Dear Doves,
      Believe it or not, the office of the High Priest in the times of The Messiah was held by a Sadducee rather than a Pharisee. Pharisees believed in strict observance of the traditional and written law. That meant The Torah and the traditions of men later put into writing called the Talmud. Sadducees believed in emphasis and acceptance of the written law alone, The Torah. Later, after the destruction of the Temple, the murder of the High Priest and the priestly class, the Pharisees outnumbered the Sadducees. They took over the synagogues and the Rabbinical training schools.
      While He lived, The Messiah always interpreted the commandments, the mitsvoh, in the Torah perfectly. He was clear in His decisions and always correct. Was He a Pharisee? No. Was He a Sadducee? No. He was The Living Torah, The Living WORD and was and told the complete TRUTH! He tended to agree more with the Pharisees than the Sadducees. An example? The Master did and does believe in resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees did not. Did He agree with the Sadducean High Priest and priests about the date for First Fruits of Barley, therefore Day 1 of the Counting of the Omer, and day 50 of Shavuot (Pentecost). I believe that He did. Otherwise He defied them every year of his life? The High Priest was premier for the implementation of Torah commandments for himself, his relatives, the priests, other leaders, Temple, and community. Would The Messiah have defied the ruling class of High Priest and priesthood concerning such issues every year of His life? To what purpose? Would He be guided to make wrong choices and disobey Torah every year of His life? That is not what happened. Why would Adonai/ Abba Father force His Son to do this every year of His life? A lot was at stake. Choose the wrong Sabbath for First Fruits and all 50 days of the Counting of the Omer were wrong! The date for Shavuot (Pentecost), the second Pilgrimage Festival, would be wrong. The Torah would be disobeyed by many. All of this was very consequential.
      If we remain here as of 5-30-2011, what is the implication concerning Ascension Day, day 40 of the Counting of the Omer? May we reasonably assume that Ascension Day was not 5-29, 40 days after Nisan 16 this year? When might the true Ascension Day be this year? How about 40 days after the Shabbat, the weekly Sabbath during the days of First Passover/ Unleavened Bread on Nisan 19 to 20? That sets Ascension Day about 3 days later this year. The WATCH period become 6-1 to 2 if The Blessed Hope is to be Ascension Day. The date of 6-1, beginning Iyar 29 (the last day of Iyar), begins day 40 for Israel. The date of 6-2 to 3, Iyar 29 to Sivan 1, ends day 40 for Israel.
      The Sadducees controlled the office of High Priest and the priesthood during the lifetime of The Messiah. This was part of divine plan and very important. The Sadducean High Priest sent his priests to the Field of Ashes near Jerusalem to harvest First Fruits barley at twilight after the weekly Shabbat going to day 1 of the Scriptural Week, beginning The Feast of First Fruits and the 50 day ascending count to Shavuot (Pentecost). With the interpretation of First Fruits Day and beginning Omer Count, with whom did The Master agree? The Sadducees? The Sadducean interpretations this year lead to Ascension Day of 6-1 beginning day 40 for Israel or 6-2 for day 40 ending for Israel. We shall see. May we daily eagerly await The Joy of His Appearing!
 
With Love and Shalom,
Jean