Hello John and Doves,
The day of Pentecost is coming
up. There is always those nagging questions - which
day is it? How do we count to this day?
We have had several letters on
this subject in the last few weeks and many, many letters
about Pentecost over the years. Definitely a high
watch Rapture date for many of us! And for many, many
reasons!
The Jewish people celebrate 6
Sivan as Shavuot - their set date. That is May 25/26
(sunset to sunset). Also called Bikkurim - First
Fruits.
On the Gregorian calendar, May 18
was Ascension Day so ten days later would be May 28, Sunday.
In one of my letters last week I
was looking at May 20 as Ascension Day, so ten days later
would be May 30.
According to the Essenes (it's
quite possible that John the Baptist was an Essene), the New
Wheat festival took place fifty days after the Shabbat
following Passover - this is one way to count to Shavuot.
In reading of the Temple Scroll of
the Dead Sea Scrolls, three bikkurim (firstfruit) festivals
are found - wheat, wine and oil. The Temple Scroll
rewrote the festival holiday calendar to "harmonize
Leviticus and Deuteronomy and to lay out its understanding
of the fifty days till the bikkurim passage. In
Leviticus 23:10-11 we read about the Festival of the First
Produce or Bikkurim - the offering of the first produce
comes fifty days after the omer offering. This
offering consists of two loaves of baked bread from the
first produce, bikkurim. This festival celebrates the
new wheat.
The
Dead Sea Scrolls, The New Wine Festival and Pentecost
Leviticus 23:15-17: "From
the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of
the wave offering, you are to count off seven full
weeks. You shall count off fifty days until the day
after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of
new grain to the Lord. Bring two loaves of bread from
your dwellings as a wave offering...."
Compare Leviticus 23 to what's
written in the Temple Scroll: "You shall count seven
complete Sabbaths from the day of your bringing the sheaf
(of the wave-offering). You shall count until the morrow of
the seventh Sabbath. You shall count fifty days.
You shall bring a new grain-offering...it is the feast of
Weeks and the feast of Firstfruits, an eternal memorial."
On the Essene calendar that day is
15 Sivan. That would be June 3/4 on the Torah
calendar.
Torah
Calendar
The Essenes were around during
Jesus's time - and some believe that John the Baptist was an
Essene. They did not like the Pharisees and were
determined to keep the rituals and customs as intended and
they strictly followed the scriptures. Maybe they had
the correct way of counting to Shavuot! The Essenes
used a 364 day calendar so that holidays would fall on the
same day every year. Shavuot was on the 15th of Sivan.
And in Jubilees 15:1-2: "In
the fifth year of the fourth week of that jubilee, in the
third month, in the middle of the month, Abram made a feast
of the firstfruits of the harvest of grain. And he
offered up a new sacrifice upon the altar, the firstfruits
of the food for the Lord." This would be 15 Sivan.
This article covers more about
counting the Omer to find Shavuot. The author ends
with: "..the omer offering has no set time or date,
only a range of possible dates depending on the realities of
the harvest season."
When
Does Counting the Omer Begin? - TheTorah.com
IF the Feast of Weeks, Wheat
Festival, the firstfruits Bikkurim is indeed Pentecost - and
there is some question about that even - then we are looking
at a range of dates - here are a few possibilities:
There really is only ONE correct
date for Shavuot. We just don't know which one date
that is!
Pentecost is a high watch date for
the Rapture for many of us. So maybe May 21 to June
4??
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
Maranatha!
Chance