The purpose of this document is not to convince others to observe the divine appointments of the Almighty. It is to provide resource material and in-depth instruction for those who already observe these sacred times. When one sees the validity of God’s sacred appointments, the question and desire arise to keep the correct days. Since calendar theories abound, we need to inquire as to which is the most accurate and Biblical.

The Sacred Calendar

During creation week, God set his calendar in motion.

And God said [on day 4], “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons [holy days], and for days, and years.” Genesis 1:14

There had to be a reckoning of years counting off the beginning of earth’s history and a method to track events, all the way down to the end of earth’s history.

Has God Reveled His Manner of Keeping Time?

Genesis 7:11 states,

In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

This is the first time the Bible mentions the Sacred Calendar. The second month, or chodesh, is in progress. Noah knew the proper month according to God's manner of keeping time. He was able to pass on this information to his righteous descendents. Events concerning the dates of various aspects of the flood are meticulously laid out (Genesis 8:4, 5, 13, 14).

Abraham, a righteous descendent of Noah, kept God's commandments, statutes and laws (Genesis 26:5). Noah’s son Shem lived during Abraham's time. He must have passed on this calendar information that God had revealed from the beginning (like tithing, Genesis 14:20). God's monthly cycle is revealed in the Bible as an on-going practice. Most likely, it was revealed in the Garden of Eden when God instructed Adam and Eve.

On a specific day God made a covenant with Abraham, promising his descendents the land from the river of Egypt to the River Euphrates (Genesis 15:18). He let Abraham know that his descendents would be strangers and be afflicted 400 years, afterwards coming out with great substance (verses 13-14). On this selfsame day 430 years later, Israel came out of Egypt (Exodus 12:40-42).

And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the Passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians. Numbers 33:3 (This is the "night to be much observed unto the LORD," Exodus 12:42.)

Worship of the Sun, Moon and Stars Tied to the Calendar

Even thought the moon is a reminder of our deliverance from Egypt, we were never to worship the sun, moon and stars (Deuteronomy 4:14-20). Under the civil government of the nation of Israel, the penalty for worshipping the sun, moon and of the host of heaven was severe (Deuteronomy 17:2-5).

Worship of the sun, moon and stars was part of the false system of Baal worship (II Kings 23:5, 11). The marginal note for the word "planets" indicates that what is meant is the twelve signs, or constellations of zodiac, the foundation for astrology. The end result of such worship is demon-possession, lunacy (Matthew 4:24, 17:15—the word for lunatic is seleeniazomai, “moon struck”).

The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary under Job 31:26 states that Sabaism (from tsaba, the heavenly hosts) was the earliest form of false worship. In contradistinction, God is called "Lord of Sabaoth, or Hosts." God made the heavenly hosts; he, and not they, are to be worshipped. Jamieson notes that our planetary week of Sun-day, Mon-day show traces of Sabaisin, or worship of the heavenly host.

Our present planetary week is of Greek origin, with traces of Babylonian influence. The names of the days of the week correspond to the seven greatest lights or "stars" one of which was thought to "rule" each day of the week. These astral bodies were held to the gods and worshipped. English names for the days of the week were derived from the Saxons, who renamed the Greek/Latin gods after their own.

LATIN SAXON ENGLISH

Dies Solis Sun's Day Sunday

Dies Lunae Moon's Day Monday

Dies Martes (Mars) Tiw's Day Tuesday

Dies Mercurii (Mercury) Woden's Day Wednesday

Dies Jovis (Jupiter) Thor's Day Thursday

Dies Venens (Venus) Frigg's Day Friday

Dies Saturni (Saturn) Seterne's Day Saturday

Our western calendar is of Roman origin. The names of the months reflect either a Roman god (January-Janus, two faced god; February-Februarius, Roman feast of purification held on February 15; March-Mars, god of war; April-Aprills, from Greek Aphrodite, goddess of love, May-Main, goddess associated with Vulcan, June-Juno, a Roman goddess), a Roman emperor (July-Julius Caesar, August-Augustus Caesar), or the number of the month (September-the seventh month, October, November, December, the eighth, ninth and tenth months).

Originally, March was the first month, and February was the last month (with the intercalary February 29 added at the end of the year). In 153 BC, January was recognized as the first month. Julius Caesar reformed the old Roman calendar in 45 BC, and Pope Gregory further modified it in 1582, thus cementing it’s Roman nature, and is the system used by most of the world today.

Pagan to the core, the calendar and planetary week of the world masks and precludes the true Sacred Calendar God wants us to follow, to keep in mind His Sabbath, Feast Days and New Moons.

God’s Calendar and the Law

The calendar is not just something interesting to study, but it is part of God’s law, as seen in this passage:

Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast day. It is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob. He appointed it in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out over the land of Egypt… Psalm 81:3-5

Blow the horn for the new month, for the full moon on the day of our pilgrim feast. This is a law for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob laid as a solemn charge on Joseph when he came out of Egypt… Psalm 81:3-5 NEB

God scolds his own people for not knowing his times, while they claim to have God’s law:

The Stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times, and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD. How do ye say, “We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us?” Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain. Jeremiah 8:7, 8

The word for "appointed times" in verse 7 is mo’ed, the same word used for God's Holy Days in Leviticus 23:2.

A "dumb" stork knows its time to migrate, the time to bear its young, yet some of God's own people don't know his judgments and his times. Perhaps this is the case because they are observing wrong days, times, months, and years, as in Galatians 4:8-11.

Re-learning the Basics

We must learn how to read God’s Sacred calendar, if we are to observe the holy appointments he has set.

The Sacred calendar is actually quite simple, but because of our education away from the natural phenomena of the sun and moon, the true calendar may seem difficult to us at first.

The new moons and equinoxes are the natural calendar made by the Creator. While the little horn “thinks to change times and laws,” the divine calendar cannot be tampered with by man. It is always there. The new moon starts the month and the sun starts the year by appearing to move from solstice to solstice, passing through the equinoxes—very simple.

Which Calendar?

While the Bible’s Holy Days are central to true worship, determining when to observe them creates an unending controversy—one that has been ongoing for 2,000 years. Can we trust the Jewish calendar as many do to tell us the correct dates for feast-keeping? Is it the calendar God commanded?

Every believer should understand not only the role of the seven annual Feast days in keeping us constantly in the understanding of God’s plan of redemption, but their prophetic treasure in last day events and particularly the events associated with the second coming of Christ. It is, therefore, important to know the proper times these days occur.

Our present Gregorian worldly calendar with 12 months of 30 or 31 days each is not the calendar of the Bible. The Gregorian calendar, adopted by all Catholic countries in 1582 and in 1752 by England and the colonies, is a sun-based calendar. It pays no attention to the new moons as marking the beginning of the months, even though the word month is based on the word moon (from Old Saxon manoth, meaning of the moon). Yet they completely ignore the moon’s phases. Some “moonths” in our Gregorian calendar have two moons!

Neither can we use the Mayan calendar, the Babylonian calendar, the Egyptian Calendar, the Chinese Calendar, or any other calendar to determine God’s holy times. We must ascertain which calendar is the true Biblical Calendar.

The Jewish Calendar

Many are firmly convinced that we should be guided by the present calculated Jewish calendar and the feast dates as given there. This calendar has been used for hundreds of years and is widely available.

Some have gone so far as to make the erroneous claim that the present Hebrew or Jewish calendar was the one used at the time of the Messiah, or even contend that the Hebrew (Jewish) calendar was given to Moses at Sinai, but the Jews themselves openly admit that this is in error.

Which Jewish Calendar?

The most commonly used Jewish calendar is the result of changes over many centuries. The Jewish Encyclopedia explains the development of the Jewish calendar in this manner:

The Jewish calendar may be divided up into three periods—the Biblical, the Talmudic, and the post-Talmudic. The first rested purely on the observation of the sun and moon, the second on observation and reckoning, and the third entirely on reckoning.

In ancient Israel the calendar was determined by visual sightings only; later, it was determined by both calculation and visual sightings. Since the time of Hillel, it has been determined by calculation only.

James Hastings says in his Dictionary of the Bible:

By the Middle of the 2^nd century [CE] the calculated calendar was on the way to acceptance (Sanhed. 12a), but it was not fully adopted till the 4^th cent. Under Hillel II. In the intervening period the proclamation of new moon and of the intercalary months was still dependent on the evidence of eye-witness as to the reappearance of the moon on the one hand, and the relation of the lunar months to the solar seasons on the other. But astronomical calculation was certainly utilized as well… vol. Iv under Time, p. 764

Hastings Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics states on page 123 that the change from the 8 year cycle to the Babylonian 19 year cycle took place between 222 and 276 CE.

It was not until 359 CE that Hillel II set up a standardized form of the Jewish Calendar. He specified that the leap year with its 13^th month should be the 3^rd, 6^th, 8^th, 11^th, 14^th, 17^th, and 19^th years of a 19-year cycle, to adjust the lunar year to the right seasons. This cycle was named the Metonic cycle after the Greek mathematician Meton, who devised the calculations. It uses a 19 year cycle because every 19 years the new moon and the full moon fall on the same days of the solar year.

However, the Jewish calendar does not follow the observable cycles of the moon. Whereas a natural lunar calendar will allow all the festivals (except the 7^th day Sabbath, and, according to one method of reckoning, Pentecost) to fall on any day of the week, the Hillel calendar is arranged so that the festivals never fall on certain days of the week. These arbitrary, man-made postponement rules, called dehioth, are as follows:

A. PESACH (Passover) can never fall on Monday, Wednesday or Friday: and it must coincide with the day of the 9th of Av of that year.

B. SHAVUOT (Pentecost) can never fall on a Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday and it must coincide with the second day of Passover...

C. ROSH HASHANAH (Feast of Trumpets) can never fall on a Sunday, Wednesday or Friday, and must coincide with the third day of Passover ...

D. YOM HAKIPPURIM (Wave Sheaf/Firstfruits) can never fall on Sunday, Tuesday or Friday, and must coincide with the fifth day of Passover.

E. PURIM (Feast of Esther) can never fall on the Sabbath (Saturday), Monday, or Wednesday and must coincide with the sixth day of Passover.

Days of the week on which Holy Days cannot occur, or "Forbidden Days"

Days of the Week	SUN	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAB
PASSOVER		X		X		X
TRUMPETS	X			X		X
ATONEMENT	X		X			X
TABERNACLES	X		X			X

A Jewish book on the calendar makes the following confession:

In more than 60% of all years, Rosh HaShanah [Trumpets] does not occur on the day of the molad [conjunction of the moon], but is postponed according to one of the Dehioth [postponement] rules.” Arthur Spier, The Comprehensive Hebrew Calendar, page 15

The Mishnah (“Teaching”) contains Jewish oral law, decisions and traditions from the first Century BCE to the third Century CE, and is the basis of the Gemara (“Interpretation”). According to the Mishnah, a Holy Day could occur on any day of the month:

On a Festival-day next to the Sabbath, whether before it or after it, a man may prepare two Erubs… (Dansby’s translation, p. 125, #6)

On p. 146 #10 we learn that the 16^th Abib may fall on a Sabbath. Page 509 #7 shows that the Day of Atonement could fall on a Friday, the day before the weekly Sabbath. This is in direct opposition to the modern Jewish calendar which has postponements designed to forestall Atonement’s being either before or after the weekly Sabbath. This demonstrates that the old calendar is not in harmony with the present-day Jewish calendar.

While the natural, Biblical calendar months vary between 29 and 30 days, all the months between “Nisan” and “Tishri” in the Jewish calendar have prescribed lengths, just as the Roman Calendar—they are predetermined 29 and 30 day months, the same each year.

When the Jews returned from Babylon, they adopted the Chaldean names for the months, which were named after the Babylonian gods, in the same manner that our months and weekdays are named for Roman and Teutonic gods. They retain these pagan names to this day. Some of these names are mentioned in captivity or post-captivity books, such as Nehemiah, Ezra, Esther and Daniel. For example, we are told that Nisan is another name for the first month and Adar is the twelfth month (Esther 3:7). Yet God names only four months—the others are simply numbered. We therefore reject the present designation of Nisan for Abib and the other pagan names, such as Tammuz!

Those that are given names are Abib, the first month (Exodus 12:2, 13:4, Deuteronomy 16:1), a time in the spring when barley and flax have headed out, but before wheat has grown up (Exodus 9:31, 32). Zif, the second month, a time for construction to begin (I Kings 6:37). Ethanim, the seventh month, time of the Feast of Tabernacles, (I Kings 8:2, 65, 66), and Bul, the eighth month, a time for construction work to cease before winter rains (I Kings 6:38).

Something else that occured in the adoption of the Metonic cycle in calculating the calendar that would never have occurred in Temple times was when the 17^th year of the 19-year Metonic cycle came around, Passover was two days before the vernal equinox! This 17^th-year Passover occurs the earliest of all years, and it stayed ahead of the equinox for the next 400 years. Reckoning the vernal equinox as the beginning of the year, it would be possible to have two Passovers within one year if Passover were kept before the equinox!

While the Jewish calendar no longer allows Passover to occur before the vernal equinox, since the basic error in the cycle is only longer than the solar year by six minutes, thirty-nine seconds. Thus, the entire calendar moves ahead of solar time one day in about 216 years. Since this steady creeping ahead of the solar calendar, the 17^th year in the cycle no longer has Passover before the equinox; however, eventually Passover will be held more toward summer than spring!

This aberration is corroborated in the Jewish Encyclopedia:

That there is a slight error in the Jewish calendar—due to the inaccuracies in the length of both the lunar and solar years upon which it is based—has been asserted by a number of writers. According to Isadore Loeb the Jewish cycle in 19 years exceeds the Gregorian by 2 hours, 8 minutes, and 15.3 seconds. This makes a difference in a hundred cycles (1900 years) of 8 days, 21 hours, 45 minutes, and 5 seconds. Article: Calendar, p. 500

It notes on the same page,

Insignificant as these differences may appear, they will cause a considerable divergence in the relations between Nisan, and spring as time goes on, and may require a Pan-Judaic Synod to adjust.

If the present Jewish calendar were indeed the calendar God gave, there would be no reason to adjust or change anything, for he makes everything perfect. Therefore, the present Hillel II Jewish calendar, while it is a masterpiece of mathematics, cannot be relied upon to determine the correct feast dates.

Jewish leaders expect later to return to “a system based on true values more akin to the earlier Jewish calendar in which the new moons ... and intercalations were proclaimed on the basis of both observation and calculation." (Encyclopaedia Judaica, Vol. 5, Article: Calendar, p 47)

The Karaite Jews are those who have returned to Scripture alone for their doctrine and deny any validity to the Talmud or Rabbinic teaching:

Karaites. . . . The accepted meaning of the name of the sect — Kara'im, Ba'alei ha-Mikra (‘people of the Scriptures’)—is assumed to imply the main characteristic of the sect, the recognition of the Scriptures as the sole and direct source of religious law, to the exclusion of the Oral law.” —Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1971 edition, Volume 10, page 762

Thus, they disallow the Hillel calendar, and allow the festivals to fall on any day of the week.

The Sun & Moon Establish the Calendar

It is clear that the two “great lights” which “rule” day and night are the sun and moon. David expressed it rather clearly:

"To him that made great lights, ... The sun to rule by day; ... The moon and stars to rule by night; ..." (Ps. 136:7-9)

These “great lights” were created:

1. To divide day from night;

2. For “signs,” and

3. To establish seasons, days, and years.

The sun establishes the day, both the 12 hour day and the 24 hour day (John 11:9; Genesis 1:23; Psalm 119:19-23).

The moon establishes the month, beginning with the new moon. The same Hebrew word (chodesh, Strong's #2320) is translated both moon an month in the King James Version, depending on how it is used in the sentence (“new moon” 20 times, and “month” 220 times).

But what determines the year?

As noted above, Scriptures tell us that sun and moon establish the year; not the sun only, but both of the great lights (Gen.1:14).

This month [chodesh, moon] shall be to you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month [or moon] of the year to you. Exodus 12:2

This was stated with reference to the feast dates in the first month (Passover, Unleavened Bread).

Seasons

We noted in Genesis 1:14 that the sun and moon are “for seasons," as well as for days and years. The common understanding is that “seasons” refers to the four seasons of our year: spring, summer, fall and winter; but this is not the case.

“Seasons” is from the Hebrew word mo’ed which, as used here, indicates festivals. Of the thirteen times mo’ed is (in the KJV) translated "seasons," all allude to the festivals except three or four. In addition, mo’ed is translated in the following ways (KJV), showing this word very often refers to the festivals:

Feast, 6 times
Set feast, 5 times
Solemn feasts, 9 times
Solemnity, 4 times
Solemn day, 1 time
Solemn assembly, 1 time
Time appointed, 9 times
Time, 4 times
Appointed times, 2 times
Assembly, 2 times
Place of assembly, 1 time
Congregation, 149 times (often in connection with the tabernacle, the place of worship)

From the very beginning, even before man was created, God planned ahead for the observance of the annual festivals. Various translations of Genesis 1:14 read as follows:

…Let there be lights in the vault of heaven to separate day from night, and let them serve as signs both for festivals and for seasons and years. (NEB)

…Let there be lights in the vault of heaven to divide day from night, and let them indicate festivals, days and years. (Jerusalem Bible)

Thus, the sun and the moon set the dates for the annual festivals, as well as establishing days, months, and years

The Day

Scriptures calls daylight hours the day, as opposed to night (darkness):

Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in a day? John 11:9

Until the 18th century an hour was reckoned (among both Jews and Gentiles) as one-twelfth of the time from sunrise to sunset. The hour varied in length with the seasons, being longer in summer and shorter in winter. (Universal Standard Encyclopaedia, Standard Reference Works Pub. Co., Inc, Vol. 12, Article: Hour, p 4424; The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Eerdman's Publishing Co., Vol 2.  Article: Day, p 797) Of course, these variations may be due to the changes after the flood—we do not know.

There is also the full 24 hour day—the calendar day—which includes both night and day:

And there was evening and there was morning, one day" Genesis 1:5, etc

…on the day that I struck down all the first-born in the land of Egypt I hallowed to myself all the first-born in Israel… Numbers 3:13

Since the first-born of Egypt were struck down about midnight (Exodus 12:29), it is clearly evident that the word day sometimes refers to the 24 hour day, a calendar day.

Unlike our Roman Calendar day which begins at midnight, the Scriptural calendar day begins at sunset:

And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. Genesis 1:23

On the Sabbath day [Christ] entered the synagogue, and taught. ... and at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils" Mark 1:21,32 (Due to the Pharisees, the common people waited until the Sabbath ended (at sunset) to come to Jesus for healing.)

The soul that touches any [uncleanness] shall be unclean until evening, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he bathe his flesh in water. And when the sun is down, he shall be clean; ... Leviticus 22:6,7

Christian churches in Europe and early America continued for many centuries to observe the rest day and the festivals from sunset the preceding evening (even while observing the first day of the week). This custom was gradually abandoned and ceased totally by 1800, except by those who kept the seventh day. However, a reminder of this is still with us in such phrases as, "Christmas eve," and "New Year's eve;" the "eve" beginning at sunset the preceding day. (The Lord’s Day On a Round Earth, Robert Leo Odom, Southern Pub. Co.; pp 25 – 57; American History As Told by Contemporaries,  MacMillan Co., London; Vol. 1, p 338; The Calendar God Gave to Moses, Herbert Solinsky & Rob Anderson, p 32)

The Week

God himself established the week by working six days and resting on the seventh (Genesis 1:1-2:4, Exodus 20:8-11; 31:17). Reference works tell us:

The week is a period of seven days, having no reference whatever to the celestial motions, a circumstance to which it owes it's unalterable uniformity. Although it did not enter into the calendar of the Greeks, and was not introduced at Rome till after the rule of Theodosius, it has been employed from time immemorial in almost all eastern countries; and as it forms neither aliquot part of the year nor of the lunar month, those who reject the Mosaic recital will be at a loss, ... to assign to it an origin having much semblance of probability. Encyclopaedia Brit. 9th Edition, Vol 4; Calendar, p 589

The days of the week do not have names in Hebrew, but are simply numbered and referred to as follows:

Yom Rishon (first day)

Sundown Saturday till sundown Sunday

Yom Sheni (second day)

Sundown Sunday till sundown Monday

Yom Sh'lishi (third day)

Sundown Monday till sundown Tuesday

Yom Revi'I (fourth day)

Sundown Tuesday till sundown Wednesday

Yom Chamishi (fifth day)

Sundown Wednesday till sundown Thursday

Yom Shishi (sixth day)

Sundown Thursday till sundown Friday

Shabbat (Sabbath/rest)

Sundown Friday till sundown Saturday

The Month

The Scriptural Calendar calls for the month to begin with the new moon.

Before the flood, there were 12 months with 30 days each Genesis 7:11, 24 states that the windows of heaven were opened on the 17^th day of the second month, and that the waters prevailed upon the earth for 150 days; Genesis 8:3, 4 tells us that “at the end of 150 days the waters had abated; and in the seventh month, on the 17^th day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.” Five months of 30 days each equal 150 days.

Further indication that the original months all had 30 uniform days is seen in time prophecy. The time period given in Revelation 12:6 and 11:3—1,260 days (called “a time, times, and half a time” in Revelation 12:14, which is understood as “three and a half years) is described as “42 months” in Revelation 11:2.

However, the lunar month now averages 29.5305883 days; or 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 2.8 seconds, but it can vary in length as much as 13 hours. (Ibid, p 593; The Calendar God Gave to Moses, Solinsky & Anderson; p 8) Thus, in our present dispensation, each month consists of 29 or 30 days.

The Workings of the Sanhedrin

Looking for the visible crescent is not referenced in the Bible for a new moon. It was not until the return from Babylon, where the visible crescent was used to determine the beginning of the month, that we have record of this method of calculating the first day of the month. It is evident that, in adopting the heathen deity names for the months while in Babylon, Israel was greatly influenced by the Babylonian calendar system.

In post-Babylonian captivity, the calendar was proclaimed by in Israel by the Sanhedrin. History books and the Talmud (not the Bible) tell us that the Sanhedrin (the Supreme court of Israel) determined the new moon by actually observing the first faint crescent [young moon] in the western sky after sunset.

Watchers were stationed on various vantage points, and runners carried this news to chosen members of the Sanhedrin, located in Jerusalem. Once the evidence was weighed and accepted as true, a new month was proclaimed to all the communities of Israel, both local and distant. (The New Bible Dictionary, by J.D. Douglas; Eerdman's Pub. Co., Grand Rapids, MI; 1979, Article: Calendar, p 178; Our People – History of the Jews, by Jacob Isaacs; Pub. by Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, Inc., 773 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY, 11213; 3rd Edition, 1974; Vol. 4, Book 7; pp 107, 173; The Temple - Its Ministry & Service, by Alfred Edersheim; Eerdman's Pub. Co.; 1972,  p 200 – 204)

When skies are clear and the new moon did not appear by dusk following the 29th day of any given month, it was always visible the next night, making a month of 30 days; yet if skies were overcast during this time, visibility was assumed (thus annulling the supposed rule that the crescent must be “visible”).

This was the system used in ancient Israel during the time of Christ. Israelites did not each observe the calendar individually; the months and year began when the priests said it did, because they were the ones proclaiming the holy days and offering the required sacrifices. Should a person in ancient Israel observed the calendar “correctly” when the priests were wrong, would he be able to have the holy day ceremonies performed for him according to his calendar observation? No—the law contained no such provision. The days were to be proclaimed, and the people were to assemble (Leviticus 23:2, 4:37). This does not mean that the priests were dictators or some kind of hierarchical rulers—their authority was limited to certain temple and judgmental functions, one of which was blowing the trumpets to proclaim the days:

The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and these shall be to you as an ordinance forever throughout your generations.... Also in the day of your gladness, in your appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be a memorial for you before your God: I am the Lord your God. Numbers 10:8,10

Going by local observation by each Israelite would have caused them to observe the holy days on different days. Some will claim that Israel was such a small country that there would be no significant variation in moon observation, but both science and actual practice confirm otherwise. To prove it, you must simply ask a friend who lives 50 to 100 miles away to write down each month the days he sees the first crescent, the full moon, and the last crescent for a full year; keep similar records yourself, and see for yourself that those records will disagree. Clouds, elevation, distance, and even human forgetfulness can cause you to have different results.

However, it was this dependence on the Sanhedrin in determining the calendar that left their calendar in complete disarray when the decision-making body was dispersed. After the destruction of the temple, confusion prevailed to such an extant that Rabbi Akiba (who died in 135 CE) once proclaimed three years in succession as years of 13 months each to restore Passover to the spring season once again! (Encyclopaedia Judaica, Keter Publishing House, Jerusalem; Vol. 5, Article: Calendar, p 49)

We cannot base our interpretation of Scripture on the last era of Israel’s statehood when the Sanhedrin officially announced the new moons from Jerusalem. There was a time when the Sanhedrin did not exist; it does not exist today. If we insist on using “ancient Israel’s” system of reckoning a new moon, how can we begin a new month without a proclamation from the Sanhedrin? The Sanhedrin did not exist until about 300 BCE; yet the months and years began for approximately 3,600 years before the existence of the Sanhedrin. Thus, the beginning of a new month or year are not dependent on the Sanhedrin and its rules or procedures.

The fact that Jesus did not argue against the calendar system used in his day or say it was wrong does not place his approval on the system—if we base our beliefs on argumentum i silentium (argument from silence), we would have to believe that God approves of slavery, polygamy, fornication, and the many other things he never bothered to condemn in the Old Testament.

The “Old Paths”

While many today insist that the restoration of the “old paths” is what it constitutes to walking by faith, it is really no more than a return to the same way of thinking that led the people of Israel to eventually reject and crucify their Messiah. It is also significant that those who insist upon sighting the moon fall to a great and usually unrealized inconsistency. When they set their calendars more than a month in advance, they are using the astronomical calculation and adding two or three days in order to assure a sighting, while making the claim to follow the “traditions” of the elders. If they were truly following the “old paths” (the way it was done in ancient Israel), no feast could ever be announced more than 15 days ahead of its actual occurrence, because no one can know the atmospheric/weather conditions ahead of time and whether the crescent would be able to be viewed on the first, second, or (in some cases) third night of possibility, or whether the present month would have 29 or 30 days. Yet, these very insistent ones will publish a calendar a year in advance! All the while using the same computer programs and scientific data used to determine the conjunction.

Local or Jerusalem Sightings?

That witnesses from any point on earth should be heard is admitted by Jewish Authorities:

Moreover it is no more than an assumption (no less difficult to prove or disprove) that the occurrences of the [new moons] are expressed in terms of local Jerusalem time. Encyclopaedia Judaica, Vol. 5, Article: Calendar, p. 46

More significantly, it is a very serious mistake to use Jerusalem as a mark for anything. While on the New Earth, New Jerusalem will again be the capital of God’s people and the Lord’s headquarters, all observance will occur there and all things will appear in their original perfection, i.e., the moon will shine brighter than the sun. Literal Jerusalem no longer has anything to do with God’s people. Taking Bible texts such as “for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3, Micah 4:2) out of context does not establish Jerusalem as a center for religious reckoning. Of course that is true, but when is that talking about? It is obvious it is talking about the new earth. If the Jewish people build a new temple and start offering sacrifices, thus rejecting the death of Christ, can that temple really be called “the Temple of God”? The proposed Third Temple will most likely be the place where Satan will manifest himself as the returned Christ (Daniel 11:45, Matthew 24:24-26).

Jesus plainly told the Samaritan woman at the well that the time was coming, and was even present as he spoke, when Jerusalem would no longer be the center of worship (John 4:21, 23). Thus, in Galatians 4:22-26, Paul speaks of two Jerusalems to illustrate two covenants, comparing them to Hagar and Sarah. He draws the conclusion that believers are no longer bound to Jerusalem in the land of Canaan. His desire to be in Jerusalem for the Passover, as recorded in Acts 18:21, is explained by Ellen White as having to do with the opportunity to meet with Jews from various places, in order to persuade them as to the validity of Jesus’ claim to messiahship; she then notes that at Philippi he "tarried to keep the Passover," (Acts 20:6) and did not make Jerusalem until Pentecost. While Luke, a Gentile convert, dates events in his letter to another Gentile by the holy calendar, yet mentions of Jerusalem seem only coincidental to the descriptions given.

In the parable of the Householder and Wicked Husbandmen, Jesus pronounces against the chief priests and Pharisees, "The Kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof;" then, as he wept over Jerusalem, he affirmed, "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate." (Matthew 21:43, 23:28)

During Ellen White's ministry, there was a buzz about establishing a mission in Old Jerusalem, to which she made pointed answer in Early Writings, where she states:

I also saw that Old Jerusalem never would be built up; and that Satan was doing his utmost to lead the minds of the children of the Lord into these things now, in the gathering time, to keep them from throwing their whole interest into the present work of the Lord, and to cause them to neglect the necessary preparation for the day of the Lord. Early Writings 75-76

Her statement that “Old Jerusalem would never be built up” has been used by some to allegedly establish her error, for the literal city has, of course, been built up. Yet she is obviously speaking of it in spiritual connotations. As a center for God’s people, Jerusalem will never be built up. She describes Jerusalem as committing the unpardonable sin in Desire of Ages page 587, and describes the city as a symbol of the final ruin of the world (3 BC 1133; COL 302; DA 743; MB 120; TM 232). How then, could Jerusalem in Palestine be germane to the reckoning of the year for God’s people now?

The Law will Go Forth From Zion

While the law will go forth from Mount Zion, and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem, this law will tell us that the sun and moon determine days, months, years, and the festival dates (Genesis 1:14-16; Isaiah 66:23), for the “law” in this text is the Hebrew word Torah, which we have presently in the first five books of the Old Testament. For hundreds of years the people of Israel kept the festivals and the new moons before Jerusalem was declared a place of worship. Did Joshua, Deborah, Gideon, and Samuel ask for reports from Mount Zion and Jerusalem (at that time, a Jebusite town) when determining the new moons and the festival dates?

For hundreds of years before the chosen people occupied the land of Canaan, the ancient saints, including Seth, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham (Genesis 5-8), determined the months and years without consulting any one in the land of Canaan. How was this done?

Ignore What You See?

The new crescent is first seen in the western sky in different parts of the earth. Two to four times yearly North America can see the new crescent moon one day before it is seen in Jerusalem. Should we, on these occasions, ignore what we see? The new moon would have to be ignored by many communities if they were to go by Jerusalem sightings—some observing the month with absolutely no visible new moon, others observing the month after the moon had already previously appeared! Since it is supposedly this very thing (the appearance of the new moon) which signals the beginning of a new month in this form of reckoning, ignoring the new crescent locally and beginning each month only after the new moon is seen in Jerusalem will cause approximately one third of the months in time zones other than Israel to begin on the first day the new crescent is seen, but on the second day. There would be akin to the “postponement rules” set in the Jewish calendar which is one of the major flaws in the Hillel calendar presently in use.

Magdi Shamuel of Universal Karaite Judaism in Ramla, Israel, stated (via letter) in response to a query regarding using Jerusalem visibility:

The celebration of the feasts is determined according to local visibility of the moon in each place.

He goes on to elaborate how (using San Francisco as a comparison), on specific dates the moon would be visible in San Francisco a day before Israel (according to the Roman Calendar and using the International dateline), and thus, celebrated earlier in San Francisco than in Israel.

Thus, if visibility is being used, it would have to be local visibility; just as we observe the Sabbath when it comes to us, so we would observe new moon when visible to us. Jerusalem cannot be our reference point.

Since we reject the Rabbinical calendar, and we do not go by visibility in Jerusalem, we are left with only two alternatives: local visibility, or the dark of the moon (the astronomical new moon).

Problems with Local Visibility

This being understood, we encounter another problem with the fact that the moon is visible in different parts of the earth at different times. Unless you use Jerusalem as a reference point (for which there is absolutely no biblical evidence), the feast days will fall on different dates in different parts of the world. This is unacceptable. There must be one correct date.

Using the astronomical new moon conjunction is the only method that will give you the same feast dates all over the world.

Furthermore, it takes at least 18 to 20 (some say 22) hours following a conjunction for the unaided eye to see first visible crescent moon. Cloud, haze, trees and mountains are only the obvious problems; modern research has discovered that even on perfectly clear evenings, the two most critical factors in determining visibility are the age of the observer and the amount of humidity in the air. It has been demonstrated that the young and the old have the greatest difficulty in seeing a crescent, while the middle age have the easiest. Further, the greater the humidity factor in the atmosphere, the less likely the crescent can be seen. It is important to stress the point that when discussing new moon crescent sightings of the past, that these factors are not only unknown, but are impossible to calculate. Yet another factor is that often the brightness of the setting sun obliterates the thin and very faint light of the new crescent moon. Thus, “visibility” can never be certain or determined until it is undeniably visible, this possibly being the second night it was “actually/possibly” visible. The conjunction, however, can be determined with 100% accuracy.

What Is A New Moon?

Since God has not given the specific details for what constitutes a new moon, we must consider the import of Proverbs 25:2:

It is the Glory of God to conceal a thing, but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.

Thus, it becomes an act of active faith to explore and discover the truth of this matter.

The most basic answer to the question “What is a ‘new moon’?” is quite logical. It is the opposite of a full moon. This would have to be a dark moon. The following illustrates that:

Except for during a lunar eclipse, half the moon is always in sunlight, just as half of the earth is always in day (again, except in the case of a solar eclipse). The phases of the moon are “caused” by the part of the moon we can see at any given time in its rotation around the earth.

This figure demonstrates that the true “new moon” would be at its direct opposite position from when it is full.

You will notice that when the first visible crescent is visible to us (B), the moon is already well into its waxing phase in relation to the full moon.

The conjunction is the only “new” happening during the complete moon cycle; all other appearances of the moon are merely a phase of its appearance. At the moon conjunction it becomes a new moon in a specific moment of time, a moon totally different from the previous one, after that specific moment in time it immediately begins to rebuild. Thus the term Chodesh (Strong’s #2320, month, new moon, monthly) comes from the word chadash (Strong’s 2318), meaning to renew, to repair; to be new, to make anew. The moment a moon begins renewing or rebuilding, is the moment immediately past conjunction. Not even those who observe the crescent deny this fact.

The Full Moon and the Feasts

The full moon is usually on the 14^th or 15^th day after conjunction of sun and moon (a conjunction is the moment when the moon is directly between the earth and the sun—though on a different plane—and so is invisible. When on the same plane, an eclipse of the sun occurs.). Since the new crescent is not seen until one, two, or (on rare occasions) three days after the conjunction, the full moon sometimes appears only 12 days after the crescent is first sighted. This is because the moon does not travel at the same speed from day to day and from month to month. Therefore, the first of the month cannot be established by noting the visible crescent, because Passover and the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles must be on full moons. This is the first indication that the Scriptural month must begin with the conjunction, not with the visible new crescent.

The Born Again

The Hebrew word chodesh has as its root word chadash, meaning to be new, cause to rebuild, repair. The new moon feast is called “the festival of the born again” by Jewish people, and the conjunction is called the molad or birth of the moon. Ellen White makes the statement that the dark moon is a fit symbol of man turned away from Christ (Mount of Blessing 40). The dark moon stand as an illustration of our need. In the book of Revelation, God’s people are symbolized as a woman standing on the moon. As the moon's circuit and a woman's cleansing cycle are roughly the same, the moon represents the cleansing from sin and growth in grace.

According to Paul in Romans 10:6-10, God offered Israel righteousness by faith at Sinai (cf. Deuteronomy 30:11-14). He comments that while “they are deeply devoted to God; but their devotion is not based on true knowledge,” (Romans 10:2 TEV) and because they did not understand God’s way of making us right—which is through trust (“faith,” “trust,” and “belief” are all translated from the same Greek word—pistis), they set up their own way of becoming right, which is through obeying the Torah, or works (Romans 10:3-4). In the very next verse he makes a declaration that has been widely misconstrued: “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Verse 4). In other words, Christ is the end of trying to become righteous through obedience to the law, or works. Thus, a few verses earlier, he talks about how gentiles were put right with God through trust (faith), while Israel, trying to gain righteousness through the law, did not attain it, “because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law.” (Romans 9:30-32)

At Sinai, God called his people to holiness—not simply on an individual basis, but as a people. In the 19^th chapter of Exodus, Moses issued this call to holiness in language which Peter would later use to call forth this people from the believers in Christ. In the 20^th chapter, at the conclusion of the verbal issuance of the commandments, Moses plainly entreated the nation, “sin not,” and we are plainly told that “whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” (Romans 14:23) This was therefore clearly a call to a walk of complete faith, such as that of Enoch. Sadly, the people chose a god they could see over the God whom they could not see (the golden calf), and the honor and privilege of special service went to the one faithful tribe of Levi, never to be bestowed on that “stiff-necked” people as a whole. God wanted to write his law on their hearts, but they rejected that, so he wrote it on the next softest thing he could find. They rejected walking by faith (trust) and walked by sight. Jesus said, “A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh a sign.” (Matthew 16:4)

The System Used for Centuries

However, God did not reject them—he worked with them. It is because God is that he worked with them in their insistence in walking by sight, giving them miracle after miracle and sign after sign. The only way AD 31 can be the correct year of the crucifixion and also have a Friday crucifixion is if we go by local visibility that year in Jerusalem, which was indisputably the system that was being used in the time of Christ. While the conjunction was on April 10 at 11:16 universal time, there is absolutely no possibility of visibility in Jerusalem until the evening of the 12^th (thereby making a Wednesday crucifixion impossible); this would have made the 13^th of April the first day of Nisan (and thus a Thursday crucifixion). However, the visibility on the evening of the 12^th is assuming perfect conditions; any cloud cover or haziness whatsoever would have precluded the moon being seen, thereby deferring the first viewing of the barely visible crescent until the evening of the 13^th, thereby making the 14^th of April the first day of Nisan, bringing us to a Friday, April 27 day for Nisan 14 in the year 31 CE.

Christ never rebuked them for their calendar system; yet this does not necessarily mean approval, any more than his silence in the Old Testament regarding polygamy, meat-eating, fornication, use of alcohol by the common man, or any given number of instances where God stayed silent indicated approval. God has always worked with his people wherever they were. It is self-evident that the original diet was what God desires; yet he gave those desiring “the fleshpots” instruction as to which flesh foods to eat and how to prepare them; and when his rule was rejected, he did not abandon Israel, but rather provided a substitute monarch fitting their need and desires.

That God is more concerned with the meaning of the feast dates rather than the actual dates is seen in that he provided a second Passover, an entire month late, for those who could not observe Passover services due to exigent circumstances. We find one of the greatest Passovers in the Bible kept by Hezekiah one month late and twice as long as God commanded! (2 Chronicles 30:2,23) Furthermore, God’s attitude towards the use of the second tithe (in reality, a savings fund that provided the means to provide for the expense of the feast date travel arrangements and the time off from regular employment) is rather enlightening:

Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always. And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee: Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose: And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household. Deuteronomy 14:22-26

While some have tried in vain to explain away the original intent of the inspired text by stating that God could not possibly have been saying that he would sanction the use of the second tithe to purchase intoxicating beverage, the fact that the original text has the word shekar—meaning strong drink, the hardest intoxicating drink known at that time—indicates that God was willing to make this incredible compromise, basically stating, “Just come to the feast—if you must consume alcohol, just come! Perhaps I can communicate with you if you at least come.”

Using the Visible New Moon Eliminates October 22, 1844

Ellen White and Adventism stand or fall with the date October 22, 1844 being accurate. Notice the following statements made by Ellen White:

The preaching of a definite time for the judgment, in the giving of the first message, was ordered by God. The computation of the prophetic periods on which that message was based, placing the close of the 2300 days in the autumn of 1844, stands without impeachment. Great Controversy 457

In like manner the types which relate to the second advent must be fulfilled at the time pointed out in the symbolic service. Under the Mosaic system the cleansing of the sanctuary, or the great Day of Atonement, occurred on the tenth day of the seventh Jewish month (Leviticus 16:29-34), when the high priest, having made an atonement for all Israel, and thus removed their sins from the sanctuary, came forth and blessed the people. So it was believed that Christ, our great High Priest, would appear to purify the earth by the destruction of sin and sinners, and to bless His waiting people with immortality. The tenth day of the seventh month, the great Day of Atonement, the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary, which in the year 1844 fell upon the twenty-second of October, was regarded as the time of the Lord's coming. Great Controversy 399-400

As foreshadowed in the type, and foretold in the Scriptures, Christ, at the time appointed, entered the most holy place of the temple of God in heaven. Southern Watchman, January 24, 1905

Of all the great religious movements since the days of the apostles, none have been more free from human imperfection and the wiles of Satan than was that of the autumn of 1844. The Great Controversy 401

True, there had been a failure as to the expected event ... The mistake had not been in the reckoning of the prophetic periods, but in the event to take place at the end of the 2300 days. The Great Controversy 406

That she could not be merely expressing the common understanding of the pioneers (which, of course, left room for human error) is seen in the following declaration:

I must respond to the letters received from you and others. In your letter you speak of your early training to have implicit faith in the testimonies and say, “I was led to conclude and most firmly believe that every word that you ever spoke in public or private, that every letter you wrote under any and all circumstances, was as inspired as the Ten Commandments.” My brother, you have studied my writings diligently, and you have never found that I have made any such claims, neither will you find that the pioneers in our cause ever made such claims . . . .

The statement which you quote from Testimony No. 31 [volume 5, page 67] is correct: “In these letters which I write, in the testimonies I bear, I am presenting to you that which the Lord has presented to me. I do not write one article in the paper expressing merely my own ideas, They are what God has opened before me in vision — the precious rays of light shining from the throne.” It is true concerning the articles in our papers and in the many volumes of my books. 1 Selected Messages, pages 24, 29 (June 14, 1906)

When speaking of the 1911 edition of The Great Controversy, Mrs. White speaks of her going through and editing it. Her comments are pertinent:

A few days ago I received a copy of the new edition of the book Great Controversy, recently printed at Mountain View, and also a similar copy printed at Washington. The book pleases me. I have spent many hours looking through its pages, and I see that the publishing houses have done good work. . . .

Recently it was necessary for this book to be reset, because the electrotype plates were badly worn. It has cost me much to have this done, but I do not complain; for whatever the cost may be, I regard this new edition with great satisfaction. . . .

When I learned that Great Controversy must be reset, I determined that we would have everything closely examined, to see if the truths it contained were stated in the very best manner, to convince those not of our faith that the Lord had guided and sustained me in the writing of its pages.

As a result of the thorough examination by our most experienced workers, some changing in the wording has been proposed. These changes I have carefully examined, and approved. I am thankful that my life has been spared, and that I have strength and clearness of mind for this and other literary work. 3 Selected Messages, pages 123, 124

Going by Judaism

The Jewish people observed the Day of Atonement on September 23 in 1844. This can be easily confirmed by consulting any Jewish almanac of that time, or any orthodox Jewish authority.

It has been declared that, while the Orthodox Jews may have observed the Day of Atonement on September 23, the Karaite Jews observed it on October 22. This is an erroneous claim. The leading Karaite rabbi of Cairo, Egypt, Youseff Ibrahim Marzork, in reply to an inquiry as to the day on which they celebrated the atonement in 1844, wrote:

As to the dates of the Passover and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) they are the following: according to the Karaite Jews in the year 1843 the Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) is on Wednesday 4th October, and just the same date according to the Rabbinical. In the year 1844 it is on Monday 23rd September for both the Karaite and Rabbinical. The Gathering Call by E. S. Ballenger, May-June 1941, pp. 14-15

A leader in the largest modern-day Karaite group makes the following statement:

In the time of Shlomoh ben Efedah Hacohen (c. 1860) all Karaites everywhere had for many years been using the 19 year Rabbinic cycle. Therefore, Yom Kippur must have been celebrated by the Karaites in late September 1844 in accordance with the 19 year Rabbinic cycle and not in late October 1844. While late September may or may not have been the correct month in which to celebrate Yom Kippur (only a crop report from that year would decide that issue) it was undoubtedly the month actually observed by Karaites everywhere.

That Yom Kippur 1844 was celebrated by the Karaites in September and not October is confirmed by a Karaite Tomb Stone inscription cited by Abraham Firkowitz in his book "Avnei Zicharon" published Vilna 1872 [lengthy explanation followed in original manuscript]… it becomes clear that Yom Kippur 1844 must have been celebrated in late September and not late October. Nehemia Gordon, Jerusalem, Israel, of karaite-korner.org

Regardless of what the Karaites were or were not doing in 1844, the important question is, what was the true date for the Day of Atonement, biblically speaking?

Jewish tradition (set down in detail in the Talmud) and modern-day Karaites tell us that the new year was originally determined strictly by the ripening of the barley harvest and not by observance of the moon, until the calculated Rabbinic calendar began to be used after the diaspora (even Orthodox Jews teach that we will revert to the original method of determining the year and months when Messiah sets up his kingdom, which the Karaites use to make the point that we should revert to the Biblical calendar now).

However, that Karaites have in the past used the vernal equinox, and not the barley harvest, to determine the beginning of the year is recorded in Jewish sources:

Jewry is divided on that point [i.e., on the method of declaring the advent of the crucial month of Nisan] into three differing groups [sums up Levi ben Yefeth, the early eleventh-century Palestinian Karaite jurist]. The first group, comprising the majority community, are the Rabbanites. . . .

The second group consists of people in the Land of Shine‘ar [=Babylonia] from among our brethren the Karaites. They follow the [computation of the vernal] equinox alone; yet, they stipulate certain conditions which are different from those stipulated by the Rabbanites. This is why we have listed this group as separated from the Rabbanites. . . . Now, this second group does not inquire, nor search, for the abib at all; its members simply wait and do the proclamation of Nisan when the sun reaches the Constellation of the Ram.” —Zvi Ankori, Karaites In Byzantium, pages 303, 304

Again, that the ancients were not ignorant of astronomy and could recognize the constellations is seen in Job 38:31, where he mentions the Pleiades and Orion.

Mr. Ankori details that the three divisions in determining the first day of the first month were that the Rabbanites followed the pre-calculations alone, and did not search for the abib [ripened barley] near the vernal (spring) equinox; Babylonian Karaites did not search for the abib, but followed computation of the vernal equinox alone; finally, the Palestinian-oriented Karaites observed the abib alone and did not investigate the position of the sun (equinox). Karaites in general followed the Palestinian reckoning for several hundred years, until it was so small and fragmented a movement that they began to use the Rabbinic calculated calendar. The shift in modern Karaism is to return to the Palestinian method of observing the barley alone.

While Jewish tradition and even he Talmud can teach us much, all these traditions must be weighed by the truth of Scripture, for in the end, the fact that things were done in or were not done in a certain way by the nation of Israel does not indicate orthodoxy. This touches on the problem of determining the method of counting Pentecost; since the time of Christ, the Jewish people were divided on which was the correct way; and while the Sadducees controlled the temple services (and, thus, the official proclamation of the feast dates as well as the temple sacrifices), this alone is no reason to reject the Pharisaical system of counting Pentecost! Therefore, both Orthodox and Karaite calculations are thereby rejected as unbiblical; our position is that the year must begin with the first new moon on or after the vernal equinox. The present question is: do we determine the New Moon/beginning of the month with the visible crescent, as done anciently, or the dark of the moon?

On this question much depends, for, if we follow the visible new moon in 1844 to calculate the first month, the day of atonement would be on September 23, not October 22!

In the year 1844, the Astronomical New Moon (conjunction) occurred on the19th of March at 0:17, universal time. The Equinox occurred on March 20 at 11:55 universal time. Since the New Moon must be on or after the vernal equinox, it would seem that this moon could not be the beginning of the first month, since it occurred before the vernal equinox.

However, this new moon did not become visible anywhere on earth until the evening of March 20—after the vernal equinox. Thus, we would have to consider this moon the beginning of the first month, since it fell after the vernal equinox. Counting to the seventh moon, we arrive at September 13, 1844 as the first day of the first month (Feast of Trumpets), thus giving us a September 23 Day of Atonement in 1844!

That the Pioneers believed that the month was to be reckoned by the visible new moon is evidenced in the following:

From a full and careful review and examination of the question, we are still convinced that the true Jewish seventh month could only synchronize with our October, - commencing with the first appearance of the new moon on the 13th of that month, and ending with the appearance of the new moon on the 11th of November." R&H Vol. X., Sep. 3, 1857. - No. 18 The Time in our Year of the True Seventh Month

Two Problems for Adventism

Yet the date October 22 cannot be correct if this method is followed, for two reasons—the first being that the seventh month would have begun on September 13 and not October 13^th, and even if we were to gloss over this fact, using a visible new moon would give us a October 23^rd o 24^th date for the Day of Atonement.

Samuel Snow, who did the original calendar research for the Advent movement, calculated the Astronomical new moon (conjunction), but he did not take into consideration that this new moon cannot be seen! The first visual moon after the conjunction cannot be seen until 15 to 48 hours after the Astronomical new moon. This means that the first day of the 7th month (assuming it was in October) would have been 15 to 48 hours after October 11^th, thus giving us the date October 23^rd or 24^th for the day of atonement! A critic of Adventism quotes the following correspondence he has personally received from Karaite Jew:

Hebrew dates begin the evening before. So if October 14th is the beginning of the month, the new moon was seen the prior evening (on October 13th). Whether the moon was actually sighted on the evening BEFORE October 14th is unknown. However, given the astronomical data it can be said with 100% certainty that the new moon would not have been visible the evening BEFORE October 13th whereas the evening BEFORE October 14th it would have been clearly visible (barring poor weather conditions).

That the early Advent believers were aware of the discrepancy between using visibility of the moon and the October 22 date is seen in the following:

TIME AT JERUSALEM. - If that is to be the standard, we may not see the tenth day till Oct. 23d, for the new moon was not till the morning of Oct. 12th at Jerusalem, and if it did not appear till the evening of the 13th, then the first day of the tenth month might, even, be as late as the 14th, and the tenth day might therefore be on the 24th. Let us, therefore, not cast away our confidence, if the Lord should not come on the 23d of this month. But let none presume upon the continuance of time beyond the 22d. The Midnight Cry, October 19, 1844, page 132

The Siginificance of October 22, 1844

God has been looking for a people—an entire generation—that would walk by faith. He has never had that. He is looking for the 144,000.

This is the true significance of October 22, 1844, and the revelation of the Heavenly Sanctuary. We are told that the “anti-typical day of atonement” began in that year. What does this mean? Most people understand that to simply be the day that the judgment began. However, to truly understand it’s significance, we must look at the services of the sanctuary.

The day of atonement services were called the “yearly” services. It was the only time the High Priest entered the Most Holy Place. All other services were called the “daily” services.

The daily services represent the way God has worked with sinful people since the beginning. We sin, he forgives, we sin, he forgives… Yes, God is gracious and forgiving.

However, the day of atonement services were the final putting away of sin, representing the complete purification of God’s people.

In the typical system, which was a shadow of the sacrifice and priesthood of Christ, the cleansing of the sanctuary was the last service performed by the high priest in the yearly round of ministration. It was the closing work of the atonement --a removal or putting away of sin from Israel. It prefigured the closing work in the ministration of our High Priest in heaven, in the removal or blotting out of the sins of His people, which are registered in the heavenly records. Great Controversy 352

The cleansing, both in the typical and in the real service, must be accomplished with blood: in the former, with the blood of animals; in the latter, with the blood of Christ. Paul states, as the reason why this cleansing must be performed with blood, that without shedding of blood is no remission . Remission, or putting away of sin, is the work to be accomplished. But how could there be sin connected with the sanctuary, either in heaven or upon the earth? This may be learned by reference to the symbolic service; for the priests who officiated on earth, served "unto the example and shadow of heavenly things." Hebrews 8:5. Great Controversy 417-418

The date October 22, 1844 is confirmed as the true Day of Atonement, for it dealt with the Heavenly Sanctuary, which operates on an accurate and correct reckoning of the year and month. The fact that God began to use the correct calendar dates (using the Astronomical New Moon Conjunction) for his people in 1844 is indicative of the “closing work” of the church: the formation of the 144,000. As God’s people in the last days, we are not to repeat the mistake of Israel and walk by sight, but by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7). Therefore, the calculation of the Day of Atonement in 1844 is correctly reckoned on October 22, using the astronomical conjunction of the new moon, rather than the visible crescent days later.

The Ancient Israelites and the Possiblility of Calculation

There is a false notion that the Israelites were ignorant savages not capable of calculating a precise calendar as did the Egyptians, Greeks, and Babylonians; and finally, some three to four hundred years after Christ, it is believed that the Jews had qualified astronomers. Then Hillel II published a calculated calendar for the first time. The Jews' knowledge supposedly took more time to evolve than other more advanced peoples.

This idea is pure hogwash, and borders on anti-Semitism. Historical research proves Abraham was a scientist.

Abraham has often been conceived as an ignorant nomad, an illiterate and uneducated man. This is not so. Archeological discoveries have shown that Ur of the Chaldees was a center of advanced culture. There were libraries and temples. The people used grammars, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and reference works along with textbooks on mathematics, religion, and politics.” Harold Lindsell, Harper Study Bible, footnote for Genesis 11:27, RSV 1965

The Babylonians had a highly developed algebra as well as geometry.

They noted… with great care… the precession of the equinoxes. Eclipses of the sun, moon, and stars were so carefully described that part of the ancient chronology has now been fixed without fear of mistake by just such [records].” They Wrote on Clay, Edward Chiera, pp. 156-157

The Bible states Solomon's scientific knowledge was immense. During the time of King David of Israel, certain of the children of Issachar "had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do," (I Chronicles 12:32) They had knowledge of astronomy and the calendar of God so as to know the times of the Sabbaths, Holy Days and New Moons that Israel was commanded to keep holy and observe.

Most ancient civilizations, including the Native American Indians of North and South America, had simple means for locating the equinoxes and solstices, especially in order to establish their festivals. Even the least technologically-involved cultures had sophisticated understanding of the basic astronomical cycles. The Mayans, for example, whose technological level remained rudimentary even at their height, developed a system for tracking time and recording astronomical data that is astoundingly accurate and represents an achievement perhaps superior to that of the Greek astronomers. They used a sophisticated calendrical system to plot the earth's rotation around the sun, one which is widely recognized to be more accurate than the Gregorian calendar used from 1582 to the present day. Their calendars plotted the time taken by the moon to orbit the earth with an accuracy that can only be matched by the finest of modern methods. They could predict eclipses with an accuracy that falters by one day in 4,500 years. Unlike the Ancient Greeks (but like the Ancient Egyptians), the Maya understood that Venus was both the morning star and the evening star, which they also ingeniously incorporated into their calendar. The combination of their interlocking systems ensured that the calendar was virtually error-free, over vast expanses of time.

The ancient Chinese Calendar, dating from c. 1876 BCE, was a lunar calendar. It’s months were based upon the astronomical new moon, and not a visual new crescent. Ancient Chinese records indicate that solar eclipses (which can occur only when the moon and sun arrive at conjunction) were recorded as taking place on the first day of the month.

It is interesting to note that The Encyclopedia Judaica, in the article The Samaritan Calendar, reports:

The first day of the month is fixed by the conjunction (zimmut or kibbuz) of the moon with the sun (not by the appearance of the new moon)... According to Samaritan tradition, the calendar was always based on calculation, not on observation of the new moon. This system, much venerated by them, is called Heshban Kishtah (True Reckoning) or Mahshav Ayyamim (Reckoning of the Days).

The oldest description of it is found in the Abu-al-Hasan of Tyre’s compendium of law, al-Tabbakh (11th century), in which he explains why the Samaritan rite of fixing the first of each month according to the conjunction is the only way of arriving at the true beginning of the new month, as the conjunction signifies a real new occurrence each month, whereas the new moon differs only in degree from its later phases during the month.

Adding weight to the import of the Samaritan calendar observance is the fact that:

In contradistinction to the Jewish calendar, the Samaritan leap years are not bound to a fixed year in this cycle but are decided upon according to need. Ibid

Evidence That They Could Determine the Correct Dates

The Jewish medieval scholar Maimonides states:

The molad [new moon] is defined as “the moment in which sun and moon, in their uniform motion, become conjoined in a certain part of the sky, which occurs in the same way everywhere—in contrast to the varying times at which the new crescent first becomes visible—in different areas. Sanctification of the New Moon, Book 3, Treatise 8, page 89

The New Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew and English Lexicon identifies the biblical new moon as something round, surrounded, concealed behind a curtain, remaining behind. Hebrew lexicons don't gleam their understandings of Hebrew words from merely Old Testament Hebrew—these meanings reflect hundreds, even thousands, of parallel usages of variants in other ancient Semitic inscriptions. Cognates to many Hebrew words are found in ancient Ugaritic, Moabite, Phoenician, Aramaic, Arabic, and Akkadian that confirm their original Hebrew meanings.

Of course, our common dictionaries define the actual new moon as beginning with darkness. And, incidentally, even if God's new moon had to be visually observed (although it doesn't), it could be observed just as easily by the waning crescent, as the waxing crescent moon. The period of darkness of each month where the true astronomical new moon occurs, even in the absence of astronomical data, would allow the correct new moon to be “observed” if it were necessary. It is reported that the Jewish Karites say, "It is easier to find the final waning moon than it is to establish the new waxing crescent!"

God's Word has established that all creation (and re-creation) has started out of darkness:

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Genesis 1:2

Just as God's days begin with darkness—the disappearance of the sun—so his new moons begin with darkness, which he brings to light.

According to the Jewish Encyclopedia,

Nightfall, as the border-line between the two consecutive days is the moment when three stars of second magnitude become visible. The short time before the actual appearance of the stars is regarded as a doubtful period, neither day nor night, and is called in rabbinic literature “bene ramshayah’ (between the evenings). Article: Calendar

They are referring to Beyn HaArbayim, which is not a made-up term, but the Hebrew word translated at even (which is a very poor translation) in the Bible in reference to the Passover seder. Between sunset and darkness, there is an intermediary period of some 40+ minutes, called dusk or twilight. While later tradition erroneously taught that Beyn HaArbayim is any time between noon and sunset, that is not the correct definition.

This expression is found 11 times in Scripture, and is clearly that intermediary period of time after sunset when there is enough light to perform necessary tasks such as lighting the lamps just before dark when Aaron burns the incense:

And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even (beyn harbayim), he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations. Exodus 30:8

One would hardly expect the Tabernacle lamps to be lit at noon or even 3 p.m. to burn the precious oil needlessly in the brightest part of the day before 6 p.m. or sunset.

Rabbi Nathan Bushwick writes:

As the moon moves around the earth, there is one moment that it is exactly between the earth and the sun. At that moment the earth faces the dark side of the moon. Already for about a day before this moment the moon has not been visible from any point on the earth and it will remain invisible for about a day more. Understanding the Jewish Calendar page 71

In the initial dark period (usually a day), it is still in its waning phase, thus part of the current month; not until it reaches the conjunction does it begin it’s rebuilding or waxing phase. Since the root word chadash means cause to rebuild and renew, we therefore reckon the new moon at the evening of conjunction, and not with the initial darkness. Just as the day begins at even and we do not wait until dawn to call it a new day, so we do not wait until we see a crescent moon to start a new month.

Visibility Proscribed by God?

Not once is the visible young crescent moon mentioned in the Bible when speaking of the new moon.

Some say that we must use a visible new moon, because “a ‘sign’ is something you can see.” However, a “sign” can also mean a mark, omen, prodigy, or token:

Strongs #0226, a signal (lit. or fig.), as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence, etc.:—mark, miracle, (en-)sign, token. Strong’s Complete Dictionary of Bible Words

Let’s examine the scripture cited by those who affirm that the new moon is calculated by visibility, to see if there is scriptural support for their visual sightings. Let's start with Genesis 1:14-15:

And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, And let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth. And it was so.

There is no mention of witnesses or the need to actually sight the new moon in the above passage.

Let's see if there is any mention in the Psalm passage cited by those who affirm that the new moon is the visible crescent:

The moon marks off the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down. Psalm 104:19

Again, there is no mention of witnesses or the need to actually sight the new moon in the above passage.

Arthur Spier says,

Since Biblical times the months and years of the Jewish calendar have been established by the cycles of the moon and sun. The traditional law prescribes that the months shall follow closely the course of the moon, from its Molad (birth/conjunction) to the New Moon. The Comprehensive Hebrew Calendar, page 1

Pg. 14 of the same book says:

Every month must begin on a day close to the Molad (this is included in the Postponement rules).

Maimonides says,

The court used to ascertain by calculation, and with great precision, according to the methods of the astronomers, the exact time of the (True) conjunction of the moon with the sun, in order to find out whether the moon could be visible (on the night of the 30th day) or not. The Code of Maimonides, Book Three Treatise Eight, Sanctification of the New Moon" translated by Solomon Gandz, Pp. 26 & 27

He further states,

Where the molad (mean conjunction) is defined as the moment in which sun and moon, in their uniform motion, become conjoined in a certain part of the sky, which occurs in the same way everywhere—in contrast to the varying times at which the new crescent first becomes visible in different areas. Ibid, Page 89

The understanding that the molad is the second night of darkness, and thus, knowable in advance, appears evident as early as King David, as it definitely appears that David and Jonathan knew in advance that the next day would bring a New Moon:

David said to Jonathan, Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field to the third day at even. 1 Samuel 20:5

So, if the new moon could only be determined by direct observation of the crescent moon, how could David, Jonathan, and King Saul have known the "New Moon" feast would be the next day? If the night sky had been overcast, they would have had to assume visibility to start the new month, for no month had more than thirty days—yet there is nothing in Scripture that limits a month to 30 days. The entire system of using visibility is fraught with assumptions.

Pagan Connections

On the other hand, the crescent moon is almost always identified in the writings of ancient geographers and historians as the moon of choice among pagans. Babylon used the crescent moon to begin the month. Islam still uses this method. According to Encyclopedia Americana, the ancient fertility cult of Ashtoreth is most frequently represented in inscriptions as a queen sitting astride the horns of the moon—by definition the crescent moon. Ancient Israel frequently fell into worshiping Ashtoreth—so the Bible records. The Christian “Easter” actually derives its name from the Old German Eostre and back through the Indo-Aryan Estre, Astarte, or Ashtoreth.

God could have very easily used the word saharon yareach (Strongs #7720, crescent moon) to describe the new moon; yet he does not do so even once. The only three times a crescent is mentioned on the Bible, it is linked to pagan worship. In the third chapter of Isaiah, God identifies the crescent moons around their heads and ankles. Strong’s Concordance and the New Brown Driver Briggs Genesis Hebrew-English Lexicon (#7720) identifies “ornament” in the King James Version as crescent moon. We find these idols being worn by women in Isaiah 3:18 also put on camels in Judges 8:21, 26:

In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their crescents like the moon. Isaiah 3:18

...and took away the ornaments [crescents] that were on their camels necks… and the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; besides ornaments, [crescents] and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels' necks. Judges 8:21, 26

The custom of wearing amulets as charms to protect one against evil spirits was, and is to this day. very wide spread. It has been shown that Allah is nothing more than the moon god of the Arabs, the one of many gods that they worshipped when Mohammed came on the scene. It is not surprising, then, that the ancient pagan crescent moon is a prominent symbol in Islam. There is hardly a child or animal in the Arabic border lands today which is not defended by a charm. The Talmud says that 99 deaths occur from “the evil eye” to 1 from natural causes. The superstitious salutation of the moon by kissing the hand is mentioned by Job:

If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness; and my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hat kissed my hand. Job 31:26-27

Virtually every pagan religion worshipped the celestial bodies. Worship of the moon by burning incense was offered in Jerusalem, and put down by king Josiah:

And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense to Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven. 2 Kings 23:5

From the reign of Manasseh until the captivity, worship of the celestial bodies, and in particular the moon, prevailed among the Jews, with the brief exception under Josiah. Jeremiah refers to this worship of “the queen of heaven,” who, both in ancient depictions as well as her modern incarnation, the Virgin Mary, is always standing on a crescent moon (Jeremiah 7:18; 8:2; 44:17). It is also a prominent symbol in freemasonry.

Ezekiel 8:16 describes the way they worshipped the sun at the first light of the sun. In like manner, the moon was worshipped particularly at it’s first light, or crescent.

This may be an additional reason God began his day with the sun becoming not visible, and the month with the moon being not visible.

Does the Barley Harvest Start the Year?

The largest modern-day Karaite group, as well as some Gentile groups who advocate a Hebrew calendar believe that the correct method to determine the year is to use solely the barley harvest in Palestine.

Although barley ripens in the spring, the following considerations indicate the barley harvest does not establish the first day of the year:

First, during the flood, Noah was apparently able to determine the first day of the year without consulting the barley harvest.

Secondly, during the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness (a desert), Israel kept a careful record of the months and years—apparently without consulting the barley harvest in Canaan.

Finally, for two successive growing seasons (the Sabbath and Jubilee years), no grain was to be planted and, therefore, no maturing barley was available to consult (Leviticus 25:1-24). While it is true that barley sometimes sprouts and grows voluntarily without cultivation, this was less likely in the second year. It was illegal to reap volunteer grain in the 50th year, so Israel probably allowed their flocks to graze the fields, which was legal (Leviticus 25:7,11).

Yet the strongest evidence that annuls the barley harvest as determining the year is the fact that God never appointed vegetation at creation to be the determinate for the beginning of the calendar. He said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons [holy days], and for days, and years.” Genesis 1:14

The feasts of the LORD were always to be kept, “throughout your generations.” If we accept the Scriptural method of determining the year, the citizens of any nation could know when the new year begins, and establish the festivals each year correctly. While it is possible today to confirm the progress of the grain crops in Israel, the early Americans or even the early English people could not check the green ears in Israel each year. Saint Patrick and the early Celtic saints were Feast-keepers; God would not create a calendar which was impossible to follow by everyone on the inhabited earth, in past centuries as well as the present.

Cause, Then Effect

There is certainly a close relationship between the ripening of the barley and the new crescent of the first month (Abib = green ears, Deuteronomy 16:1), but their appearance does not define it. However, Scriptures do not support starting the new year by "green ears," but by the returning sun, which causes the green ears to grow and ripen.

Yearly climatic cycles are the direct cause of when barley sprouts, grows, and matures. These weather patterns and ground temperature changes are themselves caused primarily by the length of day and the angle of the sun’s rays upon any given area of the earth. God does not intervene each year directly to cause the barley to form green ears when he wants it to; he set in motion laws and natural forces which cause these effects.

When it is time according to God’s calendar to offer a wave sheaf, there will be properly mature barley to offer. Just because someone can find some barley in the right stage somewhere does not reset a celestial calendar that is to be used by believers all over the planet.

Notice that the text says, “This month… you shall reckon it the first month of the year.” (Exodus 12:2) Which month? The month in which he said these words to Moses. The month that God told Moses to “carefully keep” (the meaning of “observe”) was the month in which green ears were available and was to be counted as the first month in the Sacred calendar.

Thus, it is not the green ears of barley, but the sun and moon which determine the calendar, and therefore the year. Just as Seth, Noah, and Abraham did not wait for reports from Jerusalem before beginning the new month, neither did they consult the barley crops in Palestine.

What exactly signals the end of one year and the beginning of another, if not the barley harvest? The equinox and the new moon do this.

The Year

The year is determined by the earth’s complete revolution around the sun. While the beginning of man-made calendars is arbitrarily set (such as January 1), the true calendar is reckoned from the time of one tekufah (equinox) to the next. A year is when the sun turns from one hemisphere to the other and then turns back again. One turn occurs in the spring and is known as the vernal equinox, and the other turn occurs in the autumn and is called the autumnal equinox. We need to be aware of both equinoxes, as the feasts must occur in their proper season. If you begin the year incorrectly (as most “Hebrew,” “Biblical,” “Jewish” calendars do), it consequently throws the rest of the year off, and places the “fall” feasts in Summer.

Equinox

The equinox occurs because of the (apparent) action of the sun. The earth, which is tilted 23.5 degrees, circles the sun, creating our seasons (spring, summer, fall and winter). The equinox occurs when the sun "crosses" the equator. The Hebrew word is tekufah, and refers to the solstices as well as to the equinoxes.

Tekufot (plural) means "seasons;" and is literally translated, "circuit, to go round." The four seasons in the year are called tekufot. More accurately, tekufot is the beginning of the four seasons. Tekufah appears in the Scriptures four times, and relates to the calendar at least three times:

And it came to pass at the end [tekufah] of the year, that the Syrians came up against him... 2 Chronicles 24:23

This refers to the end and, therefore, the beginning of another year, demarcated by the spring equinox and the new moon.

And you shall observe the feast of weeks, even the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end [tekufah]. Exodus 34:22

This refers to the fall equinox, the end of the summer growing season.

In them [the heavens] he has set a tent for the sun, which comes forth like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and like a strong man runs it's course with joy. It's rising is from the end of the heavens and it's circuit [tekufah] to the end of them, and there is nothing hid from it's heat. Psalm 19:4,5 RSV

This is speaking either of the sun's daily course, or it's yearly circuit through the equinoxes and the solstices (or both).

And it came to pass, when the time was come [tekufah] about, that Hannah concieved, and bore a son... 1 Samuel 1:20

This may indirectly allude to the calendar year. In any case, the above Scriptures indicate that ancient Israel understood the equinox and it's place in the calendar.

Equinox comes from the Latin and indicates equal night and day, when there are exactly 12 daylight hours and 12 dark hours, or rather, when sunset and sunrise fall at a distance of 12 hours. Yet tekufah stands for the true (astronomical) equinox, and not the apparent equninox. Depending on your location on the earth (North or South of the equator), the equinox will apparently fall a few days earlier or later than the true equinox. The tekufah (singular) of Nisan denotes the sun at the vernal equinox.

Equal Day & Night

In the spring, day and night are equal several days before, and in the fall several days after the true equinox (the moment when the sun "crosses" the equator). Equal day and night (by the clock) is only the apparent equinox, because of the refraction of sunlight in our atmosphere.

Is The Equinox Pagan?

Some people express reluctance to involve the equinox in the Sacred calendar because the pagans also used it in their calendar. But pagans did not create the equinox—God did. The pagan calendars were also lunar, and they began their day at sunset—yet we do not stop using these divine measures simply because Satan has used them, too.

Which New Moon? Nearest or After the Equinox?

The spring equinox occurs on March 20 or 21 as reckoned by the Roman Calendar (very rarely, it will occur on March 19 or 22). But could the ancient Israelites locate the equinox by consulting a modern-day Calendar? No. The irregularity of the lunar months (compared to the solar year) cause the spring equinox to fall on a different day of the month each year (sometimes in a different month), though always in the last month of the year.

Without using computer programs or complex mathematical computations, it is obvious that we would first be obliged to locate the equinox, and only then could we with certainty choose the correct new moon to begin the new year. The year should always begin with the new moon next after the spring equinox, rather than the new moon nearest, as is common in “Biblical” calendars.

If we hope to choose the new moon nearest (either before or after) the equinox, we may fail because of the uncertainty in the length of the lunar month. Suppose we choose a new moon 15 days before the vernal equinox on the assumption the month will have 30 days, but suppose it turns out to have only 29 days. We will not have chosen the new moon nearest the equinox, as there are 15 days before but only 14 days after. Once again, we must wait until the equinox is established, and only then choose a new moon—the new moon next after that event.

Abib - A Spring Month

Man’s [read: Satan’s] Roman calendar which the majority of the world uses currently begins the year in the dead of winter. God begins the year in the Spring, when life is springing up everywhere. The month of Abib should always start in the spring, never in winter.

Spring begins at the equinox, when the sun (apparently) crosses the equator, never earlier than March 19, as reckoned by the Roman Calendar. Is it reasonable to sometimes begin the year in spring but at other times in winter? Scriptures seem indicate the first month should always start in the same season of the year—spring. Compare the King James Version with the Revised Standard Version for 2 Samuel 11:1:

And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle... KJV

In the spring of the year, the time when kings go forth to battle... RSV

Since the old year expires in the spring, it is reasonable to assume that the new year begins in the spring as well. For further confirmation, you may compare these same versions for the following Scriptures: 1 Kings 20:22,26; 1 Chronicles 20:1; 2 Chronicles 36:10.

It was understood all over the world in ancient times as well as today that the vernal equinox signals the arrival of spring, and the autumnal equinox signals the arrival of fall.

Surely the new year begins in the same season each year, and not sometimes in the spring and sometimes in the winter. Many Scriptures seem to point to spring, while none indicate another season. A new moon nearest but before the equinox would start some years in a winter month, causing the feasts to occur out of their seasons.

Fall Feast In Summer?

From the Vernal Equinox to the Autumnal Equinox equals approximately 186 days, which leaves about 179 or 180 days between the Autumnal Equinox and the Vernal Equinox.

From one new moon to the next new moon (a synodic month) equals approximately 29.5 days.

From the first new moon to the seventh new moon equals 177 days (29.5 X 6 lunar month = 177 days).

Assume this a year in which a new moon falls 13 days before the spring equinox.

Click here to view phases

As noted above, from the first new moon to the seventh new moon equals 177 days. Since 6 lunar months is 9 days shorter than the 186 days between the spring and fall equinoxes, it is a mistake to reckon the first of the year from a new moon which is seen (as indicated above) 13 days before the spring equinox. While it is true that Passover will fall on or after the spring equinox, what happens at the fall festivals?

Subtract the 13 days "spent" before the spring equinox from the 177 days comprising the six lunar months (177 days minus 13 days = 164 days), then subtract the quotient (164 days) from the 186 day circuit of the sun from spring equinox to the fall equinox. This brings us to a time which is 21 or 22 days before the autumnal equinox, placing most of the Feast of Tabernacles before the "turn of the year" (tekufah).

To summarize, if we accept a new moon nearest but 13 days before the spring equinox as the 1st day of Abib, then the 177 days (which make up six lunar months) causes the 1st day of the 7th month to fall 21 or 22 days before the autumnal equinox, thus placing most of the eight days of Tabernacles into the summer season instead of the autumn, as a harvest festival (Leviticus 23:39).

Looking to the first new moon after the spring equinox and start the year will always keep Passover in spring and Tabernacles in fall.

Is There a 13th Month?

Once the first day of the first month is established, it is easy to count the new moons and the subsequent "months/moonths." At the seventh month, the Fall festivals occur. If you continue counting, you will have 5 more moons/months, and then the cycle begins again.

However, there is a problem. Since the lunar month consists of approximately 29.5 days, a year of only 12 months equals 354 days—11 days short of the solar year. Since there are 364 and 1/4 days in the solar cycle, the months are thrown off. If we were to follow a strictly lunar calendar, the harvest festivals would soon be out of season; in less than 28 years, they would rotate through all the months of the year; the “Spring” feasts would end up in the Fall every 6 years! If there was never a 13th month in the year, in less than 28 years, they would rotate through all the months of the year. This is the case with the Muslim calendar, which is strictly lunar, and their festival of Ramadan falls in a different month every year, rotating through the year in a complete cycle. Yet, since God’s feasts are generally speaking harvest festivals, the feasts must fall at their “appointed time.”

It seems as though originally the solar/lunar cycle were 12 months of thirty days each. However, there are indications that something happened to the entire solar system was affected during the flood (see appendix 1), which threw the calendar off, making it necessary to add “leap years” with not a day added, as we do in our Gregorian calendar in February, but an entire month being added at the end of the year at certain intervals to balance out the year with the seasons.

While the Sandhedrin made it seem you needed to be a mathematical genius to know when to place the 13^th month (and thus keep the people dependent on them for knowledge of sacred matters), yet with God’s system, there is not really a need for "calculations" or guidance from the Rabbis in this matter; we do not have a problem “arranging” the 13th month, because God does it for us. We were told in Genesis that the sun and the moon are appointed for “seasons.” If we follow the simple system of always beginning the year with the first new moon after the vernal equinox, we will end up with a thirteenth month naturally occurring. approximately every three years, the 13th month will automatically fall in place in the proper year.

The spiritual lessons of this 13^th month is significant: the number 13 has been identified as a number representing Christ, 6 being the number of man, 7 being a divine number, and Christ is 6+7; there were 12 apostles, and he, as the 13^th, was their leader. This is the reason Satan has placed such evil import on the number 13 and casting superstition on it as being “unlucky.”

Some believe that there were originally 12 planets in our system. What is known as the “asteroid belt” is conjectured to have been a planet that is now disintegrated. Uranus’ axis is tilted sideways, and Mars’ axis is almost diametrically opposed to that of earth. It is speculation, to be sure, but it surely seems to be out of place in the orderly creation of God. Scripture tells us that God will “turn the world upside-down.” Perhaps this is his actually turning it right-side up, to the condition it was in pre-flood.

When something went wrong in creation (as during the flood, knocking the calendar off), God adds a 13^th month to “fix” it; The 13th month sets right the year, just as Christ literally sets right what went wrong in all of creation.

It Shall Be To You

The Feast of Trumpets is tied to the creation of the world in Judaism, when the sons of God “Shouted for joy.” Yom Teruah, known as the Feast of Trumpets, literally means “day of shouting.” This is why modern-day Jews call the Feast of Trumpets Rosh HaShanah, or the New Year.

While accusation has been made that the Jews “invented” this as the beginning of the new year, it is never in an effort to detract from Abib. It is just assumed that the first day of the Seventh Month begins the civil year, whereas the first day of the first month begins the sacred year. Commentaries are divided as to whether Ezekiel 40:1 is referring to the 10^th day of Abib or the 10^th day of Tishri; if Ezekiel received his Temple vision on the 10^th of Tishri, “the beginning of the year” would be the civil year on the day of Atonement.

We have indication in God’s word that he acknowledges the fall to begin the year, in that both the Sabbatical year as well as the Jubilee years began and ended in the fall (not on the feast of Trumpets, but on the Day of Atonement):

And the LORD spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD. Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land. And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee, And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.

And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed. Leviticus 25:1-11

Furthermore, the beginning and ending of the Millennium will be, not in the Spring, but during the Fall festivals:

The Feast of Tabernacles was not only commemorative but typical. It not only pointed back to the wilderness sojourn, but, as the feast of harvest, it celebrated the ingathering of the fruits of the earth, and pointed forward to the great day of final ingathering, when the Lord of the harvest shall send forth His reapers to gather the tares together in bundles for the fire, and to gather the wheat into His garner. At that time the wicked will all be destroyed. PK 541

And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee…

And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. Zechariah 14:4, 5, 16-19

It is interesting to note God’s language in Deuteronomy, when speaking of Abib. Notice that he did not say, “By the way—I know you’ve forgotten—but this is the first day of the first month, don’t you know?” Rather, he specifically states, “this month shall be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.” (Exodus 12:2.) In other words, “From now on…” The New Living Translation even translates it that way: “From now on, this month will be the first month of the year for you.” When he spoke of the Sabbath, he did not say, “This day to you will be the seventh day, rest on it,” as though he were appointing it a day of rest for the Jews, but rather, “Remember the Sabbath day—” the day appointed at creation.

That God, as always, has spiritual lessons drawn from nature and the feasts to illustrate Christian growth and experience is not surprising. The fall is the true beginning of the natural year; yet a higher New Year’s day was appointed by God in the Spring. As the days then begin to grow longer, the earth stirs to new life and the new year begins.

Keeping record of birth dates is important in marking our age. Trying to forget, change, or lie about our birth dates is not acceptable behavior in society. Yet no believer will deny that the most important day of his life is the day he accepted Christ, and was “born again.” That is when his life truly began. Yet he does not go around changing his driver license, passport, and birth certificate to acknowledge this “new birth date!” In like manner, God wants us to focus on our journey from slavery to freedom, as outlined in the feasts, but this does not do away with the fall commencement of the civil year.

The Lord’s Feasts in the Southern Hemisphere

Since the seasons in the southern hemisphere are reversed, the question has been asked, “Does this mean that the Lord’s festivals must be celebrated at different dates than in the Northern Hemisphere? In the Southern Hemisphere, should the feast of Unleavened Bread be observed six months hater than in the northern hemisphere so that this festival will be at the same time as the local barley harvest?”

Living on a round earth which is tilted on an axis poses such problems. Yet, we read in Zechariah 14:16-19 that, in the New Earth, “all nations” [read: northern and southern hemispheres] will come up to Jerusalem to keep the feast of booths, as indicated by the prophet.

Since the Jewish people 2,000 years ago came “from every nation under heaven” to observe the feast of weeks in Jerusalem, we must acknowledge that this indicates people from the southern hemisphere were assembled for the same feast on the same date which the people of the north observed.

Later Feasts

Americans remember July 4th as Independence Day. Most Christians observe Thanksgiving Day. Are there other dates of note for God’s people besides God’s holy appointments? Yes—we will see that even Jesus took note of them.

Notice John 10:22. Jesus was in the Temple during winter at the Feast of Dedication (also known as Hanukkah, or Festival of Lights). Beginning on the 25^th day of the 9th month, this is a eight-day celebration instituted by the Jews to commemorate the purging of the temple and the rebuilding of the altar after Judas Maccabaeus had driven out the Syrians in 164 BC. Like the American and Canadian Thanksgiving Day, it is a national holiday of giving to God of thanks for His blessings and deliverance in time of trial. It is more than a coincidence that if you count back 9 months from Christ’s birth during the Feast of Tabernacles, you arrive at the time of Hanukkah for his conception. How fitting for “the Light of the world” to have entered the world during the Festival of Lights!

Another commemorative day shown in the Bible is Purim, the Feast of Lots. This annual festival of the Jews on the 14th and 15th days of the twelfth month was instituted to commemorate the preservation of the Jews in Persia from the massacre with which they were threatened through the machinations of Haman (Esther 9). Notice Esther 9:27-28:

While Esther and her uncle—not God—ordained this annual festival, it’s obvious value to God’s people in the last days, when a death decree is issued against them, is quite appropriate. Let us not forget Paul’s words:

Not only is it not “wrong” to take note of these historical occasions, since they were definitely anniversaries of God's intervention on behalf of His chosen people, but it would serve God’s people well. The lessons and memories we can give our children during these festive seasons in certainly much more approved of God than the celebration of Christmas and Easter. Since we consider ourselves God’s people and desire to be spared from destruction (Luke 21:36), Purim should mean much more to us than July 4, Thanksgiving Day, Memorial Day and Labor Day combined.

God has a habit of repeating similar actions on the anniversary of the same day. The "night to be much observed," at the beginning of Abib15 (Exodus 12:42) occurred on the selfsame day, 430 years after God made His covenant with Abraham (compare Genesis 15:5-18 with Exodus 12:40-42 and Genesis 17:19-21).

Significant Days Specifically Mentioned in the Bible

First Month

At the Exodus, God sets the new moon to be the beginning of the New Year, Exodus 12:2.

1^st day— Hezekiah opens doors of Temple and begins to repair it, II Chronicles 29:3, 17. (Finished the work on the 16^th)

1^st day— Prophecy given to Ezekiel that Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, would be given the land of Egypt, Ezekiel 29:17-20. Reaffirmed at a different time of the 7^th day, Ezekiel 30:20-26.

1^st day— God ordains a bullock to be sacrificed and the Temple to be cleansed, Ezekiel 45:18-19. Also to be done on the first day of the 7^th month, verse 20.

1^st day— Ezra decides to leave Babylon for Jerusalem with the intent of seeking God's law, doing it, and teaching God's statutes and judgments to Israel, Ezra 7:6-10. Departs on 12^th day, Ezra 8:31.

1^st day— Waters dried up from the Flood almost a year after rains began, Genesis 8:13.

10^th day— Passover lamb kept up until the 14^th day, Exodus 12:3-6.

13^th day— Haman's death sentence against the Jews was posted in the kingdom of Persia, Esther 3:12-13.

14^th day— Passover observed beginning of 14^th (evening), Exodus 12, Leviticus 23:5.

15^th day— Feast of Unleavened Bread, first day is a holy day, Leviticus 23:6-8.

21^st day— Last day of Feast of Unleavened Bread, a holy day, Leviticus 23:6-8.

24^th day— Daniel had been fasting for three weeks, is given understanding by an angel, Daniel 10:2-4.

(Unknown date) Israel came into desert of Zin, abode in Kadesh; Miriam died there, Numbers 20:1.

(Unknown date) Nehemiah asks Artaxerxes to allow him to rebuild Jerusalem, Nehemiah 2:1.

Second Month

1^st day— God spoke to Moses in wilderness of Sinai on second year after they were come out of Egypt, Numbers 1:1. All Israel from twenty years old assembled together, verse 18.

2^nd day— Solomon begins to build the Temple in the fourth year of his reign, II Chronicles 3:2.

14^th day— Second Passover, Numbers 9:9-14; II Chronicles 30:1-5, 15.

15^th day— Feast of Unleavened Bread kept in second month by Hezekiah, II Chronicles 30:13, 21-23.

21^st day— Last day of Feast of Unleavened Bread of Hezekiah in the Second Month.

17^th day— Fountains of deep broken up, 40 days of rain begin the Noachian Flood, Genesis 7:11.

20^th day— Cloud taken up, Israel begins journeying from Sinai in the second year of the Exodus, Numbers 10:11.

27^th day— God told Noah to go forth out of the ark, Genesis 8:14.

(Unknown date) Construction of Solomon's temple began, I Kings 6:1, 37.

(Unknown date) Foundations of the temple laid by Zerubbabel, Joshua and others returned from captivity, Ezra 3:8-13.

Third Month

1^st day— Again, God gives Ezekiel a prophecy as to Egypt's fall, but that their conquerors the Assyrians will fall likewise, Ezekiel 31:1-18.

23^rd day— Haman, enemy of the Jews, hanged. King of Persia's letter went out allowing Jews to defend themselves against their enemies on 13^th day of the twelfth month; Mordecai advanced, Esther 8.

Shavuot (Pentecost) falls on the fifth or sixth, or on any given Sunday in the third month, depending on if the calculation is done using the Pharisaic or the Saduccean.

(Unknown date) Asa and other faithful of Israel enter into a covenant with God, II Chronicles 15:10, 12.

Fourth Month

5^th day— God begins to work through Ezekiel, gives him visions and prophecies, Ezekiel 1:1-2.

9^th day— Besieged by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, there was sore famine in Jerusalem, and the city was broken up about 586 BC, Jeremiah 39:2; 52:6-7; II Kings 25:3.

Fifth Month

1^st day— Ezra arrives in Jerusalem from Babylon, Ezra 7:6-10.

1^st day— Aaron died on Mount Hor in the fortieth year of Israel's wandering, Numbers 33:38. Israel mourned for thirty days, Numbers 20:28-29.

7^th day-10^th day— Babylonian army burns the Jerusalem temple, King's palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem, takes most of the rest of Judah captive, Jeremiah 1:3; II Kings 25:8-12; Jeremiah 52:12-16 (586 BCE)

Jews commemorated this sad event with a fast on 9^th day (Zechariah 8:19), calling it Tisha b’Av (the 9^th of Av). God was wrathful with their corrupted manner of fasting, Zechariah 7:1-13.

9^th day— It was decreed the children of Israel would not enter the promised land, Numbers 14:29

10^th day— Certain elders of Israel come to inquire of the Eternal before Ezekiel. He is given a message from God that the reason they are in captivity is that they have polluted God's Sabbaths, Ezekiel 20:1-49

10^th day— Second Temple destroyed in 70 CE (according to Josephus).

Sixth Month

1^st day— God begins to work through Haggai the prophet, Haggai 1:1.

5^th day— Ezekiel is given a vision from God, sees several abominations being committed by God's people, Ezekiel 8.

24^th day— The Eternal stirs up the spirit of Zerubbabel, Joshua and the remnant of the people to do the work of the building of God's House, Haggai 1:14-15.

25^th day— Rebuilt wall of Jerusalem finished, Nehemiah 6:15-16.

Seventh Month

1^st day— Day of Trumpets, a new moon and a holy day, Leviticus 23:24-25.

9^th day— At the end of this day, Atonement fast begins, Leviticus 23:32.

10^th day— Day of Atonement, a fast, and a holy day, Leviticus 23:27-32.

10^th day— Proclamation of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years, Leviticus 25

10^th day—Ezekiel given a vision of the rebuilt Millennial Temple at Jerusalem, Ezekiel 40:1and following (implication is that "the beginning of the year" means the civil year, otherwise, this would be the 10^th day of Abib).

17^th day— Noah's ark rested on mountains of Ararat, Genesis 8:4.

15^th day-21^st day— Feast of Tabernacles, first day is a holy day, Leviticus 23:24-25.

21^st day— Prophecy of Haggai, Haggai 2:1-9.

22^nd day— Last Great Day, a holy day, Leviticus 23:36.

23^rd day— Completion of dedication of Solomon's Temple, II Chronicles 7:9-10.

24^th day— After reinstitution of Feast of Tabernacles at the return from Babylonian captivity, a fast observed, God's Law read, special services held, Nehemiah 9:1-3.

(Unknown date) Ishmael of the royal seed kills Gedaliah, the ruler of Judah appointed by King Nebuchadnezzar, and flees to Egypt in fear of the Chaldeans, II Kings 25:25, Jeremiah 41:1-3.

Eighth Month

15^th day— King Jeroboam of Northern Israel institutes counterfeit "Feast of Tabernacles," I Kings 12:32,33.

(Unknown date) God began to work through the prophet Zechariah, Zechariah 1:1.

(Unknown date) Solomon's temple done, I Kings 6:38.

Ninth Month

4^th day— Word of Eternal came to Zechariah, told him that the fasts of the fifth and seventh months were not done to God, as the people would not heed God's prophets, Zechariah 7:1-13.

20^th day— Jews and Benjamites from captivity, gathered together at Jerusalem and told by Ezra to separate from strange wives who were of a different race and religion, Ezra 10:9-11.

24^th day— Word of Eternal came twice to Haggai that God's people were unclean and that God would shake the heavens and the earth, Haggai 2:10-23.

25^th day— Beginning of eight day Feast of Dedication, or Hanukkah, John 10:22.

(Unknown date) A fast was proclaimed in Judah as a result of reading Jeremiah's prophecy, but King Jehoiakim burns the scroll, Jeremiah 36:9, 22. The ninth month is in winter.

(Unknown date) Nehemiah, the Persian King's Jewish cupbearer, learns of the lamentable state of Jerusalem and his fellow Jews, Nehemiah 1:1-3, 11. Chisleu is an alternate spelling of Kislev, the ninth month.

Tenth Month

1^st day— Waters from Flood had receded until tops of mountains were seen, Genesis 8:5.

1^st day— Ezra and elders met to put away strange wives, Ezra 10:16-17.

5^th day— Ezekiel was struck dumb by God until an escapee from Jerusalem informed him the city was smitten. God gave him a message as to why this event happened: they heard God's words, but did them not, Ezekiel 33:21-33.

10^th day— King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon began siege of Jerusalem, about 588 BC, Jeremiah 39:1, 52:4, II Kings 25:1. Remembered by Jews in a annual fast, Zechariah 8:19. Ezekiel given a message from God about the sins which caused this event, Ezekiel 24:1-27.

12^th day— God's prophecy concerning Egypt was given to Ezekiel, 29:1-16.

Eleventh Month

1^st day— In the 40th year, Moses spoke to the children of Israel the words of the Eternal, Deuteronomy 1:3.

24^th day— God spoke to Zechariah in a vision, Zechariah 1:7.

Twelfth Month

1^st and 15^th days— God told Ezekiel to lament for the fall of Egypt, Ezekiel 32:1, 17.

3^rd day— Rebuilt Temple finished, Ezra 6:15.

13^th day— Publishing of Haman's death sentence upon all the Jews in captivity, Esther 3:10-13.

14^th day—Purim, celebration of Jews' deliverance from Haman's death decree, Esther 9:1-32.

25^th day—27^th Evil-Merodack, King of Babylon, released former King Jehoiachin of Judah from prison and gave him a daily allowance for the rest of his life, II Kings 25:27-30; Jeremiah 52:31-34.

God Hates Corruption of Sabbaths, Feast Days, New Moons

God is not pleased at the mere observance of his times:

Isaiah 1:10-15

There be a small remnant who shall nevertheless remain faithful:

Verse 9

God will cause polluted observance of his days to cease:

Hosea 2:11-13, Amos 8:4-10

These events are destined to occur in the last days, just prior to Christ's Kingdom being established:

Isaiah 2:2, Hosea 2:18, Amos 8:9, 11

What Will Happen to the Sun and Moon in God's Kingdom?

Jeremiah 8:1-3 reveals God’s attitude towards those who worshipped the heavenly bodies. It is fitting that in the end, the sun will be darkened, and the stars and moon will not give their light because of sin (Isaiah 13:9-13, Ezekiel 32:7-8, Joel 2:10-11, 13, 3:15, Habakkuk 3:11-12, Acts 2:20, Matthew 24:29, Revelation 6:12, 8:12).

Accordingly, the state of the heavenly bodies will be changed in the opposite way, in accordance with the purity and righteousness that will fill creation (Isaiah 30:26, Revelation 16:8-9).

There will be need of the light of the sun and the moon (Isaiah 24:23, Revelation 22:3-5), yet there will still be a sun and moon, and twelve months in the year, because God's times will continue to be delineated by the sun and moon to tell us when His times and seasons occur.

~Compiled by J.L. Ashton

Midnight Cry Ministries

PO Box 8909

Riverside, CA 92515-8909

Midnightcryministry@yahoo.com

The work of Voy Wilks, Max Hollogram, Jeff Bell, Richard C. Nickels, and James Russell were extensively consulted in the compilation of this paper.