Defining A "High Day"

February 15, 2005

I can tell that Bill really loves the Sabbath and is passionate about his understanding of the events of Passion Week. Here is a list of problems with Bill Park's post. My questions follow his quotes.

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Traditional View: Passover is the 14th of Nisan.

Q: What do you do with Exodus 12:8 that says that, after killing the lamb on the 14th, they were to eat it “that night”? Keep in mind that they were slaves and would have worked during the day and killing the lamb in the evening would have been the evening that was late afternoon of the 14th. It would be ludricous for them to kill the lamb on the evening that began the 14th, prepare it for the meal, then have to go to work the next morning, work all day on the 14th, yet be prepared to leave in haste. Exodus 12:11. “That night” would be the 15th. The Passover meal was eaten with bitter herbs and unleavened bread. That should tell us that the Passover meal was part of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Feast of Unleavened Bread did not begin until the 15th, lasted only 7 days, and ended on the 21st. Leviticus 23:6-8, Exodus 12:18. The Death Angel passed over the land at midnight and that very night was when the people of Israel were led out of Egypt. Exodus 12:29, 42, 51. The day they left Egypt was the 15th of the first month. Numbers 33:3. Thus the day of Passover is the 15th. The 14th is the preparation day for Passover when the lamb is killed and roasted. The 14th is often referred to as Passover because it is an inherent part of it. It is not possible to eat the Passover meal on the 15th without first having prepared it on the 14th.

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Traditional View: LET THE BIBLE AND THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY DETERMINE THEM-SELVES

Q: Bill provided the following text in his post:

DESIRE OF AGES, P. 785 “CHRIST ROSE FROM THE DEAD [SUNDAY, 16TH NISAN] AS THE FIRST FRUITS OF THOSE THAT SLEPT. HE WAS THE ANTITYPE OF THE WAVE SHEAF, AND HIS RESURRECTION TOOK PLACE ON THE VERY DAY WHEN THE WAVE SHEAF WAS TO BE PRESENTED BEFORE THE LORD.”

If we should let the Bible and Ellen White speak for themselves, then why do you insert words into her text? However well meaning your intentions might have been, your insertion is a corruption of her words.

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Traditional View: FEAST OF THE WAVE SHEAF 16TH OF NISAN

Q: In Exodus 12 and Leviticus 23, Moses describes the events of the spring festival. The lamb is selected on the 10th of the month. The lamb is slain and its body roasted on the 14th of the month. The Passover meal is eaten on the 15th of the month and unleavened bread is eaten for seven days. But the Wave Sheaf offering (on the day of first fruits) is presented on the “day after the Sabbath.” Why is there no number associated with this day as there is for all the other days in this festival? Nowhere does scripture tell us that this day of first fruits is the 16th of scripture. What does “the day after the Sabbath” mean and how would that day be determined each year? Does the weekly Sabbath always fall on the same dates each year?

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Traditional View: THROUGOUT THE BIBLE AND TESTIMONIES - T H E PREPARATION WAS ALWAYS FRIDAY FOR T H E S A B B A T H, SATURAY.

Q: If the preparation was always on Friday throughout the Bible, how did the people of Israel prepare for the annual festivals? What was the day before an annual festival called? Did the annual Sabbaths always coincide with the weekly Sabbaths? If so, how could the annual Sabbaths of the Feast of Unleavened Bread which fall on the 15th and 21st (7 days apart) and the annual Sabbaths of the Feast of Tabernacles which fall on the 15th and 22nd (8 days apart) all coincide with the weekly Sabbaths? If all the annual Sabbaths coincide with the weekly Sabbaths, what is the significance of a “high Sabbath”?

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Traditional View: Wave Sheaf that followed on the 16th of Nisan represented the harvest, or resurrection.

Q: Where is it found in scripture that the 16th of the month is the Wave Sheaf offering?

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Traditional View: NO BIBLE STUDENT WILL DENY THAT CHRIST ROSE ON SUNDAY, EARLY IN THE MORNING. CHRIST WAS IN THE TOMB ALL DAY SABBATH, SATURDAY. HE WAS CRUCIFIED ON FRIDAY, THE PASSOVER DAY AND ABOUT THE NINTH HOUR [3 P.M.] HE DIED

Q: Have you read the resurrection story in the Greek? Matthew 28:1 says “After the Sabbath, as it was getting epiphooskousee...” This Greek word means “at the changing of the light” and its meaning is determined by the context. Was the light getting dimmer or brighter at the end of the Sabbath? The context is sunset when the light is getting dimmer. To jump ahead 12 hours to sunrise makes the introduction to the verse nonsense. The only other place this word is found in scripture is Luke 23:54 when Jesus was being placed in the tomb and the Sabbath was epephoosken. This changing of the light was at sunset and the light is getting dimmer. John 20:1 says it was dark when the women went to the tomb and found it empty. You need to read my article on Finding the Empty Tomb to see the complete reasoning of what the Greek says regarding the time Jesus was resurrected after the Sabbath, on the first of the week, but just after sunset. Jesus was not resurrected on Sunday morning.

Q: How do you get “three days and three nights” out of a Friday afternoon - Sunday morning resurrection? Before you answer that they counted by inclusive reckoning, read Leviticus 15:19-23 and 22:27 to see that when counting consecutive days, the entire day must be counted all the way until sunset. Please explain how counting by “inclusive reckoning” is in harmony with God's instructions in these verses. Did God authorize a different method of counting days in the New Testament? If not, then by what authority does one use a different counting method than the one given by God? Also read Jeremiah 33:19-22 to see that the Lord has a covenant with the day and a covenant with the night. Those who think they can throw off either His covenant with the day or His covenant with the night have no minister before the Lord. Read John 11:9-10 to see that Jesus knew the difference between the day and the night. Jesus was not confused.

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Traditional View: JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED ON FRIDAY, THE 14TH OF NISAN, THE PASSOVER, AND THE NEXT DAY WAS SATURDAY, THE 7TH DAY SABBATH A N D T H A T D A Y WAS THE 15TH OF NISAN, THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD [ A LEVITICAL SABBATH]. A LEVITICAL SABBATH FALLING ON THE SEVENTH DAY SABBATH MADE IT A D O U B L E S A B B A T H AND HIGH DAY!

Q: If Jesus was crucified on Friday and was resurrected on Sunday morning, then Jesus was wrong when He said that He would be in the grave for “three days and three nights”. Matthew 12:39-40. Explain how Jesus told the truth in light of the principle of counting days in scripture referenced above.

Q: The only “double Sabbath” in scripture (a shabbaath of shabbaathoon) is the Day of Atonement. Leviticus 23:32. Where else do you find a “double Sabbath” in scripture? If the “high day” occurs when an annual Sabbath coincides with a weekly Sabbath, then why does John 7:37 say “On the final and most important day of the feast...”? The most important day of the feast sounds like the “high day” in John 19:31. In fact, the Greek in both John 7:37 and 19:31is identical and is μέγας = megas which means “big”. This Greek word is found more than 190 times in the New Testament. By a wide margin it is translated to be “great,” but it is also translated as “loud” (32 times), “large” (2 times), “high” (2 times), and one time each as “strong,” “to years,” and “mighty.” The two places it is translated “high” is John 19:31 and Hebrews 10:21, which we should look at to see how it is used there. 21"And [having] an high priest over the house of God; 22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” [Bold added.] Should we understand this to be a double priest as some encourage us to take John 19:31 to mean a double Sabbath? Of course not. This is a reference to the chief priest, the most important priest in the Temple. That is all that is meant in John 19:31 by a “high day.” It is one of the most important days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It is also the day the Passover meal is eaten. In Leviticus 23 all the Lord’’s kodesh mikra (holy convocation) days have exactly the same degree of holiness. The weekly Sabbath is not more holy than the annual Sabbaths. All the days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread from the 15th through the 21st were part of the Lord’s festival, but the days that began and ended the festivals were Sabbaths. The “high day” mentioned in John 19:31 is the annual Sabbath that begins or ends the festival and has nothing to do with the weekly Sabbath. You need to take another look at the wording of John 19:31. It says “(for that sabbath day was an high day,)”. It does not say “high Sabbath”. This should tell us that this day in question is not the weekly Sabbath, but is a high day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

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Traditional View: PENTECOST:
6TH OF SIVAN FEAST OF WEEKS
7TH OF SIVAN FEAST OF HARVEST
8TH OF SIVAN FEAST OF WEEKS

Q: How is it that both the 6th of Sivan and the 8th of Sivan are the Feast of Weeks and the 7th of Sivan is the Feast of Harvest? Leviticus 23:15-16 instructs that the Feast of Weeks is seven weeks plus one day after the Sabbath that falls within the Feast of Unleavened Bread. “Pentecost” means 50 and occurs 50 days after the Sabbath mentioned in Leviticus 23:11. The Feast of Weeks, the Harvest Festival, Pentecost, and Shavuot are all names for the same festival that celebrated the wheat harvest.

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Traditional View: FEAST OF TABERNACLES:
1ST OF TISRI FEAST OF TRUMPETS
10TH OF TISRI DAY OF ATONEMENT
11TH OF TISRI NEW YEAR'S DAY

Q: The beginning of the new year for the civil calendar is the first day of the 7th month, which is Tishri. This is called Rosh Hashanah, which means “head of the year.” The 11th of Tishri is not a special day in scripture or Jewish culture.

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Bill, what do you do with John 12:1-12 which states that Jesus arrived in Bethany six days before Passover. If Passover coincides with the weekly Sabbath, then He arrived in Bethany on Sunday and the triumphal entry was the next day on Monday. Are you okay with Palm Monday? Then how do you explain Ellen White's statement in DA p. 557: “The Saviour had reached Bethany only six days before the Passover, and according to His custom had sought rest at the home of Lazarus.” and “that He would rest over the Sabbath at Bethany.” If He is going to rest over the Sabbath in Bethany, then He has to reach Bethany before the Sabbath. That would be no later than the sixth day of the week. If Jesus arrived in Bethany on what we call Friday, then six days later would be the following Thursday for Passover. Jesus would have been crucified on that Wednesday and rested in the tomb for three days and three nights exactly like He predicted. How do you explain your rejection of her specific statement of Jesus' arrival in Bethany and the six days of John 12:1-12?
If you accept the traditional teaching endorsed by the SDA church that the dinner at Simon's was Saturday night and the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday, then Jesus had to arrive in Bethany on Sabbath. Counting forward six days means that Passover that year was on Friday and Jesus would have been crucified on Thursday and rested in the tomb for two days and two nights, or perhaps two days and three nights. Whether you insist on the crucifixion on Good Friday or the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday, the traditional teaching of these events is one day short of the required six days specified in John 12:1. Do you accept all scripture, or do you reject John 12:1-12?

Keep studying.

Gerald Brown