In 7 days a very important date is coming up on the Calendar of Scripture (that is the calendar that the Bible was using from Genesis through Revelation). No one is using it any more. I make my own copy of this calendar and make use of it. In 7 days on Gregory’s calendar it will be Thursday June 5, 2014. On the Calendar of Scripture it will be Sunday Siwan 9 (this is not a Jewish calendar, nor do the dates coincide with the Jewish calendar). This is the Biblical day of Firstfruits, aka Feast of Weeks, aka the Feast of Harvest. It is also known as Shavuot for the Jews and Pentecost for Christians. And because of this it is a good time to discuss the meaning of “Seven Perfect Weeks”.
Seven Perfect Sabbaths
1.a. What are seven perfect or complete sabbaths? We find this reference given in Leviticus 23:15 KJV, "And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete." In Jay P. Green Sr.’s Interlinear Bible (TIB), a translation taken from the Masoretic Text, the wording is a little different. Leviticus 23:15 TIB, "And you shall number to you from the next day after the sabbath, from the day you bring in the sheaf of the wave offering; they shall be seven perfect sabbaths[.]" Young's Literal Translation also uses the wording of "seven perfect sabbaths".
1.b. We know what seven means. We know that sabbath means a holy day. In the context used in Leviticus 23:15 sabbath is referring to the seventh day of a seven day week. But what is a perfect sabbath? This is what I asked myself and the Holy Ghost when I read this passage. In this case it basically means the same thing as a perfect week. We all know that a week is a seven day period. In fact, any seven consecutive days can be referred to as a week. So, why does this verse add the adjective of perfect or complete? Obviously, a perfect week or a complete week means something different than a week. It must, because the meaning of week has been altered by the insertion of a defining adjective.
1.c. Verse 23:15 tells us that the count of seven perfect sabbaths must begin on a Sunday. So, at the end of the first week, when we arrive at the first perfect sabbath day we have completed a perfect week. We know that we have completed a week, but how do we know that we have completed a perfect week? We know this because verse 15 tells us that we have. Verse 15 requires that we count seven sabbaths to reach seven perfect sabbaths, obviously counting our way to the first of these seven sabbaths completes the first perfect week.
1.d. But this analyzing begs the question: Why are we not instructed to count 49 days? The answer is because 49 days and seven perfect weeks do not bring us to the same calendar date in the future. A week is seven consecutive days. A perfect week must begin on a Sunday and end on a Saturday/sabbath. If we count seven perfect weeks beginning on the morrow after the sabbath, which verse 23:15 tells us to do, then our count obviously begins on a Sunday. And from that point in time, after one has counted seven weekly sabbath days, then we have completed our count of seven perfect sabbaths. That means we have also counted seven perfect weeks. With seven days in each week that means we have accumulated 49 days. But these seven perfect weeks have taken us more than 49 days into the future. Why is this?
1.e. Please refer to our teaching on the Calendar of Scripture. In the Calendar of Scripture there are one or two new moon days each month. New moon days are never part of a week, but they are part of a month. If the instructions in verse 23:15 told us to count 49 days into the future, then new moon days would be counted just the same as all the other days. But if we count seven perfect sabbaths, that means we skip and do not count new moon days because they are not part of a perfect week. Counting seven perfect sabbaths can possibly take us into the future 51 to 53 days. At the end of our counting we must land on a weekly sabbath day. If we were counting 49 days instead of seven perfect weeks, at the end of our counting we would never land on a weekly Sabbath; because our Sunday through Saturday/sabbath cycle would be broken by adding new moon days into the count.
2.a. When is the Feast of Weeks? Leviticus 23:16 KJV, "Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto [Yahowah]." By following the instructions in Leviticus 23:15-16 one can determine when to start the count of the seven perfect sabbaths to reach the first day of the Feast of Weeks, which is also known as the Day of Firstfruits, which is also known as the Feast of Harvest. The count begins on the second day of the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread which is Sunday Abib 16. The Feast of Weeks begins after the seventh perfect sabbath (7 weeks of 7 days each total 49 days) then a fiftieth day is added. On the Calendar of Scripture this is Sunday Siwan 9. In other words the count starts on Sunday Abib 16 and ends on Sunday Siwan 9. This time span is seven perfect weeks plus one day. Counting seven perfect weeks then adding a day is not the same as counting 50 days, as explained above in paragraph 1e.
2.b. Some mistakenly teach that after counting seven perfect sabbaths that they then must count fifty more days into the future. They have failed to interpret the instructions correctly. Also, they have failed to consider 2 Chronicles 31:5-7 KJV, "5 And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly. 6 And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto [Yahowah] their God, and laid them by heaps. 7 In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month." 2 Chronicles 31:7 points to the firstfruits being brought in during the third month (Sivan/Siwan). If one begins counting the seven perfect sabbaths on the sixteenth day of the first month, then the Day of Firstfruits will land in the third month of Siwan. Adding fifty days to your count at the end of counting seven complete Sabbaths will take you beyond the month of Siwan and be in conflict with the teaching of 2 Chronicles 31:7.
3. Deuteronomy 16:9 KJV, "Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn." Is the sickle put to the corn on a sabbath? No, this would be breaking the law of the sabbath. Therefore, this Scripture supports the idea that the numbering of the seven complete sabbaths begins on "the morrow after the sabbath" according to Leviticus 23:15, which is the first day of the week, and which is the sixteenth day of the first month (Sunday Abib 16).
4.a. Where does this information help us in the New Testament? It helps us to properly determine the chronology of events during crucifixion week.
4.b. Matthew 28:1 is a key verse showing part of the chronology of events during and after the crucifixion. Most Bibles do not give us the full translation of this verse. I will list a few examples here.
Matthew 28:1 KJV, “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 NIV, “After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.”
Matthew 28:1 RSV, “Now after the sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Mag′dalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulchre.”
Matthew 28:1 ESV, “Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.”
These four translations are fairly consistent with one another: “…after the sabbath, at dawn on the first of the week…”.
4.c. The Textus Receptus gives the full translation, not a partial one. Matthew 28:1 TIB, “After the sabbaths, at the dawning into the first of the Sabbaths, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the grave."
Does you see the differences?
(1) Sabbath is used once and it is singular in the four translations, but it is used twice and both usages are plural in the Textus Receptus.
(2) “The first of the week” is used in the four translations, but “first of the Sabbaths” is used in the Textus Receptus. “The first of the week” means that it is Sunday after the resurrection. This abbreviated translation is correct, but it is far from the whole story.
4.d. Why should the sabbaths be plural, why is not a singular sabbath okay? The sabbaths are plural because there is more than one sabbath in both usages. The first usage is “after the sabbaths”. This begs the question, how many sabbaths are being addressed here and what are their names?
(1) The first sabbath was Friday Abib 14, the single day of Passover.
(2) The second sabbath was Saturday Abib 15. This was both a weekly sabbath and an annual sabbath. It is the first day of the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
4.e. “At the dawning into the first of the sabbaths” refers to seven sabbaths. The day the Marys arrived at the tomb was Sunday Abib 16. This day is the first day of the first week of the seven perfect weeks that need to be counted in order to reach the Day of Firstfruits, aka the Feast of Weeks, aka the Feast of Harvest. The 50th day also has two other names.
4.f. Counting seven perfect weeks and adding a fiftieth day, brings us to Siwan 9 (but not on the current Rabbinical Jewish calendar). This is the day of Shavuot for the Jews and it is the day of Pentecost for Christians. This is a very important day, and God gave us a very specific formula to use to count our way there on the Calendar of Scripture. A calendar that no one is using any more. When did God tells us to start using calendars invented by men? He never did. His calendar was in use in Genesis and during crucifixion week and all the way through the Book of Revelation. Even though men stopped using it, I see no evidence that God has stopped using it.
5.a. Further explanations will be helpful for those with eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to believe. Why is all of this so important?
5.b. Sometimes we can discern the importance of a matter when we see the enemy of our souls so hard at work to distort and hide the matter from us. I have shown you three NWO (New World Order) translations - NIV, RSV, and ESV - that hide and obscure the true translation of Matthew 28:1, and so does the KJV.
(1) These four translations do not allow you to apply God’s formula for counting the days to Pentecost. (Request our teaching “The Calendar of Scripture”).
(2) These four translations do not allow you to discern the holy days, two sabbaths, in which our God and Savior was in the heart of the earth after His crucifixion. (Request our teaching “Crucifixion Week and the Harmony of the Gospels”).
(3) Three of these translations (not the KJV) have severely attempted to obscure the Biblical doctrine that a day begins at sunrise. (Request our teaching on “A Day Begins At Sunrise”).
(4) Three of these translations (not the KJV) have severely attempted to obscure the Biblical doctrine that there is no afternoon in Biblical time keeping; and that “even/evening” in the Bible does not mean what evening means to us in modern society. The Biblical evening is the same as our modern day afternoon, after sundown it is not evening in the Bible it is night. (Request our teaching on “Between The Evenings”).
Rick
Seven Perfect Sabbaths
1.a. What are seven perfect or complete sabbaths? We find this reference given in Leviticus 23:15 KJV, "And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete." In Jay P. Green Sr.’s Interlinear Bible (TIB), a translation taken from the Masoretic Text, the wording is a little different. Leviticus 23:15 TIB, "And you shall number to you from the next day after the sabbath, from the day you bring in the sheaf of the wave offering; they shall be seven perfect sabbaths[.]" Young's Literal Translation also uses the wording of "seven perfect sabbaths".
1.b. We know what seven means. We know that sabbath means a holy day. In the context used in Leviticus 23:15 sabbath is referring to the seventh day of a seven day week. But what is a perfect sabbath? This is what I asked myself and the Holy Ghost when I read this passage. In this case it basically means the same thing as a perfect week. We all know that a week is a seven day period. In fact, any seven consecutive days can be referred to as a week. So, why does this verse add the adjective of perfect or complete? Obviously, a perfect week or a complete week means something different than a week. It must, because the meaning of week has been altered by the insertion of a defining adjective.
1.c. Verse 23:15 tells us that the count of seven perfect sabbaths must begin on a Sunday. So, at the end of the first week, when we arrive at the first perfect sabbath day we have completed a perfect week. We know that we have completed a week, but how do we know that we have completed a perfect week? We know this because verse 15 tells us that we have. Verse 15 requires that we count seven sabbaths to reach seven perfect sabbaths, obviously counting our way to the first of these seven sabbaths completes the first perfect week.
1.d. But this analyzing begs the question: Why are we not instructed to count 49 days? The answer is because 49 days and seven perfect weeks do not bring us to the same calendar date in the future. A week is seven consecutive days. A perfect week must begin on a Sunday and end on a Saturday/sabbath. If we count seven perfect weeks beginning on the morrow after the sabbath, which verse 23:15 tells us to do, then our count obviously begins on a Sunday. And from that point in time, after one has counted seven weekly sabbath days, then we have completed our count of seven perfect sabbaths. That means we have also counted seven perfect weeks. With seven days in each week that means we have accumulated 49 days. But these seven perfect weeks have taken us more than 49 days into the future. Why is this?
1.e. Please refer to our teaching on the Calendar of Scripture. In the Calendar of Scripture there are one or two new moon days each month. New moon days are never part of a week, but they are part of a month. If the instructions in verse 23:15 told us to count 49 days into the future, then new moon days would be counted just the same as all the other days. But if we count seven perfect sabbaths, that means we skip and do not count new moon days because they are not part of a perfect week. Counting seven perfect sabbaths can possibly take us into the future 51 to 53 days. At the end of our counting we must land on a weekly sabbath day. If we were counting 49 days instead of seven perfect weeks, at the end of our counting we would never land on a weekly Sabbath; because our Sunday through Saturday/sabbath cycle would be broken by adding new moon days into the count.
2.a. When is the Feast of Weeks? Leviticus 23:16 KJV, "Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto [Yahowah]." By following the instructions in Leviticus 23:15-16 one can determine when to start the count of the seven perfect sabbaths to reach the first day of the Feast of Weeks, which is also known as the Day of Firstfruits, which is also known as the Feast of Harvest. The count begins on the second day of the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread which is Sunday Abib 16. The Feast of Weeks begins after the seventh perfect sabbath (7 weeks of 7 days each total 49 days) then a fiftieth day is added. On the Calendar of Scripture this is Sunday Siwan 9. In other words the count starts on Sunday Abib 16 and ends on Sunday Siwan 9. This time span is seven perfect weeks plus one day. Counting seven perfect weeks then adding a day is not the same as counting 50 days, as explained above in paragraph 1e.
2.b. Some mistakenly teach that after counting seven perfect sabbaths that they then must count fifty more days into the future. They have failed to interpret the instructions correctly. Also, they have failed to consider 2 Chronicles 31:5-7 KJV, "5 And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly. 6 And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto [Yahowah] their God, and laid them by heaps. 7 In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month." 2 Chronicles 31:7 points to the firstfruits being brought in during the third month (Sivan/Siwan). If one begins counting the seven perfect sabbaths on the sixteenth day of the first month, then the Day of Firstfruits will land in the third month of Siwan. Adding fifty days to your count at the end of counting seven complete Sabbaths will take you beyond the month of Siwan and be in conflict with the teaching of 2 Chronicles 31:7.
3. Deuteronomy 16:9 KJV, "Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn." Is the sickle put to the corn on a sabbath? No, this would be breaking the law of the sabbath. Therefore, this Scripture supports the idea that the numbering of the seven complete sabbaths begins on "the morrow after the sabbath" according to Leviticus 23:15, which is the first day of the week, and which is the sixteenth day of the first month (Sunday Abib 16).
4.a. Where does this information help us in the New Testament? It helps us to properly determine the chronology of events during crucifixion week.
4.b. Matthew 28:1 is a key verse showing part of the chronology of events during and after the crucifixion. Most Bibles do not give us the full translation of this verse. I will list a few examples here.
Matthew 28:1 KJV, “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 NIV, “After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.”
Matthew 28:1 RSV, “Now after the sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Mag′dalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulchre.”
Matthew 28:1 ESV, “Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.”
These four translations are fairly consistent with one another: “…after the sabbath, at dawn on the first of the week…”.
4.c. The Textus Receptus gives the full translation, not a partial one. Matthew 28:1 TIB, “After the sabbaths, at the dawning into the first of the Sabbaths, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the grave."
Does you see the differences?
(1) Sabbath is used once and it is singular in the four translations, but it is used twice and both usages are plural in the Textus Receptus.
(2) “The first of the week” is used in the four translations, but “first of the Sabbaths” is used in the Textus Receptus. “The first of the week” means that it is Sunday after the resurrection. This abbreviated translation is correct, but it is far from the whole story.
4.d. Why should the sabbaths be plural, why is not a singular sabbath okay? The sabbaths are plural because there is more than one sabbath in both usages. The first usage is “after the sabbaths”. This begs the question, how many sabbaths are being addressed here and what are their names?
(1) The first sabbath was Friday Abib 14, the single day of Passover.
(2) The second sabbath was Saturday Abib 15. This was both a weekly sabbath and an annual sabbath. It is the first day of the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
4.e. “At the dawning into the first of the sabbaths” refers to seven sabbaths. The day the Marys arrived at the tomb was Sunday Abib 16. This day is the first day of the first week of the seven perfect weeks that need to be counted in order to reach the Day of Firstfruits, aka the Feast of Weeks, aka the Feast of Harvest. The 50th day also has two other names.
4.f. Counting seven perfect weeks and adding a fiftieth day, brings us to Siwan 9 (but not on the current Rabbinical Jewish calendar). This is the day of Shavuot for the Jews and it is the day of Pentecost for Christians. This is a very important day, and God gave us a very specific formula to use to count our way there on the Calendar of Scripture. A calendar that no one is using any more. When did God tells us to start using calendars invented by men? He never did. His calendar was in use in Genesis and during crucifixion week and all the way through the Book of Revelation. Even though men stopped using it, I see no evidence that God has stopped using it.
5.a. Further explanations will be helpful for those with eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to believe. Why is all of this so important?
5.b. Sometimes we can discern the importance of a matter when we see the enemy of our souls so hard at work to distort and hide the matter from us. I have shown you three NWO (New World Order) translations - NIV, RSV, and ESV - that hide and obscure the true translation of Matthew 28:1, and so does the KJV.
(1) These four translations do not allow you to apply God’s formula for counting the days to Pentecost. (Request our teaching “The Calendar of Scripture”).
(2) These four translations do not allow you to discern the holy days, two sabbaths, in which our God and Savior was in the heart of the earth after His crucifixion. (Request our teaching “Crucifixion Week and the Harmony of the Gospels”).
(3) Three of these translations (not the KJV) have severely attempted to obscure the Biblical doctrine that a day begins at sunrise. (Request our teaching on “A Day Begins At Sunrise”).
(4) Three of these translations (not the KJV) have severely attempted to obscure the Biblical doctrine that there is no afternoon in Biblical time keeping; and that “even/evening” in the Bible does not mean what evening means to us in modern society. The Biblical evening is the same as our modern day afternoon, after sundown it is not evening in the Bible it is night. (Request our teaching on “Between The Evenings”).
Rick
