Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Conditions for Wavesheaf Offering
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Exodus 12:51
Verse 51 comes at the end of a paragraph that begins in verse 43. This verse does not mean that the Israelite men were circumcised "the very same day," but rather it refers back to verse 41: "And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years." At this point in the story, the males had already taken the Passover, and therefore the men had been circumcised previous to that. They could not have taken the Passover, which occurred at the beginning of Exodus 12, unless they had been circumcised. So this section then, from verse 43 through 51, is a reminder of an earlier command. They were not circumcised after Passover and immediately get up and leave Egypt! That would be physically impossible.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Wavesheaf and the Selfsame Day
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Joshua 1:11
Where did the food they were to prepare and set aside come from? It could not have been manna because manna spoiled within one day (Exodus 16:20). Besides, fresh manna continued to fall each day, except for Sabbaths, until the day following the First Day of Unleavened Bread in that year. God stopped providing manna because the Israelites now had complete access to the produce of the Promised Land, as well as because they were no longer wandering but were camped at a place from which they would launch their conquest of the land. Considering the time of year (spring), the provision could not have come from fall harvests of fruits and vegetables. The fleeing Canaanites would have either consumed them themselves by this time or taken as much with them as they could. The provision came from a new spring harvest of grains either of winter wheat or barley or both. There was nothing to stop the Israelites from partaking of what was available because no law of God prohibited it; the offering laws applied only to what Israel had planted. The command to set aside food was made because God knew He would stop sending the manna on Nisan 16. The stockpiled food would keep Israel fed until a much larger harvest could be made after the Passover events were completed, the holy day observed, and Israel was more settled in the land, preparing for the conquest of Jericho. Israel crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land on Nisan 10 and immediately moved to set up camp that day in Gilgal. The mass circumcisions mentioned must have taken place on Nisan 11. As Nisan 13 ended and Nisan 14 began, they kept the Passover as commanded by God. The daylight portion of Passover day was spent preparing for the holy day on Nisan 15. They kept the Night to be Much Observed as the holy day began, eating unleavened cakes and parched corn from the already harvested Canaanite crops. During the daylight portion of the holy day, they ate of the same provisions that supplied their meal the previous evening because no manna fell on that Sabbath day. No manna fell the next day, Nisan 16, either. The notation regarding "old corn" ("produce" in modern versions) is simply given to show where Israel's sustenance came from, since the manna stopped appearing. It is not given to prove that a wavesheaf offering was made because none was required'none could be made in the first place.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Pentecost, Consistency, and Honesty
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Joshua 1:11
In Joshua 1:11, just before crossing the Jordan into Canaan, Joshua commands the Israelites, "Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you will cross over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess." Where did the Israelites obtain these provisions? It could not have been manna because manna could not be stored. There is only one possibility: The Israelites were already gathering food, including grains (remember, it was the spring harvest season), in the area in which they were camped. This leads to the inescapable conclusion that the Israelites were no longer completely dependent on manna. This is pertinent because Joshua 5:11 says, "And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread, and parched grain on the very same day." If this took place on the fifteenth day of the first month, as is most likely, it was a high-holy-day Sabbath, so no manna would have fallen that day. They did not go hungry because they had the produce of the land (at the very least the provisions of Joshua 1:11) to eat. They could eat it without restriction because it was produce that Gentiles had sown. If they had had to wait until the wavesheaf ceremony had occurred before they could harvest (Leviticus 23:14), thresh, winnow, and grind the grain into flour, then bake unleavened bread or parch the grain "the very same day," they really would have been pushing any Sabbath liberty (Exodus 16:23-24; 12:16)! Instead, their food preparation had been completed before the holy day arrived because they were not required to wait for a wavesheaf ceremony!
John W. Ritenbaugh
Pentecost Revisited (Part Two): Joshua 5
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Joshua 5:10
Remember the instructions in Exodus 12. The Israelites were to kill the Passover lambs in the twilight just after the sun went down. This takes place at the very beginning of the Abib/Nisan 14, but light remained. All of those Israelites age 40-59, plus Joshua and Caleb and their families, had kept Passover while they were still in Egypt. They knew what to do by experience. Besides, they had Moses' writings to fall back on. Therefore, after the sun went down, they followed through by burning any of the lambs that remained after the Passover meal, and as Exodus 12 instructs, they stayed in their homes until morning. What did they do in the morning, the daylight portion of Abib/Nisan 14? They did what we do on the daylight portion of the 14th. They prepared for the activities of Abib/Nisan 15. Like us, they undoubtedly prepared for the Night To Be Much Observed and the keeping of the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. They made final preparations for observing it, as the Passover, Abib/Nisan 14, is a preparation day. Because it was not a Sabbath, manna fell on that day. Notice the instructions regarding manna in Exodus 16:25-30: Then Moses said, "Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there shall be none." Now it came happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day for to gather, but they found none. And the LORD said to Moses, "How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? See! For the LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place [for manna] on the seventh day." So the people rested on the seventh day. This presents us with a choice about what happened in Joshua 5. Did manna fall on an annual festival—on Abib/Nisan 15? The annual festivals are Sabbaths. It is not specifically mentioned in Exodus 16, but they are Sabbaths and also holy convocations. Exodus 16 contains a principle by which we can understand that God did not provide manna on any Sabbath. He sent double portions on the preparation day, and the manna did not spoil over any Sabbath day, whether weekly or annual. God would have been concerned about witnessing to His people about all His holy convocations, just as He was about the weekly Sabbath, so that they would have no excuse about not knowing they were Sabbaths. Thus, He would have provided a double portion of manna on Abib/Nisan 14. When that day ends at sunset, the first day of Unleavened Bread, Abib/Nisan 15, begins with that same sunset. That sunset also begins The Night To Be Much Observed. Time-wise, this is the same time mentioned in Genesis 15:17 and Exodus 12:40-42. Those two, separated exactly to the day by 430 years, and in Joshua 5, exactly 40 years after the Israelites left Egypt. To the day, Abraham's descendants in Joshua 5 are in the Promised Land keeping The Night To Be Much Observed.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Wavesheaf and the Selfsame Day
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