Which Calendar Has God Authorized, Part 2

Which Calendar Has God Authorized? Part 2

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.)

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Continuing:

The Bible itself says absolutely nothing about postponements. So, if God’s Word does not condemn postponements, then who are we to say that the Jews, the custodians of God’s Word and His Calendar, are wrong in including them—especially so, since those postponements enable God’s people to avoid certain problems when the weekly Sabbath immediately precedes or follows an annual Sabbath, thereby producing two back-to-back (tandem) Sabbaths?

Correct...the Bible says ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about postponements. God gives us specific days of the "NEW MOON" on which to observe His Holy Days. And He NEVER EVEN SUGGESTS that there could be exceptions to those SPECIFIC commandments. Not only is it wrong to take away from God’s word, but it’s also wrong to ADD TO His commandments (Deuteronomy 4:2). If we postpone a month by a day or two away from the new moon and then count from that different day, we are keeping His Holy Days a day or two off from when He commanded. This is disobedience to God’s word. We simply CANNOT just assume that this is okay. In reality, God’s word does condemn postponements because God’s word condemns disobedience. God’s word tells us specifically to count His Holy Days from the New Moon. He never gives us any exceptions to that command.

We have double Sabbaths at least once a year in the spring (Pentecost) and that’s ok. Why then do we need postponements to prevent double Sabbaths in the fall?

Though the vast majority of the members of the true Church of God today follow the Hebrew calendar, nonetheless there are numerous small groups that believe in keeping God’s Feasts, yet totally reject the Jewish calendar. They claim that the Jews had no authority to introduce the postponements into God’s Calendar. But is that what really happened?

"Let us briefly examine the purpose of the postponements to see if they do in some way run counter to the plain teaching of God’s Word. As we show in the companion article on God’s Calendar, the Jews do not believe the months must always begin on what is called the astronomical conjunction. Rather, the Jews (as well as the Muslims) believe that each lunar month begins on the day of the approximate New Moon!

Again that word "approximate". It’s not in the Bible. The Bible gives the Holy Day dates from the New Moon. NOT from the "approximate" New Moon.

"What is a conjunction? "‘The conjunction of the moon with the sun is the point in time at which the moon is directly between the earth and the sun (but not on the same plane) and is thus invisible. This is known as the molad (birth)" (Judaica, "Calendar," vol. 5).

"We are also told that, according to the Hebrew calendar, "every month must begin on a day close to the molad. For the beginning of the year, the first day of Tishri, the calendar follows this rule: Rosh Hashanah, the first day of Tishri, must be on the day of the Molad. [But) there are exceptions, the so-called Dehioth [postponements], which take place in four specific cases" (Arthur Spier, The Comprehensive Hebrew Calendar, p. 219).

Spier then says, "Note: In more than 60% of all years Rosh Hashanah [Tishri 1] does not occur on the day of the Molad [the actual conjunction] but is postponed according to one of the Dehioth [rules governing postponements]. Therefore the Dehioth are actually not the exceptions to the rule but the rule."

6) What; then, are the four postponements included in the permanent Hebrew calendar?

POSTPONEMENT l: "When the Molad Tishri occurs on a Sunday, Wednesday, or Friday, Rosh Hashanah [Tishri 1 ] is postponed to the following day" (p. 218).

What purpose does this postponement serve? Spier says postponement 1 "mainly fulfills the following three religious requirements: Yom Kippur [the Day of Atonement] shall not occur on the day before or after the Sabbath and Hoshanah Rabba [the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles] shall not occur on a [weekly] Sabbath" (p. 219).

Why does postponement 1 prevent Tishri 1 from occurring on a Sunday, Wednesday or Friday? If Tishri 1 did occur on a Sunday, this would result in four consecutive Holy Day/Sabbath combinations during that particular year If the first day of Tishri occurred on a Wednesday, this would necessitate two consecutive combinations. And if Tishri 1 occurred on a Friday, this would once again result in four consecutive Holy Day/Sabbaths.

So what if there were four consecutive Holy Day/Sabbaths? Some may find it inconvenient, but God doesn’t say there’s anything wrong with that. However, also note that if you’re starting each month at the actual observable new moon (rather than working with averages and giving each month a fixed number of days) starting Tishri 1 on a Sunday likely wouldn’t result in 4 double Sabbaths...it’s only a guaranteed 4 when you’re using the current fixed Jewish calendar and its fixed number of days in each month.

The Jewish calendar permits Tishri 1 to fall on a Monday, ‘Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday. When Tishri 1 falls on these permitted days there are only two possibilities for tandem Sabbaths (not including the true Pentecost, which always involves this combination). The first permitted tandem Sabbath combination occurs when the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread falls on a Sunday, as in 1994. The second permitted tandem Sabbath combination occurs when the last day of Unleavened Bread occurs on a Friday, as in 1998. But these tandem Sabbaths occur rather infrequently.

Modern Jews don’t observe Pentecost (Shavout) on a Sunday. Instead they observe it on Sivan 6. However the early New Testament Church of God (like the Sadducees) followed the biblical command to observe Pentecost by counting 50 days from the Sunday (the "morrow after the Sabbath") that occurs during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This means that when Pentecost is counted correctly, it always falls on a Sunday—thus creating tandem Sabbaths.

Why did the Jewish religious authorities conclude that the fast day (Yom Kippur) should never occur on the day before or after the weekly Sabbath? Clearly, this would have made it very difficult for the Israelite women to properly prepare for the weekly Sabbath—a feast day! Remember, anyone who did not properly observe the Day of Atonement; by refraining from all work, would be "cut off" from his people (Lev. 23:28)!

Just because something is difficult doesn’t mean there’s license to change the day that you observe the Holy Day! No Biblical justification.

And why did the Jewish religious authorities conclude that the last day (seventh day) of the Feast of Tabernacles (called Hoshana Rabba) should never fall on a weekly Sabbath? Simply because if Hoshana Rabba did fall on the weekly Sabbath, this would be followed immediately by another Sabbath, the annual Sabbath called the "eighth day" (Lev. 23:39-44). This tandem Sabbath would work undue hardship on the women who, in such cases, would have to prepare food on Friday for both the weekly Sabbath and the following day, the eighth day, which would be an annual Sabbath (v. 39).

Okay, again...just because someone thinks it’s a hardship doesn’t give justification to move God’s Holy Day!

Another benefit of the postponements is the matter of avoiding Sabbath burials. If someone died shortly before a back-to-back Sabbath combination occurred, this would make it difficult for mourners, since the burial could not take place on either the annual or weekly Sabbaths.

Again with the "difficult" thing...who cares? You obey God no matter how difficult it is! There’s no justification to change God’s Holy Day!

POSTPONEMENT 2: "When Molad Tishri occurs at noon [the approximate l8th hour of a 24-hour day from sunset to sunset] or later, Rosh Hashanah is postponed to the next day. (Or if this day is a Sunday, Wednesday or Friday, [it is then postponed] to Monday, Thursday or Sabbath because of Dehiah)" (p. 219).

The New Moon (molad) can happen at any time during a 24-hour day. Postponement 2 ensures that "when Molad Tishri occurs at noon... or later," then Rosh Hashanah is postponed to the next day, or if circumstances demand, it is postponed another whole day. In ancient times, duly authorized religious authorities always went by "visual observation" (though they used calculations as a further check) in determining exactly when the New Moon had occurred. But if the New Moon did not appear until noon (or later), this meant that three-fourths of the 24-hour day had already elapsed—with less than six hours remaining. Since the religious authorities had to get the word out to the people throughout the land of Israel, there would have been no way the people could have learned when the first day of Tishri was in time to properly observe the Feast of Trumpets. It thus became necessary to postpone Tishri 1 by one day, in order to allow the messengers enough time to inform the Israelites so they could observe the Feast.

Well, except that they did have their own eyes! They could have looked at the sky themselves to see if the new moon was there. There’s no Biblical justification to change the day that you observe the Holy Day because the messengers didn’t have time to get there. God gave signs that everybody could see.

POSTPONEMENT 3: "When the Molad Tishri of a common year falls on Tuesday, [about 12 minutes] after 3 a.m... or later, Rosh Hashanah [Tishri 1 ] is postponed to Wednesday, and, because of Dehia, further postponed to Thursday" (p. 219).

Why was postponement 3 made? The Jewish calendar, being luni-solar, is based on the fact that 19-year astronomical time cycles regularly occur in nature. During each such time cycle, the Sacred Calendar incorporates twelve common years (having 353, 354 or 355 days), and seven leap years (having 383, 384 or 385 days). Since the decision of Hillel II in 358 A.D., the leap years are always positioned to occur in years 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17 and 19 of the time cycle. This postponement was made for purely astronomical reasons—to make certain that the "common year" was kept to its proper, preordained length of 353, 354 or 355 days.

God doesn’t tell us the number of days in a year. As long as you start each the month with the new moon, and the year in the spring, all stays in alignment with God’s word. This postponement isn’t necessary when you’re simply following the signs that God gives you rather than following averages.

POSTPONEMENT 4: "When, in a common year succeeding a leap year, the Molad Tishri occurs on Monday morning [about 35 minutes] after 9 a.m... Rosh Hashanah [Tishri 1] is postponed to the next day" (p. 219).

Postponement 4 was also made for astronomical reasons—to ensure that each "common year succeeding a leap year" would always fall within the required length of all "common years," that is 353, 354 or 355 days.

See previous comment...

The four postponements that the Jews incorporate in the Hebrew calendar were put there for specific purposes—the chief purpose being to avoid certain Sabbath observance problems that otherwise would have resulted when two successive Sabbaths (i.e. tandem Sabbaths) occurred.

Preventing or Minimizing Tandem Sabbaths?

7) Doesn’t the fact that tandem Sabbaths occur annually at Pentecost (which is always preceded by the weekly Sabbath) prove that we don’t need to be concerned about having Sabbaths back-to-back?

We must remember that during most of the history of mankind, the masses lived in an agriculturally based society, and did not have modern electrical appliances, running water, refrigeration, etc. Consequently, they could not have prepared food and kept it for several days without it spoiling.

Which is precisely why God gave the command that on the Holy Days we are to do no work "except what every man must eat" Ex 12:16. God permits food preparation on the Holy Days.

The four postponements in the Hebrew calendar reduce the "tandem Sabbath" problem to a bare minimum.They were never intended to totally prevent, but merely to minimize, the number of tandem Sabbaths that could occur in any one year Therefore the Jewish religious authorities deliberately included the postponements.

But they were given no Biblical authority to do so!

Now, there are modern "Pharisees" who think it was not proper for the Jewish religious authorities to include any postponements in the calendar; but they utterly fail to understand thatGod is far more concerned with the avoidance of undue human hardship on His Sabbaths (Mark 2:27-28), than in making sure the Jews always observe the beginning of their months precisely on the very day on which the new crescent moon first appears!

God commands specific days on which to observe His Holy Days. Sure, he doesn’t want to give us "undue hardship", but just because we may think something is difficult doesn’t mean we have a right to change the day on which we keep His Holy Days. If anyone had permission to do such a thing, He would have told us that.

8) Is there further proof that God did not intend for the months to always begin at some "mathematically precise" moment?

When, for instance, the weather was cloudy at the time of the New Moon, it was sometimes impossible for anyone to see the crescent moon on the first day of its appearance. In such cases, the Jewish religious authorities then automatically counted that day as the "thirtieth day" of the month (the months of the Sacred Calendar never had more than 30 days!), and then postponed the beginning of the first day of their next month until the following day.

This is a matter of the authorities making a judgment call and doing the best they can to obey God when the weather has actually prevented them from seeing the signs in the sky. This is not someone deliberately choosing to push the month back a couple days just to make things more convenient. Not the same thing at all.

Clearly, if that day hadn’t been cloudy, and if the observers had seen a new crescent moon on the "thirtieth day," they would have proclaimed that particular month to be a 29-day month. Consequently, they would have begun the first day of the next month on that very day when they first sighted the new crescent moon (cf. Judaica, "Calendar," vol. 8).

Reconciling Astronomy and Religion

9) How did the priests determine when to intercalate a thirteenth month?

The Comprehensive Hebrew Calendar explains: "Astronomical calculation was not the only basis for intercalation of a thirteenth month. The delay of the actual arrival of spring was another decisive factor.The talmudic sources report that the [Calendar] Council intercalated a year when the barley in the fields had not yet ripened [enough to provide the omer, Lev. 23:11].... The Council on intercalation considered the astronomical facts together with the religious requirements of Passover and the natural conditions of the country" (p. 1 ).

The Jewish high priests and their courts had authority to add a thirteenth month when agricultural conditions in the Holy Land indicated that, if a thirteenth month was not intercalated (thereby delaying the beginning of the new year by one whole month), the barley would not have been mature enough to present the required wave offering (Lev. 23:9-14)!

Yes, they had authority to have a 13th month because God’s commandments specifically say that the year begins in the month of Abib (young ears of barley)! To wait until the barley is there for the wave sheaf offering is in complete accordance with God’s word. Any other postponement, however, is not in accordance with God’s word and no authority is given to the priests or anyone else to add them.

This agricultural requirement is corroborated by The Illustrated Bible Dictionary: "Pentecost... marks the completion of the barley harvest, which began when the sickle was first put to the grain (Deut. 16:9), and when the sheaf [Heb. Omer] was waved ‘the morrow after the Sabbath’ (Lev. 23:11)" (1994, vol. 3).

TheEncyclopaedia Judaica states, "‘The required adjustment [postponing the beginning of the year] is realized by the addition of an extra month (Adar II) in each of seven out of the 19 years that constitute the small (or lunar) cycle of the moon (mahazor katan or mahazor halevanah). In 19 years the solar cycle exceeds the lunar cycle (of 235 lunations) by about 209 days, which are approximately 7 months.... In Temple times 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, 11, 14, 17, and 19 of the cycle" ("Calendar." vol. 5).

As long as the Temple stood, that is, up until 70 A.D., the Jewish religious authorities sometimes had to intercalate a thirteenth month in order to ensure that the barley would be ripe enough for the omer offering. Thus, it is clear that the Jews not only sometimes postponed the beginning of Tishri by a day or two, but they sometimes postponed the beginning of the ecclesiastical year (Nisan 1 ) by a whole month—thereby postponing all the Holy Days for that year! After 70 A.D., the Temple was no more. Therefore, the priests could no longer offer the required omer during the Days of Unleavened Bread.

Compelling Evidence

What is the very best evidence proving decisively that it is not only permissible to use postponements, but is impossible not to use them if we are to have a viable calendar for observing God’s Festivals?

Clearly, as we have seen, it is sometimes necessary to postpone Tishri 1 by a day or two. Likewise, it is indisputable that the entire year must be postponed by a whole month from time to time. These steps are necessary to synchronize the lunar and solar years.

Moreover, those who object to the postponements, which are built into the permanent Hebrew calendar, should carefully consider that when the New Moon appeared late in the day (12 noon or later),it was absolutely necessary to delay the beginning of Tishri 1—otherwise it would not have been possible to have informed God’s people (by officially proclaiming that day as Tishri 1), and consequently there would have been insufficient time in which to properly observe the Feast of Trumpets. If the New Moon appeared immediately after 12 noon, less than six hours would remain in that day, therefore one could at most only observe one-quarter of the day—not a complete day of Trumpets—that is, unless Tishri 1 was postponed. Presumably, a six-hour minimum would have given just enough time in which to notify God’s people, so they could assemble in a "holy convocation" as commanded on the Feast of Trumpets (Lev. 23:24-26).

By this same logic someone who is traveling far away would be freed from keeping any of the Holy Days because a messenger couldn’t make it to them to officially proclaim the month. As long as you have functioning eyes, you can see the New Moon.

Today, there are "legalists" who object to the postponements. They would—in Christ’s words—"strain out a gnat [a one- or two-day postponement] and swallow a camel [a 30-day postponement]" (Matt. 23:24)! They would disallow a one- or two-day postponement at the beginning of Tishri, but would be forced to acknowledge that the Jewish religious authorities had the authority to intercalate a whole month (Ve-Adar or Adar II), in order to make certain that the barley would be ripe enough for the omer, as demanded by God’s law (Lev. 23: I 1 ).

Again, is it okay to keep the Sabbath on Sunday? When God gives a specific day, one or two days does make a difference. And Again, the 13th month thing ("30-day postponement") is not a "postponement"...it’s following God’s specific commands regarding when the year begins (in the spring).

One further question may come to mind regarding the observance of Pentecost. If we believe the Jews have accurately preserved God’s Calendar, why do we differ with them on when to observe this Holy Day? The answer lies in the Jews’ interpretation of the date from which to begin "counting fifty." (For a full exposition on this topic, please write for our reprint article on how to properly determine the day of Pentecost.)

An Inescapable Conclusion

What is the inescapable conclusion the foregoing facts lead us to? God authorized the "Jews" (primarily the priests and Levites) to preserve the knowledge of His Sacred Calendar—now known as the Hebrew calendar.The Lord gave certain instructions regarding the calendar to Moses to give to Aaron and his sons so they could pass them down to future generations (Lev. 23:1-2). Later, God may have given further oral instructions regarding His Calendar to His holy prophets. If God has not preserved His Calendar through the Jews,then no one today has God-given authority to devise his own calendar. Why not? Simply because the Scriptures do not give sufficient information for anyone to properly reconstruct the Sacred Calendar!

That knowledge is preserved in the Bible.

He gave it through Moses and told him to tell the information to the children of Israel. The information He gave them is contained in the same chapter if you continue reading on.

Furthermore, no biblical or historical sources indicate that Christ and His apostles had any calendar disputes with the Jews (the Sadducees were then in control of the calendar and the Temple ritual until a short time before the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D!) regarding the calendar that they were using in New Testament times.

Yes, that’s because there weren’t any issues with the calendar at that time. The problems are the changes that have been added in after that time.

When we consider all the scriptures pertaining to the calendar, it becomes clear thatGod’s people ought to follow the example of Jesus Christ and His New Testament Church by using the Hebrew calendar (Rom. 3:2)—rather than groping around trying to devise their own unauthorized calendars! (Judges 21:25).

Jesus Christ followed the calendar system that was around at the time...actual observation of the new moon and the ripening barley. The Jews themselves admit that observation is the way things were done at the time of the temple and that they switched to the current fixed system well after Christ’s death (of course they’ll give you the years rather than mentioning anything about our Savior whom they rejected).

Astronomical Calculations and the Postponements

Some say that by using certain astronomical calculations we can actually determine the exact position of the phases of the moon for past years—including the year of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion. Others, however, don’t believe astronomical calculations are totally reliable. They claim there are too many imponderables in regard to the use of astronomical tables to know precisely the time of day on which the astronomical New Moon (the molad) occurred in 31 A.D., the year of Christ’s crucifixion—or the precise hour when the new crescent moon appeared on either Tishri 1or Nisan 1 of that same year. Such astronomical calculations, intended to prove the use of postponements in Christ’s time, appear to be unreliable!

In any case, there is insufficient evidence for anyone to construct an accurate, visible "Sacred Calendar"—from the Bible alone! But God Almighty did not leave us in the dark. He saw to it that important knowledge of His calendar was preserved through the Jews. Of all the people of Israel, only the Jews continued keeping God’s Holy Days, and only they preserved the knowledge of His Sacred Calendar!

GOD preserved the knowledge of His Sacred Calendar (the credit doesn’t go to the Jews or to anyone else) and He preserved it in His word, the Bible. We can, however, look to Jewish records as backup support that what we see in the Bible is really how things were carried out. As this article even admits, the current Hebrew calendar only hits the mark 40% of the time! If that’s a failing grade on a test in school, what is it in God’s eyes? Even if the Bible didn’t give us all the information we need about the calendar and only the Jews had it, that never gives them the authority to CHANGE the system. If Jewish history tells us how things used to be done and also that they took it upon themselves to CHANGE it, shouldn’t we follow the original system rather than the one later devised by the Jews?

The Hebrew Calendar-Part 1

Is It Valid for the Church Today?

By John H. Ogwyn

Since 1986, the calendar has been a recurring source of doctrinal controversy in the Church of God. Many articles and papers have proposed different methods of calculating the dates of the annual festivals, and at least a half-dozen different calendars and calculation methods have been offered.

This has troubled many sincere brethren who want to do what pleases God. With all the controversy, they are unsure. But does God really expect each individual Church member to become an expert on calendar matters?

We can understand the "calendar issue" by asking three simple questions, and then answering them from the Bible. Do the rules of the current Hebrew calendar conform to Biblical principles and guidelines? Does God expect each Christian to determine the calendar for himself, or did He entrust some authority to make calendar decisions? And can we really know what calendar Jesus Christ and His Apostles used?

Is the Hebrew Calendar Based Upon the Bible?

Does the Bible give guidelines regarding the calendar we should use in observing God’s festivals? If so, what are those guidelines and where do we find them? First, let us ask whether the calendar should be based on physical sighting of the new moon, or whether it should be based on calculation. Some argue that the only valid way to begin a new month is to actually see the faint crescent of the new moon. Does the Bible resolve this argument? Absolutely!

The Hebrew word chodesh is translated "month" in most English-language Bibles. Its root meaning involves "making new" or "repairing." The moon orbits the earth, going through its phases as its position changes in relation to the sun and the earth. Approximately every 29-and-a-half days, the moon comes into exact conjunction between the earth and the sun, and the three orbs are in a straight line with one another (though not necessarily on the same plane). In conjunction, the moon is totally dark, reflecting none of the sun’s light. As it moves westward, away from conjunction, it again begins to reflect light. Depending on the observer’s location and the earth’s position at conjunction, the new moon will generally not be visible until one or two days after the conjunction.

Note that basing the new month upon physical sighting of the new moon would require keeping the Feast of Trumpets for two days! An observer cannot know, in advance, on which day he might see the new moon. Depending upon the exact time of conjunction, he might see the crescent on either the 30th or 31st day after the last new crescent. Since days begin at sunset, observers would have to keep the 30th day after the new crescent of Elul (6th month) as holy time, as they might see the new crescent that evening, though they would more commonly see it on the following evening.

No, you would not need to keep Trumpets for two days. As stated, a day begins at sunset (and thus, a month also begins at sunset). If the new moon isn’t visible by sunset, then that day doesn’t begin the new month and you don’t keep that day as a Holy Day. If you first see the new moon sometime after sunset, the next full day (beginning at the next sunset) would be the Holy Day. Also, although there are many calculations available today that can often give you a very accurate idea of when the new moon will be visible, there is no requirement that you absolutely have to know in advance.

For this reason, even in the land of Israel, Jews who follow the Pharisees’ traditions observe the Feast of Trumpets for two days back-to-back. Without making it a two-day celebration to ensure that the right day is observed, it is impossible to base the celebration of the Feast of Trumpets, the first day of the seventh month, on physical sighting of the new moon. Yet upon examining Leviticus 23 and Numbers 29, it is clear that the Feast of Trumpets must be observed for one day rather than two. This alone mandates a calculated calendar, in which the new moon day is determined in advance.

No. If you want to plan in advance, you may have to plan that the day might be either one of two days, but by the time of sunset you’d know if that day was the 1st of the month or not, so you wouldn’t actually have to keep two days. The Jewish tradition of keeping two days doesn’t mean that this is the only possible way. Jewish history shows that visible observation was used at the time of Christ and there is no record of His either keeping Trumpets for two days or of Him diverging from the way that the Jews did things at the time.

Another even more significant issue—the intercalary year—also requires a calendar calculated in advance. Intercalary years are those in which a 13th month is added. Twelve lunar months are equal to just over 354 days. A solar year is equal to just over 365 days. Using a calendar based only on 12 lunar months, this 11-day difference would cause the festivals to occur about a month earlier every three years in relation to the solar year and the seasons. Yet Leviticus 23:10-11 mandates that the priests should offer an omer of barley as a wave offering to God on the Sunday during the Days of Unleavened Bread, beginning the 50-day count to Pentecost. Clearly, this required that the first month, Abib or Nisan, could not be allowed to fall so early that no ripe grain would be available for the offering. This required the addition of a 13th month about every three years. But how was this addition determined?

No, it doesn’t require calculating in advance. All it requires is waiting until the signs of spring are there before starting your new year.

Those who argue for direct physical sighting assert that the priests examined the grain crop each year before the end of the 12th month, and if they saw that it would not be ripe soon enough they added a 13th month to postpone the first month for about 30 days. The only alternative would be a regular cycle, calculated by the priests, to determine which years had 12 and which had 13 months. Is there biblical evidence as to the priests’ practice? There certainly is!

The GCN Article "Which Calendar Has God Authorized" even admits and gives historical references supporting the fact that the priests did in fact examine the agricultural conditions and the barley in order to make this decision. Now this article is denying it.

Acts 2, for instance, reminds us that Jews came to Jerusalem from all over the known world. If the decision regarding the 13th month were made a few weeks before Passover, how would Jews all over the world have known when to come to Jerusalem or, for that matter, when to celebrate Passover in their own area? Significant numbers would either have been a month early or a month late! Remember, they could not call ahead on the telephone or check someone’s Web site! There was either an established pattern followed, or there would have been confusion among Jews throughout the Diaspora.

From all over the known world? Really? Where does it say that? It does say that they came to the same place and mentions that there were people who were born in several different countries, but when the apostles were speaking to the people it also refers to the people as "men of Judaea, and all [ye] that dwell at Jerusalem". No indication that they had just recently come from "all over the known world".

Again, the other article even admits that they used to go by visual observation. It suggests that they likely used calculations along side, but still always used visual observation to make the call. It wasn’t until the 4th century that Hillel switched to using a fixed calendar that no longer made the call using visual observation. This is what the Jews themselves (who we’ve been following) say about the matter. But now we’re claiming that somehow they’re all wrong about their own history and no, they really must have used a calculated calendar at the time because visual observation couldn’t possibly have worked? If they’re the ones who are supposed to have preserved the calendar, wouldn’t you think they would know better than we do about that? Visual observation can definitely work because visually observation is something ANYONE with functioning eyes can do! God gives the dates of His Holy Days based on the new moon. Sure it’s best to have a central authority to make sure everyone is on the same page and avoid confusion, but if someone is too far off from Jerusalem for contact, then they can watch for the signs where they are at. Yes, in a society without phones or the internet that could possibly mean someone doesn’t keep a Holy Day at the right time, but at least they are trying the very best that they can. If we ask for God’s guidance as we watch for His signs, He who is not limited can surely help us to be correct 100% of the time! Who are we to say the system couldn’t work when God’s the one who put the system in place? Have faith in God and obey Him and He will show us the way! The current fixed calendar system misses the mark much more frequently than we would with visual observation and a submitted heart. In fact, the current Jewish calendar doesn’t even attempt to "get it right", just to be somewhere in the general vicinity and average out. Is it more important to do all in your power to keep the Holy Days at the RIGHT time or to make sure that everyone is doing it at the SAME time—even if that means that EVERYONE is keeping it at the WRONG time?

How could a calculated calendar have been figured anciently? In antiquity, man had only two ways of knowing the time of the new moon. One was by physical sighting of the crescent; the other was by calculation based upon the average time between conjunctions.

Some today wish to offer a substitute calendar based not on averages or observation, but on figures they have obtained from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) or the U.S. Naval Observatory. These figures are derived from satellite observation and are supposed to be more exact than the averages from which the traditional Hebrew calendar was calculated.

Please understand, if there is one calendar that we can absolutely prove that Christ and the Apostolic Church DID NOT use, it is one based on satellite observation! The only calculated calendar that could possibly be used until after about 1968 was one based upon the average length of time between conjunctions.

It’s also a pretty safe assumption that Christ and the Apostles didn’t use a calendar that wasn’t put into practice until the 4th century!

God gives specific dates on which His Holy Days occur...Those specific dates are based on the new moon and God doesn’t work with averages. What good would it do for God to give a specific day of the month if the day that the month starts on is arbitrary? If you want to use some sort of calculations or guesstimates along the side to get an idea of when the upcoming Holy Days might occur, go right ahead. There’s nothing to say that you can’t do that. Just don’t forget that you have to actually make sure those calculations or guesstimates are actually lining up with reality! That’s what the current Jewish Calendar is missing...as long as they’re "close" to the mark and averaging out, they don’t care if they miss the actual mark the majority of the time. Even one day off from the Sabbath would have us keeping Sunday. Even one day matters to God. God instructs us on when to keep His Holy Days based on the new moon...not based on some calculated average of when the new moon may or may not actually occur. And God says that a year begins in the month of Abib (young ears of barley), not with some calculated average of when the month of Abib may or may not actually be.

How were these averages obtained? Conjunctions of the sun, moon and earth are invisible except during a solar eclipse. Solar eclipses can occur only at the time of the new moon. Because the moon’s orbit is normally a few degrees above or below the plane of the earth-sun orbit, it is usually invisible when it is lined up in a direct line with the earth and sun-the time of conjunction. However, when the moon is on the exact plane of the earth-sun orbit, it will block the sun as it moves across, thereby making an eclipse of the sun.

A lunar eclipse, which can be seen on earth far more frequently than a solar eclipse, is the exact opposite of a solar eclipse. It can occur only at the time of the full moon, exactly halfway between conjunctions, when the moon is on the opposite side of the earth from the sun. By carefully recording the time of such eclipses and calculating the amount of time between them, the ancients were able to arrive at the average length of time between conjunctions. We speak of an "average" because the actual length can vary from month to month by a few hours, primarily because of the earth’s elliptical orbit around the sun and the resulting variation in the sun’s gravitational pull on the moon. While satellites may enable us to record conjunctions that are invisible from earth, ancient man could only calculate based upon averages.

Using eclipses, the average length of time between conjunctions of the sun, moon and earth can be calculated. This figure can then be used to calculate the new moon for years-and centuries-in advance. While the exact conjunction (invisible from earth anyway, except during a solar eclipse) may vary from the calculated molad (a Hebrew term referring to the "birth" of the moon) by up to a few hours, the calculations average out over time. And they are always very close; not accumulating lost or gained time even over many centuries.

The Hebrew calendar uses 29 days, 12 hours and 793 parts (an hour contains 1,080 parts) as the duration of the average lunar month. This works out to 29.53059 days in decimal form. According to the 15th edition of Encyclopedia Britannica, modern astronomers using satellites and computers have come up with the figure 29.530589-one one-millionth of a day difference!

How did the Hebrew calendar come to use such an accurate figure for the average length of the month? Some contend that they adopted their number from Babylonian or Greek astronomers. There is a problem with that theory, however. The figure used by the Greeks, Babylonians and Egyptians was not as accurate as that used by the Jews! If we grant that Israel of old borrowed the number from one of their ancient neighbors, then why did they modify it? How did they know to modify it just the right amount, making it more exact than the one used by anyone else? Remember, the figure used anciently to calculate the Hebrew calendar, 29.53059 days per month, was the same one used by NASA up through 1968 when satellite and computer technology allowed them to take the number out one more decimal place. How could an ancient Israelite mathematician have arrived at a more exact figure than his contemporaries? Exodus 31:1-11 shows that God’ s Spirit empowered two men, Bezalel and Aholiab, to have special understanding and knowledge in being able to craft the items needed for the tabernacle.Did God’s Spirit also lead someone to have special ability for making astronomical calculations to fix the calendar? Clearly, someone did make a calculation that remained unsurpassed until the decade when the United States put a man on the moon!

Yes, it is quite impressive that someone was able to come up with such a close "average". And perhaps God did have a hand in giving someone this mathematical ability to be used as a planning aid. However, the fact remains that God gives us His Holy Day dates based on the new moon and (as admitted in the GCN "Which Calendar Has God Authorized" article) the current fixed Hebrew Calendar only begins its months with the actual new moon 40% of the time! If God wanted someone to "fix the calendar", don’t you think He would have wanted them to hit the mark a bit more often than that? Not to mention that if He had given someone the authority to switch to a fixed calendar, wouldn’t He have told us?

Does the Bible support using eclipses to calculate the length of time from one new moon to another? It certainly does! Notice Genesis 1:14. God set the sun and the moon for signs and seasons. The Hebrew word for sign, ‘ot, is a term that often refers to remarkable and dramatic signs. It is used in Exodus 4:8-9 for instance, to describe the dramatic wonders that God worked in ancient Egypt. There are no more dramatic signs designed into the interaction of the sun and moon than solar and lunar eclipses. These signs provide the basis of a calculated calendar.

Well, yes, the Bible clearly says the sun and moon are for signs & seasons, but they’re for signs and seasons whether you use calculations or not. The going down of the sun tells you when a day begins. The new moon tells you when the month begins and the sun causes the seasonal changes that tell you when a year begins.

Additionally, the heavenly bodies were for what the King James Version calls "seasons" and the Jewish Publication Society Version calls "appointed times." The Hebrew word is mo’ed. This is the term used in Psalm 104:19 where we learn that God "has appointed the moon for seasons [mo’ed]." In other words, the phases of the moon determine the progression of the month. God’s annual festivals are either connected to the new moon at the beginning of the month or the full moon at the middle of the month.

Other biblical guidelines concern the seasonal timing of the Passover festival and the Feast of Tabernacles. We are told that Unleavened Bread is to be celebrated in the month of Abib, which means "green ears" (Exodus 23:15). From Leviticus 23 we also learn that once Israel entered the Promised Land there was to be a priestly ceremony involving the offering of the wave sheaf, the omer, on the Sunday during the Days of Unleavened Bread. The grain harvest could not begin until after that occasion. These stipulations require that Passover come in early spring.

Also, Exodus 34:22 refers to the Feast of Tabernacles as coming at the "end of the year" (Hebrew, tekufah). This term literally means a "circuit" or "revolution" of time—a cycle. In later Rabbinic Hebrew, tekufah became a technical term referring to the equinox and, by extension, to the season following. However, we must be careful about ascribing to Moses the technical usage of medieval rabbis. The term, used only four times in the Old Testament, was originally more general in its meaning. It is the term in 1 Samuel 1:20 that refers to the cycle of time between Hannah’s conception and the birth of Samuel. In 2 Chronicles 24:23, tekufah refers to the time of the year when Syria attacked Judah. The other place it is used is in Psalm 19:6 where it refers to the sun’s daily circuit across the heavens. Exodus 34:22 thus implies that the Feast of Tabernacles should occur when the cycle of the agricultural year is complete, about the time that summer gives way to fall. This point is made in a slightly different manner in Exodus 23:16. Again the King James Version translates that the Feast of Tabernacles is to occur at the "end of the year," but this time uses a completely different word, meaning literally "the going out" of the year. It is the same term used in Exodus 13:8 to refer to Israel going out of Egypt. In other words, the Feast of Tabernacles comes at "the going out" of the harvest season of the agricultural year, right after the time when the harvest would be gathered into barns (that is why the term "Feast of Ingathering" is used), to protect it from the upcoming rainy season. This festival season of the seventh month was celebrated when summer was giving way to fall. To insist that tekufah could not refer to so much as one day before the autumnal equinox is to take a definition from the Talmud—not the Bible—and insist upon reading it back into scriptures written more than 16 centuries earlier.

We have seen that the Bible gives guidelines that require a calculated calendar, such as Trumpets being celebrated for one day and not two. It also shows that the interactions of the sun, moon and earth were to be factored in so that the numbering of the days of the month would be connected with the phases of the moon. We have also seen that celebration of the festivals is tied both to the beginning of the grain harvest and to the time when crops were to be gathered into barns at the end of summer. But are other aspects of the calendar, such as the so-called "postponements," also necessary and based on biblical guidelines?

We must note that in the Hebrew calendar, the new moon of the seventh month (Tishri) is calculated, rather than the new moon of the first month (Abib). As this is the only new moon that is designated as holy time, it is also the new moon that is most essential to determine. The other holy days are figured from it. There is also an astronomical reason for this practice, since the time from the vernal equinox (spring) to the following autumnal equinox (fall) is about a week longer than from the autumnal equinox to the following vernal equinox.

The "postponements" are simply calendar adjustments that determine which day should be proclaimed as the first day of Tishri. While there are generally said to be four postponement rules, actually there are two primary ones. The other two are just logical extensions of the first two, to ensure that a year does not have too many or too few days.

And in the current fixed Jewish calendar what does it mean to adjust which day is to be proclaimed as the first day of Tishri? As mentioned in the previous paragraph, all the other Holy Days are figured from that day. So, by "adjusting" this one day, you’re also "adjusting" when ALL of the Holy Days occur.

The first rule we should look at states that if the calculated conjunction, the molad of Tishri, occurs after noon on a given day, the first day of the month is "postponed" until the following day. This rule results from the way time is measured on a round earth, and the length of time the moon takes to move out of conjunction and beyond the arc of the sun. After all, the term for "new moon" in scripture refers to the "repairing" of the moon. While a calculated calendar does not require that the visible crescent be sighted, it should at least be theoretically possible to sight that crescent. And it takes six hours past the conjunction before the moon has moved far enough beyond the sun’s arc to begin reflecting light once again—the "repairing" of the moon Whether or not a reflection is actually seen is purely incidental, as the calendar is based upon the calculated averages. Clearly though, this postponement rule is not merely based upon a Pharisaic tradition, rather, it is mandated by Scripture and by astronomy.

Yes, of course it should "at least be theoretically possible to sight that crescent", but scripture mandates more than just being "theoretically possible"! Scripture mandates that you count the Holy Days from the new moon! Yet this article just admitted that the calculated calendar is just based on averages and it’s purely incidental whether or not the new moon can actually be seen! As a side note, this explanation of the reasoning for this rule seems to contradict the reasoning given in the other article.

The other main rule is that if the calculated molad of Tishri occurs on a Sunday, Wednesday or Friday, the first day of the month (which will be the Feast of Trumpets) is considered to begin on the following day, i.e., Monday, Thursday or Saturday. What is the scriptural basis for this? In Leviticus 23, where God first gave Moses a detailed list of His festivals, He explained that these days’ levels of sanctity fell into two categories. For six of these days—the first and seventh Day of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Trumpets, the first day of Tabernacles and the Eighth Day—Moses was to instruct Israel that "no servile work" be done. However, the weekly Sabbath and the Day of Atonement were different. On these two days, "no work whatsoever" was to be done. Clearly God placed these two days in a slightly different category than the others. Additionally, in describing Trumpets, the first day of Tabernacles, and the Last Great Day the term shabbaton, translated "Sabbath," was used. For the weekly Sabbath and the Day of Atonement a different descriptive term—Shabbat shabbaton—was used, translated "a Sabbath of rest."

Recognizing that God set the weekly Sabbath and the Day of Atonement apart in their level of sanctity, the Levitical priesthood sought to implement these instructions in proclaiming the festivals. They realized that the Day of Atonement, a shabbat shabbaton upon which "no work whatsoever" was to be done, should not be the preparation day for the weekly Sabbath (which would occur if the first of Tishri came on a Wednesday). Additionally, they avoided the weekly Sabbath being the preparation day for Atonement, which would happen if Tishri 1 fell on a Friday.

The Levitical priesthood? There’s no evidence whatsoever that this postponement was in effect at the time of the Levitical priesthood. Not to mention that the Bible gives the dates of the Holy Days based on the new moon and there is no mention of any authority being given to the Levitical priesthood (or anyone else for that matter) to start the month on any other day. Sure, it may be difficult to prepare for the Sabbath if Atonement falls on the regular preparation day, but difficulty does not denote an exception to God’s command. Note also that the Bible refers to the preparation day as "the day before the Sabbath" rather than the 6th day. If the 6th day is also a Sabbath (Holy Day), then you simply prepare the day before that for both Sabbaths. The same goes with preparing on Friday for both Sabbaths if Sunday is Atonement.

This practice also avoided the weekly Sabbath, shabbat shabbaton, being the preparation day for the other three fall holy days which were only shabbaton, (this would occur if Tishri 1 came on a Sunday). Note that according to Exodus 12:16, the first and seventh days of Unleavened Bread in the spring were in a different category; God had specifically approved the preparation of food on these days. And Pentecost, of course, always fell on Sunday as a result of God-ordained calculation.

As the previous paragraph states, God set the Sabbath and Atonement apart in that on both days we are commanded not to do ANY work. However, if you look at Leviticus 23, you’ll see that ALL of the other Holy Days specify only that there should be no "SERVILE work". In the context of the Days of Unleavened Bread, Exodus 12 gives further insight into the meaning of "servile work" in that the preparation of food was specifically allowed. Therefore, we can see that God does not consider the preparation of food as "servile work"...because "servile work" was specifically prohibited on these days. Additionally, food preparation would have also been permitted on ANY of the Holy Days in which only "servile work" was prohibited (because food preparation is not "servile work"). So no, the Days of Unleavened Bread are not in a different category from any of the other Holy Days except for the Sabbath and Atonement. Therefore, food preparation is Biblically permitted on all of the fall Holy Days except Atonement...no excuse is granted here to "adjust" when God’s Holy Days fall.

Two other rules concerning postponements are really just logical extensions derived from the first two, regulating the number of days in a year so that the first of each month stays connected with the new moon.

Well I guess I can’t exactly argue with the concept of keeping the months connected with the new moon...that’s certainly important! However, if you simply start each month with the new moon as God commands, you don’t have to worry about special rules to keep your months in close proximity to the new moons because each month is already exactly there where it belongs!

The calendar adjustments regarding Tishri 1 are based upon instructions God gave to the Levitical priesthood through Moses in Leviticus 23. God made clear that two days—Sabbath and Atonement—had a special degree of sanctity, and based upon those instructions the priest- hood sought to conform their celebrations to His wishes.

God commands the days on which to observe His Holy Days based on the New Moon. He never gave anyone the authority to deviate from those commands! God never tells us that in order to keep the Sabbath and Atonement at the special degree of sanctity that HE established for them that anyone had the authority to move HIS Holy Days by even one day! The idea that this move is necessary is simply human reasoning and completely unBiblical.

Now for Part 3