I preface my comments by giving credit where credit is due, showing a great love and appreciation for Raymond F. McNair being blessed to serve as one of the pioneers in the Worldwide Church of God and to have such an active and important role in the holy Work of fulfilling the Great Commission under God's apostle Herbert W. Armstrong, serving thousands of brethren over the years. I want this on record since he is an elder and deserving of biblical respect, while I respectfully and strongly disagree with him on the sacred calendar, as a brother in the Lord. I am very happy to see Raymond McNair acknowledge the Jews have a God-given authority to include postponements in the sacred calendar. Some Church of God members reject this plain truth and go off the deep end, creating their own calendars in the confusion of a spiritual anarchy, a Laodicean everybody-decide-for-himself wrong attitude. I am grieved to see Raymond McNair assume it's the Sadducees God's Church should submit to on these matters, rather than the Pharisees whom Christ clearly supported on these biblical issues of the sacred calendar. Quotes from Raymond F. McNair's article, WHAT ARE THE "POSTPONEMENTS"? -- Modern Jews don't observe Pentecost (Shavout) on a Sunday. Instead they observe it on Sivan 6. However the early New Testament Church of God (like the Sadducees) followed the biblical command to observe Pentecost by counting 50 days from the Sunday (the "morrow after the Sabbath") that occurs during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This means that when Pentecost is counted correctly, it always falls on a Sunday-thus creating tandem Sabbaths. Furthermore, no biblical or historical sources indicate that Christ and His apostles had any calendar disputes with the Jews (the Sadducees were then in control of the calendar and the Temple ritual until a short time before the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D!) regarding the calendar that they were using in New Testament times. What a crying shame that Raymond McNair refuses to submit to the government of God and hear the Voice of the Shepherd who clearly stated THE PHARISEES SIT IN MOSES' SEAT - not the blind Sadducees that some Church members continue to blindly follow. God has restored this truth to His Church, and some have repented of their vain Church traditions, choosing to get back on track like the early Church that followed the correct calculations of the Pharisees, like the Apostle Paul. For Zion's sake,
David Ben-Ariel Jewish Holidays are Biblical Festivals for God's Church!
Did God authorize Herbert W. Armstrong to determine when the holy days are to be kept? Did Jesus Christ reject the Jews and decide God's Church would now be the custodian of His sacred calendar? The Pharisees
Who isn't aware of the sins of the Pharisees? Did Jesus have nothing but condemnation for them? You might be surprised. Why do we differ on dates for Passover and Pentecost? Is it because our Father God left us in the dark? Has the God of law and order left us in chaos and confusion? Are we unable to "prove all things" from the Scriptures? |
