Sermon on Mount Sinai
First, let’s share a few examples of Exodus 19:1 in different translations:
New King James Version: Exodus 19:1 “In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai.”
New Century Version: “Exactly three months after the Israelites had left Egypt, they reached the Desert of Sinai.”
Common English Bible: “On exactly the third-month anniversary of the Israelites’ leaving the land of Egypt, they came into the Sinai desert.”
The Jerusalem Bible: “Three months after they came out of the land of Egypt . . . on that day the sons of Israel came to the wilderness of Sinai.”
From Yahweh and Moses’ dating in Numbers 33:3, we know EXACTLY what day the children of Israel left the land of Egypt, “Numbers 33:3 (NKJV) “They departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day after the Passover the children of Israel went out with boldness in the sight of all the Egyptians.”
The emphasis in Exodus 19:1 is on the leaving the land of Egypt, which Moses dated as Abib 15, in the year of the Exodus. EXACTLY three months later, the children of Israel arrived at the Wilderness of Sinai in northwest Arabia, on Sivan 15. The phrase “on that day”, or “the same day” identifies, or modifies, which day in relation to coming out of the land of Egypt.
If Yahweh or Moses had wanted to tell us that they meant Sivan 1, they would have used phraseology like in Exodus 40:2 (NKJV) “On the first day (echad yom chodesh) of the first month (rishon chodesh) you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.” or Exodus 40:17 (NKJV) “And it came to pass in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was raised up.” Moses stated “echad yom chodesh” or the first day of the new moon. In 40:2 and 17, the word chodesh is actually used twice in the Hebrew, as in first day new moon of the first month, specifically identifying Abib 1. In Exodus 19:1, the emphasis was not on Sivan 1 as the first day of the third month, but on the day the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, which was the 15th day of the month.
Here’s an interesting tidbit. By Sivan 15 in the first year of the Exodus, the children of Israel had only observed their FIRST FOUR SABBATHS, under the Manna Miracle guidelines. From Exodus 16, we learn that the first re-synchronizing Sabbath was on Iyar 22, second Sabbath on Iyar 29, third Sabbath on Sivan 6, fourth Sabbath on Sivan 13, just two days before arriving at the Wilderness of Sinai!! The children of Israel were just beginning to get a handle on Sabbath, Shavuot had not even been mentioned yet!!
If I am not mistaken, the first mention of the Feast of Shavuot, or the Feast of Weeks, was during Yahweh’s Sermon on Mount Sinai during His 10 Commandments presentation, in Exodus 23:14-17 (NKJV) “Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year: 15You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt; none shall appear before Me empty); 16and the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field. 17Three times in the year all your males shall appear before Sovereign Yahweh.” Notice, neither Yahweh nor Moses elaborated on the details of these Feasts at this time. I began to wonder why not. Based on the resynchronizing Sabbaths found in Exodus 16, I believe the Sermon on Mount Sinai was given on the 5th resynchronizing Sabbath, on Sivan 20! When the children of Israel arrived at Sinai, it was on Sivan 15, which was weekday 2, a Monday, based on Exodus 16 and the Manna Miracle. Reading Exodus 19, you see that there are several days taken up with Moses ascending and descending Mount Sinai, giving Yahweh’s words to the people, and taking the people’s answer back to Yahweh, then in verses 10-11, “Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today [Thursday] and tomorrow [Friday, the day to gather the double portion of manna!], and let them wash their clothes. 11And let them be ready for the third day [Shabbat]. For on the third day Yahweh will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.” You see three days spoken of, the third day of which would be Shabbat, an assembly day, when Yahweh met with the children of Israel and delivered to them the 10 Commandments, Sivan 20!! Gosh, Exodus 20 given on Sivan 20, who would have thought!! According to the Exodus timeline from Passover, this Sermon on Mount Sinai occurred 12 days AFTER the Feast of Shavuot would have concluded. But the children of Israel in the wilderness at that time KNEW NOTHING ABOUT COUNTING THE 50 DAYS, so they did not miss out on anything related to Shavuot, a Promised Land harvest Feast.
Let me share with you now why I believe the Sermon on Mount Sinai took place on Shabbat. The Sermon on Mount Sinai takes up Exodus chapters 20, 21, 22, and 23, through 24:3. Exodus 24:3 (NKJV) “So Moses came and told the people all the words of Yahweh and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which Yahweh has said we will do.”” Now look at the next verse Exodus 24:4 (NKJV) “And Moses wrote all the words of Yahweh. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel.” The morning after Shabbat would be a Sunday morning, the 1st day of the week. Moses could not build an altar on Shabbat, but he did on the Sunday morning after Yahweh’s great sermon. Reading further in chapter 24, Exodus 24:16 (NKJV) “Now the glory of Yahweh rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day [Shabbat!!] He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud.” Then of course verse 18 reveals that the Shabbat from verse 16 begins Moses’ FIRST 40-day fast on Mount Sinai with Yahweh. That would have been the 6th resynchronizing Sabbath, on Sivan 27, in the year of the Exodus.
The second time Shavuot was mentioned was in Exodus 34:22 (NKJV) “And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end.” And guess when Moses received this word in Exodus 34:22? It was during his SECOND 40 day fast up on the Mountain of Yahweh, some time in the 5th or 6th month of the first year of the Exodus, 2 to 3 months AFTER the Feast of Weeks would have concluded! And all he did was mention it. No details of the Feast were given at that time, either. Pretty amazing! I continue to wonder and ponder why not. Could it be that ONLY TWO OF THE MEN OF ISRAEL THEN LIVING would ever be able to OBSERVE A SHAVUOT IN THE PROMISED LAND, Joshua and Caleb? Do you realize that Moses never observed a Feast of Shavuot, or the Feast of Tabernacles? He never made it into the Promised Land, where these Feasts of Yahweh were to be observed. That should humble ever one of us living today. More likely though, is that the Tabernacle was not set up until the next year, so there was no need at that time to elaborate on the Feast of Shavuot or Tabernacles, future Feasts for the Promised Land.
If that is not shocking enough for our spirits, let’s look at when the Feast commands of Leviticus 23 were given. Soon after Moses’ 2nd 40 day fast up on the Mount with Yahweh, the Hebrews began to work on the Tabernacle, which as we know from Exodus 40:2 and 17 above, lasted until the first day of the second year of the Exodus. Then Yahweh filled the Tabernacle with His glory. THEN Yahweh began to teach Moses and the Israelites about how to worship Him in His holiness, thus we received Leviticus in the SECOND YEAR of the Exodus, about a year after the giving of the 10 Commandments!
Now, let’s find out when the Israelites were to begin celebrating the Feast of Weeks, Leviticus 23:10 (NKJV) “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.’” The harvest festivals could not be observed until the Israelites were in the land of Canaan, at least 40 years AFTER the Exodus. Then they fought the Canaanite Wars for about 7 more years, just to conquer some of the Promised Land. THEN, they began to cultivate the promised land of Israel. Israel could not, and did not, celebrate the harvest Feasts while in the Wilderness for 40 years. So, to tie the giving of Torah to the Feast of Weeks is simply a tradition, and as I said, it’s a good tradition!
Did you notice something in this short post? You see how important sacred chronology is to understanding Yahweh’s word. Ask me sometime to tell you how and when Yahweh hooked me on His Sacred Chronology! I am totally hooked on Yahweh, Yahshua, and His Sacred Chronology, and I mean ADDICTED!! And you guessed it, I have a spreadsheet for that! My Sacred Chronology spreadsheet is about 6 feet wide and over 60 feet long, in e-speak. It is good, but nowhere near perfect. eCopies are free for the asking.
Happy Feast of Shavuot,
May 17, 2013 CE
Gene Benjamin II
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