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Which Was The Month of Abib in 2002? By Frank Brown
Here are few subjects with more opinions than that concerning
the True Calendar that Yahweh gave to His people. Why should this be so
important? It is primarily because the timing of the Annual Holy Days that were
given to Moses depends on it. If we do not know how and when to begin the Sacred year, then we cannot hope to keep the Holy
Days at the right times. Of course, there are some who do not understand that we
are to keep the “Old Testament” festivals, so some explanation is in order.
Let’s begin at the beginning. In Genesis 1:14-19, we find that Yahweh, during creation
week, fore-ordained the heavenly bodies for some definite and very important
functions. (Gen 1:14-19 KJV) "And Elohim said, Let there be lights
in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them
be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: {15} And
let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the
earth: and it was so. {16} And Elohim made two great lights; the greater light
to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars
also. {17} And Elohim set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light
upon the earth, {18} And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide
the light from the darkness: and Elohim saw that it was good. {19} And the
evening and the morning were the fourth day." Notice the underlined words; signs and seasons. “Signs” is defined
in Strong’s Exhaustive Hebrew Dictionary as follows: 226. 'owth, oth; prob. from H225 (in the sense of appearing);
a signal (lit. or fig.), as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy,
evidence, etc.:--mark, miracle, (en-) sign, token. So we see that the heavenly bodies were given to be a signal,
a beacon, an omen, evidence, etc. “Seasons” is even more specific. Note one of the definitions
is “specifically a festival; conventionally a year; by implication an assembly
(as convened for a definite purpose)…” Notice again in Strong’s Hebrew
Dictionary. 4150. mow'ed, mo-ade'; or
mo'ed mo-ade'; or (fem.)
mow'adah (H2 Chron. 8 : 13), mo-aw-daw'; from H3259; prop. an
appointment, i.e. a fixed time or season; spec. a festival; conventionally a
year; by implication, an assembly (as convened for a definite purpose);
technically the congregation; by extension, the place of meeting; also a signal
(as appointed beforehand):--appointed (sign, time), (place of, solemn) assembly,
congregation, (set, solemn) feast, (appointed, due) season, solemn (-ity),
synagogue, (set) time (appointed). The dates of these moeds or moedim were to be set annually by
observation of the heavenly bodies, the sun and the moon. The heavenly bodies
were put in place as a perpetual calendar that was simple and accurate, and
their main purpose was so that the people could keep the annual High Sabbaths
at their appointed times in the proper seasons. We are told in Psalm 81:3, (Psa
81:3 KJV) "Blow up the trumpet in
the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day." The word for “New Moon’ in Hebrew
is ‘chodesh’ which literally means “New Moon.” The new moon begins each month.
This is when the tiny thin crescent first becomes visible in the western sky
shortly after sunset, after its period of “darkness,” when it is too close to
the sun to be seen. The word for “in the time
appointed” in Hebrew is ‘kece’ and means “fullness, the full moon, i.e. its
festival.” It is translated “full moon” in other versions. The full moon comes
in the middle of the month. One of the annual Sabbaths begins
with the new moon of the seventh month, Feast of Trumpets in the Fall, and two
begin with the full moon - Feast of Unleavened Bread, 15th of the
first month in the Spring, and Feast of Tabernacles, 15th of the
seventh month in the Fall. Psa
19:1-4 (NRSV) The heavens are telling the glory of El; and the firmament [sky]
proclaims his handiwork. Psa 19:2 Day to day
pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. Psa 19:3 There is no
speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; Psa 19:4 yet their
voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. Yes, the heavens are a silent
witness to us of His great handiwork and of His calendar in the sky. We are
without excuse if we ignore it. As soon as Yahweh created a
physical universe and earth, He instituted a calendar and began what we know as
“time.” He did that on the 4th day of creation in the previously
quoted Genesis 1:14, when He put the sun, moon and stars in the sky, as we have
seen. There is no question but that Noah
knew of this calendar, because of the meticulous account given of his
experiences in the ark. See Genesis 7, verses 10-13, 17, 24, Genesis 8:4-5,
13-14, all of which refer to specific dates and time spans. In Exodus 12:2, Yahweh told Moses
that ‘this month shall be the beginning of months to you. It shall be the first
month of the year for you.” The Hebrew word for “month” in this verse is
“chodesh,” and means “new moon.” He explains elsewhere [Lev. 23:10-11] that
this new moon is the one that comes in the spring, when the barley is beginning
to ripen. It was necessary to have a sheaf of ripe barley to make this “wave
sheaf offering” at the proper season. If you are not familiar with
Yahweh’s annual Holy Days, please read Leviticus 23. It explains all of them,
from the Passover in the Spring season, through the Feast of Tabernacles and
Last Great Day, in the Autumn season. They are all harvest festivals, and
correspond to different steps in Yahweh’s plan of salvation for all mankind -
His “harvest of souls.” There are 19 days in the Holy Day system, seven being
annual High Sabbaths, and the remaining 12 being regular days upon which work
is permitted. If you would like to know more
about these holy days and what they represent, write for my article, “The
Festivals of Yahweh.” They show
Yahweh’s plan of salvation pictured in His Holy Day system. It is free, of
course. For thousands of years the new moon
was sighted visually to establish the beginning of a new month. This system
worked well as long as the Jews were in their own land. But after the diasporas
in 70 and 135 C.E., when the Jews were dispersed throughout the world, the rabbis
and members of the Sanhedrin wanted a calendar whereby all the worldwide Jews
would observe the Holy Days at the same time. A noble ambition, but the way
they went about accomplishing it was not in accord with Scripture. Not only did
they devise a calculated calendar that was only loosely related to the actual
appearance of the new moon, but they also added rules called “postponements” so
that certain Holy Days could not fall on certain days of the week. For example,
if the Day of Atonement would fall on a Friday or a Sunday, they would
“postpone” declaring a new moon until the next day. They unified the Jews, all right,
but at what cost? They are now unified in error, and have been for the last
1,643 years, ever since Rabbi Hillel II in 358-359 C.E. published the erstwhile
secret calendar rules with the new postponements and other non-Scriptural rules
added. The purpose of all this was to
insure that their man-made traditions about Sabbath observance and other things
would not be violated by having a Holy Day fall at the “wrong time.” But if there were “wrong times” for them to
fall, Yahweh would have certainly made it known, and it would be recorded in
the Scriptures. “The motivation of wanting to prevent certain Holy Days from
falling on certain “inconvenient” days of the week is unbiblical and is NEVER
acceptable.” Note these comments from Jewish
authorities: "The
first appearance of the new moon determines the beginning of the month . . . .
It may, therefore happen that in different places the reappearance of the moon
is noticed on different days. In order to prevent possible confusion, to the
central religious authority, the chief of the Sanhedrin, in conjunction with at
least two colleagues, was entrusted with the determination of new moon day for
the whole nation. " This is
the way it was until changed in 358-359 C.E. "Up
to the middle of the 4th century C.E., the Palestinian patriarchate retained
the prerogative of determining the calendar, and guarded the secrets of its
calculation against the attempts of the rapidly advancing communities in
Babylonia to have a voice in its determination. It was not until after
Christianity had become dominant in the Roman Empire [under Constantine], and
the Christian rulers forbade the Jewish religious leadership to proclaim leap
years or to communicate with the Jews outside the empire, that it was
determined to abandon the method of official proclamation of months and years
and to fix the calendar in permanent form. The patriarch Hillel II, in 359,
decided to publish the rules for the calculation of the calendar, so that all
Jews everywhere might be able to determine for themselves and to observe the
festivals on the same day. From that time on the Jewish calendar has been
stabilized." (Universal Jewish Encyclopedia) "In
accordance with this system, 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" (p.2,
Arthur Spier’s “The Comprehensive Jewish Calendar”). The following excerpt from the
Karaite Calendar, Determining the Day of Rosh Hodesh by the Court for the
Establishment of the Calendar,” by
Magdi Shamuel, says this: Establishing the beginning
of months (Rosh Hodesh) through sighting the New Moon is an ancient law in
Israel. The antiquity of this practice is documented in many early sources,
Karaite as well as Rabbanite. The decree of establishing the Rosh Hodesh on the
basis of calculations which are unconnected to the appearance of the moon was
enacted by the Rabbanite, Hillel the Elder. The method was guarded as a secret
to keep the people from knowing about the change and therefore was called by
our brothers the Rabbanites “The Secret of Intercalation” (this is testified to
in many Rabbinite works, for example “Magid Harakia” page 35). Although our brothers the
Rabbanites abandoned the sighting of the new Moon they know it to be the
correct law and believe that at some future time they will return to that
method and they have even required people to learn how to fulfill this
commandment so that they will be prepared to do so when the time comes. At a
lecture at a scientists’ convention at Ariel in Samaria, Professor Ariel Cohen
stated “Since the Hebrew Calendar is in error, why don’t we correct it now?” In
addition, there are those among our brothers the Rabbinites who are awakening
to return to the fulfillment of this commandment. But, as bad as the above scenario
is, where the Rabbanite Jews use a calendar that practically guarantees keeping
the Holy Days at least one day off, in some years, they are off by an
entire month. This year, 2002, is one of them. Remember that one of the
requirements of the Holy Days is to keep them in their proper “seasons.” That is spring season, and
fall season. None occur in winter or summer seasons. They are harvest
festivals. The first, Passover, Firstfruits and Unleavened Bread, is at the
time of barley harvest, which comes in early spring during the first month of
the Sacred year; the next one, Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), is at wheat harvest,
and comes in late spring, during the third Scriptural month. The latter Festivals occur in the
seventh Scriptural month, in Autumn: The Feast of Trumpets on the first day;
the Day of Atonement on the tenth day; the Feast of Tabernacles on the 15th
through the 21st days, and the “Last Great Day” on the 22nd
day of this seventh month. These days must occur within their
respective seasons. If any come in winter or summer, then you have picked the
wrong month to start your year. And that is precisely what I did late last year
when determining the New Moons for 2002. I chose the New Moon of what I thought
would be the first Scriptural month. Then later I realized that this could not
be right. There were still five days of winter in the month I had chosen. And
worse yet, that would have required the first three Holy Days of the Fall
season to take place in summer, two full weeks before Autumn
begins. Although I caught this error and
changed it on the web site, it was too late to change the dates in the
newsletter. And I heard about it, too. Brethren from Canada to South Africa,
and points all across the USA were quick to call my attention to it. My thanks
to all of you. I would like to quote from one
letter I received second-hand (meaning it was written to another Brother, who
then sent it to me). No names, as the recipient is still in one of the churches
that broke from the WCG, which still blindly and doggedly follows the Rabbanite
Jewish calendar which has time and again been shown to be unscriptural and
erroneous, even by the Jews who use it, as we have seen. This church leadership
simply refuses to discuss it. He says: “There seems to be no
end of ways people try to justify sticking to the Jewish postponements. There
is conflict between Biblical instruction and the Hebrew calculated calendar.
John 10:35 tells us Scripture cannot be broken. Any discrepancies between the
Bible and the so-called “oral law” have to be resolved in favor of the written
words of (Yahweh). A study of the Mishna will show that there are not only
discrepancies in regard to the calendar, but in many areas, proving it to be
spurious. We must remember that (the Messiah) castigated the Jews very strongly
in Matthew 23 and other passages because of their additions to the Old
Testament and their traditions of men. At the end of the chapter He dismissed
them until they would honor those He would send--the Apostles and New Testament
(Assembly). Paul clearly states in Colossians 2:16-17 that the calendar is a
“church” matter--they were not to listen to ANY man (Chinese, German, Jew or
anyone else) but to the assembly in this matter. Paul blistered the Jews in
Romans 3 for their unrighteousness. Ironically, this is right after the
supposed “oracles” passage in 3:1-2 which is used by some to attempt to
validate the Jewish calendar. Genesis 1:14 is an important key.
(Yahweh) tells us to use the heavenly bodies to keep track of time and use them
for signs, seasons, days and years. In other words, a calendar. The Jews
recognize the clock in the sky. They simply choose not to follow it. We must
keep seasons, days and years implicitly by the signs or signals in the heavens,
specifically the sun and moon, verses 14-18. The sun is included, not just the
moon. Both are necessary to determine the entire calendar. Sunset determines the day. The new
moon determines the beginning of the new month. The four circuits of the sun
determine the seasons and hence are important in determining the year. ……. The first month of the year is
declared to be Abib--the month they came out of Egypt, in the Spring. How do we
calculate this month to begin the new year? The Spring equinox is the change of
the seasons from winter to spring. We use the sun as per Genesis 1:14 to
determine this. The equinox, then, is the first signal (sign, Gen. 1:14) that
we have a new year. The first new moon after the Spring
equinox is the second sign or signal that we can begin the new year, since we
are determining the first month of the new year. The sunset (just before the new
moon becomes visible in the western sky) is the third signal we can begin the
new year, since sundown represents the first day of the first month of the new
year. It is quite simple: Season is
determined by the sun. Month is determined by the new moon. First day of the
month is determined by sunset. The Jews corrupt this simple
process in several ways: A) They
postpone the beginning of some months (specifically the seventh and first) by a
day or two to make them fall on a day THEY desire. This absolutely contradicts
Genesis 1:14, so cannot be instruction from (YHWH) as scripture cannot be
broken. Actually they postpone only the seventh month, but this in turn affects
the first month as we shall see. B) They select
the new moon NEAREST the Spring equinox rather than the first one AFTER the
equinox. This is inconsistent and creates problems for them as they have to
artificially declare leap years. If we consistently use the new moon after the
equinox, leap years automatically determine themselves since there will always
be EXACTLY 12 or 13 complete months between succeeding first new moons after
the Spring equinox. There is simply nothing to
calculate or adjust with this system. Their “logic” takes into account whether
there will be ripe barley and they select the new moon based partially on that
factor. Does Genesis 1:14 indicate barley or any other earthly factor for
determining the day, month, year, or season? NO. It is ALL in the heavens. If
we always use the new moon AFTER the Spring equinox, there will always be ripe
barley and it simply is not a problem. If, as the Jews do, we sometimes use the
new moon before the equinox, there might not be ripe barley, so the new moon
after the equinox has to be used regardless. They simply ignore the instruction
about the sun being used for seasons--of which there are four, clearly
demarcated by the movement of the sun. Flopping back and forth with the
new moons in the Spring leads them to directly violate another scriptural
instruction. That is Exodus 34:22. Here the Hebrew word in “tekufah” and can be
defined as circuit, course, pattern, or revolution. We are instructed to keep
the Feast of Tabernacles (or ingathering) at the revolution or circuit of the
sun--the change of the season being the only heavenly annual circuit near the
Feast of Tabernacles. Since the Feast is to come at (or after, certainly not
before, depending on when the 15th of the month falls) the change of
the season, if we sometimes use the new moon prior to the Spring equinox, it
will sometimes cause the Feast to begin BEFORE the Fall tekufah (change of
season). Again, if we consistently determine the first month of the new year by
the new moon following the Spring equinox, we will ALWAYS commence the Feast
after the fall circuit or season begins, keeping us in compliance with Exodus
34:22. Here again, their “oral tradition” contradicts Scripture. Which is the
higher authority? I mentioned another problem in
passing that postponing the seventh month creates. That is the beginning of the
first month, Abib. Not only do they violate Scripture by sometimes using the
new moon before the Spring circuit or tekufah, they do not follow the ACTUAL
new moon even in years they use the correct new moon to determine the first
month of the new year. Counting backward from the new moon of the seventh
month, as they do, there are sometimes 176, 177 or 178 ACTUAL days between
those two new moons. Instead of going by the actual number each year, they
automatically count 177 days, the “average” amount of days. Depending on the
actual number of days between the new moons of the first and the seventh months
in a given year, this causes the new moon of the first month to occur a day
earlier or a day later than the actuality in the heavens. In other words, the Jews recognize
on some level the importance of the sun and moon in determining the calendar,
but they simply ignore the calendar in the heavens, having made their own
adjustments. This they are famous for, whatever the subject at hand. They place
themselves above the written word of (YHWH) in so doing. This breaks the first
of the ten commandments--along with the other nine! It does not matter whether we talk
of Hillel II, the Mishna, the Talmud, or any other Jewish concoction. The
bottom line is ALL conflict with Scripture. No man or group of men has any
authority to contradict Scripture, no matter their supposed or imagined
“authority’ for doing so. Conversely, we as a (church) or as individuals need
no authority beyond Scripture to follow Scriptural instruction. We do not need
a Sanhedrin or a Jew of any stripe to have authority to follow Genesis 1:14,
Exodus 34:22, or any other Scripture. Since the Mishna contradicts Scripture,
it is worthless as any kind of authority. If we carefully and consistently
follow the signs (signals) in the heavens we will never have to adjust time.
Complete years are automatic. Complete months are automatic. Complete days are
automatic. What else is there to a calendar? The Jews have a problem with time
drifting and recognize a need for a future adjustment simply because they do
not consistently follow what (YHWH) has placed there for them to use. The
“postponements” have nothing to do with “correcting the calendar” as some
assume. They only have to do with the Jews not liking the days the heavens
dictate we should observe. If anything, their postponements cloud and muddy the
actual signals in the heavens and lead to problems that would not exist apart
from their artificial postponements. They always think they have a better way
than (YHWH’s) Biblically stated way.”
[end letter] I reprinted the major portions of
his letter because it succinctly mirrors my own findings. So, unless and until
other evidence of which I am unaware comes to light later, which would show
these conclusions to be in error, I am projecting that the New Moon of Abib for
this year (2002) should occur on the evening of April 13, just after sunset.
This will make April 14 New Year’s Day, and the day from which all Holy Days
for the year are calculated. Following are those dates. ~ ====================== Festival
Dates for 2002: (Tentative Dates
based on Spring New Moon being seen evening of April 13): Dates for the Spring Festivals are: Passover, evening of April 27 Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) Jun 16 We plan to meet with a small group in Hendersonville,
North Carolina to observe Passover/Unleavened Bread. If you can attend there,
call for directions, location and exact times. (Tentative Dates
based on Autumn New Moon being seen evening of Oct. 7): Dates for the Fall Festivals are: Festival of Trumpets, Oct. 8 Autumn Locations will be announced later. ~ |