Everlasting Kingdom: Unraveling the Bible’s Secrets

Which Calendar Has God Authorized? Part 1

The following in-text refutation or "dialog" presents a challenge to the assumptions and misrepresentations and theories being promoted by most of the many splinter groups formerly associated with the Worldwide Church of God, concerning their teachings about which days are the Scriptural Holy Days that God commanded that we celebrate.

(All of the black text below is original text from the Living Church of God literature, or from the Global Church of God (that LCG split from), or from the Worldwide Church of God (that LCG/GCG split from). The color-highlighted text below (also original text) indicates the comments that Jennifer refutes in the inserted color corresponding bold text that follows immediately, or shortly after, the highlighted text in question.)

"Does God approve of any of the numerous ‘sacred calendars’ now existing?

Since God commanded Israel to keep His weekly Sabbath (Exodus 20:8-11), and His seven annual Holy Days (Lev. 23; Ezek. 20:12-24), of necessity He would also have given His people a reliable calendar showing when to observe those Sabbaths.

"According to the Anchor Bible Dictionary, although the Bible gives numerous references to what might be called "God’s Calendar," the Scriptures simply do not give adequate information for anyone to know how to make an accurate sacred calendar "No part of the Bible or even the Bible as a whole presents a full calendar" ("Calendars;’ vol. 1 ).

"We are also informed that "modern students of the Bible should realize that it is not possible to speak of a [strictly] biblical calendar" (The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, "Calendar," vol. 1 ).

What are some of the problems confronting anyone who would seek to reconstruct the Sacred Calendar solely from the Bible?

PROBLEM l: The Bible does not tell us precisely when to begin each month in the Sacred Calendar. Scripture reveals that each month must begin at the time of the "New Moon," but God’s Word never sufficiently defines this term to tell us exactly when it occurs! Does the biblical New Moon refer to the astronomical New Moon (also called "conjunction" or "dark moon")? Or does New Moon refer to the new crescent moon, which always lasts "a few days"? if, for instance, the New Moon observers in ancient Israel sighted the new crescent moon above the western horizon a few minutes before the sun went down, did they declare that day—which was just ending—to be the first day of the next month? Or did they proclaim the following day the first day of the new month?

Jennifer: The Bible has lots of words and the majority of those words are never specifically defined in the Bible. In fact, pick any book off the shelf in the Library and they’ll use word after word and yet never give a definition...and yet you still understand what the book is saying! How can that be? Because you know the language! When God said New Moon, the Israelites knew exactly what God meant. They weren’t confused and neither should we be. We may not speak Hebrew, but we do have Hebrew dictionaries (as well as historical backing) to show that the New Moon is the first visible crescent. Sources outside of the Bible are needed here only to the extent that they are needed anywhere else in the Bible...in order to translate the original Hebrew into our native language.

The Hebrew word translated "month" in the Bible is "chôdesh". Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible tells us that the word "chôdesh" means "new moon"! In fact, "chôdesh" is the same word that is actually translated "new moon" in other places in the Bible including 2 Kings 4:23. In recent days, some have come to ask, "What is a new moon"? The word "chôdesh" comes from another Hebrew word "châdash", meaning "to be new, to rebuild, renew or repair". In a full lunar cycle, the moon goes from appearing as a very slight crescent, to a bigger and bigger crescent, to a full circle , to a smaller and smaller crescent, and then for a short time disappears completely. The only time in this cycle that the moon could be considered "renewed" or "repaired" would be after it has completely disappeared and then becomes visible once again. To further prove this definition, Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary defines "New moon" as "(a) The moon in its first quarter, or when it first appears after being invisible. (b) The day when the new moon is first seen; the first day of the lunar month, which was a holy day among the Jews—2 Kings iv. 23".

The meaning of New Moon has NOT been lost! We have no reason to be confused as to its meaning. If you are confused, ask God! In John 8, our Savior promised us that if we continue in His word, we WILL know the TRUTH (John 8:31-32). God gives us everything we need to know to follow Him. Have faith in God!

Jennifer: That makes no sense at all. They would never have retroactively declared the first day of the month after the day was already mostly done. A day begins at sunset. If the new moon hasn’t been seen by sunset, that day is not the first day of the month.

PROBLEM 2: The Scriptures never tell us how many days each month of God’s Sacred Calendar should contain. Are there 29? Are there 30? Even more? We must go outside the Bible for this information.

Jennifer: God tells us to count the Holy Days from the New Moon. The First Day of Unleavened Bread, for example, is the 15th day of the 1st New Moon (Leviticus 23:6). That’s all you need to know. Once you’re watching the New Moons, you’ll quickly learn that the length of a month varies between 29 and 30 days, but that number doesn’t really matter as long as you just keep watching for the New Moon.

PROBLEM 3: The Hebrew Scriptures don’t even tell us how many months should be in a calendar year Since the solar year (about 365 1/4 days) is roughly 11 days longer than the lunar year (about 354 1/4 days), how can the lunar and solar years be harmonized? By what means can the months of God’s Sacred Calendar be kept in their proper seasons—so that the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread always occur in the spring, while the Feast of Tabernacles always occurs in the autumn? (all mention of the seasons refers to the Northern Hemisphere).

The answer is to add an "intercalary" month (a thirteenth month) seven times each 19-year lunar time cycle—which always contains 235lunations or lunar months. But the Hebrew Bible does not tell us how many months the year is to have, or how long the sacred year is to be! The Bible mentions a twelfth month (Esther 3:7)—never a thirteenth month. Yet, from careful study of the time periods mentioned in the first eight chapters of Ezekiel (1:1-2; 3:15; 4:5-6; 8:1 ), we can deduce that a thirteenth month was definitely being used by the Jews when Ezekiel wrote in the early part of the 6th century B.C. And since the Bible doesn’t even specify this intercalary month, it certainly does not say when to add it!

The Bible tells us that a year begins in the spring and that the first month of the year is the month of "Abib" which refers to young ears of barley. You don’t have to know how many months are in a year as long as you watch for the signs of spring. Why didn’t God say that a year has 12 months? He was well aware that lunar months and solar years didn’t match up perfectly (He did create the universe after all) and instead of going into explaining about how it’s usually 12, but sometimes 13, He simply told us the year began when the barley was "Abib". If you’re watching the signs of the seasons that God gives us, you’ll easily be able to see when the New Year begins. If the signs aren’t there after 12 months, then you have a 13th month. Pretty simple.

PROBLEM 4: The Bible does not indicate exactly when to begin the ecclesiastical year or sacred year. Though Scripture plainly reveals that the sacred year must begin around the time we call the vernal equinox [Heb. Tekufah] (Ex. 12:2; 23:16; 34:22), it does not give exact instructions.

A month begins at the New moon and the month of Abib is the first month of the year. A year has to begin with a full month, so, once the signs of spring are there (ex, barley becoming Abib, if you’re in Israel), then the next New Moon marks the new year. What other instructions are needed?

PROBLEM 5: Most insurmountable of all the problems facing those who would rely solely on the Bible to construct a sacred calendar is the undeniable fact that the lunar and solar years cannot be precisely aligned—a biblical requirement!—without periodically adjusting, or "postponing," the beginning of certain months and years. The calendar must also be adjusted by one or two days under certain conditions. Otherwise, the lunar and solar years would eventually diverge.

The issues of lunar and solar years not being precisely aligned are covered as long as you always wait for the signs of spring before starting your year.

Adjusting by a day or two...this is apparently speaking of what many refer to as the "Postponements" (which the Jews refer to as the "Dehiyyot". The main purpose of these is to keep certain Holy Days from falling on days that the Jews believe is inconvenient (ex: to prevent certain Holy Days from falling on the Sabbath or a Sunday.) Since the current Jewish calendar relies on averages, some of its postponements are needed in order to keep the beginnings of months in near vicinity to the actual New Moons. However, if you’re starting each month with the actual, observable New Moon, you don’t run into this issue and the only thing you need to keep the lunar and solar years in alignment is the occasional 13th month...which takes care of itself when you’re always waiting for the signs of spring before starting the new year.

None of the five problems mentioned above are resolved in the Bible! Since neither the Hebrew nor the Greek Scriptures give us sufficient information to know how to reconstruct the Sacred Calendar, where can we find exactly when to observe God’s seven annual Holy Days?

No, actually they’re ALL resolved in the Bible!

How God Imparted the Calendar to His People

Who, if anyone, was divinely authorized to produce a sacred calendar and communicate it to God’s people? In the year of Israel’s Exodus from Egypt (c. 1446 B.C.), God began revealing to the Israelites certain important features of His Calendar—a calendar that made it possible for His people to observe the annual Holy Days in their proper seasons (Ex. 12; Lev. 23).

"Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt; saying, ‘This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you’" (Ex. 12:1-2). Notice that God gave those important instructions to both "Moses and Aaron." Aaron would later be ordained as God’s high priest. Only his sons could succeed him in that office (Num. 16, 17).

To whom did God reveal His Holy Days? Leviticus 23 lists seven annual Holy Days that God commanded His people to observe "forever" (vv. 14, 21, 31, 41). Notice, however, that God revealed them to Moses and commanded him to give them to Israel. "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the LORD which you shall proclaim [Heb. qara, to make known officially] to be holy convocations, these are My feasts’" (vv. 1-2). Verse 4 tells us that the Feasts were to be proclaimed in their "appointed times [Heb. moedim, "appointed seasons" JPS]." Israel’s religious authorities were to declare, announce or officially proclaim the beginnings of the months and the precise days on which God’s Feasts were to be observed.

Note that when it says "the feasts which YOU shall proclaim", this is what Moses was supposed to be speaking to THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. THEY were the YOU. Yes, God works through leaders and there needs to be a centralized authority to prevent chaos and confusion, but everyone was given a certain level of responsibility in proclaiming the feasts. At the very least, that means we should understand how the system works and watch the signs that God gives us so that we can make sure that the leaders are doing things in accordance with scripture.

What did God mean when He commanded Israel’s spiritual leader, Moses, to proclaim (qara) His Festivals? Moses was in fact "summoning" God’s people to keep those days. "When convocations are ‘proclaimed’ the sense of qara is summon’" (The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. 3). In other words, God’s spiritual leaders in Israel had the authority to summon God’s people when they, under God’s guidance, determined the days on which God’s Feasts would fall.

How did Israel’s religious leaders proclaim God’s Feasts in later times? The Encyclopaedia Judaica mentions that the "‘sanctification’ of the thirtieth [day] as the New Moon [was] subject to witnesses’ reports of the time and circumstances of their sighting of the new crescent scrutinized by a court competent to check them; and only accepted if tallying with each other and not contrary to astronomical prediction, with the further proviso of agreement by the court and formal declaration of ‘sanctification’ before night set in" ("Calendar," vol. 8). Note that a special calendar court first had to sanctify or set apart the day of the new crescent moon, then had to make a "formal declaration" of sanctification before nightfall.

Both biblical and secular history reveal that the Jewish religious leaders (the priests) had a solemn duty, as well as divine authority, to make binding decisions concerning the Hebrew calendar. It was they alone who sanctified the New Moons (the first day of each month), and it was they who decided if or when to intercalate (add) a thirteenth month."The beginnings of the months were determined by direct observation of the moon. The new months were sanctified and their beginnings announced [proclaimed] by the Sanhedrin" (Arthur Spier, The Comprehensive Hebrew Calendar, 1952, p. 1 ).

Take careful note of that since in other articles they’ll completely deny the historical fact that direct observation of the moon was used and adamantly claim that such a thing could never have possibly worked.

Detailed knowledge of God’s Calendar was closely guarded by the Jewish priesthood. But, as Jews migrated farther and farther from Jerusalem, it became more difficult to pass along decisions on the calendar to outlying areas. This situation led to a significant change.

"Because of the serious condition of the communities of.. . Israel [in the 400s A.D.] and the deterioration of the Galilaean center, Hillel II agreed in principle to limit the authority of the nasi [the top Jewish authority] and his functions in connection with [ 1 ] the proclamation of the new moon; [2] the fixing of the festivals; and [3] the intercalation of the year. He thereupon published Sod ha-Ibbur (The Secret of Intercalation)... This took place in 358 C.E." (Judaica, "Hillel II," vol. 8). The Judaica goes on to say that before the time of Hillel II, "the Sanhedrin fixed the calendar together with the court by proclaiming the new month and intercalating the year."

When Does the Month Begin?

There is considerable confusion concerning exactly when to begin God’s sacred months and years. The Bible clearly reveals that each month begins with a New Moon (Ps. 81:3; Is. 66:23; Ezek. 46:1), or to be more exact, with the approximate New Moon. The Jews, and also the Muslims, correctly begin their months this way: "The Islamic Year is lunar and each month begins at the approximate New Moon" (Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed., p. 755).

Huh? To be "more exact" the "approximate" New Moon? What kind of double-talk is that? How can you be more exact using an "approximate" and please tell me where in any of those scriptures it says the "approximate" New Moon? God is precise and gives SPECIFIC days on which to observe HIS Holy Days!

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 next moon" (p: 1). Anyone who is familiar with the Hebrew calendar will realize that quite often there are what many believe to be valid reasons for postponing the beginning of the months by one day, or in some cases even two days. In fact, in the Hebrew calendar the months begin with the observable New Moon only 40 percent of the time, and with the approximate New Moon 60 percent.

Anyone who is familiar with the human mind will realize that quite often what many believe is FAR from the truth! The Bible gives the timing of God’s Feasts in relation to the new moons. There is no exception given to say "well, this month let’s just go ahead and start counting from two days after the new moon". Human reasoning has led some people to believe that there can be valid reasons for postponing the month by a day or two, but the Bible would need to be the source of any valid reason and the Bible gives none. I’m somewhat shocked that this article actually admits that in the Hebrew calendar months only begin with the observable new moon 40% of the time and yet somehow that’s okay?

Those who object to these "postponements" need to realize that it is utterly impossible for any luni-solar calendar to be devised that does not require various adjustments or postponements!All who are familiar with the Jewish calendar also know that from ancient times, the Jews always began each month with the observable new crescent moon—not with the astronomical New Moon (also called "dark moon"). The visible crescent can be called a "New Moon" for about three days.

The only "adjustment" necessary to keep the luni-solar calendar in alignment is the occasional 13th month. No one has the authority to make adjustments to God’s commandments. Having an occasional 13th month may be considered an "adjustment" by some, but remember that God didn’t say how many months were in a year...He just had us watch for the signs of spring...the commandment works whether you’re in a 12 month or 13 month year...it’s not an "adjustment" to God’s command. To "adjust" or "postpone" the first day of a month, however, directly goes against what we are told regarding when a month is to begin. There is no Biblical justification for this...only human reasoning.

It’s funny how this article says that ALL who are familiar with the Jewish calendar also know that from ancient times the Jews always began each month with the observable new crescent moon. Sounds like there’s no question. But then later articles supporting the same calendar will completely deny this fact.

Let us briefly look at some of the serious problems confronting those who assume they must use the astronomical New Moon (the conjunction, molad or dark moon), in order to know when to observe God’s Holy Days in their divinely appointed seasons.

Today, there is confusion in the minds of some regarding exactly what constitutes a New Moon. "New Moon... l: the moon’s phase when it is in conjunction with the sun so that its dark side is toward the earth: also: the thin crescent moon seen shortly after sunset for a few days after the actual occurrence of the new moon phase; 2: the first day of each Jewish month marked by a special liturgy" (Webster, 10th ed.).

Notice! The thin crescent moon can actually be seen for a few days. As we already noted, the biblical months always begin with the New Moon, but the Bible does not say that each month must always begin either on the molad (astronomical conjunction) or on the first day the crescent moon appears!

The month begins with the new moon. How can you get out of that the idea that you could possibly see the new moon one day and then wait a couple days before starting the new month? To eliminate any confusion, let’s stop right here and get rid of this arbitrary English word "month". God doesn’t work with arbitrary. The word translated "month" actually means "new moon". Do the priests hang the moon in the sky or set its phases? No? Then THEY don’t determine when we start counting for the Holy Days...GOD does. When we get rid of the arbitrary word "month" and place in the specific word "new moon", we can see that there is no longer any "wiggle room" for someone to say "Well, this time, how about we just start the ‘new moon’ a few days after the new moon". When God says that Trumpets, for example, is the 1st day of the 7th new moon, then it means just that...The 1st day of the 7th new moon...not day 2 or 3 of the new moon or some other "average" time. Why would God have bothered to give specific days of specific months if the beginning of the months or years was arbitrary? There’s no room to "adjust" when the new moon occurs. GOD has set the moon in its place and HE has established its phases...no man has control over this.

In fact, "to see the moon when it is less than 2 days old [less than 2 days after the conjunction or molad] is a challenge for any observer because of its nearness to the sun. The French astronomer Andre Danjon (1890-1967) apparently holds the record for sighting the moon in 1931 when it was only 16 hours, 13 minutes from new phase" (Burrus & Spiegel, Earth in Crisis, pp. 408-409).

Expert Hebrew Calendar Testimony

The Comprehensive Hebrew Calendar by Arthur Spier notes, "Lunar months must always correspond to the seasons of the year which are governed by the sun. The month of Nisan with the Passover Festival, for instance, must occur in the spring and the month of Tishri with the harvest festival of Succoth (Feast of Tabernacles] in fall " ( 1952, p. 1 ). This author and Jewish scholars in general do not believe that the months must begin precisely on the day of the astronomical conjunction, which often occurs a day or so before the crescent moon is visible! Rather, the months must "follow closely the course of the moon."

Spier adds, "The Jewish calendar must meet two requirements both solar and lunar. This accounts for its relatively complicated structure. Since the solar year of about 365 days is approximately 11 days longer than 12 lunar months [one lunar year], the Jewish calendar is faced with the problem of balancing the solar with the lunar years" (p. l).Some mistakenly think it is a simple matter to reconcile the solar and lunar.

You watch for the new moon (lunar) before starting each month and then you watch for the signs of spring (solar) to tell you when to begin the new year. Please explain to me how that’s not simple. God didn’t intend for His calendar to be complicated. You just watch for the signs that He gives you. [Four seasons, including "spring" and "fall" are Egyptian concepts. "Two seasons, Summer" and "winter", are Scriptural.]

Bear in mind that God set both the sun and the moon in the heavens to govern all calendar calculations. ‘Then God said, ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons [Heb. moedim, appointed festivals], and for days and years’" (Gen. 1:14). The Moffatt translation says, "Let there be lights... to mark out the sacred seasons, the days and the years."

If one uses a purely solar calendar, then it is not possible to know when God’s annual Holy Days are to be observed. The Gregorian calendar, widely used by the Christian world today, is in no way tied to the New Moons, and therefore cannot reveal when God’s seven annual Holy Days are to be kept! But if one uses a purely lunar calendar (like the Islamic calendar), then in about 33 years, God’s Feasts will retrogress through all 12 calendar months.

Spier continues, "In the early times of our history the solution [to balancing the solar and lunar years] was found by the following practical procedure: the beginnings of the months were determined by direct observation of the moon. The new months were sanctified [by God’s duly appointed priests] and their beginnings announced [Heb. qara] by the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, after witnesses had testified that they had seen the new crescent and after their testimony had been thoroughly examined, confirmed by calculation and duly accepted. The Jewish communities were notified of the beginning of the months (Rosh Hodesh) in earlier times by kindling of night fires on the mountains, and later on by messengers" (p. 1 ).

Again, the historical fact that the beginnings of months were determined by direct observation of the new moon.

Biblical Reasons for a 30-day Postponement

Did the Jewish priests have authority to delay (postpone) the beginning of the year by a whole month? Spier says, "A special committee of the Sanhedrin, with its president as chairman, had the mandate to regulate and balance the solar with the lunar years. This so-called Calendar Council (Heb. Sod Haibbur) calculated the beginning of the seasons (tekufah) on the basis of astronomical figures which had been handed down as a tradition of old. Whenever, after two or three years, the annual excess of 11 days had accumulated to approximately 30 days, a thirteenth month Adar II was inserted before Nisan in order to assure that Nisan and Passover would occur in spring and not retrogress toward winter" (p. 1).

An unbroken succession of priests had received from Moses and Aaron vital information concerning how to calculate God’s Sacred Calendar And though they still relied on visual observation, they always confirmed any eyewitness accounts of those who professed to have seen the new crescent moon with their own rough astronomical calculations.

The Jewish high priests and their courts had authority to add a thirteenth month when agricultural conditions in the Holy Land indicated that if such a month was not added (thereby delaying the beginning of the new year), the barley would not be mature enough to present the required wave offering (Heb omer) on the Sunday that fell during the Days of Unleavened Bread (Lev. 23:9 14).

This agricultural consideration is by the Encyclopaedia Judaica: "The solar year is 365 days 48 minutes, and 46 seconds, which means that a solar year exceeds a lunar one (of 12 months) by about 11 days. The cycles of 12 lunar months must therefore be adjusted to the solar year, because although the Jewish festivals are fixed according to dates in months,they must also be in specific [agricultural] seasons of the year which depend on the tropical solar year. Without any adjustment the festivals would ‘wander’ through the seasons and the ‘spring’ festival [Passover, for example], would be celebrated eventually in winter, and later in Sumner. The required adjustment is realized by the addition of an extra month (Adar II). ... In Temple times [until about 70 A.D.] this intercalation was decided upon in the individual years according to agricultural conditions...later, however, it was fixed to be in the years 3, 6, 8, 11l, 14, 17, and 19 of the cycle" ("Calendars," vol. 5).

And again...historical evidence that in temple times they added the 13th month according to agricultural conditions—not a fixed cycle.

Fixing Festival Dates

Spier says, "This method of observation and intercalation was in use throughout the period of the second temple (516 B.C.E. 70 C.E.), and about three centuries after its destruction, as long as there was an independent Sanhedrin. In the fourth century [c. 358 A.D.], however, when oppression and persecution threatened the continued existence of the Sanhedrin,the patriarch Hillel II took an extraordinary step to preserve the unity of Israel. In order to prevent the Jews scattered all over the surface of the earth from celebrating their new moons, festivals and holidays at different times, he made public the system of calendar calculation which up to then had been a closely guarded secret.It had been used in the past only to check the observations and testimonies of witnesses, and to determine the beginnings of the spring season" (p. 2).

Okay, it’s fine if someone wants to use calculations as a backup or a planning tool, etc. There’s no command against that. The important thing to note, however, is that the historical fact remains that they were still using visual observation to make the call up until the 4th century. Whatever calculations someone may use, you always have to make sure that they line up with the actual signs that God gave us.

No one can say, authoritatively, when astronomical calculations were first used in conjunction with actual visual observation. They appear to have been used from the very beginning—from the time God revealed His Sacred Calendar to His people (Ex. 12; Lev. 23; 1 Sam. 20:5, 24-27). "Although it is obvious from numerous OT passages that the ancient Hebrews possessed at least a roughly calculated calendar [see 1 Sam. 20:5-27]... they have nowhere given us a complete account of their [calendar] system" (The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible "Calendar," vol. 1).

Hillel II’s extraordinary action has had far-reaching consequences for more than 16 centuries. His calendar calculations are still being used by the Jews and most of the members of God’s Church scattered throughout the world."Hillel II formally sanctified all months in advance, and intercalated all future leap years until such time as a new, recognized Sanhedrin would be established in Israel. This is the permanent calendar according to which the new moons and Festivals are calculated and celebrated today by the Jews all over the world. Like the former system of observation, it is based on the Luni-solar principle. It also applies certain rules by which the astronomical facts are combined with the religious requirements into an admirable calendar system" (The Comprehensive Hebrew Calendar, p. 2).

The Encyclopaedia Judaica adds: "The gradual regularizing of the intervals of intercalation had to be in the terms of the seven-year sabbatical cycle as none of the styles of the 19-year Metonic Cycle would have been compatible with the rule not to intercalate in sabbatical and post-sabbatical years."

Some have assumed that Hillel II’s permanent Hebrew calendar somehow sets God’s Holy Days on vastly different days of the month than would a Calendar Council if one were in place today. But this is not necessarily so. According to Spier, Hillel’s fixed Jewish calendar incorporates essentially the same days that would now be sanctified and observed by the Jews if they had a Calendar Council to decide all Holy Day dates. It is possible that a functioning Calendar Council might adjust when to add the extra intercalated month. Such a Council’s judgment of agricultural conditions could override the fixed intercalations of Hillel mentioned above (years 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17 and 19). Nevertheless, the Holy Days would still fall on the same days within each month. In any case, Hillel did not set out to establish the Holy Days strictly according to the astronomical conjunctions.

"It is obviously not the intention of the calendar calculation [of Hillel II] to establish Rosh Hashanah [first day of Tishri] and the beginning of the [subsequent] months on the day of the conjunction. It would rather appear that [in the permanent Hebrew calendar] the beginnings of the years and the months aregenerally adjusted to the days on which the Sanhedrin would have sanctified them on the basis of observation of the new crescent"(p. 219)!

So, is it okay to occasionally keep the "Sabbath" on Sunday as long as you "generally" keep it on Saturday? Also, note the earlier statement in this article that the Hebrew calendar only begins the month with the actual observable new moon 40 % of the time! So, is it okay to keep the Sabbath on Sunday 60 % of the time? Why is it any different with the rest of God’s Holy Days?

When Does God Begin the Sacred Year?

According to God’s Word, each day begins at sunset, each week begins immediately after the setting of the Sabbath sun, and each month begins with the New Moon—the crescent moon!

But when does God begin the religious year?

Exodus 12:2 says, "This month [Abib or Nisan] shall be... the first month of the year to you." But the Bible does not tell us exactly when to begin that first month. Some think the first month of the sacred year begins with the New Moon that immediately precedes the vernal equinox. Others believe it begins with the first New Moon that immediately follows that equinox. Still others think the starting point is the New Moon nearest the spring equinox.

How do the Jews, who alone have preserved God’s Calendar, begin the first day of the first month of their religious year? Arthur Spier says, "The month of Nisan [or Abib] with the Passover Festival, for instance, must occur in the spring" (p. 1). The fact that the Hebrew word for the first month is Abib, meaning "green ears," reveals that particular month occurs in the spring when the green ears appear everywhere. The first month of the Hebrew calendar is also called Nisan, meaning "to start." The month of Abib or Nisan starts the ecclesiastical year (Ex. 12:2).

The Comprehensive Hebrew Calendar lists all of the Jewish Holy Days for the entire 20th century~, from September 1899 through September 2000 A.D. It shows that for each year during this century, according to the Jewish calendar,the Passover always falls in the spring of the year—never in the winter. However, although the first day of Nisan usually begins after the vernal equinox, it does not always do so! In 1994, for example, the first day of Nisan fell on March 13, but spring didn’t arrive until March 21.

The Bible reveals that the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread must always fall within the "first month" (Ex. 12; Lev. 23). In actual practice, they always occur after the spring equinox as well.

Tabernacles Never Occurs Wholly in Summer

Does the Bible demand that the Feast of Tabernacles must always occur around the time of the autumnal equinox? "And you shall observe... the Feast of Ingathering [Feast of Tabernacles] at the year’s end" (Ex. 34:22). The JPS translation reads, "And you shall observe... the feast of ingathering at the turn of the year [tekufah, autumnal equinox]." What was the "year’s end" or the "turn of the year"? This Hebrew word (tekufah or tekufot in the plural) means "a revolution, i.e. [of the sun] course, [of time] lapse" (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance). The Jews have traditionally understood this to mean that the autumnal equinox is to fall on or before the Feast of Tabernacles—never after! Only the spring and autumnal tekufot (equinoxes) are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible (cf. 2 Chron. 24:23; Ex. 34:22).

"Tekufot ("Seasons"). As stated, the four seasons in the Jewish year are called tekufot... (literally "circuit... to go round"), the tekufah of Nisan denoting the mean sun at the vernal [equinox], that of Tammuz denoting it at the summer [solstice], that of Tishri, at the autumnal [equinox], and that of Tevet, at the winter [solstice]" (Judaica, "Calendar," vol. 5).

Today, our Gregorian calendar uses two words (equinox and solstice) to mark out the beginnings of the four seasons. There are two equinoxes—vernal or spring (about March 21), and autumnal (about September 23). The Gregorian calendar also has two solstices: summer (about June 21), and winter (about December 22). But the Hebrew calendar only has one word, tekufah, to refer to these four recurring phenomena.

The Jews realized there was both a spring and a fall equinox—a time when day and night were equal, when the year had made one complete revolution (from spring to spring, or from fall to fall). Psalm 19:6 further explains the meaning of tekufah. "Its [the Sun’s] rising is from one end of heaven, and its circuit [tekufah] to the other end."

What, then, does Exodus 34:22 really say and mean? It reveals that the "Feast of Ingathering" was to occur at or after the turn of the year (NAASB)—i.e. the time when the autumnal sun completes its yearly circuit as it passes southwest over the earth’s equator, thereby ushering in what we call autumn or fall.

The Feast of Tabernacles, according to the permanent Hebrew calendar, always occurs at or after that time of year. Even though the beginning of the Feast sometimes occurs a few days before the autumnal equinox, the latter half of the Feast of Tabernacles always falls after the autumnal equinox—thus fulfilling the biblical requirement of Exodus 23:16 and 34:22. Tabernacles must never end before the fall equinox (tekufah Tishri), which, in the Northern Hemisphere, usually occurs on September 23. That Feast must never occur wholly in summer!

Reject Unbiblical Teachings!

When we rightly understand the Hebrew Scriptures, we see that god gave His calendar to "Moses and Aaron" (brothers of the tribe of Levi). Aaron and his descendants were later chosen to be God’s priestly family (all the high priests were from Aaron’s family). It was solely to them that the Lord committed the "oracles of God" for safekeeping—including the preservation of His true Calendar. Without such a calendar, God’s people would not know when to observe His seven annual Holy Days in their proper seasons, as required by the Hebrew Scriptures.

As with all other matters, God still gives each individual the responsibility to prove all things. God gave the information to all of the children of Israel. Yes, He went through human leaders, but He told those human leaders to give the instructions to the children of Israel as well. The information as to when the Holy Days were to be kept was given—through the leaders—to all the people. It wasn’t kept secret. Everyone knew how it was to be done and anyone who was watching the signs as commanded would have been able to see if the leaders began to stray from the commandments of God in this matter.

Regrettable, some of God’s people are being confused by false teachings concerning God’s Sacred Calendar.Today, at least half a dozen different calendars are being circulated—all of the purporting to be "God’s Calendar"—yet no two of them agree! Some who have devised their own calendars say you must observe the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month that falls on or after the spring equinox. Yet those who go by that rule sometimes end up keeping the entire seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles, as well as the "eighth day" that follows (Lev. 23:36), in the summer, rather than in the autumn season as demanded by Exodus 34:22!

Yes, there is a lot of confusion out there and it’s very sad. Satan is hard at work trying to keep us all confused. That, however, should not keep us from proving all things. Satan is using the confusion to scare us away from even looking at the matter. If we are truly open to learn God’s ways, He can help us to understand His truth on any matter. All we have to do is ask for God’s guidance as we study the issue and truly be willing to submit to what He has to show us.

People sometimes cite Ambassador College’s booklet, How Often Should We Partake of the Lord’s Supper? to support their claim that "the first day of the new year always begins with the day nearest the spring equinox when the New Moon is first visible to the naked eye at Jerusalem" (1952, p. 6). That statement is generally true—but not always! If that rule had been in effect during the following years of this century—1905, 1932, 1943, 1951, 1970, 1989, 2000—then the entire Feast of Tabernacles would have occurred in late summer, which we’ve just seen must never happen!

Consequently, those who follow the rule that the Passover must always fall on the first full moon after the spring equinoxor who say that the new year always begins with the day nearest the spring equinox when the New Moon is first visible to the naked eye at Jerusalem will find themselves in quite a dilemma.

What does this all add up to? God has preserved His Sacred Calendar (commonly called the Hebrew or Jewish calendar) through the Jews (Rom. 3:2)—among whom are included Levites, as well as many priests—the latter being descendants of Aaron. God committed to them the preservation and teaching of His "oracles"—His Word, the Hebrew Bible—as well as the preservation of His Calendar, which is necessary to properly keep God’s commanded Festivals in their appointed seasons.

Any man who would appoint himself to devise his own calendar—rejecting the Jews to whom God entrusted the oracles—would do well to remember what God thinks of those who arrogate to themselves the office or function of God’s priests, when God has not called them to that office (cf. Num. 16, 17)!

Proving all things and making sure that what you’re following is right is not appointing yourself. Yes, God chooses leaders, but we are only to follow human leaders AS THEY FOLLOW GOD. The desire to prove what God really tells us about HIS calendar from HIS WORD is not an attempt to devise one’s own calendar...it is an attempt to determine what is GOD’s real calendar.

God’s people ought to use the calendar that He caused the Jews to preserve for the benefit of all who wish to obey Him and keep His commanded Festivals. That was basically the same calendar used by Christ and His disciples in New Testament times!

This article itself states that visual observation used to be used and that the current fixed calendar system only matches up with the actual new moons 40% of the time! The Jews switched to a fixed system that often does not line up with reality. How is that preserving the calendar for the benefit of all? If that is really "basically" the same calendar, then is "basically" really good enough?

Who Controlled the Calendar in Christ’s Time?

Chambers Encyclopedia says, "Since the chief priests were in close alliance with them [Sadducees] it would seem natural that the ritual of the Temple should be considered on lines approved by the Sadducees" ("Sadducees," vol. 12).

The Illustrated Bible Dictionary agrees" "Many, but not all, priests were Sadducees; nearly all Sadducees, however, appeared to have been priests, especially of the most powerful priestly families...Under the Herods and Romans the Sadducees predominated in the Sanhedrin [and] their reckoning regulated the public observance so long as the Temple stood" (Sadducees," vol. 3).

"In general, the Jewish calendar in N.T. times (at least before A.D. 70) followed the Sadducean reckoning, since it was by that reckoning that the Temple services were regulated ("Calendar," vol. 1).

The 19-Year Time Cycle

The Hebrew calendar keeps the lunar year in general harmony with the solar year by adding a thirteenth month approximately every third year. Those added months (producing "leap years") are inserted into the permanent Hebrew calendar seven times during each 19-year time cycle. The sun and moon arrive at approximately the same position in the sky every 19 years; that is,every 19 years the New Moons again fall on the same days of the solar year.

The Greeks also had a 19-year time cycle, named after the Greek astronomer, Meton, who discovered the "Metonic Cycle" around 432 B.C. Even though the length of the Greek version was the same as the Jewish 19-year time cycle, its seven "leap years" were positioned differently—during years 3, 5, 8, 11, 13, 16 and 19, instead of in years 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17 and 19, as in the Jewish cycle. Only four of the seven leap years in the Metonic and Jewish cycles coincide. This means that three of the seven leap years in the Metonic Cycle occur in different years than in the Jewish 19-year time cycle. If one used the Metonic Cycle, he would observe many of god’s Holy Days on different dates than he would if he followed the Jewish 19-year cycle. Furthermore, the Metonic Cycle does not take into account the seventh-year land Sabbaths of Leviticus 25. God did not give His law or instructions for His Calendar to the Greeks, He rather gave them to Israel.

Why This Issue Has Two Articles on the Calendar

As "sacred calendars" proliferate—is there a way to make sense of it all?

Never before have there been so many sacred-calendar "experts." Consequently, some brethren have become confused over the resultant proliferation of contradictory "sacred calendars." Has God seen to it that His "authorized" Sacred Calendar has been made available to His people?

Ever since God gave ancient Israel His Holy Days and His Calendar, there have been those who did not want to follow the calendar He provided His people through His priests after the Ten Tribes of Israel seceded from the throne of David in about 930 B.C., Northern Israel’s King Jeroboam introduced his own humanly devised festival—along with his counterfeit calendar—which he ordained to be held in the "eight month" instead of the seventh (1 Kings 12:31-33).

Secular historians of ancient biblical times tell us that, even among the Jews, numerous sects refused to follow the official Jewish calendar—published by the priesthood—and instead devised their own sectarian calendars. "There is evidence that the authority of the normative calendar was never universally accepted, but that always there were individuals or groups who were promoting their own special calendars" (The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, "Calendar," vol. 1, p. 487). We should not, therefore, be surprised to learn that, from time immemorial, this "calendar problem" has plagued God’s people.

Which calendar did the early New Testament Christians use? Some wrongly think that Gentile Christians in the New Testament Church used only Greco-Roman calendars: "It may be understood that Jews and Jewish Christians, even when far from Palestine,continued to employ the official calendar of Jewish orthodoxy,particularly for observing the religious festivals (cf. Acts 20:6, 16)" (p. 483). And we know that the Apostle Paul taught Gentiles to observe God’s Holy Days just as He did the Jews (Acts 20:6; 1 Cor. 5:7-8; 16:8). Therefore, the Gentile Christians could not have properly observed God’s Festivals without also using the Hebrew calendar!

But what about God’s Church in modern times? In the early 1930s, Almighty God raised up a remarkable man, Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong, to restore the knowledge of the Holy Days to His people. Satan, however, immediately began muddying the waters by introducing confusion over the calendar among some of the brethren.

When confronted with such a potentially divisive "calendar problem" in early 1940, Mr. Herbert Armstrong wrote the brethren saying, "In conclusion, unless God has preserved His Sacred Calendar through the Jews,then we do not know how to figure Passover or any of the Holy Days this year. For there is no authority for any other way. There is no Bible authority whatsoever for figuring the first day of the first month from the new moon nearest the spring equinox" (Good News Letter).

The ministry of the Global Church of God has likewise diligently examined this subject in great detail for more than three years. We have concluded, as did Mr. Armstrong, and the brethren in 1940, that the Hebrew calendar is indeed the only calendar that God’s people should follow in observing His Holy Days today!

What Are the "Postponements"?

Are "postponements" to God’s Calendar mentioned anywhere in the Bible? If not, why do we use a calendar that sometimes postpones the beginning of months—and even years?

Some brethren are being confused concerning whether to continue using the Hebrew calendar that God’s people have followed for many years. Their main objection concerns whether the postponements used in that calendar are in some way contrary to the scanty information on the calendar contained in the Bible.

Answers to Postponement Questions

In order to better understand the postponements incorporated in the Jewish calendar, we need to ask and answer the following questions:

1) When speaking of God’s Calendar, exactly what is being postponed? Do the postponements delay God’s Holy Days, or simply postpone the starting point from which they are reckoned? In other words, does the Hebrew calendar merely postpone the beginning of the first day of Tishri?

The present permanent Jewish calendar employs various postponements—all of which merely delay the commencement of the first day of Tishri, which begins the civil year used in both ancient and modern times. Once Tishri 1 is established, all of the other months of the Sacred Calendar are easy to calculate. So the postponements merely delayby either one or two days—the beginning of the first day of Tishri, which is the seventh month of the ecclesiastical year.

In actuality, the postponements don’t really delay the Holy Days themselves, since those days (established by Scripture) are still observed on the same biblically commanded days of the months, according to God’s directions in Leviticus 23.

So somehow changing the day that the month begins isn’t changing the day on which you keep the Holy Days? That’s just more double-talk. If God says the first of the month starts next Sunday and you decide instead to start it next Tuesday, YOU may call Tuesday the 1st day of the month, but in God’s eyes it’s still really the 3rd day of the month. Therefore, you may still SAY you’re keeping the Holy Day on the right day of the month, but if you didn’t start the month when God said you should the result is still the same...you’re off by 2 days. In the current Jewish calendar, all of the months are calculated based on the first day of Tishri...postponing the first day of Tishri affects when ALL of the months (and therefore, all of the Holy Days) will occur.

2) Exactly when did the postponements originate? The origin of the postponements is not revealed—either in the Bible or by secular history. In fact, this word "postponement" (or its modern Hebrew equivalent, dehia) is not found anywhere in the Bible. But, as will be demonstrated later, from the very beginning certain postponements had to be incorporated in the Sacred Calendar—simply because it is not possible to construct it without them!

In order to observe a complete 24-hour Feast of Trumpets, it was sometimes absolutely necessary to delay the beginning of Tishri 1 by a whole day. Further, in order to be able to offer the "wave sheaf" (Heb. omer) of ripened barley during the Days of Unleavened Bread, it was sometimes mandatory that the high priest in ancient Israel postpone the beginning of Nisan 1 by a whole month. Such a postponement would, of course, delay all of the seven annual Feasts by 30 days!

Where’s the Biblical backing for this? It makes no sense. A day begins and ends at sunset. No matter what day that falls on you’re still going to have an approximately 24-hour Feast of Trumpets...how does pushing it back by a day help anything?

That’s not a postponement. That’s waiting until the signs of spring are there to start your year. That is in accordance with God’s word. He never tells us a year is just 12 months, so having a 13th isn’t in conflict with His commands...according to His commands, you don’t start the year until the spring.

3) Did the calendar used by the Jews in the time of Christ and His apostles include any postponements? Postponements were certainly used by the Jews in the first century A.D. Secular history shows that the two major religious parties (the Sadducees and the Pharisees) used essentially the same basic calendar. The Sadducees, as successors to the priesthood from the line of Aaron, used the same calendar information that had been passed on to them from Aaron and Moses. This included the requirement that the Feast of Unleavened Bread fall in the spring (thereby necessitating certain one-month postponements to the beginning of the sacred year). There is no record of Christ and His apostles objecting to the calendar or instituting a different one.

The so-called "postponement" being referred to here—adding a 13th month to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the spring—is Biblical. God’s word doesn’t require a 12 month year, it just requires the year to begin in the spring. This "postponement", is the only one that is in accordance with God’s word and it is the only one historically shown to be in effect at the time of Christ (thus He didn’t object to the calendar). However, this one "postponement" doesn’t make any further postponements (to alter the beginning of the month by a day or two) in any way acceptable. We are to begin our year in the spring and start counting for the Holy Days from the new moons. These are God’s commands. There is never an acceptable exception to those commands. If there were, God surely would have surely told us so.

Whom did God Authorize to Preserve His Calendar?

4) Did God give His people the Sacred Calendar, including postponements that would facilitate the observance of His Feasts?

Firstly, as mentioned earlier, it is utterly impossible to have an accurate, viable sacred calendar without incorporating certain adjustments or postponements. That’s to say, the essentially Lunar months of the Hebrew calendar would not remain within their proper seasons—which are determined by the solar year—unless the calendar is periodically adjusted.

Secondly, it is totally inconsistent with the Bible to believe that God would have commanded the Israelites to keep the seven annual "Feasts of the LORD" mentioned in Leviticus 23—yet would not have revealed to them an accurate calendar showing the proper days for their observance!

Exactly, that’s why you need to take a second look at the facts revealed in the Bible on the subject. He does give us what we need and we don’t have to look to the Jews! Even if you do look to the Jews, you can see that their history has preserved an accurate record of how things used to be done and they openly admit that they switched to a fixed system and that it only attempts to come close to the actual observable new moon.

God began to reveal His Calendar to the Israelites even before they left Egypt: "Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, ‘This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you" (Ex. 12:1-2). Further, the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread were always to be observed in that first month of Abib/Nisan (Ex. 13:4; Esther 3:7), the month in which the barley became ripe enough to offer a "wave sheaf" (Heb: omer) to God, on the Sunday during this Feast (Lev. 23:9-15).

When the Lord revealed His seven annual Festivals to Moses, He commanded him to proclaim (Heb. qara, announce officially) those Feasts to Israel (Lev. 23:1-2). God chose the entire tribe of Levi to be His ministers (Num. 18:20-22); however only Aaron and his sons were chosen to serve in the top ministerial positions as priests (Num. 17:1-13; 18:1-7, 25-32).

Not exactly...if you look back at the scriptures God gave the information through Moses, but He told Moses to tell the people that THEY proclaim the feasts at their appointed times...in context, the "YOU" is the children of Israel.

But the Northern Ten Tribes of Israel lost the knowledge of God’s Sacred Calendar. When they seceded from the House of David (c. 930 B.C.), their first king, Jeroboam, rejected God’s law and His Feasts and devised a festival to be observed in the "eighth month" (1 Kings 12:19-33). Because of Jeroboam’s apostasy, many of the Levites living among the Ten Tribes in the north moved south into Judah.

From then on, the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and most of the Levites composed the kingdom of Judah. After the Jews’ Babylonian captivity in the 6th century B.C., some of them returned to their ancient homeland and formed a nation, which later became known as Judea. The New Testament Scriptures plainly reveal that the Jews were responsible for preserving the Hebrew Scriptures, including preservation of certain "oral" calendar instructions given by God to Moses and Aaron."What advantage then has the Jew...? Much in every way! Chiefly because to them [the Jews] were committed the oracles [Gk. logion, words of God)" (Rom. 3:1-2; cf. Acts 7:38).

The Oracles are all the commandments of God. And the oracles are given to all of us in God’s word...the Bible. In context, there are only two kinds of people...Greeks & Jews. In the context, the Jews represent all of Israel. When did God give the "oracles of God" to the "Jews"? The same time that He gave the "oracles of God" to the rest of Israel...on Mt Sinai.

How do we know the oracles include how to reckon God’s Calendar? Since the Bible does not tell us how to construct the Sacred Calendar, and since it is essential that we have it in order to properly observe God’s Feasts, therefore we know God has seen to it that all essential information about the calendar was communicated to His servants.

Jennifer Mullen
July 2008

Now for Part 2

Part 2 Chapters Articles

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