In The Apocalyptic Nature of Time, we delved into the profound exploration of time within the biblical narrative, building upon the foundational concepts established in my previous article, "God's Clock: The Biblical Mystery of Time." From the creation account in Genesis 1 to the appointed times set by God for Israel (Leviticus 23), we navigated through the intricate layers of time's significance. In this sequel, I continue the journey, unraveling the deeper meaning behind the signs and seasons mentioned in Genesis 1:14, which herald the appointed time of the end – the apocalyptic nature of time itself. Through meticulously examining biblical passages and historical context, I invited you to contemplate the divine revelations hidden within the cosmic clock of creation, leading towards a promised conclusion, apocalyptic in nature, inscribed in the heavens.
So far we have worked through God's Spring appointments; revealing their historic mooring, meaning in Jesus, and apocalyptic promise. In this article, we will continue through the summer feast of Pentecost. In the next, we will end with the Fall Feasts which will ultimately usher in the final apocalyptic promise of the Gospel—the return of Jesus.
Calendar Disconnect
But first, let's talk about calendars. Calendars are a means of tracking time, remembering important occasions, and setting and keeping appointments. If God's appointments, as I have claimed, were written in the sun, moon, and stars and established on day four of creation, why aren't these appointments on our calendars?
Every year, just as we did a few weeks ago, Christians worldwide recall and celebrate the elements of what our present-day religious calendars identified as 'Holy Week:' Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, His trial, His crucifixion, and His resurrection. These form the foundation of our faith. Yet there was no calendar celebration on most of our calendars for Passover, Unleavened Bread, or First Fruits, the actual dates of these events according to the Gospels. How is it that our religious calendars are ignorant of these feasts if, as I claim, they are so important to God?
Over time, the events of Holy Week in Christianity have become separated from their historical roots in the Jewish Passover festival. While Holy Week originally commemorated events tied to the Passover observance, forces beyond our control have created an artificial divide. Today, the Christian Holy Week is contextually and calendrically distinct—divorced from the biblical Feast of Passover, also known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread in Jewish tradition and scripture. This separation exists despite Holy Week's origins being grounded in the Passover celebrations of the biblical era.
How did that happen? We must go to the history books here; to find out how our modern traditions were separated from their historical and Biblical root. Each has been severed from its biblical root and is deprived of the root's nourishment. In almost all streams of Christianity, we have been taught that these days are Jewish days and are not for us. This occurred from an intentional separation in the fourth century—around three hundred years after the historical Advent. It will be up to you to judge whether this decision speaks for you today, let alone whether it speaks for God.
As faith grew in the years following the gospel events, so did persecution. Faith, followed by persecution, was driven to the ends of the earth just as Jesus promised in Acts 1:8. Both Jews and Christians were persecuted under Roman rule, particularly following the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. The persecution drove a wedge between Jews and Messianic Jews (Jews who believed Jesus was the promised Messiah). It was the Messianic Jews who took the Gospel to the nations.
As the Roman blood sport against Jews and Messianic Jews intensified, Jews and Messianic Jews (now also with a mixed multitude of Gentile believers, both of which were called Christians) were separated from each other. As the Jewish influence diminished and the success of Faith flourished among the Gentiles, the influence and wisdom of the Jews and their writings (the Old Testament) was tragically diminished.
The early Christians endured increasing abuse, hatred, and persecution from successive Roman Emperors. However, this pattern began to change under Constantine. After receiving what he believed was a divine revelation, Constantine recognized that Christianity could be the key to unifying his empire. As a result, he embraced the Christian faith and started working toward establishing a unified version of Christianity throughout his territories.
“Over time, the events of Holy Week in Christianity have become separated from their historical roots in the Jewish Passover festival. While Holy Week originally commemorated events tied to the Passover observance, forces beyond our control have created an artificial divide.
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In his book "Constantine's Sword: The Church and the Jews," James Carroll examines the decisions made at the Council of Nicaea around 325 CE. One key decision was to separate the Christian Easter celebration from its foundation in the Passover festival. Carroll suggests this separation was strongly motivated by a desire to detach Christian practices from their Jewish moorings, driven by the prevailing anti-Jewish sentiments of that era. The aim was to break away from the perceived problematic association between Christianity and Judaism.
A primary source related to this decision is a letter from Emperor Constantine, which emphasized the need for Christians to have nothing in common with "the detestable Jewish crowd" and to establish a distinct Christian identity by celebrating Easter independently of Passover. This move was part of a broader strategy to consolidate Constantine's rule and unify his empire under a single, cohesive religious practice.
Originally, Passover and Easter (celebrating Jesus' resurrection) were linked since Jesus' death and resurrection occurred during the Passover season. However, they became separated events due to a divisive decision by the early church that was influenced by anti-Jewish sentiments at that time.
In the early days of Christianity, there were disagreements about when to observe Easter. Christians in Asia Minor celebrated Easter on the same day as the Jewish Passover, regardless of which day of the week it fell on. However, Christians in Rome and Alexandria observed Easter on the Sunday following Passover. This disagreement led to controversies in the second century. In essence, some Christians followed the biblical calendar for Passover, while others created and followed a new tradition—Easter.
In AD 325, Emperor Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea to resolve the issue. The council ruled that Easter would always fall on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox, ensuring it would never coincide with God's appointed time—the 14th of Nisan or Passover.
Constantine sought to justify this decision by appealing to an anti-Semitic sentiment prevalent and growing in the church at the time. He believed this would provide a common ground for acceptance among bishops who did not attend the council.
It was declared to be particularly unworthy for this, the holiest of all festivals [Easter], to follow the custom of the Jews, who had soiled their hands with the most fearful of crimes, and whose minds were blinded. In rejecting their custom, we may transmit to our descendants the legitimate mode of celebrating Easter, which we have observed from the time of the Saviour’s Passion to the present day. We ought not, therefore, to have anything in common with the Jews, for the Saviour has shown us another way; our worship follows a more legitimate and more convenient course (the order of the days of the week); and consequently, in unanimously adopting this mode, we desire, dearest brethren, to separate ourselves from the detestable company of the Jews, for it is truly shameful for us to hear them boast that without their direction we could not keep this feast….As, on the one hand, it is our duty not to have anything in common with the murderers of our Lord; and as, on the other, the custom now followed by the Churches of the West, of the South, and of the North, and by some of those of the East, is the most acceptable, it has appeared good to all….You should consider not only that the number of churches in these provinces make a majority, but also that it is right to demand what our reason approves, and that we should have nothing in common with the Jews.
(Philip Schaff, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series II, vol. 14, The Seven Ecumenical Councils, “On the Keeping of Easter,” Christian Classics Ethereal Library <ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.vii.x.html>.)
Fallout
Notice the complete absence of the authority of Scripture as the basis for this move away from the Biblical accounting of time.
“Acts 2 was not a new event, but a continuation of God’s promised plan on the appointed day foreshadowed in the Old Testament. Both Sinai and Acts 2 were predetermined in God’s sacred calendar and established by the Counting of the Omer.”
Over time, new calendars were created, and the practice of following God's established cycle of annual feasts and festivals gradually faded from the memory and observance of most Christians. Although this shift occurred, it does not mean that God's original intention and purpose behind instituting these feasts and the sacred calendar should be disregarded. While the observances changed, God's original design for the feast cycle was not meant to be abandoned.
These biblical feasts were established long ago to reveal God's promised plan, including the revelation of Jesus Christ, which was appointed from the very beginning. Let's review these feasts in their original context and see how they relate to our Christian faith rooted in Jesus. The previous article covered the Spring Feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits In this article, we will continue by examining the Summer Feast of Pentecost. Next time we will conclude with the Fall Feasts of Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles. By understanding their original context, we can gain insight into how these feasts foreshadowed and connected to the coming of the Messiah and the promised apocalyptic conclusion to time.
Pentecost [Shavuot/Feast of Weeks — Leviticus 23:16]
The typical Christian understanding of Pentecost comes from the events described in Acts 2. It mentions Jews from all over the world gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost (also called Shavuot). They had assembled in one place, likely the Temple Mount (Acts 2:1), which sits atop Mount Moriah or Mount Zion. This biblical account provides the context for the Christian observance of Pentecost, rooted in this festival of the Lord celebrated in Jerusalem.
God's plan to redeem creation and save people included more than just the Jews, and this greater plan was revealed through Jesus. In Matthew 9:37, Jesus tells his disciples that "the harvest is great, but the workers are few." He then set this plan into motion:
In Acts 1:4, Jesus instructs his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit. For 40 days after his resurrection, Jesus appeared to many disciples and spoke about the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:3, Luke 24:13-35, John 21:12-13, etc.). On the 40th day, he ascended to the Father.
The disciples then waited in Jerusalem for 10 more days, as Jesus had commanded (Acts 1:4-6). This combined period of days is called the "counting of the Omer" (Leviticus 23:9-21), a measure of grain counting from the first fruits barley harvest to Pentecost.
Notably, the period between Jesus' resurrection and ascension precisely aligns with the counting of the Omer. This mirrors the time between Israel's exodus from Egypt and receiving the commandments at Sinai - a period of preparation for receiving God's Word, appointed on God's sacred calendar first revealed at Sinai.
At Sinai, God's Word came in the form of stone tablets. In Jerusalem (Acts 2), God's Word was to be written on the hearts of His people (Jeremiah 31:33, Hebrews 8:10).
The first three feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits) were celebrated in rapid succession when Israel was birthed from the womb of Egyptian slavery. Propelled into the desert, then, they journeyed to Mount Sinai, arriving approximately 50 days later (in the third month, Exodus 19:1). At Sinai, the mountain shook with smoke and fire when God spoke directly to the people (Exodus 19-20).
Similarly, at Pentecost in Acts 2, there was a commotion of noise and fire when God spoke through Peter to the crowd gathered in Jerusalem, which included Jews from 'every nation under heaven' (Acts 2:5). This crowd would have recalled the events at Sinai.
Just as the mixed multitude witnessed God at Sinai (Exodus 12:38), the Acts 2 crowd represented the nations. At Sinai, they responded, "We will do everything the Lord has said,… (Exodus 19:8), while in Acts 2 they asked, "What shall we do?" (Acts 2:37).
This occurred on the 50th day, following God's appointed time in Leviticus 23:15-16 to count 50 days from First Fruits to Pentecost (Greek for 50), tied to Passover. The Jews had gathered in Jerusalem to observe this feast, as commanded in Deuteronomy 16:16.
Acts 2 was not a new event, but a continuation of God's promised plan on the appointed day foreshadowed in the Old Testament. Both Sinai and Acts 2 were predetermined in God's sacred calendar and established by the Counting of the Omer. The gospel was now going to the nations, following the pattern begun at the first Passover. Pentecost is intrinsically linked to the previous Passover feasts through God's calendar.
It should now be clear that the events of Acts 2 were not entirely new. Rather, they were a continuation of God's promised plan set in motion at creation and permanently established on His sacred calendar during Israel's exodus from Egypt to freedom. While traditional Christian observance of Pentecost is a nod to the original event, as discussed above, it has become severed from its historical roots. The timing of the modern Pentecost celebration is no longer aligned with the actual observance of Jesus and his disciples in relation to the biblical feasts and God's calendar.
“God Himself gave His appointed calendar to Israel. The Scriptures record it for all people - including those who were not present then. God unequivocally states that these are ‘THE LORD’S APPOINTED TIMES’ and ‘MY APPOINTED TIMES.’ He has NOT canceled His calendar of sacred appointments with His people.”
Pentecost is the fourth of the seven biblical harvest feasts. It occurs exactly seven weeks (50 days) after the Feast of First Fruits, hence its Greek name "Pentecost" meaning "fiftieth."
The arrival of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 followed Jesus' call through Peter to repentance and marked the next chapter of God's plan leading to the end times (the Apocalypse). God now dwells within His people, no longer in the physical Temple made by human hands.
Jesus was the first fruit from among the dead (1 Co 15:20). This Pentecost harvest is marked with 3,000 repentant souls—the first fruits from the nations. Traditionally during this feast, people were instructed to bring the first portion of the grain harvest to the Lord, including two loaves of leavened bread (Leviticus 23:17). These two loaves symbolized the message now extending to both Jews and Gentiles - God's promised harvest plan for all people and include you and me!
But wait, there's more!
But wait, there's more. Just as there was a long pause between the first three appointments on God's calendar and the fourth, there was a long pause between the fourth and the final three. Just as the first three come in close and quick succession, so do the final three appointments. In the next installment I will wrap up with the fall feasts, how they were dealt with in the Old Testament, and why they are so relevant to us as we move toward the Apocalypse and Christ's return.
But now, I have just one more point to make.
Whose Appointments Are These?
The question "What's so important about these Jewish feasts?" reveals a fundamental misunderstanding. We perceive them as solely Jewish observances, which may seem at odds with Christian teachings and sensitivities. However, the aim of this series on the biblical feasts is to affirm that these are not merely Jewish observances, but God's appointed times.
Although Jews observe these feasts, they did not create them. The unchanging God is the originator of these appointed times, as clearly stated in Leviticus 23:2 where God introduces them to Moses as "My appointed times."
“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD’S appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these: ..." Leviticus 23:2 (Emphasis mine)
So while Jews observe the feasts, they are not inherently Jewish in origin or purpose. Rather, they are divine appointments instituted by God Himself for His purposes, transcending any ethnic or religious tradition. Understanding this core truth is crucial to appreciating the significance of these biblical feasts.
God Himself gave His appointed calendar to Israel. The Scriptures record it for all people - including those who were not present then. God unequivocally states that these are "THE LORD'S APPOINTED TIMES" and "MY APPOINTED TIMES." He has NOT canceled His calendar of sacred appointments with His people. God continues to work through His established calendar toward His ultimate destiny and appointments for all of mankind.
In the upcoming article, we'll delve into the last three biblical feasts that ultimately point us toward the Apocalypse - the pivotal events of the end times. These feasts are the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles. By examining their prophetic significance and symbolism, we'll gain deeper insights into how these appointed times foreshadow the climactic events that will unfold as God's ultimate plan for humanity reaches its fulfillment.
