| From David Ben-Ariel (Toledo, Ohio) |
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| In the early years of his ministry, and the beginning of the Radio Church of God, Herbert Armstrong observed Pentecost on the same day as modern rabbinic Judaism — that is, from 1934, when he first began observing the annual holy days, until at least 1936 — three years. Here are the documented facts. Was Herbert W. Armstrong right, originally, but then fell into error? And why did he change the date for Pentecost again in 1974, but not return to the Sivan 6 date? Here’s the fascinating, mind-boggling story! William F. Dankenbring When did Herbert W. Armstrong and his wife originally observe Pentecost? Believe it or not, the answer is — Sivan 6 — the same date as the modern Jews! This fact is documented by Raymond C. Cole, former evangelist of the Worldwide Church of God, and son of the Coles who were old time Church members in Oregon. Raymond Cole, who left Worldwide in the early 1970’s to form a different Church, called Church of God, The Eternal, gave a sermon and mentioned this amazing fact, on Pentecost (as he kept it), May 19, 1975, at Florence, Oregon. His sermon became the basis of an article written by Richard C. Nickels. Richard Nickels was a member of the Worldwide Church of God, who left with Raymond Cole when he bolted in the 70’s. Nickels became a member of Raymond Cole’s church but left it later. A student of church history, he has written an interesting book called History of the Seventh Day Church of God. In the article on Pentecost put together by Nickels, based on Raymond Cole’s sermon, Nickels wrote: “There were several years in which Mr. Armstrong was following the rabbinic custom of Sivan 6, which meant that it could fall at various times, Sunday, Monday, Wednesday or Friday. Now it did so happen that Sivan 6 fell on a Sunday on one or two years during the time when Mr. Armstrong accepted the modern Jewish rabbinical date for Pentecost. This is what confuses some . . .. “Converted and called in 1927, Mr. Armstrong was ordained to the ministry in 1931. He began keeping the holy days with others in 1934. Truth was revealed to him, as he had said, one doctrine at a time. A calendar was published in 1937 showing Pentecost corresponding to the JEWISH DATE OF SIVAN 6. But it must have been that very year that Monday observance was begun. For a diary of an early church member, Mrs. Lorinda (Stoneberg) Le Bleu (baptized in 1936 by Mr. Armstrong), shows that she did keep Pentecost on a Monday in the year 1937, 1940, 1941 and following. . ..” Nickels/Cole point out that in 1939 the Jewish date for Pentecost and the Monday date calculated using the Sadducean method were five days apart, and that in 1939 Mrs. Le Bleu’s diary shows a meeting on Monday, May 29, indicating that by that year Herbert Armstrong had definitely switched to a Monday Pentecost. Cole continues: “1939 is a key year. The Jewish Pentecost and the true [sic] Pentecost were five days apart. Mrs. Le Bleu’s diary records a meeting on Monday, May 29, 1939, at Wilma Christenson’s home. Definite proof that at least by 1939, Mr. Armstrong had been shown the validity [sic] of a Monday Pentecost rather than the commonly accepted Jewish Sivan 6-7. According to the diary, 1937 was the first ‘Monday’ year. “That leaves the years 1934, 1935, and 1936 under the Sivan 6 observance. According to the table . . . 1934 was the only year in which Sivan 6 fell on a Sunday. In 1935 the Jews’ Pentecost fell on a Friday, and in 1936 it fell on a Wednesday. “According to an article published in early 1940, ‘How to Figure Passover,’ Mr. Armstrong had printed a calendar in 1937 showing the Holy Day dates for several years in advance. June 12, 1940, was the date projected in the 1937 calendar as Pentecost. This was Sivan 6 of that year, which fell on a Wednesday. The 1940 article corrected [sic] the date to Monday, June 17. Mrs. Le Bleu’s diary records that the Eugene church observed Pentecost of 1940 on Monday, June 17 at Hendricks Park, with about fifty members present” (emphasis mine). It should be very clear from this passage that originally Herbert and Loma D. Armstrong observed Pentecost WITH THE JEWS, ON SIVAN 6! There is no question about it. But apparently, the last time they observed Pentecost on this date was 1936, after which they changed to a Monday Pentecost. For several years, after studying the holy days, Herbert Armstrong was originally convinced of the correctness of the Jewish date! Why did he change by 1937? Why was 1936 evidently the last time he observed Pentecost on the right day? No one really knows, but several possibilities suggest themselves. We know that SIN cuts us off from God and causes Him to punish us. The prophet Isaiah declared, “But your iniquities have SEPARATED you from your God; your SINS have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear” (Isa.59:2). It was about this same time that Herbert Armstrong began thinking that World War II would end in Armageddon, and that Mussolini was the “Beast” of Revelation and the final “head” of the resurrected “Roman Empire.” His prophetic preachings of this time, until the end of World War II, were way off base, showing that God had allowed him to stumble into error and confusion. It was also about this time that serious personal problems and family trouble occurred in his marriage. All the evidence points to the conclusion that during those years, to use Mr. Armstrong’s own words, he was “very far from God.” Somehow, also, about 1936-37 Herbert Armstrong became convinced that the Sadducees, who do not even believe in a resurrection, in angels or spirits, or an afterlife (Acts 23:8), were correct in counting Pentecost from the weekly Sabbath during the days of Unleavened Bread. Personal study showed him that the priestly Sadducees had observed a Sunday Pentecost. “At this point,” says the Worldwide Church of God “Pentecost Study Material,” published in 1974, “he discarded the Jewish practice and established Monday as the proper day.” Herbert Armstrong followed the Sadducees in counting from the weekly Sabbath, but he concluded they were wrong in the method of counting they used — so in counting “from” the day after the sabbath, which he assumed to be Sunday, he began his count with Monday! Obviously, Herbert Armstrong himself later admitted, de facto, that God did not “reveal” to him that Pentecost was on Monday — because he himself changed it to Sunday in 1974, after new research and information was doggedly brought to his attention by Raymond F. McNair, information and research done by Ernest Martin. This information related only to the “process of counting.” The Church undertook a comprehensive study into this question, and Herbert Armstrong became convinced, after talking with a translator of the American Revised Bible, and a Jewish scholar, and friend of his, that indeed he had been misinformed and mistaken all those years. For 35 years, then, the Church had “counted” WRONG! But in 1974, no attempt was made to question the date from which the count to Pentecost is begun! In fact, when the research was being done in 1974, according to the voluminous (77 pages plus) “Pentecost Study Material” published by the Worldwide Church of God, a strange thing happened. Herbert Armstrong telephoned Mrs. Ravid, the wife of the Israeli Ambassador, long distance in Israel, and asked her how the Jews count. She taught Hebrew at Hebrew University. She read the Hebrew of Leviticus 23:15 and said that Shavuot (Pentecost) would be counted beginning with Sunday, that Sunday is the day number one in the count to 50. The “Pentecost Study Paper” continues: “A few hours later, a slightly horrified Mrs. Ravid called Mr. Armstrong to explain that she had made a TERRIBLE MISTAKE! Thinking perhaps she had found evidence for exclusive counting after all, we awaited her explanation, hearts pounding. ‘I don’t understand how I could have missed it,’ she said apologetically; ‘Shavuot is NOT COUNTED FROM THE WEEKLY SABBATH, IT MUST BE COUNTED FROM NISAN 15 (the first high day of Unleavened Bread)'” (emphasis mine). Thus, the truth about Pentecost was once again presented to the Church, through Mrs. Ravid, in 1974! Unfortunately, the question of WHEN to count FROM was not even under consideration at that time! The question of what day to count from was not the real issue of the great Pentecost debate and controversy which swirled around the Church in 1974. Her emphatic words fell on deaf ears. Rather, the only real issue in 1974 was the issue of how to count! The Worldwide Church of God believed, at that time, and still does, that the Jewish tradition that Pentecost was to be counted from the annual Sabbath was wrong, and that the Sadducean method of counting from the weekly Sabbath was to be followed. Therefore, poor Mrs. Ravid’s comments fell on deaf ears. Nobody paid any attention to her. But everybody breathed a sigh of relief that she corroborated the inclusive counting methodology! Nevertheless, the truth is plain. Pentecost should be observed on the same day the Jews observe it — Sivan 6 — just as Herbert Armstrong ORIGINALLY kept it! Despite all the arguments to the contrary, the truth will win out. Error cannot and will not prevail forever. Jesus Christ said, “You shall know the TRUTH, and the truth shall make you FREE ” (John 8:32). ——————————————————————————————————– See David Ben-Ariel’s other articles at: Ben-Ariel, David – Church of God, Bismarck (church-of-god-bismarck.org) ——————————————————————————————————– |
| Iron Sharpening Iron In regard to: Did Herbert Armstrong Ever Observe Pentecost on Sivan 6? Article From David Ben-Ariel Comments by Rafael Algorri (New Jersey) |
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| 100% correct (Shavuot) HWA had it wrong. WCG Never apologized for All the damage they caused when they forced? marriages to split up because of false understanding. Don’t get me wrong, I do acknowledge that we were Blessed with Truth others didn’t have or ignored, we got a good foundation in that regard. So, in spite of man and his frailties, shortcomings, a calling went out and it hasn’t been in vain. It is our job and responsibility to 1Thes. 5:21. 1Th 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Thank you for the work you are doing, keep it up! |
| Iron Sharpening Iron In regard to: Did Herbert Armstrong Ever Observe Pentecost on Sivan 6? Article by David Ben-Ariel Comments by John Freeman (Woodbury, Minnesota) |
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| I don’t agree with your conclusions that Pentecost is Sivan 6. The Jews don’t all agree on that. In particular, the Karaite Jews count 50 days from Sunday during UB to end on a Sunday. Hebrew scholars disagree on this, so I don’t expect that my scholarship on the subject will persuade you. I would suggest you read Nehemia Gordon’s article on counting Shavuot, including Josh 5:11. https://www.nehemiaswall.com/truth-shavuot (Nehemia Gordon’s article) |
| Iron Sharpening Iron In regard to: Did Herbert Armstrong Ever Observe Pentecost on Sivan 6? Article by David Ben-Ariel Comments by Laura Lee (Bismarck, North Dakota) |
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| I did go over Nehemia Gordon’s article on counting to Shavuot and I found many errors in the article, and they are as follows: Shavuot is connected to the following historical events in the Hebrew Bible: The giving of the law. Exodus 19 The giving of the Holy Spirit in order to keep the law. Acts 2 And prophetically the resurrection of the first fruits. (The day itself is called the Feast of First Fruits.) Actually, it can be proven in scripture that Sivan 6, a fixed calendar date is Pentecost. Exo 19:1 In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai. Exo 19:2 For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount. Exo 19:3 And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Exo 19:4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. Exo 19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: Exo 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. Exo 19:7 And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. Exo 19:8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD. Exo 19:9 And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD. Exo 19:10 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, Exo 19:11 And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai. In context Exodus 19 is not only telling us when the law was given to those who came out of Egypt, but it is also giving us the date of Pentecost. They arrived in the third month on the third day of the month. Later, in verses 10 and 11 it shows they had two days of preparation which would be the 4th and 5th of Sivan and they were to be ready against the third day which was when they would receive the law. And that day was Sivan 6. Yes, there are several sects of the Jews, however the only sect of the Jews that Christ endorsed were the Pharisees and Scribes. In other words, the Orthodox Jews of today. Mat 23:1 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Mat 23:2 Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: Mat 23:3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. There is no other endorsement of a Jewish sect by Christ in scripture. “In the fourth century, however, when oppression and persecution threatened the continued existence of the Sanhedrin, the patriarch Hillel II took an extraordinary step to preserve the unity of Israel. In order to prevent the Jews scattered all over the surface of the earth from celebrating their New Moons, festivals and holidays at different times, he made public the system of calendar calculation which up to then had been a closely guarded secret. It had been used in the past only to check the observations and testimonies of witnesses, and to determine the beginnings of the spring season.” From The Comprehensive Hebrew Calendar by Arthur Spier. In other words, Hillel II only made public what already existed and was used at the Sanhedrin at the time of Christ. He did not make up some new calendar as some want to believe. According to Nehemia Gordon’s article of the seven feasts only Atonement is called a Sabbath. But I found other scripture which say differently. Lev 23:24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. (Feast of Trumpets is called a Sabbath.) Lev 23:39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath. (Looks like the First Day of the Feast of Tabernacles and the eighth day are also considered to be Sabbaths. The wording for the seven annual feasts (sabbaths) is very similar in that no work is to be done, you are to have a holy assembly (convocation) and they are feasts of the Lord. Joh 19:31 The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. (John is speaking here of the high day of Passover.) Gill’s Exposition Leviticus 23:15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath…. Not the seventh day sabbath in the passover week, nor the whole feast of unleavened bread, but the first day of it, which was an holy convocation, a sabbath in which no servile work was to be done, Leviticus 23:7; and it was from the day after this, even the sixteenth of Nisan, that the following count was to be made; so the Targum of Jonathan, after the first feast day of the passover: and Josephus (s) is very clear in it, that Pentecost, or the feast of weeks, was the fiftieth day from the sixteenth of Nisan, when the above offerings were made: from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; which plainly points out the express day from whence the count was to begin, even on the day when the sheaf of the firstfruits of the barley harvest was offered: seven sabbaths shall be complete; or seven weeks, that is, forty nine days; and hence, Jarchi says, we learn that the count began from the evening, or otherwise the weeks would not be complete; and Gersom thinks the day in which the sheaf was offered is included in the days counted; for the count began from the day after the first of the passover, and lo, seven days are seven weeks of days, which make forty nine days. (s) Antiqu. l. 3. c. 10. sect. 6. Deu 16:9 Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn. Deu 16:10 And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the LORD thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the LORD thy God, according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee: Deuteronomy 16:9-10 is pretty clear as to the count being seven weeks and not seven Saturday Sabbaths as many want to claim. The count to Pentecost always starts on Nisan 16, the day after Passover. And there is nothing wrong with the wording in Joshua 5:11: Jos 5:11 And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day. It says what it says because the morrow after the passover, Nisan 16, is when the wave sheaf offering was done and then they could eat the crop of the land including unleavened cakes. It doesn’t matter whether the word “old” is in the verse or not. Nehemia Gordon’s argument was based on his belief that they did the wave sheaf a day early which they did not do. They can’t harvest the crop until the high Sabbath of Passover was over. The wave sheaf was done on Nisan 16 just as it is written in the law of God. Nehemia Gordon claims that “morrow of the Sabbath” means Sunday. He uses: Lev 23:16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. The Sabbath in this particular verse is Passover which is the 15th of Nisan. Passover and Unleavened Bread are the same Feast. See Eze 45:21 In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. The Passover can fall on different days of the week, so the morrow after the Sabbath in this case could be several different days depending on what day Passover fell on. For example, this year Passover falls on Tuesday April 23, 2024. The entire first day of the Feast of Passover starts with a Passover meal at even on the 22nd of April or at Sunset. So, from sunset on Monday until sunset on Tuesday is the first day of Passover or Nisan 15. The morrow after that will be Nisan 16 which is a Wednesday. So, you start the count to Pentecost on Nisan 16 and count for 49 days and the next day, the fiftieth is Pentecost which always falls on Sivan 6 just like Exodus 19 shows. There is no discrepancy between “morrow” in Numbers 33:3 and “morrow” in Leviticus 23:11. Num 33:3 And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians. Lev 23:11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. The Passover Sacrifice was always done between the two evenings on the 14th of Nisan. They left from Rameses on the morrow after the Passover Sacrifice which would have been Nisan 15 just as Numbers 33:3 says. As you can see from Ezekiel 45:21 Calling unleavened bread Passover is not new as Nehemia Gordon wants us to believe. The whole week from Nisan 15 to 21 is the Passover, but the first day of the week is a Sabbath and the last day is a Sabbath. So, in Lev. 23:11 morrow is referring to the next day after the Holy Day Sabbath of Passover which would be Nisan 16. Notice also these verses: Lev 23:15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: Lev 23:16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. (KJV) Lev 23:15 And ye shall number to yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day on which ye shall offer the sheaf of the heave-offering, seven full weeks: Lev 23:16 until the morrow after the last week ye shall number fifty days, and shall bring a new meat-offering to the Lord. (Brenton Bible) Many bibles besides the Brenton Bible render sabbath as weeks instead of sabbath. Essentially, we are not talking about how many sabbaths are between the number 1 count and the 50 count nor does it matter if it ends on a Sabbath. What is being counted here is days and weeks, fifty days or seven weeks and one day. In Conclusion: Not only was Nehemia Gordon’s article very confusing at times, it also was not accurate in that it does not match with what scripture actually says. You are right your scholarship on the subject of Shavuot not only did not persuade me to your line of thinking but because I had to study it again for the, I lost count how many times, I learned even more than I knew before and am still totally convinced that Pentecost/Shavuot is on Sivan 6 as scripture tells us. My advice to you would be to study your bible instead of what Nehemia Gordon writes because he is not God and his articles are not the word of God. People who study the works of others rather than the word of God are generally people who do not want to keep God’s Law, so I hope you are not one of those people. |
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