The Fight Over 50

The 2019 World Series of Poker is underway in Las Vegas. There seems to be a format for practically everyone - including an online tournament and a "Mini Main Event" (as if the Main Event is too big for some people).

This weekend marked the first four flights of a No-Limit Hold 'em tournament called the "Big 50" -  because the WSOP is marking its 50th year. Everyone starts with 50,000 chips, and the blinds go up every 50 minutes.

The top note atop the website calls it the "50th anniversary of WSOP." But hold on - the history page says the first one was in 1970. So isn't this really the 49th anniversary?  If you became married in 1970, that's what you would logically celebrate during 2019.

The timing of all this is fascinating, because an annual Biblical festival is approaching where the number 50 matters - including how you count it.

From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. Count off 50 days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. - Leviticus 23:15-16

Many Jews call this event Shavuot. Many Christians call it Pentecost, based on a Greek word meaning "fiftieth." Something big happened on that day long ago, shortly after Jesus returned to heaven....

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.... All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. - Acts 2:1-4

Jesus promised His disciples that the Holy Spirit would come and enable them to do amazing works (John 14:12, 26). This annual festival day is considered the unofficial launch date of the New Testament Church.

But would you believe church groups have divided over the proper way to count to 50 days? Some people (and countries) keep Pentecost on Monday, calling it an "absolute" vital doctrine. Others say the proper day is Sunday, since a Sunday was "the day after the Sabbath" and should count as Day 1.

If church groups are divided by this, do you see how the WSOP's way of counting and wording can make things confusing? Which way would you figure it - and why?

If you want to make an appeal to WSOP to straighten things out, that's up to you. Instead, we're beginning our own study of which "count of 50" to Pentecost is proper. We're already seeing it can be a matter of detailed wording of ancient tongues.

The Old Numbers Game

A recent post presented one winning poker player's opinion about why children should be taught the game. But there's one positive aspect she didn't mention - that poker can teach young people math skills.

We found a column explaining why mathematics matters in a poker room. For grade-schoolers, there's the obvious truth that a 10 is (worth) more than a 6 and that three of a kind is better than two.

But the math gets more complicated from there. For instance, did you know (based on our link) that a pocket pair turns into "trips" on the flop about 11.5 percent of the time?

This column reminded us that some people aren't always logical with their math skills. One example occurred only a couple of weeks ago. Consider the words of Jesus....

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. - Matthew 12:40

Jesus was answered demands from some people for a "miraculous sign" (verses 38-39). He took them back to a classic Old Testament tale....

But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights. - Jonah 1:17

(The Bible never calls the fish a "whale," but that's not our point here.)

By comparison, Jesus was talking about His death. After three days and three nights, He would be resurrected (16:21) - and the Bible records that actually happened (Luke 24:21 and other verses).

The really big problem (to borrow from a math-centered show on public TV) is that many people think Jesus died on "Good Friday" and came back to life on "Easter Sunday." Even with common core, that's bad math. That timeline only allows for one full day and two full nights.

Some Bible scholars try to explain this by saying part of a day counts as a day. Yet they never seem to apply that principle to another moment in the Bible....

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry. - Matthew 4:1-2

We've never found a Christian preacher who claims this fast was shorter than that - say, 28 days and 27 nights. So why do they condense it when it comes to Jesus's death and resurrection?

The short answer is: tradition - and much like not all math figuring is good, so not all traditions are good. We think the right answer is to start a new tradition. One that's biblically sound and mathematically accurate.

If you have fuzzy math when it comes to this, here's a chart that may help.sort things out. Search the Scriptures carefully with it. As some ministries like to say, "Good science supports the Bible" - and we think good mathematics and traditions will as well.