Shalom family and friends,
Today marks the 14th day of the Aviv (Abib) — the biblical first month determined by Yehovah’s two-stage process: Aviv barley reaching the stage where heads are filled with dough that can be parched in fire (Leviticus 2:14), confirmed in the land of Israel, followed by the sighting of the new moon sliver by two witnesses. This is not man-made tradition or a fixed calculated calendar, but the Creator’s reckoning tied to His signs in the heavens and the earth.
The Biblical Process for the Wave Sheaf Offering
In Temple times, when the barley was found in Aviv at the end of the previous year, select stalks were traditionally tied into sheaves and left to continue ripening. Then, on the morrow after the weekly Sabbath during the seven days of Unleavened Bread (the first day of the week), the High Priest (or his delegates) would go to the fields — often the Kidron Valley where wild barley grew — cut the previously tied sheaf, bring it back, parch the grain if needed, prepare it into an unleavened offering, and wave it before Yehovah (Leviticus 23:10-14).
Until that wave sheaf offering was accepted, the new harvest could not be eaten. Only old grain (without new leaven) was permitted. This offering sanctified the entire harvest and pointed forward to the resurrection of the Messiah — Yeshua, our Firstfruits.
This year, the 14th of Aviv lands such that the weekly Sabbath falls within the Festival of Unleavened Bread, making the wave sheaf offering fall on the first day of the week (the morrow after the weekly Sabbath) — exactly as commanded.
On the timing of Yeshua’s resurrection: According to the clear sign He Himself gave — “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40) — consistent with a Wednesday crucifixion (Passover, 14th Aviv, afternoon), He was buried just before sunset Wednesday. The Cochin Hebrew Matthew stands as a second witness to Micheal Rood’s argument that Yeshua was crucified Wednesday evening and raised on the Shabbat, and proving this out with just the Greek and English texts, in which he was unaware of my findings from the Cochin Matthew, this now biblically legitimizes and now stands as a witness and authority against the Christian reckoning. This places His resurrection at the end of the weekly Sabbath (late Saturday afternoon/evening, as the Sabbath was ending), exactly three days and three nights later. This aligns with the wave sheaf typology: the sheaf was often cut or prepared at the close of the weekly Sabbath during Unleavened Bread, with the waving occurring the next morning (first day of the week). Yeshua, and the old Saints as the premier Firstfruits, rose precisely at that appointed time on Shabbat, fulfilling the pattern perfectly (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).
Why the Christian Church Teaches a Sunday Morning Resurrection
We can now ask: If Yeshua was raised on the last part of Shabbat, why does the Christian church teach He rose on Sunday morning?
The reason goes beyond simple misunderstanding. It fits the pagan idea of Sunday as the sun-god worship day, which the early church increasingly adopted under Greek-Roman influence and later imperial authority (Constantine and beyond). Since the wave sheaf offering was known to occur on the “first day of the week,” church tradition assumed Yeshua must have risen early Sunday morning to perfectly match that picture.
However, the Cochin Hebrew text and mindset tell a more precise story. In Matthew 28:1, the women (Miriam Magdalene and the other Miriam) went to see the tomb “at the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first” (or “as it began to grow dark toward the first day”). This describes the transition time at sundown Saturday evening, when the weekly Sabbath was ending and the first day was beginning in darkness — not the next morning while it was still dark.
That Saturday evening, the women found the tomb already empty. Yeshua had risen earlier during the end of the Sabbath, accompanied by a great earthquake (Matthew 28:2). This parallels the earthquake at His death (Matthew 27:51), then a second when many tombs were opened and the bodies of many holy saints who had fallen asleep were raised. Those saints came out of their graves after His resurrection and appeared in the holy city to many (Matthew 27:52-53).
These resurrected saints represent a first small “sheaf” or preview of the harvest. They parallel the wave sheaf offering: Yeshua, as the main Firstfruits and offerer of it, ascended to the Father on the morning of the first day (the morrow after the Sabbath), like the High Priest waving the barley sheaf. Paul calls Him “the firstfruits” of the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:20, 23). After presenting Himself and the accompanying saints (the sheaf), He returned to His disciples.
The Greek-Western mindset, detached from Hebrew culture, appointed times, and language, mistranslated or reinterpreted these events to support a fixed Sunday resurrection. This helped blend with existing sun-worship customs and disconnected believers from the exact three-days-and-three-nights fulfillment and the biblical calendar.
The Deep Meaning of the Appointed Times and Removing Leaven
In reality, all these false time periods — the wrong day for Passover, ignoring the new moon and Aviv barley timing, and misplacing Yeshua’s resurrection on Sunday along with the waving of the resurrected wave offering of the barley — reveal exactly what we are doing when we remove the old leaven and become a new lump.
This is not just ritual. It is directly tied to the command and the appointed times themselves. The pagan influences that crept into Christianity (Sunday worship, Easter timing, mixing feasts with gentile customs) constitute the very spiritual leaven we are commanded to purge. By observing the true biblical calendar as best we can — even in exile — we are actively removing that old leaven of falsehood, tradition, and compromise.
We do not consider our limited observance a bad thing simply because we are in exile and cannot do everything perfectly (no Temple, no barley sheaf in the Kidron Valley, no physical wave offering by the high priest). Instead, it is a faithful response: we keep whatever we are able — removing leaven from our homes, eating unleavened bread, and aligning our hearts with Yehovah’s appointed times. This act of obedience in the midst of scattering is itself part of becoming a “new lump” (1 Corinthians 5:7-8), purified and ready for the greater harvest to come.
Yeshua did not come to abolish the Torah but to fulfill it and enable us to walk in it by the Spirit. The wave sheaf and the counting to Shavuot point directly to His redemptive work and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that empowers obedience.
Exposing the False Ways and Timings Many Christians Follow
Many Christians observe “Good Friday” to “Easter Sunday,” treating the crucifixion as always falling on Friday and the resurrection on Sunday morning, regardless of the moon, barley, or biblical month. This comes from later church tradition and the rabbinic calculated calendar, not direct observation of Yehovah’s signs. It disconnects the feasts from the land of Israel and the agricultural witness Yehovah gave — and always misaligns the three days and three nights.
Worse, because we are in exile (scattered among the nations), many believers do not participate in the actual Feast of Unleavened Bread (removing all leaven from their homes for seven days, eating unleavened bread, and reflecting on coming out of Egypt and sin). They see it as “Jewish” or optional, celebrating Easter with ham, hot cross buns, and chocolate instead — mixing pagan roots with a hollowed-out version of the feast.
This fulfills prophecy against the northern kingdom of Israel (the “lost” tribes). In Hosea 9:3-4, Yehovah warned that because of unfaithfulness and idolatry, Ephraim/Israel would be exiled: “They shall not dwell in Yehovah’s land… Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and in Assyria they shall eat unclean things… Their sacrifices shall be like the bread of mourners; all who eat it shall be defiled.” In exile, they would be forced to eat unclean food and serve the gods of the Gentiles — forgetting who they were, who Yehovah is, and the covenant.
Today, many in the Christian world do exactly that in their denominations: they have forgotten the Torah instructions, mix in pagan customs (Easter, Christmas, Sunday worship as replacement), and eat “unclean bread” spiritually and sometimes physically — all while claiming to follow the Messiah. They are largely oblivious to their identity as part of the lost sheep of the House of Israel and to the full covenant.
Yet Yehovah remains faithful even when we were not. He kept His promises. Through Yeshua — the Passover Lamb who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29, 1 Corinthians 5:7) — He has provided the way back. Yeshua carried the judgment, suffered as the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53), and rose with the Firstfruits, empowering us with the Holy Spirit to walk in obedience through suffering and return to the Father’s instructions.
A Call to Return
This feast season is a time to:
- Remove leaven from our homes and hearts.
- Eat unleavened bread as a reminder of haste and purity.
- Remember our exodus from bondage — both physical and spiritual.
- Recognize that even in exile, we can begin to walk out the feasts as best we can, Just as Daniel purposed in his heart to not eat the biblically unkosher foods that the King of Babylon ate, looking forward to full restoration in the land — including the future fulfillment of Shavuot when the Spirit is poured out in even greater measure.
Yeshua did not come to abolish the Torah but to fulfill it and enable us to walk in it by the Spirit. The wave sheaf and the counting to Shavuot point directly to His redemptive work.
Brothers and sisters — especially those of you who sense you are part of the lost sheep — it is time to wake up, remember who you are, return to Yehovah and His covenant, and stop mixing the holy with the profane.
He is calling His people home through His Son.
More reflections as we walk through this feast week together.
Chag Matzot Sameach (Happy Feast of Unleavened Bread). May Yehovah open eyes, grant understanding, and draw the lost sheep back to His ways.
Share if this stirs your heart. Let’s discuss the truth in love.
Scripture references for study:
- Exodus 12-13 (Passover & Unleavened Bread)
- Leviticus 23:4-14 (appointed times & wave sheaf) and 15-21 (counting to Shavuot)
- Deuteronomy 16 (observing in the place Yehovah chooses)
- Hosea 9 (exile and unclean bread)
- 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 (Messiah our Passover; keep the feast)
- Leviticus 2:14 (parched Aviv grain)
- Matthew 12:40 (three days and three nights)
- Matthew 28:1 (end of the Sabbath / toward the first of the Sabbaths)
- Matthew 27:51-53 (earthquake and saints)
- 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 (Firstfruits)
Peace and blessings as we seek to walk faithfully.
