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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 shows that the 50th day count to Pentecost “begins” the morrow “AFTER” the seventh Sabbath complete or from the 50th day after the wave sheaf, and therefore the 50th day after the WAVE SHEAF is NOT 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
XXX. (176) The “solemn assembly” on the occasion of the “festival” of the sheaf having such great privileges, is the “prelude” to “another” festival of still “greater importance”; for from “this day” the “fiftieth day” is reckoned, making up the sacred number of seven sevens, with the addition of a “unit” as a seal to the whole; and this festival, being that of the first fruits of the corn, has derived its name of Pentecost from the number of “fifty,”
From the above we see they kept the 16th of the 1st month as a feast and solemn assembly when they waved the sheaf and it was called a “prelude” or introduction to “ANOTHER” feast that was “more important” than the “first” feast/16th that was held on the 16th ( Why?) because it was from “this feast” that the 50th day is reckoned which consists of seven sevens plus one which equals 50 which means Pentecost. (How much plainer can it get?????)
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”.
Now to show a living EXAMPLE where it was done as described above and where Pentecost was kept 50 days “after” the seventh Sabbath complete.
Quoting from Philo page 704, chapter eight (65) ON THE CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE V111 (65) we read about a group of Orthodox Jews called Therapeutae and Therapeutrides, Philo says, “they devoted their whole lives and themselves to the knowledge in contemplation of the affairs of nature in accordance with the most sacred admonitions and “precepts of the Prophet Moses.” V111 (64) after saying this he continues by saying,
“(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,”
We have went from the wave sheaf feast that was on the 16th of Aviv to a “greater feast” that was on the morrow AFTER the 7th Sabbath complete to the “GREAST” feast/Pentecost.
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.
This “prelude” and a kind of “fore feast” is speaking of the morrow “after” the seventh Sabbath complete, it is “not” Pentecost which takes place 50 days from “it”. This forefeast was not Pentecost it is the feast that people are keeping for Pentecost today but in our Saviour's time these Orthodox Jews kept it as a prelude to the greatest feast/Pentecost which took place on the 50th day from their.
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 prelude and 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,
“The “festival” of the sheaf, which has all these grounds of precedence, indicated in the Law, is also in fact, anticipatory of another “greater feast” For it is “from it” that the 50th day is reckoned, by counting seven sevens, which are then “crowned” with the “sacred number” by the monad, which is spent in corporal image of YHWH,”
In speaking of the “greater feast”, Philo says, “for it is “from it” that the 50th day is reckoned,” (how is the reckoned???? by counting seven sevens, which are then crowned with the sacred number by the monad/one which is spent in the corporal image of YHWH. How much plainer could Philo have made it?
The morrow after the 7th Sabbath, is the feast of greater importance than the 16th or wave sheaf that Philo spoke of because it is a prelude or kind of forfeast to the GREATEST feast i.e. Pentecost. Same as the 16th or wave sheaf was a prelude to the 2nd feast or morrow after the seventh Sabbath.
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
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DOING THE MATH MATHEMATICALLY PROVES PAUL KEPT PENTECOST BEYOND THE TRADITIONAL 50 DAY COUNT TO PENTECOST IN THE THIRD MONTH 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 1075 mi. from Philippi to Jerusalem and Paul has 50 days to be at the end of the 1075 mi. journey but he only has 18 days or less in which to travel the 1075 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. 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 1075mi. Can it be done? When you divided 18 days into 1075 miles you quickly see they would have had to average approximately 60 miles per day and about 140 of these miles were across land and where traveled on foot. i.e. After they landed in Tyre, it was about 30 mi. from Tyre to Ptolemais and about 40mi. from Ptolemais to Caesarea and about 70 mi. from Caesarea to Jerusalem, totaling 140 mi. Did he accomplish the 60 mi. per day average? 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 1075 mi., I will explain the or less later. Counting 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 30 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 show the impossibility of a third month Pentecost. The reason I say this 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. One Brother tried to claim that we should understand the many days as seven days, which still would 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. One thing we know for sure, and that is that he remembered it was MANY DAYS, he did remember that. I think I am being more than generous by saying eight 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 they tarried 14 days as one commentary suggests, that would take six more days off of the 18 travel days, leaving only 12 days to travel 1075 mi. that would be about 90 mi. a day, making 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. Here's the quote from It would only seem strange to someone who has 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, 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 same commentary goes on to say, "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 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." We have shown from Scripture the nontravel days, not even counting the 7 weekly Sabbath no travel days, we will now look at the miles they traveled during these 18 traveling days. Then from Mitylene to Chios which appears to be about 80 mi. totals 275 mi. and eight traveling days. Then from Chios to Samos which is about 50 mi. totals 325 mi. and nine travel days. Then from Samos to Miletus which is about 30 mi. totaling 355 mi. and 10 traveling days. Then from Miletus to Coos which is about 60 mi. totaling 415 mi. and 11 travel days. Then from Coos to Rhodes which is about 50 mi. totaling 465 mi. and 12 travel days. Then from Rhodes to Patara appears to be about 75 mi. totaling 540 mi. and 13 travel days. We now have only five travel days remaining in which to travel the remaining 535 mi. and approximately 135 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 135 days on foot.
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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 which 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 535 mi. and 135 or 140 of these miles will be by foot. How do we handle this, assuming I am correct in my count? It would take over five days on foot just to travel the 140 mi. and you still have the 400 mi. trip by ship that we did not deal with above. Using the above figures he can do the math and see how long it took them to travel the 140 mi. The history I read shows ship sailed within sight of land and could easily pull into a town or village for the 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 1075 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. 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. 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 1075 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 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: The great crowds spoken of here could be referring to where The Elders says that 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 PURIFY themselves" 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. Brother Arnold
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