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In the second chapter of the book of Acts we read, “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they [the disciples of Jesus] were all with one accord in one place” (Acts 2:1). This New Testament record of the keeping of the Feast of Pentecost reveals that there was no confusion or division among early Christians concerning the correct day for its observance. Yet among Christians today there are a number of conflicting opinions as to when the day of Pentecost should be observed. This division has resulted from a faulty understanding of the scriptural instructions for counting to the time that God has appointed.
The instructions for observing the Feast of Pentecost are recorded in the book of Leviticus. In Leviticus 23, we are commanded to count fifty days and to observe the fiftieth day as an annual feast day (verses 16, 21). It is for this reason that this feast is called “Pentecost.” The English word Pentecost is transliterated from the Greek word penthkosth penteekostee— which means “the fiftieth,” or “fiftieth.” “The day of Pentecost” literally means “the fiftieth day.” Other scriptural names for this annual feast day are the “feast of weeks” and the “feast of the firstfruits” (Ex. 34:22; 23:16, Deut. 16:10). In order to observe this annual holy day at its appointed time, it is vital to understand God’s instructions for counting to the fiftieth day.
The Count Begins on the “Morrow After the Sabbath”
God’s command in Leviticus 23 shows that the count toward Pentecost must begin with “the morrow after the Sabbath” (verses 11, 15). The Hebrew term mi mohorat, translated into the English as “the morrow after,” means “beginning with and including” the day after the Sabbath. The phrase “the morrow after the Sabbath” specifically excludes this Sabbath day in the counting or numbering of the fifty days. The count to Pentecost does not begin with and does not include this weekly Sabbath. The first day of the count is “the morrow after the Sabbath,” which can only be the first day of the week. Other Scriptures reveal that it is always the first day of the week during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. (See Understanding God’s Command for the Wave Sheaf by Dwight Blevins.)
The command of God, as recorded and preserved in the Hebrew text, specifically instructs us to begin the count on the first day of the week. The meaning of the Hebrew expression mi mohorat ha shabbat—translated “the morrow after the Sabbath”—is clear and unmistakable. The use of this expression in the Hebrew text makes it plain that the weekly Sabbath does not begin the count. The count begins with “the morrow after the Sabbath”—the first day of the week.
Because the count begins with the first day of the week, all the weeks in the count are whole and complete weeks. In other words, each week in the count begins on the first day of the week and ends on the seventh day of the week, or the Sabbath day. None of the weeks include part of one weekly cycle and part of another. For example, the period of time from a Wednesday through the next Tuesday is seven days, but this period of seven days is composed of parts of two different weekly cycles. God’s command in Leviticus 23 excludes this type of “week” from the count to Pentecost. Furthermore, the Hebrew text plainly shows that no partial or incomplete days are included in the count. Each week in the count is composed of seven complete days. Each day in the count is a full twenty-four hour day, from sunset to sunset. The count to Pentecost begins when the Sabbath ends at sunset and the first day of the week begins.
The first day in the count, “the morrow after the Sabbath,” is the day that the wave sheaf was offered to God (Lev. 23:10- 11). The wave sheaf, the first of the firstfruits, was offered each year at the beginning of the spring barley harvest. Here are the commands that God gave to Moses concerning the wave sheaf:
“Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, ‘When you be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest.
“And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it….And you shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears [of the new barley harvest], until the selfsame day that you have brought an offering unto your God [the first day of the week—the Wave Sheaf day]...’ ” (Lev. 23:10-11, 14).
During the days when the Temple of God in Jerusalem was still in operation, a chief priest performed the ritual ceremony of cutting the sheaf that would be offered as the first of the firstfruits. As the weekly Sabbath was ending at sunset and the first day of the week was beginning, the priest would cut a special, single sheaf of green-eared barley from the field where the barley for the ritual wave sheaf was grown. This field was located across the Kidron Valley east of the Temple. The heads of this sheaf were to have enough grain in their ears to amount to an omer, or 5.1 pints. After cutting the sheaf, the priest would carry it back to the Temple and lay it alongside the altar of burnt offerings until the next morning.
In the morning on the first day of the week, this special sheaf, the first of the firstfruits, was waved by the high priest to be accepted by God immediately after the morning burnt offering. This ceremony was normally completed at approximately the third hour of the day, or 9 o’clock in the morning. After the initial wave sheaf was offered by the high priest, or one of the chief priests, many more sheaves were brought to other officiating priests to be waved. All Israelites whose barley crops had ripened in time would bring a sheaf of their firstfruits to be offered on the Wave Sheaf Day (Alfred Edersheim, The Temple—Its Ministry and Services, pp. 256-259).
As historical records show, the wave sheaf ceremonies began to be performed as the weekly Sabbath was ending at sunset and the first day of the week was beginning. The ceremonies were not completed, however, until much later on the daylight portion of the first day of the week. The extensive ceremonies that took place on the Wave Sheaf Day help us understand why God allotted the entire day for the offering of the first of the firstfruits—not only the ritual wave sheaf, but all the other firstfruit sheaves the Israelites brought to the priests. The whole day is “the morrow after the Sabbath” and must be included as the first day in the count to Pentecost.
The Wave Sheaf Fulfilled on the First Day of the Week
The acceptance of the ritual wave sheaf, foreshadowed the acceptance of Jesus Christ as the first of the firstfruits—the very first resurrected from the dead to eternal life. The apostle Paul wrote of Jesus’ acceptance: “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits [that is, the first, or the first of the firstfruits] of them that slept [are dead in the graves]. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming” (I Cor. 15:20-23). Jesus is also called the “firstborn from the dead” (Col. 1:18) and “the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom. 8:29).
As the sheaf of barley for the first of the firstfruits was cut by a chief priest and was lifted from the earth, Christ was also raised from the dead by the power of God the Father. After He died on the tree of crucifixion, Jesus was put into the grave just before sunset, which ended the Passover day—a Wednesday, in the middle of the week. He was raised from the dead exactly three days and three nights later, as the weekly Sabbath was ending at sunset, during the Feast of Unleavened Bread (See A Harmony of the Gospels—The Life of Jesus Christ, pp. 231-241, by Fred R. Coulter). Jesus Christ fulfilled the ritual of the cutting of the wave sheaf offering when He was raised from the dead as the weekly Sabbath was ending and the first day of the week was beginning.
Christ also fulfilled the acceptance of the wave sheaf offering. As the ritual wave sheaf was offered in the morning on the first day of the week during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, so He ascended into heaven and was accepted by God the Father in the morning on the Wave Sheaf Day. He was accepted as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all mankind and the first to be raised from the dead to eternal life—the first of the firstfruits.
The apostle John verifies that Jesus fulfilled the wave sheaf offering on the first day of the week during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. In the Gospel of John we find this testimony: “The first day of the week, Mary Magdalene comes...to the sepulcher.…But Mary stood without at the sepulcher weeping…. Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned herself, and said to Him ‘Rabboni,’ which is to say ‘Master.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Touch Me not! For I am not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say unto them, I ascend to My Father, and your Father; and to My God and your God’ ” (John. 20:1, 11, 16-17). These events occurred early in the morning on the first day of the week during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. After Mary left, Jesus ascended to the Father and was accepted as the first of the firstfruits, thus fulfilling the ritual of the wave sheaf offering.
Luke records that later the same day, the first day of the week, Jesus appeared to two of the disciples as they were walking to the village of Emmaus. When they came to an inn, Jesus went in with the disciples and ate with them. Then Jesus supernaturally disappeared out of their sight. After that, still the first day of the week, He reappeared to eleven of the disciples (Luke 24:13-36). The Gospel of John confirms that it was the same day, the first day of the week, that Christ returned and supernaturally walked through the walls of the room where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews. When He appeared to the disciples, He showed them His hands and His side (John 20:19-21).
As the first of the firstfruits, Jesus completely fulfilled the ritual wave sheaf offering in every detail. This fulfillment began as the Sabbath was ending and the first day of the week was beginning at sunset, and was completed on the morning of the first day of the week during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The complete fulfillment of the wave sheaf offering required the greater part of a day. God Himself had set the timing of these events. Looking forward to this fulfillment, He had appointed the entire first day of the week during the Feast of Unleavened Bread—“the morrow after the Sabbath”—for the cutting and offering of the wave sheaf.
The Wave Sheaf Day marked the beginning of the firstfruits harvest. It was the day specifically chosen by God to begin the count to Pentecost—the Feast of the Firstfruits. As God has commanded, the Wave Sheaf Day must always be included in counting the fifty days. While the reaping of the firstfruits began on the Wave Sheaf Day, the entire barley harvest lasted forty-nine additional days. That is why the count to the Feast of Pentecost requires seven complete weeks plus one day, making a total of fifty days. Let us examine God’s commands for counting the full fifty days to Pentecost.
