Sunset Reckoning Vs WMSCOG Day Reckoning

Which one is biblical?

Hello and welcome back to the blog. Thank you for choosing to spend time with us as we deconstruct through God’s word. Today’s subject is going to be about Sunset Reckoning and the Feasts.

For video (45min) click here

Before we understand the feasts we really have to understand the time keeping of the ancient Jews to make sense of the feasts. Only after that can the feasts be easily explained.

Now to be clear as a Christian, whether the day begins at sunset or sunrise, it does not matter for salvation. But to the Jews or the Christians trying to observe the Torah then it is a matter of salvation. To our good friends in the WMSCOG this is a matter of Heaven or Hell.

This article may require you to read it a couple times to really understand what I am trying to say. I do my best to convey the information as simply and precisely as I can, so if you don’t  understand this subject, it is not your fault, it is mine, so don't feel bad ok. On that note I guarantee you that if you stick with me and you are able to understand the information I am presenting in this blog there will be a massive pay off in the next article about the Sabbath day.

Let’s go.

1. What is the teaching of the WMSCOG in regards to Sunset Reckoning?

2. What is the origin of Sunset Reckoning? We can see it in creation actually.

3. What does the bible and history say about Sunset Reckoning?

4. Our conclusion. Sunset Reckoning is biblically accurate and reasonable. Meaning Sunrise is not the beginning of day in certain contexts.

Now the WMSCOG is fixated on making literally everything a salvation issue. Literally everything. Since they are adamant that the 7 feasts in 3 times are essential for salvation even today.

In other words this subject is crucial. Another reason they believe the day begins at sunrise is because their founder Ahnsahnghong restored it and taught it. It also separates them from everyone else such as the WorldWide Church of God established by Herbert Armstrong, The SDA that keeps the Sabbath and even the Jews. In this way the WMSCOG can say that everyone else is wrong and they are right. 

This implies that the Jews who have had the same method of understanding when the beginning of the Jewish day is, have been wrong for thousands of years. Ultimately making this a very personal attack on the Jews, you know since they don’t know when their own day begins.

It is important to note that the Phoenicians, Numidians, Babylonians and other nations also observed their days from Sunset to Sunset. 

Well let's see if the teaching of Day beginning at Sunrise is biblical. Through this it is important to note that the Jewish day just like our day does not just refer to the light portion, but also the dark portion. For instance Luke 2 verse 11 indicates this day is referring to the night when Jesus was born.

Also as we dive into this, keep in mind that we are looking at this at 24 increments that include both night, day, evening and morning. It is important to note that when we are talking about when the day begins we are talking about when the 24 hour period starts and resets. 

Not to be confused with what the Jews consider their day time. Of course the Jews began their work and tasks in the daytime and considered that their day. They also divided up their day into 24 hours as well to keep track of time just like us. What we are talking about specifically is when did the Jewish week days or Feast days begin.

Let's see Genesis. To be completely honest, this verse is very hard to understand regardless of whether you believe in sunset or sunrise reckoning. But let’s give a go and see what we can analyze. 

Genesis 1 verses 1-5.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

Let me ask you. What existed first? Light or Dark? According to verse 2, darkness existed first. Not only that but if you read Isaiah chapter 45 verse 7 it is written God created darkness. Then after God created darkness God said “Let there be light” and there was light. Then God got to work separating the light from the darkness, giving the light the name “day” and the darkness God called it “night” then evening came and then morning, the first day. 

Now we need to examine what the first day is here. Well, let's see when this day began. Then in the beginning what was there? Darkness, then God created light. Then God named and separated them. So is verse 5 recalling the events of that first day? Could be, it seems to match. 

Then let's see if sunrise reckoning fits. If the light is the beginning of day, what is the point of verse 2 showing that darkness existed first? Let’s also consider sunrise reckoning and apply it to verses 1-5. If the light God created in verse 3 is the beginning of day and then in verse 5 we see the morning dawns, would it not be the second day in that case? If the light is daytime and there is evening, the next morning should be the second day, not the first. So that is important to note.

If you insist that the day does begin in the morning and that the next morning is a different day, you could insist that the words “the first day” in verse 5 are simply a recap of what had just happened earlier in creation. But there is also a problem there as well. You would also have to say that darkness was first, not the light or “day”. Unless you just want to forget or ignore verse 2, but I don’t think that is a wise habit to start. 

So what can we make of this mess? Well, we see that God gives us all aspects of the full day. You have night, day, evening and morning. You also see that verse 5 gives a clear recap of what just transpired in creation. The phrase “and there was evening and there was morning” does not change order regardless of the day.

Darkness always precedes light and evening always precedes morning. 

It is important to note what is being done. God is creating something out of nothing, order out of disorder. We can see that time and time again. God created heaven and the earth, out of nothing. Also the earth was empty, void, formless and dark. Then God created light and separated the light from the dark. Creating order out of disorder. The Evening and Morning motif applies here.

God created the vault to separate waters, named the vault “sky”. Again God created something out of nothing, He created order out of disorder. The Evening and Morning motif applies here as well, showing how God is working.

God created the ground and separated the ground from the sky and the waters. Then God produced vegetation on the ground. Again we see God created something out of nothing, He created order out of disorder. Again we see the Evening and Morning motif reiterating how God is working.

And on and on it goes. Each subsequent day is a reenactment of the events from the first day. From nothing, something was created, from disorder, order was created. Hence, there was evening and there was morning.

I will put a diagram on the screen of how I think the sunset reckoning fits in the creation. Personally I feel that Sunset Reckoning fits best in the creation timeline. But it is not entirely clear and that is just the reality.

Since the Hebrew language has changed over time it is very difficult to fully understand what Moses was trying to say here. Just like how we as American’s don’t speak the same as we did 200 years ago and there are some phrases or words that we don’t use today.

But let's not stop here. If you are already confused, it's ok. Hang tight and we will try to clear this up. At the end we will make the bigger picture. Now we are going to take a look at Exodus 12 and Leviticus 23 to discuss when the Passover and Unleavened Bread begins.

Firstly we need to understand the different twilights in the Hebrew day otherwise this will be extremely confusing.

On a Hebrew day there are two evenings. There is an evening during the day and evening of the night.

Let me explain, the day begins at sunrise or around 6 am or hour 0. The evening of the day is at 6th hour or high noon. Why? Because the 6th hour is the time when the sun is at the highest point in the sky, after the 6th hour the son begins to decline.

Then when the sun starts to set, usually around the 12th hour, it is finally evening. So to put it simply, the first evening is the 6th hour and the second evening is the 12th hour. Then what is between the two evenings? It is the 9th hour. This means that the Passover lambs were slaughtered between the evenings or 9th hour. 

Now I know what you are thinking. Why not just say 12pm, 3pm and 6pm etc? Well I hesitate to do that because the ancient Jews calculated time based on the position of the sun. It is totally different from our timekeeping.

Today we have a strict 60 minute block of times regardless of the year and phases of the sun. That is not how it worked back then. Since the Jews kept track of their hours by the sun it means their hours were longer or shorter depending on the time of year.

For instance sometimes their hours were only 45 minutes in winter and in the summer their hours could be more than 75 minutes long.

Meaning their evening or sunset could be as early as 5 or 6 in winter and as later as 9 or 10 in the summertime.

Anyways, this between the evenings or 9th hour is used for both Exodus 12:6 and Leviticus 23:5 as we will see here in just a minute. Now I am not saying that the Passover was being eaten at 3pm, just that the lambs were slaughtered at 3pm.

How do we know this? Well in the regulation  of the Passover in Exodus 12 and Leviticus 23 God said you are to first slaughter the lamb which takes time. Then cook the lamb to eat it, prepare bitter herbs and make unleavened bread.

Essentially you are making a feast for your family, if you have ever done that before it takes hours. Now imagine if you have to butcher the animal as well as prepare it. So depending on how big your family is, determines how long you will take. 

The main point here is that the WMSCOG teaches that the twilight when the lambs were slaughtered in Ex 12:6 and Lv 23:5 means sunset, that is why they eat their bread and wine at around 8pm or sunset.

If you look at the Hebrew the “twilight” is “ereb ereb” or between the evenings aka 9th hour. 

With that information, let's move on to Exodus 12 and Leviticus 23.

Exodus 12 verse 14-20

 “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance. For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat; that is all you may do.

“Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And anyone, whether foreigner or native-born, who eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel. Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread.”

Now let's compare this to Leviticus.

Leviticus 23 verses 5-6

“‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times: The Lord’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s Festival of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. For seven days present a food offering to the Lord. And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.’”

According to God’s command when does the Feast of Unleavened Bread begin? According to Exodus 12 verse 18 the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins on the 14th day in the evening and ends on the evening of the 21st day. But in Leviticus it says that Unleavened Bread begins the 15th day. Then which is it? 14th evening or 15th day? 

I am well aware that the bible groups the Passover, Unleavened Bread together. If you are not sure please read Ezekiel 45 verse 21. Passover and Unleavened are interchangeable. 

But that still does not clear up the discrepancy of when does it begin? If we use sunrise reckoning it is a blatant contradiction. It would mean that it begins on 2 different days. Which makes no sense. Sunset reckoning gives us a clear answer. If the day begins at evening then what does that tell us? It tells us that Passover and Unleavened Bread are starting at the exact same time.

The Passover sacrifice is eaten in the night following the daylight hours of first month 14th day, meaning when the son went down the first month 15th day began, which means that the Passover sacrifice was being eaten at the same time as the Unleavened bread or 1st month 15th day was commencing. When the evening comes on the 1st month 14th day it bleeds into the start of the 15th day according to sunset reckoning. 

Now that we understand this let me paint the picture of the Passover and Unleavened Bread in Exodus and Leviticus side by side. 

According to Exodus 12 verse 6 and Leviticus 23:5 the Lord's Passover begins on the 1st month 14th day at twilight which again in Hebrew is “ereb ereb” or “Between the Evenings” or 3pm. However, that is not when they ate it. This when it begins, then when does it begin? When the Lamb is slaughtered at 3pm. But then you have to prepare it, cook it to eat, bake the unleavened bread, get the bitter herbs among other things. 

Also depending on how many people or families there were would determine how many lambs or goats are needed. But there is no specific hour or time to eat it. They could take as long as they needed as long as they ate it before the morning because after that they would have to burn it. Also God said this particular Passover in Exodus 12 should be eaten in haste, because that same night they also left Egypt. But we don’t find that regulation in Leviticus. 

Then Exodus 12 verse 8 and Leviticus 23 verse 6 we see that night they are to eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Then why? Because that night is the 1st month 15th day or Unleavened Bread. The verses we just saw show us that the eating of the Passover is the beginning of Unleavened Bread. Therefore eating the Passover Lamb and the start of the 1st month 15th day happened at the same time.

Combining Exodus 12 and Leviticus 23 when understood through Sunset Reckoning is not contradictory at all. It is in complete unison. I really hope this makes sense. But if not, leave a comment or reach out to me and I will explain better. I am doing my best here.

Let's continue. 

Leviticus 23: 26-32

The Lord said to Moses, “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves,[d] and present a food offering to the Lord. Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God. Those who do not deny themselves on that day must be cut off from their people. I will destroy from among their people anyone who does any work on that day. You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. It is a day of sabbath rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath.”

Here is a very interesting one. We have the tenth day of the seventh month as the Day of Atonement, then it says that evening of the ninth day to the following evening. How does this make sense?

The best way to understand this is to show it. First we will show how WMSCOG teaches this verse. At first glance it makes sense and shows that sunset reckoning is nonsense. But their explanation also contradicts what the bible is saying and it doesn’t provide an explanation of how verse 32 can be applied. We can’t just be satisfied with verse 27 and forget verse 32 exists. Then how do we make sense of this passage without adding or taking away. But they misunderstand that the evening of whatever day it is, is the beginning of the following day. 

Here we have a similar issue that we just discussed on Unleavened Bread. With day reckoning the bible is giving us two start dates as opposed to just one. If you take the time to look at this graph it actually looks like neither way the WMSCOG teaches this makes any sense.

Day reckoning provides us 2 start dates and the way WMSCOG presents sunset reckoning makes it seem like you completely miss the day of atonement. So neither the insistence or the counter measure to the fallacy the WMSCOG presents makes any sense. If anything it just creates more problems and questions than a resolution.

 Then how do we rectify this verse and harmonize the scriptures? I will show what I think these verses are saying. You don’t have to believe me, I challenge you to do your own research and come to your own conclusion. Given what we have seen so far with creation and the Passover and Unleavened bread it is simply really.

We have to understand the biblical pattern and find harmony in the scriptures. Not try to make your doctrine fit. We also have to remember how the real understanding of sunset reckoning works. What starts the evening of the 9th day? The tenth day. Then it means the following evening would be the start of the 11th day but also conclude the 10th day.

So here we see no contradiction  

Let's move on now. 

Numbers 19  verse 11 and 19

“Whoever touches a human corpse will be unclean for seven days. 

The man who is clean is to sprinkle those who are unclean on the third and seventh days, and on the seventh day he is to purify them. Those who are being cleansed must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and that evening they will be clean.

According to this regulation a person who touches a dead body will be unclean for seven days. Now let's suppose we are following sunrise reckoning. Then let's say you touch a dead body on the Monday of the week in the morning. Then that would imply 7 mornings or days from that point you will be clean, correct?

But it says you are unclean till the evening of the seventh day right? So that would technically be 7 and ½ days no? It contradicts the passage. Regardless of what day of the week you touch a dead boy you still have this same issue. It will in fact never be seven days but over seven days. 

Then let's consider sunset reckoning. If you touch a dead body on the first day of the week in the morning you will be considered unclean from that evening since that is the start of the next day since we can’t go backwards.

Then that would imply seven evenings from that point you will be clean right? Yes, because that evening on the seventh day you will be clean. This means that the water of cleansing regulation actually proves sunset reckoning.

Also it is important to note that everyone in this passage is unclean till evening. Why because that starts the new day in sunset reckoning. Otherwise the bible should say they will be unclean till the next or following morning right? But it doesn’t say that.

But what about in the New Testament? Let's see a few verses. 

First we will see 

Matthew Chapter 27 verses 57-61

As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

Here we see evening was approaching and they were putting Jesus in the tomb.

Let's also see another verse.

Luke 23 verses 50-56

Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.

The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.

Here it is saying that the Sabbath was about to begin so they laid him in the tomb and left to keep the Sabbath.

What can we derive from this verse? Instead of evening approaching it says the Sabbath was about to begin. Evening approaching are the same words as the sabbath was about to begin, meaning the Sabbath begins at evening or sunset. 

But again let's look at it from the sunrise reckoning perspective also. Evening was approaching which would mean they probably wanted to get everything done before nightfall right? Because it would be very hard to do what they need to do in the dark or with a candle.

But there is a question, if this is preparation day just before sunset or evening, then why would Luke mention the Sabbath is about to begin? Because they still have quite a few hours to go from evening to sunrise, which the sunrise in this case would be the Sabbath. The wording doesn’t fit.

Lets see another perspective in sunrise reckoning. If the Sabbath is about to begin at dawn it means that they are working in the early hours of the morning just before sunrise, hence the words “the Sabbath was about to begin”.

Therefore justifying the phrase that Luke wrote. But that puts Matthew at odd’s with the other accounts because he said evening was approaching, not that it was evening or dark.

And if that is the case what took place between what Matthew said was happening before evening and what Luke said what was happening just before the Sabbath or the coming morning in this case? It would appear we have an extended period of time where it is either lost or nothing happened.

Also it gives us two starting points of the Sabbath. One gospel says that Sabbath or that evening was approaching. But if you adhere to day reckoning Sabbath starts Saturday morning at dawn. So we have two starting points. It doesn’t make sense.

Day reckoning is contradictory and does not harmonize the gospels. Sunset theory on the other hand fits perfectly. It gives us only one starting point for the Sabbath and gets rid of the space of time that is unaccounted for preparation night.

Let's understand the timeline through sunset reckoning. Jesus was before Pilate at 6 am. Then crucified at Golgotha at 9 am. Darkness appeared at noon. Jesus breathed His last at 3pm. After Jesus' death they hurried to take down His body because they didn’t want to leave criminals on the cross.

They put His body in the tomb before evening or as the Sabbath was about to begin, at which point the Roman soldiers guarded it and the Jews rested in accordance with the commandment. As we can see the sunset reckoning clearly harmonizes the scriptures and there is no contradictions.

By the way it was customary for the Jews to remove bodies before evening. If you want you can check out Joshua chapter 8 verse 29, Joshua chapter 10 verses 26-27, Deuteronomy chapter 16 verse 6 and chapter 21 verses 21-23.

But let's confirm sunset reckoning through the resurrection account.

John 20 verse 1

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.

Luke 24 verse 1

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.

Mark 16 verses 1-2

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb.

Mathew 28 verse 1

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

Here all the verses seem in order except one. Did you spot which verse is problematic? Do you notice how whenever the WMSCOG teaches the Sabbath or Day reckoning they avoid John 20 verse 1. 

Is there a way we can make these all harmonize? Or do we just need to look at the ones that fit our narrative and forget the others exist. Of course we shouldn’t do that.

Let's consider first sunrise reckoning and examine. All the verses from Matthew, Mark and Luke seem to match and be in accordance with that teaching, that is until you get to John. John says it was still dark and John also says it is the first day of the week.

Which is a problem, because if sunrise theory is correct then this verse is impossible. It can't be dark and be the first day of the week, because the other verses indicate that that morning would be the first day of the week.

Then if the day begins at dawn that would mean that dark period before that dawn of the 1st day of the week would technically still be the 7th day of the week according to day reckoning right?

Otherwise if that night is indeed the first day of the week then it means at dawn in morning it would be the second day right? If that is the case then there is a big time discrepancy. So neither of those options work or make sense.

Since sunrise does not work here. Let us then consider sunset reckoning. 

Does John work with this theory? Well considering the first day of the week started at sunset the previous day it can be dark and be the first day of the week. So this fits perfectly. 

Then what about the other gospels? Do they fit the sunset theory? Yes.

Because when the day dawns and the sun comes up it is still considered part of the previous night. It is not considered a different day till the following evening. So in this case it can also be the first day of the week for Matthew, Mark and Luke as well. 

Sunset reckoning harmonizes both Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Sunrise reckoning only satisfies the synoptic gospels and contradicts what John says. Which would mean for you to insist on sunrise reckoning you would have to discount John or just disregard what he says.

But then if you did that you would not have the teaching of Jesus being the word in creation, Jesus flesh and blood are eternal life, Feet Washing Ceremony, Jesus keeping the Feast of Tabernacles and other important things. So I wouldn’t recommend that obviously.

Let's see one more verse. 

John Chapter 20 verse 19

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”

Here again we see something contradictory. You are thinking to yourself “wait how is it evening but the first day of the week”. Don’t worry I thought that as well. Here the Greek word for evening is “opsios” which means late or evening. 

However if you look at Thayer’s Greek Lexicon it is used in the sense of “between two evenings” or 3pm. Not going to lie with the Greek word for evening, it is a lot harder to understand the context.

Which would make sense considering that John was a Jew and knew about the 2 different evenings and usage of between the evenings. He would not contradict himself. 

Also I think that the discrepancy has a lot to do with translation and misunderstanding of original text. Let me give you an example. 

John 19:13

When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.

Here is a big problem that I think comes out of a simple mistranslation. Which is why I recommend looking into the Greek and Hebrew to understand the context. Anyways it appears that John is claiming that it is noon when Jesus is before Pilate.

This is a blatant contradiction compared to the synoptic gospels. The other gospels say Jesus is crucified at 9 am or the Third hour. So why is John saying that Jesus is before Pilate at noon? Are we talking about a different Jesus here or what?

Well it is a simple manner of understanding John’s perspective. John seems to tell the days of the week by the Jewish sunset reckoning as we clearly saw earlier. But John seems to tell what hour of the day it is by the Roman way of time keeping. Romans have the same method of time keeping we use today. Hour 0 is midnight or 12 am.

John most likely was trying to refer to the 6th hour by the Roman time meaning 6 am which corresponds to the other gospels perfectly. But when the translator came across this passage I think they might have assumed that John was referring to the 6th hour of the Jews which would be noon.

It is not that shocking of a mistake considering the other gospels used that method of time keeping and John was a Jew.

Now in short summary John was referring to the 6th hour of the Roman day which is 6 am. Not the Jewish 6th hour of the day which is Noon or 12pm. 

That is why understanding the scriptures as a whole is so important and also trying to understand the original languages, customs and harmonize everything. Don’t just pick and choose, then ignore texts that you think threaten your narrative, that is not what the bible is for.

Now what about the Feasts? Surely the WMSCOG is right about the Feasts and the fulfillment right? Let’s analyze that now. Full disclosure: we are only going to cover Unleavened Bread and Ascension Day.

We will discuss Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles and also analyze the realities of the Feasts in the coming articles about the restoration.

First I want to talk about Ascension Day. For 9 years I was taught that Ascension Day was not part of the Feasts in fact my overseer of 9 years would usually skip over it when teaching the Feasts. But I have a very big problem with that. If Ascension Day is not part of the Feasts then why do you read Dt 16:16? Do you remember what it says?

Three times a year all your men must appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the Lord empty-handed: Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you.

So there is offering and attendance just like a normal feast, but yet it is not a feast? Please make that make sense. Not only that but I have found no evidence that the early church ever celebrated the Ascension Day. Then how does the WMSCOG justify it?

You might be thinking well it is part of the works of Moses. Let’s see. 

Exodus 24:4

Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said. He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel.

This is literally the evidence for the justification of celebrating Ascension Day in the WMSCOG. Moses went up to God 40 days after landing the Red Sea. Where is the codification of this? Where is the regulation of 9am -3pm worship here? Where is the regulation for offering here?

Now to be clear I am not against celebrating Ascension Day, what I am against is the WMSCOG saying if you don’t keep it you will not ascend and command offering when there is no proof of the regulation of Ascension Day or the curses or blessing of keeping it anywhere in the bible or in early texts outside of the bible.

Now I brought up my findings about Ascension Day and asked my overseer to help me understand it better. His response was “Ascension Day is not a feast in the Old Testament but it is a feast in the New Testament.”

I was pretty shocked when I heard this because this is the first time I have ever heard this and I had no notes in the last 9 years supporting this. I then asked my overseer “is there 8 feasts in 3 times now?” He said “No it is just part of the feast of weeks, kind of like how Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles are all part of the same feasts.”

But one problem, we still count Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles as 3 feasts not one, don't we? He was silent.

You can’t say one Feast that is combined with another is one Feast total but then say 3 feasts combined with another is still 3 separate feasts. But that is pretty par for the course when it comes to WMSCOG logic unfortunately.

It is contradictory and confusing. I have found no evidence in scripture supporting Ascension Day as Feast commanded by God, let alone it being connected to the feasts of weeks in any way shape or form.

It is a made up regulation and enforcement that the WMSCOG teaches and it is not biblical. If you want to keep it go for it, but it will not bring you any closer or further from God as it is not required.

It reminds me of a Christopher Hitchens quote “What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.”

I agree 100%. Most of the WMSCOG claims are asserted without evidence which then can also be dismissed without evidence. If you claim to be something special or want to make people follow you, the burden of proof is on you, to prove it with evidence. It is not other people’s responsibility to prove to you that you are not what you say you are.

You have no proof to show why you are the truth. I don’t need proof to say that you are not the truth. But I will provide it anyway. The only one bringing evidence to the table in this case is me.

Lastly, let’s look at Unleavened Bread. This is the most important subject in this article. If you remember one thing from this blog post please remember what we discussed about Unleavened Bread. It is extremely important.

Now we know already that the Passover was eaten in the dark of night of 1st month 14th day or beginning of the 1st month 15th day. That is a biblical fact. Not only that but there are only 3 Feasts not 7 Feasts according to Exodus 23 and Exodus 34.

The 3 Feasts have special days within them but Annual Feasts are still considered 3 not 7. The “7 feasts in 3 times” is not biblical, it is 3 feasts with special days contained within them. There is no phrase in the scriptures that says 3 times. It doesn’t exist. If you are not sure please ask a Jew near you.

But that is not the important part that I want to talk about today.

What else should we know about Unleavened Bread?

Well there is something incredibly shocking that we missed when the WMSCOG taught us the Feasts. It is that the First Fruits actually is part of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and is not part of Feast of Weeks. Not only that but the bible says that First Fruits happened during Unleavened Bread.

Leviticus 23:7-14

On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. For seven days present a food offering to the Lord. And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.’”

Offering the Firstfruits

The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old without defect, together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah[a] of the finest flour mixed with olive oil—a food offering presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin[b] of wine. You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.

Something incredibly important here is that if you read Numbers 28:16-25 about the Passover sacrifice it is basically identical to the animal sacrifice done on First Fruits. Also it is important to note that in the regulation regarding First Fruits it is not considered a Sabbath or High Day. Meaning the Israelites were not required to rest or avoid work. Just something to keep in mind.

Now we just read that the Unleavened Bread lasts for 7 days. The WMSCOG insists that First Fruits takes place after the Sabbath following Unleavened Bread. Meaning you have the seven days of Unleavened Bread the when Unleavened Bread concludes the feast of First Fruits begins the day after the following Sabbath or that Sunday.

This is where the WMSCOG is extremely crafty. They say “the priest is to wave it the day after the Sabbath following Unleavened Bread” when the text actually says “ the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath.”

They add the words “following Unleavened Bread.” Then why is this important? By adding the words following Unleavened Bread they are separating First Fruits from Unleavened Bread. When in actuality First Fruits takes place during Unleavened Bread. Let me explain.

In Leviticus 23 verse 11 it talks about the day after the Sabbath and also this same day after the Sabbath is used to calculate the Feast of Weeks correctly? Now what we need to know is what is this Sabbath referring to? 

Well there are 2 possibilities and we will examine each one. First possibility is that the Sabbath being referred to here is the first day of Unleavened Bread or 1st month 15th day. Why? In verses 4-8 You can see that 1st month 15th day is considered a Sabbath as God prohibits work and it is a sacred assembly. This would put the day after the Sabbath or in this scenario day after 1st month 15th day as 1st month 16th day which would be whatever day of the week it falls on. 

Now this fits because if you consider Jesus' crucifixion and burial being on Friday aka 1st month 14th day, body was in the tomb 1st month 15th day aka Saturday or Unleavened Bread making the day after Unleavened Bread aka Day after the Sabbath the 1st month 16th day or Resurrection Sunday aka First Fruits. This is a strong possibility and it appears to match scripture.

The second possibility is that the Sabbath referred to here is talking about the 7th day weekly Sabbath and is not the annual feast Sabbath. Personally I adhere to this option. Let’s say Leviticus 23:11 is indeed talking about the day after the weekly Sabbath.

It still fits as well. I personally believe and evidence suggests that Jesus was crucified on Wednesday, which is why I adhere to the Sabbath reference by talking about the weekly Sabbath, but we will get into that later. But for this example let’s say Jesus was crucified on Wednesday.

Which would mean Wednesday would be 1st month 14th day, Thursday would be 1st month 15th day or Unleavened Bread then the day after the Sabbath would be Sunday. So I think that works too. 

But again do your own research and come to your own conclusion.

It is important to remember that during the Feast of Unleavened Bread that last’s seven days there are usually three sabbaths. First Sabbath is the 1st month 15th day, then there is the weekly Sabbath that follows, last but not least there is the Sabbath that occurs seven days later on the 1st month 21st day that is commanded by God.

The only exception to this rule is if Unleavened Bread falls on the Seventh Day Sabbath itself. In that case both 1st month 15th day Annual Sabbath would be on a weekly Sabbath and the 1st 21st Annual Sabbath would also fall on a weekly Sabbath that is 7 days later. This also fits in with the events occurring during Jesus' death. 

 It is also important to note that the WMSCOG does not observe the 1st month 21st day that is commanded by God as sacred assembly in Leviticus 23. This is a very big problem.

Because if you claim to keep the feast and on top of that they restored the feasts then why does the WMSCOG not celebrate the feast of Unleavened Bread for 7 God’s. God commands the 1st month 15th day as sacred assembly and it holds just as much weight as the 1st month 21st day which is the last day of Unleavened Bread. Or should we just ignore God’s words?

Now they say “well in the New Covenant U-Bread changed from 7 days to 1 day.” Where does it say that in the bible? Where is the evidence for that? I have found nothing that hints to this alleged change in scripture or early church records. This insistence sounds just like how Babylon says “well after the Resurrection the Sabbath day turned into Sunday.”

Upon hearing this, the WMSCOG calls out the Sunday keeping churches who make this insistence and even condemn them because Babylon has no evidence to support this alleged change. But when it comes to Unleavened Bread changing from 7 days to 1 day the WMSCOG does the exact same thing as Babylon does with Sunday worship.

How is it not ok for Babylon to change the weekly day of worship to Sunday without evidence, but it is ok for the WMSCOG to change Unleavened Bread from 7 days to 1 day without any biblical evidence. Not only that but how is that a restoration? This is something completely new.

The only evidence for their regulation for Unleavened Bread and how they keep it is literally Mark 2:20 which says. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast. This is why the WMSCOG fasts on Unleavened Bread.

That is literally it. That is all there is, no joke. Not only that but if you have read my Passover blog I prove that Jesus was not crucified on Unleavened Bread but actually Passover. That is a very well known biblical fact.

So Mark 2:20 doesn’t even apply to Unleavened Bread but rather the Passover. In fact if you read early pre-Nicene church literature it was custom for the early church to fast on Passover to remember Jesus' sacrifice. That is also a fact. How do we know the phrase “when the bridegroom will be taken" is not referring to Ascension Day?

Anyways sorry for the tangent. But my main point here simply is that Unleavened Bread is 7 days long and First Fruits happens within Unleavened Bread and is considered part of Unleavened Bread not Feast of Weeks.

The reason why I believe the WMSCOG has to put the words “following Unleavened Bread” is to create a separation of Unleavened Bread and First Fruits, but that is not what the bible teaches nor is it the understanding of the Jews.

They are adding to the bible by adding the words “following Unleavened Bread” and they are removing from the bible by ignoring the 7th Day of Unleavened Bread or 1st month 21st day that is a sacred assembly commanded by God, ultimately changing Unleavened Bread to one day instead of seven to fit their doctrine.

Now you might be asking yourself the following,  “what is the point of proving that Resurrection Day happens during Unleavened Bread.” or “why are you pointing out that the WMSCOG is saying Resurrection Day comes after Unleavened it doesn’t matter.” or “who cares if Unleavened Bread is Seven Days or One Day.”

First reason is because they claim to keep the Feasts. Or that they restored the Feasts, they clearly don’t because they don’t practice what the bible says in regards to the Feasts. Nor do they understand when the feasts actually happen.

But honestly though even though this is true, that is not the reason why I bring this up. What we just went over is going to blow the whole lid open on everything. The WMSCOG will not be able to come back from what I am about to reveal and you will be shocked at how devious and clever they are.

So if you want to know why I want you to understand that Resurrection Day is during Unleavened Bread, that Unleavened Bread is a 7 day feast and how these facts will bring everything crumbling down. Then please read my next blog coming out about the Sabbath. I will explain everything.

Now you are still reading this article and you are just a normal Christian who is most likely thinking. Why is this important? As a Christian the beginning of the day, the feasts and all of this is not a salvation issue. But to the WMSCOG this is a matter of life and hell. But we have proved that the overall pattern of the bible indicates that Jewish day is sunset to sunset. Which means that the insistence of sunrise reckoning is wrong.

We follow the same kind of pattern of the Jews even today. Our day starts at dark or at 12 am. Is the Jews keeping sunset to sunset really that unreasonable? The Jews are experts in the law are they not? If that is the case I would assume they would know when their own day starts. 

Ahnsahnghong did not restore sunrise or day reckoning. It never existed. WMSCOG insisting that only the true church keeps sunrise reckoning is non-sense. Even our day’s don’t start at sunrise but at 12 am when it's dark or night. 

They didn’t restore the Feasts and don’t keep the Feasts according to the scriptures as we study when it comes to Unleavened Bread and First Fruits. They themselves do not understand the Feasts but condemn others for not keeping them. As Christians yes it is important to learn about the feasts as it points to Christ. But make no mistake it is through faith in Christ alone that we are saved.

If you disagree with my findings then that is ok. I would recommend you researching and understanding for yourself instead of taking someone's word for it anyways. There are probably a lot of better blogs with writers who can more accurately explain this. If you don’t understand this, it's probably my fault. Don’t feel bad, ok.

But please stay tuned on my next article about the Sabbath. I will refer back to this blog post and trust me you don’t want to miss it. The article about the Sabbath will make everything come crashing down on the WMSCOG. I am going to prove in the bible without a shadow of a doubt that the early Church kept Sunday worship in the bible.