WHO Has The Correct Holy Day Count?

WHO Has The Correct Holy Day Count?
- The Jews, or the Original WCG?

If you belong to one of the WCG splits don't answer this too quickly... Douay-Rheims Bible - Proverbs 18:13 He that answereth before he heareth, sheweth himself to be a fool, and worthy of confusion.

The original Worldwide Church of God and most of the modern day splits from the WCG differ from the Jews in calculating two of the main Holy Day Calendar dates. They should NOT differ!
IT'S IMPORTANT BECAUSE understanding God's Holy Days means understanding GOD'S SIGN of WHO are GOD'S PEOPLE.

Exodus 13:6 Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread … Continuing in verse 9 And it shall be for a SIGN unto thee upon thine hand (people work with their hands, so this involves working), and for a memorial between thine eyes (ie. in their forehead, where the mind is, so this also involves thinking).

By contrast, the Revelation 13:17 'Mark of the Beast' is Satan's SIGN of WHO are Satan's People.

Revelation 13:16 And he causeth all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond, that there be given them a mark on their right hand, or upon their forehead; Rev 13:17 and that no man should be able to buy or to sell, save he that hath the mark, even the name of the beast or the number of his name. Rev 13:18 Here is wisdom. He that hath understanding, let him count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man: and his number is Six hundred and sixty and six.

HOW to Avoid the 666 Mark of the Beast...

A certain person may yet more directly fulfil the number 666 in prophecy, but that's not the only reason for the use of the number 666.

666 falls short of 777.

SEVEN is God's special number. God expects true Christians to focus on three 7's, not three 6's.

The first 7 to focus on is the Sabbath, to be kept on the seventh day.

The second 7 is found in God's SEVEN ANNUAL Holy Days (Levit. 23) which are commanded.

A third 7 is found in the symbolism and ultimate fulfilment of the Sabbath and Holy Days, which show the plan of God, ...looking forward to the establishment of God's rule over this earth, which is timed to occur on the 7th. one thousand year 'day' since Adam was created.

Therefore keeping ALL God's correct Holy Days on the correct dates is the opposite SIGN to the Mark [or SIGN] of the Beast in people's hand and forehead in Revelation 13:16-18.

All those who fall short in these THREE SEVENS, --all those who do not love them, are AUTOMATICALLY branded with THREE SIXES instead!

Anyone who scoffs at these sevens, who is MORE concerned about pleasing MAN, rather than GOD, will take on the number of a man. Although it could happen,*** a microchip will NOT be needed --they will take on the 666 Mark of the Beast by default.

This will condemn a LOT of people ...which is why Zephaniah 1:2,3 (NIV) says:

"I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth," declares the Lord."I will sweep away both men and animals; I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. The wicked will have only heaps of rubble when I cut off MAN from the face of the earth," declares the Lord.
In verse 6 God says this will happen to "those who neither seek the Lord nor inquire of him."

*** Read more about why having a microchip implant breaks God's law here.

Determining the correct holy day count is easy when you simply look at which days are marked on a Jewish calendar, but to PROVE they are correct to people who will not accept this is a very complicated subject. I believe all the URL links on this page give enough proof to prove that the majority of the WCG church splits have it wrong.

1. PASSOVER

Traditional WCG understanding of the timing of Passover is incorrect. It is the time period around the end of the 14th. of Nisan, not the sunset beginning the 14th. Here's proof.

Exodus 12, verse 6 and Exodus 12 verse 18 in both cases must remain consistent with each other.... Verse 6 ...and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at evening. (talking about the lamb)
Verse 18 says: In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. (talking about the first day of ULB)19 Seven days shall there be no leaven found... Compare these two verses together. The 21st day should have the same rules applied to it, as to which evening. The fourteenth at evening MUST mean near the start of the sunset beginning the FIFTEENTH in order to make it 7 days.

From the start of the 14th to the end of the 21st is 8 days... traditional WCG reasoning keeps the 21st as the last day, and yet tries to tell us that includes an extra day for Passover, but the Bible says this period is 7 days, not 8.

The expression at evening is more accurately translated between the evenings... but we'll come to that later.

It's a shame that the Book of Jubilees ( Wikapedia entry ) is not part of the Bible, as Chapter 49 makes it VERY plain:

Remember the commandment which the Lord commanded thee concerning the Passover, that thou shouldst celebrate it in its season on the fourteenth of the first month, that thou shouldst kill it before it is evening, and that they should eat it by night on the evening of the fifteenth from the time of the setting of the sun.

For on this night -the beginning of the festival and the beginning of the joy- ye were eating the Passover in Egypt, when all the powers of Mastêmâ had been let loose to slay all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh to the first-born of the captive maid-servant in the mill, and to the cattle.

And this is the sign which the Lord gave them: Into every house on the lintels of which they saw the blood of a lamb of the first year, into (that) house they should not enter to slay, but should pass by (it), that all those should be saved that were in the house because the sign of the blood was on its lintels.

And the powers of the Lord did everything according as the Lord commanded them, and they passed by all the children of Israel, and the plague came not upon them to destroy from amongst them any soul either of cattle, or man, or dog.

And the plague was very grievous in Egypt, and there was no house in Egypt where there was not one dead, and weeping and lamentation.

And all Israel was eating the flesh of the paschal lamb, and drinking the wine, and was lauding, and blessing, and giving thanks to the Lord God of their fathers, and was ready to go forth from under the yoke of Egypt, and from the evil bondage.

And remember thou this day all the days of thy life, and observe it from year to year all the days of thy life, once a year, on its day, according to all the law thereof, and do not adjourn (it) from day to day, or from month to month.

For it is an eternal ordinance, and engraven on the heavenly tablets regarding all the children of Israel that they should observe it every year on its day (not the day before) once a year, throughout all their generations; and there is no limit of days, for this is ordained for ever.
And the man who is free from unclearness, and does not come to observe it on occasion of its day, so as to bring an acceptable offering before the Lord, and to eat and to drink before the Lord on the day of its festival, that man who is clean and close at hand shall be cut off: because he offered not the oblation of the Lord in its appointed season, he shall take the guilt upon himself.

Let the children of Israel come and observe the passover on the day of its fixed time, on the fourteenth day of the first month, between the evenings, from the third part of the day to the third part of the night, for two portions of the day are given to the light, and a third part to the evening.

This is that which the Lord commanded thee that thou shouldst observe it between the evenings.

And it is not permissible to slay it during any period of the light, but during the period bordering on the evening, and let them eat it at the time of the evening, until the third part of the night, and whatever is left over of all its flesh from the third part of the night and onwards, let them burn it with fire.

And they shall not cook it with water, nor shall they eat it raw, but roast on the fire: they shall eat it with diligence, its head with the inwards thereof and its feet they shall roast with fire, and not break any bone thereof; for of the children of Israel no bone shall be crushed.

For this reason the Lord commanded the children of Israel to observe the passover on the day of its fixed time, and they shall not break a bone thereof; for it is a festival day, and a day commanded, and there may be no passing over from day to day, and month to month, but on the day of its festival let it be observed.

And do thou command the children of Israel to observe the passover throughout their days, every year, once a year on the day of its fixed time, and it shall come for a memorial well pleasing before the Lord, and no plague shall come upon them to slay or to smite in that year in which they celebrate the passover in its season in every respect according to His command.
And they shall not eat it outside the sanctuary of the Lord, but before the sanctuary of the Lord, and all the people of the congregation of Israel shall celebrate it in its appointed season.

And every man who has come upon its day shall eat it in the sanctuary of your God before the Lord from twenty years old and upward; for thus is it written and ordained that they should eat it in the sanctuary of the Lord.

And when the children of Israel come into the land which they are to possess, into the land of Canaan, and set up the tabernacle of the Lord in the midst of the land in one of their tribes until the sanctuary of the Lord has been built in the land, let them come and celebrate the passover in the midst of the tabernacle of the Lord, and let them slay it before the Lord from year to year.
And in the days when the house has been built in the name of the Lord in the land of their inheritance, they shall go there and slay the passover in the evening, at sunset, at the third part of the day.

And they shall offer its blood on the threshold of the altar, and shall place its fat on the fire which is upon the altar, and they shall eat its flesh roasted with fire in the court of the house which has been sanctified in the name of the Lord.

And they may not celebrate the passover in their cities, nor in any place save before the tabernacle of the Lord, or before His house where His name hath dwelt; and they shall not go astray from the Lord.

And do thou, Moses, command the children of Israel to observe the ordinances of the passover, as it was commanded unto thee; declare thou unto them every year and the day of its days, and the festival of unleavened bread, that they should eat unleavened bread seven days, (and) that they should observe its festival, and that they bring an oblation every day during those seven days of joy before the Lord on the altar of your God.

For ye celebrated this festival with haste when ye went forth from Egypt till ye entered into the wilderness of Shur; for on the shore of the sea ye completed it.

However, the Book of Jubilees is NOT part of the Bible, but there IS much additional BIBLE PROOF, including NEW TESTAMENT events.

Download
http://www.nicetiming.com/passover1.pdf
and
http://www.nicetiming.com/passover2.pdf.

Also read http://darwinlauralee.com/thecogmessenger0048/a2008-048-07.htm.

The wording of Leviticus 23, vs. 5 and 6 in many translations is confusing.

Here is how the King James version reads:Verse 5 - In the 14th day of the first month at even is the Lord's passover.Verse 6 - And on the 15th day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.

To many, this is saying the beginning of Passover starts on the evening of the 14th day of the first month and from the 15th to the 21st is Unleavened Bread.

But here is the Young's Literal Translation of these verses:

Lev 23:5 in the first month, on the fourteenth of the month, between the evenings, is the passover to Jehovah;

Lev 23:6 and on the fifteenth day of this month is the feast of unleavened things to Jehovah; seven days unleavened things ye do eat;

This link PROVES that between the evenings means about 3 p.m.

http://www.herealittletherealittle.net/index.cfm?page_name=Between-the-Evenings

I believe it must mean that at about 3 p.m. on the 14th the lamb was slain, which Christ fulfilled exactly at this time as shown in the New Testament. The actual death angel then passed over at midnight afterwards when the 15th begins as we count dates today, but again referring to the above link I don't think Lev 23:5 can mean midnight exclusively here when it refers to the Passover, but rather the reference to the Passover here is referring to the beginning of the whole sequence of events, which starts with the slaying of the lamb. Quoting from this link http://bibleresearch.org/observancebook5/b5w30.html (please read the whole page) the original Passover was a ceremonial process that contained the following events:

Passover lambs were killed from approximately 3 p.m. until just before sunset.
Each lamb was roasted whole—this roasting took approximately 3 to 4 hours.
The lamb was eaten after sunset—perhaps another hour or two.

The whole ceremonial process could take approximately 12 hours, depending on when the lamb was killed, how long it took to roast the lamb, and how long it took to eat it.

This makes it clear that the Passover began on the Preparation day of the 14th. and then just a few hours later the first day of Unleavened Bread began, which includes the eating of the lamb and the pass over time when the death angel passed over. So the first day and the Passover overlap on the sunset to sunset way of calculating the 15th, but technically Passover begins a few hours before the evening leading into the 15th. In no way does it begin a whole 24 hours before on the evening that began the preparation day.

God gave the Jews the authority to keep track of the correct dates and said in Mat. 23:1-3. "Then spoke Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples saying, ‘The Scribes and Pharisees (not the Sadducees which the Church has followed) sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do. . ."

You would think the Jews would know the correct days of their own Holy days. It is crazy to think God would allow them to get it wrong when Christ said to observe the days they keep.
Christ instituted the bread and wine symbols to replace the Passover symbols, therefore I believe the New Testament Passover ceremony itself, taking unleavened bread and wine, should be taken after sunset on the beginning of the 15th after Christ actually died, as he died towards the END of the 14th of Nisan... For a final URL link on this subject read http://www.davidbenariel.org/cog/passover-memorial.htm
When Christ changed the symbols in the NT it was because he had to fulfil them the next day and could not very well do it at the same time he was enduring the fulfilment, so the new symbols should be kept on the same day they picture and were fulfilled, not the day before.

2. PENTECOST

The Jewish Pentecost (Shavuot) in 2009 is Friday May 29th. For anyone with a Church of God /Herbert W. Armstrong - former WCG background, who doubts the Jews (and my) understanding of which day is actually the correct day to count to, and then observe Pentecost, they can prove this for themselves. Here are some very important research links:

http://darwinlauralee.com/a2002-010-02.htm
http://darwinlauralee.com/a2004-024-01.htm
http://darwinlauralee.com/a2005-029-01.htm
http://darwinlauralee.com/a2004-020-01.htm
http://www.herealittletherealittle.net/index.cfm?page_name=Sivan6
Young's LITERAL Translation of Luke 24:1 reads as follows: And on the first of the Sabbaths, at early dawn (which would have been Nisan 17), they came to the tomb, bearing the spices they made ready, and certain {others} with them. In modern day terminology this is saying Saturday, near sunrise. The following link http://www.herealittletherealittle.net/index.cfm?page_name=Jesus-Resurrection explains in full exactly when Christ was resurrected, which also explains the above verse.

The wave sheaf (representing true Christian firstfruits) was waved on (Friday) Nisan 16. It does NOT refer to Christ, but was offered with a lamb because it is made possible BY the Sacrifice of Jesus, which precedes it in time sequence as the following link explains:

http://www.elderwalterprestonjr.com/custom4.html
http://yourarmstoisrael.org/Articles_new/notes/bringing_back.php
http://www.triumphpro.com/wave-sheaf-secret.htm
http://cogpt.org/pentecostacountdowntofreedom.htm (This is a whole book about the correct count to Pentecost. Note especially chapter 5.)

To verify the Septuagint translation of Leviticus 23:11 go to http://www.ecmarsh.com/lxx/
http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2007/06/did-herbert-armstrong-ever-observe.html

God's true church lost much vital information over the last 2000 years, but it began to be restored in the 1900's and new truth is continuing to surface for those who can humble themselves enough to accept it.