Messianic Israelite
Active Member
Since the Assemblies of Yahweh observe the Holy Days of Leviticus chapter 23, some people have assumed that the Assemblies of Yahweh would look to the Jews to set the scriptural calendar since they also observe these identical Holy Days. This is not the case. It is true that because of the dispersion, the Jews have no longer followed an observable calendar. Scholarship abounds with substantial and irrefutable evidence that, during the days of the Messiah, it was the Sanhedrin which set the calendar. This august body of elders in Israel fixed the months by sending out observers to the higher elevations of terrain around the city of Jerusalem so that they could visually observe the actual new crescent which marked the new or rebuilding moon.
We don't use astronomical calculations to set the times for our holy days but we look for the new moon as the Bible teaches to set our holy days.
But specifically in relation to the Feast of Weeks as found in Leviticus 23:10-21, why do we count the 50 days differently to the Jews. The wave sheaf offering was to be offered on the morrow after the Sabbath, as we read from verses 10 and 11. The Hebrew terms here (Sabbath) is exactly (the very same) terms used throughout the Bible for the weekly rest day, Sabbath, with the definite article attached, the Sabbath. There is no difference of opinion among Bible students about which is the scriptural sabbath. It is the seventh day of the week. The root of the word means to cease, or to rest, and it is only by extension that it means a week, since the Sabbath completes the week of seven days. The morrow after the Sabbath is the first day of the week and begins the new weekly cycle. It is the beginning of our count toward another period of seven days, ending with the rest day, or the weekly Sabbath. On the first day of the week, then, is the day when the wave sheaf was offered, since it was directed by Almighty Yahweh to be offered on the morrow after (the day after) the weekly Sabbath.
It was the Pharisees who originated the idea that the Feast of Weeks should be counted from the day after the first holy day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. They defined the word Sabbath to mean the high day (Abib 15), the first holy day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, where no work is to be done and a holy convocation is to be observed. The Sadducees and later, the Karaites viewed this concept as erroneous. They argued that if such were the case, there would be no need to count the days. Pentecost would always fall on Sivan 6. They argued that the word Sabbath did not mean the annual holy day, but the weekly Sabbath which is located within the week of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. According to the reference works (especially the Encyclopedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition), there was considerable controversy evidence over this subject among the Jews themselves. Apparently, this doctrinal leaven of the Pharisees has infiltrated some of the groups who are keeping the feasts today (Matthew 16:6).
The Assemblies of Yahweh correctly keep the Feast of Weeks by numbering the 50 days with the day after the weekly Sabbath (on the first day of the week) and ending with the weekly Sabbath 49 days later. The day after a weekly Sabbath (the 50th day) is Yahweh's annual holy day.
What are your thoughts about the Feast of Weeks?
I apologise to non-Jews in advance who may not understand what I am talking about. I am directing this to the Jews.
We don't use astronomical calculations to set the times for our holy days but we look for the new moon as the Bible teaches to set our holy days.
But specifically in relation to the Feast of Weeks as found in Leviticus 23:10-21, why do we count the 50 days differently to the Jews. The wave sheaf offering was to be offered on the morrow after the Sabbath, as we read from verses 10 and 11. The Hebrew terms here (Sabbath) is exactly (the very same) terms used throughout the Bible for the weekly rest day, Sabbath, with the definite article attached, the Sabbath. There is no difference of opinion among Bible students about which is the scriptural sabbath. It is the seventh day of the week. The root of the word means to cease, or to rest, and it is only by extension that it means a week, since the Sabbath completes the week of seven days. The morrow after the Sabbath is the first day of the week and begins the new weekly cycle. It is the beginning of our count toward another period of seven days, ending with the rest day, or the weekly Sabbath. On the first day of the week, then, is the day when the wave sheaf was offered, since it was directed by Almighty Yahweh to be offered on the morrow after (the day after) the weekly Sabbath.
It was the Pharisees who originated the idea that the Feast of Weeks should be counted from the day after the first holy day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. They defined the word Sabbath to mean the high day (Abib 15), the first holy day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, where no work is to be done and a holy convocation is to be observed. The Sadducees and later, the Karaites viewed this concept as erroneous. They argued that if such were the case, there would be no need to count the days. Pentecost would always fall on Sivan 6. They argued that the word Sabbath did not mean the annual holy day, but the weekly Sabbath which is located within the week of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. According to the reference works (especially the Encyclopedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition), there was considerable controversy evidence over this subject among the Jews themselves. Apparently, this doctrinal leaven of the Pharisees has infiltrated some of the groups who are keeping the feasts today (Matthew 16:6).
The Assemblies of Yahweh correctly keep the Feast of Weeks by numbering the 50 days with the day after the weekly Sabbath (on the first day of the week) and ending with the weekly Sabbath 49 days later. The day after a weekly Sabbath (the 50th day) is Yahweh's annual holy day.
What are your thoughts about the Feast of Weeks?
I apologise to non-Jews in advance who may not understand what I am talking about. I am directing this to the Jews.