(Citas con nuestro creador)
Appointments
with our
Creator
If you were invited to an appointment with the Creator Himself, you would consider it very important, wouldn't you? You would make every effort to be on schedule and not miss a detail of how He wanted you to dress and act. But the truth is, you have been invited to not just one, but many appointments with Him! Yet most people who say they love Him are missing every one of them.
Today we are used to the Roman calendar and its holidays. But our Creator, YHWH, set up a different calendar long before ours existed. He built into it repeating themes so that the same type of thing occurred several times on the same date. For example, both Solomon's and Herod's Temples were destroyed on the same day of the year, the ninth of Av.
On a gladder note, Noah's ark came to rest on the very same day of the year that the waters of the Red Sea buried Pharaoh's army, and the same date on which Haman was exposed and condemned in Queen Esther's time. They all picture deliverance.
At Mt. Sinai, YHWH commanded Israel to appear before Him at certain "appointed times" (Hebrew, mo'edim) on which there were to be "holy convocations" which also have the sense of "rehearsals" of great events that would happen later in history on those very days on His calendar. YHWH would in some way meet with Israel in a special way on these days.
He gave these festivals in two sets. The first set falls in the spring:
SPRING FESTIVALS:
YHWH told Israel that the month during which Passover fell was to be the first month on our calendar. The Feast of Unleavened Bread then begins at sundown and lasts seven days (in case you were wondering why the background of this page looked like a saltine cracker).
The day after the Sabbath that follows Passover is called the Firstfruits of the Barley Harvest. But how can we know that the barley will be ready by that time every year? It is important that the set times given by YHWH line up with the agricultural cycle. With months actually based on the moon, they do not always line up with the lunar cycle, as we see on the Islamic calendar in which the months, e.g., Ramadan, actually move around to different times of the year.
But YHWH planned for that. The name of the first month (Aviv) gives us the clue. The year begins at the the new moon when the barley crop has reached a stage of ripening called aviv. At creation (Gen. 1:14) YHWH had said the sun, moon, and stars were created for signs and "appointed times", this same Hebrew term for the festivals. So we must watch the signs He gave in the heavens to know when the festival seasons begin. And studying YHWH's patterns in agriculture teaches us about bearing spiritual fruit as well. Once these two signs converge, Passover will fall at the next full moon, the 14th of the month also called Aviv.
Firstfruits of the Barley Harvest begins a countdown of seven weeks, culminating in the "Feast of Weeks" (Shavuoth), when the wheat crop would begin to be ready. After a long gap in the calendar, which gave everyone time to grow the rest of their crops, there is a second cluster of Festivals:
FALL FESTIVALS:
The fall festivals all come in one cluster within three weeks of one another. Yom T'ruah (often called Rosh haShanah) is a day to be awakened to the fact that Yom haKippurim (often shortened to Yom Kippur), the Day of Atonement, is only nine days away, so that one may remember to repent in preparation for the "high holy days" if he has not already been doing so. (The entire month prior to this is dedicated to repentance, or T'shuvah, but the last ten days are especially intense. Sukkoth then follows only five days later, a time to built and dwell in temporary shelters to recall the time we lived in the Wilderness under Moses and to recall that it is YHWH who is our true protection all the time. It is also a celebration of the harvest He has brought and, by tradition, a time to pray for the rain we need for the next growing season.
If you are coming from a New Testament framework, even there these festivals are counted as part of the "milk"--the most basic teachings we must understand before we can get to the "meat"--the deeper teachings of Scripture. (1 Cor. 3:2) Paul told non-Jewish believers to celebrate Passover (1 Cor. 5:8), so we can't say they are just for the Jews. Yet most are busy with a whole different festival calendar that is actually based on the dates of pagan feasts, and many of the customs they included were also carried over into the modern celebrations, even though most people have forgotten where they came from.
Adding non-prescribed commemorations is not in itself sinful, for Purim is endorsed by the Book of Esther, and the Messiah participated in Hanukkah (the Feast of Dedication, John 10). But YHWH wasn't pleased when Jeroboam changed the time in which the festivals were observed, because there was paganism involved in that, and the same holds true for the pseudo-biblical Christian holidays.
Most Christians realize that Yeshua was not really born in December, but haven't known what to replace the pagan commemoration with. But with so many Jews now also believing in him, an answer has come to light. David's schedule for priestly service (1 Chron. 24) clues us in on the time of year John the Baptist's father was serving in the Temple and was told he would have a son.(Luke 1:5) From there we can calculate Yeshua's birth, six months after John (Yochanan)--and the simple bottom line is that it comes out at Sukkoth. It was one of the three pilgrimage festivals when every able-bodied male is required to come to Jerusalem. The city was barely more than a square mile, so many would spill over into the suburbs, including Bethlehem, only five miles away. This explains why there was no room in the inn; Joseph would combine the trip to Bethlehem for the census with his necessary journey for the festival.
Sukkoth also means "stables" in Hebrew (as used in Gen. 33:17). It's fitting that the "Word became flesh and lived temporarily among us" (John 1:14) right during this feast of dwelling in temporary structures. A sukkah (singular) is traditionally to have gaps in the roof big enough to see stars through--correlating with the "star of Bethlehem". Shepherds would not have sheep out in their fields during December, but would still have them there during Sukkoth, just after the harvest. The angel told them he had glad news of great joy. Sukkoth is nicknamed "the season of our joy", and emphasizes the inclusion of all peoples.
So there's no need for a half-biblical, half-pagan Christmas. If we need a time to celebrate his birth, we already have a pure, prescribed festival at that time. Why not stick with what's trustworthy and sure?
It was on the final day of Sukkoth, during a special ceremony in which water was poured over the Temple altar, that Yeshua offered living water to any who were thirsty. (John 7)
Clearly everything he said and did was set by this calendar. His crucifixion was on Passover. On the day after the Sabbath following Passover, Yeshua was resurrected. Paul even calls him the "firstfruits of those who slept" (I Cor. 15:20), because the day of firstfruits was when he came out of the ground. Dying on the 14th of Aviv, he was in the grave for three days and three nights, that day had to be the 17th of Aviv, the day Yahweh had accomplished those other momentous examples of deliverance mentioned above.
These feasts put everything we've known about him back into its original context, and make more sense out of so much of what he said. Constantine removed them from the church, effectively creating the "Dark Ages" since nothing made sense anymore. But in His mercy YHWH is restoring them in these last days. During the Kingdom, all nations will be required to at least send representatives to Jerusalem for Sukkoth or forfeit that year's rains. (Zech. 14)
We mustn't overlook the first of YHWH's appointments with us: the Sabbath, established all the way back at creation as a way to share in Yahweh's rest. How can people who live for the weekend view a day when no one is ALLOWED to work as legalism?!
The Sabbath and the Festivals were given as a "statute forever". (Ex. 31:13; Lev. 23) Certain gates in the Temple were only open on the Sabbath and Festivals. This tells us that these are times when a special doorway is opened to the heavenlies that will enable us to know Him in an unusually unobstructed way.
These appointments are a hands-on way YHWH offers to learn many things He wants us to know about Himself. What more reason do we need?
14th of First Month
(Aviv--when
green ears of barley appear)
15th-21st
of Aviv
(First month)
Day after the Sabbath following Passover
7 weeks later
on the first day
of the week
1st day of 7th month
(Ethanim or reliable, steadily-flowing streams)
10th of Ethanim
15th-21st of Ethanim
Passover
(Pesakh)
(Matzah)
Firstfruits
of the Barley Harvest
(Begin "Counting
of the Omer)
("Weeks")
("Day of the Awakening Blast/Shout")
a.k.a. "Rosh haShanah"
(civil new year)
(Day of Coverings)
(Temporary
Dwellings)
- Lamb chosen on 10th
- Inspected-
- House cleansed of leaven
- Blood on doorposts
- Firstborn spared
- Eat no leaven
- Do eat unleavened bread
- Give Yahweh the best of what we produce
- Preparing for maturity
- Giving of Torah at Sinai
- Firstfruits of the Wheat Harvest
- Leavened loaves
- Offered to all nations
- 3,000 fell in one day
- First judgment
- Gates open for undecided to repent
- "Last trumpet"
- "No one knows the hour or day" (on a new moon)
- "Great trumpet"
- Fasting, confession
- Gates closed
- Temporary dwellings
- Living water
- "Light of the World"
- "Season of our Joy"
- All nations included
- Triumphal Entry
- Cross-examination
- Cleansing the Temple
- Y'shua's death
- Covenant renewed
- Dead to sin, but
alive to Yahweh
- Messiah becomes "firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep"
- Completing his body
- Firstfruits of the
Northern Kingdom
- Harvest from nations
- 3,000 brought back
on the same day
- Resurrection of the righteous
- Final warnings on earth
- Messiah's wedding and coronation
- Wicked judged
- Earth cleansed
- "Feast of Leviathan"
- Messiah's birth
- Restoration of all things
- Peaceable Kingdom
- Sabbath for the earth
Calendar Name of Feast Components/ New Testament Prophetic
Dates (Appointment) Themes References Fulfillment
YHWH's Calendar
John 1:29
Mark 11:15-18
Mark 11:27-33
2 Tim. 2:20-21
1 Peter 1:18-20
1 Cor. 5:6-8
Luke 22:7
Luke 12:1
Romans 6:11
1 Cor. 15:20-23
Ephesians 4:4-25
Acts 2
Romans 8:23
Matthew 25:1-13
1 Cor. 15:52
1 Thess. 4:16-17
Matt. 24:31
Matt. 25:14-46
John 1:14
John 7:37
Luke 2:10-14
The Month Begins in Yerushalayim (Jerusalem)
by R. Webster
The calendar (predetermined through calculations) set up centuries ago by Jews
in forced exile has served a valuable purpose over the centuries, because it was
the closest we could come to YHWH's intended appointments in an age of poor communications among scattered exiles from the Land. But now that there are
those back in the Land of Israel able to announce sightings of the New Moon
there, we do not believe substitutes are needed any longer. We receive these via Internet and we forward them to anyone who wants to receive them. (Subscribe to our news group in order to receive these announcements.)
We reckon the new moons ON THE NEXT LOCAL EVENINGS after the moon is spotted in Yerushalayim. We reckon the Moedim (Festivals) ON THE NEXT LOCAL EVENINGS after they begin in Yerushalayim, and we reckon the Shabbats ON THE NEXT LOCAL EVENINGS after they begin in Yerushalayim.
We do not consider it Rosh Chodesh (the beginning of the month) locally the very minute the New Moon is spotted in Yerushalayim, but rather when the yom next arrives in our part of the world. (Yom roughly = "day" in English and consists of erev [evening] and boqer [morning]; see Gen 1:5.)
Everything--the New Moons, the Shabbats, and the Moedim [appointed times]--begin in Yerushalayim and emanate out into the rest of the world, arriving with the mixing of light and darkness, called erev in Hebrew and "dusk" in English. This makes Yerushalayim the reference for all observances.
Yerushalayim is called "The City of the Great Elohim", "The Throne of YHWH", "The Set-Apart Mountain", "The Perfection of Beauty", "The Joy of the whole Earth".
Zech 8:3
"Thus says YHWH: `I will return to Zion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth (emeth), the Mountain of YHWH Tzava'ot, the Holy Mountain.'
Emeth [according to Strong's Concordance #571] means "firmness, faithfulness, truth, sureness, reliability, stability, continuance, faithfulness, or reliability". Emeth [according to Strong's Concordance #571] means "firmness, faithfulness, truth, sureness, reliability, stability, continuance, faithfulness, or reliability".
Only Yerushalayim is the City of faithfulness, reliability, and true doctrine. From where, but from the City of Truth, the Throne of YHWH Tzava'ot, would a day emanate? What other place can be considered as reliable?
Other special days...
There is no way to have more than a surface understanding of the events in Scripture without a working familiarity with the Hebrew calendar. It forms the backdrop for all the festivals and appointed times. The reason we need a calendar at all is because of three factors, which at present do not precisely line up with one another:
(1) The orbit of the moon around the earth (a month), which at present takes about 29.5 days.
(2) The rotation of the earth on its axis (a day), which takes about 24 hours.
(3) The revolution of the earth around the sun (a year), which requires about 365.24 days.
Most of us are more used to thinking in terms of the Gregorian calendar (a revision of the Julian calendar of Rome made official by Pope Gregory XIII). This calendar has two segments, traditionally labeled B.C. ("before Christ", which counts down to Yeshua's birth) and A.D. (anno domini, or "the year of our master", which counts upward since his birth, though the count is off by a few years). While most nations have adopted the same calendar, many, especially those who do not wish to recognize any authority of the Roman Catholic Church to name the era, use the terms C.E. ("Common Era") for the present era and B.C.E. ("Before Common Era", the equivalent of B.C. in numbering).
The Jewish calendar, in contrast, starts with creation, and the current date is derived by adding up the ages of people mentioned in Scripture and historical records since that time. For example, the Jewish year that overlaps with both 2007 and 2008 C.E. is numbered 5768.
This also shows that the year does not begin at the same time on both calendars. The Jewish year begins not on January 1, but on Rosh haShanah ("head of the year", but called Yom Teruah in Scripture), which falls on a new moon in the early autumn. That is when the numbered year changes. This follows the anniversary of Creation and the calendar that was in effect for the whole world until the time of the Exodus, and continued to be the "civil calendar" for Israel thereafter as well, much as many organizations have a "fiscal year" which begins halfway between January 1 and December 31 or even at other times.
But there is another calendar in Scripture which was given exclusively to Israel. YHWH declared that the month in which He brought Israel out of Egypt would now be the first month for us. (Shemoth/Exodus 12:2) This is six months after Yom Teruah, so that Yom Teruah begins the seventh month on the Hebrew calendar while it remains the first new moon on the civil calendar.
Both calendars continue to be used throughout Scripture. They run simultaneously. We have to look at contextual clues to determine which is being referred to in each particular case. While we use the Gregorian calendar with the world at large, and may have to initially translate from one to the other while we make the transition, we want to get to the point where, for example, if someone says, "When is Hanukkah this year?", the only answer that comes to mind is "On the 25th day of the 9th month, of course! That's when it always starts!"
The reason it "moves around" the Gregorian calendar is because a year is now never exactly twelve months long, and both calendars deal with this in different ways. The Gregorian calendar adds a day every "leap year", for example. The Jewish calendar adds a whole month every few years instead to keep the solar and lunar calendars aligned.
The way dates were determined in Biblical times was according to two major factors:
(1) The sighting of the new moon, which defines a new month. (Witnesses would go before the Sanhedrin and answer questions to determine if what they had seen fit the characteristics of a new moon.) The month begins when the moon is sighted in Israel, not the international date line or wherever in the world it might be first sighted, because "the Torah shall go forth from Tzion." (Mikha 4:2) It then continues westward as the sun sets in each time zone.
(2) The Aviv (which is when ripening barley reaches a stage at which firstfruits can be harvested in two weeks--see photo at right), which determines the first month of the year, in which Passover and this firstfruits offering must occur. Because the Aviv is not always reached by the end of the twelfth month, a thirteenth month must sometimes be added in order to keep the festivals aligned with the proper seasons of the year. The blooming of the almond tree is also noted in Scripture as a sign that the new year is about to begin--a reminder to watch for the Aviv.
The present-day Jewish calendar was developed out of necessity in the 4th century C.E. by Hillel II after there was no longer a large Jewish presence in the Land of Israel and even if someone was there to sight the new moon, it could not be communicated quickly enough to exiles in every location around the world, especially on days such as Rosh haShanah (Yom Teruah), when the festival begins right on the new moon. So a calculated calendar was devised which standardized the dates for many years to come. It determined that within a cycle of 19 years, a thirteenth month is added during the third, sixth, eighth, eleventh, fourteenth, seventeenth, and nineteenth years.
The extra month is added between the eleventh and twelfth months (fifth and sixth on the civil calendar), and called Adar I, while the month simply called Adar in other years is called Adar II. Thus Purim (the 14th day of the twelfth month) is celebrated in the final month of any year rather than the twelfth as such.
During the diaspora (dispersion), this calendar was of great help, but it is no longer necessary because of both the possibility of spotting the new moon in Israel and instant communication such as via telephone or the internet.
While the contrived calendar has been amazingly accurate for having been set so many centuries ago, it still occasionally does not line up with the Aviv and often sets the new moon a day or two off from the actual sighting. Therefore, some, like ourselves, have returned to the ancient method of observing the holidays based on the actual new moon sighting and the Aviv. A thirteenth month is simply added whenever the Aviv stage of barley has not been reached by the end of the twelfth month. Since we do not know until a few days beforehand whether there will be a thirteenth month, should Purim be celebrated in the actual twelfth month every year? Not necessarily; it is not a commanded festival, and the book of Esther says it is for the Jews and any who wish to celebrate with them, so we feel that the date in this case should be determined by the Jewish calendar. The same goes for Hanukkah, which is a specifically-Jewish festival.
But otherwise, we must sometimes distinguish between the Biblical calendar and the Jewish calendar as used today, though the new Sanhedrin in Jerusalem has on its agenda a discussion of the return to the sighting of the new moon as the defining factor for the calendar. Of course this makes dates much less predictable, but the Hebrew way is to be ready to pull up stakes every time the Ark of the Covenant and the cloud of Yahweh's presence move.
The two types of holy days prescribed in Scripture are the hag (which means "to move or dance in a circle") and the moed ("appointed time" or "appointment", based on the word for "to bear witness" since it bears witness to us of who YHWH is and makes us part of the witness as we participate). Hagim are a subset of the moadim.
Hag gives us a clue that we should not think of time as a straight line, but as an upward spiral that keeps passing the same points as it heads back toward the Garden of Eden--a level higher and a step closer each time if we stay on track!
