Hello John and Doves,
I have a couple of
thoughts I wanted to write about in this letter.
I know Ascension Day
has passed, along with Feast of Weeks - but it's possible
Ascension Day can point us to the day of Feast of Weeks
and from there, the count to Acts Pentecost.
My first thought is
about taking another look at Acts 1:3 and Acts 1:12.
These two verses are connected and help us understand when
Ascension Day is.
Luis Vega in a letter
last week mentioned a 'detail' in Acts concerning the day
that the Holy Spirit was given - it was not on a
pilgrimage Feast Day - because the crowd of people were
residents, and not pilgrims. I believe this is a
very important detail to identify the day of Acts
Pentecost. A hint for us reading and studying this
verse and finding Acts Pentecost.
PENTECOST
NEW WINE THEORY - Are the First Fruit Feasts in The
Bible?
And Luis notes there
are different ways to start the count to Feast of
Weeks. Some count right after Passover, some start
the count after the weekly Sabbath. I don't know
which is correct - but I lean towards starting the count
after the following weekly Sabbath. (Aaron at God A
Minute? did his count this way, as an example.)
And Douglas Henney
provided these letters last week on how to count to
Pentecost; I think most here, who see Acts Pentecost
separate from Feast of Weeks, count this way:
Philo
On Shavuot/Pentecost
Also, in this letter, I wrote
about another important detail to identify another day -
the day of Christ's Ascension.
The second
thought I wanted to touch on is about Ascension Day
itself - maybe there is another way to look at this
day. Maybe it is on an appointed, prophetic day
that was given in Leviticus 23. Jesus fulfilled the first three
Feasts of the Lord "Himself" (as Aaron at God A Minute?
tells us), but what about Ascension Day? Why is it
not a Feast of the Lord?
The story of Christ
and Redemption is incomplete without HIs Ascension.
And the Feasts of the Lord are prophetic, appointed days
that tell the story of Christ and Redemption. It is
a picture of the Rapture and shows us Jesus is lifted up
to His place next to the Father.
"The Ascension of
Jesus Christ is meaningful for several reasons:
1) It signaled
the end of His earthly ministry...The period of His human
limitation was at an end.
2) All the He
had come to do, He had accomplished.
3) It marked the
return of His heavenly glory.
4) It symbolized
His exaltation by the Father.
5) It allowed
Him to prepare a place for us.
6) It indicated
the beginning of His new work as High Priest and Mediator
of the New Covenant.
7) It is a
pattern for His return.
And Jesus will return
for us in the Rapture and take us Home to be with
Him. Will this be on Acts Pentecost?
It just seems
inconceivable to me that Ascension Day is not on the
prophetic timeline given to us by God.
"Which are a shadow of
things to come, but the body is of Christ (or the
substance of these is found in Christ)". Colossians
2:17 In other words, These Feasts of the Lord are
all about Jesus Christ - they are prophetic about Him and
He fulfills them.
IF
Ascension Day (which occurred on a Shabbat/Sabbath), is on
the Feast of Weeks then Jesus fulfilled this day Himself
with His Ascension and we can move on to the next day
Jesus Himself will fulfill - Acts Pentecost - the
anniversary of the giving of the Holy Spirit and the
creation of the Church (some consider this to be
Feast of New Wine also). I believe Acts
Pentecost is the next day to be fulfilled by Jesus
Himself. Jesus will fulfill this day
with His return in the clouds and the trumpet/shout to
call us Home.
Also, IF Ascension Day
is on the Feast of Weeks - then we know Feast of Weeks is
on a Sabbath and can relook at the start of the count
given to Acts Pentecost in Leviticus 23:16.
And then Jesus Himself
will fulfill the final three Feasts.
At the end I've noted
some counts with dates to Acts Pentecost and Feast of New
Wine. There is about a two week difference in the
dates from July 20 to August 3. And there are other
dates, I'm sure, that I didn't mention.
With all that's going
on now with Israel - surely! surely! we are not far
now from the Rapture!! And if the Rapture is on Acts
Pentecost - the last three Feasts of the Lord will be all
that's left for fulfillment by Jesus Christ. Amen!
First Thought -
Acts 1:3 and Acts 1:12:
Acts 1:3:
Acts 1:3 "To
whom He also shewed Himself alive after His passion by
many infallible proofs, being seen of them
forty days, and speaking of the things
pertaining to the kingdom of God."
We
know from Acts 1:3 that Jesus was seen by them
forty days - was this forty consecutive days? From
Resurrection until Ascension Day? Many believe
this is correct.
Luke
wrote that "they" saw Him during forty days/over forty
days. We know that according to Luke 24:36-43 and
John 20:19-23 Jesus appeared to His disciples on
Resurrection Sunday evening in Jerusalem. Many
believe the forty day count started then. It
has been assumed He ascended 40 days after His
resurrection. We don't know that
for sure.
I've
wondered if there wasn't a gap after the 40 days.
And that Jesus saw them the last time on Ascension
Day. We know, according to the Gospels, that Jesus
appeared to them on at least ten different days.
According
to Luke, Jesus appeared to them over a period of forty
days - writing of this like it was a past
occurrence. A 'fact' that was known by
the time of the Ascension. And, thus, His
Ascension Day was NOT part of the 'forty days'.
The
translations of Acts 1:3 say He appeared to them "from
time to time" "during forty days"/"over a period
of forty days". Luke writes that this time period
was known to them = it happened; they counted out the
days. That is, this forty
day period ended previous to Jesus's final meeting with
them on Ascension Day. So there was a gap.
In the
below article, the author covers the numerous visits
by Jesus after His Resurrection that are recorded in
the New Testament. Not every Gospel covered
every appearance and different people saw Him at
different times.
"Following
His Resurrection from the dead, Jesus made a number of
appearances to His followers - no less than ten of
these are recorded in Scripture. Beginning
on Resurrection Sunday, He "showed Himself alive...by
many infallible proofs" Acts 1:3 For example
in John 21:4 we are told that Jesus showed Himself for a
third time to His disciples after He rose from the dead.
Acts 1:12:
Something else I find
interesting....in Acts 1:12 we are told that the people
who witnessed Jesus' Ascension were "a Sabbath's day
journey" from Jerusalem. Did Luke note this just to
let people know that these witnesses were abiding by
Jewish law concerning work and the Sabbath? I don't
believe so. As the Jews knew the rules. Luke doesn't
mention a "Sabbath's day journey' anywhere else in his
writings while he mentions the Sabbath many, many
times. Is this a hint to help us find this
day? And maybe, he mentions this because it's a
'double' day - both a Sabbath and a Feast of the Lord. ??
What
is a high Sabbath? - Answer The Bible
On biblehub.com, There
is an interesting "study" to Acts 1:12 and Acts 1:3:
The mention of distance (a sabbath's day journey from
Jerusalem) is "remarkable" - this suggests "the thought
that St. Luke's reckoning was a different one from that
which Christendom has commonly received, and that the
"forty days expired before the last renewal of our
Lord's intercourse with His disciples" which was on
Ascension Day. And this "intercourse" "ended on
the following Sabbath". The authors thought
Ascension Day was "on the following Sabbath" - and thus
the end of the forty days did not include Ascension
Day. They added that the Sabbath was
a 'fitting day for the Lord to enter into His rest, on the
great day of rest..' So they believed there was a gap
between the forty days and Ascension Day (which was on a
Sabbath).
The Commentary on Acts 1:12
tells us Ascension Day was on a Sabbath,
based on Luke's writing. With
the Leviticus directions for the counting to Feast of
Weeks, it looks like Feast of Weeks could be on a
Sabbath - depending on how the directions are
understood. So, Ascension Day could be Feast of
Weeks.
Second Thought:
Ascension Day Was On a Sabbath,
Feast of the Lord ?
The Omer Count brings
us to Feast of Weeks. The problem has been - when
does the count start? Every year people come up with
their personal count of Leviticus 23:15 or 16 for Feast of
Weeks.
However, in these
counts, I have yet to see anyone include Acts 1:12 - i.e.
purposefully note that Ascension Day, the 40th Day, is on
a Sabbath. And reconcile their counting for
this. Ascension Day should always be on a
Sabbath. The correct count should allow for
this. It is tied to the Sabbath. This is the
day that Jesus ascended - should it always be celebrated
on a Sabbath then?
Leviticus 23:15 and
16: "From the day after the Sabbath...count off
seven full weeks."
"Count off fifty days
up to the day after the seventh Sabbath." These two
counts are tied to the Sabbath.
Feast of Weeks is on a
Sabbath (the way I see the count) and Ascension Day is on
a Sabbath. Same Sabbath?
Many people have tried their hand
at counting to Ascension Day.
Aaron at "God A
Minute?" Youtube channel counted to May 29, Thursday, as
Ascension Day
The Catholic Church
has Ascension Day on May 29 also.
I tried my
hand at counting it out in a previous letter, and my day
for Ascension Day was May 30 - this is a Friday.
(I now believe Ascension Day is on a Sabbath.)
(Remember, the Jewish days are
sunset to sunset - and the Jews used inclusive date
counting) How
did the Jews in Jesus' day count the number of days?
Inclusive
Time – Seeking YHWH
Ascension Day On A
Shabbat (Sabbath):
May 31 or May 24 would be the two
Sabbaths closest to the countdowns we've seen. Using the
chabad calendar.
Having Ascension
Day on Feast of Weeks may be the least complicated way
to look at all of this. IF this is correct, then
Ascension Day on a Sabbath places Feast of Weeks was
on a Sabbath - and that directs our count given in
Leviticus 23:16.
.
In conclusion, at this point, I
believe we have been wrong about Ascension Day being on
the "40th Day". And according to Luke, it took place on a
Sabbath. And I believe that day was also Feast of
Weeks.
This is how I view the
Feasts of the Lord:
Passover - Jesus on
the cross; His death.
Unleavened bread -
Jesus in the tomb; the broken bread.
Feast of Fristfruits -
Jesus resurrected - firstfruits of those that have died.
Feast of Weeks - Jesus
ascending to His Father to sit on His right side. Ending
His ministry on Earth.
Jesus did four BIG
things before He left Earth...I do not understand why
eschatology teachers do not put something so very
monumental as Jesus ascending from His last appearance on
Earth to His sitting on the right hand of God on a
prophetic/appointed Day of the Lord - One of His Feast
Days. Why is this final act by Jesus not 'up there'
with His death, His lying in the tomb, His resurrection,
His Second Coming, etc.?
For Feast of
Weeks, they are told by the Lord to "count off
seven full weeks." Lev 23:15. Maybe they were
counting not just to the grain offering but to the
Ascension of His Son to His throne. Ascension Day
is a day of HUGE significance in the Lord's ministry on
Earth. It continues to tell of His story and of
our redemption. Without His Ascension,
the story is incomplete.
To add to this thought
of Ascension Day and Feast of Weeks as the same day -
It could be argued that there are two counts given in
Leviticus 23 (others, I'm sure, can explain the
difference far better than me)- in verses 15 and
16. One (verse 15) the count starts the day
after the Shabbat/Sabbath - counting 7 full weeks -
this ends 49 days later.. This count ends on a
Sabbath - the seventh day. This would be Feast
of Weeks and possibly Ascension Day - fulfilling Acts
1:12 as both a Sabbath and a Feast of the Lord.
IF the
Ascension is on Feast of Weeks, then It would follow,
that Acts Pentecost comes on yet another day...
Jesus did not Himself fulfill Acts Pentecost - the Holy
Spirit was given. This is a day for The Church - The
Believers or Followers of Christ. New wine
represents the Holy Spirit. It represents the New
Covenant with Christ. Some believe Acts Pentecost is
on Feast of New Wine. Some believe it is not the
same day.
Will this day, the day
the Church was 'created' be the day the 'Church' is
removed?
The Count to Acts
Pentecost/Dates:
Some here have written
about counting 50 more days from Feast of Weeks - and this
would take us to Acts Pentecost. Some call this
Feast of New Wine - some do not. Either way, we
count 50 days past Feast of Weeks to get to Acts
Pentecost.
Some have done the
counting for Acts Pentecost for us:
And some have counts
to Feast of New Wine/Acts Pentecost:
Dr. Awe has August
2/3.
The Essene calendar has July
21.
The Zadokite calendar has July
27.
The Hebrew calendar has July
23.
Louis did his count to July
22/23. Along with a possible one week window:
July 20, 22, 25, 27, 29.
If
I counted, I'd start with looking at Feast of
Weeks on a Sabbath - then count off 50 days.
If I looked at the Sabbath on May 31 - then July 20,
Sunday, would be my date for Acts Pentecost. My
day matches that of The Temple Scroll of the Dead Sea
Scrolls. I did my count with Feast of Weeks on a
Sabbath.
These
dates are fairly close. July 20 to August 3.
A two week period. From Sunday, June 14 - it's 35
days to July 20; and it's 49 days to August 3.
If we know when Feast
of Weeks is (and Ascension Day may help us with that),
then we know when to start the count for the 50
days.
And with everything
going on now between Israel and Iran....I am very hopeful
of a 2025 Rapture - before the Fall Feasts 2025!
Just
some thoughts for now.
Pray for the peace of
Jerusalem!
Maranatha!
Chance