Dear Doves,
 
There are a number of sincere interpretations of Leviticus 23: 15-16. Which Sabbath is it Nisan 16 or the weekly Shabbat? Is the count 7 Sabbaths plus a day, or that plus an additional 50 days? The first wheat harvest for Israel would be about Sivan. The second would be around late Sivan or Tammuz and around month four and day 29. This is 1/2 of the days exactly between Summer Solstice and Autumnal Equinox, around 8-1.  Which would be the true Pentecost, the beginning of the earlier wheat harvest or the beginning of the later wheat harvest for Israel? Is it a pente or a double pente? Why would it make sense to have wheat First Fruits of a second wheat harvest but not the first one? Honor a second Pentecost but not the first Pentecost? Why? Honor the second harvest and ignore the first as if it did not happen? Why?
      The count up of the first 49-50 days is clearly related to The Counting of the Omer from day 1 of the barley First Fruits to 7 complete weekly Sabbaths, which relates therefore to days 49-50. The Omer Count is not commanded for days 50 through 100! Why not? The counting of 50 days is linked to the offering of a meat offering (sacrifice) on day 50. Is it 49 to 50 days total to the true Pentecost or after 99 to 100 days from barley First Fruits Day?
      In the current dispensation, The Age of Grace, the Counting of the Omer is a commandment one can obey.Dual loaves of leavened bread of wheat can be baked. With the destruction of The Temple in 70 A.D. the meat offering (sacrifice) cannot be offered, to be obeyed. We are also now in the Age of Grace, not the earlier Age of Law (Mosaic Law).The commandment to offer a meat offering concluding a particular 50 day count up, is one of the mitsvoh which is currently loosed, not binding. There is no Temple in Jerusalem, no sanctuary, no altar, no High Priest, no Levitical Priesthood currently functioning. Only the mitzvoh of days 1-50 can be currently obeyed. The particular reason in interpretation for days of 49-50 or  50 to 99 or 100 with the conclusion of a meat offering NO LONGER APPLIES! This is a fact some people do not wish to consider.
      Since 70 A.D. events in Jerusalem, interpretation of Leviticus 23:15 to 16 has changed, concerning a commanded meat offering (sacrifice). I believe that the days of 1 to 49 and 50 are still important.They are a spiritual foundation for Pentecost. Commandments concerning them still apply, have not been loosed. Perhaps 6-11 to 12, 2011 will be momentous. Come quickly, Lord...
 
With Love and Shalom,
Jean