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Determining upon which day the sheaf was waved has given rise to some
discussion.
The critical text;
Lev 23:15 And you shall count for yourselves from the day
after the Sabbath, ...
'SABBATH' = 15TH SABBATH?
Some have considered 'the Sabbath' was the annual sabbath of the 15th
of the first month. The 15th being a commanded day of rest, being the
first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, refer Lev 23:6-7.
Following this line of reasoning they then conclude the wave sheaf
offering was always observed on the 16th of the first month.
[ Those who follow this line of reasoning normally consider Christ was
crucified on a Friday. The sequence being a) Christ crucified Friday
14th, b) dead in the grave the 15th Sabbath (weekly & annual sabbaths
falling on the same day) and c) raised the 16th (wave sheaf day). ]
'SABBATH' = A WEEKLY SABBATH?
This view is that 'the Sabbath' mentioned is a normal weekly Sabbath.
This perspective has the difficulty of then properly determining in
what 7 day period the weekly Sabbath was to fall.
[ Those reaching this conclusion are able to place the crucifixion
of Christ upon Friday, Thursday or Wednesday; as the wave sheaf
offering day is not fixed to any specific date in the first month. ]
ANNUAL OR WEEKLY 'SABBATH'?
The resolution to this problem lies in the following verse;
Lev 23:16 Count fifty days to the day after the seventh
Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain
offering to the LORD.
This verse shows the 50th day (Pentecost) was to fall on a day
immediately following a weekly Sabbath. With this understanding it
becomes clear that for this to happen the 1st of the 50 days must
also fall on a day immediately following a weekly Sabbath.
(Both the day of the wave sheaf (1st day) and Pentecost (50th day)
would always fall on what we call Sunday.)
This understanding eliminates the possibility that the Lev 23:15
'sabbath' could be the annual 15th sabbath, because the 15th sabbath
could fall on any day of the week.
This understanding is further proved by examples of the wave sheaf
day falling on days other than the 16th of the first month.
[ NB: 1) Those who still cling to the view that the wave sheaf
always fell on the 16th try to justify their view by
claiming the Hebrew word for 'Sabbath' in Lev 23:16 can
mean 'week'. Hence, they deny the different meanings
of the two words. ]
WHICH WEEK?
Having concluded that the 'sabbath' of Lev 23:15 is a reference to
a weekly Sabbath, it is necessary to determine the earliest and
latest allowable dates for the selection of this Sabbath. In other
words, the 7 day period of God's calendar which would define the
selection of the Sabbath day.
Since the wave sheaf day always followed a Sabbath day, then the
'week' of the allowable wave sheaf dates would always be similar
but offset by one day.
Two examples in Scripture allow us to identify the wave sheaf 'week'.
First Example - Entering the Promised land
Lev 23:10 Speak to the children of Israel, and say to
them: "When you come into the land which I
give to you, ...
:14 You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain
(Strong's 7039, from 7033) nor fresh grain
until the same day that you have brought an
offering to your God; ...
[NB: Normally it was enough to understand that in
any year it was not permitted to eat any of
that year's grain until the wave offering
had occurred.
However, the wording of the text seems to be
adding the proviso that in the year they first
entered the Promised Land no grain (from the
current year or from the previous year) could
be eaten until the wave sheaf service had been
performed. ]
Josh 5:10 Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal,
and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day
of the month at twilight on the plains of
Jericho.
:11 And they ate of the produce (Strong's 5669
'kept over' grain) of the land on the day after
the Passover, unleavened bread and parched
grain (Strong's 7033), on the very same day.
:12 Then the manna ceased on the day after they
had eaten the produce (Strong's 5669 'kept over'
grain) of the land; and the children of Israel
no longer had manna, but they ate the food
(Strong's 8393 'increase') of the land of
Canaan (of) that year.
Joshua 5:11 records that on the 15th they ate 'kept over' grain.
Parched grain, previously dried in the sun (for storage purposes).
Grain from the previous year's harvest.
As the 15th day of that month was also the first of the seven days
of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, it is recorded that they also ate
unleavened bread that day.
In verse 12, on the following day (the 16th), the manna ceased and
they began to eat of the fresh grain, ie the new year's harvest.
This example illustrates that the children of Israel ate parched
grain, which had been grown in the Promised Land, on the day after
the 14th Passover, ie on the 15th of the first month. Keeping in mind
the requirement of Lev 23:10-14, it becomes apparent the first wave
sheaf ceremony had taken place on the 15th.
[ NB: They had not been able to eat of the new year's grain on
the 15th day, as the 15th was a commanded annual rest day!
Hence, they could not go into the fields and begin to
harvest the crop until the following day, the 16th. With
the start of the new year's harvest, the manna ceased. ]
Second Example - Paul Preaching at Troas
Acts 20:4 And Sopater of Berea accompanied him (Paul)
to Asia; also Aristarchus and ...
:5 These men, going ahead, waited for us at
Troas.
:6 But we sailed away from Philippi after the
day (not 'days') of Unleavened Bread, and
as far as five days (not 'in five days')
joined them at Troas, where we stayed to
day seven (not 'seven days').
:7 Now on the first day of the week, when the
disciples came together to break bread, Paul,
ready to depart the next day, spoke to them
and continued his message until midnight.
[NB: The Greek  is sometimes
rendered 'days' and sometimes 'day'.
In the book of Acts the following verses
(in the NKJV) show this word as singular.
Acts 1:2,22; 2:15,29; 9:24; 10:3;
12:18; 16:35; 20:18; 23:1,12;
26:13,22. ]
The text shows that they split into two groups.
Paul and some other disciples went ahead and travelled to Troas where
they stayed the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
However, the writer and others departed after the 1st day of the Feast
of Unleavened Bread and took 4 days(!) to arrive at Troas. They had
travelled for 4 days and arrived prior to what would have been the 5th
day of travel. This meant they spent the 6th and 7th days of the Feast
of Unleavened Bread in Troas.
The writer and his companions had planned their trip to spend these
6th and 7th days in Troas because they were both sabbath days!
The 7th day being the 21st of the month, the seventh day of the Feast
of Unleavened Bread, was an annual sabbath day (Lev 23:8). As this 7th
day was also described as the 'first of the sabbaths', the day prior
(the 6th day) was the weekly Sabbath.
The following day, the 22nd, they all departed from Troas.
Acts 20:4-7 is an example of the wave sheaf day falling on the 21st
day of the first month.
These two examples reflect the earliest (15th) and the latest (21st)
dates for the wave sheaf offering.
[ NB: 1) The resurrection of Christ on the 17th provides an
example of an interim dating.
2) A study of the chronology of the Flood indicates
a further 21st wave sheaf dating, refer the web page
which discusses the Flood.) ]
TIMING CONCLUSION
The wave sheaf offering day always fell on a day immediately following
a weekly Sabbath.
From our biblical examples we can see the wave sheaf offering day fell
in the particular week delimited by the dates 15th - 21st of the month
of harvest. In other words, the wave sheaf offering would only fall on
one of the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
By derivation therefore, the weekly Sabbath of Lev 23:15 would always
fall within the date range 14th - 20th of the first month. The Sabbath
would always fall within the seven day 'passover' period (alluded to
in Deut 16:2-3 and Ezek 45:21).
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