ourselves each year does seem like a little thing and unnecessary because, after all, there are calendars, the Internet, etc. Even so, in Matthew 25:21, Christ gives a glimpse into our future and what that future hinges on: "You have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much" (Revised Standard Version). As noted earlier, people died because they ignored God's "minor" instructions—everything matters. How careful are we about God's "minor" instructions? History shows that the answer could one day be the difference between life and death.
Pat Higgins
Count for Yourselves
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Deuteronomy 12:1-14
The WCG's Pentecost Study Paper refers to Deuteronomy 12 five times, each time only to reference certain words on how to count to Pentecost. Not even one time does it refer to what Deuteronomy 12 is actually saying in regard to a significant subject pertinent to Joshua 5:10-11. Moses wrote Deuteronomy in the last months before Israel entered the Promised Land. The book is a prelude to renewing the covenant between God and Israel and what would immediately follow. As such, when Israel entered the Land, some of the worship patterns followed in the wilderness were to undergo a radical change. Moses divided Deuteronomy into at least four sections. The first section serves to remind Israel of the many things God had done for Israel to bring them to where they were just about ready to inherit the land. The second section, beginning in chapter 12, contains instructions on the response God expected from the Israelites once they entered the land. It calls for a number of changes in their worship of Him. In verses 1-4, He makes it abundantly clear that He would not tolerate even a shadow of syncretic mixing with the gods and religions of the people of the land. Regardless of location, every place where the Canaanites worshipped was to be utterly destroyed, and every idol of stone or wood smashed and/or burned to ashes. They were even to eradicate the names of those places! The imagery is of God storming into the land as a conquering General who will brook no interference from the conquered people. He shows His disdain for everything they hold dear and important in their worship of the gods they admire and are devoted to. By doing so, He also shows the Israelites the weaknesses of Canaanite gods. They cannot protect the Canaanites. Verse 5 begins to relate instructions for one of the more radical changes involved in Israel's worship of God. Once in the land, they would no longer be permitted to worship by erecting an altar and offering sacrifices at any place, except as God Himself appointed. No Israelite was free to choose for himself where worship could take place. God would be worshipped at His Tabernacle, His dwelling place in Israel, and it would be located and erected where He and He alone would choose. There and there only, on the Tabernacle's brazen altar—just outside His front door, as it were—would they be able to offer their sacrifices. God had already given Israel a prelude to this. Once the Tabernacle was constructed in the wilderness, all religious and civil affairs revolved around the location where it was set up. Every time Israel camped in one place long enough to erect the Tabernacle, it became the center of their encampment, and each tribe was assigned its never-varying place in relation to the Tabernacle. All religious and civil affairs were thus conducted in His presence. The context of Deuteronomy 12 makes it clear that, to God, there are two overriding issues behind these commands. The first is loyalty to Him only as God. The first commandment reads, "You shall have no other gods before Me," meaning "no other gods in place of Me." God will not brook sharing the relationship with Him with another "god" on any level of devotion. The second issue is the Israelites' unity with each other as a nation. Unlike other nations, Israel's national unity was not driven by political or military forces but by religion, the one God gave to them through Moses. This is why the central sanctuary is of supreme importance to them as a nation. In the wilderness, the Israelites had already shown themselves to be easily attracted to heathen practices. They had also exhibited a strong, independent spirit that drove them to go their own way, to do their own thing, whether or not religion was directly involved. Once settled in the land, they would be scattered over an area far larger than any wilderness encampment. Their free moral agency was thus about to be severely tested. They needed a central sanctuary to retain their relationship with God and their unity as a nation. The charges given to them in Deuteronomy 12 are strongly reinforced by the demand of verse 32: "Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it." If they were to remain the holy people of God, no deviations were allowed! Beginning in verse 8, God strictly forbids them to do as they had done in the past, erecting altars virtually wherever they wished. They are to understand that they were no longer a wandering people but a nation anchored in the land, and their worship of God and actions as a nation must reflect that. Their days of transition in the wilderness from a slave to a free people, from a loosely scattered, blood-related people to a united nation, were over! Their real birth as a nation under God had begun. Central to this idea is that all sacrificing, except for the Passover, had to be done on one national altar. The festivals, especially the three major ones, had to be kept in one central location, and all tithes were to be sent to that same central place of worship. This did not mean that they could not hold Sabbath services in their home locations, but any local services would have to be conducted without the sacrificing of animals or any of the rituals assigned to festivals, daily acts of worship like evening and morning sacrifices, and voluntary offerings that an Israelite felt compelled to give. This general prohibition against local sacrifices included the waving of the sheaf, which was always done at the Tabernacle/Temple within the "Passover season," which continued from Passover until Pentecost. The Tabernacle was not erected until the land had rest from the warfare of conquering the Canaanites. This occurred as God appointed in Deuteronomy 12:9-11. The period of peace that satisfied God's requirements was not reached until seven years after the Israelites crossed over the Jordan. At that time, His choice of location for the Tabernacle and its altar was Shiloh: "Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of meeting there. And the land was subdued before them" (Joshua 18:1). Does this mean that no sacrificing as part of the normal worship of God was done for seven years? Yes, but consider that, regarding the Joshua 5 circumcisions, Scripture says that no Israelite male born in the wilderness had been circumcised (Joshua 5:2-7). In fact, only two people alive at the time, Joshua and Caleb, had lawfully been able to partake of perhaps the most important of all rituals—Passover—for the entire forty years! It also means that none of those uncircumcised males—probably a million or more men!—had been able to make the Old Covenant with God (Exodus 12:43-49). Seven years spent doing God's work of conquering the land was a drop in the bucket compared to other long-term works He had them do by His command. Even so, He would have that work done by a circumcised people. This is another case of God saying through His example, "First things first." The concept of one central sanctuary and altar was so deeply and emotionally ingrained that Joshua 22 relates the history of a war that nearly erupted between the tribes on the east side of the Jordan River and those on the west. The western Israelites charged those in the east with building an altar, breaking God's commandment. Such an altar would compete with the sanctuary altar in Shiloh for the loyalty of the people. Building another altar would be a direct, rebellious act of idolatry against God, and it would destroy the unity of Israel as a nation under the God of Creation. The west-side tribes were poised to launch a war against their eastern brethren until they heard the easterners' explanation. The "altar" was actually a monument, a memorial in the shape of an altar, raised to serve as a constant reminder of the east side's unity with their western relatives in common cause under the God of Israel. The memorial's shape was to remind them that their unity was in and through the God they worshipped. Another altar, appearing briefly in Joshua 8:30, is also easily explained. It in no way conflicts with God's commands in Deuteronomy 12. Why? God Himself had commanded this particular altar to be erected as part of an important ceremony—a renewal of a covenant. The event in Joshua 8 has its beginning in Deuteronomy 11:26-32 where the ceremony is commanded. Immediately after, God begins His charge in Deuteronomy 12 concerning His expectations of the Israelites after they crossed into the land. In Deuteronomy 29—30, which occurs while the Israelites were still outside the Promised Land but just about to enter into it, a special covenant is made between God and Israel. This covenant, with Moses presiding, served as a specific and immediate preparation for entering the Promised Land. Part of its purpose was surely motivational, highlighting the powerful, steadfast faithfulness of God. In Joshua 8, with the conquest of the land just beginning, the tribes—in another solemn ceremony, this time presided over by Joshua—carry out God's command to repeat the renewal of the covenant within the land on Mounts Ebal and Gerizim. This one-time erection of an altar in no way conflicted with God's commands in Deuteronomy 12. It was not part of the normal worship of God. It was nonetheless an important reminder of their weighty responsibility to carry out God's work of conquering the land of their inheritance, and of His ever-present faithfulness in assisting them.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Pentecost Revisited (Part Two): Joshua 5
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Deuteronomy 16:9
Does "put the sickle to the grain" refer to the cutting made for the wavesheaf offering or to the harvest itself? On the day the harvest begins the count to Pentecost also begins. This phrase cannot refer to the cutting made for the wavesheaf offering because each Israelite having a harvest was required to make an offering. Each Israelite was no more excused by God from making an offering from his harvest any more than we are excused from making an offering from our wages when we appear before God on His holy days. Deuteronomy 16:16 and Exodus 23:15 command us not to appear before God empty. The Israelites had to do the same. For the wavesheaf offering, they had to cut it several days before they took it to the priests to the Tabernacle in Shiloh or in later times to the Temple in Jerusalem because they had to allow for travel time. We do the same when we separate our holy day offerings from the rest of our monies and then travel to the feast where we offer it to God. Therefore, the count begins when the harvest begins, not when the farmer cuts his wavesheaf offering. God commands the count to begin when the harvest work begins. This is why wavesheaf day must always fall on a workday. The wavesheaf offering by the priest, the harvest, and the beginning of the count all take place on the same day. This explains why God says in Leviticus 23:11 that the sheaf must be waved on the day after the Sabbath. It must not be waved on a Sabbath, in which no work may be done. It absolutely must not be done on the first day of Unleavened Bread, a high holy day Sabbath.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Countdown to Pentecost 2001
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John 20:1
It is not surprising to find no reference to Jesus or the early church involved in the wavesheaf ritual. However, they were very much aware of it, and it clearly shows in the accounts of Jesus' resurrection. In almost all translations, John 20:1 is rendered, "On the first day of the week. . . ." In Greek, this phrase is te mia ton sabbaton. Sabbaton can be used in a singular or plural sense to designate "Sabbath" or "Sabbaths" or "week" or "weeks." Notice what Bullinger in the Companion Bible says about this Greek phrase: The first day of the week = "On the first (day) of the Sabbaths" (pl.). Gk—Te mia ton sabbaton. The word "day" is rightly supplied, as mia is feminine, and so must agree with a feminine noun understood, while sabbaton is neuter. Luke 24:1 has the same. Matthew reads, "towards dawn on the first (day) of the Sabbaths," and Mark (16:2), "very early on the first (day) of the Sabbaths." Our understanding of the importance of the wavesheaf in relation to both Christ's acceptance and the count to Pentecost should lead us to see that the gospel writers were establishing the exact day of Christ's acceptance. This day was the first day in the count to Pentecost since He was not only the wavesheaf offering, but He was also the beginning of the spiritual harvest.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Countdown to Pentecost 2001
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Acts 2:1
When did Jesus keep the Feast of Pentecost? Through Jesus' birth, boyhood, young adult years, manhood, ministry, and death, who set the date for Pentecost for the Jews? History tells us that it was those responsible for the Temple—the Sadducees. How did the Sadducees count Pentecost? History tells us that they kept a Sunday Pentecost and arrived at it by counting fifty days beginning with the Sabbath occurring within the Feast of Unleavened Bread [see Alfred Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services (Updated Edition), 1994, pp. 203-204. Realize, however, that Edersheim, a convert to Christianity from Pharisaism, supports a Sivan 6 Pentecost.]. It is important to note that at that time it was the Sadducees, not the Pharisees, who consistently observed a Sunday Pentecost. Why is this information important? True Christians follow the example of Jesus Christ (I John 2:6; Matthew 10:38). When it comes to Pentecost, what was Jesus' example? The New Testament shows us that Jesus and His disciples followed the practice of the Jews by keeping the same holy days on the same days, including Pentecost (Acts 2). The Jews followed the instruction of those God allowed to be in charge at that time—the Sadducees.
Pat Higgins
Which Sabbath Begins the Count?
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