Are We Counting Pentecost Correctly?

And for the sermon now, once again, our pastor, Mr. Jim Tuck.

I did want to mention that my wife and I will actually be over in the Big Island just after Pentecost, so I guess we're—I hope there are no big rocks flying in the air over there.

If that, if we've got any of the Hawaiian brethren that are listening, Joan and I are coming to die with you. I'm just kidding about that. But actually, the Kilauea is quite a ways from Kona, although I'm sure if it's a real big one, you know, just like Yellowstone. I mean, that could spew stuff out for quite a long way. But Kilauea has been an active volcano for ages, so it spews it out quite regularly. But I know in Pahoa, which is an area we've been to before, it's run right across the street, you know, and it's taken out quite a few of the homes that are there. But be praying for the brethren over there.

Just the, you know, what's in the air can be toxic. So please don't be remiss in praying about God's people. We're going to be protecting a Pentecost, which is a very important step in God's plan.

And, you know, the most important thing about Pentecost is to make sure that you're there at the right time, right? Because if you're not there in the right time, you're not going to be able to observe the Pentecost that God wants you to observe. You remember when the church began in 31 A.D., what does it say about the people at that time? They were all there in one accord.

You know, in other words, one of the disciples didn't say, well, so-and-so is not here. They're observing Pentecost next week. You know, or they've already, you know, observed Pentecost.

Well, if people had that attitude back in that time, they would not have received the gift of the Holy Spirit that was given. You know, in this time, brethren, that we're living in, God's people must be on their toes spiritually more than ever. You know, the Bible says evil men and seducers would wax worse and worse. And it is truly, brethren, a life-and-death struggle for God's people to hold to the truth. It's a time when every wind of doctrine is blowing about, and some are so easily swayed from the truth to follow man-made ideas. Like some people have fallen the air over the New Testament Passover. We struggle with that right here in Phoenix.

Some of you were here back in 1995. You remember, we had some that were observing the Passover differently than the Church had traditionally observed it. And some of those people are not with us anymore because they began to develop their own ideas about that. And there were other things that led them further and further away from the truth. But just as people can, you know, decide there are different dates they should observe for Passover, there are those who could decide that there are different dates to observe Pentecost. And, you know, the question I have for you and the sermon this afternoon is, are we counting Pentecost correctly?

Now, we want to be rock-solid in knowing that we're doing the right thing, that we are doing something that is biblical and the way that God has instructed us to do it.

First, let's look at God's instructions on what, in fact, was to take place regarding the Feast of Weeks. After giving Israel the commands of keeping the days of Unleavened Bread, God immediately instructs them to present a special offering on a particular day. And this day is not set aside for a holy convocation as other days are that are listed in Leviticus 23. Let's go to Leviticus 23 over here. Probably one of those areas of your Bible that are worn out, that you've looked at and looked at and poured over. But let's notice in Leviticus 23 in verse 9, it says, And the eternal spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheath of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.

And it says, He shall wave the sheath before the eternal, to be accepted on your behalf on that day after the Sabbath, the priest shall wave it. And so they were to wave again this sheath before God, and it was to be after the Sabbath. The Israelites were to bring, you know, the first cutting of their grain to the priests. And then they were, of course, the day after that Sabbath, they were to offer this sheath before God. And it had to be accepted of God on behalf of the people.

And it was the day after the Sabbath. But what Sabbath? What Sabbath? Well, it was a Sabbath that fell between the first and the last day of Unleavened Bread. Whatever Sabbath that was, it fell between the first and the last holy day of the days of Unleavened Bread, was when the Sabbath, you know, and then that day next, right after the Sabbath, was the wave, what was called the wave sheath offering.

The ceremony had to be performed. Now, that wave sheath offering had tremendous prophetic significance. What they were acting out, anciently, over 1,500 years later, it was going to be fulfilled in the most dramatic way, one in which the world has never ever forgotten. And it is, of course, even on our minds, we think about Pentecost as we, you know, come away from Passover and the days of Unleavened Bread. You know, the Bible clearly reveals this, in the New Testament sense, that when Jesus Christ was crucified, it was on a Wednesday.

I mean, you can figure this out when you're reading the Scriptures, that he was crucified on a Wednesday. And, of course, the next day was the first day of Unleavened Bread. And you remember, they had to hurriedly get him into the tomb before the Holy Day began. And, you know, that particular Wednesday fell in the year 31 A.D. Actually, you know, the Passover fell on Wednesday in both the 30 A.D.

and 31 A.D. That particular configuration. And, interestingly, in 33 A.D., Passover fell on Friday. And, you know, if you know about the Catholic Church, they believe their church was founded on 33 A.D. So that's why they move it on up to Friday, you know, in 33 A.D. for that to happen. You know, we, of course, established it was, in fact, 31 A.D. by utilizing the seventh year of Artaxerxes, that it was 457 B.C., which was the seventh year of Artaxerxes. Remember, the seventh year was when he issued a decree to rebuild Jerusalem. And so from that, when you figure the 70 weeks of Daniel's prophecy of Daniel 9, you know, you're able to come up with the approximate time when Jesus Christ began his ministry.

So you're able to do some of that figuring. Now, we're not going to get into that now, but it is germane to what we're talking about here. And being able to show that, in fact, the Passover in 31 A.D., you know, 31 A.D. indeed is the time, you know, when Jesus Christ was nearing the conclusion of his earthly ministry. Now, let's go to John 19. John 19 over here in verse 28 and examine some of these things.

We're talking about the wave chief offering, and we see, you know, incidents that occur, you know, in the early period here before the founding of the church, you know, in fact leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. But in John 19 in verse 28, notice this, and it says, after this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, I thirst.

So he was being crucified here. And now a vessel full of sour wine, verse 29, was sitting there, and they filled a sponge with sour wine and put it on hyssop and put it to his mouth. And so when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, it is finished.

And bowing his head, he gave up the Spirit. You know, he died at that time. And going on, it says, therefore, because it was the preparation day. Now, what is the preparation day, you know, for us when we talk about a Sabbath or a Holy Day? What is the preparation day? Anybody? It's the day before, right? So here, Christ was crucified on the 14th or Wednesday, and that was the preparation day for the Jews, you know, in order to prepare for the Holy Day that was coming on. And so it was the preparation day. That body should not remain on the cross of the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was a high day.

You know, it makes very clear here, the high day was what day? The first day of Unleavened Bread, right? It wasn't the weekly Sabbath. It was a high day. And it was evening, Wednesday, day part, of course, Thursday. And it says, and the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, that they might be taken away.

And of course, they didn't break the legs of Christ, because remember the Roman soldier had already pierced the side of Christ, and he had bled out.

And that, of course, was brought out in Isaiah 53. They poured out his soul, the Bible says, unto death. And so Christ was already dead when they came, and he broke the legs of the detractors that were on the stakes. And it says, the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and the other who were crucified. But when they came to Jesus and saw he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Of course, that was according to prophecy as well, that that would not be done. But verse 38, let's notice here, again in the scenario of what happens here, that we see very, very clearly and we understand. But in verse 38, it says, And after this Joseph of Arimathea being the disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Joseph, by the way, from what I've read about him, was probably one of the most wealthy men on the entire planet at that time.

He had big ten minds up in Britain, and he knew very well. He knew Pilate and all of these people, very well. But he goes to Pilate and he asked for the body. And notice in verse 39, Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came and bringing a mixture of bur and allos, about a hundred pounds. And then they took the body of Christ and bounded in strips of linen with the spices as the custom of the Jews is to bury. And now in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden. And in the garden a new tomb in which no one has yet been laid. So there they lay Jesus because of the Jewish preparation day for the tomb was nearby. If you've ever been in Israel, Jerusalem, Gal-Gathas, where they say he was crucified, and right below is the garden tomb. If you go there, you can tour it, stick your head in the tomb. From Gal-Gathas, interestingly, you look down off of Gal-Gathas, you know, there's a big bus station right below it. So it doesn't seem very holy, you know, when you're standing up there and you've got all the buses honking and the noise that is made by that. So Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus take the body, prepare it for burial, and they lay it in the tomb because of the Jewish preparation day.

Now this clearly, brethren, is the day portion, no question. I don't think anybody here would disagree, of the 14th just prior to sunset before what would be called the 15th.

And we can figure that Jesus died around 3 p.m. on Wednesday, and his body was placed in the tomb, in the heart of the earth as the Bible says, just as the sun was going down, you know, before the 15th. And so it's important that we understand again those days because of how it ties in to fulfillment of who is the wave sheaf offering. When the wave sheaf was offered in the Old Testament, which was a signal of what was going to happen in the days when Jesus Christ was going to be crucified. In Matthew 27, I'm not going to turn there, but on Thursday, which would be again the first day of unleavened bread, shows how the priests and the Pharisees treated the Holy Day.

But the priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate and said, look, you've got to put guards on this tomb. Because if you don't put guards on this tomb and his disciples come and steal the body of Christ, it's going to be worse than before. They did not want to create a Messiah, you know, by allowing him to disappear supposedly. So they put Roman soldiers to guard it. And the Roman soldiers, if they allowed anyone to actually enter in, they would put them to death. And the reason why is if they did not guard that tomb, the Roman soldiers would be put to death. It was a very, very serious matter. In Mark 16, verse 1, if you want to write these things down, on Friday, between the high day and the Sabbath, you'll remember the three women bought spices to prepare a burial ointment for Jesus's body. And so we have the 14th was the crucifixion at three o'clock. Thursday is the first Holy Day, and then you come to what we, it would be Friday, wouldn't be called Friday then, but it would be just a number in the days.

But it would be Friday, in the way we account for time, the three women bought spices for the burial ointment for Jesus's body. And let's go to Luke 23. I'm trying to sort of get this down to a thumbnail, so we are not bogged down in the minutia of this. But in Luke 23, let's notice this, in verse 55, And the women who had come with him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb, and how his body was laid. And then they returned and prepared spices in fragrant oils, and they rested on the Sabbath day according to the commandment.

You know, unlike the priests and the Pharisees, they observed the Sabbath. You know, the priests and the Pharisees were standing before a magistrate to try to get some way to keep, you know, from Christ's body from disappearing, and to make sure that a guard is put over it. But they rested according to the Sabbath commandment. So we have what happened on Wednesday, what happened on Thursday, and what happened on Friday, and now what has happened on the Sabbath. They rested according to the Sabbath day. And, you know, interestingly as well, I think we should mention that, you know, that weekly Sabbath, obviously, probably, there was a lot of fear among the disciples, you know, hiding out, fearful of what would happen to them next.

You know, they felt very, very threatened. Let's go to chapter 28 in verse 1.

Chapter 28 in verse 1.

I don't know if we'll go through this kind of thing, but maybe someday we will.

We'll experience, God forbid, but we'll experience some of the things that the early church did in terms of fear of wonderment of what's going to happen to us. In Matthew chapter 28, verse 1, and it says, Now, it doesn't really say when the earth took place, but the angel at a particular time opened the tomb and, you know, it terrified the guards before Mary came. Verse 5, Now, Jesus Christ, in fact, had been resurrected the day before, probably around 3 p.m. or so. Again, that was an event that had already passed. The earthquake and other things, really, the Bible is somewhat nonspecific about the time of those things. But, you know, Jesus Christ, according to his own prophecy, was resurrected already by this time because, you know, he said, the Son of Man was going to be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights, and that was the only proof. He was the Messiah.

That without this, we really don't have a Messiah. So Jesus put on the tomb, you know, as we know, around, at least by sunset on Wednesday, prior to the beginning of the Holy Day, in exactly three days and three nights later, as the Son was setting on the Sabbath, he had exited the tomb. He was out of the tomb, fulfilling what he had said.

Now, let's go to John 20 over here, John chapter 20.

John 20. You know, I don't think any movie has ever done justice to the Scriptures and what it says about what Christ went through and what the disciples went through, for that matter. Kind of hard to capture these things. It's hard to, you know, film anxiety. You talk about anxiety here. I'm sure that these people felt it at that time.

In John 20, in beginning with verse 1, it says, Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So when she got there, it was away from the tomb already.

Then she ran and came to son Peter and the other disciples whom Jesus loved and said to them, they've taken away the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid Him.

And Peter therefore went out and the other disciples with Him and were going to the tomb. So they ran. And the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first.

And he, scooping down, looking and saw the linen claws lying there, and yet he did not go in.

Then son of Peter came following him and went into the tomb and he saw the linen clothes lying there in the handkerchief that had been around his head, not lying with the linen claws, but folded together in a place by itself.

Then the other disciple who came to the tomb first went in also and he saw and believed.

For as yet they did not know what the Scripture, that he must rise again from the dead, and then the disciples went away again to their home.

And so, you know, they didn't stick around there, but they go back to their home. And again, they're huddling in their home for fear.

On down through here, verse 11 beginning, And Mary stood outside the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb, and she saw the two angels with white sitting one at the head and the other feet where the body of Jesus had lain. Verse 13. And then they said to her, Women, why are you weeping? And she said to them, Because they've taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. And now when he had said this, he turned around, he saw Jesus standing there. Or she saw Jesus standing there and did not know that it was Jesus.

You know, I don't know how Christ was able to morph himself into something else.

You know, she thought he was a gardener. There was something else.

And Jesus said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? She supposed him to be a gardener. He said to him, Sir, if you've carried him away, tell me where you've laid him, and I'll take him away. And then Jesus, I guess, let her hear his voice that she had heard probably thousands of times, Mary. And she turned and said to him, Rebonai, which is a safe teacher. And then notice here, it says, She said to her, Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my father.

But go to my brethren, and say to them, I am ascending to my father and your father, and to my God and your God. And so here we again see, in this case, where Mary is trying to cling to Christ, and Christ says, I've not yet ascended to my father. Now, interestingly, you know, we know as far as, you know, Jesus, he was resurrected again on that Sabbath. He saw Mary Magdalene at this time. He tells her to go tell the disciples about this. And we know he had been resurrected according to his own prophecy. But, you know, we, of course, most note that he told her that she should not cling to him. But let's go to Matthew, chapter 28, over here. Matthew 28, because these sayings are quite related. But in Matthew, chapter 28, in verse 9, 28 and verse 9, And as they went to tell his disciples, Behold, Jesus met them, saying, Rejoice.

So they came and held him by the feet and worshiped him. And then Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.

So you hear, you have Mary Magdalene unable to touch Christ. Now they're able to touch Christ.

In this particular example, and they were told to tell others about it as well.

Jesus, of course, you know, ascended to his father between the time when Mary was not allowed to touch him and the time in which he was able, the disciples were able, to touch him. And, you know, he had been again to heaven. Now, this day that this occurs, obviously, is Sunday.

One was in the morning, apparently. The other, presumably, was sometime in the rest of the time that was there. Let's go over to John 20. Here's another account over here that's quite interesting in conjunction with this. But John 20, in verse 19, then the same day, now we're still talking about Sunday here, at evening, as apparently, you know, it was on the first day of the week, but it's before sunset, being the first of the week when the doors were shut, so here they are all batten down, where the disciples are assembled, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, Peace be with you. And it says, when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side, and then the disciples were glad, and they saw the Lord. And so Jesus said to them, As the Father sent me, I send you. And we know, you know, they were able to touch Christ.

They were able to be there to embrace Christ at that time because he had already ascended to heaven. Now, I don't know, I hope all of you follow what I've said here, the events that have occurred.

But the account, brethren, the story here is irrefutable. Jesus ascended to the Father on the first day of the week, without question. And Mary, again, couldn't touch him early in the morning while it was still dark, but later in the day, many people did. It was very clear he had ascended to the Father on the first day of the week. He was the wave sheath offering.

That's why it had to fall at that time. Christ was the fulfillment of the wave sheath offering that had been done by the Israelites anciently. The wave sheath was lifted up to God to be accepted for Israel, and it foreshadowed, brethren, the ascension of Jesus Christ to the Father to be accepted for spiritual Israel or the church today. That's why we call it, remember, the Feast of First Fruits that Jesus Christ gave himself for us. And Jesus Christ was the first of the first fruits. That's what the Bible actually tells us. Over here in 1 Corinthians 15, let's notice this, this is the New Testament. You know, brethren, unless you understand the Holy Days, you know, unless you understand the seven-part plan of the Holy Days, you cannot understand the Bible because it is like a slender thread of truth that goes through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. And of course, in the world today, the Protestants can't understand the Bible in its fullest extent because they don't accept the Holy Days. But over in 1 Corinthians 15, some of the terminology, in fact, that is used is unbelievably, in the Protestants would not believe it, many of them would not, connected with the Holy Days and the observance of the Holy Days. But in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 20, let's notice here, and now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. And as an Adam all die, even so in Christ, verse 22, all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order, Christ, the first fruits, afterwards those who are Christ at his coming. So there will be others. We're co-heirs with Christ, the Bible tells us. We're going to receive the same rewards that Christ receives if we're willing to suffer with it, if we're willing to do what Christ did, and he laid his life down, you know, for his brethren. And you know, in James 1, verse 18, I hope I'm quoting this correctly, that the Bible says there, James says, that we are a kind of first fruits, that Jesus Christ gave his life, that we would be a kind of first fruits, or a type of first fruits today.

Now, obviously, we're not produce, but a kind of produce, as it were, that comes as a result of the Holy Spirit that is in us. So, brethren, this is the background that we should understand with regard to the wave sheaf offering and counting for Pentecost. In Leviticus 23, let's go over here, an integral part, brethren, of Pentecost, and what makes it so unique is that we count this day. And we don't have other holy days that we count, do we? I don't know if you know this, that or not.

There's no other holy day we count, but God wants us to count this day.

You know, and maybe it's because God wants us to count, to be counting the days.

And you might see counting in terms of what we're doing with what we know.

Because the time is coming when 50 will come. The end will come. And we need to keep again that in mind. I'm sure there's many reasons why we count, but in this day we do count. But in chapter 23 in verse 15, you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath. And as I mentioned to you, this day of the Sabbath is the Sabbath in between the first holy day of unleavened bread and the last holy day, which is the seventh day of unleavened bread. So now, after the Sabbath, you know, you start counting this in order to come up with the 50. Which day are we talking about here?

Anybody?

Anybody? Sunday. Absolutely. Sunday. We begin on Sunday. From the day that you brought the wave sheaf offering, seven Sabbaths shall be complete. So you could count seven Sabbaths. And if you count seven Sabbaths between the wave sheaf and you add a day to it, you're there, aren't you? You're at Pentecost. And it says, count 50 days to the day after the Sabbath, then you will offer a new grain offering to the Eternal. And so here, there are several important points here that is made by God. Number one, begin the count for the day after the Sabbath. And I mentioned that the Sabbath between the first and the last day of Unleavened Bread. Number two, begin the count for the day the wave sheaf is offering. Number three, count seven complete Sabbaths to the day after the seventh Sabbath. And number four, the total number of days will be 50. That's why it's called Pentecost. Count 50. Now, let's talk about various ideas that people have about counting Pentecost. The topic here is, are we counting Pentecost correctly? Now, I know it's hard to believe that all this is important to knowing you're counting the right days for Pentecost. The practice of the Church of God from the early 70s, of counting 50 days exactly as it says in Leviticus, you know, has been right in line with the Scriptures. The count always starts on Sunday between the two holy days of Unleavened Bread when the day of the wave sheaf offering was. The Church saw the need for the wave sheaf to fall within the days of Unleavened Bread. You understand why that's important? That it needs to fall within the days of Unleavened Bread? Actually, there are those that where the wave sheaf falls outside the days of Unleavened Bread. I'm going to give you a little bit of this. There are various ideas of when to begin the count for Pentecost. The Pharisees, by the way, saw the need for the wave sheaf to be within the days of Unleavened Bread. So they got that part of it right. The part they got wrong is to make certain it always did fall within the days of Unleavened Bread. The count they had was on the first holy day. Or the day after, I'm sorry, not on the first holy day, but the day after.

So, in other words, they just took the first holy day, and the day after was the time when they would begin their count, which would be Nisan 16. In this case, the 14th being passed over, the 15th being the first holy day. And, you know, as a consequence of making it that decision, Pentecost is always on Siobhan 6 in the Hebrew calendar. And by the way, this is what most Jews do today. This is what they do. You know, it's very typical, again, for the Jews to do that.

There are other sects, by the way, that had different methods of counting Pentecost.

All of us have heard of the Essenes. The Essenes believe the count should begin after the last holy day of Unleavened Bread. So, they always counted Pentecost beginning with Nisan 23. So, they started counting. And as a consequence, Pentecost always fell on Siobhan 13.

Now, again, there's a problem, again, having the wave sheath happen after the holy days are over, after Unleavened Bread is over. Now, interestingly, the Sadducees, in all of these sects, you know, we've heard about, if you've been in the church any length of time, the Sadducees, by the way, were mostly Levites. And they were correct in the beginning, in beginning their count from the day after the weekly Sabbath in their circumstance.

And in most years, the Sadducees had a right date, you know, for Pentecost. But where they got it wrong is, you know, when things fall differently. And you probably have noticed this when you look at Pentecost, how you count Pentecost, how sometimes the first holy day will begin, you know, on the Sabbath. Sometimes, you know, sometimes it will fall on the Sabbath. And the seventh day of Unleavened Bread will fall at the same time. It changes things as to how it is that we are to count. Well, the Sadducees got confused about that, you know, and sometimes when they begin to figure the wave sheath, it would fall outside of the days of Unleavened Bread.

You know, interestingly, God preserved the account of the Passover and the wave sheath at the end of the 40 years of wandering of the children of Israel in the wilderness.

So that we would know that the wave sheath must fall within the days of Unleavened Bread. Let's go to Joshua 5. Joshua chapter 5. In Joshua chapter 5, these are, you might say, medicinal things to understand, but at the same token, I think it's very important for us to understand this when we do our count, when we understand and how to count. But in Joshua 5 and down in verse 10, let's know this here, it says, And it says, And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, Unleavened Bread, and parched grain on the very same day.

So reading this, brethren, when did they observe the Passover?

Here. What day was this that they observed the Passover?

Anybody know?

What usually caused the children of Israel to encamp?

Was it the Sabbath? So they kept the Passover on the Sabbath, and when it was twilight, they observed the Passover. Now, what was the next day? What was the next day?

First day of Unleavened Bread, right?

And it says, So we see that the wave sheaf fell again within Unleavened Bread and not outside of Unleavened Bread.

You know, if it had been, in fact, you know, a situation where they followed what the Pharisees and the Sadducees did, in all likelihood, it would have been outside of the days of Unleavened Bread.

You know, when we analyze the three major Jewish practices, we find error in every one.

And despite that fact, some self-appointed teachers have stated that we are to follow the teachings of the Pharisees regarding counting from the wave sheaf in Pentecost.

And the basis of their argument is basic, is this.

It's founded on a misunderstanding of what Jesus said about the Pharisee's authority.

And these have erred in their understanding of what Moses' seat was supposed to do.

Turn, if you will, to Matthew 23 over here, verses 1 through 4.

So where people have made a very big mistake, even in our time, brethren, is they do not know what Moses' seat was and what was the authority of Moses' seat in terms of binding and loosening.

What exactly was Moses' seat, anyway? What did it have to do with the authority and the establishment of doctoral practice? In Matthew 23, verse 1, it says, So some want to use Moses' seat as the supreme position of God's authority on the earth, and whoever sits on it is to be followed in whatever they teach.

Is that what the Bible says? Is that what Jesus Christ was really saying?

Well, there's some faulty reasoning in this. Let me tell you why. Jesus Christ himself did not observe everything the scribes and the Pharisees taught or demanded, even.

Nor did he even require his disciples to do some of the things that the Pharisees taught.

Remember, Jesus said himself, he says, Full well you, he says, reject the commandments, he told the Pharisees of the scribes, by making the word of God of no effect through your tradition in many such things you do.

Does that sound like Jesus was listening to everything that they said?

No, it certainly was not the case. Christ did not teach his disciples to honor the rules and regulations of the Pharisees that they had attached to the Sabbath observance, even.

They had very strict rules. He didn't make them obey the laws of the scribes and the Pharisees with regard to washing their hands. We know the story about that, where Christ talked about, it's what defiles you, comes out of your mouth.

You know, not what goes in you, although, you know, we shouldn't eat unclean, clean foods, but he's talking about dirt in this case. And it didn't mean the disciples didn't wash their hands. They just didn't wash them the way the elders taught people to. That is up to the elbow.

It was more extensive in terms of what God would require.

But remember also, when the disciples were going from one synagogue to another, that they plucked the heads of grain. And the Pharisees said to Christ, well, look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?

And Christ did not require them to do that. If it was wrong for them to do that, it'd be wrong for you to go in your backyard with your salt shaker, if your growing tomatoes in the backyard, and pluck a tomato and eat it.

And of course, that would be silly, wouldn't it?

So, brother, how could Jesus Christ's statement about Moses' seat and the Pharisees be reconciled with the examples where he and his disciples didn't follow the Pharisaical teaching?

What exactly, again, was Moses' seat for? What was it about? Let's review just a small space of time. What Moses' seat was about. Let's notice in Exodus 18.

Exodus 18.

Over here, it talks about, of course, Moses had a pretty big job. Keep in mind the fact that there were probably two and a half to three million Israelites. And keep in mind that for a period, he was the sole law of the children of Israel. He made every decision. But down here in verse 13, it says, So it was Moses sat to judge the people. And the people stood before Moses from morning until evening. And this is a long haul, isn't it? You can imagine how long the lines would be to talk to Moses. No, but he would do it all day long. Verse 14. So when Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, What is this thing that you're doing for the people?

And maybe he meant to the people, not for the people. Why do you alone sit, and all the people stand before you from morning to evening? Moses said to his father-in-law, Because the people come to me to inquire of God when they have a difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another. But here's the most important part of this entire passage. I want you to get this and maybe underline it in your Bible. I make known the statutes of God and His loss.

That's what I do. That's all he could do. So Moses' seat, brethren, was a position of a judge who used the law of God rendering rulings to settle the disputes between people.

That's basically what his job was. It was not a position of questioning, picking apart, deleting, adding to what God had plainly stated regarding the law, as the Pharisees did.

They had that mentality.

The story and the account of what happened was that Moses did spread the responsibility around to capable men who feared God, who loved the truth, and were of an upright character.

People like Joshua and others that were quite responsible men, probably Caleb, where he's not given all the names of the people. So when Christ talked about Moses' seat, brethren, this is what he's talking about. The Pharisees of the scribes sat in Moses' seat to render judicial decisions. These judgments involved compensation for injury, pay for lost, borrowed goods, divorces. They had the authority to bind or loose contracts, marriages, penalties, and payments of compensation. They were never given authority to touch the law of God, which was the basis, in fact, of their judgments. You start messing with the law, then how do you make a judgment? You can't have the same judgment, could you? If that were the case.

Now, keep this in mind, brethren, the church of God was being raised up.

Christ said, I will build my church.

And, you know, when, in fact, the church was raised up and Christ was beginning to build it, when he called the disciples, began to add to the church in that way to begin the foundation of which the apostles are part of the foundation. The position of the Pharisees and the scribes then was committed later to the disciples who became apostles. So they had that authority in the New Testament church. The apostles sat in Moses' seat. They had that responsibility. Over in Matthew 16, Matthew 16, remember, Christ had had this discourse with his disciples and he said, who do men say that I am? And some say you were Elijah. Some say this or some say that.

And, you know, Peter says, you are the Christ, the son of the living God.

And Christ said, you know, the flesh and blood had not revealed that to him. And then he said this to Peter. Interesting where the Spirit of God was here. He said, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. And so God gave that day Peter the keys of the kingdom, the power of binding and loosening. This had to do with Moses' seat. Now, unless you think that what I'm saying is that Peter had the supremacy, that's not what I'm saying. Listen a little bit more.

You know, a key is something you use to lock something or unlock something. And the context shows that the keys Jesus Christ gave to Peter were to lock up or to unlock decisions of a judicial nature. And whatever judgment based on God's law rendered by those given the authority would be honored by God. Let's go to Matthew 18 now. Because Christ sent it to Peter, yes, he did.

But he expanded it beyond that over in Matthew 18. We often talk about this when, you know, we talk about conflict, resolution in the church where there are problems between people.

And, you know, very often the church is the last resort. You know, the church, and by that I mean the church, the ministry, is the last resort. You know, but here in chapter 18 verse 15, let's notice, and moreover, if your brother sent against you, go and tell him that his fault between you and him along. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. This is the way it should be. Decisions should be made that way. But if he will not hear you, take with you one or two more, and by the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established. And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. Okay, the last resort here. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. But notice here, surely I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. But you'll notice here in verse 19, an interesting word.

He had already told Peter to you, I give the keys of the kingdom.

But here then he expands it. Right? Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done by them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in their midst. You get that what he's saying here, brethren, that he expands it out from Peter. It wasn't just Peter, it was God's people, where there's a need to make a judgment. Now, by the way, he's talking about the ministry in general here, because remember the subject was the church. Going to the church, and usually you go again to the pastor of the church or an elder within the church to make those kinds of decisions.

And clearly the context of Jesus' statement, brethren, about binding and loosing involves making judicial decisions.

You know, the Apostle Paul gives us many examples of what it means to be sitting in Moses' seat, actually, and make judgments for the church. Over in 1 Corinthians 7, Paul had to deal with some rather hairy situations with regard to marriages and Corinth.

Corinth was one of those cities where it was sexually immoral, and certainly in terms of that probably infected and affected many marriages in a very negative way.

And you can imagine that Paul probably had many women coming into the church at that time, whose husbands, who knows what they practiced. Do you stay with them? Do you remain with that person even if they're very immoral? What do you do? Paul had to tackle those kinds of things.

I'm sure in some cases there were multiple marriages. We have that, in fact, in the world today. And if you were in the church back in the 70s, there were some pretty hard decisions that had to be made during that time. I know Mr. Lovett, he and Maxine ended up separating for a while until we came to understand chapter 7 right here. But I'm not here to talk about divorce and remarriage, although that was a big part of it, the problem back then in 1974. In 1 Corinthians 7, down in verse 6, notice how Paul here is talking. In this case, he makes it very clear what he is saying and what God is saying. What does God say? What is the law of God? And what do I say? And, of course, hopefully he's doing this based on the principles of the Bible, and it certainly is.

Verse 6, but I say, notice here, I say that this as a concession, not as a commandment.

For I wished that all men were even as I myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that. But, you know, if you were in Paul's congregation, and he said to you, you know, if you were maybe in your 20s and you maybe you were unmarried, Paul said, well, I think you should remain unmarried like me, or without a mate like me.

Well, some people were not like Paul, right? And he's saying, I say this as a concession, not as a commandment. It's not the law, but this is what I think Paul is basically saying here, down to verse 8. But I say to the unmarried and to the widows, it's good for them if they remain even as I am. Well, there might be some unmarried person or widow that doesn't really feel like they want to be like Paul. But he's saying, I say. And again, I don't want to imply that, you know, Paul was teaching basically what Paul thought. I'm sure it was based upon the laws of God and the principles. And as you know, he did say to people here in 1 Corinthians that, for the present distress, because it was not easy to be a Christian in those days.

And it would be much easier for somebody to be single than to have to consider someone else if you have to take off because of persecution. So it was for the present distress. Down in verse 10, he says to the married, I command, yet not I, but the Lord. So if somebody is married, you know, I command, yet not I, but the Lord commands this. You see, looking at somebody in Moses' seat, this is what a judge does. It does often vary. Based upon the law, this is what I would tell you. Now, this is what it says in the commandment. I can tell you that.

Based on what I understand, it might be good if you did, you know, this. It would be within law, wouldn't be breaking the law, but it might be better off if you did this. In your case, you know, Paul again, in making the decisions he was making. But verse 12, but to the rest, I, not the Lord, say, if any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she's willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. So here Paul is saying, based on what I understand, it's not what you might be allowed to within the laws of God. But this is what I say, if you have a mate, even if they're not converted, if they have pleased it well, you don't divorce them. So anyway, those are ways in which Paul demonstrated what it's like to sit in the seat of Moses. Paul is making binding decisions within the church. And, you know, in some cases, there were no clear relationship statements or commandments, then he would have to make a judgment.

Paul could not lose what God clearly, though, stated in the law. He couldn't do that.

When one understands, brethren, what Moses' seat meant, the argument to follow pharisaical errors in counting Pentecost falls apart. You can't say, well, we need to go with the Pharisees because this is what they say, and, you know, this is what we ought to do because they said Moses' seat. No, you can't stand on that because that is an error. We should not follow their incorrect method where a tradition makes the word of God of none effect.

And there are two distinct ways, brethren. The Pharisees' teaching of counting Pentecost makes the word of God of none effect. Number one, if you want to write it down, the meaning of the symbolism of the wave sheath, which was fulfilled by Jesus Christ, after his resurrection, when he ascended before the Father, would be invalidated by starting the count on the day after the first holy day. In order for that to happen, let's take the scenario of 31 AD and the Passover. In order for, you know, the way in which the pharisaical counted to work, what that would mean is that Christ would have to be resurrected on Thursday night and he would have had to ascend on Friday. But that's not what happened in 31 AD.

Christ ascended on Sunday. So that would be negated. Christ would not be the wave sheath.

The wave sheath would have already taken place according to the way they would have to figure it.

And number two, if Pentecost always is on a set date as it is for the pharisees and their sect, and many today, guess what? It defeats the command to count. You don't even have to count. You know what the date is. Siobhan VI.

The Feast of weeks, or the Feast of Pentecost, brother, is the only holy day that does not have a fixed date. It is a fixed day, but not a fixed date. It's the only holy day where to count.

And like I said, maybe it means that we ought to be counting down the days when the first fruits are born on into the family of God.

Are we counting Pentecost correctly, brethren? Hopefully by reviewing what we talked about here in this sermon, you are able to say, if you follow along with what we've said here, absolutely in the affirmative. We in the church are spot-on in how we do it.

And now, brethren, what we have to look forward to and need to look forward to is the coming 50th day of Pentecost, in which we will learn the exciting prophetic significance of Pentecost for us. So, are we counting Pentecost correctly? You bet. In the United Church of God, we are doing the right thing.

Or, brother, my wife and I will not see you during the Feast of Pentecost and the Sabbath. We're actually going to leave for Hawaii this Thursday. And our intent is to be over. We're going to visit with every member in the Hawaiian Islands before we see you next time. But have a wonderful Pentecost, and we look forward to seeing our brethren over in Hawaii. We haven't been over there, probably. It's been a year, at least it seems to me, since we've been over. So, we're very much looking forward to it. Please remember to continue to pray for Brad Ellis and his abscess he has on his foot and all the brethren over there. But we'll see you all when we get back.