Yahweh’s Calendar part-1

Alright. Blessed be the name of Yahweh, appreciate your patience as we work out a few kinks.

I don’t know if I can remember a study that I felt that’s had so much opposition in the spiritual realm than the one I’m about to share today, just really the enemy does not like what I’m gonna share, I really believe that.

Our first segment of this study is gonna be very simple, we’re gonna go into the very basics. Segment two, possibly a third, will be a little bit more heavy and I think illuminate something I believe a lot of people are missing in their approach of how they study Yahweh’s calendar.

So we’re gonna move forward here to the opening segment of a new study series entitled “Yahweh’s Calendar”. A very simple slide to demonstrate a very simple calendar, easy to understand, nothing difficult, but also at the same time requires deep study in order to find. And so it may seem contradictory but I know from myself that Yahweh’s ways are easy to understand, they’re not complicated, but sometimes very hard to implement.

So anyway, we’re gonna be talking about this calendar and first of all why it matters. Just 1 minute here I want to get the Facebook Live started, almost forgot.

Alright we’re ready to get started on our study portion for today’s broadcast. I don’t know if I’ve ever had so much opposition in the spiritual realm, quite a long time. As my attempt to try to study and to implement and to share this calendar series, I really believe this is an area of major contention, most of us can see that among their brothers. And the calendar which I’m about ready to show to you does have the potential to unify a lot of people who are otherwise divided from one another. If especially in segment #2. Segment #1 a lot of people are gonna just go “Okay we’ve heard this before”.

If you’ve never heard the calendar study then it’s be illuminating for you and hopefully very interesting. But either way we’re gonna move forward here into our study portion. And first of all I want to talk about Yahweh’s calendar, why it matters versus man’s calendar and I have got a very simple slide here to suggest the simplistic nature of Yahweh’s calendar. Anybody, even a child, can understand it and appreciate it.

But in the beginning, we all know, our Heavenly Father created the heavens and the earth. He created the concept of time. And at that time He also established the concept of a calendar, a way to mark off time. He created a 7-day week for instance. He also created months, He also created years.

Now, the calendar that He actually established in the book of Genesis is by and large ignored by the people of the world. In favor of a calendar that was actually developed by a demon worshipping emperor of Rome, named Julius Caesar, and we actually structure our lives around this demon worshipper who wanted to establish a calendar that honored the idols he worshipped. And to this day his efforts have been successful.

Now, I don’t know about you, but just and what I just said, there’s major alarm bells going off here. How about you? I mean those who think they have I mean they have the nerve to go, you know, ignore Yahweh’s calendar, set it aside, toss it aside and establish their own calendar for the world to follow, that honors demons, idols, that right there is an affront and an offence to Yahweh.

Book of Daniel chapter 7 verse 25 says – He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and laws. – And we are recognizing by this Scripture, that it is a pompous it is something that is against the Most High, to go and change times and law. Yahweh has established how He wants to mark time, how He wants His Law tells us how His calendar is to be established. And instead we have this day, we have memorialized a man’s calendar who was directly at war with the Most High.

People use this calendar to mark their birthdays, mark anniversaries, mark everything. Their whole world revolves around this demon worshipper’s demarcation of time. We have wrist watches with days of the week, sometimes days of the month listed on them. That are bound around our hands; and the Bible says (Deuteronomy 6:8) – You shall bind His words as a sign on your hand and as frontlets between your eyes.

Any alarm bells going off? For me absolutely. Should I structure my life around the calendar of a demon worshipping emperor? I don’t think I can stomach that. Even though I’ve done it most of my life as a child I grew up doing it, even as a believer I did. It bothers me, it irks me that someone would come in and be so pompous and have the gall and the nerve to have a warring calendar against Yahweh’s calendar. And He is Yahweh is the one who created all days. See? And I recognize the world follows this calendar, this Roman calendar that we have today. I mean, but who was the one who invented the idea of having a calendar? It was Yahweh’s idea. Why do we feel like we need to fix it.

But you see, if the world started to follow Yahweh’s calendar what would happen? That would be if you really think about it, if the whole world followed the calendar in the Bible, there would be opposition. By secularists, secular people saying “Well we’re not gonna follow a calendar from the Bible, that is religious”. And yet they follow the Roman calendar which is religious. See, even the world understands it would be an act of homage and acknowledgement of Yahweh’s authority to follow His calendar.

So if the world starts to follow Yahweh’s calendar they would see that as an act of homage and respect and reverence and for Yahweh’s authority to decide when is what and what is when. But don’t we understand we’re a kind of doing the same thing when we ignore Yahweh’s calendar and we follow the pagan one? We’re setting Him aside as being the authority here and ignoring what He set up in favor of one that honors idols.

The Roman calendar has everything to do with religion. The wrong religion. Paying homage to the idols of Rome. January was named in honor of the Roman idol Janus. February is from the Latin word “februa” meaning “to cleanse” because the Roman Februalia was a month of purification and atonement in their religion. March was named after the deity they worshipped named Mars. May was named in honor of the Roman goddess Maia. June is named in honor of the Roman goddess Juno. And of course July named in honor of Julius Caesar himself. And August was named to honor Augustus Caesar. Now other months are not named after pagan gods or emperors, but I hope we can see that they are abominable names of months.

And it is abominable to replace Yahweh’s calendar with a calendar that honors demon idols. I don’t know about you but I go YUCK! No thanks.

Scripture says (1 Corinthians 10:20) – The things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to Elohim, – he says – and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. – So we get to understand, all idol worship is actually the worship of Satan and demons. And to name months after the names of demons, idols they worshipped, cannot be something Yahweh is happy about. They worship the sun, the moon, the stars and whatever mythological deities they can come up with. I say “Yuck!”

Now, the days of the week. Sunday was named in honor of the sun that they worshipped. And Monday in honor of the moon that they worshipped. Tuesday in honor of Tiw an Anglo-Saxon name for Mars. Wednesday in honor of Woden the Anglo-Saxon name of Mercury. Actually Woden and Goden or Goden is actually a name that developed into the English term Gad as in Gaden. And the early Christians came along into the Teutonic areas and say “Hey well actually the true deity is the one in the Bible” and they put the name of Gad, which is they were worshipping this deity called Gad or Gaden, and they said “This is the true one over here” and it just stuck. So this day people call their Heavenly Father God which is the name of this deity Mercury right here.

So anyway, moving on. Thursday in honor of Thor; interesting that there is a super heroes out there today, so called super heroes, and one of them is named Thor, well this is actually the Anglo-Saxon name for Jupiter. And then Friday in honor of Frigg which is the Norse name for Venus. And then Saturday named in honor of the idol Saturn as in Saturn’s day. I don’t know about you but I say “YUCK! YUCK!” Oh my.

So I hate that. I’ll tell you why. Because Scripture says (Psalm 118:24) – This is the day – that – Yahweh has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. – And to name days and months after idols in honor of idols is disgusting to me. Think about how much harm was done over the centuries to Yahweh and His cause because of these dumb idols that people worshipped. Alternative standards of morality. Innumerable children damaged and hurt. And we’re gonna memorialize the names of these deities? Not me, no thanks, I’ll pass. And so to me it’s significant, it is, it’s significant.

And yes I recognize that we live in the world but we don’t have to be of the world. But just because the enemy the ways have been so ingrained in our culture, that we grow up always calling this Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, January, February, March, doesn’t mean that we need to go along with that.

Now what do you do when people say “What day do you want to come over next week?” I mean what I say is “First day of the week”, “Second day of the week”, “Third day of the week” and you’ll be amazed how many people think when you say “First day of the week” they think Monday, okay? But I’ll typically say “The day commonly called Monday”, ”The day the world calls Monday”, something like that. And so that people understand what day I’m talking about.

So “I wanna come over on the second day of the week, the day commonly called Monday”, “Third day of the week, the day commonly called Tuesday”. And occasionally someone go “What do you mean ‘commonly called’?” Well I don’t want, you know, what I found out was that all these days of the week were named after idols and to honor the idols that were once worshipped, and I don’t want to participate in that. “Oh that’s interesting”.

And so same thing with the months. And if I write it on paper I’ll put quotes around it, even when we do our advertizing for our theatre here, I’m going to put quotes around it, I’ll use the names like the month numbers like fifth month 5/13 or something like that. And if I have to use the common days of the week then I’ll put it in quotes and I’ve never had actually anybody notice that to say something to me but, but that’s just you know, I want to be loyal to Yahweh and to His cause.

And even if you think it’s all “Tom you are majoring on the minors”, well what did Yahushua say? He said (Matthew 23:23) – Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees(, hypocrites! For) you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and (have) neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, – What, what are these? Paying tithe of mint and anise and cummin but – without leaving the others – What are the others? The others are justice, mercy and faith, right? So both! Let’s do both! And so even if you think it’s a small thing, I think part of love is attending to the small things.

If you have a husband that wants to make dinner for his wife and have a nice evening together, how would you feel about the husband if he just, you know, went to McDonald’s slapped it on a paper plate, says “here we go let’s eat together”. Compared to the husband that, you know, tablecloths, cloth napkins, best dishes, best clothes, candlelight dinner, music in the background, making sure all the little things are just right. What wife would go “Oh you are just trying to earn my favor, I see”, no she’d be delighted, she wouldn’t call him a legalist. She’d be delighted that he is attending to the small things. And Yahweh does delight in the small things.

But what if he did all that but, you know, every night he beat her to death or he beat her up or whatever, I mean what good would that do, right? So unless you’re doing the major things small things what good is that? But if he is mistreating you every day but then he does this, she’s gonna be like “O what are you trying to do? Make up for all this mess you’ve done” you know. But the truth is Yahweh is He is pleased with the smaller points, but not to the exclusion of the major points.

So we need to do both. He says – These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. – And so yeah, I want to be loyal to Him, I’m jealous for Him, for His sake and I don’t like the fact that pompous words have been spoken against Him, and man comes up with his own way of marking time in honor of demons. That’s bothersome. So in the interest of glorifying Yahweh I want to know what day is it on His calendar. I want to know how He marks time and follow that.

So in the interest of following Yahweh’s calendar we have a broadcast actually every month where we share the Scriptures that speak of what took place in the Bible during that particular month and I have a calendar available also at eliyah.com/calendar and we do our best to follow the calendar that Yahweh Himself established in the very beginning.

Look at Genesis chapter 7 verse 11. It says – In the six hundreth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, – So you see here second month, seventeenth day of the month, this is not a Jewish calendar. This is a calendar that existed long before there was ever a Jewish man. I mean Noah is the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth and then down the line through Shem came Abraham and down the line from Abraham came Isaac and Jacob. And then Jacob had 12 sons one of which was named Judah and Judah is where we get the term Jew. So Noah came around long before there was ever any man that was Jewish. And here we are talking about calendars in the book of Genesis, the seventh chapter of Genesis, only 7 chapters in Genesis we’re already talking about calendar here. So it matters.

Again Ezekiel 24 verses 1 through 2 – Again, in the ninth year, the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, – So we have tenth month, tenth day of the month, there were events that occurred during specific months on Yahweh’s calendar. And so we have this broadcast that we do here on eliyah.com at the beginning of every month. So, but it just seems like we’ve so far removed from biblical things that Yahweh’s ways seem strange to us, it’s not what we’re used to. But as we dig deeper into this I think we’ll see more and more how beautiful and how important it really is. Alright.

So when does Yahweh’s calendar start and how do we mark it off? Exodus chapter 12 verses 1 through 2 – Yahweh spoke to Mosheh and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, “This month shall be your beginning of months;” – So the month in which it’s – the first month of the year to you. – And He goes on to say speak to the children of Israel – “Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.’” – And if you continue to read here you’ll find this is the month in which Passover takes place, okay? So the month in which there is a Passover festival is going to be the first month of the year. And He is not talking about January, okay?

To us the first month of the year begins in the middle of winter. But in Yahweh’s eyes it does not occur in the middle of the winter, it’s about 3 months later or so, 3 – 4 months later. So what is a month? Biblically speaking what is a month? There are 2 words used in Hebrew, one of them is “yerach”. First Kings chapter 8 verse 2 – Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with King Solomon at the feast – of the yerach or – month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month.

Now the first word translated month is indeed “yerach”. The second month is actually “chodesh” so both words are used interchangeably here. And “yerach” if you lookup in a lexicon which is like a Hebrew dictionary, explains to you what the original Hebrew means, you see, here is the word “yerach”, and it means month or lunar cycle or moon, okay? In fact the word, the Hebrew word for moon is “yareach”. “Yareach” is the Hebrew word for moon, from the same as 3391, 3391 is right here, this word number right here. And so “yerach” is from the same as “yareach”. And so we use the moon to determine the months and that’s what Scripture tells us if you examine the original Hebrew and what the words mean.

So there’s a clear correlation here between “yerach” and “yareach”, one is from the same as the other, and “yerach” is used in many other places, for instance in Exodus chapter 2 verse 2 – So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three – moons or three – months. – (<03391, “yerach”>)

And Deuteronomy 21 verse 13 – She shall put off the clothes of her captivity, remain in your house, and mourn her father and her mother a full – yerach –; After that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. – So this particular verse parallel with another Hebrew word translated month “chodesh” once again 1 Kings 8 there’s month from the word meaning moon (“yerach”), there’s month meaning actually means renewal (“chodesh”) in the Hebrew. “Chodesh” here we go, another example 1 Kings 6:37 – In the fourth year the foundation of the house of Yahweh was laid, in the month – yerach or the month – of Ziv. 38 And in the eleventh – month –, in the month of Bul, which is the eight – chodesh the eight – month, – the word “chodesh” in Hebrew means renewal – the house was finished in all its details and according to all its plans. He was seven years in building it.

Okay. So “chodesh” is translated new moon, month; it’s translated month 254 times, new moon 20 times and monthly once and “another” once. So clearly this word has to do with the lunar cycle, has to do with renewal as we’re gonna see it’s from 2318 in the lexicon, in this particular lexicon (BDB Lexicon) go back to 2318 and you find it means to be new or renew, repair, renew, make anew; so has to do with something being renewed. So based on the Scriptures and not adding anything to them, we can conclude that a month has to do with a new or a renewed moon.

Now the Bible does not supply any other information, okay? So let’s take a look at the moon cycle. Here we have 2 points in which believers, sincere believers in Yahweh, believe this renewal might be. There’s one camp that suggests it is a conjunction and that’s the point in which we see there’s the moon is orbiting around the earth here, it’s orbiting around the earth this way, okay? As the moon comes to this point right here we’re gonna be start seeing the rays of the sun strike the right side of the moon. And therefore you have the visible crescent. Most of the sun’s rays are hitting the back of the moon. But just a little sliver begins to appear on the right side and sometimes underneath the moon.

Now when it’s in this phase you cannot see the moon at all, it’s completely invisible because the sun is shining completely on the back of the moon. So this is called the conjunction. The conjunction is what we would also see on a typical calendar, being the scientific new moon. So if you look on a regular calendar you get at the store, hang it on your wall it says new moon, it’s talking about the conjunction that’s the point in which the sun and the moon and the earth are all in line. And this is the only place in a moon phase that one could possible see a lunar, I’m sorry, a solar eclipse and that is when the moon passes directly from the sun on your particular spot on the earth and you would have a solar eclipse. Alright, anyway. But most of the time we don’t have that eclipse because the moon is just too small.

Alright, anyway, getting back to this. So the question is: is it renewed when it hits this dark spot, or is it renewed when you begin to see light appear again on the other side, on the right side or on the bottom side of the moon. That’s the question. And there are 2 camps primarily, but if the Bible, since the Bible doesn’t supply any other information, if I’m looking up at the sky, and I’m just a simple shepherd boy out there tending his flocks, I see the moon diminishing in light. From you know evening to evening I’m watching the moon phase, and it’s diminishing in its light until finally it is completely gone. And then one evening I’m out there tending my flocks and the moon reappears.

Now the simple and most basic meaning, not requiring me to be an astronomer or a scientist to understand, anybody can understand, a shepherd boy can look up in the sky and see “Oh, the moon is back”. A renewed moon. Nothing complicated, nothing difficult.

Now if you’re going to use astronomy to find the conjunction of the moon, you can only do so by mathematical calculation and you would have to know the duration of 1 moon cycle, or 1 orbit of 1 moon is somewhere in between 29.272 and 29.833 days. Okay. So here is, this would have to be your, so if you’re going to calculate when the conjunction actually occurs, here is your mathematical formula right here. (d = 5.597661 + 29.5305888610 x N + 102.026 x 10^-12 x N²) Now this number 29.5305888610 okay, this is what you’re going to have to know as a lonely shepherd boy out there and tending his flocks.

But you’re also gonna have to know something else: that’s not really an accurate number. That’s not an accurate number because here’s what happens, something called “wobble” or something called “variation”. It says: periodic, according to Wikipedia, periodic perturbations change the time of the true conjunction from these mean values. For all new moons between 1601 and 2401, the maximum difference is 0.592 days equals to 14 hours 13 minutes in either direction. The duration of a lunation, from the time of the new moon to the next new moon, varies in this period between 29.272 and 29.833 days. So the 29.538888888 you know whatever it is, is not really an accurate number, it’s just an average number.

There are things called neap tides and things like that which come into play in order to know the differences, okay? Now for me I’m reminded of something that, you know, we’re talking about a calendar here, okay. And things that people debate over, things that people argue over, things that people disagree on, okay, and do I really believe I have to be a mathematician, an astronomer and know every variation of the lunar cycle in order to follow Yahweh’s calendar? Or do I believe that Yahweh gave us something that even children could understand.

Yahushua once said (Matthew 11:25) – I thank You, Father, Master of Heaven, that You have hidden these things – spiritual truths – from the wise and the prudent, and have revealed them to babes.

So much of what Yahushua taught us was simple and easy to understand. And it was the simple fisherman Peter who had not had any formal training who understood spiritual truths. Greater than the wise men who were arrogant in their knowledge. So I don’t believe anyone should have difficulty following His calendar. I really doubt any ancient civilization even knew anything about variations between spring and neap tides. Or had clocks even to measure the difference between 29.272 and 29.833 days, they did not even have a reliable way of measuring hours or the number of seconds in a day. Much less pinpointing the exact hour, minute and second that a conjunction would occur so that you can know on which day it actually takes place, on a monthly basis.

And what if sunset was at 6 p.m. and the conjunction was at 6 p.m., on which day would that new moon fall? But you know, either way I’m not looking for something that only the wise would be able to grasp. I’m looking for the simplest and most basic meaning. If Yahweh wanted us to follow some kind of a formula to determine when the new month was, I definitely believe He would have included that formula in the Scriptures. He would not require us to go outside of Scripture in order to find the answer.

So from the perspective of the man on the earth the moon is going through a renewal phase every 29 or 30 days. I can see it happen with my own eyes. The moon disappears for a day or 2, it reappears again, the new moon, the renewal. Very simple. But then some scientist jumps in and says “Oh, not so fast you know, actually the light starts to appear on the other side of the moon right after the conjunction, just a few minutes.” And he comes along with his fancy formulas which are not even completely accurate, based on an average, I don’t buy that, I’m sorry. I mean Yahweh, David said (Psalm 131:1-2) – YAHWEH, my heart is not haughty, Nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I concern myself with great matters, Nor with things too profound for me. 2 Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, Like a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me.

Very simple. So in terms of the new moon there’s actually a verse that does speak directly to the concept of using your eyes in observation to determine this new month. In Deuteronomy 16 it says – Observe the month of the Aviv, – now the Aviv is what it reads in Hebrew – and keep the Passover to Yahweh your Mighty One, for in the month of the Aviv Yahweh your Mighty One brought you out of Egypt by night.

Now, we know that the Passover is the first month of the year, okay. So He is saying observe the chodesh or the renewal of the Aviv. The Hebrew word translated observe is the Hebrew word “shamar”. It’s most commonly translated keep and second most commonly translated word is observe. Now there are instances where it is used to describe watching with the eye. For instance 1 Samuel 19 verse 11 – Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him – Shamar – and to kill him in the morning. Psalm 130 verse 6 – My soul waits for Yahweh More than those who watch – that’s Shamar – for the morning– Yes, more than those who watch – again Shamar – for the morning.

1 Samuel 1:12 – And it happened, as she continued praying before Yahweh, – talking about Hanna here – Eli watched her mouth. Shamar. Each of these verses use the word “shamar” in the basic call form of Hebrew which is the same form of Hebrew used here in Deuteronomy 16 verse 1 “Shamar the chodesh or the renewal of the moon”, right? Watch.

So in the same manner in which we have Eli watching the mouth of Hanna, and we have the psalmist waiting for Yahweh more than those who watch for the morning, and we have Saul watching for David, we can apply that same mentality to watching for the new moon.

Now if you’re going by a conjunction there’s nothing to watch, there’s nothing to see, there’s nothing to observe. It’s strictly calculation. It doesn’t say calculate the month of the Aviv, it says to observe this chodesh, this month, this renewal. Observe it. So I would suggest that this a pretty strong verse, maybe not a 100 percent strong, but a pretty strong verse for suggesting we should use our eyes to watch for the new moon.

Now there’s one other Scripture that some may use to suggest the new moon is actually a dark moon, something that is not visible. And Psalm 81 verse 3 says – Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon, At the full moon, on our solemn feast day. – Now if you look at this word in a lexicon it is “kece” and this particular lexicon (BDB Lexicon) says it means full moon. Now if you actually look at what the lexicon writers used to discover it means full moon, you’ll find that no one was really even sure that that’s actually what it means, okay? And for that reason a lot of those who believe in the dark moon suggest, because “kece” comes from “kacah” which means to cover, to conceal or to hide, that we’re looking for or expecting a new moon to be a moon that is dark, not a moon that’s full. Alright.

But I can equally make the point that this new moon is something if you was to watch it with the eye during many, many months, you do not know when that new moon is going to show itself, okay? Now today we have something called moon charts, we’ve got visibility charts that help us, but if you didn’t have that you just have to rely on your observation. It’s either gonna be 29 or 30 days, you don’t know which one it’s going to be, okay? But it’s gonna be one or the other and you want to try to figure out which one it is, but you can’t really be 100 percent sure, alright. So it’s concealed, it’s hidden.

So when I see this verse it’s in reference to the Feast of Trumpets, the time when you blow the trumpet in the new moon as it says here (Psalm 81:3) – Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon – that’s the Feast of Trumpets, okay, where Yahweh says “blow the shofar on this day” and but that day as far as when it really is going to occur, it’s concealed, we’re not really sure when it is.

And I find that very interesting because the Feast of Trumpets marks the time of the Messiah’s return and we will not know the day or the hour; in fact Yahushua Himself doesn’t know. Yahushua said in Mark 13:32 – of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. – There goes your trinity. – 33 Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.

And the same is true, we don’t know when a lot of times the new moon, if it wasn’t for our charts, sometimes even with the charts, we don’t know whether we are going to be able to see it or not. Atmospheric conditions could, you know, have an impact on it, how clear the skies are, all kinds of things can, we don’t know, we don’t know when we’re gonna see it. And so it’s either gonna be 29 or it’s gonna be 30 days.

So if you were actually to look at this in the Hebrew and translate it literally, here is what it would read: (Psalm 81:3) – Blow the trumpet at the time of the new moon, in Concealment, on our solemn feast days. And it’s “bak·keh·seh”, “bak·keh·seh” means in concealment, okay? So we don’t know when it’s going to be, but blow the trumpet then on this day that’s concealed, this day we’re not really sure when it’s going to occur. But that’s when you’re gonna blow the trumpet. And the same is true, we won’t know when what day or the hour our Savior is going to return, it’s concealed.

So those who would suggest this means dark moon, I can equally suggest it’s referring to the concealed manner in which the Messiah’s return will be. Now if you’re a calculating person, if you, if you got these calculators out and your formulas, you’re gonna know exactly when the new moon is. And it kind of misses that element of the Feast of Trumpets that we won’t know the day or the hour that our Savior is going to return.

And so I would suggest that this verse does a lot to promote the idea of our Savior Himself promoted we won’t know the day or the hour Yahushua returns, and we don’t know the day or the hour that we’re gonna see, well maybe closer to the hour but not the exact time we’re going to see the new moon.

So. Yeah. So that was actually a kind of poorly translated but we recognize that Hebrew word families function so that one is derived from the other; in this case “keceh” (keh’-seh) is derived from “cover” which means “kacah” (kaw-saw’) or conceal or hide, the time it’s hidden from our eyes, we don’t know when it’s going to be.

Alright. So to me I mean if you wanna go six of one half a dozen of the other that’s up to you, but you’re certainly missing that element of that our Savior talked about that we don’t know the day or the our if you’re gonna go with a conjunction moon. My goal is to, in my calendar understandings my goal is this: I want to go as close to Scripture as I possibly can, so that if I was to face Yahweh on the day of judgment, that I’ll be able to say to Him “I went as close to Scripture as I possibly could”.

If I have to go with a calculated moon I feel like I’m going outside of Scripture at that point to try to find when to discover this new moon. I’ve got to go to scientists, I have to go to the world and NASA and astronomers to, you know, study this all the time, neap tides and spring tides and all these things, so that I can figure out when this new moon is going to be. Yeah, I feel like I’m going outside.

So I believe my safest place is strictly, the simple most basic meaning in the Scriptures. The new moon, the renewal, He didn’t supply any more information. And the very fact that He didn’t supply any more information suggest it’s a simplistic meaning, it’s nothing complicated. And so I would much rather face Him on judgment day having gone as close to Scripture as I can, than by going outside of Scripture to find the answer. Okay.

So lunar month is about 29.5 days, okay? Now if you were to multiply 29.5 days times 12 being 12 months in a year, you would come up to 354 days. Now we all know that 1 time the orbit goes around or the earth orbit goes around the sun is actually 365 days. So you have 11 days difference between 12 months in a lunar cycle and a full solar year in the sense of 1 time the earth orbits around the sun. So what would happen if you only went with 12 months each year, what would happen is you begin to fall behind the seasons, your 12^th month might start of being, you know, right before Passover would occur and the barley harvest and all these things, but eventually you’d be keeping Passover in what the world calls January, the world calls December. Soon it would be Passover in the middle of summer because you keep falling backwards, you keep losing 11 days per year because the 12 times of the orbit around, the moon’s orbit around the earth doesn’t match up with exactly 1 time the earth orbits around the sun.

So you’re gonna end up keeping the feast earlier and earlier and earlier, it wouldn’t make any sense, and so there’s always going to be about every 3 years or so a 13^th month added to the calendar, there’s no way around it, okay? You’re gonna have 13 months somewhere.

So how do we know when we’re in a new year? And look closely at Deuteronomy 16:1 – Observe the month of the Aviv. – Alright. Now I’ve put the word “the” here even though the New King James Version and most versions do not. And the reason that I did that is this; I can read Hebrew and what it says here is – Shaw-mar et chodesh ha aviv. – Now everywhere you have this word “ha” in front of a word it is almost every time translated “the”. But they did not translate the “ha” in front of the word “aviv” in Hebrew and so that’s missing from the text, okay? And so for that reason I put “the” in front of it.

And it may seem insignificant, it probably seemed insignificant to the translators when they were reading through this, they just skipped the “ha”-part and put “aviv” in there. But it makes a difference and I’ll explain to you why it makes a difference. Here in just a minute. First I want to share with you what aviv actually is, okay? In Exodus chapter 9 verse 25 it says – And the hail struck throughout the whole land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both man and beast; and hail struck every herb of the field and broke every tree of the field. 31 Now the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the head <24, “aviv”>. – It’s translated “head” but actually the Hebrew word there is “aviv” – and the flax was in the bud. 32 But the wheat and spelt were not struck, for they are late crops.

So the time, this is right before they kept their very first Passover, okay? The barley was in the state called “aviv”. Alright. So what is aviv exactly? It’s certainly a stage of barley growth in which we can say “this can be damaged by hail”. Now if it’s early barley growth before the barley begins to really ripen and bend over, then we would say “Okay, it’s not all gonna be damaged by hail, it’s just like a piece of grass popping up there”. But once that top begins to get heavy then it can be damaged by hail, okay.

So looking at this verse here (Deuteronomy 16:1) – Observe the month of the Aviv. – the Aviv. So the month in which we would find barley in the aviv state; the state at a minimum that it would be damageable by hail. We can suggest that it’s in the aviv then that would be our very first month of the year in which we would keep Passover.

So He’s telling us to observe 2 things: the chodesh, the month, and the aviv. He is not saying “This is the month called Aviv”. He is saying “This is the month in which you’ll find the barley to be in the aviv state.“ That’s what He is saying. (Pardon the phone.)

So that’s what we’re going to go with and it will always, the first month will never fall out of season, you never have to count and calculate 365.25 bla bla bla bla days to determine your years as the Roman calendar attempts to do. Okay. Instead you just wait for the barley to ripen, be in a place where you can actually eat it and you’re ready to go, it’s a new year. It’s that simple, okay.

Now there are other places, you might say “Well okay, maybe that month was actually named Aviv because that’s the month in which you typically would find the barley to be aviv”. But listen. If I said “Watch for the month of the green apples” to know when to do something, your eyes will be then fixed on the condition of the apples, right? But if I said “In the month of Green Apples” because that’s the name of the month, “go do this”, then you wouldn’t be thinking that the apples themselves tell you when that month is. Do you follow me?

Again I repeat this again. If I said “Watch for the month of the green apples” your eyes are gonna be on the apples. If I said “Oh back there in the month of Green Apples go do this” you might think it “Well it’s named Green Apples because usually that particular month the apples are green”. Do you follow what I’m saying?

In this case we’re talking about “Aviv”. He is not saying “In the month Aviv go do this”, He is saying “In the month of the aviv”. In the month in which you find aviv barley, you find ripened, harvestable barley. That’s when you’re going to keep Passover and since we already know that Passover occurs in the beginning of months and it’s according to Exodus 12:2 – the first month of the year – then we know we can always find the first month of the year by observing the condition of the barley.

So Yahweh already explained that the barley harvest occurs in that first month of the year. I’m sorry, that the Passover occurs in the first month; later on He is saying (Deuteronomy 16:1) – Observe this month in which you find the Aviv because in the month of, – actually this says “ha Aviv” also or the – Aviv Yahweh your Mighty One brought you out of Egypt by night.

Now the Septuagent, which is a Greek translation of the Old Testament Scriptures that was completed about 200 years before the Messiah was born, treats this word as something that they would translate. They did not transliterate it as a month name they translated it as “neos” meaning the barley being renewed, that’s what it literally means, renewal.

So the ancient Hebrew scholars who lived about 200 years before the Messiah even appeared on the earth, saw this as a description and not a month name. There’s only one other month that we can find a description instead of a month name and that would actually, ironically, interestingly be the seventh month of the year. (1 Kings 8:2) – Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with the King of Solomon at the feast in the month – or the Moon – of the Ethanim – that’s how it reads B’yerach Ha Ethanim. And there’s that “Ha” again, the letter Hey right here Ha, Hey; so here we have yereach, B’yerach in month Ha Ethanim. Alright. So in month of the enduring.

And it’s interesting because Yahushua told us if we endure to the end we will be saved. Well this month, the seventh month, the first day of that seventh month, is the Feast of Trumpets. Okay. And the Feast of Trumpets is the feast that signifies when the Messiah will return. That’s what’s celebrating the Messiah’s return. And at the last trump it says He will return at the last trump.

So here we are, we must endure to come to that seventh month and they call that month the month of the enduring. Okay. So there’s another signal that we’re talking Feast of Trumpets, we’re talking about the Messiah and the reason why it was called “enduring” was because that was the month in which because of the summers being so dry, there were only certain streams that were still supplying water and so they called the month “the enduring streams”.

So Ethanim, the month of the enduring streams, and if we’re willing to continue to endure, allow the Holy Spirit to flow out of us as living waters, then we will come to that place of Feast of Trumpets in this month of the enduring and we’ll be celebrating our Savior’s return.

Now the lexicon (TWOT Lexicon) refers to aviv as barley that’s already ripe but still soft, grains of which are eaten either rubbed or roasted. When you’re talking about cereal grains, particularly barley, you have a condition of barley in which it’s kind of a soft doughy stage, it’s not a hard kernel of barley seeds, okay. A soft dough stage and so they would parch it, okay. They would parch, they roast it in the fire and that allowed that grain of barley, that seed, to dry out. And then you could eat it and it would be hard, just like a normal grain of barley in the full ripe stage.

So Yahweh told Israel, He said (Leviticus 23:14) – ‘You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you brought an offering to your Elohim; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. – So parched grain was an acceptable offering during Passover week according to this particular Scripture. Also Leviticus 2 verse 14 says – If you offer a grain offering of your firstfruits to Yahweh, you shall offer for the grain offering of your firstfruits green heads – This is the word Aviv; King James people did not know how to understand agriculture, okay. Green heads – of grain roasted on the fire, grain beaten from full heads.

So if the barley is in a condition in which you can parch it and eat it then that would be the new month or the new year I should say. Now the Strong’s Lexicon has “green”. The word doesn’t even mean green okay. But they again they were ignorant of Hebraic agriculture. And you know talking about eighteenth century or eighteen hundreds here, nineteenth century scholarship. So we’re talking about the actual usage of the word in the language refers to A. Either barley that can be damaged by hail, and/or B. Barley that can be roasted on fire and then eaten because it’s in that soft doughy stage but you can dry it all out and eat it like a normal kernel of barley and grind it like regular grain.

So the barley harvest would have to be in a place where it’s capable of being parched so that you can eat it. It has to be basically edible barley, in a nutshell.

Okay. So, here’s some other usages of the word “Aviv” Exodus 23:15 – You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of “the Aviv” – the month in which you will find Aviv barley; this is a command, alright. And then in Exodus 34:18 – The Feast of Unleavened Bread you shall keep. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the appointed time in the month of – in the Hebrew does read “the Aviv” okay – for in the month of – the – Aviv you came out of Egypt. – In fact that Aviv was even struck by hail, so alright.

Now some will say what does this have to do with Genesis 1:14 where it says – Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide day from night; and let them be for signs and seasons, for days and years; – And for this reason some people would use strictly signs in heaven above to determine the new months and the new year. But we do have a witness on the earth of what’s happening in the heavens, okay. The sun is indeed for years. Yahweh wanted to be a regularly occurring cycle known as years on the earth. He created the sun to enable this to happen. And when He created the sun He created a tilted earth in relation to the sun, okay. And that tilted earth goes around the sun and creates seasons. So it’s true that seasons and signs and such, okay.

Now it creates different climates as well; the tilting of the earth allows the earth to be heated evenly. If there was no tilt on the earth the equator would be too hot to live in and only parts of the northern and southern hemisphere would be inhabitable. Somewhat to how a hen turns her eggs to ensure even heating of the eggs, Yahweh gave the earth a tilt so it would be heated evenly, greatly expanding our ability to multiply and fill the earth.

If the earth were not tilted we would not have any way of noticing a year had even transpired. There would be no summer, there would be no winter, there would be no changes even in sunrise or sunset times. And no such thing as a growing season, weather would be drastically different because it’s the movement of air around the earth is responding to the changing of seasons. Warm air always moves to cold air and since the sun’s warmth is heating different parts of the earth at different times, there’s a lot of “weather” created because warm air holds more moisture than cold air and so when you have cold air running into that warm air it distills as rain.

But what I’m trying to say is the lights, the sun and things that are in the heavens do indeed create the years that we’re experiencing. The effect of the sun’s ability to create years is clearly seen on the earth. And we see the effect of the sun on the earth in the growing seasons, that’s the major effect, okay. And so just go a little further in Genesis chapter 8 verse 22 it says – While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease.

Now look at the parallels here. We have seedtime in winter, harvest in summer; we have cold in winter, heat in summer; and therefore we have summer and we have winter, or I should say winter and summer. The point being, seedtime there’s only 2 seasons in the Bible, there’s no such word as spring or fall in the Bible, it does not exist. There’s only winter and summer, that’s it. Winter is marked by seedtime, summer is marked by harvest time. So if you look at the barley which is ripening in response to the sun’s light upon the earth, when it’s time to harvest it, it’s the very first crop of the year that produces food, and you have summertime. The change of the year from winter of the previous year to the summer of the new year. It’s that simple.

So again, there’s no word for spring, there’s no word for fall, those are inventions of men based on his own calendars. In the Bible there’s only summer and winter, that’s all. So I find it interesting that summertime is tied into harvesting so I would suggest we can know the new year not just by Deuteronomy 16:1, by whether or not we’re harvesting and whether or not we’re planting. And barley is planted in the winter and harvested in the summer. That’s why you’ve got winter wheat planted in the winter, harvested in the summer.

So the barley itself is a sign that is responding to what’s happening in the heavenly places. So the sun is still involved in the usage of determining the new year, it’s just we’re watching the effect of the sun on the earth. And I’ll be talking more about this in our next segment.

But here’s the thing I want us to really make sure that we do: we do not add anything to Yahweh’s Word. Deuteronomy 12 verse 32 – Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it. Deuteronomy 4 verse 2 – You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh your Mighty One which I commanded you.

I’m convinced the biggest problem with calendar studies is the willingness to add to the Word which He commanded. We don’t believe that Yahweh has supplied us with enough information in the Bible to give us His calendar and therefore, we in our own pride or whatever, we don’t think He has supplied us enough information and so we believe we need to fill in the gaps. And any time men decides to fill in the gaps it all goes downhill from there, confusion sets in and that’s it.

What I find here in Deuteronomy 16 verse 1 – Observe, guard, watch for the month in which I have aviv barley, so I’m looking for a new month, I’m looking for barley. And that’s the month I’m going to keep Passover and therefore I know that’s the first month of the year and therefore I know when the year starts and I know when a new month begins. It’s that simple, nothing complicated.

So I want to talk next week about in our next segment, we’ll talk about how much barley you need for a new year, we’re gonna talk about the other calendar systems that are out there and why do you not believe they are following Scripture but that they are going outside of Scripture in order to find the answers. And we’ll discuss the conjunction some more, we’ll discuss the equinox, we’ll talk about the so-called Enoch calendar, and we’ll talk about the Jewish calendar.

But I really believe the various calendar systems out there are actually symptoms of a greater problem and I would say potentially a major, major problem. And it has to do with how we study and the approach we use in our studies for determining the truth. I believe a hundred percent wholeheartedly our answer can be found in Scripture alone without anything extra. You may have to dig into Hebrew, we may have to do deep study, but the answers are there.

So. We’ll close out today’s broadcast with a word of prayer. Father we thank You for Your calendar, we thank You for Your love. We thank You for the simplicity that’s in Messiah, the simplicity that’s in Your Word. And Father I just pray in the name of Yahushua help us to approach this topic with humility, with grace as I extend grace to those who may disagree. Father if I’m in error I pray You would show me. Father I believe wholeheartedly the answer is in Your Word, I don’t need to go anywhere else, I trust You.

And Father there may be some listening to this who think “You know this calendar stuff, you know my life is at shambles I’m not worried about a calendar right now”, Father I pray You touch their hearts, help them to resolve their challenges and bring them to the feet of Yahushua the Messiah our Healer, our Savior, our Redeemer, our Life. As we turn our hearts to You compel them Father Yahweh to yield themselves, to humble themselves before you, as we all need to do in order to understand the glorious ways of Your Word. For truly Yours is the Kingdom and power and glory and majesty for ever and ever, in Yahushua’s great Name we pray. Amen.