Yahweh’s Calendar part-4

Halleluyah, blessed be the name of Yahweh. Alright. We want to examine the 4^th segment on Yahweh’s calendar and this segment number 4 is the final segment, the final portion of our study on this particular subject. And I have got to say I have found quite a bit of opposition in the spiritual realm, I believe from the enemy who is trying to stop this study from going out.

I believe it is so important that we do not stray from the Word. When we stray from the Word we are straying from the Shepherd, Yahushua who is the living Word that was made flesh and dwelt among us. And so I do not want to stray. I do not want to give any direction, any distance from the word of Yahweh. I want to remain near, I want to remain close to the word of Yahweh.

And so this study, this study is predicated and it is founded upon the idea of staying close to the word of Yahweh. And that is what I want to do, that is what I want to maintain.

Alright. So as we do this we are going to come across some you know, different calendars that are out there, some different ideas that are out there, different concepts, different belief systems, and we examine each of them to determine whether or not any of them has chosen to add to the word of Yahweh something that He Himself did not say.

And so why do not we start with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father Yahweh, thank You for Your word, thank You for Yahushua who is the Word. And Father Yahweh we do not want to stray from Your holy word and add our own thoughts, our own ideas, our own opinions, our own beliefs to anything that we say or believe. Father we want to remain close to You, we love You, we praise You, we long to know Your truth in every respect, on any subject, in anything that we believe, say or think. Father, we want Your pure, unadulterated, holy, unblemished truth Father to guide us. If in any way that we are straying from that, reveal it to us in the name of Yahushua ha Mashiach who is the way, the truth and the life, and the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us. Father, teach us, teach us the way of righteousness and keep us near to the Shepherd. In Yahushua’s name we pray. Amein.

My desire to stay near to the Shepherd is the foundation of my belief on the calendar and it is important that we do remain close to Him on any subject we are wanting to study out. If we have a doctrine that needs to go through this filter of Yahweh’s perfect word, and then and only then can we find Yahweh’s perfect will. But the problem is, as I have been saying all along, we have a doctrine, we go to Yahweh’s word with it, then we consult man, his opinions. And sometimes he adds to it, his own ideas, his own opinions and sometimes he takes away. And when you do that you do not really know whether you have Yahweh’s will.

But we want Yahweh’s will, we want be able to know that we have Yahweh’s will. So we are not going to add to the word and I want to follow this principle where Scripture says (Deuteronomy 12:32) – Whatever I command you, be careful – be careful He says; are we being careful with our understandings of the calendar? Are we really being careful as He commanded. He says – be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it. – So we are going to observe what the word says, what the commandment says, we are not going to add to it and we are not going to take away. That is going to be our guiding principle here.

In the Scripture Deuteronomy 16 it says – Observe the month of Aviv – we discovered that it does not say Aviv, it says the Aviv – 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. – And so we have come to understand, observe meaning ‘shamar’ or the month of the Aviv can be also be found in other Scriptures such as 1 Samuel 19:11 ‘shamar’ being here in this case to watch him, okay? – Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him – shamar him.

So it can carry this connotation of watching which involves looking for a moon, looking for the moon, the month. We have proven that the month and moon are two things connected together directly in the holy Scriptures. So observe for the moon, new moon of the aviv, the time in which you find aviv barley and there is a new moon, that is a new year because that is when we keep Passover.

Other examples Psalm 130 verse 6 – My soul waits for Yahweh More than those who watch for the morning — Yes, more than those who watch for the morning. 1 Samuel 1:12 – And it happened, as she continued praying before Yahweh, that Eli watched her mouth.

So it involves observation, okay. So we are going to observe – watch for – the month of the Aviv, so the new moon of the aviv barley, that is harvestable barley, we have discovered that in previous segments, that is going to be the month that we are going to keep the Passover and that is always the first month of the year.  And we do not want to add our own thoughts, just what He says (Romans 12:16b) – Do not be wise in your own opinion.

Now please understand. I do not believe that everyone who disagrees with me is guilty of trying to add to Yahweh’s word or having impure motives. I am just saying we have got to be careful, we have got to be careful. And Scripture says be careful. Yahweh judges the hearts, but sometimes in a person’s own words I do see where they are actually adding to the word and they acknowledge they are. So we have got to be careful about that. And when you add to Yahweh’s word then it all becomes who is the smartest, who can figure out something best, rather than just look what it says and go with it. Right? So we have got to be careful about that.

Now my personal preference, I will be honest with you, my own personal desire is that equinox starts the year. That is my want, that is my desire. But I cannot let my own wants, my own desires to guide me. I have got to (1 Thessalonians 5:21) – Test all things; – and then – hold fast what is good. – You see, the equinox I do not have to make a trip to Israel, I do not have to, you know, go over controversial barley reports, that is my personal preference. But whenever I am trying to find the truth about something I cannot be wise in my own eyes, I have got to test all things and see what is the truth. Because I know that sometimes people are working from this different foundation and I really believe it is a primary reason why there is so many opinions on the calendar.

I know this (John 17:17): Yahweh’s word is truth, Yahushua is truth. And so my criteria for finding truth is I want to find it in His word. I may not find it in man’s word. Right? He says (Deuteronomy 12:32) – Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.  – Deuteronomy 4:2 – You shall not add to the word which I command you, – He is talking to them, He says “Do not add to my word” so you can keep the commandments, because when you start adding your own thoughts it all goes downhill from there. And ultimately, what ends up happening is you stray from the commandment. And the commandment here in Deuteronomy 16 is look for the month of Aviv and there you keep your Passover. If we are looking for other things to determine the month of Passover then we are not doing what it says. We are adding to the word and we are straying from the Shepherd. We are straying from the Shepherd. And so I do not want to add my own thoughts, nor take anything away from what He says. Alright.

So when people contradict they add or take away from the word there is sometimes motivations:

• Fail to empty yourself of your own will, is one, we have gone over this before, just want to recover this.
• Failing in a true love for Yahweh, a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith. That is always possible, we see the scribes and Pharisees had that problem.
• Believing we need some man to teach us the Scriptures and the Scriptures are not enough, we need something else besides that.
• Spiritual laziness, just go with man’s opinion rather than actually laboring in the Word yourself and finding the truth.
• Another thing: preference for personal divine revelations. Unless we are a prophet you can be wrong you know, rely on the inspired Word which we know is true.
• Fear of divisiveness, oh wow, I just want my fellowship. Whatever they are keeping their feast what they are doing that is what I am going to go with.

We need to find the truth, we need to seek it out.

So. When I say “I prefer the equinox, that is what I prefer, the vernal equinox”, I have got to go back and say “Wait a minute, I cannot go with my own preferences here, I have got, otherwise I am failing to empty myself of my own will”. Even Yahushua had His own will. He says “Father, if it is possible let this cup pass from Me, but not My will but Your will be done.” The equinox is easier, put a stick in the ground and see when the shadow goes straight, easy as that.

But there is problems with every calendar. What if it is cloudy? What if it is raining? There is always problems. So. I mean someone, someone sent me a study this week, got it in the mail, right off the bat, talking about the equinox, they said the equinox is not in the Bible. They admitted it. We see the email from someone a while back, they did a fine job proposing what they saw to be flaws in the position of using barley, which we covered last week, and some of the problems, but what they did not do is tell me that there is not equinox in the Bible. And the equinox is not in the Bible. It is, you know, there are difficulties practicality in everything, whatever calendar you have got I can poke a hole in it and find some practical problem.

2012 I had the opportunity to have a highly respected brother, Herb Zelensky, stay in my home. This brother has promoted the equinox position for over 30 years. But the purpose of the visit was for him to share with me his views on the equinox, and I was eager to listen to him, ready to change if that is a position that Scripture could support, because my personal preference was equinox anyway. So. But Herb admitted to me there is no Scripture that speaks of equinox. And I marveled at this because I respect this man’s intelligence, very academic minded person, I mean I was a kind of excited to meet him, having stay him in my home and I considered him a brother, I still do, and I listened as he shared his information, I did not, but it did not take long for me to formulate an opinion because he admitted to me that the Bible does not say anything about an equinox. And that is all I need to know, really.

I mean if Yahweh’s word does not tell me how to do something, then we enter this dark and scary world of having to add to His word to find the answer. We enter this dark and scary realm of man’s opinions. And I hate that place because it so often brings confusion. That is how we got the Talmud. That is how we got catholic catechisms and writings of Church Fathers undermining the truth about Yahweh’s law being for today, I just say “yuck”. We ultimately end up in this place where man has to make up for Elohim’s supposed mistakes and not giving us enough information. But Satan has been tempting man from the very beginning to take the place of Elohim. And I do not want to go there. I just want Yahweh’s perfect word to tell me His perfect doctrine. That is what I want.

So the only Scripture that Herb could point out to me was ultimately Genesis 1:14. Alright, let us look at Genesis 1:14. I know a lot of you have been very interested in hearing this perspective on Genesis 1:14, how I align that with the barley. But it is not really my problem to solve, it is Yahweh’s problem. If there is 2 Scriptures that contradict, it is His issue. But since I know there is no 2 Scriptures that contradict, I can trust that whatever I understand of Genesis 1:14 it cannot contradict what we read in Deuteronomy 16 about observe, watch for the new moon of the aviv. So it says – Then Elohim said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; – find in Scripture I believe it, I agree that it is true; ultimately it is actually the earth’s orbit around the sun that creates ‘years’, right? And, but there is nothing here about an equinox.

I can see the heavenly lights are also for seasons, alright; ‘mo`edim’, in the Hebrew ‘mo`edim’, ‘mo`ed’, ‘mo`ed’ is singular, ‘mo`edim’ is plural, meaning appointed place, appointed time in meeting; in fact it is translated ‘congregation’ 150 times, ‘feast’ only 23 times. But it has to do with appointed time, appointed meeting in some kind, okay? So, that is it. It is evident then that sunrise, sunset would determine days, right? From which we count and come to the Sabbath every week so that we can have a congregation that meets on the Sabbath. We also use the month for determining, the moon, I am sorry, for determining the months, so we see the sun and moon are in play there and so we know when to congregate and keep Yahweh’s feast days. So we see how these are connected.

Now there is also something here called ‘signs’. A man I highly respect put a lot of emphasis on this word ‘signs’ and saying “What is the heavenly sign for the new year, what is the sign of the new years?” what he kept saying in his article, actually email. So some people are looking for some kind of a trigger, some kind of a heavenly sign that would tell us when the new year begins. But it does not say “Let there be a sign for starting a new year”. That would be, there is these light are for signs and for seasons and for days and for years. Okay. Again, I want pure doctrine I do not want man’s opinion, there is nothing here about an equinox, okay? Nothing at all.

Now the word in Hebrew for ‘signs’ according to the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, it says “The word ‘sign’ either signifies the unusual event itself or in some way it points to that unusual event.”

Now, this verse is not saying that the lights are the sign of the new year, it does not say that. But the word ‘oth’ in Hebrew, here is some examples: unusual events Exodus 4:17 – And you shall take this rod in your hands, with which you shall do the signs. Right? Yahweh showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, – Deuteronomy 6:22, these are unusual events, right?

Yahushua talked about signs in the heavens in Matthew 24:29 – Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. – Unusual events. Revelation 12:1 says – A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet, on her head a garland of twelve stars.

It is talking about unusual events, maybe comets would be an example of an unusual event. Meteors, falling stars, things like that; or shooting stars, unexpected events. It is also used to describe the rainbow. And even the Sabbath being a sign, it is unusual because not very many people keep the Sabbath. So it became a sign between Yahweh and the children of Israel because it was something unusual, most of the world did not keep it. So signs are unusual events, okay?

So what I see here with the word ‘oth’:

• Signs are unusual events, not regular, predictable, cyclical events.
• It says lights are for “signs AND years”, okay, signs and seasons and days and years, not “signs OF years”. Okay?

You cannot put all these words in the blender and just mix them altogether. It is four separate purposes of the lights: signs, seasons, days, years. Okay.

Now most of the equinox articles do try to blend these altogether and say I am looking for the trigger of the sign of the new year, something in the heavens, that is what I am looking for. But these are separate things, okay? The lights can tell us when the seasons are, the lights can tell us when the days are, the lights can tell us the years and the lights can give us signs, right? Okay. So this is the four things that they do. That is what they do. The heavenly lights, including the stars, can give us signs. Okay. Falling stars, comets, you name it, they can do it. And it is unusual events, the not regular, cyclical events when it says ‘signs’ or ‘oth’, okay?

Now unusual events. Now there is nothing unusual about the seasons okay? Genesis 8:22 – While the earth remains – you have – Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease. – Okay. So I am not looking for an ‘oth’ or a sign to tell me when anything is in regards to the calendar, because the word ‘sign’ or ‘oth’ in Hebrew referring to unusual events that you do not expect. I expect days, I expect nights, I expect seedtime, harvest, cold, heat, winter, summer, I expect those things. So the word in Hebrew itself is referencing unusual events. Okay? So for that reason I do not connect the word ‘sign’ to years. I see that as something different. And it is important that we make that distinction, okay?

So, how does the sun create years? I mean anyone who can study the movement of the sun and the movement of the stars and the movement of the earth in its orbit, can see that it is these heavenly lights, in this case the sun, that is creating years, okay? If you look at the earth’s orbit around the sun, alright. In the summertime the earth because of the tilt of the axis, is warming up the northern hemisphere. In the wintertime it is warming up the southern hemisphere. And the spring is somewhere in between and fall is somewhere in between, okay, because of the orbital path around the sun. That is and so the sun is creating, in conjunction with the movement of the earth, is creating years. And one complete revolution around the sun approximately going to resolve in this winter, summer, cold and heat, seedtime, harvest, and so that is what is creating years, this movement of the earth around the sun, the sun heating up different places on the earth. And that is just fact, okay?

So. The sun itself does not do anything by itself to create a year. The sun is simply a giant burning ball of fire. But in relation to the earth it is generating light, it is generating heat. And the tilt of the earth in relation to the sun and the orbit around the sun is what is creating what is called years. And it is accurate for Yahweh to say that the lights are creating years, that is true, they are for years. But it is the action of the sun on the earth that is creating years.

Yahweh want them to be a regularly occurring cycle known as years on the earth. He created the sun to enable this to happen. When He created the sun He created a tilted earth in relation to it. Not only did this create different climates in different places on the earth, it also allows the sun in His wisdom to heat the earth evenly, otherwise if the sun was always pointing its rays on the center of the earth at all times, then the center of the earth would be uninhabitable because it is way to hot. But in the same way a hen will turn its eggs to create even heating of the little chicken inside the egg, Yahweh gave the earth a tilt so the earth would be heated more evenly. And that creates the ability for us to be fruitful and multiply in multiple places throughout the earth. Because if it was always just pointing at the equator, that would be too hot, these area’s here would be too cold, and there be just one little swath here in the northern hemisphere, another swath of land in the southern hemisphere that we could even inhabit. So we would not be able to fill the earth, okay? Because it is too hot in the middle and there is only 2 segments; in fact we probably would not be able to travel from the northern to the southern hemisphere at least not by land.

Alright. So weather would also be drastically different. Because it is the heating of the northern part of the earth and that changing to the heating of the southern part of the earth that causes the gasses in the earth to travel from hot to cold. If you open up a door in your house and your house is warm, what is going to happen? The heat is all going to go outside, right? Because that hot air is going to go to the outside and you are going to have a cold room before long. Well, heat travels around the earth and the movement of gasses and hot air moves toward cold air. That is just how it functions. And since the sun’s warmth heats different parts of the earth there is something called weather. And since warm air holds more moisture than cold air when the air cools, you have rain. That is why cold fronts bring rain. Just basic science lesson, okay?

I have said all that to say this: the lights in the heaven do indeed create years and they create this winter and summer, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, day and night. We see the effect of the sun on the earth creating the seasons. And so it is the effect of the sun on the earth that creates the cycle of plant growth and therefore seedtime and harvest. Do you see where we have, right here we have described a year, in Genesis 8:22 … Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer. Alright. So we have described a year, we also described a full day, 24 hour day, day and a night, okay?

Now there is some interesting things about the Scripture I will get to in a minute, but notice seedtime (winter), harvest (summer). cold (winter), heat (summer). Winter and summer. Okay. So, now. There is no word here for spring. There is no word for fall. There is just winter and summer. That is it. There is no Bible verse that uses the term spring or fall. There are only 2 seasons in Scripture, that is seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer. There is no such word as autumn in the Bible, there is only wintertime where plants go to seed, summertime when people harvest. And I find it interesting that summertime is tied into harvesting because the very first crop in Israel that is harvested for food is barley.

And so it would make sense to me based on this Scripture and the parallels it is drawing, that summertime would begin with the barley harvest. Because that is when harvest begins and so you have got this harvest being connected to heat, being connected to summer. And it is the heating of the earth that creates the barley going to seed and producing food for us on the earth.

Alright. So Genesis 1:14 is not the only the Scripture indicating the beginning of a new year, we have Genesis 8:22 indicating harvest time indicating harvest time is connected to summer, and the very first food harvested is barley. So and there is nothing in this Scripture or any Scripture about an equinox. There is only winter and summer, there is nothing in between. So it looks to me that Scripture itself connects seasons to crops and the heating of those crops.

Now, there are some who believe that the equinox is found, the word equinox is found in Scripture and they call it “tequphah”, “tek-oo-faw’”: coming around, circuit of space and time, a turning circuit, at the circuit as an adverb. There are relatively few equinox believers who would say that this is referring exclusively to equinox because there is some major problems to it. But there are some who do and so for those who do I am going to go over this.

Let us put this to the test, (1 Thessalonians 5:21) – Test all things; hold fast – to – what is good. In the book of Samuel, Hannah was barren. But as an answer to prayer she conceived and bore a son. And it says here (1 Samuel 1:20) – So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and – she – called his name Samuel, saying “Because I have asked for him from Yahweh.” Alright. “Litu’qufot” let I should say “Lit’fuqot haYomim”. So, lit’fuqot haYamim, Yomim should say. Alright. So, Young Literal Translation actually translate this I believe most accurately, it is a literal translation, (YLT 1 Samuel 1:20) – It – came – cometh to pass, at the revolution of the days, that Hannah conceiveth, and beareth a son, and calleth his name Samuel. – “Tequphah” here is translated “revolution” of the days. “haYomim” is clearly, “yom” is “day”, and “yomim” is “days” and so “haYomim” would be “the days”. And therefore they are translating “lit, lit’teq lit’tequ …” I cannot even say it, “Lit’fuqot” as “revolution”. Now this word referring to some kind of circle of days, some kind of cycle of some kind. In this case I believe probably the days of pregnancy, you know, 260 to 270 days of gestation from conception to birth. But there is nothing here about an equinox when it comes to, you know, her conceiving and boring a son.

Now, pay close attention here. Every Hebrew word traces back to a three-letter root, root verb, 5362, so “Tequphah” is actually traced back to 5362 which is “naqaph” (naw-kaf’). And Strong’s Lexicon says this means “to strike with more or less violence; by implication attack to knock together, surround, circulate, compass|, and so on. Now this is the way the word is translated in the King James, okay? This is not a definition down here, okay? This is just how it is translated in the King James Version.

But if I am striking that means I am going from one position to another position, right? I am going from one place to another, alright? So that connotation can be found in multiple Scriptures, for example “naqaph” is found in Isaiah 10:34 – He will cut down (5362) the thickets of the forest with – the – iron. – Naqaph, an action going from one place to another, he is cutting down the thickets of the forest.

Again Job 19:25 – I know that my redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; 26 after my skin is – you might say sloughed away, or knocked off or destroyed – this I know, That in my flesh I shall see Elohim.

And then we have Psalm 19(:5-6) it says speaking of the sun he is saying – Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, And rejoices like a strong man to run its race. 6 Its rising is from one end of heaven, its circuit – (08622) tequphah – to the other end; And there is nothing hidden from its heat. – Now in the case of the sun, from the perspective of where we are standing on the earth, as we look upon the heavens and see it declares the glory of Yahweh, the sun is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber. And like a strong man to run its race.

So the sunrise would be the place where the bridegroom comes out of his chamber, or the place where the strong man runs the race, that is where it begins. Races across the sky. And then you have the bridegroom meeting his bride and going to some hidden place where he consummates the marriage. In the case of the strong man the sunset is where he finishes the race. Alright. So the comparisons here are linear, not circular. So the word itself can refer to a circular motion and it can also refer to a linear motion from one place to another, that is how the word “to cut down” comes from “naqaph” and “tequphah” comes to, comes back to “naqaph”, in this case a linear motion, not a cycle motion, at least in the context of where we are standing on the earth. Yes, that same linear motion takes place again the following day, no problem with that. But he is standing, he is saying the bridegroom coming out of his chamber, strong man is running the race, in the case of the sun it never ends, he keeps doing this every single day. But just as you move your axe from one place to another to cut down the tree of the forest, or the sins being cast away from one place to another a linear, not necessarily circular motion is involved. Now, those who believe “Tequphah” represents the equinox would require a ongoing circular motion.

Now, if Yahweh wanted the equinox to start a new year I firmly believe He would have told us plainly. We would not have to add to His word anything. He would explain it to us exactly how to come to a new year. And we do not have any Scripture, even if you think you have a Scripture that says equinox you do not have a Scripture that says the equinox starts the year. You do not. It is not in there. It cannot be found anywhere. I do have a Scripture that tells me (Deuteronomy 16:1) Guard/watch for the new moon of the Aviv and that is when I keep the Passover, I do have a Scripture for that.

Now some, take a look here at 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 – once again the month of the – Aviv – the ripened barley – for in it you came out of Egypt; none shall appear before Me empty); – So the commandment here is to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread at the time appointed in the month of the Aviv, the new moon of the Aviv, that is when you are going to keep Unleavened Bread. And that is a command, alright? So I can point to two commands: 1 – Deuteronomy 16, there is your first witness, and here is your second witness (Exodus 23:15). And then it says – 16 And the Feast of the Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field.

Now, the words translated “end of the year” in this particular passage “end of the year” is from two Hebrew words, one is “yatsa” (yaw-tsaw’) and one is “shanah” or “shaneh” (shaw-neh’). “Yatsa” means “to go out, come out, exit, go forth”. Okay? That is the basic meaning of it. And “shaneh” is obviously “year”. So the Feast of the Harvest or Feast of Tabernacles that is what it is referring to in this Scripture here when it says the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year, or the going forth of the year, or the, yes. So, when the harvesting is coming to an end. Okay? Then this is the going out portion of the year. Now pay close attention of that. Alright.

So, the time of year in which you have this ingathering, you have this going out of the year, would to me signify a change in seasons is about to take place, okay? So there is some kind of change happening. It does not really say end of the year in the Hebrew, it says “the going out of”, or as we saw earlier, “coming out, going forth, going forth or proceeding towards something”, you know, the time is proceeding towards something else, okay? To come or to go forth, to go, something, something is happening here in this seventh month. And here is what is happening.

We have the ending of the harvest season in the seventh month. And therefore we have the ending of summer, and the ending of heat, the hot weather, okay? So, to me what I see here is, again, the seasons are determined by what is happening with the harvesting. That is what I am seeing. We have seedtime in the wintertime, that is when you are planting; harvest and summertime. Cold and wintertime, heat and summertime, winter and summer. Two seasons, and only two.

So when He is describing this, go back here, end of the year, going forth of the year, or you might say proceeding of the year, going towards something else. What is happening is this is the final month of summertime and then you are going to go into wintertime. Why? Because that is when harvest completes, harvest is over and now seedtime. And when harvest returns then you come back again into summertime. And the very first plant that is harvested for food is indeed the barley. So to me we have multiple Scriptures tying in the barley to different seasons, the harvesting to different seasons, and the planting to different seasons and therefore the year. Nothing here about an equinox anywhere, nowhere.

The very first crop in Israel harvested for food is barley. So it makes sense based on this Scripture, the parallel is just drawing here, summertime would begin with the barley harvest. And therefore a new year would begin with the barley harvest as we go into summer. So Israel did not need to consult astronomers in order to know when the new moon or new year had occurred. They just need to use their eyes, observe the new moon, use their eyes observe the first crop of the year, the barley.

So. This going forth of the year, something is coming to something else, is describing the latter part of the year, the latter part of the harvest portion of the year. So the going, going forth.

We see the same kind of  thing here Exodus 34 verse 21 – Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. – Here we go, plowing time is wintertime, harvest is summertime. – 22 And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the – and the word there is indeed “tequphah”, okay? Again we have a linear motion. We have the beginning of a harvest season and the end of the harvest season.

So much like we have a bridegroom coming out of his chamber meeting his wife, or strongman beginning a race at one point coming to a finish line. There is a destination, there is a point A and a point B. Harvest season beginning, point A. Harvest season coming to an end, summertime coming point B. New season of winter begins.

Now, some will try to interpret this as the fall equinox. But if that is the case I would expect the equinox to occur every single time during the Feast of Tabernacles because it says Feast of Ingathering or Feast of Tabernacles at “tequphah”. Well, it is not always the case that “tequphah” and Feast of Tabernacles occur. In fact you may find Feast of Tabernacles somewhere in the middle of October which is almost a month later than the “tequphah” of the fall equinox. So, if you are going to tie this in, then you have got to find some way to put this Feast of Tabernacles during this “tequphah” every single year. So, it does not make sense.

But what does make sense is this same concept that was being taught in Exodus earlier, where we look at Exodus 23, this end of the year or end of the growing season, end of the harvest season, is what is being described here, the end of the harvest season, this linear motion from one place to another. And then a new season of summer, I am sorry, winter would occur when you begin to plow. So here we have, in context, harvest describing this harvest season, and the plowing time describing our winter season. And so, seasons are in play here. He is mentioning them in the context of the feasts and so this is when this is where I see all these things kind of connecting together. Summer and winter, seedtime and harvest; cold and heat; winter and summer. So winter – summer, winter – summer, winter – summer. Seedtime – harvest; cold – heat; winter – summer.

So it appears to me that these summer and winter are determined by the sun’s effect on the crops and the heat it produces on the crops. And that is how we determine summer has come by its effect on the crops and our ability to begin harvest. That is what I see here in Scripture. I am only using Scripture to make my determination of when the new year or the summertime would come around again. I am not using anything Scripture itself is not pointing me to. I am only using Scripture. Alright.

So, this Scripture (Deuteronomy 16:1) has many other Scriptures that would accompany its concepts. I am not just using one Scripture or one witness. But there is no commandment for the equinox, even if I believe “tequphah” referenced equinox I would have no information in Scripture regarding its relation to when the new year begins. It leaves an open question. Whether you start a new year with the new moon closest to the equinox, the new moon after the equinox, or maybe even the Passover that dates closest to the equinox. I have no way of utilizing Scripture to come to this answer. And so I have to go outside of Scripture to come to an answer. And that is simply not a place I want to go because that is where I find man’s opinions, man’s ideas, adding to and taking from Yahweh’s perfect word, and we may not find Yahweh’s will doing that.

So with all due respect I do not want to go there. I want to go purely to the perfect word and only then will I find His perfect will. Proverbs 30:5-6 – Every word of Elohim is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. 6 Do not add to His words, – that is a command, do not add to His words – lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.

Again, (Deuteronomy 12:32) – Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it. – I want to keep drilling this in our heads until we get it because this is the most disobeyed Scripture in all of the Bible. That is how we got Catholicism, that is how we got Judaism in its rabbinical form, that is how we got catechisms, that is how we got shuls and schools and all these things. And I do not want to setup another one. We can end up going from one bad religion to another and create our own little Talmuds. I do not want to go there. Whatever Yahweh commands, do not take away, do not add. It is a commandment not to add to it.

Alright. So in order to arrive at the equinox I have to add to it. I have no choice because there is no Bible verse telling me equinox starts the new year. I only have Genesis 1:14 which we have already covered that. So I can say the sun has the effect of heat on the earth which has the effect of harvest which has the effect of summertime. And I can show you that in the Scriptures. You cannot show me equinox starts summertime anywhere, nowhere, it is something you would have to add on your own.

And so I believe Yahweh’s calendar can be found in Scripture without me having to add anything to it. If the Scriptures themselves were not sufficient then Yahweh is requiring me to do something He specifically commanded me not to do. Which is add to the word to find His calendar. Simple as that.

Alright. I hope I have made my point as clear and concise as possible. I do not know any other way to explain this other than the way I have explained it. And if you do not get it maybe somebody else can do a better job than me, okay. But this is what I see. Alright.

Now what about other concepts out there? Some believe: well you have got the sun tells you when the day is, you have got the moon tells you when the month is, so you have got the stars tell you when the year is. And that sounds logical. I have to admit. I kind of think it be cool if there is some way to do it that way. I like it, I like it. I think it my my Greco-Roman just mind loves that kind of logic you know. But again, there is no Bible verse telling me that the position of the stars tells me when the new year starts.

And there is one very popular ministry out there that is promoting this, but then they will say: well the heavenly witness is the stars and the earthly witness is the barley so, and they always agree. So, for all intents and purposes all you have got to do is look at the barley and the heavenly has going to have match up with it, okay? Whatever you want to think the heavenly witness is, it is going to have to match up with what the barley is. So it is like we just have come back full circle at that point.

But here we go. You know, if we are going to go with the stars, and let us look at this (Genesis 1:14-17) – Then Elohim said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. 16 Then 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 Elohim set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth,

Alright. Look, it makes sense to me stars somehow line up. But, you know maybe there is something about the earth has changed since Genesis 1:14. Maybe something has changed and I will get back to that later, okay. But maybe originally it was the stars that determined the new year. But something happened to the earth like the flood. I mean if the spring and neap tides can adjust the speed of the moon orbiting around the sun, how much more so the whole entire planet being covered in water. So, maybe originally that was the case, you did not have the wobble, okay?

But what we have now is this wobble. And when Yahweh gave the Torah He did not say the stars began the new year, He says look at the condition of the barley. And maybe He is saying “look the earth is out of wack right now. But you look at the barley, you will stay in season”, okay?

And they actually, the same folks who promote this stars being the new year, they actually say the spring feast has to be at the equinox because the spring feast has to be in the spring. But there is no Hebrew word for spring in the Bible. And so that is another flag because there is no, they are trying to get equinox again and there is nothing about, you cannot prove equinox is even in the Bible.

So I think what they are trying to do maybe is you know, bring unity, you know; we have to be careful about making assertions that Scripture itself never makes. And they seem like they wanted to console all the different calendar beliefs into one teaching and each of them contain you know, bits and pieces of truth and so they said: the equinox will take place during somewhere, the equinox you know, as long as equinox happens during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, then you are still on point.

But there is going to be exceptions to that as I saw this year because the barley was ready, quite early this year, early March, what the world calls March, and there was a bit of a problem because if the new moon fell on those earlier days, then Passover would have taken place before the equinox even started.

So. Anyway. Here is the problem when using the stars. They are not consistent. It says according to the University of Southern Maine, you can find anybody you want to talk to on this. There is something called axial procession or procession of the equinox as some call it. It says: … today the star Polaris lies approximately at the north celestial pole, this will change over time, – so what they are trying to do is they are trying to say the new moon in which you have the new moon taking place or even sun going down this time lining up with these constellations the stars this particular time of year, then that is going to determine a new year, okay? But he is saying – In approximately 3200 years, the star Gamma Cephei in the Cepheus constellation will succeed Polaris for this position. University of Southern Maine

And so over a 6000 year time period you have variation happening here. The stars are in different positions. And in fact when Isaiah was a prophet the sun used to be in the constellation Aries on the first day of the equinox, but then it moved in what is called Pisces where it is today, and a few hundred years it will be in Aquarius. So it is not a reliable and consistent indicator of the years, even if you wanted to use them. And maybe at one time it was. Maybe pre-flood it was and but now it is not, okay? So I do not think we can count on it. I mean you can come up with your own thoughts but there is nothing in Scripture telling you the stars determine the year. Nowhere. And if it did, any explanation of the stars in what particular position starts the new year. Okay?

Now another calendar becoming very popular recently is called the Enoch calendar. Enoch calendar, why on earth would you trust the book of Enoch which one minute says the new moon, the moon determines the month, next minute says it does not, is beyond me because, and then you have got things like this, Enoch 78 says: 1 And the names of the sun are the following: the first Orjares, and the second Tomas. 2 And the moon has four names: bla bla bla. 3 These are two great luminaries: – and then it says – their circumference is like the circumference of the heaven, and the size of the circumference of both is alike. And that is not true. The moon is much smaller than the sun, so it is simply not true.

Another problem is the modern Enoch calendar does not use the moon to determine the months. And I already shared in our first segment how Scripture demonstrates the need to use the moon to determine the months. In fact the word “month” and “moon” are related and used interchangeably “chodesh” and “yerach” are both used to describe months. So, I did not have to go very far to determine number one: I am not going to go outside of Scripture in order to find the answer. Enoch is such a mess there is the book I mean the Epic of Gilgamesh is in the 106^th chapter, I am not going to go there, I am not going to the book of Enoch.

I am going to go with what I know is Scripture and what I know is Scripture says nothing about the book, this Enoch calendar.

Now some of them would point to hey you know the Enoch calendar makes sense because it lines up with Genesis 7:11 and these other places, so let us look here Genesis 7:11 – In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. – Now the book of Genesis does describe a 12-month calendar of 30 days. Because at the beginning of the flood the water came forth on the 17^th day of the month. And then 5 months later on the 17^th day of the month the book of Genesis says that the ark rested. And it says there were 150 days in between. Now, so you divide 150 days by 5, it is 150 days right here by 5, oops, 150 days by 5, 5 months, you come to 30 days per month.

Alright. So you have got 30 days per month and a period of 5 months. Fine. Alright. So, maybe at the time that maybe even when Enoch was a man walking the earth or whatever, there was a calendar of such, alright. But that is not the calendar that we have today. It is not. The calendar we have today, maybe the moon at that time did go around the earth at exactly 30 days, it was consistent. But then the flood came and messed up everything and slowed down the moon’s orbit by a tick so it is just over a 29.5 days and that does not line up anymore. Again, if the spring and the neap tides can effect wether the moon is going around the earth at 29.2 or 29.7 days, then how much more if the flood came and completely engulfed the earth in water and you have got, you know, a big mess.

So maybe the earth right now, I am sorry the moon right is moving at a slower pace, okay, than it was. Fine. But that is not the case today, the moon does not go with 30 days. It is 29.5 on average, a little over 29.5.

And then we have Revelation 12 verse 6 it says – Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by Elohim, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. – Again we see it Revelation 12:14 – But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, – which we understand to be 3.5 years. So if you take 1260 and you divide it by 30 you have 42 months, and so you have 30 day months once again happening here in this Revelation chapter 12, okay.

Now, so perhaps at some point in the future the moon cycle once again will resume to this lining up perfectly with a 30 day time period. I know that there is going to be great tribulation on the earth. I can see Isaiah 24 verse 20, it says – The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, And shall totter like a hut; Its transgression shall be heavy upon it, And it will fall, and not rise again. 24 It shall come to pass in that day That Yahweh will punish on high the host of exalted ones, And on the earth the kings of the earth. 22 They will be gathered together, As prisoners are gathered in the pit, And will be shut up in the prison; After many days they will be punished.

So you have got the earth reeling to and fro like a drunkard and tottering like a hut, and maybe this is going to influence something with the lunar cycle which you still going to be looking for that new moon. And that happens to take place right at 30 days every single time at that point. You are still looking for the new moon and you are still coming to that point. And maybe these things that are happening with the earth will affect its orbit around the sun to where it slows down from 365.25blablabla days to exactly 360 days again. Fine but you are still using the same criteria. This harvest is going to take place at this time and it is still all the same. What I am using now could be used then. There is no contradiction. It is just at that time as you have got all these stresses on the earth and the stars falling and the heaven shaking all these things taking place, it is affecting the length of time that the orbit would move the orbit of the moon around the sun and the length of time of the sun or the earth, I am sorry, moving around the sun. Now, I am getting mixed up; the moon moving around the earth and the earth moving around the sun. My, my problem there, sorry. Alright.

So, still I can look for the new moon, I see the crescent and I have got a new month. Happens to happen now every 30 every time it is 30 days, like clockwork, it still happens. And the same thing about the new year, it is starting to happen now like clockwork, there is not all this variation. And that is fine. So I can use the same method I am using now in this future day. And they could use that same method that we are using now at that time in the past, only then it was more exact. So and that is perfectly fine.

But look what it says here, it says (Isaiah 24:23) – Then the moon will be disgraced
And the sun ashamed; – in verse 23 – For Yahweh of hosts will reign On Mount Zion and in Jerusalem And before His elders, gloriously. – So the sun is going to be disgraced because Yahweh’s brightness is going to outshine both of those. And then we see – Moreover – it says – the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, – Isaiah 30:26 – And the light of the sun will be sevenfold, As the light of seven days, In the day that Yahweh binds up the bruise of His people And heals the stroke of their wound. – You know, what kind of effect is that going to have on the calendar in the future, I mean, I do not know, it is going to be tremendous.

But what we have now, we can follow. And how the calendar is going to look in some future day I do not know. I just know where it is now and if Yahweh wants to change it, it is His prerogative, it is His choice. I know one thing: I do not have that choice, I do not want to change it. Yahweh is the author of time. He is the one who came up with the idea of having a calendar to begin with. That is why I do not like the Roman calendar, that is why I do not like any calendar that goes outside of Scripture in order to come to its conclusion. Because I want to respect Yahweh’s authority enough to where I do not want to try to come up with my own calendar, or follow some calendar that includes things that are not found in Scripture.

And if I am wrong, and I might be, it was not because I added to Yahweh’s word, oh one minute I have got a technical issue, it won’t be because I added to Yahweh’s word it will be because I misunderstood Yahweh’s word. And that is different. If I misunderstand what my Father in heaven tells me I think there is grace there. But when I start putting my own ideas into it that is where we run into trouble and so that is why I believe the calendar I am following is correct. And with plenty of grace to those who disagree, plenty of compassion toward those who have a different conclusion. This is why I come to the conclusion I have. I want to have that sensitivity to that respect and that reverence for the word of Yahweh, which is my rock and my foundation in anything I choose to study out, I do not care if it a calendar or what it is.

It is our willingness to do this to stray from man’s from what Yahweh says and go now into what man says that creates division in the Body of the Messiah. That is where pride comes in, man to think they have the better opinion, the better idea, and the best opinions and ideas get all pulled out there, and the best, most persuasive, most magnetic personalities in that become victorious, and we cannot go there, we have got to look at the Scriptures and stick with it. Every other calendar I have seen strays from it. I do not want to go that direction.

And I hammer this point over and over again because I think we need that, I really do. Why do not we pray.

Father Yahweh, thank You for Your word. We love it, we do not want to stray from the Shepherd, we want to follow His voice and His voice alone. The hirelings, the voices of other shepherds, the people that knowingly or unknowingly are putting things in Your word that are not intended, Father if I am wrong let it be wrong I am wrong because I misunderstood Your word, not because I added my own things. Father reveal to any of us where we are adding our own things into it. Because we want to be near to the Shepherd. He is the One who has drawn us by Your Spirit. He is the One that, that voice we want to follow. For truly Yours is the kingdom and power and glory, and all praise, honor and worship belongs to You, Yahweh Eloheinu, Yahweh our Mighty One, forever and ever, in Yahushua’s great name we pray, and we praise You. Amein.