God's Holy Days Bible Study

Unit 14 - THE WAVE SHEAF OFFERING

Copyright June 2000 / Leslie A Turvey laturvey@becon.org

The passover has gone for another year. You've met with your brethren on the first holy day of unleavened bread. It's now late on the weekly sabbath, and you are among a large group of people wending your way toward a field of barley ready for harvesting. Three elders of the temple lead the way. One has a sharp sickle in his hand.

  The sun is setting as you arrive at the chosen field. The first elder asks, "Has the sun gone down?" You and your fellows shout, "Yes." 

  The second elder gathers a sheaf of barley and asks, "This sheaf?" Again, you answer, "Yes."

  "With this sickle?" asks the third. "Yes," the group replies.

  Since the sabbath is over the work of harvesting the sheaf is now permitted. Once cut it's taken to the temple for preparation.

  The preparations are strict, and may take much of the night to complete. When you realize what this sheaf symbolizes you can imagine the priests checking each kernel of barley for any evidence of blight or damage. Only perfect stalks will be tied together for the next day's ceremony.

  Leviticus 23:11 reveals the ceremony, "And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted for you." Note when the sheaf was to be waved: "On the morrow after the [weekly] sabbath the priest shall wave it."

Refer to Study Units 9 and 10 to refresh your memory of the time and days of Jesus' death and resurrection.

  What did Jesus do after his resurrection? We're not told, but knowing his penchant for prayer he doubtless prayed in preparation for the events to come after sunrise. At the same time he was praying the priests would be preparing the sheaf.

In the morning, we're told, Mary thought Jesus was the gardener and asked where he had taken Jesus' body.

  "Jesus said to her, 'Woman, why do you weep? Who are you seeking?' She, supposing him to be the gardener said to him, 'Sir, if you have borne him hence tell me where thou have laid him and I will take him away.' Jesus said to her, 'Mary.' She turned herself and said to him, 'Rabboni,' which is to say 'Master.' Jesus said to her, 'Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren and tell them I ascend to my Father and your Father; and to my God and your God (John 20:15-17).'"

These verses are important because they tell us Jesus did not go to heaven when he died, nor even immediately after his resurrection. Are Christians better than Christ that they should go to heaven when they die? 

So Jesus had not yet gone to heaven by the time the sun was up. And because he had not yet been presented before God he could not be defiled by Mary's hands touching him.

  Yet, in Matthew's account we read, "And the angel answered and said to the women, 'Fear not for I know that you seek Jesus which was crucified. He is not here for he is risen as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead and, behold, he goes before you into Galilee. There shall you see him. Lo, I have told you.'

  "And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy and did run to bring his disciples word. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them saying, 'All hail.' And they came and held him by the feet and worshipped him. Then said Jesus unto them, 'Be not afraid. Go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me (Matthew 28:5-10).'"

Shortly after Jesus told Mary not to touch him we see two women holding his feet. It becomes obvious during the early daylight hours -- perhaps just at sunrise -- on the first day of the week, Jesus ascended to heaven to be presented before God, and returned to earth.

Whoa! From earth to somewhere in space and back again in a matter of minutes? Unbelievable! Or is it?

  Jesus was able to walk through the huge stone that sealed his grave (Matthew 28:1-2), and to appear at will, even through closed doors (John 20:19).

  Then, of course, we cannot forget Peter's words, "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (2 Peter 3:8)."

  Imagine. Jesus, composed of spirit matter as he was before his human birth, travels at the speed of thought and arrives in heaven faster than you can blink an eye. And who knows what majestic celebrations took place there. There may have been great regal ceremonies which, in human time, would take weeks. But the one who inhabits eternity (Isaiah 57:15) is not bound by human hours and days. One day with God is like a thousand years of our time, and a thousand years like one day. 

WHAT THE WAVE SHEAF REPRESENTS

When was the priest to wave the prepared sheaf of barley? "And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted for you. On the morrow [day] after the sabbath the priest shall wave it (Leviticus 23:11)."

  The representation of the wave sheaf offering becomes clear: it was to be waved in presentation before the Lord. The time becomes obvious: it would be the same time that Jesus Christ was presented before his father to be accepted as our saviour.

One last thing to consider. Which way was the priest facing when he waved the sheaf? There may be a clue in the book of Isaiah. God is reprimanding Lucifer: "How are you fallen from heaven O Lucifer, son of the morning! How are you cut down to the ground which did weaken the nations! For you have said in your heart, 'I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the most High (Isaiah 14:12-14).'"

  This tends to indicate God's throne is somewhere in the northern sky. To wave the sheaf before God, it would then seem logical the priest would be facing north.

  Regardless of that, a review of study unit 12 should indicate the priest would not be facing the sunrise in the east.

To the Jews, since they have rejected Jesus Christ, the wave sheaf offering is simply a harvest ceremony. To Christians who are learning God's glorious word the meaning is much deeper.

  Christians do not wave the sheaf today because Jesus Christ, whom the sheaf represented, has already been presented to his father. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

What is the fiftieth day? You'll learn about it in your next study unit.

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Unit 15 - THE FIFTIETH DAY 

Copyright 2000 / Leslie A Turvey laturvey@becon.org

I said at the end of the previous study unit, "To the Jews, since they have rejected Jesus Christ, the wave sheaf offering is simply a harvest ceremony."

  The wave sheaf offering was important to the Israelites, as no spring harvesting was to be done until after the sheaf was raised at arm's length above the priest's head, and waved before God (Leviticus 23:14). The wave sheaf was the firstfruits of the spring harvest.

What did Paul say about Jesus Christ? "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept [died] (1 Corinthians 15:20)."

  This does not mean that Jesus was the first person resurrected from the dead. There are several examples in the bible of people who died and were resurrected before Christ (1 Kings 17:17-23; Matthew 27:52-53; John 11:39-45).

  As you learned in Study Unit 14, the wave sheaf offering was waved at the same time Jesus Christ would be presented before his father. As the first person to be presented before God, Jesus became the firstfruits of those who have died.

But no harvesting was to be done before the sheaf of barley was waved before God. Continue reading in 1 Corinthians 15:21-22: "For since by man [Adam] came death, by man [Jesus Christ] came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."

  Note when the spring harvest of mankind will come: "But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming (1 Corinthians 15:23)."

  Has Jesus returned? "For as the lightning comes out of the east and shines to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of man be (Matthew 24:27)."

  John wrote, "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True...His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew...And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood...And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean (Revelation 19:11-14)."

  I don't recall such an event; do you?

  So, despite what you've always been taught, not one human being has been, nor will be presented before God until Jesus Christ returns to earth in majesty, as King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:11-16).  

THE FIFTIETH DAY

"And you shall count to you from the morrow after the sabbath, from [beginning with] the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering -- seven sabbaths shall be complete -- even to the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall you number fifty days, and you shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord (Leviticus 23:15-16)."

  I have added the words "beginning with" to avoid confusion. For many years in the mid part of the 20th century, "counting from" was thought to mean beginning after. The morrow after the weekly sabbath would be the day we call Sunday. To count, beginning after Sunday, would make Monday day one.

  Several years ago this was challenged, and after much prayer and debate by religious leaders worldwide, it was concluded the counting should begin with Sunday as day one.

  Which day is correct? Jesus told his disciples, "I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. And whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:19)." Therefore Sunday is now bound in heaven as day one.

  (This does not, however, allow for wholesale changing of God's holy days. No doubt Sunday was bound in heaven as the day to begin counting, even while we were counting from Monday.)

The Israelites were to count ahead fifty days -- and to ensure there was no mistake God also said seven sabbaths should be complete. Forty-nine days would bring them to a weekly sabbath day in progress, but not completed.

  "And you shall proclaim on the same day that it may be a holy convocation to you. You shall do no servile work therein. It shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations (Leviticus 23:21)."

  So the fiftieth day is another holy day. We call it pentecost, from the Greek pentekoste, meaning fiftieth.

  The fiftieth day has been variously called the feast of weeks (Exodus 34:22), the day [feast] of firstfruits (Numbers 28:26), and pentecost (Acts 2:1).

TWO LOAVES OF LEAVENED BREAD

A meat [food] offering was to be made on the fiftieth day. "You shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals. They shall be of fine flour. They shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the Lord (Leviticus 23:17)."

  Now what? The wave sheaf represented Jesus Christ as the firstfruits. But here we have two loaves of leavened bread being waved before the Lord as firstfruits. These cannot refer to Jesus as Christ is not divided (1 Corinthians 1:13).

  But James said, "Of his own will he begot us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures (James 1:18)."

  James did not say we were the firstfruits: that would make us equal with Christ. But we are a kind, or representative, of firstfruits.

  Why two loaves? Let Paul answer: "as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek [gentile] (Romans 1:15-16)." So one loaf represents the Jews; the other represents the gentiles.

Do Christians wave the loaves today? The wavesheaf represented the resurrected Christ being presented before his father, and since he has been presented the sheaf is no longer waved. Similarly, since the Jews and gentiles have both been brought into God's church (Acts 11:1-17), the representation is no longer required.  

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A day filled with power. The next study unit reviews the events of Acts 2.

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Unit 16 - WHEN THE DAY OF PENTECOST WAS FULLY COME  

Copyright June 2000 / Leslie A Turvey laturvey@becon.org

"In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre (Matthew 28:1)." The same expression, "the first day of the week," is also recorded in Mark 16:2, 9, Luke 24:1, and John 20:1, 19.

  The Greek word for week is interesting in that it can be singular or plural. In the singular "the first day of the week" refers to the day we call Sunday. In the plural, however, Matthew 28:1 and its companion verses would read "the first day of the weeks."

  What weeks? "And you shall count from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering  seven sabbaths shall be complete (Leviticus 23:15)."

  In today's parlance we would say from Sunday to the following Saturday is one week. Each time another Saturday rolls around another week has gone by. In the same way "sabbath" is used is to indicate the passage of one week. Thus seven sabbaths would be seven weeks.

  When the two Marys came to the tomb it was the first day of the week, but also the first day of the seven weeks leading up to pentecost. 

"When the day of pentecost was fully come they were all, with one accord, in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the holy ghost [spirit], and began to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:1-4)."

What an experience that must have been. A tornado-like noise filled the entire house, but not one person, not one piece of furniture was moved out of place. It was just a noise.

  Something that looked like flames of fire sat on every person present, yet there's no record of a hair of their heads being singed.

  Then suddenly they began speaking in foreign languages which they had apparently never understood nor spoken prior to that day.

The disciples had been empowered by God's holy spirit as Jesus told them they would be. "But you shall receive power, after that the holy spirit is come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8)." 

A DAY; NOT AN EXPERIENCE

Many people mistakenly call the experiences of that day pentecost. However, pentecost is not an experience but a day, as we've already seen in the previous study unit. It simply means fiftieth, or the fiftieth day. 

Pentecost is God's only feast day that must be calculated by counting. And you can't know where to begin counting unless you understand and observe God's passover.

  Until the last few years most religious groups had no clue when pentecost occurred. One church signboard, about 1988, proclaimed pentecost Sunday would be in mid-August. Yet God's holy days revolve around the spring and fall harvest seasons in Israel. Pentecost is always in the spring.

  Only when several Christian groups who, observe God's holy days, were able to properly calculate the day of pentecost, did many mainstream churches begin keeping pentecost on the correct day.

  Why do the mainstream churches observe pentecost? They properly see it as the birth of the new testament church. But they don't understand that birth is one of the many steps in God's overall plan for all mankind, not just for Christians (Study Unit 3).

<<You may be aware of a dispute regarding the date of pentecost this year. Two dates are being debated: May 27 and June 3.

  The discrepancy comes about as a result of the Abib 14-15 controversy. There's a group of people who think they know better than God when passover should be. In Leviticus 23:5 God says it is to be on the 14th day of the Hebrew month Abib. But by misrepresenting verse 6 they claim passover should be on Abib 15.

  Normally this causes no problem with pentecost but Abib 14 falls on the weekly sabbath this year (April 7), and we begin counting "from the morrow after the sabbath," Sunday, April 8.

  "And you shall count to you from the morrow after the sabbath, from [beginning with] the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering -- seven sabbaths shall be complete -- even to the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall you number fifty days, and you shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord (Leviticus 23:15-16)."

  The Abib 15 people say passover is on April 8, 2001. The morrow after the weekly sabbath then becomes April 15. Counting fifty days brings them to June 3.>>

If you choose to obey God and keep his holy days, pentecost will be on Sunday, May 27, 2001 beginning, of course, at sunset May 26.  

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In the next study unit we'll begin with the autumn festival season.

Unit 17 - THE FALL FESTIVAL SEASON

Copyright July 2000 / Leslie A Turvey laturvey@becon.org

AN OBSERVATION IN RETROSPECT

Each of God's holy days are vital to his plan of salvation for mankind. But the fast of atonement pictures the day when satan will be cast into his prison of darkness, and mankind will, at last, be at one with God. Of all God's holy days, satan must hate atonement the most.

  I saw evidence of this while I first wrote study units 17, 18, and 19, all having to do with the day of atonement. It was a struggle. Murphy's first law, "If anything can go wrong, it will," plagued me every time I tried to write about atonement. It took me as long, perhaps longer, to write these three units, than all the previous sixteen units.

CONCERNING THE OLD TESTAMENT RITUALS

By now you should be wondering about the rituals of washings and such, whether we perform the wave offerings, and whether we still sacrifice animals.

  A standard response many people give is, since there is no longer a temple, and no longer a Levitical priesthood these things cannot take place. That is true, but there's more to it than that.

  The old testament sacrifices pointed forward to the day when Messiah would come. He has come in the person of Jesus Christ who  made the ultimate sacrifice. Therefore, even if the temple still existed today, there is no need for the animal sacrifices. Jesus' sacrifice fulfilled all the requirements of all the animal sacrifices (Hebrews 10:9-10).

  The physical rituals were substitutes for God's holy spirit, and were fulfilled by the empowerment of the holy spirit on the day of pentecost, as seen in Acts 2.

  The wave offerings, as shown in Study Units 14 and 15, have also been fulfilled by Jesus Christ's presentation before the father in heaven, and by the calling of the Jews (actually all Israel), and the Greeks (all other nations) into God's church.

  David said it best, "O Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall show forth your praise. For you desire not sacrifice else would I give it. You delight not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise (Psalm 51:15-17)."

THE FALL FESTIVAL SEASON

"Don't people say, 'There are yet four months and then comes harvest' (John 4:35)?" Jesus asked this question of his disciples, near, or possibly on the day of pentecost during his first year of ministry (28 A.D.). Four months from pentecost brings us to the early autumn and the time of the fall harvest.

As you learned in study unit 4, God's holy days revolve around the spring and fall harvest seasons in Palestine. A trumpet announcing the sighting of the new moon of the seventh month, ushered in the time of autumn ingathering of the grain harvest. The fall holy season reveals another ingathering, but this one will not be of grain.

The fall festival season consists of the feast of trumpets, the day of atonement, the feast of tabernacles, and the last great day.

  You might want to review study units 2 through 6 to refresh your memory of the feast of trumpets on the first day of the seventh month, Tishri, on the night of the new moon.

Leviticus 23:26 tells us, "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement. It shall be a holy convocation unto you; and you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.'"

  Now that's an interesting command: "you shall afflict your souls." Some religious groups have taken this to mean they should whip themselves, or burn themselves, or cut their flesh with knives. Indeed, one of the synonyms for afflict is torture, but that's not the bible's meaning in this case.

Ezra 8:21 says, "Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us and for our little ones, and for all our substance." Here we have the verb afflict preceded by a fast, a day without eating or drinking.

  David said, "But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth. I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom (Psalm 35:13)." In this instance David uses the expression "humbled my soul." With what? With fasting.

  Then in Psalm 69:10 he said, "I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting that was to my reproach." He chastened his soul, again with fasting.

  Afflict, humble, chasten: these are biblical synonyms for the verb afflict in Leviticus 23:26. So the tenth day of Tishri, the day of atonement is a day of fasting. No food or drink is to be consumed. 

  The Amplified Bible says, "You shall afflict yourselves [by fasting in penitence and humility]." And one of the translations of the Hebrew word for afflict is exercise. So, if you're not happy with the verb afflict, read Leviticus 23:26 as "you shall exercise your souls by fasting..."

How long are we to fast? In Leviticus 23:32 God says, "It shall be to you a sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict your souls. In the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening unto evening, shall you celebrate your sabbath." So the fast begins at twilight on the ninth day of the month, and continues until twilight on the tenth day -- twenty-four hours.

If you should decide to fast, either according to God's command concerning the day of atonement, or as a fast at any other time of the year, some wise advice is Don't eat a heavy meal immediately prior to your fast.

  If you generally eat a heavy evening meal, have one two days before beginning your fast. The day before your fast have light meals: salads, soup, and such. And when your fast is over, have light meals the first day, and most of the second.

  Also, if you're a coffeeholic, begin cutting back a few days before your fast. God doesn't say you have to go through your fast days with a throbbing head.  

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Looking back: looking forward. The day of atonement is described in your next study unit. 

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