Dates for 2020 – Friday 29 May which starts Sunset Thursday, May 28, 2020 to Friday at Nightfall which is the beginning of Saturday May 30, 2020.

Feast of Weeks is observed on the 6th to 7th of the month Sivan in 2020. It takes place fifty days after the first day of the spring festival of Passover which is the second day of Passover. It is also the first full day that Jesus was in the grave.

What is Pentecost? Pentecost or Shavuot, the disciples were gathered together for Shavuot, which commemorates the day that the Torah was received by the Israelites during their desert wandering. It was also the second harvest. It was approximately 3,327 years ago, and is the only Jewish holiday mentioned in the Torah without a specific calendar date. Rather, it is to be celebrated 50 days after the second day of Passover. This was the Harvest Feast, or Feast of Weeks, celebrating the firstfruits of the wheat/barley harvest. Today, we celebrate what Christians call Pentecost because on that day the disciples and all people who gathered with them received the Holy Spirit.

How is Shavuot celebrated?

Shavuot is observed by abstaining from work and attending synagogue services. A few special readings are recited: a liturgical poem called Akdamut, which emphasizes the greatness of God; the Book of Ruth, because the story highlights one woman’s choice to join the Jewish people and accept the Torah; and the Ten Commandments, in honor of the revelation of the Torah. It is also customary to study Torah all night; this practice is called Tikkun Leil Shavuot. Of course, for Christians we should read Acts 2, and thank God for giving us the Holy Spirit.

What kinds of foods are eaten on Shavuot?

Traditional holiday meals on Shavuot center around dairy foods. Milk is considered to be a symbol of the Torah, which nourishes the people directly, as milk does for a baby. Popular Shavuot foods include cheesecake, blintzes, and kugels. Some Sephardic Jews make a seven-layered bread called siete cielos (seven heavens), which is supposed to represent Mt. Sinai.

What is the proper greeting for Shavuot?

The greeting for Shavuot is simply “Chag Sameach!” (Happy Holiday).

Jesus explained The Parable of the sower. Let’s look at the verses of the sower first.

Matthew 13:3-9 KJV

³ And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; ⁴ And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: ⁵ Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: ⁶ And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

⁷ And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: ⁸ But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an undredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

⁹ Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

For this parable, Jesus actual tells us, as he told the Disciple’s what it means, so let’s read what Jesus said it means

Matthew 13:16-23 KJV

¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

¹⁷ For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

¹⁸ Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.

¹⁹ When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

²⁰ But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; ²¹ Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

²² He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

²³ But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Before we go further let’s read Matthew 13:16-23 using the DSS version, Hebrew Gospel of Matthew   Translated by George Howard

16.  Blessed are your eyes that see and your ears that hear.

17.  Truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see but did not see it, and hear what you hear but did not hear it.  

Note: [To be in the presence of “that prophet” to hear and do “whatsoever he sayeth to you.” Deut. 18:15 and Isaiah 42, 53.]

18.  But hear you the parable of the sower.

19.  The Sower is the Son of Man and the seed which fell on the road is everyone who hears the kingdom of heaven and does not understand it.  Satan comes and snatches away from his heart everything which was sown in it.  This is the seed which fell on the road.

20.  That which fell upon the rocks is the one who hears the word of God and receives it immediately with joy. 21.  But he is without root and is in confusion and when a little trouble and distress come to them, Satan causes them to forget from their heart.

22.  That which fell among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word and in his desire to gather wealth, Satan causes him to forget the word of God, and he makes no fruit.

23.  That which fell into the good earth is the one who hears the word and understands it and makes fruit, that is, from good works.   [*]He brings forth from the first a hundred, from the second sixty, and from the third thirty.  As for the hundred, this is the one purified of heart and sanctified of body.  As for the sixty, this is the one separated from women.  As for the thirty, this is the one sanctified in matrimony, in body and in heart.

My Note, the last sentence in verse 23 above is in the Hebrew text, but I have not seen it in any Greek translations.

Note [“Good works” relates to doing the works God has declared “good”.  Based on the commandments of God to mankind from the beginning, wouldn’t it be questionable to be one “separated from women”?  This doesn’t seem to fit completely following the first sentence that identifies “fruit” to “good works.”***  Possible alteration of original?] [There is a passage in the Prophets that proclaims in the resurrection that a better name will be given to the faithful who could have no children.]

What is Jesus telling us?

Using Jesus words and even the notes provided by George Howard, you should be able to understand. Let’s keep in mind that the people Jesus is talking to are Jewish and know the laws and scripture of the Old Testament. Jesus tells us that he is planting the Words in us. What Words? The Words he is giving us, which are the Words of God, which God commanded Jesus to tell us. Some Words doesn’t take root. Something many people today would say, it just went in one ear and out the other. They never took time to try to understand it.

There are some who hear/read the word, but it didn’t take good root in them and the daily day to day activity just pushed the word aside and it was forgotten in their heart. They didn’t continue to learn and/or really never used it.

Still there are others who actually have an open heart and takes it, but due to the day to day life, the people around them, they don’t keep in the Word. The devil, the day to day activity, there social behavior, etc…  causes him to forget or just carry on as they did before hearing the word.

Only seeds (Word) planted in good soil or heart, that hear, understanding God’s word, and continue to feed the heart with God’s Word will bare fruit and multiply. You are the soil and you have to decide if you are going to be the good soil. i.e. what you are going to do with God’s Word which Jesus and the scriptures give to you.

As you can see many people have a brief period of excitement when they are first introduced to God or Christianity. But they find it to be an easy path, or they assume it is an easy path, as the Church says, they chose not to change their ways, (concerned with life’s pleasures and wealth), and fail to continue learning, then the devil has them believing they are doing all that is required or takes the Word completely from their heart.

Let’s take another quick look at the rest of the words in the Hebrew text above in verse Matthew 13:23, and the note that the translator added. Here they are again.

The rest of Verse 23: As for the hundred, this is the one purified of heart and sanctified of body.  As for the sixty, this is the one separated from women.  As for the thirty, this is the one sanctified in matrimony, in body and in heart.

Note [“Good works” relates to doing the works God has declared “good”.  Based on the commandments of God to mankind from the beginning, wouldn’t it be questionable to be one “separated from women”?  This doesn’t seem to fit completely following the first sentence that identifies “fruit” to “good works.”***  Possible alteration of original?] [There is a passage in the Prophets that proclaims in the resurrection that a better name will be given to the faithful who could have no children.]

I think the translator missed it here, I don’t think Jesus is speaking of children here when he talks about fruit. When Jesus is describing the fruit and good works, he is looking at a devotion of learning and spreading the Word. Verse 23 tells us that the people, in this verse, heard and understood the Word. But we all know that if we have a family, that our time devoted to God is less than someone who has dedicated his whole life to serving God. Sure, some leave their wife to learn and spread the word and if they do, it only makes sense that he should bring forth more than someone who chose to spread the word but stays at home with his wife and raising a family.

Do we believe God, or man?

Passover aligns with the Hebrew calendar; which God gave to the Jewish people, not man’s calendar, but God’s . Passover begins after sundown on the evening of the full moon (or the 14th day) of the month of Nisan.

Jesus said he would be in the heart of the Earth for 3 nights and 3 days. Does this align with what man has decided? Man says that he was crucified on Friday and rose on Sunday. Man tells us he was in the grave, Friday night and Saturday night and Saturday during the day. When you add that up it comes to 2 nights and one day. The Jewish Sabbath is Saturday, when did the women buy spices? You can read the verse yourself, which is right? Jesus said that he is telling us the Words of God, I believe Jesus.

Matthew 12:40 King James Version (KJV)

⁴⁰ For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Read your Bible, with your own eyes, what does it tell you? Does it tell you to believe man, and not God? Does Jesus speak the word of God? He says he does.

John 12:49-50 King James Version (KJV)

⁴⁹ For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.

Below is a time line and a few things that took place on that day.

Wednesday – Nisan 14 – (Starts at sundown of Nisan 13) Jesus had Passover meal with his disciples, told the disciples to remember him, told them how, and broke bread and drank wine, Jesus Prayed to his Father, was arrested early that morning (Before the Sun came up), Peter denied knowing Jesus, The morning call of prayer (Cock crows – ancient term used to describe the man who blows the Shofar for morning prayer), (This day is the Day of Preparation, before the annual Sabbath the next day, which starts on Nisan 15), Jesus is hung on the Cross, Jesus gives up his Spirit (around 3PM), Jesus is buried before sunset or before the start of the Annual Sabbath.

Also, on this day, during Jesus time, the Jewish would at or about the moment Jesus died for us (around 3 pm in the afternoon on Passover Day) the slaughter of the Passover Lambs began in the Temple grounds. The sheep were killed and their blood collected between the hours of 3 pm and 6 pm. Jesus is our lamb, let us remember him.

Thursday – Nisan 15 – Jesus starts his first night in the grave, High Day Sabbath begins, which is the first day of Unleavened Bread, Jesus first day in the grave.

Friday – Nisan 16 – Jesus spends his second night in the grave and second day in the grave starts, Women bought spices and prepared them for the anointing of Jesus body the next day, this preparation of the spices had to be finished before the Sabbath starts at sundown, Sabbath starts at sundown.

Saturday – Nisan 17 – Jesus spends third night and third day in the grave. Since Jesus said he will spend 3 nights and 3 days in the grave then he must come out of the grave before the 4^th night which starts at sundown, Jesus Resurrection happens and at sundown the Sabbath ends and then Nisan 18 begins.

Sunday– Nisan 18 – Women went to Jesus tomb to prepare Jesus body, they found an empty tomb because Jesus was already resurrected.

When you use God’s calendar it all works just as the Bible tells us. Which brings up another subject, why did man change God’s Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. God said the Sabbath is Friday Night at sunset through sundown on Saturday.

You should also look up why, during the Council of Nicea, 325AD, the Passover day of celebration was changed by the urging of the Emperor of Rome. You should be able to find that the emperor Constantine demanded it to spite the Jews, but if God gave them the Calendar and dates then isn’t, he really going against our God, the Father?

You may also want to look up, the sun god, and why man changed the Sabbath day of our God (The Father), to the pagan sabbath of the son god. While you’re at it, look up or question why man uses Easter to celebrate Jesus resurrection when it is the goddess of spring’s day and why eggs and bunnies are used.

Read the Bible, with your own eyes. If man changed it, maybe you should find out why.

Today is Nisan 14 on the Jewish calendar, let us take time today to think about what Jesus did for us today. At or about the moment Jesus died for us (around 3 pm in the afternoon on Passover Day) the slaughter of the Passover Lambs began in the Temple grounds. Somewhere around ¼ million sheep were killed and their blood collected between the hours of 3 pm and 6 pm. Jesus is our lamb, let us remember him.

Passover aligns with the Hebrew calendar; thus, the date changes every year. It traditionally begins after sundown on the evening of the full moon (or the 14th day) of the month of Nisan.

Timeline:

Wednesday – Nisan 14 – (Starts at sundown of Nisan 13) Jesus had Passover meal with his disciples, Prayed to his Father, was arrested early that morning (Before the Sun came up), Peter denied knowing Jesus, The morning call of prayer (Cock crows – ancient term used to describe the man who blows the Shofar for morning prayer), (This day is the Day of Preparation, before the annual Sabbath the next day, which starts on Nisan 15), Jesus is hung on the Cross, Jesus gives up his Spirit (around 3PM), Jesus is buried before sunset or before the start of the Annual Sabbath.

Thursday – Nisan 15 – Jesus starts his first night in the grave, High Day Sabbath begins, which is the first day of Unleavened Bread, Jesus first day in the grave.

Friday – Nisan 16 – Jesus spends his second night in the grave and second day in the grave starts, Women bought spices and prepared them, for the anointing of Jesus body, which had to be done before the Sabbath starts at sundown, Sabbath starts at sundown.

Saturday – Nisan 17 – Jesus spends third night and third day in the grave. Since Jesus said he will spend 3 nights and 3 days in the grave then he must come out of the grave before the 4^th night which starts at sundown, Jesus Resurrection, at sundown the Sabbath ends as Nisan 18 begins,

Sunday – Nisan 18 – Women went to Jesus tomb to prepare Jesus body, they found an empty tomb because Jesus was already resurrected.

I wrote a response to a comment about John 1:1, but since it is buried in the comments of another post I thought I should actually make a post on the subject. John didn’t just write a few verses; he wrote the whole Gospel of John. If you read John’s gospel you can see he didn’t think Jesus was God. He even made a statement in the same chapter that says no man has seen God but Jesus, John 1:18. John saw Jesus in the flesh and he saw him after the resurrection in his resurrected body. Yet John said that no man has seen God, but the son. He couldn’t have thought Jesus was God.

John even tells us the purpose for writing the Gospel. The ESV Bible even put the heading before the verse, The Purpose of this Book, which is the way I understand it too.

John 20 English Standard Version (ESV) ³⁰ Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; ³¹ but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Why would John start his book telling you Jesus is God, and not support it throughout his Book, and even tell you that Jesus is the anointed one of God, when he tells you the reason for writing the book. He is anointed by God, but did God anoint Jesus to be God and equal to him in every way?  If John started the Gospel of John saying Jesus was God, (what man say’s) wouldn’t he have addressed him as God at the end also, when he writes the reason for writing his Gospel? 

John also wrote in his Gospel what Jesus said. Let’s look at a few verses that John tells us Jesus said. He says God sent him and told him exactly what to tell us. John 12:49, Jesus says the Father does all the works. John 14:10, The Father is greater than him. John 14:28, The Father is the only true God. John 17:3. Is John telling us in verse John 1:1 that even though Jesus said he isn’t God, he doesn’t believe Jesus and decided to write Jesus is God.  

John can’t be saying Jesus is God equal to the Father in John 1:1. What is John saying in this opening statement? My wife and I have thought about that a lot. We know that he can’t be saying Jesus is God, because Jesus says he isn’t and of course John doesn’t say Jesus is God in the rest of his Gospel. Man would have this verse and maybe a few others trump what Jesus’s said and what the rest of the Bible says.

At first, we thought since it used different words for God, (Θεόν, and Θεὸς), one meaning God and one means gods and that it could be saying gods for Jesus, which I think is what Jehovah Witness believe.

But we still were not sure that was it. We just knew that Jesus said he wasn’t God. Does John or any of the Disciples ever call Jesus “Word”? I haven’t seen it. Jesus does say that God commanded him to say the Word that he told us, which was given to him by the Father. I looked up Word in Greek it is Λόγος, or today they use Logos instead. There are different words that Λόγος, can mean.

Look at Revelation 19:13, which is also written by John and uses the word Λόγος, or Logos. Rev 19: 13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

Here John says Jesus name was, The Word of God. This turned a light on. Where does Jesus say he got the, Word of God? His Father gave the Word to Jesus and commanded him to tell us exactly what he said.
John 14: 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Fathers who sent me. 25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

You should be able to see here that it wasn’t Jesus that was the Word, it is God’s Word, that is the Word. A Pastor had me watch a video about the trinity, they were talking about personification of God’s Attributes. Could this be what John was doing in John 1:1? The personification of the Word of God, that was given to Jesus, and as for verse 1:8 the Word which God gave to Jesus, which brought God’s Word to us in the flesh.

I found this in THE EASTERN – GREEK ORTHODOX BIBLE : NEW TESTAMENT, read John 1:1 and the notes.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word,a and the Word was with God, and the Word was {what} God b {was}.

a The Greek word Logos (lo,goj) is traditionally translated as “Word.” French translations sometimes use “Verb” which has a dynamic quality. The English “Message” or “Expression of the Mind” may also be appropriate attempts to convey the nuance of the Greek concept. The Jewish-Alexandrian theologian and philosopher Philo wrote extensively about the Logos in ways that are reminiscent of NT theology. For instance, his teaching that “For the Logos of the living God being the bond of every thing, as has been said before, holds all things together, and binds all the parts, and prevents them from being loosened or separated” echoes Colossians 1:17.

b Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος, καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν, καὶ Θεὸς ἦν  ὁ Λόγος This second theos could also be translated ‘divine’ as the construction indicates a qualitative sense for theos. The Word is not God in the sense that he is the same person as the theos mentioned in 1:1a; he is not God the Father (God absolutely as in common NT usage) or the Trinity. The point being made is that the Logos is of the same uncreated nature or essence as God the Father, with whom he eternally exists. This verse is echoed in the Nicene Creed: “God (qualitative or derivative) from God (personal, the Father), Light from Light, True God from True God… homoousion with the Father.”

http://fortsmithorthodox.org/NEW%20TESTAMENT.pdf Page 115

Colossians 1:15-24 English Standard Version (ESV)

The Preeminence of Christ

¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶ For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. ¹⁷ And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. ¹⁹ For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

²¹ And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, ²² he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, ²³ if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

We know that Jesus did NOT lie, we know that Jesus did give us the “Word of God” as he was commanded, we know that he says he is not God because he tells us that the Father is the only true God and does all the works. We also know that John did not believe Jesus was God. Therefore, John is not talking about Jesus being God but the Word Jesus gave us is the Word of God. I hope this helps you in your search to understand.

Did Jesus change the Sabbath to Sunday? No

Let’s look at a few questions. Why would he? Why would Jesus, change the Sabbath from Saturday, which has been the Sabbath for thousands of years, to Sunday, which is the day of the pagan sun god? I have found nothing in the Bible that says Jesus changed the Sabbath. What does he say about the Sabbath?

He is Lord of the Sabbath.

Matthew 12:8 King James Version (KJV) ⁸ For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

Mark 2:28 King James Version (KJV) ²⁸ Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

Luke 6:5 King James Version (KJV) ⁵ And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

The Sabbath is a commandment. Did Jesus come to abolish the law? Matthew 5:18 King James Version (KJV) ¹⁸ For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

I read about changing the Sabbath to the Lord’s Day, but what is the Lord’s Day. It implies that Jesus’s resurrection was on Sunday and since his resurrection was on Sunday, they are calling it the Lord’s day. But what does John say in Revelations?

¹⁰ I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet ¹¹ saying, “Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”

As you read through Revelations, you can clearly see John isn’t talking about the Sabbath but the end times. That is the Day of Lord. Is the end times on a Sunday; only God the Father knows.

The Sabbath is from Friday night to Saturday night, it was changed to Sunday by man, period.

I started this page because I believe God, which are the words that Jesus gave us. The question was simple, do I believe God, the Bible, which includes what Jesus says, or do I believe man? I believe God, and his word.

The Bible says that Eternal Life rest on Jesus telling us EXACTLY what the Father told him to tell us, John 12:49. Since Eternal Life rest on Jesus telling us just what the Father told him, we also can assume that The Holy Spirit, who inspired the disciples, would ensure that the Bible tells us exactly what Jesus said.

John 12:49 – ⁴⁹ For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. ⁵⁰ I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

What else did Jesus tell us about Eternal Life?

John 17 ³ And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.