Building on the Foundation

  A few days ago, I came across an article entitled “The First Wave-Sheaf Offering” in the United Church of God newspaper, the United News . Or rather, it was brought to my attention. You can find this article on pp. 6-7 of the latest issue, the May-June 2025 issue. The article begins by analyzing Joshua 5 and asserts that Israel offered a wave sheaf on “the day after the Passover” (Josh. 5:11) before eating the produce of the land — an assertion I agree with. It then continues, based on this passage, to try to establish when we should begin our count to Pentecost. But unfortunately, the article makes several inaccurate and unproven claims, some of which beg for a response. Now, the purpose here isn’t to examine the article as a whole or even to prove when we ought to keep Pentecost, but merely to address two or three specific claims. Let’s give our attention in particular to the section “Timing of the Offering.” Here in this section, we read, It helps to more directly consider the...

A Brief Explanation of the Miraculous Events Contained in the Riveting Opening Chapters of Joshua and Joshua Chapter Five From the Enlightening Perspective of the Hebrew Calendar Based on the Fascinating Biblical Narratives Contained in the Extraordinary Books of Exodus and Joshua.  By Brett Gray and Kyle Bacher On what day of the week did the 14th of Nisan fall in the year Israel entered the land of Canaan? Are there any clues from Scripture we can use to determine this?  When combined with the Hebrew calendar, Scripture provides a number of clues that tell us exactly what day of the week it was when they crossed the Jordan and what day of the week it was on that first Nisan 14 in the land of Canaan.  The Evidence The Hebrew Calendar, as made public by Hillel II, is a mathematical marvel that operates under a very specific set of rules, and using those rules, we can determine a great many things about the year the Israelites entered the land of Canaan.  We will set ...