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ARTICLE FROM STEWARTON BIBLE COLLEGE (SCOTLAND) Isn't Abib, a Month Early? 2. DIVINE DIRECTIONS In ancient times, Abib's new moon was not decided upon by its proximity to the spring equinox. Instead:
3. THE SANHEDRIN The Spring Feasts When direct instruction from Jehovah ceased, the Sanhedrin would, with the Passover in mind, select Abib's new moon after considering various natural conditions, such as:
No reference was made to the equinoxes at these times. There was no need; because Israel was in the Promised land and the above listed natural signs were there for all to see. All that was needed was for the Sanhedrin to make a decision and the nation would follow. 4. THE DIASPORA / THE SCATTERING OF ISRAEL When the Diaspora took place and Israel was scattered around the world, the patriarch Hillel 11 in the 4th century, made known certain calendar rules which would enable the chosen people of the Almighty to observe the sacred feasts in their correct seasons, even though they lived in lands far distant from Israel. 5. THE PATRIARCH HILLEL The rules published by Hillel used the spring and autumn equinoxes as benchmarks for the selection of the new moons of Abib ( Nisan ) and Ethanim ( Tishri ); simply because the agricultural conditions in Israel ( mentioned at point 3 ) could be readily determined by the scattered Israelites; no matter in which country they lived. In other words, when the equinoxes are known, then it would be a simple matter to know which new moon to select in order to keep in step with the natural conditions occurring back in the homeland of Israel. This, then, was the basis of Hillel's calendar computations:
6. AN INCORRECT FORMULA To calculate when the equinoxes would occur, Hillel adopted the simple but slightly incorrect formula of an astronomer called Samuel Yarhinai, who divided the 365 day year into 4 equal parts of 91 days 6 hours. The true length of the year is, however, 365 days, 5 hours and 46.069 minutes; a difference of some 14 minutes.
That explains the reason why - in certain years - the SBS - AVITW calendar begins a month earlier than the Jewish calendar. It's just that we are selecting the new moon nearest the 'correct' spring equinox of 20/21st March. 7. AUTUMN EQUINOX According to the Scriptures the Feast of Ingathering ( Tabernacles ) should also be near the autumn equinox, ( the 'tequphah' or 'tekuphah' ) the 'end' or 'turn of the year.' Exodus 34:22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end. According to Young's Analytical Concordance the Hebrew word 'tequphah' translated 'end' in Exodus 34:22 is the 'circuit. According to Strong's Concordance the Hebrew word 'tequphah.' translated 'end' in this verse means the 'circuit of time'. I quote Strong's: 08622 t@quwphah {tek-oo-faw'} or t@quphah {tek-oo-faw'} 1) coming round, circuit of time or space, a turning, circuit 1a) at the circuit ( as adverb ) In other words, the Feast of Tabernacles should be celebrated at about the time of the autumn equinox ( tequphah ), when the agricultural year is at an end. 8. SBS & A 'VOICE' IN THE WILDERNESS, TORONTO, CANADA – USA Stewarton Bible School & A 'Voice' In The Wilderness - Canada - USA are still following Hillel's guideline of selecting the new moon nearest the spring equinox to begin Abib; the difference being that we choose the new moon nearest the correct date of 20/21st March rather than the new moon nearest 7th April. In the year 2005 the new moon nearest the correct spring equinox occurs on 12th March.
9. OTHER GROUPS Many other groups, including the Jews, will celebrate the Feasts in year 2005 a month later than SBS, Stewarton Bible School & AVITW, A 'Voice' In The Wilderness - Canada - USA For those wishing to follow the later Feast dates, see the second half of file: The Annual Sabbaths of Yahweh. There you will see that we have provided alternative dates ( a month after SBS & AVITW, A 'Voice' In The Wilderness - CANADA - USA ) for the Feasts in years 2000 and 2005. Why do we do this? Simply because in the final analysis:
Let me explain further. 10. SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS According to the Scriptures, we will know for certain the correct month which starts the year when we see 'Yahweh's promised Signs in the Heavens!' You see, the Bible tells us that the 'sacred seasons, years and feast days,' on which the Creator has scheduled Himself to do His greatest works ( i.e.the death of Messiah at the Passover ), will be high-lighted by celestial displays in the sun, moon and stars! In fact that is why the sun, moon and stars were created in the first place; to be 'signs for seasons, days and years.'  According to Strong's Concordance, the word translated 'signs' is 'owth.' 0226 'owth {oth} AV - sign( s ) 60, token( s ) 14, ensign ( s ) 2, miracles 2, mark 1; 79 1) sign, signal 1a) a distinguishing mark 1b) banner 1c) remembrance 1d) miraculous sign 1e) omen 1f) warning 2) token, ensign, standard, miracle, proof The word translated 'seasons' is 'moed.' 04150 mow`ed {mo-ade'} or mo`ed {mo-ade'} or ( fem. )
mow`adah ( 2 Chr 8:13 ) {mo-aw-daw'} 1) appointed place, appointed time, meeting 1a) appointed time 1a1) appointed time ( general ) 1a2) sacred season, set feast, appointed season 1b) appointed meeting 1c) appointed place 1d) appointed sign or signal 1e) tent of meeting This means that every year, we should be on the look out at the times of the new moons and the 'sacred seasons' ( moeds' ) for those 'celestial signs:' for those 'miraculous omens' in the sky. We are not to become polarized as to who is right and who is wrong. After having conscientiously made the best choice of month, 'sacred season' or feast day within that season, believers are all to look out for those prophesied 'celestial signals,' 'ensigns' and 'banners in the sky!' When we see them, be it a month early or even a month later than expected, we will all know that very moment, the correct time. Bear in mind that the promised celestial signs will also mark out the start of the year; that is - the 1st day of Abib! So the year itself and also the sacred seasons ( Week of Unleavened Bread & Week of Tabernacles etc. ) and the feast days within those sacred seasons will be highlighted by those signs in the sun, moon and stars! So we will know for sure what is the true start of the year. Make no mistake, Yahweh the Holy One of Israel will not leave us in any doubt as to what He is about to do in the future; whether it be in the year 2005 or any other year after that.  With these thoughts in mind, let us not become hysterical about what others are doing or not doing. It's like two children in London arguing as to whose wrist watch is telling the correct time. Then they walk past Big Ben, the most famous clock in the UK. They look up and actually see the time for themselves. They patiently wait and listen to hear the hour being struck by the famous bell called Big Ben. Precisely when it strikes, at that very moment, they both know whose wrist watch is correct. Perhaps they are both wrong. All arguments will cease as both wrist watches are synchronized. It will be the same when we see the signs in the heavens! All arguments between feast-day- keepers will end immediately. Like little children we will then all know for certain that Yahweh, the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel is displaying the correct time for all the universe to see and take note, that one of His sacred Years, sacred Seasons or sacred Feast Days has begun. Only then will we know - for sure. Meanwhile we do the very best we can. We keep the Feasts on the days we think are correct; and treat with respect the choice of the other brethren who also love Yahweh's Feasts. 11. BEING DOUBLY CERTAIN Yes, we know that others are keeping the feast days ( in some years ) a month later than SBS & A 'Voice' In The Wilderness. So even on those days we will be on the watch for the celestial signs. We will not, however, unless we see the signs in the next month, be keeping two sets of Feasts; but we will certainly be on the lookout at both. We can do no more. For are we not like little children who only recently ( in my case since 1985 ) have learned to tell the date of the Feasts by the Eternal's clock in the sky? This decision to lookout for the 'Signs in the Heavens' is a returning to the pre-Sanhedrin days when the Creator gave divine directions as to which month would begin the year.  12. SUMMARY
I trust that this article has answered your query. For further explanation, please study the AVITW booklet entitled The Sacred Calendar of the God of Israel; especially Part Two and the Appendices. Also, please read Jewish Passover Out of Season! an article written by Dr John Zucker. Why the Jewish Calendar will be Incorrect in 2005 This article explains why most observant Jews and others following the Jewish calendar will be celebrating God's annual Holy Days one month late in 2005. In trying to follow Exodus 12:2, Exodus 13:3-4, 7-10, and Numbers 9:2-3, Judaism says that Passover, which they celebrate on Nisan 15 rather than on Nisan 14, must not fall before the northern hemisphere spring equinox (Tekufot Nisan). The spring equinox currently occurs each year on March 20th or 21st and is that time when day and night are of approximately equal length. The spring equinox establishes the first day of spring. It is a solar, not a lunar, phenomenon. But current Jewish calendar procedures periodically conflict with the use of the equinox to establish the first month of the religious year: In 2005, Nisan 14 (Passover) can fall on March 23, the first opportunity for the 14th day of a month to occur after the equinox. But the Jewish calendar sets Nisan 14 at April 23rd. Why? Because the Jewish year 5765 (the spring months of 2005 fall within the Jewish year 5765) happens to be the 8th year of the 19-year calendar cycle and is then, by Judaic definition, a leap year (the 13th month must be added). This forces the first month to begin one month later than it normally would. Unfortunately, their calendar leap year tradition is so rigid that they fail to follow what we agree is the correct interpretation of the scriptures listed above, that God gave them, which strongly imply that the Passover must be kept at the first opportunity after the spring equinox. *What allows them to ignore their own calendar rules? One reason they feel free to adjust the calendar to their liking is because Leviticus 23:2 and 4 are interpreted by Jewish Oral Law as saying that the people are allowed to keep the Holy Days on whatever day is most convenient. It should be pointed out that the Jewish calendar leap year designations are NOT Biblical. Let's add a little more detail: The spring equinox occurs on March 20th at 2:35 PM, Jerusalem time. The Jewish calendar calculates the new moon of Adar II (the 13th month of the previous religious calendar year) to be at 5:40 PM on March 10th and, due to the two-day postponement of the previous Tishri 1, March 12th as the first day of the month. Either day will place the 14th day of Adar II after the spring equinox and thus the month should be Nisan (Abib), not Adar II. The result of this error is that the Jewish calendar is ONE MONTH LATE from March 2005 through March 2006! By making 5765 a leap year, they ignore the fact that, by their own interpretation of the Torah, Passover must be observed at the first opportunity after the spring equinox. This is the way the lunar calendar is kept synchronized with the solar calendar, and is an essential part in keeping the Passover (and every other Holy Day) in its season. But some may wonder why it matters when Abib occurs, as long as it is in the spring. One of the major justifications why Abib should be assigned to the first qualifying month relative to the spring equinox is that there needs to be a consistency between years so that crops will be in approximately the same stage of development at the same time each year. The importance of the maturity of grain for the wave-sheaf offering (Lev. 23:9-14) is obvious. Another reason is that the one month delay will push the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) too late and too close to the Israeli fall rainy season. For this reason we should avoid delaying Abib until the second month after the equinox as the Jewish calendar does in 2005. It is peculiar how the spring equinox is called "Tekufot Nisan", but when a conflict with the designated leap year occurs, the equinox is forced to fall in Adar II, not Nisan. The Church of God Most High believes that the first day of every month must begin at the true conjunction of the sun and moon (the new moon) and that Passover (Abib or Nisan 14) must occur at the first opportunity after the spring equinox. That places Abib 1 on March 10th and Tishri 1 on September 4th. The result of all this is that in 2005 the Jewish calendar will keep the holydays one lunar month late. For more detailed explanation of the calendar read "The Original Calendar For Our Day". This article explains why most observant Jews and others following the Jewish calendar will be celebrating God's annual Holy Days one month late in 2005. Copyright 2004 by Wayne Bedwell Church of God Most High
P.O. Box 89741 *NOTE: It is rather interesting that certain of Yahweh’s assemblies first published a calendar that was in close association and agreement with the calendar that we have produced, but upon finding that the Jewish rabbis had declared that this was a leap year, thus adding a 13th month, they all scrambled to follow suit. We remained constant with our calendar because of what we have come to understand concerning the importance of the equinoxes, their precession and the story that they relate.It is also quite interesting that the two supporting articles for the earlier Passover came from one group who seems to utilize a combination of Sacred and pagan names and titles while another group only utilizes the pagan names and titles. I had been question by an elder of one group as to my refusal to change our calendar. He asked, "What if they don’t find green ears?" (In conjunction with our calendar.) I answered that I was certain that green ears would be found. He had thought that weather conditions wouldn’t be just right to produce green ears of barley early this year. This was the weather report that he was hearing concerning Israel. I had to ask him how he could base anything on such an early weather report since any weather forecasting by man, almanac, computer generated programs, etc., are extremely unreliable. To follow Rabbinic Judaism is also extremely unreliable. I have a couple of books on hand which explain Rabbinic Judaism in today’s world. One is "Rabbi Akiba’s Messiah" and the other is "The Hebrew Yeshua vs. the Greek Jesus." Both books bring out a story about one of the greatest Rabbinical sages Rabbi Eliezer. He and the other rabbis had a disagreement concerning the cleanness or uncleanness of a certain oven. R. Eliezer pronounced it clean, but the other rabbis disagreed in unison. On the day of discussion R. Eliezer brought forth every imaginable argument, but they wouldn’t agree with him. "He declared, "If the halachah agrees with me, let this carob-tree prove it!’ Thereupon the carob-tree was torn a hundred cubits out if its place—others affirm four hundred cubits. ‘No proof can be brought from a carob-tree,’ they retorted. Again he said to them: ‘If the halachah agrees with me, let the stream of water prove it!’ Whereupon the stream of water flowed backwards. ‘No proof can be brought from a stream of water,’ they rejoined. Again he urged: ‘If the halachah agrees with me, let the walls of the schoolhouse prove it,’ whereupon the walls inclined to fall. But R. Joshua rebuked them, saying: ‘When scholars are engaged in a halachic dispute, what have ye to interfere?’ Hence they did not fall, in honour of R. Joshua, nor did they resume the upright, in honour of R. Eliezer; and they are still standing thus inclined. Again he said to them: ‘If the halachah agrees with me, let it be proved from Heaven!’ Whereupon a Heavenly Voice cried out: ‘Why do ye dispute with R. Eliezer, seeing that in all matters the halachah agrees with him!’ But R. Joshua arose and exclaimed: ‘It is not in heaven.’ What did he mean by this? - Said R. Jeremiah: That the Torah had already been given at Mount Sinai; we pay no attention to a Heavenly Voice, because Thou has song since written in the Torah at Mount Sinai, After the majority must one incline. R. Nathan met Elijah and asked him: ‘What did the Holy One, Blessed be He, do in that hour?’ - ‘He laughed (with joy),’ he replied, ‘saying, My sons have defeated Me, My sons have defeated Me." It was said: on that day all objects which R. Eliezer had declared clean were brought and burnt in fire. Then they took a vote and excommunicated him." (Excerpted from "Rabbi Abika’s Messiah, p 111)." Nemeiah Gordon in his book "The Hebrew Yeshua vs the Greek Jesus" writes of the same evet only with a slight difference here and there. It was this story presented to him by his Rabbi that caused him to realize that Rabbinic Judaism was not of Elohim. As a matter of fact, he truthfully admits that modern day Rabbinic Judaism is nothing more than ancient Pharisaism. "Rabbi Akiba’s Messiah" concluded five things concerning Rabbinic Judaism. They are:
Nehemia Gordon also enumerates five iniquities of the Rabbis, which are:
In a recent article published by one assembly to justify changing their calendar from what they had originally determined in order to be more in line with the Jewish Rabbis, it was stated that to them (the Jews) were given the oracles, so we should defer to them on calendar determination(paraphrasing). Yahshua declared concerning the Pharisees of His day, "Every plant, which My heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch," Mt. 15:13-14. If there is any Jewish group that we should look to in order to find help in establishing the annual feasts, it should be the Karaite Jews who only are subservient to the Tanach and have rejected Rabbinic Judaism. The Karaites have been searching for "green ears" (abib/aviv) in order to establish when their sacred year will commence. They have just posted on the internet that "green ears" of barley have been found and will commence with the early feast. Now, some of our assemblies will probably be scrambling to change their calendar dates, which has created and will only create confusion among the believers.
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