Why Does the Church of God Use the Hebrew Calendar? Part 2

Can a member in God's church decide when to proclaim and sanctify an annual holy day? Do you have the God-given authority to proclaim a holy day according to your conscience? Should everyone be doing what is right in his own eyes? Obviously, the answers are no. Absolutely not. In the previous sermon, I addressed these questions. And we also saw the failings and concerns of the observation-only method as a form of determining God's holy days.

So, if the observation methodology has got its problems, why do some have issues with the Hebrew calendar? Oh, they say. Very quickly, they'll tell you. It's because of the postponement rules. They delay the beginning of the year, and therefore they say, How can you postpone a holy day? And then they affirm. Pulsepondements were added by the Pharisees as a matter of convenience. These dissidents then either pursue the observation method only with its failings and varied interpretations and different decisions of when the new moon is, creating different holy days, particularly in those critical years, and saying that it is a matter of conscience.

Or, some, having serious problems with the observation-only methodology, decide to follow the Hebrew calendar, but without the postponements. I have seen people then saying, Oh, the church just wants unity and lack of division by wanting its members to submit to those in authority. I do not need to submit to the church. Strong words these, aren't they? And then they conclude, It's between me and God. I hope you detect, brethren, something seriously wrong with this approach. Brethren, as ministers of Jesus Christ, we do not have dominion over your faith, but we are helpers of your joy, for by faith you stand. As we read in 2 Corinthians 1 verse 4.

Brethren, I addressed most of these questions in my previous sermon, but today I want to address the issue related to the validity of the calendar rules, such as the postponement rules of the Hebrew calendar, and I'll do that by proving the dates of Christ's ministry and comparing the Hebrew calendar against him. So, brethren, in summary, what is the main objection that people have against the Hebrew calendar? The main objection people have against the Hebrew calendar is that they say the Hebrew calendar has been tampered with. They say the calendar is not part of the oracles because it was created in 358 AD by Hillel II.

They say it was not in use at the time of Jesus Christ. And then they say the postponement rules are unbiblical, and therefore the Hebrew calendar is not scriptural. But the point, brethren, is that it can be proven that a biblical calendar with postponement rules, yes, with postponement rules, as those of today's Hebrew calendar, was in existence during Jesus Christ's time of his ministry. And so, my purpose today, brethren, is to prove that calendar rules, as per the current Hebrew calendar rules, were in use during Jesus Christ's time.

And therefore, we conclude there's nothing wrong with the Hebrew calendar as we have it today. As a bit of background, brethren, history shows there were many problems in religion after 70 AD. In other words, after the destruction of the temple. In fact, the problem started before that, but anyway, after 70 AD, we call that the next century age of shadows. And we know, for instance, in Christianity there were many problems.

And indeed, we see after that a Christianity being raised up or appearing in history, but it's already a perverted false Christianity. But God is faithful and has left us the truth so that we can follow Him. And likewise, there were many problems and infighting amongst the Jews, particularly after the fall of the Second Temple.

In the words of the 70 AD, in fact, the Pharisees usurped the leadership of the Sanhedrin from the Sadducees. But God is faithful. And has given us an easy way to determine when to keep His Holy Days. To make a long story short, when the Pharisees usurped the leadership of the Sanhedrin from the Sadducees, they started reckoning the years based on observation of the New Crescent.

And the cycle over time got so mixed up, things got so chaotic that they became, and there was, a lot of political infighting and intrigue. And that is why, historically, there is much confusion about what happened during those first few centuries. But God is faithful, and has given us a way to be able to obey Him, even though it is through imperfect men.

You see, as we read in Romans 3 verse 2, God committed to the Jews the oracles in a way that we can be faithful. And in verse 3 and 4 it says, and what if Samuel did not believe? And we know history shows that they did not believe. Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid! Yes, let God be true, but every man a liar. God, through His great power and wisdom, using men who may have not been believers, has given us a simple calendar which has biblical support.

Now, navigating through all the historical intrigue about the calendar is extremely confusing. I don't doubt that, and if you try and do it, you will not doubt that. In the end, you get two points. You say, who do you believe? Let me explain some examples of that confusion. We know that Jesus Christ died on a Wednesday. Fact, we know in God's church we know that. And so His death must be in a year that the Passover would be on a Wednesday.

But Catholics and Protestants believe on a Friday crucifixion. Therefore, to have a Friday crucifixion according to the Hebrew calendar, they must tamper with as many facts of history as possible without making it obvious. To make His death on A.D.

33, said it will be on a Friday. Brethren, that's one example of confusion. Just one. There are many. As I said, it was political infighting amongst the Jews about the calendar. And therefore, it depends which political group that writer in those first centuries belonged to. And therefore, that writer, cleverly and with great subtlety, twists some facts to support his view.

And therefore, you or anybody merely quoting writings from the first centuries, such as the Mishnah or whatever it may be, will have facts that have been affected by this political infighting.

And then, you might be studying some sort of a writer or researcher which has maybe a bias. Well, is he Catholic? Is he Messianic? Is he a chariot?

You know, kind of very gently, his decisions will follow his belief. Then, we have human error. People transcribe dates and make mistakes. Then, there's different dates for one event or different ways of counting. So, brethren, we are the Catholic bias. We've got individual bias. We've got different recorded observances due to Jewish infighting. Human errors, different dates, different methods of counting years. And to top it all, brethren, we have other brethren in God's church in good faith.

Adopt an error or another error in innocence. And in their zeal, they explain to others, their new understanding, or write extremely long and highly technical papers with hundreds of pages.

Hundreds of pages, highly technical. And they expect every minister to delve into that technicality and answer him point by point. Point by point.

And by the way, they say, don't judge me.

I am fully entitled to proceed this way, because between me and God.

So, what do we have, brethren? What do we have? We have a wonderful recipe for Satan to cause division in God's church.

Indeed, the subject is super technical and very confusing.

And for the general layman, lay member of the church, humble, older person, young person, non-technical, it's just too much.

And what do we see as a result? We see some of these people coming to the feast one or two days later, because they reached a conclusion based on somebody else's who knows who trusted observer that saw the crescent of the new moon. Others separate themselves into quiet corners, whichever way, whichever extreme. They're separating themselves from the body of Christ.

And they are diluting the effectiveness of us as a body doing the work of God at this end time. And brethren, we need to have a sense of urgency. The time is short.

And worse. Some have left the faith completely, to the point they don't even believe in Jesus Christ anymore. No wonder Paul said in 1st Timothy chapter 1 verse 4, do not give head to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification, which is in faith.

So there is an element of faith, brethren. You see, you and I can prove all things up to a point. And then you and I need to say, I have proved that these calendar rules were in use at Christ's time. As far as I can see, I have proved enough for me. I am now moving towards godly edification in faith. And that's what I'm trying to do in this sermon, brethren. And therefore, my approach in this sermon is the following. If we can prove that the Hebrew calendar with its post-parliament rules is the only way that some feast days will fall on the days as described in the Bible. Do you understand that? If we can prove that from the current Hebrew calendar with its post-parliament rules is the only way that some feast days will fall on the days as described in the Bible during Christ's ministry, then we have calendar rules that are biblical. And that's regardless of all the intrigue, confusion regarding the calendar.

This intrigue has indeed occurred in the first centuries of the Christ. So once again, the key element is to determine if today's calendar rules are in use at Christ's time. So once again, the key element is to determine if today's calendar rules are the same as the ones used in Jesus Christ's day.

In other words, let me restate it another way. The start point that you and I need to know without any doubt is which years are the exact years of Jesus Christ's ministry.

And then take special note of those early days which fell on Sabbaths and make a note of those, or fell on specific days like the Passover which fell on a Wednesday. So we need to see what year that was, where they fell, and then map that against the rules of the Hebrew calendar or whatever, and see which one is right. That is the asset test, and that's what we're going to do, brethren.

So to start with, we need to know which year Christ died.

Jesus Christ's death can be determined by correlating Daniel 9 with Israel 7. Daniel 9, 25 says, Know therefore understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there shall be seven weeks and 62 weeks.

Seven plus 62 is 69 prophetic weeks with seven days per week. That is 483 days. Using the Ezekiel 4 verse 6, die for a year concept. It means we have 483 years from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem until the appearance of Christ, until the beginning of his ministry.

Now Ezra makes it clear when was that decree. The decree of Artaxerxes begins the count. Watch Ezra 7 verse 8. He came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.

History makes it clear and plain that Artaxerxes' seventh year was the first year of the king.

It was 458 to 457.

But do we count from 458 or from 457? That is important because we need to know the year of Christ's crucifixion.

Otherwise, brethren, we have the wrong year of Jesus Christ's ministry and the fall of his death. Now, Persians counted the years from spring to spring. That's Nissan to Nissan. But the question is, how did the Jews and the author of Ezra and Amaya count the year? You know, today, the Jews count the year from trumpets to trumpets. How do they count during the time of Ezra and Amaya? Now, note that the book of that Ezra and Amaya was one book.

In Hebrew scriptures. And look at Amaya 1 verse 1, talking about time period of about December, which is referred as the 20th year of Artaxerxes.

And then Amaya 2 verse 1 says that in Nissan, it was about April, the next spring was still the 20th year of Artaxerxes.

So for both accounts to be in the same year, the writer was using the Jewish reckoning of counting from trumpets to trumpets, from fall to fall. So Ezra's seventh year is from trumpet to trumpets, from Tishri to Tishri, from fall to fall. And the arrival of Ezra on the fifth month would be at the late summer of the year, 457 BC.

And his journey took him four months from Persia, which is Iran today. Now put that in a little memory bank for months of travel time for Ezra from Persia to Jerusalem.

Therefore, the coming of the Messiah was 483 years later.

Therefore, Jesus Christ's ministry, the beginning of his ministry, was 27 AD.

Roundabout time of trumpets, as we know. Remember to add one because of year zero. There's no year zero, so you're going to add one. Now, we also know that in Daniel 9, 27, says, in the middle of the week, he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. In the middle of a week, a week is seven days, prophetic days. So in the middle of a week, that doesn't mean at the end of three and a half years, he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And indeed, Christ's ministry was three and a half years. And at the end of three and a half years, he brought an end to sacrifice and offering. That's why we don't do that today, brethren. He brought an end to that.

Jesus Christ's ministry was three and a half years. In the middle of a week, that was ended. It's got a dual meaning, as we know, in the middle of the week, he died in the middle of the week as well, which was on a Wednesday. But we know his ministry was for three and a half years. That's a fact. And again, the shows are full, counting from trumpets to trumpets.

And therefore, that ends his ministry on Passover 31 A.D. And that is important for calendar verifications that we'll see a little later.

Now, let's count backwards, just for a moment.

Which year was Jesus Christ born?

Because he started his ministry on 27 A.D., and he was 30 years old when he started his ministry, according to Luke 3, verse 30. That brings his birth to trumpets for B.C. Now, why do I take you that little backward counting of 30 years for a moment?

Well, I do that. I bring you to this point because some people will try to prove to you that Christ was born one year earlier. That is 5 B.C. instead of 4 B.C. Now, how do they claim that Christ was born on 5 B.C. instead of 4 B.C.? Well, they do that, referring to historical evidence that error died in the first months of 4 B.C.

Now, how do they conclude that error died in the first months of 4 B.C.? And he has a quote from one of those writers. Based on the records of Josephus and other historical evidence, Herod's death is estimated to have occurred during the week ending February 17, 4 B.C.

So, basically what they say is, Herod died mid-February, based on records of Josephus and other historical evidence.

It's convincing, isn't it? It's convincing, but it's wrong.

And why?

Because they use genealogies and dates, exactly what Paul told us to avoid in 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse 4, as we saw earlier.

Brethren, we need to use God's Word. Let God be true, but every man a liar, as we saw in Romans 3, verse 4.

So, let's see where they made a very simple but significant mistake.

You see, they say that Josephus, and Josephus' writings indeed state that Herod died not long after a lunar eclipse, but before the Passover. So, Josephus says, Herod died between an eclipse and a Passover.

And then these people list lunar eclipses for various years until, and only until, to BC.

And the only eclipse that could be valid, which was, by the way, a partial eclipse, according to astronomical data, and I tell you, astronomical data is pretty accurate. They can send a man to the moon and capsules out into far space, and they can work out these things pretty accurately. According to astronomical data, that partial lunar eclipse was March 13th for BC.

See, so Josephus says Herod died between the eclipse, which is March 13th, and a Passover.

Now, these people say, well, according to historical records and Josephus, blah, blah, blah, Herod died in February. Now, very, very February is not between March and Passover.

So they give excuses with clever, cleverly worded sentences.

But you see, they conveniently neglected to mention that there was a full lunar eclipse on 1 BC.

There, they're so clever.

And then they used historian records, which state that Herod died in 4 BC. But they omitted to mention other historian records that says that Herod died on 1 BC. Now, who do you believe?

You need to go back to God's word.

When did Herod die? 4 BC or 1 BC?

See, historians are contradicting themselves, yeah. And so you, as a writer, can pick up one that's convenient to you, and you only mention that one in your writings.

Brethren, you know the story in the Bible.

That the wise man came to Herod, and Herod inquired carefully about the young child. Was not a baby anymore, was a child.

And you know that Herod decreed to kill the children, they were two years and younger.

Look at Matthew 2, verse 15. Then Herod was exceedingly rough, and sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and younger and under, according to the time which he had diligently, carefully, precisely inquired of the wise man. Why two years and younger if Jesus was only five months old?

Or younger?

Brethren, it's because Jesus was older than just a few months.

You know, you see, the historical record of Herod dying in 4 BC is incorrect.

But the historical record of Herod dying in 1 BC is correct.

That allows for the wise man to travel from Persia, Iran to Jerusalem. Remember, I asked you to put in a little memory bank that Ezra took four months to do that trip?

And brethren, and brethren, in 1 BC an eclipse in January, yes, in January 10, allows for Herod to die sometime in the middle in February between the eclipse and the Passover, and allows for the funeral ceremonies that they lost for over a month before the Passover. So brethren, yeah, we have support that Jesus Christ was born 4 BC, not 5 BC, using Herod's death. And therefore, Jesus' death was in the year 31 AD.

There is a second way to support Jesus Christ's ministry, dates as per the 70-week prophecy. And that is based on the year that John the Baptist started to preach.

You see, we know that John the Baptist was six months younger than Jesus, and he turned 30 at about Passover, stroke, and live and bread season.

Quite often, I use the term Passover, meaning Passover and live and bread. It's a colloquialism, even in a time of Bible, of the Bible, they use the word Passover, meaning maybe unleavened bread or whatever, but it's just a colloquialism, that season, Passover.

The season we know of John the Baptist's birth, we know from the division of a byger in Luke 1, verse 5 through 25. We have extensive articles to prove that he was born at that season of Passover and live and bread, and so I'm not going into further detail to prove the season of John the Baptist's birth. But what year the John the Baptist began his ministry? Because it would have been 30 years, which would also have been 30 years, meaning around Passover and live and bread. If you look at Luke chapter 3, 1 through 3, it says, Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, he, that's John the Baptist, came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Is John the Baptist's ministry started on the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar? When was the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar? Tiberius Caesar's years are reckoned from when he started to reign in a co-regency with Augustus Caesar, and that is in also in October 12 AD.

That he started reign within a co-regency due to his poor health and pending death. Now granted, he started reigning just as the head of state, not in a co-regency two years later. And therefore, some coins were printed with that date. But it is a fact that he started with co-regency two years late, earlier, that is in October 12 in co-regency of Augustus Caesar. Therefore, the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar is 26-27 AD.

And because John the Baptist started his ministry around Passover and Leavened Bread, John started his ministry in 27 AD around Passover and Leavened Bread. That was the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar when he started his ministry.

But indeed, as we know, John the Baptist and Jesus Christ started their ministries six months apart because there's six months difference in their ages.

But in the same year, John the Baptist that Passover and Leavened Bread, Jesus Christ had trumpets.

And we know that Jesus Christ's ministry was three and a half years. So Jesus Christ started on 27 AD and his ministry ended three and a half years later. 31 AD. The same conclusion, brethren.

But there is another way, a third way, to support the dates of Jesus Christ's ministry. And it is based on Jesus Christ's first Passover.

Now, seeing that Jesus Christ's ministry started in trumpets, 27 AD, before his first Passover was 28 AD. So let's see what is described using the 28 AD Passover. And that's in John 2, verse 13, and then verses 18 through 20. And the Jews' Passover was at hand. That season was at hand. And Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And what sign do you show us since you do these things? So there was that conversation of the Jews asking Christ. And Jesus answered and said to them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will rise it up.

And then the Jews said, It has taken 46 years to build this temple.

And you will rise it up in three days? 46 years. Now, from Antiquities of the Jews by Josephus, Book 15, chapter 11, paragraph 1, it says, And now hear it in the eighteenth year of his reign, And after the acts already mentioned, Undertook a very great work that is to build for himself the temple of God, And make it larger in compass, and to raise it to a most magnificent altitude. A very big temple. It really became prominent. And so that's why they came there. It was really a beautiful temple.

Now, because Herod began his rule in 37 BC, His eighteenth year, Trumpets to Trumpets, was 20 BC.

That was the year that started, or gave the instruction, to build the temple. And his 46th year brings us back to a date of 28 AD for Jesus Christ's Passover. I know it's a lot of dates, brethren, but I'm just getting that back to one point. And this is the point, brethren.

We have proved that Jesus Christ's crucifixion was 31 AD. This is according to the 70 weeks prophecy of Daniel 9 and Artaxerxes' decree of Israel 7.

Jesus Christ's crucifixion was 31 AD. We've done those calculations. And we backed it up. We supported it with the death of Herod. We supported it with John the Baptist's start date of his ministry, based on Tiberi Caesar's 15th year. And we supported by the date of Jesus Christ's first Passover, based on the 46 years of construction to the temple. So we came from different angles, and they all say one thing. Say one thing. Jesus Christ's crucifixion was 31 AD, and we know it was on a Wednesday.

Now, what other dates during Christ's ministry fell on weekly Sabbaths, but at the same time were holy days. Well, one is AD 30. AD 30. At the end of Jesus Christ's lost feast of tabernacle, the last great day in AD 30 was a Sabbath. Brethren, that is clearly explained in two things. But basically, in the summary of the Hebrew calendar, a doctrinal paper, February 1987, and also in the paper entitled, The Last Great Day or the Eighth Day Study Paper, dated August 2002. And therefore, at the end of the seventh day of the feast, at about sunset, at the beginning of the eighth day, at the beginning of the last great day, there was a traditional water ceremony. Jesus Christ used that ceremony to bring the example of living waters. And then later that night, they went into their houses. Why? Because the seven-day period of being in booths had ended, and now they could go home, because the eighth day was no more eighth day of booths. It was seven-day of booths, but the eighth day they did not need to be in booths. And so they went to their homes. And that day was a Sabbath, and that's clearly described on those papers, which are in our website. So we know that. I don't have to go through that. You can go and study those papers. So the last great day on AD 30 was a Sabbath. 31 AD was Wednesday. 30 AD, the last great day, was a Sabbath. What other do we have? What other holy day falls on the weekly Sabbath? Now, we know that His first Passover is mentioned in John 2, regarding the situation of building the temple in 46 years, which I've covered. We also know that from John 6 to John 13, it's a continuous historical description of what happened in Jesus Christ's last year of His life. In other words, from His third Passover to the fourth Passover in which He died. And we also see that in that period we talked about that the last great day in year 30 during that period was a Sabbath. But one thing we've not looked at is the second Passover of Jesus Christ in 29 AD. Now, Matthew 12, 1 through 8, Mark 2, 23 through 28, and Luke 6, 1 through 5 all talk about it. In other words, they talk about the plucking of the heads of grain to eat. They walk in the field, they have the heads of grain and they pluck it to eat.

And this is early in His ministry, we know, because it's before He chose the 12 apostles.

But how do we know that this occurs during the Passover season? In other words, during the days of the leavened bread, when I mean season. Look at Luke 6, verse 1. Now it happened on the second Sabbath after the first.

Second Sabbath after the first.

What does that mean in Greek? Isabatu deutirabrotas.

Which basically means the second Sabbath of first rank. It's like we say, it's the second annual Sabbath, the second annual holy day of the year.

In other words, the last day of unleavened bread. Now, if you read carefully, Matthew 12, verse 9, and also Mark 3, we can see that after that event of plucking the heads of grain, on the self same day, Jesus went into the synagogue on the same day. So He woke out in the fields, plucked the grain, and then went to the synagogue. And look at Matthew 12, verse 9 through 10. Now when He had departed from there, He went into the synagogue, and Behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath that they might accuse Him? And brethren, this was a Sabbath, was a weekly Sabbath. So the second Passover in AD 29 during Jesus Christ's ministry, that last day of unleavened bread was a weekly Sabbath. So we have three key events that we can note. Number one, 29 AD, the last day of unleavened bread was a weekly Sabbath. Two, 30 AD, last great day was a weekly Sabbath. Three, 31 AD, the 14th Nissan, it was the day that Christ died, was a Wednesday.

Now let's briefly look at the Hebrew calendar. Now that we've got these dates, let's keep them aside for a moment. And let's now talk a little bit about the Hebrew calendar, so that we can plug these dates and understand how this fits.

So I'm going to look at the Hebrew calendar very briefly, because then, as I said, we're going to plug this and we're going to do the asset test of these three key events. You see, at the creation week, God gave the weekly Sabbath, as well as He gave the astronomical principles for calendar rules to house or as a home for His annual Sabbath. In Genesis 1.14 it says, 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 the word seasons is moadim, which is appointed times, and for days and years. Now note that God's festivals are linked. Now I'm saying this between brackets. Note that God's festivals are linked not just to the new moon, but also to the full moon, because for instance, the first day of the 11th bread, the 15th new sun is a full moon, and the first day of the feast, the 15th tishri, the 7th month is also a full moon. So God's festivals are linked not just to the new moon, but also to full moons. It's important to keep that in mind. And brethren, you and I know, at least I know for more than 45 years, always that the night be much observed, and the first day of the feast, I like to look for a full moon. And it's always there. We're the permitting.

And that is backed up, brethren, by the scripture in Psalm 81 verse 3 that says, Blow the trumpet at the time of the new moon, particularly first of trumpets, day of trumpets, first of tishri, that's a holy day, the only holy day that is a new moon. That's the day of trumpets. And at the full moon, on our solemn feast days, which is like the beginning of the feast and beginning of days of unleavened bread on the 15th.

So you see, brethren, the lights of the firmament are for signs and seasons that implies new moon and full moon as well. And this is based on such things as solar eclipses, those are the signs of the heavens, or lunar eclipses, particularly lunar eclipses, phases of the moon, solstice, is any equinoxes using all these things. We can determine using these signs, we can determine the years and seasons. By careful observation of these lights in the firmament, we can calculate the length of the month as well. So using these signs, we can calculate the length of the month.

And also, when is the average conjunction of the sun and moon? That is, when the new moon occurs and when the full moon occurs. And that is called the mallet in the Hebrew calendar. The mallet is basically an average of a little more than 29 and a half days because the conjunction varies from month to month. Now, because the year is more than 365 days, not exactly 365 days as we know, and we discussed this in my first sermon, to keep the months in their seasons, a 13th month has to be added now and again. And in fact, every 19 years, the heavenly clock, let's call it that way, the heavenly clock of the earth, the moon, and the sun gets back to the same position, practically back to the same position. The Hebrew calendar, therefore, uses these 19-year cycles and it has seven years with 13 months. It was years which they call leap years or with intercalation.

And they have 12 years with 12 months in this 19 cycle. 12 plus 7 makes 19. And isn't 7 a number that represents completeness, and 12 a number that represents perfect organization. And so, this points to the completeness and perfect organization of the calendar.

Now, with these simple rules, very simple rules, the calendar uses the sign of the heavens to stay in seasons. And does the calculations from the only holy day that falls on the new moon, which is in the middle of the year, in the seventh month, in the middle of the year, which is the day of trumpets. So it's the only holy day that falls on the new moon. So it uses that because that's important. That's a holy day. So let's get back to Genesis 1.14. What does it say? Genesis 1.14 said it needs to have considerations for days and years. Now, note that seasons, it says signs and seasons. Seasons is a mow of them, which represents God's appointed times.

Seasons, God's appointed times, come first. Then days and years. Then the consideration of days and years. But God's appointed times, God's holy days first in consideration.

Now, in the consideration of days, that's where the postponements come in.

God's appointed time, mow of them, comes first, as I said, for their proper reverence. Then the day is based on the new moon because we revere God's holy days and their spiritual meaning, not the new moon. And brethren, that's where people criticize the Hebrew calendar.

So the first, there are four postponement rules. The first two postponement rules use the lights to consider days. And the last two postponement rules use lights to consider years.

So let's look at the postponement rule number one, which says if trumpets fall on the first, the fourth, or the sixth day of the week, which is basically on Sunday, Wednesday, or Friday, then the day of trumpets is postponed by one day.

Effectively, brethren, that ensures that we don't have two Sabbath rests back to back during the fall season, during the seventh month. And that's why people get upset with the Hebrew calendar. Now, note something important. Please, brethren, this is important. In the Old Testament, in fact, in the law, the word atonement and Sabbath is referred to as Shabbat, Shabbaton, and the four holidays as Shabbaton. But these terms are not used, not used, for the spring holidays, such as first and last day of the day of the day of bread and Pentecost.

Shabbaton is not used for the spring holidays. Shabbaton is only used for the fall holidays and the weekly Sabbaths. Shabbaton means a Sabbath rest, and a Sabbath rest, brethren, is a shadow of things to come. As we read in Hebrews chapter 4, it says, there remains a Sabbath rest. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 11, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. There remains still a shadow of things to come. What is a Sabbath rest? A Sabbath rest in Greek is Sabatizhmus. Hebrews 4, 11. A Sabbath rest in Hebrew is Shabbaton. Only the weekly Sabbath, and the annual holidays on the seventh month are referred to as Sabatizhmus, or Sabbath rests. Why? Because the Sabbath and those holidays at the end of the year point to the messianic rule, point to the world tomorrow, point to the resurrections, to Jesus Christ. Not, for instance, Pentecost is not represents the resurrection. It's the day of trumpets that represents resurrection, and therefore those are called Sabbath rests, which point to the end of the year. To Jesus Christ's Second Coming, the resurrection, the millennial rule, the wonderful world tomorrow, and the judgment, the day of the Lord, and all those things there.

And obviously we know the spring holidays don't foreshadow that.

And therefore there's a proper respect and reverence to the spiritual meaning and intent of those days, specifically the Sabbath, the day of atonement, and the Sabbath, which are holy days, the holy days on the seventh month. And you don't want them back to back, so you have a proper reverence of those days. You either have it on the same day or separate so you can have a proper preparation for those days. And that's where the critics criticize and say, haha, that's for convenience! They say the Pharisees were just trying to make it easy.

But the brethren of the Pharisees never made it easier. They made it more difficult. They added burdens. Brethren, they're not there for your convenience. They comply with the instruction of Genesis 1.14, seasons first. In other words, the appointed times, God's holy days first, and it was God's Sabbath rest first, and it was God's spiritual intent of his holy days first, then the moon and its days. You see, the first rule of postponements is there for proper holiness of God's future Sabbath rest.

The resurrection, the coming of Christ, the wonderful world tomorrow.

And what is wrong, brethren? What is wrong with the proper respect and reverence to God's Sabbath rest?

Okay, let's move now to postponement rule number two, which says, if the Mo'ed of trumpets is at noon or after, postpone by one day.

Now, when the Mo'ed occurs at noon, most of the day from sunset has already occurred. So it's basically just a few hours before the next day. So most of the day is gone. But the interesting point is that it counts for the beginning of the holy day at sunset when it arrives at the easternmost regions of the earth as well. In other words, it ensures that God's holy day is the same day for all regions around the globe, and therefore ensures that God's calendar is not a regional calendar, but it's a global, worldwide calendar for all nations of the world.

And then we have the last two postponements, which affect the years.

Postponement rules three and four. And those people really don't object.

And all they basically do is ensure the years, again, signs, seasons, days, and years. You see that sequence of Genesis 1.14? And that ensures that the years are the correct lengths, neither too long, neither too short. So God's holy day stays in the seasons. Now, let's go back. Now that you have a basic understanding of God's, the Hebrew calendar, and the holy days and the meaning out, complies to Genesis 1.14. Let's look at those three dates that I asked you to remember. AD 29 or 29 AD, which is the last day of the 11th bread, was a Sabbath.

30 AD, the last great day, was a Sabbath. And 31 AD, 14th Nisan, the date of Christ's death, crucifixion, was a Wednesday. Now remember just the sequence. Sabbath, Sabbath, Wednesday. Sabbath, Sabbath, Wednesday. Okay. Now, to unite the Church of God as a doctrinal paper, which I referred to a moment ago, which is the February 1997 summary of the Hebrew calendar. It just gives a basic summary of the calendar. But with it comes an interesting appendix, which is also on our website, an industry appendix, which entitled the Hebrew Calendar Appendix. That's its name on the website. But at the top it says, alternative holiday occurrences by different calculations from the years 26 to 34 of the current era, in other words, AD. I have extracted the important details out of this chart into this little slide that you can see now.

And you can see those three years in question, 29, 30 and 31.

And we can see on the column on the most right-hand side, where that would fall in, what day of the week it would fall in those days, if you were using observation. What day it would fall in, if you're using the Hebrew Calendar without postponements in the middle column. And in the column on the left of those three, which is the Hebrew Calendar with postponements. So we've got the festivals, the Hebrew Calendar with postponements, Hebrew Calendar without postponements, and then observation. Remember I told you, Sabbath, Sabbath, Wednesday? And the only way it fits, the only way it fits, is when we use the calendar rules of the Hebrew Calendar with postponements. And intercalation on year 31, in other words, the year before had 13 months.

Intercalation of the year 31. Brethren, that is the asset test. It only fits there.

The rules of the Hebrew Calendar as they are in existence today, apply to the time of Christ's ministry. Minus three. What else do you want?

The only objection that people might now have is that, well, Wednesday 31 A.D. is April 21st, and that's very late. But remember, those are Julian dates. If you make them Gregorian dates, that would be April 23rd, not April 21st. And we do have Parcelvus as late as April 23rd.

So, tick, objection handled. So, how accurate, therefore, brethren, is the Hebrew Calendar of postponements? Aren't we postponing a holy day? Again, not true. For instance, somebody has made a chart showing since 1982 to the year 2000, the Hebrew Calendar with postponements had on average every single year, every single year. A higher percentage of the full moon being visible on the first day of Unleavened Bread, on the first day of the feast, than without postponements. So, the postponement actually brought the day more in sync than without it. Adjusted it. It actually made it more correct. The Hebrew Calendar of postponements posted an average percentage of new moon visibility between 98.7% and 99.8%. Whilst with postponements it was consistently lower. Without postponements, it was consistently lower. So, the argument that we're postponing a holy day. So, brethren, what have we seen? We have seen that the calendar has been a source of infighting and division. In other words, bad fruits. You shall know them by the fruits. So, these fights are not good. We determined the time of Jesus Christ's ministry, and we saw that his death was on Wednesday, 31 A.D. And we saw that some of the holy days fell on the Sabbath in both 29 A.D. and 30 A.D. We then saw that for it to be so, rules like those of today's Hebrew calendar had to be in use. So, Jesus Christ never argued about the dates of the holy days. So, there's nothing wrong with the rules of today's Hebrew calendar. We also saw that postponements show reference and respect for God's Sabbath rests, which are a shadow of things to come of the millennium and the messiahs coming and his rule. So, postponements, in fact, bring the holy days more in line with the moon as we saw it. Indeed, indeed, God is faithful and has given us a simple method to keep his holy days. And God's church has kept that for years. God has given us a home for God's holy days, which is called the Hebrew calendar. Sure, it's gone through bad, rough patches in the past, somewhere in the middle centuries, but God brought it right, and it was restored. Brethren, it's simple to follow, and you and I don't need to get technical about it. In conclusion, let me ask you one last question. How accurate is the Hebrew calendar? I've got an interesting quote here from a book called The Isence of the Holy Days, Insight from the Jewish Sages by Abraham Yaakov Finkel, dated 1993, page 141, and it says, and I quote, it is interesting to note that according to NASA, that's the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the time between one new moon and the next is 29.530588 days. Now, of course, NASA has its disposal the most advanced and sophisticated telescopes and computers, so they can calculate it exactly to the dot. Nevertheless, nevertheless, now watch this, brethren, the difference between NASA's figures and those used by Hillel's the second calendar is 0.00002, in other words, two millionths of a day, calculated for the period of one month.

Is the Hebrew calendar accurate or not? Brethren, you and I can prove all things up to a point. And then we need to say, I have proved all these calendar rules, and I've proved that these calendar rules were in use at Christ's time, as far as I can see.

I have proved enough for me. Therefore, brethren, I beseech you, I implore you, brethren, please, let us now, in humility and in submission, in faith, in Godly love, as his disciples. Let us move forward to Godly edification of the body of Christ, which is the Church of God, in Godly love, peace, and unity.