Created by pastorbuddy on 3/13/2009 For us to better understand how they counted Pentecost, let us go to the eyewitnesses that lived at the time of our Saviour, to see how it was done. Philo the Jew, who lived at the time, shows that the 50th day count to Pentecost “begins” on the morrow “AFTER” the seventh Sabbath complete, NOT 50 days from the wave sheaf, and therefore the 50th day after the WAVE SHEAF is NOT Pentecost. You are to number 50 days after the 7th Sabbath and then offer the new grain offering on the day of Pentecost.. Below are plain instructions from the men that lived at that time, which show that the 50th day is counted from the day “after” the seventh Sabbath complete, NOT from the wave sheaf. Quoting from Philo The Special Laws 11 page 584, chapter 30 (176) “THE SEVENTH FESTIVAL This 2nd feast that is more important than the 1st feast, or 16th, is the morrow after the seventh Sabbath complete and is the day that people are keeping for the traditional Pentecost, but according to chapter 30 above it is the feast that is “greater” than that of the “wave sheaf” feast because the 50th day is reckoned from it, (the greater feast) and Pentecost is the “GREATEST” feast. This is in harmony with Lev-23 where it says “even unto the morrow AFTER the seventh Sabbath shall you number fifty days and then bring a new meat offering”. “(65) In the first place, these men “assemble” at the “end” of seven weeks, venerating not only the simple week of seven days, but also its multiplied power, for they know it to be pure and always virgin; and “it” is “a “prelude” and a kind of “forefeast” of the “greatest” feast, which is assigned to the number fifty,” Acording to Philo, there were 2 feasts before Pentecost and both were called preludes or introductions to another feast, the 1st one was the 16th (wave sheaf) which introduced the second feast which was the morrow after the seventh Sabbath complete and it was of greater importance than the 1st because from it the “GREATEST” feast Pentecost was reckoned, and according to Philo, the 2nd feast ( the one after the seventh Sabbath complete) was a kind of “fore feast” of the GREATEST feast/Pentecost that took place 50 days later. Remember the 16th, when the wave sheaf is offered, is a prelude to another festival that takes place on the morrow after the 7th Sabbath, and is of greater importance than the 16th itself because it is from this day that the 50th day is reckoned. He is not talking about the 50th day of Pentecost here, but the day the 50th day is recond from, ever one know that Pentecost is “greater” than the 16th, he is speaking of the morrow after the 7th Sabbath when the numbering to the 50 day begins and it is also a “prelude” to Pentecost, same as the 16th/feast was a prelude to the morrow after the seventh Sabbath, and we have record where Philo speaks of men keeping this second feast as a preludeand kind of forfeast to the “GREATEST” FEAST i.e. Pentecost, in other words this second feast was greater than the first feast/wave sheaf on the 16th but it was not the GREATEST feast/Pentecost which took place 50 days later. Now to prove my interpretation of Philo is correct, I will let Philo interpret Philo, the same as I let Scripture interpret Scripture. I will now quote from Colson’s Translation of Philo to prove what I am saying is correct. Quoting from the special Laws,11 Chapter 30, Bottom line is that in Philo’s day and in Aaron’s day, the feast of Pentecost/50th day was numbered from the morrow “after” the seventh Sabbath complete as Leviticus 23 teaches. Brother Arnold For more on Pentecost Click Here http://lunarsabbath.info/_wsn/page10.html |
DID YOU KNOW IT IS A MATHEMATICAL CERTAINTY THAT APOSTLE PAUL AND THOUSANDS OF BELIEVING JEWS KEPT PENTECOST “BEYOND” THE TRADITIONAL 50 DAY COUNT???
The following will conclusively show that the Apostle Paul only had EIGHT TRAVELING DAYS to travel 1000 mi. in order to keep the traditional Pentecost at Jerusalem and they were only averaging 30 mi. per day. This makes it an impossibility for the traditional Pentecost. We can actually show that with the traditional Pentecost count, Paul only had 8 travel days in which to travel 1000 mi.,which would be an average of 125 mi. per day and about 100 of these miles were on foot, half of which, with animals and an old disciple from Caesarea to Jerusalem. This kills the traditional Pentecost theory because they only traveled 150 mi. in five days from Philippi to Troas, and this by ship, which is an average of 30 mi. per day. After this, the Scripture shows about seven more examples where they were still only averaging about 30 mi. per day for the first 500 mi. This can be verified by reading Acts 20:13 through 17 and measuring the distance between these cities with the map in the back of most Bibles and comparing the days with the mile. This gives us a scriptural precedence of how many miles they average per day by ship, which was the fastest means of travel of that day. If the above statement about the eight travel days and the 1000 mi. can be proven, which I will do shortly, it makes the traditional Pentecost impossible. The Consider this, five of the eight days, from Philippi to Troas, are already gone, and this leaves only THREE days to travel the other 820 mi. This means they would have to average 273 1/3 miles per day.And as I said above, some of these miles would be on foot. Did Paul and company average 273 1/3 miles per day or 820 mi. in three days? Absolutely not because they only averaged about 30 mi. per day for the 1st 500 mi. and this alone should make the honest truth seeker take another look at Leviticus 23:16 and number the 50 days AFTER the seventh Sabbath instead of the wave sheaf, and that would give them another 50 days in order to have enough time to reach Jerusalem and keep the Pentecost that Paul and the thousands of Jews were keeping. If they used two more of the remaining three days in order to go another 60 mi., this would leave another 760 mi. and only one day to travel it. The reason Paul only had eight travel days with the traditional count is because the Scripture records at least 42 days that there was no travel for the Apostle Paul and company, and this is not even counting some of the seven weekly Sabbaths that would have fallen during this time. When we subtract 42 from 50 it leaves only “eight days” to make the 1000 mi. journey. Here’s how I come up with 42 no travel days to Pentecost. I will also show how that Paul was ahead of schedule and had arrived at Jerusalem at least 10 days before Pentecost which leaves only 40 days with the traditional count but first let’s start at Philippi. They were not traveling during the seven days of Unleavened Bread at Philippi and for those that begin the 50 day count to Pentecost from the 16th of the first month, this would account for six of the no travel days, assuming they left the very next day after Unleavened Bread. The Scripture says they sailed away from Philippi AFTER the days of unleavened bread and came unto them in Troas inFIVE DAYS, where they abode SEVEN DAYS. This would account for another seven days of no travel, a total of 13 NO TRAVEL DAYS. Paul sailed by Ephesus to Miletus and sent for the elders of Ephesus to come down to Miletus and if he immediately sent a runner, it would have taken at least THREE DAYS to go up and find the elders and bring them back down to Miletus where they had a meeting. Verse 17. At any rate, when looking at the map, three days is not unreasonable when counting the trip up, notifying the elders, and then back and then the meeting itself. This is a total of 16 days that they were NOT traveling. They tarried SEVEN MORE DAYS at Tyre, Acts 21:4, a total of 23 NO TRAVEL DAYS. They left Tyre and abode ONE-DAY with brethren in verse seven a total of 24 NO TRAVEL DAYS. They left the brethren and came unto Caesarea and they tarried there MANY DAYS. It is obvious that they made good time finding ships, etc. so they were now ahead of schedule. I will be very generous and only count EIGHT DAYS at Caesarea. I’m not going to pretend that I believe it was only 8 days because we find the word “many” used by the same author of acts and it usually would not be understood to mean less than 40. He uses such phrases as MANY WORDS, and we would not think that this would be eight words. He uses the phraseMANY DAYS, when referring to the Messiah being seen of them “MANY DAYS” and in another place, speaking of the same event, it says, being seen of them 40 DAYS. Another place speaks of being beaten with MANY STRIPES and another place says 40 stripes save one. So we see the phrase “many” being equal to 40 etc. The phrase MANY THOUSANDS is also used and when we look at the phrase many stripes, many days, and many words, many thousands, they all refer to more than eight, therefore allowing only eight days is being very generous to say the least. Luke could remember as high as seven days twice, five days once etc. I am sure he could have remembered eight days and by him saying many days, I tend to believe it was more than 15 or 20, or at least enough days that he could not remember, probably 39 or 40 and therefore he said MANY DAYS because they were so many that he did not remember. At any rate, even with allowing only eight days, this still brings us to a total of 32 days that Paul was NOT TRAVELING. The scriptural evidence shows they arrived in Jerusalem at least 10 days before Pentecost. There are no indicators to indicate that they arrived at Jerusalem just-in-time for Pentecost. It says that when they reached Jerusalem the brethren received them gladly and the NEXT DAY (This adds one more day of no travel, a total of 33 days) they went in unto James and the elders who informed them that there were THOUSANDS of believing Jews that would here that he had come up to the feast and advised him to PURIFY himself with four men that had a vow on them in order to show that he was a Law keeper and this he did the NEXT DAY, a total of 34 no travel days. NOTICE: some might try to say that this was Pentecost but the Scripture does not read that way and why purify himself for seven days AFTER Pentecost was over, to show them anything because the multitudes would be left for their journey home by then. Purifying is done BEFORE a feast as it says in John 11:55. The truth of the matter is that Paul arrived in plenty of time to purify himself with these men and the Scripture teaches that Pentecost had not occurred as of yet. Continuing on, Then when seven days was almost finished, some Jews from Asia, (acts 21:27) who had came up for the feast, discover Paul in the temple and stirred up the MULTITUDE that had gathered in for Pentecost, so I will add another SIX DAYS to the 34 no travel days bringing us to a total of 40 NO TRAVELING DAYS and is still not Pentecost. NOTICE: another indicator that Pentecost was not yet is because of the Jews from Asia, which was about 600 mi. away, were still there and so was the crowd or multitude that they stirred up. If you read Acts -21:27 through 24:19 you will find the other two days that Paul was in custody brings the total to 42 DAYS OF NO TRAVELING before the traditional Pentecost, leaving only EIGHT TRAVEL DAYS from Philippi to Jerusalem. At 30 mi. per day, they would need 30 travel days to travel 900 miles and the scripture teaches they did NOT have them. |
Pentecost had not taken place until after Paul had been arrested and taken to Caesarea where the priest came down AFTER FIVE DAYS and the Jews from Asia didn’t even show up, they probably had started their 600 mi. journey back home after Pentecost. Paul was a Roman citizen and they would not hold him any longer than necessary without allowing him to face his accusers. It is not a five-day journey from Jerusalem to Caesarea and I believe that as soon as Pentecost and the new moon day was over the priest went down to accuse Paul. The Scripture just does not read or indicate that Pentecost was going on before Paul’s arrest or before purification.
All of the indicators suggest that Pentecost took place after Paul was taken to Caesarea and this explains the five days before the priest came down to accuse Paul. The Jews from Asia and the other multitudes of people that had come up early would have left after Pentecost was over, same as people do today, not hanging around another seven or eight days after Pentecost,. You will see other indicators when you read it for yourself, with an unbiased mind of course. Also remember that even without the extra days at Jerusalem before Pentecost, it still won’t do away with the fact that he could not have made it for the traditional Pentecost, even for those who count from the traditional Sabbath that falls within the days of unleavened bread. Paul did not wait at Caesarea for many days and then leave so late as to arrive at Pentecost just in the neck of time. The following will show that many Jews went up early for the three major feasts. Paul was no less zealous than the Jews who had already gathered at Jerusalem and did not leave in just enough time to barely get there for service, like some preachers today. The Historian Josephus even tells how they went up seven days early to purify themselves BEFORE the feast of Unleavened Bread. In Josephus wars of the Jews pg. 742 Ch 5- (290) “when the people were come in great crowds to the feast of unleavened bread, on the EIGHTH DAY of the month Xanthicus [Nisan],” The foot note “e” in Josephus says that a week before Passover they went up to Jerusalem to PURIFY themselves, John 11:55 agrees with Josephus, quote: We know that great crowds had gathered for Pentecost when James told Paul, “see how many thousands of Jews that believe” and we read a scriptural account of this in John. John 11:55 “And the Jews’ Passover was nigh at hand: and MANY went out of the country up to Jerusalem BEFORE the Passover, toPURIFY themselves” This verse proves my point about the many zealous Jews that went up before these feasts. I believe the many that went up before the feast were the devout Jews who were zealous of the LAW and we know that Pentecost commemorates the giving of the law or at least we can prove the law was given on the day that they called a Chag/Pentecost, which was 50 days AFTER the 7th Sabbath. Ex-32:5 Here’s another scripture in John which shows early arrivals for the major feasts. John 12:1 is also in agreement with Josephus. “1Then our Saviour six days BEFORE the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. 2There they made him a supper; Also remember how He went in and out of the temple and back and forth to Bethany each day before they took Him on the 14th? These Historical quotes from Josephus and Scripture prove that the Jews normally went up to Jerusalem before Pentecost and that’s partly why James said that they were zealous toward the Law, (Pentecost) and that is why they went up early. Paul was no less devout than these Jews and besides, it had been many years since he had last been up to Jerusalem and he said he must by all means keep this feast that cometh up at Jerusalem. This statement shows that Paul was not going up just to be on time for Pentecost, but to witness and fellowship with the brethren, before Pentecost and the fact that he abode MANY DAYS at Philips house in Caesarea shows that he was ahead of schedule and that he had plenty of time to arrive at Jerusalem a week or two before Pentecost to accomplish his intent. |
Paul desired to keep Pentecost at Jerusalem, if possible. The reason Paul said, if possible, is because the catching of ships was uncertain, not to mention the possibility of unfavorable winds and other delays that might occur, and having to depend on someone else. But having reached Tyre and Caesarea, it is evident that Paul had a prosperous journey and had found ship’s without having to wait too long and they had favorable winds etc. because the Scripture shows that he was well ahead of schedule because he stayed seven days at Tyre and many days at Caesarea and this he would not have done, had he not made good time.
The following is those who after finding out that it is mathematically impossible for Paul to have kept the traditional Pentecost, and began hollering that Paul did not make it to Pentecost, instead of rethinking Leviticus 23:16 and number 50 days after the seventh Sabbath, I submit the following which shows he did make it for the intended Pentecost. Paul was warned, by the Spirit at Tyre not to go up to Jerusalem and again at Caesarea by Agabus the prophet. This not only shows that Paul and company were ahead of schedule on their journey to Jerusalem to keep Pentecost but that they had not broken the journey from Philippi to Jerusalem for Pentecost. This is important to show that they accomplished their desire to make it to Jerusalem for Pentecost but not the traditional Pentecost. All anyone has to do in order to see that Paul and company were still headed to Jerusalem to keep the SAME Pentecost that they had set out for, after leaving Philippi, is to read the running account in Acts chapter 20 through chapter 21:4 and 21:4 says the disciples at Tyre, through the Spirit, told Paul that he should not go up to Jerusalem. At this point no one would argue that the push for keeping Pentecost in true from had changed. The next seven versus shows that two or three days later, after receiving this warning, Paul reached Philips house in Caesarea and AGAIN received another warning from Agabus the Prophet, further warning him not to go up to Jerusalem. These warnings against going up to Jerusalem is for the SAME trip and this shows that Paul left Caesarea to keep Pentecost in Jerusalem, as was his intention from Philippi. Paul made it known Agabus the prophet and everyone that he was going continue his journey and go up to Jerusalem for Pentecost and was willing to die also, if necessary. There is nothing to suggest that Paul and company did not make it toJerusalem in plenty of time for the true Pentecost. Only someone who does not understand that the true Pentecost is 50 days after the seventh Sabbath, with even suggest such a thing, after reading Acts chapters 20 and 21. |
How they counted Pentecost
Paul did not keep the third month Pentecost
Created by pastorbuddy on 3/13/2009 Before reading this article click on http://lunarsabbath.us/_wsn/page9.html you will be amazed. DOING THE MATH MATHEMATICALLY PROVES PAUL KEPT PENTECOST BEYOND THE TRADITIONAL 50 DAY COUNT TO PENTECOST IN THE THIRD MONTH This chapter will show that the apostle Paul did not keep the third month Pentecost because it shows him keeping Pentecost beyond the traditional 50 day count and not only Paul but thousands of believing Jews were also keeping Pentecost beyond the traditional 50 day count, talk about two or three witnesses! http://lunarsabbath.us/_wsn/page9.html really exposes the counterfit Pentecost. Now to the math. We have Scripture that shows that Paul left Philippi after the days of unleavened bread and then travels to Jerusalem to keep Pentecost. It is approximately 1000 mi. from Philippi to Jerusalem and Paul has 50 days to be at the end of the 1000 mi. journey but he only has 18 days or less in which to travel the 1000 mi. according to the traditional Pentecost count. I contend that it is IMPOSSIBLE for Paul to have traveled that distance in 18 days. You might ask, why 18 days or less, did he not have 50 days to make the trip to Jerusalem in time for Pentecost? The answer is yes, he had 50 days to make the journey but according to Scripture he only had 18 days of travel time because of the pinpointed days they were not traveling. The Scripture clearly shows that there were at LEAST 32 of the 50 days where Paul was not traveling, and this leaves only 18 travel days to cover a distance of 1000 mi. Can it be done? Not with the traditional third month Pentecost count. When you divided 18 days into 1000 miles you quickly see they would have had to average a little over 51 miles per day and when we read the Scriptures we see that they did not averaged 51mi. per day, as I will show later. About 100 of these miles were across land on foot. i.e. After they landed in Tyre, they wenet about 30 mi. from Tyre to Ptolemais and then on foot about 40mi. from Ptolemais to Caesarea and about 70 mi. from Caesarea to Jerusalem, totaling 110 mi. We will now count the conclusive no travel days found in Chapter 20 and 21 of the book of Acts which conclusively proves Paul only had 18 days or less to travel the 1000 mi., I will explain the or less later. For those that count the 50 days to Pentecost from the 16th of the first month/ABIB, when Paul sailed away from Philippi until he arrived at Jerusalem, I found that at least 32 of the 50 days were not traveling days, which were the six days of Unleavened Bread, 16th through the 21st, Acts 20:6, the seven days they abode at Troas, Acts 20:6, and at least three days at Miletus while sending up to Ephesus, which was over 20 mi. one way, Acts 20:17, and they also tarried seven days with disciples in Acts 21:4 and then abode one day with some brethern in verse seven of the same chapter for a total of 24 days, there are more but for simplicity and easy figuring, this will suffice enough to MATHEMATICALLY show the impossibility of a third month Pentecost. The reason I say this is because the Apostle Luke records that they tarried MANY DAYS in Acts 21:10 and if we allow many days to mean as little as eight days, this brings us to 32 no travel days, not counting any of the weekly Sabbath no travel days, and there would be at least 3 that are not acounted for. One Brother tried to claim that we should understand the many days as seven days, which still would still not help him in the traditional count, as you will soon see. Luke had already used the term seven days twice in the text and would have used it hear it that had been the case. Then the same brother claimed that Luke had forgotten how many days it was that they stayed at Caesarea and my answer to that was, the reason he had forgotten is because it was more than seven because we know that he remembered tarrying seven days at two different places and I can see how that if they had stayed at Caesarea 16 or 23, or even 39 etc. then Luke would not have remembered exactly how many days it was, but he would have remembered if it had been seven or less. There is one thing that we do know for sure, and that is that he remembered it was “MANY DAYS“, he did remember that much. I think I am being more than generous by only allowing eight days to represent the phrase many days and that is why I say that there were AT LEAST 32 no travel days. I am not so arrogant as to say that I know exactly how many days they tarried at Caesarea but neither am I so naïve as to believe it was only seven days or less as the brother suggested. Just think if I claimed they tarried 14 days as one commentary suggests, this would take six more days off of the 18 travel days, leaving only 12 days to travel the required 1000 mi. that would be about 90 mi. per day, creating an even greater embarrassment to the traditional Pentecost keepers who count 50 days from the wave sheaf instead of 50 days AFTER the seventh Sabbath complete as prescribed in Leviticus 23:16. The timing of Shaul’s stopovers from Troas to Caesarea had been largely dependent on the shipping schedules. But having disembarked at Caesarea, he could arrange his own schedule. For a man in a hurry to get to Jerusalem, this delay of several days (perhaps up to two weeks)seems strange” The reason it seem strange to this commentary is because they have been conditioned to think the 50 days are counted from the wave sheaf instead of 50 days after the seventh Sabbath. The reason he said up to two weeks shows that he believes Pentecost is 50 days after the wave sheaf. Paul did not break his journey, but after reaching Caesarea, he is now in control of his schedule and does not have to depend on a ship captain or nature, winds etc. he knows what he can do on foot. Another commentary says, “A plain and full prediction of the sufferings of Paul, by a noted prophet, “2. Agabus the prophet came to Caesarea from Judea; this was he of whom we read before, who came from Jerusalem to Antioch, to foretel a general famine, Notice this commentary also does not understand why Paul could tarry many days but if they understood the true count to Pentecost they would realize that Paul had a prosperous journey to Caesarea and had rather spend these many days at Caesarea than to get up to Jerusalem over a week or two early. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 9, p. 517, this phrase in Acts 21:10 Did Paul and his companions, which included an old man and animals, accomplish the 51 mi. per day average? NO! Go to http://lunarsabbath.us/_wsn/page9.htmlfor scriptual PROOF that they only averaged 30 mi. per day.
if this is true and the prophet traveled up to Caesarea, this also indicates a many days say at Caesarea.v. 10 1. Paul and his company tarried many days at Caesarea, perhaps Cornelius was yet living there, and (though Philip lodged them) yet might be many ways kind to them, and induce them to stay there. What cause Paul saw to tarry so long there, and to make so little haste at the latter end of his journey to Jerusalem, when he seemed so much in haste at the beginning of it, we cannot tell; but we are sure he did not stay either there or any where else to be idle; he measured his time by days, and numbered them. ch. 11:27 …… It should seem as if Agabus came on purpose to Caesarea, to meet Paul with this prophetic intelligence. 3. He foretold Paul’s bonds at Jerusalem, (1.) By a sign, as the prophets of old did, Isaiah (and many others. Agabus took Paul’s girdle, when he laid it by, or perhaps took it from about him, and with it bound first his own hands, and then his own feet, or perhaps bound his hands and feet together; this was designed both to confirm the prophecy (it was as sure to be done as if it were done already) and to affect those about him with it, because that which we see usually makes a greater impression upon us than that which we only hear of.” |
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We have shown from Scripture the nontravel days, and did not even count any of the 7 weekly Sabbath that would fall within the 50 days which are also no travel days. Having said that, we will now look at the miles they traveled during these 18 traveling days and see if it was possible for Paul to have kept the traditional Pentecost.
Then from Mitylene to Chios which appears to be about 80 mi. totals 230 mi. and eight traveling days if they made 80 mi. in one day. Then from Chios to Samos which is about 50 mi. totals 280 mi. and nine travel days. Remember the scripture only shows 30 mi. per day so I am being more than fair. Then from Samos to Miletus which is about 30 mi. totaling 320 mi. and 10 traveling days. The travel days were from Philippi to Troas covered approximately 150 mi. in 5 days. Another was the One day where Paul traveled 20 mi. from Troas to Assos which totals six travel days and 170 mi. Another of the 18 travel days was when they sailed from Assos to Mitylene which is 50 mi. totaling 220 mi. and seven traveling days.Then from Miletus to Coos which is about 60 mi. totaling 280 mi. and 11 travel days. Then from Coos to Rhodes which is about 50 mi. totaling 330 mi. and 12 travel days. Then from Rhodes to Patara appears to be about 75 mi. totaling 405 mi. and 13 travel days. We now have only five travel days remaining in which to travel the remaining 595 mi. and approximately 100 of these will have to be on foot as I will explain later. Can it be done? NO! It cannot be done, it would take over five days just to travel the 100 days on foot.They would have to adverade about 120 mi. per day. The next part of the timeline is from Patara to Tyre which is about 400 mi. but it does not say how many days it took them to get there, so I’ll just put this part of the timeline on hold for now and come back to it in a minute. After landing in Tyre and finishing their course, they went to Ptolemais which is about 30 mi. where they abode one day with the brethren and I have already counted the one day with the no travel days above. Not sure what to do with this 30 mi. and the 40 mi. from Ptolemais to Caesarea and then 70 mi. from Caesarea to Jerusalem. But at any rate they only have five travel days remaining to travel 595 mi. and 100 of these miles will be by foot. How do we handle this, assuming I am correct in my count? It would take five days on foot just to travel the 100 mi. and you still have the 400 mi. trip by ship that we did not deal with above. According to the book Jesus and His Times, 1987, by The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc., Pleasantville, NY, page 193, people on foot averaged around 15 to 20 miles per day. Using the above figures, we can do the math and see how long it took them to travel the 100 mi. I didn’t even mention the possibility of weekly Sabbaths that might fall in a way to make a few more no travel days. Let’s say there seven sabbaths in 50 days and two of them would be covered in the two 7 days layovers which would leave five more no travel days and then there would be 37 no travel days instead of 32, leaving only 13 travel days days, in which to travel the 1000 mi., instead of 18. If Paul left in just enough time to barely get there for service, like some preachers today, how would you account for all the devout Jews that were gathered there BEFORE PENTECOST? The historian Josephus even tells how they went up seven days early to purify themselves. In Josephus wars of the Jews pg. 742 Ch 5- (290) “when the people were come in great crowds to the feast of unleavened bread, on theeighth day of the month Xanthicus [Nisan],” The foot note “e” in Josephus says that a week before Passover they went up to Jerusalem to PURIFY themselves, John 11:55 agrees with Josephus, quote: The great crowds spoken of here could be referring to where The Elders says to Paul, “see how many thousands of Jews that believe” John 11:55 “And the Jews’ passover was nigh at hand: and many went out of the country up to Jerusalem BEFORE the Passover, to PURIFYthemselves“ I believe the many that went up before the feast were the devout Jews. John 12:1 is also in agreement with Josephus. “1Then our Saviour six days BEFORE the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. 2There they made him a supper; and” Remember how He went in and out the temple and back to Bethany each day before they took Him on the 14th These quotes and Scripture prove that normally the Jews went up to Jerusalem early before Pentecost and that’s why James said that they were zealous toward the Law, (Pentecost) and that is why they went up early. Paul was no less devout than these Jews and besides it had been many years since he had been up to Jerusalem and he said he must by all means keep this feast that cometh up at Jerusalem. This statement shows that Paul was not going up just to be on time for Pentecost, but to witness and fellowship before Pentecost and the fact that he abode many days at Philips house shows that he had plenty of time to arrive at Jerusalem a week or two before Pentecost to accomplish his intent. The book of Acts is telling us where they traveled to, but is not telling us how far and how long it took to get to each stop where the captain of the ship probably traded goods and took on goods and passengers at each stop and also allowed passengers to freshen up etc. I will explain and give history later how they stayed overnight and done most of the traveling during the day which was much safer. The history I read shows ship sailed within sight of land and could easily pull into a town or village for Sabbath and then continue their journey afterwards and perhaps when they made the 140 mi. journey on land from Tyre to Jerusalem, they could have stopped alone the way for the weekly Sabbath, which is not mentioned in Scripture. Using this logic I could easily add more nontravel days making it even more impossible if there is such a thing, for them to have made the 1000 mi. trip in his little as 12 days or less But the fact of the matter is, without using any of the weekly Sabbath no travel days, it is absolutely impossible for Paul to have kept the traditional Pentecost 50 days after the wave sheaf so therefore he obviously kept the true Pentecost 50 days after the seventh Sabbath complete according to Leviticus 23:16 and the many scriptural proofs and examples that I have given in other chapters. I could have taken each stop and argued that they stayed longer at certain places because it does not say one way or the other and I could argue that it took time to locating ship going in their direction, days, and sometimes weeks, and I could have shown how Paul was not as a pony express rider who jumped off one horse and on to the next as if Paul had a ship waiting on him each time etc. but I knew that would not convince anyone but the mathematical aspect of it cannot intelligently be argued against. As the old saying goes, figures never lie and liars never figure. If this were not enough I can also show that Paul arrived early enough before Pentecost to fellowship with the brethren and the next day go in unto James and all the elders and be advised of them that there were many thousands of believing Jews who had gathered early because they were zealous of the Law and Paul purifying himself seven days with some men that had a vow on them and show these thousands of Jews that Paul also walks orderly and keeps the Law. All this was at least seven days BEFORE Pentecost. Also the Jews from Asia saw Paul in the temple when the seven days was almost ended, probably near evenjng, they stirred up the people against Paul etc. my point is these Jews from Asia and this multitude of people should have been gone home seven days after Pentecost. Pentecost was not begun yet because when the soldiers took Paul to Caesarea, his accusers were to follow them down which they did AFTER five days Ananias the high priest and others came down to accuse Paul but why did they wait five days to do this unless they were busy keeping Pentecost at Jerusalem and after it was over they came down but not before it was over. All these things and many more to numerous to mention shows that Pentecost is 50 days after the seventh Sabbath complete instead of 50 days after the wave sheaf. I believe I am not completly correct on my count but am too tired to corect it now but even giving a few more days and miles, it is still IMPOSSIBLE for them to have kept the traditional Pentecost.
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“TWO” WHEAT HARVESTS
The following information shows that even the Jewish Rabbis acknowledge the SECOND WHEAT HARVEST and is called the “new grain” wheat harvest each year, NOT the first wheat harvest. If they could only realize that the Scripture connects Pentecost with the second NEW GRAIN harvest, NOT the first. The Jewish Rabbis recognize that there is ANOTHER wheat harvest in Israel, that comes AFTER the traditional wheat harvest. The following articles described several Rabbis instructing the people not to eat any wheat from this SECOND wheat harvest because the grain is considered NEW GRAIN or as they call it, chodosh grain. They instruct the people to save the spring wheat/new grain which is harvested in the summer until the following year. You would think they would recognize that the Almighty instructed Israel that the firstfruits for Pentecost would be from the NEW GRAIN, yet they use old grain from the previous year, according to the following article. The Spring Wheat Harvest Creates a Huge Dilemma for Jewish Rabbis. There’s none so blind as he whom the Almighty has blinded and he that refuses to see. The following will show just how blind some people are and show more evidence that the Pentecost NEW meat/grain offering had to be from the SPRING WHEAT which is harvested in the summer, 50 days AFTER the seventh Sabbath, Leviticus 23:16. We all know or should know that Leviticus 23 teaches a NEW meat offering NOT an OLD one, is to be brought to the Almighty from the wheat harvest. The blinded Jews bring an OLD meat offering for the traditional Pentecost as you will see shortly. The Rabbis teach that SPRING WHEAT that is planted in the spring and reaped four months later, in the summer can not be eaten until the following year because it is considered Chodosh/NEW grain/meat. Not realizing that the Almighty commanded A NEW GRAIN OFFERING which would be from the Pentecost wheat and therefore the spring wheat that is harvested in the summer is the true Pentecost wheat, but they don’t. They believe that anything planted during or after Passover cannot be eaten until after the next Passover wave sheaf has been waived. According to this belief, the traditional Pentecost winter wheat cannot fit the requirements of a NEW meat/grain offering because it is considered OLD grain/meat because it is planted in the fall, and took root before Passover. Therefore there’s no way they can have a NEW grain offering of the wheat and unless there EYES are opened and they acknowledge the summer wheat harvest which produces the new Pentecost, there simply following tradition of men. Even if they planted Winter wheat, it would NOT be considered a NEW grain/meat offering because it was planted before the Vernal Equinox and according to the Mishnah etc. it is considered old grain and the NEW grain/meat comes after Passover, in the summertime and that is exactly what the Scripture calls for but they are too blind to see because of their tradition etc.. The following web sites and definitions of new grain prove what I’m saying. Here is an article by Rabbi Moshe who condemns eating NEW GRAIN (spring wheat) until the following year when it becomes old grain.
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One web site says,
“Chodosh — the new crop of grain (spring wheat). Originally, chodosh was forbidden by the Torah until after Pesach (when it is then called yoshon, the old crop). Its status today outside of Israel is open to various opinions. Actual chodosh grain is prohibited even outside of Israel, but with the double doubt as to whether a product is made from winter or spring wheat and whether that spring wheat is from this year’s crop or last year’s, many authorities are lenient outside of Israel. All kashrus agencies require yoshon status for products of Israel.”http://www.kashrusmagazine.com/magazine.php?do=133 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshon we read, In Judaism, Yoshon (Hebrew: éùï ; “old [grain]“) is a concept within Kashrut (the Jewish dietary regulations), based on the Biblical requirement not to eat any chodosh— grain of the new year (or products made from it) prior to the annual Omer offering on 16th Nisan.[1] In classical Rabbinic Judaism, this requirement was considered restricted to the five classical grains of Judaism -wheat, barley, oats, spelt, and rye; any of these grains that are too young to pass the requirement (and products made from them) are referred to in Judaism as Chodosh, meaning “new [grain].” Additionally, the Rabbinic interpretation requires grain to have taken root prior to the omer offering for it to become permitted; therefore, grains planted after Passover could only be consumed the following year. See also http://www.tzemachdovid.org/thepracticaltorah/emor.shtml andhttp://www.fao.org/nr/water/cropinfo_wheat.html And http://www.star-k.org/kashrus/kk-yoshon-old_new.htm for full details. And athttp://www.ou.org/kosher/daf/advanced/yoshen.htm and http://www.star-k.org/kashrus/kk-yoshon-prepchodosh.htm Jewish Rabbis are discussing the problem and referring to the Mishnah etc. to prove that everything harvested after Passover is NEW meat/grain unless it was planted and took root before Passover and then it is OLD grain/meat and I believe the Scripture teaches it is supposed to be A NEW MEAT OFFERING. Had they not brought in another wheat harvest, they would not be having this dilemma. Also remember that Lamentation 2:6 teaches that He would cause BOTH the Sabbaths AND feast days to be forgotten in Zion, and that is exactly what has happened. I think the key to the whole thing is to remember that they were and are TWO wheat harvest in Israel. The Jewish Rabbis teach that the SECOND wheat harvest is the NEW GRAIN of the year and cannot be used until the next year. See http://www.kashrusmagazine.com/magazine.php?do=133 also see Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia athttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshon also see this one at http://www.star-k.org/kashrus/kk-yoshon-prepchodosh.htm they ALL show that it is the SECOND wheat harvest that produces the NEW GRAIN, not the first wheat harvest. The Scripture connects Pentecost with the new grain offering, NOT the old grain. Not only does Israel have winter and spring wheat but they also have winter and spring barley, oats, rye, etc.. Winter wheat is sown in the fall and harvested in the spring about two weeks after the winter Barley harvest and the spring wheat is sown in the spring and harvested in the summer about four months later and this is the harvest is found in Scripture for Pentecost wheat. I hope this information help you to understand that there is a SECOND wheat harvest in Israel which is harvested about 50 days after the first wheat harvest and goes unnoticed because of the traditions of men. See my article on Pentecost at http://lunarsabbath.info/_wsn/page4.html Brother Arnold |
Count TO PENTECOST
Created by pastorbuddy on 3/10/2009
how to count
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