Bible Study on Passover and Pentecost

Fred R. Coulter—March 1, 2014

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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services. Today is going to be a potpourri, which means a combination of many things.

I've mentioned that we're working on the book on America and Britain in prophecy. Here is a sample of what we're working toward for the cover. We need to have the flags like they are waving in the wind and then the two globes that are there, make them a little smaller. Since some of the type is hard to read, especially at the top, that needs to have a black background or outlined a little more, which then will happen when we reduce the size of the globes.

The full title of the book is: Two Nations that Changed the World: America and Britain, Their Biblical Origin and Their Prophetic Destiny For Real by Philip Neal. He's been writing this book for two and half to three years right now.

The last thing we are waiting for to put in the book is the final information on Oliver Cromwell. The history in Britain and what he did along with protecting the Sabbatarians there. But after he died, it led to a mass immigration to the colonies. That may have been a trigger point to get the Manassehites separated from the Ephraimites.

Four Blood Moons and Eclipses

There are a lot of interesting things taking place. I've gotten a lot of e-mails: What about the four blood moons? So, I got John Hagee's book, Four Blood Moons. Very interesting, indeed!

Before he gives the information, somewhere before he starts into it, he has a chapter on the rapture, so don't worry, you can all be raptured away so you don't have to worry about a thing. I think there are going to be a lot of people surprised.

I looked at the blood moon series that he put here in his book. He has four blood moons of 1949-50 and the dates that they came on. Passover, April 13, 1949. The Passover that he goes by is the Jewish Passover, which is actually the First Day of Unleavened Bread. We'll explain today why the Jews keep the 15th and why we keep the 14th. Yes, certain things happened during those times pertaining to the Jews in Palestine.

Then he has the four blood moons of 1967-68. What is interesting in all of these is that he's got a page where it shows the blood moons. However, only one of them is a total eclipse. I'll talk about the dual total eclipse here in just a little bit. Then he brings out some of the things that happened during that time.
The four blood moons of 2014-15… Again he's got Passover, Feast of Tabernacles, Passover, Feast of Tabernacles. Again, only one on March 20, 2015 that has a full eclipse. All the rest are partial eclipses. He may make some points. He keeps it all toward the Jews and I would have to say that it really does not convey too much information on it. I've got one more book coming on the blood moons.

Because there is significance to these things happening on these days, whether he has the significance of not, is another story. But in A Harmony of the Gospels we have the things concerning the birth of Jesus Christ and all the things that took place leading up to it. Here's what's significant with it: These have to be visible in the area of Palestine. There are a lot of eclipses that are seen at different times and different places in the world.

Here is what we have: Two total eclipses in 5B.C. One on the First Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, March 21, at 8:30 p.m. The next—both total eclipses—February 15, 10:30 p.m., 5B.C. Both of them in the year that John the Baptist was born and Jesus Christ was born. If you have A Harmony of the Gospels, you can look it up and read it and understand the significance of it.

I think that the significance is not overwhelming that there are going to be earth-shaking events take place on those days. There may be events close to it that affect Israel. I don't know exactly what that will be, but there are many different ones in finance and in world government and things like that believe that there may be a war started by the Israelis against Iran. We don't know if that will take place, but everybody has a lot of opinions.

Concerning Different Prophets

Now see what Jesus says concerning these different prophets. Let's also understand that those who are Sunday-keepers have a limited amount of understanding. They may have some of the facts correct and they may not have some of the facts correct. However, there is a multitude of different ones—even within the Church of God, because we will cover some things concerning that as well—who bring in doctrines to try and lead the brethren away from Christ and God the Father!

Those who really know their Bibles, it's very different to move them away. Part of the thing that we try to do in the teachings is this: prepare you for all of that so that no one with any idea or new doctrine can get you mislead or led astray!
Here is what Satan wants to do. Remember, the world is more deceived than at any time in the history of the world. Who does he really, really want to get? Those who are Christ's!

Matthew 24:24: "For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and they shall present great signs and wonders, in order to deceive, if possible, even the elect." The elect are those who have the Spirit of God.

Verse 25: "Behold, I have foretold it to you." So, we have been warned. What is the first thing we are to do when someone brings up something contrary? We'll bring up some of the things we've had in the past, and some of the things in the future, but what is the first thing we are to do? 'Prove all things; hold fast to that which is good!'How do you prove it? By the Scriptures, the Word of God!

It started in the days of the Apostle Paul. What phenomena did we have at that time? There was no New Testament! They had probably the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Mark, not much more. The book of Revelation wasn't written until the very last. Did they have the whole Old Testament with them? Where there were a number of Jews they probably did! So back then it was easier to come in and say, 'Listen to this. Perhaps it could be thus-and-such.'

Add to that, when Jesus was preaching there were great multitudes. A lot of people heard Jesus. A lot of the false prophets came out of Judea. The prime false prophet, for the pagans, came out of Samaria—Simon Magus. Very interesting, indeed! That's why we have the series on Church at Home: Was Peter Ever in Rome? (churchathome.org)

People who don't read their Bibles, they don't have a clue. This lie has been told for 1700-1800 years. People just believe what they are told. We are not to be that way.

Paul brings out here something very interesting, 2-Corinthians 2:17: "For we are not like the many…" There were a lot of them. Today it's multiplied into hundreds of thousands and millions of ministers who profess to be Christian.

"…who for their own profit are corrupting the Word of God; but we speak with sincerity, as from God, and before God, and in Christ" (v 17).

Here's what needs to be for all ministers who profess Christ; Paul writes, 2-Corinthians 4:1: "Therefore, having this ministry, according as we have received mercy, we are not fainthearted. For we have personally renounced… [before God] …the hidden things of dishonest gain…" (vs 1-2). Whether it's

• dishonest gain for money
• dishonest gain for popularity
• dishonest gain for getting followers

—because if you preach a gospel that the Law has been done away, that's the broad and the easy way and any people follow it.

"…not walking in cunning craftiness… [having an agenda] …nor handling the Word of God deceitfully… [which is what they do in their various books and teachings] …but by manifestation of the truth, we are commending ourselves to every man's conscience before God. But if our Gospel is hidden, it is hidden to those who are perishing" (vs 2-3).

What is the dividing line between the true believers and the false believers? between the true teachers and the false teachers? The Spirit of God and the Word of God! That is the dividing line.

If they have the Word of God, the false teachers, if they teach what is correct, as we have seen many times, God will honor it. But they only go so far. When you only go so far, you end up with false teachings. So then the Gospel is hidden.

Notice what happens with false doctrine, v 4: "In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we do not preach our own selves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake" (vs 4-5).

That has to be the foundation of what is taught, especially today since we have the whole Bible. What we have done through the years, and I personally, through all the things that we have gone through—our whole family, every one of us—is that the most important thing to do is to follow the Truth. Prove it! Verify it! Double check it! And remember this: If it is the Truth and if it is correct, you can prove it over and over and over again!

Passover

2-Corinthians 11:1: "I would that you might bear with me in a little nonsense; but indeed, do bear with me. For I am jealous over you with the jealousy of God because I have espoused you to one husband, so that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness…" (vs 1-3). Stop and think: What will Satan do to come after us? What does he desire us to change? The Passover!

That is the most important thing of all. That's why we have The Christian Passover book. If you have not read it, you need to read it. There's a reason that it was done because there are more false doctrines concerning the Passover than any other false doctrine. That is wrapped up, not only in the day—14th or 15th—it is wrapped up in the taking of the bread and wine, the day it should be on, the hour it should be taken, whether leavened or unleavened bread, whether wine or grape juice.

Why did the Jews get off course? They had the Old Testament, but remember they rejected Jesus Christ! So, if Satan can come along and get you a half-degree off… What has happened?

• There are some who have the Passover on the 15th
• There are some who combine the Passover and first day of Unleavened Bread together, because the Jews do
• There are some who say the term 'between the two evenings,' means at anytime during 24 hours.
• The Jews say 'between the two evenings' means from when the sun starts going down at noon to sunset.

The most confused thing in the world is the Passover. Satan has his craftiness: 'Did you know? Have you heard?' The Jews always like to present themselves as master teachers, but they are not.

"…by his craftiness, so your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ" (v 3). Corruption is leaven; a little leaven.

When they first started corrupting it in the Worldwide Church of God in 1974 there was a very intellectual man—Robert Kuhn—who was a temple-worshiping Jew, who came and had other ones there who believed like he did that what the Christians would practice on the 14th was the 'Lord's Supper,' but the 15th was the Passover.

I have in my hands right here a 40-year-old paper that they wrote and presented to start changing the Passover. What happened? A lot of brethren believed it. With the start of this corruption in the Church, where is it today? It doesn't exist! When I got it, I wrote on it. I have one comment I want to read to you that I wrote here 40 years ago.

They say: The Gospel of John plainly shows that this was one day before the Jews of his time ate their Passover.

Correct, but that was the entrance to try and change it to the 15th, which was only the first step. Remember, Satan likes to go incrementally, not all at once. So then they said here:

There is only one Scripture which says…

Concerning taking of the bread and wine. They claim that was 1-Cor. 11. Not so!

What I wrote here was this:

But Jesus wasn't a Jew; that is practicing Judaism. The disciples weren't Jews either. They ate this Passover at the set time. They did not know that Jesus was going to institute the new ceremony, with new meaning. It is impossible to change the symbols of the Passover on a day before the Passover.

I still have it. If you want it we'll send it to you, but that was the start of The Christian Passover book.

Verse 4: "For indeed, if someone comes preaching another Jesus…"

• which you do if you change the doctrine
• which you do if you change the day
• which you do if you bring any manmade doctrine or tradition

"…whom we did not preach, or you receive a different spirit, which you did not receive, or a different gospel, which you did not accept, you put up with it as something good" (v 4). 'Let's hear both sides of the story.' Place God here and place Satan here. Satan wants to become God, so he's going to change what God has given because if you do what God has given, you are with God—is that not correct?

• Why do the Jews keep the 15th and not the 14th?
• Why do we keep the 14th and not the 15th?

You can look at the parallel accounts in Matthew and Luke. We also have, if you want a quicker read, read the book: The Day Jesus the Christ Died. It's far fewer pages and easy to understand. However, The Christian Passover book gives you the full armor of God, once you know everything that is in it, because the whole plan of God hinges on this day.

A very important fact was brought up that Robert Kuhn convinced GTA (Garner Ted Armstrong) in the WCG to believe it. Did He have a supper before? That's what's in O'Reilly's book (Killing Jesus). Did Jesus have a supper before, a pre-Passover Passover? If it was a pre-Passover Passover and the Passover was on the 15th, then Jesus did it on another day. If He did it on another day, He would have sinned.

Mark 14:12: "And on the first day of the unleaveneds…" That is a literal translation. If you read the King James Version, they insert the word 'feast', but the question is: Does the Passover come before or after the first day of Unleavened Bread? Comes before! But it is a separate Unleavened Bread day, because they got rid of all the leaven on the 13th, in the afternoon, preparing for the 14th.

O'Reilly knows nothing about the domestic Passover. He just assumed that the Catholic doctrine was correct.

Verse 12: "And on the first day of the unleaveneds…" This was a key when I started writing about the Passover. You have to know the Greek and you have to know the verbs.

• Was it written in Chinese? No!
• Was it written in Egyptian? No!
• Was it written German? No!
• It was written in Greek!

If you want to know the truth of it, you must know the Greek and research it out. Likewise, you must have enough knowledge of the Hebrew to understand about the Old Testament. We know that in Lev. 23 it says, 'On the 14th day of the first month is the Passover to the Lord. The 15th day is the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.' All days are calculated sunset to sunset. The lamb was to be slain right after the sun went down, as the 13th day ended and the 14th day began.

"…when they were killing the Passover lambs…" (v 12). Why is that important?

• What were they doing?
• Where were they going?
• Who was killing the Passover lambs?

Those who kept the domestic Passover were killing them at the houses where they were to observe them!

What happened was, the Jews in the Diaspora would come to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover, so they had their tents. Here are the disciples walking with Jesus. They are going toward Jerusalem. At this point, they are right near the top of the Mt. of Olives. To get to Jerusalem you come down the Mt. of Olives, you go across the bridge of Kidron, and if you don't go to the temple, you go around the temple, and get into Jerusalem.

The time setting, in order to kill, was just after sundown. So, when the disciples saw this, "…His disciples said to Him, 'Where do You desire that we go and prepare, so that You may eat… [Your last supper. No!] …the Passover?'" (v 12). In the parallel accounts, Passover is mentioned 11 times. How can they say it was a pre-Passover Passover, but it was really the 'Lord's Supper'? A little leaven leavens the whole lump, and the first leaven to get in is Passover. Jesus had it all planned out, but He didn't tell them.

Verse 13: "And He sent two of His disciples, and said to them, 'Go into the city, and you shall meet a man carrying a pitcher of water; follow him.'" I wonder what the water was for. Did they have the foot-washing before the Passover? Yes!

Verse 14: "'And whatever house… [nothing to do with the temple sacrifice] …he shall enter, says to the master of the house that the Teacher says, "Where is the guest chamber, where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?" And he shall show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. There prepare for us.' And His disciples went away; and when they came into the city, they found it exactly as He had said to them; and they prepared thePassover. Now after evening had come…" (vs 14-17).

The sun goes down, that's the first evening. When it's getting dark, that's the second evening. The Hebrew word for that is 'ben ha arbayim.' It took time for the lamb to be roasted. By the time they got there it was getting dark. There are a lot of people, even in the Church, that as soon as the sun goes down, they start the Passover service. That's not correct. The correct time is as it's getting dark, that's when you start.

Today they come up with the excuse, what about daylight savings time? What about it? Didn't you know they had it in Jerusalem in those days? Ha, ha! The setting of the sun has nothing to do with daylight savings time! On the clock it's about an hour later, that's all. You see how people think? They prepared the Passover.

Luke 22:13: "Then they went and found everything exactly as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover. Now, when the hour had come… [the correct time] …He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. And He said to them, 'With earnest desire I have desire to eat this Passover with you before I suffer'" (vs 13-15). He kept the Passover. You'll have to read it in the book.

Why do the Jews keep the 15th Passover instead of the 14th? That's fully explained in the Passover of the exile, which is in The Christian Passover book. The Passover with Israel was this. They had to be within the borders of Israel in order to eat the Passover on the 14th. If they were on a journey, or they were defiled because of a dead body (Num. 9), then God said they could eat the Passover on the 14th day of the second month.

If they didn't get back to Israel before the second month, they could not keep the Passover, because they could only keep the Passover on the 14th in the land of Israel. So therefore, they keep it on the 15th.

Now that the Jews had no homeland to come to, cannot keep a 14th Passover. Therefore, they keep a 15th Passover, change the Night to Be Much Observed to call it a Passover day. After all you wouldn't want to admit, 'The reason we don't keep a 14th Passover is because we sinned against God and were exiled from the land'—you'll never hear a Jew say that—the land of Israel. They won't tell you that.

What else did they do? Why was Jerusalem destroyed? Why was the temple destroyed? Because of the sins of the Jews! The New Testament Passover has to be on the 14th and not the 15th. Why? God says so! How are we different than the Jews? Jesus and the apostles kept a 14th Passover! Where is our temple today? In heaven above! We don't need a temple on the earth. We don't need to live in the land of Israel, so therefore, the Jews really, really resent anyone who keeps a 14th Passover, unless they are truly Messianic Jews. We do so because Jesus commanded us to do so, because He kept His Passover on the 14th and it was a domestic Passover that He kept, that is with a domestic lamb. Then on the Passover night, He changed the symbols of the Passover, foot-washing, broken unleavened bread and wine. He commanded them!

Matthew 28:18: "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore, go and make disciples in all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you….'" (vs 18-20).

• What did He say on the night of the 14th concerning foot-washing? You are obligated to do it!
• What did He say concerning the bread and the wine? 'This do in the remembrance of Me!' On the 14th.
• Did He not command those? Yes, He did!
• What are we to teach all nations? The Christian Passover on the 14th!

"'…And lo, I am with you always, even until the completion of the age.' Amen" (v 20).

That's what Satan wants to get rid of. Did he do it with Christianity in the world? Yes!

As an appendix in the back of this book (The Day Jesus the Christ Died, Appendix D) we have the origin of the Eucharist, Babylonian and pagan to the core. The Protestants never fully withdrew from the Roman Catholic Church in practice. They keep Sunday. They keep the 'Lord's Supper.'

The Catholics have the Eucharist, which is called the Sacrifice of the Mass and that is pagan and contrary to the Word of God. They are crucifying Christ over and over again in their ceremony by claiming that the bread and the wine are transubstantiated into the literal flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. Those are all traditions of men!

Since the Passover is so important, Satan likes to come along, if you don't have all the facts, and say, 'Did you know? What about this? The Jews believe this.'

In Rom. 2 Paul wrote that if the Jews did not obey Jesus Christ and the Word of God, their circumcision would become uncircumcision. The uncircumcised Gentiles who kept the laws of God, who had the Spirit of God, their uncircumcision would become circumcision spiritually of the heart and the mind.

Romans 2:27: "And shall not the uncircumcised, who by nature is fulfilling the law… [that refers also to the laws of Christ, what He commanded] …judge you, who, with the letter and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is the circumcision which is external in the flesh;' Rather, he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God" (vs 27-29).

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God's Word correctly translated is what we should follow. This is the reason that we have The Holy Bible in Its Original Order. Men love to tell God what to do, so there were errors in the translation of the King James and other subsequent translations.

I got an e-mail from a man asking me about something concerning John 8, which the NIV says was not in the original. The atheists, I'll just put it that way, I'll be kinder and say non-believing translators, for the NIV have reduced the Bible by 64,000 words. A lot of people say, 'Who was Fred Coulter to do this?' Nobody! It was to find the Truth! That's why I studied Greek and I studied Greek for 17 years before I started translating. And most people don't understand about Judaism.

The Protestants don't like the Old Testament, so there's enough ammunition in the Bible, distorted as they twist and turn it, to come to those conclusions. But they are wrong. What did Paul tell Timothy concerning the Old Testament? 'You have known the Holy Writings from a child, which are able to bring you salvation through Christ Jesus.' That's why we follow the Old Testament and the New Testament. Everything that we follow in the New Testament is based upon the things in the Old Testament and added to what God wanted.

The Jews don't believe in Christ, so they don't believe in the New Testament, so therefore, they cannot be right concerning the things they ought to be right about. They hold to a 15th Passover, so therefore, they don't understand about Christ. We'll see a little later they hold to the wrong Day of Pentecost, so they don't know anything about the full Christian doctrine. But we've gone over this before, but this is important to understand.

Romans 3:1: "What then is the advantage of the Jew… [add to that spiritual Jew, the one who has the Holy Spirit] …or what is the profit of circumcision?" Spiritually, let's add that to it, because he did it (Rom. 2).

Verse 2: "Much in every way. Primarily, in that they were entrusted with the oracles of God." Which includes the Old Testament and it includes the Calculated Hebrew Calendar.

Just to inject a little bit here. There are so many things that Satan has done coming against people in the Church of God to get them to not follow the Calculated Hebrew Calendar, but their own devices. One of them is the full-moon Sabbath. They don't understand there are two days of full moon. So, they say the month begins with the full moon not the new moon; the new moon is a full moon and that becomes the first day of the month. Then you count, including that day, seven days and you come to the Sabbath. So then, for four weeks in a row, you keep the Sabbath on any day that that seventh day falls on. And they claim they are serving God. That's not true!

Why do you suppose God gave the Calculated Hebrew Calendar? So that everything would be done properly and on time and on the day! He gave them the Old Testament, as well. Did God, working through the descendants of the priests and Levites within the Jewish community, properly preserve the Old Testament? Yes, in spite of their sins!

Verse 3: "For what if some did not believe?.... [the Old Testament or Christ] …Shall their unbelief nullify the faithfulness of God?" Think on that! God is

• faithful in His Word
• faithful in His Truth
• cannot lie
• will not lie.

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life! All of those combined together. In spite of the wickedness of man God is always faithful. Look at the prophets, especially Jeremiah and what he had to go through. The only faithful one to God of all of the Jews! One! Not even some of the survivors.

Verse 4: "MAY IT NEVER BE!.…" The actions of men will never nullify the Word of God. They can say the Passover's on the 15th, but the Bible says 14th. They can say Pentecost is on the 6th of Sivan, God says you are to count.

"…Rather, let God be true… [God is always going to be true] …but every man a liar, exactly as it is written: 'That You [God] might be justified in Your words, and might overcome when You are being judged by men'" (v 4). That's what men do, concerning everything they don't like about the Word of God: especially the Sabbath, especially the Holy Days. The Jews: especially Jesus Christ, especially the New Testament.

The first thing to understand about this is that there is no question that there is a wrong translation. For all of those who have changes in New Testament doctrine:

• Why do you claim you believe the Old Testament?
• Who made the appointed times?
• Who determined when Christ was going to come?
• Who determined when He was to be born?
• God did!

Leviticus 23:1: "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, "Concerning the appointed Feasts of the LORD… [if He gives the time it should be given, He gave the calendar] …which you shall proclaim to be Holy convocations, even these are My appointed Feasts."'"  (vs 1-2). Anyone want to run up to God and tell Him what to do? See if NASA will send you up to the throne of God, so you can go to the throne of God and say, 'God, we know more than You.'

Verse 3: "Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, a Holy convocation. You shall not do any work. It is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwellings." These God owns; they are His.

Verse 4: "These are the appointed Feasts of the LORD…" His Feasts! If you claim you want to worship and follow the God of the Bible, then you better do what the God of the Bible says! Read what God says about traditions. (Mark 7; Matt. 15)

"…Holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their appointed seasons. In the fourteenth day of the first month, between the two evenings is the LORD'S Passover" (vs 4-5). Fourteenth! When does a day start, and when does a day end? I cover all of this in great and finite step-by-step great detail in The Christian Passover book, so that you will not fall for false doctrines, privily brought in.

Verse 32 is speaking of the Day of Atonement. Why does this verse become so important? Because men have ideas about when a day begins and when a day ends, among the Jews! You have 'between the two evenings' from noon until sunset, so they choose 3 o'clock to begin slaying the Passover lambs at the temple.

Others say it's from sunset to sunset. Some Jews says it's at sunset; they are correct. Other Jews says it is not the next day after sunset until you see three stars. Sunset is the Hebrew 'ba erev,' meaning sunset. You don't believe me, get The Five Books of Moses by Everett Fox, a literal translation of the Hebrew. He makes it very clear 'ba erev' is sunset. God made it clear: The evening and the morning were day one, day two, day three…

Notice what he says here because this is the Day of Atonement. If you didn't keep it correctly, you were cut off from God. It's very important with this day that they understood when the day began and when the day ended.

What if you started at three in the afternoon? You're too soon! What if you started when you saw three stars? You're too late! So, he picked the Day of Atonement to give this definition very clearly so we would understand.

Verse 32: "It… [the Day of Atonement] …shall be to you a Sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. In the ninth day of the month at sunset, from sunset to sunset, you shall keep your Sabbath."

• Can anything be more clear?

Doesn't matter what you may think or interpret in other Scriptures!

• Is this clear? Yes!
• Is it easy to understand? Yes!
• Can anyone who does not even have an education understand this? Yes!

Wherever you are on the earth you can watch the sun go down. As soon as the sun touches the horizon that is 'ba erev'—sunset. When it goes below the horizon, that begins 'ben ha arbayim'—between the two evenings, from sunset until dark.

Verse 5: "In the fourteenth day of the first month, between the two evenings, is the LORD'S Passover." How long does the day last? Until the next sunset!

Verse 6: "And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread…" Why do people combine the two together?

•  because they don't believe God
• because they have an agenda
• because they are following the cunning craftiness of Satan the devil

"…Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD. You must eat unleavened bread seven days" (v 6).

You will not know through the years how many times people ask: Do we have to eat unleavened bread seven days? I'm on a diet and I can't eat any bread? Goody two-shoe to you! Have to be a little sarcastic to prove the point. If God says you shall eat it, what must you do? Eat it! He didn't say, 'If you desire.' He didn't say, 'Unless you are on a diet.' He said, 'You must eat unleavened bread seven days.'

We have the first day of Unleavened Bread. We have the seventh day of Unleavened Bread. On the current calendar that we have, the last time we had a Passover in the middle of the week on a Wednesday was 2009. There is a ten-year period where there is no middle of the week Passover. In think it is 2020 we have a 5-year period in which there are three Wednesday Passovers and a 10-year period in which there are five Passovers in the middle of the week.

The week in which Jesus was crucified was a Wednesday Passover, so He could be in the grave three days and three nights. We've got a chart of that in the back of the Bible.

Pentecost

When the Passover is in the middle of the week you have the first day of the count toward Pentecost just a little bit half way. When it's like this year, the Wave Sheaf Offering Day is three days later than in the middle of the week. We need to understand how to count Pentecost.

Let me just give you a little history here before we get into it. By the way, we have a booklet, How to Count Pentecost, which covers all the variations with the Hebrew calendar on how to count Pentecost. We're trying to locate in the archives the videos that go into that. In the meantime, you can write in for the booklet: How to Count Pentecost. It's clear; God is clear.

But some people like to bring in their own ideas, instead of following God, instead of following the Word of God. Some people can make a mistake on how to count it. I want you to stop and think here because people want to know how do you count Pentecost. Why is there not a debate concerning when to keep Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles and Last Great Day? Because when those are fulfilled, Satan is going to be removed! There are some who have questions concerning those as well, but the most important ones focus on Passover, Unleavened Bread and Pentecost.

If you get off on those three, then you're going to miss out. Do you believe that the Christians in the world—because they keep Sunday and the holidays—are going to miss out on the first resurrection, because they don't keep the Sabbath and the Holy Days? Sure you do! Apply the same thing to Passover, Unleavened Bread and Pentecost.

There are a lot of people going back and studying Herbert Armstrong's writings. That's okay if you're brand new and don't know anything, but you won't know the mistakes that he made. If you want to know the truth about Herbert Armstrong and Garner Ted Armstrong and why many ministers who wanted to follow the Truth resigned and left, like we did in 1979—and you can go online and listen to my resignation sermon and you'll find out why—because they were leaving Christ.

He made the wrong count on counting Pentecost. The Church for years observed it on a Monday. Let me read it in the King James and show you the error that Herbert Armstrong came up with, which caused the Church to keep Pentecost on a Monday instead of on the first day of the week, Sunday.

From the King James Version, Leviticus 23:15: "And you shall count… [Why count? Because the Passover varies in the day of the week! So therefore, you have to count. You can't have a fixed day.] …unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of  the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete."

He figured 'from' meant 'away from,' not inclusive. That was an error. If you work for someone five days a week, you work from Monday through Friday. 'From' in that case is inclusive. If it were exclusive, your boss could give you four days pay and he could tell you, 'You agreed to work from Monday to Friday. And therefore, since 'from' is away and not inclusive, I'm not paying you for Monday.'

So the controversy came up in the Church, 1954. Up in Oregon, the little church that was left up in Oregon, studied and found out that sure enough, the first day to count begins with the first day of the week or Sunday, not Monday, because if you count from the morrow after the Sabbath, away from, you start with a Monday. We'll explain what that did to the weeks and everything like that.

There are some people today who are going back and studying his writings and saying, 'Oh, well, there are big groups out here that keep it on a Monday.'

•  What is your measure of Truth?
• The number of people who follow Herbert Armstrong?

or

• The teachings of the Bible and what we should do?

Remember, Jeremiah was only one man. So, don't think that the number of people make it correct. He was wrong in it.

Verse 16 (KJV): "Even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath you shall number fifty days…" Then it tells you about it. That caused a great deal of trouble for the Church. So, in 1954 the little church up in Eugene said, 'We found out that Pentecost should not be on a Monday, but on a Sunday.' Immediately, this caused a problem.

They sent a minister up to Eugene to explain it that it should be on a Monday. In that congregation there were only 12 people at that time and 10 of them left because of it. Herbert Armstrong had Dr. Hoeh do research and to try and find out which day it should be, Sunday or Monday. Dr. Hoeh was not honest or truthful. He started the premise of his research this way: Herbert Armstrong is God's apostle and he cannot be wrong; so therefore, I'm going to find a way to make it right.

We don't approach the Bible that way! A little insight, a little sidebar on that. Guess what Herman Hoeh did all during those 40 years, though he gave the wrong advice and the wrong information and the wrong research to Herbert Armstrong? He kept both days himself!

Again in 1974 it came up and this time there was overwhelming evidence that the count started on the day after the Sabbath including that day and not away from, excluding that day. So again, there was a special ministerial conference in 1974 to correct it.

After it was corrected, Herbert Armstrong, though he accepted the right day, proclaimed this: 'the Church for 40 years kept Pentecost on a Monday and God bound it.' That's absolutely incorrect! God did not bind it. What was one of the penalties that they had because they kept it on the wrong day? They failed to have the understanding that Pentecost pictures the first resurrection, because you only have understanding as you keep the commandments of God.

I'll give you one other little insight before we get back to the correct counting of Pentecost. I was at the auditorium when he said this. I remember it clearly, because at that time there was a lot of trouble going on because his son GTA was again involved with many women in adulterous affairs and it was denied.

But to have his authority, so I warn you be careful, if you think you go on the authority of Herbert W. Armstrong, and if you think he was an apostle, beware! He was not. He exalted himself so high that at this Bible study to put down all what he called the dissidents, he said that 'I have been faithful to God for so long that Satan has no interest in me at all.' BANG! Those are the foundations and the seeds as to why WCG does not exist! Why did God destroy it? Because of corruption and sin! He gave it over to those who then changed all the doctrines. That's the punishment for sin and Pentecost was part of it.

This is a correct translation. With Michael Heiss we did absolute impeccable research into Hebrew to make sure it was right. So here is the correct translation:

Verse 10: "Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, 'When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap the harvest of it, then you shall bring the premier sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD to be accepted for you. On the next day after the Sabbath'" (vs 10-11).

When did Jesus ascend to the Father during the crucifixion week after His resurrection? He was resurrected on the Sabbath, late in the day. He ascended the first day of the week—did He not? If you don't count that day, what are you excluding? The resurrection of Christ! How can your count be right if keep it on a Monday? Can't! Other proof.

Verse 11: "And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD to be accepted for you. On the next day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it"—the next day after the Sabbath. Every Holy Day is called Sabbath—'Shabbat.' When it is the weekly Sabbath it is 'ha Shabbat,' the Sabbath.

The Jews say that the Sabbath this refers to is the first Holy Day during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Wrong! The only day that can happen that way is when the first Holy Days falls on a Sunday.

A Holy Day is a Shabbat. What happens when you have it like we have this year? Tuesday is the First Day of Unleavened Bread! If you count that as a Sabbath, then you start your count to Pentecost on a Wednesday. What happens because of that? You lose a full week, because the count has to start on the first day of the week in order to have seven complete weeks! Otherwise, you have incomplete weeks or parts of a week.

I know for some people this gets a little complicated, but does not Satan the devil have his cunning ways to make it complicated? Yes, he does! Then you shall offer all these things (12-13).

Verse 15: "And you shall count to you beginning with the next day after the Sabbath…" That's the weekly Sabbath. The next day is the first day of the week during Unleavened Bread when you have the first day of the count. If you have it on the first day of the week, you end up each of the seven weeks being a complete week.

"…beginning with the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete" (v 15). Seven Sabbaths, 49 days; each is a complete week.

Verse 16: "Even unto the day after the seventh Sabbath you shall number fifty days." What day comes after the 7th Sabbath? First day of the week! That's the 50th day! Tell me, whenever in the history of the world did Monday ever become the day after a Sabbath? Never!

I hate to break your idol of HWA, but we are to have no men in idols in our mind. Rather, it's not that I hate to break the idol in your mind, it is I am happy to break it in your mind so that your 'transfixation' should be on God the Father and Jesus Christ and on no man!

Seven Sabbaths shall be complete. How can you do that from Monday to Monday to Monday? Can't do it!

"Even unto the day after the seventh Sabbath…" (v 16)—'ha Shabbat.' That's why the Jews are wrong. Now look what has happened to the Jews:

• they reject Jesus Christ
• they reject the New Testament
• they know nothing about salvation
• they know nothing about the plan of God

Look at the Protestants:

• they reject the Old Testament
• they reject the commandments of God
• they keep Sunday and the holidays
• they don't have a clue as to the plan of God

They may have a few things right.

What if you had a combination lock and you had to turn the dial on the combination lock to open it. Unfortunately, of the five numbers you only had two correct. Would you be able to open the lock? No! You must have the entire Word of God, correctly understood and interpreted! You can't go on the interpretations of men. Where did we start? What are we to do? Prove all things, hold fast to what is good!

Sidebar: I remember sitting in the auditorium in Pasadena and listening to this minister. He was, what you would call a sycophant. A sycophant is a climber. He was one of the greatest worshipers of Herbert Armstrong. He was giving his sermon. I sat there, you know how you do tick marks—one, two, three, four. Then you draw a diagonal. I put down the initials of Jesus Christ: JC and then HWA. In an hour and half sermon, he had seven references to Jesus Christ and over 100 to Herbert W. Armstrong.

• Who was his god?
• Where is he now?

Are the majority of people correct today? No! A lot of people quote: In a multitude of counsel there is wisdom. Not always; only if you have wise and honest counselors! What if they are like that sycophant we just talked about? Now you know one of the reasons why we resigned.

Granted, the things that we have in the books that I have written and Phil Neal has written, have been proved. No politics! No axe to grind! No following a man except the Man Jesus Christ and God the Father! Period! That meant a lot of isolation. That meant, very few people and brethren for a long, long time. So, we have no axe to grind! Not out seeking numbers! Not out seeking money! Not out seeking to build great buildings and things like that! But to find the Truth of God and have it written down.

For what purpose? To serve the brethren, so that the brethren may know! If it's my opinion, even in a sermon, I'll wring the cowbell, because opinions don't count. Only the Truth of God counts!

This is why, Jesus says here in Matthew 7:13: "Enter in through the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter through it"—because it is easy; but it is not true.

Verse 14: "For narrow is the gate and difficult is the way that leads to life…" That's why you need to ask: What does God think? Rather than what do people think? That's very important because it is God the Father Who has called each one of you Himself. It's not a matter of what is convenient. It is not a matter of what is easy. It's a matter of what is true and right! Remember, Jesus said, 'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.' That's the only way you are going to get eternal life.

"…and few are those who find it. But beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, for within they are ravening wolves" (vs 14-15).

• they have an agenda
• they are cunning
• they are inspired of Satan the devil
• they want to bring in doctrines contrary to the Truth

Never before have we had so much Truth available to everyone.

All of those of us who count ourselves and know we are brethren of Jesus Christ, we have a lot on us that God is going to judge us for, because:

• we have the fullness of the Word of God
• we have the fullness of understanding the prophecies
• we have the Calculated Hebrew Calendar
• we have peace and time to study it

We need to understand that we need to work while the light is there, as Jesus said, because darkness is coming and you can see it coming when no one will be able to work. What will you do then?

Verse 16: "You shall know them by their fruits. They do not gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles, do they? In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a corrupt tree produces evil fruit" (vs 16-17). What did John the Baptist say God was going to do with those trees? Chop them down!

Verse 18: "A good tree cannot produce evil fruit, nor can a corrupt tree produce good fruit. Every tree that is not producing good fruit is cut down and is cast into the fire. Therefore, you shall assuredly know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but the one who is doing the will of My Father, Who is in heaven" (vs 18-21). We have the whole will of God revealed to mankind in the Bible and revealed to those who love God and keep His commandments. All traditions, all politics, all personal claims do not count.

Verse 22: "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy through Your name? And did we not cast out demons through Your name? And did we not perform many works of power through Your name?'" And Jesus will say, 'Oh, you are so well intended, I understand your difficulty.'

Verse 23: "And then I will confess to them, 'I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who work lawlessness.'" That lawlessness is against the commandments of God.

When says the day after the Sabbath you begin your count, 'ha Shabbat,' you start with the first day of the week. If God says a Sabbath begins and ends at sunset, you keep the Sabbath beginning and ending at sunset; not midnight to midnight, not sunrise to sunrise. You see? God does not reveal these things all at once. They come over a period of time.

It took me at least two years to refute what was written in this paper by Kuhn and Grabbe:

• to fully understand every one of their arguments
• to fully understand all the Scriptures that bear to it, to fully understand the history that went along with it
• to understand the Scriptures, the Hebrew and the Greek

Now here it is, the work [the Passover book] has been done. That's why we give away the books. We want people to know.

As I've said before, if there's anything that you find that is not right, please let me know. If it is truly not correct, we'll change it. We don't want to be self serving and against God.

Verse 24: "Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and practices them, I will compare him to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock; and the rain came down and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon the house; but it did not fall, for it was founded upon the Rock" (vs 24-25). That Rock was Christ. Showing that it is through great difficulty and so forth to come to these things.

Verse 26: "And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not practice them shall be compared to a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand; and the rain came down, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell, and great was the fall of it" (vs 26-27).

That's why Paul wrote, 'The one who stands, take heed, lest you fall!' Satan the devil has a lot of people out there wanting to change the doctrines. Wanting to nudge you a degree or two away from the Truth to start. Then everything else follows later.

All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version by Fred R. Coulter(except where noted)

Scriptural References:

• Matthew 24:24-25
• 2-Corinthians 2:17
• 2-Corinthians 4:1-5
• 2-Corinthians 11:1-4
• Mark 14:12-17
• Luke 22:13-15
• Matthew 28:18-20
• Romans 2:27-29
• Romans 3:1-4
• Leviticus 23:1-5, 32, 5-6, 15-16, 10-11, 15-16
• Matthew 7:13-27

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

•  Numbers 9
• John 8
• Mark 7
• Matthew 15
• Leviticus 23:12-13

Also referenced:

• Books:
• Two Nations that Changed the World: America and Britain, Their Biblical Origin and Their Prophetic Destiny For Real by Philip Neal (coming soon)
• The Four Blood Moons by John Hagee
• A Harmony of the Gospels by Fred R. Coulter
• The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter
• The Day Jesus the Christ Died by Fred R. Coulter
• Killing Jesus by Bill O'Reilly
• The Five Books of Moses (Schocken Bible) by Everett Fox
• Booklet: How to Count Pentecost
• Sermon Series: Was Peter Ever in Rome (Churchathome.org)
• Sermon: Resignation Sermon, 1979
• Article: Passover in the Bible and the Church Today by Robert Kuhn and Lester Grabbe
• From The Day Jesus the Christ Died, Appendix D: The Christian Passover vs The Lord's Supper, Communion, the Eucharist or the Sacrifice of the Mass

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 3-15-14
Formatted: bo—3-18-14

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