The Feast of Weeks, also called Pentecost

• Where do we find this annual Holy Day mentioned in the scriptures?
• Why don't we keep The Feast of Weeks when most Jews keep it, on Seven 6th?
• Why didn't we keep it last week on June 7th and 8th,
  when many of the other Sabbath keeping Churches of God kept it?
• Why does Traditional Christianity ignore this this Holy Day?
• Four different views of when to keep this day, why the confusion?
• Are you a Firstfruit?

Leviticus 23:1-22;

Leviticus 23:1-22 ¹Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²"Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'The set feasts of Yahweh, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my set feasts. ³"'Six days shall work be done: but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no kind of work. It is a Sabbath to Yahweh in all your dwellings. ⁴"'These are the set feasts of Yahweh, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their appointed season. ⁵In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is Yahweh's Passover. ⁶On the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to Yahweh. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. ⁷In the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work. ⁸But you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh seven days. In the seventh day is a holy convocation: you shall do no regular work.'" ⁹Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰"Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap its the harvest, then you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest: ¹¹and he shall wave the sheaf before Yahweh, to be accepted for you. On the next day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. ¹²On the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb without blemish a year old for a burnt offering to Yahweh. ¹³The meal offering with it shall be two tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire to Yahweh for a pleasant aroma; and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin. ¹⁴You shall eat neither bread, nor roasted grain, nor fresh grain, until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God. This is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. ¹⁵"'You shall count from the next day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be completed: ¹⁶even to the next day after the seventh Sabbath you shall number fifty days; and you shall offer a new meal offering to Yahweh. ¹⁷You shall bring out of your habitations two loaves of bread for a wave offering made of two tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour. They shall be baked with yeast, for first fruits to Yahweh. ¹⁸You shall present with the bread seven lambs without blemish a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to Yahweh, with their meal offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of a sweet aroma to Yahweh. ¹⁹You shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings. ²⁰The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering before Yahweh, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to Yahweh for the priest. ²¹You shall make proclamation on the same day: there shall be a holy convocation to you; you shall do no regular work. This is a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. ²²"'When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap into the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest: you shall leave them for the poor, and for the foreigner. I am Yahweh your God.'"

Pentecost: From the website: http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com By: Kaufmann Kohler J. L. Magnus Executive Committee of the Editorial Board. Judah David Eisenstein

Why don't we keep it on the same day as most Jews keep it,
on Sevan 6th or the 6th day of the 3rd month, on June 9th and 10th this year?

Pentecost
From the website: http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com
By: Kaufmann Kohler J. L. Magnus Executive Committee of the Editorial Board.
Judah David Eisenstein

Name given by the Greek-speaking Jews to the festival which occurred fifty days after the offering of the barley sheaf during the Passover feast. The Feast of the Fiftieth Day has been a many-sided one (comp. Book of Jubilees, vi. 21: "This feast is twofold and of a double nature"), and as a consequence has been called by many names. In the Old Testament it is called the "Feast of Harvest" and the "Feast of Weeks", also the "Day of the First-Fruits". In the later literature it was called also the "closing festival". It is called, too, the "closing season of the Passover" to distinguish it from the seventh day of Passover and from the closing day of the Feast of Tabernacles, i.e., the end of the fruit harvest.

Connection with Harvest.

In Palestine the grain harvest lasted seven weeks and was a season of gladness. It began with the harvesting of the barley during the Passover and ended with the harvesting of the wheat at Pentecost, the wheat being the last cereal to ripen. Pentecost was thus the concluding festival of the grain harvest, just as the eighth day of Tabernacles was the concluding festival of the fruit harvest.

In Rabbinical Literature:

The festival is known in Mishnah and Talmud as "'Azeret" ( or ), excepting in Megillah Ta'anit i., where (= "the Feast of Weeks") occurs, which is explained as meaning "'Azeret." "'Azeret" is usually translated a "solemn assembly," meaning the congregation at the pilgrimage festivals. The name is applied also to Passover (Deut. 16:8) and to Sukkot (Lev. 23:36). Ibn Ezra thinks "'Azeret" denotes a holy day, a day of rest and cessation from work (comp. = "detained," I Sam. 21:7). In post-Talmudic and geonic literature the Biblical name "Shavuot" was resumed. Pentecost falls on the 6th of Siwan and never occurs on Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday. Outside of Palestine the Orthodox Jews have since the exilic period celebrated the following day also, as "the second day of Shabu'ot." Pentecost is the fiftieth day of 'Omer, beginning from the second day of Passover. During the existence of the Temple the first-fruits were offered as well as a sacrifice of two loaves of bread from the new harvest, etc. (Lev. 23:15-21).

"The Morrow After Sabbath."

Regarding the Biblical commandment to offer the 'omer "on the morrow after the Sabbath" = (ib. verse 11), the Rabbis maintained that "Sabbath" here means simply a day of rest and refers to Passover. The Sadducees (Boethusians) disputed this interpretation, contending that "Sabbath" meant "Saturday." Accordingly they would transfer the count of "seven weeks" from the morrow of the first Saturday in Passover, so that Pentecost would always fall on Sunday. The Boethusians advanced the argument "because Moses, as a friend of the Israelites, wished to give them an extended holy day by annexing Pentecost to the Sabbath." Johanan then turned to his disciples and pointed out that the Law purposely fixed the interval of fifty days in order to explain that the seven weeks, nominally, do not necessarily begin from Sunday (Men. 65a, b). See also Pharisees. Some claim that this controversy was the reason for the substitution by the Talmudists of "'Azeret" for "Shabu'ot" or "Weeks," on which the Sadducees, and later the Karaites in the geonic period, based their adverse contention. Another reason might be to avoid confusion with "shebu'ot" = "oaths." The Septuagint translation ("on the morrow of the first day") confirms the rabbinical interpretation. Onkelos paraphrases "mi-batar yoma taba" (="from after the holy day"). The Karaites accepted the Sadducees' view. They claim to have advanced "lion" (powerful) arguments at the time of Anan (840). In this discussion, they say, Anan sacrificed his life. Ibn Ezra (ad loc.) argues against the contention of the Karaites and claims that as all other holy days have fixed days in the month, it would be unreasonable to suppose that Pentecost depended on a certain day of the week. The original contention of the Sadducees was one of the reasons for fixing the Christian Passover on Sunday, in the year 325.

So most of the Jews count the fifty days from the First Day of Unleavened bread annual Sabbath day, instead of how we interpret the scripture as counting fifty days from the weekly Sabbath within the Days of unleavened bread.

From: http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com HISTORY OF CALENDAR By : Joseph Jacobs Cyrus Adler

Most of the Sabbath Keeping Churches of God, such as The Living Church of God and United Church of God for example, also believe as we do that we should count from the weekly Sabbath in the Days of Unleavened bread. So why did they keep it a week earlier than we are this year. Usually, we would keep it the same day, but this year we differ by a week. Why are we counting fifty days from a differnt weekly sabbath?

The history of the Jewish calendar may be divided into three periods—the Biblical, the Talmudic, and the post-Talmudic. The first rested purely on the observation of the sun and the moon, the second on observation and reckoning, the third entirely on reckoning. The study of astronomy was largely due to the need of fixing the dates of the festivals. The command (Deut. xvi. 1), "Keep the month of Abib," made it necessary to be acquainted with the position of the sun; and the command, "Also observe themoon and sanctify it," made it necessary to study the phases of the moon. The oldest term in Hebrew for the science of the calendar is ("fixing of the month"); later ("sanctification of the new moon"); ("sanctification of the new moon by means of observation"); ("sanctification of the new moon by means of reckoning"); ("science of fixing the month"); ("rules for the sanctification of the new moon"). Among other names besides these we find (" the secret of intercalation"). The medieval and modern name is.

Babylonian Calendar.
The Babylonian year, which influenced the French time reckoning, seems to have consisted of 12 months of 30 days each, intercalary months being added by the priests when necessary. Two Babylonian calendars are preserved in the inscriptions, and in both each month has 30 days as far as can be learnt. In later times, however, months of 29 days alternated with those of 30. The method of intercalation is uncertain, and the practise seems to have varied. The Babylonian years were soli-lunar; that is to say, the year of 12 months containing 354 days was bound to the solar year of 365 days by intercalating, as occasion required, a thirteenth month. Out of every 11 years there were 7 with 12 months and 4 with 13 months. Strassmeier and Epping, in "Astronomisches aus Babylon," have shown that the ancient Babylonians were sufficiently advanced in astronomy to enable them to draw up almanacs in which the eclipses of the sun and moon and the times of new and full moon were predicted ("Proc. Soc. Bib. Arch., 1891-1892," p. 112). The Talmud (Yerushalmi, Rosh ha-Shanah i. 1) correctly states that the Jews got the names of the months at the time of the Babylonian exile. There is no mention of an intercalary month in the Bible, and it is not known whether the correction was applied in ancient times by the addition of 1 month in 3 years or by the adding of 10 or 11 days at the end of each year.

Bound Lunar Year.
Astronomers know this kind of year as a bound lunar year. The Greeks had a similar year. Even the Christian year, although a purely solar year, is forced to take account of the moon for the fixing of the date of Easter. The Mohammedans, on the other hand, have a free lunar year. It thus seems plain that the Jewish year was not a simple lunar year; for while the Jewish festivals no doubt were fixed on given days of lunar months, they also had a dependence on the position of the sun. Thus the Passover Feast was to be celebrated in the month of the wheat harvest (), and the Feast of Tabernacles, also called , took place in the fall. Sometimes the feasts are mentioned as taking place in certain lunar months (Lev. xxiii.; Num. xxviii., xxix.), and at other times they are fixed in accordance with certain crops; that is, with the solar year. In post-Talmudic times Nisan, Siwan, Ab, Tishri, Kislew, and Shebat had 30 days, and Iyyar, Tammuz, Elul, Heshwan, Tebet, and Adar, 29. In leap-year, Adar had 30 days and We-Adar 29. According to Rabbi Eliezer, there was a lunar solar cycle of 48 years. This cycle was followed by the Hellenists, Essenes, and early Christians. In the times of the Second Temple it appears from the Mishnah (R. H. i. 7) that the priests had a court to which witnesses came and reported. This function was afterward taken over by the civil court (see B. Zuckermann, "Materialien zur Entwicklung der Altjüdischen Zeitrechnung im Talmud, "Breslau, 1882). The fixing of the lengths of the months and the intercalation of months was the prerogative of the Sanhedrin, at whose head there was a patriarch or . The entire Sanhedrin was not called upon to act in this matter, the decision being left to a special court of three. The Sanhedrin met on the 29th of each month to await the report of the witnesses. From before the destruction of the Temple certain rules were in existence. The new moon can not occur before a lapse of 29½ days and 2/3 of an hour. If the moon could not be exactly determined, one month was to have 30 days and the next 29. The full months were not to be less than 4 nor more than 8, so that the year could not be less than 352 days nor more than 356. After the destruction of the Temple (70 C.E.) Johanan ben Zakkai removed the Sanhedrin to Jabneh. To this body he transferred decisions concerning the calendar, which had previously belonged to the patriarch. After this the witnesses of the new moon came direct to the Sanhedrin.

Empirical Determination of Leap-Year.
Every two or three years, as the case might be, an extra month was intercalated. The intercalation seems to have depended on actual calculation of the relative lengths of the solar and lunar years, which were handed down by tradition in the patriarchal family. Moreover, it was possible to judge by the grain harvest. If the month of Nisan arrived and the sun was at such a distance from the vernal equinox that it could not reach it by the 16th of the month, then this month was not called Nisan, but Adar Sheni (second). On the evening before the announcement of the intercalation the patriarch assembled certain scholars who assisted in the decision. It was then announced to the various Jewish communities by letters. To this epistle was added the reason for the intercalation. A copy of such a letter of Rabban Gamaliel is preserved in the Talmud (Sanh. xi. 2). The country people and the inhabitants of Babylonia were informed of the beginning of the month by fire-signals, which were readily carried from station to station in the mountain country. These signals could not be carried to the exiles in Egypt, Asia Minor, and Greece, who, being accordingly left in doubt, celebrated two days as the new moon. Owing to the weather it was frequently impossible to observe the new moon. In order to remove any uncertainty with regard to the length of the year on this account, it was ordained that the year should not have less than 4 nor more than 8 fullmonths. After the fixing of the calendar it was settled that the year should not have less than 5 nor more than 7 full months. R. Gamaliel II. (80-116 C.E.) used to receive the reports of the witnesses in person, and showed them representations of the moon to test their accuracy. On one occasion he fixed the first of Tishri after the testimony of two suspected witnesses. The accuracy of the decision was disputed by Rabbi Joshua, who was thereupon commanded by the patriarch to appear before him prepared for travel on the day which was, according to his (Joshua's) calculation, the Day of Atonement, an order with which he most reluctantly complied. During the persecutions under Hadrian and in the time of his successor, Antoninus Pius, the martyr Rabbi Akiba and his pupils attempted to lay down rules for the intercalation of a month. Under the patriarchate of Simon III. (140-163) a great quarrel arose concerning the feast-days and the leap-year, which threatened to cause a permanent schism between the Babylonian and the Palestinian communities—a result which was only averted by the exercise of much diplomacy.

Talmudic Period.
Under the patriarchate of Rabbi Judah I., surnamed "the Holy" (163-193), the Samaritans, in order to confuse the Jews, set up fire-signals at improper times, and thus caused the Jews to fall into error with regard to the day of the new moon. Rabbi Judah accordingly abolished the fire-signals and employed messengers. The inhabitants of countries who could not be reached by messengers before the feast were accordingly in doubt, and used to celebrate two days of the holidays. By this time the fixing of the new moon according to the testimony of witnesses seems to have lost its importance, and astronomical calculations were in the main relied upon. One of the important figures in the history of the calendar was Samuel (born about 165, died about 250). He was an astronomer, and it was said that he knew the courses of the heavens as well as the streets of his city (Ber. 58b). He was director of a school in Nehardea (Babylonia), and while there arranged a calendar of the feasts in order that his fellow-countrymen might be independent of Judea. He also calculated the calendar for sixty years. His calculations greatly influenced the subsequent calendar of Hillel. According to Bartolocci his tables are preserved in the Vatican. A contemporary of his, R. Adda (born 183), also left a work on the calendar. Mar Samuel reckoned the solar year at 365 days and 6 hours, and Rab Adda at 365 days, 5 hours, 55 minutes, and 25 25/57 seconds. In 325 the Council of Nice was held, and by that time the equinox had retrograded to March 21. This council made no practical change in the existing civil calendar, but addressed itself to the reform of the Church calendar, which was soli-lunar on the Jewish system. Great disputes had arisen as to the time of celebrating Easter. Moreover, the Church was not fully established, many Christians being still simply Jewish sectarians. A new rule was therefore made, which, while still keeping Easter dependent on the moon, prevented it from coinciding with Passover. Under the patriarchate of Rabbi Judah III. (300-330) the testimony of the witnesses with regard to the appearance of the new moon was received as a mere formality, the settlement of the day depending entirely on calculation. This innovation seems to have been viewed with disfavor by some members of the Sanhedrin, particularly Rabbi Jose, who wrote to both the Babylonian and the Alexandrian communities, advising them to follow the customs of their fathers and continue to celebrate two days, an advice which was followed, and is still followed, by the majority of Jews living outside of Palestine. Under the reign of Constantius (337-361) the persecutions of the Jews reached such a height that all religious exercises, including the computation of the calendar, were forbidden under pain of severe punishment. The Sanhedrin was apparently prevented from inserting the intercalary month in the spring; it accordingly placed it after the month of Ab (July-August).

Post-Talmudic Period.
The persecutions under Constantius finally decided the patriarch, Hillel II. (330-365), to publish rules for the computation of the calendar, which had hitherto been regarded as a secret science. The political difficulties attendant upon the meetings of the Sanhedrin became so numerous in this period, and the consequent uncertainty of the feast-days was so great, that R. Huna b. Abin made known the following secret of the calendar to Raba in Babylonia: Whenever it becomes apparent that the winter will last till the 16th of Nisan, make the year a leap-year without hesitation. This unselfish promulgation of the calendar, though it destroyed the hold of the patriarchs on the scattered Judeans, fixed the celebration of the Jewish feasts upon the same day everywhere. Later Jewish writers agree that the calendar was fixed by Hillel II. in the year 670 of the Seleucidan era; that is, 4119 A.M. or 359 C.E. Some, however, as Isaac Israeli, have fixed the date as late as 500. Saadia afterward formulated calendar rules, after having disputed the correctness of the calendar established by the Karaites. That there is a slight error in the Jewish calendar—due to inaccuracies in the length of both the lunar and the solar years upon which it is based—has been asserted by a number of writers.

Error in the Calendar.
According to Isidore Loeb the Jewish cycle in 19 years exceeds the Gregorian by 2 hours, 8 minutes, and 15.3 seconds. This makes a difference in a hundred cycles (1900 years) of 8 days, 21 hours, 45 minutes, and 5 seconds. The assumed duration of the solar year is 6 minutes, 39 25/57 seconds in excess of the true astronomical value, which will cause the dates of the commencement of future Jewish years, which are so calculated, to advance from the equinox a day in error in 216 years. The calculation of the differences between the Jewish and Gregorian lengths of the year and month was privately made for the writer by Prof. William Harkness, formerly astronomical director of the United States Naval Observatory at Washington. According to these calculations the Jewish year exceeds the Gregorian by 6 m. 39.37s. and the Jewish month by .492 s. Insignificant as these differences may appear, they will cause a considerable divergence in the relations between Nisan and spring as time goes on, and may require a Pan-Judaic Synod to adjust. - End of Article

Most of the Sabbath Keeping Churches of God follow the Hillel Calendar for the Spring Holy Days, and reject the Hillel Calendar for figuring Pentecost and count fifty days from the weekly Sabbath, not the annual Sabbath. This Hillel calendar is often off by a few days from observing the new moon from Jerusalem, because of postponements and errors in the Calendar. Since it is shifted by two days this year, it would include a different weekly Sabbath in the Days of Unleavened Bread and hence they have a different day for Pentecost. The Sabbath Keeping Churches of God still hold to this Hillel Calendar because they say that it is up to the Jews to keep track of the Calendar and they should follow it. But they don't follow it completely, so why not reject the rest of the errors of the current Jewish Calendar? I believe they are correct that it is the Jews responsibility to preserve the Calendar and they have done so. We can study their history and clearly see how the Calendar SHOULD be kept. The Jews have preserved it, they just don't follow it and they have convinced many of the Sabbath keeping Churches of God to follow their vain traditions. It is a historical fact that Jesus Christ did NOT keep the Hillel Calendar, but instead followed the New Moon being spotted from Jerusalem. We are following the Messiah's example by being here today.

Acts 2:1-21

Does God expect Christians to continue to keep this annual Holy Day?

First, turn with me in scripture where we find the diciples keeping Christmas. What, isn't in the bible? Not anywhere? Turn with me then where the diciples are keeping Easter. What, that isn't there either? How about Halloween, or Valentines Day? The truth is, we have NO examples in scripture of the disciples or apostles of Jesus Christ keeping any these Traditional Christian Holidays. So why does Traditional Christianity keep these days that are NOT found in scripture and neglect to keep the Holy Days that are found in scripture?

Ask a Traditional Christian, a Baptist, or Methodist, or Pentecostal or Catholic, Why don't you keep the Holy Days of God that are in the Bible? Most would probably tell you the same thing. "Those are Old Testament Festivals and were done away with when Jesus died on the Cross for us."

And my reply is, Really? Maybe you ought to open your Bibles and READ it for yourselves, instead of believing the lies your ministers have been feeding you.

Now, turn with me, to the place where we find the disciples of Jesus Christ keeping the Feast of Pentecost, this Holy Day we are keeping today.

Acts 2:1-21 ¹Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all with one accord in one place. ²Suddenly there came from the sky a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. ³Tongues like fire appeared and were distributed to them, and one sat on each of them. ⁴They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak. ⁵Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under the sky. ⁶When this sound was heard, the multitude came together, and were bewildered, because everyone heard them speaking in his own language. ⁷They were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Behold, aren't all these who speak Galileans? ⁸How do we hear, everyone in our own native language? ⁹Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, ¹⁰Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the parts of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹Cretans and Arabians: we hear them speaking in our languages the mighty works of God!" ¹²They were all amazed, and were perplexed, saying one to another, "What does this mean?" ¹³Others, mocking, said, "They are filled with new wine." ¹⁴But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and spoke out to them, "You men of Judea, and all you who dwell at Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to my words. ¹⁵For these aren't drunken, as you suppose, seeing it is only the third hour of the day. ¹⁶But this is what has been spoken through the prophet Joel: ¹⁷'It will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams. ¹⁸Yes, and on my servants and on my handmaidens in those days, I will pour out my Spirit, and they will prophesy. ¹⁹I will show wonders in the sky above, and signs on the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and billows of smoke. ²⁰The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes. ²¹It will be, that whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.'

Now, in my bible, the Book of Acts is in the New Testament, not the Old Testament. Does anyone else in here have a bible like that? Do the Protestants and Catholics have a bible with Acts in the Old Testament? If not, then why do they repeat this lie, that Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross did away with the Holy Days? The disciples were keeping this Holy Day, after Christs crucifiction, after his resurection and even after his ascension to heaven to sit at our Father's side. So why does Traditional Christianity refuse to keep God's Annual Holy Days? I'll tell you why, because they are blinded to the incredible plan of God to bring mankind to salvation.

John 9:1-41; John 12:35-41; Luke 23:32-37; John 3: 9-21; Acts 9:1-22

Would God purposely Blind somebody? And if so, why would he do that?

John 9:1-41 ¹As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. ²His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" ³Jesus answered, "Neither did this man sin, nor his parents; but, that the works of God might be revealed in him. ⁴I must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." ⁶When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, anointed the blind man's eyes with the mud, ⁷ and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means "Sent"). So he went away, washed, and came back seeing. ⁸The neighbors therefore, and those who saw that he was blind before, said, "Isn't this he who sat and begged?" ⁹Others were saying, "It is he." Still others were saying, "He looks like him." He said, "I am he." ¹⁰They therefore were asking him, "How were your eyes opened?" ¹¹He answered, "A man called Jesus made mud, anointed my eyes, and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash.' So I went away and washed, and I received sight." ¹²Then they asked him, "Where is he?" He said, "I don't know." ¹³They brought him who had been blind to the Pharisees. ¹⁴ It was a Sabbath when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. ¹⁵ Again therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. He said to them, "He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and I see." ¹⁶Some therefore of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, because he doesn't keep the Sabbath." Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" There was division among them. ¹⁷ Therefore they asked the blind man again, "What do you say about him, because he opened your eyes?" He said, "He is a prophet." ¹⁸The Jews therefore did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and had received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight, ¹⁹and asked them, "Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" ²⁰His parents answered them, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; ²¹but how he now sees, we don't know; or who opened his eyes, we don't know. He is of age. Ask him. He will speak for himself." ²²His parents said these things because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if any man would confess him as Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. ²³ Therefore his parents said, "He is of age. Ask him." ²⁴So they called the man who was blind a second time, and said to him, "Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner." ²⁵He therefore answered, "I don't know if he is a sinner. One thing I do know: that though I was blind, now I see." ²⁶They said to him again, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" ²⁷He answered them, "I told you already, and you didn't listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don't also want to become his disciples, do you?" ²⁸They insulted him and said, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹We know that God has spoken to Moses. But as for this man, we don't know where he comes from." ³⁰The man answered them, "How amazing! You don't know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. ³¹We know that God doesn't listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshipper of God, and does his will, he listens to him. ³²Since the world began it has never been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind. ³³ If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." ³⁴They answered him, "You were altogether born in sins, and do you teach us?" They threw him out. ³⁵Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and finding him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of God?" ³⁶He answered, "Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?" ³⁷Jesus said to him, "You have both seen him, and it is he who speaks with you." ³⁸He said, "Lord, I believe!" and he worshiped him. ³⁹Jesus said, "I came into this world for judgment, that those who don't see may see; and that those who see may become blind." ⁴⁰Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said to him, "Are we also blind?" ⁴¹Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains.

Did you get that? Do you hear what the Messiah is saying? Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; Why would God blind the world? To keep from having to prematurely condemn them.

John 12:35-41 ³⁵Jesus therefore said to them, "Yet a little while the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, that darkness doesn't overtake you. He who walks in the darkness doesn't know where he is going. ³⁶While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become children of light." Jesus said these things, and he departed and hid himself from them. ³⁷But though he had done so many signs before them, yet they didn't believe in him, ³⁸that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, "Lord, who has believed our report? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" ³⁹For this cause they couldn't believe, for Isaiah said again, ⁴⁰"He has blinded their eyes and he hardened their heart, lest they should see with their eyes, and perceive with their heart, and would turn, and I would heal them." ⁴¹Isaiah said these things when he saw his glory, and spoke of him. ⁴²Nevertheless even of the rulers many believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they didn't confess it, so that they wouldn't be put out of the synagogue, ⁴³for they loved men's praise more than God's praise.

Did Jesus really think the Pharisees eyes were opened the way they claimed?

Luke 23:32-37 ³²There were also others, two criminals, led with him to be put to death. ³³When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified him there with the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. ³⁴Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing." Dividing his garments among them, they cast lots. ³⁵The people stood watching. The rulers with them also scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others. Let him save himself, if this is the Christ of God, his chosen one!" ³⁶The soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar, ³⁷and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!"

Why did the Jews and the Romans not know they were murdering the Son of God? Because they were blinded, that's why and Jesus knew it. Jesus did not come to condemn the world, but to save it.

John 3: 9-21 ⁹Nicodemus answered him, "How can these things be?" ¹⁰Jesus answered him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and don't understand these things? ¹¹Most certainly I tell you, we speak that which we know, and testify of that which we have seen, and you don't receive our witness. ¹²If I told you earthly things and you don't believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³No one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven. ¹⁴As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God didn't send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him. ¹⁸He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn't believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. ¹⁹This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil. ²⁰For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn't come to the light, lest his works would be exposed. ²¹But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God."

Why doesn't the world see God's plan in the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Days? Because brethren, they are blinded by God. Not blinded by Satan, but blinded by God, until God is ready to call them to salvation.

What do you think God was trying to tell Paul when he blinded him? Believe it or not, I think God was trying to tell Paul, "You ARE blind.

Acts 9:1-22 ¹But Saul, still breathing threats and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, ²and asked for letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. ³As he traveled, it happened that he got close to Damascus, and suddenly a light from the sky shone around him. ⁴He fell on the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" ⁵He said, "Who are you, Lord?" The Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. ⁶But rise up, and enter into the city, and you will be told what you must do." ⁷The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the sound, but seeing no one. ⁸Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no one. They led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. ⁹He was without sight for three days, and neither ate nor drank. ¹⁰Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias!" He said, "Behold, it's me, Lord." ¹¹The Lord said to him, "Arise, and go to the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judah for one named Saul, a man of Tarsus. For behold, he is praying, ¹²and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in, and laying his hands on him, that he might receive his sight." ¹³But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he did to your saints at Jerusalem. ¹⁴Here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name." ¹⁵But the Lord said to him, "Go your way, for he is my chosen vessel to bear my name before the nations and kings, and the children of Israel. ¹⁶For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake." ¹⁷Ananias departed, and entered into the house. Laying his hands on him, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord, who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me, that you may receive your sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit." ¹⁸Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he received his sight. He arose and was baptized. ¹⁹He took food and was strengthened. Saul stayed several days with the disciples who were at Damascus. ²⁰ Immediately in the synagogues he proclaimed the Christ, that he is the Son of God. ²¹All who heard him were amazed, and said, "Isn't this he who in Jerusalem made havoc of those who called on this name? And he had come here intending to bring them bound before the chief priests!" ²²But Saul increased more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived at Damascus, proving that this is the Christ.

God removed the blindness of Paul both physically and spiritually. Why has God blinded the world? If the World truly saw and rejected God, then they would be condemned. God has a plan to bring mankind to salvation. That plan is in the book sitting in your lap, the Holy Bible, but most the World can not see it. They can read the Bible from cover to cover, over and over and over, but they can not and will not see God's plan, until God opens their eyes to it.

Matthew 9:10-13; Romans 8:1-39; 1 Corinthians 15:20-28; James 1:12-18 Revelation 14:1-5

Matthew 9:10-13 ¹⁰It happened as he sat in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. ¹¹When the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" ¹²When Jesus heard it, he said to them, "Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do. ¹³But you go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Romans 8:1-39 ¹There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don't walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. ²For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death. ³For what the law couldn't do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh; ⁴that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. ⁵For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. ⁶For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace; ⁷because the mind of the flesh is hostile towards God; for it is not subject to God's law, neither indeed can it be. ⁸Those who are in the flesh can't please God. ⁹But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn't have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. ¹⁰If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness. ¹¹But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. ¹²So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. ¹³For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God. ¹⁵For you didn't receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" ¹⁶The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God; ¹⁷and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him. ¹⁸For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us. ¹⁹For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. ²⁰For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope ²¹that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. ²²For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. ²³Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body. ²⁴For we were saved in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees? ²⁵But if we hope for that which we don't see, we wait for it with patience. ²⁶In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don't know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can't be uttered. ²⁷He who searches the hearts knows what is on the Spirit's mind, because he makes intercession for the saints according to God. ²⁸We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰Whom he predestined, those he also called. Whom he called, those he also justified. Whom he justified, those he also glorified. ³¹What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³²He who didn't spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how would he not also with him freely give us all things? ³³Who could bring a charge against God's chosen ones? It is God who justifies. ³⁴Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, yes rather, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. ³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Could oppression, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶Even as it is written, "For your sake we are killed all day long. We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter." ³⁷No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:20-28 ²⁰But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep. ²¹For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man. ²²For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. ²³But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ's, at his coming. ²⁴Then the end comes, when he will deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power. ²⁵For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶The last enemy that will be abolished is death. ²⁷For, "He put all things in subjection under his feet." But when he says, "All things are put in subjection," it is evident that he is excepted who subjected all things to him. ²⁸When all things have been subjected to him, then the Son will also himself be subjected to him who subjected all things to him, that God may be all in all.

James 1:12-18 ¹²Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him. ¹³Let no man say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God," for God can't be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. ¹⁴But each one is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. ¹⁵Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. ¹⁶Don't be deceived, my beloved brothers. ¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow. ¹⁸Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

Revelation 14:1-5 ¹I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him a number, one hundred forty-four thousand, having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads. ²I heard a sound from heaven, like the sound of many waters, and like the sound of a great thunder. The sound which I heard was like that of harpists playing on their harps. ³They sing a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the one hundred forty-four thousand, those who had been redeemed out of the earth. ⁴These are those who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed by Jesus from among men, the first fruits to God and to the Lamb. ⁵In their mouth was found no lie, for they are blameless.

In the words of our Messiah, "He that has eyes to see, let them see."