The Calendar… We have a few to choose from. There is the Gregorian version, established by Pope Gregory. There is the Jewish version established by Hillel II. Also there is God’s (YHVH) calendar established about 6000 years ago. So which should we follow?
Many arguments exist about this topic. Many points of view are also hotly debated regarding the calendars. It is well understood that the Gregorian Calendar, using pagan names for the months and days of the week is the main calendar used in the world. Ah yes, but we are told not to be of the world.
The Gregorian Calendar
We pretty much don’t have a choice about this calendar since the rest of the pagan world follows this version. We are stuck with calling the names of the days and months by pagan gods. When the Christian church follows this calendar, they are in fact acknowledging the authority of the Pope.
We keep the pagan festival dates without even knowing it. December 25 is the birthday of many pagan gods and now we celebrate the birth date of the one true king, Jesus (Yeshua) on this day as well. Even though the Bible is pretty clear, with just a basic sense of reasoning, we can see that Yeshua was NOT born on December 25.
Same things goes with the spring equinox as the resurrection of the Messiah. Again, this date has its basis in paganism and witchcraft. We can’t even count to three to keep the words of Jesus as truth as shown in the Sign of Jonah post.
The Jewish Calendar
The Jewish calendar was established by the great Jewish Rabbi Hillel II and there is no argument that the calendar is flat-out, 100% incorrect. Even the rabbi’s don’t attempt to hide that fact. They have adopted a policy that “when Messiah comes, He will set all things straight.” Even many Hebrew Roots seekers have adopted this rabbinic tradition and ignore the Hebrew scriptures they are “returning to.”
I heard one such leader say that he is totally against Rabbinic tradition, yet when the subject of the calendar came up his comment was…”When Yeshua (Jesus) returns He will set the calendar straight, so until then I follow the Jewish calendar.” This you call leadership when the answers are plainly in the bible?
God’s Calendar
We have scripture and clues in the bible that clearly define when the start of the year is, how to calculate months and when to keep the appointed times God established. Let’s take a short look at a few clues and scriptures. This is a VERY short look as there is much that scripture has to say about this topic, but just for reference:
Exodus 12:1
Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
2 “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you.
(Exo 12:1-2 NAS)
So there is scripture where God commands the “beginning of months” for us. But what is “This month?” let’s move backwards and see what was happening just before he command this to Moses, Israel and us grafted in people.
In Exodus 9, we read:
Exodus 9:31-32
(Now the flax and the barley were ruined, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. But the wheat and the spelt were not ruined, for they ripen late.)
(Exo 9:31-32 NAS)
This now gives us a clue as to the timing of the events. The barley was in the ear. This does not mean that a bunch of Israelites and Egyptians were walking around with plants in their ears. No, the word there is Abib or Aviv and is an agricultural term for a stage of ripeness.
We also know that in original Jewish calendar, before exile in Babylon, there was a month called Aviv or Abib. Today the calendar has taken on the pagan name of a Babylon god named Nissan. So the Month of Aviv/Abib or Nissan is the start of the new year.
But they are celebrating the new year now, in September, how can this be? Exactly! They fully admit that it is not really God’s appointed new year or Rosh Hashanah (head of the year) but a Rabbinic tradition they are celebrating. God never intended the 7th month to be the first month.
So why the change?
Back in Roman times, around 368 A.D., the Jewish leadership was being disbanded and there was a fear that they would be violating YHVH’s (God) Torah (instructions) by not keeping the appointed assembly times. They would no longer be able to tell when the barley had reached the ripeness stage of Aviv/Abib and thus not know the start of months.
These guys were very smart and new the other signs YHVH placed in the sky and thus used a calculation for keeping the feast days. They removed years and changed how the months would take place so that when they were kicked out of the land of Israel (renamed by the Romans as Palestine, thus the fake name of Palestinians) they would be able to keep the feasts together as a nation scattered.
Now many Jews keep the feast days twice, two days in a row, just to make sure they are not violating the traditions of the Rabbi’s, even against the commands of YHVH. Remember, Yeshua said not to follow the traditions of men over the commands of Yehovah!
Funny thing is…
They are back in the land of Israel, have the ability to check the barley ripeness in the land and yet they still won’t obey YeHoVaH’s commands. This is of particular concern since there is no real excuse for this blanant disregard for YeHoVaH’s command.
There is a group of experts and Jewish leaders that are making the push to return to YeHoVaH’s calendar in the land. But with change, there is resistance. With the power and authority of earthly Rabbi’s questioned, change will not come easily, but it is encouraging to see the efforts.
The Big Question
So with these short clues in mind, when is the Barley Aviv/Abib in the Land of Israel? The Barley in and around Jerusalem is at this stage of ripeness in the spring, around the pagan month of March or so. A thorough inspection takes place in the land of Israel each spring by experts to declare the barley ripeness.
So the “head of months”, Rosh Hashanah, is the first renewed moon after the barley is declared in the aviv. This year, we were blessed to take part in the sighting of the Rosh Hashanah moon from Jerusalem and it was exciting.
A wrap up before the discussion
Here are the choices you have and they are pretty simple and clear:
- Follow the Jewish Calendar which you know is 100% wrong.
- Follow the Gregorian Calendar which you know is 100% wrong.
- Follow a Biblical and Agriculturally correct calendar which might be 70% correct.
When you think about it this way, why try to explain to the Messiah upon his return that you would rather follow a 100% WRONG calendar than a maybe 50% correct calendar because I was wait for you to correct me. It can’t be 100% wrong because of the efforts to check the ripeness of the barley.
I can hear his response now, Nice try but you KNEW what you were doing was 100% against my commands and yet you did it anyway? What were you thinking?
Discussion Forum:
The Calendar, which do you follow? If you KNOW one is 100% wrong, how do you justify intentional sin?
Please share you comments and be friendly as there will be differing opinions and we want to learn for one and other.
I thought for years that the rabbinical calendar was based on the conjunction of the moon instead of the first visible crescent. This month (Sept. ’13) the rabbinical calendar differs from the sighting of the moon by 3 days.That didn’t sound possible, so I checked and found that they started the month BEFORE the conjunction! Thus, the rabbinical calendar is not connected to the moon in any way. It is purely a mathematical algorithm and ignores any interpretation of Gen.1:14.