Why & How We Count To Pentecost in 2025

By Bill Watson

It is an understood fact Pentecost—or, as some identify it, Whitsunday—is a Christian observance. Yes, many people that claim Christ as their Savior will take time to acknowledge and in some cases observe Pentecost as the memorial commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit. This is the fulfilled Christian Holy Day described in Acts 2 as the day the Church was empowered with the “Comforter” Jesus spoke about in John 14 and 16. Essentially, it is the Birthday of the Church as a “spiritual organism”!

The ancient Israelites called it the Feast of First Fruits, or the Feast of Weeks. It was known by them to be associated with the spring barley harvest—the first fruits of the new year. Interestingly, we find Pentecost’s origins actually “shadowed” in the narrative described in Leviticus 23.

This description of how to count to the fiftieth day (which is what Pentecost means) is outlined in this chapter. Notice: “When you come into the land… and shall reap the harvest… you shall bring a sheaf [handful] of the first fruits… unto the priest. And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you; on the morrow after [next day] the sabbath the priest shall wave it” (Leviticus 23:10-11).

This formula is further mentioned and clarified in the following verses: “And you shall count unto you from the morrow after [next day] the sabbath… seven sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after [next day] the seventh sabbath shall you number fifty days [the next day after seventh Sabbath is a Sunday]; and you shall offer a new meat offering to the Lord” (Leviticus 23:15-16).

Clearly, some take aways from these verses are, first, the count begins on the Sunday following the weekly Sabbath. But this is not accepted by everyone. Unfortunately, many are confused as to which Sabbath to consider. Some think it’s after the first annual Sabbath of Unleavened Bread (ULB), always resulting in Pentecost on Sivan 6, in the third month of God’s calendar. But there is no biblical indication Pentecost should be assigned a fixed date. It’s always been determined by the count.

Others have considered, when Sunday is the First Day of ULB, like this year (2025), we should wait until the Days of ULB are finished and begin the count on the next Sunday—OUTSIDE of the Days of ULB. However, this breaks the “Pentecost Connection” to the Days of ULB and causes the “Wave Sheaf” to be waved OUTSIDE of ULB, instead of INSIDE [during] the Days of ULB. Unfortunately, this is due to an “overemphasis” on the choice of Sabbath to begin the count from.

Keep in mind, there is no biblical requirement demanding the Sabbath beginning the count from, must be during the Days of ULB. But, on the other hand, the Sunday the Wave Sheaf is waved is always during the Days of ULB. Therefore, the emphasis should be the day the count begins, which is Sunday. The weekly Sabbath is just a marker to know which Sunday to start the count from, during the Days of ULB.!

Let’s keep in mind also, the sacrificial law was not the very image of things (Hebrews 10:1). They pointed to the reality of Christ! “For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of an heifer… sanctified to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ who… offered himself without spot to God purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the New Testament…” (Hebrews 9:13-15).

When adding the New Testament and the “Christ factor” to this counting formula, the answer to our questions becomes clear. Especially, when you realize Christ is what the Wave Sheaf was representing. Jesus Christ is the First of the First Fruits (1 Corinthians 15:23). Clearly, the Wave Sheaf represented Jesus Christ in this Old Testament ritual.

Once we understand and accept this, it becomes plain that what and how Christ handled the timing of His last supper, betrayal, and crucifixion—and how it relates with Passover and the Days of ULB—then, and only then, can we establish how to count Pentecost.

It is an established fact, Christ ate His last supper at the beginning of the 14th, Passover day (Leviticus 23:5). He was entombed before sunset, as the beginning of the 15th was about to commence. This was a High Day Sabbath as it was the First Day of ULB (John 19:31; 42). He remained in the tomb for three days and three nights. This would have been Nisan 15, 16, and 17—the first three days of the Feast of ULB. He gave up His breath around 3:00 PM on a Wednesday afternoon and resurrected back to life at around 3:00 PM Saturday afternoon.

The day after that weekly Sabbath was a Sunday. It was that on that Sunday that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb very early, while it was yet dark (Luke 24:1; Mark 16:1-2; Matthew 28:1; John 20:1). After recognizing Him, Mary went to embrace Him, but He stopped her as He had not yet ascended to the Father as the First of the First Fruits—the Wave Sheaf (John 20:16-18). He ascended and returned later on the same day, entered a room where His disciples were without using the door, and allowed them to confirm He was indeed alive (John 20:19-21)!

Clearly, we can see that there was a very strategic sequence the Father arranged for the fulfillment of this prophetic event that matched and connected up with this first-fruit harvest. It was purposeful and precisely matched to send a greater message from God that portrayed a much more meaningful harvest—that of harvesting human beings!

So, I would hope we can see how critical it is for “Ascension Sunday” to be WITHIN the Feast of ULB. Unquestionably, Christ ascended on Sunday that week, which was the fourth day of ULB. This was required since He represented the ACTUAL Wave Sheaf this harvest ritual portrayed. This eliminates any mystery about which Sabbath to begin our count from. The “Christ Factor” and the timeline He illustrated removes any questions as to this fact: “Ascension Sunday” MUST BE a day within the Feast of ULB, otherwise He is not connected to the Wave Sheaf. This is a most critical connection to keep in mind when considering our count to Pentecost.

Look for our full-length article on the count to Pentecost in the next issue of The International News.

Link to our free offer: Should We Observe Pentecost on Sivan 6?