Hello John and Doves,
I wanted to write about The Festival of the First Fruits of New Wine, or the Festival of New Wine. It is to be celebrated as an annual celebration perpetually.
This festival was written about in the Temple Scroll of the Dead Sea Scrolls. It is believed that the Essenes authored these scrolls.
This festival is "anchored" on Sunday, 3 Av of every year according to the solar calendar used by the Essenes as written in the scroll.
This festival is mentioned in Judges 21.
There was a war between the Jewish tribe of Benjamin and the other tribes.
"Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, saying, "Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite." Judges 21:1 Mizpah is believed to be a location near Mount Hermon - it was the 'politico-religious' center of the nation. The tribes would have great meetings here before God. Mizpah is Hebrew for "watchtower".
The other tribes grieved for the tribe of Benjamin.
Since they had taken an oath not to give their daughters to the Benjamites in marriage, they had to come up with a plan to get the surviving men of the tribe of Benjamin wives so that tribe would not be wiped out.
"But look," they said, "there is a yearly feast to the Lord in Shiloh....so they commanded the Benjamites: "Go, hide in the vineyards and watch. When you see the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances, each of you is to come out of the vineyards, catch for himself a wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin....the Benjamites did as instructed and carried away the number of women they needed from the dancers they caught. They went back to their own inheritance, rebuilt their cities, and settled them." Judges 21:19, 23
This story is often used 'as a picture' of the Messiah snatching away His bride at the Rapture of the church.
The Festival of the First Fruits of New Wine is on 3 Av, the fifth month. The third day of Av.
In the Temple Scroll of the Dead Sea Scroll: "You shall count seven weeks from the day when you bring the new grain-offering to YHW, the bread of firstfruits. Seven full Sabbaths shall elapse until you have counted fifty days to the morrow of the seventh Sabbath. You shall bring new wine for a drink-offering..." This is considered the atonement of the wine.
This reads very much like the verses in Leviticus and Deuteronomy that are about The Feast of Weeks/Pentecost. Some believe these are describing the same day. That the Festival of the New Wine IS Pentecost.
"On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place...Some, however, mocked them and said, "They are drunk on new wine!" New wine is non-fermented grape juice. It is not intoxicating. Wine that has gone through the fermentation process was called "old wine".
"Now let's look at the major crops after Pentecost. Grapes were the first major crop to ripen. The importance of grapes and olives is illustrated by the fact that the Essenes had wine and oil firstfruits festivals similar to the biblical firstfruits offering for grain. These festivals also indicate the relative timing of these crops. The New Wine Festival came 50 days AFTER Pentecost. Until new wine was offered (at the Temple) no one could drink any of the new juice. (Temple Scroll) Fourteen weeks after Pentecost, shortly before the FEast of Trumpets, was the New Olive Oil Festival. No one coule use new olives until some oil had been offered. (Temple Scroll) https://archive.gci.org/articles/harvest-seasons-of-ancient-israel/
Harvest Seasons of Ancient Israel | GCI Archive
This information leads one to believe that Pentecost is not 50 days after Firstfruits which would fall before the grape harvest, but seven weeks of seven sabbaths plus fifty days, putting it AFTER the 'accepted' date of Pentecost, and into the grape harvest season. This would coincide with the Festival of the First Fruits of New Wine, 3 AV.
Where else in the Bible is 'new' wine mentioned?
In Matthew 26:29, Jesus tells the disciples at The Last Supper: "From now on I am not going to drink any wine, until I drink new wine with you in my Father's kingdom." Another translation: "I tell you, I will never again drink this wine until the day I drink the new wine with you in my Father's kingdom."
Is this a 'clue' to the timing of the Rapture? The day we will drink the new wine with our Lord?
In Acts 2, on Pentecost, the people were filled with the Holy Spirit and were not drunk on the new wine. In Ephesians 5:18 We are told "Do not get drunk on wine...be filled with the Spirit."
Also, in Cana, Jesus attended a wedding and performed His first miracle. He turned water in to wine - and this was during the Festival of New Wine.
"And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there." John 2:1
This year, 3 Av starts at sunset on July 23 and ends on sunset July 24.
Many are looking at Pentecost as a strong possibility for the Rapture.
Several here on Doves do not believe that Pentecost has come and gone for this year. And have counted out the days themselves - Ola Ilori has July 19, Luis Vega has July 20, I wrote about July 26, and the Temple Scroll has July 24. All of these dates will make for an interesting week of watching! Remember, the Jews start their days on sunset to sunset.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
Maranatha!
Chance
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