The Calendar, At A Glance By calendar , we mean the schedule of God's feast days, not a bound pad of leaflets featuring a bikinied babe holding the "tool of the month". The word calendar isn't in scripture, being a Latin derivative (calendarium, calendae) of a Greek word (kalein, to call as in to announce the beginnings) and usually, by current usage, referring to a perpetual calendar. While God commanded that we observe his feasts (Lev. 23), he never gave any commands regarding perpetual timekeeping. God gave Adam and Eve clothing made from animal skins (making Him politically incorrect, but then politics originated, on the human level, with Cain, who perceiving that his approval rating was down, proceeded to destroy his "able" opponent). But God did not give Adam and Eve palm pilots, daytimers, wall calendars or even Timexes. He gave them "signs" by which to recognize the times, days, seasons and years.
If you collected all the calendars, clocks, watches, and time-keeping devices in the world and destroyed them, what would happen? Y2K? Hardly. The sun, moon and earth would continue in their respective cycles. The agricultural seasons would still exist. Plants would still reproduce within their cycles. Animals would still reproduce within their cycles. The tides would rise and fall, the moon would wax and wane and young men would still become twitter-pated over young women and marry and reproduce to "give in marriage".
On the other hand, without calendars and clocks, shift supervisors and production foremen would gnash their teeth in frustration, politicians would have difficulty collecting taxes (another human invention), and bankers and other money-lenders would be tempted to suicide. Some may rightly ask, So where's the problem? , (but that's another subject for another time). In fact the Latin word, calendarium, means "an account book" which reminds us that the primary use of calendars in the world is to schedule your hours of economic servitude and to calculate the interest on your debts.
Apparently, God never intended for men to be slave labor in a frosty Gulag mine, a third-world sweatshop, a modern Detroit (er, Japanese) factory or even a plush Wall Street office. Nor did he intend for men to be perpetually in debt and enslaved to interest payments. Otherwise, he could have given Adam and Eve a perpetual calendar that works, and saved mankind from thousands of years of frustration in attempting to design one that works simply and accurately.What God did was so simple, that modern man with all his (worldly) wisdom and urban sophistication perceives it to be simplistic, childish, or primitive. [For a more thorough discussion of man's upside-down view of things "upright", see Acts 17:6, Isa. 29:13-16, Psa. 146:9, Isa. 24:1-5, 1 Cor.1:20-27, 2:4-16, 3:18-21, Rom. 1:20-22 and Mat. 18:3-4.]
What God Gave Man Some living things live only in darkness, either underground, under sea (or merely under spiritual blindness). God set man on top of dry land with a spectacular view of space which should remind him of his, apparently limitless, future. He set the earth close enough to the sun for us to have the convenience of light and to avoid freezing to death, yet not so close that we would be incinerated. He created "days" by making the earth spin on its axis and called the darkness the beginning of the day (Gen. 1:5) so that our "end" would be in the "light" (symbolic of truth and understanding).
He ordained the "week" as being seven "days". The seventh is to be a time of "resting" to remind us of a future "rest" (salvation as a spirit being, free from the weariness of being physical).
He preserved the knowledge and significance of this day through the physical descendants of Abraham, to whom the promises were made. Those promises were for Abraham's physical descendants and for those who would choose to follow their example. The spiritual aspects of the covenant with Abraham were understood by David and few others until Christ and his disciples explained it in their time. Because Christ's example is within recorded history, we know which day is the seventh day.He put the earth into orbit around the sun, and tilted the earth's axis in relation to that plane of orbit, to give us agricultural seasons. This cycle gives us physical food, the "solar" year, and opportunities to understand the many scriptural analogies and parables that explain why we exist and what we should be doing.
He put a secondary light fixture into orbit around us (Gen. 1:16). It does not produce any light of its own, but reflects the light of the sun. Christ said he couldn't do anything of himself, but if we saw him, we had seen (a reflection of) the Father (Jn. 5:19, 14:9).
He gave stars for light and to give us perspective of the depths of space. He used it symbolically to illustrate the extent of his promise to Abraham and to show us his greatness and power. If we are smart, it keeps us humble (Job 38).
When God brought Israel out of Egypt, he instituted certain "feast days" which he called "my feasts" (Lev. 23:1-44). He ordained that these days be found by counting from the first month of the year and from the first day of the month. He did not mention perpetual timekeeping.
These days were to be observed "for ever" because 1) God said so, 2) they are memorials of things past, 3) they are memorials of things future, and 4) they have a spiritual significance which we need to understand.He did not give any length of time for the solar year (for which the lack of measurement in whole numbers and a consistent interplanetary cycle has always plagued astronomers, timekeepers and calendar makers).
In fact, he described the year as beginning in "Abib" ('green ears', a contemporary name then, for the first month of spring) (Ex. 12:2, 13:4) and ending in the seventh month of Tishrei (Ex. 23:16, 34:22), in effect, declaring the rest of the solar year as being irrelevant to the keeping of "his feast days".
Notice the pattern of the "end" being associated with the "seventh", just as it is with the week.Notice that the first month was identified by God's proclamation, not calculation. Had Israel continued to be obedient, God would have continued to dwell among them and there would have been no confusion as to his feast days. But Israel refused to "hear" God, insisting that Moses speak to them in his place (Ex. 20:19). After his death, the next generation eventually cut themselves off completely by repeated disobedience. Just as Adam, by his disobedience, was separated from God's presence and blessings, and had to seek physical life by the "sweat of his face", so it became difficult for Israel to find spiritual life and blessings after their disobedience and departure from God's presence. Those who wanted to obey would have to "seek" him (Deu. 4:25-31).
Today, there are a few who are seeking, with some difficulty, to find him and to find his commanded feast days in order to obediently approach him in timely worship.The Basics of Time "The orbital motion of the Earth round the Sun gives us the progression of seasons and years, while its spinning motion on its axis gives us the progression of days and nights. Our units of time have arisen from these two kinds of motion. If the Earth did not revolve, if the Universe were immovable, there would be no hours, days, weeks, months, seasons, or years or centuries."
("The Earth in the Heavens", The Flammarion Book of Astronomy, Camille Flammarion, trans. by A. Pagel, B. Pagel, 1964, p.14.)Men argue philosophically over the meaning of "time" and whether it actually exists.
It is of more immediate importance for most us us to simply measure it. As technical knowledge increases (and God said that it would, Dan. 12:4) our ability to measure it more precisely has increased. Our knowledge of our universe and of the movements of its planets has increased.
By human logic, it would seem that with this increased knowledge it would be easier to recognize God's feast days. But increased human "wisdom" does not directly produce "spiritual" understanding. The first comes by genetics, environment, opportunity and human effort (or divine gift). The second comes only by the gift of God's Holy Spirit, regardless of genetics, environment, opportunity or human effort. Paul went to great lengths to explain that human wisdom and true spiritual understanding are often contradictory and in direct opposition to one another (1Cor.1-3, esp. 3:19).
The "feasts of God" include:
1. The weekly, 7th day Sabbath.
2. Passover, (in which the lamb was killed on the 14th day of the first month, and eaten at "even" (sunset) with unleavened bread.
3. The "feast of unleavened bread", beginning at even on the 15th day of the first month, and continuing for seven days. The first and seventh days are "holy", or "sabbaths".
4. The "feast of weeks", also called the "feast of harvest", feast of firstfruits" and "Pentecost".
5. The "day of trumpets".
6. The "day of atonement".
7. The "feast of tabernacles" or "feast of ingathering" in which the first day is a holy day.
8. The "eighth day of the feast" also called the "last great day".
"Three times in a year . . ." All of the annual "feasts" are divided by God into three groups:
"Three times you shall keep a feast unto me in the year,
You shall keep the [1] feast of unleavened bread: (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, in the time appointed of the month Abib: for in it you came out from Egypt: . . . .
And the [2] feast of harvest, the firstfruits of your labors, which you have sown in the field: and the [3] feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when you have gathered in your labors out of the field.
Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God." (Ex. 23:14-17).
"Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel." (Ex. 34:23).
"Three times in a year shall all your males appear before the Lord your God in the place which he shall choose; in the [1] feast of unleavened bread, and in the [2] feast of weeks, and in the [3] feast of tabernacles: . . ." (Deu. 16:16).
God's Schedule of Feast Days Ex. 12:2, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.
Verse 3, . . .In the tenth day of this month . . . (they were to take a lamb)
Verse 6, . . .until the fourteenth day of the same month . . . (they were to kill the lamb for Passover)
Verse 15, Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread: . . . from the first day until the seventh day . . .
Verse 18, In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month . . .until the (21st) day . .
The Weekly Feast or SabbathLev. 23:2, . . .Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.
Verse 3, Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; you shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.
The Annual Feasts or Sabbaths Verse 4, These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their seasons.
Verse 5, In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord's Passover.
Verse 6, And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord, seven days you must eat unleavened bread.
Verse 7, In the first day you shall have an holy convocation: you shall do no servile work therein.
Verse 8, . . .in the seventh day is an holy convocation: you shall do no servile work therein.
Verse 15, And you shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, . . . seven sabbaths shall be complete:
Verse 16, Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall you number (count) fifty days; . . .
Verse 21, . . .that it may be a holy convocation (Pentecost) unto you: you shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
Verse 24, . . . In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall you have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
Verse 25, You shall do no servile work therein: . . .
Verse 27, Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation . . .
Verse 28, And you shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, . . .
Verse 34, . . . The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord.
Verse 35, On the first day shall be an holy convocation: you shall do no servile work therein.
Verse 36, . . .on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you . . . and you shall do no servile work therein.
Verse 37, These are the feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, . . .
Verse 39, . . .in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, . . .you shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath."
(See also Num. 9:1-14, Deu. 16:1-17).
Simple as 1, 2, 3, ...15How difficult is this? It requires only that one can count up to 15.
1. Count one for the first month and count to 14/15" for Passover and the beginning of Unleavened Bread.
2. Count from one to seven for the seven days of Unleavened Bread.
3. Count seven Sabbaths or weeks to find Pentecost (Deu. 16:9), [or count fifty days (Lev. 23:15-16)].
4. Count seven to arrive at the seventh month, and count one for the first day of this month which is the feast of Trumpets .
5. Count ten to arrive at Atonement .
6. Count fifteen to arrive at the feast of Tabernacles , and count seven to observe the seven days .
7. Count eight to arrive at the eighth day, the Last Great Day of the feast (Jn. 7:37).
The First Month God commanded that Passover would be in the first month of the year , Abib (also called Nisan), which corresponds roughly to our Roman calendar dates of mid-March to mid-April. (See Ex. 12:1-28; 13:3-4; 23:15; 34:18; Deu. 16:1.) All the feast days are determined by counting from the first month.
Originally God himself proclaimed or announced this month (Ex. 12:2). Today we have to put forth some effort to "seek" God, to "seek" understanding, to "seek" to recognize his feast days.The Passover was commanded to be kept "in his appointed season from year to year" (Ex. 13:10, Num. 9:2). Because of the method of counting, this would mean that all the feasts would be kept at specific times. Note that only Passover was specified to be kept "in season" and not the entire month of Abib.
For Passover to be in spring, it must be after the vernal (spring) equinox. This date can be obtained from the U.S. Naval observatory or observed for yourself by various simple methods described elsewhere in these calendar articles.
Some observe the first new moon after the equinox as beginning the first month of the year. This will sometimes make the feast so late as to be "out of season". The use of the Jewish calculated calendar will also sometimes schedule feast days a month late in relation to the actual seasons.
Using the new moon closest to the equinox, will always keep Passover "in season" and in sync with the "seasons".The First Day of the Month Historically, the "new moon" has always meant the first visible crescent and was the starting point for counting days for those who used a lunar calendar. To astronomers, the term was borrowed sometime between the 7th cent. BC and the 4th cent. BC to mean the moment of conjunction, but not a day of the month.
Now, knowledge of God's creation has increased to the point where we can know the moment of conjunction and the time of first illumination, based on the angle of arc between the sun and moon as measured from a point on the earth. In the first and seventh lunar months, the first day (as measured by sunset to sunset) is also the first day of new illumination of the moon, although we may not always be able to see it, depending upon our location in relation to the meridian of conjunction, weather conditions, pollution, our ability to see well, or our looking in the right place at the right moment.
At A Glance God gave us "signs" by which to measure time. He invented time by setting these "signs" in motion and sustains their movements. (Gen. 1). We can glance up at them any day or night.
God made "appointments" for us to come before him in worship. (Ex., Lev., Num., Deu.).
We can glance at them in Lev. 23.He identified the "first month" in the context of instituting the "appointments" which he called "my feasts". He said to keep Passover "in season" and thereby anchored it to the equinox, which can be seen by glancing at the shadow on a sundial, or by glancing at a Naval Observatory chart.
The first day of the lunar month has always been the first visible crescent, which can be seen at a glance every month. With the increase in man's knowledge of God's creation, we can also glance at an astronomical table to find it.
By recognizing the first day of the first and seventh months, all the feasts of God can be easily counted using only ten fingers.
Using the Astronomical Tables Using current astronomical tables to locate the feast days is not difficult.
1. Find the spring equinox for the current or coming year on the chart at:
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/EarthSeasons.html2. Find the new moon closest to the conjunction using the chart at:
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/MoonPhase.html
(If it is not obvious, count the days to the new moon before and to the one after the equinox. Normally there will be a difference but if it ever occurs that the days are equal in number (14), then look at the remainder of time in hours and minutes. If the equinox falls on the 15th lunar day, [after14 days, 18 hours, 22 minutes] it is too late for Passover to be observed within this lunation and still be in Spring. Therefore the following conjunction would be used to determine the first day of the first month.)
3. Find the time of the conjunction for the first month using the chart at:
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/MoonPhase.html4. Convert Universal Time to your local time. A time zone map is located at:
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/world_tzones.html5. If needed to determine on which side of sunset, a conjunction or equinox occurs, refer to the sunset calculation form at:
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneYear.html6. The first sunset following the actual astronomical conjunction begins the first day of the month. In all cases we have examined from 1997 through 2005, there will be an illuminated crescent visible somewhere on earth within that 24 hour period. Whether it is visible at your location is subject to many variables as explained in detail within these calendar articles.
Passover and Unleavened Bread:
7. Count from the 1st day of the 1st lunar month to the 14 and 15th days of the month. Sunset of the 14th, beginning the 15th "scriptural" day (sunset to sunset) is Passover and the beginning of the first day of Unleavened Bread. The 21st day is the last day of Unleavened Bread.
"Feast of weeks" or Pentecost:
8. In the context of Unleavened Bread, "Count from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths (sevens) shall be complete:"(Lev. 23:15-16). The wave sheaf was offered on the 2nd day of Unleavened Bread. Feast days are Sabbaths and the word sabbath also means "seven" or "seventh". God counts inclusively not exclusively, therefore day 2 of UB is day 1 of the fifty days until Pentecost.
Your count may never match the Jewish count as they use an ecclesiastical calendar of fixed-length months and ignore the Roman calendar and the actual lunar cycle."Fall" Feasts:
9. Count from the 1st lunar month to the 7th lunar month, using either a Roman calendar or the tables at:
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/MoonPhase.html
10. Find the time of conjunction for the 7th month, using the tables at:
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/MoonPhase.html11. Repeat steps 4-6 above to find the first day of the 7th month.
12. The 1st day of the 7th month is Trumpets. The 10th day is Atonement. The 15-21st days are the Feast of Tabernacles. The 22nd day is the "Last Great Day", or "eighth day of the Feast".
If current and accurate astronomical data is not available to you, then the equinox may be determined by observation as explained elsewhere in this series of articles. As for the obstacles to an early sighting of the first illuminated crescent, we know of cases where fervent prayers were answered by "unusual" circumstances and the crescent was seen.
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Copyright M.H. and G.H. 2000. All rights reserved.
