Three Months in a Row – At the Mountain – Part 3
Three Months in a Row –
At The Mountain
Part 3
Exodus 19:1-8 NKJV
“In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai. 2 For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount [Sinai].
3 And Moses went up unto Alahim, and Yahuah called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; 4 You have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto Myself.
5 Now, therefore, if you will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is Mine: 6 And you shall be unto Me a kingdom of Kohens (Priests) and a Kadosh (holy) nation. These are the words which you shall speak unto the children of Israel. 7 And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which Yahuah commanded him. 8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that Yahuah has spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto Yahuah.” Exodus 19:1-8 NKJV
Mt. Sinai is the blackened peak at the far left.
As clarified in The Exodus—Part 1, we discovered that the first foundational truth restored to the Hebrews before leaving Egypt two months earlier was the lunar calendar model, which began with the full moon as the Start of Years and lunar months. The vital element often overlooked in the Exodus, the Manna, and the Mountain narrative is that TIME itself became the first testing truth for Israel 3,500 years ago.
If Israel (Yasharal) had refused to obey Yahuah Alahim’s detailed and time-centric instructions regarding which lunar phase was the New Moon and start of Rosh Hashanah (New Year’s Day), they would NOT have celebrated Passover at the correct time on the authentic 14th day of the lunar month and year. Nor would they have ever left Egypt. Then, the calendar became the test again in the second month in a row, with the unique manna feeding schedule. How would you respond?
Some well-intended folks may believe they can refute the manna portion of this narrative for lunar years, months, and weeks. Yet, it was exactly two lunar months prior to arriving at the Mountain that Yahuah Alahim restored Rosh Hashanah (New Year’s Day in spring) along with lunar months and the count of lunar days to Passover. Therefore, all units of time are counted down from Rosh Hashanah and each successive full New Moon. This is a nail in a sure place that laid the foundation of lunar time for all the following lunar months, including this one.
Evidence for Three Months
Evidently, it was significant to the Most High Yahuah to have Moses record this event as being the exact same day of the third month since they had left Egypt. Since it was important to Him, it was for a purpose, and it likely did not happen by chance. Instead, it illustrated the ordained and appointed arrival at Mt. Sinai.
“And going gradually on, he came to Mount Sinai, in three [lunar] months’ time after they were removed out of Egypt; at which mountain, as we have before related, the vision of the bush, and the other wonderful appearances, had happened. Antiquities of the Jews, Flavius Josephus, Chapter 2, #5.
The Israelites never broke camp, heading for parts unknown under their own leadership. Rather, Yahuah used the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night to lead them. Sometimes, they traveled by day and sometimes by night, but Yahuah always guided them according to His timing. Because it is stated to be the exact same day, then by default, it must be the date of the 15th. The date of the 15th would include both daylight and night in that order, counting from the New Moon day. If it can be established which day of the week the 15th fell on, then it is possible to connect all the other dates of that month with the proper days of the week.
Unfortunately, there is no statement in the entire book of Exodus that states upon which day of the week the 15th falls. So the question is this, “Is this third month in a row identical to the preceding two months, as it is identified as the anniversary of the 15th of First Month when Yahuah had led them out of Egypt by night? To place this thought beyond question, the third month, like the two before it, must be established entirely on its own inherent attributes as given in the Scriptural narrative.
The Week According to Genesis
Six workdays plus one Sabbath day equals one complete week. This was the template that Yahuah ordained at Creation. The Creator’s weeks will never include New Moon days or transition days because they are not the days specified in the equation.
0 (Transition day as the 30th day of the month is not counted)
6 workdays
+ 1 seventh-day Sabbath
= 7 (6 work days + 1 Sabbath) = 1 Sabbath Complete (perfect)
The Count to the Feast of Weeks
In Yahuah’s providence, He provided the evidence and key necessary to unlock this third month in a row in the book of Leviticus. Leviticus 23:15-22 declares an annual Feast day that can only be found by counting all the Sabbaths beginning on the 16th of the First Month through the Second Month, the Third Month, and all of the Fourth Month. This Feast is known as the Feast of Weeks, Shabuoth, or Pentecost. This timely and unique puzzle piece sheds light on exactly which day of the week the 15th falls. While the details of the count to the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) had not yet been given to the people at the time of their arrival at Mt. Sinai, they were provided shortly thereafter, following the giving of the Ten Commandments.
Yahuah was very specific, as He clarified in Leviticus 23:15, only to count “Sabbaths complete.” This literally includes seven sets of “full weeks,” which is 7×7=49 days, PLUS 7×7=49 plus one day. This excludes the counting of the New Moon days and the transition (30th) days, which are never included in the workdays of the week cycle. Full weeks consist of six workdays followed by their respective seventh-day Sabbaths, as illustrated in the image above of the first week in Genesis. It was not Yahuah’s intention that every single day of the month was to be counted to illustrate that the New Moon is neither a weekday nor a Sabbath and demonstrates that it is responsible for each lunar month for refreshing the week cycle. If counting 49 days plus 50 days were all that was necessary, no other specific details would have been given. Shabuoth is called Feast of Weeks or, more correctly, Feast of Sabbaths in the Tanakh because of the very nature of only counting full weeks of Sabbaths.
First and foremost, the correct calendar must be established as the foundation upon which to locate this Feast of Shabuoth (Sabbaths). Neither the Julian nor the Gregorian calendars existed when Yahuah instituted the Feast of Shabuoth. Also, it is utterly impossible to count to the Feast of Shabuoth by using any other calendar other than the Scriptural-mandated astro-luni-solar calendar, as it is the only one that fits all the criteria of the Sanctuary model.
Leviticus 23:15-16, 21
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 the 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, 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 Transition 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 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 Sabbaths complete), 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 a 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 singular. The word “new” (chadash #2319) is always singular and never needs instruction to define it as 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 translators inserted the words meat/grain offering and do 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 a 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, clarifying that the “waxed mighty” is to be proclaimed on the same 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 were designed to continue as long as sin endured among the generations of the earth. Yet, it is 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 through this count to Feast of Shabuoth, how the very same full New Moon reckons His ordained lunar week and sacred Sabbath as all the yearly appointed Feast Days. This is demonstrated and clarified by this count being fixed simultaneously to both the 1) date of the lunar month, counting from the First New Moon day of the year to the Fifth New Moon day, as well as 2) fixed to 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 of Shabuoth?
Concerning the three months in a row, it has just been demonstrated that the first seven weeks end on Sabbath, the 8th day of the Third Month, causing the other Sabbaths to occur on the 15th, 22nd, and 29th. While this may appear to be circular relativity at first glance, it is the second set of seven weeks and a day (50 days) designed to fall directly on the Fifth New Moon. This alone gives weighty evidence for an entire five months in a row that the Sabbaths are unequivocally set apart as lunar. Refer to: The Count to Shabuoth.
According to the weight of evidence given here by these “three identical months in a row,” unbroken chains of continuous weekly cycles do not exist in the Scriptural calendar as Yahuah gave at creation. This belief that a continuous and uninterrupted chain of weeks began at creation and has continued until now on the modern Roman calendar is based wholly on assumption, fiction, and Roman tradition. The evidence from Scripture tells a far different story. These “three months in a row” are identical by divine design and demonstrate that unbroken continuous weekly cycles do not exist nor ever have existed on the Creator’s astro-luni-solar time measuring system.
The reason that this can be established as the very calendar since the time of creation is contained in the evidence that Yahuah was now re-clarifying His time principles that rule in the heavens (shamayim) as He was bringing the Israelites out of bondage and preparing them for the Promised Land. What was to be re-clarified were the principles since the time of Creation that are two-fold via the Torah’s Statutes and Judgments. The laws in the Torah Statues are those principles that define all Yahuah’s UNITS OF TIME, as proclaimed by the sun, moon, and stars for work, worship, and Kadosh Feast Days. The Judgments are the laws regulating everything else, including the Ten Commandments. Both of these are light from above, shattering the darkness of error.
These same truths brought to the hearts and minds of His people today will give them the courage and strength to break the pagan ties that would entrap them as well. Yahuah’s remnant will, with loving obedience, worship Him and Yahusha the Messiah on the correct ordained and appointed calendar model and observe His sacred and set-apart Feast Days, His New Moon days, and His true astro-luni-solar seventh-day Sabbaths here on earth and then throughout eternity.
“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 remain 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 The Creators Calendar New Restored Text
Arriving at Mt. Sinai on the Night of the 15th
By way of the count to the Feast of Shabuoth, both the 8th and the 15th day of the Third Month have been established as seventh-day Sabbaths. With this in mind, one might ask: “Did Yahuah cause His people to break the Sabbath by traveling and pitching tents during the very time He sent them manna from above each morning except Sabbath?” Traveling on the Sabbath and setting up camp would undoubtedly have been more work than gathering manna or preparing food, which He strictly forbade. So, there appears to be a dilemma. Deuteronomy and Numbers show that He led the Israelites through the wilderness on several occasions, not only by day but also by night.
Who went in the way before you to search out a place to pitch your tents, to show you the way you should go, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day? Deuteronomy 1:33 NKJV
And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed. Numbers 9:21
These two examples verify that traveling at night from one location to another did occur. It is likely that the Israelites both traveled and arrived at Mt. Sinai on the night of the 15th of the Third Month. The very reason that each civil lunar date commences with daylight and is followed by night makes this feasible. And especially in light of the discovery that only 12 hours of daylight are attributed to the sacred seventh-day Sabbath and not 24. In this way, Yahuah protected His Sabbath so Moses and the Israelites could keep it sacred unto Yahuah. In other words, Israel rested on the Sabbath of the 15th before they journeyed and arrived at the base of Mt. Sinai on the night of the 15th of the Third Lunar Month.
Remember, Passover was a 24-hour period that began at sunrise on the 14th and ended at sunrise on the 15th, which was the Sabbath. As a result, Israel left Egypt on the night of Abib 15, following the daylight of the 15th because the daylight period was the sacred Sabbath.
The next month, although Israel complained of hunger on the 15th day, Yahuah sent quail for food just after sunset on the 15th. The very next morning, the sunrise of the 16th, they discovered Yahuah had sent Manna.
The Eternal Yahuah changes not. All three of these after-dark “night” events collectively demonstrate that the sacred seventh-day Sabbath is only the 12 hours of daylight sandwiched between them. They show that Yahuah will go to great lengths to protect the sanctity of the Sabbath hours. If He had led the Israelites to travel from Rephidim to Sinai, a short distance of one to three miles, during the daylight hours of the 15th, there would have been an instant misunderstanding among the people regarding acceptable Sabbath-keeping. They would have wondered why, just the day before, they had gathered a double portion of manna so as not to break the Sabbath by doing any work on it, and now it was ordained to travel and pitch tents, creating much confusion. This was yet another reason for His consistency. Should we not follow His example and seek to keep His astro-luni-solar calendar as it is defined in Scripture, not only in precept but also in His timely details?
There are several points regarding the New Moon days that should be considered. It must be clarified that the New Moon day is never a seventh-day Sabbath. The New Moon day is the first day of the count of each month but is not part of the count of weekdays (Ezekiel 46:1). There is no directive from above with a “thus says Yahuah” on how manna was to be gathered for the New Moon days.
We do know that manna fell for 40 years while the Israelites wandered in the wilderness. Simply because it is not clearly identified how to approach the New Moon day by gathering manna or not gathering manna does not mean the New Moon day was not used to designate the weekly cycles and Sabbaths. One thing is sure: there was never a command that the New Moon would not govern this re-clarified timing for the week. Of equal importance, no Scriptural command states that weeks were to cycle in an unbroken continuous chain. The continuous weekly cycle has been assumed to be true, as it has been in harmony with the only calendar of the BEAST that was followed or wondered after by the whole world.
Since the full New Moons are not seventh-day Sabbaths, it appears plausible that the Israelites kept each New Moon day as a day of fasting.
Historical Jewish records show that the New Moon was traditionally celebrated with fasting. This also provides evidence that in the years before the first century A.D., the Jews kept the New Moon Day sacred in addition to the Sabbath.
Each New Moon was celebrated with a fast. Jewish Family Celebrations, p. 35.
…The sacred festival of the new moon, which people give notice of with trumpets, and the day of fasting, on which abstinence from all meats and drinks is enjoined… Philo Book 26, p. 159
Beginning in the first month of Abib, the sacred and set-apart Feast Days were kept at their appointed times. The feast Days boldly declare in detail the astro-luni-solar calendar layout, including the New Moon Days, workdays, and seventh-day Sabbaths.
From the evidence provided by Moses, it is apparent that these first three months in a row had identical Sabbath calendation dates. This should be a red flag that the Roman Gregorian solar calendar, with its continuous weekly cycle, is an illegitimate fraud. The Biblical lunar and Roman solar calendars are not one and the same. After all, two identical months in a row rarely happen on our modern calendar system, but never three, for it is strictly impossible. In comparing the small calendars below, the 30th day of each month does not affect the week cycle in any way, as this is entirely regulated by its count from the New Moon Day.
You cannot compare the date and time details in each of these three months and come up with any other calendar structure other than that of the Creator’s astro-luni-solar calendar design. It is too divinely unique to be of human origin. Manipulated calendation tends toward human convenience and rebellion against the Creator by setting up fictional “holy” days and holidays that are not sacred to the Eternal Yahuah. His sacred Feast Days provide the step-by-step detailed PLAN OF SALVATION to restore humankind into His image. This is a perpetual theme throughout Scripture so that no one may have an excuse. His original and authentic full New Moon Days, seventh-day Sabbaths, and annual Feast Days were provided for mankind as a sign of allegiance and to enter into worship at the appointed time with their Creator and Savior.
The “day” was divinely ordained by the Creator to begin at sunrise, as illustrated with the giving of the manna, and was to end at sunset. This was demonstrated by sending the quail after the Sabbath hours had passed for the second month in a row. He was particular and detailed, as He restored His calendation details to Moses and the Israelites, of which the foundations had been appointed at creation. His ordained time system had been lost over the years of Egyptian captivity. This was not a new time system He introduced to Moses, but a re-clarification of the original. The same is true today, as this is not an introduction to a new time measuring system. Still, rather, it is a return to the Creator’s ordained and sanctified astro-luni-solar calendation system borne out first in Genesis and then in Exodus.
It has been said, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” and below are three amazingly harmonious illustrations to compare the Creator’s three identical calendar months in a row. The New Moons and Sabbaths all line up in their appointed order. These three illustrations represent the weighty evidence that the Creator’s calendar is divinely designed.
First Month – Passover and the Exodus Second Month – Manna from the Shamayim Third Month – Arrival at Mt. SinaiIf the Creator restored the exact timing of the creation week to Moses and the Hebrew people, then perhaps His people today should take notice. When a thing is restored, by definition, it is being brought back to its original state. Additionally, it would only make sense that Yahuah would choose to do His re-clarification in perfect rhythm with the time signature of His creation week.
Several more details in the Exodus account have been added that are not apparent in the Genesis rendering of time. This becomes apparent in the structure of the month, beginning with the visual sighting of the full New Moon. It has been found that while the phrase “New Moon” is absent from most of our modern English translations, the word “month” literally means “lunar month,” and by extension, all lunar months begin with day one, which is called the New Moon Day. So, either choice of words will provide the same result. The New Moon Day is essential to the counting and placing the seventh-day Sabbaths. While there was no mention of a New Moon/lunar month in the creation week account, it becomes evident that Yahuah’s six workdays followed by a seventh-day Sabbath are not a chain of uninterrupted cycles. Instead, He created four fixed weeks and placed them into His lunar months just as a gemstone is placed within a pre-appointed setting. All are placed with precision into His well-defined yearly time measuring formula.
No doubt, Yahuah Alahim taught Moses and Aaron the knowledge of the sun, moon, and stars and how they designate and rule (measure) time over His entire created universe. He showed them how the sun measures the “daylights” and solar years, while the moon, together with the stars, measures the nights, lunar months, lunar weeks, and Yahuah’s Astro-luni-solar years, as well as all the set-apart Feast Days. Remember what is said by the Yahuah to Moses and Aaron in the Exodus 12:2 account:
“The New Moon, ‘this one’ is the beginning of the lunar months. It is FIRST IN ORDER according to the lunar months for the revolution of a year.” Exodus 12:2
Simultaneously, as Yahuah is re-clarifying His time-keeping system to Moses and Aaron, He is reestablishing that the very day He was speaking to them was the exact same day, month, and beginning of the year as that of the creation/Genesis account, when it says, “In the beginning,” but only 2,500 years later. Thus, Yahuah re-clarified all of these truths to Moses, and Moses gave us our written record for both the Genesis/Creation account and the Exodus account.
Third Month Conclusion
Weighty and detailed evidence has been gathered from these three identical months in a row, and they stand united as witnesses confirming the Creator’s astro-luni-solar calendar. Listed below are the most significant points:
- The modern Roman Gregorian calendar is not one and the same as that of Scripture because it is impossible for it to have identical consecutive months in a row. Specifically, this means that because the weeks float throughout the months, it is impossible to have the days of the week match the days of the month for three consecutive months. Exodus 12, 16, and 19
- Yahuah’s monthly calendar structure begins with a New Moon Day followed by four successive fixed weeks each and every month. Using the provided dates is self-evident in each of these three months. First, these dates locate the Sabbaths, and then the New Moon Day is defined by counting backward. In each case, the first day of the first week of each month is actually the second day of the month. Therefore, the first day of the month (New Moon or Renewed Moon Day) is never the first day of the week. Exodus 12, 16, 19.
- Other than in these three months, Yahuah’s true seventh-day Sabbaths cannot be located without first locating the New Moon. Exodus 12, 16.
- The continuous weekly cycle is a myth created by the Romans to bolster their Gregorian successive week calendar. Exodus 12, 16, and 19.
- The modern translations of the Genesis account define the day as evening and morning, but this is not entirely accurate. A day is a 12-hour period, while a 24-hour civil date includes both the day and night in that order from sunrise to sunset. Refer to the article, A Day in Genesis.
- The night is separate from the day and reckoned with four watches: the Even Watch, the Midnight Watch, the Cock Crowing Watch, and finally, the Morning Watch. Genesis 1:3-5; Mark 13:35.
- According to the Scriptural rendering, the sacred hours of the Sabbath begin at sunrise and end at sunset. Genesis 1:3-5; Exodus 12, 16, and 19. Refer to the article, Sunrise or Sunset, When Does the Day Begin?
- Through the details of the night of Passover and the giving of manna the following month, the parameters of the Sabbath day are verified to begin at sunrise and end at sunset, including only the “daylight” hours of radiant sunshine. Compare Exodus 12 and 16 with Genesis 1:3-5.
- The seventh-day Sabbath is fixed each month on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th. Isaiah 66:23; Ezekiel 46:1-3
- Through the details of Passover, the Exodus, the giving of the quail, and the arrival at Sinai, Yahuah demonstrated that the Sabbath never includes any part of the darkness of night but is only the “daylight hours.” Ex. 12, 16, and 19
- The seventh day of the Sabbath is neither Saturday nor Sunday. Exodus 12, 16, 19
- The count to the Feast of Shabuoth presents weighty evidence that the seventh day of the Sabbath was ordained to be counted from each New Moon day. It also establishes the four months in a row as confirmation of Yahuah’s ordained astro-luni-solar calendation system. Exodus 19 and Leviticus 23:15, 16.
- With our new understanding of the count to Shabuoth, including an additional 50 days, these weeks envelop the Fourth Month as well. Identifying that not only three months in a row in which the Sabbaths are dated the 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th, but four months in a row.
- Yahuah restored to Moses and the Israelites the same calendation structure that He had given to Adam and Eve at Creation, only with a few added details. If the calendar structure had not been precisely the same for Genesis and Leviticus, Moses would have questioned Yahuah. Since Moses was the one who recorded the Creation story along with Exodus and Leviticus alike, we can be certain that they were in perfect harmony. Exodus 12:1-3
We can have confidence that the time signature Yahuah appointed in the shamayim at creation is the same one He reintroduced to Moses and the Hebrew people at the time of the Passover and Exodus from Egypt. Then Yahuah confirmed His time signature a second month in a row by raining down the manna from above, illustrating the calendation structure into which He places His ordained Sabbaths.
Finally, Yahuah fully restored His unique time signature with the arrival at Mt. Sinai, on the exact date and even at night, just as when they had left Egypt two months prior. Thus, weighty evidence establishes the third recorded month in a row as having the exact same calendation details.
Part 3 The Mountain |