Hope of Israel Ministries (Ecclesia of YEHOVAH):

The Fourth-Month Wheat Harvest

by HOIM Staff

Here are some of my notes on what the Scripture teaches is the true count to Pentecost which is 50 days after the 7th Sabbath -- not 50 days after the Wave Sheaf or 1st Sabbath. “Even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD” (Leviticus 23:16, King James Version). Notice, now, J. P. Green's Literal Translation: "And you shall number to you from the next day after the Sabbath, from the day you bring in the sheaf of the wave offering; they shall be seven perfect sabbaths; the next day after the seventh Sabbath, you shall number fifty days; and you shall bring near a new food offering to Jehovah;"

I have not found ANY evidence to support the traditional 3rd month Pentecost, but below is an abundance of evidence that conclusively proves a later Pentecost.

Introduction

If someone wanted to argue for a Pentecost in the third month, would it be asking too much for them to produce ONE scripture supporting a wheat harvest in the 3rd month “springtime”??? After all, that is what Pentecost is, first fruits of the wheat harvest.

Leviticus 23:16 can be understood two ways: the traditional way is to count 50 days from the Wave Sheaf of the barley harvest, and another way it can be understood is to count 50 days from the Morrow after the seventh Sabbath, which would be 101 days counting the two New Moon days which are not counted when counting out the 7 Sabbaths complete. This is because the New Moons are not complete Sabbaths/intermissions, but they are still “worship” days of no buying or selling.

To prove which understanding is correct, we must turn to nature and scriptures other than the one in question. We know that Pentecost has to do with the wheat harvest, and I contend that there is no conclusive Winter wheat harvest mentioned in the Scriptures. If someone can find a Winter wheat harvest in other scriptures then there is at least a 50-50 chance that the 50 days after the Wave Sheaf could possibly be right -- otherwise it is not even an option.

The reason I say a 50-50 chance is because we definitely have a conclusive pinpointed Summer wheat harvest in the 4th month, which is found over and over again throughout the Bible. It could be understood either way if someone can find a Winter wheat harvest. Then they could argue it was 50 days after the barley sheaf/Winter wheat harvest, and we could argue that it is 50 days after the seventh Sabbath complete -- which would be a Summer wheat harvest. In other words, if someone can produce a scripture for harvesting wheat in the Spring, instead of Summer, then it could go either way. But until someone finds a conclusive Winter wheat harvest it is not even an option. We must prove what the scripture in Leviticus 23:16 is speaking of.

Now if there were no Summer wheat harvest found in Scripture, and you had plenty of Winter wheat harvests found in Scripture, then the obvious understanding would be to count 50 days after the barley Wave Sheaf for the Winter wheat harvest. Simple.

On the other hand, if there is no Winter wheat harvest mentioned in Scripture, (and there’s not) then the obvious conclusion is to begin the 50-day count from the Morrow after the seventh Sabbath complete and then bring the new meat offering from the Summer wheat -- the only wheat spoken of in the Bible. Simple.

No Chag in the Third Month

Below you will read many scriptures that will harmonize with counting 50 days after the seventh Sabbath -- not the Wave Sheaf -- such as when Aaron made the proclamation of a Pilgrim feast/CHAG which was 50 days after the seventh Sabbath complete, and the only Pilgrim Feast this could be is Pentecost because it is in the fourth month when Aaron proclaimed this. There is no CHAG found in the 3rd month for the traditional Pentecost.

Until someone can produce a scripture showing that there is another Winter wheat harvest to choose from, found in Scripture of course, I see no room to debate it any other way. I know that Winter wheat is now harvested in the springtime after the Spring barley harvest, but did ancient Israel plant Winter wheat or only Summer wheat?? All the scriptures that I have found are referring to Summer wheat. It would be nice to have an example of Winter wheat in Scripture if I were going to count 50 days after the barley Wave Sheaf and then bring a first fruit from the Winter wheat, but since there isn’t any the conclusion is obvious.

We can prove many wheat harvests in the Summer throughout the scriptures, but is there one shred of evidence for a wheat harvest in the Spring? The answer is a resounding no! Since there is no Scriptural wheat harvest in the Spring, it must be understood that Pentecost is counted from the morrow after the seventh Sabbath/intermission, instead of from the Wave Sheaf itself.

All the males were commanded to appear before YHVH three times in the year, these three feasts centered around the three major harvests. The first one is Unleavened Bread/barley harvest, which takes place in the springtime, or Spring feast, then the second one takes place in the Summer, at the Summer wheat harvest called Pentecost. At this time the first fruits of the Summer wheat harvest are offered, not Winter wheat which is harvested in the Spring, two weeks after the barley, and is still in the Spring season. The third one is, of course, Tabernacles in the Fall.

The Examples from Scripture and History

Every where in Scripture and history, from Josephus and Philo who lived at the time of these harvests, wheat was always a Summer harvest. Study the following EXAMPLES closely.

In the works of Josephus he tells how that it was Summer time when the fruit of the land, being almost ripe enough for reaping, that Samson set fire to the fruit of the land i.e., wheat and grapes etc., and in the book of Judges it plainly tells us that it was in the time of wheat harvest when Samson did this. Read the following from Josephus and the book of Judges:

"At this injurious treatment Samson was so provoked that he resolved to punish all the Philistines, as well as her; so it being then summer time, and the fruits of the land being almost ripe enough for reaping, he caught three hundred foxes, and joining lighted torches to their tails, he sent them into the fields of the Philistines, by which means the fruits of the fields perished" (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 5, Chapter 8 "Concerning the Fortitude of Samson, and What Mischiefs He Brought Upon the Philistines," 7).

In the book of Judges, Chapter 15:1-5 it says:

“But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in. And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her. And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure. And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails. And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn [wheat] of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn [wheat], with the vineyards and olives”.

In other words, the time of wheat harvest is in the Summer, NOT Spring. This proves that this wheat harvest is speaking of a Summer wheat harvest and not a Spring harvest of Winter wheat. Josephus knew enough about how many foxes were used etc., because he knew the Scriptures. Shouldn't he have also known that the wheat harvest was in the Spring instead of Summer?! Or maybe he knew that the wheat harvest in his time was in the Summer and not Spring! You Judge, and remember that the people knew about farming in those days, and to say whether he was a Pharisee or Sadducee makes absolutely no difference whatsoever concerning the harvest and nature.

The following quote from Josephus also proves the wheat was Summer wheat and not Winter wheat:

"In the meantime Herod’s affairs in Judea were in an ill state. He had left his brother Joseph with full power, but had charged him to make no attempts against Antigonus till his return; for that Macheras would not be such an assistant as he could depend on, as it appeared by what he had done already; but as soon as Joseph heard that his brother was at a very great distance, he neglected the charge he had received, and marched towards Jericho with five cohorts, which Macheras sent with him. This movement was intended for seizing on the corn [wheat], as it was now in the midst of summer;” (Wars of the Jews, Chapter 17, 1).

Notice the last verse of this quote.

Clearly Four Seasons

This next quote, which lists the four seasons, proves they were known back then:

“And in addition to the four elements the seasons of the year are also four, which are the causes of the generation of animals and plants, the year being divided into the quadruple division of winter, and spring, and summer, and autumn.

"The aforesaid number therefore being accounted worthy” (The Works of Philo, "On the Creation," XVI- XVII. (52-53)).

Notice he says these four seasons Winter, and Spring, and Summer, and Autumn, are the cause of the generation of animals and plants.

In other words, you have three harvest feasts each year: barley in the Spring, wheat in the Summer, and the annual fruits of the trees etc., in the Autumn.

I have heard the argument that all harvests were in the Summer time, but that is not acceptable because Philo plainly says, “And in addition to the four elements the seasons of the year are also four, which are the causes of the generation of animals and plants, the year being divided into the quadruple division of winter, and spring, and summer, and autumn”.

The bottom line is that someone should have a scripture, or some kind of proof, that there is a Spring wheat harvest instead of a Summer wheat harvest to support their 50-day count after the Wave Sheaf instead of 50 days after the seventh Sabbath complete for Pentecost.

I can give many Scriptures and history from people that lived at this time that there was a Summer wheat harvest which would have to be 50 days after the seventh Sabbath instead of 50 days after the first Sabbath!

How Long to Harvest?

Fifty days after the first Sabbath can only produce a Spring wheat harvest, and 50 days after the seventh Sabbath can only produce a Summer wheat harvest. Which one does the Bible teach? We know what the tradition of men teaches!

It says in the book of Nehemiah, Chapter 13:15:

"In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day: and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals."

Nehemiah saw men treading grapes in these wine presses, and since the grapes are not ripe until Summer the sheaves they were bringing in had to be Summer sheaves. The Winter wheat was gone by this time and so was Springtime.

The Messiah indicates that after four months comes the harvest. The Summer wheat matures in four months. It is sown in the first month of Nisan/Spring and is reaped in the fourth month of Tammuz/Summer which is seven Sabbaths plus 50 days, and you can then bring a first fruit from it/Summer fruit. This is why the hail did not destroy the wheat in Egypt because it had not come up yet because it was planted in the first month.

 In John 4: 35 it says:

“Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'?”

Winter wheat is at least 6 or 7 months to harvest -- and not four months to harvest as the Messiah said it was.

When Aaron used the word CHAG, which is only used for a Pilgrim feast, it was in the Summer time and it was 50 days after the seventh Sabbath. It was also the same day that the Law was given on Mount Sinai -- Exodus 32:5 and Exodus 31:18.

Philo says that the harvest comes after the grapes are ripe, and the grapes are not ripe until Summer. He also tells of some men who were keeping a prelude or fore-feast of the greatest feast i.e., Pentecost, 50 days after the Wave Sheaf. That means that the Morrow after the 7th Sabbath is NOT Pentecost, but the start of the 50-day count to Pentecost.

He also says that wheat was the last of all the grains that are sowed in the field to ripen and come to harvest. This was Pentecost wheat that he was referring to, and it has to be Summer wheat to ripen last, after the Winter wheat (The Works of Philo, "Special Laws," II, XXX (186)).

The wheat harvest and Tabernacles are to be observed at the year's end/turning (Exodus 34:22), and that does not happened until June 21 (after the traditional Pentecost) and September 21). In other words, you have a turning/equinox on March 21 and then keep Passover in the Spring, and you have another turning/solstice on June 21st and you keep Pentecost in the Summer, and then you have another turning/equinox on September 21 in the days of Tabernacles in the Fall. If you try to keep the traditional Pentecost in the third month (Sivan 6), it is not after the turning/solstice which happens on June 21, and is therefore not in harmony with Torah Law.

When the Israelites came into the land they were to reap the harvest of barley, wave the sheaf, count seven Sabbaths/intermissions complete, number 50 days, and then bring a new meat offering from their labors that they sowed in the field i.e., wheat.

In other words, if they sowed the Summer wheat in the first month of Nisan when they came into the land, they would reap a harvest for a first fruit 50 days after the seventh Sabbath complete from their labors which they sowed in the field -- but NOT in just 50 days from the time they sowed, for nature will not allow the wheat to mature in 50 days (Exodus 23:16).

There is so much proof supporting that the count should began 50 days after the seventh Sabbath instead of 50 days after the first Sabbath.

The bottom line is, can anyone locate a Spring wheat harvest for a 3rd-month Pentecost? If not, maybe it is not there and is only a tradition of men.

Support for a Summer Wheat Harvest

Here are a few scriptures to support the Summer fruit/wheat harvest:

“He that gathereth in SUMMER is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in HARVEST is a son that causeth shame” (Proverbs 10:5).

Notice Summer and harvest are synonymous.

“As snow in Summer, and as rain in Harvest, so honour is not seemly for a fool” (Proverbs 26:1).

Again Summer and harvest is synonymous.

“Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting for thy SUMMER fruits and for thy HARVEST is fallen [some of harvest, not spring harvest]. And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field; and in the VINEYARDS there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no WINE in their presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease” (Isaiah 16:9).

Notice here that the summer fruits of the harvest AND the wine are connected.

“And it shall be as when the HARVESTMAN gathereth the corn [wheat], and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the VALLEY of Rephaim. Yet Gleaning Grapes shall be left in IT (Valley), as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith YHVH the Mighty One of Israel” (Isaiah 17:5-6).

Notice here that the harvest men gathered the wheat in the Valley, and what was left of the grapes they left in the Valley, which proves the grapes were ripe before the harvest as Philo says; they just didn’t go back and GLEAN them.

"For so the MASTER said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect and the sour grape is ripening in the flower" (Isaiah 18:4-6).

The Tanach reads, ”for the said YHVH to me: I will be at ease and I will look after my place of Foundation; like crisp warmth after the rain, like a mist in the heat of the harvest. For before the harvest, when the flower is finished and the bud turns to grapes approaching ripeness.”

Notice here that this is speaking of a Summer wheat harvest and says before the harvest the grapes are approaching ripeness. The grapes are NOT approaching ripeness in the Springtime!

The phrase “THE harvest” instead of "A harvest of wheat" seems to imply that there was only one major wheat harvest, and that it was in the Summer -- which rules out any possibility of counting only one day after the seventh Sabbath complete.

“They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall Summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them. In that time shall the present be brought unto YHVH of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name YHVH of hosts, the mount Zion” (Isaiah 18:7).

I believe “the present” that is spoken of here is the first fruit of the Summer wheat harvest because it shows that the present/first fruit is brought during the Summer. The above quote and nature demands an understanding of Leviticus 23:16 to mean 50 days after the seventh Sabbath complete.

“The harvest is past, the Summer is ended, and we are not saved” (Jeremiah 8:20).

This verse shows that the harvest was in the Summer NOT Spring, because it does not say the harvest is past and Spring is ended. This once again proves that it is a Summer harvest -- not a Spring harvest.

“As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah to serve the Chaldeans, which will come unto us: but ye, gather ye WINE, and SUMMER FRUIT, and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that ye have taken. Likewise when all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the Ammonites, and in Edom, and that were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan; Even all the Jews returned out of all places whither they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, unto Mizpah, and gathered WINE AND SUMMER FRUITS VERY MUCH” (Jeremiah 40:10-12).

Notice the wine/grapes and the Summer fruit/wheat is in the Summer time and not the Springtime. By the way, in Jeremiah 39:2 it explains that this was in the fourth month when the people harvested these crops.

“O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer: thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer: the spoiler is fallen upon thy SUMMER fruits and upon thy Vintage. And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land” (Jeremiah 48:32).

Once again summer fruit and grapes are together.

“Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the SUMMER THRESHING FLOORS; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them:" (Daniel 2:35).

Notice it does not say “SPRING THRESHING FLOORS”

“Thus hath YHVH thy Mighty One showed unto me: and behold a basket of SUMMER FRUIT. And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said YHVH unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith YHVH thy Mighty One: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence. Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, Saying, When will the New Moon be gone, that we may sell grain? and the Sabbath, that we may set forth WHEAT, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?" (Amos 8:1-5).

Notice here the Summer fruit is referring to the wheat. YEHOVAH God will return and gather the wheat into the barn on Pentecost.

“Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the SUMMER FRUITS, as the GRAPE GLEANINGS of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the FIRST RIPE FRUIT" (Micah 7:1).

The first fruit here is referring to Summer fruits, or Summer first fruits.

Nature proves that Pentecost is IN THE FOURTH MONTH!

Pentecost in the Book of Acts

On the day of Pentecost when they were being accused of being drunk with new wine -- which is not found in the third month for the traditional Pentecost -- Peter said “this is that, which was spoken by the prophet Joel” and when you look at what the prophet Joel said, you will see where he said that “the floors would be full of wheat and the fats full of wine.” Once again, there is no new wine in the third month to fulfill this prophecy. Therefore it had to have been a 4th-month Pentecost because it is agriculturally IMPOSSIBLE for the vats to be full of wine in the 3rd month. This is an absolute, and this alone proves that Pentecost is in the fourth month, which is 50 days after the seventh Sabbath complete -- Leviticus 23:16.

Here is the Prophecy found in the 2nd chapter of Joel:

"And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, My great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name YHVH your MIGHTY One, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and My people shall never be ashamed. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am YHVH your Mighty One, and none else: and My people shall never be ashamed.

"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh [of Israel]; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out My spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of YHVH come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the Name YHVH shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance" (verses 24-32).

Notice the prophecy was for the outpouring of the holy spirit at a prosperous time when the floors would be full of wheat and the wine presses full of wine -- and there’s NO wine in the vats in the third month. This also is an absolute. The wheat AND wine were part of this prophecy, after all it was Pentecost when this prophecy was fulfilled in the book of Acts. Notice Acts chapter 2:

"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place…Others mocking said, these men are full of new wine. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days” (verses 1:13-17).

No New Wine in the Third Month

My main point is that there is positively no new wine in the third month, so Joel’s prophecy had to be referring to the fourth month and, furthermore, there are NO scriptures that will support new wine as being last year’s wine or any other than the definition found in Strong’s Concordance of the Bible:

"G1098 ãëå?êïò gleukos glyoo’-kos
Akin to G1099; sweet wine, that is, (properly) must (fresh juice), but used of the more saccharine (and therefore highly inebriating) fermented wine:—new wine."

The only new wine found in Scripture -- whether fermented are not -- is wine that is still in the cluster or in the vats/wine presses or, as the Messiah refers to it, as not been put in the new bottles yet, and if it is put in old bottles it will burst them. This is much like the Winter wheat which cannot be found in Scripture, neither can new wine be found as wine that came out of the old store or last year’s wine because by then it is not new wine and does not fit the definition found in Scripture.

There is no New wine (sweet wine) in the third month (grapes were not ripe yet) but were at the end of the fourth month. The prophet Joel could have said, "the floors shall be full of wheat" and left out about the winepresses being full of wine on this day -- but he did not because it is true.

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