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A SCRIPTURALLY BASED CALENDAR
FOR OBSERVING
THE FESTIVALS OF YHWH
The Holy Scriptures tells us all we need to know to determine when to keep
YHWH's appointed times. The Scriptures teach that the month begins with the first observed
new crescent. Lets begin with Gen 1:14 And Elohim said,
“Let lights come to be in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from
the night, and let them be for signs and appointed times, and for days and
years,
Gen 1:15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give
light upon the earth: and it was so.
As we can plainly see the “Lights” in the firmament of the
Heavens would be a sign to demark Yahweh's appointed times. One of these times occurs on the first day
of the seventh month. (Lev 23:23-25) which is a new moon day.
Lev 23:23 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Lev 23:24 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, saying, ‘In
the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you have a rest, a remembrance
of blowing of trumpets, a set-apart gathering.
Lev 23:25
‘You do no servile work, and you shall bring an offering
made by fire to יהוה.’ ”
Since the law tells us that it is “lights” in the heavens that mark the
appointment times, we can conclude that the
scriptural new moon is determined by the first visibility of the new crescent
each month.
According to the Scriptures then, there must be the
sign of two lights (the sun beginning to shine upon the moon for there to be a
new moon. “…At the time of the new moon, the sun begins to illuminate the moon
with a light which is visible to the outward senses…” [first century Jew, Philo Judeaus, The Special Laws, II, XI. (41), XXVI. (140 and 141), as
translated by C. D Yonge in The Works of Phil: New Updated Edition,
Complete and Unabridged in One Volume, Hendrickson Publishers, 1993, pp. 572,
581] Philo plainly testifies that the new moon is the fresh visible crescent.
The new Strong’s Expanded Dictionary of
Word in the Hebrew Bible, page 81, entry No. 2320, shows that chodesh means
“new-moon; month.” It further states that “the word refers to the day on which
the crescent re-appears.”
Page 263 of Genenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon
to the Old Testament states that “the day of the new moon” was “a festival of
the ancient Hebrews.”
The same lexicon shows that the word for “new
moon” comes from a root that refers to something that appears like “a sharp
polished splendid sword.” Strong's No.2318.
The very word itself points to the crescent
sliver of the moon. A conjunction is not “sharp” nor “polished” nor like a
“splendid sword,” but these well define the crescent moon.
One might ask when is the first day of the
month if the crescent moon appears before sunset? The moon rules the night, not
the day, so the day on which the crescent appears just before the ending at
sunset would not be the new-moon date.
Now what about if there is a cloudy night?
There is no record in the Scriptures or history of a lunar cycle being longer than 30
days. If the new moon is not seen by the 30th evening from the last
crescent sighting, (scriptural days begin at sundown) the next day is
automatically the new-moon.
So let’s consider now what constitutes the end
of a day since the moment of observation of crescent may happen while it is
still light. The answer would be found Exo 12:18 In the first
month, on the fourteenth day of the month at
even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the
month at even. Lev 23:32 It shall
be unto you a Sabbath of rest, and ye shall
afflict your souls: in the ninth day of
the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your
Sabbath.
The questions might be asked how many months
are there in a biblical year. Exo 12:1 And יהוה
spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon in the land of Mitsrayim, saying,
Exo 12:2 This month
shall be
unto you the beginning of months: it
shall be the first month of
the year to you.
This is the biblical Rosh Hashanah (“head of the year”) it is
the month that contains the Passover, Feast of Unleavens, and Elevation Sheaf
Day (compare Exo. 12:1-20 with Lev. 23:5-14).
Now, how do we know what month this is in
relation to time in general? Do the Scriptures give us further instructions?
Exo 13:3 And Mosheh said to the
people, “Remember this day in which you went out of Mitsrayim, out of the house
of slavery. For by strength of hand יהוה brought
you out of this place, and whatever is leavened shall not be eaten.
Exo 13:4 “Today you are going out, in the month Aḇiḇ.
Exo 23:15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat
unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the
month Abib; for in it thou camest out from
Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)
Exo 34:18 The feast of unleavened bread
shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded
thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib
thou camest out from Egypt.
Deu 16:1 “Guard the month of Aḇiḇ,
and perform the Passover to יהוה your Elohim,
for in the month of Aḇiḇ
יהוה your Elohim brought you out of Mitsrayim by
night.
We can see that the month in question is the
lunar cycle of Abib, so what is Abib? Strong’s definition No. H24
****
'a*b**yb
aw-beeb'
From an unused root (meaning to be
tender); green, that is a young ear of grain; hence the
name of the month Abib or Nisan: - Abib, ear, green ears of corn.
Most lexicons simply define Abib as “green
ears of grain”. However, this definition is not as specific as it should be. But
the scripture teaches us the specific meaning of Abib. First, let us see which
grain is to be Abib.
Exo 9:31 And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley
was in the ear [‘in the ear’; Hebrew Abib],
and the flax was bolled [Hebrew giv’ol,
‘in bud; blossomed’] .
Exo 9:32 But
the wheat and the rye [actually, ‘spelt’] were not smitten: for they
were not grown up.
From these scriptures we learn that the grain
in question is barley, we infer that the month Abib is the month in which there
are ears of barley in the field.
The Scriptures further define abib for us in
Lev.2:14, where we find that abib is a stage of growth in which the barley can
be dried in fire and remain. From this point of growth, two to three weeks pass
till it is harvest-ready.
Lev. 23:10 shows us that it is the barley of
the land of Israel that needs to be harvestable by Omer Elevation Day-on the
first day of the week (that is, “the morrow after the Sabbath”) during the Feast
of Unleavened Bread (Lev. 23:10-11).
Thus, just as in Mitsrayim, the barley must be abib before the crescent is seen (Exo. 9:31 through 12:2). This fact is further
correlated by the many scriptures that call this first new moon “the New Moon of
the abib.”
Once the first month is derived, one simply
counts the crescent sightings down through the year (either 12 or 13 depending
on the abib of the year following).
Note: Obviously, we do not follow nor recommend following the calculated
calendar of Rabbinical Judaism with its man-made postponement rules. For
further reasons why, please see
"Should True
Disciples of Messiah Follow the Dictates of the Pharisees?" Any deeper
understanding of the calendar will be reflected in its determination.
Tentative Dates For YHWH’s Festivals For 2008
Day/Festival Calendar
Date Gregorian Date
First Day of Year, First Month
Tuesday, April 8
Passover 14th Day, First
Month Monday, April 21
Unleavened Bread 15th-21st,
First Month Wednesday-Tuesday, April 22-28
Wave Sheaf Offering Day,
morrow of the Shabbath
Seventh Unleavened Bread 21st
Day, First Month Monday, April 28 (Set-Apart Day)
Feast of Weeks, 50 days inclusive
from Wave Sheaf (must count)
Yom Teruah 1st Day, Seventh
Month Thursday, October 2
Yom Kippur 10th Day, Seventh Month Saturday, October 11
Tabernacles 15th-21st, Seventh Month Thursday-Wednesday,
Oct. 16-22
Eighth Day 22nd Day, Seventh Month Thursday, October 23
The
Festivals are yet to be confirmed. The New Moon will have to be sighted in the
1st and 7th month. There was no barley in the abib stage in
Israel at the end of the 12th month so a thirteenth month was intercalated.
Click here for the New Moon Calendar
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Or Call Dan Cafourek @ 918-326-4857
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