THE MASTER’S CLOCK!
Discerning The True 7th Day Sabbath of Yeshua!
PART 11
Shavuot,
The Summer Festival!
Returning to the Wave Sheaf offering we'll find another issue, which concerns the timing of Shavuot.
And from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, you shall count for yourselves: seven completed Sabbaths. ‘Until the morrow after the seventh Sabbath you count fifty days, then you shall bring a new grain offering to YHWH. (Leviticus 23:15-16 Scriptures ’98)
The translation above is reflective of most other translations in that it leans toward a redundant translation making ‘the seven Sabbaths complete’ one and the same with ‘count fifty days’. There is no doubt in my mind that this is terribly misleading. There is only one translation that I know of that nails this set of verses in a most unequivocal way, it is the Farrar Fenton Bible and here is how Leviticus 23:15-16 is translated.
“You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath that you bring the Wave-sheaf, seven Sabbaths. They must be complete. Then after the seventh Sabbath, you shall count fifty days, when you shall present a new offering to the EVER-LIVING. (Leviticus 23:15-16 Farrar Fenton Bible)
I like that a lot, no fudging, just call it like you see it!
As I searched for the quote above from the Farrar Fenton Bible I stumbled across downloads that I had stored on my phone quite some time ago of an English translation of the Greek Septuagint (LXX), it is the NETS English Translation of the Septuagint. So I thought I would check out Leviticus 23:15-16 to see how it was translated, here’s what I found.
“And from the day after the sabbaths, from the day on which you bring the sheaf of the addition, you shall count off seven whole weeks.” (Leviticus 23:15 NETS)
Staggered by the implications of that I checked another English translation of the Septuagint, this time in Charles Thomson’s English Translation of the Septuagint, which says…
That from the morrow of these Sabbaths – from the day on Avhich you offer up the dedicated sheaf, you shall reckon for yourselves seven whole weeks, even till the morrow after the last week…” (Leviticus 23:15 Charles Thomson’s English Translation of the Septuagint)
That really excited me! Did you catch it? According to these two English translations of the Greek Septuagint, the oldest translation of the Hebrew TaNaK, older than any existing Hebrew manuscript today, refers to the 15th Day of the 1st Month as ‘sabbaths’!!! It can’t be referring to the 14th and 15th for the 14th is the Preparation Day, the 6th Day of the week, its a workday! For these two translations of the Septuagint to refer to the 15th of the 1st Month as ‘sabbaths’ means that ‘every year’ the 15th Day of the 1st Month plays a dual role as the weekly Sabbath and the Annual High Sabbath of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The only calendar that this is possible on is the Lunar Sabbath Calendar!!! This is exactly what we’re told in John 19:31…
“The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, (for that Sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.” (John 19:31 KJV)
Obviously if you’re going to get the count to Shavuot right you first have to get the date for the Wave Sheaf offering right. But there is more to the equation than that! Tradition has it that Moses received The 10 Words Covenant written on two tablets of stone on Shavuot. Unfortunately tradition also has it that Shavuot falls on the 6th Day of the 3rd Month. Again the WCG debated this issue hotly, and again it resulted in splits. But rather than getting bogged down with the WCG let’s do some math. In the Exodus account recorded in chapter 12 we’re told that Israel plundered the Egyptians prior to leaving Egypt. Exodus 12:35-37 tells us…
And the children of Yisra’el had done according to the word of Mosheh, and they had asked from the Mitsrites objects of silver, and objects of gold, and garments. And YHWH gave the people favour in the eyes of the Mitsrites, so that they gave them what they asked, and they plundered the Mitsrites. And the children of Yisra’el set out from Ra`meses to Sukkoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides the little ones. (Exodus 12:35-37 Scriptures ’98)
This is confirmed, with the additional information as to when they left Ra`meses, in Numbers 33:3.
So they departed from Ra`meses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month, on the morrow of the Passover the children of Yisra’el went out with boldness before the eyes of all the Mitsrites, and the Mitsrites were burying all their first-born, whom YHWH had smitten among them. Also on their mighty ones YHWH had executed judgments. (Numbers 33:3-4 Scriptures ’98)
So we have every reason to think we know when Moses and the Israelites left Egypt. Going back to Exodus 19 we’re then told when Moses and the Israelites arrived at Mount Sinai.
In the third month after the children of Yisra’el had come out of the land of Mitsrayim, on this day they came to the Wilderness of Sinai. For they set out from Rephidim, and had come to the Wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness. So Yisra’el camped there before the mountain. (Exodus 19:1-2 Scriptures ’98)
Two months after leaving Egypt Moses and Israel arrive at Mount Sinai; they left Egypt early in the night on the 15th Day of the 1st Month and arrived at Mount Sinai on the 15th Day of the 3rd Month. We’re then told that Moses ascended Mount Sinai and YHWH spoke to Moses from the mountain.
And Mosheh went up to Elohim, and YHWH called to him from the mountain, saying, “This is what you are to say to the house of Ya`aqob, and declare to the children of Yisra’el: (Exodus 19:3 Scriptures ’98)
Moses then takes the message given to him by YHWH and descends the mountain to deliver the message to the Israelites.
And Mosheh came and called for the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which YHWH commanded him. (Exodus 19:7 Scriptures ’98)
If Moses and Israel arrived at Mount Sinai on the 15th Day of the 3rd Month, then this event takes place on the 16th Day of the 3rd Month, the day after they arrived at the mountain.
Then, Moses goes right back up the mountain.
And all the people answered together and said, “All that YHWH has spoken we shall do.” So Mosheh brought back the words of the people to YHWH. And YHWH said to Mosheh, “See, I am coming to you in the thick cloud, so that the people hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever.” And Mosheh reported the words of the people to YHWH. (Exodus 19:8-9 Scriptures ’98)
At the same time Moses is instructed to prepare the people for a visitation from YHWH on the third day.
And YHWH said to Mosheh, “Go to the people and set them apart today and tomorrow. And they shall wash their garments, and shall be prepared by the third day. For on the third day YHWH shall come down upon Mount Sinai before the eyes of all the people. (Exodus 19:10-11 Scriptures ’98)
And Mosheh came down from the mountain to the people and set the people apart, and they washed their garments. And he said to the people, “Be prepared by the third day. Do not come near a wife.” And it came to be, on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain. And the sound of the ram’s horn was very loud, and all the people who were in the camp trembled. (Exodus 19:14-16 Scriptures ’98)
Still on the third day...
And YHWH came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And YHWH called Mosheh to the top of the mountain, and Mosheh went up. And YHWH said to Mosheh, “Go down, and warn the people, lest they break through unto YHWH to see, and many of them fall. “And let the priests who come near YHWH set themselves apart too lest YHWH break out against them.” And Mosheh said to YHWH, “The people are not able to come up to Mount Sinai, for You warned us, saying, ‘Make a border around the mountain and set it apart.’” And YHWH said to him, “Come, go down and then come up, you and Aharon with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to YHWH, lest He break out against them.” And Mosheh went down to the people and spoke to them. (Exodus 19:20-25 Scriptures ’98)
So we add 3 more days to our count, the 16th, 17th and 18th of the 3rd Month.
After YHWH thunders The 10 Words Covenant from the midst of the cloud on Mount Sinai he tells Moses to once again ascend the mountain.
And to Mosheh He said, “Come up to YHWH, you Aharon, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Yisra’el, and you shall bow yourselves from a distance. But Mosheh shall draw near to YHWH by himself, and let them not draw near, nor let the people go up with him.” (Exodus 24:1-2 Scriptures ’98)
This commandment to Moses to come up the mountain comes on the third day, which was the day of visitation on the 18th Day of the 3rd Month. But it is not until the next day, after Moses and Israel has entered into the covenant, that Moses, Aharon, Nadab, Abihu and the seventy elders ascend the mountain as commanded.
And Mosheh wrote down all the Words of YHWH, and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve standing columns for the twelve tribes of Yisra’el. (Exodus 24:4 Scriptures ’98)
And Mosheh went up, also Aharon, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Yisra’el, and they saw the Elohim of Yisra’el, and under His feet like a paved work of sapphire stone, and like the heavens for brightness. Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the chiefs of the children of Yisra’el! And they saw Elohim, and they ate and drank. And YHWH said to Mosheh, “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there, while I give you tablets of stone, and the Torah and the command which I have written, to teach them.” And Mosheh arose with his assistant Yehoshua, and Mosheh went up to the mountain of Elohim. (Exodus 24:9-13 Scriptures ’98)
And Mosheh went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And it came to be that Mosheh was on the mountain forty days and forty nights. (Exodus 24:18 Scriptures ’98)
At the end of the 40 days on Mount Sinai Moses is left with this one last reminder from YHWH.
And YHWH spoke to Mosheh, saying, “And you, speak to the children of Yisra’el, saying, ‘My Sabbaths you are to guard, by all means, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, to know that I YHWH, am setting you apart. ‘And you shall guard the Sabbath, for it is set-apart to you. Everyone who profanes it shall certainly be put to death, for anyone who does work on it, that being shall be cut off from among his people. ‘Six days work is done, and on the seventh is a Sabbath of rest, set-apart to YHWH. Everyone doing work on the Sabbath day shall certainly be put to death. ‘And the children of Yisra’el shall guard the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant. ‘Between Me and the children of Yisra’el it is a sign forever. For in six days YHWH made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’” And when He had ended speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Mosheh two tablets of the Witness, tablets of stone, written with the finger of Elohim. (Exodus 31:12-18 Scriptures ’98)
Then comes trouble…
And when the people saw that Mosheh was so long in coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aharon, and said to him, “Arise, make us mighty ones who go before us. For this Mosheh, the man who brought us up out of the land of Mitsrayim, we do not know what has become of him.” And Aharon said to them, “Take off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” “And all the people took off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aharon. And he took this from their hand, and he formed it with an engraving tool, and made a moulded calf. And they said, “This is your mighty one, O Yisra’el, that brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim!” And Aharon saw and built an altar before it. And Aharon called out and said, “Tomorrow is a festival to YHWH.” And they rose early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. And YHWH said to Mosheh, “Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Mitsrayim have corrupted themselves. “They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a moulded calf, and have bowed themselves to it and slaughtered to it, and said, ‘This is your mighty one, O Yisra’el, who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim!’” And YHWH said to Mosheh, “I have seen this people, and see, it is a stiff-necked people! “And now, let Me alone, that My wrath might burn against them and I consume them and I make of you a great nation.” But Mosheh pleaded with YHWH his Elohim, and said, “YHWH, why does Your wrath burn against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Mitsrayim with great power and with a strong hand? “Why should the Mitsrites speak, and say, ‘For evil He brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from the heat of Your wrath, and relent from this evil to Your people. “Remember Abraham, Yitshaq, and Yisra’el, Your servants, to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I increase your seed like the stars of the heavens. And all this land that I have spoken of I give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.’” And YHWH relented from the evil which He said He would do to His people. And Mosheh turned and went down from the mountain, and in his hand were the two tablets of the Witness, tablets written on both their sides, written on the one and on the other. And the tablets were the work of Elohim, and the writing was the writing of Elohim engraved on the tablets. And Yehoshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted and he said to Mosheh, “A noise of battle in the camp!” But he said, “It is not the sound of those who shout of might, nor is it the sound of those who cry out in weakness, but the sound of singing that I hear.” And it came to be, as soon as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing. And Mosheh’s displeasure burned, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. (Exodus 32:1-19 Scriptures ’98)
It strikes me somewhat ironically that as I write this portion of the article it is the very day that Aharon proclaimed, “Tomorrow is a festival to YHWH.” So there you have it, Moses is on the mountain 40 Days and 40 Nights and descends the mountain carrying the tablets of stone with The 10 Words Covenant written on them only to find Aharon having proclaimed that day as a festival to YHWH!
If we add the 40 Days to our count beginning with the day after the 18th of the 3rd Month we will arrive at the 28th Day of the 4th Month.
Now then there are those two traditions that we need to consider. The first is that the day of Shavuot falls on the 6th Day of Sivan, the 3rd Month of the Jews. The second being that The 10 Words Covenant engraved on the tablets of stone were given to Moses on Shavuot. Can they both be true? The first tradition is a result of a 50-day count from the Wave Sheaf offering on the 16th Day of the 1st Month. The tradition is a result of a belief that Leviticus 23:15-16 is redundant when it speaks of ‘seven Sabbaths complete’ and counting 50 days. But if we simply look at the text we see that Moses and the Israelites hadn’t even arrived at Mount Sinai, where The 10 Words Covenant was given, until the 15th Day of the 3rd Month. That is 9 days after the traditional Jewish date of Shavuot on the 6th Day of the 3rd Month. It doesn't require a mathematician to realize the first tradition cannot be true, if indeed, Moses did receive The 10 Words Covenant on Shavuot. But… if you take the Leviticus 23:15-16 commandment for observing Shavuot literally and count ‘seven Sabbaths complete’ in the Lunar Sabbath sense of what that would mean ‘and then’ count 50 days you end up with exactly 103 days which lands on the 28th Day of 4th Month, the exact same day Moses was on the mountain and received The 10 Words Covenant which also just happens to be a day that Aharon and the Israelites are celebrating as a festival to YHWH! Coincidence? I don’t think so! Of the many strong arguments that can be made supporting Lunar Sabbath observance this is one of the strongest arguments for the Lunar Sabbath in my opinion and gives me great comfort in my decision to switch to Lunar Sabbath observance. This count can only be achieved according to the Lunar Sabbath method of reckoning time!
Let’s look at that Lunar Sabbath count.
The first thing a person must realize is that in Lunar Sabbath observance the 1st Day and the 30th Day of every month are not counted as week days, they are a third class of monthly days called ‘Chodesh’. The second thing a person must realize is that at the time of the Exodus out of Egypt all months were still 30-day months. Therefore when we count the days of the ‘seven Sabbaths complete’ portion of the commandment we end up on the 8th Day of the 3rd Month, which is always a Sabbath, but it is not a 49-day count. In this particular situation it will be 53 days because of the extra 2 days of ‘Chodesh’ between the 1st and 2nd Month and the 2nd and 3rd Month for a total of 4 extra days. (Today that count could total anywhere from 51 days to 53 days depending on the number of days of Chodesh between the 1st and 2nd Months and the 2nd and 3rd Months, nevertheless the count always ends on the 8th Day of the 3rd Month no matter what.) It is from the day after ‘the seventh Sabbath complete’, i.e. the 9th Day of the 3rd Month that we begin the 50-day count portion of the commandment. Counting 50 days forward from the 9th Day of the 3rd Month lands us on the 28th Day of the 4th Month! Back in the day when all months were 30 days long Shavuot always landed on the 28th Day of the 4th Month. Today, since the years are no longer 360 days and the months are no longer 30 days but 29.5 days long we then have alternating 29 and 30-day months. This means that on some years Shavuot will fall on the 28th Day of the 4th Month and on other years Shavuot will fall on the 29th Day of the 4th Month depending on whether there are one or two days of ‘Chodesh’ during the transition period between the 3rd and 4th Month. There is no room for doubt that Moses received The 10 Words Covenant written on tablets of stone on the 28th Day of the 4th Month, which just happened to also be Shavuot according to Lunar Sabbath reckoning! I’ll mark these important dates on the calendar I have made later in the article to help you see it for yourself as well as count it for yourself since that is what we’re actually supposed to be doing in the first place!
Just as an “Oh, by the way!” Shavuot is also an agricultural festival in that the first fruits of the wheat crop are offered. It is not until the latter half of the 4th Month that the Spring Wheat is ready for harvest! Go figure! We should have known for Yeshua said…
“Do you not say, ‘There are still four months, and the harvest comes’? See, I say to you, lift up your eyes and see the fields, for they are white for harvest – already!” (John 4:35 Scriptures ’98)
Here again, the Lunar Sabbath method of observance removes yet another chronological problem with the present day calendar by reconciling the Leviticus 23:15-16 commandment with a long standing tradition and the historical account recorded in Exodus of Moses receiving The 10 Words Covenant on two tablets of stone on Shavuot even as Aharon proclaims that day to be a festival unto YHWH, and the season in which the First Fruits of the Spring Wheat is finally ripe! HalleluYAH!
This has been Part 11 of the 17 Part series titled THE MASTER'S CLOCK! It is my sincere hope and prayer that in reading this series you'll be blessed with the revelation of Time According to the Author of Time! May your eyes be opened to The Creator's Cosmological Calendar!
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