The Creator’s Calendar Units of Time
The Creator’s Calendar
Units of Time
“I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her New Moons, her Sabbaths– All her appointed feasts,” says Yahuah. Hosea 2:11
“Toward the conclusion of this [2nd] century, Victor, Bishop of Rome, endeavored to force the Asiatic Christians, by the pretended authority of His laws and decrees, to follow the rule which was observed by the western churches in this point. Accordingly, he wrote an imperious letter to the Asiatic Prelates, commanding them to imitate the example of the western Christians with respect to the time of celebrating the festival of Easter. ibidThe Asiatics answered this lordly requisition . . . with great spirit and resolution, that they would by no means depart, in this manner, from the custom handed down to them by their ancestors. Upon this the thunder of excommunication began to roar. Victor, exasperated by this resolute answer of the Asiatic bishops [of the east], broke communion with them, pronounced them unworthy of the name of his brethren, and excluded them from all fellowship with the Church of Rome.” Mosheim, Eccliastical History, Century 2, Part 2, Chap. 4., Para. 9, 11.
This, says Bower, was “the first essay of Papal Usurpation.”
But by enlisting the support of the imperial power, which the church for so many centuries controlled, to serve her purposes, Rome finally conquered. The Council of Nicaea, “out of compliance to Constantine the Great, ordered the solemnity of Easter to be kept everywhere on the same day, after the custom of Rome.” [Bower’s History of the Popes, Vol. 1, PP. 18 19]
This decree, “backed by the authority of so great an emperor,” was decisive; “None but some scattered schismatics, now and then appearing, that durst oppose the resolution of that famous synod.” Hevlyn, History of the Sabbath, Part 2, Chap. 2, Sec. 4, 5. [Emphasis mine]
Scripture reveals that Yahuah’s timekeeping is based on the three-part orchestration of the sun, moon, and stars working together as ordained at creation, so is born the phrase astro-luni-solar calendation (Genesis 1:14-18). The current Roman Gregorian calendar and the Julian before it are reckoned based solely on the sun in direct defiance of our Creator’s instructions. Any unit of time that is a fruit of this witty invention is spurious and artificial, making neither Saturday nor Sunday the true Sabbath of Scripture. Compare the following:
Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit; neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Matthew 7:16-18
So, applying the above principle to calendars, is it possible to find and celebrate the sacred set-apart days of the Most High by utilizing just any calendar model, such as the Mayan or Chinese calendar? If not, what makes us think that we can locate the Creator’s sacred days on an artificial Roman wall calendar in which both the months and weeks are completely disengaged from any relation to the moon and stars?
Year (Astro-lunar)
According to Exodus 12:1, Yahuah revealed to Moses that the New Year is to begin in the spring in the lunar month of Abib/Nisan rather than in the Jewish fall or Roman winter. The Creator’s astro-luni-solar calendar year fluctuates in length from 354 days to 384 days. The astro-lunar cycles are naturally brought into harmony with the solar year every complete cycle of 19 years.
It is the complete orbit of the wheel of the starry constellations that determines the year in cooperation with a particular lunar phase. The sun is NOT part of the yearly equation. Genesis 1:14 clearly determines that the sun rules alone by day, but the stars, together with the moon, rule together by night. The fact that these are said to rule by night establishes that they rule the year, for it are the stars alone that make one 360-degree journey around the earth in a year. But they do not stand alone, as Genesis 1:14 tells us, they rule together with the moon. With the moon as a second feature, marking the ruling constellations each lunar month of the year cycle, Yahuah’s astro-lunar time is realized.
To Him who made GREAT LIGHTS, for His compassion endures forever— The sun to rule by day, for His compassion endures forever; The moon and stars to rule by night, for His compassion endures forever. Psalms 136:7-9
So how might we know which starry constellation is to commence the year as first in order among the twelve constellations of the wheel of the stars? Our loving Father has not left us without a guide. John the Revelator answers this very question for all those who will be wakened in these last days in preparation for Yahusha, the Messiah’s soon return.
Now a great sign appeared in the shamayim (abode of the stars): a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Revelation 12:1
The true sign in the spring night sky announcing the New Year is when the (brilliant #4582 selene) full moon arises in the constellation Bethula (Virgo) on the eastern horizon following sunset. This great event occurs at her feet every two or three years, but the full moon always occurs somewhere between Bethula’s waist and her feet each year as she arises in the east (Revelation 12:1). This is a one-night event announcing the New Year and New Month to commence on the following sunrise. Then each successive month constellation is marked by the full New Moon, announcing each lunar month in like manner for all twelve and thirteen months. As the truths of the moon and stars working together for years have been more greatly understood, we no longer find the Creator’s Calendar dependent upon the Vernal Equinox in any way. For Bethula will perpetually arise together with the full moon as divinely ordained instruments in the hands of our Creator and Savior.
Also, the barley harvest is now viewed as a secondary witness that, indeed, a new year has begun. The ripened barley is essential for the wave sheaf offering of the First Fruits during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. All crops, including the Barley, are the fruit and outcome of what is occurring in the shamayim. The constellation Bethula consistently arises in the east with the moon between her waist and her feet according to a 19-year cycle.
For more on when the year begins, refer to: A Great Sign Appeared in the Shamayim.
Months (Astro-lunar)
Months contain three basic kinds of days: New Moon days, work days, and Sabbaths (Ezekiel 46:1).
In contrast, the week contains only two kinds of days: work days and Sabbaths. It is the insertion of the full New Moon day once each month that breaks the cycle of weeks. The word month (chodesh – Strong’s #2320) in Scripture specifically means New Moon or lunar month. The first day of a lunar month is the New Moon, thus these two terms have become inseparable at they cannot be severed from each other.
New Moon Day commences when the sun rises in the east, and the full New Moon remains visible for 5 to 50 minutes on the first day in the morning sky in the west. This often follows NASA’s astronomical full moon, but not always. Abraham, Moses, and even our Messiah did not have the luxury of NASA’s technology; therefore, all things had to be visible manifestations for them, but equally for us today. The surest sign that the New Moon day has begun is when both the rays of the sun and the full moon are visible together in the morning sky.
As mentioned above, the first month of the year is declared by the sign of Bethula with the full moon between her waist and her feet. Each successive New Moon day commences when both the rays of the sun and the full moon are visible together in the morning sky following a full moon night in which the moon shines from near the eastern horizon to the western. Each month consists of 29 or 30 days. Six months of every year are 29 days in length, and the other six are 30 days, but they do not rotate every month from 29 to 30 every other month, as some have presumed. The 13th month is called by the name Adar II or Ve-Adar.
The only visible part the sun plays in the defining of each month is its reflection on the full moon as the full moon stands in opposition (180 degrees opposite) of the sun.
The Full New Moons
The New Moon lunar phase, according to the weight of evidence in Scripture, is the brilliant (NT#4582 Selene) full moon. It is first seen in the east just prior to or after sunset and determines that the New Moon day will commence the next morning at sunrise, but only if both the sun and moon are visible in the morning sky from 5-50 minutes.
By definition, it is the Creator’s Lunar International Dateline (CLID) in contrast to the man-made International Dateline in the Pacific Ocean. Yahuah appointed the full moon to be a conspicuous manifestation in the night sky that testifies as a witness to all on earth that a “new month” has begun afresh. Corresponding to this visible signal, each New Moon refreshes the sequence of days and the cycle of four weeks according to the Creator’s pattern.
When the Scriptures refer to a day of the month, it is literally referring to the countdown from the last full New Moon day. So, the fourth day is, therefore, the 4th day of the month, including the New Moon day. Because New Moon Day is day one of the month, it is not and can never be a seventh-day Sabbath. This is not true of the Roman Gregorian calendar, in which its seventh-day Saturday floats throughout Yahuah’s astro-luni-solar month, even landing on New Moons as they are noted and occur on any of the six work days.
It shall be established forever as the moon, and as a trustworthy witness in the shamayim (heavens). Psalms 89:37
The moon is a trustworthy witness because it doesn’t lie, nor can it lie, as it is overtly conspicuous in its fullness of light, ever bearing Yahuah’s sacred time signal singing His praises in truth. New Moon Day is a set-apart day of worship in addition to the seventh-day Sabbath and other sacred set-apart feast days.
Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the entrance to this gateway before Yahuah on the Sabbaths and the New Moons. Ezekiel 46:3-4 NKJV
When will the New Moon be past, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may trade wheat? Amos 8:5 NKJV
The profound difference between Yahuah’s time system and Satan’s counterfeit time system is in the time and the direction in which one is facing. If the stars are measured and marked by the sun during the day, then this is a system of the sun worship cult. On the other hand, if your back is to the sun at sunset, the full moon will arise once per month and mark the ruling constellation.
The belief that the dark phase of the moon, known as conjunction, is the New Moon is not in harmony with Yahuah’s principle of light, for it cannot be represented either by physical light or spiritual light, as it relates to truth. This is because the conjunction phase is not a visible triple action demonstration of Yahuah’s hands of time, which together beacon light. No aspect of the moon can be seen at the conjunction lunar phase.
Scripturally, a signal or beacon has always been synonymous with light and never with darkness. Therefore, to be the light of the world or the light of truth from Yahuah, it must be a visible and orchestrated manifestation of the sun, moon, and stars. Yahuah has never used any portion of darkness to represent His truths, thus making the teaching that the dark conjunction lunar phase is the New Moon that beacons His sacred years, months, and weeks is an obvious error.
Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 1 Thessalonians 5:5
Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon, at the full moon, on our solemn feast day. For this is a statute for Israel, A law of the God of Jacob. Psalms 81:3-4
The Night was Dark 430 Years Prior to the Exodus.
The Sun was Darkened from the Sixth to the Ninth Hour.
Weeks (Astro-lunar)
Six work days plus one seventh-day Sabbath equals one complete week. This was the template that Yahuah ordained at Creation. These will never include New Moon days or translation days because they are not the days specified in the equation.
Yahuah uses complete weeks to punctuate that His ordained week and seventh-day Sabbath are reckoned by the very same sacred calendar as that of creation and all the yearly appointed festivals. This is demonstrated and clarified by His six work days and one Sabbath being fixed simultaneously to two markers. Therefore the anchor markers are simultaneously fixed on both the dates of the month as well as the days of the lunar week without variation. Again, this cannot be accomplished using the Gregorian calendar.
From Genesis to Revelation, whether in Hebrew or Greek, there is no reference to the planetary days, as in Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, etc. This is because neither the planetary days nor the continuous weekly cycle were pressed upon the Hebrew people by Rome until many years after A.D. 31.
The image below identifies all the known aspects of the Scriptural week. Notice that day 1 of the week is the second day of the month. So, while the Sabbath will for all eternity remain the seventh day of the week, it will at the same time be either the 8th, or 15th, or 22nd, or 29th day of the Creator’s astro-lunar month. This is the accounting of months and weeks that will continue into the Millennium and the eternity upon the New Earth.
0 New Moon days are not to be counted
0 Translation days, the 30th day of the month, is not to be counted
6 workdays
+ 1 Seventh-day Sabbath
= 7 (6 work days + 1 Sabbath) = 1 Complete Week
If Genesis 1 were all we had for determining how the Scriptural calendar worked, all would agree that the week was set to cycle without end. But while Genesis tells us the parameters of a single week are made up of two kinds of days (work days and Sabbaths), it does not explain the parameters of the month and year. This information is provided in a multitude of other places in Scripture, such as Ezekiel 46:1, Isaiah 66:23, and Leviticus 23:1-39. It is from these that we can determine how the Creator ordained the week to cycle, as they illustrate that there are three kinds of days in the lunar month. It is the sheer fact that the New Moon day exists as a third kind of day that the weeks are caused to commence and terminate accordingly.
Each full New Moon Day is followed by four successive weeks. These are exhibited by the moon’s waxing and waning phases as it reflects the light of the sun in addition to its location in the night sky. Therefore, following day one of each month is the first day of the first week. Each week of seven days ends with the Sabbath on either the 8th, 15th, 22nd, or 29th day, counting from the New Moon, each and every month. In His wisdom, He appointed and set His three part time-keeping clock on the fourth day of creation, prior to any possible human intervention.
“. . . the Jewish festivals being regulated solely by the moon, may fall on any day of the [Roman] week. Oxford English Dictionary, 1971 Edition, Vol. 2, “Pentecost.” [emphasis mine]
Unfamiliar is no more synonymous with wrong
than familiar is synonymous with right.
Seventh-day Sabbaths (Astro-lunar)
And on the seventh day Alahim ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which Alahim had created and made. Genesis 2:2-3
And the Yahuah spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of Yahuah, which you shall proclaim to be sacred convocations, these are My feasts. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a sacred convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of Yahuah in all your dwellings.'” Leviticus 23:1-3
In many Scripture language translations, there is a specific word in that language that specifically means “Sabbath,” such as in Spanish the word is Sabbado. Notice that Sabbado is referring to the specific word for Sabbath, the seventh day of rest, which the Creator ordained as sacred. In contrast, Sabbado is not another word for “Saturday” (Saturn’s day or dies Saturni), a pagan deity. Some have assumed Saturday was synonymous with the Sabbath because it appears to correspond to the same day of the Gregorian calendar’s unbroken cycle of weeks. While Sabbath means “seventh day of rest,” Saturday is an altogether pagan name applied to the seventh day of the Roman fabricated Gregorian calendar week as it is named after the planetary god Saturn.
Sabbath: 1.a. In the original use: The seventh day of the week (Saturday) considered as the day of religious rest enjoined on the Israelites by the fourth (or in medieval reckoning the third) commandment of the Decalogue. Phrases, to keep, break the Sabbath. The word was never in England, as in some continental countries, a vernacular synonym for Saturday, though English writers of med. Latin used dies Sabbati as frequently as dies Saturni. Oxford English Dictionary (Emphasis mine)
These . . . eventually led Jewish rabbis to call Saturn Shabbti, ‘the star of the Sabbath.’ It was not until the first century of our era, when the planetary week had become an established institution, that the Jewish Sabbath seems always to have corresponded to Saturn’s Day [Saturday]. Rest Days, p.244 by Hutton Webster
Yahuah uses all the yearly feasts to punctuate a profound point–that His ordained week and its seventh-day Sabbath are also reckoned by the very same sacred astro-luni-solar calendar as the month and year. This is demonstrated and clarified as each of the Feast Days has its anchor points simultaneously fixed to both the date of the month, counting from the New Moon, as well as the days of the week, each and every year, without exception. This cannot be accomplished using the Gregorian calendar, in which the weeks cycle without end, causing the days of the week to float through the month.
According to the Scriptural guidelines, it would be impossible for the seventh-day Sabbath to fall on a New Moon day. In like manner, it would be impossible for the New Moon to fall on a seventh-day Sabbath.
Scripturally, it is impossible to locate the specific day for the Creator’s true seventh-day Sabbath without first locating the correct first day of the month, which is also known as New Moon Day. They go hand in hand and cannot be separated. This framework for locating the Sabbath can be found in Isaiah 66:23 and Ezekiel 46:1, which illustrate that the seventh-day Sabbath fits into the framework of the month beginning with the New Moon:
“Assuredly, according to the order of the shamayim (starry abode), the New Moons, and the earth: The New Moon that I appointed and set in order remains firmly the chief corner [stone],” declares Yahuah. Wherefore, it establishes and confirms your name along with your children.”
And it shall come to pass according to its abundance— New Moon by New Moon you shall keep; and according to its abundance— Sabbath by Sabbath you shall keep. And I shall lead all flesh to prostrate in worship, according to this chief corner [stone],” declares Yahuah. Isaiah 66:22-23
Refer to the full article, Sabbath’s Consistent Monthly Dates.
Days (Astro-luni-solar)
There are seven days in each Scriptural week, 29 or 30 days in each Scriptural lunar month, and 354-384 days in each astro-luni-solar year, depending on whether it is an embolismic year or not. However, all days are not created equal according to Scripture:
Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of Yahuah your Alahim. Exodus 20:9-10
Between the verse above in Exodus 20 and the verse below in Ezekiel are the details of “days” for the Creator’s calendar. First we have the non-contended definition of the week that it is made up of six work days followed by the seventh-day Sabbath. Then Ezekiel challenges our preconditioned paradigms in which we have long believed there are only two kinds of days. But who knew there are two kinds of days that make up the week but three kinds of days that make up the lunar month?
Click to enlarge.
Show me a Gregorian year that has not placed New Moons on seventh-day Sabbaths or on weekdays.
Here is a ready example from the Roman Gregorian calendar showing that Apr. 7, 2012, was a Saturday Sabbath. However, this was the day of the full New Moon day. According to Ezekiel 46:1, the 7th cannot be both a Sabbath and a full New Moon day. According to the two scriptures from Exodus 20:12 and Ezekiel 46:1, this would be impossible. So, who are you going to believe, the Vatican designed the Gregorian calendar or the Creator and His recorded Scriptures? The line in the sand is being drawn by the Almighty, Yahuah. The choice is yours, which side will you choose? It’s that simple.
As a result of New Moon Day being the 7th, each of the other dates under the Saturday column, by mere coincidence, just happen to fall on the Creator’s true seventh-day Sabbath for the entire month. But according to the Scriptural calendation criteria, the 7th of April 2012 is not, nor can it be a seventh-day Sabbath because the heavens declare that it is a New Moon Day.
Weighty evidence defines the Scriptural day as a twelve-hour period of “light” from sunrise to sunset. Most of the confusion with regard to when the day begins comes directly from the first chapter of Genesis.
Genesis 1:4 records how the Creator, Alahim, first divided the light from the darkness, calling the light day and the darkness night.
Then Genesis 1:5 appears to drop a bomb on what has just been established as the neatly divided day and night and appears to say that evening (dusk) + morning (dawn) = a day. The following is from the New King James Version.
God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. Genesis 1:5
The problem here is twofold. The word “so” does not exist in the Hebrew text and creates conflict with the sentence that precedes it. The word “day” was FIRST used to define specifically daylight only, excluding the darkness, as in Genesis 1:1-4, but then this same well-defined word is also used to define the entire 24-hour cycle that includes both daylight and darkness of night. This verse should look more like this:
Alahim called the LIGHT “DAY,” (as opposed to night), and the darkness He called night (as opposed to day). And it came to pass dusk (the beginning of night), and it came to pass the dawn (the end of night), the first 24 hour cycle. Genesis 1:5
Following each daylight of creation came night’s dark interlude. Each dark night was like a commercial break between daytime programming, as all of the creation was completed during the light for a period of 12 hours. Then, after each marvelous day of creation, there were to be the following words, “And it came to pass dusk (the beginning of night), and it came to pass dawn (the end of night), the first 24-hour cycle.”
By placing the word “day” at the end of the last sentence of each creation cycle, a corruption of the facts occurs. For it was just established in Genesis 1:1-4 that “light” was separated from darkness and therefore cannot be brought back together in a bundle of day and night and called “day” which is synonymous with the light only.
Yahusha answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbles not, because he sees the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbles, because there is no light in him.” John 11:9-10
Consider the morning and evening sacrifices; they always occurred near sunrise and sunset.
According to Scripture, dawn and dusk are the two periods of twilight that occur just before sunrise and just after sunset. It is at the moment the last ray of the sun disappears as it sets on the western horizon that night begins. The first night watch, known as the Evening Watch, commences at sunset and terminates in full darkness.
Thus says Yahuah, who gives the sun for a light by day, the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, who disturbs the sea, and its waves roar. “If those ordinances depart from before Me, says Yahuah, then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever.” Jeremiah 31:35-36 NKJV
Day and night are here differentiated specifically by the sun and the stars. They simply are not both visible at the same time. When the sun ceases to shine, the stars begin their shining. Please notice that it is not merely light that is given for the portion that makes up the day, but rather, it states the visible sun for a light by day. Half of the month the moon is first visible at night and half of the month it is first visible by day. But the stars are only visible at night after the sun has set. The word ordinance here means appointed set time. It is the moon and stars that give light by night, measuring years and months, and demarcate each day with its own lunar phase. At sunset, one or two stars begin to be visible, and a few stars continue to shine until sunrise. Bottom line Genesis 1:16 states, “the greater light to rule the day. . .” Thus it is that the “day” is defined as when the sun is visibly ruling in the sky. When it rises, the day begins, and when it sets, the day is over. Refer to the full article, Sunrise or Sunset, When Does a Day Begin. Also refer to the article study, A Day in Genesis.
Night Begins At Sunset
In the following verse, it is the Savior, Yahusha, who defines that the night is divided into Four Watches and gives them their names. In the Strong’s Dictionary, each of the underlined terms is declared to be a specific watch of the night except the first one. The morning referred to below is actually the Fourth Watch of the night.
“Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming – in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning, lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!” Mark 13:35 NKJV
Second Watch: The Midnight Watch commences in full darkness and ends at midnight, in keeping with its name.
Third Watch: The Cock Crowing commences at precisely midnight and ends at first light of dawn, this is when the rooster begins to crow, thus it is in keeping with its name.
Fourth Watch: The Morning Watch or Daybreak Watch commences at the time the Rooster begins to crow, occupying the period from the first light of dawn to sunrise. According to the Strong’s Dictionary, dawn and the Fourth Watch of the night are synonymous. It’s title defines it as the portion of time of watching for the break of day, when the full radiant beams of the sun shine forth.
Depending on the time of year and what latitude a person lives at will determine the length of each portion or watch of the night, just as is the case for the day. While the radiant beams of the sun determine the beginning and end of the day, the placement of the stars and the moon govern the divisions of the night.
If the day commenced at dawn and ended after dusk, the day would be overlapping the shining of the stars and the moon for 1 to 2 hours at dusk and then again just before sunrise. However, if the day is from sunrise to sunset, there is no overlapping of sunshine with the stars. Thus it is that there are clear and decisive divisions of time, sunrise to sunset, from the eastern to the western horizon, which demarcates the day. Sunset to sunrise demarcates the night, for this is the time the first stars, planets, and moon shine forth from east to west. Because the moment the radiant beams of the sun disappear at sunset, the first stars begin to appear in perfect harmony with the division of day and night outlined in (Jeremiah 31:35):
Thus says Yahuah, who gives the sun for a light by day, the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night . . .
From this verse, we can acquire the following facts:
- When the above verse speaks of the stars it is speaking of visible stars.
- When the above verse speaks of the sun the same principle applies, therefore it speaks of a visible sun.
- When stars are present and visible, it is “night.”
- When the sun is present and visible, it is “day.”
- The sun and stars are never visible at the same time.
- A visible moon is also spoken of, although half the month the moon is not visible at night.
- This is the direct instruction of the Creator, Yahuah.
Refer to the full article, Visible Stars Define the Parameters of Day and Night.
Translation Days
As I mentioned earlier in this study, there are only three kinds of days defined in Scripture. A day that needs to be discussed is the 30th day of the month, which is called, in astronomical terms, Translation Day.
While the sun rises and sets on this day exactly as it does on all other days, it is unique in its purpose, as it occurs approximately six times every year. This day cannot be either a seventh-day Sabbath or a New Moon; however, it appears to be a mere work day. Translation day is always the day following the fourth Sabbath of the month when the month is 30 days long. On 29-day months, New Moon Day follows the fourth Sabbath of the month. Translation days are not included in the Count to Pentecost because they are not part of a consecutive set of six work days followed by the seventh-day Sabbath, which is the criteria required for a Sabbath Complete.
The importance of this day lies in keeping the days of the 12-month years totaling 354 days and the days of the thirteen-month years totaling 384. This day is invaluable in bringing into harmony the Creator’s astro-luni-solar year with the solar year every 19 years.
In their ignorance, there are some who seek to use this day to prove that the lunar calendar has an eight or even nine-day week each month. But those who contrive this view are applying a unique feature born out in Scripture regarding the lunar month and its week and then apply it to their current concept of a Roman month with its week that cycles without end. This is an impossibility!
The problem is that these folks fail to recognize three facts of Scripture.
1) Genesis defines that a week is made up of two kinds of days–six work days followed by one Sabbath.
2) The Scriptural month is made up of three kinds of days–a New Moon day, work days, and Sabbaths.
3) The translation day is a work day, but because it is not part of a sequence of six work days and one Sabbath, it is not part of the week, but only part of the count for the month and year.
The seventh-day Sabbath is the first set-apart feast day listed in the lineup of feasts in Leviticus 23:1-3. However, there are two distinctions between the seventh-day Sabbath Feast and the other feasts that follow in Leviticus 23:4-44. The first difference between them is the intervals in which each occurs. Verse 3 states the Sabbath Feast is to occur on day seven of each week as a sacred convocation. Verse 4 states the other feast days are to be sacred convocations and are to occur in their specific months (#4150 mo’edim).
The second distinction between the day seven feasts and the annual Feast Days is as follows. Each of the monthly Feast Day rehearsals defines the prophetic events of the Sanctuary above, not made with hands, to be played out in their specific order and in real-time on their specific appointed astro-luni-solar calendar dates. In contrast, the day seven feasts (seventh-day Sabbaths) are weekly reminders and promises that the entire plan of salvation will not exceed one Sabbath Week of seven thousand years.
In other words, each weekly Sabbath is a reminder of our Creator’s love and a promise that sin and death, pain, and suffering will all be abolished by His work in the Sanctuary above for the salvation of souls. It is this work that will be completed by the end of six thousand years of Earth’s history. Then, at the commencement of this great one thousand-year Sabbath rest, our Savior, Yahusha, will return, at His second coming, for His obedient followers. The seventh thousand-year period will be spent with their redeemer.
Notice that both the day seven feasts and the annual feasts are given the same status of sacred convocations. Unequivocally, sacred convocations are feasts.
Feast of Passover (Pasch) – Annual Rehearsal of the Prophetic Lamb Slain for Sin – Leviticus 23:5
These are the feasts of Yahuah, sacred convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is Yahuah’s Passover. Leviticus 23:4-6
While most modern Scripture translations declare the killing of the Passover lamb occurred at twilight, meaning sunset, the twilight of sunrise is equally viable and possible. This is due to the fact that our Savior, Yahusha, died during the daylight hours in perfect fulfillment of Passover.
It must be a perfect he lamb of a year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you must keep it by you until the fourteenth day of this month, they kill it. All the Assembly of the families of Israel must kill it between the dusks (dawn and twilight). Then they shall take of the blood and sprinkle upon the two door-posts and upon the lintel of the houses where they eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire. Exodus 12:5-8 Ferrar Fenton Version
Therefore, they offered the first Passover on the fourteenth day of the month, between morning and evening, in the Wilderness of Sinai. Numbers 9:5
From the 2nd – 4th centuries A.D., Rome militantly sought to replace Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits with their own holiday version called Easter. It was primarily designated to occupy one day instead of seven. Their proactive goal was to ensure that Easter would never coincide with the two-part events of the solar eclipse by the occulted conjunction lunar phase, as was divinely designed by Yahuah to be the case with Passover as documented in Scripture’s gospel accounts. “The sun was darkened from the sixth to the ninth hour.” Luke 23:44-45. Yet, today, the Jews have also confused the issue by celebrating Passover at the time of the full moon when the lunar eclipse occurs instead of the original when the solar eclipse occurs.
High Sabbaths
There are two High Sabbaths each and every year. This is when an appointed Feast Sabbath commences on a weekly seventh-day Sabbath, such as in the case of the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the spring and the Feast of Tabernacles in the fall. Counting from the New Moon, both feasts begin on the 15th day of the month and end on the 21st day.
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, the fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto Yahuah. Leviticus 23:34
The evidence shows that Yahuah’s week and seventh-day Sabbath is defined by the lunar month, just as are all the sacred appointed yearly feasts. Yahuah, in His wisdom, makes it plain by first stating the Festival of Tabernacles begins on a seven-day Sabbath, and then in Leviticus 23:36, the following eighth day is to be a sacred convocation, which is also a seventh-day Sabbath. We find in Leviticus 23:2-3 that the seventh-day Sabbath is this sacred convocation.
The fact that this eighth day follows the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles as a sacred convocation does not automatically make this feast an eight-day feast either but rather clarifies that it is fixed in time, not only within the month but also within the week. In other words, it acts as one of Yahuah’s checks and balances to show that the sacred seventh-day Sabbath continues intact to be legislated by the moon and is not part of an unbroken cycle of weeks. This is because the seventh-day Sabbath is always the first day of the feast as well as the day after this seven-day feast each and every year and not just once in a while. This allows no room for error in pinpointing its exact location.
Thus, it is simply impossible to pinpoint any of the set-apart appointed feasts that contain both a fixed monthly date as well as fixed days of the week using the Gregorian calendar, where the weeks cycle without end in an unbroken chain.
The spring Feast of Unleavened Bread begins on the 15th day of the first month of Abib, counting from the New Moon. It begins at the moment Passover comes to an end at sunrise. This second feast commences on a seventh-day Sabbath, making the first day of this seven-day feast a high Sabbath each and every year. This feast ends on the sixth day of the week, the 21st day of the month, which is also appointed as a sacred convocation or Sabbath, which can never be a seventh-day Sabbath. Then, the day following the 21st is the seventh-day Sabbath, also a Holy convocation, which makes the 21st and 22nd back-to-back Sabbaths or sacred convocations each and every year.
There is no variation when the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins or ends because it is fixed not only to a specific date, the 15th of the month counting from the New Moon Day, but also within specific and fixed days of the week, each and every year. This is another one of the Creator’s true and paramount calendar definers. This is because this shows that the weeks of Scripture and Yahuah have never cycled as an unbroken chain of successive weeks since creation, but that the week and seventh-day Sabbath are also defined by the astro-luni-solar calendar as are all the sacred appointed yearly Festivals. Using the Scriptural criteria, it is simply impossible to pinpoint this Festival of Unleavened Bread, which has both a fixed monthly date as well as fixed days of the week on the Gregorian calendar, where the weeks cycle without end in an unbroken chain.
And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to Yahuah; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a sacred convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahuah for seven days. The seventh day shall be a sacred convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. Leviticus 23:6-8
This Feast Day is often referred to as Wave Sheaf and traditionally occupies the 16th day of Abib, which is permanently fixed to the first day of the lunar week. This day follows the seventh-day Sabbath of the 15th today, just as it did at the time of Moses and during the three days of the crucifixion and resurrection of Yahusha. This is a nail in a sure place. Leviticus 23:9-15, Matthew 28:1-8
This Feast Day had much to do with identifying, as a second witness, that a New Year had begun. The sun, moon, and stars, as His principles of time, play the dominant role in proclaiming that the New Year has begun, as defined in Genesis 1:14-18. In addition, Revelation 12:1 also illustrates that the constellation Bethula is clothed with the sun, and the full (brilliant #4582 selene) New Moon is at her feet, and a crown of twelve stars above her head. This depicts when a year begins and is consistent from year to year with a variation of the full moon between Bethula’s waist and her feet.
As a second witness, the first fruits of the barley harvest was to be waved before the Most High, representing the Messiah, who was the firstborn resurrected from the dead, and was necessary to celebrate this feast.
This feast was specifically symbolic of the Messiah who was to come, as He was ordained from the beginning to lay down His life as a lamb sacrifice but also be raised to life from the tomb on the third day, precisely on the appointed Feast of First Fruits. All resurrections previous and subsequent to this pivotal event were dependent upon His success as our innocent sin replacement. His death and resurrection occurred exactly on time on astro-luni-solar calendation.
Overwhelming evidence for astro-luni-solar calendation is revealed in the following text. Notice Moses has recorded that this feast day occurs on the day following the Sabbath. This Sabbath mentioned is always the 15th of Abib because Passover is always on the 14th of Abib. Therefore, this text illustrates that while the month dates are counted from the New Moon, the Sabbaths are also fixed to these specific civil lunar dates. If this was not the case Moses would not have stated that this Feast occurs on the day after the Sabbath. Continuous weekly cycles simply cannot be harmonized with any of the Feast days, as all of their dates are fixed to days of the week.
He shall wave the sheaf before Yahuah, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to Yahuah. Leviticus 23:11-13 NKJV
In the Tanakh (OT), Pentecost is consistently referred to as Feast of Weeks or, more correctly, Feast of Sabbaths. Pentecost is the term used only in the New Testament.
First and foremost, the true calendar must be established as the foundation upon which to locate this Feast of Sabbaths correctly. Neither the Julian nor the Gregorian calendars existed at the time the Feast of Sabbaths were instituted by Yahuah. Also, it is utterly impossible to count to the Feast of Sabbaths by using any other calendar than the Scriptural-mandated astro-luni-solar calendar, as it is the only one that fits all the criteria of the Sanctuary model.
15 And you shall keep count from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought as a sign the wave sheaf, seven Sabbaths shall be kept whole and complete. 16 Even “from” the day after the Sabbath of the seventh, you shall count out fifty [additional] days, and you shall present the NEW MOON OFFERING unto Yahuah . . . 21 And you shall proclaim and keep it according to the “waxed mighty” on the selfsame day that the sacred and set-apart assembly occurs; for as all work, service and business employment shall NOT be done by you as a commandment of eternal perpetuity in all of your assemblies, and for all of your habitations. Leviticus 23:15-16, 21 The Creator’s Calendar New Restored Text
Step-by-Step Details:
- In Verse 15 Begin counting on the 16th day from New Moon of the first lunar month. The 16th day is always the first day of the week, because it always follows a seventh-day Sabbath on the 15th.
- Count seven weeks of Sabbaths is a total of 49 days ending consistently on the seventh-day Sabbath, which is the 8th day of the Third Month.
- Only count Sabbaths complete, which is six work days and one Sabbath. Never count New Moon Days or Translation days, as these are not Sabbaths or six work days in a row.
- Verse 16 says, “Even from the day after the Sabbath of the seventh, you shall count out fifty [additional] days, and you shall present the New Moon offering unto Yahuah. Thus, we must add 50 days or (seven more weeks plus one day) to the count, making it 99 days or (essentially 14 Sabbath’s complete), which was designed to occur consistently on the full New Moon day of the Fifth Month.
- Also in verse 16 we find that the reference to a “new” (chadash חדש #2319) was intended to mean New Moon offering (chodesh חדש #2320). Proof that the term was never intended to be the word “new” comes from the fact that this Hebrew word has a suffix (ה) attached that defines it as The word “new” (chadash #2319) is never singular or plural. However the New Moon (chodesh חדש #2320) can be either singular or plural and does require a suffix (ה) for instruction.
- The words meat/grain offering were inserted by the translators and does not exist in the original Hebrew. This is the nail in a sure place that establishes that the count is not a mere 50 days after all, but rather one that spans the longer period of time allowing it to occur at the time of the New Moon day of the Fifth Month.
- Verse 21 continues with the details of this Count of Shabuoth (count of Sabbaths) clarifying that the “waxed mighty” is to be proclaimed on the selfsame day as this sacred New Moon assembly, in which we are to bring a New Moon offering, as stated in verse 16. This verse profoundly identifies the full moon as the true New Moon, which has all this time been hidden under the rubble of translation errors.
- Also according to verse 21, this is a commandment of eternal perpetuity in all your assemblies and habitations. So it is that this feast and no doubt all the others was designed to continue as long as sin endured among the generations of earth. Yet, it is even possible that after the Messiah’s second coming it will be kept perpetually into the millennial Kingdom to come and the earth made new as ruled by Yahusha our Messiah and King of Kings.
Yahuah uses these eight points to punctuate that even in this count to Feast of Shabuoth, His ordained lunar week and sacred Sabbath is reckoned by the very same full New Moon as all the yearly appointed festivals. This is demonstrated and clarified by this count being fixed simultaneously to both the date of the lunar month, counting from the First New Moon day of the year to the Fifth New Moon day, as well as fixed within the Sabbaths complete each and every year.
How can it be declared that the Sabbaths have nothing whatever to do with the Feast Days, when they are the very ordained units of time whereby we must count to this sacred and set-apart feast?
While the Feast of Trumpets is only a one-day feast, it commences the ten-day count down to the annual solemn feast Day of Atonement. These days are best utilized in surrendering our hearts and minds to Yahuah. Confessing sin and asking for His loving and merciful forgiveness. Some focus their attention on one of the Ten Commandments for each day of the countdown. In this way, they have not left any moral stone unturned in preparation for the coming symbolic great Judgment Day.
Feast Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) – Annual Rehearsal of the Prophetic Judgment Day and Close of Probation – Leviticus 23:27-32
It shall be unto you a Sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls . . . Leviticus 23:32
Is it such a fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Yahuah? Isaiah 58:5
And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, “Yahuah, Yahuah, open to us!” But he answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you. Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” Matthew 25:10-13And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as Alahim had commanded him; and Yahuah shut him in. Genesis 7:15-16And Yahuah spoke to Moses, saying: “Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a sacred convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to Yahuah. And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before Yahuah your Alahim. For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people. And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your Sabbath.” Leviticus 23:26-32 NKJV
I was taught and believed most of my life that the reference to “from evening unto evening” here in Leviticus, with regard to the Day of Atonement, proved that the day began with sunset and ended with sunset. I no longer believe this is tied together for the very reason that the weight of evidence from Genesis to Revelation reveals that the day begins at sunrise. Refer to the article, Sunrise or Sunset, When Does the Day Begin?
I believe this is a stand-alone verse uniquely designed to put parameters on the period of the fast. Basically, this identifies that this fast is to be kept from “supper to supper.” So it appears that we are to eat the final meal of the day on the ninth, sleep through the night, and upon waking the next morning, no food is to be eaten until after sunset. In this way, the fast can have its ever-present reminder and bring home to the mind, moment by moment, the importance of this day. In contrast, if the fast did not begin until sunrise. Folks would be up early eating a large meal just prior to sunrise, and utterly remove the effect the fast would provide for afflicting our souls before Yahuah.
He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is blameless, let him be blameless still. Revelation 22:11
Contrary to popular belief, it is clearly stated in Leviticus 23:34 that the fall Feast of Tabernacles is a seven-day feast and not an eight-day feast as some have supposed.
Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of Yahuah for seven days; on the first day there shall be a Sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a Sabbath-rest. And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before Yahuah your God for seven days. You shall keep it as a feast to Yahuah for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am Yahuah your Alahim. Leviticus 23:39-43 NKJV
This Festival commenced on the 15th day of the Seventh Month, counting from the New Moon, and ends on the 21st day. Because the first day of this festival begins on a seventh-day Sabbath, it is also a high Sabbath. By clarifying that the following eighth day was also a seventh-day Sabbath, Yahuah punctuated that His ordained week and seventh-day Sabbath are reckoned by His sacred astro-luni-solar calendar system. This is demonstrated and clarified by this full week festival being fixed simultaneously on both the date of the astro-luni-solar month counting from the New Moon, as well as fixed within the days of the week, each and every year.
This Festival of Tabernacles cannot be located correctly on any other form of calendar other than the calendar of Divine origin. It is here demonstrated that the unbroken cycles of successive weeks were not authored by the Creator, as they can never be in harmony with the criteria given.
These seven days are to be celebrated in rejoicing before Yahuah. This particular feast commemorates the seven days as symbolic for the seven thousand years, which stretch from creation to the end of the thousand years in the New Jerusalem. Seven thousand years is the length of time that is designated by Yahuah as the period of total restoration of His people. Not until the end of the thousand years in the New Jerusalem, will every tear be wiped away, and mankind fully restored in the earth made new. “With Yahuah one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” 2 Peter 3:8
The most paramount significance of the Feast of Tabernacles is that which is prophesied in literal time. Simply, all the spring feasts were fulfilled in literal time at our Messiah Yahusha’s first coming, so too must the fall feasts be fulfilled in literal time, a day for a day, at His second coming.
This means that the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles are time-centric details leading up to and including The Messiah’s second coming. Also, Aries arising on the eastern horizon with the full New Moon may be a signal of Yahuah’s return.
Could it be that the 15th day of the seventh month, the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, is actually the exact day of the year of the Second Coming of the Messiah in the clouds?
This eighth day is located on the day following the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles, which would place it on the 22nd day of the Seventh Month, counting from the New Moon. This eighth-day falls on the seventh-day Sabbath each and every year. It is only the eighth-day, because it is referred to as following the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles.
For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahuah. On the eighth day you shall have a sacred convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahuah. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it. Leviticus 23:36 NKJV
Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of Yahuah for seven days; on the first day there shall be a Sabbath rest, and on the eighth-day, a Sabbath rest. Leviticus 23:39 NKJV
Notice: “You shall keep the feast of Yahuah for seven days,” then there is an immediate mention of an eighth day, stating it to be a Sabbath rest. Notice at the end of verse 39 it states, “. . . on the first day there shall be a Sabbath rest and on the eighth day a Sabbath-rest.”
There is no getting around the point that is made here. As it is a nail in a sure place, Moses, under divine guidance, is punctuating that the first day of the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles, as well as the day following it, are both seventh-day Sabbaths. By necessity, and to remain in harmony with the written word, the 15th and 22nd of Abib will continue to be seventh-day Sabbaths each and every year. Likewise, it is mathematically impossible to achieve seventh-day Sabbaths on these dates every year, with the Roman Gregorian calendar with its continuous weekly cycle.
It is in these verses that the Almighty Father profoundly clarifies the connection and unbreakable bond that the days of the week have with the days of the month. This shows the weeks were fixed to the New Moon within each month. This is the same as if He had literally written it in stone, for it was to occur on these same dates on seventh-day Sabbaths each and every year for all time. As a sacred witness, all the feast days of Yahuah together testify to His celestial clock/calendar in the shamayim for astro-luni-solar years, months and weeks, and calendar dates. Thus, the sacred feast days render the “continuous weekly cycle” a fraud of mammoth proportions.
A Possible Prophetic Application of the Eighth-day
- Yahusha comes for His obedient believers on the preappointed date of the 15th of the seventh month.
- He takes all the redeemed to be with Him in the New Jerusalem for a thousand year Sabbatical from earth. It is a time for healing and restoration. This trip to heaven may take a full seven days, the same period allotted for the Feast of Tabernacles.
- The Redeemed arrive with Yahusha outside the city gate of the New Jerusalem, which is closed. This is the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, the 21st of the Seventh Month, the sixth day of the week. Here it is that the Savior, Yahusha, will reward each of the Redeemed with a palm branch, a harp, and a crown.
- It appears that it will be the next day, the seventh-day Sabbath, the 22nd of the Seventh Month that the Messiah actually opens the gate (or gates) for His obedient, ransomed of earth. It is then that those beautiful words will be spoken, “Well done, good and obedient servant, enter in to the joy of your master, Yahuah.”
“And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name. They held harps given them by Yahuah and sang the song of Moses the servant of Yahuah and the song of the Lamb.” Revelation 15:2-3 NIV“And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before me,” says Yahuah. Isaiah 66:22-23
Friends, that will be a day that none of us will want to miss. Let us make plans today to meet together with our loving and compassionate Savior in that grand and marvelous land.