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Volume 14, Number 1, September-October 2010
Catholics Struggle with Resurrection
Teaching Letter:
[no
date] Recently, I sat in a Catholic prayer meeting while a self-confessed
rebel priest tried to explain the “mystery” of the resurrection. In other
words, a resurrection from life to life makes no sense. Two people
immediately got up and contradicted him, proclaiming the immortal soul. Later on, I thought of the verse, “the soul that sins shall die” (Ezk
18:4), but I also thought of the wineskins bursting. Sometimes I wonder if
there is a point in trying to pass on true doctrine. People have been
martyred over just this kind of thing. I hope it isn’t too cold for you there
and that things are working out. Sincerely, —Ray Chandler Response:
We
must realize that there are people in religions everywhere who are seeking
God from His word. A friend of mine had once attended a funeral conducted by
two Catholic priests. The priests explained in detail how the man was dead
and awaiting a resurrection. My friend spoke with them afterward, exclaiming,
“your church doesn’t teach that—you teach that they are either in heaven,
hell or purgatory.” They replied, “yes, that is the teaching for the masses,
but there are those of us who study the Bible and we know”. Christ clearly
taught that truth brought freedom (Jon When people
literally go to war, or cast someone out of their church over doctrinal
heresy, it is not usually because they really want to protect the other
person from the “false doctrine” that he believes. If the doctrine were that
bad, why don’t they just let the other person believe his “false doctrine”
and suffer the horrific consequences of it as punishment? The reason they
want to persecute the one with different doctrines is because they tie their
own salvation to having all true doctrines. To see someone else with
different beliefs, especially doing good Christian works, is upsetting to
their own religion’s foundations. So they fight to prove themselves right! —NSE Likes Feast & SN Letter:
Dear Norman, Just wanted you to know that we were spiritually
blessed to attend the 2009 Feast of Tabernacles at Grizzly Jack’s Resort in We also receive the Servants’ News. Your
articles about “What is True Forgiveness” and “Faith to Face the Future” is
what we need to help us not to fear but to draw closer to God as we see the
time of the end approaching. Included is an offering of [amount deleted] to help
with your ministry. Sincerely, —
Mr-Mrs Ralph Stark, Response: I found it to be
an excellent Feast site as well. The programs are good, but it also provides
a wonderful place for like-minded believers to meet together. Thank you for
encouraging our ministry as well!. —NSE Proclaiming Biblical Feast Days Letter:
Hi Norman, Thanks for the update. I’m going to the Feast with a group in Question: (not trying to start an argument) Just something to think
about. How is it that that the Feast of Trumpets is Sept. 9th? The Scriptures
say to keep the Feasts in their SEASONS. (Spring and Fall) The first day of
the 7th month is Sept. 22. Moving the Feast Days up and down the calendar out
of season is not sound doctrine, is it? Be Blessed, —Mike Response: Thanks for the
letter. There is a short answer to this. Your reference to “in their seasons”
is probably from this verse: These
are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim
in their seasons (Lev 23:4, KJV). Many people take
this to mean the Feast days need to be observed during certain seasons.
However, if one looks at the Hebrew, or a more accurate translation, there is
no word in this scripture meaning “season of the year” or “spring, summer,
fall or winter”, Both the word for “feasts” and for “seasons” are from the
same Hebrew word, moed. The CSB more accurately translates it: “These
are the LORD’s appointed times, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at
their appointed times” (Lev 23:4, CSB).. The verse does not
really say when to proclaim them, but states that they should be proclaimed
when they are kept. Leviticus 23:2 and 37 also command these days to be
proclaimed. This means that one calls others to them, invites them, lets them
know. The command to proclaim is clear—and most people have done a fairly
good job of this. We do find out
more about when, in general, to proclaim the feasts in verses like this one: “Celebrate
the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast
of Ingathering at the turn of the year” (Ex 34:22, NIV). The words “turn of
the year” are translated from the Hebrew tequwphah {tek-oo-faw’} (Strong’s # 8622). The best research I have
read says that it refers to the equinoxes and solstices, in this case the
first day of fall. It mentions the Feast of Tabernacles as being at the “turn
of the year”, not the Feast of Trumpets. With the present Jewish calendar,
the Feast of Tabernacles is almost always after the first day of fall. Even
so, neither this verse nor any other clearly says that the Feast Days must
come after a certain equinox. Clearly the Feast of Weeks must come with the
wheat harvest, so we know that must be early summer. Other clues to Feast
timing are elsewhere in the Bible. The Bible contains
enough clear commands that I struggle with, causing me not to be overly
concerned about the things that are unclear or not even commanded in
Scripture. We do proclaim the Feast Days we observe as commanded in
Scripture, and I hope you do the same. If I felt I could be of greatest
service to my family and fellow believers by attending the Feast you attend,
I certainly would do it at the time you proclaimed it. What are the big
commandments that I struggle with? Ones like this: “This
is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater
love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends “
(John —NSE All Men Created Equal? Letter:
Hey Norman! What does it mean when scripture says, “All men are
created equal”? — [name
withheld] Actually that is
not in the scripture, but in the U.S. Constitution: We
hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among
these are Life, Some people teach
that some races did not descend from Adam or that some races are superior to
others when it comes to salvation. I think that is an evil teaching. Here are
the scriptures that show it to be false: Gen Acts Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one
in Christ Jesus. God does choose
nations and individuals for specific purposes at times, but there is no class
of people that are innately superior to any other. —NSE Keep Going Through Trial Letter:
Hello Norm, Thank you for the latest Servants’ News. I have
a new address: [address omitted] From the information I have received from various
people, particularly Laura Lee, I know you have come through an extreme
trial. Congratulations on your endurance and holding everything together. Take care, — Wily Elder, Response: Thank you. It has
been quite a trial. But it is in trials that we grow. Most the stories of the
Bible are about trials that believers went through. There just are not many
Bible stories of believers who had a nice job, a nice marriage, nice
neighbors and lived in that condition until their peaceful death. The difficult
thing is that not many brethren seem to understand that. Most people take the
approach that if we are struggling it is because we are doing something wrong
or because God is not in this. Over time I have learned not to worry about
this either. There are plenty of trials to go around and God will certainly
allow the nay-sayers —NSE Don’t Want Denomination Letter:
Servants’ News, I was raised and baptized as a Catholic, I no longer
practice the Catholic Faith. I belong to no religious group (denomination). I
believe in the god almighty and his son, our lord Jesus Christ and the holy
spirit. I believe that the Bible was inspired by god and I believe in
following the ten commandments. My purpose in life is to serve God and become
one of his chosen children and live forever in his kingdom as part of his
family. I want to become a true Christian and find the true church of god. Response:
I
consider what you have written to be a very sound doctrinal statement. When
people try to write much more extensive ones, in their efforts to try to be
clear, they end up putting in their own ideas. Do not look for a denomination
to join—that is not the church. However, there may be many true brethren in
denominations—they are just in error on that point. (Revelation 2 & 3
shows that the church has errors.) “By
this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one
another” (John If
someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who
does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has
not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must
love his brother also (1Jo A church should be
a place where you can edify others and be edified yourself (1Co There is a
long-time Servants’ News reader in Another person in I am by no means
trying to say that these are the only Christians in —NSE Repent For The Letter:
Peace be unto you! Hear this, all ye people, give ear, all ye inhabitants
of the world (Ps. 49:1). I heard the voice of the Lord God Almighty saying unto
me: “Tell all my people to repent and I will forgive all their sins” Thus
saith the Lord God Almighty. And that repentance and remission of sins shall be
preached in His name in all the world for a witness unto all nations and then
the end shall come (Matt 24:14). He that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit saith
unto the churches (Rev 2:7) — The voice of the Lord God Almighty Church of the Holy Spirit Healing Miracle Sec. Reg. Nos. 200626392 Purok 11, Tupi holyspirithealingmiracle@yahoo.com +639093052783 +639104991305 +639293968970
+639185251027 Response: I accept that this
is a message from God as it is almost completely composed of Scripture.
People, churches and nations all need confess their sins and repent of them.
This is more important than all of the political, military and doctrinal
manueverings that we do in a n effort to protect ourselves. Since I received
identical letters both to Servants’ News and PABC, I would guess you
are sending this letter to many groups. May the Eternal bless it. Even though
you provided a lot of contact information, our experience has shown that you
may not receive much communication and support. Admonishing people to repent
has never been very popular. The prophets of the Old Testament and our
Messiah himself did not build a large following during their earthly
ministry. But the fruit of their work was good. And
let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we
do not lose heart (Gal 6:9 ). —NSE Needs Sabbatarian or Sacred Name Guitar
Music Letter:
[relevant excerpts of this letter] I have a small
request of you if possible? I’ve been fellowshipping here on Sabbath’s with
the Seventh-Day Adventists and for our worship music we’ve been using the
Protestant song book which a lot of the music reflects erroneous doctrine as
you know. I’ve got a Sacred name song book that I tried to introduce, and
most of the guys were ignorant of the Name and used the excuse that they
didn’t know how to read “piano” sheet music. Do you guys have a song book
with songs about the Sabbath and other true doctrines that have “guitar”
sheet music? If so, could you
make a few copies of some select songs and send them to me? I’d really appreciate
it! Thanks in advance,
and may Yahuah continue to bless you all at PABC. — John Joseph
Adkins #B-235577 Kinross Correctional Facility, Response: We are sending you
a few songs that we have with the traditional sacred name in them. It is true
that there are less musicians that know how to read sheet music these days.
Both guitarists and many keyboard players just play from chord symbols. Those
symbols do not convey the melody—the player has to know it. (Our Father has
seen to it that a great many people are gifted with the ability to remember
thousands of melodies.) However, somebody who does not know a song cannot
learn it from just words and chord symbols. I do not know if music can be
delivered to prisons via tape, CD or download of some kind.. We hope some of
our readers, especially those who use the sacred name, will take it upon
themselves to send you some good songs with chord symbols and to possibly write
you and find if there is a way to get you a CD or other audio version so that
you can learn the melodies. We can assure our readers that you are good at
writing back! —NSE Sharing the Bible at a [Suzette wrote a letter asking for help in bringing
biblical truth to a large church’s prophecy meetings that she was attending.
That long letter is not printed here, but NSE’s response and then her
following letter and response are printed.] Response: May the Eternal
grant you wisdom and peace in dealing with the pastor. I can help you a
little. Here is an important scripture. Now John answered Him, saying, “Teacher, we saw
someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we
forbade him because he does not follow us. But Jesus said, “Do not forbid
him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil
of Me. For he who is not against us is on our side. For whoever gives you a cup
of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say
to you, he will by no means lose his reward. But whoever causes one of these
little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a
millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea” (Mark
9:38-42). From that time
until now, there have been people claiming to do the Eternal’s work, who are
not really follow the master. Some of them do good things “give cups of cold
water”, some of them do bad things “cause little ones to stumble”. We can end
up causing little ones’ to stumble if we make Christ appear divided
unnecessarily. That is not to say that we accept or practice their false
doctrines. Yahshuah spoke the
truth in saying: “He
who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters
abroad” (Matt But, he did not
give us the job of deciding who is gathering and who is scattering. Remember the
parable of the “good Samaritan”. (Luke 10:30-37). Yahshuah told the Samaritans
that they did not know what they worship (John As far a prophecy
is concerned, I have believed some different prophetic interpretations in my
life time, and all of them have turned out wrong. I would much rather work
with a group that claims that they don’t know when Messiah will return than
one who thinks they know and is wrong. Prophetic teachers almost always use a
lot of Scripture, so their writings sound “Scriptural”. But it is still their
interpretation of Scripture. In the past, God has shown me things I need to
do through other people or in occasional dreams. I trust our Father to
continue this. I think we need to read prophecy and know what it says, but it
is a mistake to get a group of people together and agree what it means, and
then base our actions on that human agreement. Before I can accept that
anybody has an understanding of biblical prophecy, I want to see a track
record: Read their old writings, see that what they said would come to pass
so far has happened, and also make sure they have not claimed things would
happened that did not. I never seen this happen. Usually prophetic teachers
that are specific just keep revising their predictions every few years. Anyway, may the
Eternal bless your meeting and may everyone be encouraged to study the Bible
more! —NSE Letter:
Norm,
what a wonderful and encouraging and wise reply. Thank you very much. Bless
Yah, He sends messages and gives me information through people like you! [Section about another prophetic teacher removed.] I did have the pastor [of the prophecy class] call
[me]. It went well, praise Yah. He was concerned that I would go in there with
my doctrines and have 30 people follow me out and “sit in my basement with a
bunch of candles to wait for Jesus”. I calmly (Praise Yah!) replied that I
hoped his opinion of my faith wasn’t that. That by no means are we a cult,
that we don’t even have a head minister or have a control factor where we all
must agree on every point. I believe Yah put some good words in my mouth, that
hopefully His words came out and not my own. I did get to explain some basics
because the pastor asked. Like that I don’t believe in eternal hell,... Response: I will jump in and
commend on each of your “basics”. Dispelling the “sinners eternally suffer in
hell” doctrine is one of the best teachings. Most people are glad to find out
about it. Many preachers and religious zealots do not like the truth about
this getting out because many people attend churches and give to them largely
because they think it will keep them out of hell. Letter:
...that
people are not in heaven right now,... Response:
This
is obviously true, like the last one, and easy to find scriptures about, but
some people will go to Rev 6:9 where there are souls under the altar in
heaven. I think this is symbolic or figurative, but with Revelation, almost
everybody picks what they think is literal, symbolic or figurative. I have
found it is easier and more effective to reach people with the fact that God
does not send people to burn in hell forever before dealing with the heaven
issue. Letter:
...that
He has a name,... Response: and it isn’t
“Lord” or “adonai” or “ha shem”, etc. Saying exactly what the Name is and how
to pronounce It is more difficult. There are so many heartfelt, in-depth
writings that come to such different conclusions. I do not stress this
teaching. Letter:
...that
the Sabbath is a prophetic picture of Yah’s timeline for man,... Response: I like to show the
Sabbath in Genesis 2 and Exodus 20—it came before the ten commandments were
given. Letter:
...Biblical
astronomy, the Bible code,... Response: I don’t see these
as fundamental, but they are good Letter: …the error of the Trinity doctrine,... Response: This one is easy
to use to wake people up. Many are surprised that the word “trinity” is not
in the Bible or that when Stephen sees into heaven in Acts 7:55-56, he is
personally full of the Holy Spirit, but he only sees the Father and the Son
there. Letter: …the four blood red moons and 2 solar
eclipses on the Biblical Holy days in 2014-2015. Response: I discovered the
four lunar eclipses causing the red moons in astronomy tables, but had not
studied the solar eclipses. Letter:
He’s
really afraid of The Sabbath (“Jesus fulfilled the Sabbath, we can have
Sabbath every day”) and me bringing up the pagan holidays (although I didn’t
call them that, but I could tell by the way we skirted around the issue and
the fact that one of the first things he asked me was how my holidays were
—and it was a test, I just knew it). I think those are his two big concerns. Response: Obviously, if
people feel compelled to meet on different days, they will no longer meet
with His group. Letter:
We
ended with an agreement to disagree on several points, for me not to dominate
the group (as he said I will have more information than most or all of
them—do you think he might want to consider why?) and I can’t take in tracts
or handouts. They must be pre-approved. I can live with that for now. I told
him I wouldn’t go to cause dissension but that I wouldn’t lie about my faith
if asked or deny my faith. He was O.K. with that. So I’m on thin ice. If I get
out of line I will be asked to leave. Please keep praying that I can share
truth without breaking the “rules of engagement” and without denying or
misrepresenting truth. Response: Yes, it is fine to
go with these rules. If people are interested in what you have to say there,
they will talk to you another place. Letter: Ei, Ei, Ei, this stuff can get so complicated. I wish I had the
boldness to just walk in there and pronounce some truth like Yahshuah or the
apostles did and walk away leaving them with their mouths hanging open and
move on, shaking the dust off my feet as I go if they don’t listen to truth.
I think a meek approach is going to be best on this one. Yah willing, if I
can keep my flesh in check. Response: Truth is not
accepted everywhere. At
times, Yahshuah was asked to leave certain areas and He did. He told His
disciples they would have to do the same: “Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat
such things as are set before you. And heal the sick there, and say to them,
‘The Now, we do not
generally have the miraculous power that He gave this seventy, so we cannot
expect quite as dramatic of a reception. Sometimes the apostles were beat up
or tossed out of the places they went into. At other times they were asked to
leave and they did. Owners of church buildings in this country have the right
to send people out who disrupt their studies and services. I want the same
right here, though I would certainly try to answer contrary questions for a
long time before sending someone out. Be content with the opportunity that
you have within the rules of those who run the meeting. (A higher level of
confrontation may come soon enough) Letter: Thanks again Norm, your words and
scriptures that you shared were truly appropriate and very much needed and
appreciated. I just love this body of believers! Shalom, — Response: May the Eternal bless your service to Him. —NSE Five Simple Bible Questions Letter: Dear Norman Edwards, Could I ask you a few bible questions? They are: 1. What does 16 Nisan remind you of? 2. Is the Two House Teaching correct,
according to you? Short answer please: False / True. 3. Is the British Israelism Teaching correct,
according to you? Short answer please: False / True. 4. What is Galatians 3:19 speaking of? 5. What does 6 Sivan mean to you? Just 1-sentence replies are fine. I will give my
answer as well, after you have done so. Remain blessed, —Tallytha,
Response:
Generally,
when someone wants very short answers to very complex questions, they are
attempting to entrap someone. They may hope to simply make a person look
wrong or foolish, or possibly get him to say something that is illegal. This
happened frequently to our Messiah (Matt 16:1-4; 19:3-9; When they asked
Him if they should pay Roman taxes, they thought He would have to either
speak against Roman law, for which they might be able to get Him prosecuted,
or that He would have to place Roman authority above God’s authority, which
they would endlessly repeat to the people, thus discrediting Him. Of course
Christ answered with the famous line: “Render therefore to Caesar the things
that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” If they insisted
that He answer the question “yes” or “no”, He would not have been able to do
it. If the purpose is to impart understanding, then it often takes more than
a one-word answer. When people were not looking for understanding, just
trying to condemn Him, Christ did not answer (Matt 26:63; 27:12). In an
effort to share understanding, I will answer as briefly as I can and still be
accurate. 1. Nisan 16 is the second Day of the Feast of
Unleavened Bread. Rabbinic Jews and some Sabbatarian Christian groups always
observe this as the day of the firstfruits or “wave Sheaf” offering (Lev 2 & 3. There are so many versions of these
teachings and I do not know which one I would be saying “yes” or “no” about.
There is no doubt the houses of 4. Let us quote the section in the KJV, which
is more faithful to the Greek as I understand it: And this I say, that the covenant, that was
confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and
thirty years after [the promises to Abraham], cannot disannul, that it should
make the promise of none effect. 18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it
is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. 19 Wherefore
then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the
seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels
in the hand of a mediator (Gal The law in
discussion here is that law added by the covenant with ancient 5. Sivan 6 is the date of Shavuot or
Pentecost observed by Rabbinic Judaism and some Sabbatarian Christian groups.
With a fixed calendar (as opposed to an observed calendar where any given
month may be 29 or 30 days long), 50 days from Nisan 16 will always be Sivan
6. Hundreds of books and papers are devoted to the dating of Pentecost. I
cannot answer every question on the subject. God has clearly told us to
proclaim and to observe these days (Lev 23:2-4). We should honor the
obedience of believers when they observe these days based upon the sincere
(but possibly wrong) proclamation of other believers, lest we be found guilty
of offending the “little ones” for whom Christ died (Matt 18:5-6). —NSE Passover Papers, Lamb Size & Pentecost Always on 6th? Letter: Dear Mr. Norm Edwards, I would like a copy of the Passover Papers Response: The Passover Papers by Paul Finch
was reviewed in our Sept-Oct 2009 issue. We do not give away the books we
review, though occasionally the authors make them available free of charge.
That issue listed Internet sources for the book, but in addition, almost any
book store can get almost any book today. Letter: Most C.O.G. churches teach that the
Passover lambs were killed at sundown. If that were so, and Christ replaced
the passover lamb, then how come he died at the 9th hour and not at sundown?
Did Christ break the pattern he set up? If Christ was the God of the Old Testament, which I think He was, did
He not set up the sacrificed pattern from the beginning? Also, in Deut 16:6,
the Bible said the lambs were slain in the evening, at the going down of the
sun, not sunset. I have never heard a minister yet, quote that. It also says to keep
the lambs until the 14th day, not late evening or night. It was killed the
14th day and eaten that night. Response: You have raised many of the significant
points covered in this book and the many other writings on the Passover
timing. Most people on all sides of the controversy, have explanations for
their view. Some are honest differences in what a language means. For
example, does “going down of the sun” mean “the sun disappearing below the
horizon” or does it mean “the afternoon when the sun is visibly going down”?
Other teachers, will take issues such as the timing of Christ’s death, and
say there is no importance to the time, all he had to do was die on the same
day that the Passover was killed. Obviously, people
should practice what they understand the teaching of the scripture to be. As
one learns, the main thing to watch out for are Bible teachers who refuse to
answer certain questions or who are upset when certain questions are asked.
This is not an effort to teach, but an effort to stop people from finding out
that they do not have all the answers. Letter: I know a family that killed a lamb at
sundown and tried to eat it before Response:
This
is very interesting experience that most people today do not have. I did a
little research and found that lambs typically weigh 8 to 20 pounds at birth
and gain around a pound per day. With the biblical requirement for lambs to
be with their mother seven days (Ex Lambing time in Exodus 12:9
commands the lamb to be cooked whole, but cannot be raw, so it does make more
sense that the lamb was killed in the afternoon, rather than after sunset,
and eaten before Letter: I believe most C.O.G. Churches keep Whit
Sunday for Pentecost. In Ex 19:1 it says: in the 3rd month they came into the
wilderness on the same or 3rd day. Then the Lord instructed them to prepare
and be ready for the 3rd day which would have been the 6th day of the month.
I think that set the pattern for Pentecost. I have found nowhere in the New
Testament instructing us to count fifty. Response: I do not think it is harmful to claim
C.O.G. brethren are keeping Whit Sunday. First of all, Whit Sunday is counted
from Easter, not the Sabbath in the Days of Unleavened Bread as our Brethren
count it. Myself, as well as many other brethren kept Pentecost for years,
never having heard of “Whit Sunday”, based upon these verses: “And you shall count for yourselves from the day after
the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering:
seven Sabbaths shall be completed.” Count fifty days to the day after the
seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD
(Lev If one starts
numbering from an annual Sabbath—the counting method that always arrives at
Sivan 6 by the modern Jewish calendar—the fiftieth day is not usually a
Sabbath. Whereas, if one begins counting fifty days after the weekly
Sabbath, it is always a day after the weekly Sabbath—called “Sunday”,
today. Yes, people will
claim that the word “Sabbath” in the above passage should be translated
“week”, but the vast majority of translations say “Sabbath” here. Two that do
say “week” are Roman Catholic translations: the Douay-Rheims and the New
Jerusalem Bible. If keeping Pentecost on Sunday is a “Catholic doctrine”, why
do the Catholic Bibles support the opposite translation? I cannot solve all
of these issues in this letter response (indeed, I may not be able to solve
them all, period), but I know many serious Bible students who have spent many
hours and come to the conclusion that they should observe Pentecost on the
first day of the week. I do not believe I have previously heard
your explanation of Exodus 19:1: In the third month after the children of You are taking the “same day” to mean
the “day with the same number as the month”. I used my computer Bible to find
that the exact same Hebrew expression used 491 times in the Old Testament,
and it does not appear to mean what you think it means. It is more often
translated “this day” or “that day”. Bible translations vary on this verse,
some implying it was the first of the month and others the same day that they
left Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and
consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their
clothes. And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day
the LORD will come down upon If you accept that
no days elapse between verse 1 and 10, “today”, above, would be the 3rd of
the month, “tomorrow”, the 4th and “the third day” the 5th, not the 6th. This
is an example of “inclusive counting”, common in the ancient world. With an
observed calendar (each month potentially being 29 or 30 days), counting 50
days from the second Day of Unleavened Bread could place Pentecost on Sivan
5th, 6th or 7th. Pentecost on Sivan 6th is not at all certain, here. But the most
important point here is that this verse does not portend to be a command on
how to count Pentecost. In fact, the giving of the law on Pentecost is not a
Biblical clarity but a Jewish
tradition. Indeed, that tradition may be right, but we should not hold Jewish
tradition above Christian tradition—and certainly not above the Scripture.
Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 16 contain instructions on how to keep Pentecost
and these should be our primary source. You are right that
no New Testament verse tells us to “count fifty”, but the New Testament
rarely repeats the detailed instructions of the Old. Even so, the New
Testament writers choose the Greek word for “fiftieth”, Pentecost, rather
than a Greek word that means “weeks”— equivalent of the Hebrew Shavuot. Letter: The barley harvest of grain, according to
all I can find was the 16th, the 2nd of Unleavened bread, the day after an
annual Sabbath, beginning the count of 50 days. If I’m wrong, send me proof. Response:
There
are certainly a great many believers who share your view—as well as many who
do not. But all is well with this because one commandment of the scripture is
clear: “Speak
to the children of The children of On that basis, I recommend that you, as
well as others, proclaim and observe the Feasts as you understand them. It is
also good to share what we know about them, so that we can all grow in true
knowledge. I think we need to be very careful not to judge the Feast days
other brethren keep: So
let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new
moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is
of Christ (Col 2:16-17). Yes, we all should
be keeping those days, but if we condemn our brethren for keeping it wrongly,
even though they are doing it according to their Scriptural understanding,
what will happen if we turn out to have unknowing error in the judgment: “For
with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you
use, it will be measured back to you” (Matt 7:2). —NSE
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